;;

"mr kim."
jeongguk mumbled.

arts and crafts club had
finished and the bell to
signify the end of lunch
had long ago rang, he should
have been on his way to registration
yet here jeongguk was, stood before
his teacher's desk, a deep
blush on his cheeks, finding
a petty excuse to talk to
taehyung.

at the start, he wanted
mr kim to leave him be,
he wanted him to go away
and mind his own business,
he didn't want anything
to do with him and he was
convinced that he never ever would.
here he was, a month and a
half later, craving his attention,
every breath he breathed. he
was so gone for this man he couldn't
explain the feelings he felt for him.
lust would be one thing but jeongguk
was so, so sure it wasn't that.
it made him laugh for being
so foolish in the first place.

the man turned his head from
his computer screen to face the
smaller boy.

god, he was so ethereal.

up close, he was even more
breathtaking than before.
perfect tan skin that glowed
in the orange, afternoon sunlight
that bleed through the windows to
brush his cheeks, dark, thick
lashes that cast a smooth shadow
under his eyes, his eyes, a deep
abyss that jeongguk would
forever be lost in, an eternal
maze that he couldn't escape,
no matter how hard he tried.
his nose, long and slender, perfect,
his lips, red, full, lush. the teen
wanted nothing more than to
reach over and touch them, to
explore every inch of his face,
to feel him, to know him.

"yes jeongguk?"

he needed to hear him say
his name on repeat, he'd never
get tired of it coming from his lips.
it was so beautiful, sounded so
soft and mellow and dripped off
his tongue so easily. he liked his
name but  taehyung
said it in a way that
had jeongguk loving it even
more.

so pretty.

"i just came to say i'm sorry."
jeongguk stared at the stack
of sketchbooks on his desk,
at the messy paintings of the
year eights. he came back to
say sorry, was he really bringing
this up on his own? he was expecting
taehyung to say something or
other but he hadn't. he was acting
like nothing had ever happened.

well, nothing happened in
taehyung's eyes because he
didn't know what he had done.
it was okay, it'd be better if things
would stay that way. of course,
jeongguk knew that wasn't
entirely possible.

"what for, sweet?"

ugh there it was again,
the names he'd call him
that sent him into cardiac
arrest! he really had to stop or
jeongguk would do something
so embarrassing he'd cry.
his thoughts rushed through
his head in one massive blur.
oh the things his brain was telling
him to say were ridiculous,
so, so rude and awful.

i wanked my yank to
sound of your
voice the other night!

yes, he'd say that, definitely.

mr kim would probably
transfer schools and that
would be the end of jeongguk's
pathetic highschool teacher x student
fantasy.

"for hanging up on you,"
jeongguk sighed, fiddling with
his school tie. "um.. my phone
ran out of charge." he winced
at how cringey that sounded, though
pretty much foolproof.

mr kim averted his gave back
to his computer screen. "it's okay,
figured you were busy. don't worry
i wrote what you said down because
i know i'd forget otherwise." he was busy
typing something, all jeongguk wanted
was his stare to linger.

"your hair." he blurted out.

fuck.

taehyung yet again turned
back to face him.

"your- it's hot."

his teacher raised a
brow at him.

shit. fuck.

"-in here! it's hot in
here and your hair
is nice!"

wow, he was such an
idiot. great going jeongguk!

a soft, knowing smile
danced on his pretty lips.
" thank you." he replied softly.
goodness, he was in deep shit
right about now.

"you're welcome." the teen
squeaked. jeez, he had to
stop being so flustered.
the things he said were
unhealthy. jeongguk nervously
scratched at his neck, hoping
to god that taehyung wouldn't
take heed of what he'd said
or he'd probably scream of
embarrassment. he was already
shrieking at himself in his
head, it would be awful out loud.

"it's different." he swallowed.
"a- a good different."

the older man gave him another
lazy, lopsided grin that had his heart
fluttering. "we can all use a change
from time to time." he chucked,
laugh rumbling in the empty classroom.
"you should get back to registration,
ggukie."

"don't wanna."

"then what do you want?"

you. fuck, he almost said it.

"you said you'd help me."
he fiddled with his tie again.
"i-if you're free."

mr kim leaned back in his
chair, taking in the smaller
boy, gaze flickering over his
form and lingering a little longer
than necessary, jeongguk remained
oblivious to it of course, he never
saw any of that.

"sweetheart," mr kim breathed.
jeongguk wished he would stop
making things so damn difficult for
him, everytime he called him that,
his knees would buckle, he'd be this
close to falling to the floor and melting
like a puddle. his cheeks burned with
delight as he stared at the ground.
"we're both busy right now. we can
arrange another time, okay? there's
no rush."

jeongguk nodded absently,
gaze trained on something far more
interesting.

taehyung's computer screen.

"are you going on holiday, mr kim?"

jeongguk asked with a pout,
eyes transfixed to the website that
taehyung was currently browsing.

he was booking plane tickets.

"yeah, something like that."
the man smiled, moving the
cursor to and fro. all of the flights
read 'brussels, belgium.' it was a
bit of a random destination but
jeongguk wasn't judging.

"where do you plan to stay?"

"i have a friend near
the coast. he's on the
french border. he'll be helping me
when i go."

"during the easter break?"

taehyung hummed in response,
the younger watching as he changed
the quantity of tickets to two
instead of one.

who- who else was he taking
with him?

"you're going with someone?"

it's fine, it was probably just
his aunt or his sister or his
second cousin at the least.

jeongguk could only hope
for the best.

but the mere second that the
words left taehyung's lips,
jeongguk regretted asking
the question, he regretted hearing
the answer, his smile crumbled
as he did. he regretted
absolutely everything.
he hated that he brought it up
in the first place.

but his answer.

it could clear his delusional head.

taehyung looked him dead in the
eye and told him.

"yeah," he smiled that
warm smile of his that that
sent his heart into overdrive.
"i'm going with my special
someone."

jeongguk's heart sank.

__________________________

do you guys have any questions about this book/ me?? if you do i'd be happy to answer them uwu 💜 love you all.