01.

The nervous jitters of her first day left Nam Yesol bouncy in her seat as she sat planted beside her teaching senior, Mr. Kim, or Junmyeon has he told her to refer to him as outside of classroom hours. After three and a half long years and seven semesters, she was finally taking the last step in finishing her Bachelor’s Degree in Education and completing her student-teaching hours in her final semester.

Junmyeon smiled encouragingly at her, finding her anxious and excited behavior kind of endearing. “You can relax, Yesol. They’re just high schoolers and the day will pass before you know it and you’ll get used to it quite easily.”

“I know. Thank you for being so welcoming, Junmyeon-ssi.” She gave him a grateful grin as the first bell rang and the first-period students began to wander into the classroom, clustered into groups of twos and threes.

“You don’t have to call me so formally.” He chuckled, standing up to write his and her name on the board before the final bell rang and class started.

Yesol flushed and nodded before glancing at all of the students as they took their seats. Despite her anxieties, they all looked friendly and respectful enough. Her first-period was with the first year students, so all of them were only about 15 or 16 and it was definitely an odd experience for her. It felt like it hadn’t been so long ago that she sat in the very seats they did. 

She smiled to herself as she remembered back to her high school day. Granted, it had only been around four years since she had even graduated, but it was still a moment of nostalgia nonetheless. She was 21 going on 22 by the end of that summer, and it was so enlightening to return to such a setting, though on the opposite side of it.

Mr. Kim graciously introduced her for the first period but allowed her to do so for the following four that happened throughout the remainder of the day. And by fifth period she had gotten a tad bit over her nerves and Junmyeon even trusted her enough to call attendance for his final class.

The last class consisted of third-year students, the ones in their final year of high school. She found herself amazed at how just a couple of years difference could make between students, noting how much more mature this class looked compared to her first. She supposed it had to do with the fact that they were going to be graduating in just five months and had plenty of time to experience the woes of young adulthood in preparation for their futures.

The last three students to walk in caught her attention especially so, what with the loud banter of two of them. Surprisingly, however, it was the third and quietest one that drew her in the most. She blamed it on his hair, his black roots showing through barely from the dyed blond locks, curled in a way that should have looked crazy but seemed to fit him well enough. It could have even been deemed as cute had she allowed her thoughts to go there.

His cheekbones were sharp, though not as sharp as his dark eyes had been when he seemed to sense her sitting there and turned to look at her, their eyes locking.

Yesol froze in her seat, suddenly even more conscious of the boy and the hold his presence seemed to have on her. It was uncanny and surreal yet so natural at the same time. His friends took notice of this interaction and one of them, the bright redhead, tapped his arm and said something that made the blond boy’s cheek flush as they finally made their way to sit down just as the final bell rang.

Yesol shook her head clear of her thoughts, scolding herself for getting so carried away. He was one of her students. She should not allow herself to be so conscious of him. Though she couldn't help but be and it confused her endlessly as to why.

Mr. Kim cleared his throat and greeted the third-year class, introducing her as he stated she would be the one taking their attendance for this period. “If you have something else you would like to be called by, so long as it is within reason, do let her know so she can write it down and we can refer to you as you wish.” He gave her a nod of approval and she also cleared before starting to read off the names of the students, her nerves that had vanished earlier returning at full ferocity once again. Deep down she knew the reason for that had to do with the dark eyes of a blond boy studying her as she began going through the list.

“Lee Donghyuck?” Halfway down the list a student finally asked to be called a different name, telling her he preferred to go by Haechan. 

The redhead. She watched as he turned to the blond and whispered something else that made him flush even further. She couldn't stop her eyes from shifting from Haechan to him for a brief second, her breath getting caught in when his eyes locked with hers once more.

With a shake of her head, she returned to the attendance list. 

“Lee Jeno?”

The third boy raised his hand, giving her a smile. “That's me. And Jeno is just fine, Ms. Nam.”

“Thank you.” She returned his smile moved on, calling the one other name before she got to his.

“Lee Minhyung?” The name instantly caught her attention, even before he confirmed it with a raise of his own hand. How she seemed to know it belonged to him was baffling to her, but she ignored the thought.

“Mark.” Was what he simply replied, his eyes unwavering as he looked at her.

“Mark? Why do you go by Mark?” She found herself asking despite not meaning to dwell on any student in particular. It was a natural pull toward him that got her curious and she could only hope no one read too much into how she had taken an unusual interest in this student.

He gave her a grin, showing her that he was pleased that she had taken an interest. The way his smile curved made her gulp and remind herself once again he was her student and