Love In The Ice

#11: Exams

Next day in school...

Jaein didn't tell anyone (Yiting and Yining) anything about what happened last night. She didn't want them to be affected by what happened to her. They had such a good time with Yunho and Junsu yesterday, so she didn't want to spoil their mood or anything. So she kept her own embarassement to herself.

She dreaded the thought of having to go to class, and having to see Kim Jaejoong in class. She just didn't know how to face him after what happened last night. And how she woke up with him beside her bed in the morning. She had ABSOLUTELY NO idea what she might have said in her drunken state... It was embarassing... for a student to see her in that state... much less her very nemesis who detested her, and whom she detested so much since the start of school term...

But her sense of responsibility and fear for Mr Shim forced her to go to school still. Throughout her class, she kept looking elsewhere or at other students, mentally and physically skipping Jaejoong's face, even when she was taking attendance. She skipped recess and hid out in the staff room, for fear of meeting Jaejoong in the canteen. And once school was over, she raced off and hopped onto the first bus home. Jaejoong took the hint, and made himself invisible to her too, by keeping low profile in class, and going home later than usual. This dragged on till a month close to the end of the semester, where exams began...

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First day of exams....

Before the exams started, Mr Shim called Jaein to his office.

Mr Shim: Ms Jun, how did you find teaching so far?

Jaein: Coping well, I think... The students are... (very rich spoilt brats)... a very interesting bunch...

Mr Shim: You do realise that exams means the end of term right?

Jaein: Yeah...

Mr Shim: And it also signifies...

Jaein's thoughts (loss in her own thoughts): End of my time here...

Mr Shim: ... the end of your attachment here... So after the exams finish... Cos we still need you to help invigilate and mark papers... You don't have to come here anymore... There's nothing else, you can go back to your invigilation now...

Jaein: Kamsa hamnida Mr Shim. I hope I didn't cause you too much inconvenience. I had a good time teaching here. Thank you for all your guidance.

Jaein bowed respectively and left the room.

Jaein's thoughts: I'm leaving when the term ends... Soon... *takes a long breath and exhales* I won't have to see him ever again... And hopefully no one will EVER hear of whatever nonsense that I've spouted to him when I was drunk that night...

Jaein took a deep breath and walked into her class with the papers in her arms. She gave out the papers and announced the start of the exam. While the class was working hard at answering the questions, she took time looking at each one of her students, trying to remember each and every one of their faces, all but one.

They haven't been the nicest class to her, but after an entire term together, she did feel a bond with them. There was a hint of regret in her heart, knowing that she had to leave them and probably never see any of them ever again.

Her eyes came reluctantly to the one that she had skipped earlier. In fact, she skipped his face in class eversince the aftermath of that night. He was having trouble with his paper, and his face was frowning, as he scratched the back of his head trying to make the answer materialise inside his blonde head...