All eyes are on me...

It takes a while before the thought sinks into Minseok’s mind. Clearly, it’s not his first time facing and talking to a crowd but he can’t ignore the fact that he’s terribly nervous in front of these kids. He’s not that comfortable but he pushed it down, wishing incessantly that it doesn’t show. Out of instinct, he brings up his hand and waves at them sheepishly.

“Hi. I’m Kim Minseok. Nice to meet you.” He hears himself saying.

To him, he sounds so stupid. Right then and there, he really wants to smack his face but he catches himself before doing so. Now isn’t the time to shake before them.    

“Anyhow...” he starts, smiling widely. “Does anyone want to know something about me?”

Shock would be an understatement to what he felt when he saw their hands fly up in the air. They look very eager to ask and to satisfy their craving. He chooses the girl nearest him, who stands up rather enthusiastically that her table shakes a little.

“Seonsaengnim! How old are you?” The girl asks.

Minseok releases the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. To be honest, he’s expecting the worse but knowing that these teenagers want nothing from him but trivial answers, he loosens up. This will be a piece of cake Minseok. You can do this. He assures himself.

“I just turned 21 last March 26.” He answers her in his sweet voice.

“You’re just 5 years older, can we call you oppa?” Another girl, just behind the one he called, blurts out.

Minseok would be lying if he doesn’t admit that he was slightly taken aback by the question. But he considers the implied suggestion. Truthfully, he felt weird when he was called ‘seonsaengnim’. Sure, he has fantasized of it before but after actually hearing it, it’s a little bit...strange...maybe? So, how about letting them do what they want? Let them call him oppa/hyung.

He’s just about to say ‘yes’ when Boa interjected. She shakes her head and quirks an eyebrow.

“It seems like someone’s trying to get oh so close.” She says in a tone she only use when imparting a covert warning.

Waving it off, Minseok chuckles a bit and diverts his attention to his co-worker.  “But shouldn’t they?”

“Trust me. They’ll abuse your kindness.”

“Really?” Then, he returns his attention to his students. “You’d do that? Please don’t!” he comically whines.

It causes uproar of laughter. Finally, he feels confident and thinks that he can handle them now.

“Here’s the deal,” he announces after the guffaws die down. “Call me oppa/hyung when we’re out of the school premises, okay?”

They all nod and he’s satisfied with just that.

Without a doubt, he has captured their hearts but he’s not aware of it. They instantly admire him from his humor and kindness. Okay...perhaps, they also love his boyish smile. For them, he’s that ‘attractive personality with an attractive face’ and he’s perfect.

“Seonsaengnim! Do you have a girlfriend?” Another teenager questions even though she’s not picked.

Woah. He didn’t see that coming. Well, he has been on that stage too. He remembers his female classmates asking the same question to their newly graduate male teachers. Now, he’s suffering the same consequences. How unfortunate.

“Ah that...” he begins, feeling, if not a little bit, self-conscious. “I don’t have any.”

Their reaction is too obvious. Their faces light up from the relayed information.

“I wanted to focus on my studies and now that I’m here, I think that increases the hopelessness of my love life.”

Sehun waits for the others to file out of the room. He firmly sits on his chair but his insides feels anything but steady.

During Minseok’s show of hilarity and such, Sehun just quietly observed from the back. Really, he’s concerned on why he couldn’t even laugh with them. So, when they started raising hands to ask questions, he didn’t make an effort. His head was a whirl of thoughts that it made him dizzy. And without even trying, he knew that he was awfully tongue-tied.

His heart is pounding in his chest and for a moment, he thinks about backing out. He thinks about leaving and abandoning his plan. But then, something’s preventing him from running. And he knows what it is.

“Is there a problem? Why aren’t you leaving?” His new teacher asks without actually looking.

“Uhmm...” He still can’t speak but he stands up from his place then walks over to the table where Minseok is arranging some papers. “Seonsaengnim...”

“What is it?” Minseok eventually looks up from his task.

“Y-you m-might have forgotten me already.” Sehun stammers. He shifts his weight from foot to foot while looking on the ground. “B-b-but I’m Oh Sehun.”

“Oh Sehun...?”

“Do you remember that kid you-“

Sehun didn’t have the opportunity to complete his sentence for Minseok lets out a sign of recognition.

“So you’re...Sehun! Wow. You’ve grown. Cool!”

Sehun laughs...but he doesn’t really know why. Perhaps, it’s because of how Minseok’s face lit up or how his heart almost jumped out of its cage when he heard the other mentioned his name. Both wouldn’t be a good and pleasing reason.  

“I know it happened way, way, back but...thank you.” He can feel his cheeks heating up. He’s just hoping that Minseok doesn’t notice.

“Yeah...” His teacher leans back while folding his arms. He furrows his eyebrows as if in deep thought before snapping his fingers. “Is my subject your last for this day?”

The small bell attached to the topmost part of the door tinkles as two men enters the brightly lit shop. An employee greets them with a mirthful smile. Both of them greets back. The smaller man approaches the counter and orders a chocolate and a coffee flavored bubble tea. They sit on the nearest table from the counter, facing each other.

“Seons-“ Sehun starts to complain but Minseok stops him by waving his hand.

“You know you can call me hyung now~”

“Th-Then h-hyung...I told you that these,” he points to their cold drinks. “Should be on me.”

Somehow, even simple and usual word ‘hyung’ is hard to say when addressing his schoolteacher. It should be easy. But he feels queasy inside and he doesn’t understand why. This kind of feelings is what Sehun hate the most. He hates not being able to comprehend. He feels weak again, just like when he was younger and he loathes it.

“Let it go. I bought these because I have to ask you one thing.”

Pounding. He can feel his heart thrashing in his rib cage. If it could come out, he dreads for dying at a young age. What’s this? Why do I...No Calm down Sehun, this is nothing. He tries not to worry but his actions speak another story.

“W-What is it h-hyung?”

Kim Minseok puts down his drink and stares at the table as if the answers are written there. He knits his eyebrows and absent-mindedly puffs his rounded cheeks. Thoroughly, he contemplates whether he should ask or not. It may be a trivial question but he would love to know his student’s thoughts, or at least Sehun’s.

Finally, he opens his mouth, “Do I look nervous earlier? Did it show?”

Is that it? Sehun lets out a deep breath as he hears the silly question. He thought that it was something else, something more serious and important but it’s not. He should laugh, really. Yet, he doesn’t. He chooses to focus on his drink because he couldn’t look straight to the person he’s talking to.

“N-No...Y-you...” He wills himself not to stammer after clearing his throat. Ever since he introduced himself in the school, all he did was stutter. And he’s not used to it because he had never felt flustered around anyone, not even to his crush last year. “You were cool back there. And I heard that they enjoyed talking to you.” Finally, he looks up but at anything but Minseok. “It was like talking to my older brother.” He mimics them from his memory.

“Really? Wahh. I’m glad~”

Briefly, Sehun witness how his 21 years old teacher transforms into a 3 years old who’s grinning widely after receiving a bucket of treats. That’s how adorable Minseok is. Adorable shouldn’t fit at that age but somehow, it does.

“Anyhow...” Minseok begins after he has recovered. “I’m happy to see you again Sehun-ah.” Sighing, he relaxes from his chair. “Who would have thought that a bullied kid like you would grow up tall and handsome?”

“And you’re pretty!” What the heck?! Did he just say pretty? Instantly, he becomes defensive while secretly wishing that the Earth would open up and swallow him whole. “I-I mean, ah-Not in a girly manner! Don’t worry, you don’t look girly! Well...A bit. Ah! No! Uhm. I mean-“ Please, kill me now...

Stifling a laugh, Minseok waves it off. “You’re funny.”

They stay for almost another hour, talking about anything in which, Sehun sputters nonsense but Minseok finds him truly entertaining. And that’s enough for Sehun. He figures that he doesn’t really care about looking stupid if it will reward him Minseok’s priceless laugh. The elder offers to walk him home but he declines politely because he doesn’t like to be a bother.

He’s smiling like an idiot until he arrives home and even when he’s safely tucked in his bed.  

---

A/N: I'm sorry if it took a while. I'm also terribly sorry if this is a crappy chapter. I wrote this until 2 in the morning because I couldn't sleep but I guess my mind wasn't functioning properly that time too. I should have slept instead of writing this. This would have been better! T.T I'll do better next time...please bear with me...

Sehun= overly flustered high school girl

Minseok= overly oblivious cute guy

What the hell am I thinking? Okay. Lemme hide in my comfort blanket again.

Anyway, let's talk about their comeback. They say there are 24 mini-albums. There's no group cover, just individual. Each member has black ver. and white ver. Their title song is Overdose.

S.M. really knows how to make everyone's wallet cry.