Chapter Text
“Jackson, I need your help.” Sana panted as she practically melted into the seat across from one of her best friends, the most popular senior on campus, Jackson Wang.
Jackson, who was trying, and failing, to focus on his calculus homework, looked up to see Sana’s small frame nearly hidden completely by the stack of books he had pulled for his thesis research. He moved the books slightly so he could get a better look at the girl who had obviously run to find him. “What is it?”
She held up a finger as she dug through her bag to find a half empty water bottle and chug it down in a second. Jackson waited patiently for her to catch her breath and watched curiously as she fanned herself with one of the smaller paperback books on the table. “There’s this new professor in your major, he’s starting work for the new semester and I need you to sign up for his class and get me some pictures of him.”
“I’m sorry what?” Jackson looked at her incredulously.
“You haven’t signed up for your classes next semester right? Well I need you to take his class for me, I’ll pay you five bucks a picture. Please Jackson I need to know.” She groaned dramatically and flopped face first onto a stack of books.
“Why do you need pictures of this new professor? Is he like horribly disfigured or something? ‘Cause if so that’s a terrible reason to want pictures of someone and I won’t do it, well I might, but not for five bucks, come on that’s chump change.” Jackson scoffed and folded his arms across his wide chest.
“What? No he’s not disfigured.” She spoke just slightly too loud for the library environment and earned a harsh ‘shh’ from someone roaming the shelves. She shot the random passerby a glare before scooting in closer to Jackson to speak quieter. “He’s supposedly super hot. Like supermodel hot.”
Jackson looked at her in disbelief. “There’s no way a college professor is that good looking Sana. I’m sorry, but I’m a psychology major, and all my professors are old farts who can barely hear their own lectures anymore.”
“No, he’s new. As in a brand new professor, he graduated from college like five years ago or something.” She looked at him eagerly.
“So he’s young. That doesn’t mean he’s attractive.” Jackson reasoned. “Besides, I already registered for all my second semester courses, I can’t help you.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s teaching in your major, you might have signed up for his class without knowing, Jacks.”
“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s his name?” Jackson leaned in, partially out of curiosity, mostly out of boredom.
“Tuan. Mark Tuan.” Sana grinned as the name spilled off her lips.
_____________
It turned out that Jackson had, in fact, already signed up for the class. Sana eventually convinced him to take some pictures of the new professor for her, but he said only three and the photos had to be worth ten dollars each. She reluctantly agreed at the expense of her bank account, but Jackson thought the risk for himself was far worse than a simple thirty dollars.
The first day of the new semester, Sana cornered him in the practice room. He was sweaty and tired and he just wanted to take a shower and nap wouldn’t have been out of the question once he got back to his dorm, but Sana was there. Glaring daggers into his soul as she marched her way to him, backing him into a corner, literally and figuratively.
“You have his class next right?” She demanded.
“Holy shit, Sana, chill out, you’re giving me major stalker vibes right now.” Jackson, held up his hands for defence, careful not to stab her with the saber limply hanging from his side.
“Well, do you?” She pressed.
“Yes, bu-”
“Good.” She beamed at him. “Make sure the pictures are good, he’s going to be my new wallpaper.” With that, she spun on her heel and marched out of the practice room, leaving Jackson dumbstruck and his teammates staring after her.
“Jacks, she your girl?” One of them asked. Jackson responded by flipping him off and heading to the locker room for his much needed shower.
Jackson was almost late to the class. Almost.
He had napped a little longer than he planned and had to sprint across the campus to get to the classroom in time. He made it just as someone was closing the door. “Ah wait!” He used the last of his energy to stop the door just before it clicked into place and step into the classroom. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he looked at the guy about to close the door.
If Jackson wasn’t already out of breath and red from sprinting, he would have definitely been then, just from laying his eyes on the guy. He was unbelievably attractive. Dyed blonde hair was pushed up off his forehead, strong, slanted eyebrows accented his dark eyes, and damn… Jackson couldn’t take his eyes off those full lips. Jackson silently cursed his weak gay heart.
“If you can breathe properly now, how about you take a seat.” The man gestured to the only open seat in the third row.
Jackson was confused. “Isn’t that your seat though? I don’t wanna do that to you bro, I was almost late anyway, I can just stand.”
The man finally let the door close with a chuckle. “I suppose I should introduce myself before you get embarrassed. I’m Professor Tuan. I teach the course. Go take your seat.”
The younger man took a moment to let the information sink in before letting out a weak “Oh…” Jackson was thankful for his face still being red due to the adrenaline from running because he could feel himself blush with embarrassment as he numbly went to take the seat.
“Now then,” Professor Tuan cleared his throat, “shall we begin?”
Mark then proceeded to take roll, during which Jackson allowed himself to zone out a bit and stare at the man. He wasn’t tall nor short, about the same height as Jackson, but he was thin. Jackson couldn't tell if he had muscle or not because of the semi-loose slacks and blazer he had on, but he could assume he had some strength to him considering how he hadn’t fallen over when Jackson had quite literally thrown the door open while he was holding it. “Wang, Jackson.” He snapped back to reality when he heard his name called.
“Uh, here.” He spoke and raised his hand briefly.
The young professor clicked his tongue and let a small smirk turn up the right side of his face. Jackson blushed when he felt the other’s eyes rake over his being. “It’s the first day of class, and since I was brought up in an American household, I’ll introduce myself. My name is Mark Tuan, and since I’m only about six years older than you all, you can call me, Mr. Tuan, Professor, or whatever you’re most comfortable with. However, if a line is crossed, I will not hesitate to let you know.” He smirked, making his way to the center of the classroom where a desk was placed. He leaned comfortably against it, eyes scanning the room. “I don’t really have a lesson plan for today, so how about we just get to know each other a little bit. Any questions?”
“You said you were raised in an American household?” The girl to Jackson’s right spoke up, if he remembered correctly her name was Eunmi.
“Yes I did.” Mark confirmed.
“Where in America? I’ve been to the states a few times to visit family, I might know the area.”
“I was raised in LA, California, where’s your family?”
“Oh mostly in San Antonio, Texas.”
“Tuan’s not an American name though. Where are your parents from?” Someone from a few rows behind Jackson called out.
“Taiwan.” Mark answered.
“Does that mean you speak Chinese?” A girl toward the front inquired. Jackson rolled his eyes at her ignorance.
Mark chuckled. Jackson quickly decided that was his new favorite sound. “No, Chinese isn’t a language, but I do speak Mandarin.”
This made Jackson perk up. Being from Hong Kong, he knew Mandarin as well as Cantonese. Knowing this bit of information could be quite useful.
“Say something in Mandarin then.” The guy to Jackson’s left, Wonbin, challenged him.
Mark frowned, but relented anyway. “Why is it that alpha males always have to try to challenge everything I say?”
Not knowing what had been said, everyone in the room gasped in amazement, some girls giggled quietly to each other, but Jackson bit back his laugh.
“Maybe because they’re jealous of your looks.” Jackson answered back in Mandarin.
Everyone in the class knew Jackson was foreign, but only his good friends knew where he was from, so hearing him speak in a language other than Korean came as a shock to everyone, including Mark.
The American eyed his student warily before grinning happily. “Are you saying I’m good looking?” In English.
Jackson chuckled a bit flustered. “I’m saying they think you’re good looking.” He responded in English as well.
Mark grinned even wider. “But I asked what you think.” Mark spoke in Japanese this time.
“I don’t think that was the question, Professor.” He fired back.
“I asked the question, I’m free to interpret it as I wish.” Mark reverted back to Korean. “So your answer.”
Jackson felt he had fallen into a trap with no way out, until he realized he knew more languages he could respond in that Mark might not know. Deciding not to risk him knowing Cantonese or Spanish, considering where he was raised and the fact that his parents were from Taiwan, Jackson responded honestly in French. “I think you’re absolutely stunningly gorgeous, but I also don’t think you need to know that.”
Mark crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at him. “Touche, Wang.”
Jackson sighed in relief, thanking God that the American didn’t understand French. Suddenly, Jackson’s phone vibrated in his pocket. Upon checking it, he realized it was from Sana. He rolled his eyes, not having to read the message to know what she said. Nevertheless, he pulled out his phone and tried to angle it in such a way that it wouldn’t be obvious what he was doing.
The process was frustrating. He might get the angle just right, but the picture would end up blurry from how much he had to zoom in. Or the picture would come out perfectly fine, but it would only catch Mark’s arm or only half his face. He was about to give up and tell Sana she can keep her cash, cause he can’t get a photo when his phone was snatched out of his grasp quite unceremoniously. “Hey-!” He turned around to see Mark scrolling through his phone, shaking his head, eyebrows furrowed. “Shit.” He mumbled under his breath, humiliated at having been caught.
Mark finally clicked his tongue and glared at Jackson. “These are terrible pictures. It’s a good thing you aren’t a photography major, you’d never be able to get the credits to pass.” Jackson was at a loss for words. How the fuck was he supposed to respond to that? Mark held the phone up, grinned and flashed a peace sign at the camera.
It took Jackson a second to realize he was taking selfies. On his phone.
Jackson was beyond mortified when Mark handed the phone back with a simple, “Those should be better I think.” Mark checked the watch on his wrist then clapped his hands together. “Well, that’s all the time we have today. See you all on Wednesday.”
Jackson couldn’t run away fast enough. He still heard the distinct shrill of his professor’s laughter chasing him out the door.