Through the Back Door

04

I cringed as the door squeaked when I opened it to homeroom; the students stared at me as I walked in quickly and set my binder on my desk. I sat down all the while playing with my tongue piercing, annoyed that our teacher was glaring at me.

"Hanbyul, you're late. Again," Mr Park grumbled pointedly. "You need to break that habit or else you'll soon be deducted marks from your other classes."

"Ne teacher-nim," I responded, not understanding the correlation with this period and my other classes. "Any handouts or important announcements today?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't punish me for not wearing the school uniform today.

"Jeongin," Mr Park stated, not breaking eye-contact with me "you're up."

I licked my lips as the Yang boy stood up, noticing he looked particularly good today. He wasn't wearing his jacket, his dress-shirt was unbuttoned more than the dress code permitted, along with his tie being too loose. On top of that he had his hair slicked back today and was showing his forehead, something he rarely did. Guess we both were dressed inappropriately today. "Fuck me," I thought as he walked towards the front of the class. "Why does he have to look so handsome?" I snapped out of my thoughts as Jeongin began to speak, hoping I hadn't been staring.

"So as of today, you can start registering for grad photos, which will be taking place a few months from now," he started, playing with his tie as he spoke. "Grad jewelry is also officially available to order now. And last but not least, the after school club has been making preparations to host a dance in two weeks time for Valentine's day, the theme being "Under the Stars" so look forward to that!"

At his announcement, the class gasped, mainly the girls. Suddenly, the quiet vibe from beforehand had shifted into hyper chitchat and giggles. I could only imagine the students were already planning the perfect night out with their friends. "I'm not going," I immediately thought to myself. "No way in hell."

Mr Park tapped on his desk with his ruler, bringing the class' attention back to their homeroom representative.

"Anyways, as I was saying," Jeongin continued "tickets will be 4500 won, or three items of your choice to donate to our local foodbank. Dress code is formal as long as it is relatively modest. And well, that's all really. Any questions?"

Taeyeon's hand shot up. "Are we allowed to bring dates?" she asked, not shying away from showing her excitement.

Jeongin nodded. "Each student is allowed to bring up to two guests each from outside the school, so long as they pay the entree fee."

Taeyeon giggled excitedly. I groaned. She was a sweet loli girl, but I found her too overly optimistic. On top of that, she was the receptionist's niece and Mrs. Lee was creepily overprotective of her, which in itself was an understatement.

The bell rang, indicating homeroom was over and lunch had started. Students began to stand up and pile out of the classroom. I prepared to follow suit when I unfortunately heard Mr. Park call out my name.

"Hanbyul, if I may have a word with you? You too Jeongin?" the man more so ordered than asked.

I bit my lip. "Goddammit," I mumbled to myself. "I'm getting punished aren't I?" I walked towards my teacher, feeling apprehensive.

"Ne, teacher-nim?" the blueberry-haired boy asked.

Mr. Park looked us both up and down, a sigh escaping his lips. "You're both dressed inappropriately today," indicating our outfits. "Mr. Yang, button your shirt up properly and please for the love of god, fix your tie. You look like a hooligan. As for you Hanbyul," he paused, making me gulp. "I heard your clothes got ruined yesterday after the incident [that I'm not allowed to speak of] happened. However, did you really not have any other shirts you could've worn? Your blouse is much too shear, I can see your tattoos poking out underneath the fabric."