The English Teacher /Chanlix/

-Chapter 36-

«Just a prank» Hyunjin's voice almost stopped Felix's heart «A- a jumpscare... it's... fun»

«At school» Chan stated, voice low and dangerous.

«I'm sorry Mr. Bang» Seungmin's scared voice stepped in «We are sorry... we thought it'd have been fun, but we forgot that school isn't a place for that»

«Don't play the fool with me, Mr. Kim, you don't forget such thing, but don't worry, I'll make sure you won't forget the punishment I'm going to give you. And it's not just the prank, but moreover the words that I exchange with Mr. Lee after every class regard personal information of each student and, because of that, are strictly confidential. So, not only you decided to be childish like that, acting like elementary school brats instead of the twenty-year-old men you are, but you were also going to eavesdrop on conversations that it's obviously not for you to hear. Plus, you should be focused on passing your CSATs with full marks, not on how to prank one of your friends on the school grounds. I shouldn't even need to say this, but I'm more than disappointed in you two, you are both very ashaming and delusional»

By the end of Chan's lecture, Felix was shaking really, really badly, his breath was heavy and his heart was pounding way too hard. He couldn't keep his eyes still either, going from one corner of the room to another, passing through Chan's stern face, which hid fear.

«We're extremely sorry!» his two friends exclaimed, probably bowing.

«I really don't care whether you're ashamed of your actions or not, nor do I accept your excuses, you're going to pay the price of what you did, that's all I have to say. Instead, be glad that I won't report you right before one of the most important tests of your life, useless to say it would surely compromise it. Again, I'm very disappointed, I would have never expected something like this from you, especially you, Mr. Kim»

Finally, right when the boy was on the brink of tears, Chan looked at Felix, putting on a little smile that wouldn't have reassured anybody, but that gave the blond a little bit of strength, enough to stop shaking. Chan was still there, Chan would have helped him, Chan was going to solve the situation, it was fine, all good really.

«You go Felix, we'll talk later on» he said, his smile already fading.

The blond just nodded, unable to do more, and turned, finally facing his friends. They were mortified to say less, but Felix was sure to have a raging terror in his eyes, so he didn't spare them more than a glance, trying to mask his emotions at best. He stepped to his desk, legs shaking slightly and hands definitely trembling again, and picked up his things quickly albeit his quivering fingers, not daring to look at the other two in the eyes.

«Go» Chan said again once Felix was done, and the three of them exited the room without sharing a word.

Silence accompanied them for a few hallways, then, after Seungmin and Hyunjin shared not just a few glances, they shoved themselves in front of Felix, making him stop in his tracks.

«We're sorry Lix» Hyunjin started «You don't even know»

«I know you have all the rights to be mad at us, but please let us make up for it» Seungmin went on.

Their expressions were of genuine shame, but Felix waved them off as he didn't have the strength to face them at that moment.

«It's fine, I'm just tired, not mad... just... stop talking about it and never try again, Mr. Bang was really mad and it's just... I don't know what's gotten on your mind all of a sudden, why spying me?» he sighed wearily «Whatever, again I'm not mad, just think about it deeply. I'm going home, I don't feel like studying now»

He pushed through them, leaving them in the middle of the hallway. He felt their gazes on his back, but he didn't turn and just walked out of the school, hurrying to get to the nearer subway station. He needed to get home as soon as possible, because he felt like he was going to break apart in seconds now. It was so different from the time he and Chan had argued and he had ended their thing, yet so similar. Now however he was very conscious of his emotions, holding them back forcefully as he didn't want to break down in the middle of the street, where nobody cared and everybody judged. His train arrived quickly and he jumped in, grabbing a pole and smashing his forehead on it in order to feel a little relieved by the coldness of it, not caring about all the germs. The cold of the metal did nothing to lessen the headache he was starting to have, but at least it made him focus on something for the whole ride. He almost missed his stop, almost, but managed to get out of the subway like a robot. Just some more feet and he would have been at home.