;;

mr kim didn't
show up to class today.

not that jeongguk particularly cared.

it wasn't like he'd been staring at
the clock for the last fifteen minutes,
watching the delicate needle
to gently tick by, it was painfully
slow, he was itching to run,
to quit waiting for his form
period to end so he could hastily
sprint down the corridor
to the opposite end of the
school. (curse the inconvenient
distance, the trouble it posed.)
it wasn't like he was going
to talk to mr kim about anything,
there wasn't really anything
to talk about in particular.

his dismay was evident from
the scowl that soon fell upon his
thin lips when he spied the empty
teacher's desk.

jeongguk eventually forced
himself to think nothing of
it because he was probably sick,
at home, in bed, with his beloved
girlfriend or whatever.

of course, he failed
miserably. his heart leaped
everytime a student opened
the classroom door to come
inside.

every flash
of a mauve blue blazer, his chest
would constrict, every tap
of hard shoes against the
floor his pulse would roar,
every uneven breath he breathed,
he knew that it was because of
mr kim and mr kim only.

carefully flicking through the
inky pages of his fragile portfolio,
jeongguk sighed. why on earth was
it that he felt so down? it wasn't like
mr kim would magically arrive through
the door because he cared about
jeongguk that much. it simply wasn't
going to go that way.

he figured that he'd have to
push forward, it wasn't that he had
a chance with taehyung in the first
place and nothing about that fact
had changed in the month and
a half that he had known the man.

he continued on with
one of his studies. it wasn't a
particularly interesting piece, just
a star going supernova that jeongguk
had expressed in a million hues
of fuschias, yellows and deep purples
that stuck out amongst eachother
like a sore thumb. there'd be no
use blending, it'd turn to a terrible
mush of brown. he'd concentrated
the blinding white in the centre where
there was little to be seen, the core
bursting into an inferno of
psychedelic pigments, bleeding against
the crisp, stark white
of the thick paper.

the boy had sketched his initial
interpretation of the image
and had decided
that he'd settle for watercolours with
such a breathtaking piece. of course,
against mr kim's will but jeongguk
couldn't care less, he knew that he
was more than capable.
that's all that mattered.
he knew that he could do it.

"that's fucking stunning."
jimin craned his neck around to
gaze down at jeongguk's piece.
the teen would have
blushed or something
but he wasn't really feeling
himself today, wasn't really feeling
himself since he'd talked to mr kim.
he'd tried to hide his disappointment
and he'd done a pretty fine job of it
until he left the classroom and
his shoulders had dropped, his face,
crestfallen as he leaned against the
wall beside the door. he had to
stop fantasising, it'd do more damage
than good...

"thanks," he mumbled.

another half an hour or so
had passed and the drone of the
school bell woke jeongguk up from
his concentrated trance, he was
always in another world when he
was painting, never anything on his
mind but his art. his vibrant, splendid
art. for that, he was immensely greatful.
he wouldn't let himself go astray from
this at all, it simply wouldn't be fair to
do such a thing. sometimes, jeongguk
had to remind himself that he was here
for his art and nothing more.

but then why did his heart
skip a beat when he
slammed his locker
door shut and spied mr kim exiting
the headteacher's office?

why on earth-

without a sliver of hesitancy,
he found his legs scrambling
in his general direction. they came
to an abrupt halt when his teacher
turned the corner and jeongguk
peeked around the wall with
curiosity. of course, he wasn't being
nosy or anything but he wondered
why mr kim had bothered skipping
class like that...

the older man was stood
over the photocopier, jeongguk
hot on his tail as he pulled tightly
at the straps of his backpack and
nearned him with light footsteps.
what was he doing, oh god, he
had to turn back before he
embarrassed himself or something.

"s-sir." shit.

taehyung turned his oh-so-gorgeous
face to meet the younger's gaze,
his lips erupted into a soft smile,
jeongguk bit his lip and tired not
to think about how happy he felt
around the man, the way his
his throat hitched, the way he
stopped breathing in its entirety.

this was so unfair.

"jeongguk," mr kim acknowledged
lowly, his voice soft and calm,
going back to pressing some
buttons on the machine.
"hello, sweet."

please stop.

"w-well you see, i-i was just
wondering.."
he trailed off, realising how
intrusive his question would
sound if he were to ask him. there'd be
no way that he could pull it off
without it sounding overly
intrigued. this was ridiculous.

mr kim collected the sheets
and motioned his head for
jeongguk to follow him as he
made his way down the stairs
towards the art office; the teen
gulped and quickly scurried
along beside him, struggling
to keep up with the man's
long strides. (courtesy of his
long ass legs.)

he made sure to close the
door behind them both, heart
hammering in anticipation.

"what's up, kid?" taehyung mused,
bracing a palm on the desk as he
absently rummaged through stacks
of papers, scattered about on the
table.

"j-just wondering when the
work you set for today was due."
he lied. actually mr kim, i wanted to
know what the hell you were doing
in the headteacher's office.

"whenever,"
he replied, preoccupied with
whatever it was he was doing.
"you know i don't bother with
all those pointless deadlines,
dear."

the small boy fiddled with
the straps of his backpack,
unsure of what to say. this
was awkward, he had to leave-

"aren't you going to ask me?"
taehyung chuckled softly, a
twinkle in his eye. jeongguk's
eyes flickered over his white
shirt, down to his strong shoulders
and exposed forearms, at the veins
that lay prominent as rushing
rivers down his beautiful skin,
down to his hands and his long,
fingers that tapped against the desk.

"ask you what, sir?"

"why i wasn't in class."

"oh, um, uh- why weren't you
in class?" the younger squeaked,
cowering under his teacher's dark
gaze.

"i had a meeting with the
headteacher," taehyung replied.
"everyone seemed to be
complaining about the art
supplies, so i figured i'd do
something about it." he smirked.

"what did you do?"

"well, it took a hell of a
lot of convincing..." he began,
sinking down into his seat as his
piercing stare crept up to jeongguk's
flushed face. "but i managed to
get permission to add in a house
art competition for the younger
years, paid entry. and an exhibition
for all of the gcse students at the
end of the school year, their parents
can sponsor."

oh. wow, how.. considerate.

"how does that sound, sweetheart?"
taehyung gave the boy a lazy grin,
tapping his nails against the desk.

"um- brilliant mr kim."
why was he even doing this?

"it'll be quite the effort though. nothing
we can't handle so i wouldn't worry
in the slightest."

"that's an awful lot of judging-"

"that's why i'm getting you to
help me." the smile grew.

him? what use would jeongguk
be? he couldn't possibly be
of any benefit.

"me?" he asked quietly.

"yes, you, jeongguk." the
teen shivered at the way his
name slipped off his tongue.

"i wouldn't be very helpful."

"you're brilliant at judging."
he placed an arm on his chair.
"respectfully, of course. the
younger years aren't difficult
to sort through, it's their effort
that matters at that age,
not the place they come.
i couldn't care less who came
first or last, we just need plenty
of them to take part. we need
plenty of them being interested
in art. i'm trying my level best
to convince each one of them
that they are all incredible but
half of them don't believe me."

"i wouldn't, mr kim. as much as
we wouldn't like to think so, some
of us will always be more 'incredible'
than the rest." what was jeongguk even
talking about? certainly not the
competition anymore. if mr kim
told everyone that they were like that,
then there'd be no point in trying
to see things in another way.

when you were younger, it was
survival of the fittest. it faded as
you grew but back then, it was your
calling to flaunt and boast and be
excessively proud. jeongguk had never
done that. he'd never bothered
because otherwise he'd be rideculed,
he'd have hated himself for it
afterwards, later on when he was
wise enough to realise it or something
of the sort. he seemed to have forgotten.
here mr kim was, talking confidence
into their stagnant minds, feeding them
hope and nurturing them in a way
that they'd accept eachother's flaws
and embrace them. jeongguk wished
he'd had a teacher like him long ago.
one that treated his students
equally.

equality.

it went against the uniqueness
of the path that jeongguk chose.

jeongguk wasn't special.

mr kim had just re-enforced
that fact.

________________

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