The Rose Of Peril

3 Weeks Later...

It has been three weeks and I still heard nothing of Rowoon. There were no threats, no stalking activity, and no dangerous surprises. Maybe Rowoon has finally grown tired of me and has found somebody else to toy with. Maybe he has finally come to his senses and has changed. Or maybe I was just very good at hiding. Whatever the reason was, I was glad about it. Because now, I could go back to my happy, carefree life and have no stress at all. Maybe I wasn't in any sort of danger anymore but I still had to play my part just in case the predator aka Lee Rowoon might attack again.

I mean I managed to find a new apartment with my sister's help, Jisoo and Eunbi always accompanied me wherever I went, and I continued to wear baggy hoodies, weird-looking glasses, and big hats. One might say that I was pretty good at changing my identity.

I never thought that my life would take such a strange course and the only thing I could do was adapt to such crazy circumstances. But one thing I understood from this whole situation was that Jisoo and Eunbi did actually care about me. I mean they didn't let me go anywhere alone. And just the other day an ordinary man just bumped into me and Jisoo shamelessly smacked his face and kneed his groin. She didn't forget to yell at him of course. What she said was "You jerk if you try to lay even one touch on my friend, I will crush you to pieces." And yeah her face was fuming with anger and I think I actually saw her eyes turn red, and smoke fly out of her red ears.

It was so embarrassing. People were staring at us and we were making quite a scene.

So anyway, all this made me realize that these two girls weren't just a crazy couple of fangirls but they do think about me...unlike my sister who never visits me and who uses the excuse of working in Shanghai to stay away from me. Sending me some money wasn't enough of course. We only had each other and mama and papa would have wanted us to be together happily...

"Yunseo? Is everything all right? The new professor will be here soon," my deskmate Sunwoo ruffled my hair and gave me an encouraging smile.

"Why are you ruffling my hair? I'm not a little kid you know."

"Aww but you're so cute!" Sunwoo continued to ruffle my hair but I had no energy left in me to protest.

"Everybody shush he is coming!" a student sitting on one of the front row seats hissed rather aggressively.

Our new professor of traditional poetry was said to be a very young man. I didn't know much about him, but according to all the other students, he is actually an actor and an ex-idol singer. Now that made me question his way of teaching and I had very little hope for him. I hoped that he was not a crazy psychopath like Rowoon.

"Hi everyone!" a strong masculine voice announced cheerfully. I looked over in the direction of the voice and almost lost my breath. A tall man was making his way toward the lecturer's table. Not only was he tall but he was freakishly handsome. Pale skin, white-bleached hair, and tattoos looming over his neck. Not to mention the combat boots he was wearing only gave him a more badass look.

A long silver earring was hanging from his left ear, glistening like a crystal in a Victorian chandelier. He definitely did have the features of an idol and had the proportions of an actor. All the girls in the lecture hall gave out loud sighs while eyeing him hungrily like he was a dessert on display.

"Damn he looks like a sexy mafia gang leader," Sunwoo whispered with a scowl on his face.

I had to agree with him. Our new professor was indeed very terrifying. And the way his tall frame leaned over his desk made him look very scary and intimidating.

"Okay students, my name is Kim Juyeon. You may call me Mr.Kim or sir. I'll be your new professor of traditional poetry starting today and I expect you to stay focused during class and hopefully not fall asleep," Mr. Kim gave the hall filled with flirtatious young college students a beaming smile.

"Oh, I won't fall asleep. I'll definitely have erotic daydreams about you," the girl sitting next to Sunwoo giggled along with her other girlfriends. So shameless indeed...

This continued for some time. Girls were twirling their hair, whistling, and talking loudly about how gorgeous sir Juyeon was...our new mysterious professor.

Nobody seemed to be paying attention to his lecture on the writing styles of poetry...even the boys. They were gawking at him, their eyes scanning his body dazedly. Some were blankly chewing the tips of their pens while letting their lustful eyes roam over Mr.Kim's bulky arms as he tried to explain everything very expressively.

I was an exception of course. I was unfazed by any of this nonsense and I hurriedly took down notes of everything that he said. At some point through the lecture though, Mr. Kim had taken a beautiful red rose to his hand and was apparently describing what made the rose very extraordinary.

"Oh, he's my Romeo!" a girl sitting in one of the back row seats exclaimed. This made all the students laugh but Mr. Kim had a stone-cold expression on his face. He didn't even let out a single smile or a sigh of satire.

Maybe his personality was a mix of being grumpy, serious, and a little bit cold.

"I would like you all to compare this rose to something. It can be anything. It could be something that you like, it could be something that you hate or some random thing that comes to your head. Now then, give me your answers..." not long after the professor's sudden question, many girls and boys started to raise their hands and answer him. They gave different types of answers and this went on for some time. The professor wore a bored unimpressed expression on his face while listening to the answers and sudden questions about whether he was single or unavailable.

I listened attentively to the varying answers while examining my notebook and studying its content. I was so lost in my own notes that when the professor pointed his finger at me, I almost jumped out of my seat in panic. "You there! Notebook! Or giant Hoodie! What do you have to say?" Sunwoo shook my shoulder vigorously as I raised my eyes from the notebook and met the burning stare of my new professor. His pointed finger was equally terrifying. His expressionless face was filled with a smirk as his terrifying eyes burned into my head. Wait, was he smirking at me? That was weird and scary.

No good answer was coming into my brain. So I blurted out the one thing that came into my head.

"Love...sir?"

"Did you say 'Love'? What is the reason?"

"Well, you see sir, we all view 'love' as this beautiful emotion and about how much happiness it can bring. But, 'love' has the ability to hurt you as well. It can break your heart and shatter your soul in an instant. The rose flower you're holding has thorns on its stalk and if you touch those thorns, you'll bleed. They will hurt you. All I'm saying is that underneath all that beauty is a peril...

I'm not saying that 'love' is pain and suffering...I just shared one of my opinions and um how we can view a certain subject from a different perspective as well," by the time I was done with my explanation, I was out of breath. I couldn't even believe how the words kept coming out of my mouth like a speeding train. I was stupid because I didn't think twice before blurting out all those words.

Did I mess up? Did I say something foolish? Oh, dear...I did not want to get on the new professor's bad side on his first day.

I sheepishly looked at the professor, hoping that nothing bad will happen. Mr. Kim's eyes had gone wide and his lips started to form a small smile.

"Hm...that's actually good Hoodie. You're right. We do have the freedom to view a topic from a different perspective and share our opinions. I like your confidence. Okay, class! Please take down notes from the slideshow and please pay attention!" Mr. Kim gave me a wink before turning around to handle the projector.

Everything was so weird. Not only did our serious new professor smirk at me but he also smiled at me. Then he called me 'Hoodie' and even winked at me.

The girls in our class were all giving me strange looks. Some were glaring at me and some were gritting their teeth. I was innocent and did nothing wrong. What was their problem anyway?

"They're jealous Yunseo. Apparently, you have caught Mr. Kim's attention and he's giving you special treatment. I can't blame him tho. You are very cute--" Sunwoo cooed into my ear.

"Stop it Sunwoo. Just take down all the notes. I I don't know what to say anymore," I ignored Sunwoo's giggling face and started to take down notes from the slide Mr. Kim was showing. The hall was silent as students took out their pens and wrote down all the important points in their notebooks.

After what felt like an hour, the slideshow ended and it was time to go. I gathered my books and bag and leaped out of my seat, aiming directly for the door so that I could run away from all the angry stares the girls were giving me.

But just when I reached for the door, Mr. Kim's deep voice interrupted me.

"Not so fast Hoodie. You stay. I need to discuss a few things with you. All the other students, you can leave."

Why did he want to see me? What could be there to discuss anyway? The new professor gave off a serious grumpy image and being alone with him in an empty lecture hall was scary. He looked like one of those tough professors who wanted everything to be perfect and punctual.

All the students flooded out of the hall and finally, it was just me and Mr. Kim.

Mr. Kim closed the door and I nervously looked at my shoes, somehow finding the knot of my shoelaces so interesting.

"Hoodie? What is your name?" Mr. Kim's tough voice made me look up at him. He was standing in front of me and I had to raise my head to look up at his face because he was so tall.

"My name is Bae Yunseo sir," I replied humbly.

"Hm...you seem to be the type who puts a lot of attention to his work. So do you mind staying with me for a few hours to help me mark a few papers? It seems that my first day of work is pretty busy as well. Are you free? Only if you are free though," Mr. Kim smiled at me in a way that made me uncomfortable. His smile reminded me of the way witches smiled in Roald Dhal's novel. Weird...

"I'm sorry sir but I have an appointment with two of my friends. You see, I'm supposed to have dinner with them in a few hours." It was true tho. I promised Jisoo and Eunbi that I would have dinner with them at this fancy new hotel that we'd been dying to visit for months.

"Oh okay...you may leave then Yunseo. I don't want you to cut off such an important meeting. And um you can have this too," Mr. Kim gave me the rose he used for his lecture earlier. It was only a flower and declining something so small from your professor would definitely make you seem bad and I did not want to be on a professor's naughty list. So I took the rose with a slight nod and turned to leave.

"Wait, is that a hickey?" his sudden words halted my first step and shame took over my entire system, making a strong blush creep into my cheeks. It has been three weeks and the hickey that Rowoon placed on my neck has been so hard to conceal every day. But by now, it had faded a lot so how could Mr.Kim see it so easily?

"Who gave it to you? It makes me a little jealous. For someone who looks so beautiful and innocent as a flower, you do have a very naughty side. So, can I be the next one?"

"Good day to you ssir," I managed to say, gritting my teeth to force my range from exploding. I dashed out of the hall and closed the door behind me with a loud bang. My heart was beating very fast but I ignored it and ran through the college hallways, hoping my anger would vanish soon before I exploded into a fit of madness.