Eun-ji followed Seok-hoon to the classroom.
Before stepping in, she did what she always did to calm her nerves—
She traced the Chinese character for “person (人)” three times in her palm and swallowed it with a silent prayer.
“I can do this. I will do well.”
As she walked in under Seok-hoon’s guidance,
she noticed there weren’t 17 students as expected—
only five boys were present.
“Whoa, Vice Principal! What brings you here? …Wait, is that our new homeroom teacher?!”
Seungkwan was the first to spot Eun-ji behind Seok-hoon and greeted her with a bright smile.
“Hey, watch it! She’s your homeroom teacher, not your buddy.”
(He lightly taps Seungkwan’s head with a playful scold.)
“Stop being loud and sit down.”
“Yessir 😟”
As Seungkwan sat,
Seok-hoon placed the attendance book on the teacher’s desk and glanced at the class schedule pinned on the board.
“Mr. Jung, since today’s Wednesday, most of the students are off attending their major-specific classes.
You won’t be seeing all 17 at once today.”
“Got it, Vice Principal.”
“As you all know, Ms. Park, your previous homeroom teacher, has transferred to another school.
Starting today, Mr. Jung Min-gi will be your new homeroom teacher. Please welcome him.”
“Nice to meet you, everyone. I’m Jung Min-gi. I’m new, so I might be lacking in some areas,
but I’m looking forward to working with you.”
“Mr. Jung, you’ll be fine on your own now, right?
And you guys—don’t cause trouble just because the teacher’s new!”
Seok-hoon left the classroom.
Jeonghan was the first to approach Eun-ji.
“Welcome to our class, Mr. Jung.”
“Whoa! You look like you’re our age! Are you really a teacher?!”
“Seokmin, you dummy. Of course he’s a teacher. That’s why he’s here.”
“I know! But still, he looks so young…”
“Teacher, do you know all our names?”
With his chin resting on one hand,
Jisoo smiled as he tested her knowledge.
Without hesitation, Eun-ji replied confidently:
“Of course I do, Jisoo.”
“Me too, me too! What about me?!”
Seungkwan waved his hand excitedly.
Eun-ji smiled warmly.
“You’re Seungkwan, right?”
All five boys felt a strange flutter in their hearts.
“She has such a pretty smile.”
They all thought it at once.
“Teacher, try saying the rest of our names too!”
Seokmin bounced his legs under the desk in excitement.
Eun-ji didn’t even hesitate.
“From left to right: Jeonghan, Jihoon, Seokmin…”
“Now that we’ve got roll call out of the way—let’s begin class.”
“Yes~!”
It was Eun-ji’s first class,
but the boys quickly realized:
this new teacher was sharp, easy to understand, and unexpectedly good at teaching.
“That’s all for today. Great job, everyone!”
After Eun-ji left the classroom,
the boys immediately began chatting excitedly about her.
“Hyung, what do you think of the new teacher?”
“He teaches well, looks pretty cool too. I like him.”
“I love Mr. Min-gi already!”
Seokmin smiled nonstop, clearly smitten.
Jeonghan ruffled his hair affectionately.
“You that happy about a new teacher? LOL”
“Yup! Don’t you like him too, hyung?”
“…Hmm…”
(pretending to think 🤔)
“Yeah. I like him too.”
Just as they were chatting away about Eun-ji,
someone walked back into the classroom.
“What’s with all the laughter in here?”