| Fan Fiction |
by Take_Flight
“You’re LATE” Dana remarked. Taemin stuck a tongue at her. “I was helping my father with something” he said, sitting down. “Only this few could make it?” he asked, looking at the small crowd.
Nadine looked up from the class list and nodded. “Yeap....only sixteen of you guys can make it. The rest have other commitments to fulfill. Taemin, you haven’t given me your permission slip” she said.
Nadine’s Art class was going on a trip to the National Art Center out of town and it just so happened that on that day, there was a pottery exhibition plus a demonstration class as well. Nadine had signed the class up; hoping they will learn something from it and apply their knowledge when school re-opens. As Nadine took the slip from Taemin, the bus came chugging into the parking lot and the students got up for their ride.
“Did all of you bring along an apron or an old shirt like I told you to?” Nadine addressed the class when she stepped into the bus.
“Yeah!” the class chorused. Nadine then heard Dana grumbling about getting dirty and playing with mud.
“It’s not mud. It’s clay. Since you’re complaining so much, why did you decide to come along anyway?” Taemin asked, turning behind to face Dana.
Dana gave him an irritated look and told him to be quiet. “Omo. Why do you have to be so mean to him all the time?” Yee Jin was asking.
“Because he’s just PLAIN annoying that’s why” Dana snapped, leaning back on her seat.
The bus then rolled out of the lot and slowly drove its way out of town. “Taemin, face the front. I don’t want you to be sick when we reach there” Nadine advised him. The boy reluctantly faced the front and listened to his MP3 instead.
Nadine was sitting way at the front, looking through the Art Center’s schedule. The curator of the place, Mr Lee Hoosim, was kind enough to reserve a whole morning for her class and had even insisted on providing refreshments for them. Mr Lee had mentioned something about how rare it is to see students being interested in the Arts these days. Nadine was really happy to hear that, if only the Council was there to witness it.
After one hour, Nadine noticed that the whole bus was quiet. Only the grumbling of the cranky bus can be heard. She turned around in her seat and noticed that most of the students were falling asleep, their head rolling from side to side as the bus chugged down the bumpy road. She can’t blame them for being sleepy since it’s still their break and they had to report early all for an excursion. Nadine chuckled to herself and faced the front. She can get motion sickness easily every time she faced the opposite direction. As the bus stopped at a red light, a card slipped out from the folder that was beside her. Nadine immediately recognized it as Mr. Shim Changmin’s name card. She pushed the card back into the folder and thanked her lucky stars again and again. He was definitely her savior in this situation! It’s as if he had appeared at the right time when she needed help the most. It was also his suggestion to bring the class out for this field trip when he found out about this event.
“It will be useful for them to learn the basics there. When the art supplies you had asked for has arrived, then there won’t be a problem for the kids to start their own pottery work in the studio” Changmin had told her after the dialogue session.
“Interesting. I’ll ask the students about it though. I think they’re going to struggle a bit in this class since almost all the things they are learning are very new and vague to them” Nadine said.
“That’s why they come to school for, and you, as a teacher is there to educate and support them. Am I right?” Changmin asked his eyes sparkling and giving her a charming smile, making her feel queasy as always.
“Aish..that smile” Nadine thought. “I just wished he will stop doing that” Nadine tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and crossed her legs. She bet any women who had set eyes on Changmin will fall head over him in an instant. “I mean, who wouldn’t. He’s tall, and dark, and….handsome” she muttered, glancing out the window.
She immediately shook her head and mentally kicked herself.
“Nadine! What are you doing?!” she scolded herself. Nadine then noticed the bus driver looking at her weirdly from the rearview mirror and she gave him a sheepish smile. The driver then focused his attention on the road.
As if they sensed that they were reaching, the students lazily woke up when the bus slowly drove up the hill, where the National Arts Center stood proudly, overlooking the city. The place which was a combination of an educational centre and a museum was the first place Nadine had came when she visited Korea. Ri In was flabbergasted when she heard of Nadine’s plan. “Normal people would have opted for shopping malls!” she had told her.
Mr Lee was already waiting for them at the entrance, with a huge smile. “Good morning!” he greeted them. The students bowed at him and he ushered them to the center’s front building. “The instructor is waiting for you at the South Pavilion. I show you where it is” Mr Lee told Nadine.
“I know this may sound impolite, but I never set foot into the place before” Yee Jin suddenly spoke up. They rest nodded and murmured the same answer.
“But this place is HUGE!” someone commented, his eyes echoing. The class laughed at him as they took an escalator to the second floor.
“What are the refreshments?” Taemin asked. “Gosh, you’re such a pig! The class hasn’t even started!” someone told him.
Mr Lee let out a deep laugh. “Don’t worry. We always provide the best” he told them. Some of the students started talking excitedly as they reached the second floor where the floor tiles were of dark green marble and nearly all the walls were painted black. “Is the entire floor like this?” Dana asked, looking around with wide eyes.
Nadine nodded. “You’re right. This whole place mainly dedicates itself to illusionist and to artists who produces works to trick your mind. If you look closely, the floors and tiles aren’t entirely plain. They have intricate designs on it, something like an…enigma for visitors who come here” she explained as they moved down the dark corridor, where at the end stood door leading them to the South Pavilion.
“Well said Miss Arena. I see you’ve done your research about this place” Mr Lee complimented her.
“And what about all those rooms? What’s inside?” Taemin wanted to know. “Aaah..that’s for me to know, and you to find out” Mr Lee answered with a wink. Taemin groaned. “Omo…I hate it when people do that!” he whined.
“The South Pavilion, here we are. Your class will be held at Gallery Room 5. Just walk straight and turned to the left” Mr Lee told them. The students bowed at him, saying thanks before heading to the room. “I hope you enjoy your stay here Miss Arena” he told her.
Nadine nodded. “Thanks so much for having us here” she said gratefully. “You have no idea how much this means to me” she added.
“Oh I know how much this means to me. Mr Shim has told me all about it. Lady Luck is definitely looking down at you. I wish you and your Art programme success!” Mr Lee said, beaming.
When Nadine stepped into the gallery room, her students were already seated and had their aprons or old shirts on. The instructor, a middle-aged woman, came forward to welcome her. “You must be the teacher. Come in, come in” she said. “I’m Mrs Kim Eun Sun” she introduced herself.
Nadine bowed. “Nice to meet you” she said. “Are you starting the class now?” she asked, as they walked up to the front of the room. The students were crowded around the instructors table where there stood a potter’s wheel with the pottery tools scattered around it. A lump of grey clay was placed on the wheel, waiting for the artist to mould it into shape.
“Why aren’t all potter’s wheels electric powered?” Dana asked. “Because it will be too fast for you and you might mess up the molding process because of the speed. We’ll start slow first araso?” Nadine told her.
For the first half of the morning, the instructor taught them the dos and don’ts of pottery. She taught them the basic of coordination when spinning the wheel and molding the clay. “We’ll start off by making a simple bowl” Mrs. Kim was telling the class as they each took their places in front of their own wheel and sat on the stool. Nadine walked around observing the students playing around with the clay and applying what they had been taught. She saw Dana wrinkling her nose and she giggled. Dana reminded Nadine of herself when she first tried touching clay.
Nadine walked over to Dana and assisted her on shaping her lopsided lump. She soon got the stuff on her hands when her phone started ringing. “Oh! Oh..shoot!” Nadine muttered as she straightened up and grimaced at the dirt on her hand.
“Umm..Mrs Kim, do you know where the washroom is?” Nadine asked. “Yes. Just turned left when you step out of this room, then walk straight and turn right” Mrs Kim told her.
“Thanks!” Nadine rushed out of the gallery room, the phone still ringing in her back pocket. “Gah. Stop calling!” she said to no one in particular as she strode down the corridor. She held her hands up and chortled at the grey smudges on her fingers and palms. She did not watch where she was going when she turned right and bumped into someone.
“Ooof!” Both of them stood apart after the bump and Nadine gasped. The clay on her hands was still wet and had somehow smudged the stranger’s expensive…Armani suit.
“Oh…my…goodness…..”
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CraazyFilipina : here's another update! Ri In's story coming up next. Stay tune! LOL Xd
squeeness : I got freaked out too when your comment came in straight after I posted the 16th chapter! Haha XD Have fun reading this two chapters.
Cheers!