Students could be divided into several categories.

The first one had those smart ones that lied in books, never went to a party when there was a test next day, rarely stayed up late if it wasn’t for studying. Their success was based on their hard work and probably even parents that led them to it – how was another topic.

The second category included rascals. Troublemakers that were ready to bully anyone just to get the right result, who didn’t care about rules and made their own. Their school results varied on their own laziness, but usually they preferred sports and thanks to that got a little less pressure from teachers. Unfair, but real.

The third had party people. Usually drop outs. They slept through the lesson, their notes were none-existent and they rarely made it to the second semester. Teachers rarely bothered with them. And they never care to bother with the teachers anyway.

The fourth and the last category was an unsorted bunch, chaotic and usually troublesome, could be called as the delinquents.They weren’t bullies but they were on a roster for dealing with right after them – causing fights, talking back to teachers, using influence of their parents to get them out of the trouble. They had their own category because they were usually surprisingly smart – but lazy.

Kim Seokjin dealt with all of these kinds during his years – and maybe some more that didn’t really fit any of those labels. Diligent students were rare. There was always somebody who thought rules were not for them and did what they wanted.

When Seokjin started teaching, those people were his nightmare. How to deal with them? What to do? How to stop them from causing more trouble, to have respect? As years progressed, he stopped going easy on any of those who tried to gain superiority. It there were means of him getting his authority shaken because a kid decided to badmouth him in front of his class – well, so be it, but there was always a retribution. Seokjin wasn’t a bad person, but the fact he had the power to make the troublemaker’s jaw drop while easily putting him back on his place with simple words was priceless.

True, he grew mean with age. Maybe a little bitter as well. The careful behaviour to treat everyone equally was a childish dream he already abandoned – people were individuals. Thinking an approach that worked on one would work on another was a myth.

It was fun to see the young teachers try though. Full of ideals, ready to give them their knowledge and excitement from it… it passed. With time. Especially now, when every youngster had a filthy mouth since they started being sociable.

And as this year started he just knew there are going to be problems the moment he had the first lesson with his new class. That remained during the first month and just slowly became truth on the edge of the second one.

“Mister Jeon,” he called the name as he did for probably hundredth time already. It sat on his tongue uncomfortably like it didn’t belong there and the more he had to deal with this person, the more he was sure of it.

The young dark brown haired boy was a nightmare. He talked back. He couldn’t sit still. He was coming late to class and early from it. He occasionally slept during it, or paid more attention to his phone than to the teacher, no matter who just lectured them.

On top of that he always got out of trouble because his family knew the headmaster. No matter what he did or how he behaved – he got it covered. No one’s word had a bigger authority than his, not even teacher’s. Seokjin tried, once, when he felt the trouble stirring up during the lesson and ended up in an aftermath after with some violence between students and all he got was 'they are young, they will grow out of it'.

“Professor Kim,” the deep but smooth voice drawled and brown like hawk orbs focused back at him, standing in front of the blackboard with an exasperated expression.

“How about you take a moment and go admire the hallway?” Seokjin held his gaze without a flinch, and sometimes it felt like the Jeon Jungkook had been expecting it, like he was challenging him to lose the temper so he could gain another victory. “Preferably until the end of my class.” Seokjin finished his words.

“There are better things to admire, right in the room,” the boy put on a sweet smile which Seokjin wanted to smudge off his face. But he said nothing, thanks to years of practice how to keep his temper low, only gestured towards the door. Jeon always jokingly flirted with him just to make him tick off and really, Seokjin would love to kick him out of the class. Jeon waited one second, two, then five, and when Seokjin kept the silence still, he let out a sigh and stood up.

Of course he gathered his things as loudly as possible, putting up the show because he could, but he moved towards the door after and Seokjin felt his shoulders dropping back from the painful tenseness. Sometimes he didn’t know with the boy – there were times he would put up a fight and it never ended well – so far not from Seokjin’s experience, but he heard of it. Hoseok had a lot more trouble with him at the beginning of the semester, and Seokjin always considered him the calmer one.

There was a snort coming from the other side of the classroom and Seokjin glanced there with an arched eyebrow.

“The same thing can apply to you, Mr. Kim,” he warned the other boy sternly. “If you feel inclined to join Mr. Jeon outside, feel free to do so.”

“Nah, I’m good,” the silver haired boy answered and Seokjin could see the smirk that was playing on his lips – definitely meant more for Jeon than Seokjin, but he didn’t like it anyway. The door clapped shut just a little while after and Seokjin could resume his lesson in peace, although with knowledge he was going to hear about it later.

***

The unnatural ruckus in the common room made Seokjin pause in front of the door, not really keen on jumping in an argument, if there wasn’t already another teacher behind him who denied him the possibility.

“Coming in, Professor?” a young, black haired woman smiled at him and he couldn’t do anything else but nod, opening doors for her and then entering as well. There was a circle of teachers congratulating loudly and in their centre another woman seemed on verge of tears.

“What’s going on?” he blinked in confusion and Miss Minah raised a big bottle of champagne she apparently brought with her and smiled widely at him.

“Krystal has the mark,” she said with a hint of admiration in her voice, along with her thick hangul accent. “She found her soulmate, isn’t that wonderful?”

Seokjin's eyes immediately fell on a dark handprint gracing her left elbow and his eyes went wide. A soulmate, out of blue. Miracle do happens, he thought in amusement.

“It was basically an accident,” Krystal was laughing at that moment, small droplets of tears slowly sliding down her cheek. She could barely contain herself and Seokjin understood, probably, since finding soulmate wasn’t as common as the community thought. “I was roller skating and stumbled – and he caught me! Right here, by my elbow!”

Her mark was there, palpable, in a perfect shape of somebody’s hand, like it was tattooed there. She was touching it almost dreamily and women around her were sighing in unison and wishing her the best.

Having a soulmate was a blessing – at least that was what people were saying about it. Finding one was difficult though, the scientific probability was reaching about 70% of couples actually finding theirs. But Seokjin thought it was lower. Some people were searching for their other halves actively, devoting their lives to it, and even after that never found it – and how could they, this was never easy. You never knew who your soulmate was until you touched them, hand on skin, the direct contact. The mark appeared only when the soulmate was right, a perfect handprint of the other, claiming them in a fated bond that ought to hold until they died.

A nice sentiment.

Young couples were rather crafty in it when they fell in love, always calculating where the handprint would look cool, and then coming out disappointed when the love of their life wasn’t the right one, and no mark appeared.

He had several depressed students in his classes, no matter the gender. And he also had overjoyed ones who found theirs and there was basically no chance to teach them something when others learned about it. Seokjin always let it be, because, all in all, it was a big thing after all.

“I’m so jealous,” Miss Minah sighed, putting the bottle on the table. “I’m afraid I’ll never find my soulmate... Isn’t that sad?”

“I believe it’s better not to dwell on it,” he offered a small smile. “It’s fate after all. If it choose you, it will do it without you believing or not.”

“Wise words,” she smiled back. “Do you, perhaps, have a soulmate?”

He chuckled and shook his head, but didn’t really give her another reply. Seokjin never dwelled on it. Never cared that much if he was going to be one of the lucky lot or not. If his life was orbiting only around that, he would probably go mad anyway, especially in this age.

He congratulated Krystal as well and even drank with them for a bit, celebrating her luck. For some reason it made his mood a little better.

***

“Hmm, I can smell alcohol.”

Seokjin wasn’t sure if it was hell punishing him, or he just had that bad luck, but the unwanted voice creeped on him anyway. He almost dropped his cigarette how he didn’t expect anyone to talk to him during the break, standing under the covered piece of a garden.

He hoped he seemed uninterested when he glanced over his shoulder at the smirking teenager standing there, but he probably glared like there was no tomorrow, like it or not.

Jeon took several steps closer, hands in his pockets, and seemed like he was pretending very hard to look like he came in peace. For some reason the school uniform only gave him even more 'I’m up to no good look', especially with his messy hair like he just bedded somebody.

Well, it was fairly possible.

“Mr. Jeon,” Seokjin said his name with a palpable distaste and earned a -eating grin in return. “What a pleasure you stopped by.” he lied in gentleness.

“I thought you’re going to be happy about that,” the dark brown haired boy shuffled closer. “Was just wondering, and realized in a great shock might I add, who had been drinking during the day in here. And here you are.”

“Guilty as charged,” Seokjin uttered dryly and returned to his cigarette. “Get to the point.”

“Would be rather unfortunate if you were caught, eh?” Jeon crossed his arms on his chest in a fake innocence. “Smoking and even drunk during the workday. In school.”

“Certainly,” he said coldly. Not even the cigarette was calming him down enough. “Would be also rather unfortunate if a student was caught roaming the school while he was supposed to be in a classroom, studying. Don’t you think?”

“I got told to admire the hallway,” the boy shrugged. “That’s what I’m doing.”

“This is a garden though,” Seokjin pointed out shortly. “You were not told that, as far as I recall.”

“Might have been another teacher,” a sly answer. “Miss Minah is very forgiving.”

Oh right. Minah. There was always something about these two, but Seokjin wasn’t one to judge. If the gorgeous teacher thought starting an affair with a student was wise, who was he to stop her. Although she could have chosen somebody slightly less… talkative.

“Miss Minah,” he gave him a short look and puffed the last drag from the cigarette. “Is also in no position to protect you when the hit the fan. Remember that, boy.”

He extinguished the glowing tip against the clay in a flowerbed and threw the cigarette end to the trash can, before turning back to the school, giving Jeon one last look before he started walking.

“We will see about that,” he heard a low grumble and it made him smirk.

“For sure.”

***

“I think the nice part of it was that she didn’t expect it to happen.”

“I agree,” Seokjin hummed while looking into another test. A diligent student, the marks were good.

He was rather sluggish this morning, even though he hadn’t been drinking that much. Celebrating the whole soulmate thing was slightly bitter, he admitted, but also a heart-warming when he could see the honest joy in Krystal’s face.

“It’s probably the best way,” Hoseok continued and Seokjin could swear he heard nostalgia in his voice.

“Jealous?” he with a light chuckle and didn’t even need to look up to know Hoseok was just trying to kill him with his eyes. Krystal’s success was already circulating the school since yesterday and everybody talked about it in some way, so he wasn’t surprised even Hoseok commented on it.

“And what, you’re not?” a revenge jab that made Seokjin laugh quietly. “Sometimes I feel the universe is playing with us.”

“Sometimes you’re right,” he agreed with him with a smile and took another test, correcting it absentmindedly. Nice score, minor mistakes. Another good student. He wrote points under the name in a sharp movement and in a last second noticed the signature and frowned.

“The way you’re glaring at the test I’m afraid to ask what they wrote to you there,” Hoseok noted and footsteps approached him, until he stopped next to the table.

“Ah,” he noticed the name as well. “Jeon. I get it.”

Well, who didn’t get it. His name meant trouble.

“He’s smart,” Seokjin mumbled unhappily and put his test on the other pile. “I give him that.”

“Or cheats really well,” Hoseok shrugged and Seokjin would probably agree if he didn’t know there was no damn way he cheated on this. He was watching him the whole lesson like he fell in love with him, how the dark brown haired boy happily pointed out when he was handing him the paper. Cheeky brat, that for sure. “Either way he’ll pass the class even if he was stupid like a seahorse. I still think his IQ is around that amount anyway.”

Problems with Jeon were notoriously well-known, but also on 80% connected to Kim Taehyung. Those two were in continuous fight the moment they had seen each other, and if Seokjin didn’t know better, he would say Kim was the worse out of them. But on the other side – he knew Kim was a calm and attentive student when Jeon wasn’t around. He couldn’t say the same thing about the dark brown haired boy.

He was just glad he had him only for one subject.

He let the topic go and waved Hoseok off when the man’s first class started. Seokjin knew leaving correcting for the last moment was a bad habit, but sometimes he just didn’t have enough energy to deal with the wrong answers more than he did during the day. Of course he usually hated himself the next morning, but he did it again anyway the same day.

At least he had a reason why he left it out yesterday. He stayed with them in the bar until the late evening hours because it simply felt wrong to leave in such jolly mood.

His peaceful work was interrupted when doors opened abruptly ten minutes later with Miss Minah storming in like somebody was chasing after her. Her eyes wide and breath hitching, and Seokjin was on his feet before he could even think of it.

“P-please,” she pointed at the entrance, wheezing a little, “there is a fight in the h-hallway, I couldn’t…“

He didn’t wait for her to finish and his legs were already carrying him forward. He didn’t even need indicators or advices where the fight was taking place, since he heard the voices and low thuds echoing the hallway already.

The first glimpse he got was already bad enough – Jeon Jungkook and Oh Sehun in a fight, a circle of excited young people cheering them up, and Seokjin's nerves were already pumped to get both of them beaten up on a pile. The punches were flying here and there and Oh was apparently taking the worse side of it, his face full of bruises while Jeon slammed him to the ground like he didn’t know reason.

“Stop this instant!” Seokjin let his voice roar through the corridor, but it halted only the audience and not the participants. The crowd immediately accommodated him, making a room for him to come through where the two boys were trying to hurt the other without any means to stop. At that point Seokjin was really fed up and stepped in, pulling them apart like two mad dogs, growling and wanting to tear the other to pieces.

“I said enough!” he barked warningly. Oh immediately stiffened in his hold, eyes growing wide and intimidated, but Jeon was still moving forward, trying to disentangle from the grip and reach his rival.

“Are you a goddamn dog to be put down?!” Seokjin caught him by the back of his neck and pushed him on his knees, stopping him from another violent attack. Jeon's hand came around his wrist, trying to ease his grip, but Seokjin only squeezed him more and the movement stopped along with the swearing. Only harsh breaths filled the place and when Seokjin let go of Sehun, the boy stumbled backwards and sat on his on the floor.

“Are you two raving mad?!” he gave Sehun an angry look and seen him gulp down in fear. Well, at least some of them still had some respect. He couldn’t say the same of the shaking form of Jeon that trembled under his hand in quiet rage.

“And you,” he snarled at the dark brown haired boy he was still holding around the back of his neck. “Calm down or this is the last day you’re here as a student, are we clear? Nobody would save you this time.”

No real answer came, although he could swear he heard Jeon breath hitch a little, and all the resistance faltered, so he finally eased off his grip and let the boy go. Right the same moment his hand released the delinquent boy, several gasps filled the hallway from the students standing around and Seokjin’s heart probably stopped dead in his chest.

On the boy’s neck there was a black mark shaped like a hand, taking up the skin in an ugly colour, spreading from the centre to the side how Seokjin’s fingers were gripping him uncompromisingly.

On Seokjin’s wrist the similar mark darkened, sealing his fate like an unmerciful hangman.

The universe was definitely playing with him right now.