Chapter 10
“I think I should go now.”
Se-ah pulled herself together and stood up.
“Alright. If you need to go, then go.”
Seonghan stepped back and continued.
“Go home for today. I’ll take care of the rest of your classes.”
Se-ah’s eyes widened.
“What?”
A small laugh escaped her lips.
“Classes aren’t office work. No one can just do them for me. I’m really fine. If I don’t finish them, I’ll have trouble later making up the lessons.”
At her firm response, Seonghan seemed to have nothing more to say and nodded.
“Alright, then.”
He stopped there and looked at her.
For a moment, Se-ah felt like she couldn’t breathe again.
Why does he keep looking at me like that?
It’s already over. You left me. And I forced myself to let you go too.
“I’m sorry for causing trouble. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
She bowed politely, drawing a clear line between them.
Seonghan narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched her, then nodded.
“It wasn’t trouble. But from now on, don’t be alone with a male teacher.”
And you’re not a man?
“You can carry something like a plastic bag with you.”
“I’m fine now. I’ll be fine in the future too. Thank you for your concern.”
She bowed again and turned around. Just as her hand touched the lounge door—
“Do you want me to get rid of him?”
Her hand froze.
“That bastard. If you want, I’ll make him leave.”
She turned to look at him.
Seonghan was standing with his eyes lowered, but there was anger on his face—anger directed at someone.
“No. Really, nothing happened. It’s just… because of my past.”
She bit her lip.
There was no need to talk about her past here.
“It’s nothing.”
She hurried out of the lounge.
Her heart pounded again and heat rushed to her face, but it wasn’t the same panic as before.
Walking quickly toward the teachers’ office, she let out several deep sighs.
It was already the last class of the day.
Se-ah did her best to focus on teaching. So many things had happened, but she tried not to let her mind scatter.
As the class was ending, she felt the tight string of tension slowly loosen.
And then she made a small mistake.
She gave the wrong page number, and the students began flipping through the wrong page in confusion. Realizing it late, she corrected herself.
“Ah, no. Not page 354—page 345.”
“Ahh, teacher, I took notes on the wrong page!”
“Hey, give me correction tape!”
As the classroom grew noisy, Se-ah joked lightly.
“I did that on purpose to see if you’re paying attention. It wasn’t a mistake.”
“Come on, teacher!”
It was small enough to laugh off, and the students laughed with her.
That was when it happened.
From the corner of the room, a student sitting crookedly glared at Se-ah and spoke.
“So is that why we had to retake the exam? Because you teach like this?”
Se-ah lifted her head.
A piece of white gum snapped between the girl’s teeth. There was no textbook on her desk.
“What? We all had to retake it because of you. So teach properly.”
Silence fell over the room.
Her father was a National Assembly member. It was said he had donated a significant amount of money to the school. The principal had told teachers not to point out her behavior.
Se-ah had ignored it when she chewed gum or didn’t bring her textbook.
But those words couldn’t just be ignored.
Se-ah walked over slowly and lowered her head to meet the student’s eyes.
“I’m sorry for my mistake. But before pointing out mine, shouldn’t you at least bring your textbook?”
She was smiling gently, but her eyes were sharp as arrows.
“And saying ‘teach like this’ or ‘teach properly’ is a bit rude, don’t you think? Maybe somewhere else it’s different, but this is a classroom.”
She looked around at the other students.
“This is a classroom, and I’m a teacher. So I’m teaching you this—basic manners between people.”
She lightly tapped the girl’s shoulder twice, then turned and walked out with her textbook.
She tried to act calm, but as soon as she left the classroom, heat rushed to her head.
Why does she talk like that?
She replayed her actions. She couldn’t have just let it pass. She thought she had corrected her gently.
This won’t become a problem later… right?
Closing her eyes briefly, Se-ah returned to the teachers’ office, set her book down, and let out a long sigh.
There was a message from Dongjun.
Did he worry about me after all?
They hadn’t run into each other again after earlier, but he had crossed her mind.
But when she read the message, she couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
[What the chairman said earlier isn’t true. My father and I didn’t do anything wrong. Just in case you misunderstand.]
You’re not worried about me—just about what you heard?
She considered ignoring it, but replied anyway.
[Okay. I won’t misunderstand.]
[Good. That’s a relief.]
Not a single word asking how she was.
She hadn’t loved him passionately, but as her boyfriend, he had felt reliable.
She had thought his words usually made sense.
But after seeing disappointment after disappointment, her heart was cooling down.
After finishing homeroom dismissal, she slowly packed her bag as it neared quitting time.
Just as she was about to leave—
“Se-ah, want to go eat samgyeopsal?”
Min-kyung tapped her back.
“Samgyeopsal?”
“I’m feeling down. I want grilled pork belly and a shot of soju.”
Beside her stood In-hye, Min-kyung’s close teacher friend. Both were close to Se-ah as well.
“I heard everything. Jin Mokyeon pulled that stunt, right? That crazy woman.”
In-hye whispered in her ear, and Se-ah let out a small laugh.
“No, I’m fine.”
They’re asking me to comfort me.
She felt grateful.
“Still, come with us. I’m the one feeling down. Do you know what the head of academics said to me today? He asked if my wedding invitation would come out later than his daughter’s. Can you believe that?”
Min-kyung fumed. She was in her late thirties, recently broke up with her boyfriend. In-hye, the same age, had been married for five years.
“You know he’s old-fashioned. Is marriage some kind of achievement? You do it when it’s right. Who does he think he is?”
The three of them were whispering as they walked out of the teachers’ office.
Their steps stopped when they heard a bright voice.
“Oh my, teachers, where are you going?”
It was Jin Mokyeon.
All three faces stiffened. Se-ah bit her lip silently, and Min-kyung answered.
“We just happened to finish at the same time, so we’re heading out together. Why?”
“Oh, if you’re going somewhere nice, take me too. I’m lonely.”
She twisted her body coyly as she spoke. In-hye let out a short laugh, while Se-ah bit her lip harder for a different reason.
“If you’re lonely, go home and sleep. You were late today, remember? You should sleep well so you won’t be late again. Unless you want to announce it to the whole neighborhood like this morning.”
At Min-kyung’s sharp comment, Mokyeon’s face flushed red. It was a jab at how she had been scolded harshly by the principal earlier.
“Ah, yes. Goodbye.”
Mokyeon hurried away. In-hye laughed out loud and got smacked on the back by Min-kyung.
“Hey, why?”
“Don’t make it too obvious. You know she has connections. Push her too much and she might stab us in the back.”
“Ha, like she ever thinks about what she says.”
At their bickering, Se-ah laughed out loud this time.
“Oh, by the way… about Hwang Min-young.”
Hwang Min-young was the National Assembly member’s daughter whom Se-ah had scolded today.
“She acted rudely, so I said something. That’ll be okay, right?”
“Hwang Min-young? Ah… you shouldn’t touch her.”
Min-kyung’s face turned serious.
They had reached the school gate. The pork restaurant was nearby, so walking was easier than driving.
“I know, but—”
“Her mother’s no joke either. If possible, don’t clash with them.”
Just then, a loud horn blared.
The three turned toward the sound.
An unfamiliar sedan was parked in front of the school gate.
The driver’s window rolled down.
And when she saw the face inside—
Se-ah’s face flushed red.
It was the chairman.
