You would think I’d be used to random events changing my life by now, but no, here we are, me being surprised yet again at how things turned out. It all started on my birthday. I showed up to my classroom, got everything prepped for the day, including the birthday treats I had brought for my students, and was just working on my math lesson when the office called and said I had a volunteer who would be spending the day with me. Fine, no problem- a little odd maybe, but nothing I couldn’t handle. A few minutes later, a giant man dressed in all black appeared, followed by another tall guy dressed in all black, but not as gigantic as the first. The smaller one walked directly over to me and held out his hand, saying, “Hello, I am Min Yoongi and I am happy to meet you. This is Mr. Lee. Thank you for allowing us to spend the day with you.” I smiled at both of them, then asked, “Nice to meet you Mr. Min and Mr. Lee. May I ask why you are here? Why did you choose my classroom?”

Both men were wearing black masks, but Mr. Yin pulled his down and smiled back at me, then explained, “Actually, I wanted to meet you in person to ask you a favor. I saw your website and read what you wrote. I like your ideas and thoughts. I want you to write with me. I want you to travel to California and work with the other members of my band on a project.” I laughed, then replied, “First of all, Mr. Min, I do not have as much talent as you seem to think I do. Second, how do you even know about my website- it’s supposed to be anonymous. Third, there’s no way I can fly anywhere now that school has started. And fourth, how in the world did you even find me?”

He laughed and answered, “I read the things on your website, contacted the creator, told her who I was and what I wanted, then convinced her to give me your real contact info. She was not easy to convince at first, so it took me longer than expected, but once I knew the truth, I quickly arranged to fly up and visit. It’s very important for you to fly back with me-the members are counting on you, along with me.” I continued to prep my lesson as I shook my head, then walked around the room to get the math book I needed. He stepped in my way and took both my hands in his, then looked me in the eye and said, “I know it sounds crazy, but can you please give me a chance?” I raised my eyebrows and didn’t say anything, too shocked to even reply at this point. Yes, I finally recognized him and was now having an internal debate about what to do.

I have never had an actual famous person visit my classroom, so I was either going to treat them like a normal person or treat them like a decoration- those were the only two options. Decorations look good, but don’t actually do anything, while normal visitors work with students. I decided that since he had flown all the way up to visit me, he would be treated like he had chosen to help my class as well. We still had 30 minutes before students would be arriving, so I asked if he would be ok to work with a group of students during math and reading, which they both said yes to, promising they would try their best in English.

I was not convinced that his surprise visit would be successful yet, but since the day was just getting started, I decided he deserved a chance to explain more later on. Mr. Min saw me setting out some birthday decorations and asked about them- so I told him it was actually my birthday today and I like to include my entire class in the celebration. He was so shocked! Turns out, one of the band members has a birthday the very next day, so it was surprising to him that mine could be so close. I laughed, shrugged my shoulders, then continued working.

I had them both help me rotate the books in my reading group folders, which they were happy to do, then it was time for students to enter, so they stayed at the back of the room, letting me handle the class first. Once the class had entered, they were either eating breakfast, working on their missing assignments, or just reading. The first bell rang at 9am, I played the morning announcements, which just happened to have me on them, since I had asked specifically to record the video so it would play on my birthday, so my class cheered, and it was so much fun! We had to line up for specialist after that, then we left the room so I could bring them to PE. I told Mr. Min and Mr. Lee to just wait in the room and I would return shortly- it doesn’t take me long to drop them off at the gym.

I returned shortly after, then began setting out the math cubes, asking Mr. Min to help, modeling how to do it correctly on each desk. He happily copied me, having Mr. Lee join us as well and very quickly, things were ready for the class. Mr. Min came over to me and exclaimed, “Wow! I had no idea you were such a happy teacher! You were on the video for your birthday! Do you like being popular?” I laughed and replied, “Yes, I love attention and I’m one of only a few teachers who actually likes to be in the videos, so of course I would choose to do it for my birthday. Most adults don’t like their birthdays, but I love mine, so I wanted the students to see my excitement and feel happy too.”

He answered, “You should call me Yoongi when the students are gone, since we are going to be great friends soon.” I put my hands on my hips and replied, “Oh really?! Is that a fact? Well ok then, I guess we shall see, Yoongi.” He laughed at my spiciness and asked how else he could help. I told him there was nothing else he could do for math, but if he wanted to prep himself for reading groups, he could read ahead of the students and get a sense of the topic. He was happy to do this, then accepted the book I handed him. I offered one to Mr. Lee, but he shook his head, saying his only job was to keep Yoongi safe. I said something about him being about as safe as he could be, in a classroom where nobody even knew who he really was, but Mr. Lee did not laugh.

I went to check my daily schedule, making sure no plans had changed in the morning emails, and turned around to see Yoongi standing right behind me. I gasped, then exclaimed, “Yoongi! Why are you following me around?!” He laughed, then replied, “I want to talk to you about why we need you to travel to California with me. You didn’t believe me earlier, so I need to make sure you understand now. If you say no, I will have to try harder until you say yes. Please just say yes.” I tried to argue, but he was standing so close I could not be mad- he really did look like he was trying his best to convince me to believe him. I sighed, then asked, “What are the exact reasons you want me to travel with you?” He grinned and began chatting quickly, “I need you to help me. We need you to be friends with all of us. You can share your ideas. It will be great fun. Trust me always! I believe in your talents.” His enthusiasm was contagious, so I ended up smiling back, unsure of why. When he was done talking, he reached for both my hands and continued, “If you do not come this time, I will have to visit again and again until you give in and agree to travel with me.”

I frowned, then asked, “Yoongi, I can’t travel during school, so when exactly do you think I will be able to go with you?” He immediately answered, “On the weekend, when you have no school.” Oh man. That was a problem. I was hoping he wouldn’t say the weekend, and I could tell him no again. I sighed again, then asked, “What makes you think I need to travel with you and meet the other members? Can’t I just work with you up here?” He shook his head and said, “No, my idea only works if you are in California with all of us.” I could see his hopeful face, begging me to agree, but I was just not sold on the idea that I was necessary yet. I looked at the clock and realized I needed to pick up the class, so I told Yoongi and Mr. Lee I would be back with the students and then they could join us for math.

When I returned a few minutes later, the class went to their desks, saw what we had laid out, and knew which activity it was immediately. I put the timer up on the board and told them to get started, then sent four students to the back small group table and four students to the carpet on the floor in the front of the room. Mr. Min was in the front, and Mr. Lee was in the back, so for those twenty minutes, they were simply visitors who wanted to work with students- nothing more. I was walking around making sure everyone was focused and trying their best, but when I saw Yoongi having fun with the students and laughing with them, I had to smile as well. He has a gift with kids, that’s for sure. Even super-tough Mr. Lee was enjoying himself though, so I was impressed with both of them by the end of math.

Soon, it was time to clean up, so the student helpers brought the cubes to Mr. Min and Mr. Lee, then we moved onto our lesson while they put them away for me. We made it through the rest of the morning, then it was time for recess and lunch. The kids wanted to know if Mr. Min and Mr. Lee could go outside to play with them, but I said we needed to ask first, since there would be a lot of extra kids outside and Mr. Min doesn’t like too many people. We agreed, as a class, that it would be better for them to join us when we go outside in the afternoon for our movement break, when it’s just us.

I walked the class downstairs and got them situated outside, then returned to my room, explaining to Yoongi and Mr. Lee that they have recess first, then lunch, so we use that 45 minutes to prep for reading and writing, as well as eat our lunch. They both stared at me- clearly, they had not planned on eating anything during the school day or perhaps had not known they would need to be here longer than a few hours. In any case, I could not let them starve. Luckily, I had packed leftover homemade sweet and sour chicken with rice, so I heated it up, then gave them the container and two spoons. I could survive off of snacks and have a better dinner once I was home later.

They happily ate while I snacked and prepped for writing first, then reading, explaining everything I was doing as I did each task. Yoongi was unaware that teachers did so much work while students were not in the room, but I assured him that all teachers have to use every second of the day to prepare, or the students will have chaos, which I do not allow in my classroom, for everyone’s safety. When they finished eating, Yoongi handed me the container back and I put the lid on top, then they threw the plastic spoons away and drank the water I had in my classroom mini fridge. They had checked the schedule and saw that writing was before reading, so Yoongi asked if I minded if he stepped out for just that hour, to make a few phone calls, then he would return for his reading group at the correct time.

I should have been suspicious, but since I was in teacher mode, I just said sure and ignored his obviously sneaky facial expressions. When I walked down to pick up the class from the cafeteria, Mr. Min and Mr. Lee left the building, so I continued the next hour without them, telling the class they could see them again during reading and our movement break. When Mr. Min and Mr. Lee returned, it was perfect timing, because we left five minutes later to go outside. Mr. Min actually loves playing basketball and had a blast with the students- I let my class stay out for a few extra minutes because he was having so much fun with them. When it was time to go inside, they were sad, but then remembered we had birthday plans, so we all went inside. During reading, Mr. Min and Mr. Lee both took two groups each, changing when the timer went off, and it made me so happy to see them really getting to know the students, listening to them, and helping them read hard words.

At the end of the day, I gave them my birthday treats, and we sang happy birthday, then Mr. Min and Mr. Lee modeled how to sing it in Korean, which the kids thought was awesome. I gave them a little time to ask questions while they ate, then it was time to pack up and go home. After the last student had left, I made sure there were no students around, and ran over to Yoongi, threw my arms around his neck and exclaimed, “Wow! You are so great with kids! I should have never doubted you! Thank you for being so amazing today! You have made my teacher heart to happy!”

He was shocked, but hugged me back, then laughed and said, “I love basketball and kids, so it makes sense that I would have fun with them outside.” I let go and stepped back, then saw Mr. Lee’s face and apologized for hugging Yoongi. He laughed and said, “Mr. Lee knows you would never hurt me- he’s only here because we didn’t know how you would react. Now we know you can be trusted and are clearly not dangerous to anyone.” Now I laughed and said, “I have never been called dangerous in my life!”

I began packing up my stuff to bring home, while Yoongi started talking, “So, I have an idea for tonight, but I need you to trust me, ok?” I froze, then faced him and asked, “What are you talking about? Why do you sound so suspicious?” He grinned, but continued, “I know it’s your birthday and you might want to be done celebrating, but will you please let me join you for some more fun?” I covered my face with my hands and exclaimed, “Yoongi! What did you do?! Are you going to torture me?!” He came closer and hugged me, then whispered, “I promise I won’t do anything too terrible, but I do want to celebrate you for being so amazing, away from students, so I can convince you to believe in my plan, ok? Will you trust me?” I took a deep breath, then nodded, which he felt because my head was on his shoulder, since he was several inches taller than me. I finished packing up and started walking over to the door, then paused and asked, “Wait- do I have time to go home and feed my little doggie first? She needs me.” He laughed and replied, “Yes, of course! We would never stop you from doing that.” I let out a sigh of relief, then walked with them out of the school building.

I was confused about the plan, so I asked, “When and where should I meet you guys? You still haven’t told me anything officially Yoongi.” He looked at Mr. Lee, they spoke quickly in Korean, clearly having some sort of debate, then Yoongi turned towards me and declared, “I will get your phone number and text you the address. We need to do some shopping first, so it’ll be about an hour, if that’s ok?” I nodded, then handed him my phone, assuming he would know what to do. He stared at it, then looked at me, which made me burst out laughing so hard I could not speak for a full minute. I had forgotten everything on my iPhone would be in English and look completely different from his non-iPhone, so of course he had no idea what to do. I went to contacts and clicked on a new one, then handed it back and told him to just type the numbers in. I added his name after, so he couldn’t see what I called him (Cute Happy Yoongi).

Once I was home, I walked and fed my little doggie, then tried to figure out what to wear. What do you wear when meeting a cute guy for a casual birthday celebration? I was still debating this question in my mind when Yoongi called, saying they were ready, and I should drive over to the address he had just sent. I asked if I should wear something specific, but he just said to be myself, so I rolled my eyes after he hung up.

What in the world kind of advice was that? Terrible, I’ll tell you. The address was super close, so at least I didn’t need to worry about that. I randomly just chose my favorite tie dye shirt because it’s colorful and I felt like I should be colorful for my birthday. Sigh. Maybe not the best choice, but who cares, right? I drove over to the place he had sent, parked, and was just about to knock on the door when it flung open and Yoongi was standing there, grinning. I kicked my shoes off, then followed him to the main living area. He pointed to the items that were placed on the table and kitchen counter- he wanted to show me how to make one of his favorite Korean meals that he likes on his birthday. But first, he pulled me over to the table and pointed excitedly to a cute little cake decorated with hearts and berries- he had picked out the cake just for me! I clapped and said how cute it was, which made him even happier.

I asked how I could help, since I had no idea how to prepare any of the ingredients they had gotten, so he then pulled me into the kitchen and began explaining each item. There was no way I was going to be able to memorize what he was saying, but I tried really hard to pay attention as he continued his detailed explanation. I washed my hands while he was talking, then took the small knife he handed me and began chopping the things he pointed to. I guess I did a good job because he was soon making noises that sounded like he was impressed, but I wasn’t really sure, because when I kept looking at Mr. Lee, who was simply reading at the table, he kept raising his eyebrows or silently laughing. Yoongi tried to show me how he wanted the carrots chopped, but I think I misunderstood because after a few slices, I showed him, and he sounded panicked.

He tried to show me how to do it correctly, but when he was right behind me, arms around mine, his hands on mine (on the knife, also holding the carrot), I literally could not breathe or remember how to do anything a normal human should be doing except stare across the room at Mr. Lee’s horrified face. Once Yoongi realized I was not going to be able to complete that particular task, he stepped away and gave me a new job- stirring the boiling liquid on the stove. I took several deep breaths and focused on stirring, which was about the only thing I was capable of at that moment, while I waited for my brain to restart and function normally. Mr. Lee looked relieved when I was away from Yoongi again and relaxed considerably.