“I heard we’re getting a new Algebra teacher since Ms Meyers is on maternity leave,” Jongdae overheard two students in the hallway.

“He’s also your new physics teacher,” he interrupted them and ushered them into their classroom with a jerk of his chin. “And why are you still loitering in the hallways, the bell already rang. Onwards.”

“Mr Kim! Sorry.” One of the girls duck her head but didn’t seem apologetic at all. Art the first two hours of the school day was always a lazy affair, for both Jongdae and his students. Except for exams.

He stood in front of his desk and leaned against it, right hand in his pant pocket toying with the forgotten and laundry tested lip balm and the other holding onto his mug full of steaming coffee. He came straight from the teachers’ lounge after hunting down some students outside the school property. “Good morning, class.” A chorus of tired students echoed his greeting waiting for his next sentences. “I heard you’re already gossiping about the new Physics and Algebra teacher? We’re right at the start of the new year and you have already all the tea. But I pre-empted y’all, I already know him. Yes, Gülizar?”

“How do you know him already?” The student asked while she was tapping the end of her pen against her open notebook.

“I’m a teacher? Some of us already met him today? Obviously?” Jongdae rolled his eyes without bite, he was one of the most relaxed teachers in school. Much an eyesore for some of the older and conservative colleagues. “Amir?”

“Do you know, by any chance which electives he’s doing in either math or physics?” Jongdae was asked, who shook his head in denial. He knew exactly what electives the new teacher was doing, but he wouldn’t give the information for free.

“I think he pretty much fills in for Ms Meyers together with some other teachers, but he might all torture you in every year, except you manage to get rid of physics, for Algebra I can only wish you luck. I was always super bad at anything concerning numbers, so…” he shrugged his shoulders. “But he’s also going to be a homeroom teacher. And he’s also fresh from university, so, y’know, don’t be too harsh with him. Clara?”

“How old is he?”

“That, I don’t know. Gotta ask him himself. Okay, enough chit-chat, we’re doing orga stuff today and see what we have to do this year and also take a first look on the presentation subjects.”

 

That was the first class of the year. Oh Sehun was nothing like the students wished for when they heard he was fresh from uni. Jongdae had lied in that aspect at least partially. Dr Oh had finished his teaching state exam and jumped right into a third major and had done his dissertation while working as a lecturer at university. He was already in his 30s, had gotten the rowdiest class in school and was smiled upon by older colleagues who didn’t take him seriously. Despite his unassuming looks and those ugly sweater vests that were even an eyesore to Jongdae’s artistic eye, much to his students’ amusement, the glasses were okay, but the tied-up hair? The students were always discussing how long they must be because they were always tied up in a bun.

Dr Oh lead his homeroom class with an iron hand and while most were cursing him when they had just the luck to be stuck in his physics or any algebra class, there was an improvement for a lot of the weaker students in those classes. How he managed to cut down each subject into such sections that at the end of the sessions students mostly were on the same level and for some magical reason understood algebra? They still hated it. Jongdae didn’t blame them.

His homeroom class instead was singing praises on him that no one really understood. They called him laid back and even cool?

---

Jongdae was in the middle of a monologue about the importance and dramatization of Arthur Miller’s Crucible and the witch trials of Salem behind it that had his students snoring away when a knock on the door interrupted him.

“Come in.” He called in whoever was interrupting him.

“Kim, I’m sorry to interrupt, do you have a minute?” The students peaked up from their sleepy stupor after hearing a somewhat familiar voice addressing their teacher so carelessly.

“Sehun, please.” Jongdae smiled widely at him, waving him in and Dr Oh ducked his head in gratitude.

He jerked his head towards the door. Scratching his head and clutching his phone in his hand, “Can we speak for a minute outside?”

Jongdae was quick to throw his version of The Crucible into the room and follow Dr Oh outside. A couple of minutes later he emerged back to his partially rowdy class that day. “Can’t y’all behave when the adults are speaking outside a door for a minute? Marina, Sophie? I heard you two very very clearly outside the door! Anyway, where is he…” He let his eyes roam over his students. “Yakov?”

The student looked up from his notes, he had really done a 180 since Dr Oh became his homeroom teacher. “Dr Oh is waiting outside for you, said you know what it was about?” Jongdae squinted at him, and he saw the metaphorical lightbulb over the boy’s head lightening up.

“Oh, ! Ah, sorry for cursing Mr Kim.” The student sprung up.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. Now hush.” Jongdae beckoned his student outside before picking up exactly where he left ten minutes prior without a failure.

“Mr Kim, sorry, I got a question,” Dominique had his hand raised.

Jongdae raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly that this wasn’t about something in the book they were reading because Dominique refused to understand a thing in English Lit. How he was supposed to get through the year was still a mystery to Jongdae, “Yes?”

“Do you know Mr Oh?”

“First of all, he takes pride in his title, so it’s Dr Oh for you. Secondly,” Jongdae jutted out a hip where he was standing, holding the side of his hand at the height of his ribcage, “That’s how long his hair is. Okay, where was I?”

 

Jongdae slummed into his chair in the teacher’s lounge sighing loudly while he was flipping through his seat neighbour’s schoolbooks. A heavy hand on his shoulder made him straighten up and beam at the newcomer.

“The you told them for how long my hair is?” The scowl was a delight to Jongdae’s tired eyes.

 

“When I went to the teacher’s lounge the other day, I saw that Mr Kim and Dr Oh sit next to each other. Can you imagine? Dr Oh isn’t sitting with the other science teachers and remember when Mr Harman said that the teachers are super focused on that?”

Jongdae was walking behind two female students while he was responsible for the break time supervision around the school building.

“Really?! Oh my god, I tell you…” The other girl started. “Mr Kim told us out of nowhere how long Dr Oh’s hair was? Like it was the best-kept secret in the school?”

Jongdae lifted a hand to cover his mouth to stop his laugh from breaking out.

---

The older teachers really tried to pee on Sehun’s leg, he was in a permanently bad mood. There was already a discolouration on the wall of his homeroom class where he always aimed his bouncy ball at. They know that his teaching methods are better but those old farts are too conservative to accept defeat. And his lovely class of troublemakers and rowdies was nothing short of irresistible loveable. Whatever he was told about the class before must’ve been made up, because except the initial tries to rile the teacher up they behaved well once they knew that he was taking them seriously as equals. Some even had the chance to change into higher education if they wanted to. But to be honest, Sehun was lucky with that class to be his first.

 

“Mr Oh?” Sehun threw the bouncy ball towards the floor again just for it the bounce against the marked section of his wall and back towards his hand. At this point, the students were used to seeing him doing it when they came into the class even if some of them still jolted when suddenly a bouncy ball flew past them.

“Jeremy, yes?”

Two students stood in the door frame and Jeremy in front of his desk. “My, my mum told me to say thank you and bring muffins for the whole class and for you especially.”

Sehun looked at him with wide eyes and pushed his glasses back up, Jeremy’s mum had already called him the day prior, unable to contain her excitement. “What for?” He knew exactly why and couldn’t be prouder.

“I got the apprenticeship and can start after this school year. The company even said to not worry too much about my level of education and my final grades because they said I’m good enough in the skills they need. So, I just wanted to say thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, you did it on your own, Jeremy. And that’s cool and very admirable,” Sehun smiled one of his rare smiles and ushered the boys to their seats. The other students still had about five minutes and Pratima would probably be the last one. And Jeremy should thank Jongdae who recommended Sehun the company. Maybe Sehun just tries to get one more muffin from Jeremy to give it to his colleague later on during the break.

 

Sehun concluded his second to last class of the day with a spring in his step and even the forthcoming dreaded eighth-grade physics class was able to dampen his mood. Once he was in the teacher’s lounge, he spotted Jongdae right away, his nose buried into one of Sehun’s physics books and ambushed him by grabbing his shoulders shaking the poor male. “Kim! Bestest thanks from me and a smooch left and right, Jeremy got the apprenticeship at the company you recommended! I even snagged an extra muffin he baked together with his mum for you! Be grateful you brat!”

 

Sehun realised his mistake of not checking his surroundings when he stood with his back to some students a few days later.

“I swear, Mr Kim and Mr Oh can’t be just friends, you should’ve seen how Mr Oh almost jumped Mr Kim and babbled something about smooches?”

“You’re joking!”

“No, I swear; Miranda was with me at the teacher’s lounge.”

Sehun scowled before turning around, “It’s Dr Oh for you.”

---

Sehun’s advanced course for physics, which hated his guts but would come to appreciate him later on if they should do something with physics later on in their job or uni, was deep into their assignments and Sehun was reading through Robert Chambers when it suddenly knocked against the opened window. Sehun furrowed his brows and looked up only to be greeted by Mr Kim’s grinning face.

“Mr Kim?”

“Dr Oh! Is it just disproportionate gravitational force, or are your eyes just a Great Attractor?” Mr Kim twinkled at him and Sehun tried so hard to not show the satisfaction on his face because that’s a new one.

“Mr Kim, do you even know what the Great Attractor is?” He raised an eyebrow, challenging Mr Kim.

“You mean the gravitational anomaly in intergalactic space and the apparent central gravitational point of the Laniakea Supercluster? Did you know that they say that the observed anomalies suggest a localized concentration of mass millions of times more massive than the Milky Way? Is Chambers any good to read Mr Physicist?” Mr Kim was smug about his knowledge of his pickup line that had the students craning their heads between the two.

“Good one. The King in Yellow is an excellent piece of literature.” Sehun answered nonchalantly.

“Oh, which part are you at?” Mr Kim leaned against the windowsill, resting his chin on his open palm.

“I’m rereading it, and don’t you have anything else to do, Mr Kim? You see that I have a class.”

“And they’re for sure more interested in our exchange compared to whatever you torture them with. Good day to you and fighting, guys.” He pumped his fist in the air before vanishing from the window to which Sehun only shook his head, before looking up, “Don’t you have something else to do? Otherwise, I’m going to question you all on today’s topics next week! And I double homework!”

His students of course remarked their distaste in the least subtly way, but he couldn’t care less. He opened his book again, immerging himself into the writing again, just sometimes being disrupted by students getting rowdy or just having questions.

“Liniakea Supercluster,” he muttered to himself under his breath, hiding a smile behind his book, “good one, Kim, good one.” He checked the time before placing a receipt back between the pages of the book. “Okay, class. How far did you get with the questions? Ileana? Henry? Yeah, that’s good. Anyone that didn’t finish half of it? Doesn’t matter, we’ll talk about the answers now and tell you’ll be dismissed for the day.”

He usually gently coaxed his weakest student to say more for their grades and similar. Wasn’t always the best for the students on the other side of the spectrum, but he had explained often enough why he was doing that, with occasional eye-rolls hidden away behind books or walls.

After he got his answers and corrections down, he walked up to the blackboard, dipping his chalk against it, “For the homework, as discussed already—” he wrote the related pages and questions on it, “— and something different for the long weekend, because we’re missing one lesson. One half of the class, the first seven people on my list, listen to Greydon Square’s The Compton Effect and explain the Compton Effect to me next weekend. The other half, also Greydon Square but The CPT Theorem. Just so you know what I had to learn in uni. The albums are less compulsory but a nice addition. Or you just listen to the other albums.”

One of his students was pulling their phone out, “How’s the name written?”

“Ah, right,” Sehun had only written the names of the field of physics on the blackboard. “Greydon Square,” he spelt out aloud and wrote it down.

“Mr Kim?” Same student. “You listen to hip-hop?”

His students’ eyes went wide, might be his nerd-ish clothing style. He pushed up his glasses. “Yes, I do. But the guy also talks a lot about atheism, physics and philosophy. Now scatter along, have a nice weekend. Just explain the theory of both to me shortly, nothing too extravagant and try to understand it. But I still explain it. If you want, if there’s even the slightest bit of interest, we can also look into what you’d study in uni if you should decide to major or minor in physics. But I don’t think any of you will, but still.” The students nodded their heads in approval, of course, they would if it meant less curriculum. “Alright, scatter along now. See you next week.e ” He dismissed his class. He had his lunch time and then the last two hours of algebra. Whose idea was it to put that into the last two slots of a day? School really was just a torture chamber for students. Maybe he should scare his students with the hard truth that he sometimes had math-related studies in uni after six p.m. till eight p.m.

---

Jongdae was already at home while some of his colleagues were still at school, and he typed a message on his phone.

Earlier, before he went home, he passed by Dr Oh in the hallway during breaktime and the first thing he said was something along the lines of “Dr Oh, similar to a vacuum, you are the only thing in my universe.” And for good measure, he threw a wink into the mix under the watchful eyes of some students. Unfortunately, the other teacher just rolled his eyes annoyedly.

He was sure some student also squeaked a little in shock when Dr Oh shot back with “Charles Dickens might have given you Great Expectations, but I can meet them.” He just walked on. Before opening a door, pointing his finger at Jongdae. “But I won’t.”

 

We take your car tomorrow or mine?

Did u forget my cars in repair??
also, no classes til first big break

Bummer ☹
wait, how are you getting to work tmrw?

🙄

 

“I heard that Dr Oh and Mr Kim flirted yesterday in the hallway again!” Jongdae leant against a wall in the hallway, observing the students trickling into school early in the morning. Some were overly sleep deprived, some of the seniors were clutching their thermo mugs with coffee like a lifeline. Others, like the girls, were way too chipper gossiping about their teachers.

“Oh no, really? I swear, the tension between them,” her friend giggled. Had they been like this in school as well? Jongdae had no sisters to ask, only his brother. But it wasn’t like he was up to date with pop culture and the changes in fandoms and that people easy shipped people they didn’t know together? He was on the lookout for who was the one topping, either him or Sehun, but he guessed that the students would rather go with the obvious “the taller tops”. He should let Dr Oh know about this, not that it might become a problem with the staff. The older science teachers didn’t really like him for the way he approached studies, because never run a changing system and he got to school so late. But Jongdae knew that Dr Oh was better prepared for school having worked in the uni for years and never gotten out of the clockwork of getting acquainted with new modes or getting out of the loop of teaching at all. And he was somewhat down with the kids.

“Did you know that Dr Oh smoked?” Jongdae raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t a secret, he knew that he stood together with some of the other teachers and even had some sort of coffee and cigarette alliance with one of the other English teachers. “He looks kinda weird doing that, I mean, you know what he’s wearing. He’s kinda sus though.”

Jongdae bit the inside of his cheek, hard. Hell, was it hard not to laugh.

 

“Mr Kim!” Jongdae looked towards the source of the voice.

“Ms Murray, how are you today?” Jongdae smiled warmly at his fellow teacher.

“Wonderful, it’s supposed to be warm and full of sunshine today. And I have classes until half-past three.” She rolled her eyes, “and after that, we have the plenary assembly.”

Jongdae winced, he forgot about it completely. And he only had classes until 12 that day.

 

“Can we loosen some money for new physics books? Some classes use books, those are so old, I started my studies during that time,” Dr Oh was in the worst mood and he was picking fights with the school administration. “I get that we work with such old books in math, but that’s because it’s math. There ain’t any ground-breaking changes that often, but science departments? Not to attack any other subjects here,” he held up his hands in a surrendering motion, looking around, “We all want new books and I’m the new colleague here. But honestly, I’ve had books in my hands that are as old as the youngest teachers here.”

“Why should we spend money for that when we need the money for other things?” Someone asked, Jongdae knew that Dr Oh and that teacher were in a cold war. He decided to intercept.

“What for? Getting new lightbulbs for the OHPs or a new VHS player? Just a few classes have a beamer, and the Wi-Fi is a mess at this school and you’re expecting the students to have everything in order. We should really think about it and sent an application to the state education authority. There’s a reason we’re so low in the rankings of school and we should be grateful for every teacher that decides to work here.” Jongdae’s phone rang; without hesitation, he accepted the call, leaving the room while Dr Oh’s eyes were following his every step, a grateful smile on his face.

---

Newton be damned. “I’m attracted to you like the earth is attracted to the Sun—with a large force inversely proportional to the distance squared.”

Mr Kim leant against the hood of his car, arms crossed and so close to whistling, Sehun could tell. He ran a hand through his open hair, the motorbike helmet between his thighs framing the gas tank of his motorbike. He was aware he didn’t look like usually did.

“You look so different today. What is it, the hair or the clothes that obviously look like you slept over at a lover’s place because they don’t fit your aesthetic?”

“Well, no, I had to change into my weekend clothes after a certain someone decided it would be fun to throw up their entire breakfast over me before I was able to drop her off at the school.”

Mr Kim winced in empathy and disgust, “Kids are so disgusting.”

“You don’t say, working as a teacher,” Sehun grumbled around the tip of a cigarette before shielding it with one hand and lightening it with the other.

“The students are already ogling,” Mr Kim snickered behind his hand.

Sehun was objected to this shipping and gossiped for the whole nine months he was already working at the school. “I should’ve never left university for this job…”

“You love it here.”

“Not so sure, I’m tempted to deny vehemently.”

“You love me.” Mr Kim stated matter-of-factly, louder than he should’ve, a smug grin with eyes full of mirth gleaming down at Sehun. Sehun balled his fist. He swung his leg over his machine, walking towards Mr Kim who was still perched against the hood of his car and Sehun cornered him against it, standing between his open legs. He leant closer but was talking loud enough for the students to hear, “You’re playing a dangerous game, Mr Kim. You’re so full of yourself. I believe in The Importance of Being Earnest, so I'm just going to say it: I'm Wilde about you.”

 

Sehun would never admit that he did it on purpose to rile up the students. Contrary to Mr Kim’s opinion, he found the greatest amusement in fuelling the rumours, even some teachers and staff bold enough to ask him, wanting clarification. There also wasn’t a rule against teachers dating or married working together at the same school. There was at least one couple. As long as it didn’t affect his performance as a teacher or students getting too distracted, he didn’t care.

---

Dr Oh stood in the hallway when he slipped; Jongdae looked up shocked, curses spilling over his lips, staring with wide eyes at his fellow teacher whose whole face was full of shock, but he bit hard on his lips to keep himself from laughing. It didn’t hold on. “Newton be praised. Praise the sun!” Dr Oh spread his arms upwards, cackling away. “I’m believing in our Lord and saviour Newton, I’ve been converted!”

Jongdae still laid on the ground, one fist on his hip, waiting for Dr Oh to help him up, “You’re a blasphemous Newtonian? That’s it, it’s over between the two of us.”

“You need help though?” Dr Oh was suddenly serious again and crouched down next to Jongdae, offering his hand.

“Actually, I think so. I might’ve not said something, but I think it got my ankle…” It hurt like , but Jongdae wouldn’t admit it. Not yet at least.

Dr Oh slipped an arm around his back, helping Jongdae back to his own two feet but the moment Jongdae put pressure on his left foot, he crumpled in defeat, holding onto Dr Oh for his dear life. “!”

Dr Oh looked at him a little lost, “That’s not good. Let’s get you to the teacher’s lounge. But you can’t walk at all, can you?” He led Jongdae to the little bench area in the hallway, crouching down before him and taking his ankle into his hand, carefully checking for outer injuries.

“, it hurts so bad.” Dr Oh didn’t even put pressure on his ankle, but just the mere existence of his ankle ed him up.

Dr Oh looked around, before looking back at him and turned around, still crouching down. “No one’s here, I hope. Get on, I bring you to the lounge, we need to ice it, and then we call up the doctor and see if he can check your ankle during lunch, I’m free for the rest of the day.”

Jongdae didn’t think about it when he reached forward and slung his arms around Dr Oh’s shoulders and throat, pulling himself onto Dr Oh’s back who supported him under his bum with his hands. “Let’s be quick, we’ll never hear the end of the day if anyone of the students sees us. I have a reputation to keep. And piggybacking you isn’t on the menu.”

 

But they’ve been seen. Not only by the teachers who were fussing about Jongdae’s swelling ankle but some students were loitering around the hallways during class and it spread like a wildfire.

 

“We now know who’s topping, obviously, Kim,” Dr Oh commenced while sipping from his coffee mug, sitting next to Jongdae who was still icing his ankle on the teacher’s thigh who held onto it with his other hand.

“You’re so domestic right now, it’s disgusting,” Jongdae raked his hands over his face and hair in frustration at the smug man in front of him.

“They also took a picture of it, did you know? Just our backs but figuring out who took it isn’t as easy as I wished it was,” Dr Oh continued, absentmindedly massaging Jongdae’s calf resting on his thigh who dropped his head back and closed his eyes.

“Kids these days, smartphones are really a nuisance… Does it look good though?” He asked.

“Very cute, wanna see?” Dr Oh already shoved his phone into Jongdae’s face who plugged the phone from his hands to examine the image himself. He tapped on the share function and scrolled through the messages in Dr Oh’s messaging service until he located himself and sent it to himself before giving the phone back.

“It is cute, I admit that.”

---

“Linh messaged me, Tran wants to visit our school, she said something about a project day about future professions?” Mr Kim mentioned offhandedly one day while flipping through Sehun’s annotated copy of Nikolai Kardashev’s Transmission of information by extraterrestrial civilizations he brought along for his students. He noted something down into a post-it note, clipping it onto one of his folders.

“Tran is ten, fifth grade, isn’t that a bit early?” Sehun furrowed his brows. School, seriously. She just got into middle school and they’re already focusing on getting the students to think about work?

He shrugged his shoulders, “I just ask the headmaster if it’s okay.”

Sehun shooed him away, “Go ahead. By the way, how’s Linh?”

Mr Kim sat back down, “She’s doing better and better, Eric is really good for her, and Tran also feels more at home nowadays within Linh’s presence. It’s still a long way but she’s working so well on herself and she’s making so much progress since she started going to therapy.”

Sehun nodded, “That’s really good news.”

“Can I borrow the notes?”

Sehun was quick to snatch it away from Mr Kim’s grabby hands, “Hands off, I promised my students to explain the concept to them, even if it’s university level astrophysics. How’s your foot?”

Mr Kim stared down at the cast. How he managed to break his foot by faceplanting in the hallway was an absolute mystery to him. Even the doctor had stared at him funny if Sehun hadn’t been there who saw everything live and confirmed the story.

 

“Dr Oh? I’ve got a question.” Was the first thing Sehun heard after the obligatory greeting in one of the classes he taught. At least his homeroom class refrained from the exact questions students in other courses asked. Because they already had their answers.

“You’ve already asked a question,” he answered, and he saw the gears start to work and stuttering again in the girl’s head until she almost rolled her eyes when she got the joke. “Is it beneficial for the subject or just personal? And before you do that, spit the chewing gum out, there’s the bin. Hurry.”

While the student was dragging her feet towards the bin, he wrote his plan for the day on the blackboard, letting the students settle in.

“Dr Oh, do you have a boyfriend?” He halted in his writing before turning around, figuring out who asked.

“First of all, did you just assume my uality? Secondly, that’s irrelevant to the lesson.”

“But Dr Oh—” the student whined again.

“Are you whining at me? You also don’t tell me whether you have a boyfriend or not and I also asked you. But you refused to tell me, so why would I tell you?”

She pouted at him. “And why do you assume that I have a boyfriend?”

“Cindy…” Sehun started, “There are things I wish my eyes hadn’t seen because I really don’t want to know about my student’s private lives until it affects their education or studies, or well-being, but I had to see you and your boyfriend from Mr Kim’s homeroom class making out in the hallway. Please, next time keep it to a minimum if you don’t one of the more conservative colleagues to catch you and cite your parents for whatever reasons to the school. Okay?”

She blushed beet red, and some students decided to mockingly laugh but Sehun was quick to intercept, “And you three, be careful; I also have dirt on you.” He pointed at all three of the students throughout the classroom. They kept quiet immediately. “Having a significant other is a wonderful thing, but you also don’t need a partner to define yourself. I know this school is a bit—” he made vague hand gestures— “on the conservative side concerning LGBTQ* and things that you should know about, but you all use the internet and your smartphone, so educate yourself on that. And to partially answer your question, Cindy, because you didn’t ask for my political view, I’m an ally for sure.” He wouldn’t tell them he was more on the gay side of the spectrum, but that didn’t matter. And he didn’t need any ‘concerned’ parents to call up the school or anything.

 

“I bet he’s gay,” Sehun raised an eyebrow where he leant against a wall in a side hallway, watching the students gossiping again. But much to their misfortune someone else heard it as well.

“Who’s gay?” One of the teachers Sehun liked the least walked past the students.

“Ah, Mr Mayer! We’re talking about a webtoon we’re reading and we’re talking about one of the main leads.” Sehun applauded the student for their quick thinking before the student suddenly caught his eyes and slowly blinked. Sehun saw so many emotions twirling across the student’s face when he raised an accusing eyebrow because both the student and Sehun knew who they talked about. He tapped his clock and moved slowly away.

---

Jongdae passed a student who stood awkwardly in the door of the teacher’s lounge. He turned around and faced them, “What’s up, you look like you’re looking for someone.”

“Ah, yes. Erm, do you know where Dr Oh is? He wanted to talk to me.”

The student sounded so unsure that Jongdae raised an eyebrow at that. “You’re in luck, I know he’s in the office and wanted to bring him some stuff. Wait here, I’ll be back in a second.” Jongdae walked up to his seat and grabbed the notes Dr Oh had forgotten before turning back around to the fidgeting student. He knew what was going on, but the student seemed to be more stressed being called in by Dr Oh than they should’ve. “Calm down, he won’t bite off your head. He laughed about me and made a gravitation joke when I broke my foot,” he winked at the student.

“Really?” The student followed him by keeping pace.

“That’s between us, but he shouted, ‘Newton be praised’ after always saying Newton is a fraud, before starting to laugh. And he made a gaming reference. So, you have no need to be nervous at all.” They reached the office and Jongdae unlocked it before stepping in, “Dr, I brought the patient!”

Dr Oh looked up, reading glasses high on his nose and the hair in a state of disarray in a messy knot upon his head. “Patient? What? The is wrong with you Kim?”

“Language, Dr Oh Sehun, I’ve got a student at my side.” Jongdae reminded him sternly that he was still in school. He saw him mouthing but Dr Oh made no further comment as if to apologise.

“Let him in, Carlos!” Dr Oh leant back in his chair, arms crossed, looking sternly at the student who watched between the two when Jongdae dropped the notes at Dr Oh and settled in front of a laptop on the opposite side. “Sit down, this won’t be long.”

“Ehm,” the student, Carlos, stuttered.

“Ignore him,” Dr Oh threw a thumb at Jongdae who looked up offended after booting up his laptop.

“Oh, okay. So, you wanted to see me?” The student sat rigidly in the chair.

“Yes, and you know why. That was a close call that could’ve ended…what’s the word?”

 

Jongdae intercepted, “Badly?”

“Nah, but something along those lines,” Dr Oh waved him off. “I congratulate you for your quick thinking, but talking like this about people, be it your friends, family or even teachers is somewhat disrespectful, don’t you think?” There was no bite behind his words and the student nodded at that. “This can also end very badly if you’re unlucky. In worst cases, you can out someone who’s living a closeted life because of valid reasons such as fear, family, discrimination or still trying to find themselves. Especially not in a public space like a school. You know kids can be awful, right?” Dr Oh asked again and Jongdae saw the heavier meaning behind it.

“Yes, Dr Oh.” Carlos nodded, having the decency to look ashamed.

“Also, keep my private life out of your conversations. We—” he suddenly pointed between himself and Jongdae.

 

“Don’t get me in on your little scheme, Oh!” Jongdae threw a pencil after him.

“—we know about the rumours going around and some are just outright…awful. You kiss your mother with that mouth? Well, not you specifically, but the rest of you folks?” Dr Oh waved his hands through the air.

“Oh. That! Yeah, no, not cool,” Jongdae shook his head, visibly disgusted.

 

If they find out who decided to spread the rumours that Jongdae cheated on his wife and left, her for Dr Oh? Who came up with that? At this point it’s not harmless gossiping anymore but slander. They already got closer to who it might’ve been and Dr Oh was livid. Jongdae as well, why would anyone decide to drag Linh into the conversation that started with some harmless shipping, because of ‘ between Dr Oh and Mr Kim’.

There was already a school letter to parents and guardians in the drafts.

 

Linh and Jongdae had a troubled past that started back in university and ended up with a wedding before she was pregnant with Tran. They got married when Jongdae finished his studies when both of them were 26. Jongdae was now 38. They were only married for three years. But Linh’s mental health was degrading fast and Jongdae and Dr Oh got worried not only for her but Tran as well. They convinced her that she wasn’t any less of a mother if she wasn’t there for her child when she was in therapy.

So Jongdae struck her a deal since she also wasn’t happy with the marriage. They were both happy, but Linh struggled so much with the addition of Jongdae and Tran to think and care about. They got a divorce, maybe unconventional but since she wasn’t happy Jongdae tried to set her free and lessen the burden. He got sole custody for Tran but instead, he also offered Linh to visit Tran whenever and for how long Tran wanted. Tran and Linh had a rocky relationship that’s slowly healing and that fortunately got better over the years and the older Tran got. She was still in therapy, working on herself but after spending months after the divorce in stationary therapy and finding a job as a barista, she met Eric and it only went uphill from there.

They are together for five years now and visit Tran and Jongdae regularly. On occasions, Linh even babysit her own daughter when Jongdae and Dr Oh were both out of town, or working long.

---

Sehun stared at the artwork in front of him. They had gotten the student who had spread the awful slander and they got temporarily expelled. Apparently, they “just did it for fun” not even thinking about the aftermath, but text messages showed another story. They didn’t even know about Linh.

Mr Kim had taken a few days off of school because it had hurt him more than he’d like to admit, he decided to do it upon Sehun’s persistent pressuring. But now someone had to fill in for him…

Sehun got up from the breakfast table and filed through the notes he got from Mr Kim the day before putting them in his backpack. Standing in the hallway, he slipped into his motorbike clothing before pulling his backpack on and holding into his helmet before he pulled the door shut, jogging downstairs.

He arrived an hour later at the school, after taking some scenic detour, enjoying the sunrise. With his helmet still on, he stretched, while sitting on his motorbike, before he just sat there and stared into nothing. What a weird morning it was. He greeted one of the teachers that got out of her car. He finally swung his leg over the seat, shrugging the backpack off his back. Lifting the helmet off his face and head, he placed it on the gas tank, before undoing his hair to redo it again.

He noisily inhaled in the back of his throat before sighing, fumbling for his cigarettes and lighter, that wasn’t to be found. Cigarette hanging from his lips, he rolled his eyes and was ready to put it away when. “Mr Oh? Good morning, you need a lighter?”

Sehun raised an eyebrow, only his homeroom class had a free pass to call him Mr Oh, and his physic seniors; it went back to his first lessen when he told them that they have to get through half a year with him and after the midterms, they could stop adding the Dr. “I’m not going to ask why you have a lighter, Paolo.” Sehun warned him after lightening his cigarette and having his student standing next to him.

“I’m 18 already, and I’m in 12^th grade, so it’s okay, even if the teachers don’t like to see it,” his student replied, playing with the lighter.

“Ah , you’re right. You know what, I shouldn’t encourage it, but you’re here way too early so do whatever you want. How’s the job hunt going?” Sehun engaged his student in further conversation.

“You’re also here early, Mr Oh. Don’t you have classes starting around ten on Thursdays? And I rather not talk about it, to be honest.” Paolo kicked at the ground huffing out a cloud of smoke.

“I’m filling in for a colleague. Did you think about studying instead? You can apply for governmental support.” Sehun offered more advice unprompted.

“I’d really like to study but I feel I’m too dumb to for it. And what should I study?” The student scratched his chin, the scratchy sound of the beard tangible in the early morning air.

“And even if you decide to just try it for a year first and then decide it’s not for you, that’s absolutely fine. Also, you’re in my physics class and let me tell you, as someone with a Dr in Physics, just between the two of us, I’m actually thinking about a professor too, I see good chances for you in that field. You’re one of the best in my class and let me tell you, you’re all doing more than the curriculum provides. If you want, you can talk to Mr Kim or if it’s physics with me.” Sehun clapped his student on the shoulder, stubbing his cigarette out in the ashtray, his student following suit. “What’s your first class today?”

His student followed half a step behind him when they entered the school building, “English Lit by Mr Kim actually.”

“Alright, well, I’ll see you later in class Paolo.” Sehun waved him off after watching him beelining towards the seniors’ wing while he continues further to the teachers’ lounge.

 

Seniors tended to not be as rowdy as younger classes in the early morning, being mostly on their phones or just chatting among themselves. Sehun was thankful for that when he ventured towards the classroom Mr Kim would’ve had his English class at. It actually was an art classroom, but it looked very much like Mr Kim, having most of his classes there.

“Dr Oh? What are you doing here?” One of the female students greeted him when he unlocked the classroom.

“I’m filling in for Mr Kim today.” He let the students settle in their seats, checking if he knows some of them, but he knew most of them from his Algebra classes. “Mr Kim told me you’re currently reading Romeo and Juliet. So, we’ll continue with that. Yes?”

“No offence, since we’re an advanced course, but it’s close to our exams and all…” the student he called began.

“No worries, I know a damn lot about that. Believe it or not, English Lit was my third subject in uni. So, I’d say I’m just as knowledgeable in English Lit as he is,” he forced his bodily function of winking down at having the upper hand. “Did you know that this Shakespearean play is pretty much a comedy? And I know that Mr Kim will agree with me on that one. We already had that discussion.”

Paolo just blinked at him.

---

Jongdae lounged in bed, still in his t-shirt and boxershorts he slept in, and his phone in bed, texting someone.

 

Did the kids behave?

Told me theyrather have me as thei lit teacher compared to you ;)

Not with that grammar, no
hands away from my advanced course, my kids!

By the way, I told Paolo to hit you up about the gov support for uni. He’s still unsure, by I see extreme potential in the field of physics, btu maybe you can talk to him next week or whenever? And maybe see if there’s something in his private life that’s influencing him? I only have him in phys and math, but you know him longer than I do

Ah, Paolo, yes. Sure, I can talk to him, thanks for letting me know Sehun 😊

Yw Jongdae

 

He was right, Paolo had made something out of himself, especially since Dr Oh started working at the school and Jongdae knew that the student had taken a liking to the physics teacher and looked up to him. He even mentioned to Jongdae at one time that he had looked into Dr Oh’s publications. But he was still afraid of the dissertation of 600 pages plus because it focused on astrophysics. Why Dr Oh decided to pursue a profession in his original major and get back into teaching instead of doing something else with his degree was a mystery to everyone but Jongdae who had read the paper.

He had taken quite the mental hit after what the slandering student had done, it wasn’t helpful for his own mental wellbeing and he had kept it willingly from Linh but had talked with Eric about it. That’s why he was staying with the couple for a few days as not to be alone during the day.

He didn’t like the fact that it was affecting him so much, but it did.

Maybe he should get drunk, but it was a Thursday and everyone he knew and was friends with was working the next day. Maybe he needed to wait a day.

 

I’m having a short day tmrw

Dr Oh read his mind.

---

“Dr Oh filled in for Mr Kim for his English class?! And even said that he had discussions with him? I swear they bang,” Sehun overheard in the hallway and backpedalled, taken aback by the language used.

“Have some decency, you can’t talk about our teachers like that!” Sehun mentally thanked the other student. “We don’t even know if they're friends and not and you know what happened already! Do you want it to spiral out of control again? You know why Mr Kim has been absent a couple of days. Someone told lies about him to attack him.” He winced mentally because the student was right. “So, please, let it rest.”

“But…”

“No buts, now come, or we’ll be too late to Mrs Chen’s class and I’m not in the mood to get locked out of the room because I’m too late. But I agree with you, it’s cute that they discuss literature.”

 

Sehun was about to silently fist bump the air when the last comment happened. “Just you’ll see…” he muttered to himself, smirking.

“Mr Oh, how much longer until we get rid of you?” One student bemoaned before dropping their head into their textbooks, making distressed walrus noises.

“Until Mr Kim is back, you brat.” Sehun didn’t look up from the blackboard where he was drawing a relationship chart.

“Mr Oh? I got a question; aren’t you and Mr Kim also star-crossed lovers?” Another student piped up and Sehun rolled his eyes.

“We’re adults, our families don’t know each other and we’re not going to kill ourselves over another because we’re stupid and don’t communicate.” At least one thing was a lie.

 

“Mr Oh, how come you’re even more strict in this subject than Mr Kim is?”

“Because I taught brats in uni that were your age sometimes, the older ones of you or the ones that retook a year and some of them were really grating my nerves. Don’t you love it when sometimes people start a discussion with you about a topic you even did your doctorate in? And they really try to show that they know more than you by trying to discuss you into the ground? But alas, they didn’t even let you finish your sentence when they started the discussion and I was usually like ‘If you had let me finish my sentence, you’d seen that I was talking about exactly what you’re trying to prove to me right now.’”

“Big oof.”

Sehun agreed, “Exactly. Quite sure it was more embarrassing for them. But it takes some balls to do that in a full lecture hall. And you’re all very chatty right now, did you finish the tasks already?”

Several heads whipped back to the papers at hand and Sehun had a couple of minutes quiet when he felt his phone vibrate in his shirt pocket. Wiggling his hand under his sweater vest, he pulled his phone from it and checked the messages he got.

 

You’re so hot that you would make a nuclear reactor meltdown.

Is this considered harassment or bad flriting at this point? Or both?

 

“Mr Oh, why you’re smiling down on your phone?”

“Mr Kim just told me that he doesn’t miss you at all and wants me to take over the class and drill you until you hate English Lit with a burning passion.” Sehun shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and school his expression into something more neutral.

“We know you’re lying, but at the same time it’s so oddly specific that Mr Kim would actually say that.” Someone else good-naturedly rolled their eyes.

“What can I say, teachers are a different breed altogether.”

 

If it was 1984, and I was Big Brother, I'd only watch you.

Oof, that one hurts

I hope it did and you wiggle in pain in your bed, fuelled by pure cringe, because that’s how I feel

☹

---

 

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