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13

"you're good at this," minho smirked and looked into jisung's eyes. seen from afar, his behaviour was anything but strange, but up close jisung could feel the tension building up, as if every word was an implication of something else.

the younger nodded mechanically. he didn't mean to but the idle eyes were burning holes into his head as if the strong thighs of the teacher rubbing into his own on the small couch wasn't already exciting enough.

"your writing makes everything sound so interesting. i think you could sell any story," minho commented in a soft voice. was he this close before?

"um, you can talk to mr jeon about that.. i'm sure he'll have his own take on my writing's quality," jisung giggled and leaned back.

"good thing it's me grading you then," minho hummed and took a deep breath in. jisung didn't know how to respond to that so he didn't, which the older took as an opportunity to continue.

"you don't really believe in innate characteristics, do you? on your last paper you were talking about empirical traits quite a lot too..," his eyes quit the sheet and slowly made their way to jisung's face.

the student blinked, trying to remember what they were talking about. the image he had seen of the same big idle eyes and rosy lips the night of their first meeting was haunting him and he shook his head vigorously to assemble his thoughts.

"um.. yes. i think.. environment is really important," he finally blurted out but sensed that this contribution to the conversation wasn't enough, "um.. i think the genetic patterns do not differ as much as the environment variables. it has been proven that twins may turn out to be very different people if raised differently."

"do you think you and i could've been alike if we were raised the same then?"

"m-maybe," jisung returned in confusion, trying to determine whether this conversation was professional, personal, or both, "maybe we.. could've understood each other better if we were coming from a similar background."

"that's interesting," minho nodded pensively, "i thought we had no problem relating to each other but i'm glad to hear a different mindset," he smirked and jisung's mind went back to the moment he told that same guy he loved him.

maybe it was a lie, but still, he let it slip. he gulped and dropped his gaze down, trying to escape the teasing eyes that were fixed on him. did he wear his glasses today? jisung hadn't noticed.

"hmm, also.. i don't recall telling you anything about my background," minho continued and rested his arm on the back of the couch.

"sorry, yes. you haven't. it's presumptuous of me to say that. excuse me."

"no, that's alright. i didn't mean to scold you or anything," the older smiled and patted his student's back, "your views are not too far from mine, actually.. except, i have a feeling that you're pretty convinced, while i like to be more open," he honestly continued, but jisung couldn't concentrate because his warm hand was resting on his back.

"uh, um.. i'm alright, really. you're allowed to argue and.. change my mind," the younger mumbled and licked his lips, trying hard to remember what he had just heard minho say so that he could respond when the sound of a bell was heard, "oh shit, i have class," he exclaimed and leapt up.

"oh," minho let out, startled, and followed the other with his eyes. time was over, again, but he knew that he wouldn't get any farewell kiss this time.

"i'm sorry, i need to leave," jisung explained fast and reached to get his backpack. minho handed him the paper and then hesitantly pulled it back towards himself in confusion.

"um, yeah, i'll check this," he muttered to himself and walked back to the desk, "sorry i kept you for so long."

"it was my pleasure," jisung, finally regaining some of his composure, returned.

"see you in class."

"see you," the younger chimed in and hurriedly reached for the door handle but he stopped and scratched his head, "i mean, bye, mr lee."

"have a good day, jisung," minho replied in a soft and high voice, and he greeted the exiting boy with a smile.

jisung walked down the corridor, then ran towards his auditorium since he was already late for his lecture. when he finally arrived, his friends greeted him with judgemental glances and watched him sit down on the first row since he was the last one to arrive.

he knew he was in for a serious questioning from seungmin and hyunjin and was right, though when class ended seungmin had to go to the dentist's and jisung was left to the tallest blonde alone.

"you really went to see him, huh?," hyunjin lifted a brow as the duo exited into the street. it was the last period and jisung knew that his friend didn't like going home right after class ended. maybe they would have coffee, or just take a walk.

"no, i didn't! i mean, i did, but he left me no choice. he ignored my emails," the shorter explained with a guilty pout.

"really? i still haven't sent him my topic but i think seung said he responded in 20 minutes," hyunjin furrowed his brows and swiped a lock of hair away from his face.

his hair was not damaged but it was getting frizzier since he started bleaching it. jisung knew he hated humid weather so he smiled at his friend's efforts to smooth it down.

"well, i'm telling you. he left me on read," jisung looked up at the other's eyes, trying to meet them but hyunjin looked like he was lost in thought.

"maybe he likes you.."

"he doesn't," jisung dismissed and put his hands in his pockets, "he slept with me because he was paid to."

"listen, i want to tell you something," hyunjin spoke up and stopped, causing the shorter to stop in suspense too. his big eyes became wide and his lips parted slightly.

"i'm so sorry, jisung, really," he started and bit his cheek, "i shouldn't have made you visit him.. there were other people, older, that you surely couldn't have crossed paths with again, ever," hyunjin guiltily elaborated and scratched his arm, "i insisted we pick him because i thought you might feel more comfortable.. i thought he might be your type.."

hyunjin was very far from the truth. his type, as much as jisung could describe it, looked nothing like minho. in fact, all of his friends were closer to that than his companion-turned-teacher. also, he couldn't blame hyunjin. he couldn't have known what would happen, he only thought he was doing a friend a favour.

"i didn't think i would ruin your year and that surely wasn't my intention," the taller ended up saying and shut up."

"that's alright, really," jisung smiled and nodded reassuringly, "i couldn't be mad at you if i wanted to," he commented and the two started walking down the street again in silence.