11 Virtues A Hero's Civilian Friend Must Uphold - Chapter 48

Teacher Jae Kyung is handsome, right? Yes. And he teaches well. They say he’s really kind during class. I only took English, but I’m going to sign up for math this time. Oh, you too? Then I will too! I like it too.

The chattering of girls outside the study room was clearly audible to Na Eun, who was grading papers inside.

Those children gossiping outside wouldn’t know.

That the teacher they’re praising so much is a scumbag who threatened to kill all the students if she quit the academy.

He’s really good at social interactions in many ways. With sarcastic admiration for a villain who seems perfectly normal on the outside, she tried to focus on her work.

As if ignoring that effort, Na Eun forced herself to smooth her furrowing brow at the sound of someone entering through the open study room door.

Jae Kyung, who had entered, spoke to her with a gentle smile.

“Could I get the list of students from my class on today’s study room roster?”

“…Just a moment. I’ll find it for you.”

Work is work, after all.

Not wanting to mix personal matters with paid work, Na Eun obediently sorted out the list of students in Jae Kyung’s class from the roster she had.

Though she didn’t want to admit it, Han Jae Kyung seemed specialized for whatever role he took on.

He must be quite good at playing math instructor too, as he’d gained nothing but positive reviews from students in less than a week at the academy.

Moreover, his efficient work left no reason for the director or manager to dislike him.

Thinking Jae Kyung a monster for so quickly securing his place at the academy despite being new, Na Eun handed him the list.

Thank you. Jae Kyung smiled kindly again as he took the paper.

That smile she had once loved so much three years ago now only made her skin crawl.

She turned her head abruptly, conveying the meaning that he should leave now.

Oddly enough, despite his threat to torment her, Jae Kyung hadn’t done anything particularly harmful to Na Eun since starting work at the academy.

He’d only spoken to her a few times about work-related matters, like just now, but even that was stressful enough for Na Eun to wonder if this was some kind of sophisticated psychological torment.

But Na Eun soon realized the real torment was of a different kind.

“Teacher, please have this!”

“Oh, chocolate. Thank you.”

Students who had followed Jae Kyung into the study room began to surround him and talk to him.

With excited expressions, the children chattered away about unproductive things, as if trying to get the attention of their favorite teacher.

He listened warmly even to their nonsense, so it would be strange if the children didn’t like him.

“Teacher, do you like chocolate?”

“I don’t particularly like it, but I’ll eat it if it’s there.”

When Jae Kyung smiled and answered after accepting the chocolate from the students, one of the gathered girls asked with sparkling eyes.

“Teacher, you’ll still be at our academy next year, right? You have to stay! I signed up for math because of you!”

“I guess I’ll have to stay longer, if only out of gratitude.”

When Jae Kyung answered gently, the children squealed.

“Teacher, we’ll give you chocolates on Valentine’s Day next year too!”

“I’ll gratefully eat them if you give them. But shouldn’t you give them to your boyfriends instead of me?”

“We don’t have anything like that. Teacher, do you have a girlfriend?”

It’s common for students to ask these kinds of questions to academy teachers.

Na Eun, not wanting to get involved, focused even more intently on grading the exam papers.

But her ears were inevitably open, and the conversations taking place right beside her pierced her eardrums regardless of her will.

Jae Kyung smiled and said to the children. I don’t. The students then continued to ask why with exaggerated screams, as if they couldn’t understand.

Then Jae Kyung spoke in his usual kind tone as he turned his head.

For just a split second, a time so brief no one would notice, he glanced at Na Eun from the corner of his eye and said:

“Because I can’t forget my first love.”

“……”

Screech. The circle she had been drawing on the exam paper she was grading twisted into a strange shape.

The squealing of the girls in the distance grated even more on her ears.

“Teacher, when did you meet your first love?”

“In high school.”

“Aww. So you don’t have a girlfriend now because you can’t forget the girl you met in high school?”

To the students, it doesn’t matter whether this is true or not.

They just enjoy having this kind of playful conversation with their handsome teacher.

Na Eun thought it was about time to calm them down, so she interjected in their chat.

“Your study time is over, so hurry up to the 9th floor and go to the classroom. Stop bothering the math teacher.”

Though she spoke firmly to the students, they were actually closer and more comfortable with Na Eun than Jae Kyung, so they weren’t intimidated and instead drew her into the conversation.

“Teacher Na Eun, did you hear? Teacher Jae Kyung is so romantic! He says he doesn’t have a girlfriend now because he can’t forget his first love!”

“I told you to go up to the classroom.”

“Teacher, when was your first love? Teacher Jae Kyung said his was in high school!”

“……”

Somehow, it wasn’t the right atmosphere to calm them down with threats.

Na Eun finally gave up on scolding them and answered half-heartedly while continuing to grade the last remaining exam paper.

“Mine was in high school too.”

The children went wild again at her answer. She felt Jae Kyung’s gaze turn to her, but Na Eun pretended not to notice.

“Then do you have a boyfriend, teacher?”

“No.”

“Eh, we know the teacher has a boyfriend!”

There’s always someone who comes to pick you up outside! We’ve seen him before when we were leaving. He was really handsome, right? Yeah! Na Eun was exhausted by their excited chatter amongst themselves.

She was too tired to bother denying the familiar misunderstanding, but felt she should at least confirm the facts, so she added a word.

“He’s not my boyfriend. I don’t have one.”

“Aw… We thought you would since you’re pretty, teacher.”

“Why don’t you have one, teacher?”

Na Eun smirked at the children’s half-complimentary question.

Finally, after organizing the graded exam papers and tapping them a few times on the desk to gather them, she raised her head and looked at the children.

Confirming that Jae Kyung’s gaze at the center was fixed on her, Na Eun calmly answered.

“Because my first love was terrible.”

This bastard is crazy.

Hee Won, who had been listening to all the conversations around thanks to the communication device Na Eun had deliberately left on while working at the academy, chuckled in disbelief with his arm resting on the steering wheel.

He had already parked his car in front of her academy and was waiting in the driver’s seat. He considered saving all the conversations they’d just had to the data, but then chose to delete it.

There wasn’t any particularly important content, and it was too unpleasant to listen to again.

‘Because I can’t forget my first love.’

Hee Won truly couldn’t understand the mentality of a guy who would deliberately reappear in front of her and say such things.

Moreover, for someone who had forcibly kept Na Eun at the academy, he hadn’t really harmed her or tried anything reckless.

He just lingered around Na Eun while staying at the academy in his position as an instructor.

…As if that was his only purpose.

“…This is disgusting.”

Na Eun’s voice suddenly came through the communication device in response to his muttering.

He had forgotten it was on and mumbled to himself.

Hee Won hurriedly brushed it off saying it was nothing, and soon he heard Na Eun saying goodbye to the staff room, saying she was heading out now.

Before long, she came out of the academy building and got into Hee Won’s car with a somewhat familiar ease.

“Good work.”

He handed her a fruit juice he had bought in advance. Na Eun’s expression became subtle as she took it.

She glanced at him cautiously and said:

“I want coffee…”

“No.”

“Ah, I haven’t had even one cup today!”

“You had a cup in the break room when you came to the academy.”

Don’t lie. Hee Won glared at her.

As long as Han Jae Kyung was stationed at the academy, Na Eun kept the communication device connected to her earrings on almost the entire time she worked her part-time job as an assistant instructor at the academy.

She looked quite wronged, as if she hadn’t expected to be caught like this.

Hee Won coldly ignored her and started driving.

“You’re addicted to caffeine. Considering the amount of caffeine you’ve consumed in the past month alone, you’ve already had a year’s worth.”

“Ah, that’s not quite right.”

“It absolutely is.”

Yoon Na Eun is surprisingly good at being stubborn and throwing tantrums.

Hee Won, who has recently learned this new fact, finds it both enjoyable and a bit different from her usual self.

True to his considerate nature, he usually maintains strict politeness, but he finds Na Eun cute when she starts being unreasonable and whining to him.

Ignoring her writhing in the passenger seat and clamoring for coffee, he decisively turned the steering wheel straight towards her home.

Na Eun glared at Hee Won, grumbling as he pretended not to hear her request to stop by a cafe just once.

“I’m in a bad mood today because of Han Jae Kyung. That’s why I need the power of coffee.”

You heard it all too, right? Hee Won didn’t answer Na Eun’s pouting tone.

She complained while sipping the fruit juice Hee Won had given her.

“I wonder if he’s trying to torment me like this? To make me angry.”

“……”

“But he wouldn’t gain anything from it anyway.”

Why not, your attention. Hee Won knew the answer but didn’t want to say it out loud, so he chose to remain silent.

Unaware of Hee Won’s feelings, Na Eun spoke again with a somewhat brighter face.

“But you know what, I think I’m recovering faster than I expected.”

Hee Won turned to look at her.

Na Eun blinked, holding the plastic container of fruit juice with both hands.

“Before, I used to feel suffocated and my body would tremble just from making eye contact with Han Jae Kyung. Like I was going to die. It was like that when I first met him, but now it’s not like that anymore after seeing him so often.”

“……”

“I wonder if this is shock therapy.”

She mumbled to herself, fell into thought for a moment, then chuckled.

“I hope I’ll forget Han Jae Kyung’s name someday too.”

“……”

“If I can see him without feeling anything, will he eventually fade from my memory too?”

Her tone, desperately hoping for this, meant that she couldn’t do so now.

Hee Won felt that Na Eun’s coldness in retorting to Jae Kyung without backing down was like a hedgehog overly sharpening its quills to protect itself.