* * * * *

Ha Mu Yeom sat hunched over his desk, nervously fiddling with his pen. Being the new teacher straight from the university, he had never imagined the kinds of problems he would run into while teaching. More often than he’d like, what he thought was right and what a teacher is supposed to do were entirely different things. He was never sure if he had reacted the right way, and when Park Soo Hyun, the mother of one of his students, politely greeted him and entered his office, Ha Mu Yeom still wasn’t quite certain about his decision.

Puzzled by the teacher’s silence, the woman decided to speak first.

“Is… is Jimin in trouble?”

She seemed genuinely concerned, the teacher noted. From her clothes to the tone of her voice, she felt like nothing other than an honest, ordinary mother.

All the more reason she should know, the teacher thought. Yet, somehow he didn’t find the strength to tell her outright.

“No, no, no,” the teacher reassured, trying to put up a smile, “Jimin’s not in trouble. He’s a good kid.”

Jimin’s mother just sat in her chair, confused. No one calls a parent to the school just to tell them that they have a good kid.

“Did… did he fail a test? Did he get in a fight with someone?”

Again, the teacher denied it, waving his hands around and even attempting to laugh. He wanted to calm her down, but all he did was seem nervous and uncomfortable.

“No, nothing like that. You see, Jimin, ah, he… got involved with an… an older boy…”

The mother instantly clasped a hand to . “So he did get in a fight-!”

That’s when Ha Mu Yeom took a deep breath and decided to frankly say what he’d seen a few days ago. Thinking it was a beautiful day and needing some fresh air to recover from his previous class, he had decided to take a walk in the park behind the school, only to find that he wasn’t the only one there.

Watching from a distance, Ha Mu Yeom didn’t notice the boys doing anything against the school rules. And yet, what he had seen bothered him for days, until he finally decided to call in Jimin’s mother, since Jimin was in his class.

Two schoolboys kissing like that, in broad daylight… it felt disturbing. It felt dangerous.

“I’m informing you of this as a person, not a teahcer.” Ha Mu Yeom said while seeing Park Soo Hyun to the door. She had been denying it, saying it wasn’t possible, then crying for a time, but now she had sufficiently calmed down. “I’m only mentioning this to you because of Jimin’s safety. You understand, if someone else had seen, it would be… uncomfortable.”

Uncomfortable did not describe even a fraction of the huge problems two boys could face if they had been labeled as “gay”. Yet, the teacher didn’t want to upset the mother any further. Muttering comforting nonsense, he even borrowed her a napkin to wipe her tears away and gently closed the door when she was gone.

After it was all over, Ha Mu Yeom sank back into his chair. He had told Jimin’s mother about her son kissing an older boy, Kim Seokjin, behind the school because he thought it was the right thing to do. But seeing the woman’s tears, he was not so sure anymore.

Being a teacher is ing tough, he thought, resting his head on the desk.

* * * * *

KissTheDream: Trying out something new until I get some inspiration for my VIXX story ("Ideal Roommate").