Love You Teacher

Chapter 1. 

Six months ago.

The school morning was peaceful and serene. Students arrived at school in a lovely manner; some chatted animatedly, others sat playing under trees, and others danced to popular TikTok songs in the hallway. A small, shy-looking boy named Bitcoin walked to the front of classroom 2/2, from which loud shouting could be heard. He saw his classmates divided into two groups, standing facing each other in front of the blackboard. 

A large message was written on the blackboard: "How many minutes late will Teacher Pobmek be?"

"I think it'll only take 10 minutes!" the adorable little girl insisted firmly.

"No, I think this time it might even take longer than 15 minutes!" argued Nobel.

"Hey, Nobel, can you learn to respect your teacher? Even though Teacher Pobmek 's teaching isn't fun. But it's not like he’s  late every day."

"Bitcoin, which team are you on?"

"Um... what do I get if I guess correctly?" Bitcoin asked back with a hint of curiosity.

A cute little girl showed off a jar full of candy along with a sign written in children's handwriting that read, "Pool FOR FUN. Gambling is bad." A boy named Bitcoin swallowed hard when he saw this. His classmates waited anxiously to see which side he would choose.

"Okay, let's choose a team."

We're late! We're late! We're late!

The alarm clock on the phone rang repeatedly and annoyingly. Pobmek, who was sleeping in bed, sneezed without realising it, then turned over and continued to sleep peacefully. Suddenly, the phone rang again, but this time it was an incoming call. Pobmek groggily reached for it. The person on the other end spoke immediately in a cheerful voice, one that suggested no one should be awake that early in the morning.

"Hey! Are you awake yet!"

Pobmek just mumbled an "hmm" in response, hung up, then turned over and went back to sleep, completely unfazed. But then a barrage of LINE notifications started popping up. Annoyed, he sat up to check, only to find it was a voice message from his boyfriend. Pobmek pressed play.

"See! I knew it. You were sleeping in, weren't you? I let you sleep in way too late! "Wake up now!!"

Hearing his boyfriend's voice like that, Pobmek immediately jumped up. He hurriedly got dressed, grabbing a light-coloured shirt from the wardrobe. There was a sticky note with a cartoon cloud and a smile drawn on it.

"I checked the weather forecast. It's going to be hot today, so wear light-coloured clothes," his boyfriend's voice still echoed through the phone speaker. He spotted a breakfast box: a chicken sandwich with salad, some fruit, and milk. He quickly grabbed it, shoved it into his bag, pulled out a sandwich, and put it in his mouth.

"You have a geometry class today, don't forget the model!" Pobmek turned to pick up the geometric model placed on the desk in another corner, before walking over to pick up the lollipop with a note attached to the jar.

"The last one... a lollipop... You're the cutest when you smile. Don't forget that. Smile at the children too."

Pobmek was smiling, happy to receive attention from his loved one. He looked at their couple of photos happily.

"But you have to leave the room no later than 7:30, or you'll be late!" Pobmek glanced at his watch again, seeing it was 7:45 AM. His eyes widened before he hurriedly rushed out of the room.

Screech!

An old sedan pulled up to the sidewalk in front of the school gate. Pobmek quickly opened the door and got out, completely forgetting that he'd left his backpack on the back seat. He ran a few steps before stopping abruptly, feeling the emptiness on his shoulders. His hurried expression instantly turned to one of frustration as he awkwardly ran back to retrieve his bag.

In another corner, Jee, the new physical education teacher, a well-built man wearing rimless glasses and a brightly coloured tracksuit, stood guarding the school gate. He appeared agile and full of energy, a stark contrast to his usual lanky self. His eyes were fixed intently on the stopwatch around his neck. When the signal sounded, he turned to the security guard with a fiery smile.

"It's eight o'clock already. Time to close the gate, sir!"

"Wow, you're so precise, new teacher," the security guard said with a wry smile.

The new teacher is so precise. The joke was cheerful and unrestrained.

"First day, I have to be full of energy like this! I'm counting on you, sir!" Having said that, he jogged briskly into the school. The security guard shook his head affectionately, then closed the large iron gate and walked away. 

At that moment, he saw Pobmek running to the school gate. He looked at the closed gate with a feeling of despair, but in his haste, he didn't have time to think. He decided to climb over the large iron gate with difficulty. His neatly ironed shirt scraped against the metal, wrinkling it. After climbing over, he jumped down with an awkward landing, his ankle stinging. His face showed a slight look of distress before he hurried off on his way.

As he darted past Jee, who was about to enter the school building, Jee turned to look. He saw Mek running too fast for Jee to see clearly; all he could see was his back and dishevelled hair. Jee felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen this man in his memories before.

The atmosphere in the Grade 2/2 classroom was a complete contrast to the outside world! The classroom was filled with chaos, and the children's boisterous shouts as they engaged in a gambling game. The sounds of children vying to guess the teacher's time echoed throughout the room. Colourful candies were placed as bets on the desks at the front of the room. The atmosphere was chaotic and showed no sign of calming down. Suddenly, the classroom door was flung open.

"Pant... pant..." Pobmek rushed into the room, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. His face was red, and he looked exhausted. All the children stopped in their tracks, startled. They exchanged glances, quickly erased the message from the whiteboard, and hurried back to their seats. Only Noble cheered loudly, celebrating his victory.

"Yay!!! 15 minutes!!!" Nobel yelled, sweeping up all the candy, but Bitcoin immediately chimed in, "Hey, we won! Teacher Pobmek is late! 16 minutes! Why did Nobel take it all for himself?!"

"It's 15 minutes! Look at the clock!" Nobel argued loudly, finding Cloud standing breathless in front of the door. He tried to understand the situation at hand.

"Wait a minute... Are you guys gambling? That's not good, you know," he said. His voice was calm, but no one listened to him.

"I'm not watching! Because I don't know how to watch!" Bitcoin shouted back, then threw candy at Nobel. Nobel threw candy back, but missed and hit another student instead. Other students then started throwing candy back and forth, hitting more people. The situation escalated. Pobmek tried to stop the children, but no one listened. He yelled loudly.

"You children! Stop! It's time for class!" But his voice was swallowed up in the chaos of the candy war. Pobmek stood there feeling stranded in the middle of a storm. The exhaustion from running to school was replaced by a simmering frustration in his chest. He stood holding his head in frustration when a candy flew and hit him squarely on the forehead. The coldness of the candy made him snap, and the whole class fell silent in shock. Pobmek slowly looked up at the candy that had fallen at his feet; his expression changed. The pent-up emotions exploded violently. He grabbed the candy from the table and started throwing it at the other children.

"You're not going to class, are you?! Then take this!"

In that instant, the roles of teacher and student completely vanished. Pobmek joined in, throwing candy at the children to vent his anger. Everyone was laughing and screaming wildly, making it impossible to tell the children from the adults. Suddenly, Pobmek accidentally threw a candy towards the classroom door, hitting the female principal who was watching the scene unfold.

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze, as if it had been set in motion. Pobmek and the students all looked cheerful. The female principal slowly spat out the candy from her mouth, her face showing utter exasperation—a look Pobmek had never wanted to see in his entire working life.

"Good morning... Director Sodchuen..." That was all Pobmek could say, his face showing his relief. Withered and bloodless.

Pobmek was found sitting in a chair in front of Sodchuen's desk. The brightly coloured outfits look like they've stepped straight out of a cartoon world. Now, Plobmek is playing the role of a seemingly well-behaved teacher, but he still can't stop justifying the situation.

"Today, the kids are using candy to practice counting," Pobmek began. With excuses that sound unbelievable.

"Having tangible objects like candy helps children understand. It's easier now."

Sodchuen leaned back in her chair, resting her chin on her hand, and gazed at Pobmek with a weary expression. She let out a deep sigh.

"Ugh... I'm too lazy to talk to you anymore, Mem... Ugh... You're so..."

"Cute," said Pobmek, giving a wry smile and trying to squeeze in immediately.

"You deserve to be scolded!" Sodchuen retorted instantly, making Pobmek jump in surprise. The smiling face from a moment ago instantly turned gloomy. Seeing Pobmek's expression, she could only shake her head in exasperation.

"But anyway, I didn't call you here to scold you. I just wanted to introduce the new physical education teacher. I wanted to get to know you. I heard they know you."

Sodchuen's words made Pobmek pause. Who knew him?

"Huh? Who is it?" he asked, puzzled. Just then, the door opened, and a well-built man walked in with a bright smile and a joyful expression. He was Jee, the new physical education teacher.

"Hey, Pobmek !!!" Jee shouted his best friend's name loudly, his voice echoing through the room.

"Gosh." Pobmek was stunned for a moment, his previously bewildered expression turning into one of extreme shock.

Director Sodchuen looked at the two of them, switching her gaze back and forth with a slight look of surprise.

"So you really know each other. Then we don't need to introduce ourselves, right?" She turned to ask Jee.

"And how did you two meet?"

Jee walked over to Pobmek and immediately put one arm around his best friend's shoulder. They became so close that Pobmek forced a dry smile to hide his displeasure.

"We live next door to each other. My mother is close to his mother, so the children of that family are also close."

The feeling Pobmek has right now isn't just about being overlooked, but also about the frustrating prospect of having to see this person again...Jeez... That ridiculously perfect guy next door, the one his mom always compares him to, and now they have to work together in a school that seems so much smaller than he expected.

Past images flashed through Pobmek's mind like a movie playing on repeat. From childhood, when he constantly fell off his bike and got scrapes while Jee skillfully did wheelies, to high school, when he rushed to school with his clothes wrinkled, while Jee looked impeccably dressed. 

The most painful memory was when he received a grade of 3, disappointed only to see Jee jumping for joy with his parents, proudly showing off a box of gold medals for his academic achievements. These memories were like scars lingering in his heart, and now Jee had reappeared in his life as the school's new physical education teacher. Based on all the past memories, Pobmek disliked Jee intensely.

"Oh, that's great. You’ve been best friends since childhood. That's good, you can help each other with work." Sodchuen smiled admiringly at both Pobmek and Jee, who seemed very close. Jee smiled and turned to look at Pobmek before speaking in a humble tone.

"Oh, Director... It's Pobmek who needs to help me. I'm new here and have a lot to learn from my new friends." Jee's words made Sodchuen look at Pobmek in surprise. Then he shook his head and chuckled softly.

"Um... I think it might be better if we learned on our own," Pobmek said with a smile, hiding his annoyance. Jee looked confused by Sodchuen's words, but didn't pay much attention before handing Sodchuen his resume. Sodchuen took it and started reading, while Jee secretly tidied up Sodchuen's desk. Both Sodchuen and Pobmek noticed Jee’s behaviour but didn't say anything. Sodchuen scanned Jee’s resume and sincerely admired him.

"Wow, excellent academic performance, outstanding background. You were truly born to be a teacher."

"Not really. I'm just lucky that everything I learn sticks in my head easily. I'm an early bloomer," Jee said, chuckling softly as he met Pobmek’s face, pouting in annoyance at Jee. Suddenly, the school bell rang. Jee quickly excused himself.

"Oh, it's time. Then I'll introduce myself to everyone in every room," Jee turned to Sodchuen, "Goodbye, Director," and then to Pobmek, "See you later, man." With that, he left the room. Pobmek watched Jee leave with a frustrated expression.

"He's so enthusiastic, just like a new teacher should be," Sodchuen said with a smile.

"How many days will this intense energy last?" Pobmek retorted sarcastically.

"Hey, don't tease him. Focus on taking care of yourself first!" Sodchuen turned to face Pobmek with a serious expression. "So, are we going to stay here? Are we going to be teachers?"

"I've told you before, I don't want to be a teacher." Pobmek was found speaking in a tone that clearly showed weariness.

"And they probably think I really want to be the acting director," Sodchuen sighed wearily before looking up at the picture of the real, smiling foreign director on the wall.

"Ugh, just thinking that Director Maximoff is probably off travelling the world right now...

"I want to scream!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Sodchuen screamed so loudly that she could see that Pobmek was surprised. 

"What's wrong, brother!?"

"Well, I wanted to scream, so I screamed," Sodchuen replied in a normal tone. She found Mek nodding in understanding, looking confused, before Sodchuen returned to her serious mood once again.

"You and I are both in equally difficult situations, but don't forget...We have our own duties to fulfil. You chose to be teachers, whatever the reason, so please work hard and do your best. Do you understand?"

"I understand...then I'll head back to my classroom." 

"Going back to teaching children?" She smiled brightly, impressed.

"I'm going to go check out my boyfriend !" Pobmek replied, wagging his tail and running out of the room immediately, leaving Sodchuen standing there with her hand on her head in exasperation.

The children's boisterous chatter filled the room incessantly. Amidst the chaos, Solar, a small young man in a brightly colored, sun-patterned knitted sweater, stood at the blackboard, wearing a wireless microphone like a Korean idol singer. His demeanour was full of enthusiasm, like a Golden Retriever ready to run and play with a ball at any moment.

"When I say 'Good', you say 'Morning'! Good..."

"Morning!" the children replied loudly and clearly, as if they were already there at the concert.

"Good," Solar said again, gesturing to encourage the children to have funRegarding this activity.

"Morning!" the children responded in unison. The atmosphere in the classroom was filled with excitement and readiness to learn. All the children had an energy level never seen before. Solar smiled broadly.

"For today's homeroom, I have a top-secret mission for everyone... and that is!!!"

"It's...!" All the children cheered expectantly. Solar picked up a card and showed it to the children. "I wrote a love card to someone..."

My dearest!!!"

"Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!" The children cheered loudly in the room. Solar walked around the room, handing out cards to the children, talking as he went.

"You can write this to your father, mother, older sibling, or younger sibling, if the children love someone."

"If you're thinking of anyone, you can write down your feelings," the children said, their voices buzzing with excitement. They eagerly began writing their cards, their heads down, intently focused. Solar watched them carefully, offering encouragement, but then two boys started arguing.

"Write your own!" said King sternly.

"Can't I just take a quick look? I can't figure it out, King!" D.S. Four said in a pleading tone. And yes, they are the Four Kings gang from class 2/1, the gang known as the Four Kings. Because the names Four and King are actually both real names. Solar immediately rushed over to mediate.

"Four, let's each write our own piece, no need to copy each other, okay?" He turned to King.

"As for King, you can talk to your friend nicely; that way, Four will be fine. Do you understand? Okay?"

Four and King immediately stopped arguing and turned to speak to Solar. The tone of voice softened. "Yes, Teacher Solar." Solar smiled with satisfaction before turning to speak to the children in the room.

"The teacher saw how hard you all worked on making your cards. Your cards must be filled with the power of love!"

"Yayyyyyyyyyyy!!!" The children cheered excitedly, while Solar glanced towards the doorway and saw someone watching him in secret. Yes, it was Pobmek, his boyfriend. The two smiled at each other.

After the school bell rang, signalling the end of classes, the sounds of children playing happily filled the air. The school atmosphere instantly changed from the chaotic morning to a relaxed one. Pobmek, who had just emerged from the office, felt as if the heavy burden on his head from the morning had been completely lifted. He walked unhurriedly down the hallway, accompanied by another young man who walked hand-in-hand with him naturally. 

"I saw you today, you went to Sodchuen’s room. Got scolded again, huh?" Solar asked. Starting the conversation with a gentle tone. Pobmek shook his head gently, not feeling like complaining much.

"No, it's just that a new teacher has started working here. He’s my neighbour, his name is Jee."

"Oh, Teacher Benji, you can see him as soon as he comes in."

Hearing that name again, an irritation like a stone...It's been stuck in my throat since this morning, and now it's starting to come back again.

"Yeah, that's it. He's ridiculously enthusiastic. Comparing us like that makes me look bad."

"Well, then you should improve yourself a bit." Solar's words instantly made the stone in Pobmek's throat disappear. He was whining like a little puppy. "No... I'm tired."

"See, there you go again. You complain every single day!" Solar grumbled back, but his voice was full of affection. He used his other hand to gently stroke Pobmek 's head in a comforting gesture. The two were observed from another corner of the school. Sodchuen watched Pobmek and Solar with a worried and weary expression. Meanwhile, Jee, who had just joined them, whistled cheerfully, teasing his friends.

"Wow, my friend has this side to him, too! He's so cute!"

"They just want the whole world to know that they are a couple," Sodchuen said. She sighed wearily. "Sigh..."

"Oh, so the principal doesn't want the teachers to date each other? I think that's a good idea."

"We can help and support each other."

Refreshed, she shook her head slowly.

"I think that cloud-covered planet will rely solely on solar power... If one day..."

"If that solar power doesn't come up, we're definitely going to die," Jee listened, nodding in thought, before Sodchuen spoke up again in a Lighter more cheerful tone.

"Hmm... but that day will probably never come."

The picture shows Pobmek and Solar happily getting into a car together.

It appeared before the eyes of both of them.