Chapter – 02
“Teacher. Are you really my teacher?”
Da-yeon still couldn’t believe that the person who had not contacted her even once all this time had suddenly appeared before her.
As Da-yeon stared blankly at her teacher, Mr. Go, who was standing in front of her, let out a furious shout.
“Fuck, what the hell is this?!”
After getting hit on the head with the bouquet, Mr. Go instinctively turned around. But all he could see was the other man’s chest.
He had to crane his neck for quite a while before he could see the man’s face, and the color drained from his expression.
Features as finely sculpted as a carefully carved statue.
Sharp eyes that seemed capable of lowering the temperature of the entire room with a single glance.
And lips pressed into a neat, firm line.
The man’s face was so flawless and sharply defined that he looked less like a human being and more like a work of art. He stared down at Mr. Go with icy eyes.
His towering height, almost reaching the ceiling, combined with the tremendous presence radiating from his solid, muscular body.
Mr. Go instinctively realized that even if he charged at this man, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
His body shrank back on its own.
Finally, Si-heon’s smooth lips parted, and a deep voice emerged.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
“…W-what did you say?”
“You sit a girl who is obviously young enough to be your daughter in front of you, and what exactly are you doing?”
Mr. Go bit his lip at those words.
The people who had been sneaking glances at them earlier were now openly staring at him with disgust because of Si-heon’s words.
Feeling his nerves fray, Mr. Go tried to defend himself.
“Shut up! She’s an adult, you know. She’s an adult!”
“You’re already developing presbyopia, I see.”
“What? What did you say?”
Mr. Go, whose eyesight had indeed been getting worse lately, was visibly shaken.
“Th-that…”
“Can’t you see she’s wearing a school uniform?”
Perhaps because he was somewhat guilty himself, Mr. Go stammered before suddenly shouting at the top of his lungs.
“What business is it of yours?”
He stepped forward threateningly and jabbed his index finger hard against Si-heon’s chest.
It was nothing more than an act of bravado because he was afraid everyone would start treating him like some kind of pervert.
“Are you her family or something?”
“Me?”
Despite Mr. Go’s aggressive jabbing, Si-heon didn’t move an inch, as immovable as a rock.
Then he suddenly seized Mr. Go’s hand.
“I’m her teacher.”
“Tea… teacher?”
Looking straight into Mr. Go’s startled eyes, Si-heon shamelessly continued.
“Teachers have some kind of duty to protect their students, don’t they?”
He tossed away the hand he had been holding.
Then, as though he had touched something filthy, he casually wiped his hand with a napkin from the table.
After that, he held out his hand to Da-yeon, who was standing there frozen.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Ah… yes!”
Still stunned, Da-yeon quickly took his hand.
“Don’t you dare leave!”
As Da-yeon followed Si-heon out of the café, she could vaguely hear Mr. Go’s furious curses behind her.
But Da-yeon didn’t look back.
The only thing in her eyes was the back of her teacher as he held her hand and led her away.
The two of them walked aimlessly for quite a while after leaving the café.
Only after they had walked so far that the café was no longer visible did Si-heon finally stop and turn around.
“It’s been a long time, Peanut… Hey, are you crying?”
But when he turned around, what he found was Da-yeon standing there with tears welling up in her eyes.
“I… hic. I’m not Peanut. Hic. I’ve even grown five centimeters taller.”
She tried to hold them back, but the tears that had filled her eyes eventually spilled down her cheeks.
Da-yeon sniffled and wiped her tears away with her sleeve.
Si-heon, who had suddenly found himself in the position of having made a woman cry in the middle of the street, wore a rare expression of bewilderment.
Passersby glanced at them curiously, wondering what had happened.
“Don’t cry. When you cry, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
But rather than calming down at his soothing voice, Da-yeon’s sobs only grew stronger.
Still crying her heart out, Da-yeon threw herself at Si-heon.
His fresh, clean scent filled her lungs.
It was the familiar scent of her teacher.
“Teacher! I missed you.”
Si-heon couldn’t push away the small body pressed against him, but neither could he bring himself to embrace her.
His hand hovered awkwardly in the air before eventually settling on her shoulder.
His hand was large enough to completely cover her shoulder, and it was warm enough to melt her heart.
Under his gentle pats, Da-yeon freely shed the tears she had been holding back.
The betrayal she felt toward her father.
The fear that still had her trapped.
For that moment, she felt as though she could endure all of it.
Because her teacher was here.
Right in front of her.
“Are you feeling a little better now?”
At Si-heon’s question, Da-yeon wiped her face alternately with the backs and palms of her hands.
She must have cried a great deal because the skin around her eyes was red.
“Where have you been all this time? The messages I sent you… did you see them?”
For the past two years, Da-yeon had sent him messages every single day without missing one.
There had been no read receipts and no replies.
And yet, she had continued sending them every day.
Even this morning, before her graduation, she had sent him a message saying:
I really want Teacher to congratulate me.
“I saw them. I saw them, so that’s why I came.”
Si-heon smiled awkwardly and held out the remains of the bouquet he had swung at Mr. Go.
Only a few petals remained, and even those fell pathetically to the ground.
“You bought this for me?”
“Even if you’re my only student, I figured I should at least congratulate you on your graduation.”
He had met Da-yeon when she was in her first year of high school, after her mother passed away and her father’s business failed repeatedly, leaving the family in financial ruin.
At the time, Si-heon had been a university student whom she met through a community welfare center.
Of all the days in a week, the single day she got to spend with him had been the only time she could breathe freely amid those hellish days.
“Teacher, I… even while you were gone, I studied really hard and got into medical school.”
It was the first thing she had wanted to tell him when he came back.
For the sake of being able to say those words, Da-yeon had spent the past two years sitting at her desk and studying so hard that she barely noticed how exhausted her body became.
“I did well, didn’t I?”
“You did. You really did.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Teacher.”
Her softly trembling voice gave Si-heon credit for what she had accomplished.
For the small effort he had made years ago before leaving her behind as though he were abandoning her.
Pride and guilt came together.
Suppressing the urge to pat her on the head, he deliberately answered in a gruff tone.
“How is that thanks to me? You’re the one who worked hard.”
“No. If you hadn’t encouraged me back then, I would have already given up.”
There wasn’t even the slightest exaggeration in her words.
The simple words he had given her—
You can do it.
Those words had been what allowed Da-yeon to endure.
“What about you, Teacher? How have you been all this time? Why didn’t you contact me even once?”
Da-yeon swallowed the words I missed you and looked at him with eyes filled with both resentment and happiness at seeing him again.
“Hmm… Studying abroad?”
“Studying abroad?”
There had been a slight hesitation before he answered, but Da-yeon failed to notice it.
“Yeah. I did this and that. Traveled, worked at a company…”
“A company? Oh, so that’s why… your clothes.”
Da-yeon’s eyes moved toward Si-heon’s clothes.
Come to think of it, Si-heon looked quite different from the man he had been two years ago.
Back then, he had usually worn hoodies and jeans.
Today, however, he was dressed in a perfectly fitted suit.
His hair was brushed back to reveal his forehead, and his jawline looked slightly sharper, giving him a much more mature and intelligent air than before.
He had already been handsome enough to rival an actor, but now that her teacher had returned as a working professional, he seemed even more impressive than before.
Da-yeon spoke with an expression that failed to completely hide her disappointment.
“Congratulations on getting a job. I didn’t prepare anything at all. You even brought me a bouquet.”
“Well, look what happened to it.”
Si-heon laughed and shook the remaining stems in his hand.
“It’s a shame. I wanted to receive a bouquet.”
Da-yeon murmured quietly.
Today was the final day of her school years, yet there hadn’t been a single person who gave her even one flower.
She couldn’t help feeling disappointed that the only bouquet she had received had ended up like this.
Si-heon watched Da-yeon for a moment before standing up.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“You said you wanted a bouquet.”
The corners of Si-heon’s lips curved smoothly upward.
“Then we should go buy one.”
Sunlight streaming through the café window spread around his head like a halo.
Every time he smiled, he seemed to shine.
In that instant, the two-year gap between them disappeared as though it had never existed.
Da-yeon’s heart once again filled completely with thoughts of her teacher.
Just like back then, when she had breathed every moment of every day while thinking about him.
What should I do? I really… like Teacher so much.
The moment she took the hand he extended toward her, her heart gave a powerful thump.
Mr. Go, who had frightened her, and even her father, suddenly disappeared from her thoughts.
No matter how hard she tried to calm herself, the pounding of her heart spread throughout her entire body and refused to stop.
