505

15

when jisung entered, minho was already explaining something to the class, standing in front of the desk and leaning back casually.

"hello?," his soft voice greeted first, after he saw who had come in.

"hello, mr lee," jisung returned, holding his head down shamefully, "sorry i'm late."

"is everything alright?," minho asked, sounding a little too worried.

"yes. i missed my bus. excuse me, mr lee," the shorter repeated and looked up. why was he so sweet?

"it's alright, jisung, go sit down," the teacher smiled and nodded to dismiss the boy, "i was just explaining about the homework. i'll be returning it by the end of the class.."

jisung nodded and went to sit with his friends who were cackling, obviously having found the interaction funny.

minho went through the frequent mistakes, including bad grammar and punctuation, then started giving the papers back to the students when the door opened again.

the teacher turned around rapidly and looked at the intruder carefully, "you're late, mr shin. class started 5 minutes ago."

"excuse me, mr lee, i was stuck in traffic," the boy replied and stayed at the door to wait for permission to enter.

"get in quickly," minho commanded harshly and handed the boy a sheet as he was passing by him.

"um, sorry, this is shin juyeol. i'm shim jihyun.."

"oh," the young teacher exclaimed and pulled the paper back towards himself, "oh."

everyone laughed as minho tried to find the right homework while poor jihyun was standing in front of him, waiting.

"shim jiyoon you say..," minho pensively went through the pile once again.

"ji-hyun," the boy repeated slowly.

"ah. okay," minho replied and took out a sheet, then handed it to the boy. jisung smiled at the older's cute confusion. he didn't seem bothered by the laughs and jisung bit his lip, thinking about how good it would be to be confident like that in life.

minho went on giving people their papers and finally handed one to jisung, giving him a, 'good job, jisung'. the boy looked down at the grade. he had given him an a. wow.

"there are some of you whose work is exceptionally well done," minho smiled and stepped up on the podium, "this time it's choi lia, kim seungmin and seo hyejoo.."

everyone applauded and the three best students nodded modestly. jisung was glad that he wasn't mentioned. he didn't think that people noticed minho's change of behaviour between him and other people, for all that was worth he might as well have imagined it, but he still didn't want to stand out by receiving compliments.

if minho wanted to express something, he could do it via email, or write it on his feedback, and there were also tons of other environment-appropriate ways to say it.

finally, class was over and minho dismissed the students after asking the first people on schedule if they had any issues. everyone shook their heads and he ended up wishing them good luck and jisung left the room with his friends.

"pff, he asked you if you were fine when you were late," seungmin spilled out as soon as the trio was out, "and then when poor jihyun came in he was ready to throw him out.."

"haha, yeah. it does look like he has a soft spot for you," hyunjin joined in but his voice was lacking excitement.

"no, i'm sure he didn't mean it. he just didn't realise it would come off like that," jisung assured but bit his cheek. so his friends had noticed it too. what the fuck minho?

"yeah, or maybe he's just trying to get your reaction. what if he was testing the waters..?," seungmin proposed teasingly and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.

"yah, we got class," hyunjin interrupted, putting his hand on the other tall boy's shoulder, "we'll be late if you keep chatting."

jisung waved them a 'bye' that they returned. he had wanted to take that class too but it was full by the time he tried to enroll in it. instead, he had ended up taking a class with felix.

jisung decided to go to the cafeteria to wait for his next class. with a little luck, he'd run into felix and spend a little time with him. he liked talking to the cute foreigner because out of the group, he was feeling the closest to him and shared as much as he possibly could with him.

as he was hoping, he met felix in the cafeteria, though the blonde australian was joined by another boy and jisung sighed, deciding whether he'd rather dodge them or stay with them when felix noticed him and asked him over.

"hey. how was class," felix chimed in and jisung nodded, "hyung, do you remember jisung?"

chan nodded and smiled, "hi. you were one of minho's boys, right?," he nonchalantly asked and jisung felt his cheeks burn as he was pulling a chair to sit down.

"um, yes. he's minho's student," the blonde boy responded instead and looked to jisung for confirmation.

"uh.. yes. i am," the newcomer finally blurted out and sat down. did chan know anything? if he did, would he spill it?, "i'm sorry, i'm just.. kind of tired," he smiled and plopped down on the chair.

"i understand," chan laughed, "i had like.. three hours of sleep this week? cumulated," he pensively calculated.

"wow. you should really take care of yourself more, hyung," felix commented with a barely visible pout.

"i know but i.. have better things to do i guess..," the eldest admitted with a smile and then explained, "i mean, not like.. the fun kind of things or anything, just.. homework to check, and projects to do, and.. school things," he explained to felix who nodded comprehensively.

damn, everyone was coupling up and flirting shamelessly, and jisung rolled his eyes to himself.

"hey, hyung, are you going to that party that gowon is having?," the blonde suddenly asked.

"um, i haven't actually heard anything about that," chan chuckled and scratched his head, "i guess i could pass by, but i'm afraid it might be awkward since i also teach 3rd year students.. so i don't really want to party together during the school year, you know?"

felix nodded but looked disappointed.

"uh, but i'll ask minho. maybe he'd be down," the oldest reassured, "and if he says yes i'll be there."

jisung wondered if he would say yes. if chan mentioned felix then maybe his teacher would know that jisung's group might be there. but even so, jisung had no idea whether minho would actually want to see him at a party or not.

suddenly, chan raised his hand and invited someone to join the group, and before jisung could get anxious, minho was already approaching with an impassive expression on his pretty face.

"hey, what's up?," chan greeted in a friendly manner and the other intern flashed him a short smile.

"all's well. what about you? fillip, right?"

"felix," the oldest corrected before the smiley blonde could say anything, "i actually wanted to ask you if you'd want to go out to a party," he turned to felix questioningly, "when's that again?"

"oh, it's on saturday."

"you sure?," minho asked chan dubiously and earned a nod, "i'll check if i'm busy and i'll tell you," he leaned against the table in his usual idle posture, next to jisung who was looking to him, "sup," he muttered with a nod and without changing his expression.

jisung nodded too but minho didn't look at him long enough to notice. he smiled at the other two and said, "i'll go buy myself a sandwich and then i have homework to check. see you later, hyung," he waved a hand and turned to go.

jisung's eyes followed him to the queue and then fell down onto his own lap. minho didn't even seem to have noticed the interest.