unmasking mr. park

01

J I M I N

Jimin let out a forced smile at the student who just walked in, his hand signalled her to take a seat while he dismissed the fact that she is fifteen minutes late. It is the midterm of their 4th year in highschool and he is trying to be very lenient about such things.

Well, only to her. She is the top student but also the school director's only daughter. Jimin believes his student is mature enough to not tattle on her faculties, but he also thinks her punctuality is not a declining factor for her because she is not just smart but also well behaved.

He took a glance at her and resisted a scoff when he saw her eyes roll.

Park Jimin tried to be patient for the whole prelims, the time he started working in this school. She may not be interested in socializing, thinking maybe the director's daughter isn't too keen to favor her teachers.

But what gyrates his nerves were when she  never spoke to him at least once, her answers to his academical questions were either a nod or she writes it. It baffled him to no end while he sees her talking to others normally but she seems to avoid any possible situation where she has to speak to him. 

Jimin discarded the idea of him being hated on a rather personal level, he wasn't very keen either to socialize with students personally.  He didn't get any chance to ask why anyway and left it that way.

"I'll be returning your exam papers," Jimin smiled warmly at his students' loud dejected complains, he once hated the idea of receiving marked papers after exams. But his eyes went to the only calm person in his class, looking at him with haughtiness. As if delaying the distribution is a crime. 'What an impatient person.'

He let out a warm smile but quickly felt embarrassed when she looked away, Jimin felt his temper flaring up a bit at the cold girl's action.

'Park Chaeyoung, what's your problem?'

Jimin always had a reputation.

He is understanding and approachable, his youthful good looks had always made him even more popular. Jimin reveled on that reputation, it may seem like it's making his ego a bit bigger but he takes pride in his work. He sees the way his students participate on his lectures and the way they confide to him as a sign he is doing a good job. 

He won't admit it, but he feels a small tinge of anger whenever the cold director's daughter Park Chaeyoung gives him a cold shoulder.

When he saw the name on the next person's test paper, he heaved a deep breath. After calling her name and typing her score on his laptop, he cleared his throat.

"Park, you got the highest score again." He's not surprised. His eyes diverted from the paper onto the raven haired girl walking towards him. She managed a small nod while she received it. "...congrats." Jimin added, still hoping he could talk to her like the way he does with his other students.

Her piercing eyes met his and it was a sight to behold for Park Jimin. Her eyes are the warmest brown, completely opposite of the very cold glare she's giving him.

Then he realized, he had been holding onto her paper tightly. Preventing her from taking it. 

Surprised by his actions, Jimin quickly let go. It was so sudden, causing him to bump onto the pile of papers sitting on his table. His student wasn't any different. Chaeyoung must have been holding to it tighter, his sudden lose of grip made her topple down the floor. Her classmates' exam papers littered around her after her not so graceful fall.

Apparently the class was too busy to even notice, while they took the chance to talk to each other. In which Jimin is beyond thankful.

His eyes went wide.

Jimin's student is lying on her back, he mentally sympathized on how painful it must have been. With her skirt dangerously hiking up, he looked elsewhere. Too fast, he knew he wasn't fooling anyone. Before his eyes wandered, he caught a small glimpse of pale skin and was that a mole on her thigh?

Jimin cleared his throat, he leaned down to offer his hand but luck probably  wasn't on his side that time. Not noticing the piece of paper under his shoes, the friction it made with the tiled floor caught him off guard. His leg suddenly slipped over..

As if everything went slow, his legs gave away. Toppling him over, with his whole body falling fast. He braced himself for the impact.

And yet there wasn't any pain. 'How?'

Jimin felt the side of his face on top of something smooth  and soft. With eyes slowly widening, he almost cursed when his student's skirt covered thigh came into view. 

"Shit" he let himself curse, it wasn't the biggest sin he committed for this day anyway.

Park Jimin had always been known to make the wrong moves and he perfectly executed one at the moment.

He didn't mean to turn his head while he tried to desperately get up, and now he has the perfect memory  of Park Chaeyoung's underwear. Another curse came out of his lips but soft hands pushed him off, and a murderous look crossed her features. Jimin couldn't believe what just happened.

Chaeyoung quickly scrambled to her feet while the class started to wonder what's happening, fortunately they were oblivious to that incident.

"Not a word," her mouth didn't move, but he heard what she said. Rather clearly, is she a ventriloquist? She glared at him while she discreetly tried to fix her skirt. Jimin returned her glare, although slightly feeling guilty about what happened.

"There's nothing to tell." he reached for one of the scattered paper and got up. He glanced at his other students and felt relieved when they went back to chatting with each other. It was a good thing they fell behind his desk, heaven knows what would happen if someone saw.

Jimin's lips lifted when her eyes rolled upwards, but when she passed him,

"I could tell you have a lot to say, sir." she whispered. "your eyes were enough to give you away."

Jimin let out a smile, "Just be careful, Miss Park." 

You wouldn't want what could have happened next if no one's around.

°°°

Thank you, for reading.
POSTED: 29 March 2018

REVISED: 26 JULY 2019 (I changed a lot.)