Chapter 86
Chapter 86
The classroom wall clock showed about three minutes until the end of class. The broadcast was Department Head Seo Young-ju's voice.
They usually wait for the bell to ring before making announcements.No, maybe it's really urgent. Bom, correcting her thoughts, first closed her textbook.
"Let's stop here for today. When the bell rings, your homeroom teacher will come for the end-of-day meeting, so don't leave, just wait. Even better if you're cleaning. Got it?"
"Yep!"
She gave the class president a look, reiterating her instructions, then quickly left the classroom. Passing through the quiet hallway, as class hadn't ended yet, Bom hurried down the stairs and quickened her pace towards the faculty office.
Even before she reached the faculty office, loud laughter echoed in the hallway. From the doorway, an unfamiliar voice with a cheerful tone could be heard.
Who could have come? Could it be those broadcasting station people I saw earlier? But the question of why they would be looking for her kept nagging at her.
Opening the door nervously, the excited face of the Department Head was the first thing she saw.
"Teacher Bom, oh my. Come over here!"
She quickly approached Bom. Behind her, as expected, stood the two people who had emerged from the QBS Broadcasting Station vehicle earlier.
"Alright, alright, let's exchange greetings first."
"Huh?"
The Department Head quickly turned around and positioned Bom in front of the two broadcasting station representatives. Standing in the middle, she enthusiastically introduced them.
"Uh, this here is the homeroom teacher. And these are the PD and writer from QBS Broadcasting Station, who came down from Seoul."
"Wow, I see dozens of celebrities every day, but I'm still surprised. To find such a beautiful person here."
The first to extend a hand was a man in his thirties, wearing a dark gray military cap pulled low. He introduced himself as a broadcasting station PD.
"Um, but what..."
"Nice to meet you, please take my card."
Before Bom could even ask anything, the woman in her twenties next to him swiftly handed her a business card.
Na Yoon-jeong
QBS Entertainment Writer
"We happened to be doing some guerrilla filming in Busan. On our way back to Seoul, we'd like to take Seon Han-gyeol with us. It's a weekend shoot, so it won't interfere with classes."
"Wait a minute. Han-gyeol?"
At the incomprehensible words, Bom looked from the writer to the Department Head and back again. There was far too little explanation.
"Ah, they want to take Seon Han-gyeol from Teacher Bom's class to the broadcasting station to film him."
"What are you talking about? Why our Han-gyeol? What program is this?"
Bom's voice grew louder with anxiety. The PD, even in front of Bom's questioning tone, chuckled leisurely.
"Well, since the homeroom teacher is here too, I'll explain everything in detail to both of you, including the Department Head."
In such cases, it was customary to speak with the Vice Principal, who was the administrator, but Seok Gwan-su was out on a business trip to the Office of Education today. Instead, Department Head Seo Young-ju was filling in for him.
"Alright, alright, I'm dying of curiosity too. Shall we talk over there?"
The Department Head pointed to the guest table. Bom quickly scanned the faculty office. Fortunately, no one else was in the faculty office yet, but the end-of-class bell was just ringing. It was almost time for the teachers to return.
"Department Head, it would be better to talk in the meeting room next door rather than here. There's also the issue of Han-gyeol's personal information..."
"What's with personal information when we all know each other!"
The PD chuckled at the Department Head, who insisted it was fine.
"Well, we'd also prefer to speak privately in a closed-off space, so let's do as the homeroom teacher suggests."
"If that's what you prefer, come this way."
Ugh, I haven't even done homeroom yet... Bom sighed softly. Still, since they clean before homeroom, there was still a bit of time. Bom entered the meeting room with them.
Where did they come from?
Pulling out a hard plastic chair and sitting upright, Bom couldn't help but eye the PD and writer sitting opposite her, smiling faintly. The PD's eyes crinkled into crescent moons as he spoke.
"You know 'I Am a K-Trot Singer,' right?"
"Oh my! You're kidding! You're from there?"
The Department Head's eyes widened. Bom felt that her reaction, sitting diagonally across, was not just a polite formality. She didn't know much about it, but it certainly felt like a famous entertainment program.
"Han-gyeol and trot don't really seem to go together, do they?"
"He's not a contestant there."
"Then why come all the way from Seoul?"
"Oh, as I mentioned earlier, we just stopped by on our way from Busan back to Seoul. The reason for our visit is..."
The PD, who had been laughing, suddenly lowered his voice.
"It hasn't aired yet, but the final 22 contestants for the survival show have been decided."
The PD stopped there and passed the ball to the writer. The writer was holding a rectangular camcorder, constantly fiddling with it and wearing a somewhat awkward smile.
"I'll explain. We're planning to edit and broadcast the stories of the final 22 contestants during the competition."
"Are you saying one of those final 22 knows Han-gyeol?"
"That's right, Homeroom Teacher. The contestant even filmed a video letter, which we've brought here. We think the student can watch the video letter and then decide whether to appear on the show..."
Suddenly, someone came to mind. As the person Jae-gyu had mentioned popped into her head, her brow furrowed involuntarily. But her ominous premonition proved correct, as a familiar name flowed from the writer's lips.
"Contestant Lee Hee-yeon is desperately searching for her lost son. She apparently heard by chance during the survival challenge that her son attends this school. Since she's in a training camp, she couldn't come right away and just cried. It's really pitiful, isn't it?"
"My goodness, Han-gyeol's birth mother is that person?"
"So the student didn't know either, it seems? So, we'd like to film the student looking lonely at school. We'll also film a video letter to his mother, and if he wishes, we'll help him watch contestant Lee Hee-yeon's performance from the very front row."
As if she watched the program, the Department Head gasped, realizing that the contestant and Han-gyeol looked exactly alike.
"Teacher Bom, go bring Han-gyeol here quickly! Wow, the show even finds mothers for people! This is huge!"
Even as the Department Head fussed, tapping the meeting room table repeatedly with her palm, Bom didn't budge. Her mind was filled with confusion.
What should I do?
She had heard that Han-gyeol didn't clearly remember the day Hee-yeon had left him with Jae-gyu. Perhaps that's why he still longed for his mother, even running away from home in middle school.
Maybe he would want to hear news of his mother. But...
[I carried and raised this kid since he was no bigger than the sole of my foot.]
Jae-gyu was Han-gyeol's de facto guardian now. It was right to inform him first.
"Right, I should call Jae-gyu first." Hoping he wouldn't be too surprised, Bom stood up.
"Alright, Teacher Bom. Hurry up with homeroom and bring Han-gyeol over here."
Bom, lowering her gaze, resolved to stay sharp as she looked at the Department Head, who was intrigued by the unexpected news, and the PD and writer, who were smiling amiably but whose true intentions were inscrutable.
"That student has a separate guardian. I will contact them first, then ask the student for his wishes, and then bring him."
At her firm stance, the PD lowered his eyebrows into an 'eight' shape and rubbed his palms together.
"Please, Homeroom Teacher. Please persuade him well. We even shed tears while filming the video letter, you know?"
Is that really true? They've clearly been to Shinsu-eup before. Why are they looking for Han-gyeol now, of all times, when she's appearing on a survival show?
"For now, please wait."
Bom left the meeting room. First, as she headed up to the classroom for homeroom, she frantically pulled her phone from her pocket and called Jae-gyu.
Please...
Jae-gyu, who usually answered his phone immediately, wasn't picking up today for some reason. Bom repeatedly pressed the call button, but eventually arrived at the classroom first.
Cleaning was just finishing up, and desks and chairs were being aligned. Bom continued to call Jae-gyu while searching for Han-gyeol with her eyes. But for some reason, Han-gyeol was nowhere to be seen.
"Se-jin, where's Han-gyeol?"
Se-jin, who had been arranging the magnets on the blackboard in a line, paused.
"Han-gyeol went to the faculty office to help the Chinese teacher carry something heavy."
"I didn't see him on my way up."
"Oh, maybe he took the end staircase instead of the central one?"
Bom urgently clapped her hands to get their attention and raised her voice.
"Kids, cleaning's done, so you can go home now. No announcements today."
"Yes, Teacher!"
Bom quickly exited the classroom.
⋆★⋆
The signs of autumn approaching were clear. Jae-gyu went to work in the morning, and on his way home, stopped by the supermarket to pick up ingredients. Everything was fine, but he wasted time looking for bonito flakes, so he arrived home later than expected.
"Busy, busy. Let's see, do I have everything?"
Batter, butter, octopus legs, eggs, green onions, cabbage, sauce, bonito flakes...
Confirming that no ingredients were missing, Jae-gyu brought out the takoyaki machine he'd received from Gu Philip and placed it on the dining table.
Examining the round, holed plate from various angles, Jae-gyu took out the tablet from the kitchen and searched for a video.
<How to Make Delicious Takoyaki at Home>
He needed to learn how to make them beforehand and try making them himself before Bom arrived later. Since it was his first time making takoyaki.
"Hmm, maybe I should've tried this with Han-gyeol yesterday."
Jae-gyu, hands in his pockets and head buried in the tablet, slowly brightened. It didn't seem as difficult as he thought, and the process of rolling the takoyaki into perfect spheres looked like fun.
They say if you make pretty songpyeon, you'll have pretty children. So, what about takoyaki?
"Shall I try rolling them nicely?"