Work Text:
Hyunjae looks at himself in the mirror, checking his outfit for the millionth time. He runs his hands across his chin, making sure that he is, indeed, still as clean-shaven as compared to ten seconds earlier when he did the exact same thing. Checking the time, he takes a deep breath and does a few power poses, taking up as much space as he can in his tiny entryway for the last time before he picks up his messenger bag and heads out of the door.
To say that he’s nervous would be an understatement. Today is his first day of work at a middle school a few train stations away, so he continues to mentally run through the list of things he should have prepared and things that he should and should not say when he meets the other teachers at the school for the first time.
The train ride ends much faster than he expects, and as Hyunjae makes his way to the school, he only sees one student in the school’s uniform in front of him. Well, he is about an hour early to school, anyway. He walks behind the student, maintaining a respectable distance, and smiles to himself as he sees him gently bopping his head to whatever music he must be listening to.
He arrives at the school’s gate, pausing to take in the view in front of him. It is not a fancy school by any means, but it is a decent school, and for that Hyunjae counts his lucky stars. Once he looks down from admiring the school building, he sees someone sitting at the bench beside the guard’s office. Hyunjae finally starts entering the school, looking around at every step in hopes of memorising this place as soon as possible. The security guard, a friendly middle-aged man, waves him down and Hyunjae introduces himself as the new teacher.
“Ah, Younghoon-ssaem!” the guard gestures to the man sitting on the bench. “The new teacher is here!”
When Younghoon stands up, Hyunjae discovers a few things:
1) Younghoon looks like a model. He looks to be only slightly taller than Hyunjae, but he is lean, and his legs look like they go on for days.
2) Hyunjae is kind of overdressed. Younghoon is wearing a long-sleeved shirt under a vest with a pair of slacks, while Hyunjae is dressed like he’s going into an investor’s meeting.
3) Younghoon is unbelievably handsome. Hyunjae feels his palms start to sweat the more he looks at him, so he looks away from his face and focuses on his torso instead.
Younghoon walks up to Hyunjae, extending his hand. Hyunjae grabs it for a handshake, which also unfortunately means that he has to look at Younghoon’s face to be polite. Younghoon smiles, and Hyunjae forgets how to breathe for a second.
“Hello, Hyunjae-ssi. I’m Younghoon, a fellow science teacher, and I’m going to be your buddy during your orientation here.”
4) Hyunjae may or may not have already developed the tiniest crush on Younghoon.
Younghoon brings Hyunjae to the staff room. On the way, he points out a few things, like the direction of the classrooms, the canteen, and the science labs. Hyunjae also learns that they are of the same age, to which Younghoon grins.
“Let’s be comfortable, then, Hyunjae? Also, don’t worry if you can’t remember the places I just pointed out. We’ll be joined at the hip for the first few weeks, so you’d have plenty of time to learn.”
Younghoon shows Hyunjae to his desk, which fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how he looks at it), is right opposite Younghoon’s own desk. Younghoon also greets many other teachers along the way, introducing Hyunjae to all of them. As Hyunjae shakes all their hands, he wonders if this school has only ever had good-looking teachers.
He must have accidentally said it out loud, because Younghoon and the other teacher, whose hands he is shaking, laughs.
“That’s very kind of you, Hyunjae-ssi. Well, since you are also here now, I’d say that that’s true.” Juyeon, the PE teacher, replies, pairing it with a wink. Hyunjae flushes and looks down, but not before he catches Younghoon nodding, still mirthful.
Hyunjae gets to have some time to set up his desk before he heads to assembly with Younghoon. There, he gets called up on stage unexpectedly by the principal, Sangyeon, who introduces him to the school. Hyunjae just bows, unsure of what else he should do, before leaving the stage in a hurry. He returns to Younghoon, who smiles encouragingly at him before starting to point out some other teachers that he has not met. Hyunjae worries about not being able to remember so many names at once, but Younghoon reassures him that everyone is very kind and friendly, and that he had the same problem when he first joined the school.
“You’ll be shadowing me for the first few days, just sitting at the back of the classroom while I teach. Next week, you’ll teach your own first class, yeah?” Hyunjae nods, already aware of all these. However, he is still nervous as he enters the class with Younghoon, all the chattering ceasing the moment the students realise that there is a new face in the room. Younghoon quickly introduces him before Hyunjae goes to the back of the classroom, ready to watch Younghoon teach.
He did expect to feel a little bored. After all, whatever Younghoon is teaching is what he knows. However, the way Younghoon delivers the lesson with clear passion for the subject and lights up whenever the students ask questions keeps Hyunjae more than entertained (and a little starstruck) throughout the lesson. He internally marvels at the way Younghoon makes sure that the students understand what he’s trying to teach before he moves on, and never forgets to compliment students who answer questions abruptly thrown at them correctly, while patiently but still enthusiastically guiding students who need help. Hyunjae thinks that if he had someone like Younghoon as his teacher when he was still a student, learning would be a lot more enjoyable. He might have even looked forward to lessons.
After another lesson with a different class, Younghoon brings him to the canteen for their lunch break. They sit with some other teachers and even the principal himself, which Hyunjae is surprised about. Younghoon explains that Sangyeon likes to have lunch together with the teachers because he doesn’t usually see them that much anyway, and he genuinely wants to become close with them. The respect Hyunjae has for Sangyeon rises again even though it is already impossibly high.
He gets introduced to Changmin, the PE teacher, who bickers loudly with Chanhee, the Math teacher. Kevin and Jacob, both English teachers, smile warmly at Hyunjae when he joins the table. Sunwoo and Eric, both also PE teachers, laugh at something on Eric’s phone. Haknyeon, the Home Economics teacher sitting on Hyunjae’s right, engages in conversation with him and Sangyeon while Younghoon chats with Juyeon, who’s sitting on his left. Hyunjae finds it extremely easy to talk to Haknyeon, whose way of storytelling is nothing short of delightful. At the end of the lunch break, Hyunjae realises that whatever tension he’s been feeling about the first day of work has long since vanished.
★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★
The rest of the week has gone pretty well, in Hyunjae’s opinion. He has been meeting even more teachers, shadowing all of Younghoon’s classes, and even interacting with some students when Younghoon assigns them work to do in class. The first time it happened was when Younghoon was still explaining to a kid and Hyunjae saw another student’s hand raised. He tried to signal to Younghoon, but Younghoon just gestured back with a smile for him to go help the kid instead. Hyunjae took a deep breath before he walked over to the student, who was slightly surprised when he looked up.
“Hi, what’s your name?” Hyunjae has set a goal for himself to memorise all the students’ names by the second week.
It’s his third day and he has remembered a grand total of zero names.
“I’m Dojin! Hyunjae-ssaem-” Hyunjae internally preens at being properly addressed as a teacher. “I don’t know the name of the product that will be produced.” Dojin pouts, pointing at the line Hydrochloric acid + Calcium Carbonate → ? on his paper.
Hyunjae smiles. He tries to jog Dojin’s memory and walk him through the reaction instead of giving him the answer, and he smiles impossibly wide when Dojin manages to write down Calcium Chloride + Water + Carbon Dioxide, clearly excited too. He looks back up at Hyunjae with a toothy grin.
“Thank you, Hyunjae-ssaem!”
Hyunjae shoots him a quick thumbs up before heading back to his seat at the back of the classroom. When he sits down, he makes eye contact with Younghoon, who’s already grinning at him, eyebrows raised. Hyunjae shoots him a cheeky thumbs up as well, which makes Younghoon laugh silently.
All in all, Hyunjae thinks that his job is great.
On Friday, Hyunjae decides to remain at the office to do more preparations for his first lesson next Monday, since being at the office makes him infinitely more productive than when left to his own devices at home. It’s not like he has much of a social life to be going out on a Friday evening (or any evening, really) anyway, so he settles at his desk, cracks his knuckles and stretches his neck before starting.
He’s occasionally interrupted by other teachers leaving and saying goodbye to him, all smiling encouragingly at his dedication. Hyunjae waves goodbye to all of them, and with every approving nod he gets, he becomes even more motivated.
Somewhere at the back of his mind, he notes that Younghoon hasn’t said goodbye to him yet. He is wholly unprepared for the pang of disappointment that hits him, but he reasons that he has been basically sticking to Younghoon for the whole week anyway, so he’s bound to be extra attached to him. Maybe Younghoon left even before Hyunjae started on his work?
His workflow is rudely interrupted by a loud growl from his stomach. He stops typing, looks down at his belly and rubs it, frowning. He also realises that it is dark outside, and when he checks the time, he is surprised to find that it’s dinnertime. As he continues rubbing his tummy, contemplating whether or not he should go home for dinner or get food delivered to the school so that he can continue working on his teaching slides, he senses someone approaching him.
He whips around, mentally prepared to tackle whatever intruder it is (he isn’t, really, but the intruder doesn’t have to know), but all that greets him is Younghoon carrying a big plastic bag, raising it up and smiling at him. Needless to say, Hyunjae is confused.
“Hey! I saw you working hard on your slides and thought that I’ll get food in case you got hungry,” Younghoon explains with a smile while clearing the space on his table. Hyunjae cocks his head in confusion.
“But why are you still here in the first place?”
Over a steaming bowl of samgyetang, Hyunjae learns a few things about Younghoon:
1) Younghoon is the teacher-in-charge for the school’s swim team, so he stays late on the days that they have training. Since swim season is approaching, the number of training days have been ramped up. Younghoon talks about the swim team with a sparkle in his eyes, and when he starts to ramble a bit about the competition from the rival schools, Hyunjae just listens with a small smile as he looks down at his half-finished bowl of soup.
2) Younghoon is somehow single. When Hyunjae tries to fake-casually ask if he minds staying at the school late on Fridays, Younghoon just smiles and answers with a why not? It’s not like I have other people to hang out with, anyway. He also for some reason punctuates that reply with another smile directed right at Hyunjae, which gets all of his attention and also distracts him at the same time because of just how gorgeous Younghoon is.
3) Younghoon also apparently likes bread a lot. When they’re both done with their respective bowls of samgyetang, Younghoon whips out a bag of bread from out of nowhere and offers some to Hyunjae as he chomps on a chocolate conch bread. Hyunjae picks the same bread since Younghoon strongly recommends it, and Younghoon even begins to teach him how to spread the chocolate filling more evenly throughout the whole length of the bread.
4) Younghoon is very, very bad for Hyunjae’s heart. As he speaks about everything he loves (even chocolate conch bread), he gets visibly more and more excited. When Hyunjae cracks a joke, his laugh is loud, bright, and very different from Hyunjae’s expectations. Nevertheless, Hyunjae is delighted. Younghoon’s eyes almost look shut with the force of his laughter and he sometimes brings his hand up to cover his mouth. Hyunjae wishes that he wouldn’t do that because a laughing Younghoon lights up something in him that he doesn’t want to explore any time soon.
Younghoon is in the middle of a story when they hear a knock on the staff room door. It opens, and the security guard’s head pops in.
“Hello teachers! The school is closing soon, yeah? You two have to leave.”
Hyunjae gasps. Has it been that long already? He stands up and bows towards the security guard, and Younghoon joins him in profusely apologising for staying too late. The old man just laughs and waves them off before leaving, saying that he’ll be back in fifteen minutes to lock up the staff room doors. Hyunjae and Younghoon descend into a flurry of cleaning and tidying things up, somehow perfectly working together with each other to each tackle a different thing.
“I’ll go throw out the trash! You should go save your work and pack up your things,” Younghoon suggests.
Hyunjae nods, and begins furiously saving his work and closing a million tabs he had opened. He’s still on his laptop when he senses Younghoon standing behind him, ready to leave.
“Ah you can leave first! You don’t have to wait for me, I’m so sorry,” Hyunjae whispers, acutely aware of how quiet the surroundings are.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind. You can slow down a bit, actually. It’s only been about five minutes and you’re almost done. I think your mousepad is going to catch on fire if you keep going at that speed.” Younghoon says from behind him, and Hyunjae can almost hear the amusement in his voice.
Hyunjae doesn’t slow down on his clicking, which is why two minutes later, they’re walking out of the staff room.
“I never got to ask you! Where do you live?” Younghoon suddenly asks. Hyunjae replies, and Younghoon’s eyes widen.
“That’s so near where I live, too! Oh, I know! We should totally carpool or something! Save the Earth, right?” Younghoon declares. “I have a car, actually,” he adds, scratching the back of his neck.
Hyunjae swallows. He isn’t sure if he can handle spending even more time with Younghoon. However, he also doesn’t know if he can ever say no to Younghoon when he looks so hopeful like that, eyes bright with even a slight pout (Hyunjae is going to lose his goddamn mind). He nods, and Younghoon brightens even more, bringing Hyunjae to his car.
Younghoon must be really passionate about saving the planet, huh.
The car ride back is filled with them conversing even more. Hyunjae tries (and fails miserably) to ignore how disappointed he is when he realises that they are almost at his place. When Younghoon pulls to a stop in front of his apartment building, Hyunjae internally sighs.
“So, about carpooling,” Younghoon starts. “I can come fetch you every morning? Is seven okay for you?”
Hyunjae finds himself nodding even before he realises what the question is. Younghoon beams at him, and Hyunjae supposes that he should probably actually head home.
“Good night, Younghoon. Thank you for the food, the company, and even sending me back home. It was really fun,” Hyunjae says, unable to stop a small blush from creeping up his cheeks. He is thankful that the lighting in the car is really shitty, so Younghoon probably can’t see it.
“It’s no problem at all, Hyunjae. Good night, I hope you have a good rest after working so hard today, and I’ll see you on Monday?”
Hyunjae nods, and says good night one more time before he exits the car. When he reaches the lift lobby, he turns and realises that Younghoon is still where he left him. He also realises that Younghoon is waving at him when he squints, so he waves back, unable to stop the big smile on his face. They keep waving until the lift finally arrives, and the smile stays on Hyunjae’s face for the rest of the night.
★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★
“Good morning, Younghoon! Did you have breakfast? I bought some bread in case you didn’t.” Hyunjae slides into Younghoon’s car, careful with the paper bag of pastries.
He hears a gasp from Younghoon, so he whips his head around in alarm, thinking that he accidentally dirtied his car or something equally horrifying. However, all he sees are Younghoon’s puppy eyes, which also don’t really help with his racing heart.
“I actually woke up a little later than usual today so I didn’t manage to eat! I was mentally prepared to starve the entire morning until you came swooping down like an absolute angel offering me bread? You’ve made my day, Hyunjae,” Younghoon explains earnestly, looking into the paper bag in clear interest.
Hyunjae laughs.
“I’m glad. Feel free to take them all! Should I just get you breakfast every morning? Since you’re driving me to work?”
Younghoon looks at him with puppy eyes again, like he’s on the verge of tears, so Hyunjae takes that as a yes. “Do you drink coffee? Or tea? I can get a cup for you too.”
“Stop, Hyunjae, you’re actually gonna make me cry. I’ll drink and eat anything you give me, to be honest.”
Hyunjae jots that down in his memory as Younghoon finally starts driving.
★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★
Their carpooling arrangement works out nicely. Hyunjae tries to bring different breakfast foods for Younghoon every morning, and seeing the look of pure joy on his face every time Hyunjae boards his car holding breakfast has sort of become an essential part of his morning.
One morning, however, Hyunjae wakes up to a series of texts.
Younghoon
good morning hyunjae
sorry but i don’t think i can fetch you to school today :(
my head kinda hurts a little too much
i won’t be going to school, i’ve informed sangyeon
be careful on your way to school, yeah?
i’ll see you soon
Hyunjae frowns, looking at the bag of pastries he bought yesterday for Younghoon.
Me
oh no :(((
don’t worry about me! you’re literally sick
get well soon!!! drink tons of water and rest even more!!!
i hope you feel better soon :(
Hyunjae ends up bringing the pastries to school anyway and sharing them with the other teachers. As he walks past Younghoon’s empty desk on the way to his own desk, he pouts a little.
He hears Sangyeon asking around for teachers who can take over Younghoon’s classes, and he quickly volunteers. There aren’t that many classes anyway, and he’s free. Beaming, Sangyeon pats him on the back before passing him a list of instructions left by Younghoon.
#1 Class 2-1 has a test today. The test papers are in my drawer, and you should be able to find the solutions beneath the papers too, if you need it should they ask questions
#2 I was supposed to return and go through the assigned homework with Class 3-5 today. You can just return them the homework and let them self-study.
#3 I don’t know who is taking over my classes, but thank you so much for your help! :)
Hyunjae smiles to himself as he watches the students of 2-1. It’s the first time that he’s not the one taking the test, much less assigning it. Although it’s basically an hour of just watching and not much else, Hyunjae remains alert and quick to answer any questions when a hand is raised. He’s helping Younghoon, after all. He doesn’t want to do anything less than his very best.
After he deposits the test papers back onto his desk, he spots the solution sheet and decides to mark the papers as well. It would be good if he could lessen Younghoon’s load so that he doesn’t have to come back to an overwhelming workload, anyway, and the papers are easy to grade. He manages to get through a few papers before heading to Class 3-5 for the last lesson of the day.
Hyunjae decided as soon as he read Younghoon’s instructions that he won’t just let 3-5 have a self-study lesson. That just means that Younghoon might have to rush through the teaching because of a missed lesson, and that is neither good for him nor for the students’ learning. He can sense the disappointment of the class when they realise that they are not getting a “free” period, but they also quickly sober up as Hyunjae starts going through the questions. It’s an important year for them, after all. When the lesson ends, some students even come up to Hyunjae to ask more questions, which makes him smile.
After Hyunjae is done grading all the papers, the sky is dark and he is once again the last teacher left in the office. He quickly packs up before heading out, walking to a bakery near the school to pick up some bread.
He hopes he can get to pass them to Younghoon tomorrow.
Younghoon
see you at 7 :)))
Hyunjae didn’t mention that he was the teacher who helped take over his class the previous day, but someone else must have told him, because Younghoon surprises him with fried chicken for lunch.
“Thank you so much for your help, Hyunjae-ah. I was kind of worried that I’d have to rush through explanations and stuff with the students but you went through the homework with them and even graded the tests yesterday? You’re truly an angel, Hyunjae-ah.”
Hyunjae blushes. “It’s nothing, really.”
“Well it may not mean much to you, but it means a lot to me, so thank you.”
The smile Younghoon sends Hyunjae can rival the sun in terms of its brilliance.
Hyunjae shifts his things on the table around, too flustered to say anything. He invites Younghoon to sit and eat together, to which the latter happily agrees.
In the middle of them sharing food and stories, Hyunjae laughs so hard that he manages to kick off the bottom most metal panel separating his and Younghoon’s desks. The resounding clang makes both Hyunjae and Younghoon freeze and someone in the office screams before a few heads pop up over the divider.
“What happened?” Chanhee asks, sounding more curious than annoyed, to Hyunjae’s relief.
“I accidentally broke off the bottom most panel,” Younghoon gestures to the now empty space in front of their feet, and Hyunjae whips his head around to stare at him incredulously. “Sorry about the scare.”
Some teachers who gathered around the area let out a good-natured chuckle and the rest were smiling amusedly. They disperse quickly to go back to their desks while Hyunjae remains staring at Younghoon.
“Why did you say that you did it? It was me!” Hyunjae hissed. Younghoon just smiles.
“Take it as another thank you for helping me out so much yesterday, then.”
“That doesn’t even make sense! Helping you grade papers and stuff doesn’t equal to you helping me cover up a crime! Oh my god, doesn’t this count as property damage?”
“It’s fine!” Younghoon chuckles at Hyunjae’s frenzied state. “It’s not like that’s gonna affect anything much. I’ll just let Sangyeon know. He probably won’t care.”
“I can’t- you can’t just cover up for me!”
“Watch me.”
Sangyeon appears at that moment, seemingly wanting to talk to Younghoon. Before Hyunjae can open his mouth, a strong hand is clamped over it, and he can’t even turn to glare at Younghoon. Sangyeon doesn't seem to be bothered by their actions, and Hyunjae doesn't know how he feels about that.
“Oh hey, hyung. I accidentally kicked off the bottom most panel of the desk,” Younghoon’s hands are busy covering Hyunjae’s mouth, so he gestures with his leg. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, whatever, at least there’s going to be one less loud bang every time you guys kick it accidentally, I guess. By the way, are you feeling better?”
Hyunjae feels his jaw drop. Younghoon releases his hands when Hyunjae stops struggling before replying that yes, he’s feeling great, thank you.
Sangyeon smiles warmly and pats both of them on their backs before leaving. Not for the first time, Hyunjae wonders how he got this lucky for his first teaching job.
“Told you.”
Hyunjae just waves at Younghoon’s face.
When Younghoon goes back to his desk after they are done eating, Hyunjae feels a little sad. He always enjoys spending time with Younghoon, but he feels silly because they’re literally only a divider apart, suck it up, Hyunjae.
He’s typing away on his laptop when he feels something tap his feet. Confused, he looks down, only to see Younghoon’s shoes tapping at his. He taps back hesitantly, which seems to excite Younghoon because the tapping just becomes even faster. Hyunjae decides to sandwich Younghoon’s feet with his own to reduce the tapping and to his relief, Younghoon’s feet do stop moving.
Younghoon’s feet do move a while later, but it is so that his and Hyunjae’s feet are alternating, which makes it more comfortable for both of them.
They remain in this position for the rest of the afternoon.
★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★
Hyunjae stares at Juyeon, arms waving around frantically. The sun is in his eyes, his hair is in his eyes, and the sweat that he can feel gathering in his hairline will soon be in his eyes too if Hyunjae doesn’t do anything about it.
He doesn’t.
Right before the first bead of sweat can enter his eyes, Juyeon moves, and so does Hyunjae. With a quick swing of his arm, Hyunjae successfully swipes the ball from Juyeon. The sudden movement caused the sweat to drip down onto the ground, so Hyunjae gets to live without his eyes burning for a moment more.
He hears loud cheering from the side, with one voice standing out.
“Woohoo Hyunjae! Gooooooooooo Hyunjae!”
It is Younghoon.
Hyunjae knows this because 1) he’s gotten very familiar with all things Younghoon and 2) this is not the first time he is cheering for Hyunjae in this game. The first time he heard Younghoon cheering for him, he turned around and caught Younghoon’s eyes, only for the ball in his hands to be snatched away by a cackling Eric.
“Keep your head in the game!” Eric taunts him.
Embarrassed that Younghoon has definitely seen that, Hyunjae steels himself to be more focused on the game.
(But Hyunjae thinks that Younghoon’s excited reaction when their eyes met was kind of worth the embarrassment.)
“Stop cheering for Hyunjae! We are the ones on your team!”
“Shut- Shhh Juyeon! Go Hyunjae!”
Hyunjae tries to hide a smile, but he doubts he succeeded.
The game ends with a score of 46-48, with Hyunjae’s team losing. Everyone seems to be in high-spirits, though, and players from both teams pat one another on the back for a good game played. Hyunjae wants to lie down on the ground, but he’s still a teacher and practically the whole school is watching. He can’t even sit down, because he will definitely leave butt sweat marks behind and that is generally not a good idea, even more when middle schoolers are thrown in the mix. He puts his hands on his knees and tries to catch his breath.
His towel, along with a bottle of water, is thrust into his line of vision. When he looks up, he sees Younghoon smiling at him.
“You did great, Hyunjae-ah.”
Hyunjae is thankful that his face is already flushed from the game, so there is no way that Younghoon can see how much he is internally blushing. “Th-thank you. Your cheer-cheering gave me a lot of s-strength,” Hyunjae wheezes. Way to be attractive.
He buries his face into his towel, not wanting to know what Younghoon’s reaction to that is.
“Yeah, thanks for cheering for the opposing team by the way, you whi- traitor.” Juyeon’s voice can be heard. Confident that the attention is no longer on him, Hyunjae looks up from his towel.
Younghoon’s face seems kind of red. Oh no, is the sun getting to him?
“Let’s go somewhere sheltered instead of talking in the sun, you guys.”
“Oh you two can go ahead. I just came over to call this guy-” Juyeon jabs Younghoon in the chest, to which Younghoon winces slightly. “-an unloyal member of our team.”
Hyunjae laughs. Juyeon waves bye to them, and the two of them walk to the tent where the other teachers are.
“You have a race later, right?” Younghoon asks.
Hyunjae nods. He wasn’t expecting to exert that much energy for the basketball game, but all the other teachers were surprisingly competitive.
Younghoon passes him a banana and another bottle of water. “To replenish your energy.”
Hyunjae takes it gratefully, slowly munching on the banana as they sit down to watch the students’ games. He and Younghoon cheer loudly whenever their students win a point, and Hyunjae feels like he understands how Younghoon felt just now when the students turn around and beam at them.
Time passes quickly, and suddenly only the final event is left - the teachers’ 4 x 100m relay race. Hyunjae was picked as the final runner for his team, much to his dismay, but Changmin just pats him on the back. The whole team does a quick “fighting!” before they disperse to their respective locations.
Hyunjae, along with the other first runners and last runners, moves to the starting point on the track. He and Changmin do a bro-hug thing before Changmin moves to his spot on the track.
The countdown starts, and Hyunjae holds his breath. The air horn goes off, and the race begins.
Changmin manages to place third in his lap, and successfully passes the baton off to Jacob, who closes up the gap and ends up first in his lap. When he passes the baton over to Sunwoo, Hyunjae holds his breath again. Sunwoo reaches him in no time at all, but Eric reaches Juyeon first in the lane right beside him. Hyunjae grabs the baton and starts running.
His mind must have blacked out when he ran, because suddenly there were people screaming in his ear. He sees Changmin, Jacob and Sunwoo in front of him, all of them screaming and pulling him into a messy group hug.
“And the first place goes to… Team 4! Which consists of Changmin-ssaem, Jacob-ssaem, Sunwoo-ssaem and Hyunjae-ssaem. Congratulations!”
Hyunjae (freshly showered, because he is sure he stinks after the whole event) sits in Younghoon’s car as Younghoon drives him back home.
“And Juyeon’s team was first before the last lap, but you took over! I have never seen anyone run that fast! Oh my god, Hyunjae, you were amazing!” Younghoon keeps turning to look at Hyunjae as he is driving, clearly too excited. Hyunjae just covers his face with his hands, whining.
“Stop!”
“No but seriously, you were just so fast! How are you this per- this good? At everything?”
Hyunjae just whines even more, embarrassed, which makes Younghoon laugh.
“Your ears are blazing red!”
★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★*ﾟ*☆*ﾟ*★
Hyunjae sits stiffly, his back ramrod straight. He hears the students all having fun at the back of the bus, volume at the edge of being too loud, but he doesn’t have the heart to tell them to quiet down. Everyone is excited, anyway. No need to spoil the fun if the driver isn’t complaining.
At least that’s what he tells himself anyway, as he looks to the weight on his right shoulder. Even just turning his head slightly makes Younghoon’s shampoo scent (which smells pretty fucking great) flood all his senses. Hyunjae freezes when Younghoon shifts in his sleep. He watches as Younghoon’s arms move around, as if searching for something.
That something turns out to be Hyunjae’s arm, because Younghoon wraps his arms around Hyunjae’s right arm, hugging it to his chest. Hyunjae almost has a stroke when the movements bring his hand way too close to Younghoon’s nether regions, but he averts the crisis by grabbing onto Younghoon’s left knee instead.
They remain in this position until they reach their destination, and Hyunjae frantically tries to wake Younghoon up before any of their students notice. Younghoon blinks awake (cute!!!), smiles, and pets Hyunjae’s biceps lightly before letting go. Younghoon thanks the bus driver before quickly alighting the bus, and Hyunjae slowly rotates his shoulder as he watches and makes sure that all the students got off the bus.
They enter the main hall, where all the other students and teachers are gathered. A group of guides quickly addresses the students, and at Sangyeon’s signal, the teachers quietly shuffle out of the hall.
“Alright, good job making it here! Before I hand you guys the keys to your rooms, I just have one piece of bad news to announce.”
Hyunjae feels his back turn cold. That is not a good sign.
“Unfortunately, there aren't enough rooms for everyone to have a single room.” Sangyeon waits for ten seconds before the sounds of complaint quiet down. “Yes, I’m really sorry about that. There must have been a mix up in the system. To make up for that, though, the owner has kindly offered some gift vouchers for us. I’ll give them out to teachers who end up sharing a room. There’s twenty of us, and seventeen rooms, so three teachers will have to share with three others. Anyone wants to volunteer to have a roommate?”
The teachers look around at one another. No one seems to want to be the first to offer to share their space.
Hyunjae doesn’t really mind sharing a room. He lives alone, anyway, and it would be nice to share his space with someone for a change. Besides, this trip is only for five days.
He raises his hand. Sangyeon smiles at him.
“Thank you, Hyunjae. Any others?”
Hyunjae sees another hand shoot up from the corner of his eye.
“I can share with Hyunjae.” Hyunjae hears, turning his head to look towards the source of the voice even though he already knows. Younghoon.
Strangely enough, when Hyunjae looks at Younghoon, his face looks kind of flushed. He’s also definitely avoiding Hyunjae’s eyes. Juyeon is elbowing Younghoon, looking smug, and Hyunjae’s head hurts from all the confusion.
Changmin and Chanhee also volunteer to share a room, and when no one else volunteered, the remaining teachers went for a very intense round of rock, paper, scissors. Screams of happiness and despair can be heard everywhere.
As everyone begins bringing their belongings to their rooms, Sangyeon addresses a small group of them.
“Hyunjae, Younghoon, Changmin, Chanhee, Sunwoo, Eric. I’m sorry again for the trouble, but thank you guys for sharing your rooms. Here are some vouchers for a nice café in town, I hope you make good use of it.”
After receiving the vouchers, Hyunjae and Younghoon head to their room in silence, Younghoon walking slightly faster in front of Hyunjae. They find the room quickly, and Hyunjae watches as Younghoon unlocks the door.
The room is nice. They have a nice view of the mountain that they’re gonna climb the next day, and the furniture is mostly made of wood, giving the room a warm and cosy feel. It also looks pretty spacious, and Hyunjae and Younghoon seem to find out why at the same time.
“There’s only one bed?!”
Younghoon chuckles nervously.
“You don’t suppose this small lodging will have a spare bed tucked away somewhere, do you?”
Hyunjae sighs.
“Definitely not. It’s fine, you can take the bed, and I can sleep on the couch.”
Hyunjae moves towards the couch, fully intending to test how comfortable it is, but Younghoon speaks up.
“No! You can take the bed, and I’ll take the couch. I feel bad for inviting myself to share a room with you, anyway. Sorry about that, by the way. You could have shared with anyone else.” Younghoon still doesn’t look at Hyunjae. Hyunjae frowns.
“Why are you apologising? To be fair, I’m glad I got to share with you. I’m the most comfortable with you, anyway.”
Younghoon finally sneaks a look at Hyunjae, and when he sees the smile on Hyunjae’s face, he mirrors it.
“Also,” Hyunjae adds, “I’m not going to let you sleep on the couch while I take the bed. However, I can also tell that we’ll be here all day arguing about this, so why not just share the bed?”
Younghoon’s jaw drops, and Hyunjae hurries to explain.
“Only if you’re comfortable with it, though! Totally cool if you’re not. Actually, you can just decide our sleeping arrangements. I’ll accept whatever your choice is.”
Younghoon seems to be in deep thought for a few seconds, gnawing on his bottom lip. Hyunjae doesn’t even realise that he’s staring at Younghoon’s bottom lip until Younghoon finally makes a choice.
“Let’s… let’s share the bed, then. No need for either of us to be uncomfortable on the couch when the bed is big enough for both of us, right? Haha.”
Younghoon’s face looks unnaturally red again, but Hyunjae is just glad that he didn’t find it weird that Hyunjae suggested sharing the bed. He nods, giving Younghoon a small smile, before the two of them start unpacking their belongings.
The rest of the day passes rather uneventfully. The students spent the rest of the day on a treasure hunt to look for things around the lodging, and Hyunjae had to stand guard along the entrance of the lodging to ensure that no students wander out. No one even went anywhere near the borders, so Hyunjae was bored. Dinner, although good, was mostly spent stopping the students from starting food fights. By nighttime, Hyunjae was exhausted.
Hyunjae trudges his way back to his room, eyes half closed. He opens the door to see Younghoon sitting at the edge of the bed, once again gnawing on his bottom lips.
Right. They are going to share a bed. Warning lights and sirens start going off in Hyunjae’s head now that he has fully comprehended the situation.
“Hey, Hyunjae. I was just wondering… I don’t know if you have a side that you prefer, so I was waiting for you to come back first.”
Hyunjae forces out a short laugh.
“I don’t have a preference! Anywhere is fine, really. You can take whichever side you want. I’ll go wash up. Good night, Younghoon.”
Younghoon nods and replies with a soft good night to you too, Hyunjae before he makes himself comfortable on the right side of the bed. Hyunjae forces himself to look away from how Younghoon looks, with the covers pulled all the way up to below his nose. The word adorable bounces around in his mind.
Hyunjae quickly washes up, and when he steps out of the bathroom, he sees that Younghoon’s eyes are closed. He must be asleep, then. Hyunjae moves around the room as quietly as he can before he slowly slides into the bed, under the covers. He can feel Younghoon’s body heat under the covers, and he stops his naturally cold body from instantly seeking him out.
He finally lies down. Even though he fully expects to stay wide awake because Younghoon is sleeping beside him, he passes out almost immediately after his head hits the pillow.
Hyunjae wakes up warm. He registers a weight on his torso and something warm pressing against his side, and when he opens his eyes a sliver to check, he almost chokes.
The two of them must have moved towards one another in their sleep, because Younghoon has his right arm thrown across Hyunjae’s torso and his head on Hyunjae’s right arm (Hyunjae belatedly realises that he has lost all feeling in his right arm).
Just as Hyunjae considers what he should do, Younghoon shifts. Panicked, Hyunjae decides that shutting his eyes and pretending that he’s still asleep would be the best option. He feels Younghoon take a deep breath before he slowly gets up, right arm sliding along his torso. Hyunjae suppresses a shiver, immediately much colder now that Younghoon has left. He waits for Younghoon to enter the bathroom before he opens his eyes, out of breath for some reason.
Hyunjae continues lying down on the bed, trying to calm both his breathing and his heartbeat. Before he’s done, Younghoon comes out of the bathroom. When he sees that Hyunjae is awake, he whispers a quiet “good morning” with a small smile, and all of Hyunjae’s previous efforts to calm down goes straight down the drain.
He watches for a bit as Younghoon goes about his skincare routine, before realising that it’s probably very inappropriate to stare at someone doing their skincare (no matter how pretty they are).
Today, they’re going hiking. Hyunjae and Younghoon prepare their day bag together, calling out things that they should be bringing.
“Sunscreen! Did you put on sunscreen?” Younghoon exclaims. Hyunjae shakes his head. Younghoon lets out an affronted gasp before he pulls out his bottle of sunscreen.
“Your skin is so nice, yet you don’t use sunscreen? What a travesty!”
Younghoon squeezes out a blob of sunscreen onto his fingers, and before Hyunjae realises what is going on, swipes it along his nose and cheekbones.
Younghoon jerks his hand back, seemingly shocked when he realised what he had just done. Hyunjae notices his face slowly turning red. To ensure Younghoon that he is okay, he walks over to the dressing table mirror and starts earnestly spreading the sunscreen over his face.
“Is this good enough?” Hyunjae asks when he finally manages to rub away the white cast. Younghoon nods, looking unsure of himself, before he whispers, “sorry about that, I should have asked for permission before doing something like that.”
Hyunjae just smiles.
“Hey, it’s fine, I don’t mind. You had my nice skin’s best interest at heart, I understand.”
That gets a small smile out of Younghoon, so Hyunjae counts it as a success.
They gather in the main hall again, where the students are clearly buzzed about the hike while having breakfast. When Younghoon sees some of the teachers sitting down and chatting with their students, he pulls Hyunjae over to do the same with their students, too. Something about being outside of the school environment makes the students more relaxed, and in no time they are all laughing and having a great time even while chatting with the teachers.
They depart almost immediately after breakfast since the guide says that it’s a long trip. With the students walking in two rows, Hyunjae stations himself at the back of his class while Younghoon is in front. He ends up chatting with whoever ends up at the back of the line.
“Say, Hyunjae-ssaem. Do you like Younghoon-ssaem?” Dojin asks out of the blue, with a sly look on his face. Hyunjae almost sputters, but manages to collect himself.
“Of course! Younghoon-ssaem is very nice. Who wouldn’t like him?”
Dojin whines.
“You know what I mean! Do you like like him?”
Hyunjae panics, unsure of how to reply, but at that moment he hears a chorus of “it’s break time!”
Hyunjae escapes from Dojin when other students approach the latter to sit together. He wanders around the class, smiling at the students sharing and enjoying their food and drinks. He ends up walking towards Younghoon, who is trying to take a photo of a group of students who already have their hands up, “v” pose ready.
“1, 2-“
“Look out!”
Younghoon must have backed up too much and missed his footing. Hyunjae dashes forward and grabs both of Younghoon’s flailing arms, pulling him to safety. Younghoon turns back around, face turning slightly pale as he stares at where the side of the pavement ends in a steep drop down. He then looks at Hyunjae, wheezing out a thank you for saving my life. Hyunjae waves it off, looking Younghoon up and down to check if he’s injured anywhere, before Younghoon moves his left leg and sucks in a breath.
“What’s wrong?”
“I-I think I might have twisted something.”
“Will you let me take a look?” Hyunjae crouches down, hands hovering near Younghoon’s ankle. Younghoon nods, and Hyunjae carefully rolls up his pant leg.
Younghoon’s ankle looks slightly swollen, but not bruised.
“Yeah, you probably twisted your ankle. Let’s get you seated.”
Hyunjae brings Younghoon’s left arm over his shoulders and his right arm around Younghoon’s waist, trying to hold up as much of his body weight as possible in that position as they move to a nearby pavilion, with Younghoon hopping. By then, several teachers must have realised what happened, and a few of them come to check on Younghoon.
“Are you okay? Did you sprain your ankle?” Juyeon asks. Younghoon shakes his head.
“I think he just twisted it, fortunately. His ankle isn’t bruised,” Hyunjae answers. Juyeon nods.
“Oh dear, Younghoon. You should go back and rest. Hyunjae, you should accompany him. We’ll take care of your students, don’t worry.” Sangyeon says, frowning slightly. He pets Younghoon on his shoulder, offering him a bottle of water.
Hyunjae nods. Younghoon definitely isn’t in the condition to continue the hike. The teachers who have gathered around them disperse shortly after break time is over and they resume the hike, and some of their students run over to say goodbye to them after realising that they won’t be joining them, looking sad. Younghoon just chuckles, ruffling their hair.
“Go enjoy yourselves! Take more photos for me, yeah? But be careful! Don’t fall like me!”
Their students nod eagerly, which also brings a smile to Hyunjae’s face. They leave when Eric, who is now in charge of their class, announces loudly that they’re going to be left behind if they don’t rejoin the class. He smiles when the students start scrambling back to join the queue, before waving at Hyunjae and Younghoon, who wave back.
It takes a while for the place to completely clear out of both students and teachers, leaving only Hyunjae and Younghoon at the pavilion. By then, Younghoon had laid down on the bench and propped his injured leg on the pillar of the pavilion. Hyunjae winces at how uncomfortable that must be, but what he wants to suggest is probably best done without the entire school there.
Hyunjae balances both his and Younghoon’s bags under Younghoon’s leg, and urges him to rest his leg on top of their bags instead. Then, as Younghoon watches, Hyunjae moves right beside Younghoon’s head, gently propping it up before resting it on his lap. Hyunjae thinks that his face must be flaming red.
“I hope this is more comfortable for you,” Hyunjae says, determined to not look in Younghoon’s direction.
He doesn’t get any reaction at all. Curiosity beyond peaked, Hyunjae steals a glance downwards, and sees Younghoon watching him with an unreadable expression. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable, so Hyunjae tilts his head in confusion.
Younghoon suddenly groans, looking frustrated. To say that Hyunjae is worried would be an understatement. He freezes, anxious about what Younghoon has to say.
“How do you still manage to look good? I’m literally looking at you from bottom up. This is probably the worst angle ever, but you still look as great as ever.”
Hyunjae’s eyes widen, and he feels a blush creeping up again. His mouth opens and closes a few times but he doesn’t manage to reply because how do you reply to that?
For some reason, Younghoon giggles.
“You’re really cute when you laugh like that,” Hyunjae blurts out. He’s just returning the favour since Younghoon complimented him, right?
Regardless of the reason, Hyunjae watches, mesmerised, as Younghoon’s face grows redder. He doesn’t look away, though, so the two of them watch each other, faces scarlet.
“I really like you, Hyunjae-ah.” Younghoon breaks the tense silence.
Hyunjae’s brain malfunctions. “Erm, I really like you too?”
“I like you so much that I want to take you out on a date, Hyunjae-ah. And hopefully many more after the first one.”
Hyunjae stares at Younghoon, who stares back resolutely. A million thoughts race through Hyunjae’s mind, the loudest of them all just five red, blinking characters.
WHAT?
He must have taken too long to reply, because Younghoon starts squirming in his lap. He looks away when he says “I’m sorry, I must have read the situation wrongly. You can forget I said any of tha-”
“I want to go on a date with you too. Oh my god, please.” Hyunjae blurts out once again.
Younghoon’s expression changes from obvious disappointment and embarrassment to shock before a wide smile starts growing on his face. Hyunjae feels like he’s watching the most beautiful sunrise he has ever had the pleasure of seeing.
“Yeah? You mean it?”
“Are you kidding me? Yes, of course!” Hyunjae should probably be a little less enthusiastic, but he thinks that Younghoon appreciates it.
“Okay, that’s great. Okay. Amazing.” Younghoon looks away again, this time with a smile that he’s obviously trying to hide. Hyunjae is hit by a wave of affection for the man on his lap, so he quickly bends down to give Younghoon a peck on his temple.
He’s delighted as he watches Younghoon’s ears slowly turn red.
“Okay, we should probably get going back to our room now.”
Hyunjae gently lifts a pouting Younghoon’s head up as he stands up, grabbing both their bags. He helps Younghoon put on his bag, wearing his own in front of his torso instead of on his back, before he stands in front of Younghoon, back facing him and bending his knees.
He hears Younghoon make a confused sound.
“Do you think I’m going to let you walk all the way back? Hop on my back, my damsel in distress.”
Younghoon protests, but Hyunjae just grabs his arms and wraps them around his shoulders before he stands and grabs the back of Younghoon’s thighs as well. The sounds of protests immediately die down.
Hyunjae begins the journey back to their lodgings, careful to watch the ground as he walks. Within the first ten steps, Younghoon melts against Hyunjae’s back. His arms tighten slightly and his head rests gently against Hyunjae’s.
“Have I mentioned that you’re really hot when you do things like play basketball and effortlessly carry me? Because you are. Really really hot.”
Younghoon giggles right beside Hyunjae’s ear, which must have turned bright red, before he presses a gentle kiss onto the shell of his ear.
That makes Hyunjae almost drop Younghoon, which makes his giggles turn into full-blown laughter right into Hyunjae’s ear.
Somehow, even though his ear is ringing, Hyunjae doesn’t mind at all.