NXT 2 U [Minsung AU]

-6- Entrance

~POV Jisung~

Monday, November 2.

It was 8 a.m to my watch when I arrived in front of Seoul SKZ high school's huge wrought-iron gate, a little more than 20 minutes walk from my flat in Hongdae district. As I walked as fast as I could not to be late, a light breeze swirled the dead leaves just above the courtyard ground, to the great displeasure of the gardener I could see in the distance, who sighed more than he swept, between two stretching.

The sky was a cloudless blue and the rays flooding the place predicted a warm and sunny day. It wasn't much, but I was relieved because I couldn't think of anything more depressing than a first day of work under the gray or rain. Even though I was sensitive to heat, I much preferred the good weather.

In the sunshine, worries seemed far away and I felt I could overcome everything, including the stress of a first job, in a new city, with new colleagues and for now, a first class to give. I was going to replace a literature teacher on maternity leave. I had everything to learn here and I really wanted to do my best. The high school was nothing fancy, but was welcoming and had a quite good reputation. So, I hoped to integrate quickly.

When I arrived in front of 3C-3 classroom, located on the west wing, 3rd floor of the building after a sprint down the stairs, I noticed the headmaster was in the middle of a speech. As I waited him to signal me to come in, I caught my breath by taking a look at my reflection in my pocket mirror, to not give a poor first impression. Immediately, my conversation with my neighbour last evening came to mind. Did I at least look like a teacher? Now, I was even more stressed.

Thinking back to how our conversation had ended, I sighed. Maybe I had gone too far asking him all those questions, but when I found out how old he was, I couldn't help it. Maybe it was because of my job, but I was really worried about him. Unfortunately, instead of win his trust, I had irritated him. He was gone and the mood between us had become heavy and awkward again. What if now I made the same mistakes with the students?

As I tried to calm down and tidy up a rebellious hair strand, the headmaster's voice brought me back to reality. Spotting his signal, I crossed the classroom threshold and stood next to him. What a mistake... Regret overwhelmed me the second the scent of his cheap Cologne reached my nostrils. Ugh... What had he sprayed himself with to have that old disinfectant smell?!

Trying to hide my disgust behind an enchanted smile, I realized the around twenty students were scanning me from head to toe with various facial expressions, some of which seemed downright curious. Most of the girls, who were in the front row, with huge smiles and odd little stars in their eyes. Some of the boys had the same starry eyes besides... Strange. As for the others, they looked at me, either like I were a coat rack, or with a superior look I didn't really like.

It was the class I was going to be the headroom teacher. So, I was hoping we would get along. But while I was trying to memorize their faces, my attention was suddenly caught by a student standing at the classroom back, near a window, whose gaze on me expressed nothing similar to the others. 

He seemed impassive, but didn't take his eyes off me. I recognised him instantly and was speechless, as if I had just been slapped in the face, unable to believe what was happening.