Mr. Chemistry

01 • Mr. Park

Mae Asha • October 1, 2018

The alarm on my phone started buzzing. I rolled onto my side and turned it off. I barely got any sleep last night.

Today is my first day at a new school. It's a private school in Seoul, South Korea, called Metropolitan Academy.

My parents are in London, currently, so I'm alone. They rented me a really nice loft in this building, so at least I'm not struggling to find a place.

I quickly took a shower and changed into a white long-sleeved, cropped sweater, and black ripped skinny jeans, along with black and white Vans.

I blow dried my long black hair, which reaches halfway down my butt. I grabbed my small, black, leather backpack, then I made my way down the stairs from my bedroom.

I grabbed a bottle of water from my refrigerator, then I walked to my front door.

I have to walk to school, but it's not very far away; it's only about a ten-minute walk.

I opened the door, then I stepped out. I turned and started to lock the door, but as I did, my water bottle slipped out of my hand.

"Dammit," I mumbled. I turned and faced a man's chest.

"I think you dropped this," a guy said. He's holding my water bottle in front of me.

I slowly looked up at the face of a man -- a very gorgeous man, might I add. He has amazing red hair, full lips, his ears are full of earrings, and he's wearing a black suit, along with a black dress shirt and tie.

"Th-Thanks," I said. I accepted my water bottle from him. "Did you just move in, or-."

"I've been out of town for the past two weeks," he interrupted me. "What about you? I think I would have remembered a gorgeous girl such as yourself living across the hall," a small smirk teased on his lips.

My cheeks heated up. "I-I just moved in about a w-week ago," I stuttered.

The man smiled. "I'm Jimin," he held his hand out for me to shake.

"Asha," I replied. I glanced down to his much larger hand. I'm smaller than most girls my age, as I'm only 4'10", so I just barely reach Jimin's shoulders. I shook his hand. "I sh-should go," I said.

Jimin took a step back and gave me a very slow, excruciating once over, which made my stomach flip. He bit his bottom lip as he nodded to me.

As I turned and started down the hall, I shook my head.

What in the hell was that and why was that weird guy creeping on me?

•••

As I walked into my new school, the bell rang.

Lovely, now I'm late.

I pulled my class schedule up on my phone. My homeroom is 306, and my homeroom teacher is Mr. Park, a chemistry teacher.

I made my way up three sets of stairs, to room 306. The door is cracked and the lights are on.

I thought about knocking, but I decided not to; mostly because I don't wanna attract any unwanted attention.

I walked in and found a seat in the middle of the class. My phone vibrated from my back pocket, so I pulled it out and opened a text.

Mom ‍⚖: Good luck at school today!!! Call me when you get out

Mom ‍⚖: Love you sweetie

Me: Love u 2 mom

As soon as I sent that text, someone tapped my desk. My eyes slowly looked up, and they reached the familiar red hair of my new neighbor.

Wait, he's Mr. Park? So, my teacher was hardcore checking me out not even twenty minutes ago?

"Late on your first day, on your phone during class..." Mr. Park lightly shook his head. "That is...not good, Ms. Mae," he said.

I blankly stared at him as my cheeks heated up.

He's completely unfazed about earlier, about the compliment he threw me.

"Detention," he spoke.

"What?" I asked. "I've never h-had detention."

"I take my job very seriously, Ms. Mae. Detention tomorrow, too, would you care to make it three days in a row?" Mr. Park rose a perfect eyebrow.

"N-No," I answered.

"Hand it over," he held his hand out. I stared at him for a moment.

No teacher has ever taken my phone before. This is so, so unfair.

I locked it, then I slowly handed it over. Mr. Park nodded, then he turned back to his desk.

"As you all can see, we have a new student; Mae Asha," Mr. Park laid my sparkly pink phone on his desk, then he turned to face me.

He's so, so, so hot.

"I'm Mr. Park, your chemistry teacher for this year," he introduced himself. "Please move to the front of the class."

"I'm in the middle-," I started to say.

"No, no, I insist," he tapped an empty desk directly in front of his.

Not wanting to get into any more trouble, I stood up and moved to the desk he told me to go to.

"Is you torturing me going to turn into an everyday thing?" I asked him.

Mr. Park ignored me, he walked back to his desk which is only a few feet in front of mine. Mr. Park picked up a chemistry book from his desk, then he laid it on my desk.

"Turn to page sixty nine, please."

•••

The morning went by pretty quickly. It's lunchtime now, and the cafeteria is pretty full.

There's one empty table in the corner by the window, and that's where I sat.

"Can I sit with you?" a girl asked me.

I looked up to find a girl with short brown hair staring at me. She's wearing barely any makeup, and she's wearing a dark red, baggy hoodie.

I nodded. "Go ahead."

She sat in front of me. "I'm Kim Neri," she introduced herself.

"Mae Asha," I replied.

"Why don't you have lunch, Asha?" Neri asked, looking down at the empty table.

"I'm not really hungry. Besides, school lunches are scary."

Neri laughed. "The ones at Metropolitan are actually really good," she told me as she ate a grape.

I glanced above her, just in time to catch Mr. Park walking by us. He paid no attention to me, well, that was until he caught me staring. Neri looked back at him, then she giggled.

"God, kill me now," I mumbled, looking away from Mr. Park.

"You're cute, I can see why he's staring," Neri ate another grape.

"He's my teacher; he shouldn't think I'm cute," I told her.

"He's young, just like us. He's only, like, twenty-something. He's got feelings, too, you know," Neri said.

"If he can't control his feelings, then maybe he shouldn't be a high school teacher," I said.

Neri smiled. "Eh, maybe you're right."

I stared at her as she took a bite of her sandwich. Today just keeps getting worse.

First, I get a new neighbor who is a major pervert, then, said pervert turns out to be my teacher.

•••

A/N: Thank you for reading. Please vote, comment, and add to your reading list :)

S. C. Keener

11/21/18