Another day with nothing more than boring classes to look forward to, yay, Jongin thought bitterly as he entered the classroom where his biology lesson would take place.. He had no expectations for the day. It was just going to be the same routine as it usually is; teachers learning the students something useless and unnecessary that they wouldn’t even need once they finish school, and then giving them tons and tons and tons of homework that only like ten percent of the students bothered to finish. That, however, did not seem to be the case today.

The door to the classroom opened and in came the teacher, carrying a bunch of heavy-looking books. Upon noticing the teacher, all of the students slid soundlessly into their right places, bored expression on their faces.

“Good morning, class. Before I do anything else, I would like to inform everyone that we will have a test next week about marine biology, with the coral reefs as the main focus,” Mr. Jin said after the class had calmed down and everyone had shut their mouths.

Great, Jongin thought. If this day wasn’t boring enough as it was, it sure was going to be even more boring now. The old man is probably going to repeat the whole chap-

“And in this class, we’ll repeat the chapter so we’re sure that we know everything! I expect nothing less than B’s for everyone. Is that understood!”

-ter yay I couldn’t even complete the thought before he said it. Wohooooo I’m so glad!

Jongin sighed heavily and would’ve face-palmed right onto the table if it wasn’t for the fact that the teacher probably wouldn’t like him doing so, and he wasn’t the type to upset his teachers. He mentally face-palmed instead. Fifty times.

He silently cried as he thought about Mr. Jin repeating the chapter, over and over, and terrorising people into answering for the next hour and a half.

Why is my life so miserable.

But, he knew better than to sulk, so instead of crying like a grown baby, he tried to focus as best as he could (he really did, I swear), and you know, maybe he would be able to actually learn something.

★

Meeting up with his friends for lunch was something Jongin did every day at school. It was an unspoken tradition; they may not always talk in class (or even share the same classes, for that matter), but every day at lunch, they all gathered around the same table, sharing stories. They had a lot to talk about - especially when Yixing, queen king of gossip, was a part of their gang. They never lacked subjects to talk about, and thanks to him, there was always gossip to be told. It could be anything, ranging from who the new, hot couples at school where to if the teachers had been seen doing unusual things. A lot of it was fake, but no one cared, really, because it was fun listening about all the that went on.

(One time, Yixing said he’d seen one of the teachers smoke weed. At school. It was fake, obviously, but they had so much fun with that rumour.)

“Hey guys,” Yixing said excitedly as he slid into his seat, “have you heard about the incident with the English teacher?” He grinned as he got everybody’s eyes on him, and straightened his back. When he didn’t continue, the boys just shook their heads and waited for him to continue. Jongin was listening to see if there was something interesting that had happened today. Normally there was a lot of bull that could not be true, but sometimes, sometimes, there was something that was actually true. And funny as .

“As you might know, all the girls here are crazy about him, and some of the craziest of them all even want to marry him and has gone as far as actually proposing. But that’s not the point here,” he said quickly just to inform the guys about the topic. “Yesterday, one of these crazy fangirls snuck into his house and lay on his bed, waiting for him to come home. No one knows what happened after that, but there are many assumptions, though,” he said, jumping excitedly in his chair. He absolutely loved these kinds of rumours; juicy and fresh.

Luhan was the first to speak up after a moment of silence. “You’re kidding, right?” he asked, shock and surprise evident on his tone. Jongin just shook his head; he simply couldn’t believe they actually thought it was true.

Who would even think about doing something like that? Ugh. He isn’t even that pretty.

Yixing shook his head no, grinning.

“No one knows who it was, though,” he said, feigning disappoint - but the tone of his voice implied that he knew for sure who that girl was. There was no doubt about it. Three seconds went by before his poker face cracked, and a smirk made its way on his face. “But I think I know who it is,” he said, biting his lip to hide some of his excitement. He was just like a kid. (A very, hm. Manly kid. Yes.)

“Come onnnnn, tell us,” Luhan said eagerly, impatient to find out who the that girl was. Jongin, too, had to admit he was curious for once. What if the rumour is true... Was it someone from his class? Was she a freshman? Or, maybe she was a senior? Suddenly very interested, Jongin leaned forward so that he could hear it when Yixing told them her name.

If he ever did.

“She’s a senior and it’s her last year here,” he said teasingly, dragging out the time. He knew how to make people suffer, that devil. He only grinned when Luhan started whining, and looked around the table with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he leaned forward to whisper

“It’s Victoria Song.”

As he leaned back again, all he was met with was silence. None of the guys could actually believe it; the girl that every guy at this school was after had just showed to the world that she wanted a teacher rather than one of them. It probably broke the other guys’ hearts - but luckily, Jongin wasn’t one of them. He almost barely managed to hide his snort.

Jongdae huffed, and kicked Yixing in the shin, who glared at him in return. “Give me proof, and I’ll believe you. If there’s no proof, then there’s no way that’s true,” he said in a challenging tone, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow. Yixing seemed to think hard about it as he rubbed his sore spot. Maybe he looked for a way to convince Jongdae so that he could win the challenge. Jongin knew how much Yixing hated losing.

“I don’t think the proof exists any longer. The pictures that were taken are deleted by Victoria herself,” he said after a minute of consideration, and leaned back in his chair so he could sit more comfortable. He looked very pleased with himself from where he was sitting. If you asked Jongin, he would say that Yixing came up with that excuse by himself just to get away with it, but who knows; maybe it really was true?

One shall not underestimate the power of the fangirl.

Jongdae shrugged; not convinced yet, but kind of believing it still.

Just as they had started with their small talk, Yixing suddenly got up again and snapped his fingers to get the attention back at him. Everyone was curious to what the gossip addicted boy had to say this time, something they always were.

“I saw the plan for today’s P.E. lesson, and I can promise you one thing: it didn’t look good. Too much for innocent school boys like us if you ask me,” he said, frowning.

Jongin rolled his eyes at him. “You know, every damn time you get some information about the plan, it’s always untrue. It’s never as bad as you intend it to be.”

“It’s true! This time it really looked hard,” Yixing said in complaint when he saw Jongin’s reaction. He pouted at him, but Jongin just shrugged in return, not really believing him, but not telling him so. Why should he think it was right this time, when it hadn’t been true all the other hundred times he said he knew? If he looked like he believed him, Yixing would be satisfied, so that’s what he would do. Not refusing anything - but not saying it’s true either.

★


Jongin walked in the direction of the building where the newspaper he worked in, Soul of Seoul, (how cliche) was. He had to admit that it wasn’t the most pleasurable walk he had had in his life. The P.E. class this day had been harder than usual, and despite the fact that he was well built and had high stamina, it had affected him a lot, seeing as he had a rough volleyball practice just the day before. His walking felt weird after running for so long, and when he was walking in a normal pace it just didn’t feel right. As if that wasn’t enough, he was still dizzy after the relay race, where they had to run around a stupid bottle ten times while holding on to it, or maybe more, Jongin didn’t really remember anymore.

Usually Yixing wasn’t right about his predictions about the P.E. class, but today, unfortunately, he had been more than right.

That nasty teacher who love the feeling of trying to kill us! Jongin thought to himself as he rounded the last corner, and the Soul of Seoul building came in sight.

He was looking forward to finally show his boss the final draft of this week’s Thought, Life and Other. His boss was the world famous (or maybe just Seoul-famous) chief editor Lee Jinki, Jongin really looked up to him; the man always looked forward to read what Jongin wrote. If Jongin was going to be honest, it lifted his confidence every time he got praised by him. It was literally the best feeling in the world. Almost. The man was always kind and caring, but strict and determined when needed - like those times Jongin would get into arguments with Kim Kibum, the proofreader who was after his spotlight column.

The arguments weren’t few or far behind, either, but no matter how many times they argued, Kibum never actually made it. He had never managed to convince their boss to give the column to him and not that “stupid brat Kim Jongin”.

(And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that Kibum would have destroyed the very spirit of the column. No, not at all!)

Entering the building, the first person Jongin saw was the douche bag himself - the one and only Kim Jonghyun. Jongin really couldn’t understand how someone that tiny could be so stuck in his own stupid world, thinking that he was the best of the best and on top of that, thought he owned the company. (Something he clearly didn’t. Jinki was the one who owned the company, d’uh, stupid Jonghyun.)

His ego was as big as the size of Jongin’s pen-

STOP

-guin toy, what there was nothing wrong with that sentence?

“Jongin, hiii!” Jonghyun called as he walked over with a cup of hot coffee in his hand.

Jongin mentally groaned. Seriously? I have to get to Kibum’s office. To-da-y!

“Sorry Jonghyun, I don’t have time for small talk today,” Jongin said, smiling apologetically, before he walked straight to the staircase that lead to the company’s offices without sparing Jonghyun an extra glance. However, even before he got the chance to take one step up the stairs, Jonghyun was by his side, trying to strike up conversation.

“Busy? Not that I think you will ever get as busy as me though, since I have a lot more to do than you.”

And here we go...

“I’m a higher rank than you, you know. Not to brag or anything, but if it hadn’t been for me, this company would have been nothing,” Jonghyun said proudly as a hen.

Yeah, reality check Jonghyun. The thing is that the company would have been everything without him. If not even better.

Jongin mentally counted to ten (to calm himself down so that he wouldn’t punch Jonghyun someone) and ran up the stairs to the fifth floor where Kibum’s office was, trying to get away from the cocky journalist. He had to deliver his work to the young proofreader and get home as fast as possible - he was not going to stay there with the hideous guy for a minute longer than what he had to.

“Ah, Jongin,” Kibum said as Jongin entered his office. “I was starting to wonder where you were. Thought you would be late this time,” he said, almost sounding a little disappointed. He had probably hoped Jongin would run late, so that he could get his current place as the column writer. Jongin shrugged the thought away and handed Kibum the paper with this week’s Thought, Life and Other.

“I’m never late. I was just a little later than usual today because I was held back by someone,” he said flatly and walked off without offering Kibum a second glance, who only huffed in return.

On his way back out, he didn’t see Jonghyun anywhere. He wasn’t following him like a lost puppy anymore, which was some sort of miracle, considering the fact he wasn’t finishing his speech about oh how important he was.

He almost jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder, interrupting his train of thoughts.

“Jongin, do you have a minute?” the familiar voice of the chief editor asked. Jongin bowed to the elder and gave a short nod as an answer, grateful it was him and not Jonghyun. That would have been a nightmare.

What does he want from me? I was just a little late, and he have never said I have to come before a certain time before.

Mr Lee gestured for him to follow after him, and so he did. Following him trough the corridor they settled down in Jinki’s big and bright office.

Jinki smiled gently at him and jumped right to the case; he was never one to beat around the bush. “You know that article you wrote earlier this year about Paris, right?” he asked, leaning back in his chair. It seemed like a very comfy chair, but that was not the point right now.

F o c u s, Jongin.

“Yes, what about it?”

He was getting curious about where his boss headed with this.

(And he was slightly relived it had nothing to do with him being a little late this day. Phew)

“We got a lot of positive response on it, and the readers wanted another article like that,” he then said, slightly leaning forward.

Jongin felt a little surprised when he heard that - but in a positive way, of course.

People liked it? Cool!

“I was wondering if you wanted to write another one?” the elder asked, hopeful.

Another one? Like an article about another city? Jongin sniffed, not really getting where this was heading.

“This time about London though,” he added when he didn’t get any response.

“Ah.” Jongin furrowed his brows and thought about it for a few more minutes. It wasn’t really a big deal to write a short article like that, and he liked to write. Plus, he didn’t have anything else coming up so why not?

He nodded, “Sure,” he finally said with a smile. Jinki looked relieved when Jongin accepted the task. It would definitely give the newspaper a lot more readers, since those kinds of articles were popular (especially the one’s written by Jongin) - and the most important fact: they could keep their current readers. No fear of losing anyone; more like a fear of getting too many.

★

It had been an all right day when he thought back on the happenings. He had been able to relax at the cafe before school, he had delivered his column, and he even got a new article to write. It was perfect, really. Sometimes his life felt like walking on sunshine or however the saying goes.

The only exception was the thought of the upcoming biology test next week. Biology was a great subject in itself, but the tests weren’t included in that statement. The teacher at making questions, like really , and you never knew what you actually had to study, because you never knew what he expected from you. The test was about the subject they had been working on these last few weeks, which was marine biology, or, more specifically - coral reefs.

He shook his head as if that would help him to get the thought away and picked up his pace. All he wanted right now was to get home, even if that meant he would see his crazy family and all the Christmas decorations around. He was hungry, his legs hurt, his head was still spinning a little, and the winter air had started to cool him down more than necessary. Even if Jongin kind of liked the winter, it could have been warmer and less wind.

The sight of his house stopped his trail of thoughts and he ran the last few meters, not wanting to be out in the cold anymore.

Once inside the house, he quickly greeted his family, before he kicked off his shoes and went up to his room to leave his jacket and backpack before walking down again to eat dinner. Never in his life had a dinner tasted so good! It was warm and heavenly good; it nearly melted on his tongue as he ate it. His mother was maybe a little crazy when it came to traditions, but her cooking was amazing!

A good ending for a good day.

 

★