Minseok let out a content sigh. Not many people would be quite so satisfied to be sitting in an office at specifically 8:10am, but Minseok was one happy man as of now. After a tedious summer of not getting much done, it was the beginning of a new autumn term and god it felt so good to be back.

He considered himself to be the only individual in the school that actually dreaded the long summer break with its uncomfortable humidity that bit at the collar of his shirt and permeated into every corner of his apartment. Minseok’s summer had slipped past in a daze of thumbing through pages of books next to a rattling fan he had persistently tried to fix, making awkward eye contact with others from a seat in his favourite coffee shop as he sipped a new addition to the summer menu, and odd evenings out rescuing Jongdae from rowdy bars as the sun rose. Minseok was bored of the sun, bored of grappling desperately at finding a routine, things to do; some form of recurrent substance in the listless days that rolled past.

8:17am. Minseok shivered. He wasn’t sure if it was the cool breeze in the department’s office or his subconscious trying to rid his head of negative thoughts, but he was torn from them regardless as a hasty rustling infiltrated the still air.

He swivelled round in his chair, expecting to see Kyungsoo (who always got off his 8:15am train, getting into school for 8:21am) instead coming face to face with a heaving pile of papers - a tiny tuft of hair visible from over the top, and even tinier fingers peeking out from underneath.

“Ohhhh god—uhh” a voice squeaked from behind the huge pile. “Min could you maybe, like—take a few of these—Oh sugar--” The voice faltered as a particularly well aimed gust from the AC sent a good percentage of the papers flying. Behind them, a flustered looking Kyungsoo was now visible.

Never had anyone affected Minseok quite like Kyungsoo. Routine and predictability seemed to fly out the window as soon as the smaller man appeared before him, all beaming and just well... perfect. Minseok was quite infatuated with him. He had been the first one to lend a hand when Minseok had begun teaching at Seoul High College fresh out of an architecture degree, and had dazzled him continuously since then with his warm kindness and excellent coffee-making capabilities.

The young man’s pale features before him were suffused with an embarrassed pink and Minseok noted that even his lips were tinged a darker shade of plum than their natural hue. His eyes-- his lovely wide, innocent eyes were gaping down at Minseok expectantly and….

. Minseok inwardly cursed. Now was not the time to fawn over his colleague.

He rushed to get out of his chair, tripping in the process. “Of course, of course Soo” he sympathised, earning a grateful smile from the younger. “Not the best morning then?” He chuckled as he scooped a large wad of papers from the top, revealing more of the man before him.

“Tell me about it!” Kyungsoo sighed dramatically. “Not only are the holidays over, but I swear I’ve just lost all the marking I did over summer!” He let out a frustrated huff, his dark fringe flicking upwards as he pouted at Minseok.

Internally dying over his cuteness, Minseok laughed nervously as he helped Kyungsoo over to his desk across the confined office. “Ah, but of course” Kyungsoo continued, “I bet you're glad aren’t you, being back here and all that.” He glanced over at Minseok as they arranged the papers on his desk.

“You know… I’ll never understand your love for this place.” He wondered out loud as he spread his arms, indicating the four desks crammed the room not much bigger than a cupboard, the chairs spread across the floor, several forgotten mugs dotting the faded windowsill.

“But that’s just you isn’t it!” Kyungsoo laughed. “Give me some of your positivity pleeeaase” he whined teasingly, placing a hand lightly on Minseok’s shoulder before giving him a more sincere look. “Hey, at least it means you’re happy right?” Kyungsoo added in a softer tone, smiling. “Glad to see you again Min” he chuckled, squeezing Minseok’s shoulder lightly before turning back to his now messy desk.

Minseok returned his smile with a slightly shaky one and made out a jumbled “A-always lovely seeing you again too Soo” into his sweater, before the office door swung open once again.

Ah.

It was 8:32am and Minseok looked up as the resounding bang of the door against the abused wall signalled the arrival of Jongdae. His scruffy haired colleague with a mischievous glint in his eye stood in the open doorway, panting from the sprint up the stairs, and a screwdriver held triumphantly in his hand.  

“HA!” he made out between breathes. “Sup, you two!” he nodded at both of them before grinning in way that Minseok and Kyungsoo knew meant trouble. “Don’t mind me, just gonna make some ummm… slight minor adjustments to Junmyeon’s chair before he comes in!”

He gave a sly wink and laughed to himself as the other two stood dumfounded at the grown man in front of them, before he dashed over to Junmyeon’s wheeled chair and started fiddling with the screws on the levers.

Kyungsoo drew his attention away from Jongdae to mouth an amused “We didn’t see anything” towards Minseok before humming  absentmindedly and turning away as he continued to sort through the various documents still scattered over his desk. Minseok returned to his own neat corner of the room, occasional grunts of satisfaction and the sound of tapping metal coming from Jongdae punctuating the comfortable silence.

His watch turned 8:42am and Minseok began packing the things he needed for his first class of the day. The reason he liked teaching, aside from the structure it gave to his life with the set periods of work and the familiar environment, was because it was relatively easy and hassle free. In to work, class, class, break, class, class, lunch, class and back home. Other than the odd hiccup, Minseok’s job was pleasant and rewarding.

He brought his firm but understanding attitude to the lessons he taught and his students appreciated this. They understood as well as he did that he was competent and reliable, which earned him respect from them in class and in corridors too. Minseok maintained pride in his teaching abilities as a relatively new member of the staff at Seoul High College, as well as in his appearance which, like his carefully disciplined lifestyle, always remained refined.

He swept his light brown hair away from his forehead, showing his manicured and prominent brows which contrasted starkly with his soft, oval-shaped face. His features are kind and measured, with his cat-like eyes likening to more of a calm tabby than anything else. He was slight in stature; small but not necessarily as delicate as others expected under his cable-knit sweaters, pressed white shirts and array of subtly coloured suits.

Quickly folding up the sleeves of today’s pale blue shirt, Minseok checked the time. Yes, 8:54am; that allowed him 4 minutes to get to his first lesson and a further 2 to organise his lesson plan. Perfect. He scooped up his satchel and his diary containing the registration documents for all his classes before shouting an audible “BYE” to Kyungsoo over the sound of Jongdae clambering out from under Junmyeon’s chair and scooting over to his own desk in a hurry.

He left the office just as he saw the head of the Maths Department himself huffing his way up the stairs. Minseok nodded, smiling as he passed the already flustered Junmyeon, who puffed out a “Morning Minseok!” before barrelling into the room he had just left.

Minseok gave a sigh of relief that he had left the office when he did, as he was nearing the bottom of the stairs before an almighty crash resonated from the room. Sounds of several folders falling onto carpet followed, along with a muffled cry of pain before a familiar roar of “KIM JONDAAAEE” reverberated down the bustling hallway; student’s heads turning in amusement, and laughter joining the hum of conversation.

Minseok was glad to be back.

There were a few familiar faces amongst the students that filtered their way into his first class of the day Minseok observed as he hunted for a whiteboard marker in his drawer.

Byun Baekhyun lounged around with Park Chanyeol on his chair situated towards the back of the classroom, making occasional glances towards Mr Kim who, he noted,  was looking particularly fine in that fitted shirt this morning.

“YAH” He turned back to Chanyeol who had given him a quick slap around the head, the taller male grinning garishly to cover his annoyance at his friend. “Stop checking out Sir again” he said gruffly. “And check out that kid’s lame new haircut over there” he nodded towards a corner of the room; quickly diverting the attention away from his reddening cheeks under Baekhyun’s gaze.

Baekhyun turned his head half-heartedly to look at the boy Chanyeol was now laughing audibly at. Despite being best friends with Chanyeol, he still didn’t understand the pleasure the other got from picking on people. Admittedly, it was an appallingly executed and rather wonky bowl cut, but he lazily returned his gaze to Chanyeol whose laughter had now turned into a guffaw and was accompanied by obscenities being thrown across the classroom towards the poor guy.

At this moment in time Minseok decided that he had heard enough. He looked up sharply from his futile search for a pen before giving a purposeful stare at Park Chanyeol who reluctantly but swiftly fell silent and slumped down in his chair. Minseok smiled kindly at the student that wow, had a rather unfortunate new haircut, recieving a reassured nod in return from the timid-looking boy.

Baekhyun inwardly thanked Mr Kim for shutting his best friend up, who now proceeded to fold paper airplanes out of notes found in his folder. Mr Kim was someone that Baekhyun had always admired from afar. From his first, warmly-welcomed maths class with the teacher, Baekhyun had keened over Mr Kim’s patience with even his ty attempts at understanding the subject. He liked Mr Kim’s lips; even if he didn’t care about the nonsensical equations that poured out of them for the entire hour. Baekhyun liked them most when they weren’t talking; but smiling - kind of wonky but still impeccable as they curled upwards at his love for the subject he taught.

THWAK! Baekhyun was once again slapped out of his daydream by a disgruntled looking Chanyeol who frowned at his completely-not-a-crush-but-just-a-best-friend in a way that failed to hide his disapproval at Baekhyun's obvious staring.

The bell rung and signalled the start of the lesson for which Minseok noticed all the desks were filled, except those two positioned in front of Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol. Minseok found the absences to be of a Kim Jongin and Oh Sehun, whom he made a mental note to mention to Junmyeon in their next meeting.

Sliding out from his seat and standing at the front of the class, Minseok made sure to present his most welcoming smile to the new faces in the room. Clearing his throat assertively he gained the attention of those still talking, ready to begin the introductions he always made at the start of any new term at the college.

“Right.” Clasping his hands together, he put on a friendly smile.

“I am Mr Kim, your ne--”

Interrupted by a sudden burst of laughter from the doorway, Minseok snapped his head towards the source of the sound to see two figures strolling in and standing in the entrance to the classroom. No-one normally had the audacity to slack in his classes and Minseok was disgruntled to say the least.

Double trouble. A scrawny, but well-built boy was one of the two, a dirty smirk plastered on an otherwise smooth and baby-like, pale complexion. His tousled, dyed hair hung messily in his eyes that were a dark and confusing mahogany brown. Minseok felt uneasy under his intense stare that was established by angular brows and a sharp nose, but he didn’t show it. He hated to admit that he was also slightly intimidated by the boy’s height as he nearly reached the top of the door frame, the surprisingly broad shoulders on the youth’s otherwise lanky body filling the opening.  

The second in the pair stood slightly behind the former and was marginally shorter but still at a height to embarrassingly dwarf Minseok. His copper coloured hair was parted in a curtained style that should have looked worse than the bowl cut victim from earlier but instead fell stylishly past his bronzed cheekbones. Rather than staring at him as intently as his companion, this boy was grinning widely at Park Chanyeol who had leaped up from his seat and was beckoning the pair over yelling “OI! Kai!” The boy's eyes creased as he laughed loudly in front of the now silent class, revealing a set of impeccably white teeth as he made his way between desks towards his friend.

Minseok looked back at the other whom he assumed was Oh Sehun, to find the student still smirking at him from the open door. He raised an eyebrow slowly at the teacher’s obvious frustration, never breaking eye contact before drawling out a purposefully sarcastic “Sorry Sir. Please continue.”

His voice was laced with such contempt and disrespect that Minseok found his friendly smile forced into a bitterly false one as he watched the student drag his feet over to the last empty desk and recline into it.

This was not the smooth start that Minseok was expecting.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________word count: 2284

FIRST CHAPTER COMPLETED!!!!!

WOW ok phew! the aim of this initial chapter was to give you a flavour of the characters that are gonna be in this story, so i hope u liked it omg

not really sure what else to say here, only to apologise for any british spelling features that may confuse a few people mmmm

any upvote, subscription or comment on this story means a lot to to me so yep, keep em coming

good luck with exams and bits n bobs u guys are doing at the moment, i've got mine until the 19th of june so updates are unlikely to be regular or frequent until then, sorry!

much love,

heléna