Chapter 8
“You did well, Saebyeok.”
A drink can suddenly appeared in front of her.
“Honestly, when I heard the vice principal’s question, I thought, Ah, this is a disaster. But how did you know the answer? Saebyeok, you’re not secretly carrying around some kind of answer sheet for life, are you?”
“I really wish I were…”
Saebyeok tried to open the can absentmindedly, but her fingers kept slipping.
Dongbaek took the drink back, opened it for her, and handed it over.
“Now that we’ve secured the vice principal’s approval, there shouldn’t be any more problems. Word will spread soon that we were dispatched by the foundation, but well… Considering this place is full of parachute hires and illegal recruitments, none of them can really complain without implicating themselves.”
Watching Dongbaek’s cynical smile, Saebyeok took a sip of the drink.
Ah… it was Lemon Pang Pang, her favorite.
“Anyway, you should go meet the head of academic affairs now, right?”
“Yes. I should introduce myself.”
“Then shall we split up here for a bit? Can you find your way?”
“I’m not Haram… Are you heading back to headquarters again?”
“No. I should start settling into my own position too.”
Now that she thought about it, she had never heard which department Dongbaek belonged to.
When Saebyeok asked out of curiosity, he simply responded like this—
“Oh, that?”
With a playful wink.
“Secret.”
A school is not so different from a small society.
The systems and rules built through long experience applied even to private schools that received relatively less government oversight.
At least on the surface, Beodeul School seemed no different.
“Oh, you’re the new teacher?”
Within the hierarchy of school staff—principal, vice principal, and head of academic affairs—
Where the principal is absent, the vice principal is king.
Where the vice principal is absent, the head of academic affairs is king.
Saebyeok quickly greeted them first. After all, it was best not to get on a superior’s bad side.
“Hello. I’m Ham Saebyeok.”
“Welcome. Honestly, we would’ve been in big trouble if you hadn’t come. The previous teacher suddenly stabbed us in the back and left. The vice principal had to run all over the place trying to find a replacement, and somehow the foundation heard about it and sent us such a talented person.”
Mm. So you’re just openly calling me a parachute hire, huh.
Feeling the stares piercing into her from every direction, Saebyeok smiled brightly.
“It’s an honor to work in such a wonderful place with such wonderful people. Are you checking the textbooks?”
“Yes. Well, someone has to confirm the quantities.”
At a glance, they appeared to be ordinary textbooks distributed by the Ministry of Education.
Saebyeok was discreetly searching for the first-grade textbooks when the head of academic affairs, who had been yawning loudly, suddenly called out to her.
“So, the new teacher will be taking the first grade?”
“Yes. That’s what I was told.”
“You know our school has so few students that there’s only one class per grade, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then the new teacher’s son who’s enrolling this year will be taking classes from his own mother, I suppose?”
Just when the stares had begun to ease, they stabbed into her again.
She knew very well how absurd this situation was. It wasn’t unheard of for a child to attend the same school where their parent worked—but for a teacher to become their own child’s homeroom teacher? That was practically unheard of.
“Ah, yes! That’s what I heard.”
But this place allowed such things.
This was a place beyond ordinary rules—a school unlike any other.
If you have complaints, take them to the foundation. Though, ironically, the foundation is exactly who placed me here.
“Hmm… the new teacher is quite… cheerful. I heard you graduated from the Korean National University of Education. Why leave a good opportunity to struggle in a place like this?”
“They say hardship is something you should experience while you’re young. Besides, it’s a good chance for my child to receive education suited to him.”
“Well… if that’s how you see it. Still, it must have been difficult for your whole family to move here. Your husband must have quite some influence within the foundation.”
As if she had mistaken mockery for praise, Saebyeok simply smiled shyly.
This was her survival strategy from now on.
Push everything onto her husband and act like a clueless teacher with flowers blooming in her head.
After all, Saebyeok knew very little about the foundation or the magical world.
Pretending to know something might only make others suspicious, so she and Dongbaek had agreed beforehand that it was better for her to appear like his puppet.
Even if I vaguely pass things off, Mr. Dongbaek will handle it somehow.
Trusting in his competence, Saebyeok deflected the head of academic affairs’ condescending attitude without much thought.
Before long, the textbook count was finished and it was lunchtime.
“Let’s eat and then get back to work. There’s no cafeteria service today either… I guess it’s cup noodles again.”
Led by the head of academic affairs licking his lips, the other teachers lazily filed out into the hallway.
Saebyeok was the last to leave and was about to turn off the lights when she noticed something odd.
“Oh—what about the second-grade textbooks? It doesn’t look like anyone checked them.”
“Just leave them. The second-grade teacher will check them when she arrives.”
Scratching his back with a back-scratcher, the head of academic affairs couldn’t resist another lecture.
“Honestly, I don’t understand this MZ generation. This place is already far away—wouldn’t it be better to come early and start work on time? But when I ask why they’re late, they say as long as they arrive by 11:59 tonight it’s fine. What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Oh my, they must be busy.”
“Busy, or pretending to be busy… Anyway, the second-grade teacher is Yang Mirae. Ask her anything when you meet her tomorrow. You’re around the same age—you’ll probably get along.”
Ah. So you’re passing the responsibility to her?
“Um, sir. Since tomorrow is the entrance ceremony and it might be hectic, is there anything I should be particularly careful about?”
“Oh, nothing like that. You read the school rulebook, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did…”
“Then just follow it. And if it’s difficult, you can ask your husband for help.”
The head of academic affairs looked her up and down with obvious disdain and snorted.
Saebyeok, who had been quietly smiling, suddenly asked:
“Sir, you often wear modified hanbok once the weather gets warmer, don’t you?”
“…? How did you know that?”
“I just had a feeling you would.”
Until the start of the semester, Saebyeok was incredibly busy.
She cleaned the dusty classroom that had been unused throughout the vacation, moved student desks into the empty room, and adjusted the uneven desk heights to match the eye level of first graders.
Decorating the bare classroom with colorful paper and stickers was, of course, also the homeroom teacher’s job.
Traditionally, the first-grade class at Beodeul Elementary School was nicknamed the Sun Class, and Saebyeok decorated the classroom in bright colors with the sun as its theme.
Although no one helped her…
Although she had managed everything alone by digging through a teacher resource-sharing site the head of academic affairs had tossed her.
During the day she prepared the classroom.
At night she struggled with paperwork.
She was slowly turning into a zombie—but the sun would rise tomorrow regardless.
At last, the long-awaited first day of school had arrived.
“Huh? Haram?”
Saebyeok widened her eyes as she rushed out with her bag.
“Where’s your tie? Didn’t I tie it for you earlier?”
“…I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You must have taken it off somewhere because it felt uncomfortable again. Dong Haram, go find your tie. Now.”
“Ugh…! Don’t attach that weird surname to my name!”
Grumbling loudly, Haram went back to his room to retrieve the tie.
Dongbaek clicked his tongue, muttering that puberty must have already arrived, and leaned toward Saebyeok.
“So, how does it feel? It’s the first day you’ve been waiting for. Is your heart racing?”
“My heart always races…”
“Aren’t you excited? Soon little chicks will come running up to you saying, ‘Teacher! Teacher!’”
Hmm…
That did sound exciting.
Saebyeok’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she covered her mouth with a lightly clenched fist.
She had truly wanted to become a teacher.
A dream she had nearly abandoned because of that damned mystery was now about to bloom through an unexpected opportunity.
“Well… it won’t be that difficult.”
Calling out, “Haram, did you make the tie?” Dongbaek suddenly whispered:
“Just do whatever feels right. If you want to do it, do it. If you don’t, don’t. No matter what anyone says, if you believe it’s the right thing, push forward.”
“….”
“Because I’ll always be behind you.”
There was something about his refreshing smile that made people believe him without question.
Saebyeok quietly smiled in gratitude.
It had been so long since she had felt the comfort of someone standing behind her in support.
The teachers were already gathered in the faculty room.
Perhaps because it was the entrance ceremony, even the head of academic affairs was wearing a suit jacket while waving his back-scratcher around.
As Saebyeok bowed to each teacher one by one, she noticed an unfamiliar face in the distance.
A woman about her age with a distinctly urban aura.
When their eyes met, Saebyeok immediately bowed in greeting, but the woman had already turned her gaze elsewhere.
Hmm. That feeling of being ignored for no reason.
It wasn’t unfamiliar.
Glancing at the woman’s stylish purple eyeshadow, Saebyeok followed the teachers toward the auditorium.
She was probably the second-grade teacher the head of academic affairs had mentioned.
Yang Mirae, was it?
“New teacher.”
Suddenly the head of academic affairs called out.
When Saebyeok turned around, he pointed somewhere with his back-scratcher, gesturing for her to hurry over.
Her body moved first.
She didn’t even need to ask where to go or what to do.
Her heart pounded.
Thump.
Thump…
“Hello, everyone.”
The voice she produced, just as she had practiced, didn’t sound as gentle as she had hoped.
Still, Saebyeok folded the corners of her eyes and smiled brightly.
“I’m the teacher who will be spending the next year with you as your homeroom teacher. All of you are first graders entering Beodeul School, right?”
Some children sat quietly.
Some looked timid.
Some chattered noisily.
Some stared at their phones with indifferent expressions.
But one by one, they all lifted their heads and looked at Saebyeok.
Those dark, dark eyes.
Saebyeok couldn’t tell whether the pounding shaking her entire body came from nervousness or exhilaration.
Just as she hesitated to continue speaking—
Haram, sitting among the children, gave her a small nod.
The pressure constricting her entire body vanished like magic in an instant.
“…Shall we move to the classroom now?”
Sometimes, even the smallest encouragement from someone can give you the courage to overcome obstacles.
Until now, Saebyeok simply hadn’t had such a person.
“First-grade Sun Class, please follow your teacher.”
- Now, she finally did.
