Love Class

Chapter 3

Cha Yiheon was famous. He was a man whose name was always a hot topic of conversation among the rich. The second prince of the Chawoon Group had amazing looks from his mother—this appeal was even more powerful than the seventy-year-old catchphrase of the company itself.

What’s more, Yiheon had a personality like that of his cunning grandfather, Chairman Cha Pilheon, but he was even more arrogant and aloof. He was smart, cold, and skilled at controlling any situation he found himself in.

This was why the world considered him to be the only chance of ending the chairman’s current tragedy.

Chairman Pilheon’s son, Cha Yi-uk, the current CEO, had placed Chawoon Group at risk with his terrible business sense. CEO Yi-uk’s eldest son, Cha Yijun, the company’s managing director, had average business abilities, but he was too sentimental for a businessman.

Yiheon seemed to have the potential to outdo both his father, the CEO, and his elder brother, the managing director.

However, he had a fatal flaw—he had no ambition whatsoever.

Chairman Pilheon was known to grip Yiheon’s hand from his sickbed to talk about the corporation, but Yiheon had never shown any change.

“Grandfather, you must be getting senile. I’m not interested in competing to become the successor. I want an ordinary life, and that’s what I’m going to have,” he’d say.

Chairman Pilheon had always laughed, saying that modesty was a virtue, but Yiheon had meant every word.

At twenty-eight, after the unprecedented success of a New Business Development Department, Yiheon had turned in his letter of resignation. His grandfather had been extremely upset at this, but nonetheless, Yiheon had chosen to work at a school—a private high school on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.

This was where Eunchae had met him for the first time.

* * *

“Hello. I’m the new math teacher, Cha Yiheon. Nice to meet you all.”

Her first impression of him had been a simple one.

He’s handsome.

This tall, good-looking new teacher was an object of infinite interest for the high school boys and girls who were going through puberty.

“Don’t run in the corridor.”

“Don’t mumble when you speak in class!”

“Look at these midterm grades. Is this a joke?”

Yiheon’s deep voice held much power, and it seemed that not a single word he said was wasted. His cold, piercing eyes made him an object of terror, but “terror” could be considered another word for “admiration.”

There were as many rumors about him as there were people interested in him. Everyone engaged in unconfirmed gossip as if it were straight truth.

The most absurd of all was the rumor that concerned his background.

“Mr. Cha is apparently the youngest son of Chawoon Group!”

“Why would someone like him work as a teacher out here?”

The students were young, but rumors traveled fast. The conclusion was always that Mr. Cha was just someone with the same name.

Everyone in the school believed this except for one person—Eunchae.

However, not even she had been expecting it when the truth had first come to her. Her adoptive parents had forced her to attend the seventieth anniversary party of Chawoon Group, and there she had encountered Yiheon, their own Mr. Cha.

Their eyes had met, and she had looked away before he had.

Even though her heart had been racing from the shock, she’d been unable to help herself—she’d stolen glances at him throughout the party. She’d thought she had been mistaken at first, but this was not the case. It wasn’t possible with someone as handsome as him.

Thankfully, he hadn’t seemed to recognize her, and he’d never given her another glance.

Of course, as it turned out, she’d been wrong.

* * *

“Ji Eunchae.”

“Oh, Mr. Cha. Hello.”

“Are you going home?”

Yiheon had met her at school the next day and had suddenly spoken her name. Most of the students had already left, and the school corridor was dark. Eunchae bowed while he approached her.

The moonlight coming through the windows glimmered over his face as he walked. She gripped her backpack straps tightly whenever that sharp face was flooded with moonlight.

“You saw me.”

“What?” she asked.

“You saw me there.”

She gulped, so audibly even he could hear it. She was silent for a while, but he didn’t press her. He didn’t move aside to let her pass, either, however. He simply looked down at her, waiting for an answer.

“Did I...?” she asked, her eyes evasive. It was so obvious that she was lying.

She was feeling guilty about that when he laughed.

She quickly glanced up at him, their eyes meeting for a moment. The smile was still on his face. Yiheon was generous with this girl, who was too young to even lie properly.

“Bold of you to pretend. Take this.”

Yiheon held out a single strawberry taffy candy to her. It dangled from his fingers.

She knew what this was—a reward he sometimes gave to his students. She remembered how students would brag about it and how the sweet scent would spread throughout the classroom.

Despite how stern he was, he had a way of treating these high schoolers like they were still in elementary school. The students were always eager to receive his affection—they were happy to play along.

It seemed that Eunchae was no different.

“I’m paying you for your silence,” he said.

She quickly opened her palms and held them out, and he dropped the taffy into them.

A warm, fuzzy happiness flooded her heart.

“It’s pretty late. Get home safe.”

After that, Yiheon began to behave like he owed her.

“Ji Eunchae, take this.”

The more often he dropped a taffy into her hands, the more often he ended up saying her name.

“Ji Eunchae. Here. Payment.”

The jealous way her friends spoke to her fell pleasantly on her ears.

“Eunchae, he must like you because you’re so pretty.”

She began looking forward to going to school. Every night, her heart raced. On Friday nights, she began feeling down in the dumps and was unable to focus on her study material.

“Did you see Mr. Cha?”

“Mr. Cha? Nope.”

This was even more pronounced on the day of her graduation.

Her sister had failed her College Scholastic Ability Test as well as her practical test, and Eunchae was being forced to accompany her as she took refuge in a study program overseas. The young Eunchae felt as though her world had fallen apart.

She ran around confusedly, feeling no happiness at the fact she had gotten her diploma. Out of breath, she searched for Yiheon on the school grounds.

“Oh. So you’re going overseas to study?”

“Yes...”

For some reason, even when she found him and faced him, she found herself unable to say anything to him.

“I’m sure you’ll do great no matter where you go,” he had told her.

The realization came to her suddenly. Her feelings became clear as she derived consolation from his words, which had no doubt been offered as a nice gesture.

“Ji Eunchae.”

As she stood in the empty lot behind the school, she could hear the noises that her friends were making in the distance. It was a frosty day, and the late winter breeze rushed past her nose.

A man stood in front of her. It was their stern math teacher, Cha Yiheon.

He said her name, and like a matter of course, he held out his prize.

“The final payment,” he said.

She stared at that final taffy for a very long time.

“Good work.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Cha.”

Her heart beat so fast that she thought it might burst. She was no longer a high school student, and she could give a clear name to the emotion that filled her.

Eunchae was in love.

Cha Yiheon, her math teacher, was her first.