Byun Baekhyun strived for nothing more than just his monthly paycheck, and that was already too much for the man to keep up. The effort needed to survive in this cruel world is the absolute worst. As a child, he was forced to learn multiple advanced subjects—simply because he was born with a higher IQ than most children his age. But why, he always wondered. He never wanted to be smarter than other kids, or to skip two grades in school. Baekhyun wanted to be an artist, simple as that. But his gifted brain wouldn't be put into use, and a painting won’t be enough to pay rent either, it may not even be enough to pay for utilities. Ironically, he left that dream to chase society’s expectation. By 19, he graduated from one of the top colleges, making him the youngest person in his class to have earned a degree. Further expectation forced Baekhyun to continue schooling until 23 for his Master’s degree. All of that hard work to land him an “ideal” job right back to where he started...his high school alma mater. 

For someone with his brain, why didn’t Baekhyun go further? The easiest term to describe his setback is a burnout. Not a job burnout, but more of a life burnout if that makes sense. He couldn’t handle the pressure of moving forward, so instead he took two steps back. When he first applied for a teaching position at his old high school, Baekhyun was accepted on the spot without a single interview. He wanted an easy way out of his strenuous routine, and he got it…in exchange for a much more simplified routine. Now at 25, Baekhyun wakes up every morning at 6AM sharp to make his scheduled commute to school, eating nothing more than a piece of toast on his way to work, and formatting a daily lesson plan in his head. 

“Good morning Mr. Byun,” a few students greeted him on his way in. Setting his bag down first, Baekhyun began scribbling a history lesson on the board before class. His homeroom period rolled in, mostly the early birds. When the first bell went off, majority of the class started to fill in their seats. As if his brain functioned on the clock, Baekhyun quietly did roll call in his head. Only a few months left before their graduation, and a lot of his seniors have already caved into the idea of ditching. He noted 6 out of his class of 25 seniors are out today, an additional student since yesterday. As their teacher, he really should find something like this more concerning. But in reality, Baekhyun could care less about his students. He barely cared enough for his own well-being. 

“Turn to page 244 in your book,” the man’s nonchalant voice was enough to put half of his class to sleep. He expected the outcome, but the need to interfere wasn’t there yet. His students always deemed the man as an easy, carefree teacher— unaware of his disinterest in teaching them. In the middle of lecture, the classroom door flung open. Baekhyun didn’t have to look up to automatically know who it was. This girl had been late since the very first day of class, which should have gotten her expelled by now if it weren’t for his lack of desire to do the paper work.

“Jung Yumi, strike three this month. Detention after class,” he announced in front of the whole class. The students did not even look surprised anymore, since it was an ongoing thing between the two. At this point, Yumi was probably best friends with the detention rep by now. 

His first class ended on a good note, more than half