My Delinquent Teacher: BOOK 3 || Jeon Jungkook [COMPLETED]

Chapter 7

KNOCK KNOCK

"Miss Lee, please come out.", said Taeho knocking on the bathroom door. I glanced at the door and sighed. Turning the sink nozzle to the right, cold water ran. I stared at my reflection in the mirror before splashing my face. Taeho knocked again. "Miss Lee. Can we talk?" Talk about what exactly? That the entire auditorium just witnessed me throw up midway the presentation?

I suddenly remembered the nauseous feeling building up in my gut after my introduction. Taeho crossed his legs and began writing something down in his pretentious brown notepad. My anxiety grew every time I caught him noting my mistakes. Get a grip, I thought. I was halfway through but the sudden dryness in my throat prevented me from moving on. I looked down at my notes for reference but the sudden jut of my head triggered a gag.

My lunch was coming and I wasn't prepared. No one was. I hurriedly cupped my mouth and managed to hold it back the first time. "Is everything alright?", asked Taeho setting his pen down. With a hand still cupping my mouth, I nodded. I held my pointer finger up and took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves down.

I slowly lowered my hand but I gagged once more, and everything that followed was a blur. I ran out the auditorium before everyone, and even I, understood what had just happened. I found the nearest one person bathroom and locked myself in, crying until I ran out of tears. Not only was I humiliated but I failed to prove that I had enough confidence to be proud of my work and what I had to offer. More importantly how pathetic I looked in front of my professor.

The door knob to the bathroom suddenly clicked and Taeho slowly opened the door. Just the person I wanted to see... He walked up to my crouched body and put both hands in his pocket. "Are you alright?", he said with little to no emotion. I avoided eye contact and didn't reply. "You know sitting here and crying isn't going to make the situation better. I thought you were stronger."

His statement pissed me off and I looked up out of anger. "You must really be enjoying this, huh?" Taeho furrowed his eyebrows and squatted down. His piercing gaze cut right through my front. "I'm offended you'd assume something like that. You really think I'd go as far to insult you after what just happened? I may be harsh but a student's condition still matters." He stood up and held a hand out to me. "Now get up. Crying is pathetic."

I reluctantly reached for his hand. He pulled me up and stared down at me. "Wipe your tears. It's not a good look." I caught a glimpse of my appearance in the mirror and internally cringed. Today's just not your day, Somin. I unconsciously smiled at how ridiculous my runny mascara and messy hair looked.

"I've looked worse.", I said running a hand through my hair. Taeho glanced at the mirror and back at me. "Hard to imagine how that would look...", he said pulling a paper towel out from the dispenser. I watched as he ran it under the sink water and held it out to me. "...Considering you look pretty shit already.", he continued.

Did my professor just say I looked like shit to my face? I stared at Taeho in awe. "I don't need that stupid paper towel. Water won't fix this mess anyways." Taeho unknowingly took a step forward. "Really?", he said lifting up his hand.

I flinched as the cold paper towel suddenly touched my skin. He gently ran it under my eyes and large patches of black were visible. "Looks like the water did its job.", he said waving the paper towel in the air. The distance between us was minimal considering he leaned closer to wipe my running mascara. Noticing how close we were, Taeho quickly stepped back.

He tossed the paper towel in the nearby trashcan and adjusted his dress shirt. "I... apologize. That was inappropriate of me." He cleared his throat and continued. "I'll... uh, give you time to compose yourself. Just come back to the auditorium when you're ready."
"I...don't think I'll be able to present."
"Those are the words of a quitter. I thought you were going to prove me wrong?"
"But it's unfair for you to give me another chance. I already blew it."
"I'll be waiting in the auditorium. It's up to you if you want to show up or not."

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I reluctantly pushed the auditorium door open. No one was in sight except Taeho, typing away on his laptop. He was too preoccupied with whatever he was doing to notice my presence. I lightly knocked on the wooden desk and he looked up, pulling out his earbuds. "Oh. How long have you been standing there?"

He took his glasses off and set them next to that same pretentious brown notepad. "Are you ready to resume the presentation?", he asked. I scoped the auditorium in search of students. "...Shouldn't I at least have an audience?"

Taeho stood up and stretched. "You do. It's me.", he said grabbing his notepad and laptop. He moved the podium to the front and sat in one of the seats across from me. "I don't mean to offend, but the sole reason I felt nauseous was because of you. How do you expect me to do this while you stare at me like that?"

"Miss Lee, I need you to man up. Second chances don't come by often." I took a deep breath. He's right... "...Fine. I'll finish this presentation." For real this time. I flipped through where I left off in my notecards and cleared my throat.

Though my nausea came back, I managed to persevere. I blocked out Taeho's intimidating gaze and finished my presentation with more confidence. "Thank you.", I said disconnecting from the projector. Taeho uncrossed his legs and finished jotting down something in the notepad. "Decent presentation.", he said closing his laptop. "D+."

"...D+?" That's almost an F... "A-Are you sure?", I asked in disbelief. Taeho nodded in reply. "Your presentation had too much unneeded information. Keep things short and straight to the point. Also, engage the audience a bit. Your presenting lacked a lot of character which is the main reason you missed points."

Although I was unhappy with the outcome, Taeho still gave me a second chance to redeem myself. Just be grateful he didn't fail you. "I understand.", I said bowing. "Thanks for the opportunity."

Taeho tucked the laptop under his pit and walked up to me. "There was no reason you deserved a D+, but it's apparent this assignment messed with your psyche." I stopped packing my things and looked up. "I'm just not used to a lack of rules. Plus your teaching style is... questionable..."
"There's always room for improvement on my part. After all, its only been a few years I've been a teacher. But I wish you'd stop thinking of me as a monster. You have a lot of potential, Miss Lee, and I don't want to be the person standing in your way."
"I... I don't think you're a monst-"
"See you next class, Miss Lee."
"I- ...Okay..."