Becoming friends with Sua proved to be quite easy. She readily accepted my friend request on Insta. "Oh, if it weren't for this situation, I would never have gone for this mind suicide!" I thought, clicking on the "follow" button. So, it began...
While sitting on Instagram and responding to her mundane messages, I decided to check her list of friends. Yes, the girl turned out to be popular! Apparently, she had already spoiled life for many. Not surprising, as most of her friends were students from our college. She had quite an influence. Scrolling through the friends... Wendy... Irine... Wheein... And... Stop! I quickly scrolled up. "What is she doing among them?" My eyes widened. I scrutinized the username – maybe I'm mistaken?! No, everything is vividly clear: this name is so ingrained in my brain that it would be silly not to recognize it. Kim Jiu. I clicked on her profile with a trembling hand. Now I found myself on her page... suddenly it felt uncomfortable, as if I entered a forbidden zone. I quickly glanced at the basic information. Date of Birth: May 17. Age: 31 years. Status: In relationship. The last line sparked a slight hint of jealousy. "Well, what did you expect! Do you think such a lady would live alone? Daydreaming," the voice inside me said sarcastically.
It was already 00:01 on the clock, and I, like a seasoned addict, stared at the photograph. I thought if I took my eyes off her face for even a moment, an unbearable withdrawal would begin. I traced her hair, lips, neck with the tip of my finger... The phone probably went crazy from my caress... how passionate. Taking a deep breath and saving the photo, I finally turned off this robot-friend and lay down in bed, immediately sinking into much-needed sleep.
"So, how's the progress in friendship?" Siyeon asked me as we changed for PE.
"A little more, and I'll feel nauseous. Can you imagine, she's in her friends!
"Stop! Who is she? Whose friend?" Siyeon seemed confused.
Taking a deep breath, I sat on the bench:
"Miss Jiu is in Sua's friends. How is that even possible?"
"What's wrong with that? I see it bothers you? Hmm, are you jealous?"
"She's in a relationship," I said quietly, taking my sneakers and heading to the gym.
"Stop torturing yourself, you're doing the third set of push-ups... already 30 times. Stop it already!" Gahyeon pushed me sharply onto the mat," What's going on?!"
Sitting on the mat and leaning against the wall, I closed my eyes and regulated my breathing:
"Everything's fine!"
"Yeah, I can see," Gahyeon sat next to me,"Maybe you want to talk about it?"
"I told you, everything's fine! Leave me alone!"
Getting up from the mat, I headed to the water cooler. I looked like a small but angry imp. After drinking two glasses of water, I, like a football player, lifted my T-shirt slightly to wipe myself... Suddenly, I jerked from someone's cold hands. Maybe they were warm, but my body was burning so much that their touch felt cold. Looking into the mirror in front of me, I saw Miss Jiu, standing behind me and, for some reason, hugging me. Feeling my discomfort, she slowly lowered her hands, simultaneously pulling my T-shirt down. Stumbling, she said:
"Haven't forgotten that you owe me some work?"
I hesitated, the discomfort still lingering, but managed to respond, "No, I haven't forgotten."
Without turning around, I kept looking in the mirror, as if turning would make her disappear.
The gym, usually a place for physical exertion and sweat, became an arena for unspoken emotions. It was as if the boundaries of our roles as teacher and student had blurred, and we found ourselves in a moment suspended in time.
I felt a mixture of confusion and curiosity about her actions. Why did she choose this moment to remind me of unfinished tasks? Was there a hidden message in her touch and the way she looked at me?
"It's in my locker, let's go, and I'll give it to you."
We entered the locker room; the whole class was still in PE, and we were alone. She sat on the bench while I searched for the notebook.
"Here. Take it," I handed her the notebook, looking her in the eyes.
She smiled and said: "I'll check it for tomorrow, for sure."
Unable to hold her gaze any longer, I turned away, pretending to focus on rearranging my gym bag. Miss Jiu, too, seemed to break the tension by taking a step back. The air returned to normal, but the atmosphere in the gym had shifted.
She was already heading to the exit, and I was starting to relax, but suddenly turning back, she said:
"I'm organizing a group for a trip to the exotic butterfly exhibition... and I need four more people; maybe you and the girls would agree to go... You seem quiet, and I think there won't be any problems with your behavior. Right?.."
Smiling, I approached her: "We agree. When do we leave?"
"Just like that... Have you already decided for them?" She said with a smile.
"Decided... yes..."realizing what I said, I stumbled.
"Then tomorrow at 9 am at the school entrance," she quickly muttered and almost ran out of the locker room.
"Well, she's a miracle! Wait, she forgot the notebook! Well, exactly a miracle! taking the notebook from the bench, I was already going to catch up with her... And I caught up. At the turn, we collided. " She'll think I have eyes in the wrong place!".
From surprise, she let out a muffled scream and again wrapped her arms around my waist.
Looking at her neck, then at her lips, and then already at her eyes, I said in someone else's voice:
"What about the notebook?"
"Oh... I'm so inattentive, got carried away with this trip."
"Oh... how beautiful she is..." I blushed.
In the midst of the awkwardness, I blurted out, "So, butterflies, huh? Hope they're not as confusing as this encounter!"
We shared a laugh, breaking the tension. As she headed to her office, she turned around with a playful grin, "Who knows, maybe the butterflies will be easier to handle than us!"
We both burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the quiet school courtyard. It was a moment of shared vulnerability, breaking down any remaining barriers between us.
"Where are we looking?!" All at once, my girls pounced on me and started messing with my hair.
"Haha, okay, okay!" I tried to fend them off as best as I could. Honestly!
"So, what were you up to? Spill it!" Dami crossed her arms over her chest.
"Nothing..." I said with an idiotic smile, "By the way, do you guys like butterflies?"
"What butterflies?!" Siyeon asked, confused.
"Which ones, which ones... exotic ones!" I said, slowly backing away. The girls were already preparing to attack. "It's not me! It's all Miss Jiu!"
After my words, the three of them started chasing me!
Well, who knew they weren't interested in butterflies?!
As we laughed and teased each other about the butterfly trip, I couldn't help but feel a spark of excitement. The thought of seeing Miss Jiu the next day, even if it was just for the butterflies, made me look forward to the new adventure that awaited us. Little did I know, this exotic butterfly exhibition was about to take us on a journey filled with unexpected surprises and perhaps even more awkward encounters.
"Where are you going? It's a day off today," my grandma looked at me with confusion.
"We're going with Miss Jiu to a butterfly exhibition," I said, packing my backpack.
"Since when did you become interested in butterflies?
"As soon as I met her..." I could only smile in response.
"Since I decided that I'll be taking Biology...
"You decided to take Biology?" Her eyes widened in surprise.
"It's not definite yet, but I'm considering it," I shrugged, grabbed my backpack, hugged my grandma, and left the apartment.
I found myself at the school entrance with the girls, all of us wondering what the day had in store for us. Miss Jiu, punctual as always, appeared with an excited gleam in her eyes.
The school bus was already waiting at the school entrance, and Miss Jiu was trying to call someone.
"Hello," I whispered as quietly as possible not to startle her.
"I'm glad you decided to join. I think you'll enjoy the exhibition." Her words were accompanied by a warmth that added to the allure of the adventure.
She nodded and pointed to the bus. I nodded and entered. But here's the surprise! My "friend" Sua was sitting there with happiness in her eyes, waving at me. I had to force a wide smile and pretend that I was thrilled to see her.
"Hi! Are you going too? This is just wonderful! Sit with me!" She said joyfully, almost jumping. Well, darn.
"Uh... Hi. Well, what a meeting! Okay, I'll sit with you..."
Sitting in the seat, I immediately regretted that I came. "Oh God... this journey will be unforgettable," you all understood that this is sarcasm, right?! Waving to my friends and sighing heavily, I plugged in my headphones - music always calmed me. Finally, Miss Jiu entered the bus, and when she counted us, we set off... towards the butterflies. Surprisingly, Sua was oddly quiet, although who would want to talk to a neighbor with music in their ears?! It would be like talking to a wall, although... I'd prefer that. My friends sat in front of me, and Siyeon was lucky to sit with Miss Jiu. They were facing me, so from time to time, Siyeon and I exchanged glances. Her face clearly showed that something was bothering her. Turning up the music, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
"Yoohyeon, get up! Get up! We've arrived!" Sua clapped her hands and shouted.
"Oh God... I hear you, I hear you!" taking off my headphones, I heard my friends laughing.
Friends, huh! They left me to the mercy of fate - and they're enjoying it!
Looking out the window, I saw a huge building resembling a botanical garden. It was adorned with artificial vines and some creeping grass. Funny...
"Are we in the zoo?" Dami smirked.
"No, Dami, this is an exotic garden," Miss Jiu said with a smile," So, everyone one by one, exit the bus slowly and line up in front of this building!
When we finally got off the bus, and I managed to get rid of Sua's presence, life again seemed to me painted in bright and quite pleasant colors.
"Hope you didn't get bored in the company of your new friend?" Siyeon said sarcastically, for which she was rewarded with a light blow of a portfolio on her head. I shouldn't be spewing nonsense here! Not funny.
"It was unforgettable! And you? Didn't you get bored in the company of our lovely lady?" Well, what? Now it's your turn to catch my attack!
"Oh come on! I gave you all sorts of signals! You are zero attention..."
"The hint is understood. When we go back, we'll change places," I said cunningly.
"Hey... I didn't mean that! Yoohyeon, wait!" no matter how she tried to persuade me, nothing came of it, and she just had to accept it.
"It's cute here! "said Gahyeon. "Yes, really cute! The building looked more like a zoo, only without animals. Butterfly paintings were hung everywhere: big, small, and all sorts... While we were examining these unseen canvases, a tour guide approached us.
"Hello, my name is Harin; today, I will show you our exotic garden. Now listen to the rules of behavior in our establishment... "She looks very attractive... and articulate. But she's married! Damn, as always, no luck!"I looked around,"Where's miss Jiu?" Waking up, I began to look for her with my eyes. And what I saw completely drove me crazy. She stood in the company of Sua behind everyone, and that Sua was sweetly chirping something in her ear. I liked this building and the exhibits so much; otherwise, I would have destroyed everything here. I continued to look at them with jealous, angry eyes and met the kind, enticing eyes of the teacher. Time immediately froze, and everything around also... People stood still, and butterflies, on the contrary, came to life and burst out of the glass pictures.
"Hey? Wake up," Gahyeon brought me back to reality. As always, right on time, "How long are you going to stare at each other?" she smiled.
"Okay, okay. I'm with you again," smiling, I began to listen to the tour guide.
After explaining the rules of behavior, Harin led us through the building, telling us about it. Strangely enough, I became very interested, and I was distracted from my destructive thoughts for a while. Having inspected the entire room, the tour guide announced:
"And now - the most interesting part. We have five rooms where the most expensive and beautiful exhibits from different countries and cities are located. Now each of you will find a partner and enter any of the five rooms. Don't worry, everyone will see everything!"
Everyone immediately became busy and lined up in pairs to enter the rooms. To avoid crowding, I moved aside and stared at one of the paintings. After studying it and laughing at the title, I turned around to pair up with one of the girls, but they miraculously disappeared. Even Sua, she was gone! "Great..."
"Why aren't you going to see?" Miss Jiu, who approached me, asked quietly.
"Well, there's no partner, the girls have already run away... "I sighed.
"Come with me," she took me by the hand and led me into one of the rooms.
"Just keep yourself in check, no sudden movements..." I restrained myself, "She just took you by the hand... God, how warm and tender her hands are..."
When we entered the room, it was oddly dark, a slow, exotic melody played softly. The exhibits themselves were illuminated, but why was it so dark?..
"Now I understand why they divided us into pairs..." I said, carefully bypassing the exhibits.
"Why?" the teacher asked, smiling.
"Well, just imagine... such a crowd rushing into such darkness... nothing will be left of these butterflies for sure." Her quiet laughter was like melodic music in my ears. We were still holding hands, and it didn't bother us at all.
"What were you talking about so nicely with Sua?" I said, regretting that I said it, very much so... She laughed again gently:
"Are you jealous?" Well, that was something I definitely didn't expect from her. Well, what the hell, let's play...
"What if I am jealous?" I stopped with her. With a light smile, she looked into my eyes and whispered quietly, as if afraid to disturb the unbearable silence here:
"She was just telling me fascinatingly about her first visit to the reptile zoo. Satisfied?"
"It's truly fascinating," we both laughed, and she nestled her face on my shoulder, continuing to laugh.
"Miss Jiu..."
Well, of course, at the most interesting and mysterious moment, the lights come on! The tour guide entered the room:
"Oooh... I see you liked everything! How cheerful and satisfied you are." Her voice seemed too ringing and deafening...
"Well, yeah, we're satisfied..." I said quietly. Miss Jiu could hardly hold back her laughter.
"Well, now we'll check how attentively you were looking. Name one exhibit you liked the most in this room. "Is she kidding? What exhibits! My only living exhibits was miss Jiu... I hope at least she was looking," feverish thoughts in my head.
" Well miss Jiu, help us..." I whispered to her, and she blushed and was embarrassed. I am always amazed at the wit of this woman! How easily she amazed this tour guide with her speech! Right now, she should run for president! Finally, leaving this room, I took a deep breath. It was not only dark in there but also stuffy, like in a sauna.
"Did you really look at the exhibits?" I gave her a skeptical look.
"No, but I know Biology well," she said and walked past, bumping into my shoulder, and I watched her for a long time...
***
After we had thoroughly enjoyed our time with the girls at this venue, we headed to the bus, where half of the kids were eagerly awaiting the return home.
"You promised. Remember?" I asked Siyeon.
"I didn't promise anything! But for you... and for the sake of our bet," after these words, a shiver ran through me. After all, how did I agree to this? Well, nothing, the deadline had already passed, and it seemed that Siyeon would definitely lose if nothing happened.
Siyeon went to her seat and sat with Sua. She immediately started telling her something.
"Here you go!" I said to Siyeon, throwing her headphones. I felt sorry for her, but with this nonsensical music, she wouldn't have to listen to it.
When the last students got on the bus, Miss Jiu counted us and sat next to me. It was already 4:00 PM, and the exhausted, hungry passengers of the bus quickly fell asleep. Except for me and miss Jiu.
Turning her head to me, she said, "Rest, you're probably tired."
"No, just a little bit... And you?"
"I, too, just a little bit."
Holding my breath, we both just sat and looked at each other, but she quickly averted her gaze and turned away from me to the window.
Closing my eyes, I tried to calm down and finally relaxed, succumbing to sleep...
When the bus stopped, it was already completely dark. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was lying on her lap, and her hand embraced me like a seatbelt. Slowly, all the kids began to wake up, and I felt Miss Jiu move.
"All right, everyone quietly get off the bus and go home. Don't let me down! See you all on Monday!"
Everyone started getting off the bus and dispersing. I felt Siyeon give something to Miss Jiu, and she left with the girls. We were left alone. An empty bus and just us. Her whisper reached my ears.
"Yoohyeon... we've arrived," cautiously, afraid to scare me away, she whispered.
Slowly getting up from her lap, I looked at her, "It seems I fell asleep..."
"You said you weren't tired... liar!"
"Who's the liar, me? You probably don't know me well, miss," approaching her face, I said.
"Seriously? Maybe I should take care of your re-education..." She breathed heavily. Everything led to this. The atmosphere smelled of a kiss...
As I approached her in the dimly lit bus, a switch caught my eye behind her. With a swift movement, I toggled it, plunging us into instant darkness. In that obscure space, her eyes shimmered like fireflies, casting an ethereal glow that transformed the ordinary bus into an extraordinary realm.
As we navigated the abyss of shadows, the air between us thickened, and the palpable tension escalated. Gasping for air, the atmosphere became charged with anticipation, and the few centimeters that separated us felt like an unspoken agreement, a silent acknowledgment of boundaries yet to be defined.
Her eyes, luminous in the darkness, spoke volumes, weaving a tale of desire and restraint. The soft radiance highlighted the contours of her face, creating a silhouette that etched itself into the canvas of that shared moment suspended in time.
The chasm of silence and the heavy breathing underscored the delicate dance between us. However, the dance of desire and restraint did not culminate in a kiss; instead, it became a moment frozen in time—an acknowledgment of the unspoken and the boundaries that held firm against the tide of temptation.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a loud ringtone, jolting us back to reality. We instinctively moved away from each other, the spell of darkness broken. She closed her eyes briefly, a moment of internal reflection, before retrieving her phone from her bag. With a hoarse voice, she answered, "Yes, dear."
As she turned away to face the window, her expression turned somber as she listened to the voice on the phone. It was clear that the conversation was not bringing her joy.
"Okay, I'll be right there," she replied, her tone carrying a sense of obligation. After placing the phone back in her bag, she turned to me, a look of guilt etched on her face. I sat in silence, my gaze fixed on the floor.
"Sorry... I have to go," she said softly, and with those words, a heaviness settled between us.
As she attempted to pass by me, I suddenly stood up, blocking her way. "I hope you won't have any problems because of me?" I asked, the concern evident in my voice.
"No..." she hesitated, her eyes betraying a mix of emotions.
"I'll see you off," I insisted, an unspoken tension lingering in the air.
"Yoohyeon, there's no need. My partner is waiting for me behind the school. Until we meet again!" she explained, breaking free from my blockade and hastily exiting the bus.
"Damn!" I muttered, frustration boiling within me. In a moment of frustration, I struck the door with my fist before sinking back into my seat. The bus driver, seemingly oblivious to the emotional turmoil inside, entered with a cheerful smile.
"Where to, miss?" he asked, unaware of the emotional storm that had just unfolded.
"At least someone is happy," I thought, closing my eyes and whispering, "To the universe." The words escaped my lips like a plea, a release of the complex emotions that lingered in the air. The bus started moving, carrying me away from that momentary encounter that had left a trail of questions and unspoken truths.
The rhythmic hum of the bus engine accompanied my thoughts as we moved through the city. The incident with Miss Jiu lingered in my mind, leaving me with a swirl of emotions that were difficult to untangle.
I couldn't help but replay the encounter in my head, questioning the nature of our connection and the unexpected twists that had unfolded. The guilt in Miss Jiu's eyes, the hasty departure, and the mention of her man created a complex tapestry of emotions that left me grappling with an unspoken truth.
Lost in contemplation, I gazed out of the window at the passing scenery. The city lights flickered like distant stars, a stark contrast to the inner turmoil I felt. The bus journey became a metaphorical voyage through the unknown, mirroring the uncertainty that now colored my perception of our relationship.
The bus pulled to a stop, and as the doors opened, I reluctantly stepped out into the cool evening air. The city stretched out before me, a labyrinth of possibilities and unanswered questions.
With each step, I couldn't shake the feeling that the encounter with Miss Jiu had left an indelible mark, altering the course of our connection in ways I couldn't fully comprehend. The unspoken tension, the shared moments of vulnerability.
As I walked away from the bus stop, I couldn't help but wonder about the mysteries that lay beneath the surface of our interactions. The universe, it seemed, held its secrets close, revealing them in unexpected moments that left us questioning the nature of connection and the complexities of the human heart.
With a deep breath, I continued walking into the cityscape, carrying the weight of unspoken truths and the echoes of a fleeting encounter. The night held its secrets, and as I navigated the urban labyrinth, I couldn't escape the feeling that this journey had only just begun.
Hello, I hope you liked this chapter, have a great week.
Spoiler for the next chapter:
"I can't... " she whispered.
I couldn't say anything in response; it was too difficult to do. The lips seemed unattainable, and speech was completely forgotten. Slowly, overcoming myself, I let her go... Her eyes were filled with tears. Clean drops, along with the rain, rolled down and disappeared without a trace.