Work Text:
minmoongie: he was a boy
minmoongie: i was a mess
minmoongie: can i make it any more obvious
hamzzi_ki: first of all that's lame
hamzzi_ki: also
hamzzi_ki: what the actual fuck are you talking about
Minhyuk dramatically gasped, unable to believe his friend didn’t get what he meant with that amazing reference. What would happen to the world if such a great song like Sk8er Boi was forgotten?
He actually had planned telling his best friend he found a new crush in many different ways; as Kihyun had already pointed out though, he ended up choosing the lamest one.
He checked the clock over the door at the teacher’s lounge and saw that he had enough time to exchange a few more messages.
minmoongie: so you know how every single day i ride the bus
minmoongie: that tight, smelly, crowded bus
hamzzi_ki: yea
minmoongie: and as if it isn't painful enough standing up all day
minmoongie: and holding up kids in my arms
minmoongie: and telling Mana not to eat sand AGAIN
minmoongie: i never get the chance to sit on the bus
hamzzi_ki: can't you just go straight to the point ffs
minmoongie: excuse me
minmoongie: pls respect my drama
minmoongie: anyway
minmoongie: i was standing next to the door like always, still a few stops away from home
minmoongie: when i saw him
hamzzi_ki: the skater boy?
minmoongie: SO YOU GOT IT!!!!
minmoongie: DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT
minmoongie: I DONT WANT TO THINK OF A WORLD AVRIL LAVIGNE IS FORGOTTEN
hamzzi_ki: can you maybe chill?
minmoongie: sorry
minmoongie: but yes, i saw the skater boy
minmoongie: i mean ki i am almost 30 how can i fall in love with a skater boy
hamzzi_ki: wait wtf is he like a child
minmoongie: OMG NO
minmoongie: he's probably on his 20s
minmoongie: i hope he's on his 20s
minmoongie: pls don’t be a teen that would be so wrong
minmoongie: i am already so old anyway
hamzzi_ki: ur also on your 20s
minmoongie: but so close to 30
hamzzi_ki: dude, chill
“Mr. Minhyuk, the bell rang a while ago,” Mrs. Sally said and he got up in a jump.
“I’m sorry! I’m on my way!” He smiled largely at her, who could do nothing but smile back.
Minhyuk, 26 years old (not so close to his 30s as he enjoyed panicking about), was on his second year as an elementary school teacher. He loved his job, everyday being fun and enjoyable with his students. And because he was always having fun, the whole school seemed to beam with his smile. He was cheerful, loud, kind, and everyone loved him.
“Mr. Minhyuk, you’re late!!” Changkyun, one of his 6-year-old students, sharply pointed out when the tip of his foot stepped in the wooden floor of the classroom.
“Yes! I am so sorry, I was busy with something,” he smiled to his students, greeting all of them while they were on their way to their small desks, organized in a “U” shape. His phone, now back on vibrate mode, notified some new messages, but Kihyun would have to wait.
Changkyun made his way to the teacher’s desk instead of his own and said, “Mr. Minhyuk, look here!”
Minhyuk lowered his body to look into the boy’s eyes and to check what he had in his hands. Changkyun was a very smart kid and was into bugs recently, so he wasn’t completely shocked or scared when he saw an insect with long iridescent wings in the palms of the boy’s hands. The boy had been showing him a different type of animal every day for a while now, so he managed to get used to even the weirdest ones.
“Wow, that’s amazing Changkyunnie! You managed to catch it!” He praised the boy, who smiled largely. In the following moment, though, the insect flew away from his hands and disappeared of their sights. The kid pouted, looking about to cry, but Minhyuk was faster.
“Aww don’t worry about it! It might come back to you soon. If it doesn’t, maybe it was missing its family. We should be careful when handling bugs, they’re very delicate and are living beings too, ok?”
“Ok, Mr. Minhyuk,” the boy sniffled, “I will be careful with them, because I’ll be a scientist!”
“You sure will!” Minhyuk ruffled Changkyun’s hair and pushed his back just a bit so he could go to his place. “Right, everyone! Let me tell you what we’ll learn today! I prepared lots of fun things for us!” His voice was loud and the kids cheered excitedly.
For the rest of the day Minhyuk worked hard, not sparing one single second to think about external matters.
Working with kids, for him, had this great advantage: he really didn’t think about anything else besides what was happening at that moment with his students. He could have had a shitty day, or something might have happened, but when he stepped into the classroom and started his class, his students were his world; there was nothing more important to him than all those little faces staring at him in excitement, discovering new things and learning.
Everyone had their own problems; so did the kids. While being with them, Minhyuk wanted to prioritize their struggles, for they still could not handle everything by themselves. Not even adults were able to do that! Therefore, whatever happened to him wasn’t as important as Mana trying to eat sand for the fourth time that week, or Changkyun running after bugs to do his “research”, or Seokmin scratching his knee while playing hide-and-seek.
So, when he finally remembered about Kihyun’s unread messages and the skater boy, he was already on the bus, standing up as always.
“Shit,” he unblocked the phone’s screen and found 12 new messages from his best friend.
hamzzi_ki: you have to stop worrying so much about your age
hamzzi_ki: you still have ways to go
hamzzi_ki: anyway, about your new crush
hamzzi_ki: aren’t you going to talk to him?
hamzzi_ki: how're you gonna deal with it?
hamzzi_ki: as long as he's not underage, it should be fine right
hamzzi_ki: given the time and that you're suddenly quiet
hamzzi_ki: which btw you never are
hamzzi_ki: i guess the bell rang and you went to class without letting me know
hamzzi_ki: thanks for that
hamzzi_ki: it’s not like i dont have anything else to do besides reading your drama right
hamzzi_ki: hit me up when you're done, you dog
He chuckled a bit, but having to hold for dear life when the bus suddenly stopped, he couldn’t reply just yet. Looking through the glass door of the bus, he noticed he was one bus stop away from the one in front of the skate lane where he had seen the skater boy for the past few days.
Minhyuk wasn’t sure if he had always been there; he usually put his earphones on and didn’t care much about his surroundings on his hellish way back from work. Then on one tragic day he forgot his earphones and, to distract himself of the noisy and uncomfortable bus ride, he looked out of the window and saw him. He was just there, skateboarding with his headphones over his red snapback cap.
He immediately stole Minhyuk’s heart.
The bus moved again and in a few minutes they were at the skate lane. And there he was. Minhyuk couldn’t help but smile shyly. The guy was wearing a green snapback cap this time, with an alligator broidered on it, and it matched his military cargo pants. He wasn’t doing any sort of move with his skateboard – in fact, he was just smiling largely while talking to a tall dude who was holding a basketball. Minhyuk’s heart tightened a bit in his chest, but he kept smiling while watching the beautiful dimply smile the skater boy had on his face.
For there was nothing else he could do, he thought, as the bus driver took him away from his love one more time.
“You’re head over heels for him and you don’t even know his name and age,” Kihyun said while getting a piece of chicken. The two friends were having a fancy dinner – fancy, in Minhyuk’s words, because they had wine, despite the main dish being take-out chicken – at his house, and Kihyun decided to bring up the skater boy topic finally. To talk in person was very different from texting, and the shorter boy soon regretted his choice because it seemed like he had forgotten how much louder Minhyuk became when he was speaking.
“I KNOW RIGHT!” He yelled, grabbing a bone and biting it furiously. “How can he bewitch me like this?! I can’t stop thinking about him Ki, that’s just ridiculous.”
“You screaming and biting that bone is what is ridiculous. You didn’t even have two glasses of wine yet,” Kihyun bickered, slapping him on the shoulder with his free hand. Minhyuk pouted.
“I mean, I really can’t get him out of my head. But I think it’s because of all the mystery involved? Who’s he? What does he do besides skateboarding? Does he have a boyfriend? DOES HE EVEN LIKE GUYS?” He raised his voice one more time and earned another slap.
“I’ll give it three days and you’ll be over it. You fall in and out of love too quickly, it’s been always like this. Unless you take some action; then usually things work out, don’t they?”
“What could I even do?” Minhyuk sighed, finally calming down and having another sip of wine. “I can’t just get off the bus and run to him. He has never even seen me staring from the bus. And it is a good thing because it would be too creepy.”
“I’m glad you’re aware of the basic common sense,” Kihyun said, wiping his hands. Minhyuk leaned back on his chair and let out a deep sigh.
“I guess you’re right. Maybe this love spell will wear off after a couple of days. I don’t know anything about him and I don’t even know if things would work out with him.”
“You could try talking to him, you know. Being all extra the way you are. We’ve been friends for ages so I know you’re not as extroverted as you seem, but you still can handle some situations pretty well,” Kihyun pointed out. He crossed his arms on the table and leaned a bit closer to his friend. “If he made your heart pound like this, I’m sure there’s something there that would be worth it. You don’t just randomly fall in love with people,” he smirked.
Mihyunk stared at the glass in his hands, thinking about it. His friend was right. It’s not like there was nothing he could do, but they’d make him look like a creep, and he didn’t want that. Why couldn’t he meet the boy in some other situation so they could be properly introduced to each other?
If only he knew whether it would be worth it; if the skater boy was not underage, or if he actually liked boys too. Things like that would give him a boost of confidence in taking the first step. But he had nothing, so he’d probably stay where he was and let it go, waiting for the moment he’d fall out of love as his friend said he would.
It was a bit sad, he thought, how the most convenient thing to be done was to move on.
hamzzi_ki: so?
minmoongie: nop
hamzzi_ki: how long has it been?
minmoongie: two weeks already…
minmoongie: im worried ki, what if something happened to him :(
minmoongie: i was almost getting over it as you predicted but then he disappeared
minmoongie: now i can’t stop thinking about him again because im worried
hamzzi_ki: it’s unfortunate but try to be positive, everything must be fine
hamzzi_ki: sometimes people just go away, and you had nothing so you shouldn’t be this worried
minmoongie: yea
minmoongie: ur right…
hamzzi_ki: stay well friend
hamzzi_ki: we can have another of those chicken and wine nights if you’re free
minmoongie: that would be great
minmoongie: thanks :-)
“Mr. Minhyuk, the bell…” Mrs. Sally said out loud and he raised his head from the table. He gave her a half-smile, not as cheerfully as he usually did, and stood up.
“Sorry Mrs. Sally. I’m on my way,” he said, waving and putting his phone in his pocket. Just as he was leaving, he heard her whispering to the secretary how their sunbeam had been looking down lately. He let out a deep sigh, a bit concerned.
He knew he was acting a bit out of himself. He also knew he shouldn’t be like this for someone he didn’t even know. After he talked to Kihyun that night during dinner, he had decided to let go of this silly crush and move on. Minhyuk saw the skater boy on the next day and his chest tightened a bit upon seeing that wonderful dimply smile. Then on the following day, he wasn’t there.
Neither on the following one.
He hadn’t seen the skater boy for two weeks now. Even though it should help his decision of moving on, it just made him worried; what if something bad happened? Even though there were many possibilities for what could have happened, his mind kept thinking of the bad ones.
Minhyuk was always referred to as a “sun” or people’s “sunbeam”, like Mrs. Sally just did. He didn’t mind that; it was a nice compliment. However, he was always someone else’s sun; he was the one who made the days brighter. And although he had fallen in love before, the skater boy was probably the first to give off that feeling.
That he had found his very own sun.
They never officially met, it’s true, and the boy might have never known of Minhyuk’s existence. But for him, while tired from work, that smile was what brightened the end of his days. Perhaps that was what hurting the most. It was a bit selfish, but he wished he could’ve seen that smile more times.
“Hello, everyone,” he greeted the class, who was unusually quiet. He looked at all of them, puzzled. Mana stood up beside her desk and raised her hand, asking for permission to speak. He nodded.
“Mr. Minhyuk! The class has talked and we have come to an agreement!” She announced. Minhyuk was even more confused. What were they plotting this time? “Please, can you allow us to go to the garden before class starts?”
“Eh? Well…” he looked at his notes on his table, thinking they had quite a busy schedule to follow. But the kids had organized themselves and asked very politely, besides being extremely cute. The anxious look in their eyes was enough for him to see there was no way he’d deny it. “Sure. Let’s go!”
They all celebrated, but not in the way he expected. They didn’t run right away in front of him, almost climbing over each other and trying to reach the door first. Instead, they all stood up and went to him, holding his hand and pulling him to the door that leaded to the school’s garden. It’s not that they wanted to go to the garden, but they wanted to take him there. They all went together.
When they got there, he noticed some new flowers planted a bit recklessly. He smiled and crouched to see them up close, with the students surrounding him.
“What’s this? Did you make a mess in the garden?” He laughed, touching the red petals of one of the flowers.
“We asked first! Mrs. Sally said it was fine!” Seokmin said. Minhyuk smiled more largely.
“That’s nice! I like it. But I’d like to have planted them with you. If you’d told me, I’d have prepared a project with flowers or beans, something like this. I thought of doing so just at the end of the year, closer to spring!”
“But if you came with us it wouldn’t be a present!” Mana complained, crossing her arms. Minhyuk frowned.
“A present?”
“Yes. A present for you, Mr. Minhyuk!” it was Changkyun’s turn to speak. He approached the teacher, holding something is his hands.
“Why’s that?” Minhyuk chuckled, feeling a bit astonished.
“Because Mr. Minhyuk was looking a bit sad. We don’t know what happened but we love your smile! So we thought about what we could do to bring it back and Mrs. Sally helped us!”
Now he was definitely speechless. He looked at each of those small faces that smiled at him and felt his heart tighten. He honestly felt like crying.
To have the kids seeing through him somehow made him feel like he failed to conceal his own “real world” problems. Those small kids shouldn’t be worried about their teacher, much less to the point they’d do something so amazing like that. He was the one supposed to take care of them and teach them the things about life. Still, it was so touching, so wonderful, to have someone caring for him and hoping for his smile again.
“Did we do a bad thing, Mr. Minhyuk…?” Mana now seemed worried.
“Definitely not!!” He reached his arms and brought her close for a hug. “I’m so happy that you did all of this for my sake that I can’t find the words to express. Here, let me hug each and every one of you! I’m so happy!”
The kids cheered as they lined up and he hug them tight, smiling largely and chuckling while praising them. They did so well. It was really a magical thing, because his worries went away.
Changkyun was the last one, his hands still cupped one on the top of the other, holding something precious.
“I have another present for you! Give me your hand, please!” The small boy announced. Minhyuk giggled, ready for another bug, but when Changkyun opened his hands, there was nothing on it.
After all the kids’ hard work, he thought something philosophical might come out of the empty hands of the boy, but one glance at Changkyun’s face told him that offering nothing wasn’t on the boy’s plans.
So it probably must have been a bug, after all.
“Ah, where is it?” Changkyun looked around and crouched to look closer at the grass. Minhyuk laughed.
“It’s fine, Changkyunnie. I’m already super happy with all of this. I have the best and cutest students in the world! I’m gonna boast about it in the teacher’s lounge for the rest of the year!!”
“But…”
“I’ll help you look for it again later, ok? But now we really should head back to class,” Minhyuk patted him on the head and stood up. “Alright everyone! Mr. Minhyuk has gone by a sad phase in his life, but thanks to all of you, my sunshine, I’m all good! Thank you very much!” He politely bowed to them and made them laugh.
“However! You’ll still have lessons and homework today, so let’s go!” He added, to which the kids joined in with a collective whine. He giggled one more time and took them back to class.
After two weeks, it really felt like the sun had come out from behind a cloud.
It was the usual routine. He was feeling better, humming to a song while holding on the bus’s bar support. Being cherished by his students made him recovery completely; he didn’t think about anything else all day, except those flowers and the students’ surprise. He promised himself he wouldn’t let them worry about him again.
All was well, and the skater boy was probably gone from his mind, forever.
Or he would be, if Minhyuk hadn’t suddenly noticed that, after two weeks, he was back at the usual place.
That was like a miraculous chance. So without thinking twice, he took it.
He hastily got off and dashed in the direction of the skate lane, barely looking before crossing the street.
He was back, he was back, he was back! That was all that crossed Minhyuk’s mind, even though he had assumed he was over it. He knew it would be creepy as hell, but he just had to see him from up close at least once. Maybe that was the grand finale of his one-sided crush.
Luckily, there wasn’t anyone else in the skate lane except for the both of them. The skater boy was sitting on his skateboard and looking for some song on his phone, frowning and pouting adorably. Minhyuk, dressed as a Very Normal Teacher, definitely didn’t belong there, but this time he didn’t care about such things, walking closer and closer to the boy.
When he was close enough, he was finally noticed. Minhyuk stopped on his tracks, speechless once again in that day; the boy was looking at him and he was so handsome. His skin was pale and clear, and his small eyes shined brightly. Even though he looked puzzled by the sudden approach of a random stranger, he waited politely for Minhyuk to speak first.
However, when Minhyuk finally found his words, the only thing he was able to babble was:
“How old are you?”
The boy laughed in disbelief and his eyes almost disappeared. Minhyuk’s heart nearly started a 100-meter race in his chest. He was so cute.
“What? You think I’m too old to be playing over here, Mr. Right? Are you going to scold me even though I’m 25?”
25. He was 25. Not only he was over age, he was almost as old as Minhyuk. Didn’t that sound perfect? He was so happy. That day was full of blessings. He couldn’t help but throwing himself on the floor and sighing in relief – dramatically, as he liked best.
“What the f--,” the guy (if he was 25 it would be weird to keep referring to him as “boy”, Minhyuk concluded) seemed puzzled. Before any of them could say anything else, however, a cricket suddenly jumped out of Minhyuk’s clothes. Upon the sight of the bug, the skater boy shrieked in fear and ran a few meters away from where he had been sitting one millisecond ago.
“Oh, sorry! Sorry, this must have been Changkyun’s present… Damn, come back here, cricket!” Minhyuk went after it and caught the bug again, running to a grass spot to release it safely.
“Present? What kind of present is that?” The skater guy seemed disgusted. The teacher gave him a half smile, wiping his hands.
“For my 6-year-old student, that is the best type of present he could offer. I’m really sorry for having surprised you,” he apologized again, thinking that although it was with good intentions, Changkyun’s present probably ruined his chances of talking properly to the guy.
Who’d be that scared of bugs anyway? And why did Minhyuk keep finding every single trait of him so cute? He was supposed to be over it. Wasn’t it what he told Kihyun? That he’d focus on moving on and letting it go.
But also Kihyun had said that if he took some action, perhaps things could have a nice start. Before, he thought there was nothing he could do; but jumping off the bus hurriedly and talking to him was something. And it was something great, to be quite honest.
“Student? Are you a teacher then?” the guy raised his eyebrows and came a little closer. He chuckled. “Since when do you have to deal with bugs too? How come you can get them in your hand like that so easily...”
“Ah, it’s because Changkyun wants to be a scientist. Every day he explores his surroundings and brings me a different type of ‘discovery’. At first I was a bit disgusted too, he started out with snails and I definitely couldn’t handle them, but he is so cute and gets so excited talking about it, I think I just got used to them,” Minhyuk blabbered, before noticing he got into ‘proud teacher’ mode and started a monologue on how cute his student was. He became a bit flushed and let out a faint laugh, feeling embarrassed.
However, the guy was smiling and had a glow in his eyes.
“This is really cute! I think it’d be tough being a teacher, mostly if I had to deal with bugs, but you seem to enjoy it a lot. When you talked about it just now, it seemed like you were beaming,” he said. Minhyuk felt his cheeks burning a little.
“I-is that so?”
“Yeah. So, if you didn’t come here to scold me for being too old to play with my skateboard, what did you want with me?” He asked, but now he didn’t have an intimidating look.
Right. About that. How would Minhyuk answer? He’d just confess on the spot? Hi, I’ve been stalking you from the bus every day after work, and I have a crush on you! As if he could say something like that.
“Hmm, well. My name’s Minhyuk. I’m 26 years old and as I told you I’m an elementary school teacher,” he suddenly introduced himself, only to think WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING a second later. The boy raised his brows, looking amused. That was definitely a very polite reaction.
Ah, screw that, Minhyuk thought. Time to be the extroverted person everyone thought he was. He’d just say it all and deal with the consequences later.
“I’ve seen you from the bus for a while and, mmm, I was happy seeing you smile and having fun. I know it’s creepy to say it like this! But it really was like a sparkle of happiness on the days I was tired. You haven’t been here for the past weeks so I was really worried, even though we never met and you have nothing to do with me. Which I know just makes things creepier. So when I saw you earlier, I just thought of… of… saying hi?” He finished, raising a few tones of his voice, suddenly realizing how ridiculous all of that might have sounded. What the hell was he doing?
As expected, the guy laughed. Minhyuk had his cheeks on fire, holding the straps of his bag with a tight grip, nervous with the outcome of his honesty and creepiness.
“That’s bold of you, huh? This is interesting,” was his response. He still smiled, while putting his hands in his front pockets. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Minhyuk. I’m Jooheon, 25 years old and I’m a music producer. I have been in the studio with a guest for the past weeks so I couldn’t come out here much to relax and unwind. I have never seen you before and although what you just said sounded like a stalker, I somehow think it’s fun! Thank you for worrying about me.”
Oh.
So that was it.
Jooheon not only was extremely handsome and cute, he was the kindest soul in the world. Did he really have to be polite and thank him for his worry even though they were complete strangers?
Minhyuk was ruined.
He didn’t know what to say for a few moments, but gathered courage again seeing Jooheon still smiled in front of him.
“W-would you like to grab dinner somewhere or…? Maybe a drink, I don’t know,” he tittered. Jooheon stepped on his skateboard and brought it closer to himself, raising and holding it with his hands. He smiled, showing his adorable dimples.
“Sounds good! As long as you don’t have any other bugs hiding on you, I don’t think I’d mind.”
Minhyuk gleefully laughed, feeling his chest explode with feelings he wouldn’t ever be able to describe. What a day that had been.
Jooheon was a boy, Minhyuk was a mess; can it be any more obvious?