^{High School AU. Sequel to chapter 255 ‘The School Building at Night’}

“Here.”

Jongin handed the student a cup of warm tea, which he brewed in the tiny crappy kitchenette of the teachers’ lounge. It was the best drink he had ever made, but at least it was warm enough to heat up the poor boy, who had been sleeping on the cold floor of the classroom.

“So…”

Jongin tried to start the conversation, sitting next to Jongdae and watching him carefully. The boy didn’t seem that bad. Yes, he looked annoyed for being caught, but he didn’t seem at all like someone who was in enough trouble to resort to sleeping on a school.

“Why are you sleeping on the school grounds, Jongdae?”

He asked, and the boy was still quiet, only calmly sipping his tea. He looked like he had no intention of answering.

“Did someone dare you to do this?”

The teacher continued to ask, trying to keep his demeanor as soft as possible, so the boy would feel comfortable enough to talk to him.

“No, it was nothing like that.”

Jongdae unconsciously answered as he twisted his face, demonstrating how stupid he thought such dare was. Then he shut his mouth once again, his eyes looking a bit wider, as he didn’t intend to speak at all.

Jongin just started back at him, honestly trying to figure the boy out. The more he thought, the more he came up with weird scenarios as to why a student would sleep on the school, but none of them made sense once he factored Jongdae into the equation. He knew the boy, he was such a good student, very dedicated, very well behaved. And from what Jongin could see, a very good person, who kept his head out of trouble. So why was he there?

“Teacher?”

Jongdae started in a small voice, looking up from his cup of tea. He stared right into Jongin’s eyes, and the man could feel a certain amount of sadness in them. The teacher hummed back softly, encouraging him to go on.

“Am I in trouble?”

Jongdae weakly asked. Jongin was a bit thrown off by that question, and faltered to give a proper answer, even though he knew what it was.

“What?”

He asked, almost as a way to buy time for his brain to process the question, as he was too worried about Jongdae’s reasons, he didn’t properly think about the consequences.

 “Am I going to be expelled?”

Jongdae elaborated, and Jongin could truly see despair in the boy’s eyes. It was weirdly a nice moment, as Jongin could actually see how important the school was for him, and it was inspiring to see such a loving student.

“No Jongdae, you’re not gonna be expelled for this. But you know that it’s forbidden to be here after hours, don’t you?”

Jongin asked a question, but his tone was one of someone who was explaining. He watched carefully as Jongdae nodded weakly, but still there was no regret in his face.

“Why were you sleeping at the school, Jongdae? Where are your parent’s, did something happen?”

Jongin could see that his last phrase clearly hit the nail when Jongdae looked up nervously. He gave the boy some time, and the silence was so thick and uncomfortable, that Jongdae just started talking to make it stop.

“They don’t care. They don’t even know I’m here. They don’t even know I exist most of the times. I don’t like living there, that house is not my home. The school is my home.”

Jongdae looked so set on his thoughts, but Jongin could help but underestimate him. He judged Jongdae on basis of a rebellious teenager, and that’s not what the boy was at all. But Jongin hadn’t figured it out yet.

“Don’t say that, I’m sure they care. They’re probably so worried about you right now.”

He tried to reason with the student, but Jongdae only shook his head, scoffing at the statement.

“I’ve been sleeping here for a whole week already. They haven’t even noticed I’m gone, they’re not even looking for me or anything; otherwise they’d know that I’m still attending the school every day and would come talk to me. But nothing has happened, because they don’t care.”

Jongdae argued back, surprising Jongin. The teacher’s mind felt boggled, he was confused as if he should believe him or not, but what Jongdae had just said made his duty slightly more difficult.

“Well, I’m sorry about this, but you know I have to take you back to your house, right? It’s my obligation.”

He painfully said, seeing the sadness drop once again on the boy’s face. Jongin felt terrible, he wish he could do something to make the dear student feel better, but he still had a misconception of the whole situation, and had pegged Jongdae as a runaway kid.

“Okay…”

The boy answered defeated, because he truly didn’t want to cause trouble to a teacher, not get in further trouble with the school. For now, he just had to go back, but deep down he knew he would just get out again. He’d done it once, and got a little taste of freedom, so nothing would stop him now.

“Don’t worry about being in trouble okay? As long as you promise to not do it again, I won’t mention anything to the principal.”

Jongin said, taking pity on the boy. It would be a few days before he started to understand things better, and started to look into all the accusations Jongdae would make against his family, but one day very soon in their future, he would finally become a teacher who truly understood his student, and he’d work to get him in the best situation possible.

_{The End. 957 Words.}

AN:

Here, finally the long promised (and sort of forgotten for a while) sequel to that scenario of Jongdae sleeping at the school~ Sorry about the wait!

This was a long one :D When I started writing I just couldn't stop, I hope you guys don't mind ^^