Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lee Jihye is having a great day.

She woke up earlier than her alarm but was miraculously fully energized, and when she got changed for school her ponytail felt like it was tied perfectly. The sunlight streaming through the window beside her seat was warm and inviting, the sky a beautiful shade of cerulean. She truly believed that nothing can go wrong today.

During lunch, Lee Jihye was practically skipping down the school’s hallways as she made her way towards the gymnasium. Normally, during lunchtime her go-to hangout spot was the broadcasting room where she was free to play her favorite tunes on the school’s speakers, but today the folks at the broadcasting club had some business to do. So she decided to pass the time by breaking a sweat in the gymnasium instead, maybe shoot a few basketballs down the hoop.

When she slid open the gymnasium door, her perfect day had shattered.

Lo and behold, somebody has already been occupying the court. Standing several feet away from the pole was a student slightly taller than her, wearing the uniform with the sleeves rolled up to his shoulders. His horribly bleached hair just made him look stupid instead of cool, and Lee Jihye feels like having an aneurysm every time she is reminded of the dreadful day they went out to dye it white together.

“Namwoon?”

He held a basketball up in one hand and prepared to shoot it towards the hoop, but at the last second he noticed a shocked Lee Jihye on the sidelines and messed up his toss. The basketball rose in a vertical line before coming down to smack him on the head.

“Ow, fuck– Jihye?! What are you doing here?”

Lee Jihye tossed the basketball rolling towards her back to him. “Hanging out, duh. They’re occupying the broadcasting room today so I went here to pass the time. Didn’t expect to see your stupid mug, though.”

“No wonder it felt quieter today,” Kim Namwoon whistled. “Just to think I was finally free from your music, you’ve come to curse me with your presence yourself.”

“Do you have a death wish?”

“Oh, please.” Like it came to him as naturally as breathing did, Kim Namwoon struck a pose. He lifted his hand to his temple and crossed his other arm under his elbow before letting out a low, practiced chuckle. “Death and I, we go hand in hand.”

Her face contorted in disgust. “Can you stop that? You are so unironically cringey. I can’t believe I’m associated with the likes of you.”

Kim Namwoon ignored her and gave the basketball she tossed him a few test dribbles. The sound as it hits the floor echoed around the court in a way that satisfied his ears. “Wanna shoot a bit? Best out of 10, loser buys lunch.”

Lee Jihye tightened her ponytail and rolled up her gray jacket’s sleeves. “You’re on, but don’t start crying when I order the most expensive thing in the cafeteria.”

“Your wallet’s the one that will end up crying, not mine.”

Kim Namwoon hated to admit it, but Lee Jihye was really good. He’d daresay she was even better than most of the guys in their class. She was quick and agile as she weaved through his sides, and Kim Namwoon had to fully concentrate in order for him to even catch up and seize an opportunity to steal the ball from her hands. Their shoes squeaked loudly against the floor – Lee Jihye’s, especially. Who the fuck wears the regular blouse and skirt uniform with jogging pants and rubber shoes? Lee Jihye did. Both of them should be jailed, admittedly, for their crimes against fashion.

Kim Namwoon decided to do his favorite forbidden trick, one that usually got a string of curses flung at him. He suddenly sidestepped in Lee Jihye’s way, catching her completely off-guard and causing her to stumble. The ball completely left her hands, accidentally flying out of bounds.

“Hey! That’s dirty!” Lee Jihye exclaimed as she picked herself up from the floor. “This is why nobody likes playing against you.”

“Skill issue,” Kim Namwoon gave her a thumbs-down, just to rub salt in the wound.

Lee Jihye groaned in frustration, her glare intensifying with every jab he made. “Now the ball’s gone off! I’ll go fetch it. When I get back I’m so kicking your ass this time.”

Laughing to himself, he watched as Lee Jihye scuttled off to find the basketball that had rolled outside of the court, relishing in the way she uttered strings of curses at him as she went. Every time, without fail, he gets the same reaction no matter who he performed that stupid ankle breaker trick on. He’s no sadist, he thinks, but it’s fun to watch people be rendered completely stupefied in the middle of a high-stakes game.

Several minutes have passed and Lee Jihye doesn’t return. Huh, that was weird. The ball couldn’t have gone that far. By the time the 10-minute mark had passed, Kim Namwoon scratched the back of his head in annoyance as he walked towards the direction Lee Jihye went. C’mon, it’s just one basketball, it can’t be that hard to find. It’s not like it fell into Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole or whatever.

When Kim Namwoon stepped out of the court, he found Lee Jihye inconspicuously hiding behind a tree trunk nearby, the basketball forgotten by her feet. She was staring at something– no, someone. No, wait, it’s two people.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Kim Namwoon asked. Lee Jihye suddenly grabbed the collar of his uniform and pulled him down behind the bushes.

“Quiet, idiot!” Lee Jihye placed her index finger over her lips in a gesture to shush him. “We can’t let them see us!”

“Who?” Kim Namwoon peeked through the bushes with his hands, eyes widening as he saw a very familiar figure sitting on a bench under a tree nearby. This figure was dressed in the teacher’s version of their school’s PE jacket, and a black shirt underneath with jogging pants to match. “Mr. Yoo? What’s he doing out here? And is that–”

Next to Mr. Yoo on the bench was another person. This one was rather lanky in comparison, using his hands and gesturing a lot as he talked. He seemed to drone on and on, with Mr. Yoo hanging onto his every word. Both Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon were stunned – Mr. Yoo wasn’t the type to listen to people’s ramblings, always drilling into everyone’s heads to be concise and straightforward.

Kim Namwoon felt a vein pop somewhere in his brain.

“Who is he?” Lee Jihye tilted her head in confusion. “Do you know him, Namwoon?”

Kim Namwoon’s eye twitched as the memory resurfaces in his mind. “Remember that time you were absent for a week because of your leg injury?”

“I’m still blaming you for that.”

“I told you, I really didn’t mean it! How was I supposed to know some dumbasses spilled oil on the stairs?” Kim Namwoon elbowed her in protest. “Anyway, that’s not the point. That dude, Kim Dogeja or whatever the fuck his name is, was our literature substitute for that week because Ms. Sooyoung got a really bad case of food poisoning. Long story short, I hate him.”

“He seems nice, though?” Lee Jihye looked over at Kim Dogeja-or-whatever-his-name-is. “Lacking in the looks department compared to Mr. Yoo, yes, but still nice.”

“I’m telling you, that’s Satan himself,” Kim Namwoon said. “Instead of giving us this quiz, he gave us a week to make a short story. Said it’ll count as our quiz. I plagiarized one of my favorite webnovel author’s works and paraphrased it. And you know what he did?”

Lee Jihye shook her head. “Am I supposed to care?”

“He returned it to me,” Kim Namwoon’s eye twitched as he clenched his fist. “He looked at me like I murdered his family and said, submitting plagiarized works is against the student’s handbook. You’re in high school, so you should know this by now. Please resubmit with an original work or I’ll mark you 0. What the hell? I doubt he’s even getting paid to care that much, so why? He’s just a substitute!”

“Submitting plagiarized work is stupid in the first place,” Lee Jihye rolled her eyes. “Why ABFD too? That’s like a really popular author, right? If you’re gonna cheat, at least do it correctly.”

“I didn’t know that fucker is into webnovels too!” Kim Namwoon casted a scathing glare in Kim Do-what’s his name’s way. “I hate him.”

Kriiing! Kriiing!

“Well shit, lunchtime’s up,” Kim Namwoon stood up and brushed the leaves off his pants as soon as he heard the first school bell’s infuriating ring, signalling the end of lunchtime. “Let’s go, Jihye.”

Lee Jihye didn’t budge.

“Jihye?”

Lee Jihye ignored him again. Instead, she watched intensely as Mr. Yoo got up the bench and offered a hand to Mr. Kim, who took it and stood with his help. If Kim Namwoon focused well enough, he could almost see the gears turning in her head.

Mr. Kim smiled and patted Mr. Yoo’s shoulder before going ahead, back inside the school building and in the direction of the elementary faculty office. Mr. Yoo’s eyes lingered on his back for a moment before heading off towards the high school building himself.

When Lee Jihye turned to Kim Namwoon, she had a hand in her mouth. “Oh my God, did you see that? What did I witness just now?”

Kim Namwoon isn’t sure he follows. “Two teachers saying goodbye?”

“No, stupid,” Lee Jihye looked back in the direction of where the two sat just moments ago. “Did you not see the way Mr. Yoo was looking at him when he left? What’s his name? Mr. Kim, right?”

“Yeah, him. I don’t care what I saw.”

“No, you should!” Lee Jihye abruptly gripped both of his shoulders. Kim Namwoon pretended like his mind hadn’t just shattered at the action. “This could be good for us!”

“Explain,” Kim Namwoon squeaked out.

Lee Jihye let go of him. “You know how Mr. Yoo always goes,” she scrunched her eyebrows together in an attempt to imitate his permanent scowl, “I’ll be taking attendance. As soon as the last student is called, we’re doing 5 laps around the school’s track. Including the obstacles. Then, complete this regime, blah, blah, blah.”

“I thought you liked those?”

“It’s just too much sometimes!” Lee Jihye complained. “Seriously, we’re kids! He treats us like we’re soldier trainees. Not to mention I’ve barely seen him give anyone above a C.”

“And…” Kim Namwoon pointed to the elementary building, “Where does Mr. Kim fall under this?”

“If he gets together with Mr. Yoo, he’ll find happiness in his life and get in a better mood,” Lee Jihye concluded. “And if he gets in a better mood, he might even be kinder! You know how it goes in kdramas. A good love will change you for the better.”

“And you’re telling me Mr. Kim is the man suited for the job,” Kim Namwoon deadpanned.

“You’re finally getting it!” Lee Jihye said giddily, waggling her eyebrows. “So? What do you think?”

Kim Namwoon flicked her forehead. “I think you’re finally losing it.”

Lee Gilyoung is having a horrible day.

Today, his aunt forgot to pack him lunch. This is the fourth day in a row where he hasn’t been packed lunch, and his fourth day of eating the school’s shamefully sad, soggy bread.

Shin Yoosoung must’ve noticed something was wrong, because Lee Gilyoung surprisingly didn’t have a snarky reply for her when she teased his shoes. “What’s wrong with you, bug boy? Cafeteria food can’t be that bad.”

“It’s not that bad the first two days,” Lee Gilyoung held up his half-eaten bacon sandwich. For God’s sake, the bacon was raw. “But it’s my fourth day of eating only this for lunch. I think I’m going to get food poisoning. I heard one of the high school teachers got food poisoning recently and she was gone for a week .”

“Oh, yuck,” Shin Yoosoung took one look at the raw bacon and cringed. “Are they even allowed to sell that?”

“Probably not,” Lee Gilyoung shrugged, lowering the sandwich as he walked towards the trash can. “My aunt always tells me not to waste food but… I don’t think this is even edible.”

“We can always tell a teacher,” Shin Yoosoung offered. “They can complain for us. It’s not like the cafeteria values the opinions of elementary students, anyway.”

“Yeah right, but who can we tell?”

Shin Yoosoung looked out into the school hallway’s windows, where she saw a certain teacher seated on a bench. “That’s obvious enough, who else?”

The school bell suddenly rang, triggering their flight response. In one swift movement Lee Gilyoung threw his sandwich like a basketball towards the trash can, missed, and watched it miserably crumple to the floor before the two of them went back to their classroom.

It was currently a Wednesday, meaning the next class after lunch period was…

“Good afternoon, everyone!” A merry voice greeted the class, instantly brightening up both Lee Gilyoung’s and Shin Yoosoung’s day along with the rest of the class. “I hope you’ve all had a wonderful lunchtime.”

Coming in with a black button-up and a beefy file organizer in one arm was their homeroom adviser, the teacher they liked best. Immediately, the class burst into smiles.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Kim!” The students greeted, not in complete chorus. But their energy made up for the disorder, and Mr. Kim urged them to take their seats.

“You all look chipper today,” Mr. Kim’s eyes swept over the classroom as he sat on the teacher’s table. “Can I assume you all did the homework I assigned yesterday?”

The class erupted into a set of groans.

Mr. Kim chuckled. “Oh, don’t give me that! I made sure to choose a nice short story this time. Come on now, pass your notebooks in front. When everyone’s notebooks are here, I’ll start taking attendance.”

Not wanting to disappoint their homeroom adviser, they all stacked their notebooks one-by-one atop the teacher’s desk. Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung tried their best to step on each other’s shoes as they walked, both wanting to reach Mr. Kim first.

“Um, Mr. Kim, I have a question about the story you asked us to read,” a small voice said as she added her notebook to the pile.

“Hello, Dareum-ah,” Mr. Kim lowered his gaze to talk to her. “What is it?”

“Well…” Han Dareum shuffled her feet. “So, in the story, the traveller refused to grab the wishing star even though she went on a great adventure to get it. When her partner asked her why, she said it’s because she already has everything she wished for by her side. I don’t understand that part. What did she mean by having everything by her side?”

Another kid who overheard their conversation suddenly raised his voice. “It means that they’re in loooooove , of course!”

“Exactly,” Mr. Kim agreed. “Our main character Feryn knew that a sacrifice had to be made when you grab the wishing star. She didn’t want to risk losing her partner Laine whom she travelled a long time with.”

“But,” Han Dareum tilted her head, “why? Then what was the adventure for, if she wasn’t going to take the wishing star in the end?”

“You see, Dareum-ah,” Mr. Kim patted the top of her head, “when you love someone, you realize that you don’t need anything more. Because that person is already everything to you, and it’s enough that you love them. Being by their side makes the whole journey worth it even if nothing was gained in the end.”

“It’s like in those soap operas,” another kid said. “Like the ones my mom watches all the time. I’ll give you 10 million won if you stay away from my son.”

Another student joined in the act, giggling as she posed dramatically. “I love your son more than anything! You can’t buy our love! Besides, I’m carrying his baby!”

Mr. Kim furrowed his brows in concern. “Hey, that’s not– your mothers let you watch that? Do you even know what that means?”

“No,” his student admitted, “but it sounds dramatic and that’s what matters.”

“What about you, Dokja-ahjussi?” Shin Yoosoung asked, sitting behind Lee Gilyoung. “Do you have anyone you love?”

The rest of the class looked at their teacher expectantly, and Mr. Kim’s back straightened ever so slightly. Even Lee Gilyoung was at the edge of his seat. Dokja-hyung was so nice and cool and everyone likes him, so surely he must have someone he loves, right?

Lee Gilyoung thought of all the possible candidates for his teacher’s hand; well, he liked Ms. Sangah from the other class, and although he could see them getting together, it didn’t feel quite right. There was that high school teacher who taught the same subject as him, but he also ruled her out. They were all nice women, but they didn’t tick all the boxes in Lee Gilyoung’s head, and he doesn’t know why.

Mr. Kim laughed, light as air and a little strained. “I love all of you, of course!”

“Eeeh?”

“He’s avoiding it…”

“You know that’s not what we mean!” Han Dareum protested.

“Well,” Mr. Kim cleared his throat, “love doesn’t necessarily have to be between two people romantically. There’s different types of love, like the love you have for a friend or a family member.”

“But we’re asking about romantic love,” Shin Yoosoung insisted. Lee Gilyoung looked back at her in amazement – why is she so pushy about this today? “Surely ahjussi has someone like that in his life, right?”

Mr. Kim grabbed a piece of chalk from the desk. “Why are you all interested in my love life all of a sudden?”

The class couldn’t agree on a single reason, all of them excitedly speaking up at once.

“Because we love you and we want you to have everything too!”

“I always see Mr. Kim heading home alone, so he must not have anyone…”

“My parents got married at 25 and Mr. Kim is like, 30.”

“The story you made us read just got us thinking…”

“And besides, we don’t want you to die lonely!”

“I’m not going to die lonely!” Mr. Kim sighed as he waved a folder in the air. “And I’m 28, not 30. I’ll start calling names for attendance now, you can all make guesses about my love life later!”

When they exited the classroom to get ready for PE, their last class of the day, Lee Gilyoung groaned. “Ugh, I hate PE. We always have to share the court with those high schoolers since our PE’s the same time as theirs and they’re all annoying. They think they’re so high and mighty just because they’re older than us.”

Shin Yoosoung stayed quiet as she fumbled with the buttons of her pink cardigan – a habit of hers when she was deep in thought.

“What are you thinking about?” Lee Gilyoung asked, noticing her silence. “Is this still about hyung’s love life?”

“Yes,” Shin Yoosoung answered. “When we were in the hallway during lunch I saw Dokja-ahjussi talking to a teacher.”

“Okay?”

“I don’t know, Gilyoung,” Shin Yoosoung wiped off the sweat on her forehead as their class lined up to head to the gymnasium, “he seemed really happy to me. His smile felt sort of… different. He looked much more relaxed and stuff.”

“Maybe Dokja-hyung was just in a good mood today.” Lee Gilyoung shrugged. “Let’s just hope those high schoolers leave us alone this time. I hid some cockroaches in my pocket today to scare them if they ever try us!”

Shin Yoosoung gave him a horrified look.

At 2 pm on the dot, he would always encounter these two specific students in the gymnasium. One of them was mean and liked to annoy him every chance he got, while the other tried her best to defend him from her idiotic friend’s antics. Lee Gilyoung thought she was cool and respected her, but he can’t say the same thing about her friend.

“Looks like grasshopper boy’s here,” the white-haired guy sneered. Today, too, his bleach job remained as ugly as he first saw it. “Gonna read me the encyclopedia again?”

The girl with the ponytail sighed in frustration. “Namwoon, do you think it’s fun picking on elementary kids just because you’re a loser in your own grade? That was a lame insult by the way, you sound like a shitty 80’s bully.”

“Thank you, Jihye-noona,” Lee Gilyoung stuck his hand in his pocket. “But I have a secret weapon today.”

Kim Namwoon leaned in closer to see what the younger boy had up his sleeve. “What’s that you got with y– AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”

A high-pitched, shrill scream was ripped out of his throat as Lee Gilyoung calmy opened his palms to reveal three cockroaches skittering around. He didn’t even shove them in Kim Namwoon’s face but he still screamed, stumbling back and hitting the floor ass-first.

Lee Jihye couldn’t prevent the tears in her eyes as she howled with laughter, clutching her sides and dropping to the floor. Lee Gilyoung smirked triumphantly, and even Shin Yoosoung giggled.

“What’s going on here?”

A shadow loomed over the two elementary students and they stiffened in place. They didn’t even need to look back to know who was standing behind them, because there was only one person who was capable of exerting this much terror through sheer aura alone.

“M-Mr. Yoo!” Kim Namwoon scrambled to his feet. “My bad, there was just a bug that happened to–”

“Release those bugs outside,” Mr. Yoo sharply told Lee Gilyoung, looking disdainfully at the insects in his hands. “The gymnasium is not a place for insects and animals.”

“I mean… they’re not disturbing anyone…” Lee Gilyoung petted a cockroach on its disgustingly brown head. “See? Titano Junior’s being nice.”

Mr. Yoo’s voice was sterner when he spoke again. “Do not make me repeat myself.”

Lee Gilyoung’s knees buckled under the intense pressure of his stare alone. Reluctantly, he ran off to set his cockroaches free by the door.

“Goodbye little ones,” Lee Gilyoung faked a sniffle. “I’ll miss you.”

“And you, Namwoon,” Mr. Yoo thundered, facing his student, “stop wasting time. Start the warm-ups already.”

“I was just trying to get friendly, y’know,” Kim Namwoon lamely muttered in defense, his will shattering completely when Mr. Yoo gave him another stare-down. “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll go back to our side of the court now,” he quickly added.

This seemed to satisfy him. Without another word, Mr. Yoo sauntered off, jacket flapping behind him.

When he went away, Lee Gilyoung let out the largest breath he had been holding. Shin Yoosoung pitifully patted his back.

“That was scary,” the boy’s voice cracked. “I really hate that sooty bastard. Why’s he hounding us when we aren’t even his students?”

“That’s just how Mr. Yoo is most of the time,” Lee Jihye sighed in their teacher’s direction. “Lately, it’s been a real issue for us too. Feel free to blame Namwoon.”

“Hey!”

“Hmm…” Shin Yoosoung placed a hand on her chin thoughtfully as she watched Mr. Yoo from across the court. “Oh! I finally got it!”

“What is it, Yoosoung?” Lee Gilyoung turned to her.

“I thought something felt strange about Mr. Yoo today and I didn’t know why,” Shin Yoosoung’s eyes sparkled. “But I finally figured it out!”

The other three students leaned closer with increasing interest. Even Kim Namwoon, who seemed to recover from his earlier embarrassment.

Unaware of the consequences of her words, she happily exclaimed, “He was the one Mr. Kim was cheerfully talking to during lunch today!”

Lee Jihye immediately lurched forward to grab the kid’s shoulders. “You know Mr. Kim?!”

“What?” Shin Yoosoung tensed up in her hold. “Of course I know him. He’s our homeroom and he’s the best!”

Lee Jihye pumped two fists in the air and screamed as if she had just won the lottery. “YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!”

Lee Gilyoung glanced at her in concern. “... Noona? Are you okay?”

“This is perfect!” Lee Jihye had both hands on both sides of her head like a crazed asylum escapee. “We have a proposal to make with you. This is highly important.”

Kim Namwoon’s eyes widened. “Jihye, you’re not planning to–”

“Let’s hear it, unnie,” Shin Yoosoung cut him off, intrigued by her senior’s words.

Lee Jihye’s mouth curved into a devious smile. “How do you feel about setting our teachers up together?”

Chapter Text

The next day, the four of them met up during lunchtime as planned.

“The high school building is so big,” Shin Yoosoung looked around the small room in awe. “I’ve never been here before.”

“There’s lots of unused and abandoned clubrooms on the 4th floor so we sometimes hang out here,” Lee Jihye gestured to the space. “This one’s perfect ‘cuz it has a chalkboard.”

“Fuck do we need a chalkboard for?” Kim Namwoon questioned as he put his legs up on a desk.

“For this.” Lee Jihye dramatically pulled off the black blinds covering the chalkboard to reveal cartoonishly big, blocky words.

OPERATION: GET OUR TEACHERS TOGETHER
(ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIP STATUS)

“This is exciting,” Shin Yoosoung oohed and ahhed at Lee Jihye’s drawing. “I’ve never gone on an operation before.”

“We have to agree to this first,” Lee Jihye informed her. “Our reason for trying to get Mr. Yoo a partner is all so that he’ll be able to find happiness in his life and change for the better. If he changes for the better, he won’t be so tough to have as a teacher! After the Incident at lunch yesterday, we think Mr. Kim is the perfect candidate.”

“Who’s we?” Kim Namwoon looked offended that he was associated with this. “That’s just you!”

“Your reason’s the same as ours, then,” Shin Yoosoung said. “We want to get Dokja-ahjussi a partner so that he won’t die alone. He doesn’t have anyone he loves, you see.”

“Look, I’m all for finding Dokja-hyung someone to love,” Lee Gilyoung raised his hand, “but does it have to be that sooty bastard? I don’t like him.”

“What’s wrong with Mr. Yoo?” Lee Jihye placed a hand on her hip. “If you ask me, there’s no one better than him! He’s cool, tall, and respectable. He’s also very good-looking, and I doubt you’d find anyone that surpasses him in that department!”

“He’s always up in our business even though he isn’t our teacher, he’s too harsh, and he gets mad about the smallest things!” Lee Gilyoung argued. “Mr. Kim on the other hand is nice, and kind, and considerate, and never fails to make us smile. Hyung is so much cooler! There’s no way they’re compatible together!”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Lee Jihye pointed her chalk towards him before writing something on the chalkboard. “You see, there’s a reason why their dynamic would work extremely well, at least in theory…”

The two elementary kids followed the girl’s every movement as she scribbled. Kim Namwoon just rolled his eyes. When she was done, she slapped her hand against the chalkboard.

ANALYSIS #1: OPPOSITES ATTRACT

“Picture this,” Lee Jihye held both hands up. “Person A; a tall, stoic man of few words. He’s well-liked and popular. Many people look up to him, but he’s somewhat merciless and doesn’t show favorites. Now here comes person B.

Person B is average-looking, but he talks a lot. He’s much more relaxed, and cheery. Maybe even teasing. He hangs around Person A. They’re complete opposites but somehow… they work?”

“This is a fanfiction trope,” Kim Namwoon scoffed. “That’s not analyzing anything.”

“And how do you know that’s a fanfiction trope, Namwoon?” Lee Jihye tilted her head.

Embarrassed, Kim Namwoon suddenly developed a great interest in the floor.

Shin Yoosoung clapped her hands once. “I think I can understand it. I’m not completely set on Mr. Yoo just yet but I can totally feel something during their interaction yesterday.”

“Right?! You saw it too!” Lee Jihye banged the chalkboard again for emphasis. “Mr. Yoo was hanging onto Mr. Kim’s every word. That was so weird. If it were any of us, he’d tell us to keep it short.”

“I don’t get it, though,” Lee Gilyoung crossed his arms. “Won’t that bastard just tell hyung to shut up?”

Lee Jihye slapped the chalkboard again to prove her point. “He could’ve, but it’s the fact that he didn’t!”

“So what? We’ve only seen them interact once,” Lee Gilyoung flatly said with narrowed eyes.

“We can’t assume everything based on only one interaction,” said Shin Yoosoung, surprisingly agreeing with him. “I feel like we need to observe them more.”

“Brilliant, Yoosoung-ie!” Lee Jihye ruffled her blonde hair. “That’s why I like you so much!”

“Whatever,” Kim Namwoon hopped off his chair. “Are we done here? I want to leave.”

“I think this is a good starting point for today,” Lee Jihye covered up the chalkboard with the blinds again. “Meeting adjourned! Well done, everyone. Tomorrow we’re going to have PE again, so it gives us more time to observe our teachers.”

Only Shin Yoosoung was the one who seemed satisfied at the outcome. Kim Namwoon looked like he’d rather go bungee jumping off a cliff without the harness, and Lee Gilyoung is still indifferent to the whole thing mostly due to his vendetta against Mr. Yoo. But none of them explicitly disagreed. That was enough.

The two kids soon left.

Kim Namwoon muttered to her, “You’re enjoying this too much.”

Lee Jihye damn near smacked him with her ponytail as she turned to face him. “It’s all for the sake of our grades! And Mr. Yoo too, of course.”

“I really can’t believe you.”

The next big discovery happened a week later, on a Monday. That day, Lee Jihye was taking shelter from the heavy rain under the school’s waiting shed by the entrance. Kim Namwoon was sitting right beside her, contemplating just booking it and running in the rain all the way to the station.

“Sucks that it rained today,” Lee Jihye mumbled. “I wanted to go to the PC bang. My internet’s been kinda on-and-off lately.”

She watched Kim Namwoon zip up his black-and-purple jacket.

“Are you stupid?” Lee Jihye gaped at him. “You’re going to run in this weather?”

He shrugged, “Duh? I’m not a pussy. The rain’s not that hard.”

A flash of lightning suddenly crackled through the air, followed by a deafening thunder. Somewhere in the neighborhood, they saw a tree fall over. Somewhere in the neighborhood, they heard a car crash. Sirens followed shortly after.

Kim Namwoon gulped. “... Guess I’ll stay for a bit.”

The two students leaned their backs against the wall, gloomily cursing the rain.

It was that time when a taller figure suddenly ducked in their direction, stepping under the waiting shed’s roof after what seemed like a sudden sprint. Lee Jihye’s eyes widened in recognition – isn’t this Mr. Kim?!

“Oh,” Mr. Kim caught the girl’s gaze, noticing Kim Namwoon right beside her. “You two are Mr. Yoo’s students, right?”

Kim Namwoon saw the way Lee Jihye gripped her seat tighter. “Y-Yes! Hello, Mr. Kim,” she squeaked.

“I’m surprised you know me when you were absent that time,” Mr. Kim chuckled sheepishly. “You’re Lee Jihye, aren’t you? The victim of the oiled stairs incident. I substituted for your homeroom adviser Sooyoung-ie’s class that week.”

Lee Jihye’s face burned as she buried her face into her palms. “Why does everyone know that?!”

“‘Cuz nobody just brings a whole fucking gallon of cooking oil to school,” Kim Namwoon yawned. “Of course everyone’s going to remember something as stupid as that.”

“Hello, Namwoon,” the voice of the devil himself grew several degrees colder when he addressed him. What is this blatant favoritism? “Your resubmission was… tolerable.”

This scummy old man…! “I don’t know why you had to make it known, but thanks?”

“Ah, speaking of grades,” Mr. Kim brightened considerably when he turned his attention back to Lee Jihye, “I’m not supposed to tell you this but you should be expecting a little surprise from Mr. Yoo really soon. Something about vice captains and swim teams?”

Lee Jihye’s eyes sparkled. “No way, don’t tell me–?!”

Mr. Kim brought a finger to his lips and winked. “Ah, but don’t tell him I said that.”

“Don’t tell me what?”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. It was like Mr. Yoo materialized out of thin air. His wavy hair was damp from the rain, and he was wearing his usual attire – a black shirt underneath the PE jacket. Except this time, he had a backpack slung over one shoulder. Like Mr. Kim and the rest of them, he must be heading home.

Lee Jihye locked eyes with Kim Namwoon and her lips trembled, fighting to hold back a scream and something else.

“Perfect timing!” When Kim Namwoon saw him smile, he could instantly tell it was an overly exaggerated one he decided to put on for fun. He classifies it as the intentionally annoying one. “I was backstabbing you, actually.”

Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon looked up at Mr. Yoo like young ducklings.

Mr. Yoo clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Don’t say anything unnecessary.”

“What will you do? Stop me?” The literature teacher challenged.

“Enough of that,” Mr. Yoo waved him off, glowering. “What are you still doing here?”

“Well,” Mr. Kim said slowly, “As you can see, I don’t have an umbrella.”

Almost as if he was expecting this, Mr. Yoo reached into his backpack (but not without an exasperated sigh and a “You are so irresponsible,” comment) and pulled out a black foldable umbrella.

Beside Kim Namwoon, Lee Jihye made a faint noise like a boiling kettle.

Mr. Kim’s fixed smile dropped. “Ah,” he raised a hand awkwardly, “As much as I appreciate this extremely rare display of kindness, Sooyoung’s actually on her way to pick me up.”

A garbled sound escaped from Lee Jihye’s throat.

Kim Namwoon saw the way their teacher’s shoulders drooped, like he was… disappointed? Why would he be disappointed?

Right on cue, a flashy BMW pulled up in front of the waiting shed, the sound of the engine ripping through the air as if to compete with the thunder.

“And there she is,” Mr. Kim waved to the other teacher and the two students in the waiting shed. “I hope you three get home safe. I’ll, um, see you tomorrow?”

See you tomorrow? No way in hell were he and Jihye going to see that bastard of a teacher tomorrow – he wasn’t even in their faculty – so surely that message was meant for Mr. Yoo only. Kim Namwoon fought the urge to roll his eyes.

Mr. Kim shot the PE teacher one last glance before climbing into Ms. Sooyoung’s car. Their advisory teacher behind the wheel gave the two students a wave of acknowledgement and a shout of, “You brats better submit your reply slips tomorrow!” before she finally drove off. Shit, the reply slips.

While Kim Namwoon was busy trying to remember where he put the printed memos and reply slips (it was a survey for the cafeteria food’s recent quality, if he remembered correctly. God, he has so much to say about their awful food), Lee Jihye’s eyes flew back and forth from Mr. Yoo to the now-empty road where Ms. Sooyoung’s car had once been. The rain seemed to lighten for now, but the two of them weren’t quite ready to brace the weather for a quick run to the station just yet, so they stayed with their teacher under the waiting shed.

… It’s a bit awkward to be in the presence of a teacher in a non-academic setting. Especially since this was Mr. Yoo, terror teacher and coach extraordinaire. Come to think of it, Mr. Yoo hasn’t spoken a single word ever since that whole scene with the two literature teachers earlier. Kim Namwoon discreetly shot a glance in his way.

Mr. Yoo looked just as gloomy as the weather, frozen in place and a little sullen like a kid whose ice cream dropped to the road. Lee Jihye was still shamelessly sizing up her teacher in hopes of getting more clues to understand what the hell just happened, but he merely sighed, standing under the waiting shed like a forlorn man who had just been stood up by a date.

A little kid suddenly walked up to them. She looked to be around elementary age, bearing striking resemblance to their teacher in the way their hair and default expressions looked almost identical. This young girl sported twin pigtails at the sides of her head and she wore a pink Barbie Princess Charm School-themed backpack (pfft, Kim Namwoon thought, Mermaid Tale is a much better movie). She skipped to Mr. Yoo’s side with a gray Ben10 umbrella in her hands.

What the hell? Kim Namwoon reeled. That’s the umbrella I was missing a week ago!

“Oppa, you didn’t drop by my classroom today,” she said.

A flash of guilt ran across Mr. Yoo’s face for a second. It wouldn’t have been possible to the naked eye, but Kim Namwoon has been observing Mr. Yoo long enough to notice. “I was just about to come get you, actually. Did you get wet under the rain?”

“Nope,” she twirled the umbrella in her hands. “I found this in the lost-and-found section. I’ll return it tomorrow.”

Actually, that’s my umbrella–

“M-Mr. Yoo, is she your sister?” Lee Jihye asked, her voice cracking like it was painful for her to speak. Considering how she bore witness to the event earlier, it wasn't surprising.

“Yes,” Mr. Yoo replied indifferently. “This is my sister, Yoo Mia. Yoo Mia, these are my students in PE.”

“Hello, oppa’s students,” she waved, before Mr. Yoo took her hand in his and walked away to head home without another word, despite the heavy downpour they seemed to pay no mind to. Judging by her eyes, she looked like she really didn’t care about them much. Are all elementary kids this insufferable these days?

When they were gone as well, Lee Jihye broke like a dam. She brought out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes despite no tears actually falling, all the while feigning sobbing noises.

“Can you shut the fuck up?” Kim Namwoon complained. “You’re acting like Ms. Sooyoung just threw a bag of dogshit in your face.”

“First of all, gross,” Lee Jihye continued her act. “Second, how could Mr. Kim leave him hanging like that?! Mr. Yoo looked so sad to see him go too… Namwoon, do you think this is what they call the other woman?”

Kim Namwoon gave her a judging look. “If you made me pick between going home with an umbrella or a car while it’s raining, naturally I’d pick the car.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” she scoffed. “Going home together under an umbrella is far more romantic! The tension! The forced close proximity! Especially since Mr. Yoo went out of his way to offer one.”

“We watched a tree fall. Going home with an umbrella in this weather is asking to get killed. Besides, our adviser’s car rocks. Didn’t know teacher paychecks can get you a BMW.”

“I refuse to accept this,” Lee Jihye clenched her fist in determination. “I refuse to let my ship go down this early. We need to investigate more!”

Kim Namwoon feels the incoming migraine. Oh no. Not more ideas. Please, no more. He doesn’t even give a shit about Mr. Yoo’s love life because he doesn’t want to think about the cringe-ass things adults do in relationships, like holding hands, kissing, getting marrie– okay, now that one was too far. But that was the point.

“And by investigating more,” Kim Namwoon groaned, voice low and tired, “you mean…?”

Lee Jihye winked at him. “I know someone who can help us.”

When Kim Namwoon walked to class the next morning, his Ben10 umbrella acquired, Lee Jihye is seen accosting some poor, unsuspecting boy seated at the back of the class.

Kim Namwoon doesn’t even remember who the hell this lame-looking introvert was. Han Do-something. He was best described as a background character in some novel used to fill up the setting.

“Yo, Han Donghoon!” Lee Jihye cheerfully slammed down a hand, rattling his desk and making him sink further down his chair. If Kim Namwoon were some random NPC bystander, he’d think he was getting bullied. “Long time no see! I finally figured out what I want as a favor!”

“J… Jihye…” Han Donghoon said, shivering in place. His hands were trembling as he tried to hide his face behind his phone, blinded by her extroverted aura. “H… Hi…?”

“We need your help,” she implored, her figure shadowing over him. “There’s two teachers we want to get together. It’s Mr. Yoo and Mr. Kim, a literature teacher in the elementary department. We need to find out if there’s any history between Mr. Kim and our homeroom adviser so we can set him up with Mr. Yoo.”

“...” Pure confusion colored Han Donghoon’s default blank expression. “... I’m sorry, what?”

“You’re tired of Mr. Yoo’s PE regime, right? I was thinking, if we manage to get him and Mr. Kim together, he’ll find happiness and change for the better. And if he changes for the better, he won’t have to be so tough on us anymore! I know you don’t like getting yelled at by him so this is the perfect plan, don’t you think?”

Kim Namwoon chortled at her sales talk. No way was he going to agree to something just because of that–

“... I think it could work. I mean, I could see it,” Han Donghoon said, voice as tiny as a whisper. “But um, I really don’t want any part of this…”

Kim Namwoon whipped his head towards the boy in Lee Jihye’s grasp. Are you kidding me? He agreed?

Lee Jihye didn’t seem to notice the amount of anxiety she’s instilling into this poor guy. “So, Donghoon-ah, you think you can try stalking Ms. Sooyoung or Mr. Kim on social media to see if they’ve got anything going on?”

Han Donghoon looked mortified. “I…”

“Great!” She clapped her hands together excitedly. “I’ll get back to you at lunch. It’s so nice to have a tech expert on the operation team!”

“T-There’s an operation team?”

“‘Course there is,” Lee Jihye said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, heading back to her seat. “Thanks for the extra help!”

“Wait, why does it have to be me...?”

“Just give it up, man,” Kim Namwoon sighed sympathetically. “You can’t fight against her when she’s made a decision. Better just go along with it.”

Han Donghoon gave him a quizzical look. Kim Namwoon didn’t catch the way his eyes darted over to Lee Jihye’s back before moving on to him. Han Donghoon raised his eyebrows as if something suddenly made complete sense, but he might’ve just imagined that.

“It’s okay,” Han Donghoon managed. “I’m pretty familiar with Mr. Kim anyway. I do owe Jihye after she saved me from those mean third-years one time…”

“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Kim Namwoon grinned, feeling the need to brag about his friend. “Even I can’t do anything but just be dragged along. Jihye’s nice when she isn’t being such a pain in the ass and she seems to like you, so you’re in good hands.”

Han Donghoon was silent, looking at the white-haired guy strangely. He was hiding the lower half of his face behind his phone and hands, tired and droopy eyes studying Kim Namwoon like something about him was so fascinating.

“What?” Kim Namwoon cringed. “Why are you looking at me like that? Got a problem?”

“No!” Han Donghoon immediately answered. It might’ve been the loudest and the most scared he’s ever heard him talk. “N-Nothing wrong here!”

By the time lunch rolled around, they met up with the devil’s spawn – this time in the school courtyard, as Lee Jihye spotted the two kids having lunch under a tree.

When Kim Namwoon walked up to the tree they were at, he found Evil Minion #1 and Evil Minion #2 sitting on a bench, talking to a little girl they didn’t expect to see again so soon. The nickname he gave the students of the devil felt satisfying in his head.

“Yoo Mia!” Lee Jihye gasped. “You’re here?”

“Yeah! She’s a friend of ours from a different class,” Shin Yoosoung said brightly. “I told her about our plan and she said yes to the whole thing. Did you know she’s actually Mr. Yoo’s little sister?”

“For the record, I didn’t say yes to Mr. Kim,” Yoo Mia corrected, “but I’m all for trying to get oppa a lover. I’ve been telling him to find someone for years because he’s so lonely it’s almost pathetic.”

“Why am I even here…?” Han Donghoon moaned, putting his head in his hands.

“Who’s that tired-looking guy?” Lee Gilyoung asked, pointing to the student Lee Jihye had kidnapped.

“He’s Han Donghoon, a classmate of ours,” said the kidnapper, proudly. “He’ll be joining us starting today!”

“I didn’t say that…”

“He’s a little shy and fragile so be gentle with him, alright?” Lee Jihye patted his shoulder. The three kids now made it their business to stare at him.

“We’ve got a bit of a problem on our hands,” she started, taking a bite out of her boxed lunch. Kim Namwoon was a little envious – chicken karaage with curry? He wanted one, damn it. As she chewed, she recounted yesterday’s events at the waiting shed, from running into Mr. Kim to him being whisked away by Ms. Sooyoung on her BMW to Mr. Yoo looking crestfallen.

“No wonder oppa was in a bad mood yesterday,” Yoo Mia folded her arms on her chest. “It’s all because of that ugly ahjussi.”

“Hey!” Lee Gilyoung exclaimed. “Hyung isn’t ugly!”

“Well he’s not half as attractive as oppa so there’s that.”

“Wait,” Lee Jihye interjected, halting all her actions. “You’re saying Mr. Yoo was in a bad mood yesterday?”

“Yeah. He wasn’t at his best when he made me dinner last night because he seemed to be lost in thought.”

“Holy shit,” Lee Jihye put a hand on her head. “I think our ship might actually be possible. I think he’s really in love with Mr. Kim…”

“I refuse to think a heartless bastard like that would ever feel something,” Lee Gilyoung scoffed, “much less for someone like Mr. Kim. Hyung deserves better.”

“There’s no one better than my oppa out there, stupid!” Yoo Mia said in defense. “Besides, there’s nothing amazing about that– that squid anyway.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, as a matter of fact, hyung–”

“Lee Jihye.”

All conversations immediately ceased at the sound of Mr. Yoo’s voice. The kids were shocked silly, visibly freezing in place – Mr. Yoo had suddenly appeared from out of nowhere again. How did he even get here without any of them noticing? Did he secretly have some sneak attack skill up his sleeve like those power fantasy shounen novels?

“M-Mr. Yoo!” She croaked out, praying to God, Buddha, and whatever deity in whatever religion that he did not hear their conversation. “Good afternoon.”

Mr. Yoo took one patronizing look at their group, eyes softening when they landed on his sister’s. “Your friends?”

“Yup!” Yoo Mia replied, swinging her legs on the bench.

Mr. Yoo said nothing to that. He turned to Lee Jihye, all the while handing her the handful of papers in his hand. In his other hand, he looked a little silly as he held a large lunch bag. “Here are the medical records and application forms for those who recently applied to the swim team.”

Lee Jihye hastily accepted them, a little bewildered. “Why are you giving these to me, sir…?” Though thanks to Mr. Kim’s clue from yesterday, it seems she already had a vague idea why.

“The swim team captain called in sick today,” Mr. Yoo answered. “This means the vice captain will take over responsibilities. Due to your performance in the last tournament, you have been made the new swim team vice captain.”

With the way Lee Jihye’s entire demeanor improved, you’d think Mr. Yoo gave her a miracle and saved both her parents from dying. “M-Mr. Yoo… really…?”

By then, their teacher had already swiveled around to go to who-knows-where. “Keep up the good work, Jihye.”

Lee Jihye stared at the files in her hands like she had just been handed billion-won cheques. “Holy shit.”

“Congrats on your promotion…” Han Donghoon greeted.

Lee Gilyoung clapped. “That’s awesome, Jihye-noona!” 

“Why don’t I get one for the basketball team?” Kim Namwoon stared at Mr. Yoo’s retreating back. “That’s just unfair.”

“Holy shit, I’m actually vice captain now…” Lee Jihye said in disbelief. “I… Namwoon…”

Kim Namwoon rolled his eyes. “What is it? Don’t start crying now, it’s stupid.”

“No, I’m not going to cry,” she gazed at their teacher in wonder. “Do you think I should start calling him Master now?”

“What–“

“Hey,” Shin Yoosoung suddenly spoke up to get all of their attention. “Mr. Yoo’s headed for the elementary building.”

Almost immediately, like a hivemind, the six aspiring eavesdroppers unsubtly followed in Mr. Yoo’s steps.

Hiding behind trees and threading through bushes, they closely tailed their target like horribly unprofessional assassins. Whether Mr. Yoo noticed them or not, he didn’t give out any signs of caring, heavy steps in the grass gradually stopping at the entrance of the elementary building when he came face-to-face with two other people.

Lee Jihye, Yoo Mia, and Shin Yoosoung gasped.

Mr. Kim, previously conversing with Ms. Sooyoung, noticed his arrival. “Ah, Joonghyuk-ah! Great timing. We were just about to head to the cafeteria. Want to grab some lunch with us?”

"Joonghyuk-ah?" The six kids exchanged equally confused looks.

Wordlessly, Mr. Yoo unzipped his lunch bag and took out a lunch box, handing it over to him.

Ms. Sooyoung whistled. “Wow. Nothing for Han Sooyoung?”

Mr. Yoo shot her a scathing glare, to which the high school literature teacher merely laughed.

“Ah, you shouldn’t have…” Mr. Kim sheepishly rubbed the side of his neck. “You probably woke up real early to make this too.”

“Oh my God he’s offering you lunch you fucking idiot, just accept it,” Kim Namwoon seethed from behind the bushes, oddly invested.

Ms. Sooyoung’s jaw dropped. “Are you seriously refusing Yoo Joonghyuk’s cooking over cafeteria food? I got food poisoned a few weeks ago!”

“Just take it,” Mr. Yoo scowled, shoving it closer towards him. Having left him with no choice, the elementary teacher gingerly took the lunch box, smiling nervously the entire time. The three teachers resumed their conversation, now walking towards them. It was then when the six of them realized that they were, in fact, hiding behind the nearest bench.

“Scatter!” Shin Yoosoung stage-whispered, and they immediately dispersed like scuttling rats in different directions.

Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye ended up hiding in the bushes a little further back from the bench.

“Ugh, why am I stuck with you?!” Kim Namwoon elbowed Lee Jihye when she was crouching a little too close for comfort. A little too close for his heart to handle.

“Shut up, it’s the nearest spot I could think of!” Lee Jihye elbowed him back. “Ow! Don’t step on my toes, you idiot!”

“I didn’t mean to, you stupi–”

“This kinda brings me back to our college days,” Mr. Kim said, and the two bickering teenagers instantly shut up. “It’s been a while since the three of us got to hang out like this.”

“Blame my students for that,” Ms. Sooyoung stretched her arms. “I haven’t even finished grading their last 2 quizzes because of that damn cafeteria food. You are so lucky you aren’t a high school teacher.”

“Don’t slack off on your responsibilities,” Mr. Yoo sternly told her, the same way he would tell a student.

“Ugh, I’m not!” Ms. Sooyoung defended. “Teenagers are kind of a pain in the ass to deal with, but I get along well with my class.”

“You were also a pain in the ass as a teenager,” Mr. Kim reminded her, taking a bite out of his lunch box. “Remember that time you accidentally dropped a stack of books on someone’s head from the rooftop?”

“That wasn’t accidental. That was intentional. I really hated that Song Minwoo bitch.”

“I hated him too,” Mr. Yoo’s voice darkened considerably.

The three of them continued to reminisce. At some point, Mr. Yoo began to feed Mr. Kim and it became a sort of competition where Ms. Sooyoung and Mr. Yoo would compete for the man in the middle’s attention.

Kim Namwoon rolled his eyes. Oh, so one could also be this disgusting and cringe as adults. He briefly vowed to never be like them.

“They’re fighting for his attention,” Lee Jihye whispered. “So she really is the other woman!”

“I don’t know,” Kim Namwoon shrugged, “looks to me like the three of them were already close since way back then…”

“Ahjussi’s got it out for him, holy shit,” Lee Jihye remarked. “Not only Mr. Yoo but Ms. Sooyoung too? Agh, I can’t let Ms. Sooyoung take him away even though I like her! Our operation will fail if they get together! But I’m kind of digging this love triangle thing too…

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” Kim Namwoon deadpanned. He’s pretty sure he’s got the nature of their relationship down by now – so far, Mr. Yoo has shown to consistently seek out Mr. Kim, going so far as to pack him lunch, offer him an umbrella, get sad when he rejects said offer, and show him a side he doesn’t usually let his students see. And every time, without clockwork, Mr. Kim would indulge in whatever he did, always being a little too sheepish. A little too awkward. It’s clear as fucking daylight that they both feel something for the other and anyone with functioning eyeballs would be able to see it if they paid attention.

So he wasn’t worried. Hang on, what did he mean by not being worried? He mentally despaired at the realization that Jihye’s influence is finally rubbing off on him.

“What do you mean?” Lee Jihye glanced in his way.

“Your ship is safe,” he simply said, not explaining. “Our grades are safe,” he felt the need to add. Because this was totally for their grades. Not because he was already invested. “Just be quiet and look.”

Mr. Kim was talking in-between bites, so his voice came out a bit muffled. “... Yes, I think it’s time to start thinking about that event too. Principal Baram’s been stressing its importance, and how it’d be a good experience for the students.”

“Shit, what are they talking about now?” Lee Jihye tried her best to see through the bushes, pushing a few bunches of leaves aside. “We weren’t paying attention.”

“That’s because you wouldn’t shut up for one second,” Kim Namwoon hissed. “You do know that if they discover us here we’re good as dead? What explanation can we even give if we’re caught?”

“We could just say there’s a bug or something…”

“Bug, my ass. Nobody’s gonna believe that shit. They’re not that stupid.”

“Some kids go play Pokemon Go in the courtyard all the time! We can say that instead.”

“I’m not admitting to playing some yeeyee-ass Pokemon game. It’s not even part of the main games–”

“Oh my God, shut up. All Pokemon games are good, you’re just too edgy to accept Pokemon Go as a game because all the so-called normies are playing it or whatever.”

Kim Namwoon tried to put his hands over her mouth to silence her. “And you are being too loud. Let’s just go back to spyi– observing.”

“You’re the one who’s too loud! We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if you just explained why I shouldn’t worry about my ship instead of saying a few vague words like some cryptic NPC game dialogue!”

“Be quiet, you idiot–!”

Lee Jihye bit his hand.

“Ow! Fuck!” Kim Namwoon recoiled from her grasp and let out a crazed chuckle. “Oh, now you’ve done it, you little piece of shit.”

“What are you gonna do?” Lee Jihye challenged him with a grin. “Beat me up? I’d like to see you try, asshole.”

That’s it. Kim Namwoon tackled her to the ground, but Lee Jihye was smarter. Once her back hit the grass, she immediately grabbed his arm with her free hand, delivered a quick kick to his shin, and used that brief moment to flip him over so now she was the one in control. For a few minutes, they stayed on the ground, grabbing at each other’s hair, cursing at each other, the irritation in their guts fueling them for every passing second, growing and growing until–

“Why are you two on the ground.”

Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye’s guts sunk to the deepest circle of hell.

Mr. Yoo’s voice sent their brains into panic mode. The sentence was not posed as a question, but as an accusation. To be fair, they were painting a rather incriminating picture right now – Kim Namwoon was on the ground, grabbing onto Lee Jihye’s half-undone ponytail, using his arm to get her face away from his while Lee Jihye was pinching his cheeks, her other arm raised in a fist to land a hit on his sides.

There really isn’t a good way to explain this.

Two trees away from them still safely hidden, Yoo Mia put her face in her palm. Han Donghoon was kneeling, hiding behind Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung, while the latter was praying for her unnie’s well-being.

“Namwoon? Jihye?” Ms. Sooyoung fought to stifle her laughter. “What on earth are you doing?”

Lee Jihye didn’t lower her fist. Instead, she let out a light-hearted chuckle and lightly punched Kim Namwoon’s arm. “Ah, ahaha, we were just kidding around, actually! Right, Namwoon-ah?”

“Yes, we are having friendly banter,” Kim Namwoon supplied lamely, “because we are such best friends.”

Mr. Kim – further proving Kim Namwoon’s given title as the devil – didn’t even try to hide his amusement, and him breaking out into a fit of giggles was the last straw for the two of them. “I’m sorry, I’m– I shouldn’t laugh at this. Joonghyuk-ah, Sooyoung, can you two talk to your students?”

The two did the next best thing they thought of. They got up on their feet, apologized, waved to Mr. Yoo and Ms. Sooyoung, and immediately sprinted off as fast as their feet could take them before their teachers could even get a word out.

They would be fine for now – they didn’t have PE or Literature for the day, anyway.

Chapter Text

“... So it would be great if you could deliver this folder to Mr. Yoo’s table. Would that be okay with you two?”

The following day, on a slow Wednesday morning, Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung were summoned to the elementary faculty office by Mr. Kim. No, they weren't getting scolded for anything – Mr. Kim had only asked them for a tiny favor after homeroom.

“Sure thing, hyung,” Lee Gilyoung took the folder he was handed. “But… why does it have to be us?”

Mr. Kim ruffled the top of the boy’s head. “Well, it’s because you two are familiar with Mr. Yoo already. Also, I’m preoccupied with something at the moment, so I don’t have the time to head there myself.”

“You can trust us, Dokja-ahjussi!” Shin Yoosoung tried to pry the folder from Lee Gilyoung’s hands. “We’ll make sure Mr. Yoo gets this folder in no time!”

“Thank you, Yoosoung-ah,” Mr. Kim forced a tired smile. She noticed it during homeroom earlier but he felt different this morning – must’ve had a bad night. “And remember, no peeking, alright? It’s top-secret.”

The two kids nodded innocently.

Of course, as soon as they left the faculty, the devil on Lee Gilyoung’s shoulder started to give him ideas. “Say, Yoosoung, wanna take a little peek?”

“Huh?” She inched the folder away from him. “But ahjussi told us not to.”

Lee Gilyoung rolled his eyes. “Oh, c’mon, it’s not like hyung would know. Besides, we might find something involving you-know-who.”

This catches the little eavesdropper’s attention. She brings the folder closer to him for viewing purposes. “Okay! But just one peek.”

While walking towards the high school building, the two kids looked through the folder… and found that they were just filled with boring stuff like meeting reminders, printed memos, notes, and other grown-up matters completely out of the realm of 10-year olds. There was also something about a festival, but there were too many details for them to care about so they didn’t bother reading.

“There’s nothing interesting here,” the boy remarked flatly. Until they turned the last printed memo over and gasped in unison, finding a sticky note under the pile of papers.

“Walk with me after class,” Shin Yoosoung mutters under her breath. “That didn’t look like Mr. Kim’s handwriting too…”

“And there’s something on the back!” Said Lee Gilyoung, flipping it over. “Sorry, not today. I have matters to attend to. Now that’s hyung’s handwriting!”

“Do you think this is the reason why ahjussi was in such a bad mood earlier?”

“Tsk,” Lee Gilyoung clicked his tongue. “Damn bastard making hyung sad! I’ll head over there right now and show him a lesson!”

Shin Yoosoung grabbed the folder back from him. “Don’t give Mr. Kim any more trouble, you idiot! If Mr. Yoo gets mad at us I’m not defending you!”

They were about to knock on the high school faculty room’s door when it suddenly opened, revealing Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye with guilt-ridden faces, similar to scolded puppies. They must’ve received an earful from one of the teachers who caught them brawling on the grass yesterday.

“Eh? Yoosoung and Gilyoung-ah?” Lee Jihye looked pleasantly surprised.

Kim Namwoon narrowed his eyes at them suspiciously. “Fuck are you two brats doing here?”

From inside the faculty room, Mr. Yoo’s voice barked, “Language, Kim Namwoon.”

Kim Namwoon shuddered and fumbled for an apology.

“What does it matter to you?” Lee Gilyoung glared up at his senior. “Why are you two here?”

“I should be asking you that question, you little rascal.”

Lee Jihye rubbed the side of her head. “We got scolded for running away yesterday. I was expecting Ms. Sooyoung to talk to us because she’s our adviser but… we were unlucky this time… what about you?”

“We just have something to deliver to Mr. Yoo,” Shin Yoosoung held up the folder. Then, leaning closer towards the two high schoolers, she added in a whisper, “It’s from Mr. Kim.”

The aura surrounding Lee Jihye brightened and she was immediately revitalized. She gave them a thumbs-up before winking and dragging Kim Namwoon away.

Inside, Mr. Yoo was sitting with perfect posture over a laptop. Lee Gilyoung’s eyes widened like saucers – hey, that’s a gaming laptop! What kind of teacher needs a gaming laptop?

Shin Yoosoung bowed slightly. “Good morning, Mr. Yoo. Dokja-ahju- I mean, Mr. Kim told us to deliver this folder to you.”

Mr. Yoo spared the kids one disinterested glance and gestured to the area before him. “Just put it on my desk.”

Gingerly, the kids did as they were told and hurriedly walked off.

Once they were out of the faculty, Shin Yoosoung glanced back at Mr. Yoo inside. He had already opened the folder and skipped to the back part, inspecting the note they found earlier. His expression looked darker than they’ve ever seen before, and they quickly ran back to their classroom for their next class.

Just when Shin Yoosoung thought they’re free from Mr. Yoo the rest of the day, she realizes with a sigh after lunchtime ends that today was, in fact, a Wednesday. Which means they’d have their PE and see that white-haired stupidhead and that scary PE teacher again…

“What’s wrong, bug boy?” Yoo Mia stared at Lee Gilyoung with her dark, piercing eyes. He almost shudders at how similar they were to Mr. Yoo’s. “You haven’t finished your chicken sandwich.”

“It’s nothing. Just feeling the sense of doom encroaching,” he puffed out his chest, proud that he had used a big word Mr. Kim taught them recently.

Shin Yoosoung rolled her eyes. This tryhard.

And so the most dreaded part of the day happens. Shin Yoosoung unbuttoned her pink cardigan and left it hanging on her chair’s backrest in the classroom before joining the line to the gymnasium. Upon sliding open the court’s doors, her two seniors were surprisingly not at the door to greet them.

“Move!”

… Because they were currently being chewed out by a very angry, very commanding, and very threatening Mr. Yoo.

Mr. Yoo, standing with his arms behind his back as he inspected the poor students on the floor, moved with the air of a drill sergeant. He stopped by a student struggling to do a push-up and knelt to his side.

“Lower,” he barked. “That doesn’t count as a push-up. If you keep this lousy performance up, you’d die by the time mandatory military service arrives.”

Eh? Die?!

“Y-Yes, Mr. Yoo…” This student replied weakly, trying his best to lower his torso for another push-up.

“And you…” Mr. Yoo continued pacing around their half of the court. “Some of you are slacking off! If I catch you, you will do double the amount I initially said. Remember, I require 30 push-ups. Then, twenty obstacle course repetitions around the track. You can only have your water break after you’ve finished the obstacle courses.”

Kim Namwoon, having finished his push-ups and was panting heavily in one corner, widened his eyes in disbelief and muttered, “20 obstacle course runs?! Are you fucking kidding me…?”

“Did I hear something, Kim Namwoon?”

“N-No, sir!”

A drop of sweat rolled down Shin Yoosoung’s forehead. “Hey, is it just me or…” she hesitantly pointed a finger towards the other half of the court, “is Mr. Yoo a lot more demanding today?”

Lee Gilyoung spared one uncaring look at the poor high school students. “I think it’s just you. Isn’t that what he’s like all the time?”

“Has a bug finally poked your eyeballs out? This is clearly different. Normally he’d be all–” Shin Yoosoung held her bangs to resemble eyebrows, “–hmm. Hmm.”

Lee Gilyoung chortled. “Pfft– stop, that looks just like him!”

“Right?” Shin Yoosoung moved her bangs to make her “eyebrows” look angrier. “But now he’s like, if you don’t drop and do 30 right now I will personally see to it that your kneecaps will be crushed under my heel."

“That’s highly specific. He didn’t say that.”

“He might as well have.”

Despite the heat, a cold, frigid air suddenly swept towards their way from the other side of the court. The two kids flinched, subconsciously whipping their heads towards the high school class’s side of the court where the teacher they were talking about stood. Mr. Yoo didn’t look this way, but it was like he heard every word they were saying.

It was Lee Gilyoung’s turn to sweat. “... Do you think he heard us?”

Mr. Yoo was yelling at a student right now. As if he had suddenly achieved clairvoyance, he glanced mid-yell at the direction they were at. Shin Yoosoung mentally debates passing it off as her hallucinating from fear. Then he locked eyes with her, and she immediately turned towards her own PE teacher out of fear.

“He definitely did…” Shin Yoosoung shivered. “That’s a bit freaky. And crazy. Is he some eldritch god?”

Sir. Wukong was happily discussing something about a dodgeball match they’ll be having later, blissfully unaware of the daggers being drilled into two of his students’ heads right now.

Shin Yoosoung discreetly looked back, hoping to find Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon somewhere. She saw Lee Jihye with a pitiful expression on her face crouching beside a figure laying face-first on the ground – oh wait, that was just Han Donghoon. He clearly suffered the most from today’s session.

“Do you think this is because of what Mr. Kim did?” Shin Yoosoung inquired. “In that note we found earlier. Mr. Yoo’s definitely mad because of that.”

“Maybe, but to this extent? That’s not even hyung’s fault!” Lee Gilyoung said as he bent down to stretch and touch his toes. “Mr. Yoo just has serious anger issues. That’s not our problem anymore.”

“For once I think you’re right,” Shin Yoosoung agreed. “We can ask Jihye-unnie about it tomorrow at lunch. Let’s join the others for dodgeball – and your buggy butt better not drag me down.”

Lee Gilyoung stuck his tongue out at her. “Whatever! Let’s see who gets the most points!”

When Ms. Sooyoung walked into her class at 8 AM on a Thursday, more than half of her students had their heads on their desks. But of course, whatever happened the previous day was none of her business, so she set down her bag by the teacher’s desk and clapped her hands to wake her students up.

“Ooh, you all look horrible.” Ms. Sooyoung commented moments later, when her class groggily rose from their seats to give her the morning greeting. “Why do you all look like you just personally came back from the gates of hell?”

“Mr. Yoo…” a student clung to their desk, legs shaking. “That man is the devil. We might as well have come back from hell itself.”

“Save us, Ms. Sooyoung!” another cried out. “We can’t take it anymore!”

Their literature teacher merely waved her hand dismissively. “Alright, settle down and take your seats. Tell me, what did that Mr. Yoo bastard do?”

“Made us run 20 laps around the school’s obstacle track…” A student shivered as they took their seat at the front. “We’re not even on the track team…”

“He wouldn’t stop until all of us did 30 pushups,” another complained, eyes looking shell-shocked. “He personally saw to it that we completed them too! I–I can’t even do one pushup!”

Even Lee Jihye, who was supposedly used to such rigorous training, felt her muscles strain and her legs weaken. She cast a quick, sympathetic glance at Han Donghoon looking half-dead and clutching his phone for dear life. Even he couldn’t slink away and hide from Mr. Yoo this time.

Taking her seat, she tapped her seatmate’s shoulder. “Hey Namwoon, don’t you think Master was a lot harsher this time around?”

Kim Namwoon flinched at her touch. “Jesus, you– yeah, he was. My legs are fucking killing me right now. Also… Master?”

“I thought it would be appropriate after he promoted me to swim team vice captain. At this rate, I’ll be captain next year,” Lee Jihye whispered while Ms. Sooyoung spoke in front. “What do you think brought on his bad mood, though?”

“I bet it’s something those evil Mr. Kim brats did,” Kim Namwoon thought out loud. “They delivered something to him that morning.”

“What? But they’re on our side,” Lee Jihye argued. “There’s no way they’re purposely sabotaging our operation.”

“Can we not call it an operation? It sounds stupid.”

“You’re stupid.”

“You’re–”

“Ugh,” Ms. Sooyoung suddenly groaned, halting her lecture. She was in the middle of attending to student concerns when she put down her glasses (which Lee Jihye presumed were fake) to address the class. “It’s hard to stand here when you all look like you’re at death’s door. Was it really that bad? Was Mr. Yoo seriously that harsh and unforgiving yesterday?”

“Yes…” the class answered in unison.

Ms. Sooyoung considered this. She sighed as she gave up on her discussion, writing a new sentence on the board. “I have to apologize on his behalf. Mr. Yoo’s been a little stressed lately due to several responsibilities being shoved onto him by the principal on top of other personal reasons, but it’s not my place to say.”

“Oh, I’m sure…” Lee Jihye excitedly mumbled under her breath.

Kim Namwoon rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be sure to give that bastard a good talking-to. But of course, the workload is to be expected,” Ms. Sooyoung shrugged, “since the school’s sports festival is coming up, after all.”

At the mention of a school festival, the students started to excitedly whisper among themselves.

“Ohoho, now you brats are interested and energized,” Ms. Sooyoung accusingly pointed her lollipop towards the class. “Makes my job easier. I will start listing the activities so we can decide which students will represent our class for which sport.”

Almost everyone in the class cheered at the prospect of a sports festival.

The sports festival always happens a few weeks after summer break ends. Aside from the school cultural festival, it’s one of the most highly anticipated events because there were no lectures for two days and they would all get together to compete against other classes.

Class 2-C proceeds to fall into a highly serious, highly competitive debate that will surely earn them complaints from other classes. Kim Namwoon feels like he’s playing Ace Attorney all over again. Han Donghoon, sitting two rows behind Lee Jihye – poor guy – is desperately trying to make himself as hidden as possible… at least, as much as his shoulders allowed him to. Lee Jihye however, is busy writing something down in her notebook.

Kim Namwoon isn’t particularly interested in the debate, choosing instead to steal a quick, hopefully unnoticed glance in Lee Jihye’s way–

— Which soon turned out to be an unexpectedly long, unreturned gaze.

Lee Jihye wasn’t interested much in the class debate over sports assignments either, even though she was raring to participate last year. They shared the same sentiment; it didn’t matter what sport they put her in this year, because Kim Namwoon knew that Lee Jihye was going to do her best either way.

Lee Jihye is like the sun. She’s energetic, bright, and extremely annoying, yet Kim Namwoon can’t help but be melted under the rays of her companionship every single day.

Now, she’s writing something with a small, maybe involuntary smile on her lips. Kim Namwoon rests his cheek on his palm. Ever-passionate, ever-confident and headstrong Jihye. What could she be writing about that’s so serious she isn’t even paying attention to the sports festival discussion–

“Oh, wow.” Han Donghoon whispered to himself, eyes flying back and forth between the two students in front of him. “So you can make an expression like that too, huh…”

“— As for the two-person relay race representatives, I think it’ll be great to have Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon.”

The aforementioned students instantly jerked back to reality up at the sound of their names being called. “Huh?”

“Oh, that’d be great!” A classmate snaps his fingers. “Lee Jihye’s an athlete, isn’t she? She’d be perfect for this!”

Lee Jihye whipped her head towards that classmate. “What?!”

“Kim Namwoon is also very fast. Have you seen him whenever we play basketball? Man’s got zooms for days.”

Kim Namwoon nearly reeled from shock. “The hell?!”

Lee Jihye abruptly stood up, pointing a finger towards her seatmate. “Hey! I’m fine with being in any event, but not with this guy! Anything but this jerk!”

“What is your fucking deal?” Kim Namwoon slammed a fist on his desk, startling Han Donghoon reading on his phone. “It’s not like my ass is gonna drag you down!”

“I’m not worried about finishing last because of you,” Lee Jihye placed a hand on her hip, “I just don’t want to be partnered up with you.”

Kim Namwoon felt full offense at her words. “What the hell is this immature shit? Just say yes to the damn assignment and get it over with.”

Somewhere at the back, two of their classmates had leaned in towards each other. “Hey,” one of them said, “is it really okay to have these two represent 2-C together?”

“Yeah, don’t they always fight? Everyone knows this. What is Ms. Sooyoung thinking?”

“It’s fine,” Han Donghoon said, mostly to himself. The two at the front didn’t hear him and they continued on with their conversation, unaware of a third party’s opinion. “I think… I think they would make a pretty good team if they tried.”

From the front of the class, Ms. Sooyoung broke her chalk in half and swiftly threw it, hitting Lee Jihye's forehead dead-center.

“Ow! Ms. Sooyoung, what was that for?”

“You two have the highest PE practical scores,” Ms. Sooyoung reminded them with a stern expression. “You two are our class’s hope. You’re not going to die if you team up together. So what do you say?”

Lee Jihye returned to her seat with a huff. Reluctantly, she nodded, all the while glaring daggers at Kim Namwoon.

“Good. I’m glad that we all agree on that,” Ms. Sooyoung, the utter schemer, looked delighted for some reason. “Now for the other sports–”

When lunchtime rolled around, the six aspiring FBI agents met up in the abandoned building with the chalkboard instead of the courtyard.

“You two should definitely get KakaoTalk,” Lee Jihye advised Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung. “Makes communication much easier. See, even Han Donghoon has one!”

“I don’t have a phone,” Lee Gilyoung said.

“Mine’s currently broken, so we just rely on Yoo Mia when we need to text you,” was Shin Yoosoung’s reply.

“Why are we even here today?” Kim Namwoon popped open his collar and fanned his neck. “It’s so damn hot in this place. Couldn’t we have hung out in the courtyard instead?”

“We have to update our analysis, duh,” Lee Jihye spoke as if it was obvious, already pulling off the black blinds. As expected, the things they wrote last week were still here.

OPERATION: GET OUR TEACHERS TOGETHER
(ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIP STATUS)

“We have updates today,” Lee Jihye grinned. “Han Donghoon. Have you looked into what I asked for my favor?”

Han Donghoon’s hand, raised to bring a spoonful of homemade kimbap into his mouth, froze in mid-air and he flinched. “R-Right…” he lowered his spoon, averting his eyes from Lee Jihye’s intense gaze. “Um, I couldn’t find Mr. Yoo’s socials, but I did find Mr. Kim and Ms. Sooyoung’s. Mr. Kim has no posts… but I can confirm that the three of them have been together since high school.”

“Yeah, no shit, we already heard that yesterday,” said Kim Namwoon.

“None of them are in a relationship, though…” Han Donghoon sank further down his seat. “I think.”

“Brilliant!” Lee Jihye cheered. “My ship is back on! However, after yesterday’s events, we can’t rule out the possibility of a love triangle.”

“A love triangle is possible,” Shin Yoosoung agreed excitedly.

“A love triangle would be amazing,” Lee Jihye swooned. “Think of the tension! The pining! The yearning…”

“Hyung is such a catch,” Lee Gilyoung said in amazement. “It’s only right.”

“My oppa has such awful taste,” Yoo Mia despaired into her lunchbox.

“I really don’t want to think nor care about what adults do when they’re in love,” Kim Namwoon shuddered. “Teenagers are already insufferable enough.”

Han Donghoon stopped chewing at Kim Namwoon’s words, refraining himself from giving him a knowing look.

“So here’s the status!” Lee Jihye started to draw lines on the board. The five other students leaned closer in curiosity – even Kim Namwoon, who was heavily in denial.

On the board, Lee Jihye drew a triangle with their teachers’ initials, one on each vertice. Between HSY and YJH, she wrote rivals. For KDJ and YJH, the status was one-sided pining. And for HSY and KDJ, Lee Jihye labelled it as ???/possible yearning/there is definitely something. Lee Jihye clapped the chalk dust off her hands once she was finished.

“This,” Kim Namwoon deadpanned, “is vague as shit.”

“I still think oppa has bad taste,” Yoo Mia… agreed?

“It’s simple to understand and that’s the important part,” Lee Jihye marvelled at her work. “Alright! Now let’s wri–”

“Wait!” Shin Yoosoung spoke up as if she suddenly remembered something. “I’ve been meaning to ask this, but what’s up with Mr. Yoo? He was so Spartan to you guys yesterday.”

Han Donghoon’s face paled several shades in fear. “Don’t remind me…”

“Yeah, what the fuck was up with that?” Kim Namwoon pointed an accusing finger towards the two elementary kids. “You little shits definitely had something to do with it, didn’t you? He was only like that after you delivered that folder.”

Lee Gilyoung didn't back down from Kim Namwoon's attack. “Well, the truth is, your teacher placed a note in the folder asking Mr. Kim if they would walk together after class.”

“No way!” Lee Jihye pushed Kim Namwoon out of the way. “What did ahjussi say?!”

“He said he couldn’t walk with him yesterday because he was busy,” he finished. “Which is not his fault, of course!”

Both Lee Jihye and Yoo Mia gasped in shock.

“Master was rejected?!”/“Oppa was rejected?!” They exclaimed in unison.

“Isn’t this the second time that ahjussi rejected Mr. Yoo for something, too?!” Kim Namwoon uncharacteristically questioned. I don’t care about adults’ love lives, my ass.

“Second incident from what we know. What if more happened without us knowing? We should definitely intervene this time,” Shin Yoosoung balled her hands into fists. “Dokja-ahjussi needs us! He’s been super out of it this morning and yesterday, too. And Mr. Yoo too, I guess.”

“Fuck can we even do?” Kim Namwoon leaned back against a chair, unintentionally sitting a little too close (2 chairs away) for Han Donghoon’s comfort. “Isn’t this whole schtick supposed to be in secret?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already thought of a plan,” Lee Jihye grinned. “So here’s the thing – we all know about the upcoming sports festival, right?”

The 17-year old chuuni in-denial felt the pangs of an incoming headache. "You and your plans again..."

It’s an okay-at-best plan, really.

It’s not that honorable, it’s fool-proof, but it can work. If only it wasn’t made by Lee Jihye.

Honorable plans be damned, something had to be done or else not only one class but two would be doomed. To be honest, Kim Namwoon didn’t care about the brats’ class because he disliked Mr. Kim, but his PE grades were at stake here so he should at least give a damn.

First, they had to get close to their respective teachers to “pick up” on their problems. For Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung, this was easy enough mainly due to the fact that they already were close to Mr. Kim.

It wouldn’t be so difficult for both Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon either, since it was mostly Mr. Yoo overseeing preparations for the sports festival and they were, begrudgingly, partners for the two-person relay race.

They could immediately proceed to phase 2 of Lee Jihye’s Operation: Reconcile YJHxKDJ.

Currently, there are only two days left before the sports festival, and preparations are in full-swing. Usually, Lee Jihye would stay behind after school for club activities, but she was temporarily excused from attending them by the grace of the swim team captain due to the upcoming sports festival. Now, she would train for the race by running laps around the tracks and trying to beat her own record.

The thing is, Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye were fast on their own. It’s the baton pass part they usually fumbled. One would either react late, or curse at the other before running, and they could never get the timing right.

After a particularly difficult practice session, Kim Namwoon sat on the bleachers beside the school tracks. His sleeves were rolled all the way up to his shoulders, he was sweating like mad, and he just downed a whole water bottle. Lee Jihye was just as tired beside him, with her atrocious school skirt and leggings combo.

“I’m starting to think we’re cooked,” Lee Jihye popped open another water bottle. “Haah… at this rate, we’ll lose to the tryhards in class A by the time the sports fes actually comes.”

It was Ms. Sooyoung overseeing practice for today. She tossed another ice-cold water bottle into Kim Namwoon’s hands and he caught it in mid-air. “Seems like you guys are working hard,” she chirped, holding a clipboard and a whistle. “See, I was right when I thought you’d make a great duo.”

Lee Jihye fanned herself with her school blouse’s collar. “You’re having a lot of fun messing with us, aren’t you, Miss?”

“Of course,” she replied with no regard for their reactions. “You two have been working hard today and it’s almost 5:30 PM. We can resume practice tomorrow.”

“Ah shit, you’re right, it’s getting late,” Kim Namwoon checked his phone for the time. “Jihye, help me put the obstacles back in the storage shed.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she grumbled, but she was already getting up.

Ms. Sooyoung watched the two teenagers’ backs as they made their way to the red race track with a smile. These two students of hers seem to get along well.

On the other hand, the three elementary students were at the other side of the race track with Mr. Kim. Yoo Mia wasn’t part of their class, but she was there to accompany her two friends for Lee Jihye’s plan. Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung however, were part of jegichagi (shuttlecock kicking) and badminton respectively. After their own practice sessions, they offered to help out Mr. Kim place the equipment back in the storage shed.

In the distance, Yoo Mia saw Mr. Yoo discussing something with Ms. Sooyoung. While Lee Gilyoung kept Mr. Kim busy, Shin Yoosoung sent her the thumbs-up signal. Nodding, Yoo Mia skipped over to her brother.

“— At this rate, Principal Baram shouldn’t have to worry. Oh, Mia-ya,” Mr. Yoo ruffled the top of her head. “Done with practice?”

“Yeah! It was easy. These kids won’t know what hit ‘em in tug-of-war,” Yoo Mia proudly said. “Although… I kind of need oppa’s help in carrying some things back to the storage shed. I’m a little tired and they’re heavy.”

Mr. Yoo raised an eyebrow. He was about to open his mouth when Ms. Sooyoung raised a hand to stop him.

“It’s fine, Joonghyuk,” she made a shooing gesture with her free hand. “I can handle things on your end from here. Go accompany your sister.”

He doesn’t say thank you, but he nods his head once in gratitude. “Let’s go, Mia. Which items do you need help with?”

“Thanks, oppa! You’re the best!”

Briefly, Yoo Mia thinks she saw Ms. Sooyoung glance in the direction of the storage shed. Her eyes must be playing a trick on her… when she said she was tired it wasn’t completely a lie.

On Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung’s end, they were currently attached to Mr. Kim’s hip. They were both trying to get Mr. Kim to tell them stories while they carried sacks and safety cones to place back in the storage shed. And Mr. Kim happily chatted alongside them – he looked so happy it made the two kids feel a little guilty inside about what they’re about to do to him.

It’s fine, they reassured themselves. It’s for the greater good. It’s for our beloved teacher’s happiness in the long run!

“I really liked the ending, though,” Mr. Kim was saying while carrying two sacks of sand, one under each arm. “The Kaizenix revolution was very satisfying to read. I think my favorite scene of that novel was the coronation of the new heir with the Unbroken Faith blade. I can still picture it so vividly as if it were a movie. That novel was truly one of Han Sooyoung’s best works.”

Shin Yoosoung looked up in adoration, nearly dropping the safety cones. “Wow, Ms. Sooyoung is a writer?”

“One of the best,” Mr. Kim’s smile was genuine and apparent as he said this. “I can never tell her this because she’ll get an ego the size of Jupiter but she’s my favorite author. Did you know, in her very first novel, she actually used Mr. Yoo as the main inspiration for the protagonist?”

“Mr. Yoo as the protagonist of the story?” Lee Gilyoung cringed. “Was it heaping garbage? I can’t imagine him as a protagonist at all… he’s just so… so…”

Mr. Kim chuckled. “I understand, Gilyoung-ah. You’re right though; he’s emotionally constipated. He’s like a brick wall. Very stubborn and prideful, and that’s his biggest trait. Despite that, he made a pretty good protagonist... at least, in Han Sooyoung's work. Most times, it’s difficult having a conversation with him because I just never know what he’s thinking! And we’ve known each other for years, can you believe that?”

“Well… I think this communication thing is just something you two have to work on,” Shin Yoosoung offered innocently. “Maybe. I mean, that’s what you would tell us.”

“Yeah! Have a good talk-to with that sooty bastard!” Lee Gilyoung added. “And if words don’t work, you can always try to beat him in a fight. I’m sure you can do it, hyung!”

“Me, beat Mr. Yoo in a fight?” Mr. Kim laughed at his student’s words.

“Of course!” Lee Gilyoung, the world’s biggest 10-year old advocate for violence, encouraged. “Hyung is cool so he’d definitely be able to do it.”

Mr. Kim seemed to ponder this. “Hmm… if I played dirty, I’d definitely win against him. Ah, here’s the storage shed.” He put down the two sacks of sand next to the door and opened the door, looking off to the side. “Yoosoung-ah, can you give me the– ah?”

I’m really sorry, Dokja-ahjussi! Shin Yoosoung mentally apologized as she pushed her teacher, completely unaware, inside the storage shed. Like they had discussed, Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon jumped out from the bushes and quickly slid the lock shut before Mr. Kim fully recovered from his shock.

Chapter Text

Kim Dokja wondered what he had possibly done in a past life to deserve this.

Lately, he noticed that his students – namely Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung, the two from his class who leeched onto him the most – have been acting strange. They’ve been more pushy with their questions lately, unaware of how unsubtle they were. He also observed that they’ve been watching him a lot closer than usual… this was mostly evident in Lee Gilyoung, who rarely stayed focused in class, always distracted by the bugs sneaking in through the classroom windows.

Since Shin Yoosoung often hung out with him (sometimes against each other’s will), he can’t rule out the possibility that whatever shenanigan Lee Gilyoung was up to, she was definitely in cahoots with him.

The thought that two 10-year olds were conspiring something behind his back sends chills down his back. 10-year olds are a lot more determined than people give them credit for.

Then, one day he noticed them hanging out with Yoo Joonghyuk’s students as if they had magically become close. He couldn’t care much about Kim Namwoon but both Han Donghoon and Lee Jihye, to him, were tricky cases. To put the cherry on the cake, even Yoo Joonghyuk’s own sister was part of their little group.

Most of the time, he’d see the six of them huddle together in the school courtyard during lunchtime. Judging from their body language, they all seemed rather close with each other – even Kim Namwoon seemed to tolerate the kids’ company. The question is… what brought such an odd group together? And why did it feel ominous somehow?

Kim Dokja decided to pay them no mind. He did like to meddle with his students’ affairs occasionally just because he was nosy and excessively curious, but he didn’t like interfering with them. Whatever they’re up to, as long as they weren’t doing anything illegal, should be fine. Besides, he’s got his own set of problems to deal with.

… How did it end up like this, anyway? If there was one thing Kim Dokja feared more than 10-year olds scheming behind his back, it’s confrontation.

Especially when said confrontation took place inside a dark, cramped school storage shed with the outside locked and the only source of light a shut window.

What is this shitty high school romance-esque setting? This kind of situation is only reserved for bright-eyed and innocent young teenagers, not… brooding adults nearing their 30’s with lots of issues to unpack. Kim Dokja pretended he wasn’t hyper-aware of the man standing a few feet away from him.

The events of the past several weeks suddenly play out like a crappy film in his head. He hasn’t done anything wrong… as far as he knew.

“Kim Dokja.”

Ah.

He is suddenly reminded of the fact that there were only two people in the room; if this shoddy place can even be called one. Kim Dokja forced out a nervous chuckle. “Fancy seeing you here, Joonghyuk-ah.”

Yoo Joonghyuk returned his gleefully fake greeting with a scowl. “When I get out of here, I’m taking away Mia’s iPad privileges for a month.”

This catches the other by surprise. “Yoo Mia? You mean you didn’t…?”

“She asked me to help her carry equipment,” Yoo Joonghyuk crossed his arms. “When I turned around, the door was already locked shut.”

“Strange, my students did the same thing. They’re not unreasonable kids so I think if I tell them to let us out, they will,” Kim Dokja turned to face the door and knocked on it. “Hello? Yoosoung and Gilyoung? I know you two are out there.”

There was no response.

Kim Dokja tried again, knocking louder this time. “Shin Yoosoung? Lee Gilyoung?”

“I tried getting my sister to open it but it’s no use,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, mild annoyance in his tone. “If she’s not unlocking this door, then there’s nothing we can do.”

“Oh c’mon, we’re not going to give up that easily,” Kim Dokja scoffed. “Can’t you use that stupid strength to, I don’t know, kick this door down?”

“And be held liable for damaging school property? No.”

“I don’t suppose you have any better ideas? Hey, do you think that window opens?”

“It doesn’t.” Yoo Joonghyuk answers, slowly losing it. “Are you going to tell me to break that too?”

“What, and risk getting glass shards exploding in my face? At least wood is easier to break down.”

“Why are you in such a rush to get out of here?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked in exasperation. “Let’s just wait it out. Those kids will get bored and eventually let us out.”

“Why would they even do something like this?” Kim Dokja tried to take a seat on one of the sandbags but the darkness was quite hard to move in, so he stumbled. He would’ve fallen to the floor if it weren’t for a familiar hand catching him at the last second.

“Carefool, idiot,” Yoo Joonghyuk snapped, hoisting him up.

Kim Dokja recoiled from his touch. “Don’t. No need. I’m fine on my own.”

“I should’ve just let you fall.”

Kim Dokja clasped his two hands together and striked an exaggerated damsel-in-distress pose. “Oh, how noble! I didn’t know you had it in you to be such a hero, Yoo Joonghyuk, terror of the Seoul Integrated School. I am so honored and lucky to receive His Majesty’s grace!”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s expression returned to his signature resting bitch face. “I’m going to kill you one day.”

“And be held liable for murder?” Kim Dokja mirrors his words from earlier. “So you can excuse murder but cross the line at property damage?”

A snort escapes from Yoo Joonghyuk’s mouth, and Kim Dokja freezes.

“Yoo Joonghyuk, you…” Kim Dokja gasped. “You laughed!”

He immediately switched expressions and straightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“N-No, you laughed! I saw that!” Kim Dokja said as if he was accusing him of a crime. “Yoo Joonghyuk, you actually know how to laugh?”

“Of course I do?” Yoo Joonghyuk raised an eyebrow. “You’re just not comedic enough to hear it.”

“I’m plenty comedic, thank you very–” He stops mid-speech when he feels Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes on him. “What? What is it now? Why are you–”

“Nothing,” Yoo Joonghyuk holds his gaze, steady and true. “This is just the first time we’ve talked like this in a while.”

“Well, duh?” Kim Dokja stressed the single syllable. “It’s not everyday you get trapped together with your long-time friend in some small room. Now that I think about it, this place is really cramped and hot.”

“No, you fool, I mean–” Yoo Joonghyuk rubbed his temple; Patience. Restraint. Murder is illegal. “Just talking, like this. The two of us.”

“I’ve been busy,” Kim Dokja replied automatically, a little too quick. “That’s all there is to it.”

“Is it?”

“It is,” Kim Dokja said, but the words felt dry on his mouth so he resorts to doing what he does best: changing the topic. He points to the sandbag he was supposed to sit on. “Can you help me bring this to your side? I think the other sandbags are beside you.”

“Get it yourself.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake–” Kim Dokja tried to pick up the sandbag but it was a lot larger than the ones he previously handled. His arms strained under the pressure. “Yeah no, I can’t. These are too heavy for me.”

“That’s because you barely exercise,” Yoo Joonghyuk says as he, almost mockingly, effortlessly picks up not one but two of the same-sized sandbags. This showoff. “Where should I put these?”

“To your left,” Kim Dokja answers flatly. “Hold on, let’s switch places. I need to rearrange the traffic cones I brought in.”

The two went to work doing what they originally came to the shed for, but not without exchanging a few empty threats and breaking into petty arguments every other sentence. Less than five minutes in, they were already shoving and pushing each other around.

“Can you fucking move?” Kim Dokja said as he held a bundle of brooms in his arms. “Your leg is blocking my foot’s path.”

“I can’t just move, you fool,” Yoo Joonghyuk spat back, a BOSU ball under one arm and two volleyballs under the other. “You have to step aside so I can place these balls back in the basket.”

This walking headache of a man, Kim Dokja thought. “The other brooms are on your side of the shed. I can’t dump these there because your stupidly muscled body is blocking the way.”

“Just go,” Yoo Joonghyuk gritted his teeth. “Pass in front of me. I’ll stay still.”

Easier said than done. The space was a little dark and small, so Kim Dokja had to squeeze his way through. With his body pushing against Yoo Joonghyuk’s to get to the other side, he feels like he’s on his morning commute in the train. It takes a bit of shuffling but the two are able to accomplish their tasks and move on with the other items.

“Gymnast mat,” Kim Dokja slaps the thick, blue mat. “Never seen this used before. Has our school always had a gymnast?”

“It’s a recent addition,” Yoo Joonghyuk said. “Stop slapping it. It’ll topple over.”

“No it won’t,” he slapped the gymnast mat again, just because. The material was really soft and durable – the school must’ve spent a lot of money on it. “See? It’s like slapping a sack of rice. Very satisfying.”

Yoo Joonghyuk merely stared at him like he’d gone crazy.

“... Why are you staring at me like that? Stop it.” Kim Dokja bent down to pick up the last basketball. “There’s still some balls on the ground. Where’s the basket, again? Hey, why’d you move it? It was on this side earli– shit!”

“Kim Dokja!”

When he straightened his posture, he had accidentally taken a wrong step and ended up stumbling (read: falling) over. Normally he isn’t this clumsy but it’s hard to maintain focus when you’re bickering with someone inside a dark and small space. Although Yoo Joonghyuk reached out to catch him, he wasn’t able to grab onto the other in time so Kim Dokja fell backwards, towards the gymnast mat.

It’s an ungraceful fall. When his back hit the mat, the lower half of it got pushed further into the wall until the top half started to fall over. The two teachers quickly tried to move out of the way but–

CRASH!

Luck wasn’t on their side this time.

“Cough, cough– hey, your elbow is touching my–”

“That is not my elbow.”

“Get off of me, bastard!”

“I can’t, even if I wanted to!”

“I don’t know about you but this position is a bit…” Kim Dokja was lying painfully on his back against a sandbag with Yoo Joonghyuk leaning over him, using his elbow to anchor himself like he’s doing a plank and the other arm uselessly trying to squeeze in the space beside them.

Oh, and their faces were mere centimeters apart.

Kim Dokja has seen Yoo Joonghyuk’s mug enough times to the point where he’d be able to remember his looks and features even when they’re in a dark room. It’s unfair – are men allowed to have lashes that pretty? A nose and facial structure so perfectly sculpted? And he’s speaking from a purely aesthetic point of view. Anyone could look at Yoo Joonghyuk and think wow, what a man.

He gulped. “This. Isn’t this a bit…?”

“Don’t say a word.” Yoo Joonghyuk warns, his breath warm against his cheeks. Way too warm.

“If I don’t speak then how else are we supposed to get out of this situation?” Kim Dokja looks to his side, assessing the damage. Well, most of their hard work tidying up had gone to waste due to the landing mats coming down on them. Some racks and stands had fallen over too, and– hell, his back is starting to hurt, and if Yoo Joonghyuk won’t move he’s sure he’ll get worse spine problems than the ones he already has. “Unless you find a way to get up, my back is screwed.”

Yoo Joonghyuk tried to straighten his arms and push backwards but it was with great difficulty. The mat got heavier due to the added weight that came from a rack of equipment falling on top of it. He grunted as he tried to push and sweat rolled off his forehead.

It was then that Kim Dokja realized this wasn’t a great plan. He couldn’t get out because he was currently trapped in between the other’s arms.

“Yoo Joonghyuk, hey…”

“What is it? I’m trying to push this thing off.”

“I can’t get out at this angle,” Kim Dokja deadpans.

Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t stop. “You will when I get this mat off my back.”

“Stop grunting, you idiot, you’re going to waste your energy–”

A flood of light suddenly burned Kim Dokja’s retinas as the door suddenly swung open and he almost felt relieved, if not for–

“The kids told me they heard a crash and I came as soon as possible! What did you two idiots get yourselves into this time?!”

Oh no. Han Sooyoung.

Behind her, none of the kids can be seen. They must’ve cleverly hid themselves in the bushes again before the door opened.

“Geez,” Han Sooyoung rubbed the side of her head stressfully. “What the hell happened here– oh.” Her eyes sunk down to behold the sight before her.

They were in quite the incriminating position. Yoo Joonghyuk, although forcefully, is seen leaning over Kim Dokja trapped in between his arms and looking to the side. Both of them were sweating like mad, but only because the ventilation in the storage shed was crap. Out of context, one would think that they were…

“Not a word,” Kim Dokja icily warned her. “Just help him get the damn mat off his back.”

Han Sooyoung nodded, her lips trembling to hide the laughter almost bubbling over. This is surely going to become a topic in their shared groupchat later, but for now they had to clean up their mess. After Han Sooyoung had fixed the rack and gotten the heavy landing mat off of Yoo Joonghyuk’s back, she left the two to tidy up the mess in the storage shed, muttering something about high-tension situations.

Surprisingly, Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t find it awkward to speak to each other despite the earlier encounter. Throughout the entire cleanup process, they spoke and bickered like nothing happened. The sun had long set when they finished, and Kim Dokja could no longer feel any eyes watching him. Good. At this time, those kids should already be going home.

“God, that was tiring… I want to get myself something good later.” Kim Dokja yawned as he stretched. “It’s actually nice having you around. When you’re not going against everything I say.”

Yoo Joonghyuk gave him a side-eye. “... You’re not half-bad yourself.”

“Really? That’s all you have to say to me?” Kim Dokja feigned a disappointed sigh. “And here I thought we were finally having a bonding moment. Guess we’re just fated to always get on each other’s nerves.”

“Yoo Mia should be somewhere close by. When we get home I’ll definitely give her a firm talking-to,” Yoo Joonghyuk ignored his statement. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. Finally, after a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “Do you want to come home with m– us and stay over for dinner?”

“Hmm…” Kim Dokja pretended to think about it carefully. “When you’re the one cooking, how can I say no?”

“We nearly got ahjussi injured…”

Lee Gilyoung tied the bandana around his forehead tighter. “It ended up fine in the end though so it should be alright.”

“We’re never doing that again,” Han Donghoon nodded. “He could’ve ended up in danger.”

“In danger? Oh c’mon, be serious,” Kim Namwoon sighed in exasperation. “They’re not gonna die from being crushed by a fucking gymnast mat.”

The next time they were able to gather was during the actual day of their school’s sports festival. The past two days have been busy due to practices and preparations ramping up so they haven’t been able to update each other on their operation’s current standing.

“If you ask me,” Yoo Mia chewed on a bubble gum as she toyed with the ends of the ribbon bandana on her forehead, “I think that experience went well overall for both of them.”

“Did Master get mad at you, Mia-ya?” Lee Jihye asked, to which the girl in question shook her head.

“He went on a whole spree about how he’s going to take away my iPad rights in front of the ahjussi but never actually did anything,” Yoo Mia replied with a small smile. “He seemed kind of happy that ahjussi was finally talking to him like normal again.”

Summer was supposed to be over and the transition to fall should’ve happened already but it was still so hot. It was currently 11 AM, and the five of them were sitting on the bleachers, overlooking one of the elementary events.

“It’s Shin Yoosoung! It’s her turn!” Lee Jihye shouted as she pointed towards the badminton court set up below ground. “Yoosoung-ie! You better make unnie proud and beat the other kid’s ass!”

“Noona, you’re making a scene,” Lee Gilyoung tried to ignore the stares the other elementary students were giving them.

“Yoosoung! Show them you’re no pushover! You better win, you hear me?! Unnie didn’t raise you to be a loser!”

Shin Yoosoung looked over in their little group’s way and gave a small, confident fist bump, her other hand holding the racket. When she faced the court, her smile turned into an expression of focus.

Her game started shortly after. Shin Yoosoung must’ve practiced a lot for this, because she was ruthless. Despite her small stature, she was able to keep her opponent on his toes, always scrambling around his side of the court. When Lee Jihye witnessed Shin Yoosoung winning her match, she cheered the loudest alongside Lee Gilyoung.

“Excuse me… sorry, excuse me…”

Lee Gilyoung stepped aside to let a few tall students through. These students, clad in their PE uniforms and the same red bandanas Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon wore, tapped on the former’s shoulder. “Jihye? Ms. Sooyoung’s been looking for you. The two-person relay race is about to start.”

“Aww, but I wanted to watch my cute junior play more…” Lee Jihye tightened her bandana with determination. “Can’t be helped. Namwoon.”

“You don’t need to call for me,” Namwoon stood up from his seat, leaving the water bottle beside Lee Gilyoung. “We’ll be back. Our event’s starting.”

“I don’t care if you win or lose,” Lee Gilyoung glared at him. “Just don’t bring noona down.”

“What did you say, you little–”

“Namwoon.” Lee Jihye pinched his ear and pulled. “Let’s just go. Stop picking fights with the kids.”

“Ow, ow, ow! Alright, alright, I won’t, just let go!”

The two classmates who called for them exchanged worried glances. Is their class really going to be okay if their representatives are like this?

There were more people watching the high school events. Of course, that was only natural – Lee Jihye was a school athlete, so of course she’d be recognized and any event she’ll participate in will be anticipated by many. Still, having so many people watching her… it’s a little nerve-wracking, but exciting nonetheless.

The players all lined up in their respective lanes on the school track. Lee Jihye can see the intricate obstacle course set up for the relay. It’s nothing she wasn’t used to, since Mr. Yoo made them run the same course, but still, she was worried. When she looked back at Kim Namwoon, she saw him already looking at her.

Kim Namwoon must’ve sensed her worry, because he grinned. “What, you getting chicken feet now?”

Lee Jihye lightly punched his shoulder. “You wish. I’m trusting you just this once, so don’t waste it, ‘kay?”

“Whatever. Just get behind me already.”

Kim Namwoon was the first runner. Lee Jihye had much more stamina than he did so it was better for her to run during the later laps. He tightly held the baton in his left hand.

“Ready?” The referee called out, raising the starting pistol in the air. Kim Namwoon’s toes dug into his shoes in anticipation. When the starting pistol was fired, Kim Namwoon shot through the tracks, baton in hand.

He almost thanked Mr. Yoo’s extensive PE classes. Most of these courses were stuff they had already covered in class. He heaved for breath as he weaved through each one with effort, successfully finishing one lap before running his second lap.

Countless cheers filled their ears. Even the classmates they weren’t originally close with cheered out “Kim Namwoon!” with every ounce of sincerity. That’s the thing about sports festivals – during these two days, any personal feelings against each other will be cast aside in favor of team spirit and class camaraderie. Such is the passion of youth.

Kim Namwoon tried to not let the other students overtaking him get to his head. If he could just get to the starting line again… if he could get there on time…

“Kim Namwoon!”

Ah, Lee Jihye’s voice. He subconsciously looked up to see her looking over her shoulder, waiting for him.

“Hurry up and get over here already, you idiot!”

Energy surged through Kim Namwoon’s calves. “Don’t tell me what to do!” Like they had practiced so many times, he handed her the baton with their eyes locked. Lee Jihye gave him an encouraging smile.

Before Kim Namwoon could return the expression, she already took off, much like an arrow being fired. No, she was much swifter than an arrow, even. The red ribbon-like bandana whipped about stylishly in the wind as she ran, her speed a proof of her hard work alongside all the gruesome training sessions she had with Mr. Yoo.

It was such a beautiful sight, Kim Namwoon’s heart felt like it would soar.

Lee Jihye rushed past him for the fourth lap, the wind seemingly giving her the extra movement speed. Soon, he found himself cheering her name, too. In the next lap, he would run once more before passing her the baton for the sixth and final lap.

Lee Jihye made it to the starting point, but she was panting heavily. No words were exchanged as Kim Namwoon took her place, picking off what she had left.

On the bleachers, three kids had squeezed their way through the crowd of highschoolers to get a good view of their friends who were currently competing.

“I’m glad we made it!” Shin Yoosoung exclaimed as she spotted Lee Jihye waiting in the starting line. “It’s Jihye-unnie!”

“Looks like hair bleach bastard’s running right now. Does he always run that fast?” Lee Gilyoung pointed to Kim Namwoon impressively. “Hey, didn’t he look cool just now?!”

“They’re not fighting, surprisingly,” Yoo Mia commented. “Han Donghoon, you’re not participating in any event?”

The act of asking that question to him of all people felt a bit cruel. The sight of Han Donghoon staring gloomily at the ground was all she needed to know.

The deafening cheers drowned out their conversation, and all eyes turned to the track as the last lap started.

“It’s all on you now, Jihye!” Kim Namwoon passed Lee Jihye the baton for the last time today.

“Of course it is. I’m the star after all!” Lee Jihye took the baton in hand, the transition from his hand to hers smooth as their fingers brushed together briefly, and sped past him for the final lap.

Lee Jihye was currently behind four people. It couldn’t be helped – the other classes had athletes competing in the race too. She felt the cheers raise in volume when she passed by one.

“GO, JIHYE-UNNIE!”

A certain cheer had her glancing sideways towards the bleachers.

There was Shin Yoosoung, Lee Gilyoung, Yoo Mia, and even Han Donghoon. Almost all of them were looking at her, at Kim Namwoon, and screaming their lungs out. These cute juniors of hers, really! Not only that, but Mr. Yoo – and is that Mr. Kim ahjussi?! – was standing beside the bleachers, blending among the crowd of students.

What’s Master doing here? Wasn’t it Ms. Sooyoung standing there a while ago? Lee Jihye didn’t want to embarrass herself in front of the man who expected much from her, so she picked up the pace.

Kim Namwoon’s voice was within earshot now. “Lee Jihye!”

Lee Jihye overtook another student. She was now in third place, but third place wasn’t enough.

“Jihye!”

“I know!” Somehow, Kim Namwoon’s irritating face made her want to try harder. It’d be embarrassing losing to him of all people. She overtook another student for second place.

Kim Namwoon was reaching his arm out to her. The end of the race was so, so close now. With one last surge of strength, she outstretched her own arm and took his hand, collapsing towards the finish line once she crossed it. A deafening roar from the onlookers at the bleachers rang loudly in her eardrums and she was immediately hugged by her classmates at the stands, but all she could see was Kim Namwoon’s insufferable face grinning down at her.

We did it, he seemed to say. See? We make a pretty good team sometimes.

He outstretched his arm to help her get up once their mini class celebration finished.

“Get up,” he said, voice laced with tiredness. He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his palm. “Let’s get water.”

For once, she couldn’t argue. She took his hand once more as they walked back to the bleachers where the others were.

Somewhere nearby, Mr. Kim clapped his hands as he stood beside Mr. Yoo. Having witnessed the entire two-person relay race, he can’t help but be impressed by the other’s students. He lightly elbowed Mr. Yoo as he clapped.

“Your students aren’t bad, Mr. Yoo,” he said with a pleased expression. “Is this the effect of your Spartan training?”

“They didn’t need me for that,” Mr. Yoo found himself saying, eyes fixed towards the track. “They’ve always had that potential.”

“Huh.” Mr. Kim puts on a teasing smile as he leans his elbow against the other’s shoulder. “Sounds to me like you’re getting fond of your students. I didn’t know you could feel this way, Joonghyuk-ah, it’s quite touching.”

“Shut up, Kim Dokja. Get off me. We have to move on to other events.”

“Hmm? Not staying to watch your kids?”

Yoo Joonghyuk turned tail to walk away. "Your students' events are about to begin. Jegichegi, 12 PM to 12:30."

“Yoo Joonghyuk?” Mr. Kim followed suit. “Hey! That’s the way to the elementary games! Do you just happen to have the game schedules memorized? Get back here! Let's watch them together!”

When the two teachers disappeared, the six eavesdroppers on the bleachers who were actually watching the whole thing from above collectively looked at each other like they had discovered the cure to cancer.

Chapter Text

Just like that, the school’s sports festival came to a close.

The second day was mainly reserved for award-giving. The winner of each event had to prepare a speech (In one night? Who the hell has time for that?), which Kim Namwoon was completely unaware about, so he had to improvise with Lee Jihye on the spot. Were it not for the first place award, he’d think the applause the rest of the student body were giving them was done out of pity.

Lee Gilyoung won second place in jegichagi, while Yoo Mia’s class won first in tug-of-war. Shin Yoosoung only fell short of second in third place as she was beaten by a really tall sixth grader, but Mr. Kim was still proud of his students nonetheless and assured that he – and, albeit unbelievably, Mr. Yoo – enjoyed watching their events.

Now that the sports festival was over, it was time for the school to move on to the next big event, the next source of entertainment. It’s been several weeks since the infamous oiled stairs incident that nearly cost Lee Jihye her leg, so boredom from a lack of stories was getting quite high. Luckily for the students, a juicy drama-inducing incident happened just one week after the sports festival.

It starts after Monday’s mandatory morning flag ceremony. Lee Jihye was yawning as she lined up with the rest of 2-C to return to their classrooms – there was something she stayed up quite a bit for last night, so she wasn’t able to get enough sleep. Upon reaching the second floor of the high school building, she noticed that most of the students were excitedly lurking around the hallways and looking down at something from the windows.

Her sharp ears picked up their words. “Everyone! It’s a public confession!”

“They still do those?”

“Isn’t that Kang Hyerin?!”

“No way, the Kang Hyerin? The brain and beauty of 2-A?”

“That’s definitely her on the courtyard! And the one next to her…”

“Soo Ahyeon? You mean the dude who recently won that summer kendo tournament?”

“Yes, that’s definitely him!” A student gasped, “Is he really going to confess?”

“He must be,” another replied in hushed tones. “Word on the streets say they’re childhood friends. It was only a matter of time.”

Instantly, all of Lee Jihye’s morning drowsiness burned away.

“What?!” She immediately joined the other students leaning over the windowsills to get a view of the courtyard, unknowingly and accidentally elbowing someone in the face. “Who’s confessing to who now?”

“Ow!” Kim Namwoon rubbed his nose. “Jihye! Watch where you put your limbs, idiot!”

“Oh hi, Namwoon.”

“Hi, my ass,” He glared at her, all the while holding Han Donghoon’s arm to prevent that guy’s meek self from getting swept away by the crowd. “That fucking hurt!”

Below, Soo Ahyeon had brought along a large set of speakers. Hang on, weren’t those the speakers the school used for the flag ceremony? Kang Hyerin’s pretty face was pleasantly shocked, cheeks lightly flushed pink – which isn’t surprising, considering all the attention they were gathering by being here. She didn’t seem to mind though, gaze fixed at the student athlete fumbling with the speakers before her.

In her eyes, Soo Ahyeon, framed by the autumn leaves dancing in the breezy morning air, looked absolutely charming today. Whether he was nervous or not didn’t show on his face; he pressed something on his phone as he held a microphone up to his chin.

“Kang Hyerin,” he started, simply. “My childhood friend, the person who has been with me the longest.”

Just those simple words elicited several reactions from the onlookers. It was like the sports festival all over again. Even Lee Jihye was swept up by the romantic mood, voice mixing with the hundreds of others cheering in the name of love.

An unexpected visitor made his appearance. Standing several inches taller than the high schoolers, he had no trouble looking over their heads to check out the situation in the courtyard. “Why’s it so lively this early in the morning? What’s going on here?”

The three from class 2-C whirled around to see a certain teacher. “Mr. Kim?”

Kim Namwoon raised an eyebrow. “What’re you doing here, ahjussi?”

Mr. Kim pretended he wasn’t affected by the teenager calling him ahjussi. “Just passing by to give Mr. Yoo something. Public confessions are still in fashion these days?”

He’s off to see Mr. Yoo again! Just how great can this day get?! “Of course they are!” Lee Jihye swooned. “It’s a little embarrassing but I think it’s very romantic! This cozy autumn setting sets the perfect stage… if someone confessed to me publicly like that, I totally wouldn’t mind.”

Han Donghoon pointedly glanced at Kim Namwoon.

“I see,” Mr. Kim craned his neck to see better. “They do look good together. I hope this doesn’t get in the way of their studies, though.”

“Have you ever been confessed to, ahjussi?” Lee Jihye asked, looking up at him expectantly.

Great, now even she was calling him that too. Mr. Kim gave a strained laugh as he held up his wrist for his non-existent pocketwatch. “Ah, look at the time! I really must be off now to find Mr. Yoo. See you around!”

“Wait, Mr. Ki–” Lee Jihye tried to call out, but he had already slipped away through the crowd.

“... He didn’t answer,” Han Donghoon reminded her. “I’m positive that means no one’s ever confessed to him before.”

“No one at all?” Lee Jihye pouted. “I feel bad for Mr. Kim now… we really should help him get together with Mr. Yoo as soon as possible! Not just for our benefit, but for his too!”

In the courtyard, Soo Ahyeon had finished setting up the speakers. “Kang Hyerin,” he said into the microphone, “You are the biggest blessing life has ever given to me. In order to show you what I truly feel, I dedicate this serenade to you!”

“Oh, Ahyeon-ah…” Kang Hyerin clasped her hands together curtly. “You know, just putting your feelings into words would be enough. I think I can already understand you.”

“It’s not enough yet. I want you to really feel how much I appreciate you.” With that, he pressed his phone screen, and the school’s speakers whirred to life. “Music, please.”

Ding! Ding!

“The bluetooth device is ready to pair…”

“Wait, fuck– ”

Like a low-budget sitcom, the student body collectively exploded into a fit of laughter.

From the second floor of the high school building, the Kim Namwoon who swore up and down that he ‘wasn’t affected by all this love shit’ winced. “Ouch, that’s gotta be fucking embarrassing.”

“This is going to be trending on the school’s freedom wall forum for months.” Han Donghoon agreed, his voice so tiny it was almost a whisper.

“Agh,” Lee Jihye looked pained, like someone had punched her in the gut. “Why did he have to screw up his own confession?!”

“You actually pay attention to those forums?” Kim Namwoon questioned the student in his hold. “I never took you for the type to be into gossip.”

“Well…” Han Donghoon rubbed his neck shyly, “I like the anonymity. I-I mainly just lurk, though.”

“Whatever,” Kim Namwoon’s gaze turned towards the two students on the courtyard. “You’ll never see me doing all that for someone. Having a crush is crazy; imagine saying shit like Oh, how was your day? What am I, a healthcare insurance company? It’s just lame.”

The stare Han Donghoon gives him is a thousand yards away. This guy…

“The bluetooth device is ready to pair…”

“...” Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoooung’s faces contorted in pity. It’s hard to tell whether they were concerned or cringing from Yoo Mia’s point of view. She continued watching the courtyard spectacle with an indifferent gaze.

The high schooler on the courtyard with the cool spiked hair and an even cooler figure quickly regained his composure – when the song finally started, the lady he was wooing standing awkwardly under the tree, Yoo Mia’s eye twitched.

This song… her bubblegum popped prematurely. That unmistakable guitar intro… no, it can’t be…

The student passionately clenched his fist, “When your legs don’t work like they used to before…”

Even Kang Hyerin’s jaw dropped.

“And I can’t sweep you off of your feet… Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love?”

Shin Yoosoung’s face was trying its best to keep up with the rollercoaster of emotions she was feeling right now. “I-Is he serious?”

“Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?”

“I don’t know, will people still stay friends with him after that?” Lee Gilyoung wondered aloud, petting a beetle between his fingers.

“AND DARLING IÍH – oh, shit–”

Not only had he cracked his voice at the high note, but he was suddenly stopped by a teacher with a bun. She smacked her student upside the head before grabbing his microphone.

“What are you kids doing, loitering around after the first bell?” Although it looked like she was warning them, she was actually grinning as she pointed accusingly at the hundreds of guilty students. “Get back to your classes! Homeroom’s starting soon!”

“Shit, it’s Ms. Heewon–”

“Quick! She’ll beat us with her kendo stick if she catches us!”

“Are you for real?!”

“I heard that!” Ms. Heewon blared louder into the microphone, her tone teasing; challenging, even. “Which student said that? I’ll show you a real beating when I catch you!”

“Idiot! Why’d you provoke her like that?!”

The high schoolers began to scramble back towards their classrooms… However, one brave student suddenly stepped in, snatching the microphone from her teacher’s hands.

“WAIT!” Kang Hyerin shouted.

With only one word, all activity in the courtyard and both school buildings halted. Even Ms. Heewon looked surprised, rendered speechless as she froze in her spot, eyes wide at the sudden interruption. In the sudden silence that elapsed, Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud (Instrumental ver.) continued to play in the background.

Kang Hyerin quickly gathered her wits. “Soo Ahyeon!” She called out to him. “I…”

The entire school waited with bated breath.

“I like you too!” Kang Hyerin yelled into the microphone, loud enough to ensure that everyone – no matter where they were in school at this time – would be able to hear. “I appreciate the song you sang for me! Really! You certainly have your own charm, and that’s one of the many things I like about you. But, um… that said, I don’t think I quite love you. At least, not yet.”

And the student population… exchanged confused glances?

Sensing as if things were about to plummet downhill, Soo Ahyeon took the microphone from her. “That’s– that’s alright! It’s okay, Hyerin-ie! We can take it slow. As slow as you want. I am more than willing to wait. But I promise you – one day, I will make you fall in love with me.”

Now this was the response everyone needed to see! Another round of uncoordinated applause, cheers, and hollers erupted from the student crowd; at the very least, though their relationship hasn’t 100% started yet, the foundation was there with both parties definitely feeling something for the other. As far as a public confession went, wasn’t this one rather successful?

“Okay, show’s over!” Ms. Heewon seized control of the microphone again, this time dragging Soo Ahyeon away. “Get to class already! You’re disrupting homeroom time for your advisers!”

“See you guys,” Yoo Mia waved to her two friends still wearing twisted expressions. “Lunchtime as always, ‘kay?”

“You heard Ms. Heewon,” their very own adviser says, his tall, slim figure leaning against their classroom’s doorframe. “Seems like you’ve all been having fun meddling in other people’s affairs.”

“It’s them who made the whole thing public, anyway.” Han Dareum hops off a stand, her neat donut braids bouncing as she did so. “That girl is so lucky!”

“I don’t think being serenaded with Thinking Out Loud counts as lucky…” Shin Yoosoung muttered as she walked to her seat.

“Why’d they not get together, though?” A classmate of theirs asked. “I mean, isn’t liking and loving the same?”

“It’s not,” Mr. Kim shook his head. “There’s a big difference between the two. You know, I once told a certain someone this but he just wouldn’t believe me! Knowing the difference between liking and loving is important, especially in today’s dating scene. But that’s not something you kids should be concerning yourselves with at this time. Just focus on making good friends.”

“But Mr. Kim… what exactly is the difference?”

Shin Yoosoung wanted to give her classmate who asked that several accolades.

“Well,” Mr. Kim coughed, pacing around in front of the chalkboard, “when you like someone, it’s light. It’s nothing serious. You think about them a lot but it’s not like you daydream about them constantly. Let’s think about it this way — do any of you have a favorite person?”

Several raised their hands. Mr. Kim pointed his eraser at a random one. “Go.”

“The unnie at the clinic is really pretty!” She says, cheeks flushed a slight pink. “I… I sometimes fake a cough and purposely trip myself just to see her. I think she’s really cool and awesome and she always looks out for me… and her white hair is so beautiful too… Is this normal?”

“That’s…” Mr. Kim sighed. “I get you’re at the age to start liking someone or have innocent puppy crushes on adult figures – and that’s completely normal, I had one too when I was your age – but please do not cause trouble for our Seolhwa-ssi. Also, please don’t purposely trip yourself.”

“What? Okay…”

“But what about love?” Another student drops the bomb of the day.

Mr. Kim falls silent.

Twenty pairs of eyes stare back at him, sparkling with innocence and expectation. Since he has an image as an approachable homeroom adviser to uphold, might as well humor his kids a bit.

“Love is… well, there’s different types of love,” Mr. Kim started. “But all you little gossipers want to know is romantic love, right? Can’t blame you – it’s everywhere. It’s on TV, it’s on every show you see, it’s everywhere in the air if you know where to look. The public confession this morning is one display of that kind of love. Everyone’s always talking about romance.”

The class all nodded obediently. Finally, was their beloved Mr. Kim going to reveal something?

“I had a first love, a long time ago,” Mr. Kim sighed wistfully, leaning against the desk. And there was that fond smile again, Shin Yoosoung noticed. It was the same one she saw him wear while talking to a certain PE teacher. She tapped Lee Gilyoung’s shoulder from behind to make sure he was paying attention.

“What? I thought you had no one?!”

“Kim-sonsaengnim hides too much…”

“Shut up and let him speak! We want to hear more!”

“This first love…” Han Dareum asked, “are they still around? Can you describe them?”

“Unfortunately, they’ll never come around,” Mr. Kim laughed as he shook his head, “because he was a fictional character from my favorite novel.”

The originally hopeful mood soured into disappointment at his words. Now that’s just lame.

“But this person represented all the things I wanted,” Mr. Kim continued, the small smile never leaving his face. “He’s very reliable and everyone trusts him with important matters. He’s not very great at expressing his emotions, but he always makes his feelings known through his actions.”

A puzzle was slowly being pieced together in Shin Yoosoung’s mind. “Hold on…”

While Mr. Kim went on about his “first love” an unlikely figure was actually approaching the classroom, sneakers dragging along the floor as he eyed each and every room. Chancing upon the mention of a “first love” accompanied by a rather strange description, he paused in his tracks.

“This person was always strong and steadfast in whatever he did,” Mr. Kim droned on, as if in a dreamy haze. “It’s hard not to be inspired when you look at him. And he’s described to be quite the looker too – thick eyebrows, really handsome face, wavy hair, tall… the works. It’s almost impossible to run into someone like that in real life.”

“Mr. Kim’s first love sounds so cool…” One of the kids sighed wistfully. “Do people like that really not exist in real life?”

“Admittedly, I’m not sure,” Mr. Kim shrugged, holding up his attendance sheet. “There’s billions of people on earth. We can only pray they exist somewhere. Now then, I’ll start attenda–”

“Mr. Kim Dokja.”

Lee Gilyoung dropped his pencil in surprise.

Mr. Kim faced the person at the door, his bright disposition a stark contrast to the looming thundercloud above this man’s head. “Mr. Yoo! What a surprise. Do you need something?”

The teacher in question dropped a folder unintentionally hard onto his desk with a loud THUD! Both his face and voice were neutral when he said, “You forgot this on my desk.”

“Ah, the memos! Thank you, Joonghyuk-ah. How thoughtful of you–”

“—And this, too.” Mr. Yoo raised his hand that held a neatly tied and rather cute lunchbox, wrapped in a blue squid-patterned handkerchief.

Mr. Kim’s mouth opened, unable to decide what expression to wear. “O-Oh! You made me lunch today, too?”

Lee Gilyoung turned in his seat to meet Shin Yoosoung’s eyes. Hello? Are you seeing this right now?

“Had a little extra leftover ingredients,” Mr. Yoo nonchalantly replied. Both Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung could tell by now that he was obviously making excuses. “What were you talking about earlier?”

“Ah, that? I was just sharing class reminders for a potential lecture–”

Han Dareum, unable to read the room, raised her hand. “Mr. Kim was just talking about his first love!”

“We just got to the part where he’s describing what his first love was like!” Another added, completely unaware of the effect that incriminating sentence had on their teacher’s dignity.

The look Mr. Yoo gives the other man is one of intrigue. “Class reminders, you say…”

“It’s just idle conversation. Unlike you, I am building a good relationship with my students. Unless…” Mr. Kim’s expression held a hint of teasing in the way the corner of his mouth curved up, “… you’re curious?”

“Mr. Kim Dokja-ahjussi,” a student politely raised his hand, “does Mr. Yoo have a first love?”

Mr. Yoo froze on the spot. The sudden interrogation made Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung fix their postures.

“Mr. Yoo?” Mr. Kim laughed at his colleague’s expense. “Oh, please. His first love is a gaming console.”

Mr. Yoo was silent for a long while, looking almost comical in front of the chalkboard as he was halfway across the room. Mr. Kim wasn’t looking at him as he fixed the stack of papers in the folder he had given him earlier, expecting the man to be out the door in a few moments.

But he didn’t do that. Eyes sweeping over the class of expectant elementary students, it landed on the literature teacher without the other noticing before he answered, “... I do have a first love.”

A few papers slipped from Mr. Kim’s grasp.

His class excitedly started to talk amongst themselves. No way, this tall and handsome teacher has a first love? And a real one, at that?

“What are they like, Mr. Yoo?!”

One of them sighed. “Oh, man. I don’t have a chance anymore…”

“They’re…” Mr. Yoo stared at the direction of the teacher’s table thoughtfully. He still hasn’t looked up from his papers. “They’re alright.”

Han Dareum groaned, “That’s it?! How long have you loved them? Do you still do? We need details!”

“Settle down, everyone,” Mr. Kim quickly raised his hands to placate his students. “Please remember that Mr. Yoo is a high school teacher. He’s not in our department. Let’s just respect his privacy, okay?”

“I’ve loved them for years now,” Mr. Yoo answered, unperturbed. “And there’s never been anyone else since.”

The class containing the world’s most nosy 10 year-olds gasped in chorus.

“How romantic!”

“I swear, I’ve heard this line somewhere before–”

“For years? That’s just like my parents!”

Mr. Kim let out a strained laugh as he shoved two hands behind Mr. Yoo’s back to lead him out the door. “I think you’ve been here long enough! Go back to your own class!”

Mr. Yoo promptly walked out without much struggle. When Shin Yoosoung looked at Mr. Kim’s face again, she saw that his ears had turned the slightest bit red.

“Although often used interchangeably, "real property" refers to the land along with the rights that come with ownership, including the right to possess, control, enjoy, and transfer the property. When you own the rights to a plot of land, you have two choices. You could either sell it, or hold onto that title so the value of the land increases as time goes by…”

Lee Jihye fought the urge to yawn. Economics is so damn boring…

Her eyes kept glancing over the clock on top of the chalkboard. There was only an hour left before lunch… which also meant she had to listen to Mr. Pildu rant about real estate for the next sixty minutes. None of the words were being retained in her mind.

Mr. Pildu was oddly passionate about real estate. Unfortunately, that passion is wasted on Lee Jihye.

Her gaze travelled down from the clock to the stack of papers in her hands, held together by a neon green binder clip. Beside her, Kim Namwoon was doing something in his notebook. He almost looked studious and responsible for a second, but Lee Jihye knew that he was just drawing his edgy dragon OCs again.

Mr. Pildu seemed engrossed in his lecture, talking as he wrote something on the board. Lee Jihye used this opportunity to tap Kim Namwoon’s shoulder. “Psst.”

Kim Namwoon spared her an annoyed glance before going back to his drawing.

Lee Jihye tried again. “Psst!”

Kim Namwoon ignored her.

This time, she threw an eraser at the side of his head.

“I’m drawing,” Kim Namwoon murmured in irritation. “Don’t disturb me.”

“Aw, c’mon, can’t you help a friend out?” Lee Jihye pointed to the binded papers on her desk. “Just read this.”

An aisle away, Kim Namwoon stared at the paper with a scrunched forehead, trying to see what it was. “Fuck is that?”

“My mom forgot to pay the internet bills, and our WiFi was cut off the entire weekend,” Lee Jihye explained, “so I wrote and printed out my fanfic.”

“You what?”

“You’ll know who it’s about when you read it,” Lee Jihye stretched her arm to give him the papers. “Read it and let me know what you think. I need constructive criticism.”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“You read webnovels and fanfiction too, this isn’t any different from the stuff you see online,” Lee Jihye rolled her eyes. She returned her focus back to the pathetic 3 lines of real estate notes on her notebook. “Just take it.”

“I’m not reading that shit. Go find someone else, like Han Donghoon or something.”

“Han Donghoon’s asleep. Now hurry up, my arm’s starting to ache.”

“I don’t care about your stupid–”

The stack of papers was suddenly taken from Lee Jihye’s hands. “What’s this?”

Mr. Pildu, at some point, had walked up to them. All of 2-C immediately had their eyes on their Economics teacher, and Lee Jihye is mortified. She immediately glued her gaze towards her notebook, and Kim Namwoon gave her a sincerely sympathetic look.

Mr. Pildu flipped the title page, squinting his eyes. Then, as emotionlessly as humanly possible, as if he were reciting a grocery list, he started to read aloud. “Yoo Joonghyuk locked the door behind him, a devilish smirk on his handsome face…”

All the hair on Lee Jihye’s arms stood.

“His dark orbs bore into the shorter man’s body, full of want,” Mr. Pildu’s eyes widened the more he read. “Kim Dokja, he said with his deep and husky voice, there’s only us tonight.”

Lee Jihye was mentally looking up prices for coffins and picking a good plot of land to be buried in. Stupid real estate.

“I know, Joonghyuk-ah, Kim Dokja stared up at him, shyly backing away from the mattress,” Mr. Pildue continued. “But we shouldn’t do this. It’s not right.”

How about flinging herself into the ocean instead? It’s cost-efficient.

“His lips crashed into the other’s all of a sudden. Ha! Hngh!”

Mr. Pildu shouted the last two sound effects as if they were scenes in a fight. A few girls in class stifled their laughs.

“Why is it not right? Yoo Joonghyuk asked. Kim Dokja looked at his black jewel-like orbs. Because you are too good for me. We should not be doing this. Shut up, Kim Dokja. Ha! Ngh! Don’t kiss me anymore, please go home. No. Why not? Because you are mine and only mine.” Mr. Pildu finally looked up from her literary masterpiece, stupefied and offended that had to experience reading such a thing.

The entire class was giggling now. Lee Jihye shamefully averted her teacher’s gaze as she planned her funeral.

She’s going to haunt Kim Namwoon for life. She’ll make sure of it. And in the next life too, she’ll make sure he experiences nothing but misery.

Ms. Sooyoung gleefully flipped over the last page and Lee Jihye adds her adviser’s name to the list of people she’ll haunt in this life and the next.

It was currently ten minutes into lunch. Mr. Pildu confiscated the literary piece of the century shortly after reading the first page, telling Lee Jihye she can only get it back from her adviser. So the first thing she did the second the bell rang was rush over to the faculty in hopes to get it back before anyone else saw it, only to see that Ms. Sooyoung was already reading it.

There were tears – joyful ones – in the high school literature teacher’s eyes as she leaned back against her chair. Ms. Sooyoung wiped them away with the back of her white coat’s sleeve.

“I have to say,” she spun her chair around to face Lee Jihye, “when Gong Pildu-ssi walked in here telling me your student has written the most scandalous thing I’ve ever read in my life, I didn’t expect it to be… about Dokja and Joonghyuk. Be proud and stand tall, Lee Jihye, you have the makings of a Postype writer.”

“Ms. Sooyoung,” Lee Jihye begged, “you must absolutely not tell them! It’ll ruin our plans–” she immediately clamped her mouth shut.

The slip-up catches Ms. Sooyoung’s interest. She props a hand to her cheek as she crosses her legs. “Oh? What plans?”

Lee Jihye gulped. She has all the evidence at this point… might as well tell her. “Well… we were thinking of getting Mr. Yoo together with the elementary teacher ahjussi…”

“We?”

“Just a small handful of us…” Lee Jihye guiltily replied. “Please, Ms. Han Sooyoung, you can’t tell anyone about this! It’s for the good of our and the kids’ classes! It’s also for Master’s sake too.”

Ms. Sooyoung cackled in her seat. “Oh, don’t worry! I won’t tell them if that’s what you want. In exchange, I’d like to meet your little group.”

“W-Why?” Lee Jihye asked in concern. “Are you going to give us a disciplinary warning, or something?”

“No, that’s too troublesome,” Ms. Sooyoung waved a hand dismissively. “I want to meet your group because it seems we do share the same goal.”

Lee Jihye looked up at her adviser with newfound wonder. “What?”

“It’s time for those two to break the stalemate, once and for all,” Ms. Sooyoung held up Lee Jihye’s printed fanfic. “By the way, may I have your permission to take this home with me? I can’t help but notice the grammatical errors in your writing. As your literature teacher, it’s my duty to guide my students in all their literary endeavors and provide constructive criticism when needed.”

Well, this all happened because she wanted constructive criticism in the first place. Lee Jihye mentally removes Ms. Sooyoung’s name from the list of people she’ll haunt in this life and the next. “Sure…?”

True to her word, Lee Jihye led Ms. Sooyoung to their group of aspiring FBI agents shortly after. They were hanging out in the courtyard today, trying to make the most out of the chilly autumn air. When Kim Namwoon saw Lee Jihye approach them, with Ms. Sooyoung in tow, he nearly ran away.

Ms. Sooyoung waved to the little group as if she were greeting a friend. “Hello, all. Are you the little group trying to get my colleagues together?”

Yoo Mia’s jaw dropped. “Sooyoung-unnie?!”

“Wait…” Lee Gilyoung’s eyes widened in slight panic, “How did you know that?!”

“I fucked up,” Lee Jihye admitted. “But it’s okay! She’s with us.”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Sooyoung,” Shin Yoosoung bowed, politely greeting the teacher.

Ms. Sooyoung chuckled. “No need for formalities! You can all call me noona or unnie. I’m here for the same reason as all of you. Let’s see… three elementary kids and three from my own class. What a neat little team we have here. Ah, Han Donghoon, you’re here too?”

Han Donghoon’s gaze was glued to his lunch box.

“So, before I officially get on,” Ms. Sooyoung sat on the bench beside the tree, opposite Kim Namwoon, “I want to know why you’re all doing this. What brought you all together?”

“... Promise not to tell?” Shin Yoosoung blinked cautiously.

“You have my word,” Ms. Sooyoung promised.

“In my case,” Lee Jihye began, “It’s all so Master can find the happiness he deserves. He’s been stressing us out a lot, so I thought… if there was someone who could be that person for him, he’ll change for the better!”

“Love is weird,” Kim Namwoon rolled his eyes. “I’m just here because Jihye dragged me into it.”

Lee Gilyoung glared in the direction of the high school building. “I don’t like that sooty bastard… but hyung seems to like him, so I have no choice.”

Shin Yoosoung curtly toyed with the hem of her pink cardigan. “I think Dokja-ahjussi looks really happy when he talks about Mr. Yoo. They seem like a good pair.”

Han Donghoon nodded in agreement. “I think there’s something going on between them too, but um… it’s not like it’s my business. I don’t even know how I ended up here…”

All these answers amused Ms. Sooyoung as she burst into fits of laughter once more, clutching the bench’s armrest for support. “You lot are hilarious! Alright.” She stood up with a grin on her face and looked at the six. “I’ll help you out. How about that?”

Chapter Text

Contrary to their expectations, Ms. Sooyoung wasn’t hard to be around with. After only a few days of talking, Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung came to the conclusion that Ms. Sooyoung, to the three in 2-C, was what Dokja-ahjussi was to them.

According to the words of the great, wise empress herself: “All that is prosperous in the world will be bestowed upon those who are patient.”

Except the great wise empress Han Sooyoung didn’t actually say that; moreover, that line is plagiarized, reworded in a more unnecessary way so as to not make it obvious. The actual saying, “good things come to those who wait” is much simpler.

Han Donghoon was mindlessly scrolling through their schools’ forum page, looking for nothing in particular, when his intuition picked up something dangerous. He instinctively looked up.

“— And of course,” Ms. Sooyoung spoke, loud and clear, “I hate to be the bearer of unfortunate news but your midterm exams are coming up this October.”

At her words, almost the entire class erupted into a fit of groans.

“Oh man, midterms already?”

“Shit, you’re right, it’s already September…”

“I’m so doomed. My parents are going to deduct my allowance if my ranking drops–”

“Who cares? Anyone wanna queue up in PUBG after this?”

“You’re supposed to care. Your scores in the midterm exams will be a huge factor in your standing,” Ms. Sooyoung reiterated. “Must I remind you all that you’re second years now? You brats better start taking this seriously because next year you’re all going to take your college entrance exams.”

Han Donghoon in particular isn’t despairing over his class average. He didn’t ace his tests, but he also wasn’t failing them. His student ranking cruised somewhere in the hundreds, sitting comfortably in the middle known as the average grade zone.

The same can’t be said for the two in front of him, though.

“Jihye,” Kim Namwoon poked her arm with his pen. “I’m going to lock in.”

“Lock in?” Lee Jihye scoffed. “Don’t you say that every year? What’s your ranking last semester again… wasn’t it #278/300?”

“Please, as if you’re any better than me. You’re #277.”

Lee Jihye shot him a smug grin. “That’s still one rank higher than you, dumbass.”

Han Donghoon was almost impressed. This was the finest example of a pot calling the kettle black.

“Some of you however,” Ms. Sooyoung was saying, “need to start paying attention to your rankings. The ranking isn’t everything, yes, but it’s still a reflection of your grades.”

Although she didn’t call out any names, Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon still ended up taking a nail to the head.

“One more thing,” Ms. Sooyoung added, smiling sweetly as she set down her copy of her students’ records, completely aware of the chaos her next words will unleash. “If you fail, you’ll have to retake the exams during the term break in November.”

During lunchtime, Han Donghoon gets accosted once more.

This time Lee Jihye wasn’t alone. While she was seated on the floor latched onto Han Donghoon’s leg, begging with a tone of voice that made Han Donghoon want to leave the country rather than help her, Kim Namwoon was tightly gripping a few notebooks in hand. If Han Donghoon didn’t know any better, he’d think those notebooks contained all of his sins from childhood to present year.

“Please, Han Donghoon-ssi, we’re begging you!” Lee Jihye cried, adding the honorific for formality, “You’re our only hope! I can’t afford to retake the exams in November because that’s when the League season ends! I haven’t climbed to Master rank yet… wahh…”

“What a shitty reason. You’re Diamond 2, you won’t fucking die if you don’t climb to Master this season,” Kim Namwoon tried to pry her off of Han Donghoon’s leg.

“Why me?” Han Donghoon tried to move his leg, but Lee Jihye was… well, he didn’t want to say it out loud, but he was having a hard time releasing himself from her grip. He was much too weak. “I’m not a star student. Just ask our class president, or something…”

“Our class president’s a fucking tryhard. Literally everyone and their grandmas already have group study sessions scheduled with him.” Kim Namwoon left the swimmer on the ground. “Let go of him already, stupid.”

“Shut it,” Lee Jihye snapped at him. “Don’t you need his help, too?”

“I should be fine,” Kim Namwoon proudly placed a hand on his chest. “Nothing a little cramming can’t fix!”

Han Donghoon stared at him blankly. “Yes, and where did that get you…”

“See?! He’s hopeless too. You really have to help us,” Lee Jihye hugged his leg tighter. “This isn’t even about my League rank anymore. This is a matter of true companionship and friendship. If you help us study, we’ll— we’ll treat you to lunch for a whole week and graciously rub your feet!”

Kim Namwoon was taken aback by her sudden offer. “We’ll what?!”

Lee Jihye kicked his foot.

Han Donghoon’s eyes fell down to the swimmer leeching onto his leg, looking up at him with an exaggerated pout in an attempt to make herself look more pathetic. It’s like the word please was written all over her face. His defense cracks.

“Fine,” Han Donghoon let out a heavy sigh no 17 year-old should ever have to heave in their life. “I’ll help you study but… please leave my feet alone.”

His two classmates’ dispositions brightened blindingly and Han Donghoon started to inwardly pray for his sanity, his future, and his well-being. This is Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon – they were pretty serious and competent when it came to everything else, so tutoring and helping them study shouldn’t be that difficult.

“...”

Or so he thought.

The next day, the three of them sat in the courtyard during lunch, ready to start the introvert’s free tutoring sessions. Han Donghoon slowly lowered the test papers in his trembling hands, afraid that tears would start spilling from his eyes that saw little sleep.

Yesterday, Han Donghoon asked the two to bring their past quiz papers to see what topics they had a difficult time with. When he saw that most of their quizzes had scores below 20%, he closed his eyes to shield himself from the tragedy that is their test scores and took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” Lee Jihye inquired, blissfully unaware of how awful their situation was. “T-They can’t be that bad, right? Is there still a chance for us?”

For the first time in his life, Han Donghoon’s face muscles twitched.

Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung had never gone to Yoo Mia’s home before.

So when they took off their shoes by the doorway, slipped into white fuzzy guest slippers, and walked to the living room, the two were shocked to see Mr. Yoo leisurely sprawled on the couch with a Nintendo Switch in hand.

Lee Gilyoung was slightly taken aback by the sheer… casualness of it all. Though it was maybe just because he was so used to seeing him in a more terrifying, more fear-inducing context. He sometimes forgot that his teachers were also human beings (yes, even Mr. Yoo) with lives outside of the classroom.

“Oppa,” Yoo Mia called out, carelessly placing down her bag on the living room table. “I brought friends over. We’re going to study.”

Mr. Yoo spared them one glance of acknowledgement before he put down his console. “Mn. Hold on, I’ll make some snacks for you.”

Shin Yoosoung opened her mouth to say that it wasn’t necessary and that she already felt like she was trespassing by being here (especially considering everything their group has been doing), but Yoo Mia beat her to it with a, “Thank you, oppa! Can you please pour us apple juice? Yoosoung really likes it.”

Mr. Yoo’s back faced them as he opened their refrigerator. “Sure.”

While Yoo Mia’s older brother put whatever kitchen magic he had to work, the three kids in the living room took out their learning materials to go over topics that might be covered in their exams. Unlike in high school, rankings don’t exist for elementary students. Despite that, Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung knew that they weren’t the worst students in the world and were more or less aware of their strengths and weaknesses.

For one, Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung really loved Science, but were both weak in English.

“I don’t understand why we need to learn English when we’re Koreans,” Lee Gilyoung tapped his pencil against a particularly difficult section in his textbook. He squinted as he tried to read, in broken English, “In what situation am I supposed to say what are the last four digits of your mother’s credit card?”

“It does sound kind of fancy, though,” Shin Yoosoung chuckled, reading aloud another sentence. “My toilet is much better than yours. What did they mean by this?”

“What if foreigners just really like comparing toilets?” Yoo Mia lazily replied, answering a few lines on her worksheet. Next to her on the couch, her brother’s phone started to ring and vibrate. She didn't look up from her work as she called out, “Oppa, your phone’s ringing.”

Mr. Yoo was in the middle of washing the utensils he used in the sink. “You can ignore it. Is it someone important?”

His phone continued to ring. Yoo Mia peered over at the caller ID, seeing a familiar nickname on the screen composed of a singular squid emoji. “It’s Kim Dokja ahjussi.”

He immediately turned off the faucet and two of the world’s most unsubtle eavesdroppers put down their pencils. The speed in which he rushed over to the living room to grab his phone was almost astounding, and Shin Yoosoung jabbed Lee Gilyoung’s leg with her knee under the table. When Mr. Yoo picked up the call, he cleared his throat. “What is it now?”

The three kids resumed their act of writing. Though this time it was half-hearted, most of their attention focused on Mr. Yoo’s words.

“Nothing, I’m at home. … You mean right now…? Shut up… I’m hanging up.” Mr. Yoo pocketed his phone after that quick call and went into his bedroom. Ten minutes later, he emerged wearing a casual, long-sleeved form-hugging black turtleneck and jeans.

Yoo Mia didn’t look the least bit impressed. “And where might you be going, oppa?”

The way this question was asked was like she was the older one, not the other way around. Regardless, Mr. Yoo knelt down the doorway to tie the laces of his boots together. “Just going out for a bit.”

“On a date?” The corners of Yoo Mia’s lips slightly lifted, her tone almost teasing.

“Grocery shopping,” Mr. Yoo corrected her, adjusting his jeans. “I’ll be back in two hours. There’s pancakes in the kitchen – share them with that fool’s students while it’s still hot.”

“You’re the best, oppa!” Yoo Mia waved him out the door. Once they were 100% sure he was gone, the three of them quickly closed their textbooks and grabbed the plate of pancakes in the kitchen before settling back down in the living room.

“That was Dokja-ahjussi just now, right?” Shin Yoosoung gaped at Yoo Mia with wide eyes.

Yoo Mia nodded in confirmation. “Oppa’s always like that. Sometimes, he just goes out on a whim because that ahjussi called. And get this: oppa almost never goes out, unless absolutely necessary.”

“I didn’t expect that sooty bastard to be so… you know, chill like that,” Lee Gilyoung marvelled. “I mean, whenever I see him, it’s like he always has a stick up his ass.”

Shin Yoosoung happily stabbed a fork through a pancake. “What do they usually do when they go out on their little dates?!”

“Nothing much, just casual stuff,” Yoo Mia shrugged, bringing a whole pancake into her mouth. “Mostly just grocery shopping. I don’t understand why they have to do their groceries together… though sometimes, ahjussi invites oppa out to do other things. Whether it’s to go drinking, watch movies, beg him to buy books, whatever it is just to annoy him.”

“I don’t think I can imagine Mr. Yoo at the movies,” Lee Gilyoung shook his head. “In fact, I don’t think I can imagine him doing anything normal. In my head, nothing can change the image I have of him.”

“But isn’t this good?” Shin Yoosoung sighed with a mouthful of pancakes. “It’s great to know they maintain a close relationship outside of school too…”

“Too close, if you ask me,” Yoo Mia feigned a look of disgust. “My oppa has questionable tastes, truly… but I’ve known ahjussi for a long time now. So I think he’s alright. At the very least, he makes my oppa happy even if he can be quite dumb at times.”

Weeks pass with no new word from Ms. Sooyoung. By the fourth week – which also happened to be the week before their midterm exams – Lee Jihye got impatient and asked just what it was exactly they had to wait for. When Ms. Sooyoung continued to speak in vague plagiarized riddles, she gave up and went back to the academic trenches.

Unbeknownst to his two energetic classmates, Han Donghoon was actually quite terrifying once he decided to be serious. He didn’t outright scold them nor assert dominance through physical means per se, but the way he spoke was blunt and straightforward without a single sprinkle of sugarcoating.

“I think I understand it now,” Lee Jihye said once the clock hit 7 PM, stifling a yawn. She’s just saying anything at this point to get the study session over with. “I’m surely going to do well in the exams if I just follow your example…”

“Mn, sure, you can follow my example if that’s what you really want,” Han Donghoon said without a hint of amusement in his voice, “but if you’re just going to follow it then are you really learning?”

“Ah, that…”

“Keep this up and,” Han Donghoon shrugged nonchalantly, “who knows, you might even end up in the 290s.”

Lee Jihye promptly shut up after that.

After a long month of grueling study sessions, copious amounts of praying, and unhealthy amounts of procrastination, the most dreaded days of the year arrived. Han Donghoon arrived a little late to the flag ceremony because his alarm clock decided to screw him over during the first day of midterm exams, so he set his bag down in 2-C’s classroom before heading towards the back of his class’s line.

Once he stepped out into the courtyard, Han Donghoon anxiously looked around for his class. The positions must’ve been changed without him knowing, because every step he took seemed to take him farther and farther from where he was supposed to be. It wasn’t any help that he barely recognized the faces of his batchmates from other classes because he barely talked to them, and—

A hand was gently placed on his shoulder. “Han Donghoon?”

Han Donghoon flinched and whirled around, coming face-to-face with Mr. Kim, a pleasant expression on his face.

This was the same expression he wore the day he first met him, back when Han Donghoon was in his third year of middle school. Back when things were…

“Mr. Kim…” Han Donghoon breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good morning, sir.”

“What are you doing all the way out here? This is the line for the first years,” Mr. Kim asked. “Did you get lost?”

“Ah, well, I just arrived late and… I must’ve got in through the wrong way,” Han Donghoon shrugged, shrinking from the teacher’s touch. “It’s okay. I can just go over there right now and–”

“I can take you there,” Mr. Kim reassured him. “Your class is on the other side of the courtyard. Does that sound good?”

Oh. No wonder he had such a hard time trying to find his classmates. “... Mn. Thank you.”

Teacher and student took a detour around the courtyard, heading back inside the school building to get to the other side. Though they were not in the middle school building, Han Donghoon still felt a wave of nostalgia surge through his chest. It’s not the first time Mr. Kim walked him through the hallways of an empty school building, devoid of other students and voices. Two years have passed since the last time, but he felt that nothing really changed since then.

Mr. Kim was still as kind and understanding as ever. Sensing the student’s anxiousness, he ruffled the top of Han Donghoon’s hair. “It’s been a while since we last talked to each other properly. How’s high school been for you?”

Han Donghoon put his hands in his pockets, where he felt the comfortable shape of his phone. “It’s alright,” he replied curtly. He’s never been a man of many words in the first place.

Mr. Kim nodded. “I see that you’ve been hanging around Jihye and Namwoon more often nowadays. Are they any fun?”

A nerve pops in Han Donghoon’s mind at the mention of their names. “I just spent the last month or so trying to help them study. In all honesty, I think they’re helpless, but I tried my best to help them.”

“They’re not bothering you at all?” Mr. Kim asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

“They bother me everyday,” Han Donghoon fiddled with the ends of his gray jacket’s sleeves. “I miss my quiet life. When it’s not Lee Jihye bothering me, it’s Kim Namwoon and whatever it is he’s being an idiot or in denial about.”

“Hmmm…” Mr. Kim thoughtfully brought a hand to his chin. “It seems to me that you’re having fun, though.”

“How can you say that?”

“For one,” Mr. Kim lightly laughed, “this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk. Besides, if you truly didn’t like their company, you would’ve done everything to keep them out of your life, right?”

Han Donghoon was stunned. He… likes the company of those two idiots?

“I’m glad you’re making friends now, Han Donghoon,” Mr. Kim patted his shoulder. “Lee Jihye is a strong girl. If those middle school brats came back to torment you, she can mop the floor with them.”

This gets a tiny chuckle out of Han Donghoon. “I haven’t been bullied since you found me that day. I’ll be fine, Mr. Kim.”

The two of them finally stepped out into the courtyard once they spotted the familiar backs of the class 2-C students. From the doorway, Mr. Kim lightly pushed Han Donghoon’s back towards his class. “It’s time for you to go.”

Han Donghoon turned back and bowed, “T-Thank you again, Mr. Kim!”

His teacher merely waved in reply. “It’s nothing. Good luck on your exams today!”

Lee Jihye standing at the back of the line was the first to spot them, and she waved an arm over to him. “Hey! Han Donghoon! What took you so long? Even Namwoon was earlier than you.”

“He probably got lost,” Kim Namwoon rolled his eyes. “You can’t just get lost on us, man. We still need to do some last-minute cramming together.”

Han Donghoon wasn’t listening. Instead, what was retained in his mind was the gentle smile of the elementary teacher, and his ever-comforting words. It truly was no wonder Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung liked him so much. “Yeah, I got you.”

Kim Dokja whistled to himself in surprise as he was handed his room proctor assignment at 8:30 AM, thinking what a strange trick of fate this was.

“2-C?” He asked aloud to nobody in particular, flipping over the attendance record of the class he was temporarily assigned to watch. “Hey, this is your class. What a coincidence.”

“You know they’re randomized every term,” Han Sooyoung reminded him as she zipped her bag shut. “You won’t be alone. Sangah’s assigned to proctor the room next to yours in 2-B. Maybe you two can have a little chat or something.”

“Okay, but who’s the other teacher assigned for 2-C?”

Han Sooyoung bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling. “Don’t know.”

He thought that there was something off about her just now, but truth be told, when wasn’t there something off about her? Kim Dokja shook the feeling off and adjusted the bag on his shoulder to walk into the hallways of the second-years. He’ll know who he’ll be with when he gets there anyway, fervently praying that it was someone he was close with…

An instantly recognizable pair of eyes struck him the moment he stepped into 2-C’s classroom. “Kim Dokja?”

Never mind. Can someone void whatever he prayed for just now?

At the corner of his peripherals, he noticed Lee Jihye drop her pen. Coughing to clear his throat, he wore his signature smile, making sure to put just a tiny bit of sarcasm in his tone. “What a pleasant morning to be graced by your presence, Mr. Yoo.”

“Can you stop that?” Mr. Yoo handed him half of a large paper stack. “Help me pass these questionnaires out.”

This meticulous jerk, it isn’t even 9 AM yet, what's the rush? “Sure.”

Once the questionnaires and answer sheets were passed out, Mr. Kim subtly swept his eyes over the poor, unfortunate souls in their wooden desks. Some of them had already started flipping through the questionnaire pages and the sheer panic in their expressions increased.

That’s right, Kim Dokja thought sympathetically. Endure this hell. I was once in your position too. Except I never actually aced any of my exams because I was too busy making powerscaling charts for Han Sooyoung’s characters at the back of my answer sheets…

“It is currently 9 AM, so please go to the first page of your questionnaire, where you will find instructions,” Mr. Kim stated to the class, holding his own copy of the questionnaire. “Shade in your circles properly. Erasures are allowed. Please do not write anything on the questionnaire, and for the love of God, please do not attempt to cheat because we will be watching. Whatever methods you are trying to attempt, I have already attempted during my student days. Now, Mr. Yoo, if you’d like to read the instructions for the Social Studies exam?”

“Certainly,” Yoo Joonghyuk’s voice cut through the students’ early morning drowsiness. Kim Dokja clicked his tongue in annoyance upon noticing that the entire class seemed a lot more active when he was the one speaking.

Tsk. Of course everyone pays more attention to this jerk. It wasn’t any surprise – even back during their college days, Yoo Joonghyuk was capable of making an entire lecture hall listen to him just by existing. Strangely enough, although he’d never admit it out loud, Kim Dokja is filled with pride.

Anything Yoo Joonghyuk achieves would make him proud, after all. Isn’t it normal to wish for the happiness and success of a dear friend?

The entire class falls into silence 10 minutes later. Once the first exam of the day was underway, Kim Dokja couldn’t resist not voicing out his concern, so he put down the chalkboard eraser he was wearing and shot a glare at his colleague. “What are you looking at me for?”

“Nothing,” Yoo Joonghyuk crossed his arms. “I just didn’t expect to be paired with… you.”

“This is the assignment our Sooyoung-ie gave me,” Kim Dokja shrugged. “It’s not like I can do anything about it, so you’re going to be burdened with me for the next few hours.”

At the mention of Han Sooyoung’s name, Yoo Joonghyuk looked in the direction of the door. “Did she plan this?”

Kim Dokja smacked the back of his head with a folder. “Who cares? What, don’t want to be with me? That’s okay, I can just head over and have a little chat with Sangah next door–”

“That won’t be necessary,” Yoo Joonghyuk gripped the literature teacher’s wrist. “Just stay here.”

The part of his wrist which Yoo Joonghyuk held burned. Kim Dokja had half of a mind to retract his hand from him, but he couldn’t find the strength in him to do so.

He’s always been weak to his friend’s whims, no matter how odd or uncharacteristic they were.

In the end, Kim Dokja used his other hand to gently pry his fingers off of his wrist. Acutely aware of the eavesdropping eyes on him, he put on his signature bastard’s grin, and leaned in a little closer to Yoo Joonghyuk. This startles the other party. “If you keep doing that, Mr. Yoo, I’d actually think you want my presence around.”

“I do want your presence around,” Yoo Joonghyuk answered, way too straightforward for Kim Dokja’s own good. “So?”

“Never mind,” The literature teacher instead tried to get out of the topic. “Let’s just stay quiet. You’re giving your students a show.”

“Then let them witness the show,” Yoo Joonghyuk propped a hand on his cheek, resting his arm on the teacher’s desk. “If they fail, that’s on them for not focusing on their exams. All I’m asking for is you to stay, anyway. What’s so grand about that?”

Kim Dokja’s left eye twitched. Damn it, he’s the one supposed to get a reaction out of him, not the other way around!

“What’s wrong, Mr. Kim?” Yoo Joonghyuk smirked, mimicking the other’s earlier teasing tone. “What happened to that quick tongue you’re so proud of?”

Kim Dokja slapped the back of his head and turned away to roam around the classroom. “Just do your job and help me watch over your students, will you?”

Seeing the tips of the literature teacher’s ears redden, Yoo Joonghyuk bit his tongue to hide a victorious smile from escaping.

Somewhere in class, Lee Jihye was no longer writing.

An hour has passed since their first exam started. There were 30 minutes left before they would move on to the next one. Logically, the best thing to do would be to go over her answers one more time, but what if the answers she changed turned out to be the right ones? It’s better to leave them as is.

She tapped her foot on the ground while secretly gazing at the two teachers standing before the chalkboard, every now and then. Mr. Kim was sitting on the desk, while Mr. Yoo subtly leaned into him. They did not even put any effort into hiding their conversation – for the past hour, all Lee Jihye heard was blatant, unabashed flirting.

… Is this a tactic to sabotage her and make sure she doesn’t do well on her exams? Hey, she studied pretty hard with Han Donghoon and put real effort this term, they can’t just do this all of a sudden!

Mr. Kim was laughing (she wasn’t paying attention because her mind was racing a million miles a minute, trying to remember the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United State in 1960), and Mr. Yoo was absolutely transfixed. It couldn’t be any more obvious that there’s something fishy in the waters, so why haven’t they still gotten together yet?!

She stole a glance at Kim Namwoon, who was leaning against the back of his chair, and raised an eyebrow at him. You done?

Her seatmate nodded. Yeah.

Lee Jihye cocked her head towards the front of the board. They’re at it again.

Kim Namwoon scoffed in reply before returning to doodling at the back of his answer sheet. So what? None of my business.

Lee Jihye gripped her pencil hard.

“Oh right,” Mr. Kim was saying. “I accidentally brought home the kimchi we bought at the grocery the other day. During the term break, we should both get hotpot together. I’ll prepare it when I get home so we can have it at my place–”

“No need,” the other teacher shook his head. “Just bring it over when you go to my house.”

“Oh, we’ll do the hotpot at your place? Sure,” Mr. Kim got up from the desk to stretch his arms. “Speaking of, during the term break can I sleep over at yours as well? I’m trying to get my stupid electricity and plumbing fixed but they say it’ll take a few days.”

Yoo Joonghyuk blinked once. “No problem. I’ll have the guest room ready.”

This actually stuns Mr. Kim, and his smile faltered. “Oh, wow. I wasn’t expecting you to actually agree. Never mind, I wouldn’t want to trouble you, I can just ask Han Sooyoung since her apartment is bigger–”

“No, stay at my place,” Mr. Yoo insisted. “We can invite her for the hotpot, but only you can stay over for the next week.”

Lee Jihye stopped mid-yawn. Excuse me, what?

Mr. Kim stood still. Pursing his lips together tightly, he slowly nodded. “… Okay. You’re awfully generous this time around. You’re not sick, are you? Did Han Sooyoung curse you with her mushrooms?”

“No,” Mr. Yoo glared at him, “but I will curse the hotpot if you keep spouting nonsense.”

“I can’t believe this,” Mr. Kim dabbed at his eyes for dramatic effect. “Our Joonghyuk-ie actually knows how to crack a joke?”

Mr. Yoo looked downright offended. “I do. You’re just not worthy enough to hear them.”

“Now I really have to properly inspect you. Cracking jokes and being generous all of a sudden, are you feeling hurt anywhere? You’re not sick, are you—?”

“Get your hand off me,” Mr. Yoo snapped.

“Haha, I’m only kidding,” with his hand, Mr. Kim messed up the top of Mr. Yoo’s head, which only made his glare grow stronger. “Don’t be too fed up with me, okay?”

“It’s been several years since I first started getting fed up over your antics.”

“I know,” Mr. Kim winked. “Despite that, we’re still friends anyway… and unfortunately for you my favorite hobby is getting on your nerves.”

Lee Jihye, Kim Namwoon, and Han Donghoon, out of all the students in 2-C, were actually the ones who were the most fed up with those two. Did they really have to do this right in front of their fucking faces? In the middle of the most important exam of the year?

Someone please tell them there's a time and place for this!

Chapter Text

A few days of hell was enough to deter most students’ determination and drive to do well. By the time the third and last day of exams came and went, the entire school – especially those held prisoner within the walls of the middle and high school buildings – was in the mood to make merry.

But not Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon. No, the moment exams ended, they set aside all animosity towards each other and came to a temporary truce to duo Q in League. While the exam season was over, the current League season surely isn’t, and their ranks haven’t made an improvement since they spent the last several weeks studying and playing catch-up with Han Donghoon.

When Han Donghoon saw both of their statuses on Discord as Playing League of Legends, he merely sighed. “You two are working too hard to raise the wrong ranks…”

Then, results came out the next week. On Monday morning, the student rankings have already been refreshed to reflect their midterm exam grades and standings. Normally, Kim Namwoon wasn’t one to glance at the board, but both he and Lee Jihye found themselves strenuously scanning the ranks for their names.

“Start at the top,” Lee Jihye urged him. “I’m sure we can find our names faster if we start there than from the bottom.”

“I admire your confidence… I really do,” Han Donghoon said impassively but genuinely, eyes fixed on his phone’s screen. He already saw his name in the boards – his name was at #143 now, four ranks higher than the previous term. It wasn’t bad but it also wasn’t anything too impressive.

Like despairing grandmothers looking for the lottery results, Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon zoomed past dozens of names starting from rank #1. Kang Hyerin, the girl from the public confession several weeks ago, was sitting prettily at rank #4.

“I’m not seeing our names, Jihye.”

“Don’t give up! We studied hard, didn’t we?”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean our ranks are just going to just magically improve over just a few weeks of—”

“Namwoon!” Lee Jihye aggressively tapped his shoulder. “Namwoon, you fucker, look!”

Kim Namwoon resisted the urge to slam her head into the board. “What? What is it now, you–”

Lee Jihye stuck a finger on a familiar set of characters on the board. “There! See?”

Even Han Donghoon peered up from his phone in curiosity. The three teenagers stood shoulder-to-shoulder, each one originally carrying a different air to themselves, but their feelings had all been united when upon seeing—

“#230?!” Lee Jihye shrieked. “That… that’s…”

Han Donghoon’s eyebrows raised in surprise and exclaimed, in a voice louder than any he’s used before, “That’s 40 ranks higher than last time!”

For someone like Lee Jihye, whose ranks always hovered around the numbers near 300, this was a huge improvement that even Han Donghoon himself couldn’t believe. Was he really that helpful, or was Lee Jihye simply that amazing?

Lee Jihye pumped both fists in the air. “YES! YES! Han Donghoon-ssi, you’re awesome!” She hooked an arm around his neck and ruffled his already-messy hair, “Where do you want to eat after school? This great one will treat you to anything you want for a week like I promised!”

“… There’s this chicken place near the Han River that I really wanted to try…” Han Donghoon shrunk from her touch. “Also, is the foot rubbing offer still on? Is it possible to void that? I’d really rather not have my feet touched, thank you—”

Their short moment of victory was interrupted by a low and manic laugh. It was a sound so unsettling and creepy (and downright cringy, even) that Lee Jihye backed away from Han Donghoon to shoot Kim Namwoon a dirty look.

The teenager with the shitty bleached hair only continued to cackle, much like a cocky antagonist from those shounen anime they watched together. He used his hand to push back his bangs from his forehead.

“Oh, Jihye,” Kim Namwoon sneered, “You poor, poor thing.”

“What is it?” Lee Jihye glared. “What’s so funny?”

Kim Namwoon dramatically snapped his fingers towards a certain label on the board: #228, Kim Namwoon.

This was enough to shatter Lee Jihye’s heart completely, and she dropped to her knees in despair.

No way… no way… this couldn’t be… how was that idiot’s rank higher than hers?! Was he secretly studying behind their backs? Wouldn’t this count as an ultimate betrayal of comrades-in-arms? Weren’t they supposed to struggle and die together, come rain or shine, through hard times and through good?

How did Kim Namwoon rank higher than her this time?! Not even just one rank too, but 2 whole ranks above her!

“… Lee Jihye?” Han Donghoon slightly bent down to check her condition. “Um, earth to Lee Jihye?”

Kim Namwoon was absolutely glowing with schadenfreude. Walking back towards their classroom, he patted Han Donghoon’s back before placing both his hands in his pockets in an attempt to seem more cool. “You can just leave her alone. How about I take you out to eat chicken instead? At least then Lee Jihye’s wallet will be saved since she no longer has her pride.”

Lee Jihye is absolutely horrified. She cannot take this beating down! She won’t accept it!

Lee Gilyoung isn’t really interested in the affairs of high school students because he, as an elementary kid, feels that he already has so much to deal with.

That “so much to deal with” comes in the form of a little stickerbook. It’s the one thing he brings everywhere, no matter where he goes, because you never know when you might spot a bug you need.

This stickerbook was something Lee Gilyoung personally saved up for with his limited allowance and bought. It was a large, hardbound encyclopedia with over 250 stickers of different bugs. If he ever encountered a bug in the book, then he would stick one of the stickers at the back part of the book to its corresponding information page to indicate that he had “found” it. It’s one of Lee Gilyoung’s favorite pastimes ever, and he was currently at 178/250 bugs.

… Embarrassingly enough, he had accidentally brought the book to Yoo Mia’s house… where they were sharing a hearty hotpot with three teachers.

It started out as such: Yoo Mia had invited them over to play Just Dance with her during the first day of the term break week. Later on, Mr. Yoo arrived home, bringing Ms. Sooyoung and his hyung with him along with a few plastic bags of ingredients. And because the kids were already there, Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung were offered to stay for the hotpot.

“Since you’re already here, you two should feel free to help yourself,” Mr. Kim said as he shoved an empty bowl in his two students’ hands. “Don’t be shy. There’s enough for all of us!”

Mr. Kim truly was a gift from heaven. With that simple motion, he shone even brighter in Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung’s eyes.

Even Mr. Yoo felt different today – to Lee Gilyoung, at least. Despite their many hostile moments the past several months (now that Lee Gilyoung thought about it, hasn’t he been scolded by this bastard a lot? He wasn’t even his student!), Mr. Yoo still gave him a generous serving of meat, mushrooms, and noodles in a bowl. For one second, Lee Gilyoung almost forgave him.

That said, there’s a warm feeling in the little boy’s chest at the whole scenario of them all sharing a hearty hotpot together. He didn’t know what it was like to share a home-cooked meal with several other people before.

Lee Gilyoung knew his childhood wasn’t like others. He had always envied Yoosoung, who had loving parents that doted on her. The closest thing he ever had to a parent was his aunt, but even she refused to look him in the eyes and often left him alone.

Maybe that’s why he’s grown so attached to Mr. Kim, the first adult who didn’t treat him like he was a deadweight in other people’s lives.

Now that Lee Gilyoung was given the opportunity to experience what it was like… to eat together with people he knew, people who enjoyed having his presence and whose presence he wanted to be around with, he can’t help but choke back a sob.

Mr. Kim paused his action of dipping his meat slices into the soup. “Gilyoung-ah? Is something wrong?”

Shin Yoosoung stopped mid-chew and flicked her head towards him in concern.

Yoo Mia gasped. “Lee Gilyoung, are you crying?”

“S-Shut up!” Lee Gilyoung rubbed his nose, which had already become runny and red from the tears that were now threatening to spill. “I’m not crying!”

“It’s okay, Lee Gilyoung,” Shin Yoosoung patted his shoulder, a little confused but her intentions were sincere with concern for her friend, “we’re here for you.”

Lee Gilyoung gently swatted her hand off. “I’m fine! I-It’s just spicy, okay?!”

Mr. Kim shot Mr. Yoo a pointed glare in defense of his student. “Idiot, you know we’re eating with kids. Why did you still add spices?”

Lee Gilyoung didn’t catch the way Mr. Yoo curiously raised an eyebrow as he peered down at the hotpot on the floor. “I didn’t make it spicy, though…”

“Oh, c’mon,” Ms. Sooyoung handed the young boy a tissue yet proceeded to wipe the corners of his eyes herself. “Let noona make sure you’re okay–”

“I said I’m not crying!”

With him insisting so much, the others decided to drop the topic and continue eating. It was only Mr. Yoo who looked a little lost because he really made sure not to make the hotpot spicy so the kids could eat…

It took them another hour to finish everything up until their stomachs were full and were completely satisfied. Lee Gilyoung thinks that he’s never going to have another meal as good as that ever again, and he had to admit – Mr. Yoo deserved most of the credit for making the food so delicious.

As soon as they’ve finished washing the dishes, Han Sooyoung left, saying she had other matters to attend to. And not long after the last of the dishes have been washed, Yoo Mia urged everyone to play Switch games.

There weren’t enough Joycon controllers, so Kim Dokja insisted to just watch, claiming he wasn’t very good at games anyway. However, five minutes into Overcooked 2, he couldn’t resist just watching and spoke up.

“You can’t just count on speed alone, Joonghyuk-ah,” Kim Dokja rolled his eyes as he leaned forward into the couch. “Look, your burgers are burning. Are you seriously letting your restaurant operate like that? At this rate, you’ll go bankrupt.”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s eye twitched. Ignoring him, he wordlessly put out the fires from the burning burgers with impressive speed while still attending to the oncoming wave of customers’ requests.

But his bastard of a co-worker wasn’t done. “Joonghyuk-ah, the fries! Tend to the orders with the fries first before the ones with the burgers! Don’t you know the timer for the customers who ordered fries is shorter!”

Yoo Joonghyuk raised his eyebrow in confusion. “… No it’s not.”

“Yeah I know, I’m kidding. I just wanted you to cook the fries faster.”

Yoo Joonghyuk really wanted to wring his neck right now with his bare hands, but he restrained himself because he didn’t want to pay any fines for violence.

To make things more infuriating, Kim Dokja started to make his way over to the kids to probably torment them with his endless chattering. But when Yoo Joonghyuk finally took the chance to sneak a glance over to their side, he found himself facing an unexpected sight.

While Yoo Joonghyuk’s character ran around the tiny kitchen to finish orders on his own, the kids had actually formed a system. Yoo Mia was on drinks, Shin Yoosoung was on burgers, and Lee Gilyoung worked on the plates and trays – to make things cuter, they were even roleplaying and shouting orders as if they worked in a real kitchen.

“Burger Chef, how’s our burgers?!” Yoo Mia asked.

“Cooked and ready!” Shin Yoosoung answered.

“What about the plates? Do we have extras?”

“We do,” Lee Gilyoung passionately confirmed.

“Opp– I mean, Chef Oppa,” even Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t spared from his little sister’s whims, “How is your end?”

The corners of Yoo Joonghyuk’s mouth twisted upwards into a slight grin. “The backup ingredients are ready.”

Kim Dokja saw all this and felt something tug at his heartstrings, and he too, was helpless to the pull of this unusually warm atmosphere. When he smiled as he rubbed the top of his kids’ – his students’ – heads to tell them they’re doing a great job, something in Yoo Joonghyuk… stirs.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s hold on his Joycon controller weakens the slightest bit, not enough for the other party to notice.

Moments later, the kids cheer at the victory screen, obviously happy that they received 3 stars for the stage and 0 failed deliveries, and both Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung turn to their teacher for the praise they were guaranteed to get.

“We did well, I suppose,” Yoo Mia sighed in relief, leaning back against the beanbag she was sitting on.

“Yeah, you did.” Kim Dokja, like he had done to his students, tousled Yoo Mia’s hair as well.

“Ahjussi!” Yoo Mia held her hands up to her head, “Noooo, you’re going to mess up my pigtails…”

“Come here, then,” he urged her. “If it got messed up I’ll try my best to tie them again—”

BOOM!

Outside, a flash of lightning crackled through the sky followed by a deafening boom of thunder. It was only then that Kim Dokja checked the time – shit, it was already 5:40 PM. They were having so much fun he lost track of time. The kids should’ve gone home by now, and their parents must be looking for them.

“I didn’t realize it started to rain,” Shin Yoosoung looked out the window. “Should we wait for it to pass before going home?”

“It says here rainfall is bound to be heavy tonight,” Kim Dokja solemnly informed her after checking today’s weather report on his phone. “Your parents must be so worried – I can dial their number to let them know you’re safe. Would that be okay?”

“Thank you, ahjussi!”

“We don’t know for sure how long we’re supposed to wait,” said Lee Gilyoung, fiddling with the strings on his hoodie. “What if it stops raining in the middle of the night?”

Yoo Mia suddenly had a brilliant idea. Mustering up her courage to face her brother, she rehearsed the perfect script in her mind in a world-breaking span of 10 seconds. As she turned to face him, she tried to make herself look as convincing as possible.

One look at his sister and he knew what those eyes meant – there was something she wanted. Indulging her, Yoo Joonghyuk prompted, “What do you need?”

Yoo Mia cleared her throat. “Oppa… can Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung stay the night at our house? We could have a sleepover together—”

“Sure.”

“—And I promise we won’t disturb you or make noise and— what?!” Yoo Mia was taken aback. That was fast!

No, wait, something’s wrong! The reason why she even mentally prepared a script was because she knew that oppa didn’t like having people over in their house. Both Kim Dokja and, yes, even Han Sooyoung occassionally, were exceptions because they had already been friends for several years. At most, Yoo Mia was expecting him to say that they should just wait for the rain to stop before he would personally bring them home. What suddenly drove her brother to allow two the two of them to stay over? And students he allegedly disliked, on top of that?

“We have extra clean mattresses in the guest room,” Yoo Joonghyuk told her. “I’ll get them ready.”

“Oh…” Yoo Mia was left very, very baffled. “Okay. Wait– really?”

Yoo Joonghyuk look back at his sister in similar confusion. “... Yes. Is there a problem?”

“N-No, it’s just… I’m surprised you agreed, since—”

“They’re that fool’s students, that’s all,” Yoo Joonghyuk said simply, as if those few words answered everything. “Go tell them they’re staying over tonight while I prepare the guest room.”

When Yoo Mia sprinted over to tell her friends and teacher the good news, she could barely keep her feet off the ground as she skipped in joy. By the time Yoo Joonghyuk had finished setting up the mattresses in the guest room, the kids were already discussing fun things to do for the night in the living room.

Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung clung to both of Kim Dokja’s sides like little koalas on a tree while they chatted. At some point in the conversation, Lee Gilyoung even started proudly showing off his extensive collection of bug stickers and discoveries from his large stickerbook, earning a few hums of approval from Kim Dokja.

Since most of them were still full from the hotpot earlier, Yoo Joonghyuk only prepared simple stuff like waffles and mini-pancakes in the kitchen for a quick midnight snack whenever the kids might feel hungry. While he was busy in the kitchen, Kim Dokja used this time to show the kids the Yoo household’s guest room.

It was much simpler in nature compared to the rest of the house, but he knew that Yoo Joonghyuk always kept it clean for when he might come over. A mattress complete with comforters and a pillow were placed on the floor next to the bed.

“This bed is a lot softer than my own!” Lee Gilyoung was the first to flop onto it, sighing contentedly as he inhaled the smell of freshly-washed sheets. “And this is for a guest room?”

“Ahjussi complained about his back hurting when he slept over once,” Yoo Mia crossed her arms. “So my oppa bought another more expensive mattress. Doesn’t it feel really good to lie on?”

“I’m going to have the best sleep of my life tonight.” Even Shin Yoosoung jumped face-first onto the bed to get a feel for its softness.

Although it was only a twin XL-sized bed, Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung would both fit in it just fine. Kim Dokja went over to the mattress to start unpacking the things he brought for the sleepover.

Shin Yoosoung suddenly remembered something and she sat upright. “Ah, Dokja-ahjussi, do you have extra toothpaste? If it’s not inconvenient, may I have some later?”

“Toothpaste?” Kim Dokja rummaged through his backpack at his student’s request. “I do have some here, if I can find it…”

He opened a few hidden pockets and zippers here and there, looking for his toiletries. His hand accidentally brushed over something hard, hidden in one of his backpack’s many compartments, and he curiously opened that pocket’s zipper.

When he saw what item was actually hiding there, his jaw dropped.

… So you see, Kim Dokja only owned one backpack ever, and it was the one he used back when he was in college. He kept it all these years because it was spacious and could store a lot of items with its many pockets and compartments. But it was a pain to bring a backpack to work, so when he managed to save up enough money, he was able to buy the messenger bag he now frequently uses. He only ever used this backpack when he was on a trip due to its size.

Since this backpack was from his college days, there were still things from college packed into it that he forgot to take out.

And this novel was one of them.

Although it had a hardbound cover, it didn’t even have a title. The pages looked old, and countless colorful sticky notes were stuck in-between pages. Taking it out, Kim Dokja flipped the book open to its first page:

For you, Dokja. Test print version. Happy birthday, stupid.

Kim Dokja clearly remembered this book and its significance – it was the first one Han Sooyoung ever wrote. She had it printed out and gave it to him as a birthday gift when he was 15, and this was the only copy of it in the world.

Oh, fuck. If this was Han Sooyoung’s first novel, then that meant…

In a daze, Kim Dokja quickly flipped through the pages of the novel, his eyes skimming over each and every sticky note and annotation he made throughout the story—

Ahaha this reminds me of what Joonghyuk-ie did during lunch today.

Joonhyun is so cool! Would it be embarrassing to admit that I’ve developed a slight fictional crush on him? This is even better than some novels online, too bad nobody else knows about this other than me.

Ah but, if I call Joonhyun cool, wouldn’t I be calling that bastard cool too? Who cares, no one else can read these notes anyway.

This Joonhyun… is really similar to Joonghyuk. Well done, Han Sooyoung, you’ve actually made me like some parts of that bastard.

Joonghyuk Joonghyun was so great in this chapter. His competence and reliability is a bit dreamy, but I stil think he’s an asshole.

Joonhyun really can’t be compared to Joonghyuk. I bet Joonghyuk would’ve killed this guy instead of letting him talk…

!! This is just like what Joonghyuk-ie said in class !! Han Sooyoung… you definitely intended this, didn’t you!

Ah, Joonghyuk Joonhyun really is way too impressive…

SLAM!

Kim Dokja slammed the book shut with such force it echoed throughout the room. He also suddenly felt the urge to develop a time machine so he could go back in time to meet his younger self and confiscate his stationery items.

What the hell was his 15 year-old self writing in these annotations!

“Hyung?” Lee Gilyoung noticed that their adviser had gone strangely quiet. “What are you holding there?”

“It’s nothing,” Kim Dokja deftly stuffed the novel back into the bag with a nervous chuckle. “You wanted the toothpaste, Yoosoung? I found my bag of toiletries, I can hand it to you later—”

“Kim Dokja.”

Fuck– since when was that bastard at the door?

Yoo Joonghyuk stood outside in the hallway in a simple black shirt, a black jacket with green highlights, and shorts that reached down to his knees. The sight of him made Kim Dokja reel back in surprise – not because it was like he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but it was because of the pair of glasses currently resting on his nose. Did he ever wear those before?

“Joonghyuk-ah!” Kim Dokja rose from the mattress on the floor. “Need something?”

“Han Sooyoung said she forwarded you an email,” he said, concisely. “It’s for the school festival preparations.”

The three kids in the room suddenly perked up.

“Shit, I forgot about those…” Kim Dokja muttered under his breath as he made his way to the door. “Can I borrow your laptop? I didn’t bring mine tonight.”

“It’s in the study.”

“Thanks,” Kim Dokja patted his friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, whatever it is you’re hiding in there – be it your secret stash of non kid-friendly files or your love letters to your secret someone – I already know about it. There’s nothing about you I don’t know.”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s expression twisted into slight panic, “You’ve seen the letters?”

Kim Dokja went rigid and his movements were brought to a standstill.“... It was only a jest.”

“... Ah.” Yoo Joonghyuk nodded, slowly. “I was joking too.”

The other person merely stared.

“Just to see how you’d react,” he added lamely, then coughed. “You know the password.”

Kim Dokja wore a complicated expression on his face. Even the three kids thought that the atmosphere had grown rather awkward, so Shin Yoosoung pushed Lee Gilyoung off the bed.

“Ow!” Lee Gilyoung yelped in pain when his arm met the floor. “What gives?!”

The little blonde schemer feigned a theatrical gasp. “Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I just saw a bug on the floor and thought you might be interested.”

“Where?!”

“Over there, I think it’s near the mattress…”

While Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung kept up their bug-finding act, Kim Dokja had already disappeared from the hallway along with Yoo Joonghyuk to tend to whatever adult matters they had knocking on their doorsteps. Being a 10 year-old was nice because they didn’t have to worry about emails or deadlines or projects and the like.

When the two teachers were gone, the three of them gathered on the mattress around Kim Dokja’s backpack.

Yoo Mia was the first to speak. “You all saw that book too, didn’t you?”

“It looked like a novel,” Shin Yoosoung pointed out.

“I think it’s his diary,” Yoo Mia said as she shamelessly started digging around the backpack for the book—

“Have you gone bonkers?!” Shin Yoosoung exclaimed. “Isn’t this an invasion of ahjussi’s privacy?”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him!” Yoo Mia argued as she pulled out the book. “It’s fine. I’ve known ahjussi basically my whole life. We know too many things about each other that we really shouldn’t, so if he tries to go against me I have something to fight back with. If it really is his diary, aren’t you curious?”

That sounded a little concerning, but Shin Yoosoung can’t deny that she’s curious.

Lee Gilyoung fell into the trap as well. “Curious schmurious, just open it!”

The three of them were greeted with a sudden burst of color from the hundreds of multi-colored sticky notes all randomly stuck within the pages.

They didn’t need Sherlock Holmes’s wits to figure out that this novel was well-loved by its reader. Every hand-written comment is very clearly written with many emotions in mind – although Mr. Kim’s handwriting wasn’t the best, it was very evident that every comment was well-thought of.

Han Sooyoung is so lucky to have such a reader like him, who appreciated her work through and through.

But it seemed it wasn’t only the work the reader appreciated. For instance…

“... This is the novel Dokja-ahjussi was talking about,” Shin Yoosoung quietly gasped. “Oh my God.”

“Hyung wasn’t kidding,” Lee Gilyoung flipped over a page, “the protagonist is an ass. He reminds me a lot of Mr. Yoo.”

“Because it is based on him, dummy,” Yoo Mia pointed towards a particular sticky note. “Look–”

I wish Joonhyun was real. It would be so cool to have a friend like him. Ah, but isn’t he just Joonghyuk-ie? I don’t know! It’s complicated! I’m torn between the person in real life and a person that’s fictional, and they’re supposed to be the same too!

Joonhyun definitely has some sides to him that Joonghyuk doesn’t have, but Joonghyuk-ie… well, admittedly, there is something about him, but… if I write it down, won’t that be the same as confirming what I feel? I don’t wanna face it yet.

“...”

The three ceased all conversation upon reading that sticky note. Very carefully, Yoo Mia put the book back where she found it.

Kim Dokja-ahjussi… may be more of a hopeless case than they thought.

Meanwhile in Yoo Joonghyuk’s study, a quick last-minute online meeting concluded in the same fashion it began – boring, a yawnfest, and snooze-inducing. There was a minor conflict and misunderstanding about some displaced files and records which was quickly resolved within an hour.

Han Sooyoung didn’t dare mention that their backgrounds were obviously the same, just taken from different angles. When the meeting ended, she made a silent bet in her head.

It was currently 9 PM, and Kim Dokja stretched his arm as he yawned. He rose from behind Yoo Joonghyuk’s extra table in the room. “I’m going to get coffee and check on the kids.”

“I’ll go with you,” Yoo Joonghyuk offered. “Can’t risk having you spit in my coffee.”

“I was planning to poison it, actually,” Kim Dokja laughed lightly. At the mention of the word spit, he really wanted to throw out an innuendo just for the fun of it, but he was worried their students might hear it and held himself back.

In the living room, the kids have resorted to watching a rather interesting show – Kim Dokja recognized A Love So Beautiful right away since Yoo Sangah once went on a romance kdrama spree to cope after their second year finals back in college.

Kim Dokja sat on the couch next to Lee Gilyoung. “Why are you watching A Love So Beautiful? What episode is this?”

“2,” Shin Yoosoung answered. “I’m not sold on the male lead yet – Cha Heon was his name, right? He’s a bit too indifferent but it’s only episode 2 so who knows what’ll happen.”

“We just picked whatever showed up on the recommendation page,” Lee Gilyoung shrugged. “We should’ve just watched a blockbuster instead. I could fall asleep to this.”

“How could you disrespect such a classic high school romance show?” Yoo Mia looked at him like he was crazy.

Actually, the kdrama isn’t even the original version… this is an adaptation of the Chinese version. Besides, the intro for the Chinese version is a lot better, the literature teacher thought, but he kept the comment to himself. “How do you like it so far?”

Lee Gilyoung lay his head against the couch. “Snore.”

“It’s cute,” said Shin Yoosoung simply. “It’s definitely different from the dramas my mom likes to watch.”

“I think the male lead is kind of like oppa,” Yoo Mia mused. “But of course oppa is a lot more handsome than this actor.”

On the TV was a steady panning shot of the male lead on a desk from the female main character’s point of view. This shot was filmed in such a way that gave off the impression that the audience was seeing what the male lead was like through the MC’s eyes.

He was quite the looker for sure, Kim Dokja agreed, but Yoo Mia was right.

“This kdrama…” Yoo Joonghyuk held two mugs of coffee in both hands. Oh that’s right, he was supposed to get coffee. Saying nothing else, he sat down on the other end of the couch next to his sister.

“I saw that episode 1 was halfway watched through while scrolling the recommendations page,” Yoo Mia raised an eyebrow. It’s clear what she was implying: were you watching this?

“Must’ve been Han Sooyoung parasiting off the account again,” Yoo Joonghyuk sighed, passing over one of the coffee mugs to Kim Dokja. “I’ll change the password later.”

“Thanks… oh, you actually remembered to put cream in this one.” Kim Dokja was pleasantly surprised.

“And rat poison, for a rat bastard such as yourself,” Yoo Joonghyuk helpfully added.

Yet Kim Dokja took a sip anyway. “I always did adore bumping purses with death.”

A Love So Beautiful continued to play on screen. It must’ve been entertaining, to some degree, to the kids on the couch because they even queued the next episode. It’s a simple show with a pretty straightforward plot and a standard slow burn, the kind that keeps the audience at the edge of their seats. Seeing how serious the kids were watching this show, Kim Dokja decided to keep his eyes on the screen. A rewatch can’t hurt, anyway.

But around 2 more episodes later, he can’t help but sneak a quick peek over at Yoo Joonghyuk, curious to see what he was up to. He never pegged the other guy to be into romance shows, so he was a little surprised when he saw him watching attentively.

The only lights still on inside the house were the TV and the faint kitchen light somewhere behind them. His face glowed softly in the dim room, the flickering light from the TV casting a warm, ethereal glow across his features. This same light highlighted the curve of his cheekbones and the gentle jewel-like shine in his eyes, giving him an almost otherworldly radiance. It’s as if the screen itself is painting his face in strokes of warmth, making Yoo Joonghyuk look even more captivating in this quiet, intimate moment. Yoo Joonghyuk must’ve noticed his eyes on him, because he turned his head only to meet Kim Dokja’s gaze.

… Kim Dokja suddenly lost all interest in A Love So Beautiful. “Glasses.”

Yoo Joonghyuk slightly tilted his head to the side. “Mn?”

“Didn’t know you wore glasses now,” Kim Dokja set his mug down on the living room’s table.

“Han Sooyoung and Jung Heewon dragged me out to get a prescription last week,” Yoo Joonghyuk said as he took them off. “I don’t really need them all the time. Just when I’m in front of a computer screen.”

“Keep them on,” Kim Dokja found himself saying. “They look nice.”

“… Is that so,” Yoo Joonghyuk blinked, slowly putting the glasses back on.

On the couch, Yoo Mia yawned. Beside her, Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung had already fallen asleep and were snoring away with their shoulders pressed into each other.

Kim Dokja laughed airily at the sight. “These two look so innocent when they’re asleep. It’s hard to believe they’d fight over anything under the sun when they’re both awake.”

“It’s 11 PM now,” Yoo Joonghyuk nudged his sister’s sboulder. “Yoo Mia, it’s time for you to go to bed.”

“Urk. Do I have to?” Yoo Mia wiped a tear from her eye. “I can still watch one more episode.”

“I’m taking Shin Yoosoung and Lee Gilyoung back to the guest room,” Kim Dokja said, carrying the little boy in his arms. “Goodnight, Mia-ya.”

“I said I’m not sleepy…” the 10 year-old sighed, but her eyes were already half-closed.

With a sleeping Lee Gilyoung in his hold, Kim Dokja walked slowly and kept his movements light in order not to wake him up. Once he set him down on the bed, he went back to the living room to repeat the process for Shin Yoosoung. While walking back, his foot accidentally knocked over his backpack and was shocked to find it so light.

Kim Dokja opened his backpack and sucked in a breath– shit, where did his novel go?

No, could it be the kids have read it…?

This is bad. If anyone finds out about those stupid sticky notes, he might never hear the end of it.

He searched through all corners of the room. He might’ve just misplaced it somewhere. But his worry only grew when he couldn’t find it at all.

Going back out into the living room, he walked towards the kitchen to get a glass of water. Maybe he’ll remember after a nice, refreshing drink.

Except, lo and behold, when he got to the living room the last person he expected to have the novel was sitting leisurely on the couch with said novel on his lap. Yoo Mia was no longer in the room – her older brother must’ve taken her back to her bedroom.

He forfeited his cold water. Fuck drinking cold water in the middle of the night, his dignity was good as dead! Kim Dokja sped up his steps and cleanly snatched the book from Yoo Joonghyuk’s grasp in a way that would put Swiper the Fox to shame.

“I wasn’t done reading it,” Yoo Joonghyuk complained. Oh, and of course this jerk had the gall to complain!

“You’ve already read this novel before, though,” Kim Dokja rolled his eyes. “Anyways, good night.” It should be fine to retreat now. He can’t have gone through this book all the way.

“Joonhyun is so cool. Would it be embarrassing to admit that I’ve developed a slight fictional crush on him?” Yoo Joonghyuk repeated a sticky note comment out loud, and Kim Dokja halted in place.

The room elapsed into a few seconds of silence. If one listened closer, one would hear the telltale awkward chirping of crickets.

“That…” Kim Dokja’s eye twitched. “I was 15 years old.”

That barely explained anything. Yoo Joonghyuk’s mouth curved up into a rare grin. “So? Can’t I be curious about your first love?”

“I’m dropping the topic,” Kim Dokja sighed. “Good night.”

“No, no, come back,” the other man’s voice was a little shaky, almost like he found the entire situation amusing. “I just didn’t expect to lose to a fictional character of all things.”

Kim Dokja dug his nails into his palms at his sides, trying his hardest not to think about the wording of his coworker’s phrase just now. “… Like I said, that was a long time ago.”

“If it was so long ago, then why’d you go as far as telling your entire class about your first love experience?” Yoo Joonghyuk crossed one leg over the other on the couch.

This bastard!

“So you were listening that day!” Kim Dokja lightly shoved the back of his head. “Don’t think too much about it. My students were just being excessively curious so I gave them something to think about, even if it wasn’t true.”

Yoo Joonghyuk blankly looked back at him. “You would even lie to your students…”

“Didn’t you, too?” Kim Dokja folded his arms against his chest. “I’ve never seen you go out with anyone in your life, so what’s all this about a love lasting several years?”

“… Are you serious?”

“Yeah, sure, talk. I’m oh-so curious about the person who has allegedly stolen your cold, lonely heart,” Kim Dokja rolled his eyes as he jested. He wasn’t expecting a straight answer from this bastard anyway. He was one of the people who’s been with him the longest, and although Yoo Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung almost had a little thing in college after several rounds of drinks, he can confidently say that there wasn’t anyone Yoo Joonghyuk really fancied in his life since he’s never seen him—

“I like you.”

—do anything that suggests he likes someone else and… Kim Dokja’s train of thought broke. And what?

He must have misheard.

“April fools isn’t ‘til several months already,” Kim Dokja sighed in defeat. “Just give it up, already.”

“This isn’t a joke,” Yoo Joonghyuk propped a hand on his cheek as he turned his body on the couch to face Kim Dokja. “I like you.”

Kim Dokja narrowed his eyes. “No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I still do.”

“Until now? You can’t be sure about that.”

“I’ve been sure for 13 years already.”

13 fucking years— oh, this is just absurd.

“This can’t be real,” Kim Dokja inched back. He was running out of excuses. He was running out of reasons to refute him – he hadn’t meant for this conversation to swerve in this direction at all. He just wanted to tease him a little bit and hopefully make his escape but apparently he’d flown too close to the sun!

He should’ve just kept his mouth shut.

The worst part is he already had an inkling that this would happen.

“But it is,” Yoo Joonghyuk raised a hand to cup his coworker’s– his best friend’s face. “Aren’t you just lying to yourself by denying it?”

“I’m… horrible at things like these.” Kim Dokja shook his head, taking hold of Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand to lower it from his face. “You know that. Why do you think back in high school I didn’t—”

“Kim Dokja, we are no longer in high school.”

They’ve grown since then. The day Yoo Joonghyuk confessed was similar to this one, and Kim Dokja remembered it clearly; it was raining, just like tonight. They were standing under the waiting shed outside their school, and they were waiting for Han Sooyoung to get back from cleaning duty.

“I like you.” 15 year-old Yoo Joonghyuk had said simply, without any fancy theatrics.

At the time, Kim Dokja was surprised. He clutched his backpack tighter, and lowered his head to look at his shoes. With rain comes the cold, but his cheeks were awfully warm at that very moment.

“I know,” he replied.

“Do you like me too?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked, his little eyes widened in excitement. Even back then, he rarely showed any emotions, save for moments like these.

“Mn,” Kim Dokja nodded once. “I think so.”

They never started dating.

In college, something similar happened. One particular night during their third year, they snuck up to the rooftop to go star-gazing after that term’s exams have concluded for both of them.

“I like you,” 21 year-old Yoo Joonghyuk had said then.

Kim Dokja lowered his half-empty can of Soju. He so badly wanted to say he liked him back too.

“… I know,” was his only reply.

Yoo Joonghyuk gazed up at the sky, then. “So, do you still…?”

“Maybe I do,” Kim Dokja’s 21 year-old self shrugged. “But I’m not sure if I’m up to the whole dating you thing and everything that comes with it. Aren’t we just fine as is?”

Back then, too, they didn’t start dating.

Deep down, Kim Dokja was just afraid. The thought of potentially losing the comfort and stability they share keeps him hesitant, as he values their bond far too much to risk it for the uncertainty of love. He’s no stranger to loss… he’s haunted by the possibility that something as fragile as romance could unravel the trust and understanding they've built over time.

They’ve been doing fine for several years.

So why, now?

“What is it that you’re so afraid of?” Yoo Joonghyuk, at 28 years old in the current time, says as he cups his cheek. “Tell me.”

“Who says I’m afraid?”

“It’s written all over your eyes.”

Oh, fucking hell.

Kim Dokja finally relented, “Do you really want to know?”

Yoo Joonghyuk grasped his hand tighter. “I want to know all about you.”

“Things will change between us if we… if we start whatever this is,” Kim Dokja, his heart traitorous as ever, leaned into the hand on his face. “And I don’t want to jeopardize our friendship over something as uncertain as love.”

“Why do you think it’s uncertain?” Yoo Joonghyuk looked into his eyes, almost like he was searching for the answer to his questions. “Why do you believe things will change?”

“Things will inevitably change,” Kim Dokja insisted. “Isn’t that how the story always goes?”

“But it doesn’t have to,” Yoo Joonghyuk peered up at him from the couch. “Things can always stay as is.”

He dearly wished for that to be possible.

“Is it possible?” he asked, useless as that question may be.

“Of course it is, you fool,” Yoo Joonghyuk scoffed. “Do you want to try it out?”

“And what, pray tell, does trying it out even mea–”

Yoo Joonghyuk brough his other hand up to caress the left side of his face, the touch almost tender, as though testing the waters. His eyes were soft when they met Kim Dokja’s, a faint flicker of uncertainty passing through his usually calm demeanor. For a moment, they both hesitated, the space between them charged with something unspoken. For a moment, they both faltered, the distance between them heavy with unspoken words.

They knew that closing this distance would either confirm or debunk Kim Dokja’s fears.

And then, with a quiet breath, Yoo Joonghyuk leaned in, his lips brushing against Kim Dokja’s in a soft, almost shy kiss.

But it was not one of uncertainty.

Yoo Joonghyuk was a force anchoring him to reality. This kiss was something Kim Dokja fantasized long ago – something his tiny teenage heart, at the time, could only dare to dream about. Something he can never be honest about. Yoo Joonghyuk kept Kim Dokja grounded, and his lips against his was warm, sweet, and full of an affection neither of them had openly acknowledged before.

Belatedly, he realizes the affection has always been there. He just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

It made Kim Dokja want to laugh, so in-between the kiss he let out a breezy, and thoroughly amused, laugh as he pulled Yoo Joonghyuk’s jacket collar closer to his.

They exchanged a few light kisses then, and all of their feelings just spilled out like an open dam. Yoo Joonghyuk was gentle all throughout the entire deal, and Kim Dokja thinks, is this what he thinks of me? All this softness, this gentleness so unlike him… is it really all for me?

His traitorous, traitorous heart skips a beat. Can I really have something like this? Do I deserve this?

When they finally broke apart, Kim Dokja was pulled by his arm into the couch, and he let out a yelp of surprise as he spilled right all over Yoo Joonghyuk in an awkward mess of limbs before sitting back up properly.

“So?” Yoo Joonghyuk flashed him a rare grin. “Do you think anything changed?”

When Kim Dokja looked at his friend – the person he has just kissed silly – all he sees is the person he’s known the longest, who’s stayed with him for over 13 years throughout every single moment since his story almost came to an end before resuming at 15.

“I’m not sure,” Kim Dokja smiled, genuine this time. He has never been so glad to be wrong in his entire life. “I think I’ll have to kiss you again to double-check.”

Chapter Text

Kim Namwoon is rudely woken up by something repeatedly hitting his bedside window.

Extremely irritated, he cursed whatever it was that’s causing the noise and slammed his window open. “Who the hell dares to–”

“It’s me, idiot!”

Kim Namwoon looked down towards the street and saw a certain girl with a ponytail and a gray hoodie. In her hand was a pebble, her arm stretched back as if poised to throw.

“Pebbles?” Kim Namwoon yelled incredulously. “Are you nuts?! Why can’t you just knock on my gate like a normal person?”

“Weren’t you the one bragging about having bulletproof glass windows?” Lee Jihye lowered her arm and instead tossed the pebble up and down in her hand. “Besides, you threw eggs at my window one time. Consider this as payback for that.”

“That was last year, let it go already. What the fuck are you even doing in my house?” Kim Namwoon scowled. “It’s early in the morning, you just ruined my sleep.”

“Early in the morning, my ass,” Lee Jihye tossed the pebble to the ground, “it’s 1 in the afternoon! Can you just let me in? I brought my laptop with me, let’s play League.”

Kim Namwoon scrambled to his closet for a spare change of clothes – his black Wing Gundam Zero T-shirt was drenched in his sweat and he wouldn’t want to subject Lee Jihye to that, so he changed into a freshly-laundered shirt. When he opened his gate, Lee Jihye was tapping her foot against the ground impatiently. There was a black backpack slung over her right shoulder.

“Oh, Gundam Aerial,” Lee Jihye whistled as she walked past him inside his doorway. “Nice taste.”

Kim Namwoon closed his gate as he followed her into his bedroom, where his PC was. “Why did you even come all this way to play League? Do you not have Discord?”

“My mom forgot to pay the internet bills this month again.” Lee Jihye shrugged as she took out her laptop, setting it on his bed while she took a seat on the floor.

“So what you’re telling me is you’re mooching off my internet.”

“Yeah,” Lee Jihye answered shamelessly.

“Why can’t you just go to a PC bang?” Kim Namwoon sat down on his gaming chair with an oomf! and pressed his CPU’s on button with his toe.

“Because that means I’ll have to pay,” Lee Jihye took out her phone to scroll down her social media timelines a bit while waiting for him to open League. “Why pay when I can go to your house for free?”

At that moment, a notification sounded out from Lee Jihye’s screen. It came from their class’s KakaoTalk group chat. Seeing as how there were several new messages notifying one after another, Lee Jihye opened the group chat to see what the fuss was all about.

@ me to play basketball: me and @ZB1lovebot @STEP ON ME KANG HYERIN @IdolUrielEveryday @illegal boating just got back from the faculty office
@ me to play basketball: stupid ass exam retake

Anyone wanna Q PUBG?: lolol how was the retake
Anyone wanna Q PUBG?: bum cheater, got caught

@ me to play basketball: FUCK OFF you’re lucky i didn’t report you too

IdolUrielEveryday: they didn’t even try. it was the same questions lmao

illegal boating: we just reused the cheat sheet we passed around during exams LOLLLLL

hermit king of shadows: you guys didn’t get caught this time? impressive

Anyone wanna Q PUBG?: nvm, the faculty’s full of bums too

@ me to play basketball: @Anyone wanna Q PUBG? go online now, managed to get some guys from the other class to play. let’s Q PUBG

Anyone wanna Q PUBG?: that’s why i love you bro

ZB1lovebot: exam was bs TT_TT but that’s not important!!!!
ZB1lovebot: OKOK so while i was answering, i overheard some teachers discussing~~

illegal boating: this is why you’re not gonna pass. you’re putting the focus elsewhere

ZB1lovebot: not my problem our proctors were being so flirty?? right in front of our salads too. does anyone know what department the other guy was in?

dm me 4 homework help: didn’t know yoo-seonsaengnim had movement like that

hermit king of shadows: always knew something was up with those two teachers anyway

STREAM FIRE, STAN URIEL: @hermit king of shadows explain??????

hermit king of shadows: dm @navalwarfare she’ll tell you

ZB1lovebot: i overhead news about the upcoming school festival!!!!!
ZB1lovebot: they say it’s going to happen next month in november ?

IdolUrielEveryday: you heard it too?

Actress Min Jiwon-ssi one chance pls: ??

STEP ON ME KANG HYERIN: ?

garden gnome collector: ??

dm me 4 homework help: ????

Wanting Happiness Everyday: oh??

Happiness Everyday: school festival?

ZB1lovebot: YESSSS but dont tell anyone else yet !! i dont think we’re suppsd to know!!
ZB1lovebot: we just happened to be there when they were talking about it

Happiness Everyday: if one of you fuckers pitch in a crossdressing cafe, see me at the back of the school at 12 pm when we get back. we’ll have a little chat

Wanting Happiness Everyday: what’s wrong with a crossdressing cafe? i’d love to see you in a maid dress ^^

Happiness Everyday: ?

dm me 4 homework help: THIS IS THE FUCKING CLASS GC KEEP THAT SHIT IN YOUR DMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ZB1lovebot: seconding that

illegal boating: seconding that

Actress Min Jiwon-ssi one chance pls: seconding that

When their dearest adviser announced the school festival the moment school started once again, nobody was surprised but everyone was still excited anyway. After all, weren’t school festivals the absolute highlight of the year? The one event every student looks forward to, aside from the sports festival?

“And there you have it,” Ms. Sooyoung dropped her chalk on the teacher’s desk with a flourish. “Since we managed to finish yesterday’s lesson early, I can allot the rest of my time to help you guys decide what our class is going to offer for the school festival.”

Instantly, several students raised their hands.

“How about a crossdressing cafe?” One girl enthusiastically suggested with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

A guy suddenly slammed his fist on the table. “Who the hell said that? Do you want to die?!”

She scoffed, “Who said I wanted to see you crossdress? I want to see Lee Jihye and the girls in butler outfits.”

Lee Jihye gave her classmate a thumbs-up. “Of course I’d look great in a butler outfit!”

“We could offer fortune-telling,” another guy took out a comically large crystal ball from inside his backpack. The metallic stand creates a loud slam on his wooden desk. “While the others are doing cafes, we’re peering into people’s minds and sticking our noses in their business.”

“First of all,” his seatmate winced, “that’s freaky. Second— how did you even fit that in your bag? Do you just bring that to school everyday?”

Someone else raised their hand. “Let’s all do a musical!”

Several violent reactions and shouts of complaints were immediately sent in that person’s way, but that person merely shook their head while shrugging and defending their suggestion.

“I won’t lie I’m kind of digging the crossdress cafe idea,” Ms. Sooyoung placed a hand on her chin thoughtfully, “but we need something more unique. Something that feels a little more like us.”

One of her students sighed, “But it’s a little difficult to think of an idea. We’re all just reusing cliches from fictional school series…”

“You can all do it,” Ms. Sooyoung urged them. “What if I told you the sales we make will be split among us? Wouldn’t want to let the other classes outdo us, right?”

The whole class suddenly falls silent, each pondering her idea.

“Ah!” One of the boys sitting at the back of the class suddenly brightened, immediately fixing his posture as if he had something to say. “I have an idea. We’re allowed to use any room in the school, right?”

“You are,” Ms. Sooyoung held up a form in her hand, “as long as I, your adviser, approve of it. However, whatever it is you’re planning, you all better give me a good reason as to why you chose that room and what it’s being used for.”

“Great!” This student leaned forward on his desk. “So here’s what I was thinking…”

Seoul Integrated School was swept up by the festive current not even a week after the school festival was announced throughout the whole campus, serving as a reference point to how much the students were anticipating this event.

Compared to sports day, school festival preparations were longer and heavier, placing a lot of load on not only the students but the teachers and the staff as well. Because this was an important event, the higher-ups were gracious for once and lessened the academic load on its students. For one month, the amount of homework per subject was reduced to nearly 0. The procrastinators were the most happy about this change.

True to her word, Ms. Sooyoung did her best to help her class. Luckily, the room 2-C wanted to use wasn’t reserved for any other class yet.

Normally, the students of 2-C were divided into different friend groups and social cliques – there were the girls who often stuck together, the boys at the back of the class who liked to slack off in class and play basketball during lunch, and a bunch of others with their own category. Each one minded their own business. But for events like sports day and the school festival, they were closely united.

The month sped by, and November came around just as quickly as October left.

Ms. Sooyoung was currently in the process of handing out promotional flyers to students in the hallways with Kim Namwoon by her side. She knew that he was the type to want to be left alone, and that was precisely the reason why she brought him along.

Not only that, but there was another reason too…

“A LAN cafe?” A few guys from class 2-D and 2-E whistled in amusement. “Damn, you could host stuff like these in school?”

“Yeah, there’s like esports tournaments happening this afternoon for League, PUBG, Valorant, and Overwatch. There’s prize money,” Kim Namwoon shoved a flyer in another’s face. “Hang around for a bit. We should Q up for some games when I’m free.”

“Shit, sounds cool. Thanks, man!”

Kim Namwoon was someone who had a lot of connections. Sure, to some people’s eyes, he may be cemented as a bit of a loser, but most of the people he’s played basketball and hung out at PC bangs with turned out to be his batchmates.

The early morning drowsiness was getting to Kim Namwoon. He yawned as he checked the remaining amount of flyers in hand. “Noona, do we really have to give all of these out?”

“We only have the third years’ floor left to go to,” Ms. Sooyoung encouraged him. “This’ll be quick.”

“This better be. I wanna head back as soon as possible… Lee Jihye’s probably logged her LoL account into the school PCs already.”

This strange teacher-and-student duo climbed the steps up to the third years’ floor at the end of the hallway. Halfway up, they chanced into an encounter with Mr. Yoo and Mr. Kim, who were both heading down.

Mr. Kim was the first to spot them. In his hands was a small plastic cup with steamed siomai inside drenched in some kind of secret unrecognizable sauce, and he raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement.

Because he was eating, his words were a little bit muffled and his cheeks slightly bulged. “Morning, you two. Off to roam around as well?”

Ms. Sooyoung nonchalantly handed him a flyer, “If you love me, head on over to the high school department’s computer lab and support my class.”

Mr. Yoo peered down at the promotional material. The eye-straining splash of neon colors made it obvious that whoever did the graphic design for this was imitating those posters used for esports tournaments and events. The contrast was terrible and he could barely read anything, but he was able to make out a few words at least. “2-C’s booth is a LAN cafe?”

“Sure is. Aren’t we awesome?” Ms. Sooyoung held out her hand towards Kim Namwoon. Kim Namwoon took out the tape dispenser from his jacket pocket and gave her a strip of scotch tape, and she used it to tape the flyer onto Mr. Yoo’s forehead. “Here you go. But if you plan to join any of the tournaments, go easy on the kids, okay?”

Mr. Kim nearly choked as he tried to stop his laughter.

“…” Mr. Yoo took off the flyer on his forehead and pocketed it. “I’ll stop by.”

It should’ve ended at that. But Mr. Kim asked for another strip of tape from Kim Namwoon, the latter looking slightly confused, and put his hands in Mr. Yoo’s pocket. When he took them out again, he was holding the folded up flyer. He taped it back onto Mr. Yoo’s forehead.

Kim Namwoon nearly let his jaw drop. Wow, ahjussi’s got guts.

Mr. Kim must’ve found the whole thing very funny because his laughter spilled over right there. But karma got to him rather quick, and he immediately started choking soon after.

Mr. Yoo was quick with his actions. He pocketed the flyer again before patting the elementary literature teacher’s back, spitting out an, “Idiot. Swallow first before you start laughing.”

Mr. Kim was able to come to his senses. When he finally calmed down, Mr. Yoo even used his thumb to wipe some of the sauce off the corner of his lips. But instead of wiping it on some cloth, he licked it off his thumb clean.

Han Sooyoung has never been so surprised in her 26 years of living.

“And eat properly,” Mr. Yoo chastised. “You forgot to clean some of the excess sauce.”

“I know how to eat properly,” Mr. Kim raised the plastic cup closer to his coworker. “Want one? The sauce looks unappetizing but it’s actually really good. It’s just the purple food coloring making it look suspicious.”

“Later,” Mr. Yoo started to head down the stairs, hands in the pockets of his PE jacket.

“Ah? Joonghyuk-ah, wait! Slow down you big oaf, you know you have long legs—“

“Your own fault for not being able to catch up.”

“This jerk? When we get back to the faculty I’m not feeding you these.”

They exchanged lighthearted banter and bickering all the way until they disappeared from both Ms. Sooyoung and Kim Namwoon’s sights.

The dumbfounded 2-C teacher and student duo stood rooted in place for several seconds. Slowly, they turned their heads to look at each other, their expressions complicated.

What… did they just witness?

“You’re back!” Lee Jihye chirped excitedly, her ponytail swishing behind her. Nowadays, it was getting kind of long since she hadn’t had a trim in several months. “Huh? What’s wrong with you two?”

Kim Namwoon can’t remember the exact amount of times he’s been accidentally and intentionally smacked in the face with her ponytail, but he doesn’t really have a preference for that sort of thing. He thinks she looks nice no matter what style she wears.

When he and Ms. Sooyoung came back to class 2-C’s LAN cafe, they bore the expressions of troubled scientific geniuses burdened with the discovery of the universe’s secret.

“Did…” Ms. Sooyoung spoke up first, “... something happen between Dokja and Joonghyuk?”

“Huh? No, nothing new happened as far as I know,” Lee Jihye shook her head. “Come to think of it, nothing major has happened since the end of the term break. Why?”

“Why does it feel like the air between them feels a lot more insufferable than before?” Kim Namwoon rubbed the side of his neck in thought.

“What’s all this now?” Lee Jihye sat on one of the computer desks. Today, she was wearing her atrocious uniform blouse-skirt-PE jogging pants-sneakers combo. “What brought this up?”

Ms. Sooyoung recounted their earlier encounter this morning, and Lee Jihye damn near floated from excitement.

“He used his thumb to what and lick what?!”

“Idiot! Don’t be so loud!” Kim Namwoon put his finger over his mouth in a shhh gesture. “Then again, this could just be some close friends thing and we’re just jumping the gun.”

Lee Jihye pointedly raised an eyebrow. “Say I have some ice cream on my face. Would you wipe it off me using your hand and lick it clean?”

Kim Namwoon cringed at that, “Ew, no. I’d rather slam a car door shut on my fingers.”

“See?” Lee Jihye nodded. “This isn't a normal close friends thing!”

“Jihye-ssi,” a classmate called over from one of the PCs, “can you help me start this thing up? It’s not turning on.”

Lee Jihye hopped off her desk with a groan, but she still went over to aid that classmate anyway. “What do you mean it’s not turning on? Ah– hey, I said no food and drinks in the LAN cafe! There’s a penalty for that!”

True to Ms. Sooyoung and the rest of the class’s predictions, the class 2-C LAN cafe is turning out to be a huge success so far. With permission from the higher-ups, they were able to turn the mostly-unused high school building computer lab into a LAN cafe, complete with games one would usually find downloaded in any PC bang outside of school. It would have to be uninstalled once the school festival was over of course, but for today they could play to their hearts’ content without using illegal means.

Many students loitered around inside the LAN cafe and more chairs were brought in to accommodate those who came to watch their friends play. By the time noon struck, class 2-C had already made mad bank.

At around 12:20 PM, Lee Gilyoung wandered in, pushing through the crowd of middle and high schoolers with Shin Yoosoung and Yoo Mia by his side.

“Nice booth. This looks just like a real PC bang!” Lee Gilyoung mused as he looked around the place.

“It’s got better air conditioning than most PC bangs I go to, that’s for sure,” Shin Yoosoung was holding someone else’s hand when she entered. “Hello, unnie. A certain someone told us to go check your booth out.”

“A certain someone?” Lee Jihye looked up at the man whose hand Shin Yoosoung was holding. “Oh, it’s Mr. Kim ahjussi– and Master! Are you here to play games and participate in tournaments too?”

“Originally, only your Mr. Yoo and I were going to stop by,” Mr. Kim replied, his tone sheepish. “But Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosoung couldn’t stop going on about your class’s booth so we all decided to go together. I have to say, I like what you did with the place. It sure brings back some memories… wouldn’t you say so, Mr. Yoo?”

Mr. Yoo’s answer came in the form of a short grunt of acknowledgement.

“You see, when we were younger, we used to spend all summer fooling around in PC bangs with Han Sooyoung. So!” Mr. Kim handed Lee Jihye 2,000 won in bills. “Two PCs, one hour each, please.”

Lee Jihye’s eyes sparkled at the sight of money. “Right this way, ahjussi!”

She led them to two PCs. Luckily, its previous customer just left, so the two teachers wasted no time and got as comfortable as they could on the gaming chairs provided.

“Where’d you get the budget to get gaming chairs? These look comfy!” Lee Gilyoung asked Lee Jihye.

“Most of ‘em belong to our classmates,” she pointed at the sleek black-and-purple chair Mr. Kim was currently sitting on. “The one Mr. Kim ahjussi’s using is Kim Namwoon’s. So, what are you two going to play?”

Mr. Kim opened Google once the computer was turned on without even scanning the game library first. Beside him, Mr. Yoo did the same.

“Been a while since we last went at it, don’t you think?” Mr. Kim started to stretch his fingers. “Think you can beat me this time? Best of 3?”

Mr. Yoo cracked his neck from side to side. “Dream on, Kim Dokja.”

“Everyone’s free to dream,” Mr. Kim grinned. At almost the same time, the two of them inputted the name of a certain block-stacking browser game on the search bar.

“Ahjussi, do you still even know how to play Tetris?” Yoo Mia yawned, leaning against the armrest of Mr. Yoo’s chair to get a better view at their screens. “It feels like I haven’t seen you two play that in forever.”

“Old habits die hard,” Mr. Kim logged into his account. “Ready, Mr. Yoo?”

Kim Namwoon seemed greatly interested in Mr. Yoo’s monitor. His eyes widened upon seeing the high account level indicated on the corner of the screen. “You two play Tetris?”

“It’s all they would do when they were both in uni,” Yoo Mia rolled her eyes. “This stupid rivalry of theirs has been going on for years.”

“Only occasionally,” the elementary teacher replied. “We haven’t gotten the chance to play lately because we’ve both been busy with personal affairs, but now’s the perfect chance to settle the score once and for all. What’s our standing again, Yoo Joonghyuk? 1863-1862?”

“We’re both at 1863 wins, fool,” Mr. Yoo glowered as his fingers grasped the mouse.

What the hell? Kim Namwoon’s eyes flew back-and-forth between the two teachers. You two keep tabs on something like this?

“I’ll be the first to reach 1864 then,” Mr. Kim flashed him a competitive grin as he created a private game room.

His grin was returned by a small upturn of Mr. Yoo’s lips. “I’d like to see you try.”

Unbeknownst to them, a small crowd of students had started to gather around the two teachers.

Apparently, word quickly got around that two teachers were currently duking it out 1v1 in the computer lab, and one of them happened to be Mr. Yoo. Because Mr. Yoo was famous on campus for his absurdly good looks, many students regardless of if they were gamers or not flocked over to 2-C’s booth like it was a New Year sale.

“Hey! Mr. Yoo’s playing Tetris against some guy in the highschool 2-C booth!”

“Mr. Yoo as in the PE teacher? Move over, I need to see this—”

“Oh my God. Wasn’t Mr. Yoo a streamer before he quit to start teaching?”

“You’re kidding? Mr. Yoo, a streamer? That man’s got the personality of a man in his 30s halfway through a divorce.”

“Yeah, his channel’s pretty much inactive now but the VODs are all up on Youtube.”

“Who’s he playing against?”

“Dunno, but it seems to be another teacher.”

“I’m surprised our teachers even know how to operate technology. I thought they were getting old for that.”

“Hey, don’t you think they look kinda good together? The other one isn’t too shabby looking himself…”

“Fuck are you saying?”

Class 2-C’s LAN cafe suddenly gained a surge of popularity. Soon enough, the hallways of the high school building became extremely crowded and the students of 2-C had to work overtime to keep everything and everyone in line. At some point, Ms. Sooyoung even implemented a pay-per-view.

Someone hauled a whiteboard from inside the computer lab-turned-LAN cafe. In the middle was a line, and on each side were Mr. Yoo and Mr. Kim’s names. Sitting in front of the whiteboard was Ms. Sooyoung with a devious smirk on her face, two large empty jars laid before her (courtesy of the baking booth next door).

“Wanna get fired up?” Kim Namwoon addressed the growing crowd, sliding a chair for his adviser to sit on. “We’re taking bets! Hurry up and get your predictions in now before they start the game! It’s a best of 3!”

Ms. Sooyoung gave a hearty laugh. “I reckon there’s never going to be another time like this again. Don’t you want to see our Mr. Yoo Joonghyuk’s gaming skills in action? This is the first time the Supreme King’s ever played in front of a crowd in forever!”

Yoo Mia sunk down into a nearby seat, her face scrunched into a complicated expression. Her index finger was raised towards the teacher and student duo who were oddly in synch, and she turned to Shin Yoosoung, “Is this even allowed?”

“They’ll probably get into trouble,” Lee Gilyoung sat next to her. “But I wanna be here when it all goes down.”

“I’m also here to morally support Dokja-ahjussi,” Shin Yoosoung chuckled. “He can definitely win against Mr. Yoo. I think I still have a few bills in my pockets to place a bet…”

Yoo Mia immediately held up a hand to stop her. “No, no. We’re too young to gamble. Like our seniors, we must hold ‘respectable’ values and set an example for others.”

Their seniors were busy upholding said respectable values and throwing wads of cash into 2-C’s pockets.

“I’ll bet on Mr. Yoo!”

“I’ve seen enough sports series to know I should always vote for the underdog. One for Mr. Kim!”

“Thanks for the free money.”

“Just you wait—!”

“I don’t even know this game but Mr. Yoo is hot so naturally I’ll vote for him.”

“You didn’t have to be vocal about that but sure…”

“Huh? Do you wanna go?!”

“One at a time, please!” Lee Jihye fumbled with her calculator to count the amount of funds they’ve amassed so far. She felt that it was multiplying by the second and was a little overwhelmed.

As it turned out, Ms. Sooyoung and Kim Namwoon were excellent at riling up a crowd. Their teamwork was incredible and it was almost scary to look at.

Meanwhile, inside the cold confines of the LAN cafe, Mr. Kim and Mr. Yoo were now knee-deep in the Tetris game trenches.

To those who were unfamiliar with Tetris or didn’t play it much, they’d think it was a simple game from the look of the blocky interface designed with retro 8-bit elements alone. But to those who played it, they knew that Tetris was much more deadlier than a simple 8-bit PvP game.

It hasn’t even been a minute since the first match started but blocks started to fall from both teachers’ screens in a wild flurry of colors, and the casual Tetris players among the crowd were stunlocked in place.

This… this was a completely different level compared to what they knew.

Nevermind the fact that colors were speeding by faster than their brains could even register what was going on, both of their hand speeds were nothing to joke about either. The sounds of their rapidfire keyboard clacking resonated throughout the entire room. Seriously, this APM is comparable to those of pro gamers! What were they doing teaching in some public Korean school, they should be on the grand stage playing in front of an even bigger crowd!

Mr. Kim and Mr. Yoo’s eyes stayed glued to the screen in complete concentration. Occasionally, one of them would let out a small click of the tongue or a smirk.

Just when one of them seemed to win, the pile of blocks nearly reaching the top of the tank on the screen, it would suddenly lower again. The entire crowd of students watched with bated breath, cheering in the hallway.

After what seemed like years, the first game concluded in an extremely close manner, with Mr. Yoo narrowly escaping from the jaws of defeat.

The holler as Mr. Yoo dealt the finishing blow was damn near deafening. But at the same time, it felt so satisfying.

“Haahh…” Mr. Kim slumped against his chair in defeat as Mr. Yoo gave a satisfied smirk. “Damnit! If my 3-corner T landed in time I would’ve had you.”

“Sounds like a – as the kids say – skill issue,” Mr. Yoo cracked his knuckles. He couldn’t hold back the triumphant smirk on his face, and he let himself be swept up by the waves of his victory. “Another one?”

Mr. Kim took one look at his coworker’s smug expression and immediately sat upright once more. “‘Course, you bastard.” With renewed vigor, Mr. Kim fixed his attention to his screen. “I’m going to wipe that grin off your face, just you wait, Yoo Joonghyuk.”

“By all means, be my guest.”

The second round started just as quickly as the first one did, and the two were immediately locked in what looked like a stalemate.

“So fast…” Kim Namwoon rubbed his eyes. “Even ahjussi isn’t doing so bad himself.”

“Dokja-ya’s a quick thinker,” Ms. Sooyoung noted as she accepted another bill from a betting passerby. “But I think Joonghyuk’s hands are faster. It’s a race to see whether their mind or their hands can keep up with the intense pace they’re setting for themselves.”

Lee Jihye made a strangled noise in her throat. “That sounds a little…”

“Yes, it sounds a little homoerotic of them if you ask me,” Ms. Sooyoung crossed one leg over the other. “They’ve set this standard between them, almost as if to say, try to chase me, I dare you. Eugh. It’s just Tetris, it shouldn’t be that serious to warrant a rivalry.”

But for those two, it wasn’t just Tetris. It was their pride on the line, along with many other things.

Anyone who knew Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk personally could tell that being each other’s equal was more important than anything else. And Han Sooyoung’s been aware of that for several years already.

But at the same time… will it kill you two to call it quits?! If a rivalry lasts more than 10 years, can that still be called a rivalry?!

Like Mr. Kim in the first round, Mr. Yoo slipped up and made a mistake. Not letting this chance go to waste, Mr. Kim quickly stacked his tiles and completed combos to send trash in his opponent’s way. Soon after, the big blocky YOU LOSE screen and miserable gray overlay filled Mr. Yoo’s monitor.

The students exploded into choruses of disbelief, shock, and everything in-between.

Ms. Sooyoung wrote a line under each teachers’ names. The current score was 1-1. “Huh, what do you know. Even I’m getting goosebumps, and I’m not even the one playing or making bets.”

A student slammed their palm on the betting desk, “Ms. Sooyoung, can I please increase my bet amount for Mr. Yoo?!”

“I’d like to increase mine too!”

“5000 more won for Mr. Kim!”

“I wasn’t supposed to place a bet but now I kind of want to see how it all ends…”

Kim Namwoon put one leg up on a desk and leaned down beside their adviser. “Get in line first you little shits, or we’re not organizing these!”

By now, the crowd outside 2-C’s LAN cafe became nearly impossible for a high school class to manage. Even the students inside busy playing different games couldn’t get out, so they took advantage of the fact that everyone was distracted to continue getting more time in their respective games.

It’s hard not to see why this spectacle became so widely known. Here were two teachers, one who was incredibly hot and the eye candy of the student body’s majority, and impressive gameplay from both sides to boot. It’s the kind of scene any student would find entertaining.

“People are already posting about it on social media… incredible…” Han Donghoon saw the influx of tweets and posts about the two Tetris-playing teachers. He was currently hunched over a chair behind Lee Gilyoung and Yoo Mia. “As expected of them.”

The third, final, and most anticipated match yet went underway.

Nobody knew what was going to happen. Both Mr. Kim and Mr. Yoo had obviously learned their lesson by now, and mistakes were made less frequently than before… as if they made many mistakes to begin with! While the students were getting dizzy with the wild frenzy of colors zooming past the screen, to the two teachers it was clearly something they were already used to.

Everyone held their breaths as they watched the two monitors. It was an extremely close match, and nobody could tell who was going to win. Just when the scales of victory seemed to tip towards one side—

The whole game froze.

Mr. Kim blinked. “What?”

Around them, several other students playing other games cursed out in unison.

Those who were playing League suffered the same fate as the Tetris players and their entire screen froze in place. The PUBG players were faced with a disconnection notice and immediately became nothing but lootboxes for their enemies.

The whole crowd roared in disbelief. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, a megaphone-enhanced shout rang in everyone’s ears—

“What are you lot doing here clumped together like bloodcells in a vein?!”

Ms. Sooyoung’s head was bowed in the direction of Principal Baram frowning behind his desk in the Principal’s office.

Mr. Yoo, Mr. Kim, and the major instigators of class 2-C were there as well. Originally, it was only supposed to be Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye, but somehow Han Donghoon had been dragged into the entire mess just because he was sitting nearby.

Clearly, Han Donghoon never saw the interior of the Principal’s office before. Among all the so-called troublemakers, he trembled the most.

Principal Baram went on an extremely long-winded rant about upholding school values and influencing the youth which absolutely nobody paid attention to. Lee Jihye’s neck was starting to ache from having her head stuck in this position for quite some time.

“Really, you are my personal staff. Above all, you, Ms. Sooyoung, are an educator,” Principal Baram went on as he stroked his beard in fury. If he stroked it any faster it would surely catch on fire from the friction. “I would expect you to know better. Gambling on school grounds… how unbelievable…! How unbecoming!”

“My apologies, sir,” Ms. Sooyoung kept her tone carefully calm.

“And you three,” Principal Baram sighed as he continued on with his sermon. “You are high school students. Are basic school values not reiterated every flag ceremony for you to forget them? As second years in high school, you should already be well-aware of—”

“If I may speak, Principal-nim,” Mr. Kim spoke up, “isn’t it okay to let them off this offense just this once?”

“But—”

“Isn’t the goal of the school festival to help foster community and harmony within the student body?” Mr. Kim recited one of the school’s values from memory. “They’re only teenagers. Making mistakes and experiencing such things is the very essence of youth.”

The student trio from 2-C all tried their best to hide signs of their shocked stupor. Mr. Kim... was defending them?

To the three teenagers, he suddenly seemed just a bit cooler.

Principal Baram’s anger seemed to waver. “You do raise an excellent point, Mr. Kim Dokja, however—”

“And!" Mr. Kim continued, his lips finally upturned into that irritating bastard’s smile (the one Mr. Yoo knew the most). His next argument became the final nail in his perfect defense, “Making friendships, creating connections, and community bonding is a very important part of high school life. Isn’t high school about bonding with peers through thick and thin, come academic strife and success?”

Behind him, Mr. Yoo and Ms. Sooyoung both bit their bottom lips to stifle their scoffs.

Making friends is an important part of high school life, my ass, your friends were no one but us!

Finally, Principal Baram relented and accepted defeat. “... When you put it like that, even I cannot fault you. However, I will be adding this onto your permanent records. Consider yourselves warned – should this happen again, the consequences will be much more dire. You may go.”

Mr. Kim’s eyes brightened. “Then if you may excuse us, President-nim, we shall be taking our leave.”

Victory was evident in his tone and he hummed the entire way out of the office. Once they were back in the familiar school hallway, Han Donghoon let out a large sigh of relief.

“I thought I was a goner,” Han Donghoon shuddered. “I thought we were gonna die.”

“Isn’t that a bit too much?” Lee Jihye slapped his back in comfort, though it did more hurt than comfort. “At least we got out scot-free.”

“Wow… ahjussi… you’re actually kind of cool,” Kim Namwoon’s jaw was slack the entire duration of Mr. Kim’s conversation with the principal. “Seriously… fibbing your way like that… that was kind of badass.”

“Oh yeah, this guy’s a natural born bullshitter,” Ms. Sooyoung pointed a thumb toward him. “I hate to admit it but we all owe him one now.”

“Don’t mention it,” Mr. Kim fanned himself with one hand. A few drops of sweat dropped down the side of his neck. “I was getting tired of Principal Baram's sermon. If I had to endure it any longer, my ears would escape reality.”

Han Donghoon didn’t stop shuddering. “I’ve never been to the Principal’s office before… why the hell was I even brought over? So unfair.”

This time, it was Mr. Yoo who replied, “Guilt by association.”

Lee Jihye ruffled her classmate’s already messy black hair. "Well some of us have to try something new every once in a while. You’re welcome, by the way."

“... Why are we even friends?”

“By the way,” Kim Namwoon suddenly remembered, “what happened in the LAN cafe? Why’d the 1v1 suddenly come to a stop?”

“The ruckus must’ve been getting unmanageable, so the school cut off the WiFi for the computer lab," Ms. Sooyoung heaved a huge sigh of regret. "Now I'll have to give everyone their money back."

“Tsk,” Mr. Kim folded his arms over his chest. But it can’t be helped – the damage was already done, and there was nothing they could do to continue their game. He faced Mr. Yoo with a reluctant expression, one that said he really didn’t want to do this. “What say we call a truce today? Nobody won between us.”

“I can’t accept it,” Mr. Yoo refuted.

“I’m sorry?”

“We’re continuing this at my house tonight,” Mr. Yoo walked up ahead, his steps picking up the pace. “Bring your laptop.”

Mr. Kim glared at his coworker. “You—! Why do you always leave no room for discussions?! Get over here and tell me why you can’t just accept something as simple as—”

While watching their disappearing figures, the quad belonging to 2-C who were left behind merely stared in bewilderment at the two teachers’ backs.

They were all thinking the same thing: there was definitely something different here! But just what exactly is it?

Chapter Text

The 2-C LAN cafe incident will forever be engraved in students’ minds as an unforgettable event that shook the heavens and the earth.

No other event in their school’s history has made the principal himself come out of his shell and use his powers to stop whatever it was that was happening. Other than that, anything happening between two teachers was much too entertaining for any gossip-deprived student; especially when one of them involved Mr. Yoo.

With that said, since that day, all the games that were downloaded in 2-C’s LAN cafe are officially blocked from the school WiFi.

The school festival didn’t leave their minds even as the first drop of snow fell from the early-December sky. The weather was getting chilly, so today’s weathermen advised citizens to start wearing thicker clothing during the morning news.

Yoo Mia stifled a yawn under her scarf as they arrived in school. Once they were inside the school gates, Kim Dokja bent down to fix the loose knot on her scarf.

“Ahjussi…” Yoo Mia looked down at her scarf, “you don’t have to fix it…”

“I’m not fixing it. I’m just doing something real quick, you’ll see,” Kim Dokja said. A few seconds later, he managed to make a ribbon along the side of her scarf by tying the ends together. “Okay, I’m done. How does it look?”

Yoo Mia’s eyes widened, and she sunk her face deeper into her scarf. “Hmph… it’s okay, I guess.”

Yoo Joonghyuk knew his sister better than everyone else. She was literally a carbon copy of him, and she dealt with her emotions almost the exact same way as he did, so he could tell that she was really pleased with what he did.

His partner noticed this as well. “It won’t kill you to say you like it.”

“I already said it was okay!”

Kim Dokja suddenly felt a pair of hands reach for his jacket collar. Stunned, he watched wordlessly as Yoo Joonghyuk tugged and aligned it.

“It was unaligned,” Yoo Joonghyuk simply stated. “I fixed it.”

Kim Dokja didn’t even notice that his own jacket was messy. “Ah, didn’t see that.”

“Also—” Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly pulled his inner shirt and pressed a quick kiss on the other’s lips. “I just wanted to do this.”

Beside them, Yoo Mia made a disgusted sound.

During the term break’s sleepover, Yoo Mia woke up way too early and felt the urge to get some water. When she got to the living room, she saw her brother cooped up on the couch with Kim Dokja, both of them fast asleep and looking comfortable. Sooyoung-unnie’s annotated novel, which she gave to her brother, lay open on the floor.

And that’s when she knew something had definitely changed between them.

Yoo Mia placed her bag down by her feet when she entered her classroom. It’s been two months since then. Other than the occasional kisses they would sneak when no one was looking, and the gross amount of hand-holding, nothing’s really changed between them. Her oppa will always be her oppa, and ahjussi will always remain that ahjussi.

It was truly a wonder why they held off on that whole dating thing for so long.

Meanwhile, in the elementary faculty office, a very busy Yoo Sangah was sipping hot coffee to keep herself warm. When she saw Kim Dokja enter, she looked up to offer him morning pleasantries. “Good morning, Dokja-ssi— oh?”

Kim Dokja promptly dropped his things down on the desk next to hers. “Good morning, Sangah-ssi.”

“Um…” Yoo Sangah pointed to her hot blend, “Do you want a coffee? They managed to get us this fancy new coffee maker in the break room. It’ll help keep you warm!”

“I’m okay, I’ve already had my morning fill,” Kim Dokja politely declined. “Also, I’m not feeling particularly cold.”

“You’re not?” Yoo Sangah blinked. “Then… why are your cheeks red right now?”

Once upon a time, Han Donghoon would’ve complained a thousand times in his head whenever Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon dragged him out of his lonely cocoon for lunch. Now, their hands on both of his wrists was something he was used to.

Still… can you please let go? You’re blocking the blood from travelling to my hands.

It was too cold to eat lunch in the courtyard, so they climbed up to their usual hangout spot on the high school building’s 4th floor.

“… Ah,” Han Donghoon suddenly spoke up upon reaching the 4th floor. “I forgot to pick up my phone charger. I’ll just go get it.”

“Sure thing,” Lee Jihye waved. “Don’t take too long! I want to brag about the lunch my mom made me today.”

Han Donghoon went down the stairs two steps at a time in order to make it back quickly. The entire time, his head was lowered and his hands were in the pockets of his jackets to keep himself warm. When he passed by the faculty office on the third floor, he was noticed by a certain figure.

“Oh, hey you!” Ms. Sooyoung called him over. “C’mere for a second, kid.”

Han Donghoon suddenly started rehearsing 100 excuses and apologies in his head for whatever he might get scolded for.

But he wasn’t in trouble for anything. Rather, Ms. Sooyoung called him over and placed a thick brown envelope full of documents and papers in his hands.

“This is Mr. Kim’s,” Ms. Sooyoung told him. “I’d go to the elementary building’s faculty to hand it over myself but I’m occupied with something the guidance counselor asked me to look into at the moment. If you’re free, can you do me this one favor? I’ll add a few points to your latest lit quiz if you do.”

“I don’t need the points…” Han Donghoon took the envelope, “but I have time to give it. That’s all I need to do, right?”

“Yeah. Thanks, kid!” Ms. Sooyoung patted his shoulder. Then, in a low voice, she asked, “Oh, by the way, are you meeting up with the others today? How’s the operation going?”

“Same as usual,” Han Donghoon shrugged. “No new developments between the two have occurred so far.”

“A shame,” Ms. Sooyoung sighed. “There’s no new upcoming events. I was supposed to ask them to eat lunch with me so I can maybe give them a little push, but I haven’t seen Yoo Joonghyuk around.”

Being friends with the two main subjects of their operation truly did have its benefits. Han Donghoon made the long walk to the elementary school building, the wintry air chilling his fingertips everywhere he went.

When he arrived at the elementary faculty office, he saw Mr. Kim seated at his desk. And beside him was… their very own PE teacher?

Mr. Kim was discussing something — the plot of a book, it seemed — while moving his hands around animatedly as he talked. Mr. Yoo on the other hand, was listening to him with a hand propped to his cheek. Between them was a half-eaten lunch box. Their figures were sitting close to each other, and from Han Donghoon’s point of view, it looked like they were even leaning towards each other.

It seemed like Mr. Yoo was about to do something, but at that moment, Mr. Kim spotted Han Donghoon standing idly at the faculty entrance and raised an arm to greet him. “Han Donghoon! What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?”

Yeah, no wonder Ms. Sooyoung couldn’t find them.

“Ms. Sooyoung asked me to give this to you,” Han Donghoon offered him the brown envelope.

“Ah, the worksheets I asked for her help on,” Mr. Kim accepted. “Thank you for delivering this. Have a great lunch.”

For a moment, Han Donghoon met Mr. Yoo’s eyes, who merely stared at him wordlessly. His gaze really was too intimidating. He bowed towards him in quick greeting before scuttling off.

Once he stepped out into the hallway, he heard something he… probably shouldn’t have.

“You can’t just go around doing as you please. We were almost caught just now.”

“It was fine this morning, though?”

“That’s only because it’s just Yoo Mia. She already knows, anyway.”

A lightbulb went off in Han Donghoon’s mind.

Huh. Maybe new developments have taken place and they just weren’t aware of it.

Whatever happened, it’s none of his business. Good for them for finally getting together, but he probably shouldn’t tell the others this just yet or else they’ll do something weird again.

It was getting too chilly to use the gym, plus the snow had accumulated outside its doors. So for the meantime, all PE activities would be suspended until further notice, or until the snow outside the gym has been shovelled.

This meant that class 2-C’s PE became a sort of self-study session, or a free period where anyone can work on whatever it is they had on their plate.

Lee Jihye was on her desk playing Call of Duty mobile with the volume turned all the way down, and she was queued with Kim Namwoon. CODM was not on the list of games blocked from the school WiFi, so their in-class gaming sessions continued.

Mr. Yoo was busy with something on his laptop anyway. Someone was literally hosting a Tarot reading, complete with three desks stuck together to form one long table, and he didn’t bat an eyelash.

Kim Namwoon, who was busy spraying people to death with an M4LMG – his favorite gun in the game – craned his neck to see Lee Jihye’s screen. “Why are you spawn camping? You’re so fucking toxic. Grow some balls for once, get a machine gun and start frontlining with me.”

Lee Jihye’s character was leisurely crouching by a window overlooking the spawn point of the opposing team. “Normally, I’d think spawn-camping is for pussies, but last night I watched this streamer look cool while doing it so I wanted to try it out myself.”

“What the hell is that logic,” Kim Namwoon winced. “Change your loadout already, yours is giving me brain tumors.”

“Excuse me,” a voice from their classroom’s doorway said, “is there a class going on right now?”

Both Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon looked up at the familiar voice and wore confused faces in unison. What the heck is Mr. Kim doing here?

“Not really,” Mr. Yoo answered. “Do you need something, Mr. Kim?”

“I actually do,” Mr. Kim smiled. Even after all this time, Kim Namwoon finds his smile a little irritating because it was always laced with a smidge of bullshittery. “Do you have my ointment? Sangah-ssi asked to borrow it. I left it with you during lunch.”

The other man reached into his jacket’s inner pockets and pulled out a small mint-green tube. “I have it here.”

“Thanks,” Mr. Kim beamed, taking it from him. “That’s all I came here for. Carry on with your work—”

“Don’t use that ointment anymore,” Mr. Yoo told him, suddenly. “It’s ineffective. I’ll buy you another one.”

“Ineffective? It seems to work fine, though?”

“No, look here.” Mr. Yoo lifted a hand and touched the corner of Mr. Kim’s lips. “This hasn’t fully healed yet.”

“You—! That’s on you already, you know I have sensitive skin around my lips–”

Kim Namwoon felt like he was hearing something that was supposedly completely out of his business. Luckily, it seemed none of their other classmates (especially Lee Jihye) had caught on.

Still… ointment for broken skin around that area was a little suspicious. Most people don’t even need something like that, unless they’re—

Oh.

Kim Namwoon was suddenly hit with a eureka! moment as a lightbulb in his mind shattered.

Oh, so that’s what’s happening.

He blamed his stupid chronically online self — fuck, he didn’t want to find out this way that his teachers were getting down like that! Adults truly are weird as hell!

Shin Yoosoung stared at the snow outside and contemplated getting new gloves.

The ones her mom bought her a few years ago were getting too small for her now, plus there were holes in the fingertips – her umbrella felt much colder to hold as. Right now, she was waiting for Lee Gilyoung to arrive so they could walk home together.

It was dismissal time, and a sea of students trickled out of the school’s gates, everyone talking excitedly about the holiday break starting tomorrow. What student doesn’t love getting time off from school? While standing under the waiting shed by the gate, she saw a hand wave in her direction.

“Oh it’s you, Mia,” Shin Yoosoung returned Yoo Mia’s wave. “You’re going home now?”

“Mhm,” Yoo Mia nodded. “You too?”

“Yep, just waiting for bug boy.”

“Okay, don’t stay out too long. Oppa told me it’s going to get really cold tonight.” Yoo Mia felt a hand on top of her head, and she swirled around. “Ahjussi!”

Mr. Kim entered the scene shortly after Yoo Mia. Upon spotting Shin Yoosoung, he gave her a pleasant smile. “Speaking of your oppa, he’s already here. I went out of the main building with him.”

Today, Mr. Yoo was wearing a thick black jacket. Coupled with his black umbrella, one might think he was attending a funeral instead of taking his sister home from school.

“Now that we’re all here,” Mr. Kim clasped his hands together and rubbed them, “shall we all go home?”

Shin Yoosoung thought that something wasn’t quite right with her teacher’s words just now. 'Shall WE all go home?' Before she could ponder over it some more, Mr. Kim suddenly gave Yoo Mia the umbrella and took Mr. Yoo’s hands in his own.

Shin Yoosoung fought the urge to drop her jaw from shock.

Mr. Yoo curiously arched an eyebrow.

“Don’t think much of it. It’s just cold,” Mr. Kim said. “Your hands are warm.”

Mr. Yoo took one of Mr. Kim’s hands and stuffed it in a pocket alongside his own. “If you wanted to hold my hand, you can just be honest about it.”

“Wh— no,” Mr. Kim sputtered, “It’s just that— well, you, as a matter of fact, just happen to be the nearest person with warm hands. I am actually using you and taking advantage of your body heat by holding it.”

“Whatever you say, Kim Dokja.” When Mr. Yoo scoffed, Shin Yoosoung mentally scratched her head. He’s capable of scoffing in a non-arrogant way? “Let’s just go home.”

Yoo Mia followed suit, wordlessly giving Shin Yoosoung a wave of farewell.

Shin Yoosoung could only weakly wave back as she stood in the waiting shed, surprised at how Mr. Kim and Mr. Yoo were acting right now. She watched, dumbfounded, as the three of them walked away, looking much like a family with Yoo Mia sandwiched in between the two teachers.

Behind Yoo Mia, Mr. Kim’s hand was still in Mr. Yoo’s pocket, and they all shared the same black umbrella.

It’s like a scene from a kdrama she’s seen before with her mom. In her mother’s shows, the couples always did cheesy stuff when they officially got together, and excessive hand-holding was one of them.

Adding on to that the thing about ahjussi’s novel, with the hundreds of comments about the protagonist being similar to Mr. Yoo, and the fact that Mr. Yoo hinted that his first love was someone he’s known for a very long time now…

Shin Yoosoung’s grip on her umbrella weakened as a lightbulb was brightly lit in her mind.

Could… could Mr. Yoo and ahjussi… could they have possibly…?

She recalled her homeroom adviser’s expression just now, and the way Mr. Yoo uncharacteristically scoffed, the gesture almost fond. Almost gentle.

It definitely has to be what she’s thinking, right?

Lee Gilyoung often went to other people’s houses because his own home wasn’t something worth staying at. It’s boring, nobody but his aunt was usually home, and there was almost nothing to do there. So, after he put on his winter clothes, he went straight to Yoo Mia’s house to return the Nintendo Switch game he borrowed from her the day before the holiday break began.

The only reason why he wanted to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the first place was for its bug-catching feature, anyway. Other than that, he wasn’t interested in the whole building and farming aspect of the game.

Yoo Mia’s house was a semi-long walk away even though they lived in the same neighborhood. Turning left at a familiar crossroads, he pulled up to their two-storey house and rang the doorbell. Lee Gilyoung’s been here before but he still can’t help but be amazed by the fact that they had a doorbell.

In his book, having a doorbell is synonymous to being wealthy.

Lee Gilyoung heard the sound of the front door being opened, followed by a yawn. Opening the gate was a figure much taller than his 10-year old friend, and he looked up to see Mr. Kim’s surprised look.

Geh. What’s hyung doing in that sooty bastard’s house? Lee Gilyoung thought. Well, they’re friends, so it shouldn’t be surprising…

“Gilyoung-ah!” Mr. Kim ruffled the boy’s head on instinct, his voice hoarse from having just woken up. “What brings you here?”

Lee Gilyoung took out the physical packaging of Animal Crossing: New Horizons from his pocket to show him. “Good morning, hyung! I’m returning this to Yoo Mia. Is she awake?”

“She’s having breakfast inside,” Mr. Kim replied, opening the gate a little wider. “Do you want to join us?”

“A-Ah, no, I’ve already eaten!” Lee Gilyoung refused, waving his hands in front of him. “I also made plans to hang out with Shin Yoosoung today. I just came here to return Yoo Mia’s game.”

Mr. Kim took the game from his student’s hand, examining the cute cartoon-y animal characters. “Oh, Animal Crossing. Cute game. I’ll make sure to return it for you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kim!” Lee Gilyoung beamed in gratitude. His hyung truly was too kind!

He was about to turn away when he noticed a few red-colored bruises on his collar. Come to think of it… wasn’t the black shirt he was wearing a little too big on him? It looked at least two sizes larger. He could see a few new bruises and scratch marks on his arms that were definitely not there before.

Filled with concern, Lee Gilyoung looked at his hyung’s retreating figure and called for him. He looked fine just now, judging by their earlier interaction; like he wasn’t hurting or supporting those new wounds at all.

“Hyung! Are you okay?!”

Startled by his student’s switch in tone, and the sudden display of concern, Mr. Kim turned back. An expression of absolute confusion colored his normally pleasant face. “… What brought this on? Of course I’m okay?”

Lee Gilyoung started to feel sympathetic for his teacher. He knows what it’s like to be hurt and feel like not telling anyone, so he understood where Mr. Kim was coming from.

“Ah, no, it’s just…” Lee Gilyoung pointed vaguely towards his upper body. “You have a few bruises, so I was just wondering if you were alright…”

“You mean—” Mr. Kim followed where his student was pointing at and suddenly started choking on air. Lee Gilyoung immediately went over to his teacher. I knew it, something isn’t right after all!

“Hyung, are you really okay?!” Lee Gilyoung asked, overcome with the desire to help. “Surely there must be something inside you can use to help with the—”

“N-No… you’re mistaken…” Mr. Kim put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’m fine. I just… got into a few accidents last night.”

Lee Gilyoung silently counted the amount of bruises and red spots he could see with the naked eye. There were too many to count on one hand. “… That many accidents?”

“I am admittedly clumsy at times.”

Mr. Yoo chose that moment to ruin Lee Gilyoung’s day and poked his head out of the front door. “Kim Dokja, what’s taking you so long? Food’s almost cold.”

“It’s just my student. I’ll be back inside soon.” Mr. Kim scratched the side of his head as he let out another yawn. “Anyway, I appreciate the concern, Gilyoung-ah, but I’m fine.”

Lee Gilyoung spared one last sympathetic look at his teacher before waving goodbye.

Behind him, he thought he saw Mr. Yoo usher his hyung back inside the house with an arm around his waist.

… Huh.

Weird.

Mr. Kim was clumsy at times, sure. But it was only during the times he saw him and Mr. Yoo together. Otherwise, he was just your ordinarily responsible and reliable run-of-the-mill elementary teacher.

Lee Gilyoung’s mind replayed the part he thought he saw before leaving Yoo Mia’s house. Those two seemed rather… close. Closer than usual. The fact that his hyung was wearing a shirt that obviously not his meant that they were sharing things—

Lee Gilyoung tripped and fell on the snow. As he did, an imaginary lightbulb switched on inside his head.

They’re dating! They have to be dating! There’s no reason for them to share clothes and live together from time to time unless they’re together!

But that sooty bastard really is incompetent. With all the accidents happening around, shouldn’t he make things safer inside the house? There were lots of bruises and scratches on his hyung just now… he must’ve gotten them while doing chores.

That day, the world’s biggest advocate for violence made a vow in his little 10-year old heart. If Mr. Yoo ever allows his hyung to get hurt like that again, he’ll come back and release cockroaches in that jerk’s room. He’ll make sure of it.

Lee Jihye yawned as she stared at this certain convenience store's new ice cream vending machine.

On the side was an ad for some MMORPG game that recently came out last month — this reminded her, she should definitely download it when she gets home. It’s been four days since the holiday break began and there wasn’t a single day where Kim Namwoon didn’t pester her to hop on the new game and play with him. To promote the game and celebrate its successful release, it collaborated with a famous ice cream company.

Lee Jihye hasn’t tried this brand in particular, but the pictures look pretty good. Still… what the hell did Archmage Strawberry and Berserker Banana even mean? These flavor names were way too lame.

She decided to buy one regardless. She opened her wallet in hopes to fish out a few coins.

The vending machine was located outside the convenience store, and it was pretty late at night already. The only reason she came here was to buy an energy drink, but the vending machine caught her eye so she decided to get ice cream as well.

While fumbling around with the coins in her hands, counting if she had enough won, she overheard two voices having a conversation nearby.

“Objectively, the Guardian is the best class. It’s an all-rounder — it’s a tank, it has self-sustain, yet it can still deal damage and be built DPS thanks to the class being a greatsword user.”

“Boring. I’ll stick with being a Shadow-walker.”

“And be a dime-a-dozen assassin DPS character? Please. Tanks and healers are the most valuable roles in a dungeon party. When people send out party recruitments, it's always for tanks and healers. You will never see anyone asking for a DPS.”

“The tank is useless if the damage dealer isn’t dealing enough damage.”

“Fine, then you can keep being a Shadow-walker; the class with the worst lore. The lore for the Shadow-walker is rushed. When I heard that this MMORPG was based on a novel I’ve read and liked, I had high expectations since it was great, but some of these class descriptions just piss me off. It's like they ripped out all the pages, shredded, and blended them together.”

“The story doesn’t matter much, it’s an MMORPG.”

“Still, it’s an R-P-G! Of course someone who doesn’t read won’t understand.”

Lee Jihye raised her head towards the source of the voices. Under the fluorescent lights of the convenience store, she saw Mr. Yoo with hands in his pockets walking alongside Mr. Kim. Both of them were wearing extremely casual clothes under thick jackets, as if they went outside without changing.

Mr. Yoo spotted her first. Upon catching his gaze, Lee Jihye sputtered out quick words of greetings.

“Oh? You’re here for the Mirage collab too, Lee Jihye?” Mr. Kim asked upon approaching her.

“Mhm,” she nodded. “Was supposed to get an energy drink but the ad interested me. Kim Namwoon’s been bugging me to download it, too. Do you play, ahjussi?”

“We actually were just playing it a while ago, right, Joonghyuk-ah?” Mr. Kim elbowed his companion’s arm playfully. “I only made my account tonight though, so this guy’s helping me with the dungeons and levelling-up.”

“It’s less me helping you and more you leeching off of me,” Mr. Yoo deadpanned.

“Fine. Don’t help me, then.” Mr. Kim smugly shrugged. “Say goodbye to your Guardian and do those dungeon runs by yourself.”

Watching them go at it back-and-forth, Lee Jihye’s eyes sparkled with hope. The chemistry is there, the banter is there, every single ingredient for a perfect romance was there, so why weren’t they together yet?!

They were already acting like a couple, anyway. It’s such a shame…

Lee Jihye decided on the ice cream flavor she was getting. “What level are you in Mirage, ahjussi?”

“Me? I’m only level 25,” Mr. Kim answered. “But this guy’s level 140, can you believe it?”

“No way!” Lee Jihye gasped. “Didn’t the game come out only last month?”

“I know, it’s low,” Mr. Yoo said, as if he was disappointed. “If I hadn’t been so busy, I would’ve been level 250 by now.”

Lee Jihye blinked. He’s just as sweaty as Namwoon… minus the sweat of course, since Master no doubt looks cool even while gaming…

“You make hardcore PC bang campers look like fools with that stupidly fast progression of yours,” Mr. Kim sighed. “C’mon, let’s get the ice cream and get back to dungeon-crawling—”

“Shit, do you people never shut the fuck up?” An unfamiliar voice yelled.

From the shadows, hanging out in the alleyway beside the convenience store was a group of people who definitely looked like trouble. All of them looked rather burly and rugged, most of them sporting tattoos on some parts of their bodies. The one in front — presumably their leader — was a tall guy with a buzz cut wearing a chain on his neck. There was a cigarette in his mouth, and a furious glare in his eyes.

Even Lee Jihye didn’t notice them since she came from the other direction of the street.

The lot of them who were previously squatting rose to their full heights, and Lee Jihye immediately clenched her fists in anticipation. Her ice cream was still in the vending machine, but that can wait.

“Whoa-ho-ho,” the buzz-cut hooligan rubbed his chin, grinning as he sized Mr. Yoo up. “We’ve got fresh-looking Mr. Fancy Pants over here. Hey, how much did that watch cost ya? Real pretty, that thing is.”

Mr. Yoo’s expression hardened.

It was Mr. Kim who spoke first, “If you’re going to make trouble for us, it’s not worth it. That watch is a fa—”

“Shut up, I’m not talking to you,” the guy cracked his neck in an attempt of intimidation. “You don’t look like you’re worth much, so scram.”

Mr. Kim’s jaw dropped, looking more offended at the fact that he was practically called broke than the fact that they were getting robbed right now.

“So? Got any extra bills to cough up?” The man looked into Mr. Yoo’s eyes, a sinister smile on his unpleasant face. “Give us your watch and 50K, then we part ways, how ‘bout that? If not… you know how violent things can get ‘round here.”

“You’ve got 5 seconds,” Mr. Yoo warned, his voice colder than the biting winter air. “5 seconds to leave before things get ugly for you.”

Normally, such words would sound corny with anyone else, but when Mr. Yoo said it they seemed cool.

“Huh?” The guy with the buzz cut felt a vein pop in his mind. At the same time, his group of lackeys all started squaring up, some of them even holding weapons like crowbars and baseball bats in hand.

Lee Jihye did a silent headcount. There were six opponents, and three of them. Lee Jihye knows she can take down at least two of them, especially the thin one standing at the backmost part of the group. If things really came down to a fight, a win was 100% possible.

“This motherfucker not only has money, but apparently the balls too,” the man scoffed, cracking his knuckles. “So that’s how you wanna go, huh, punk? I love beating the shit out of arrogant fucks like you.”

Instinctively, Mr. Kim put himself in front of Lee Jihye to shield her.

Mr. Yoo didn’t even look the least bit troubled. His hands were in his pockets, but Lee Jihye could tell that his fists were already clenched.

The man struck first. He quickly drew back to score a hit and sock him in the face, but before the punch even landed—

“If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends!”

—The man’s fist froze in mid-air.

… Something wasn’t right.

“Make it last forever, friendship never ends!”

Nobody moved from the sheer shock. Not even the man, whose fist was still suspended and frozen in place, poised halfway in a punch.

“If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give!”

Both Lee Jihye and Mr. Kim exchanged blinks and glances, mirroring each other’s face of astonishment.

Even a crack appeared in Mr. Yoo’s usually stern expression, who looked confused for once.

“Taking is too easy, but that’s the way it is~!”

…

A silence so deafeningly loud filled the street while Wannabe by Spice Girls continued to play. It only stopped when the man with the buzz cut slowly and calmly dug his hand into his pocket, taking out his phone.

“What you think about that, now you know how I feel. Say you can handle my love, are you for real—”

CLICK!

The music stopped, just to be replaced by an old lady’s deafening screams on full display because the call was on speaker mode.

“Yunwoo-ah, where are you right now?! It’s 12 fucking AM, do you know how late it is? Why haven’t you come home yet? Are you hanging out with those— those buffoons again?! Yunwoo, how many times did I tell you that those kids are no good? You’re being influenced by those fucking gangsters who have nothing better to do with their time! You’re always giving me a headache, never coming home on time and never listening to anything I say… if you’re not home in 10 minutes, you can find all your belongings on the street.”

“Wait, mom—”

The call ended abruptly.

One of the man’s lackeys patted his shoulder in a hurry. “Shit, Boss Y! It’s Madam Yeongil! She’s looking for you!”

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Mr. Buzz Cut’s face. “Fuuuck, we have to dip. If I don’t get home now, she’ll send me to the other side of the Han River herself.”

The fight ended before it even started. At that moment, the lousy group of 6 made their escape, quickly retreating under the cover of night.

The entire time, Lee Jihye, Mr. Kim, and Mr. Yoo stood still even as those hooligans were gone. It was only when Mr. Kim burst into a fit of laughter did things finally lighten between the three of them.

“What the hell!” Lee Jihye fell to her knees on the snowy street. “He looked like such a tough guy but he was actually a mama’s boy who listened to stuff like that!”

Mr. Kim clutched his sides as he too doubled over from laughter. “Now, now… we can’t judge people’s music tastes… pfft, however…!”

Even Mr. Yoo couldn’t help but crack, and he let out a singular chuckle in amusement.

“I’m glad we didn’t get robbed though,” Mr. Kim wiped a tear of joy from the corner of his eyes. “Oh my God. I still can’t believe that actually happened. We were supposed to get ice cream!”

“We could totally win if we got into a fight too,” Lee Jihye punched the air confidently.

“I have no doubt,” Mr. Kim placed a hand on Mr. Yoo’s chest. “This guy alone could take down four of them. He really wasn’t lying when he said things could get ugly for them.”

Lee Jihye silently squirmed at their skinship.

They each bought a different flavor of ice cream from the Mirage collab vending machine and stood outside the convenience store. It’s strange to buy ice cream while it was snowing, but these lamely-named flavors were actually pretty good. The entire time they stood together, eating ice cream, they shared mundane conversations; mostly about what they would do in Mirage once they got back.

Soon, they finished biting and licking their ice creams down to the last drop, throwing three empty popsicle sticks down the trash can.

“It’s time for us to go home, our characters have been AFKing for over an hour now,” Mr. Kim waved over at Lee Jihye. “However… it’s pretty late. We should at least escort you home before we head back.”

“What? No, I’m fine, ahjussi! I can totally handle myself!” Lee Jihye insisted.

“Just to be safe,” Mr. Yoo added. “We don’t know how many more people are hiding around here waiting.”

It’s not that Lee Jihye didn’t trust her two teachers, it’s just that she really could handle it if anyone jumped her! She’s an athlete and she was by no means weak at all!

However… her Master was right.

“Oh,” Lee Jihye shrugged. “Alright, then. It can’t be helped. Shall we head back now? I’m freezing. This was supposed to be a quick convenience store run, after all.”

It felt a little weird to have two teachers from school follow her home. The walk wasn’t that long anyway, so in less than 10 minutes they were finally in her place. The only light still on was the one in her bedroom on the second floor.

“This is my house,” Lee Jihye pointed as she opened the gate. “Thanks for taking me home, Master and ahjussi!”

Mr. Yoo only nodded, while Mr. Kim waved at her while saying goodbye, Jihye-ya. Once she was in the safety of her home, she quickly went up to her room and decided to shut the curtains because it was getting a little too cold.

However, before she was able to fully close her curtains, she saw a shocking sight on the street before her.

While walking away, hand-in-hand, Mr. Kim was leaning on her PE teacher’s shoulder.

Lee Jihye’s jaw dropped. Along with it, the lightbulb inside her lit up bright enough to power an entire city.

Chapter Text

Han Sooyoung liked New Year celebrations. An opportunity to drink and eat to her heart’s content without having to worry about work the entire day? Hell, of course she’ll take it!

Unlike a certain introverted friend of hers, she enjoyed attending social events like friendly get-togethers and the occasional end-of-the-week drinking parties. Mostly, the people she went out with were her fellow teachers and other staff from work.

Gathered in this humble restaurant today were some of Han Sooyoung’s peers and coworkers, most of them from the elementary and high school departments. Teaching was something she originally wasn’t going to do, however she still took the job because of two nuisances in her life. She didn’t expect to get acquainted and connected with this many people, but she supposed it wasn’t that bad at all.

“And look who finally arrived!” Jung Heewon, with three pieces of tteokbokki in her mouth, waved towards the trio who recently entered. “Can’t be one without the other two.”

“If I hadn’t pestered them to come, they actually wouldn’t make it,” Han Sooyoung gestured towards the two men tailing behind her as if they were her own personal bodyguards.

“You’re a miracle worker, Sooyoung-ssi,” Lee Hyunsung applauded.

“It’s so nice to have Joonghyuk-ssi and Dokja-ssi actually attend,” Lee Seolhwa chuckled lightly. “When’s the last time all of us got together like this?”

“I think it was our Joonghyuk-ah’s birthday back in August?” Kim Dokja helpfully supplied as he took the seat opposite Han Sooyoung’s. “Has it really been that long? It’s the New Year already…”

“Forget about that!” Han Sooyoung grabbed the menu. “Let’s order some meat already and start cooking!”

At the mention of the word cooking, everyone on the table turned to Yoo Joonghyuk.

“I’m always the designated cook whenever we eat out like this,” Yoo Joonghyuk narrowed his eyes. “During my own birthday too.”

“It’s not like you mind, though!” Han Sooyoung slapped his shoulder from across the table. He was sitting beside Kim Dokja so she made sure not to hit him. “Half of why we eat out at all-you-can-eat restaurants like this is to personally get a taste of your cooking.”

“Yes, and—”

“She’s right, though,” Kim Dokja lightly laughed. “It pains me to admit, but no one can grill meat better than you do around here.”

It might’ve been just Han Sooyoung’s mind playing tricks on her, but did she just see Yoo Joonghyuk… falter? “… I didn’t say I won’t do it.”

“Hear that, people?” Kim Dokja beamed. “Our chef is back in business today!”

Everyone on the table cheered.

The atmosphere brought by the New Year quickly filled everyone’s hearts. Accompanied by soju and Yoo Joonghyuk’s 5-star-Michelin-worthy grilled meat, the worries of adult life slowly melted away as the night creeped into the later hours.

… Almost completely melted away, at least. When everyone was at least 3 bottles in, it was surprisingly Kim Dokja who aired out his mind first.

Kim Dokja’s head was supported by his arm on the table, his eyes downcast and deep in thought. “Lately… aren’t the students acting a little weird?”

“Weird?” Yoo Sangah, the least tipsy of the group, echoed. “I don’t think so. What do you mean?”

“It’s just… how do I put this…” Kim Dokja set down his half-finished soju bottle. “I don’t know if anyone else is experiencing this too, but wherever I go I always feel like someone’s watching me. Following me.”

“Are you saying we have a stalker in school?” Jung Heewon’s expression turned serious. “Is it any of the staff? Have you seen them?”

“No…” Kim Dokja set down his hand on the table. Beside him, Yoo Joonghyuk took the soju bottle from his hands. “I haven’t seen them exactly since it usually happens while I’m at school. If it were any of the staff, I’d know about it by now.”

Lee Seolhwa tugged at a slice of meat. “Shouldn’t we report something like this to higher-ups? Stalking is a serious issue.”

“Where did you encounter them?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked, a rare display of worry.

Kim Dokja thought about it for a moment. “Around the elementary school building. Oh, and in the courtyard too. It usually happens during break times.”

All of Han Sooyoung’s actions suddenly halted. Slowly, she placed down her chopsticks and lifted a hand to her keeps to prevent her laughter from bubbling over.

I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t laugh… I really shouldn't, but…!

Her shoulders shook as she tried to keep it in. Only then did everyone around the table turn to look at her in equal parts of confusion and concern.

“Oh, that?” Han Sooyoung wiped a tear from her eye as she passed him another bottle. The sooner he forgets about it, the better she can protect the operation team! “You don’t have to worry about it! There’s security cameras plastered all over the school, we’ll definitely know about it instantly if someone weird was out stalking you. Have another drink, aren’t we supposed to stop worrying about life tonight?”

Her tactic to change the topic worked — Kim Dokja reached out his arm towards her, accepting the bottle.

“You’re right,” Kim Dokja acknowledged. “No point worrying about it in the middle of a celebration. If the problem persists we can just look into it as soon as we get back to school.”

“That’s the spirit!” Han Sooyoung clinked bottles with her long-time best friend. “Join me for another one!”

She ignored the harsh glare Yoo Joonghyuk shot in her direction.

Thanks to Han Sooyoung’s instigation, the drinks and friendly conversations continued until it was 3 AM. Once the clock struck half past 3, everyone called it a night and bid each other farewell. Luckily, nobody had any obligations the next day… The hangovers are surely going to be stressful to deal with.

Han Sooyoung, having drunk the least between her, Kim Dokja, and Yoo Joonghyuk, decided to be the responsible one. Grumbling a thousand curses at her two idiotic best friends currently half-passed out from alcohol right now, she called for a taxi.

Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk sat side-by-side on the snowy sidewalk right beside her, like two kids waiting for their mother’s further instructions. Looking at their pitiful faces, obviously trying their best to stay conscious, Han Sooyoung felt the urge to throw both of them and herself into the dumpster. What was going on through her head? Why did she offer them more drinks? Rather, she expected Yoo Joonghyuk to hold his liquor but he too fell under the spell of the New Year and let himself loose.

Ugh, stupid Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk! She really wanted to kick rocks at these two fools right now.

She has to admit though, seeing them so compliant and quiet like this, she thinks it’s not so bad.

The taxi arrives ten minutes later, and she begins the arduous task of hauling two grown ass men inside the taxi. With the way they completely depended on her, one would think they didn’t know how to use their legs. The whole task took 10 more minutes, 13 attempts, and 5 instances of Han Sooyoung nearly falling to the snow with the person in her arms. When she finally sat in the passenger seat, the taxi driver shot her a sympathetic look.

Han Sooyoung opened Naver maps on her phone before showing it to the taxi driver. “Here’s my address. Oh, but before that…” she scrolled a little bit further and placed a pin down on a certain address. “Can we pass by this place first? I have to drop my two friends off.”

“Certainly, madam,” he agreed as he buckled in his seatbelt. “Um… do you need help carrying them too?”

“No, I can handle them on my own.”

The taxi driver’s eyebrows creased in doubt, but he didn’t say another word and stepped on the gas.

The drive back was smooth. There wasn’t much traffic since it was 3 in the morning, and Han Sooyoung used this time to get some fresh air. Rolling down the windows, she inhaled the cold air to collect her thoughts.

In the rear-view mirror, Han Sooyoung saw Kim Dokja leaning against Yoo Joonghyuk’s shoulder as he dozed off. Between them, their fingers were interlaced together, and Kim Dokja even clung to Yoo Joonghyuk’s arm.

Han Sooyoung has always been aware of it. Over their 13 years of friendship, she already knew the extent of allowed physical contact between them. Still, looking at their intertwined hands made her question some things. Had they unlocked a new stage of their friendship at this point in life? Something like that wasn’t out of the question.

Then again, they were both inebriated and under the influence, so it might not actually mean anything at all; this might as well be another one of those weirdly intimate platonic things they do.

Upon arriving at Yoo Joonghyuk’s house, Han Sooyoung stepped out of the passenger seat and opened the door for her two idiots. “Get out,” she pulled Yoo Joonghyuk’s arm. “You’re home.”

For the second time that night— early morning, rather, Han Sooyoung hosted her own one-man public humiliation show with an audience of one taxi driver.

Luckily, the only person she had problems with was Kim Dokja, because Yoo Joonghyuk was able to get out of the taxi by himself. He must’ve gained a clearer head on the ride home, thank goodness. Han Sooyoung handed Kim Dokja over to Yoo Joonghyuk’s arms.

“… Mn? Are we home already?” Kim Dokja slurred in his speech, sleepily rubbing his eyes as he got out of the taxi with Yoo Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung’s help.

“We are,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied. “Get up.”

Kim Dokja slowly came to his senses. Thankfully, this time Han Sooyoung was not under the risk of falling face-first into the snow. By the time they reached Yoo Joonghyuk’s gate, Kim Dokja was completely handed over to him.

“Take care of the rat for me, okay?” Han Sooyoung poked Kim Dokja’s cheek. “Stupid bastard not knowing his limits.”

“You’re part of the reason why he turned out like this,” Yoo Joonghyuk deadpanned.

“He didn’t refuse, so it wasn’t completely on me!” Han Sooyoung yawned as she waved him goodbye, turning back to walk towards the taxi. “See you, loser. Goodluck with the rat’s hangover.”

Yoo Joonghyuk glanced at the half-asleep man in his arms. “… Mhm. Take care, Han Sooyoung.”

A week after New Year, school resumed.

Nobody was happy about this. Not Han Sooyoung, not most of her coworkers, and definitely not the students. But at 7 AM on the dot, one hour before homeroom began, three kids suddenly appeared in the faculty room looking more energetic than she’s ever seen them.

“Ms. Sooyoung!” Lee Jihye was wide-eyed and frenzied when she called out her name. “Are you free during lunch? There’s something important we have to discuss!”

Han Sooyoung was still trying to shake off the morning drowsiness, so she was a little surprised. “… Yes. Yes I am. Good morning, Jihye-ya. Isn’t it a bit too early to be shouting like this? Why did you drag Namwoon and Donghoon into this too?”

“She insisted we came along,” Han Donghoon’s tiny voice was a stark contrast to Lee Jihye’s. “It’s, and I quote, of utmost importance.”

“Is this related to your academics?” Han Sooyoung leaned back against her chair. “I don’t do grade consultations until next month’s midterms, so you don’t have to worry about your grades until then—”

“It’s about Mr. Yoo and Mr. Kim,” Kim Namwoon said in a low voice only the four of them could hear.

Han Sooyoung immediately sat straight and looked around, surveying her surroundings for any possible sign of people who might overhear. Fortunately, Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t here — he went out 5 minutes ago to get some coffee. Sighing in relief, she leaned forward towards her students. “Did anything new happen?”

“Yes! It happened just the day before the holiday break began!” Lee Jihye chirped.

“Did something fucking happen indeed…” Kim Namwoon threaded a hand through his hair, like he was annoyed. “I don’t want to talk about it here.”

“You’ll know at lunch,” Han Donghoon assured their adviser. “W-Well… that’s all we came here for. See you at homeroom, Ms. Sooyoung-noona.”

The three left just as quickly as they arrived. Suddenly, Lee Jihye gasped as if she’d forgotten something, and scrambled back to Han Sooyoung’s table.

Gingerly, she handed her adviser a stapled pile of papers. “It’s the next chapter,” Lee Jihye winked. “Please give me constructive criticism this time, too. I really liked the notes you gave me last time.”

“You…” Han Sooyoung snickered as she received the papers in the same manner she received her graduation diploma. “I wasn’t expecting you to actually update, but thank you.”

Lee Jihye courteously bowed her head before heading back out. “Thank you always for your service, Ms. Sooyoung-unnie!”

Han Sooyoung spun back around to face her desk. Those kids, seriously… this is the first time she’s gotten so attached to a class, it surprised her. This year’s class 2-C was certainly the most unique bunch she’s handled yet.

In her peripherals, she saw Yoo Joonghyuk enter the faculty room while holding a coffee mug — it was the one the staff got together to make for the principal’s birthday, with a low-quality, stretched out picture of Principal Baram. It was also given to all of the school’s staff. There were even a few copies of it in the cafeteria.

“Morning,” Han Sooyoung greeted him out of habit.

Yoo Joonghyuk only grunted back in reply, taking his seat at the desk next to hers. Something shiny caught the corner of her eyes, and she inadvertently turned her gaze towards the source.

It turned out to be a silver ring. The design was simple, and it perfectly fit his finger. Although the position was a little questionable with it being on the ring finger, it still looked rather pretty.

“You’ve got a thing for jewelry now?” Han Sooyoung noticed. “Didn’t peg you to be the type to be interested in such things.”

Yoo Joonghyuk glanced down at his hand. “Oh, this? I didn’t buy it. Kim Dokja did.”

“Ah, Kim Dokja did…” Han Sooyoung repeated, not realizing the weight of his words. “Wait. Kim Dokja did what?”

“We exchanged rings, nothing much,” Yoo Joonghyuk replied. Then, as if he too realized something, added, “Oh, didn’t get the chance to tell you. We’re together now. Also, the wedding is next year.”

…

Five minutes later, Jung Heewon walks into the high school faculty room.

“Sooyoung-ah, do you have my— ah?”

Han Sooyoung, the person she came to see, is currently trapping Yoo Joonghyuk in a headlock. The other person was practically kneeling on the floor to accommodate her height, and he looked absolutely unaffected.

Jung Heewon inched away from them. “H-Han Sooyoung?”

“You bastard!” Han Sooyoung tightened her grip around Yoo Joonghyuk’s neck. It still does nothing to him. “You— you—! You fake fucking friends! For you I would gather all the cows in the prairie just to make enough to make sure you two would have a happy life, and this is how you repay me?! By keeping it a secret? What, now that you’ve gotten together with that rat bastard, you’ll leave me behind, ah, Yoo Joonghyuk? When I was the one who practically raised you?!”

Jung Heewon exits the faculty room, laughing the entire way out. The extra attendance sheets can wait. Yoo Joonghyuk getting ineffectively beat up was more important.

Han Sooyoung was in a foul mood for the rest of the day leading up to lunch time. It was therapeutic getting to beat the shit out of her crap best friend, even though she did not affect him in any way at all (stupid fucking gymbro with his stupid fucking protagonist-like body).

When she climbed up to the 4th floor of the high school building, where the kids’ designated meetup place was, she saw them writing lines on a chalkboard. Lee Jihye quickly erased a triangle and something else Han Sooyoung wasn’t able to catch.

“This is ridiculous,” Han Sooyoung groaned, finally relieved for the opportunity to let out her pent-up frustration. “Did you guys know that Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja finally got together?”

She expected the rest of them to cheer and wear expressions of surprise. Instead, half of them awkwardly turned towards the writings on the chalkboard and the other half immediately leapt out of their seats to greet her.

“Yes! That’s what we’re here to discuss!” Lee Jihye grasped her adviser’s hands. “We noticed it just before the holiday break!”

“Before the holiday break? That’s what you were talking about earlier?” Han Sooyoung stressfully scratched the side of her head. “What the hell, so you all knew the entire time?”

“Mhm!” Lee Gilyoung looked up at her. “We gathered here today to record our findings over the holiday break!”

“So that’s what you were busy with on the chalkboard…” Han Sooyoung walked closer towards it, examining the intricate lines connecting each event they’ve gone through. She saw some familiar lines like the sports festival preparation and the school festival incident, but there were other things she didn’t know about, like her picking Kim Dokja up while it was raining. When did that happen? “These analysis reports are actually impressive.”

“Right?” Shin Yoosoung puffed out her chest proudly. “We worked hard on them. Jihye-unnie, especially.”

“Oh, stop,” Lee Jihye blushed from the flattery. “We all worked hard on it.”

“So I was the last to know…” Han Sooyoung sighed. “Somehow, I’m a little embarrassed. Those bastards acted too normal, I didn’t notice anything different. They’ve just been that way since the day I met them.”

“Thank fuck it’s finally over,” Kim Namwoon grumbled. “We’ve gotta erase all this soon, though.”

“We should,” Han Sooyoung took a chalk from the box located by the chalkboard. “Wait, I want to add one more line. Then we can take a picture of it for commemorative purposes before erasing it.”

Yoo Mia swung her legs as she sat on a desk. “What’ll you write, Sooyoung-unnie?”

Han Sooyoung grinned. Four years of teaching taught her to write quickly, so as soon as she finished, the whole group shared sentiments of surprise and shock.

“Ring?!”

“What do you mean you saw a ring on oppa’s finger? He didn’t have that when we left home this morning!”

“This is all so sudden?! Wait, aren’t you their best friend? Why didn’t they tell you?”

Kim Namwoon feigned an action of throwing up. “Ugh, just when I think they get any fucking cornier!”

Han Sooyoung clicked her tongue in frustration, remembering this morning’s events. “Ugh, I know right? Some kind of best friends indeed… When I see Kim Dokja, I’m going to—”

“—Going to what?”

“Going to beat him up the same way I—” Han Sooyoung stopped. Almost comically, she slowly turned around to find the exact person she was talking shit about just now with the most shit-eating grin she’s ever seen on his face. “You!”

“Hello, Han Sooyoung. It’s wonderful to see you,” Kim Dokja greeted in his fake-nice tone. The one he intentionally uses to piss her off. “I was informed that this was where I was going to find you. You borrowed my journal yesterday, may I have it back?”

“Scram! Get lost!”

Kim Dokja belatedly noticed the rest of the group standing shell-shocked and stunned in the classroom with her. He lifted his hand to scratch his cheek, and only then did Han Sooyoung — and the others — see the ring prominently displayed on his finger. It was the same kind as the one Yoo Joonghyuk wore. Han Sooyoung is going to rip her hair out.

“This is a strange group. What are you all doing here?” Kim Dokja’s gaze swept over to the chalkboard right behind her. Squinting his eyes, he read the title, and everyone turned into real-life statues. “Relationship analysis of KDJ x YJH… have you been making analysis tables of us?”

Nobody was sure who screamed in panic first.

Additionally, at least today, nobody has had a worse day than Han Sooyoung.