another day of school, another torturous day.

"ji-hyo, hurry up! you're going to be late at that speed." kang daniel called out, riding his bike.

and i'm not going to ride this bike, instead i just pushed it from home until school. you know, why?

"just go first. i can go by myself." i grumbled.

he suddenly stopped pedaling and turned to look at me.

"do you really hate riding with me that much? you purposefully broke your bike, and now you're grumbling about your leg hurting when i know it's fine." he said.

blah...he could tell i was faking it?

so he knew and still bought me another bike?

"your bike broke? then i guess i'll just buy you one as a three-months-early birthday present."

he's finding new ways to torment me.

"how bad does it hurt?" he asked.

"oppa, you know that you're popular, right?" i abruptly asked.

i needed to ask him those questions. now or never.

"if it hurts a lot, do you want to go to my mom's hospital after school? we can ask her to use heat treatment on it or something." he added, acting care in front of me.

"forget about my leg. what kind of girl do you like? i'll help you get a girlfriend. don't you want to head to school with your girlfriend? the unnie that came to see you at your place yesterday was really pretty. was she your type? hm? tell me about your ideal girl. i'll help you find her."

finally, if i found a girlfriend for him, then i can live normally again.

we walked side by side, pushing our bicycle.

"haha..my ideal girl? she got short hair with big brown eyes. and even when she's pouting, she's still cute. her height would be perfect about here." he described, patting my head to indicate that's the ideal height to be his girlfriend.

short hair and brown eyes? that's sounds like me.

but i know i'm not cute when i'm pouting.

"what the..? that's really specific. you like someone, don't you? i'm right, aren't i? tell me! i'll help you! there's no need to be shy." i joked.

"think about it however you want."

"hey, ji-hyo!" i saw dahyun ran towards me and daniel after a while. what's wrong? she looked in hurry?

"morning, dahyun." i greeted.

after a few seconds, she changed. she acted like a cute girl from comics when meeting her crush.

"morning, ji-hyo! hehe...hello, daniel sunbae." dahyun greeted back.

daniel? oh, i see. no wonder.

"ah, oppa, you know dahyun, my friend, right?" i asked daniel.

"yeah..hi. i'll head on first."

"okay."

with that, daniel walked away with his bike and left me and dahyun alone.

"ah, he's so hot. everything about him is so perfect." dahyun praised, adoring one and only kang daniel.

"you came all the way out here for him, didn't you?" i asked annoyingly.

she turned to me, "no! i have big news to share and i couldn't wait for you to get here."

"oh, is that right?" i kept on walking, still pushing my bike.

"don't get shocked when your hear it, okay?"

"sure, sure."

as far as unbothered i am, i still want to know the hot teas in this school. i'm a normal teenage girl, by the way.

"i heard that our homeroom teacher is preggers." dahyun said.

i instantly stopped from my track.

i turned to look at dahyun, "what?" showing her a shock face.

"i'm having trouble believing it, too. i was so shocked! she doesn't even have a boyfriend right now!"

"where did you hear that?"

dahyun looked like she's in a deep thought.

"or maybe the man that came to pick her up last time is her boyfriend? but she didn't mention that she was seeing anyone or gave off any signs. so the other kids were thinking-"

"where did you hear it?!" i shouted at her, asking once again while feeling a bit angry.

"w-why are you getting so mad?"

"tell me now."

"it's not something that i heard first-hand. i overheard the new teacher talking on the phone."

what?!

"did you tell anyone else?" i asked, probably already knew the answer.

it's dahyun we're talking about.

"uh..yeah..i told joo-hyun and seung-wan.." and she's still trying to remember who else, that's mean there are a lot of students already knew about this.

"ugh..really? hold this." i rubbed my face and asked dahyun to hold my bicycle.

"huh?"

"park it for me, will you?" i shouted as i ran inside.

"what? where are you going?!"

"what's going-" before daniel could ask, i ignore and ran past him.

-

i took a deep breath as soon as i saw the new teacher at the corridor.

"mr. lee." i called him.

he turned and said, "ah, it's you, ji-hyo." looking normal as ever.

"can i talk to you about something?" i asked, still taking a deep breath after the running.

"i have to get going. there's a staff meeting soon.." he looked at his watch.

"i just need five minutes..no, just one minute."

"oh? what is it?"

"can we go talk somewhere in private?"

"why? is it something you can't talk about in public?"

the news will spread through the school soon, so i don't think there's any need to go somewhere else to talk.

"mr. lee, please don't talk about this in front of dahyun. if she finds out, it'll just spread like wildfire."

"did you do it on purpose?" i asked, looking at him intently.

"maybe." he didn't even try to hide it.

"but why? i thought you said you were close with miss park. why? why would you do that?"

mr. lee lowered his body so that our faces become the same level.

"ji-hyo. rumors are scary, aren't they? they get exaggerated and twisted. anyway, it's a bit complicated to explain. i'm sure you don't want to hear all the gory details anyway." he said casually.

what?

"well, i better head off to the meeting now. you should get to your class." with that, he walked away as if nothing had happen.

ah..what do i do?

this is all my fault. if only i hadn't said anything..

i want to cry.

"good morning, ji-hyo." miss park's smile instantly change after saw my sad face. when did she walked up to here?

"miss park..i'm sorry.."

-

i went inside the vice principal's room after he called me personally before the meeting finished.

"miss park, are you aware of what's going on right now? how are you conducting yourself around the school? how could it get to this point where these rumors are being spread about you?" mr. bae asked.

"i'm sorry." i really don't know what to say.

i just stood there in front of him and hanging my head low.

"you're not denying that the rumors are false?"

i just kept silent. what to deny when everything is true?

"well, i won't ask about the truth to the rumors. you need to find a way to quell the rumors. if this leaks outside of the school, it's not just your reputation that will be ruined, but the school's as well." he sighed.

"you know that this school is a prestigious school established by dae-han foundation, don't you? students from affluent families attend this school. if it gets out that a promiscuous female teacher is working at this school, especially if the parents find out..you'll likely receive severe disciplinary action for immoral conduct. do you understand?" he added.

"yes, i understand."

"then you may go."

i bowed a little before walked out of mr. bae's room.

on my way to the teacher's office, i accidently met mr. han at the school corridor.

"i knew you'd do something like that. what a shameful woman." he whispered as soon as we crossed paths.

the rumor spread throughout the school in a flash.

"did she have a one-night stand?"

"i heard she doesn't even have a boyfriend."

"no way..she probably just got pregnant before marriage. otherwise, she's fucked."

"i did hear that teachers are more hardcore. what a party girl."

"i know it's her personal life, but that's seriously gross."

i heard nonstop whispers everywhere i went.

i couldn't bring myself to lie that the rumor was false though. not only would it go against my conscience, but i'd be denying the existence of doo-jool.

submitting my resignation and being fired are undoubtedly different. when i boldly told jungkook i planned to resign, i didn't particularly have a set plan to carry out.

what if i do get fired over this?

what would i do? what about doo-jool?

is there anything i can do to stop the rumor?

but is what i did so wrong?

i nearly bumped onto the floor because of dizziness before a hand catch me, "are you all right, chae?"

lee tae-yong.