Teacher Renu hasn’t come to teach at school for three days now. I knew
everything that was going on, but all I could do was hope that the beautiful woman would be able to get over this sad moment.
Honestly, not having the beautiful teacher at school makes me depressed
and I really didn’t want to wake up early to go to class. She became a little inspiration that made me want to wake up every day and look forward to going home together, which became a habit.
I wasn’t supposed to be in my senior year. That meant that when I graduated, I probably wouldn’t see her again…
Today was the same. Seeing that Teacher Renu hadn’t shown up, I was worried that she didn’t have anything to eat. So, I stopped to buy noodles
before heading back to the apartment and planned to hang the food in front of her door like usual.
But when I got to the front of the building, I saw her brother, Ong, who looked so worried about his sister. However, Ong didn’t dare bother her too much, as he was afraid of being kicked out.
"Didn’t you see Re too? Ah… How long is she going to lock herself in her room?"
"She needs some time. This isn’t a love that has just begun; it’s been going on for a long time. She must be really shocked. And for someone like her, a perfectionist, even a small mistake can throw her off balance."
"True. So, I guess we came here for nothing today."
Ong shrugged a little regretfully.
"At least you’re here to keep me company."
‘Actually, I wanted to see you more.’
Ong’s voice echoe in my head. I heard it, but pretend not to notice.
Lately, I had started to get used to the feelings he had for me. It tickled my heart to know that someone liked me because, ever since I was born and raised, I was far from the puppy love stories like my peers.
I couldn’t blame him. I tended to see into everyone’s thoughts and assumed that everyone in the world was evil and irredeemable.
"No, I plan to go upstairs and read at home today. Entrance exams are coming up, so I need to study hard."
"Do you want me to be your tutor?"
"No, thanks. I have Teacher Re."
My quick refusal left Ong visibly dejected. I used to think that I wanted to be decisive. If someone liked me and I wasn’t interested, I would reject them from the start. But when that happened to me, I couldn’t be so harsh.
Maybe because I understood how much courage it took to approach your crush… just like I had to gather all my courage to approach Teacher Renu.
But… I was kind enough not to give false hope. If I couldn’t reject him, it was better to let his hope fade gradually. I smiled at Ong and walked back home, glancing back to make sure he had left. Only then did I quickly leave and run to the apartment to hang the food as an offering to Teacher Renu, as usual.
Knock, knock.
I knock on the door to signal that I have bring food. Honestly, I don't dare ask Teacher Renu out because I don't know how to face her if she left. That day, she had gone silent after I acted nervous.
I couldn’t tell if she was angry or not, but it made me uncomfortable. Just as I was about to turn around and leave, Teacher Renu’s door open, and the person I hadn’t seen for three days peeked out and called out to me in a hoarse voice.
"Jom."
“Teacher…?”
I looked at the lovely woman with sleepy eyes and felt inexplicably dazed before I realized something unusual.
