Chapter Text
Min Eunwoo has been a teacher for long enough that she thinks she's seen everything. Children and teenagers are fascinating that way—with all their quirks, their rich personalities, their attitudes going betwixt and beyond the spectrum of "well-behaved" to "Satan's spawn".
The guardians are no less interesting, what with them often being the reason for the children being who they are.
She's met rich parents who spoil their children rotten. Guardians who see their own children as mere instruments for their own causes. Struggling parents who either have troublemaking teenagers, or children who know at far too young an age what it's like to work hard to make ends meet.
She's seen a lot. She's seen so much that she thinks she's seen everything.
And then, she meets Kim Dokja.
A small child, thin and pale; she'd think he's an elementary schooler if not for his school uniform, and the fact that he's been enrolled to be under her care as a middle school teacher. Big, starry eyes, a small mouth, small nose, dark hair that falls a bit near his eyes—
Those things in themselves aren't really new, or special. It's not surprising for her to have students who look a little young for their age, with the reasons varying between being a natural late-bloomer, or...other, darker reasons. Even his looks can be regarded as typical for a young Korean boy.
It's his entourage that's shocking.
The first of them—the person who'd enrolled him into the school and talked directly to the principal on the same day for reasons unknown—is a blonde woman of non-Korean descent. There's no mistaking it given the very shape of her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her face. She smiles and it's polite, but it easily turns gentle and sincere when faced with her young charge.
Her name is Uriel ("No last name!" she'd cheerily said), and she looks like an angel. Not even just in the metaphorical sense, either; her looks, her sheer aura, looks like it belongs on the painted glass windows of elegant churches.
The second is a burly man, taller than a good amount of their school staff, who's an odd mix of intimidating and endearing. His dark hair is cut short up to his ears, his physique is muscled enough, his stance straight enough, that you'd think he's a bodyguard or a military man upon the first meeting.
Yet when he smiles, it feels exactly like that fluttery feeling you get when a golden retriever runs up to you.
"I'm Lee Hyunsung," he'd said upon the first introduction, the smile on his face making him look gentler, more approachable than his initial serious impression.
The third is a young man who, for lack of a better term...is a certified chuunibyou. She doesn't know how else to put it, with his white-dyed hair, rough and obnoxious attitude, and constantly-bandaged arm (which doesn't even seem all that injured, with the way he easily swings it around).
His name is Namwoon, from what she'd overheard the last time he picked Kim Dokja up. She would've been worried that Dokja was being bullied given the young man's delinquent looks, if not for the joyous laughter she'd heard from the child as he was carried up into Namwoon's arms. Even the way he easily cuddled up into that same young man's embrace was telling of his own comfort.
The fourth is a young lady with long black hair consistently up in a ponytail, her appearance akin to a sleek sports car with the confident way she carries herself. She often sports a bamboo sword on her back whenever she comes to pick Dokja up; it makes Eunwoo wonder if she's a kendo enthusiast or if she's as strange a character as Namwoon is. (She hopes not.)
"Jihye-noona," Dokja had said one time, the moment that same young lady picked him up. Jihye had smiled brightly at being called, hand immediately reaching out to pat Dokja on the head with all the fondness of a charmed older sister.
(Eunwoo understands. Dokja has a certain charm to him that makes you feel like you're special, a little above the rest of the world, when he calls your name or smiles at you.)
And then, the last and final member of Kim Dokja's strange entourage...
He's a handsome man. So handsome and fit, in fact, that Eunwoo's shocked to know that he's not a model, or actor, or any kind of celebrity. With a face and body like that, surely, he's been scouted before? Even if he's somewhat distant, with an expression that often shows he can't be bothered with the world, that's not really enough to detract from the sheer force of his attractiveness. He can even sport an all-black outfit—from his top to his boots—and still look cool instead of depressing.
The scar on his face is no hindrance to his handsomeness either, for all that it makes approaching him feel daunting.
And, more importantly…
When he smiles at Kim Dokja, stern face softening into something warm and fond, it feels like the child is his entire world. Like his domineering aura had always been a lie, and this is his true face meant for one viewer alone.
Kim Dokja has such guardians, and Min Eunwoo?
She’s the teacher who bears witness to how much this one boy is loved by people who can be so different, yet so similar in their affection.
Eunwoo is no stranger to shy kids, and Dokja is a prime example of one. Timid, soft-spoken, head down and facing the ground—she’d be more concerned that he’s being bullied, if not for the fact that it’s only the first day of him being in school and she’s watched over him long enough (as personally requested by Uriel, who’d been overly concerned on Dokja’s welfare) to know that that’s not the case.
The kids are happy to pull him into their group when she mentions playing a self-introduction game to break the ice. Dokja is easily flustered by this, cheeks a-flush with surprise—
But he’s smiling at the end of it. Shy, soft and warm, and ever so pleased to know that some of his peers read the same web novels as him.
Then she asks about recent best-selling books to try and engage him some more.
In contrast to her expected excitement, he flinches, tensing up for no reason she can understand. The other children are happy enough to mention book titles proudly that they don’t notice the dark, haunted look on Dokja’s face, until he eventually relaxes when someone brings up an interest in films instead.
Like that, he quietly watches the rest of his class. He’ll speak up when talked to, but won’t say a word otherwise. He smiles when someone smiles first, reacts hesitantly but politely when someone tries to chat with him, and he doesn’t take the initiative to speak unless urged to.
He feels like glass, the longer she looks at him. Like he can hold as much warmth as he’s shown, but can just as easily break with a single wrong word.
She wonders if she has the capacity to handle something like this, even with all the years of teaching under her belt. She takes pride in being a good homeroom teacher, the kind that children come back to visit once they’re all grown up, but she can’t say she’s perfect. She’s not so wise that she immediately knows what to do when thrown a curveball like this one.
Such thoughts stick with her throughout the day, and even when the school day ends. The children are polite when they bid their goodbyes, and Dokja is no different.
Should she ask? It’s only his first day, so he might just get overwhelmed...
But isn’t the first day exactly the thing that sets the tone for how his next days in class will be like?
She knocks on a nearby desk. “Kim Dokja?”
Dokja looks up in the middle of packing up his things. He’s been left behind by the rest of his class, but that seems to be deliberate based on how he waved everyone off when some of them asked to accompany him home.
He bows his head again politely. “Seonsaengnim?”
She smiles warmly. With the way he ducks his head down again in response, she wonders if he’s not used to having so much attention on him. “How was your first day of class?”
“It was okay,” he murmurs, fingers fiddling with the zipper of his bag. “Everyone was…nice.”
“Did you make any friends?”
“...I’m not sure yet.”
She doesn’t let her smile waver at his blunt answer. “It’s still the first day, after all. Are you going to walk home?”
“Ah, no…” He scratches at his cheek, implicating himself on his own nervousness. “I was told by Joonghyuk-hyung that he’d pick me up.”
“You have a caring older brother,” she says, observing his face for any tells.
He smiles at her.
It’s a near-overwhelming bright expression on such a shy face, she finds herself blinking in surprise—but only for a second, thankfully.
“He’s really nice, and cool,” Dokja says. His small, pale hands clutch onto his bag, and something tells her that it’s more out of excitement than nervousness this time. “Really tall, too! He’s an amazing cook, and he’s handsome like a sculpture—he’s the best hyung.”
Oh, wow. So the way into this child’s heart is his hyung? How cute.
“Would it be okay for me to meet your hyung when he picks you up?”
He opens his mouth, seeming eager to say something, until he hesitates and closes his mouth again. There’s something observant to his gaze now, like he’s trying to gauge something about her—it would be considered rude by any other adult, but she understands that some kids just process information differently.
He ends up saying, “Um, okay.”
“Are you perhaps worried about me meeting your brother?”
He bites his lip at her teasing. “It’s not that, but…he’s really, really handsome.”
She struggles not to laugh. What, is he worried that I might steal his brother from him? “I see. If you’re worried about me, you don’t have to be. I don’t fall in love that easily.”
“Then it might be okay..?”
“Why? Will your brother break my heart?” she teases.
He pulls a sad face at her words, and she clears her throat to stifle another laugh. “Hyung doesn’t mean to,” he explains. “It’s not his fault that a lot of girls like his face. Even when he’s more than just his face…”
“Well, I can promise that I don’t fall in love that easily, at least. What time did he say he’ll pick you up?”
He jolts at her mention of “time”, and looks up at the wall clock.
“Ah, oh no,” he says in a rush right after, swinging his bag right onto his back. “Hyung said he’d pick me up as soon as class ends.”
“I’m sure it’s fine. Let’s walk and not run, okay?”
Though he bites his lip in clear disappointment at her words, he does as asked as he walks a step behind her. It makes her wonder just how much his brother really lives up to the image Dokja had set for him, considering how eager the child had been to run right outside with his slippers still on.
When she sees the man in all-black out on the courtyard, her first thought is, ‘ Did a gangster get lost on school premises?’ Immediately after, she remembers Dokja behind her and starts to consider if she should just bring him back inside, until—
“Hyung!”
Dokja’s already speeding past her before she can say anything, small body hopping right into the stranger’s waiting arms.
… this guy is his brother?
“Dokja-yah,” says the man. When she gets closer, just enough that she gets a good view of the soft smile on the man’s face, she starts to see what Dokja means.
He’s handsome.
So damn handsome, it’s unreal . Even words wouldn’t do justice for his sculpted face.
But she’s a professional, and so, she says, “You must be Joonghyuk-ssi? I’m Min Eunwoo, his homeroom teacher.” She bows her head as he does, and smiles. “Dokja told me a lot about you.”
He raises a brow in Dokja’s direction, who smiles sheepishly as he wraps his arms around Joonghyuk’s neck. He looks even smaller being held in such a large man’s arms, though Dokja seems to be perfectly happy where he is when he gives the man a good squeeze with his thin arms.
“What did you say, Dokja-yah?” Joonghyuk asks.
“The truth,” Dokja says plainly and confidently. “That you’re really cool, and handsome, and you’re a great cook.”
“Is that so.”
“Mm! Also,” Dokja tugs at the collar of Joonghyuk’s shirt, “you can put me down now.”
“Why?”
“Why..? Because I’m heavy?”
“You’re not. I should feed you more—”
“I can’t eat too much or I’ll get sick,” Dokja whines, letting Eunwoo know that this is an old argument. “Hyung! Just put me down, please. I’m not a baby.”
“I know you aren’t.”
“Then put me down!”
“Give me a valid reason.”
“This is embarrassing!”
Joonghyuk considers it for a moment, then nods. He sets Dokja down promptly, who smiles in satisfaction as he straightens his uniform out.
What a cute pair of brothers.
“Dokja seems to be an avid reader,” she says. The mere sound of Dokja’s name seems to catch Joonghyuk's attention quickly, giving her the impression that it’s not just Dokja who’s very attached to his brother. “He was eager to talk about web novels before the first period. Do you read with him as well?”
“I’m not as interested in those things,” Joonghyuk answers bluntly.
“Mm, that’s right,” Dokja agrees. He’s so much more happy to talk now that his brother is here, even when his brother doesn’t seem to share his interests. “Hyung doesn’t need to read those things when he’s interesting enough as is.”
“...Dokja-yah.”
“He loves you very much,” Eunwoo says. She smiles, not minding how Joonghyuk won’t even look at her in favor of gazing down at his brother. “It’s good to know that he has such a good hyung with him.”
Joonghyuk looks over at her, then back to Dokja.
His smile is warm enough that it could melt the entire North Pole, probably.
“That’s a given,” he says eventually, patting Dokja on the head. Dokja, in direct contrast to his awkwardness at his peers’ physical affection earlier, takes to the touch with ease and a wide smile.
Somehow, Eunwoo feels like an outsider just watching them. Even more so when Joonghyuk says as if it were the law, as if she should know such a plain fact as this:
“Since Dokja is mine to care for.”
She tries to find words in response to that, and promptly finds that to be unnecessary when Joonghyuk gives her another bow of his head—the final one this time, seeing how he tucks Dokja close into his side right before heading off.
“...handsome but a bit cold, huh,” Eunwoo muses, watching them go.
Well, there are worse things to be. At least he’s a good brother.