“With all due respect, sweetie…this is a family matter.”

Baekhyun’s mother proceeded to turn her back on Yumi, disregarding everything she mentioned earlier. Thank god, the girl sighed in relief. If anything, she was waiting for a chance to slip out of this mess. What happened earlier was purely a rush of adrenaline and she knew that. It was obvious how much of her confidence level had dropped since. With her head pinned down, Yumi quietly backed out of the scene. 

“Now that you’ve checked up on me, feel free to leave anytime.” Baekhyun pushed through his parents, unbothered. 

His eyes landed on the flustered girl, who automatically froze in place as he came closer. Stopping just inches away from her, Baekhyun carefully reached for her hand. That same, dark expression on his face soon subdued in Yumi’s vision.

“Let’s go,” he whispered, pulling the student along with him in order to escape his parents’ wrath.

Without a second thought, Yumi complied— only because she was desperate for an escape after that embarrassing act earlier. Once they made it out of the complex, Yumi carefully wiggled her hand free from his grip. 

“Sorry,” he apologized after loosening up his grasp.

Before he had the chance to explain anything, his diligent student urgently pushed him aside. “Mr. Byun, you should go before you bump into your parents. I’ll head back inside in a bit,” she urged him. 

Yumi kept turning her head back to see if his parents had gone down, which he found absolutely ridiculous, yet quite adoring in a sense. Thinking about how many years he spent making up excuses to avoid his parents, only for it to spiral down to this unexpected encounter. Maybe because he never envisioned being defended by another individual, not to mention by a mere student of his. He figured if he could just make one more excuse then it’ll suffice for the time being. But oddly enough, this little troublemaker made him forget that he even had to make an excuse in the first place.

“Crap!” Yumi hissed, catching him off guard in the midst of his thoughts. “They’re coming out. I see them!” 

She instinctively pulled the teacher back as if her short frame could hide a whole adult male. Yumi stuck by his side while observing his parents closely. Neither one of them seemed to have spotted the pair yet, but with Baekhyun causally sticking out like this any longer and they might as well just scream out their location. Somewhat frustrated by his lack of effort, Yumi yanked him down to her squadding position. Although the single hedge could only cover so much, Baekhyun now fighting to squeeze behind her.

“You’re a horrible partner in crime,” she murmured.

Yumi pause, her head shifting left and right to search for the teacher who was no where to be found. Eventually turning her whole body around, Yumi found him crouched up in an uncomfortable position. Unable to hold back her laughter in time, she accidentally let out a candid snort. Baekhyun caught a snippet of that of that unholy sound that just come out of her, unable to contain his own laughter. Not wanting to embarrass his student in any sort of way, he quickly clutched a hand over his mouth to halt the tittering. 

“Be quiet, they’re going to hear you!” Yumi shushed him, only to end up suppressing her own laughter instead.

“Should we get out of here then?” he suddenly suggested.

“That’s actually a very good idea— wait,” Yumi paused before continuing, “We?”

Pressing his lips together into a cheeky grin, her teacher nodded. He then dipped his head towards the building’s parking lot for their escape route. Although flabbergasted by the surprise suggestion, Yumi wasted no time to join his spontaneous plan. Baekhyun snuck out from behind the bushes, dodging his parents’ view while motioning for the girl to follow when it was safe. The two made a run for it once they reached a blind area. 

“Over here!” he called out to the girl, waving a hand towards his car. 

Baekhyun swiftly unlocked the vehicle with Yumi right behind him. Neither of them had a plan in mind, but the thrill of it was worthwhile. Their carefree laughter filled the small space, reminding Baekhyun of his rebellious phase once. The culprit was no other than the restaurant owner, and a close friend of his. If there was one thing he chose to remember in high school, it would be Minseok’s elaborate plans of ditching every other week.

“You’re a lot more fun when you’re not in the classroom,” his passenger turned to him, grinning. 

Yumi fastened her seatbelt in no time, her smile grew on its own accord as the engine started. Whatever got to him during that moment seemed to have entirely consumed Baekhyun’s sense of awareness. If this were a scheduled routine, he may have had a better control of the situation. But for that same reason, every moment spent with Yumi skewed him further away from his own entrapment.  

The short car ride ended when Baekhyun pulled over to a familiar establishment by the school. He spotted his friend through the glass door, caught in a bustling Friday night rush. Baekhyun switched off the engine without much context and waited for the girl. Although quite skeptical at the potentially chance of bumping into her