Chapter Text
The town of Tarajon was beautiful.
People never dared to visit the town. Not because it was dangerous, or because it was too dirty or noisy. In fact, it's the opposite. The town was so beautiful that leaving it would be such a shame. From the chilly autumn weather to the snowy white winters, from the colourful springs to the perfect glow of the sun during summers, the town never lacked anything good. The beauty of it all was that everyone knew each other - the students, the teachers, the local shop owners. Everyone was friends with one another; nobody hated a fellow townsperson. Those who ended up kicked out of the town had felt extremely upset.
Beautiful women and men, inside and out, were all over town. It was hard to find a person who was ill-mannered or disrespectful, everyone here loved to make friends and be nice to others, it's just the way they were raised in Tarajon.
It was the beautiful month of September, just on the arrival of autumn. Taeyong was on his way to the school he teaches in (today was the 10th graders' turn) when he heard someone call his name from behind. Despite being immensely invested in the book he was reading, he turned around, already knowing who it was.
"Took you long enough!" Taeyong shouted back at Doyoung and Jaehyun, the happily married couple of 3 years. Doyoung smiled brightly, putting his hands in the pockets of his coat and jogging towards Taeyong. Jaehyun followed closely behind, just a little slower than the excited older man, painting his own smile on his face. They were all teachers at the Tarajon School for Children and Teens (T.S.C.T). Of course, the name wasn't the best, but it made a little bit of sense.
"Sorry, we had a little incident with Mr Jeon. He thought we wanted our usual from his cafe but we wanted turkey sandwiches and coffee this time," He whispered the last bit and bumped his shoulders into Taeyong's.
"Well, good you're here already. Today's the first day of school and Mrs Choi told me her son is a little nervous about joining the school since he doesn't really know anyone other than me, well us," Taeyong pointed at himself and the other two.
"Oh, Jinhyeong? Oh, that brat, I'm getting the toddlers today, wish me luck," Jaehyun groaned painfully, stomping on the ground once and dragging his foot against the pavement.
Doyoung gives him a soft slap on his shoulder, leaving it there for a bit. "Don't say that, Jaehyun, why do you even hate the kids so much?"
Jaehyun scoffs playfully. "I hate kids so much that I don't even want kids."
Apparently, it was not a joke.
Doyoung's face falls, just staring into his husband's eyes for a few seconds before taking his hand away and walking quickly ahead. Taeyong looks at the scene with wide eyes and purses his lips, confused at the situation.
"Oh come on, baby, you know it was a joke," Jaehyun says loudly and in a perky tone.
Taeyong looks at Jaehyun then points at Doyoung. "I'm gonna... go."
Jaehyun looks at him for a few seconds before following Doyoung, running quick and snaking his arm up from Doyoung's back to his shoulders, but Doyoung just pushes him off. Taeyong rushes to them both and goes into the middle of them, holding each man by their shoulders and pushing them both towards the direction of the school, ignoring the fuss both his friends make.
"So, where do you you guys wanna go for lunch after we finish work?" Taeyong tries to start a conversation.
"I will not eat with him in the room."
"Oh, come on, over a harmless joke? I'm sorry baby, I didn't know it would offend-"
"Not now, Jaehyun. Please, let me have a peaceful day at work today." Doyoung says in a tone that indicates that he's just... well, done. He stops just a few meters away from the entrance to the school building. Taeyong and Jaehyun stop as well and Taeyong drops his arm from around the others' shoulders.
Jaehyun sighs as he looks at Doyoung intensely. "We're gonna talk about this at lunch. You and Taeyong go now, wouldn't want you both to be late for the first day of teaching." He walks away to the toddler's building and Doyoung is left looking at the spot where his husband was.
"Do you wanna talk about it, Doy?"
"No. Yes. Later, I see a few teenagers coming already, don't want them to gossip about our relationship for an entire year like Seulgi and Irene." Doyoung forces Taeyong to walk beside him quickly as they make their way inside their respective classes.
Every teacher in school takes turns with who to teach each lesson: there were only 12 teachers in the entire school. Besides Taeyong, Doyoung and Jaehyun, there were Ten and Kun Qian, Dong Sicheng (or Winwin, as everyone likes to call him), Yuta Nakamoto, Joohyun Bae (Irene, known by everyone), Seulgi Kang and everyone's favourite - Park Sooyoung, who everyone calls Joy because of how she lights up a room as fast as a thunderbolt, really.
Around 2 thousand students went to this school since it was the only one in town. From kindergarten to grade 12, each teacher would take a turn to teach a whole grade. Taeil Moon, the principal, was very kind with everyone and would pay very good money for each teacher's salary, having come from the richest family in town. Though the school wasn't the smallest, the families did not need to pay for their kids to get educated. All they had to do was show the child's birth certificate, register their name to the principal and... well that was it. The love between the citizens here was so sweet that when Mr Moon first announced this after the school was built in 2012, everyone cheered and cried with happiness.
Taeyong prepares for his first class of the day; the 10th graders. He doesn't necessarily hate them, but obviously a 32-year-old would not be too ecstatic teaching a bunch of 15-16 years olds. As he grabs each book from his bag and places them on the desk, he takes a deep breath out and starts to hope he doesn't get Mark Lee.
Ah, Mark Lee - he's not a terrible student, per se, but... he was definitely something. He never shuts up, always laughs so loud it startles Taeyong, burps loudly in class (though he apologizes after), and well the only thing keeping him in school is his grades. He wasn't necessarily kind, but he wasn't that rude either. Not as much as some other students, anyway.
Just as he sits down on his chair and swings a bit, Joy comes running down to his classroom with her high heels clicking and clacking on the way. "You will not believe what just happened."
He furrows his eyebrows in confusion. What could've possibly happened in the small school to make Park Sooyoung gossip about it. "What happened? Is someone in trouble?" He quickly gets back up from his chair, holding onto the arms of it to balance himself.
"Oh, no no. Even better." She smiles so big her lips curl up into an upside-down C. "We... have... a new teacher."