Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As she paces the school office, only one thought repeats in Hyun-ju’s mind. Please just let it be a pay cut, please. Which is something she’d never thought she’d find herself saying. Hyun-ju is barely making ends meet as it is but the only other option is that she’s going to be fired. She doesn’t know what she’d do if that happened. You can say a lot of things about Squid School but it was one of the only places that would hire her. She needs this job.

Maybe she’s just overreacting. Hyun-ju knows better than this, though. No one gets called into Principal Oh’s office for anything good, teachers and students alike. Of course, there’s the occasional raise but Hyun-ju knows that she’s not that lucky. Never has been and never will be. All she wants is to keep her job.

She starts to bite the edge of her thumb. What could be taking this long? Hyun-ju knows better than most that the kids are little shits, being the P.E teacher and all, so maybe there was another fight? Or maybe Principal Oh’s drafting up the paperwork to get her fired right now.

It’s almost funny. In combat, Hyun-ju would be able to take down the wispy Principal, hell, a strong gust of wind would be enough. Yet here she is, shaking over the thought of him in his office, deciding her future.

Ok, she’s definitely just overreacting. Still, after everything she’s been through, she deserves to be a little melodramatic. That’s when a familiar, authoritative voice calls out to her.

“Ms. Cho? We’re ready to see you now.” He looks at her, his face giving no hint of emotion. Hyun-ju can’t figure out if that’s his usual professional face or if it’s an indication of something darker. Holy shit, she’s about to lose her job. Will she have to move again? Her heart races alongside her mind. Can he even do that without sending her a notice?

These thoughts get silenced once she’s led into his office. There’s a luxurious leather chair across from two stools. On one of the stools, is a man who couldn’t possibly look more out of place. Everything about him screams unorganised, from the paint splatter on his shirt to his mussed hair. He’s tall and hunched over the Principal’s desk. Despite Hyun-ju having an immediate knowledge of everyone at her work, his face doesn’t ring a bell.

“Hyun-ju, I’d like you to meet the new art teacher. This is Gyeong-seok.” Principal Oh says in his monotone voice. Then, he clears his throat, like he always does before delivering heavy news. Oh shit.

“I’m sure that you know about the… funding cuts.” He pauses and Gyeong-seok, as she knows him now, raises an eyebrow. By ‘funding cuts’ the Principal means the debt that has accumulated since his deputy, who used to run their finances, was arrested for running an illegal child-fighting ring.

Apparently, when the deputy was taking them on ‘school trips to the zoo’ he actually took them to an abandoned warehouses and anyone who fought got extra credit on their homework. At some point, even the old art teacher got in on it. That was until the deputy got greedy and stopped giving him his share. In the end, the art teacher was the one who exposed the con. How no one found out before, Hyun-ju doesn’t know. They’re not even near a zoo! Still, the damage was done on Squid School’s reputation. The only reason she was ever hired here was because of how desperate they had gotten.

Hyun-ju doesn’t say that out loud, obviously, she just nods and looks at the old man expectantly. “Recently, the school mandates that we must teach art and physical education.” Principal Oh pauses and Hyun-ju waits for the- “However, we simply do not have enough money to upkeep an extra room. So, we’ve decided it’s in the best interest of the school to have you two share one.” He finishes. It feels like a weight is lifted off her chest when she realises that she’s not being fired.

Then, that weight crashes onto her again. Sharing a room isn’t the worst thing, but humans are. Hyun-ju knows how cruel others can be, especially towards transgendered people, people like her. One wrong move and suddenly she’s a danger to the kids. One bad day and he could decide that she doesn’t deserve her job and get her kicked out.

“Sir, you know- it’s-“ she’s about to voice her opinion until she’s cut off by the principal. “-Hyun-ju.” Principal Oh sighs. Shit, he’s talking to her on a first name basis now. “I can understand why you’d have your inhibitions but it was either this or I’d have to fire one of you.” He continues on. By ‘firing one of you’ he means her. He’d fire her.

“I don’t think that you’d want that, Hyun-ju. Who would hire you? You were lucky enough to land a place here, don’t waste it because someone might disagree with your lifestyle.” He states calmly, as if he hasn’t just opened a Pandora’s box in her brain. All the dark thoughts and bad experiences she’s had over the years flood her mind and it’s all she can do to hold back tears. Everything he said was true, though. She is lucky to have a job here. Everyone else took one look and rejected her, no matter how hard her efforts were.

“Why wouldn’t they hire her? You were singing her praises before she got in the room.” Gyeong-seok puzzles, finally speaking up. He tilts his head. The Principal is about to open his mouth but this time, Hyun-ju interrupts him. Not wanting Gyeong-seok to find out. “Ok. I’ll- I’ll share the room.” She concedes and the old man flashes her an artificial smile.

“Good. Now, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me or Hyun-ju. We’ll make sure you’re settling in nicely.” He continues on. “That’ll be all, Hyun-ju.” Principal Oh dismisses her.

She gets up from the rickety stool, her eyes firmly planted on the floor. She’s about to push open the door but Gyeong-seok does it for her. She bows her head and he gives her a warm smile. Not like the Principal’s cold, harsh one, it’s genuine. He doesn’t know what you are yet. A voice in the back of her mind tells her.

Hyun-ju walks past him. Her head ducked down, determined to not let Gyeong-seok look to closely and realise. He probably already has, it’s no secret what she is. Too tall for a real woman, her voice too deep and shoulders too wide. Hyun-ju hunches inwards, determined to make herself smaller.

“Hyun-ju?” Gyeong-seok calls out for her as he tries to catch up with her pace. He turns to face her and Hyun-ju stops walking down the corridor. “What happened in there? Everyone here’s said that you’re a hard worker, why’s he being such a-“ Gyeong-seok scans the room for any kids who could overhear him. “Butthead?” A smile plays across her lips before she reprimands herself. He doesn’t know. She shakes her head and sighs. “He can be like that sometimes, especially since the ‘funding cuts’ happened.” Hyun-ju puts air quotes around those two words.

“Geez, how harsh were they?” He rubs the back of his neck, giving her an awkward smile. “Well, you can thank them for your job. The art teacher was fired last year, y’know, because of the fighting ring- funding issues.” Hyun-ju tries to play it off but he hears her. Gyeong-seok’s eyes widen and suddenly, all his attention is on her. “The what!?” He sputters and looks at her incredulously.

“I don’t know much, I wasn’t hired back then, but Young-mi does.” She turns to him. “If you want to know anything, and I mean anything, go to her.” Hyun-ju smiles before turning away from him and making the treacherous path back to the school office. She wasn’t lying when she said ask Young-mi. Ok, maybe part of why she said that was to get away but it’s true. The small girl is an absolute fiend when it comes to driving and gossip. It’s how she found out about what happened.

As Hyun-ju leaves the school and gets into her car, part of her is excited to learn about the new teacher. He seems like a nice person but Hyun-ju knows that it’s always the ones who mean well. For now, she’ll keep her walls up.

Chapter Text

When Hyun-ju next shows up to her school, she walks down the colourful hallways. What shocks her is that she finds her room pristine and spotless. She then finds Gyeong-seok who’s dripping onto the wooden floorboards. “How- what happened?” She asks. Then, she checks the window outside. Yep, it’s definitely not raining. “Got into a goose-fight.” He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck dejectedly.

“Sorry, what? Do you mean a goose-chase?” She questions him again. Hyun-ju’s still keeping her walls up but she can’t help feeling bad for the sopping wet mess in front of her. He shakes his head, droplets of water landing on the floor when he does. “There’s geese outside of my house and they really don’t like me.” He sighs and tries to wring out his shirt.

“Did you win- I mean, are you ok?” Hyun-ju asks him and he gives her a small smile. “Heck yeah! No geese are a match for me.” He answers before glancing down at his shirt. “Guess it doesn’t look like that though.” He pinches his wet, blue jumper between his fingers and chuckling. “Still, at least they didn’t hurt Na-yeon.” His eyes soften at her name.

Who? Her brain wonders. It’s not like it’s any of her business, she’s just bored and nosy. Maybe she should start setting up for class.

He looks up at her puzzled face and something finally clicks in his brain. “Na-yeon’s my kid. She can be a little bit of a handful sometimes but I love her.” Gyeong-seok smiles. “Handful?” She chuckles under her breath and wonders how he’s going to deal with the kids at this school “She’s unprincipled.” Gyeong-seok explains, his smile still kind.

“She’s gonna be unprincipled, she’s- how old is she?” Hyun-ju interrupts herself, bringing a bag of envelopes out for Ddakji. “Two.” He answers calmly, following Hyun-ju’s example and setting up his side of the room. “Two? Shit, I was burning down our kitchen -don’t ask- when I was two!” She laughs, thinking back to her childhood. She spent most of it figuring out what was wrong with her, why she felt like she did. But there were certain glimmers of her childhood that she could look back on and smile. That was one of the very few.

“I know, but what if she doesn’t grow out of it? I’ve tried to teach her morals but-“ Gyeong-seok starts to worry but Hyun-ju interrupts him. “-I’m guessing this is your first kid, Gyeong-seok, she’s two. You’re doing your best and she hasn’t even gained consciousness yet.” Hyun-ju tells him. Not because she sees him as a friend, which she doesn’t, but because she feels bad. Who wouldn’t?

“Do you have any kids?” Gyeong-seok asks. Oh. Guess he doesn’t know. Hyun-ju thinks, should she tell him?  Will he look at her any differently? “I- I can’t. I’m ok with that, though! It’s why I teach.” She smiles at him. That and no one else would hire her. To no one’s surprise, she keeps that last bit to herself.

“Shoot, I knew that- I’m sorry it’s a reflex question…” Gyeong-seok walks over to her and hugs her. Hyun-ju’s brain puzzles, what does he mean? One thought is louder than the rest, though. She shouldn’t let him hug her, not until he knows. “I’m trans, so if that- if it disgusts you or, I don’t know, if it-“ Hyun-ju’s interrupted this time, they really need to work on this. “-I know, that old guy told me. Why’s it matter?” He tells her with a confused face. Wow, he couldn’t have told her he knew sooner? Would’ve saved her a lot of time.

“Of course it matters- wait. You knew? You tried to hug me though.” She looks down at the floor, making sure that all the activities are set up. She’s definitely not avoiding eye contact with him. Alright maybe she is. Still, she can’t handle that look everyone gets when she tells them.

“Yeah, you’re transgender, not a plague-haver.” He chuckles at himself. He really is a dad isn’t he?

“You don’t care?” She asks cautiously.

“Nope, why would I?” He questions, genuinely confused. This time, Hyun-ju goes in for the hug. Since he knows and (seemingly) doesn’t care, it should be safe, right? It’s not long before she feels his arms around her and that warm feeling again. Hugs are a step in the right direction, definitely. She’d probably stay in his arms for a while if it weren’t for the-

“Miss Cho, who’s he?” Some little kid asks her, their big brown eyes looking up at her.

Hyun-ju jumps away from him like someone’s electrocuted her. “Oh- this is your new art teacher!” She brushes herself off and Gyeong-seok waves to his class. “Follow me everyone!” He jeers before looking at Hyun-ju. It’s not the type of stare that makes her want to hide, it’s genuine confusion. Which, fair, she did just jump away from him like he was radioactive.

“Ok class, today we’re doing pentathlon!” She beams at the small children. Hyun-ju hopes that it’s going to be a chill day but when she sees two kids, one with purple hair and the other with a bob, she knows it’ll be anything but.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright, get into groups of five please- Thanos get off him, Nam-gyu don’t pull his hair, guys please this is your first lesson back!” Hyun-ju pleads with the two boys who are currently tackling each other to the ground. She hovers, does she separate them? What if someone sees her and gets the wrong idea? Is she even allowed to get them off one another?

“If you don’t get off of one another I’ll call Ms Kang!” Hyun-ju threatens them. This works and apart from a few dirty looks, the fight has completely stopped. Both the boys are terrified of No-eul, understandably, and Hyun-ju breathes a sigh of relief.

And with that, the rest of the lesson goes smoothly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She’s lining up at the school cafeteria when someone taps her shoulder. Cautiously, as if she’s stepped on a land mine, she turns around only to see Gyeong-seok’s smiling face. Something about him puts Hyun-ju at ease.

“Those two are little rascals aren’t they?” He asks her, reaching for a metal spoon and scooping a mound of stew onto his plate. Big mistake, Hyun-ju thinks to herself. “Nothing No-eul can’t fix!” She returns his smile. Part of her wonders if she should tell him to not eat the goo on his plate.

“No-eul, as in the receptionist No-eul?” Gyeong-seok puzzles.

She nods. Are they close enough for her to to warn him about the dangers of Jung-bae’s slop? Would he listen to her? “Are you kidding? She wouldn’t hurt a fly!” He asks her whilst putting more of Jung-bae’s concoctions on his plate. “No, there’d be no point in hurting a fly. Humans are much more deserving.” A smooth voice calls out from behind Gyeong-seok. Hyun-ju nearly jumps out of her skin, how does she manage to do that?

“You haven’t seen her in action.” Hyun-ju warns Gyeong-seok, thinking back to when she tackled a robber on the playground. Hyun-ju has been in the army and even she is scared of the woman. “Wow, just because I’ve served my country doesn’t mean I’m heartless.” The corner of No-eul’s lips turn up. It’s similar but not exactly like Gyeong-seok’s. Hers is much more calculated. It scares Hyun-ju but what scares her more is the thought of judging someone based on what she’s heard. It happens to her far too often. Since she’s not heartless, she extends an olive branch. “Shit, I’m sorry I’ll- I’ll…” Hyun-ju pauses. She doesn’t exactly know No-eul well enough to try and fix this. No-eul seems to pick up on this.

“There’s a new bar my husband’s opening downtown. Get to know me better, so the mistakes not made again.” No-eul states calmly, dodging everything made by Jung-bae with the skill of an acrobat. Don’t get them wrong, they love Jung-bae, he’s a ray of sunshine. It’s the only reason he’s kept his job this long, but he’s a shit cook. Before Hyun-ju was hired, Jung-bae managed the school’s kitchen. He was supposed to oversee the kitchen staff, not work as one. However, when most of the staff got fired due to the fighting ring, he had to step up. At least they have Yong-sik who makes edible food.

Gyeong-seok clears his throat, clearly feeling left out of the conversation and No-eul smiles. “You can come with us Gyeong-seok. Bring your nice clothes, though.” She tells him and walks away, not before she gives him a judgemental glance up and down.

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” He frowns, checking out his blue jumper and navy slacks. Hyun-ju follows suit. He doesn’t look that bad, just a bit damp. “Nothing, see what I mean though? Scary.” She says before remembering her newfound alliance.

“Hey! She’s my best friend, you know?” Gyeong-seok’s face twists into mock hurt as he places a hand across his chest. God, he’s dramatic. Hyun-ju rolls her eyes but keeps note of it in her brain.

She walks away from the lunch line, tray in hand. She expects to sit on her own table like she always does but to her surprise, Gyeong-seok keeps in step with her. What’s he trying to do? The sceptical part of her brain theorises. Is he going to make fun of her? That’s when the logical part of her brain calms her down. They share a room, he probably just wants to know her.

As they sit next to each other, an awkward silence settles between them. Hyun-ju should definitely talk. “How do you know No-eul?” She asks him and Gyeong-seok explains how they were childhood friends and how she’s the one who got him this job and introduced him to Na-yeon’s mother. For the first time, his face darkens.

“You don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want.” Hyun-ju offers but his face doesn’t change. Actually, he gets paler. “I- what was in that-“ He cuts himself off before gagging and running away. Hyun-ju’s confused until she looks onto his plate and sees that most of Jung-bae’s cooking has been eaten by Gyeong-seok. Shit. She definitely should’ve told him.