My Art Teacher | Johnyong

Chapter 3: Invitation

<Taeyong's POV>

This teacher is definitely different than Ms. Kang. After confirming that I was the new student in his class, Johnny encouraged me to become acclimated with the class to choose which medium I like the best.

"Don't be afraid to check out some new materials!" Johnny beamed at me, patting me on the back as if to push me to go forth and conquer the class. I hesitantly lurch forward, gulping as I survey my surroundings. Students in their designated hubs around the room were busy as ever, claiming colorful packs of markers and brushes before the rest of the stampede rushed over. It was an overwhelming sight. Johnny immediately caught onto my internal panic.

He kneeled down slightly to whisper in my ear, avoiding the chaos increasing around us. "Don't worry, this is a place where you are free to express yourself, just like your peers are doing. Let loose, you might surprise yourself" he stated with an understanding smile. I gulped again as his hot breath skimmed my neck and gave me shivers. Free to express myself? Does this teacher know what kind of school this is? I thought to myself. I must have had an inquisitive look on my face as Johnny laughed loudly.

"Here" he gestured toward the tables in the center of the classroom that I noticed before, covered in various magazine clippings from cars to cosmetics.

"This will be your course buddy for the day" Johnny walked us over to another student, blonde bowl cut with a dopey smile and kind brown eyes.

"Jungwoo, meet Taeyong. He just transferred today. Would you mind showing him around?" Johnny proposed as Jungwoo enthusiastically nodded, still smiling like a creep.

Jungwoo jokingly brought his hand to his forehead and saluted our teacher "Aye aye captain!" which made Johnny chuckle. God, I wanted to barf right there. Johnny made his way back to his desk off in the corner, leaving me with the overly cheery Jungwoo.

He reached out his hand to me "Hi! I'm Jungwoo. Nice to meet you! I think I've seen you around before" I nodded, not lifting a muscle. Who knows where his hand has been?

"Oh, you think?" I replied with sarcasm thick in my voice. Jungwoo didn't catch on.

"Yes! I think we had Ms. Park Jooyeon for calculus last year!" He widely smiled at me, "She was so sweet. I remember she brought her son to school once and the whole class immediately started fawning over him" Jungwoo reminisced proudly while I gagged inside. It's not like kids were utterly repulsive to me, but I remember that day more with disdain than affection. That same day, my mother had pulled me out of class to scold me in front of all of my peers. I remember cowering for the remainder of my time in that class, too embarrassed to speak up lest trigger an unwanted impression of myself. I never even did much better than a C- in that class anyway, so Ms. Park can suck it.

"This station where we are at right now is our current unit: the collage. Johnny prompted us this week to try to tell a cohesive story from random images from magazines. Isn't that fun?" Jungwoo began his spiel.

I turned to him, "How exactly are we supposed to make a story out of thin air?" rolling my eyes as I ask.

"Well, it's not really out of thin air" Jungwoo explained as he walked us toward the front of the classroom with a chalkboard and beanbags. He grabbed a piece of chalk and started drawing some abstract image. A bird? A plane? With his back turned, I could hardly see what he was drawing, only the large strokes were obvious to me.

Jungwoo turned to face me, "Everything in art comes from you. As cheesy as it sounds, the stories you put into it are only yours to tell"

He scoots aside, revealing a picture of a turtle, a very cutely drawn one with a lot of detail in the shell at that. "To you, this just looks like a turtle, or a tortoise, whatever you wanna call it. But to me, it also shows the complexities of nature. The pattern on a turtle's back often reminds me of a tree trunk or a finger print, something so unique and precise that you almost question whether it was created by something bigger than us"