Were you nervous? A little bit. Why? This lesson felt too public. You were used to locked doors, knowing that there was no way for anyone to intrude, privacy and everything about the setting that Jongin chose was the opposite of that. He wanted to meet up at the studio where he was scheduled to have a photoshoot and have his lesson in one of the spare rooms. You couldn’t blame him, he simply thought it was a language lesson, and if that were true then there would be no issue with the room that any of the hair, makeup or wardrobe people could barge into mid lesson. Unbeknownst to Jongin, the lessons were a fare more private affair and so you were trying to refrain from having a minor coronary as you sat in the back of a cab on the way to the studio.

You had your bag which contained the details for his lesson, a few small rewards for if he behaved well - you’d recalled how his behaviour changed in the group lessons whenever he received praise so you planned to utilise this to your advantage today. He had a tendency to go off on tangents and he was easily distracted so you were hoping that you would be tapping into a praise kink that he didn’t know he had. Regardless of whether he got a reward or a punishment at the end of the lesson, there was no way it was happening immediately, the guy was set to shoot for GQ right after your lesson and the last thing you wanted to do was damage either of your reputations or lose your job.

One of the stylists showed you to the room Jongin was waiting in. She entered and quickly took a couple of measurements before bowing and exiting the room, closing the door behind her. Jongin smiled warmly at you from his seated position near the mirror where he’d had his hair and make-up done. “Hi noona.”

You couldn’t help but smile warmly back at him. “Hi Jongin,” You collected your thoughts quickly, reminding yourself that all of the guys knew to refer to you as their teacher during lessons, no exceptions. Not ever for the stunning brunette sitting before you. “I’ll let it slide just this once but you have to remember ot refer to me as your teacher when did your hair go back to brown?” You blurted the latter half of the sentence out as it finally clicked in your head that he was no longer a blonde, but he’d been blonde yesterday. Seriously, these boys changed hair colour as often as you changed your underwear.

He chuckled. “It’s just for the shoot, I’ll be blonde again afterwards.”

“Isn’t that bad for your hair?” You asked.

He shrugged. “Probably…As long as it doesn’t fall out I don’t mind. We left my hair alone for awhile so it should be healthy enough for now.” He glanced at the door and at his phone as he checked the time. “So we have about forty minutes before I have wardrobe fittings, is that enough time for the lesson noona, I mean teacher-nim?”

You nodded. “That should be enough time. The setting isn’t ideal but as long as no one interrupts the lesson then I’m happy.” You glanced at the door. “It doesn’t lock does it?”

One of Jongin’s eyebrows arched. “No,” he said hesitantly. “The cordi noonas have to be able to access the room to bring my clothes in and to tell me when it’s time to get ready.” He paused, looking perplexed. “Why does it need to lock for an English lesson though?”

You shrugged. “I prefer privacy when it comes to one on one tutoring. If I eliminate the possibility of distractions and interruptions then I feel more at ease.”

He rose from his seat and walked towards the door, opening it and calling out to one of the stylists. You couldn’t make out the words being exchanged but you could make out the excessive whining and laughing coming from him. You smiled and shook your head knowing that you were about to ask him to become Kai, and that there would be far less whining and giggling after you brought him forward.

Jongin closed the door and sat back down. “I asked the cordi noonas to knock before coming in so that they don’t disturb my very important English lesson.” He smiled softly. “We won’t be disturbed now noona.”

You let the slip up pass since he’d just secured privacy just to make sure you felt more at ease. This guy was far too kind for his own good. You were glad he had the others to stop him from giving too much of himself away. “Thank you Jongin. Now you remember how the lessons work?”

He nodded. “Pretty much… are they different when it’s just one on one?”

“A little.” You sat back in your chair while you addressed him. “Much like in the group lessons I ask you to learn while embodying your stage persona, but unlike the group sessions, if you misbehave, break my rules or waste my time you will receive punishment. If you pay attention, follow my rules and do your best then you will receive a reward.”

“Like when I try to train my dogs? I give them treats when they behave.” He interrupted.

“I’m not treating you like a dog Jongin. While the premise is similar I think it’s unfair to compare the two, especially since you give them treats regardless of how they behave.”

“Sorry noona.” He apologised.

“Teacher-nim.” You corrected. “You will refer to me as teacher-nim for the duration of this lesson or I will have to reprimand you for your disobedience.”

“Sorry teacher-nim.” He apologised a second time, a little sulkier than before but you chose to ignore it.

“That’s better.” You paused. “Now as I was saying, the group sessions are focused on expanding your English vocabulary and getting you used to speaking English as a group. The one on one session is completely focused on your concert speeches. I tailor a lesson specifically for you in a way that I think will help you remember your speech easily so that if you slip up on a word you have a memory trigger to remind you of the speech. I also help you perfect your pronunciation for those speeches.” You let your words resonate with him for a moment before continuing. “Do you have any questions?”

He scrunched his face as he spoke. “Uh… I don’t think so.”

“Alright, let’s begin.” You reached into your bag and started rummaging for the item pertaining to Kai’s lesson.”

“You’re so serious today, it’s weird.” He chuckled.

You shook your head. This was going to be more work than you originally thought. Jongin was too playful and distracted. “I’m not here as your noona or your friend today. I’m here as your teacher and we have a specific amount of time to conduct this lesson in. I’d appreciate it if you could pay attention and show your teacher the respect she deserves for spending so much time preparing this lessor for you.” Your tone was curt and showed that you meant business.

Jongin was a little taken back by your demeanour but he said nothing on the subject. You noticed the change in his body language, sitting up straighter, making sure he was facing you and that nothing was in his hands. You wondered if it would last.

You reached back into your bag, pulling a book out of it and placing it on your lap. “Now for your lesson I was originally going to make it dance based but since you requested it to be here I had to adjust my plans.” His brows furrowed as he waited for you to keep speaking. “I know you are an avid reader and that you also love reading for your niece and nephew.” His face lit up at the mere mention of them, his mouth falling open as his hand reached for his phone, no doubt to gush over his family and to show you photos of them. You held up your hand to stop him and his face dropped, making you feel like you’d kicked a puppy. You needed Kai to appear for this lesson before you gave in to Jongin’s adorableness and let him derail the lesson.

“Under normal circumstances I’d love nothing more than to hear all about your niece and nephew but for the purpose of this lesson I need you to get into your stage persona. This lesson is for Kai and I want to help him with his speech.” You said.

Jongin fiddled with a loose thread on his pants. “That’s difficult for me.” He mumbled.

You softened your gaze as you watched him continue to play with the thread, avoiding eye contact. “Why is it difficult?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, it only feels natural when I’m dancing or during a photoshoot. The rest of the time I’m just me.”

You nodded. “And that’s ok, but I still need you to try. You’re getting ready for a photoshoot right now and you’ve got the hair and make-up done. Does that make it any easier?”

“Maybe.” He muttered.

“Could you please look at me?” You asked. Hesitantly he lifted his head and locked eyes with you. “Please try? For your teacher.” You smiled softly.

Jongin closed his eyes and took a deep breath to centre himself. You gave him the time he needed to clear his mind and eventually he opened his eyes again. This time, Jongin was gone and there was no doubt in your mind that the confident stare that held your gaze belonged to Kai.

You swallowed thickly, not entirely unaffected by his gaze, you were only human after all. You mentally cursed yourself and told yourself to pull it together, you had a lesson to teach and no one, not even Mr. Devil May Care eyes, was going to stop you from teaching it. “I had this book specially made for you. It will work as a reading tool for younger members of your family as well as trigger your memory for the lines of your speech.”

He sat silently as you handed him a piece of paper. He picked it up and scoffed. “Why make a book if you’re just going to hand me my speech teacher?”

You crossed your arms. “Because I want to hear you read out the lines first. You’ve been the quietest in the group lessons, always getting out of reading aloud to the others so I don’t know what level your pronunciation is at.” He shifted in his chair, his body’s way of telling you that he was nervous about the task. You gave him no wiggle room, knowing that not only would you face criticism if he couldn’t deliver his speech or be understood, but that he would also face ridicule if he was the only one who messed up. Kai could handle that. Jongin was a whole other story. “First sentence please.”

Kai cleared his throat and stared at his piece of paper. You could see him mouthing the words silently. You tapped your foot lightly to make sure that he knew you were waiting for him to speak. He took another breath and read the first line. “Hello. I’m EXO’s Kai. Hello EXO-L.” Unsurprisingly he had no issues with the first line. He’d need to use more energy and actually sound happy to be introducing himself but for a read through it was fine.

“Second line please.”

Another moment of silence as he read over the words, mouthing them before actually speaking. “It’s very hot here isn’t it?” You made a note for helping him not get too tongue tied over this line, the pacing was key and you’d noticed that when he got too excited he would rush through his words.

“Keep going, now for the real test.” You said. He chuckled as he read the line over, shaking his head in an attempt to not cringe before sending a judgmental glare your way. You threw your hands up in defence. “I don’t write the lines, I just teach them. Read please.”

“I’m not sweating this much because it’s hot, but because I gave a hot performance.” You tried not to visibly cringe at the line. Whoever wrote these greasy lines for the boys needed a performance review because the poor guys nearly self combusted every time they had to read one of them out. They worked wonders on the fans but you could tell how weird the guys felt about delivering them. You made a note to tell him to overdo the line to make it funnier unless he wanted to play up the y angle, but you figured that was more Xiumin’s speed. That boy was shameless when it came to delivering those kinds of lines.

He looked up at you again and you nodded, indicating that he should continue. “I feel very happy today.” You were sure that he’d add some emotion to the words that spilled out of his mouth but you made a note regardless. You also noted the L at the end of feel, the boys often struggled with making their L’s and R’s sound different.

“You’re past the halfway point. Two more exchanges to go.” You prompted.

“Today is just about us so we don’t have to worry about other people. We can enjoy ourselves to the fullest.” This was the line he struggled with the most, it had a lot of words and if he tried to rush it, it’d all blend together and make no sense. It needed some rhythm to its pacing.

Instead of waiting for you to prompt him he rushed through the final line, clearly a bit embarrassed to say it when the thousands of fans weren’t present. “Thank you, I love you.” You stifled a laugh as you forced yourself to remain in teacher mode. You finished making your notes as he fidgeted, tearing small patterns into the piece of paper you’s handed him.

“For a readthrough you did well, obviously you need to change how you deliver the lines otherwise the fans will think you don’t want to be there but I’m sure you already know that.” He nodded. “There are a couple of spots to work on but nothing major, just some tweaking to perfect it.  Second line, just don’t rush it. Give the words a rhythm so that you stick to a pace that allows your tongue to work through each word. Third line,” He gave you a look that told you his thoughts about that particular line. “-I know Kai, I know. Third line, my advice is to overdo it to make it funny otherwise you have to amp up the appeal but I’ll leave that choice up to you. In the fourth line you need to enunciate ‘feel’ more so that it doesn’t get mistaken for ‘fear’. Fifth line, again just the pacing. Don’t rush the sentence or the words will merge together.” Kai huffed and continued tearing the pattern into his piece of paper. You pursed your lips, really not wanting to deal with another misbehaving student. Sehun had been enough work. You cleared your throat as you waited for him to stop and pay attention to his teacher.

When he worked out that you’d stopped speaking and were waiting for him he dropped the paper. “Sorry teacher-nim.” He smirked. Oh no you don’t, you smug little . “You said I did well then you listed so much stuff to work on. You just want to spend more one on one time with me don’t you?” Don’t even think of trying the eyes on me Kai. He looked at you suggestively and you scoffed, acting as nonplussed as you could. There was no way you were going to let him know what that stare did to you. Not until this lesson was over.

You sighed. “That approach won’t work so save your energy and listen. You did do well but there are always things to work on, it’s the same as when you learn choreo. You can always do something more, something different to alter its impact.” You moved your chair so that you were sitting next to him which only increased his smirk. You ignored how it made you cross your legs tighter than you normally would as you sat the book in your lap. “Like I said earlier, I had this book specially made for you. Each page relates to a line of your speech.” To prove your point you opened the book to the first page which had a picture of a bear cub waving to the reader. The text read ‘Hello! I’m ____! Hello everyone!’

Kai chuckled at the image. “That one is pretty straightforward.”

You hummed in response and turned the page. The next image had a the bear laying under an umbrella at the beach. ‘The weather is very warm here isn’t it?’ On the opposite page the bear was being handed a novetly cheque by a dog and the two were stood under a banner that read Fishing Competition 1st Place. The bear had droplets drawn on him and the text read. ‘I’m not sweating this much because it’s hot, but because I always give my best in my performances.’ Kai outright laughed at the image. “So I’m supposed to remember the bear’s story in order to remember my speech?”

You nodded. “That’s the idea. The images on the page are supposed to be specific enough to trigger the line from the book which will make you remember the English words. I tried to incorporate your interests and likes into the images so that it had a better chance of being stored in your memory. You brought his attention back to the book as you turned the page to the bear sitting on the floor with the dog, surrounded by buckets of fried chicken. ‘Also I feel very happy today’ On the opposite page, and continuing onto the next two pages, the bear and dog had a slumber party set up, complete with karaoke, a dance party and video games. ‘Today is just about us so we don’t have to worry about other people. We can enjoy ourselves to the fullest.’ Kai smiled as he looked at the images and you thought that maybe, just maybe he’d be better behaved the next time you asked him to read through his speech.

The final page was the bear and dog at the dogs house, lying on the floor surrounded by books, smiling. The last bit of text read ‘Thank you, I love you!’ and there was one final picture of them making a heart with their arms. Kai was silent for a few seconds before he broke into a huge grin. “Thank you teacher-nim. It was very thoughtful of you to make a book for me to remember my speech but the fact that I can then read this to the younger members of my family… thank you.”

You smiled, glad that the late nights and massive favour that you owed Byungchol for illustrating and printing the book for you with such short notice hadn’t been for nothing. “You’re welcome but in order to keep the book you have to read through your speech again but this time, do it like its at the concert. Pretend that there is a silver ocean and screaming fans in front of you. Try to remember the hints I gave you as well, if you do well you get to keep the book and you’ll get a reward.”

Kai held out his hand as he glanced sideways at you. “May I?” He asked as he looked down at your hands. You wondered why he was staring at your hands. Was he staring at them or was he staring at your legs? Your hands we smoothed the hem of your pencil skirt as the questions flitted through your mind. You furrowed your brow as you thought which made him smirk. “The book teacher-nim, may I have the book?” You mentally slapped yourself before picking up the book, which had been resting in your lap, and handing it over without saying anything. You didn’t want to admit how much his gaze disarmed you. With Jongin it was all doe eyes and soft looks. There was a mischievous innocence in Jongin’s eyes but Kai, his eyes were 100% bedroom eyes. They were confident, dark and demanding. Their sole purpose was to throw you off your train of thought and to submit to whatever he wanted you to do, something you could not afford to do when you were supposed to be the authority figure in the room. He was testing you at this point and you were beginning to waiver.

He silently read through the book page by page, absorbing the contents and cementing the images to his memory. You were going out on a limb with this lesson, hoping that he was as much of an avid reader as you thought he was. Chanyeol had told you that Jongin loved to read and would sit up late and lose himself in books whenever he wasn’t exhausted from schedules. He’d told you that even when they got home late from a performance, Jongin would sometimes still try to read in his bed before falling asleep. Chanyeol joked that those were the nights that Jongin forgot his usual routine of dropping his contact lenses onto Chanyeol’s bunk, usually onto Chanyeol as he tried to sleep.

When he finished with the book he handed it back to you then stood and walked to the other side of the room, his back facing you. You watched as he took in a few deep breaths and whispered the groups greeting to himself before turning to face you. Unlike the read through, he was completely animated, his eyes searching all over the room, looking everywhere and nowhere all at once. He spoke louder, but not loud enough that anyone outside the room would be able to make out the words, he smiled, smirked and laughed his way through his speech. He danced over the words, taking your advice and giving them a rhythm that he carried out with subtle body movements. He was good at this, far better that you had thought, and you were impressed. For the third line he turned to where Suho would be standing and chuckled suggestively as he ran his fingers through his hair, winking as he completed the line and then bursting into a fit of laughter. He was lively, flirty, sincere, and oh so endearing. He made it through each line without any problems, his pronunciation much better than it had been before. As he got to the last line he threw out finger hearts and bowed.

Almost immediately he rushed back to his seat, avoiding all eye contact with you as he tried to get over his embarrassment from performing his speech for you. You were too busy being impressed and proud to care that he was embarrassed. “Kai! That was incredible! You gave your speech as though you really were on stage, you took my feedback and altered your delivery of the lines. The pacing was perfect and you were just so great, I on the verge of applauding you.”

“Teacher-nim! That was so embarrassing! Please don’t make me do that again until we’re all on stage together - wait it was good?” He lifted his head when he registered your compliments, a smile growing on his face. “Does that mean I get to keep the book?” You nodded and his smile grew even more and he clasped his hands together, throwing them towards each side in a little victory dance motion. You were so close to laughing but you held it in, just.

“You wanted to succeed for them?” You asked.

He nodded. “After I saw the book I knew I had to do well so that I could read it to them.”

You glanced at the clock and saw that time was almost up. You rolled your shoulders and prepared for the next part of this conversation. “You also get one other thing for being so well behaved, for taking my feedback and putting the necessary changes into your speech so that you could deliver it perfectly.”

He cocked his head at you. He must have forgotten the reward after having such a laser focus on getting the book.

“You get a reward.”

“But… isn’t the book my reward?” He seemed confused.

“For every lesson I give I have tailor made the session to suit whoever I’m teaching. For Chanyeol I used music, for Lay I used dance, for D.O. I used cooking, you get the idea. With each lesson I also provide a reward or a punishment that is determined by how my student performs during the session. You got a reward which means you are allowed to request something from me. Before deciding on your reward I suggest talking to the members who have had lessons with me, which at this point, is everyone except CBX. I think you’ll find that you can ask for more than you think.” Kai stared at you with a confused look on his face. As he mulled over your words there was a soft knock at the door. You got up and crossed the room to answer the door.

What greeted you was a sweet looking woman with a rack of clothes behind her. She looked apprehensive as she spoke. “My apologies, but I have to fit Jongin for his wardrobe now. May I come in?”

“Teacher-nim, what can I ask for?” Kai uttered from his seat. You turned your head to him as you opened the door for the stylist, allowing her to roll the rack of clothing into the room.

“Just chat with the others when you get back and let me know your request later ok?” There was no way you were continuing this conversation now that the bubble of privacy had been broken. “I have to get back to the dorm to see Yixing so I’ll hear from you later.” You said as you collected your bag. The last thing you saw as you left the room was Kai’s brow furrowing as he tried to work out this reward business.

***

“Noona! Quit hogging Yixing!” Sehun whined as he tried to fit into the section of the couch the two of you had curled up in. You’d arrived at the dorm an hour ago to hang out with Yixing, only to find that everyone else had the exact same intentions. He’d simply smiled at you and shrugged, confused about all of the attention being focused on him.

“I wasn’t gone that long…” He’d started. Baekhyun flung himself at his elder, dramatically describing just how horrible life had been without Yixing there.

Eventually everyone settled down and agreed to watch a movie but Sehun had gotten grumpy when Yixing curled up at one end of the couch with you. “Bro, I spent the whole morning shopping with you.” Yixing scolded. “Anyway you’re too tall to be the smaller spoon.” He giggled.

“Yaahh, no fair.” Baekhyun whined.

“I’m so tired. Dae, how much longer can I relax before we need to go?” Minseok asked from his prone position on the floor.

“Not long hyung, we’ve gotta leave in like five minutes.” Jongdae groaned.

“Why did we think this subunit was a good idea? Huh?!” Baekhyun asked to no one in particular.

“Because apparently even though we love staying home we are also gluttons for punishment.” Minseok groaned.

Chanyeol laughed at the three of them as they slowly pulled their tired bodies from the floor and tried to get motivated to get back to practice. “Could the three of you sound less happy to be having your subunit debut in less than three weeks?”

“We’re excited but we’re just so ing tired. You haven’t seen our choreo yet.” Minseok sighed. “And could someone please explain why the hell I have to be the leader?!”

Kyungsoo deadpanned. “You’re the least likely to make a joke on live tv.”

“He has a point.” Added Junmyeon.

You were giggled even harder when Baekhyun and Jongdae simply shrugged and nodded at their remarks. The three of them grabbed their things, put their shoes on and headed for the door, probably to practice until late at night.

“Min?” You called out.

“Yeah?”

“I think you’ll do a great job as leader for the subunit. You are basically the only one who can keep Baekhyun in line when he’s acting up and Jongdae knows his limits with you. You don’t think you’re suitable because you aren’t a chatterbox like the other two right?” He nodded. “That’s precisely why you are suited to the role. You’ll do great.” You smiled. He chuckled as he followed the others out the door.

“Thank you noona.”

One they were gone the movie resumed. Everyone chatted throughout or napped intermittently. It was a simple way to spend an afternoon but you wouldn’t trade it for the world. Well, not until the conversation turned towards you and your lessons. You tried hiding under the blanket but Yixing didn’t let you hide.

“Guys, if you are going to discuss this in detail can I at least not be here? Please?” You groaned. You could feel Yixing laughing behind you as he tried to relax you by playing with your hands.

“Oh but noona, we wanted to hear about Jongin’s lesson.” Five faces smiled innocently at you. Innocent my , you thought.

“I know I’ll regret this but you can ask five questions about any of your rewards, Jongin’s lesson or Sehun’s punishment and I’ll answer them. Then we never speak of this again.”

A/N: Holy hell it’s been 4 months. Thank you for sticking around and following this fic. It means a lot to me. As always I want to thank @oh-beyond  for reading my work and talking thought all of my concerns with me. I also want to thank @sammsdreaming for being my wealth of Kai knowledge when I got stuck on a mannerism or needed to just yell into the void.

Any ideas for what Kai’s reward is gonna be? ;) Let me know in the comments.