Operation: Faculty Room

They say second chances are overrated—that love doesn’t rewind. But…

Unexpectedly, this happened.

My name’s Stephanie. Back in 2021, I wasn’t exactly looking for love. I was pretty content focusing on myself, my friends, and my obsession with fictional men. So I didn’t really pay attention to anyone else.

One day, I went to the teachers’ office to pick up a stack of books I had to distribute in class. On my way upstairs, a group of boys rushed past me, and one of them bumped into my shoulder. The books scattered across the floor, but none of them noticed.

Then, out of nowhere, someone stopped. His name was Johan. He wasn’t part of the group, just catching up behind them. He paused, helped me gather the books, and carried them to the classroom without saying much.

I remember thinking, “That was really nice of him.”

I thanked him, but he didn’t respond. That stuck with me more than it should have. Was I too quiet? Did he think I was rude? For some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Over the next few months, Johan was stuck in my head. I started to develop a crush—hard. But really, what were the chances? He was tall, kind, funny, the class president, and a consistent top student. Basically the kind of person you’d think was way out of reach. So instead of trying anything, I buried myself in romance manhwas to pass the time.

Then one day, while I was checking some papers, I heard a voice:

“Hey, are you done with the checking?”

I looked up—and there he was. Johan. Talking to me.

“Y-yeah, I’m done,” I said, definitely more nervous than I wanted to sound.

“Okay, cool!” he smiled and walked back to his seat.

Days passed. I was definitely deep into this crush. Then something unexpected happened.

I was walking back to class from the science lab when one of Johan’s close friends walked beside me and casually said,

“Hey, did you know someone has a crush on you?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “HUH?!”

He laughed. “Relax! Is it really that surprising?” Then he leaned in and whispered,

“It’s Johan.”

My heart stopped. Johan? I couldn’t believe it.

He liked me?

Before I could say anything, he winked and said, “You’re welcome. Bye!” and ran back to the classroom. And not long after, Johan came running after him.

I tried to act normal, pretending I hadn’t heard anything, but my brain was racing. Our teacher arrived just in time to keep me from spiraling. I couldn’t focus on a single thing she was saying. I was too busy deciding if I should talk to him… or pretend like nothing happened.

Eventually, I came up with a plan.

After class, I waited until the teacher left, then peeked back in and called out,

“Johan, the teacher’s calling you in the faculty room.”

It wasn’t true—I made it up just to get a chance to talk to him alone.

We walked down the hallway side by side. I was nervous, but I asked,

“Hey… do you like me?”

He didn’t react at first. So I asked again, and finally he said,

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I heard from your friend. And, well… I like you too.”

He didn’t say anything right away, but his face turned red and he started to smile.

“Aha! So it’s true,” I teased.

“Yeah,” he finally admitted. “I do. I like you. A lot.”

I didn’t know what to say. My brain was frozen and racing at the same time. Then I remembered something.

“By the way… the teacher didn’t actually call you,” I admitted, stopping in my tracks.

He turned to me, confused.

“I made it up. I just wanted to talk to you alone.”

He paused, then laughed. “It’s alright.”

We walked back to class in silence, not awkward—just full of things unsaid.

When we got to the door, both our groups of friends were already staring at us. Then they ran toward us, full of questions. I panicked and told a small lie about what we were talking about. Thankfully, the teacher showed up before they could grill me any further.

After class, I went home—still thinking about everything that had just happened.

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