Chapter Text
Ryo has his hands on his hips and a frown on his forehead.
He's standing at the very front of the classroom. He keeps using the whiteboard pen he's holding like a pointer or tapping it thoughtfully against his cheek. The combination of those things should make him appear intimidating, or slightly stern at the very least.
Sion keeps having to lift up the worksheets he's marking to hide his laugh. Ryo isn't intimidating at all. He's five years old, dressed in a pair of yellow dungarees, and his eyes are almost comically large for his face. To reach the whiteboard, he's had to climb up and stand on a chair. He's forgotten to put the pen lid back on, so every time it taps his cheek, it leaves another dark smudge against his skin.
His partner-in-crime, Sakuya, isn't helping either.
He isn't even trying to look grown-up. The front of his dark hair is pulled into a short pigtail, tied with a bright pink hairband. He's sitting on a desk and swinging his feet into the air rhythmically, and every time he folds his arms, the baby pink sweater he's wearing makes him look like a marshmallow.
Sion hasn't actually marked more than three worksheets the entire time he's been here. It's a good thing that he wasn't planning on making any proper progress. The real reason he's here is plain and simple: chaos.
"You're going to need to hurry up," he tells Ryo and Sakuya, abandoning his own student's work for a final time. He glances towards the clock on the wall pointedly, even though neither of the kids can probably read it. "He's going to be here soon."
Ryo spins to glare at Sakuya. "You're not comin' up with ideas!"
"I'm brain storming," Sakuya replies cooly.
"You're not helping," Ryo complains. "We haven't got one idea yet. How are we supposed to make Mr. Maeda fall in love without a plan!"
On the board, written in messy cramped letters, reads: IDEAS FOR LOVE
Personally, Sion thinks that Ryo had meant to write something longer. Then he'd realised he'd have to get off his chair and shuffle it over if he wanted to reach further, so he'd had to change the slogan halfway through.
While he's lifting up another worksheet to hide the laugh that brings to his face, Sakuya turns around to stare at him. He pokes Sion in the shoulder. "How do you make two people fall in love?"
Just like that, Ryo's attention also focuses in on him. "Yeah, Mr. Oh, you're not helpin' either!"
Sion sniffs. "I'm not here to help, I'm just watching. I'm only here because you can't be in this classroom unsupervised."
Ryo pulls a face at him. "Then why aren't we in your classroom?"
Good point. They might have him there.
They're currently in Riku's classroom. The school day has yet to begin and the hallway is empty outside, giving the place an almost eerie atmosphere. The sky is still dark outside of the windows, and the playground devoid of children.
In all honesty, the only reason that Sion isn't helping is so that he can claim innocence when the plan eventually fails spectacularly. This way, he gets to witness (and encourage) as much mischief as he can plant into the two five-year-olds' heads. And once Riku comes to tell him off, he can put his hands up and say he didn't contribute a single thing.
And he gets to watch the whole thing go down! It'll be great. He's already laughing thinking about it.
"I like this classroom more," he says.
Sakuya wrinkles his nose. "Then ask to swap."
"But then I wouldn't have an excuse to come and bother Mr. Maeda!" Sion taps the side of his nose. Ryo mimics the action with his pen and comes away with another stain on his skin. "I'm thinking ahead. This is why I'm a teacher and you're just students."
"You're the worst adult in the world," Ryo tells him.
"I bet you just don't know anything about love," Sakuya adds. "I bet you've never been in love. My cousin thinks that you're single. He says that you never talk about dates, so I think you must have never been in love, even though you're old."
Well, it's nice to know that Yushi talks about him when he's not there. He'll be ignoring everything else Sakuya said though, thank you very much.
They're both still staring at him expectantly. Sion just raises his eyebrows. He's not above getting into a staring contest with two five-year-olds. That just means it'll be easier to win.
Ryo is the one that folds first. He turns back to the board. "What's the easiest way to make two people fall in love? What do they do in... movies?"
Sakuya kicks his feet. "Um. Chocolate? Love letters?"
"We don't have money for chocolate," Ryo informs him very seriously. Then his eyes widen. "Letters! We can write fake love letters! We can give them to Mr. Kim and say they're from Mr. Maeda!"
Sion's grateful that both kids are looking eagerly at the board, so that neither of them notice the way he has to disguise a laugh with a cough.
"I have paper," Sakuya says, "And glittery pens! That's perfect for a love note. And if we sign it from Mr. Maeda, and we use his name, then Mr. Kim will totally think they're real! I want to write this idea on the board, you've been hogging it until now."
Ryo frowns but the idea is good enough that he gives in. He leans forward when Sakuya jumps down from the table, finally jamming the lid back onto the whiteboard pen before he passes it over. Sakuya sticks his tongue out, ready to start writing.
Sion looks at the clock again. He knows what time Riku usually arrives. Without drawing attention to himself and interrupting the kids, he gathers his still-unmarked worksheets and moves to sit on the table himself. Ready for a quick getaway.
"Do you have stickers?" Ryo asks.
Sakuya rolls his eyes. "Of course I have stickers. I have cats and unicorns and there are some hearts on those ones. I have trucks and cars - oh, and some that are big cranes and stuff, but they don't have hearts on them. I have a KPOP Demon Hunters sticker set as well. It's new."
"What! I haven't seen that!"
"Yeah, cuz it's new! I'll show you at lunch time, my Mom made me put it in my bag so I'd keep them safe. But if you're really nice to me, maybe I'll give you one."
"I-"
The door swings open. At almost exactly forty minutes before school starts, Mr. Maeda has officially arrived to interrupt their scheming session. As Sion pulls his worksheets tighter to his chest, Riku stands there, taking in the scene in front of him.
Sion grins. "Scatter!"
---
It's Monday morning and Riku is still rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he arrives at school. He has to fumble in his bag for his lanyard, pretty much reaching blindly forwards to scan his ID card against the door to let him in.
School officially starts in forty minutes. If he concentrates, he's sure he can already hear the shrieks of young children in the distance. At least the weather seems forecast to be fairly clear for the rest of the day. It's a rare occasion for an early spring day to stay completely dry, but Riku hopes against hope that they don't get any sudden downpours.
The only thing worse than a Monday when you teach kindergarten? A rainy Monday.
The door clicks and Riku puts his lanyard back around his neck. He tugs it free when it gets caught on the hood of his jacket, and then steps inside to the reception.
"Good morning."
Yushi, the school's main receptionist, is sitting at the desk. He looks up at the sound of Riku's voice and raises a hand in greeting. He looks just as thrilled to be starting another week around as Riku feels, though it's sometimes hard to tell with Yushi. His emotions mostly seem to depend on how long it's been since he last ate.
"Good morning," Yushi repeats. "You look tired?"
Riku huffs. The school feels like a furnace. It's only been three seconds since he stepped through the main doors and he's already sweating. "I feel tired."
"Rough weekend?"
That gets him to pause, fighting his way out of his jacket whilst also trying not to choke on his lanyard and hold his bag up. "You could say that."
Not really. What actually happened was that he'd reached Saturday determined to finally re-download a dating app, only to get five swipes in and immediately remember why he'd deleted it last time. The rest of the weekend had been spent getting tipsy, eating chocolates, watching romance dramas and wallowing in his own loneliness.
Nothing that he hadn't done to himself. He's not hungover - he's not foolish enough to think he'd be able to deal with a class of twenty five-to-six year olds with a pounding headache and aching eyes. But he isn't well-rested either.
Riku finally manages to fold his jacket up into his arms. Yushi is still watching him, and when Riku takes a peek over his shoulders, he confirms that he's the only one in reception. "Did you not take Sakuya and Ryo this morning?"
Yushi's younger cousin, Sakuya attends the school. He's actually in Riku's class along with his best friend Ryo - and whilst the pair of them might be the cutest little darlings he's ever seen, they're also... mischievous, to say the least.
Yushi usually takes them to school with him on the days that he's working from the morning. He has to be there an hour before the school starts to start letting in staff and sorting out the inevitable computer system issues. Sakuya and Ryo sit behind him on the carpet and wait - usually until Riku arrives and lets them into the classroom early.
What can he say? They may be a little evil, but he has a soft spot for them. Even if he'd never say he has favourites out of the kids he teaches out loud.
Thinking it is completely different from saying it out loud.
Yushi glances behind him. Riku really hopes that it was an involuntary response to the question and he hadn't actually been expecting to see the kids there. "Oh, I did," he says. "I left them with Sion about ten minutes ago."
"Sion? He's here early?"
"Otherwise I sent them off with a stranger. Who also had Sion's lanyard, ID card and face."
"Ha ha. I'll see you during the first break, maybe."
Yushi nods. He spins around in his chair to wave again as Riku passes the glass door and enters the main building of the school. The classrooms for the youngest children are all on the ground floor. They open up onto the playground at the back, allowing outside lessons in the warmer months. Now, it just means Riku has a couple of minutes to walk before he reaches Kindergarten 2.
He uses the time to shuffle around some of the activities he'd planned in his head. If it's going to stay dry, the kids will hopefully burn off some energy during the snack breaks and lunch time. There are two worksheets he wants completed today. Would they be better after the snack, or are they going to be too hyped-up to concentrate?
He's so caught up in his thoughts that he almost walks straight past his door.
"Riku?"
The sound of a voice startles him before he can go too far, and have to make an awkward U-turn hoping nobody saw.
It's Daeyoung.
The other kindergarten teacher at the school. Riku hadn't realised there was anyone else in the corridor or he would have greeted them. He must have missed Daeyoung. There's no mistaking the way they're standing in front of each other now.
Daeyoung looks nice. He always does, but Riku can't help but notice it again. He's wearing glasses and a well-pressed shirt, even though it's bound to have colour staining the sleeves by the end of the day. His hair is fluffy. His trousers highlight just how long his legs are. And worst of all, he's grinning like seeing Riku has brightened his morning.
In contrast, Riku's pretty sure he's still flushed from overheating. His ID is facing the wrong way. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts that he'd almost walked past his own classroom, and his cheeks are pink.
"I thought you were already in," Daeyoung explains. "I was just going to stick my head in and say hello, but-" he gestures up and down.
Riku shakes his head. "I just got here. I haven't even had a chance to put my jacket down yet; one of those days. Why did you think I was here?"
It's a stupid question, because as soon as he turns around he can make a pretty good guess. The light in his classroom is on. If he tried the handle on the door, he suspects it would be unlocked. He can see two very familiar silhouettes standing by the whiteboard. At this angle, he can even see that one of them has brought over a chair to stand on, just to be able to reach it.
"Ah."
Daeyoung is peering over his shoulder. Riku is taken aback by the closeness for a second, but he hasn't made it this far by flinching back every time he was near a handsome man. Instead, he twists his head to look at Daeyoung properly. With their faces now only a couple of inches apart, Daeyoung realises how close he's standing instead, and pulls back with a cough.
"Sion," Riku says. It's explanation enough. Daeyoung's worked here for a year and a half now. He knows exactly what Sion is like.
Sion is one of the Grade 1 teachers, meaning he's just up the hallway from the kindergarten classes. In fact, if Riku squints, he can see the door to his actual classroom from here. The light is on inside, but that doesn't mean anything.
"At least he's supervising them," Riku says dryly.
"Them? Oh, Sakuya and Ryo again?"
"Who else?"
Daeyoung laughs, and Riku almost startles. It hadn't even been that funny, but when he looks up, Daeyoung is looking at him with a goofy grin. Riku grins back. He's ready to lean up against the wall and keep chatting, but the half-hour warning bell rings. "I need to get in and set up for the day. See what the damage is. I'll see you?"
He leaves it as a question, even though he hadn't meant to. It doesn't sound cool when his voice hangs unconvincingly in the air afterwards, even if Daeyoung does agree and disappears back into his own classroom without commenting on it.
Riku watches him leave. Swallows hard, presses his hands to his cheek to make sure that (thankfully) his face isn't still burning. He steels himself then opens the door to the classroom.