Chapter 24.

“This is bad. Oh my god, this is so bad.”

Kyungsoo had spent the last twenty minutes with his face covered by his hands, his eyes only just visible from between the gaps he had hesitantly left between his fingers. Kyungsoo, as an individual who valued his life, had chosen to remain firmly on the ground while his students and fellow colleagues set about the obstacle rope course that Minseok had been all about – above him, the dark haired English teacher watched in horror as several students made their way up to the third level of the course, a good ten meters off the ground. His rational side told him that they would be safe – they were wearing helmets and were firmly strapped into safety gear that would (should!, his irrational side offered) prevent them from falling.

But that little, worrisome voice in his brain existed, and it wouldn’t seem to shut up.

“Why, oh my god, why, why did I allow this to happen.” Kyungsoo muttered to himself from behind his hands, flinching as one of the year eleven students slipped slightly on a rope, only just managing to rebalance them self.

“Just try not to overthink things, Mr.Do!”

Kyungsoo turned with a look of great disdain clear on his face, despite the fact his hands continued to obscure his face. “Shouldn’t the same advice be of use to you, Luhan?”

The strangely pretty year twelve student grinned, waving off his teachers comment without so much as a second thought. Kyungsoo had learnt on arrival at the rope course that Luhan was terrified of heights and had opted immediately, much like himself, to stay on the ground. “No, no. My situation is very different from yours.”

Kyungsoo snorted, lowering his hands at last. “I think not.”

The teen grinned. “I don’t like the look of this whole set up… the way everything is strung up and how you need to change one of your safety clip harnesses before moving the other so that you don’t fall to your death… it’s all very perilous, if you ask me.”

The dark haired English teacher groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

A loud shout of elation caused the teacher and student to both look up, their eyes immediately zeroing in on the source – Minseok, who had just managed to complete all five levels, was grinning broadly from his position on a tiny metal plate that had been stuck into the one of the huge wooden beams that held the course up. There was a plate on each level, and Minseok had successfully managed to get to all five first. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, unable to stop himself from smiling. Of course the overly competitive and sporty math teacher would be the first to finish – he probably saw the course as a competition.

“I may be an old man compared to all you teens, but I’m still livelier!”

Minseok’s gleeful shout confirmed Kyungsoo’s thoughts and beside him, Luhan laughed. “Honestly, that Mr. Kim…”

Kyungsoo laughed at the simple sentence, Luhan’s tone clear enough to express his thoughts on the math teacher. Exasperation, fondness. It was obvious that Minseok was popular with Luhan, much like with many other students. Kyungsoo allowed his eyes to scan the rest of the obstacle course – Chanyeol was wobbling intensely down on the second level, seemingly unable to balance himself due to his lanky build. Further up, nearing the fourth level, Kyungsoo spotted Sehun and Zitao, the former appearing to be coaxing the latter to continue climbing up. It was obvious Zitao wanted to come down, however, Sehun also appeared to be putting forward a good argument to keep him up there with him. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, swiftly spotting Jongdae and Yifan, still on the first level, their progress incredibly slow due to the fact that they kept trying to push one another off.

“Really, just look at them… they’re like a bunch of newborn foals.” Kyungsoo muttered, his eyes coming to a stop at that exact moment on Jongin, who had made surprising progress up to the latter stage of the fourth level. His expression was focused, his eyes intently trained on the wobbling path before him. He was climbing alone, unlike many of the other students who had gone up together in small groups, however, he didn’t seem bothered by it. Kyungsoo continued to watch as the teen neared the fourth level platform. Jongin was no newborn foal – he was like a panther, making its way along a branch high up in some tree as it stalked its prey. Kyungsoo almost felt envious – he would have been envious, if it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t seem to look away as the teen made his way smoothly towards his goal.

“Kim Jongin is doing quite well, isn’t he?”

Luhan’s voice broke Kyungsoo from his reverie with a start. The dark haired English teacher was immediately flustered, quickly turning away from the sight of the occupied teen before him, having failed to catch himself on his staring. “Yes, I was just thinking that.”

Liar, his brain supplied.

“I’d never spoken to him before this trip. Same with Zitao.” Luhan motioed to the dark haired teen wobbling beside Sehun on the obstacle course. “Zitao’s a lot easier to get on with, though.” The pretty blond grimaced.

“Is that so?” Kyungsoo stated, already knowing why.

Luhan merely hummed in response, his eyes focussing on Sehun. “I’m glad Sehun has managed to make some friends.” He turned to the teacher beside him, a smile on his face. “We’ve been neighbours for as long as I can remember. I’d always have him over at my place, still do, actually. I’ve come to see him as a little brother, so I was worried about him being alone, what with me going to university next year. This excursion has helped me feel a bit better about leaving, seeing as I’ve been able to see for myself that he has a few friends to keep him company if anything happens when I’m gone.”

Kyungsoo’s facial expression softened. “That must be a relief for you.”

Luhan’s smile was still on his face when he looked back up to Sehun. “Very.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes found their mark on Jongin once more, but somehow, his mood suddenly felt dampened. Despite the overall cheery air that surrounded him, Kyungsoo felt his lips turn down as he continued to follow the platinum haired teen’s movements. Jongin half leapt onto the final fifth level platform, a pleased, almost superior smirk on his face as he looked down at the lower levels of the rope course, obviously pleased by the fact that so few students had made it near to him. Kyungsoo realised then that it was because of what Luhan had just said – although part of the dark haired English teacher felt glad for Luhan’s brief but heartfelt explanation of how he felt towards Sehun, it also highlighted their differences: it would be such a relief, not having to worry about someone close to you. He wished he could feel the same about Jongin.

Kyungsoo couldn’t help but wince at that his own thoughts. Close to you. In Luhan and Sehun’s case, the term close to you could be used to describe their obviously caring, reciprocated relationship, whereas Kyungsoo and Jongin were only close in the sense that they interacted with one another. There was a sea of difference diving the two pairs.

Kyungsoo blinked, suddenly feeling foolish for having let himself worry over something so trivial. It didn't matter if he was close to Jongin or not. Their relationship was that of tacher and student, after all. He forced himself to brighten his expression, working on loosening his furrowed brows and lifting up the corners of his lips as he stared blankly at the teen, still ve