Chapter 5

"Group project"

It was quiet in the small teacher's office. Not many professors were at their desks and those who were, just quietly sat in their chair and looked through their paperwork. The same was the case for Namjoon, as he had his head buried in the computer in front of him, while he prepared for the class he had scheduled in about thirty minutes. He could already feel his excitement grow when he looked at the project he had planned and he eagerly waited for time to pass so he could present it to the class. There was especially one person who came to mind when he thought of this project.

As his thoughts had unintentionally landed on his introverted neighbor, Namjoon looked up when he heard the sound of the door opening, but he was surprised when the man who entered wasn't someone he recognized. Even if he had only worked there for a couple of weeks, he was sure he'd been introduced to every professor in the department. Was the man from another department? He certainly looked like he was comfortable in his surroundings.

"Good afternoon," the elderly man spoke and looked down at Namjoon who was still sitting at his desk.

"Oh good afternoon," Namjoon quickly replied and got up from his chair so he could greet the man probably, "my name is Kim Namjoon, I'm a new professor at the University. Can I help you with anything?"

"So you're the new professor?" the man said and smiled so all his wrinkles danced on his face, "my name is Lee Sang Wook, I believe you're the one who have taken over my job."

The puzzle finally seemed to fall into place when Professor Lee explained who he was and Namjoon once again greeted the man.

"It's an honor to meet you, Professor Lee," Namjoon said, "may I ask, what brings you to the University?"

"Oh it's nothing special. I was simply in the area and felt a sudden urge to see how everyone is doing," Professor Lee said and smiled again, "and I would lie if I said I wasn't a bit curious to see who's teaching my lovely students."

"I hope I'm not too much of a disappointment to you," Namjoon said and laughed nervously.

"Not at all, I think the University needed a bit of fresh and young blood," Professor Lee replied, "I'm sure the students were excited as well, to see a young handsome professor as yourself in comparison to an old geezer like me."

"I don't think anyone views you as an old geezer," Namjoon said and laughed genuinely this time.

"Well I'm almost 70 years old, so no matter how others viewed me, it was about time I retired."

"You don't look 70, Professor Lee," Namjoon said and Professor Lee thanked him for his kindness. After taking a look around in the almost empty teacher's office, his eyes fell on the computer screen on Namjoon's desk.

"You're planning a project I see?" he said and pointed at the screen which seemed to make Namjoon light up even more as he quickly went to turn the computer so Professor Lee could see more clearly.

"Yes, I'm actually about to present it to the class in about 10 minutes," Namjoon said, "please feel free to look through it and tell me your thoughts." The last sentence was almost needless since Professor Lee was already reading through it.

"Hm... I see..." Professor Lee said while Namjoon anxiously waited for him to speak his mind more clearly, "it looks like it's going to be a fun project."

"Really? I'm so glad you think so," Namjoon said and felt his heart calm down, "I really want everyone to have fun while doing this project."

"I'm sure they will have a lot of fun," Professor Lee said even though he looked a bit worried.

"Is something wrong? Is there anything I should change?" Namjoon asked when he noticed the look in Professor Lee's eyes.

"No, you planned this out very well, there's just one person I know will have a hard time with this project."

"Who are you thinking of?" Namjoon asked even though he already had a pretty good hunch about who he was referring to.

"I'm sure you already took notice of Song Na Ri-ssi," Professor Lee said, "such a hard working girl, very intelligent, but also very lonely and anxious of other people. I think you should be prepared for a reaction from her when she hear of this project."

"I already thought of that," Namjoon said, "to be honest, I had Song Na Ri-ssi in my thoughts as I planned out this project. I already know she doesn't get along with anyone and seems to be alone most of the time. That's why I want to use this project to help her grow closer to her classmates."

"I think it's very kind of you to think like that," Professor Lee said, "but just be careful, if there's one thing I learned about Song Na Ri-ssi after being her teacher for an entire semester, then it is that pushing her is never the right thing to do." Namjoon stayed quiet for a while after listening to Professor Lee telling about the girl he had only known for a few weeks at this moment. He seemed to care about her a lot, maybe he too felt sorry for her, just like Namjoon did.

"Thank you Professor Lee," Namjoon then said in a soft voice, "I'll make sure to remember your advice."

"I'm glad if I could be of any help," Professor Lee said, "but now I won't take up anymore of your time, I'm sure you have to leave for you class now."

"Yes you're right, thank you again," Namjoon said, "and please feel free to stop by at any time."

"I will then, good luck with the project."

Namjoon watched as Professor Lee calmly left the teacher's office, before he quickly gathered up his books and papers and headed towards the auditorium. He still had a few minutes before the class would begin, but he liked being there early.

When he walked through the doors, he saw one student already sitting at her seat at the far end of the auditorium and when Na Ri looked up, Namjoon sent her a smile to which she only replied by looking away quickly. He wasn't surprised, this was becoming a routine already.

Over the next few minutes, the auditorium went from being empty and quiet, until it was almost filled to it's max and the sound of chairs moving and pages being turned was overshadowing everything. Looking at the many people, Na Ri already felt overwhelmed. She quickly reached down in her bag and took out one of her candy bars which she quietly unwrapped and ate in all secrecy.

Friday was one of the hardest days. Going through a full week of school took out all the energy she had, so when she reached Friday afternoon, she always used candy as an energy source to run on for the rest of the day.

"Good afternoon everyone," Namjoon said and the class greeted him back, "today won't be the usual class, because today is the beginning of something new and exciting."

Namjoon looked at several students in the auditorium, making sure he had people's attention, and sure enough, everyone's eyes where plastered on him, waiting for a further explanation.

"We are going to do a special project about Shakespeare. Most of you are already familiar with most of Shakespeare's famous work, so I thought 'how can we dive even more into his work without it getting boring?' So that is why I have planned out something quite different. We are going to do a play."

As Namjoon took a short break in his speech, the whispers had already started between the students and everyone seemed confused about the project so far, while Na Ri just stared at Namjoon with widened eyes.

"You will be working in groups of three to five people and every group will prepare a short play with a few scenes scenes from one of Shakespeare's famous work. And on the last day before winter break begin, every group will present their play in front of the class."

No... Na Ri thought while her heart continued beating and drowning out the voices around her with it's overshadowing noise.

"You decide the groups yourself, as long as no one works alone, and the group is between three and five people. Winter break might seem far into the future, but you won't be given much time in my classes to prepare this. Because of that, you'll have to work outside school to get the project done."

"Isn't he being a bit unfair?" someone whispered in the back of the auditorium.

"Doesn't it sound interesting?" another student whispered in the middle of a row.

"This sounds like a lot of work," a third student whispered.

"I wonder how much the project will influence our grades," Na Ri thought to herself as she tried breathing in long deep breaths.

"The way you handle this project will count as 25% or your overall score. You'll have the rest of today's class to figure out your groups and start planning. Once you've decided on a group, come down to my desk so I can write up your group and group members."

The auditorium quickly got filled with chatters from all the students who were trying to figure out who they wanted to work with, but Na Ri just sat in her chair and felt herself disappear more and more into herself. It felt like the world around her got smaller and she was locked in a box where no one from the outside could break through. She was silently falling apart with no one to help her. They didn't see her and she already knew that. She had to ask for help herself. She had to speak with Professor Kim. She had to convince him that she would work alone. She had to.

When Na Ri got up, her legs felt like soap and she had to grab the table for support until she was able to move forward though the many people. All the voices got blurred into one big mess, and she didn't even notice when a person was walking right towards her until she felt her shoulder bump into hers.

"Oh, sorry," the girl just said and moved on, not caring enough to check up on Na Ri who had fallen to her knees and dropped her glasses. With her vision completely blurred out, she squeezed her eyes together in an attempt to find her glasses until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Frozen by the sudden touch, Na Ri just kept sitting in the same spot on the floor and felt how someone grabbed her hand and gently put something into them. She felt it. It was her glasses.

Quickly, Na Ri put back on her glasses and got up from the floor, looking around to see who helped her. In front of her stood a small girl with long black hair and a concerned look in her eyes.

"Are you okay Song Na Ri-ssi?" the girl asked and Na Ri started searching through her brain for the girl's name, but there was nothing stored in her memory. She didn't even remember seeing her before.

"Y...yes..." Na Ri just replied and looked away, but the girl didn't make it easy for her to avoid eye contact.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" the girl asked and Na Ri nervously started moving her feet from side to side, "my name is Lee Min Ji, we started University the same year, I remember seeing you among the freshmen, but we never got a change to talk. It's nice to meet you." Min Ji held out her hand for Na Ri to shake but she just looked at it until she made a quick bow and then left. Min Ji let out a sigh, she's not getting away that easily, she thought to herself before quickly walking up to her again.

"Do you have a group yet?" Min Ji asked while Na Ri just kept walking down towards Namjoon.

"Song Na Ri-" Min Ji stopped herself from talking when she saw Na Ri approaching Namjoon and she decided to stay back until she was done talking to Namjoon.

"Oh, Song Na Ri-ssi," Namjoon said when Na Ri stood in front of him, "do you have a group yet?"

"I... I..." Na Ri stuttered as she was trying to refrain from shaking too much, "well... no... but..."

"It's alright, we'll find you a group," Namjoon said and interrupted Na Ri and then raised his voice and said: "does anyone have room for an extra person in their group? Song Na Ri-ssi is in need of a group."

The auditorium got dead silent as everyone's eyes turned to Na Ri.

No...

No...

Stop...

Stop it...

Her insides were screaming, but no words came out.

"If no one says anything, I'll just check the list and see which group has room for one more person," Namjoon continued after a while of silence.

Please stop it...

Please stop it...

Please... stop it...

The voice inside her had gone from screaming to heavily crying and begging for mercy. Begging for someone to hear her, listen to her. But the voice inside her could never be heard, and the voice that could be heard, never spoke openly.

Namjoon sighed and took out the list and said:

"Well then-"

"That won't be necessary," Min Ji suddenly said and interrupted Namjoon, and everyone, including Na Ri, looked at her in utter confusion.

"Na Ri already has a group," Min Ji said with a smile, "she's in my group."

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to stay warm and eat healthy and take care of yourself. Stay safe.

Also, don't forget to leave a comment down below.

Love, Annalise~