Anyone But Him | JJK ✔️ (Completed)

Chapter 20

The day of the blind date fell right after Thursday, when I'd have the online trial lesson for my English tuition.

The teacher looked kindly enough, but I knew better than to make assumptions at first glance. After all, people might surprise you...

His name was called Teacher Kanta, and according to him, he used to teach at a renowned high school in Seoul, but had sadly retired already. From the meeting, I could tell he was wearing a turtle-neck stripped green sweater. Wasn't that what everyone wore at home during winter? The fabric was smooth and woolly, and could keep you cosy.

The first part of the trial lesson was mostly what we'd expect during the actual tuition. Teacher Kanta had prepared a series of PowerPoint slides for us, with important administrative stuff like what he'd teach us, things to bring for the actual lesson, et cetera et cetera. We also had to fill up an online form on our standards for English, our school, and the marks of our most recent exams.

There were about thirty students present in the class, but I wasn't sure how many might actually continue lessons. They seemed uninterested in the class, and I wondered if their parents had forced them to attend the trial class.

The class ended after an hour, and I was just shutting down my laptop when my father barged rudely into my room. I wanted to tell him off for it, but I managed to force down the urge.

"Your date will be tomorrow. I expect you are anticipating the moment, huh? It is your first blind date, after all. I am sure it would be fun," he said, with a small smirk.

I didn't answer. I mean, yes, I had forebodings about the blind date, but deep inside, I was actually dying to know who it was going to be. Even if it didn't actually work out between the two of us (which I hope it would not), I wanted to at least get to know him. What harm would it do?

***

"Your father received a call from Mr. Jeon. He says he is reaching in twenty minutes' time. You should better get ready," my mother said from the outside of my room.

I gave a reply, and started searching through my wardrobe for suitable attire to wear. My mother's advice was not to choose something too formal, just snug will do. "If you wore something too flashy, you might look unapproachable," she'd advised. "A casual sweatshirt with a light touch of makeup and some accessories should be fine."

So I did. I didn't have any sensible advice for myself, so I decided to go with my mother's guidance.

I owned a considerable collection of sweatshirts, so I had quite a variety to choose from. I picked a black one, with matching black jeans.

The door flung open while I was fitting the sweatshirt over my head. "Omma!" I yelped, turning around and covering my body. "Could you please not walk in on me like that?"

Covering her face (because she still had the sense to do that, unlike how some mother's were), she muttered, "I'm so sorry, Chaewon! Quickly."

Squeezing my arms through the long sleeve of my sweatshirt, I pulled it down, then changed my pants too into the jeans, while my mother stood outside, trying not to peek.

"Aww, you look so pretty today, Chaewon. My baby is going on a blind date with some extremely handsome boy!" my mother cooed, pinching my cheeks.

Blushing, I couldn't help smiling too. "Ya, stop it, omma. You're embarrassing me."

"Ten minutes until he reaches, Chaewon!" came my father's urgent voice from the stairs. My mother momentarily came back to her senses and started smoothing my hair.

"Gosh, it's a mess," she commented, retying it for me. Alarmed, I dragged her (who was clinging on to my ponytail) to my standing mirror. "Is it?"

There was still much to work on for my dress up. The makeup wasn't done yet, as my mother insisted that I had to do. "You'd want your date to like you, Chaewon. There's nothing to dread for a blind date. That's what we do everyday."