Chapter Text
Kim Wonshik woke with a start. His alarm was blaring obnoxiously from his bedside table, disrupting the wonderful dream he had been having. He had been walking through a beautiful green field on a warm spring day when he had heard a warm, sweet voice calling his name. He had been about to turn around to see who that beautiful voice belonged when the screech of his alarm had punched him straight in the brain.
He sighed and let the dream slip from his mind. He was going to his first day at a new job and he could’t afford to be distracted by the voices of imaginary strangers. He forced himself out of the warm sanctuary of his covers and began to prepare for the day. A quick breakfast of eggs and toast and a quick shower. Then he brushed his teeth and headed back into his bedroom to figure out what to wear.
He sighed at his closet. Coming straight out of university and becoming a TA at a performing arts school maybe hadn’t been the best choice. His closet was filled with patterned t-shirts and weird studded blazers. He had about sixty snap-backs stored carefully in his drawers, a few of his favourites were actually hanging on the wall above his bed. Over all he had hardly anything that was appropriate for a TA at a private boarding school. He sighed again already feeling like today was not going to be the best time. Its not that he didn’t want this job. Certainly not. It was just all so new that he was completely out of his depth. Sure he had studied for this but it was his first time actually putting everything he had learned to use. Hell, he was lucky to have even gotten a high profile job like this right out of university. But being the new teacher in a private school was a lot like being the new student in a private school. From what he had read most of the teachers had known each other, in some capacity, since they were in university. To say he was nervous was a complete understatement.
But he couldn’t just stand here sighing into his closet for the rest of time so he settled on a white long-sleeve button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a pair of dark jeans. brown boots and a pale blue wind breaker with a dark blue collar. It was autumn after all. He went out into the kitchen and grabbed his wallet from the table, glancing up at the clock. Great, he had spent too much time fretting around his apartment and now he was late. Typical. “Way to make a great first impression, Wonshik.” He muttered to himself before grabbing his bag with all of his teaching stuff and heading out the door.
The drive to the school was uneventful. Luckily there wasn’t much traffic this early, so he was actually able to arrive at the school on time. Once he had parked he headed straight to the principal’s office, knowing that he wouldn’t really be doing any teaching today. In a very formal and well composed e-mail, the principal had introduced herself as Principal Choi Kyungran and told him that his first few days would be more of an orientation for him and all of the new first year students, giving him a chance to get to know the other teachers and to find his way around the decently sized campus. He paused out side of her door before knocking lightly, entering when he heard a firm “Come in.” from the other side.
At first glance the principal looked mean. Well maybe not mean, but definitely no nonsense. She had hair that looked like it was probably salt and pepper at one point but now was mostly salt and she had deep creases in between her eyebrows around her mouth and at the corners of her eyes. Still, somehow, she looked elegant and commanding in a navy blue pantsuit, with her hair pulled back into a french twist. She was wearing small pearl earrings and she had sharp, cat-like eyes. She was writing something on the formal looking papers stacked on her desk. “You must be Kim Wonshik.” she stated. Wonshik nodded and the principal sighed. “I would prefer it if you used words to respond to me Mr. Kim.” “Sorry, Principal Choi.” he blurted out.“Good job. Very professional.” Yes, I am the new TA for the composition and music classes.” He thought about saying something about how she could call him Wonshik and how Mr. Kim was his father, but he didn’t really think she would appreciate his wit. The principal finally looked up from her papers and looked him over. Wonshik felt as though he were some sort of fair ground animal being judged for a blue ribbon. Or thanksgiving dinner… She sighed, “God, there is certainly a lot of sighing going on today, and its only 7:30.” and she picked up the phone connected to the PA system, punched in the number for one of the class rooms and listened. Wonshik heard a muffled “Hello, Principal Choi. What can I do for you?” from the other end of the line. “Good morning Teacher Yang. Can you send Lee Jaehwan and Lee Hongbin to my office please? I have someone I want them to tour around the school.” “I’ll send them up right away.” said Teacher Yang and Principal Choi placed the phone back on the receiver, not even waiting for Teacher Yang’s goodbye. “A couple of our TAs are on there way here. They are around your age so you should feel at ease around them. They will show you around the school and introduce you to some of the other teachers. When your done comeback here and I will have some paper work for you to complete. Then you may go and sit in on some of the classes. You should start trying to get to know the students. Our school isn’t very big so it shouldn’t be to hard. Plus you will probably run into all of them at some point or another if you end up staying with us for a while.” She said the last part with a hint of a smile. “I have heard very good things about you, Mr. Kim, and I sincerely hope you deliver. Now wait outside for the boys to arrive.” Wonshik was about to nod, to overwhelmed by everything to say much but he remembered the principal’s words from earlier and decided against it. “Of course. And, thank you, ma’am.” And as he waited for his guides to arrive, all the nervous energy seemed to melt from his bones. Now all he wanted to do was prove to the principal that he was even better at his job than what she had heard.