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milfgyuu · 1 year ago

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Lessons in Love Pairing: Choi Jongho x Fem!Reader Series: Mr. Right Next Door Tags: 3.5k, Co-Worker!AU, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Humor Warnings: One good smooch and mentions of more smooching. Summary: Your students learn that both you and the teacher next door are single which brings up the pressing matter of getting you two together. Immediately.

You love teaching your fourth-grade class - they are still sweet and inquisitive. Still learning how the world works and all its wonders. They’ve yet to outgrow their innocence and kindness. It’s a beautiful age to experience with an adult perspective and even more amazing that you’re allowed a hand in growing their ever-expanding knowledge and shaping their character.

One thing you hadn’t considered was their surprisingly persistent interest in your lack of a love life.

It had begun at the start of the year when you were getting to know your students and in turn, allowed them to get to know you as well. The kids had so many questions. Did you have a dog? A cat? A house? An apartment? Did you live with your parents? Can you drive a car? Are you married?

It was the answer to the last question that had struck them the most for some reason. You were a grown up but you weren’t married. In their minds, being married is just part of being a grown up so why were you single? What does being single even mean? Do you not know anyone to marry?

A simple introduction had turned into the great inquisition and with wide eyes and a nervous chuckle, you had to re-direct them to the only other interesting topic you could think of.

Recess.

Those clever little things hadn’t forgotten about the lack of a band on your left hand though and made it a point to bring it up every few weeks. Did you go on any dates this weekend? What kind of person would you like to date? If you have lunch with someone every day could that be counted as a date?

Admittedly, you fumbled through those.

You hadn’t realized that you might regret the way in which you answered them because it seems your ever-observant children have been spying you in the cafeteria with the teacher next door whom they’ve also learned is single.

“So, do you like Mr. Choi? You guys always have lunch together!”

“Yeah! And you guys are always smiling and laughing together!”

“And Mr. Choi brings you coffee!”

“My friend in Mr. Choi’s class said that he is single too!”

“Mr. Choi said you had pretty hair!”

“Mr. Choi has really shiny hair too so your kids would have nice hair!”

Left and right the children pelted you with words you had stopped comprehending after the first mention of ‘Mr. Choi’.

Oh boy.

Mr. Choi is your next-door neighbor at school. His classroom is actually attached to yours by a shared storage room and you suppose you do spend quite a bit of time together in front of the students but that’s only natural - you spend just as much time with the other fourth grade teachers.

Well, maybe not the exact same amount of time. You’re usually on lunch and recess patrols together. You always get paired up to chaperone field trips and tend to volunteer for many of the same events like dances and fundraisers.

If you had to really stop and think about it, Jongho was quite handsome. Broad shoulders, pretty smile, kind eyes. His surprisingly dry sense of humor did always make you laugh and he always leaves a coffee on your desk when he notices you’re running late since he is a chronic early riser.

Again, you manage to calm the children and their increasing pitch - your eyes darting to the adjoining door between you and Jongho’s classrooms.

It doesn’t end there, unfortunately, for you and your white blouse, exactly four days later.

“Imagine the fallout if the kids found out we went on a real date…”

Your mouthful of juice sputters and dribbles down your chin before staining the silk of your top with bright red liquid.

Jongho’s mouth straightens into a flat line and he hands you several napkins to dab at your ruined mess. “That doesn’t hurt my feelings at all.”

Leveling him with a peeved look you sigh, “It’s not like that,” and glance back down at your blouse, “You just caught me off guard at the worst possible moment.”

Neither of you are on lunch duties today so you’re sat across from each other at a craft table in the corner of your empty classroom. Little paper chains rustle in the crisp air pumping from the school’s icy vents and you’re grateful for them in the moment since they make you keep a long grey cardigan hung over the back of your chair at all times.

You push back and ignore the sound of your knees popping when you stand to full height. Pinching the material of your shirt you tug at it rapidly as if you have some hope of at least drying the wet spots and speak openly to Jongho who is still diligently picking apart his salad from the cafeteria.

“I can’t believe they’re all so invested,” you comment before rolling your eyes, “Little gossips.”

Jongho snorts. “I’m surprised that you’re surprised. They love ‘spilling the tea’,” he says with an added flair that tells you it’s something he’s picked up from his students, “Whatever that means.”

“Look at you using the lingo,” you chuckle as you sit back down, “And what ‘real date’? Last I checked cafeteria lunch didn’t count. Thought you’d be more of a romantic, Mr. Choi.”

You’re smirking with mirth until Jongho decides to match your teasing, hooking his foot behind the leg of your chair to haul you closer to the table. You squeak in shock at the jolting motion and he laughs, stabbing another bit of cucumber and moving on like you’re not internally marveling at his flippant show of strength.

His thighs are kind of thick and firm you suppose if you think about it.

Which you’re not.

That would be weird.

“What?”

You say it so hastily that Jongho looks at you like you’re losing it and laughs. “I didn’t say anything.”

Oh, so it was because you are crazy.

Embarrassed you shove too much of your sub in your mouth, awkwardly and probably repulsively chewing to manage the gargantuan bite. The sound masks that of the napkin sliding across the table under one of Jongho’s fingers. You look up at him and he just pinches his lips together like he’s sure you don’t want to hear anything he might have to say about the mess on your face.

After the driest most excruciating swallow you’ve experienced to date, you attempt to wash it down with your water in your stupidly expensive bottle and nothing comes out. Pathetically, you whine and try to pry it open. There is a mechanism on the inside of the lid that keeps jamming and you really could use a new one but they’re pricey and you’re living on a teaching salary and a prayer.

“Let me help,” he says, pushing back in his little chair to rub his hands over his jeans like he’s preparing to empty his full strength into the effort to open your bottle but when it gives without so much as a pause he snickers and shrugs handing it back over to you. “Not really much of an opportunity to show off.”

You gawk at him. “What are you talking about? That thing was like welded shut!”

Jongho’s brows playfully rise until they’re high enough to hide beneath his fringe and the overwhelming urge to giggle and playfully swat at him nearly swallows you whole. He is so flirting with you.

Openly.

And you’re tripping all over yourself with glee.

Like any free moment in your school day, it comes to an end far too quickly and your classes are due to arrive in less than five minutes to continue instruction. Ignoring the butterflies in your belly, you take both your trash and Jongho’s to dispose of while he straightens up the table and then it’s time for him to head back to his own room and yet…you both awkwardly linger by the door instead.

“We should-”

“Maybe we-”

Embarrassingly enough, you open your mouths at the same time and talk over each other but you know you do not want to finish your own sentence and Jongho rocks back on his heels knowing he’s got a solid sixty seconds before little voices trail down the hall toward the door.

He takes a deep breath and says your name which is so odd because has he ever said your first name? Surely, he has…so why does it sound different now?

“Have dinner with me tonight.”

It comes out in a bit of a rush and he tacks on a “please” after a second thought and you nod because words don’t seem to form and you’re just stupidly staring back at him but…yes…you would like that. A lot.

Jongho blinks as if he’s shocked that you actually said yes…or well, gestured, that yes you wanted to have dinner together. He hadn’t even planned to ask. He’s not sure when the idea sprouted in his head but once it bubbled up and up and up he just had to let it out.

Now he has to plan the perfect date in less than five hours which means…

He grins and throws his hand up, thumb pointed toward the door behind you. “Gotta meet the kids…How’s seven o’clock? My place? I’ll cook.”

Still nodding, you manage to say something at last, “Yeah…yes. That’s…fine.”

“Okay.”

He slips out the door and you let out a long laughter-filled breath. With your room still empty, no one catches you twirling all the way back to your desk before you flop down into your chair. Well, it’s possible one person saw you since your door bursts open right after and you’re jumping up and into an incredibly animated history lesson.

Meanwhile, Jongho is assembling his kids in a group huddle because they have a new assignment: Helping him decide what to cook.

Your hands shake down at your sides just after you ring Jongho’s doorbell.

Fingers dance along the skirts of your dress - one different than you’d wear in the classroom. Typically, you wear fun floral or artful prints with plants or planets. Things the kids love to talk about. This however is one you hope Jongho will think about, even after your gone. Even when he sees you in your overalls on Monday because your kids are working on art projects.

The door clicks open and there is Jongho in fitted black slacks and a loose white button-down smiling back at you. His hair is…fluffier than usual which is an odd distinction to latch onto but the combination of his hair and his clothing, the relaxed slope of his posture….you can’t seem to stop looking at him.

“You look different.”

Jongho chuckles. “You look the same,” he says and it jolts an incredulous laugh out of you, “I meant that to say I think you always look good but I see that sentiment isn’t shared.”

“Are you going to invite me inside or what, Mr. Choi?”

“Wouldn’t dream of sending you away in that dress,” he smarts, stepping aside to let you in, “Besides,” he closes the door behind you both, “You have to see what a romantic I truly am since you decided to tease me about it.”

A romantic indeed.

His home is crisp, clean, inviting, and it smells heavenly between the cooking he’s been doing and the candles lit throughout. Your eyes dart to little details along the walls and shelves as he guides you to the dining room - also set perfectly with flowers and more candles.

It’s not at all what you expected.

At work, Jongho is relatively quiet but you learned after a few meetings that he was rather charming and engaging. He likes sports and cars - kind of a man’s man. When you became closer, you realized he was chock-full of sarcasm and dry humor. You appreciated him for his company and the laughter that he supplied more than anything and that still stands true but this is a different side of him you haven’t really mapped out.

Hardly noticing that your feet have stopped moving, you’re surprised when you hear Jongho chuckle from your right. “How did I do?”

He almost sounds unsure of himself until you turn to him with a warm smile. “It’s really nice, Jongho.”

Just the sound of his name from your lips makes the tips of his ear tingle. “The kids said flowers and candles were the way to go.”

Taking your seats at the table, you agree. “The kids seem to know too much about romancing for their age.”

Jongho gestures to your glass with the bottle of red in his hands and fills your glass when you nod. “It’s a little admirable though,” he mentions, eyes glancing up to yours, “They have such a pure and simple definition of love. Everything is still so beautiful in their eyes so all they know is a happily ever after and I wish it would stay that way for them.”

“Oh, you’re such a softie.”

Jongho pokes his tongue into his cheek and grins, using his fork to point toward your plate, “Shut up and try the food.”

Again, not something you imagined Jongho would be good at but the food is delicious and there isn’t a takeout box in sight. He mentions something about not getting too excited because he only knows how to make a handful of meals on rotation but it’s still impressive. He also keeps you laughing and entertained throughout the meal, even with the prickles of ‘holy cow, this is a real date’ floating around in your head. It all feels so natural.

“So, you clean up nice, your house is immaculate, you can cook, you’re good with kids…” You twirl you wine, bellies full and plates empty as you sit across from one another, “What are you hiding, Mr. Choi? Where is the catch?”

He grins, crossing his thick arms over his chest. “No, catch. I’m perfect.”

“The catch is that you’re an awful smartass,” you chuckle before draining the last of you drink. “I suppose I already knew that though.”

“I suppose you do,” he returns, gathering the dishes to deposit in the sink for later - for now, he moves you both into the living room to relax on the couch and continue the conversation. “I am genuinely a ‘what you see is what you get’ kinda guy so I don’t know how much I’ll surprise you but ask the hard questions and I’ll answer them honestly. Anything you might want to know before we decide this is a good idea or just mutual attraction and peer pressure from ten-year-olds.”

Because you’re both adults, co-workers, and friends. It would be a waste to pursue a relationship you both want different things out of.

You purse your lips and think for a minute. “Dogs or cats?”

“Both,” he answers easily, “You?”

You tilt your chin in thought, “Both is good…I’m still in the ‘plant mom’ phase so I don’t have any pets but I’d like to. Any plans to relocate in the future?”

Jongho shrugs, “I’m not particularly attached one way or the other. The area here is pretty nice but there are lots of nice places.”

“You’re not overly picky, are you?”

He laughs. “No, not really. I’m pretty laid back.”

In the time you’ve known and worked with him, that tracks. You pivot in your seat, facing him a little more fully. “Oh, boy,” he jests, “Getting to the big stuff, huh?”

“Marriage…kids,” you state plainly, “Thoughts and feelings.”

Jongho rolls his shoulders. “I’m interested in both,” he says simply, though there is a tinge of hesitation like he’s waiting for your reaction, “My parents have been married for thirty years and are still very much in love so it’s probably given me a set of rose-colored glasses when it comes to long-term commitment but the idea of having ‘a person’...like “my person’ to share love and life with, to grow old together…that sounds good to me.”

You nod, chewing on his answer. “And kids? Singular? Plural?”

“Eight.”

You instinctively recoil. He’s playing with you, so you’ll play.

“Well, this has been great,” you pretend to stand up to leave, “See you Monday, frien-”

A funny little ‘oof!’ puffs from your lips when Jongho grabs your hand and pulls you back down onto the couch. It’s just a lucky coincidence you land much closer this time and when Jongho releases your hand, he keeps it close, almost hovering nearby like he’s aching to take it again.

“Yes, I would like kids and no, I don’t care how many. Even one is a blessing and I would be over the moon to be a dad,” his eyes twinkle and it kindles a little warmth in your chest, “You look all ooey-gooey right now. I think you like me.”

You give into the urge to swat him this time. Right in the chest.

Jongho loves it.

“I already like you,” you roll your eyes at yourself for admitting so out loud but it’s a bit obvious at this point and he’s teasing. “I’m not ready for all…that…just yet but I would agree we have enough in common to maybe…give this a try?”

You don’t mean for it to sound so unsure but you haven’t dated anyone in a while and this is your friend, your co-worker…this is kind of a big decision to pursue a relationship and you want to take it seriously.

Jongho squeezes your hand and doesn’t remove it this time.

“If you’re asking me to go steady, I’d gladly accept.”

You let yourself lean into him as you laugh. “Do you always have to give me a hard time? You’re so unserious!”

“That’s not even a word! Aren’t you a teacher?”

You push yourself back with a hand against his arm, “Unserious is totally a word! Aren’t you a teacher?!”

Dissolving into laughter, you wind up holding your hands over your belly to soothe the ache, heads dropped back against the couch. It takes several minutes to settle down, no thanks to Jongho and his smart mouth, but you’re having so much fun you don’t care that your stomach hurts or that your cheeks sting from smiling too much.

Spending time with him like this is something you want more of.

Rolling your head toward him, you break open the fresh silence with a question.

“So, Jongho,” you manage, still a little breathy from laughing, “Would you like to go steady with me?”

He smiles and it’s gorgeous to behold. “Yes, I would.”

Both shoulders jump up to your ears as if the excitement you feel is trying to escape your body and you grin like a fool.

A boyfriend. That’s fun.

“Don’t get mad,” Jongho chuckles, taking your hand back into his, now playing with your fingers comfortably, “I might have seen you dance all the way back to your desk after I asked you out today. You’re really cute.”

Like a vortex opening up and swallowing you whole, you crumble, shrinking into the couch. “You’re kidding...”

Jongho almost feels bad for sweeping your high away so quickly but he’s telling the truth. It was the cutest thing he’d ever seen and shot his ego through the roof. “If it makes you feel better, I called an emergency meeting with my students. They helped me choose dinner and suggested the flowers and candles.”

“And the wine?” you raise a brow, coming back out of your shell.

Jongho uses his free hand to scratch the back of his head. “Called my mom.”

It’s quiet for only a moment and then you’re fawning all over him. “Awww!!! Who’s cute now? That’s so sweet!”

He pretends not to love all your attention. “Yeah, yeah…so, it’s a Friday night and we don’t have school tomorrow…”

“Mhm,” you grin, nodding along playfully.

Jongho lists options off as if he’s reading off a menu. “We can grab another glass of wine, or a beer, I have that too,” he winks, “and bullshit the night away. We could watch a movie or if you’re tired of my company I could just kiss you goodnight - I mean - walk you out.”

He’s smirking like he’s just so funny.

“You could kiss me now, grab me a beer, and then we could talk shit for a little while longer,” you suggest with equal teasing, and his brows shoot up.

Butterflies hardly have time to take flight in your belly before Jongho’s lips touch yours, though it’s not rushed at all. It’s an easy sort of confidence in his movements like he’s so comfortable kissing you - like it’s not the first time and most certainly won’t be the last.

One hand cradles your jaw and he’s still smirking when he pulls away because it was a good kiss and he knows it.

You know it. The universe knows it.

“Beer, movie, and makeout?” he jokingly suggests and you’re hopelessly falling for every ridiculous, unserious word coming out of his mouth.

“You really are just a man’s man, aren’t you?”

Jongho shrugs and gets up to retrieve two cold beers from the fridge calling over his shoulder, “I’m not really into guys, but I could be your man!”

Letting out a sigh that fades into a breathy laugh, you smile to yourself. Yeah, he absolutely could be your man.

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suzannahnatters · 8 months ago

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I have finished watching MR SUNSHINE, and there was so much that I loved about this prestige kdrama. The writing of the heroine was SO good in how it discussed and defied some of the worse kdrama-heroine tropes. There was amazingly trenchant and deeply nuanced social criticism, gorgeous cinematography, lots of fascinating history, the warmest and most positive depiction of Christianity I've ever seen in a kdrama, men who drink respect women juice, the beautiful and angsty Gu Dong-Mae, FABULOUS period clothing, and rivals in love learning to put aside their differences in favour of shooting imperialists.

But the show has a major flaw - a flaw that was particularly interesting to me, because it's the precise sort of flaw that I would be most prone to. The screenwriter, who does such brilliant work in so many other ways, is clearly most fascinated by the themes and symbolism she keeps bubbling away in the story's subtext. The problem is that these themes and symbolism - which delightfully clever - are not actually supported by the storytelling, and particularly by the characterisation.

And it's a really fun, rich, resonant bit of symbolism: Ae-Sin is not just a character in the story, she's the living embodiment of Joseon Korea. She's beautiful, desirable, noble, privileged, gradually awakening to a life of hardship and struggle and resistance. Each of the three male leads in the story has a different complicated relationship with her. Eugene has run away from Korea, but returning as an adult cannot help falling in love with the land and the people in defiance of the nobility who mistreated him as a boy. Gu Dong-mae was horribly oppressed by his homeland but cannot help loving it anyway; the Korea which oppressed both men also saved their lives through small acts of kindness. And finally, Hee-Sung, Korea's richest son, is her approved betrothed, but past injustices committed by his family against the people Ae-Sin cares about stand between them. The three men fall in love, not with Ae-Sin, but with their homeland. They express their love for the woman by sacrificing themselves for the homeland; in dedicating themselves to her, they cannot help dedicating themselves to the fight for freedom.

This is why the story had to have a sad ending. None of these men can espouse the whole country; they can only die for her, while Ae-Sin - Korea itself - lives on, alone and victorious, even in exile.

This symbolism is itself delightfully rich, deftly painted, and rewarding to think back upon once you see it. There's only one problem: it doesn't. make. sense.

From the very start of the show, I felt a little impatient with the writing because the relationships between the heroine and her three suitors are so poorly developed. The feelings come out of nowhere. Take Gu Dong-Mae, for instance: he last met this woman when she saved his life as children. Now, it just takes a brush of her dress across his fingers to get him pining madly for her. Hee-Sung, after avoiding her for the best part of a decade, gets one glimpse of Ae-Sin at the washing-line and just like that conceives an undying passion for her. The central relationship, between Ae-Sin and Eugene, doesn't fare much better. The problem is that the story demands each of the male leads to sacrifice himself for Ae-Sin by the end of the show, and I simply couldn't understand why they should. They all have multiple other women pining for them, and Ae-Sin doesn't give two of them the slightest encouragement to hope. I wanted them so badly to find happiness with one of the other women, and they never did.

What MR SUNSHINE needed was not primarily rich and complex symbolism - it was believable characterisation and relationship development. As it was, the lack of substance to the relationships cheapened the grand historical tragedy which was being told. When at the climactic moment the last of the three leads sacrifices himself for the heroine, it felt cheesy and unintentionally funny, rather than tragic.

I loved so much about this story, but the heart of it never clicked for me, and it's a crying shame that with all that budget and talent, it wasn't better written. And that, for me, will be the central tragedy of MR SUNSHINE.

#mr sunshine #gu dong mae #eugene choi #kim hee sung #kdrama #asian drama

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