THE VELVET. | blackvelvet

TEACHING THE TEACHER.

Seung-Wan was late... again.

It's not that she didn't care about being on time to class- it was that she was occupied with more important stuff (more important stuff meaning marking the ten papers that she had forgotten out of the thirty she'd been given). So here she was, fifteen minutes late to her own lessson, and currently running into the lecture hall.

Her students didn't so much as flinch at the loud thudding of the double doors hitting the walls, nor did they flinch at the scrambled apologies or Seung-Wan's crumpled clothes: they were used to it by this point.

"Sorry I'm late." Seung-Wan apologised once more, briskly walking (and almost tripping) over to her podium. She clutched the papers close to her body, trying her hardest to fight off the growing blush due to one particular student's insistent staring. Seung-Wan shot the girl a look, earning a disgruntled grumble from her, "I have your papers-" She waved them in the air, as if to prove that she'd atleast gotten something right, "We'll feedback closer to the end."

Not that there was much lesson time left.

Seung-Wan dropped the papers onto her desk with a sigh, picking up the assigned book that she'd left behind the other day, "Hopefully all of you read chapters seven to nine?" There was a rather uneager chorus of 'yes' from the students, but one particular chirpy voice made Seung-Wan's headache grow tenfold, "Then I trust you all could tell me what happens if I were to pick any one of you."

She turned to her right, spotting one of her most promising student's hand go in the air, "Jaemin. Give me a brief summary, if you would." Seung-Wan flicked the book open, scanning over chapter seven quickly.

"We see the relationship between Sang-Hwa and Jong-oh grow as he offers her a place to stay inside his house. The two slowly bond over their mutual love of cooking and Sang-Hwa offers to teach Jong-oh how to make different kinds of food." Jaemin concludes his short summary by dropping his pen on his notebook- although there was definitely no need.

Seung-Wan merely nodded and turned to the whiteboard, bulletpointing the key points Jaemin had introduced, "Right. Could you maybe add what this suggests, or would you like me to pass it to someone else?" Jaemin stayed silent so Seung-Wan merely chose for him. She turned round the class, looking for anyone who seemed eager to answer. Unfortunately, only one girl was left, "Yerim, would you mind giving me an analysis?" She sighed.

Yerim nodded, looking over to the board and quickly re-reading what Jaemin had mentioned, "Cooking together is often seen as an intimate act between couples and lovers, so for Jong-oh and Sang-Hwa to be cooking together could foreshadow a romantic relationship between the two."

As much as Seung-Wan disliked the girl, she surely was bright.

"Exactly." She turned to the whiteboard and scribbled down Yerim's words, not missing how the girl seemed to beam under her reassurance, "Hopefully none of you have read ahead, but as the story progresses we will see more of a build up between the two characters." 

Seung-Wan checked her watch, seeing only half an hour left: time surely did fly when you were fifteen minutes late. She groaned and grabbed the essays from her desk, making sure they were stacked straight before turning back to the class, "One of the most common flaws I saw within your essays was the fact alot of you neglected to mention what we learned about Sang-Hwa in the first couple chapters. I know that we don't have much information about her yet, but I was really hoping to see more of you touch upon the issue of homelessness and how it can effect a person. Other than that, well done."

She quickly handed out the essays, being sure to give an extra congratulations to Yeji for her extra detailed response. Seung-Wan tried to ignore how Yerim's eyes lingered on her for a bit too long when she was given her essay, or how she said that she'd see Seung-Wan after class. Why couldn't the girl stop bugging her?

The class spent the next half an hour  going over their essays and making improvements (in reality: they spent ten minutes doing that and twenty talking to one another about how their teacher always seemed to be late). Finally, Seung-Wan's alarm went off and she dismissed the students, watching as they filed out the door like lemmings off a cliff. All but Kim Yerim, that is.

Yerim lingered round Seung-Wan's desk as the teacher tried to pack up her stuff, dropping a few pens every now and then, "Hey." She greeted simply, acknowledging how Wendy looked especially pretty in the scarf she had chosen to wear that day.

"It's not going to help you if you keep bothering me, Yerim." Seung-Wan ignored the girl's actions, continuing to look for the cup of coffee that she was sure she'd brought with her to the lecture, "You're not doing yourself any favours."

"Have you atleast asked?" Yerim pushed herself off the row of front desks until she was close enough to Seung-Wan to see the rise and fall of her chest, and how it seemed to grow heavier when Yerim suddenly inched slightly closer.

"Irene knows: it's up to her, now." That was what Seung-Wan said before she quickly walked past Yerim, forgetting about her favourite coffee cup in favour of getting out of the room, "Now I'm running late, so I have to go."

This meeting was one she could not be late to.

†

Seung-Wan stood anxiously outside the backroom's door, not seeming to notice the numerous shoulders of drunken men and women, having bit too much of a good time, that seemed to bump into her. She took a deep breath, attempting to halt her racing heart.

She hadn't spoken to Irene since emailing her the other day about what Yerim had said. Unfortunately, Seung-Wan knew it wouldn't end well for her student- but Yerim just had to go and poke her nose where it didn't belong.

Taking one final breath, Wendy knocked once before the door was almost immediately opened. She almost jumped when she came face to face with Joy- but she held it together infront of Irene.

"Wendy." The leader greeted.

†

sorry it's shorter- i had some stuff i had to do today and i just wanted to get this chapter out.

i'd appreciate it if you could leave me some feedback and tell me whether you're enjoying this story or not :)