~{FRANCES' POV}~
*
(How it all began)
"Have you seen the new teacher in our school? He's a freaking Chinese man!" My best friend, Marie, squealed in delight as she informed me.
"A Chinese teacher in our school?" I asked in disbelief.
"I know right? It's very rare to see them in our country and now in our school? How exciting!" She jubilated and I became eager to see who this Chinese teacher was.
"What subject will he be taking us on?" I curiously asked as I followed her.
"Chinese," she answered and I blinked severally as I repeated what she just said.
"Chinese?"
"Yes," she answered.
"But we're seniors and won't have the time to learn that. Do they want to overwhelm us?" I asked in dread.
"I don't mind, Frances. This is a good opportunity to learn it anyway." She said and shrugged her shoulders like she didn't find it bothersome.
"I'm not even done learning Hausa and now Chinese? Come on!" I groaned in exhaustion.
"Wait till you see the Chinese teacher then you won't be like this," Marie said and I rolled my eyes at her.
"I don't care how he looks, they are not my type," I firmly reminded her and she scoffed.
"You never know."
We walked a little more before she hurriedly held me back and excitedly pointed in a direction.
"Oh oh oh! Over there! Look!" She happily said and I looked in the direction just for my eyes to go wide in wonder.
All my life I was made to believe that only Korean men were overworldly just for me to see this one.
One look was all it took to change my perspective of them entirely.
"Are you sure he's Chinese?" I absentmindedly asked my friend.
"See! I knew you would be awestruck like I was!" She exclaimed but my focus was on the tall fine man talking with the principal of our school.
Was I dreaming?
Could someone this beautiful exist in our world?
He was not too far from us so it was easy for him to notice us and he did. It was just a harmless looking around as he spoke to our principal while admiring our school surroundings until his eyes fell on me and everything seemed to stop.
Was this what they call love at first sight?
My brain asked me but I had no answer to that because I myself don't know.
And then he did what I least expect of him.
He waved
I blinked because I was completely taken aback until I looked at my friend and realized that she was ridiculously waving back at him while grinning from ear to ear.
Oh God!
When I looked back at him, he was smiling and didn't seem to mind it. But that smile, it was another thing entirely and I didn't want to go there.
I've always seen them on screen and now I couldn't believe that I was seeing one of them this close even though we weren't that close.
"Did you say he'll be teaching us Chinese?" I asked Marie and heard her hum in response.
"Then I don't mind learning Chinese as long as I get to see him." I agreed.
********************
~{Week one of Chinese lessons}~
Truly he was going to be teaching us Chinese even when we were seniors. By senior I was in tenth Grade which is regarded as Secondary Level class one in Nigeria.
And within that week, I found out that his name was, 'Liam Qin.'
It was very Chinese and I loved it all the more even when I didn't know the meaning.
Whenever he spoke and moved his hands to demonstrate what he meant, I found myself falling for him. He was a sight to behold and many times I focused my attention on him instead of what he was teaching which was very bad.
Whenever he looked in my direction I would subconsciously hold my breath, especially on eye contact.
And right now, he was staring at me like every other time our eyes locked but this time it was different because what he said paralyzed me completely.
"Frances, how do we say 'hello' in Chinese?"
I blinked once then twice and looked around when it was obvious he was referring to me.
Slowly, I stood up and heard my mates snicker at me but I refused to give them that satisfaction.
I knew what hello was in Chinese but the moment he asked, it seemed to flee from my mind and I stupidly said; "Annyeonghaseyo."
The whole class burst into laughter but Junjie remained calm and there was a smile on his lips.
"That is Korea's way of saying hello," he calmly corrected me.
At that sweet correction, my heart loved him all the more. I expected him to be hard on me and say something like, "Are you serious right now?" but he didn't.
"Can anyone tell me what 'hello' is in Chinese?" He threw the question to the class and gestured for me to sit down.
When someone answered, he smiled and gave a thumbs up before looking at me and saying, "Take note, Frances."
From then onwards if I came across him I would instantly greet him with that and he would happily respond.
Until one fateful day at a supermarket when I spotted him in the beverage section looking at a packaged milk as if contemplating whether to buy or not.
"Mr Liam?" I blurted out in disbelief and he turned in surprise. And it didn't take long for him to recognize me.
"Frances! What a pleasant surprise," he cheerfully said and I smiled as I approached him.
I was still very poor in Chinese and he knew which is why he stuck to speaking English with me sometimes.
Seeing him up close on a weekend while I was not in my school uniform made me feel like an adult and he, a gentleman.
By now it was obvious I had a huge crush on him but he didn't know which was a relief to me.
I knew the abomination of a student being with a teacher and I didn't want to fall into that category especially when my parents were strict about everything.
"Can I be of assistance to you?" I politely asked and he smiled before returning his gaze back to the pack of beverage he had been looking at.
"I've been hearing of this beverage and I want to try it. What do you think?" He asked for my opinion.
"I think it's a good beverage and you should try it."
"I should?" He asked and I nodded in agreement as I stole glances at him when he wasn't looking.
"Are you here alone?" I asked and looked around because he seemed to be the only one.
"Yes, although I came with my driver." He informed me and I made an 'O' sign with my lips in understanding.
"Are you here alone?" He asked back and I nodded.
"Then can you give me a hand because I'm still trying to figure out what's good for me and what's not," he politely requested and I eagerly agreed to it.
And just like that, I helped him with the needs that I felt were right for him before we left the supermarket together and he offered to drop me off to which I agreed.
On the way, I showed him some places and told him what they were called and he listened attentively. By the time we got to the junction of my residential area, I opened the car door and was about to step out only for him to stop me and offer a bag of goodies.
"You didn't have to," I shyly said and he smiled even more before saying,
"I had to, especially when the lady I like took her precious time to assist me."