Come Be My Teacher

3

"i think my mom's dead."

daphne froze and looked at the boy who seemed completely unfazed by what he had just said.

"w-what color is your dad's shirt, ryuki?" she asked the boy, swiftly changing the topic.

"pink. my appa really likes pink." ryuki noted.

"is your dad tall or short?" she asked the boy.

"there isn't anything like a short man, miss summers. my appa is tall." the boy stated.

"who told you that? there are short men." daphne said, looking appalled and confused at the same time.

"my appa said that if he's short, he is not a man."

"your appa is mean." she muttered so that the boy wouldn't hear her.

the boy looked up at the woman, "miss summers?"

"yes, ryuki."

"i heard that." he said.

"don't tell your appa. it's our secret." daphne said to the little boy who nodded and smiled.

"where is this dude-"

"hey you! i'm speaking to you, the kidnapper!" a man shouted as he flailed his arms in the air behind daphne, ryuki and taeyang.

"miss summers, that sounds like my appa." ryuki pointed out. the two of them turned around and watched as a man in a pink shirt came running towards them.

"let go of my child or i'll call 911!" the man shouted, panting hysterically.

"definitely my appa." ryuki whispered. the two stood on the spot while the dog panted and watched the scene unfold before it.

"what are you doing with my child!" the man shouted as he stood in front of daphne and pulled his child towards him. daphne frowned and looked back to ryuki who was giggling at his father's behavior.

"what is this? ice cream! why did you give him ice cream!" he shouted. as far as he was concerned, the ice cream was poisoned.

"he looked like he could use something sweet." daphne replied emotionlessly, almost sounding like daria.

"no! he's got diabetes!" he shouted and daphne frowned, knowing it was a lie.

"no he doesn't." she replied.

"how would you know? oh yeah, you're a kidnapper and you've probably been stalking us, waiting for the right moment to take my son!" he shouted.

"what-"

"it's because i'm rich, isn't it? you wanted my money?" he accused.

"i don't even know you."

"lies!"

"who are you?"

"i'm kim seokjin, son of-"

"that's enough."

"appa, she's my teacher, miss summers." ryuki spoke up.

"what?" seokjin said, hoping he heard wrong.

"miss summers. the teacher i told you about, remember?" ryuki asked, looking at his father, who visibly paled.

daphne rose one eyebrow and looked at the man who's face paled and then went pink from embarrassment.

"oh the pretty one?" the guy asked, looking down at his son whose eyebrows tugged together.

"i never said she was pretty, appa. i said she's smart." ryuki replied looking at his father whose cheeks were now pink in embarrassment.

"anyways, i apologize fo the-"

"mhmm. you should learn to control your tongue, sir. in fact, i should sue you for defamation of character." she stated, smirking at the man.

"appa, you should say sorry to her again. miss summers found me crying and rescued me." ryuki said to his father. seokjin closed his eyes and mentally put his ego aside, preparing to do the most degrading thing ever.

apologize to a commoner.

"miss-"

"call me daphne."

"daphne, i apologize for my behavior. i shouldn't have accused you without proof." he said looking at the grass and played with his long fingers.

"and?" ryuki asked his father, prompting him to say more.

"and, thank you for staying with my son."

"my pleasure." daphne replied and she took a careful look at the tall man.

"you're really handsome when you're being polite." she commented, smirking at him.

"and you're really pretty when you're not stealing kids." he replied, also smirking.

daphne smiled at his comeback and was about to reply when she heard her dog whimpering.

"taeyang, are you hungry? don't worry mama will get you home and you can eat as much as you want!" daphne told her dog whose tail was wagging in excitement.

"you named your dog 'taeyang'?" he said.

"your mom named you seokjin?" she retaliated.

he rolled his eyes and ignored her comment.

"well, ryuki and i need to get going. it was nice meeting you...daphne." seokjin said to the woman. she looked up at him and smiled before crouching next to ryuki.

"i have to go now, ryuki, but make sure you do the homework and if you do it well you might get three juice boxes!" she whisper-shouted.

"three!? geez, you're the best, miss summers. appa, let's go so that i can do my work!" ryuki shouted, excitedly.

"arasseo. bye, daphne!" seokjin said as he picked his child up and placed him on his shoulders.

"annyeong!" she replied, causing the man to pause.

"you can speak korean?" he asked her.

"yeah. see you around seokjin and try not to lose your child next time." she joked, mocking me.

"ugh!" he shouted, walking away from daphne.

"ugh indeed." she chuckled to herself lowly.