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“That’s all for today, you’re all dismissed. Now shoo!”
Chan collapsed into his chair as the eager students shuffled out the first class in the morning, leaving him to catch up on a few minutes of sleep before the next batch walked in. With a tired sigh, he placed his head on the cold wooden desk, closing his tired eyes in an attempt to drift off.
His attempts were interrupted by the slight creak of the classroom door, and he lifted his head up with a groan.
“Class doesn’t start until 8, go be a nerd somewhere else,” Chan grumbled, not bothered enough to check who it was. A light laugh reached his ears, and he vaguely registered that it was, most definitely, not a student who was present with him. Probably Jisung here to bother him again.
“Not to ruin your beauty sleep or anything, but I just wanted to see whether you were coming to the ceremony tonight.”
Chan finally recognized the smooth voice, and it had him shooting out of his seat with wide eyes.
“Mr. Lee!” he cried, face flushing a bright red as he desperately avoided the other teacher’s gaze and attempted to look less sleep deprived.
“I told you, Chan, please just call me Minho,” he stated, stepping closer to Chan’s desk and sending him into an even more frazzled state.
“Right, Minho,” he corrected, laughing sheepishly. “It’s a bit difficult to get used to.”
Minho gave him a smile, his eyes trained solely on Chan’s face. He reminded Chan of the stereotypical swoon-worthy high school teacher, the one that every student and living soul fell head over heels for. In his own personal case, he’d fallen way before any student had even seen Minho, but like every stereotypical situation, he never would admit to himself that he’s attracted to a fellow teacher.
Minho had changed quite a lot since when he first joined the school as a Biology teacher. He’d mostly been quiet and reserved, coming off as cold and intimidating towards teachers and stern towards students. It didn’t take long for the younger teachers, a group they’d all lovingly named the Harbingers of Chaos, to figure out that Minho was simply just shy, and pretty soon he was dropping his usual unwelcoming behavior and making pleasant acquaintances with everyone.
Chan couldn’t help but notice that Minho was most open and comfortable around him, and if that was something he was secretly much too proud of, nobody else had to know.
“So… are you going to the ceremony tonight?” he asked again, picking up the pencil holder on Chan’s desk. It was a dumb looking Paw Patrol one. Gosh, he fucking hated Jisung so much right now.
Chan scrunched up his face in thought, feeling stupid for not remembering what Minho was talking about.
“Ceremony?” he questioned, receiving a sigh from the teacher in front of him.
“You really haven’t gotten any sleep, have you?” he asked, stepping back and jabbing a thumb at the notice board hanging at the back of the class. Chan’s eyes landed on the fairly large, pastel-themed poster that had been pinned up, and he gasped as he was hit with realization.
“The welcoming! It’s tonight!” he exclaimed, slapping a hand across his forehead. The school that they worked at had an annual ceremony for the new teachers and staff that entered each year, so as to introduce them to the ones already present and make them feel welcome in the school.
“Yeah, I’ve never gone to it before,” Minho mumbled, almost bashful, placing the pencil holder back on Chan’s desk.
“Really? You should go this time,” Chan said, curious as to why he never went, though he restrained himself from asking. Minho shrugged in reply, his warm brown eyes meeting Chan’s tired ones again.
“I remember feeling so awkward when I first joined,” he said, his gaze lowering to his pale and slender fingers. “I didn’t want to make any other new teachers feel that, so I avoided the welcoming ceremony.”
“But that’s the whole purpose of the ceremony!” Chan countered. “To make the teacher feel less awkward when they join here.”
Minho grinned, his lips lifting up to reveal bright pink gums and a beautiful smile. “That’s why I want to go this time. But I want to go with you.”
Chan paused, his breath hitching in his throat. Did Lee Minho just do what Chan thought he did? Was this a teacher’s equivalent of a promposal?
He examined Chan’s expression for a bit, which was frankly pretty embarrassing, given that he was still processing the question. He semmed to misunderstand it to be a bad reaction, and looked away dejectedly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to, you probably have plans with Jisung and Changb-”
Chan stopped him with a shake of his head and a wide grin. “I’d love to go with you, Minho.”
Minho whipped his head back to face Chan, jaw dropping open in shock.
“Really?” he asked, his voice full of excitement and disbelief. “Are you sure-”
“Yes, Minho, I’ll go,” he interrupted again, this time receiving another endearing smile in reply.
“But you do realize that we have to wear pastel, right?” Minho pointed out, at which Chan groaned and placed a hand over his eyes.
“I don’t own anything pastel.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll just dye your hair pastel pink.”
“Don’t even think about touching my hair, Minho!”
“But why? It’ll be so cool!”
They were both so immersed in playful conversation, that they failed to notice an entire group of students and an excited Mr. Han piled outside the classroom, their ears pressed to the door.
“I told you they were a thing!”
“But I really thought me and Mr. Lee had something…”
“Damn, who knew Lee had game!”
“Shh, I can’t hear what they’re saying!”
“Oh my gosh, this is so cute, I’m lowkey grossed out.”
“Mr. Han, get back to class.”