The next day, the students and staff of St. Jihyo’s Presidential Academy wait in their parking lot down their school’s hill. The transportation should be arriving any moment now, Principal Haseul thinks to herself, double checking her Minion-themed clipboard to make sure they’re on schedule.
“Hey,” she hears, and looks up to see that it’s Vivi, walking towards her in a floppy sun hat, looking radiant as ever. “Can I keep you company?” she asks in her soft, soothing voice that Haseul dreams of hearing morning noon and night.
“Of course,” Haseul barely hoarses out. She clears her throat nervously, and Vivi stands next to her.
“Are you excited?” Vivi asks, smiling sweetly.
“To be honest… not really,” Haseul says. “I get seasick. But it’s okay, I came prepared!” Haseul sifts through the contents of her fanny pack and pulls out a pair of enormous noise-cancelling headphones.
“...What?”
“It’s just, it’s… the sound of the ocean,” Haseul says, putting the gigantic headphones over her ears. “I CAN’T HEAR A THING!” she yells, and Vivi laughs in response.
The art teacher taps the side of the headphones to get Haseul to take them off. “Can I tell you a secret?” Vivi whispers.
“Secret secrets are no fun. Secret secrets, hurt someone.” Haseul omens randomly.
“What?”
“Nothing. Yes of course you can always tell me a secret,” Haseul nervously laughs like the dork she is.
“I don’t really know the rest of the teachers chaperoning here on a conversational basis,” Vivi says, looking around the crowded parking lot. “Since it’s my first year here.”
Haseul can sense her nervousness - she remembers her first year, how intimidated she felt. “You can be my buddy for this one,” she reassures with a kind smile.
Vivi laughs. “Just this one?”
“As many as you want,” Haseul says, turning her head to hold eye contact with Vivi, and that look alone is enough to throw Haseul for a loop for the rest of the day.
“Why don’t I give you my number?” Vivi asks, and Haseul’s heart races in her chest, mouth instantly going dry.
“I- uh,” This is the moment Haseul has been waiting for, but she didn’t know it would come this soon!
“In case we lose each other later,” Vivi clarifies, and Haseul sinks in realization, praying hard that Vivi doesn’t notice how red her face had become.
“Haha, right! HAH! My number is… Oh God what’s my number again…” Haseul can’t think straight when Vivi is staring at her likethat , with her patient smile. “Haha okay… 9, 1, 1, NO that’s… haha that’s not it.”
The art teacher is actually laughing at her lousy attempt at humor, and Haseul has no idea how this woman seems to find her funny when no one else on the planet does. (Besides Yeojin, but that’s always laughing at her.) Haseul manages to recall her digits eventually, and Vivi registers them as a contact while Irene approaches them from the other end of the lot. The PTA president is donning all black and skinny sunglasses.
