New Boy

Apple of His Eyes

The kids were being rowdy again. They were noisy and loud, some were running across the room laughing while carelessly knocking over things in the process, while others (the more timid ones), were making a mess drawing jargles at the scattered papers on the small table. Kyungsoo was already used to this disorder that a preschooler could muster. Their bodies were still so small to contain the energy they exude.

In one corner of the kids that were running was Chanyeol, a junior ringleader of sorts on the group whose roles were supposed to be the zombies, the one that chases the other group while acting like undead bodies driven to walk by their desire for brains, hands raised forward to look even scarier. Baekhyun was the little leader of the other team (the ones being chased upon), and he's an untrustworthy one at that since he kept pushing some of his weaker groupmates towards Chanyeol whose only intent was to capture him and him alone. Baekhyun knew that Chanyeol's pride would do anything for him not to be victorious in this little already one-sided game.

Baekhyun, however, is smart (or as he would prefer to allude, he got the brains). He could still reverse his doomed fate. Grabbing several papers from the table, Baekhyun rolled it into a stick and instantly ran towards Chanyeol aiming the paper right into his forehead.

"YOU'RE DEEEEAAAAADD!!!" Baekhyun shouted victoriously, as if he won a lottery.

Chanyeol scrunched his brows, caressing his forehead.

"Hey, that's unfair. That wasn't in the rules!"

"There are no rules. All I know is that a zombie's weak point is their head which I definitely agree with you."

"But those were papers, not knife. They're not that strong to stab me."

"What am I supposed to do, stab you with a real knife?" Baekhyun rolled his eyes, zombies are definitely weak in the head.

As the two frenemies unsurprisingly kept arguing again, the sitting kids kept drawing using colored pencils. One of them is Sehun, drawing some stick figures on his paper while humming the tune of twinkle twinkle little star in his head. He then drew flowers along the corners of his paper, because well, he liked flowers.

Sehun started humming the beginning of another nursery rhyme, a song that involved a butterfly flying over a meadow, when his Teacher Soo went inside the room. Sehun never smiled wider. He was about to stand up and let his teacher see his drawing when Kyungsoo's usually gentle face was suddenly etched with a mixture of surprise and anger.

"Baekhyun and Chanyeol, stop what you're doing!" The teacher shouted.

Right on the floor was the zombie leader and the boy who stabbed him with paper writhing on the floor in a little heated fight. Sehun pouted, those two were always bound to clash whenever he was not there to quell a budding tension. Now, his friends were making his teacher Soo do more work. He felt that he deserved some of the blame on why this happened.

He shook his head then veered his gaze towards the door. There's a kid there, not his classmate, looking at what was happening. Kyungsoo came there with him. Sehun had never seen him before. The boy had a blank expression on his face, almost like him but it felt somehow different. Sehun wondered who he was.

Sehun looked on the boy's nametag. There's a big 'LUHAN' written on it in permanent marker.

He must be a new boy.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

Luhan had learned from his older brother that being the new kid , especially if you're the new kid in the middle of the semester when social circles are already formed. Luhan believed him at first, but he had no qualms with this. Luhan had always loved playing alone, he could just summon his imaginary friend and just play alone with him. That was never a problem, at least he could have a friend who would bid all his wishes, and that was alright.

Still, having some actual companion wouldn’t hurt.

When Luhan stepped into his new school however, he found out that what his brother said was not true. Some kids wanted to play with him. Maybe his hyung told him all those stuff just to scare him, or maybe the setting in kindergarten is just different because for all kids, everyone in the playground is a playmate as long as he or she doesn't steal toys. Luhan would like to believe that he doesn't steal toys, maybe his imaginary friend burrowed without permission sometimes, but never him.

Luhan also liked the teachers there in his new school, there was Jongin who he at first thought to be his adviser but it turned out that he was just welcoming him. Jongin had given him a toy as he was swaying his short legs in the chair waiting for his teacher to arrive. Luhan gave the toy to his imaginary friend who was only too happy to receive. Because Jongin made his imaginary friend happy, Luhan instantly liked Jongin.

'Like' however was an understatement of what he felt when he did meet his real adviser.

"Jonginnie, is the new student here?" A voice chimed. Luhan looked at the source of the voice and his heart stuttered. It was at that moment when Luhan realized that puberty must have hit him dead early (his older brother--who had no one else to talk to--had educated him early about all this stuff). Luhan felt himself turning into a man in mere seconds at the sight of wide eyes and smooth skin.

Luhan gulped as his teacher squatted to his eye level. He knew that he was a mature kid, but he never knew that he could experience love firsthand this early. His eyes were doe-like.

"Aww, aren't you adorable?" His teacher cooed.

"You always find every kid adorable, Soo." Sir Kai had commented behind the table, rolling his eyes. “Must be the side effect of engineering school.”

Sir Soo smiled at him.

He thought that he's a kid, that his mind was of the same level as his age; Luhan knew that, but he wouldn't complain because he also knew that he could play this ace card to his advantage.

He smirked internally.

"Are you going to be my teacher?" Luhan asked in him most innocent preschool voice.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

"I don't like the new kid," Chanyeol announced to his friends, a passing thought that he voiced out loud.

"Why?" Sehun asked curiously.

"I don't know, there's something off with him. Sometimes I see him talking to air. I also sometimes see him looking at Sir Soo for too long. I don't like that."

"Yeah, and he already knows how to read." Baekhyun backed Chanyeol, he rarely agrees with him but they're on the same page with this one.

"He knows how to read? That's amazing." Sehun wowed.

"That's not amazing, that's weird." Chanyeol disagreed in a small voice of a gossip.

"Yeah, and he doesn't read storybook with pictures, he reads those boring ones without." Baekhyun added, nodding to validate his story.

"Whenever Sir Soo is there though, he suddenly acts all cute and grabs a pictured storybook asking for him to read it to him."

The three boys did not notice that the subject of their topic slowly crept towards them.

"What are you talking?" A new voice interjected, it was Luhan smiling at the three friends.

"We were talking about you-" Sehun naively starts --almost too willing to answer-- but Baekhyun and Chanyeol were both quick to cover his mouth.

"Ummm... we were debating on what cartoon show is better?" Baekhyun mentally facepalmed because his answer sounded more like a question.

"Yeah, we were debating on which TV channel shows the best animation. You, what channel is your favorite?” Chanyeol was quick to make a story, faking a smile.

"Cartoons are for little kids. Big boys don't watch cartoons." Luhan did not even try to hide his smirk. The boys felt like he was sizing them up. They both wanted to retort, but they have a feeling that whatever they say, Luhan has already something prepared to counter them. Luhan soon walked away from them without even saying a goodbye.

No one walks out of them without saying a goodbye.

Baekhyun's and Chanyeol's fist clenched watching Luhan's receding back.

They no longer dislike him, they hate him.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

"They hate you," Minseok informed Luhan as he slouched on the side of the playground feeling bad about himself as the other kids were playing. Minseok, that was the name of his imaginary friend.

"Well, that's because I keep on talking to you. They think I'm weird." Luhan said, "and please, would you stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Minseok asked.

"Like you think I'm sad because I'm not. I don't need their approval." Luhan said, haphazardly stabbing the ground with a stick. His eyes roamed, and in the distance, he saw his adviser sitting on a bench talking to Sir Kai. He internally smiled, forgetting his troubles.

"Do you really think you've undergone puberty just because of Sir Soo?" Minseok was being nosy again, Luhan hates it whenever he's being like that. His course of action was just to ignore him. He stood up and decided to go to the teachers.

He run towards Kyungsoo, as his imaginary friend followed close behind him.

"Sir Soo!!!!" Luhan screamed excitedly. He then lunged straight to Kyungsoo's lap, sitting himself right there.

The two teachers chuckled. "Well, aren't you just a bundle of energy?" Kai said, squeezing his cheek as Kyungsoo messed his locks.

"Minseok is sitting on your lap, Sir Kai." Luhan informed the other teacher. "He's my imaginary friend. Minseok likes you," Luhan continued. "Well, to be fair, Minseok also likes Sir Soo, but I don't want to share his lap, so Minseok is sitting on you instead."

Luhan smiled at the two teachers.

"I hope Minseok is comfortable sitting here on my bony lap." Sir Kai joke, caressing his empty lap.

Luhan giggled. He placed his head on Kyungsoo chest. His adviser and him soon laughed again at another joke Kai said. Luhan did not understand the joke, but it felt nice laughing along with his teacher. Luhan felt comfortable here.

In the distance, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were observing Luhan hanging with the teachers. The three of them seemed to be having fun. They decided that they no longer just hate Luhan.

They despise him.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

Sehun did not like despising someone. It would make him feel weird especially since he does not know anything about Luhan aside from the possibility of him being a child genius (he had learned at recess that Luhan already knows every flag of each country which is pretty amazing). Maybe Luhan's advance mind was just misunderstood. Maybe he just doesn't like cartoons. Period. Whatever reasons he made was just said at the spur of the moment. It's also not that weird to have a crush on their teacher either, he's prettier than flowers. Maybe Baekhyun and Chanyeol is just letting jealousy think for them.

When naptime came, Sehun decided to make friends with the new boy. Chanyeol was a fast sleeper and Baekhyun always followed suit. Sehun could easily maneuver from bed to bed with his blanket. He found Luhan at the corner part of the room murmuring to someone.

"Ummm... hello Luhan," Sehun greeted in a soft yet sleepy voice. "Who are you talking to?"

Luhan looked at Sehun for a split second more. "Minseok, my best friend, we are plotting to score a kiss from teacher Soo." Luhan did not blink.

Sehun looked at Luhan's sides but there were no other boy there. He decided to ask against it because he remembered Chanyeol saying that Luhan sometimes talked to air. Sehun didn't find that strange since he sometimes talked to his mother's flowers whenever he watered them.

"Score a kiss?" Sehun asked innocently. He never knew that kisses could be considered as score. He doesn't even know if it's a score for what game.

Luhan sat up. He then looked at Sehun. "Why aren't you with your friends judging me?" He asked sharply, bitterness sipped on his voice.

"They're already asleep. Yeol and Baek are just threatened by you, they don't mean what they say."

Luhan looked at him, he tilted his head in contemplation. He hesitated.

"If you want to be friends with me, no thanks, I already have Minseok," Luhan stood up, not caring about Sehun's effort to amend. "Excuse me while I get that kiss."

With that, Luhan walked towards their teacher's direction. Sehun shrugged, taking no heed from what Luhan just said, then decided to follow him.

"Sir Soo, I could not sleep," Luhan said. It's the first time that Sehun had heard Luhan talk like a real kid. Sehun could see a glimpse of the child within Luhan even if he was just acting. "My mommy always kisses me before I go to sleep."

Kyungsoo smiled. "What do you want me to do?" He asked even though he already know where the conversation was heading to.

"I want you to kiss me." Luhan said, biting his lips and even going as far as to blush just to convey meekness.

From his bed, Kyungsoo turned to lean towards the kid as Luhan bended down for his teacher to have better access. A soft kiss soon landed on soft cheek. Luhan was all red once they got separated. Sehun didn't know if that was also part of the act.

"There. All better now?"

Luhan nodded, silenced.

"Umm... Minseok would also want a kiss from you too." Luhan was almost too shy to ask for this.

"Oh, does he now?" Kyungsoo smiled again before leaning to kiss Minseok (read: the air) beside Luhan.

"He said 'thank you'" Luhan informed.

"I also want a kiss, Sir Soo" Sehun's small voice chirped from behind. Kyungsoo smiled yet again. Luhan looked at Sehun. He did not say anything, he just looked at him.

Sehun leaned closer to his teacher, and soon, another kiss landed on a blushing cheek.

"I dislike you the least," Sehun though he heard the new boy speak.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

There was a boring variety show playing in the television. Sehun stifles a yawn then looked at his mother who was talking to another woman her age. The two grown-ups are so engrossed on their conversation about a recipe for a cookie that they couldn't even see him dying of boredom. No cookie would ever revive him.

"Mooomm... I'm bored." Sehun whined. He walked to his mother to tug her attention. The two woman looked at him. His mother's friend chuckled and pinched his cheek much to his dismay. He needed entertainment, not a squeeze on the face.

"My son is up right about now. He'll come down from his room soon. Maybe you two could play together?" The woman suggested.

Indeed, another boy soon enough went down from the stairs. Sehun's gaze landed on Luhan, already bathed and not on his pajamas. He knows that they are going to Luhan's place, but seeing his friend not in his school uniform is all too new.

“Go to my room." Luhan said curtly then sauntered back up the stairs. Sehun followed his shorter friend back up the stairs. Their mothers were still talking about baking which Sehun has no interest in.

"Good morning Luhan, is Minseok here?" Sehun greeted, smiling.

Luhan did not look at him when he responded.

"He's still asleep."

Sehun was surprise when he's inside Luhan's room. He wasn't even sure what he's expecting, but Sehun's room looked like that of any other boy their age. Luhan went to the bed and shook a pillow, Sehun assumed that he was waking Minseok up.

Sehun's eyes wandered on Luhan's room. He saw a stack of Pororo CDs on top of a table.

"I thought you hate cartoons." Sehun commented.

"I never said I hate cartoons. I said that they're for little kids. There's a difference." Luhan said, his tone seems to be brushing off the topic, so Sehun did not try to ask further. Sehun’s eyes was then caught by a picture on Luhan's bedside table. Luhan doesn't seem to mind him snooping around so he picked the picture up.

It's a picture of Sir Soo.

"Where did you get this, Luhan?" Sehun asked, showing him the picture.

Luhan shrugged then smiled

"I saw it on Sir Kai's wallet, so I took it. I'm sure he wouldn't mind giving that picture to me. I mean, Sir Kai is just his friend, right?"

"Ummm.. yeah." Sehun agreed as he placed the picture back face down on the table.

"I would be Sir Soo's future husband after all. " Luhan said casually.

Sehun bit his lips.

"But Baekhyun-hyung and Chanyeol-hyung already called dibs to him. You and I could no longer have Sir Soo. No one could break dibs, Luhan. It's against the rules."

"You and your dysfunctional friendship, Sehun." Luhan patted his shoulder. Sehun does not know what this word dysfunctional means but it's probably a good thing. "You couldn't call dibs on someone. Chanyeol and Baekhyun are just being selfish. They just don't want to share Sir Soo with you. They're jerks."

"Baekhyun and Chanyeol are not jerks." Sehun felt the need to protect his friends.

Luhan blinked.

"Well, maybe they're not. They're still not good people though. They gossip bad things about me behind my back."

Sehun observed Luhan. He looked sad even though he's trying to mask it with indifference. For once, Sehun was not so sure if his friends aren't really jerks.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

"Sehun, me and Chanyeol are going to have a competition later." Chanyeol informed Sehun once he saw him in the morning. "You'll get to be judge on who swings higher between the two of us."

"I'm sorry, Yeol. I promised Luhan to play see-saw with him later. Minseok isn't really that great of a partner for him to play it with."

Sehun smiled. That was the moment when Chanyeol realized that something was going wrong. Sehun did not look straight into his eyes when he was smiling and who was this Minseok he was talking about?

All morning, Sehun did not talk to him.

"What's wrong with Sehun?" Baekhyun inquired after their grueling addition session. It seemed that he was not the only one who saw a bigger problem than math.

Chanyeol sighed, looking at Sehun talking to Luhan. "I'm sure that Luhan is trying to steal our friend."

When break time arrived, Baekhyun and Chanyeol raced towards the swing to have another (hopefully healthy) competition, but they stopped once they saw that the two swings were already occupied by no other than Sehun and his new friend.

The two boys returned rather gloomily to the classroom.

"If Sehun is willing to spend time with him, maybe Luhan is not that bad?" Chanyeol wondered.

Baekhyun remained silent. He did not agree with what Chanyeol said.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

There were no activities at that time, most kids went out to play on the playground. Their teacher was busy checking papers of the quiz they did earlier. Chanyeol was one of the few kids who stayed in the room, Luhan is another. Chanyeol's eyes landed on the new kid. He was trying to reach a water bottle at the top of a shelf. His height, or the lack of it, is making it hard for him to reach the tall place. Him jumping and flailing , although it's the most childlike Chanyeol had seen him do, is not helping him reach what he wants.

Chanyeol thinks that that was now or never. Maybe, him and Luhan just started off with the wrong foot. He could still make amends, and they could still be friends. Chanyeol went to his drawer to obtain the water bottle his mom always made sure to make him bring.

"You must be thirsty?" Chanyeol smiled goofily, offering the water bottle to the still struggling Luhan.

Luhan blinked. He looked at the water bottle then to the taller boy.

"No, I'm not really thirsty." Luhan said with a blank face, not returning the friendly smile that Chanyeol was displaying. "I'm trying to reach the ink bottle."

Chanyeol looked up and saw that besides the water bottle, there was a small glass container with black ink inside it.

"What would you need it for?" Chanyeol inquired.

"I need it to take Sir Soo's attention." Luhan answered.

Chanyeol scratched his head. He does not know how that bottle could take their teacher's attention, but he had already decided to be friends with Luhan, so he needs to help him.

"Maybe I could reach it." Chanyeol said. Luhan blinked, not knowing how to reply. With a tiptoe, Chanyeol tried to reach the container and was able to grasp it. A tall height could really come in handy.

"Here." Chanyeol smiled goofily again, offering the needed item.

"Thanks" Luhan sounds shy at saying his gratitude. He took the bottle and opened it. He knew that Chanyeol's gaze was on him. He met his gaze before dipping three fingers on the container. Chanyeol's eyes visibly enlarged, surprised at what Luhan was doing.

Their gaze on each other lingered a while longer.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Chanyeol asked. Luhan made the hush sign to him using his other hand. He looked at their teacher and saw that he was still correcting their papers. Luhan closed the bottle and put it aside.

"Sir Soo, Sir Soo! I got this black thing all over me" Luhan called for their teacher, running towards him in a frenzy. Chanyeol's eyes followed the new boy. He had no idea what was going on. Their teacher stopped what he was doing to attend Luhan's need. Chanyeol went towards his classmate and teacher.

"What happened?" Kyungsoo asked, clearly worried.

"I saw this bottle, I got curious and opened it and it was filled with this black thingy." Luhan explained as their teacher went toward the medicine cabinet to get alcohol and tissue. "S-Sir Soo, I'm sorry for g-giving you trouble."

"It's okay, I'm your teacher. I'm supposed to take care of you while you're here." Kyungsoo said with the alcohol now in hand. He then held Luhan's hand to clean it. Luhan's back was on his teacher as he leaned towards him for better access at the stained hand. Kyungsoo's touches were gentle, Luhan likes it. Chanyeol was somehow jealous but he knows that he had his teacher cleaning him several times more than Luhan had experienced so it was okay.

Chanyeol's eyes met Luhan's, and for the first time since they met, he smiled at him. Chanyeol could read his lips mouthing another thank you.

Chanyeol decided that Luhan is more sly than what he originally thought of, but maybe he's not really all that bad.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

Baekhyun was excited. He had brought his gaming console with him to school because he has something to show off. He had beaten the boss monster in level 11 that none of his friends had ever beaten before. Sehun would think he's cool and Chanyeol's pride would be stepped on. Baekhyun was mentally imagining their reactions, smiling to himself.

He would be more deserving of Sir Soo, that’s for sure. Who would be more deserving of their teacher than a pro-gamer like him? The master supreme. The one who conquered the unconquerable. The level 11 defeater.

He, however, did not expect both his friends be on either side of Luhan when he arrived at school. That was a mood changer. He went down swiftly from his high, sulking at the sight. What more, Luhan also has a gaming console on his hand.

Sehun saw Baekhyun.

"Hey Baek, look at Luhan." Sehun greeted him excitedly with a story he could not wait to divulge. "Luhan is also playing that game we were playing, he's now at level 15! How cool is that?"

Sehun sounds so excited. Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol, he was absorbed at what Luhan is playing. Chanyeol was sitting so close to Luhan. When did they became close? Baekhyun felt discouraged. He does not know what he's feeling. Sad? Angry? Jealous? Disgusted?

One thing's for sure, his pride was stepped on.

He does not like what he’s feeling.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

It's annoying how Luhan acts like an innocent child whenever their teacher is there even though he's actually a condescending know-it-all. Baekhyun is glaring at his classmate who, for some reasons, had taken their teacher's attention again just because he does not know how to subtract small numbers.

It's all fake, Baekhyun kept repeating on his mind knowing Luhan perfectly well. Baekhyun bets that Luhan even knows how to multiply and divide numbers. Baekhyun decided to confront his classmate.

"What's your game?" Baekhyun asked Luhan when they were finally alone.

"What do you mean?" Luhan said

"You are stealing my friends from me, you are stealing Sir Soo from me. You are-"

"Sir Soo is not yours." Luhan cut him.

"He. is." Baekhyun emphasized

"He's not."

"He is"

"He's not."

"He is"

"He's not."

"He is and that's final."

"It's not."

"It is."

"It's not.

"Gosh, you're annoying" Baekhyun exhaled. Luhan was exasperating. He's not taking his rage seriously.

"Why would you say Sir Soo is yours?"

"He promised me he'll wait for me. When I grow old, I'm gonna be a handsome and good man." Baekhyun said matter-of-factly.

Luhan rolled his eyes. "You are mixing your dreams with reality."

"Well, you are just a joke. You're not normal. You're weird."

"You're being mean." Luhan said.

"I'm just saying the truth. If Sir Soo knows how you lie so much in front of him, and how fake you are, he's not gonna like you one bit."

"Stop it." Luhan is not even retorting him. Baekhyun continued.

"You do know that that Minseok friend of your is imaginary right? Just like your claim to Sir Soo. Everyone is just playing along with you."

"I said, stop it." Baekhyun could just be imagining or is Luhan's eyes welling with tears?

"Why would I stop it? You never stopped at being fake. Our teacher would never like the real you."

"I know." Luhan heaved a defeated sigh. Why was he agreeing? he was supposed to retort with some witty comeback, not agreeing. Baekhyun felt bad, maybe he's overdoing it.

"I know." Luhan repeated with his voice broken, he was looking down at his feet, eyes obscure from Baekhyun's view. The two boys were engulfed in silence, neither one said a word. Baekhyun debated with himself whether he'll say sorry, but saying that might mean he's lost.

Soon, the thing that Baekhyun dreaded to happen , happened.

Tears started falling down Luhan's face.

"Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry." Baekhyun kept repeating. He had promised their teacher not to make someone cry again. Now, he's not just a bully but a promise breaker. "I was just being angry. I was just ... I'm sorry."

Luhan's gaze met his.

"You should not be sorry, y-you're just saying the truth." Luhan said. After that, more tears fell down Luhan's eyes. Baekhyun did not know what to do. He does not know how to calm someone down.

Some giggling voices could then be heard. Baekhyun swallowed and prepared for the worst. He knows the people who are the source of the sound.

Their teacher soon appeared with Chanyeol and Sehun hugging his legs, Chanyeol on the right and Sehun on the left. The three seemed to be goofing around with their teacher carrying the two boys on his feet.

Their eyes zeroed in on Luhan and him. Luhan was still crying, not noticing the appearance of their friends and teacher.

"What happened?" Kyungsoo asked. He approached Luhan and hugged the crying boy while patting his head.

"S-Sir Soo?" Luhan was surprised, not expecting comfort from their teacher.

Baekhyun looked at his friends, the two boys were looking at him. Their gazes seemed to ask 'What did you do?'

He screwed up, that's what he did. He made someone cry again. He did not know that Luhan is more fragile than what he seemed, but then again, you can't judge a person with what little thing you know of him.

"I-I-" Baekhyun tried to start, but he does not know how he could defend himself. Luhan was hugging Kyungsoo, still crying. It would've been better if Luhan was faking this again. He could at least be angry at him.

Their teacher raised his head. His right hand was cradling Luhan's nape. He looked at Baekhyun. Their teacher did not look like he was blaming him, that much, Baekhyun can see. Kyungsoo was just asking him for some explanation. Baekhyun could not muster any excuses from his mind, not with the looming gazes of Sehun and Chanyeol.

"I-I-" Baekhyun tried to reason again, but it was still a hopeless effort.

"I fell, Baekhyun tried to help me, but the fall still really hurts." Baekhyun did not expect Luhan to answer for him. The two boy's gazes met. Luhan continued. "I-I think I feel alright now."

Luhan rubbed the remaining tears left on his eyes. "Are you really alright?" Kyungsoo patted Luhan's head, there’s a worried look on his face.

Luhan gave a faint smile and nodded.

When everything was settled, Kyungsoo left the four kids to themselves then went to his desk. Four pairs of young eyes were watching their teacher's receding back.

"Thanks for covering me" Baekhyun hesitantly whispered to Luhan. He would not know what to do if ever he disappointed their teacher again. He doesn't want to ruin his reputation to who his young mind want to believe is his future husband.

"It's okay" Luhan said. "I'm also sorry. I know that sometimes I'm a meanie to you too."

Baekhyun realized that he still does not know how to fully read the new student. Regardless, Baekhyun still accepted Luhan's apology. He, however, did not said out loud that he still had not fully trust him.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

Four kids were sitting together in one table eating the foods their parents packed for them. Baekhyun is still cautious. Luhan had been hanging out with them for a while now. Baekhyun maintained the friendly attitude towards him, but there's a wary and guarding look silently assessing the new boy. The flicker in a gaze, the tone of a voice, the what could be sarcasm or the truth. Luhan is very smart, but he could be a bit naive at times even for a kid. He, however, have some great ideas up his sleeves.

"Sir Soo's birthday is coming up soon. I think we should give him a gift" Luhan said in between bites of his sandwich.

That was another one of his great ideas. Baekhyun digested the thought in his mind. How did Luhan found out their teacher's birthday? Baekhyun was stuck on that question while Chanyeol and Sehun both instantly became excited, ready for Luhan's plan.

"Yeah, I'd like that too. Why did I not think of that?" Chanyeol's voice was booming as usual.

"How about we give him flower? I gave Sir Soo flowers on teacher's day and he gave me a big hug because of that." Sehun's smile was wide. He continued with a much quieter voice, blushing . "He even kissed me on both cheeks."

That was a rare but subtle instance of Sehun trying to show off. Baekhyun remembered that time. He was jealous of the attention Kyungsoo was giving Sehun that time. He wished that he thought of the idea of giving their teacher a gift too. That time shows thought that Luhan is not the only one capable of thinking a good idea.

Baekhyun felt the need to agree with Sehun. "Yeah, we could give him flowers again."

"Flowers are good." Luhan agreed, nodding. There's a beginning of a suggestion looming on his tone. "I think though that we need the gift to have pieces of our individuality. I was thinking, we could give him a handmade scrapbook? We could use Sehun's flower as our design."

Baekhyun became quiet. There's a fine line between jealousy and hate and Baekhyun thinks he's in the middle of it. Was his hate justified or was he being irrational? Luhan just wants to give a gift to their teacher and he even wants to share the credit with them when in fact he does not need to. Luhan is perfectly capable of making a scrapbook of his own, but instead, he still seeks for their help.

For all weekend, they were at Luhan's house working on the scrapbook and eating cookies baked by Luhan’s mother whenever they are on break. By Sunday afternoon they were done with their little project. They inspected the scrapbook one last time and all deemed it as gift-worthy for their teacher.

"I think Teacher Soo would like this. " Luhan said, impressed at what they've done. Sehun's flowers, Chanyeol's art materials, and Baekhyun's creativity helped crafted his idea into reality.

"I think so too." Baekhyun agreed.

Luhan smiled at him, and for the first time, Baekhyun thinks it’s genuine. Maybe they could really be friends.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

Kyungsoo was sleeping when he heard the spontaneous knocks from the door. He has a doorbell, but whoever decided to ruin his sleep decided to ruin it with loud knocks. Kyungsoo rubbed his eyes and reluctantly got up from his bed. He then heard the shouts.

"Sir Kyungsoo, are you there?"

"Sir Kyungsoo, are you asleep?"

"Sir Kyungsoo, Happy Birthday! "

Birthday? Kyungsoo chuckled now knowing it was his students by the door. How did they even know where his house is? Kyungsoo trudges to the door, yawning. When he opened it, four kids tackled him with a surprise hug and a cheerful 'Happy Birthday! 'from their mouths.

The kids were all excited.

"Sir Soo, we have a gift for you" Sehun's eyes were wide. handing him their gift.

"We all made it for you, " Chanyeol said proudly.

Kyungsoo looked at the four boys, all their eyes were set on him to gauge his reaction to their present. Kyungsoo chuckled, kneeling to level his height with the kids. Their expectant gazes followed him. Kyungsoo looked at their gift, it was a scrapbook.

It was at moments like this that Kyungsoo was glad he became a teacher.

He did not expect that after graduating engineering school that this would be the job that he will have, molding young developing minds. There were now his student’s colored drawings where equations needed to memorized used to be posted. His table was now filled with storybooks and coloring books where thick hardbounds and graphing papers used to reside. This was just supposed to be a temporary job. He was just supposed to be filling in for the position while Jongin was looking for more teachers to teach there in the school.

But you could never really predict the future, and that’s what makes life exciting.

He chose to keep the job, and now there are four kids who has their entire life ahead of them looking up at him with expectations bubbling deep inside them.

So young.

So many possibilities.

"You know, you guys didn't have to give me a gift, but you boys worked really hard. Thank you for this." Kyungsoo said, smiling. "You guys are already so creative. Whatever the future brings, I’m sure that you boys are going to grow up to be fine persons. You know that I’m proud of all of you, right? "

The four kids started tearing up.

"Sir Soo!" They tackled Kyungsoo again for another hug. The teacher chuckled, accepting his students' affection. It's not even his birthday, but what the kids doesn't know won't hurt them.

Whatever the future brings, he was glad he became a part of his student’s lives.

✎✎✎✎✎✎

10 years later...

They were sitting awkwardly on chairs relative far smaller than their bums. Kyungsoo made them sit there because he insisted on preparing snacks for them in this little reunion. There was a small kid across the table who was not hiding the look of distaste on his face as he looks at them.

“Stop glaring at us, it does not make you look cooler.” Baekhyun was clearly annoyed.

“How do you know Sir Soo?” The kid inquired, sitting straight to make it appear that he’s bigger.

“Was your name Jongdae, right?” Sehun smiled, trying to be friendly.

The kid did not answer. So much for being friendly. The kid was already viewing them as rivals for their teacher’s heart. Hard to believe that they were once in the position of that kid.

Or maybe, after many years, they are still in that same position.

Their teacher entered the room again, the years were kind to him. He looked as gentle as what they remembered him to be. His smile never aged. With their teacher though there was another man. The three high school boy looked at the person.

They did not expect to see that face ever again.

“Well, what do you know, you three are really here.” The new person said, looking at them. He has that same smirk he had on way back when he told them that cartoons were for little kids.

“What are you doing here?” The three highschooler all asked, surprised at seeing him here.

He moved to another school just a few weeks after they gave their teacher that scrapbook gift. They remembered the tears that fell from their faces when they have to part ways. They remembered saying how they would not forget each other. They remembered promising that they will meet again.

But they never heard of him since then.

Now, here he is.

“Let’s just say I like the view here better.” He answered, “I can see you guys are still in high school. I’ve graduated college a year ago.”

He is still as condescending as ever. In a way, they learned that that’s a part of his charm. That, or it’s a part of his personality that they just need to ignore.

“So why are you here?” Chanyeol asked again, clearly not satisfied at his answer.

“Well, I realized three things over the years. First, I like kids since I could never really deal with social interactions when it comes to my peers. I would like to have a kid of my own, but I realized I will never have one because I don’t like girls in a romantic way if you know what I mean. Second, I like teaching. It makes me feel superior and more knowledgeable. It feels good to know that you are needed. Third…” He paused, looking at Kyungsoo who was now being possessively hugged by Jongdae who would not want any of the other boys there to have his teacher. “I think you know what the third thing is.” He winked.

The three high school boy looked at their old friend.

It looks like he’s a teacher there now.

He is still in that same position he was on when he was a kid, and he knows it. And he is doing something about it.

The four boys chuckled in unison.

“You never changed, Luhan”

boredpanda98

I'm finally back here after a looong time. I'll finish writing Kyungsooholic A+ next so you might want to check it out. Truth be told, I aleady fiished about 80 % of this months ago, but then I got busy. I'm so happy I finally finished it.

Upvote if you like this, and comments are appreciated. (:

Other Stories:

A Beginner's Guide to Kyungsoo (KyungsooXEveryone)

Recollecting Recollection (Kaisoo and Chansoo) (M)

Three Tall Elves (Kaisoo, Chansoo, Krisoo) (M)

Iridescent (Stories of Colors) (Kaisoo)

Teacher's Pet (Kaisoo, Krisoo, Sesoo, Laysoo) (M)