SAVING MR. PARK | PJM

三

↳ ❝HI, sexy.❞

her two friends walking alongside her were too engaged in their own conversation to overhear her muttered remark.

she and the young professor had been approaching each other in the swarmed hallway, and when their wandering eyes locked, her shameless conscience urged her to greet him in the same way she did every morning—but in a softer volume, of course.

"miss parker," he nodded back at her in bold acknowledgment as they crossed one another, their shoulders a mere centimeter away from brushing, and she stifled a grin. they continued strolling in opposite directions, mr. park slightly glancing over his shoulder to get a small glimpse of her departing figure.

jay, on the other hand, refused to look back.

she felt hoseok—the bubbly boy who wholeheartedly welcomed her into the group about a month ago—nudge her rib slightly, and she blinked her way back to reality at the puncturing feeling. "hm?" jay raised up an eyebrow at her best friend.

"did mr. park just say your name?" emily, the quirkiest of the three, inquired with arising suspicion.

"yeah. what of it?" jay shrugged, not really understanding why they were making such a huge fuss over the teacher's simple reply. sure, mr. park was the sexiest man in school,—and possibly the sexiest man alive,—but it's not like they knew about her secret crush on him so as to tease her about it.

"what of it?! jay, you do know he never greets anyone, not even the staff, right?" hoseok informed her, and, had it not been for her subconscious instinct to act unaffected, she would've instantly halted at his words.

"he didn't greet me," jay pointed out with a huff, gulping away her growing sense of hope. "he just acknowledged me because we made eye-contact. why are you guys overthinking this? not even i'm doing that. mr. park is a man of few emotions. there's nothing to overthink. it's fairly obvious that he has no interest in anything or anyone, let alone an ordinary student."

"first of all, sweaty," emily cracked her knuckles and neck in preparation for this discussion. "you are no ordinary student. you're hot as fu–"

"language," hoseok interrupted before emily could finish.

"you're the hottest girl on campus," emily rephrased her statement to respect her male friend's ears. "every single guy likes you, no matter what grade they're in,—except for this one because i swear he's gay," she referred to hoseok, who almost smacked her extensions off, "—and you've only been here for a month! plus, you're flirty as hell. i think mr. park knows that quite well."

"why would he know that? it's not like i flirt with him or anything," jay forced her lie, feigning innocence to prevent suspicion.

"well, obviously he must've heard rumors about your hoeing tendencies by now, duh," hoseok answered, rolling his eyes at jay's nonexistent brain cells.

for the sake of honesty, jay was not actually a hoe, but she did act like one—a façade she had adopted and gotten accustomed to back at her old school. she brought the title upon herself. thus, it wasn't in the least bit surprising that the entire student body characterized her as that.

"and second of all, do you not remember the way he reacted to jungkook touching you yesterday? that shit sounded hot," emily sighed dreamily, truly wishing she'd been in jay's place at that moment.