English Education

CHAPTER THE SECOND

The chauffeur tried his best to apologize for the long ride, but it was still shorter than my morning commute had been before. And much more enjoyable. Even the city had a charm to it, familiar and brand new all at the same time. Everything was brighter and cleaner, and far from the smoggy inner city of Phoenix. I wasn't surrounded by mountains on all sides, and despite being a peninsula, I felt like I had more room to breathe than I ever did in my native Arizona. The flight here might have been a nightmare and a half, but the journey was well worth it.

When we finally got to the office, I was greeted by several men and a few women with clipboards and stern faces. They bowed and formally introduced themselves and I tried my very hardest not to come off like a country hick Westerner. I dipped my head to match theirs, tried not to butcher my practiced greeting, and smiled as brightly as I could. I probably oozed kindergarten teacher vibes, but that was better than not being personable enough. I huffed out a sigh of relief when they all broke out into chuckles and smiles and welcomed me into the building.

"This is the main place Big Hit operates out of. Our offices are on the top floors, studios on the bottom. We'll set you up in an office a floor above the practice rooms. We'll supply anything you need, just let us know." he spoke in perfect English, and with only a hint of an accent hanging on his consonant blends. 

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. Aside from teaching the group English, are there any other things I need to do or be aware of? Also what time works best for lessons?" I asked as he led me down a hallway, presumably to where I'd be working.

"Great questions! For the most part, your main responsibility will be improving the boys' speech, but as the need arises, we may also have you help with western publicity and I assume the producers might ask for some assistance on English lyrics." He paused to check a notification on his phone, and I noticed the others around us were all furiously busy despite showing me around.

After a moment, and a brief apology for the interruption, he continued. "As for lesson times, that will change from day to day. As you can see, the entire company is rather pressed for time. We'll expect you here mid-morning to mid afternoon to squeeze in sessions between rehearsals, recordings, and other commitments. The week before and of filming music videos or other content, we'll expect you here whenever the boys are here to be an added hand. Any other questions?"

"Not that I can think of at the moment. Can I email you any that pop up later?" I asked, mentally taking note of the copious amounts of information. "Also, I'm a bit of a schedule setter, can we settle on an even nine-to-five?"

He grinned. "That's a good habit to have. Ten to four."

"Deal." I laughed. 

"Also, feel free to email me whenever you need to, I'll try to respond as quickly as I can." He held up his phone, lit with notifications, as emphasis.

And with that, we turned down a hallway and stood in front of a door with a bright sticky note with my name stuck on it. "I take it this is my office?"

He nodded, unlocked the door and let our little group in. "It is indeed, You can set it up however you'd like."

"Awesome! I think I'd like to stick with what I know and set it up like a relaxed classroom. I brought some of my set-up from home, can I staple things up?"

"Go right ahead! Feel free to put up whatever you want!" He seemed excited that I seemed like I had a plan. I didn't, but still.

"Perfect, thank you!" I responded, mentally digging through the posters and bulletin boards I'd brought with me.

"Alright, we'll leave you to lesson plan, and get set up, if you need a ride, dial three on the phone, Jae-woo will take you wherever you need to go. Send me a list of whatever you need to get your classroom going, and we'll get it as soon as we can."

"Great! Also, when will I meet my new students? I need to see and hear how they speak to start getting plans together." I was just making it up as I went, but I dearly hoped I sounded like an actual professional.

"Being a step ahead is starting to become your thing, I was just about to tell you." He grinned. "The boys are currently working on choreography, they'll be up around three for a snack break."

"I look forward to meeting them! Thank you."

"Of course! Once you've met the boys, you are free to leave and set up your accommodations. Your belongings have already been sent and are waiting for you."

"I really can't thank you enough!" I shook his hand as he began to leave. "I'm very excited to have this opportunity."

He just nodded at me, a strange spark in his eyes. The nameless others, with their clipboards and buzzing devices, left with him, smiling as they went.

I sighed contentedly, plopping into my new teacher chair and giving it a spin. The walls already had whiteboards, and those weird canvas-textured panels that were easy to push tacks into. It wasn't a particularly big room, but I could definitely put in three tables for the boys to sit at, an armchair for casual reading and potential free time, a bookshelf for supplies, and still have a little corner to set up dedicated teacher space. The only things I was missing were a school staff badge and a set of comically jangle-y keys. 

This was it. I did it. I could already tell that this was going to be everything I wanted.