"Why not?" Baekhyun asks you. You're out with him today on Christmas Day. He has to go back to his hometown to celebrate Christmas with his family, but he still wants to spend time with you on this special day. So he has planned to go back in the evening.

You bury your nose into his scarf that he wrapped around your neck and take in his scent. "Reshaping Environments is a required subject if I want to major in architecture..."

He huffs, kicking the snow in front of him and sending a flurry of white speckles into the air. "I could—"

"No, don't quit for me," you immediately warn him, knowing what was going to come out of his mouth. "Don't quit your job for me. We..." you swallow that lump in your throat. "We're not even a-anything. We're not exactly—"

"Then be my girlfriend," Baekhyun stops in his tracks, grabbing onto your elbow. He is pleading you with his eyes and his tone. "Be my girlfriend," he repeats, this time softer.

Your heart is beating hard in your chest and you feel dizzy and lightheaded. Baekhyun brings you closer to his body, now holding onto both your hands. You're standing in the middle of the sidewalk but that's okay, people are too busy moving about to notice the both of you there.

"I want you as my girlfriend," he murmurs, staring into your eyes.

"But—"

"I know you might be my student again next semester. But I don't want to just be your teacher. I want to be more than just a teacher..."

You sigh. "Of course I want to be your girlfriend, Baekhyun." And then you don't say anything else.

However, he knows you have more to add. "But...?"

"But... we can't date in school. It's forbidden."

"We don't have to tell anyone," he insists. "Baby, I can quit my job if you just let me. Then we can be open and our relationship won't be a taboo anymore."

You shake your head and wrap your arms around his waist. "No... I don't want you to quit your job."

Because even though you know how dangerous it is, dating a teacher in school, you don't want Baekhyun to quit anything for you. If there is anything that should change, it should be the circumstances. Not the situation, never the situtation. 

"So you'll be my girlfriend?" he tentatively hugs you back.

"Yes, Baekhyun," you murmur into his chest. "I will be your girlfriend."

But you are afraid of what this relationship with him will mean, of how things might change.

Sehun has still been trying to dissuade you from going out with Baekhyun. He can be a tenacious little devil when he wants to and this is one of those times. The new semester has just started again and even though Baekhyun insists on driving you to school, you want to have some time with Sehun too. However, you allow him to drive you home after your late classes. You still have no idea who is going to be your tutor for Reshaping Environments, but you really hope it's not Baekhyun. It's only going to create a lot of implications — as if there aren't already enough.

You're currently studying while waiting for your next lecture to start when Sehun sets his stuff in front of you. You look up from your calculator. There's someone sitting next to him, his hair pink-brown and his lips tilted in a smirk. Do you have to mention that the sharpness of his features might or might not be able to cut you? You give him a small smile and turn to Sehun.

"This is Kai," he introduces his new friend to you. The both of you shake hands and you feel how calloused his palm is. "I met him in my physics tutorial. He does track."

You're not sure why Sehun is telling you this, but you nod anyway. He must really like Kai though, because he is never the kind to make a new friend close enough to bring them to meet you on the first class.

"I like your hair colour," you tell the new boy, smiling.

He grins. "I like your eye colour. Are you wearing contacts?"

You blush as you shake your head. He just complimented you on your boring dark brown eye colour. You can't just stay unaffected by that. "They're not that nice to look at," you lower your eyes shyly.

"Nonsense!" the boy clucks his tongue.

"How long more until your next class?" Sehun jumps in, saving you from more blushing.

"Half an hour."

"Do you need me to wait for you?" You shake your head and he narrows his eyes. "Is he fetching you home?"

Sehun hadn't mentioned a name, but you know exactly who he's talking about. "He thinks it's dangerous for me to go home alone," you mumble.

"But I'll be with you," Sehun frowns.

"I know," you nod. "It's just— He's just being protective, Sehun..."

You're staring at Sehun, not saying anything. You feel bad for Kai who is still here as a spectator of a conversation he doesn't know about. Sehun sighs. "I want to say I hate him, but I don't." You break out in a smile. "I'm glad he's taking care of you."

After talking for a bit more with the two boys, you pack up to go to your next class. They walk you there, since it's already getting quite late. Kai is surprised to see you having lessons at such a strange timing, so you explain to him about how you're taking two majors.

"You're amazing," he looks at you in awe, making you laugh.

"I'm barely passing my architecture subjects, I'm really not that amazing."

"Oh, please, you're just being humble," he teases. Sehun is laughing at your banter.

When you reach the location of your next class, you promise to see Kai again. You know you'll be seeing him a lot anyway, because your best friend is already so comfortable with him. As you attend your class, they return home. It is only at 8PM that you're finally done with your classes for the day. You leave the lecture theatre and see Baekhyun sitting on the ledge of the window outside. He gives a smile when he sees you, though it looks like a tired one.

"You're here," you mumble, walking over to him.

"You're not happy to see me," he frowns when he sees you looking down and not at him.

You shake your head. "No, I am!" he has a doubtful look on his face, so you reach out and squeeze his hand quickly. "Of course I am, Baekhyun. It's just... We're in school and..."

"But it's late and we're not even in the Architecture faculty," he reasons.

The both of you start to walk out of the building among your other coursemates who are taking double majors like you. Baekhyun's hand brushes against yours and you try to ignore the spark running up your arm. How will you stay away from him when he's right here next to you? It is as if Baekhyun is a magnet and you're a paperclip, so weak that you can't even fight off the attraction between the both of you.

"When is your R.E. tutorial?" Baekhyun brings up casually, glancing at you warming your own hands with your breath. He takes your cold hand in his warm one, stuffing your entwined hands into the pocket of his coat.

"Tomorrow," you mumble, walking closer to him. He frowns and you immediately know what it means. "You're taking a class tomorrow," you assume. 

He bites his lip and looks at you. "I hate this, kitten... I want to— This... Ugh..." He groans in frustration. 

"Hey, shhh," you coo.

There is only the both of you walking along the cobblestone path towards the carpark. Though the weather isn't as harsh anymore, it is still cold. And you really would have been plunged into darkness if not for the moonlight and street lamps guiding you. You rub the pad of your thumb on his palm to calm him. He looks at you and you can clearly see his sparkling eyes in the night.

"If fate and destiny want us to happen, they'll make a way." You squeeze his hand, "Right?"

Well, it turns out that fate and destiny ing ship the both of you because who else would you have expected when you walk through the classroom door, if it isn't Baekhyun? He looks up from his laptop and holds your stunned gaze for a moment. His stoic expression breaks for a second and you see the resignation in his eyes, like he has given up to the gods. You give a respectful smile and bow as a student should, before finding yourself a seat. You look around the class and see that Dongwoo from the Paris trip is here too. 

You know he remembers you as well because he beams at you, waving. You smile, going over to sit next to him. On the other side of the room, right in your line of vision, you see Soonkyu. Of course you have to be in the same class as she is for the entire semester. She is staring at you, the expression on her face cold and lifeless. You remove your coat and take a while to settle in your seat before you finally talk to Dongwoo. 

"So how was your break?" you grin at him as you flip open your notebook. You see Baekhyun— Mr. Byun staring at you from the corner of your eye. 

"I went skiing and all that fun ." Dongwoo shifts in his seat to look at you better. "You?"

You shrug, "Nothing that interesting. I mostly watched basketball matches though." You chuckle softly. That's your life as the best friend of Oh Sehun. 

"Do you mean NBA matches?" he raises an eyebrow. "I never thought girls were interested in NBA..."

You shake your head, laughing. "No, no. Not NBA. I just have a friend who plays for the basketball team." 

He nods in understanding. "I see... How long has she been playing?"

"Oh, my friend's a guy," you correct him. "And... I think it has been about two years? He used to play baseball for our high school before. Now he's taking up a new challenge." 

"Wow... So you must have known him for some time?"

"Yes," you nod. You're about to explain more, but Mr. Byun— Baekhyun— oh God, you don't even know what to call him anymore. 

Baekhyun (you settle on this because you just can't stand calling him Mr. Byun again) starts introducing himself and you give your friend an apologetic smile. All of you do a round of introduction, starting from the teacher. "I'm Mr. Byun, in my second year in Masters. I like the colour red." All of you frown because he explicitly requested for everyone to mention something unique about themselves. But then he adds, "On certain people." 

You immediately blush when he glances your way, the comment obviously meant for you. Your classmates have cheeky smiles on their faces, some are even laughing. The introductions of the students start and you really never thought someone might so openly flirt with your teacher. It's not that you think Baekhyun won't have girls flirting with him — he is very attractive and you've seen for yourself when your previous classmates tried to hit on him. You just thought these girls might have some decency to do it privately, not in front of the class. 

However, this one girl, whose name is Minjae, makes you think otherwise when she announces that her unique trait is, "People tell me I look hot in red." You almost choke on nothing while the entire class goes awkwardly quiet. Baekhyun only gives her a neutral smile before sliding his eyes over to the next person.

When it comes to you though, you're already slightly pink and very nervous. You introduce yourself and then mention, "I, um... I'm a Sauvignon Blanc kind of girl." You dart your eyes to Baekhyun and you see him smiling, his eyes dancing.

"Thank you," he nods his head. "I like my Sauvignon Blanc, too." Then he looks to Dongwoo with a hint of smile still playing on his lips. 

All throughout class, Baekhyun and you share fleeting glances and flirtatious smiles. You don't think anyone notices, since they seem pretty focused on the introductory tutorial. A tutorial normally lasts for two hours, but today, you end early since there isn't much material for the teacher to go over anyway. When the class is dismissed, you pack as slowly as possible, stalling time so you can talk to Baekhyun for at least a second. However, Dongwoo is waiting for you and your classmates are beseiging Baekhyun, bombarding him with questions. 

Just when you leave the classroom with Dongwoo, you look over your shoulder and immediately catch those soft, brown eyes. You blink several times, slightly flustered at the way he is looking at you; like you're something— someone precious. The corners of his lips curl slightly and you feel the tips of your ears burning. You quickly look away. 

Dongwoo and you catch up over lunch. Even though you hadn't known each other much the other time, you find that it's really easy to talk and relate to him. Before the both of you have to split up to go for your next class, you leave him with your number. You don't have a class until the next hour though, so you walk to the closest study space to pass time. On the way there, you hear someone shout out something so unusual that you might have ignored him, if not for his familiar voice. 

"Hey, Sauvignon Blanc!" 

You turn around and see Baekhyun walking over to you with Mr. Kim at his side. They're both holding onto a cup of coffee each. You grin and stop where you are. Mr. Kim looks different with his hair in a beanie. You've always seen him with his hair styled up, so he looks totally unlike him today.

"Hello, Mr. Kim," you greet. 

He waves a hand in dismissal, looking slightly annoyed. You're hurt, but try not to show it. He mentions breezily, "Don't have to be all formal with me." You don't understand what he means, or what his indifference implies.

Baekhyun interrupts, "Where are you going?"

"To the study corner," you point to somewhere in the north-east direction. "I have a free period now."

"Come to the office," he tilts his head in an invitation. You look at Mr. Kim to hear his say, but Baekhyun is already ushering you to walk between the both of them. 

There are a few other teachers in the office when you get there. They see you, but don't say anything as they assume you're just another student coming in for a consultation with her tutor. As you near Baekhyun's familiar desk, Mr. Kim sighs. 

"I hope you know what you're doing, Baekhyun," he mutters quietly before returning to his own table. 

Baekhyun settles behind his desk and you sit on the chair that you sat on the last time you came. You glance at Mr. Kim as you lean in and whisper, "What's up with Mr. Kim?" Baekhyun doesn't reply and you turn to look at him, only to see him staring at you. His lips are slightly parted and his eyes are roaming around your features. You blush and he smiles endearingly. "Mr. Byun," you hiss. 

He blinks and snaps out of it. "Huh?" 

You roll your eyes, though there is a slight smile on your lips. You ask as you take out your materials to study, "I asked what is wrong with Mr. Kim."

"Oh," his eyebrows scrunch and you have to remind yourself not to smooth the wrinkles. Not here. He rubs his neck tiredly. "I told him about us..." No wonder the attitude. "He's just worried."

"For you?" you your head. "He's a good friend," you murmur. 

"For you," he smiles softly, his hand reaching out to touch you. Then he stops when he remembers he shouldn't be touching you and curls his fingers around nothing before bringing his hand down to rest on the table. You wish you could feel his soft fingers on you. "Junmyeon hyung is afraid you might get kicked out of school."

"What about you? Won't you get kicked out too?" 

"Junmyeon hyung doesn't care about me," Baekhyun says loudly so the guy at the next table can hear him.

"I care about that pencil you loaned from me," you hear Mr. Kim quip.

Baekhyun chuckles, shaking his head. "It's only a wooden pencil, hyung."

"Well, you're irresponsible."

"You're messy, but you don't see me complaining," Baekhyun pointedly looks at Mr. Kim's untidy table and then his own neat one. 

Junmyeon chucks an eraser at your teacher. It misses the target by a bit and lands on the ground behind you. "Give me back my eraser, idiot." 

You laugh when Baekhyun actually stands and retrieves the rubber. "He throws things at me and when they land I-don't-know-where, he says I don't return them," he complains to you, shaking his head in joking manner. He slams the eraser on his friend's table. "There." 

"And my pencil?" Mr. Kim an eyebrow. 

"I don't know, hyung," your boyfriend sighs in exasperation, walking back to his seat. "Maybe the termites have it because I don't. Improve your aim next time and then maybe I'll have it." 

You cringe when Mr. Kim throws a wooden pencil, letting it fly in a perfect arc before it comes in contact with the side of Baekhyun's head. "Now give me back my pencil, Baekhyun."

Author's note:

So I have a question.. do you guys read fics on your phone or not your desktop? Because I read them on my phone and it's not hard to read my own fics there. But when I attempt to read them on my desktop, I find it hard because of the paragraph spacing. Please tell me if you'd find it easier if I use double spacing after every new paragraph. :-)

Hope you had a happy weekend!

Till next time
xoxo