"So…sorry, sir." The boy quickly stood up, scared.
"So? What's our topic for today?" Mr. Felix asked, placing the file and book on the table.
The boy kept mum, not having any answer to the question.
"Hyun," Mr. Felix called his name.
Hyun felt a shiver down his spine, knowing what the calling of his name meant.
"Uncle," Hyun said pleadingly.
But he received a glare. "How many times have I warned you about not calling me 'uncle'in school ?."
" When we are done with this class, come to my office," he said.
"Sit."
Hyun quickly sat down, his heart beating fast. He shouldn't have called Soo Jin "Arrogant". He could tell his uncle had heard it.
He was in big trouble.
Mr. Felix didn't look in his direction as he pointed to Mi Young. "What topic are we treating today?"
Mi Young stood up. "We are treating personal narrative," he said confidently.
Mr. Felix smiled, nodding his head. "Good, have your seat."
Mi Young sat back down.
"As a student in class A. you must learn to review a topic before it's taught. Prepare yourself so it will be easy to understand during the lesson," he said.
"So today we are doing personal narrative."
Mr.Felix said as he took the marker and wrote on the board.
"PERSONAL NARRATIVE"
He turned back to the class. "It's when you talk about events in your life. Like memorable days, important days, or even painful ones."
"It's usually written in the first person, since you are the storyteller, the main character."
Students took notes as he explained the features.
He dropped the marker.
"For example," he said, "you might write about a time you felt happy, sad, or proud."
"Today, you will write a narrative about your happiest day ever. Like going on a vacation or an outing."
"It must be real."
"Now everybody, take out your books and start. I will go around."
The class flipped open their books.
Mr. Felix walked between the rows, checking the students' notebooks and nodding at anything he found satisfactory.
"Your language is so poor," Mr. Felix commented in disgust as he looked at Hyun's book.
Hyun's heart instantly shattered. He quickly tore the page out, crumpling it with embarrassment.
"How can you mix up 'I am' with 'I'm'?" Mr. Felix scolded.
Hyun kept quiet, knowing any response would make it worse or increase his punishment.
Mr. Felix only shook his head as he moved to check other students' work.
"Your parents took you to Disneyland?" he asked a girl, nodding in approval of her neat handwriting.
"Yes," she nodded. From her look, you could tell she was excited.
…
"Why aren't you writing?" Mr. Felix asked, stopping at Soo Jin's table. The sudden question grabbed Ji Woo's attention, and he looked up worriedly.
"I don't know what to write," Soo Jin said.
"What do you mean?" Mr. Felix was confused. "Write about your happiest moment. Like a vacation."
"But I have never been on a vacation before," Soo Jin said truthfully. "I have traveled to my grandfather's company branch to assist. Since it's traveling, does that count as a vacation?"
Mr. Felix looked speechless. "So you've never gone on a family outing with your parents before?"
Soo Jin shook his head. "My parents are dead." He said it with no emotion, as if he wasn't affected by the fact that he was talking about his own parents.
The whole class quieted down as their gazes turned to Soo Jin, filled with pity.
Mr. Felix felt guilty.
Ring! Ring!
Break time.
The bell rang, breaking the atmosphere.
"Sorry," he apologized.
Soo Jin looked confused by the sudden apology. "No need. You just asked a question. You did not hurt or insult me, so why apologize?" To him, having no parents wasn't a sad thing.
What was there to be sad about?
Mr. Felix only patted his shoulder, not saying anything more.
He walked to the front of the class.
"Since the class is over, I will take my leave. But… I want to add that there is an international debate competition coming up. We, as usual, need one representative from this class."
"Who wants to go?" Mr. Felix asked.
But the whole class kept their hands down, apart from Mi Young, as usual. He was the only one interested, which was a good thing; there was no need for the stress of two people competing.
"I will," Soo Jin said, raising his hand.
A gasp filled the class in shock. They all knew this was Mi Young's position; no one dared to compete with him. Soo Jin sure had guts.
Soo Jin, unbothered, looked at Mr. Felix. "I want to compete."
Mr. Felix looked surprised but nodded. "Your class rep will give you a form to fill out."
"So, that's all. I'm going."
As the teacher left, the class erupted into noise again, with Soo Jin being the main topic of conversation.
"Why did you do that?" Mi Young shouted as he walked over to Soo Jin's desk.
Ji Woo quickly stood up, blocking him. "No fighting, please."
Mi Young's eyes widened in anger. "You're protecting him? I'm your best friend," he said.
Ji Woo guiltily averted his gaze. "I'm not. I just don't want you to fight."
Seeing him guiltily averting his gaze, Mi Young could already tell he was protecting Soo Jin.
"Get out of the way before I push you," Mi Young threatened.
"Please," Ji Woo pleaded, grabbing Mi Young's arm.
The plea instantly touched Mi Young, melting his anger. Irritated, he pushed Ji Woo, but not with much strength, so he wouldn't hurt him.
"Next time," he glared at Soo Jin, then walked out.
Soo Jin looked at his retreating back in thought.
"Soo Jin," Ji Woo called, poking him with his finger.
"Don't touch me," Soo Jin said, glaring at the finger poking him.
"I'm sorry."
Soo Jin ignored his apology as he prepared to put his head back on the table.
"Aren't you going to have your food?" Ji Woo asked worriedly. It was break time and everyone was going to the canteen to eat.
"Leave me alone," Soo Jin said as he dropped his head onto the table.