Not even seconds after the ringing of the school’s morning bell, our balding principal and a young, handsome man walked into the classroom. Though the two were both wearing white button ups, the difference in the man’s physique made the shirt look classy and designer. His beauty stopped many of the girls from breathing - his tall, muscular being provoking leadership and strength. It made me wonder what business he had with us. 

The man’s hawk eyes silenced everyone, and curiosity arose within the hearts of the students.

The principal cleared his throat. “Good morning students.”

“Sorry to bear such unfortunate news but your teacher, Miss Lee, has been alerted about a dear family situation. Due to the circumstances of which she stands in, she will not be able to teach the class.”

He gestured towards the man beside of him. “Luckily for you guys, I was able to recruit another teacher.”

“Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

Before speaking, the teacher used his index to perch his glasses higher up his nose. With a neutral expression, he greeted us without hesitation. “My name is Mr. Joo and I will be your teacher for now. It is a pleasure to meet you all.”

His sunken eyes trailed across the classroom, almost as if he was analyzing all of us in a split second. Then, his eyes landed on me and I couldn’t help but shiver. Our gazes lingered for a long moment with a strange intensity before broken by him. 

The classroom dissolved into whispers. Smiles from the girls rang across the classroom due to the appearance of the handsome teacher. Their eyes lit with excitement and some had flushing cheeks. In the corner my eyes, I could see a classmate put on more lipstick while looking into the mirror.

Well damn. During the period of which Mr. Joo teaches, all the girls will probably put extra work in their appearances.

And I’ll look more like a potato.

However, my negative thoughts quickly dissipated once I realized that I had transformed in the morning. I guess that was a good thing?

“Although I am a new teacher and I have a lot to learn. I hope that together we can enjoy a good, studious school year. Thank you.”

The class erupted into whistles and cheers, the voices mainly from the girls.

Unlike the other people in the room, I did not cheer. For some reason, Mr. Joo’s appearance lit sirens in my head. From the way he carried himself and the dark expression on his face, I had a feeling he would be a strict guy. And if he was a hard marker… Well, I’d have to say goodbye to graduating this year [okay i'm over-exaggerating but you know what I mean].

His attractiveness also didn't faze me at all. Sure, his looks were no ordinary, especially among the scope of teachers, but what good was it for me? All I needed to do as a student was to pass and get into university. 

“Alright,” the principal said. He patted Mr. Joo on the back. “Wish you luck.” With that said, the principal left, leaving Mr. Joo in the spotlight.

He cleared his throat.

“Before I get into my lessons how about you introduce yourselves? Say your name and what you wish to do in the future.”

“Let’s start from the first row,” he pointed to Chanyeol. “And then we go till the end.”

And so, our class started introducing themselves. As the order came closer and closer to me, I had no idea what to say. What exactly did I want to do in the future? There was no exact career path I was aiming for. All I knew was that I needed to get a university degree.

Cold sweat lingered on my face.

When it was Yoon’s turn, he lazily stood up. “My name is Yoon Park and I’m going to be a professional baseball player when I grow up, specifically a pitcher.”

This was not a surprise to me as he’d been playing baseball religiously since we were young. Not only was he on the team but was consistently the star player, and when time came, captain. If he was to be anything other than a baseball player, I’d be more surprised. 

Mr. Joo nodded while listening.

At Eunji’s turn, she confidently stood up. Her dyed blonde hair flounced on her shoulders as she moved her head. “My name is Eunji, a pleasure to meet you sir. And I am going to be a famous actress when I grow up.”

Now unlike Yoon who had a single goal, Eunji had multiple. She always switched between different career paths, and needless to say, had the right to. Eunji was talented in a lot of things: and it was a pity that she had to give up some for the time of others. Her hobbies include dancing, singing, acting, drawing, etc. Eunji was literally the opposite of me.

Which was why she had many dreams.

When it finally came to my turn, I could feel Mr. Joo’s eyes fixated on me. Not only him, but the whole class as well. I felt uncomfortable being the recipient of such strong gazes.

“Well uh my name is Minha Song and I want to just live happily when I grow up?”

That was the first thing that popped up in my mind. And after reciting it once more in my head, I quickly regretted saying it out loud.

“I’ll make you happy!” Someone yelled. I looked over at the direction of the voice in shock. I’d never had that type of attention before.

The class giggled at the guy’s bold confession.

“Enough,” Mr. Joo sternly said, making the class silence. His eyes stared right into mine. “And what is your definition of happiness Ms. Song? Is it love? Success? Money? Fame?”

Woah, why was he asking me? I didn’t think that deeply yet. I was just saying whatever!

I moved a strand of loose hair behind my ear. “Happiness is subjective isn’t it? I don’t think I have the knowledge and life experience to know right now, but in the future once I feel happy that’s when I’ll know I completed my goal.”

The answer I had given was utter bullshit and I didn’t know what I was saying but it was the best I could muster. It was terribly cheesy. Everyone’s going to laugh at me. I prepared myself for the mockery to come.

But unlike what I had expected, the class erupted in claps as if I’d recited the most genius literature since Shakespeare.

What the hell. My mind blanked, oblivious to why they were clapping. I stood in front of my desk in disbelief before gathering my thoughts.

What I said wasn’t genius… So why is everyone clapping? Could It possibly be due to my looks? I asked myself. If I had my old visual would I have had the same response? This boggled me and I wondered if the lookism phenomenon was deeper than I had expected.

“Interesting response,” Mr. Joo replied. “We don’t have time now, but let’s discuss it further later.”

The next student proceeded to introduce themselves. 

When I sat down, I began to link together all the strange events that had happened. Everything was so surreal.  If I were to explain my current situation, it felt like I stepped into a Korean drama. 

Korean Drama Checklist: 

Supernatural elements ✔

Pretty female lead ✔

Handsome teacher ✔

Weird, unrealistic events ✔

Now all I needed was an arrogant rich guy for me to fall in love with, and a nice one to break the heart of. 

Just kidding. 

That would be an absolute disaster. Instead, I was praying that the scenario would never happen. After all, I already had enough drama to deal with. This situation I was in was driving me insane!