Last Night at the Café

24 | Strawberry Crepe Cake

THE FAREWELL WITH her students had been heartbreaking. The children were expressionless when she announced her departure in a soft, undulating tone. Their eyes had been wide, one child fidgeting, another dropping a pencil, a third scratching his head. They did not understand, it seemed. It was difficult to hold back her tears. But when one child broke into tears, a storm had been unleashed.

"Seonsaengnim is going away forever!" a child declared with moist eyes.

"I will still be in Korea," she explained. "But I just won't be at this school anymore."

"So where are you going?" pipped up another.

Her heart ached as she turned to the child with a smile.

"I'm going home for a while."

A tiny face crinkled as a pair of large eyes levelled with hers.

"Seonsaengnim, are you angry with us?"

"Aniya," she muttered. "You are all good children. Take care of yourselves and each other when I'm gone, alright? And listen to your new teacher."

A girl sitting at the edge of the group jumped to her feet.

"Will you come back?"

A short laugh left her.

"I don't know, Angel-ie. But I want you all to be good and kind and strong and healthy. I will be happy to know that you're all doing well."

They would forget about her one day. Such was the fleeting memory of childhood. But she was glad and honoured to have been able to see one class through graduation.

When cake was served and fruit juice was given out, the children were calmer, chatting amongst themselves. Yu Ah popped in during her break, helping to cut the colossal cake while Seollal served them.

"Where did you get this from?" Yu Ah asked as the knife dove into the soft strawberry crepe cake. "It smells amazing. Oh, wait, your Kazu?"

She shot her friend a side-eyed look.

"I ordered it from the bakery outside the subway station. They have nice cake."

"Seonsaengnim, are you leaving because you're going to get married?" a child pipped up, his arm shooting up into the air. Crumbs and cream stained his mouth, and he clumsily wiped at his face with his other hand.

"Omo, how do you know?" Yu Ah returned teasingly.

Seollal glared daggers at her friend. They knew better than to discuss their private lives in front of the children, whether jokingly or not. As innocent as the children were, they could be vici0us when a piece of news was dangled before them like sharks snapping their jaws at a little fish.

She cringed internally at the flickers of interest in the children's eyes, some jerking their attention away from their cake to stare at her like prey.

"Seollal seonsaengnim has a husband?" a child asked.

"Aniya," she muttered hastily, her heart thudding noisily in her chest. "Yu Ah seonsaengnim was joking."

"You have to get a boyfriend before you get a husband," a child wisely pointed out.

"So seonsaengnim has a boyfriend?"

"Seonsaengnim, are you going to have a baby too?" a child asked, his large eyes innocent in his face. "My eomma has a baby! But it's in her stomach. That's why she's so fat."