The Ability
"Do it over."
Seol Yuha set the papers down.
The third time today alone. First the print had been too small, then the line spacing too wide. What was it this time?
"Why is there a photo in here?"
"I used last month's newsletter as a reference."
"Last month, the Director requested that separately."
And how was I supposed to know that? She was the one who had sent me the file yesterday and told me to refer to it, but I didn't bother saying so. An explanation would only drag on.
"I'll revise it."
"Teacher Lee."
My hand stopped halfway to the papers.
"Yes."
"If you don't know, ask first. Don't decide on your own and make yourself do the work twice."
I bowed my head and went back to my seat. The moment I sat down, Jeong Daeun, at the desk beside mine, leaned her face over the partition.
"Rejected again?"
"She wants the photo out."
"Huh? I'm the one who told you to put that—"
Jeong Daeun pressed her palms together in a silent apology. I managed a smile, and a voice came flying from the far side of the teachers' office.
"Teacher Lee Doyun. Revise it first."
"Yes."
Her face vanished behind the partition.
Must be nice. At least she has somewhere to hide.
It was my tenth day at Saebom Kindergarten, exactly. My first permanent job, landed at twenty-five. When I passed the interview, I was sure I'd get at least a month to enjoy being employed. In reality, I had a job site open again within three days.
The reason was simple.
"Teacher Lee. Did you check the supply inventory?"
Seol Yuha. Twenty-nine this year. Head Teacher at Saebom Kindergarten, and the one in charge of training me. The moment she opened her mouth, even the teachers mid-conversation dropped their voices.
She was good at the work. Quick to untangle a snarled schedule, quicker still at catching someone else's mistake. The problem was how often that exceptional eye seemed reserved for me.
"Yes. I cross-checked it against the storeroom counts."
"Then why isn't the construction paper restocked?"
"Teacher Daeun said the delivery was coming this after—"
Seol Yuha's eyebrow lifted a fraction.
"Teacher Jeong."
"Sorry?"
"During work hours, use the family name."
"...Teacher Jeong said so."
"When it arrives, check it and put it away."
"Understood."
Only then did she take her hand off my desk.
A black blouse, black slacks. Not a single collar out of place — a look that matched her exactly.
"Have you eaten?"
She was still standing there.
"Not yet. I was going to eat once I finished this."
"Mealtime is part of the schedule too. You need to move when you're supposed to."
"Yes. I'll go right away."
After she turned away, I checked my phone. A full twenty minutes of lunch remained. I switched the job-site alerts back on.
Not that I could quit on the spot. Rent came out next week, and between the money spent running to interviews and what the clothes had cost, my balance had become a number I didn't care to look at for long. Until the first paycheck, at least. I'd think about it then.
I'd just settled on that and started to stand when I noticed a small paper bag on the corner of the desk. Inside were a sandwich and a carton of milk.
"Teacher Jeong, is this yours?"
"No? Did someone leave it?"
I picked the bag up, and a receipt slipped out. Bought thirty minutes ago at the bakery across the street. Before I could open my mouth to find the owner, Seol Yuha spoke.
"Eat it."
I turned to look at her.
She was watching only her monitor.
"It's leftover from the meeting."
"Ah. Thank you."
"Don't spill. And don't set it on the documents."
"...Yes."
She was the sort of person who allowed you about two seconds to be grateful.
I revised the newsletter and turned it in again, then got through the supplies and the event boxes, and quitting time drew close. Just as I was about to pack my bag, Seol Yuha called me over to go through next week's schedule.
By then I'd gotten fairly good at answering her.
Short. Clear. Add nothing.
Explain, and it became an excuse. Ask first, and the look that came back wondered how I still didn't know.
"Don't you have any questions, Teacher Lee?"
…If she needed me to have one, then I needed to have one.
"Would it be all right if Friday's preparations were done by Thursday?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
Of course it is.
I bit the inside of my lip. Her gaze brushed my mouth for an instant, then dropped to the schedule.
"Show it to me on Wednesday. So I can check it ahead of time."
"Understood."
By the time I got back to the teachers' office, most people had already left. Only Jeong Daeun remained, packing her bag. It was dim beyond the window. The children had all gone home, and the whole building was quiet.
"You worked hard today, too."
"You too, Teacher Jeong."
"Oh, come on. We're off the clock — talk to me normally. Like you did earlier."
She smiled, playful. I was just about to answer.
Eee—
A short, sharp tone rang inside my ear. I pressed a hand over it. The sound cut off at once, but everything around me went muffled.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. My ear, just for a second..."
"Huh?"
"What?"
Jeong Daeun was the one asking.
It was unmistakably her voice. Her lips weren't moving.
She bent down beneath the desk.
"...Looking for something?"
"My umbrella. I know I brought it in."
A chill ran down my back. She hadn't opened her mouth just now. Had I seen it wrong?
"You haven't seen it, have you? The one with the rabbit on the handle."
I hesitated, then answered.
"You didn't leave it at the bakery, did you?"
Her hand stopped.
"Huh? How did you know I went to the bakery?"
"...I saw you go out at lunch."
"Right. It might be there."
She took out her phone and gave my shoulder a light pat.
"Thanks. I should call. See you tomorrow."
"Yes. Get home safe."
The door closed.
The muffled feeling faded. Her voice on the phone, receding down the hall, sounded no different from usual.
Except for one thing.
Another voice layered itself under the one on the call. Strangely, I could tell them apart. One came from beyond the door. The other rang inside my head.
I lowered myself slowly into the chair.
"What the hell."
I took a sip of water. It could be a coincidence. Maybe she'd muttered it, and I simply hadn't seen.
"Teacher Lee."
Of all moments, that was when Seol Yuha walked in.
My back straightened on its own.
"Yes."
She came right up to me and set a sheet of paper down.
"I checked the revised newsletter."
What am I fixing this time? I started hunting for the file I'd left at the bottom of the screen.
"You can upload it as it is."
"...Ah. Yes."
She didn't leave. Her gaze moved to the empty sandwich bag in the corner of the desk.
The hand on my mouse went stiff.
There it was again. This time, the voice was Seol Yuha's.
"Was the sandwich all right?"
"Sorry?"
"The one from earlier."
"Ah, yes. It was good."
I slowly lifted my head.
Her face was blank. It didn't match the relieved voice I'd just heard. Not at all.
"Didn't you say it was leftover from the meeting?"
"That's right."
The answer came fast.
The receipt from earlier came back to me. The one who had stepped away around the time the sandwich was bought was Jeong Daeun. Had Seol Yuha actually asked her to buy it on purpose?
No. Before that — what am I hearing right now?
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Her eyes narrowed. At that familiar expression, I dropped my gaze at once.
"It's nothing."
"If you have something to say, say it."
I had plenty. But ask whether she meant the things she'd said inside her head, and she'd recommend sick leave before I finished the sentence.
"You look very tired today."
"A little."
She folded her arms.
"There's still a lot to get used to. That's all."
"Yes. I'll get used to it quickly."
I held my breath.
This time I watched carefully. Her lips didn't move.
"Clock out for today. Do the rest tomorrow."
"I'll just save this and go."
"I'll save it."
"It's fine."
I reached for the mouse, and she set a hand on the edge of the desk and leaned in. I jerked my chair back. She stopped too.
"I'm sorry. You startled me."
She pressed her lips tight. Then she turned her head.
My heart dropped.
She took her hand off the desk and straightened her sleeve. Any other day, I would have let it pass. But her fingers brushed the same spot twice, awkward about it.
"I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable."
"No. I think I was just on edge."
That much, at least, was true. I managed a smile.
"And you even got me a sandwich. Thank you, Teacher."
She looked at my smiling face.
Her hand stopped.
The wrong idea about what.
She was the one who looked away first. Beneath her tied-up hair, the ear that showed was faintly red. I'd never seen her like that.
"Come in ten minutes early tomorrow."
What left her mouth was still pure Seol Yuha.
"There's something the two of us need to check."
But the voice that followed was not.
I missed my chance to answer.
She fidgeted with the edge of the paper.
"Teacher Lee. Are you listening?"
"Yes. I'm listening."
I was listening far too well.
As if to confirm it, she lifted her face again. This time, too, her gaze paused for a moment at my mouth.
And then.
Strength went into my fingertips. Under the mouse I'd clicked by mistake, the window changed, and the job site I'd left open that afternoon filled the screen.
The teachers' office went quiet.
I couldn't bring myself to close it.