Chapter Text
Sicheng gathered the papers scattered over his desk, holding them in front of him. He sighed as he slowly began to flip through them, reading the names written along the top of the paper. There were a few more legible than others, which he had to pause to try to read. He pushed his glasses a bit higher on his nose as he went along.
Once he made sure all the kids in his class had turned in their assignment, he slipped the stack of papers into the folder on his desk. He was about to reach for his bag underneath his desk to put the folder away, but a large shadow stepped in front of him.
He paused, looking up. He came face to face with someone familiar.
“Mr. Dong,” he said. There was a slight lilt of nervousness to his voice.
“Mr. Nakamoto,” Sicheng replied a bit stiffly. He straightened up in his seat. “How can I help you?”
Nakamoto Yuta. What could be said about him?
Out of the entire faculty, Nakamoto Yuta seemed to be the most interested in him. Ever since his arrival, Mr. Nakamoto had become a looming presence. It wasn’t enough to make Sicheng feel uncomfortable but enough to make him curious.
One of the other teachers had mentioned that Mr. Nakamoto had a crush on him. It was likely. But Sicheng wondered how it was possible.
They didn’t know each other. They had never exchanged more than a few words in passing. Their meetings were by chance, at least in Sicheng’s mind. Whether Mr. Nakamoto sought him out purposefully and played it off as a coincidence, he didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. They weren’t even in the same department so such a thing would require an amount of effort that piqued Sicheng’s interest greatly.
“The first game of the season is this Friday,” Mr. Nakamoto said.
Sicheng blinked. “And?”
“The kids were wondering if you’d be interested in going,” was the reply. And then, added on in a stutter: “I mean, we’re―uh, we’re inviting all the teachers. Because it’s the first game, the team wanted to… wanted to invite as many people as possible, and having the teachers there would make them very happy.”
Sicheng hummed. “Is that so…” He looked away, down at the folder that was on his desk. He brought his hands up and folded them over the folder. “I’ll see what I can do, Mr. Nakamoto. I do have a lot of work to do this weekend.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Nakamoto said. Sicheng could see how red his ears had become, the color crawling down his neck and disappearing under the collar of his shirt. “Well, if you go, I’ll be very―the kids will be very happy to see you there.”
“Of course,” Sicheng replied, smiling up at him.
Mr. Nakamoto returned the gesture. “Well, I let you go now,” he said, stepping away. “Have a great night.”
“Good night, Mr. Nakamoto,” Sicheng said, watching as Mr. Nakamoto left the teachers’ room, the door closing behind him with a light click.
When he was gone, Sicheng sighed, reaching for his bag and pulling it up onto his lap. He reached for the folder and placed it inside along with his other things.
As he packed up his things for the day, he thought about Mr. Nakamoto’s offer. Would other teachers be invited, or had that been a cover-up? He wasn’t sure but he could very quickly find out.
He hurried up and went to find one of the other teachers, locking the teachers’ room as he left.
Mr. Nakamoto had not been lying.
Sicheng found this out when he met with Jaehyun, who was another math teacher. And when Jaehyun offered to go with Sicheng, they had decided it couldn’t be that bad.
Leaving the assignments he needed to grade at home, Sicheng and Jaehyun made their way to the field in the back of the school the next day. Already, they could hear the noise of the people gathered in the stands. As they got closer, Sicheng saw how full they were.
Parents, friends, other students, and of course, some teachers took up the majority of the bleachers, the remainder filled with supporters of the opposing school’s team. Sicheng looked over the stands, trying to find an empty spot.
His search was stopped by Jaehyun nudging him in the side. “There,” he said, motioning to the front row, closest to the ground. “Near Ms. Kang.”
Sicheng spotted the teacher quickly. Her right was taken by another teacher, but to her left, there was enough space to sit both of them. They hurried to sit, greeting the other teachers and parents sitting nearby. Sicheng sighed as he sat on the cold metal. He looked to his right and found another familiar face.
“Good morning, hyung,” he said with a small bow of his head.
“Oh, good morning, Sicheng! I didn’t think I’d see you here.”
“Why’s that?”
“Yuta said he invited you, but you might’ve been busy. Thanks for coming out.”
“Right,” Sicheng said.
One thing Sicheng had learned was that if there was anyone Mr. Nakamoto was close to, it was one of the science teachers. After meeting him and having a few conversations with him, Sicheng realized that Mr. Seo was not as intimidating as his appearance made him look. He was a quieter, more soft-spoken person, but still very enthusiastic and welcoming.
Mr. Seo was a refined man. He enjoyed researching everything about his topic. He drank imported beans from Latin America. He was unlike Mr. Nakamoto in that regard. But still, something about him seemed to match with Mr. Nakamoto’s personality quite well.
Sicheng looked toward the field. Mr. Nakamoto stood on the sidelines, observing the team’s warm-ups, calling out to them here and there. His assistant coach stood beside him, a bit shorter and leaner, but still broad-shouldered and strong.
He didn’t turn around. Mr. Nakamoto was focused on the team, arms crossed over his chest. His eyebrows were a little pulled together and he had a slight frown on his lips.
Sicheng watched as he turned to his assistant coach and said something. The assistant coach shrugged in response, which made Mr. Nakamoto scrunch his face up in seeming displeasure.
Before he could say something else to his assistant coach, Mr. Nakamoto’s attention was caught by the person sitting to Sicheng’s right.
“Hey, Yuta!” Mr. Seo called out, raising his hand high and waving.
Sicheng looked at Mr. Seo, feeling his heart begin to beat a bit harder in his chest. He glanced back in Mr. Nakamoto’s direction in time to see him shift his gaze to Mr. Seo. He smiled for a moment, raising his hand to wave back but then his attention landed on Sicheng. His smile seemed to falter a bit.
Not wanting Mr. Nakamoto to feel embarrassed, Sicheng raised his hand meekly, giving him a wave.
This seemed to have the opposite effect on Mr. Nakamoto. Sicheng watched as a shade of red crawled up his neck and settled across his cheeks. It looked like he let out a laugh, but he was a bit too far for Sicheng to hear it. Beside him, his assistant coach looked back, wanting to see what had made him laugh. His attention landed on Sicheng and he waved.
Sicheng waved again. Mr. Nakamoto returned the gesture, despite it not being for him this time. It was a bit too enthusiastic and the smile on his face looked a bit brighter than before.
The shade of red across Mr. Nakamoto’s cheeks grew deeper, spreading up to the tips of his ears, barely hidden underneath his hair.
The assistant coach laughed, his eyes crinkling up. He threw an arm around Mr. Nakamoto’s shoulders, bringing him close. On the field, a few kids stopped, noticing how the assistant coach was laughing.
“Hey, Coach!” Sicheng heard one of them call out. “What’s so funny?”
There seemed to be some chatter between the students. Some of them looked around.
And then, one of them spotted Sicheng.
He recognized the student. He had him in class.
“Mr. Dong!” he called out.
This made the other players look at Sicheng, who only smiled and waved in response.
“Seems like you’re a bit popular with the players among other people,” Mr. Seo said, a teasing tone to his voice. “Did you know this, Sicheng?”
Sicheng wasn’t sure what Mr. Seo was implying. Or maybe he did know, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. At least not yet, not now. “Me? Popular?” he asked instead, keeping his tone innocent.
To his left, Jaehyun nudged him in the side. Sicheng was about to ask why, a frown on his face, but his attention was caught by something occurring on the field.
“Coach! You’re so red!” he heard another player, Donghyuck, shout out. Sicheng also had him for a class. He was smart and witty, but also loud and someone that liked to tease a bit. One could hear it in his voice. It was never disrespectful, but a bit humiliating to be on the receiving end of. “Is it because of Mr. Dong?”
Mr. Nakamoto said something in response, which made the few players gathered around him laugh out loud. After a moment, Mr. Nakamoto, with a frown on his face, was motioning to the field, telling them something. In another fit of laughter, the players around him dispersed and went back to their warm-up drills, each one of them taking a spare ball and going up and down the field with it.
“Looks like they’re in trouble,” Jaehyun commented.
Sicheng looked at him. “For?”
“Are you going to be obtuse forever?”
“Shut it,” Sicheng replied, giving Jaehyun a light shove. He felt his face grow warm. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“Congratulations on the win,” Sicheng said as Donghyuck and Jaemin entered the classroom. “I hope the team continues to do well.”
“Thanks, Mr. Dong!” Donghyuck exclaimed with a small smile. He took his seat in the front row, right in front of Sicheng’s desk. He placed his chin in his hand. A pensive hum. “I think we have to thank you though.”
“Thank me?”
“Yes,” Donghyuck said. “Coach said that it was all because you were there that we won.”
Sicheng hummed. He bit on the inside of his cheek, taking in the information. After a second, he decided to feign disinterest. It was the best thing to do and it would allow him to humor his students while not crossing a boundary.
“Is that so?” he asked. He looked at the stack of papers on his desk. It was the assignment he had prepared for today’s lesson. He pretended to study it, picking up the top sheet and looking at it. “I suppose I should say you’re welcome then.”
Donghyuck burst out laughing, leaning back in his seat and bringing the palm of his hand down onto the desktop a few times. In the desk beside him, Jaemin joined in on the laughter, hiding his face in his hands and mumbling something under his breath. Around them, the rest of their classmates looked at him curiously. Sicheng looked up from the paper in his hand, meeting questioning eyes. He gave a simple shrug in response to his students.
“Give Mr. Nakamoto my thanks for the invitation,” Sicheng continued. He spared a glance at Donghyuck, who looked like he was biting back another laugh. “I did enjoy it.”
He wasn’t lying. He had a good time watching the game. He hadn’t been able to personally congratulate Mr. Nakamoto or the rest of the team as he’d been in a hurry to leave after but if there was another opportunity to go out and support the team, Sicheng would consider it.
Before Donghyuck could say anything else, Sicheng set down the assignment and clapped his hands, grabbing the attention of his class. A few students came rushing in, taking their seats quickly.
“It’s time to begin,” Sicheng said. He picked up the rest of the sheets and began to count them out for every row. “Today, we’ll continue working on using the formula we learned in the previous class. Yerim, could you tell me what formula that was?”
Another opportunity to support the football team came rather quickly.
“Oh, Sicheng.”
Sicheng stopped and backtracked a few steps, head tilting to the side as he looked at the man in front of him. “Principal Moon,” he greeted with a bow of his head. “How are you?”
“I am doing great,” Principal Moon replied, a grin spreading across his face as he raised his coffee cup. “How are you? Are you prepared for the conference?”
“I am,” Sicheng said.
“Funny thing,” Principal Moon said, “But you know, the team is headed up there this weekend as well.”
“Oh? The football team?”
Principal Moon took a sip of his coffee and hummed. “I just noticed it myself,” he said. “You should find Mr. Nakamoto if you’re interested in watching the game. I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you where they’ll be playing.”
“I will,” Sicheng replied. “Thank you, Principal Moon.”
Principal Moon smiled again. “Enjoy your weekend, Sicheng.”
Principal Moon continued on his way, greeting the kids walking down the halls. Sicheng looked at him, watching his back, getting smaller and smaller until he disappeared around the corner. With a shake of his head, Sicheng turned back, remembering what he was doing before running into Principal Moon.
Sicheng pushed open the door to the teachers’ room. Mr. Seo was there, standing at his desk, papers in hand.
“Good afternoon,” Sicheng said, getting his attention.
“Afternoon,” Mr. Seo replied, looking up at him. “You’re leaving already?”
Sicheng nodded. “I… I’m going to a conference this weekend.”
“What for?”
Before Sicheng could answer, the door opened. He stepped aside to allow the person to come in but when no one stepped around him, he looked back and was met with Mr. Nakamoto’s face.
“Oh,” he said.
“Mr. Dong,” Mr. Nakamoto said. He looked away from Sicheng for a second. “Uh… good afternoon. If you would… excuse me.”
“Oh!” Sicheng said. He stepped away from the door and went to his desk, watching as Mr. Nakamoto entered with a rolling cart filled with different types of books and files. He tore his attention away and began to collect his belongings from his desk.
“Where is the conference?” Mr. Seo asked, making Sicheng glance up at him.
“Oh, right,” he muttered. He cleared his throat and met Mr. Seo’s eyes. “I’m headed towards Jung-gu.”
Sicheng’s attention shifted to Mr. Nakamoto, who seemed to perk up.
“It’s a conference for teachers in math,” he finished.
Mr. Seo hummed. “Well, have a good time. I hope you don’t get bored to death. Conferences like those can go either way.”
Mr. Nakamoto looked up now. “Say, would you be interested in going up there together?”
Sicheng blinked a few times. “You’re attending the conference?” he asked, his tone flat.
Mr. Nakamoto stuttered. “Well, no, but―”
“It doesn’t seem quite your caliber,” Sicheng interrupted gently. When he noticed Mr. Nakamoto didn’t crack a smile, he realized that his joke didn’t land the way he wanted it to. He sniffed. “I’m sorry.”
This time, Mr. Nakamoto did smile. It was a bit awkward and forced. Guilt settled into Sicheng’s bones. “No, no. I understand. It’s because I’m just a coach, right?”
“Mr. Nakamoto, I―” Sicheng sighed. “I’m sorry. Really. I did mean to ask you, though, about the game. Principal Moon told me earlier.”
“Would you be interested in going?” Mr. Nakamoto asked.
Sicheng looked between Mr. Seo and Mr. Nakamoto. Mr. Seo seemed disinterested in the conversation now so Sicheng only focused on Mr. Nakamoto. The forced, awkward smile was smaller but genuine now. Sicheng had to look away.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” he answered.
“If you have a few minutes, I can share the details with you,” Mr. Nakamoto said.
“We can walk out together and talk about it,” Sicheng said.
He tried to ignore the way that Mr. Nakamoto’s smile stretched across his face and the way that his heart thumped a bit harder in his chest when he saw it.