"So, aren't you going to tell me what's bothering you?" 

 Shion ignored his existence and decided to lay down on the couch with her feet on her teacher's lap. How respectful of her not to kick him off. She's been acting this way ever since she stepped into the classroom. Her mind was obviously somewhere else during the lesson, not even a single glance was given to him. Her hand was busy sketching random things with a lazy manner in some kind of new notebook. 

 And when he ended the lesson, he tried talking to her but she wouldn't response. She only nodded when he suggested to go to his office. So there he was, looking at his student's depressed face as she pretended to sleep with crossed arms. It was clear to him that she wasn't emotionally hurt by someone, but rather utterly sad because of something important. 

 He slowly learned how to read her emotions through her movements and behavior, sometimes the look in her eyes can say it all. She was someone who had a strange conflict with her own feelings, and it was always too captivating for him to let those different sides of her be ignored by his mind without carefully analyzing every bit of them.

 Jimin knew that her childish attitude doesn't last that long until it turns into a lazy but also cold one. He gently removed her feet from his lap then got up to take his phone from the table, but another object got him feeling curious about what it contains. He picked up Shion's recent notebook and started flipping the pages while absorbing the drawings.

 There were some sentences written in a foreign language on a couple of pages. His memory instantly reminded him of that time when a small piece of paper slipped out one of her books while she was passing by, there were some similar letters to the ones in the notebook. He figured it was probably japanese since it was clearly obvious from what she had sketched from anime characters. 

"Since when did you start learning japanese?" Shion turned her head once she heard the odd question, and immediately got up when her eyes landed on her precious notebook in his hands. She almost snatched it out of his grip but he pulled it away just in time. 

"Give it to me now!" She commanded, sounding kinda pissed off though her face looked calm. 

"Answer my question first." 

"You don't need to know." 

"Wrong answer." 

"Jimin stop playing around!" 

"Not until you answer my question." 

"Gosh, you're annoying!" She harshly pulled his arm and forcefully took her notebook from him. She then held it against her chest and sat with her knees bent to protect the item in her arms.

"You're so mean, I was just being playful." He was sitting right before her, pouting childishly with sad eyes to irritate her even more. 

"If I have the permission to be a murderer, you'd be dead by now." She rudely spoke. 

"Oh come on, all I want is to know what's wrong with you." He said with a whiny tone.

"Fine. But don't laugh at me for feeling this way." 

"Okay." He nodded with a grin on his face.

"I'm not really in the mood today because...." She cleared before continuing. 

"I finished watching one of the coolest anime these days and I don't know what to do with my life anymore."

 The look on his face was priceless, and Shion couldn't help but to burst out of laughter at his poker face. She kept hitting his leg lightly with her left hand as she tried to maintain her uncontrollable laughs. After merely a whole minute, Shion managed to calm down though a small smile was still visible on her face. A little giggle left Jimin's lips and made her wonder why did he react so late. He took a moment to stare at her and noticed the usual innocent look she always wore slowly taking over her features. 

"That was the most adorable laugh I've ever heard from a girl." 

 A pink blush was shading her cheeks from his sudden compliment. It was a normal thing for him to call her stuff like cute or adorable, yet sometimes she forgets she's suppose to be used to it already. Just when she shyly averted his gaze, he stretched his arm to run his gentle fingers through her hair and instantly fell for the softness that filled the spaces between them. 

"It's getting longer everyday. I won't be able to mess it up like I always do."

 Shion couldn't look at him knowing how irresistible his eyes can be whenever he lays his hand on her tenderly and speaks with such unexpected sweetness. Her heart would react with hard yet steady beats and her face would flush from the rising heat crawling upwards from her chest. Her mind would stop working for awhile and allow all of the familiar odd feelings to dominate her insides with no limits. 

"It's been nearly two months since we first became friends," She spoke. 

 Their eyes met right when he laid his hand on hers, both were quietly observing each other's candid little sparkles which they spotted trying to glisten around nebulous surroundings. To him, it was completely obvious what she wanted to say next but she couldn't. The slight shyness was holding her tongue back from uttering those few harmless words, and Jimin wasn't going to make it harder for her to do so. 

"Yet I feel so close to you."

 Shion instantly looked away when he perfectly hit the target she was aiming for. A smirk was tugging on the corner of his lips as she clearly tried to think of something to change the topic from the way opened then closed. He felt her hand curling into a fist against his palm, and it made him realize that she was indeed, embarrassed.

"Is it strange for you to feel this way?" 

"N-No, I just don't know ...." Her stuttering voice turn into a whisper before trailing off. She bit her bottom lip, there wasn't any reason for her to deny the fact that she was attached to her teacher without even knowing how would it feel to have someone who is always by your side. 

"It wouldn't be odd if the other feels the same way," She looked at him knowing what he was referring to, but he wasn't facing her anymore. Instead, his gaze was rested on their hands as he brushed his thumb on her knuckles. She loosen up her hand to slowly pull it away but he somehow managed to swiftly lace their fingers together. 

"You may not know how I really feel about you, but you might have guessed that it's nowhere close to how you see me." 

 The veracity of his words left her speechless. It was true that she wasn't sure of what she was to him, yet that also meant that it could be way more different than how she thought of him. His firm grip distracted her from thinking when he gave her hand a tight squeeze. His fingers were slowly leaving hers and it almost seemed like he was forcing himself to do so. He pressed his back on the cushion behind him and leaned his head on the headrest, releasing a light sigh with his eyes fixed on the ceiling above. 

"You haven't answered my question yet." He stated after a few silent seconds.

"Why do you want to know?" 

"Because," He shifted in his place to change his sitting position so he would be facing her, "I want to know you better." He smiled kindly at her.

"Well," She started, "The thing is that... my mom is half japanese. So when I was a kid, she would let me watch japanese cartoons with korean subtitles, that's why I ended up slowly learning the language by watching anime everyday as I grew up." She explained. 

"Is that how you also started to learn drawing?' He asked. 

"Yup, I actually wanted to be a Manga artist a few years ago, but I wasn't ready to risk it knowing that I might not be successful. And then I realized that I'm better at painting on canvases than drawing on papers." She admitted.

"Of course you are. Everybody was amazed by the little falcon you painted in the exhibition, nobody dared to deny your talent, Shion!" He joyfully exclaimed. 

"Thank you for saying that my drawing skills aren't good enough." She pretended to be hurt and angry with what he just said. 

"I'm not saying you're bad, you just need to practice more." He cleared himself. 

"I'm trying to improve but the results are always the same." She murmured sadly. Her hand carelessly placed the notebook on the table, then grabbed the cushion beside him and hugged it tightly. 

"Don't be upset, Shion. I also wanted to achieve my goal when I was younger but I couldn't." He confessed.

"What was your goal?" 

"My goal was to get a scholarship and continue my studies abroad but I didn't have the chance to. At first, I was really disappointed since I tried so hard to get what I wanted. But after I entered this university, I realized that maybe I'll have better opportunities in the future. And now, I'm a math teacher and you happen to be one of my students." 

"So am I suppose to be proud of being your student?" She sarcastically asked. 

"Absolutely. Especially since you are the closest, you're most likely to fall for me." He spoke with confidence.

"It's funny how you're so hopeful that I'll eventually belong with you." 

She threw the cushion on his chest then dropped her feet to put on her shoes, getting ready to leave before it was too dark. And as she stood up to stretch her arms and legs, she felt his strong hands holding her waist in place to press his chest on her back. Her cheeks reddened when his warm breath tickled her skin as he leaned his face closer to her neck. 

"Don't act like you never thought about it. Your tongue keeps denying it but deep down, you know there is no line between us." 

He whispered huskily into her ear. Her body slightly shivered from his voice and the sharpness of his words. A low gasp was heard from her as his lips brushed on her earlobe, causing him to smirk with amusement. 

"Come on, let's leave before I take advantage of the situation." He backed away from her and went straight to the door, waiting for Shion to follow him. She took her things and walked to him while looking down, trying to hide her face though she was sure he already saw it. 

--------------------

"Before you go," He turned his face to her then continued, "I want you to know that I'm really glad to have you as my student." He genuinely smiled at her once his eyes landed on hers. 

"I already know I'm your favorite." She remarked. 

His smile broke into a grin. "Well, I hope you appreciate it." 

"It's nothing special." She shrugged carelessly. 

"That wasn't what I wanted you to know," They both stopped before the exit while facing each other. He put his hand on her shoulder and exhaled softly as their eyes met. 

"What I actually wanted to tell you," He said, "is that I'm happy you told me a little about yourself."

"It's strange how you really want to know more about me." 

"You seem like you're full of mysteries, so I'd like to be your detective." 

"You're so cheesy," She chuckled, "This is why you don't have a girlfriend." 

"I don't need one as long as I have you." He cutely grinned.

"Shut up, I'm leaving." She lightly pushed him away and walked to the exit. 

"Bye!" He waved to her but she ignored him.

---

 Once she silently left the building, he turned around and ambled down the corridor with his hands in his pockets. He spotted someone leaning against the wall a few meters ahead of him, it was clearly a guy who seemed like he was waiting for someone. As he got a little closer to him, he could see the side of his face and something about his featured seemed so familiar, but Jimin decided to brush it off and continued making his way back to his office. 

"So, you finally managed to find a girl, huh?" 

 The guy abruptly spoke with his recognizable flippant tone and Jimin stopped once he knew who he was. A cocky smirk was plastered on his face as he turned to see Jimin who was nearly expressionless. 

"I must say, I'm quite surprised to see you with a girl, a student to be precise." He approached him with a slow pace.

"I have to admit though, you two look cute together. A gentle teacher and a sassy student, what a great combination." He stood in front of Jimin and stared at him with dark eyes. 

"But the question I mostly want to ask is, how's Cheolmin doing?" 

"Perfectly fine since she's nowhere near you, Hanjae." Jimin answered while trying to show no emotions to the other. 

"Oh I miss how you say my name with that serious tone and blank face, kinda like a robot." 

"Cut the crap, what do you want from me?"

 Hanjae released a snickering laugh, "What do I want from you?" He tried to provoke him by taking a step closer, "Do you know about the playroom? It's on the first floor in the art section. Starting from tomorrow, the room will be available for both students and teachers." 

"So?" 

"Meet me there at 2, and bring Shion with you, I'd like to have fun with both of you." He added.

"Shion doesn't have to know about this, she doesn't need to meet a jerk." Jimin was irritated by him mentioning his dear student, anger was boiling inside of him and he wanted to punch his arrogant face but he had to remain calm. 

"It's not like she wouldn't know about the playroom, students from the art section will be hanging posters in each building and she won't be able to stop herself from visiting the place." He smiled wickedly.

"After all, you wouldn't want to disappoint her, would you?" He muttered darkly as he passed by him. 

 Jimin let out a heavy breath once the sound of Hanjae's footsteps slowly faded away. Bumping into his old high school classmate made him stand in the same spot for almost 3 minutes. He didn't know how to feel about the encounter, but he certainly wasn't thrilled to know that a bad guy is after his precious student. 

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SORRRYYYY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!!! I was really confused like should I let them meet in this chapter or the chapter after?! 

Plus, something weird is going on with me .... I'm OBSESSED WITH HISTORY!!! *hides in a corner* the previous semester I was totally obsessed with math so it's not really weird right?! 

Anyways, I'm kinda excited to write chapter 13 and 14 because they're MUCH better than this one. The ideas and everything are just great.... well at least I think they are. 

\@_@/

N.T.K ~♢