PROMPT: Miss Yoon Jinah is beloved by the entire pre-school class, for she treats them like her own kids. When the Board of Trustees decides to close the school & sell the building, she goes head-to-head against its chairman.
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It was supposed to be a good day.

Though weather reports predicted a ninety percent chance of rain, the sun proved to be a rebel, having shone brightly ever since the break of dawn.

No one took better advantage of this good weather than the pre-school class of Teacher Yoon Jinah, whose students scrambled to get to their favourite spots at the school park.

Their lovely teacher believed in a play-based way of learning. She, of course, never fell short in teaching them theories and all the academic basics one must learn in order to get through life, but whenever she could sense that her students' minds were going on an overdrive, she encouraged play more than anything else.

And that endeared her more to her students.

Growing up without siblings, the young teacher has always loved being with children. She loved their energy, their curiosity, their innocence, even the bits about them that most adults would most likely be annoyed of.

Recognizing this passion early in life pushed her to become the pre-school teacher that she is now. Because of her innate ability to understand children, Jinah was easily the favourite teacher of all her students.

Every day is an adventure for her when it comes to teaching children. There were good days, and there were bad days, but she still loved every minute of it, especially when her students showed her that all her efforts were appreciated and being put into good use.

So, that day, when the rain didn't fall and Jinah let her students run free in the park for an hour, she had anticipated that it was going to be a good day.

After all, the kids always came back from their playtime more energized, and that made it easier for Jinah to teach them the theoretical parts of life.

However, though the weather reports were wrong, a dark cloud still hung over their skies in the form of a member of the Board of Trustees of Jinah's school, who came by that morning with some gloomy news.

"Please, there has to be another way," Jinah now says, still reeling from what the man had just said. "You can't close down the school just like that." She snaps her fingers to emphasize the last word.

"Actually, we can," he informs her matter-of-factly, not even appearing to be a bit sorry about potentially crushing the hearts of young children. "A Resolution has just been passed to that effect. We won't be reopening next academic year."

Though a myriad of arguments start forming loudly in the teacher's head, ready to be spit out like venom, Jinah somehow finds herself at a complete loss of what else to say.

She spends the rest of the day in a daze, trying her best not to seem bothered, lest her students be affected and find out the awful news that they might not be returning next year to the school they have come to treasure as their home away from home.

The thought of it broke her heart completely, making her toss and turn that night in bed, tears streaming down her face as she continued to hope against all hope that the Board would somehow change its mind.

Selling the school was unfathomable to her, for she couldn't think of a more noble way to spend one's money than for the empowerment and knowledge of young children.

Who would vote for such a thing?

Eventually, as a million questions and possibilities tired out her pretty little head, Jinah succumbed to the pull of slumber, but not before making up her mind to talk to the Chairman of the Board himself in the morning.

Even if she were just a teacher, she felt she still had to do something, anything, to save the school.

The next day, at lunch break, just as she's about to make a beeline to the Chairman's office, the man himself suddenly appears by the doorway to her classroom.

"Miss Yoon, may I have a word with you?"

Jinah looks up from her desk to see Chairman Yoo Jinwoo, decked out handsomely in a suit, his hands in his pocket, sporting an apologetic look on his face.

At least someone has the decency to show remorse about it, she thinks as she manages a small smile while beckoning him to enter the room.

"I'm really sorry about what you've been told yesterday," he starts, walking over tentatively before coming to a stop in front of Jinah's table.

She gestures for him to sit down, following suit when he does. "I'm sorry about that, too, but this is the part where I ask you what I can do to stop the Board from closing the school?"

"Nothing," he answers nonchalantly, pressing his lips together until two dents form on either of his cheeks, looking very much pleased with himself.

This otherwise charming display does nothing to appease the incensed teacher before him.

She was aware of the reputation of this boyish Chairman, who was usually a no-show at every school meeting, preferring to take care of his own business, with no apparent interest whatsoever to fulfill his responsibilities to the school that had been so carefully entrusted to him.

Still, she would like to think that he was still a human whose heart matched his good looks, for these were children they were talking about.

Surely, no man could be so cruel as to be dismissive about the lives of these young innocent ones.

But the way he had answered her question, as if nothing even mattered to him, confirming that he truly lived up to his reputation of being a careless egoist, readily angered the usually calm and collected teacher.

This was the last straw.

Jinah slams her hands down her desk. "Nothing? Is that all this is to you? Nothing?!"

She stands up from her chair, walks over to the window, then points at the spot where her students are currently having their snacks under a tree, supervised by a teaching aide. "Do you see them? This is their home. You are about to take my children away from their home."

Jinwoo, shocked by the sudden rage of the soft-spoken teacher, blinks rapidly at her, his mouth hanging open.

"Some of them only have their friends as their family, you know. Their confidante, their support. I didn't grow up with any siblings, so I know exactly how that feels. And for you to–"

"Hey, relax," the chairman hurriedly interrupts her tirade before she throws any more accusations, raising his palms in the air in surrender. "I meant you didn't have to do anything because I already vetoed the Resolution. The school will live on for as long as I have a say in it, Miss Yoon."

Turning her head slowly to regard her companion, her eyebrows knit in equal parts confusion and anger, Jinah shakes her head in a threatening manner. "Don't lie to me."

He doesn't respond, appearing unsure of what else to say, somewhat choosing instead to let her process his words first.

As the seconds tick by, when she finally sees that he's dead serious about what he had just said, the teacher bows her head for a moment, breathing out all the pent-up anger she had been bottling inside her since yesterday.

"It's going to be okay," he gushes in a reassuring voice, reaching out to tap Jinah on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"You could have just led with that," she quips in a small voice, turning around and leaning her hands back against the ledge of the window, looking down her feet regretfully while biting her lip. "I didn't mean to burst out in anger like that... I just... These children mean a lot to me, more than you will ever know."

He mirrors her stance and leans back against the window, too, crossing his arms and sighing deeply. "I may not look it, but I care about the school. While I do have to take care of other businesses most of the time, I still think of this as my home, too. This was my parents' legacy, after all."

Jinah takes a moment to peer at the man beside her, finding him to be staring into space as he appears to be deep in thought.

Her face turns a bright shade of red as she shakes her head, inwardly scolding herself for her flimsy outburst. "I don't know what else to say."

He turns his head to look at her, humour dancing in his eyes, apparently glad to see that the aura around the teacher was no longer defensive or hostile.

"Well, you said you were an only child?" he asks, smiling his full dimpled smile at her, to which she nods, her eyes softening at him.

"Can you tell me more about that?"

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Photos from BAU by Bride and You & Crocodile
Special thanks to  biblio_phile100 for the initial prompt