Life Lessons [Park Jimin]

Chapter 9

Yeji

It's 5th period and once again I have skipped gym to sit with Mr. Park.

I look up at him nervously. I know I should just ask him, but I feel awkward doing it for some reason. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable.

And what if Haein interferes with his work? But then I remember the look on Haein's face when I dropped him off this morning and feel conflicted.

"Noona... Are you going to pick me up late again?" Haein asks sadly.

"Yeah, I'll pick you up at the same time as normal. Why? What's wrong?" I ask, worried.

"I get lonely at the end of the day. All my friends go home earlier," he pouts.

"What do you mean? What about Soohyun? He was still there Friday when I came to get you," I say.

"His Eomma waited almost two hours for you to come to ask if I could go home with them," he explains.

"Oh," I say, surprised. "I'll try to come earlier, okay?" I offer. I can leave as soon as I'm done tutoring instead of staying to help grade. I'll be making less money but I just hate seeing him sad.

"You're staring again," Mr. Park says suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Sorry," I mumble, looking down at my hands.

"Did you want to ask something?" he asks, looking up from the papers he is grading.

"Is it okay if I bring Haein here after school? He gets lonely at daycare. I promise I won't let him distract me. And he shouldn't cause any problems either. I'll give him things to keep him busy," I ask, looking desperate.

"Yeah, that's fine," he shrugs.

"Really?" I say, surprised. I didn't expect it to be so easy.

"I'll get a booster seat and pick him up after school," he adds.

"What? No, you don't have to do that. I can go get him," I tell him.

"You have kids to tutor. They won't want to wait while you go pick him up," he argues, and I know he is right.

"Okay. Just take the cost of the booster seat out of my pay this week," I counter.

"Yeji... I know how much you make and you shouldn't have to spend it on something like this. Just let me do it, okay?" he sighs.

I hesitate. I'm not used to having someone take care of me, especially not a teacher. But it feels nice.

"Okay. Thank you," I smile. "I'll call the daycare to let them know that you will be picking him up from now on," I tell him.

"He will remember me right? I don't want him to feel uncomfortable when I get him," Mr. Park asks, concerned.

"He remembers you," I answer quickly. Mr. Park raises his eyebrows at my confident answer.

"He talks about you a lot," I explain awkwardly.

"Really? What does he say?" he asks with an amused smile.

"He wants to be like you. Smart and handsome-" I start to say and then blush when I process the words coming out of my mouth. "His words, not mine," I quickly add, and Mr. Park chuckles.

"And he wants to own a car so he can drive me around so I don't have to take the bus anymore, things like this," I finish explaining.

"He has good goals for a toddler," Mr. Park nods approvingly.