Chapter Text
It’s the very first day of classes for Riku and his morning goes everything but planned. Him oversleeping sets off a domino effect of bad luck.
He’d spent the entirety of yesterday night binge watching an anime. Which led to him sleeping at around 3 a.m., completely forgetting to set an alarm.
He thankfully gets woken up by the loudness of the other residents in his dorm building.
They’re lucky he actually needs to be up today, because if there were any other instances of them waking him up by being loud, he’d be furious.
He’ll be starting his junior year of college where he’s studying to become a veterinarian.
He loves animals to pieces, but there’s often days where he finds himself contemplating if the degree is even worth it. Like today.
“Fuck.” He mutters to himself as he struggles to put on his shoe, glancing up at the clock.
He despises things he can’t control making him late, but today he has no one to blame but himself. He rushes out of his dorm, nearly forgetting to lock up in the midst of it.
He’s especially thankful to be living on campus this year, because if he were already late and he still had to drive to school.. it’d be his 13th reason.
His stomach growls as he makes it to his homeroom class for the day. He curses at himself for not grabbing an apple or something on his way out the door.
He opens the heavy door with a loud creak and all heads turn in his direction.
He cringes as the door shuts back, making even more noise and drawing more attention to the latecomer that’s unfortunately him.
He looks around the room, quickly settling in a seat closer to the back, hoping to be inconspicuous for the rest of the period.
His homeroom professor just about finishes taking attendance as he arrives.
“Did anyone not hear their name?” The older woman asks the class.
Riku pathetically raises his hand.
The woman looks up from the attendance sheet. She gives him a toothless smile as she fixes the glasses on the bridge of her nose.
“Your name?”
The late boy stutters at the simple question. “I-It’s Riku. Maeda, ma’am.”
He feels his cheeks heat up at the stares he gets from his new classmates. The woman scans the attendance sheet for his name.
He relaxes in his seat when he sees her check it off, quickly getting flashbacks from his freshman year where he went to the wrong classroom twice on his first day.
The professor smiles, checking her watch.
“Well, Riku. You’re six minutes late. But as it’s your first day, I’ll let it slide. However, if it’s more than three times, it’s detention. Understood?”
The boy’s eyes widen at her directness. He’s never gotten detention before, and he’s determined to make sure it never happens.
“Yes, ma’am!” He says a little too eagerly, earning a few chuckles from the class. He’s so embarrassed, he wants to disappear forever.
The woman nods, continuing on with explaining the syllabus to the class. The boy lets out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding in at the attention no longer being on him.
The class drags for another 45 minutes. The professor talks their ears off about what the class material will consist of, textbooks they need for the class, etc.
The bell rings and he’s the first one out the door. He gets himself lunch while he waits for his next class to start.
He quickly pays for it, and as he’s walking back to search for an open seat in the crowded dining hall, he trips on air. Just his luck.
The tray of food goes flying out of his hands, landing smack dead in the middle of the dining hall corridor.
If he thought the piercing stares he got earlier from merely being late were bad, this is hell. He looks up to see practically half the school staring at him.
He pathetically scrambles to pick up everything that fell. Luckily, he only had a sandwich on the plate with packaged chips and a closed drink.
“Hey, are you alright?” He hears in the distance.
He bucks his head up to see someone familiar who he can’t quite put his finger on. The kind stranger helps him pick up his mess.
He smiles at the kind soul. “I’m fine. Thank you, by the way.” He says, standing up with the tray.
The tall boy smiles back. “I’m Jaehee. I think I saw you in class earlier. Professor Kim?” He asks Riku.
The clueless boy stares at him for a few seconds before things finally start to click. “Oh yeah! You sat in front of me.” He laughs.
“Riku. Nice to meet you.” He introduces himself to the boy as they walk to the trash can to dispose of his now inedible sandwich.
Jaehee smiles at him. “So who do you have next? Maybe we have the same Monday schedule.”
Riku pulls out a sticky note from his back pocket, reading the practically illegible list of his schedule he made the night prior.
“I have.. Professor Oh next. What about you?” He squints at the foreign name on the blue paper.
The tall boy frowns cutely. “Professor Tim.. maybe we can meet up after class! Where’s your dorm?”
Riku smiles internally, geeked about making a new friend on his first day since all of his old friends graduated last year when he was still a sophomore.
The two talk for a bit until next period starts. They actually have a lot in common. They’re both in the vet program, both double majoring, and both juniors.
He walks to his next class with a pleased smile on his face, thinking today isn’t so bad after all. He asks other students for directions to Professor Oh’s class.
Too occupied with their own lives, everyone he asks either points or nods their heads in a certain direction. Each being different.
He sighs, finally finding the correct room number.
He enters and the classroom vibe is already completely different from the class he’d attended prior.
There’s a certain warmth that makes it feel extra homey. He smiles, looking at all the minimalistic fall decorations around the room.
There’s already a few students in seats, talking amongst themselves as they wait for class to start.
He grabs a seat in the middle of the room this time, not feeling as anxious anymore. He looks out the window as he waits for class to start.
He smiles fondly as he sees Jaehee again, walking with his arm slung over a guy's shoulder and leaning over laughing.
He eavesdrops on his new classmates' conversations as he watches them.
This is probably his favorite thing about being an introvert. People talk comfortably in front of you, simply assuming you won’t blab their secrets.
A few minutes later, class starts. He watches students hurry inside before they’re considered late.
He gets reminded of himself this morning, shaking his head to get the word “detention” out of it.
He reaches in his bag to get a pen out and when he lifts his head back up, a man with a demanding presence is walking in. He freezes in his chair.
It’s not particularly warm in the room, but he suddenly feels his cheeks get hot.
The attractive man walks over to the desk at the front of the room and Riku’s mouth hangs open briefly when it clicks to him that this is his professor.
Nearly half the girls in class are gawking silently at the man, too. He fumbles nervously with his hands under his desk, not knowing what to do with himself.
He shamelessly steals glances at the perfect blonde man in front of him, no better than his classmates.
The man moves back to the front of the room after grabbing the attendance sheet off his desk and Riku panics, scrambling to act like he’s doing something that’s not staring.
The man checks his watch, starting at 1:30 on the dot. He smiles.
“Good afternoon, everyone.”
His smile. His voice.
Riku feels like there’s a violent twister happening in his head. He tries his best to focus on the actual words coming out of the man’s mouth.
“I’m Professor Oh and I’ll be your teacher this semester. You may call me Mr. Oh, or Professor.”
“Frankly, I don’t care.” The man adds jokingly, earning extra loud laughs from the girls who gawked at him earlier.
Riku starts to get annoyed at how obnoxious they are.
It wasn’t that funny.
In fact, it wasn’t funny at all!
The man leans on the wall, crossing his legs. “We’ll begin with attendance. When you hear your name, say “here,” or raise your hand.” He explains.
“David Laney.” He starts, looking up.
Riku zones out midway until he finally hears his own name.
“Maeda.. Riku.” The man stops in his tracks as he looks up at the boy for the first time. The two make eye contact and Riku feels his heart stop. He swears the man’s pupils dilate.
The boy silently raises a shaky hand.
There’s so much tension in the one interaction, the entire class gets silent. The blonde checks the boy’s name off on the roster.
He clears his throat, proceeding with the attendance like nothing happened. “Jessica Jung.”
Riku fumbles in his seat, feeling stupid at his first interaction with the man. He feels himself get hot again, thinking of all the ways it could’ve gone.
He tries to relax.
The man finishes attendance and he immediately begins handing out syllabi. He explains the importance of it as he does.
“Please do not lose this. This here is your cheat sheet in order to pass this class. It has every assignment description, when it’s due, and how much it counts towards your final grade.”
He finally gets to Riku’s desk.
He places the packet in the middle of it and the boy mutters a tiny “thank you” to the man as he looks down, too terrified to look him in the eyes.
The man pauses for a second, not expecting the boy to say anything. The softness of his voice rings in the man’s ears.
The blonde responds in a much gentler voice than the one he speaks to the class with. “You’re welcome.”
The man doesn’t even notice the difference in his tone change. As if it were instinctual.
He immediately goes back to his stern voice as he explains how they’ll be graded on assignments.
The stark difference makes Riku gulp. He watches his lower half walk away and past him to continue handing out papers.
He smells so good. Riku thinks to himself, deeply inhaling the heavenly air left by the man.
The man makes it back to the front of the class and Riku takes a moment to admire his frame and perfect upper body proportions.
The boy’s eyes begin to travel lower and the man speaks, startling him out of a really sick fantasy he was about to have.
Lastly, the man talks about his office hours and Riku quickly scribbles down the information for the future.
“Now.. are there any questions for me right now before I dismiss you all?” The man asks the class after explaining all the introduction material.
Several hands shoot up and Riku rolls his eyes, knowing everyone asking questions just wants the man’s attention.
The blonde answers them one by one, completely oblivious to all the ditzy girls thirsting over him in the room.
The man dismisses the class and the Japanese boy hears people groan behind him, presumably not wanting to leave.
“I’ll see you all on Wednesday for our first official lecture. Don’t be late.” The blonde man tells everyone as he scans the room, making eye contact with Riku again.
One of the insufferable girls from earlier speaks. “We won’t, Mr. Oh.” She says in response to his comment on not being late, giggling and twirling her hair.
Riku rolls his eyes for the umpteenth time at the nauseating girl he has to spend an entire year with, already feeling drained.
The man only smiles at her, used to it by now.
The bell rings just in time and the boy feels his once tense shoulders drop.
“Have a great rest of your day, everyone!” The blonde man yells over the sound of everyone getting up at the same time.
Riku takes his time gathering his things, unintentionally being the last one left in the room with the man.
The classroom door shuts and everything gets quiet. The boy zips up his bag before standing up and putting it over his shoulder. His key rings jingle loudly as he does.
The older man watches him with a pleased smile, leaning against his desk with his hands in his pockets. He speaks, voice echoing off the walls like velvet.
“Maeda, right?”
Riku nods, getting closer to the man’s desk. He stops to respond. “J-Just Riku is fine, sir.” He wants to kill himself for stuttering.
“Riku.. pretty name for a pretty face, hm?” The man comments boldly, tilting his head.
It completely catches Riku off guard.
His face heats up as he registers what the man says to him. His eyes widen. Before he can reply, the man is speaking again.
“You’re Japanese, aren’t you?” The man adds, asking the innocent looking boy in his native language, shocking him a bit.
He is a Korean language teacher after all, but still.
How did he know?
Riku nods, giving the man a small smile. “I am. How— how’d you know?”
The older chuckles. “Your Korean pronunciation is imperfect. But it’s cute.”
“Plus your name gives it away.” The blonde man adds, placing his glasses atop his head.
Riku freezes, suddenly feeling self conscious about his pronunciation. He flushes.
“I’ll see you Wednesday.” The man adds again, going back around to his desk nonchalantly.
Riku repeatedly bows to him, scurrying out the door like there’s ants in his pants. The older grins fondly as he watches him, already looking forward to sharing space with him this year.
The boy makes it out of the building and immediately goes back to his dorm.
He’s finished with classes for today, so he takes a quick nap in hopes of forgetting about a certain blonde haired man he met today.
He sleeps for about 2 hours and when he wakes up, it’s dawn. He quickly texts Jaehee asking his whereabouts so they can potentially meet up for dinner.
It works out well for the boy because Jaehee tells him he’s just finishing up his last class of the day. They meet up after a bit, walking to the dining hall together.
Riku tells the boy everything that happened while he was in class.
“Mr. Oh? Oh yeah, everyone knows he’s hot. I think he’s single.” The puppy-like boy grins.
Riku feels his ears get hot at the mere mention of the man. He shushes the boy. “Will you keep your voice down?”
Jaehee laughs. “Relax. I won’t tell anyone about your little crush.”
Riku hits his shoulder. “It’s not a crush.” The tall boy raises his eyebrows.
“Yeah? Then how come you’re blushing?” He teases the boy.
The brunette looks at him, rolling his eyes and still failing to hide his very obvious blush. “Whatever.”
“And what about you? Who was that guy I saw you with earlier? You guys seemed pretty close!” Riku adds, completely deflecting.
It’s Jaehee’s turn to blush now.
“Shut up.. we’re just friends.” He explains to the nosy boy, scratching his neck.
Riku giggles at the boy’s obvious lie. “If you say so.” Just then, the boy Jaehee’s “just friends” with appears behind him, smiling.
“So this is where you were.” The boy speaks to Jaehee. He then notices Riku. He smiles as he introduces himself. “Hi, I’m Yushi.”
The boy smiles back, getting a better look at the other’s face. He’s a bit cat-like. Cute.
“Riku. Nice to meet you. Jaehee here was just telling me about you.” He nods to the boy, smirking.
Jaehee glares at him.
Yushi gets red in real time. “All good things I hope! Jaehee, can we talk?” He asks the boy, laughing softly.
The tall boy immediately gets up from his seat.
He gives Riku apologetic eyes as he and Yushi walk away and out of sight, leaving Riku at the table alone, which he honestly doesn't mind as it gives him even more time to be nosy.
He watches all of the activity happening in the cafeteria.
He notices the same bratty girls at the table across from him that were in Mr. Oh’s class with him earlier.
His stifles laughter as he listens to their substance lacking conversation. He wonders how they even got into the school since they talk like they have a 1.5 GPA combined.
While minding their business, his mouth completely misses his straw, accidentally spilling his drink on himself.
He curses at the sticky juice now staining his fingers and shirt hem, urgently getting up to wash his hands in the nearby restroom inside of the dining hall.
He pushes the door open, walking to a sink. As soon as he gets in front of one, he hears a zipper followed by a toilet flush.
A few seconds later, one of the stalls opens, revealing the one person he doesn’t expect to see in the slightest.
In all of his tall and blonde glory, Mr. Oh.
He immediately starts thinking about the butterfly effect and how if only he would’ve waited a few more minutes to come in, he could’ve avoided the man.
Their eyes meet in the mirror for a nanosecond.
He immediately looks down, running hot. The man finishes washing his hands two sinks down from Riku.
He dries his hands before walking closer to the Japanese boy. Riku’s heart rate speeds up when the man gently rests his hand on his waist.
“Excuse me.” The man says as he leans over to pick up his lanyard he’d hung up across from the boy before using the bathroom.
He scrambles to move out of the man’s way. “S-Sorry.” He stutters yet again.
The blonde man shakes his head, smiling. “You’re fine, sweetheart.” He speaks softly near the boy’s ear.
Riku flushes pink at the nickname, wondering if he calls his other students that. His voice echoes in the boy’s ear.
Their proximity in the moment makes his head turn. He deeply inhales his scent again, becoming tempted to ask what kind of cologne he uses.
His hand stays planted for a few seconds more after he retrieves it. The boy tenses up at the gentle touch that sends shivers throughout his entire body.
The moment doesn’t last long, but it feels like time slows down for the boy.
Before the man leaves, he reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out what looks like a handkerchief. He places it neatly on the sink the boy’s in front of.
“For your shirt.” He alludes at the juice stains on the boy’s shirt before leaving the bathroom without another word.
Riku stares at himself in the mirror, blinking rapidly as he tries to process what the hell just happened. He grabs the handkerchief, inspecting it closely.
He reads the elegant letters printed onto the cloth.
Sion, Oh
“Sion.” He utters to himself, already loving the way the name sounds coming out of his mouth.
He quickly uses the cloth for its intended purpose, running cold water on it and gently dabbing his shirt hem stained a muted pink.
He wonders how the man could be so attentive in a singular 30 second interaction. He smiles to himself at the sweet gesture, feeling giddy.
He holds onto the handkerchief tightly, stuffing it into his bag when he makes it back to his table. Jaehee returns shortly after and they finish eating dinner.
They go out afterwards with Yushi and Riku third wheels the two like there’s no tomorrow. They may not be official, but anyone with eyes can tell they’re two lovesick idiots.
The three go their separate ways when they notice the time and how late it’s getting, especially since it’s a school night.
Riku gets back to his dorm shortly after. He takes a quick shower and finishes unpacking since he’d stopped midway yesterday night.
Getting to sleep is everything but easy for the boy.
He tosses and turns in his bed with one person in mind. He wonders what the blonde man is doing right now.
Being invasive surprisingly helps him fall asleep.
But little does Riku know, the blonde man is thinking of him too. Heavily. As soon as the blonde laid eyes on the boy, he knew he was in deep trouble.
Especially since he doesn’t usually look at his students outside of academia, but he can’t help being curious about the pretty boy.
The boy’s face floods his mind as he tries to fall asleep. His soft, cat-like features. His big doe eyes. His gentle cheekbones. His pretty speaking voice. Everything.
“Riku.” The man mumbles, looking up at his ceiling. He shakes his head, telling himself to pull it together internally.
He finally falls asleep, curious about the next time he’ll see the boy.
. . .
Wednesday morning comes and Riku feels his stomach get weak every time he thinks about the man he will inevitably see later on.
He spent all of yesterday thinking about today. He eats a light breakfast just in case his food doesn’t stay down from how nervous he is.
He and Jaehee walk to their first period class together, talking about trivial things like their favorite artists and niche movies.
They make it to class and the same woman who told him if he’s late more than three times he’ll get detention, is ironically enough, running late today.
He and Jaehee stifle laughter as they watch her stumble through the door looking disheveled, stealing glances at each other. She gets started with attendance right away.
She starts the actual lesson a few minutes later. She has a slideshow prepared, instructing the class to take notes. By the end, everyone has two full pages of them.
Riku rubs his aching wrist, finally putting his pen down for the first time in nearly an hour.
The entire class groans when she assigns homework on the first day, already dreading how this year is gonna go.
She dismisses them and everyone crowds the door, wanting to be the first out. He and Jaehee laugh at the eagerness of everyone else.
They make it out and immediately start confiding in each other about the horrible woman.
“An entire class period dedicated to a slideshow on reproduction? Is she serious?” Jaehee laughs.
The boy chuckles alongside him. “Did you see the girl in front of us falling asleep?”
Jaehee laughs again. “With the blue sweater? I’m surprised she didn’t get called on.”
The two gossip about their classmates for a bit and before they know it, they’re parting ways for their next classes. They agree to meet up tomorrow for lunch again.
He pep talks himself as he walks to the man’s class.
You can do this, Riku. You’ve done harder things. It’s just school.
He walks in and he sees the man typing on his computer.
The older looks up, sensing another presence. He smiles, immediately stopping what he’s doing to acknowledge the boy.
“Welcome. You’re 15 minutes early.” The man comments, teasing.
Riku’s eyes widen, obviously mistaking the class time. “O-Oh. I’ll come back later then.” He stammers as he replies, turning to walk back out the door.
The man laughs, getting up. He stops him. “No, stay. Keep me company.”
The boy slowly turns back around. He flushes. “O-Okay.” He hates how he can only talk in stutters when he’s around the man.
He settles in a seat at the very back of the room and it makes the blonde laugh again. He speaks. “Can you even see the board from back there?”
Riku nods, squinting at the barely seeable writing on the board.
“I don’t bite, y’know.” The man comments at the distance the boy purposely leaves between them.
The boy flushes again, getting up to move his seat. He’s two desks away from the man now. As soon as he sits down, he regrets moving this close.
Too close.
The blonde smiles. “That’s better. I can actually see your pretty face now.”
He blushes a violent red and the man snickers.
“Not much of a talker, are you?” The older man comments at the borderline one-sided conversations that keep happening between them.
Riku shakes his head.
“That’s not it..” He trails off, looking everywhere but the man’s eyes.
Just as the man is about to reply, the boy’s stomach growls loudly. The blonde’s eyes widen. He laughs again shortly after.
“Hungry?”
Riku says every swear word he can think of in his head, cursing his stomach for choosing now to let him know it’s hungry.
He shakes his head, stuttering yet again. “I-I’m fine.” He fibs through his teeth.
The older raises an eyebrow, humming. “You’re a horrible liar.” He says, reaching into his lunch pail and tossing the boy one of his snacks.
The boy bows at the man to thank him. He basically inhales the food, eating quickly and nearly forgetting to chew.
He stuffs his cheeks, forgetting that the man is in front of him for a moment. He looks up mid chew as he feels a stare.
The man laughs, grabbing a few wipes for the boy’s mouth. “Not hungry, eh?” He comments on the boy's actions completely contradicting his words.
Unable to talk with his mouth full, Riku just blinks up at the man. The blonde comes over, gently wiping the boy’s mouth.
“You’re a very messy eater.” The man comments at the back to back messes the boy makes on himself while eating.
Riku blushes, finally swallowing the bite and finishing the snack. “Thank you.” He says to the man at his hospitality.
The man gathers the trash from his desk, throwing it in the trash can next to his office chair. He smiles, finding the boy adorable.
“How.. how old are you?” The boy questions the man, suddenly feeling bold.
The blonde puts his coffee tumbler down, laughing. “Out of nowhere?”
Riku flushes again, quickly apologizing for the abruptness of the question. “Sorry. It’s just.. you look a bit young to be a professor.”
The man smiles at how much the boy talks now. “No, it’s fine, I get that a lot.” He laughs.
“I’m twenty-six.” He tells the boy.
Riku’s eyes get big suddenly, not expecting the man to be so young. His reaction makes the blonde laugh.
“And what about you?” The man adds, now curious about the boy’s age.
Riku gives him a toothless smile. “Twenty-one.” He responds, not thinking much of it.
The older man’s eyebrows raise. “Twenty-one.” He repeats, making the boy nod.
“You’re a baby.” He adds, organizing the stack of papers on his desk.
Riku laughs for the first time and the man’s heart skips. His eyes turn into crescents when he smiles which the man finds adorable.
“You should laugh more.” He comments after the boy’s giggling fit is over.
The boy immediately goes back to hermit mode. He flushes again, looking down at his hands in his lap.
He smiles at the boy again. “So what are you in school for?” He questions the blushing brunette.
Riku looks up, mimicking the man’s small smile. “Vet training.” He answers simply.
The man’s eyebrows raise, seemingly amused at the boy’s answer. “Yeah? You like animals?” He asks.
He watches the younger's eyes light up in real time. The boy nods fervently. “I love them.” He answers genuinely.
The man stares, finding him increasingly endearing. “You know..” He starts.
“You kind of resemble a black cat a bit.” He adds, catching the boy off guard again. Riku laughs softly.
“Thank you? I think you resemble.. a bunny.” He tells the man in a quiet voice, suddenly feeling shy.
The blonde chuckles at the cute comparison. “Why thank you.” He says, suddenly getting up with a stack of papers.
“Would you be a doll and put these on each of your classmates' desks?” He adds, handing the stack to the boy.
Riku flushes as he nods, gladly taking the papers. Their fingers brush against each other’s at the exchange. It feels like electricity to the boy.
He turns his back to the man briefly to place the papers on each desk and the blonde can’t help himself when he finds himself staring at the boy’s curves.
He tilts his head to get a better look, noticing the slightly feminine sway in his walk. Particularly his hips. It makes the man’s head spin.
His eyes go lower and he stops himself, cutting all the perverted thoughts short when the boy comes back to his desk to hand him the leftovers.
He clears his throat, faking a smile. “Thank you.”
The boy hums softly, turning back around to sit. The older man gently shakes his head, trying to forget about the boy and his perfect body for the time being.
The bell rings and they give each other one last knowing look before the rest of the class starts flooding in.
Riku sighs quietly to himself at the sight of the dumb blonde trio walking over to the man’s desk bearing gifts.
They each hand the man a gift bag. He sees the man smile and place them behind his desk. His mood quickly turns sour.
Forgetting about his proximity to the man, he glares at the girls.
When they finally walk away, Sion immediately turns in his direction. He mouths “what’s wrong” to the boy, immediately noticing his energy shift.
Riku fakes a smile, shaking his head. The man gives him one last reassuring look before directing his attention to the class.
“Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you all had enough time to go over the syllabus.” The man speaks to the class, projecting his voice.
“In front of you is our first official assignment. But don’t worry, I just wanna see what you all know. I expect you all to have it on my desk no later than Monday morning.“ The man explains.
Riku looks down at the packet he’d previously handed out.
It’s a basic Korean grammar worksheet. He gets nervous as he skims through it, losing confidence in his comprehension abilities at every page turn.
He doesn’t wanna inconvenience Jaehee by asking him to be his tutor, so he makes the novel decision to come to the man’s office hours tomorrow.
It pains him to ask for help this early into the school year, but he needs the credits more than anything. He takes sloppy notes during class, mind jumbled.
About an hour later, the man dismisses them. Riku defeatedly packs up his things, cursing at himself for underestimating the difficulty level of the class.
. . .
The next day, Riku doesn’t have classes. Which you’d think he’d be thrilled about but no. Instead, he has to go ask his hot professor for help.
“Fuck this.” He mumbles to himself as he stands outside of the man’s classroom. It’s around sunset time, so the building is completely empty of students.
He’s shocked the man even offers office hours this late. Disregarding those thoughts, he slowly walks in.
He sees the man behind his desk, much like yesterday.
Instead of typing on his computer, he’s extremely focused on writing something. He does a double take when the boy walks in, immediately putting the pen down.
“Well this is a pleasant surprise. Hello.” He semi coos to the boy.
He gives the boy a tired smile, and Riku instantly feels bad for coming in and asking the man for help so late.
He gives the man a small smile, walking closer to his desk. “Hi, i-is this a bad time? I can come back earlier tomorrow if you want.“ The boy babbles.
The blonde shakes his head. “Nonsense. You’re already here. Sit, sit.“ He tells the boy, clearing his desk. Riku smiles.
“Thank you.” He replies, sitting in the same seat he sat at yesterday. He unzips his bag, getting out a pencil and the grammar worksheet that has him stumped.
The man gets up and walks behind him. He places his hands on either side of the boy's desk, trapping him in the middle.
“Is this what’s troubling you, sweetheart?“
There’s that nickname again.
The boy flushes as he nods. He can feel the man’s lanyard hitting his back whenever he moves.
He smells so, so good again. He’s thankful the man can’t see his face because his eyes are completely shut in front of him, fully inhaling his scent.
He opens his eyes to ask the man a question. “Mr. Oh, w-what noise does this characte—“ He starts before the man cuts him off.
He whispers into the boy’s ear, making him tense up.
“Call me Hyung.”
Riku pauses, beginning to question the man.
“H-Hyung? Are you sure? It feels wrong, I mean you're my profess—” The man cuts him off again, shushing him.
“We’re outside of class, no?”
Riku blinks, thinking his ears are deceiving him. “W-Well yeah, but—“
“Then call me Hyung.” The man interrupts again, making Riku be quiet overall. He nods, flushing.
The boy tries his question again. “Hyung..what noise does this character make?” He asks, pointing at the foreign word on the sheet.
He can sense the man grinning behind him.
“It sounds even prettier coming out of your mouth than I imagined.“ He whispers into the Japanese boy’s ear again.
Riku shivers.
The blonde happily answers his question after that, actually beginning the tutoring now.
The boy asks dumb questions on purpose, just loving the way the older mansplains in his ear.
“And how much did you say this counted towards our final grade again?”
Sion clicks his pen. “Did someone not read their syllabus?” he speaks into the boy's ear, tone becoming less playful.
The boy’s eyes widen, completely forgetting that he’d lost the stupid syllabus on the first day.
Fuck.
He nervously laughs. “Um, I accidentally misplaced it..the syllabus. I think I need a new one, I’m sorry.”
The man sighs behind him. “Riku.. I have a one syllabus per student policy where if you lose it, I can’t give you a new one. I’m sorry.”
The boy slumps in his chair at the news.
He pouts unknowingly. The man steals a glance at him, wanting to kill himself for being the reason for the pitiful expression.
He comes back around to face him.
“Can I have a new one, pretty please?” Riku looks up at him with doe eyes, hoping he’ll cave and give him a new one. Ultimately, it works.
“You’re so cute.” The man comments, frowning.
“Why are you so cute?” The blonde sighs again before walking over to his desk and getting out a brand new syllabus for the boy.
He warns before handing it to him. “If you lose this one, you’re a lost cause.”
The boy nods, making a mental note. “Thank you.” He smiles happily, putting the papers safely away in his bag.
The blonde man walks back over to the boy’s desk “Plus, you’re my favorite.” He whispers the last part.
Riku flushes once again, looking back down at the worksheet in front of him.
The tutoring continues for another half hour. The older ends up just giving the boy most of the answers out of pity.
He sighs. “You know you’re never gonna learn anything like this.” The man comments.
The boy looks up from the page cluelessly. “What do you mean?”
The man rolls his eyes, snickering.
“You know what I mean. Hyung’s not gonna be there to give you all the answers on an actual test, y’know.”
Riku pouts again, nodding guiltily.
The man feels horrible, but he takes the boy’s cheat sheet away from him. “Try the next one on your own.”
The boy looks up at the man with a quiet sigh. He tries the next question on his own as instructed. He unconfidently shows it to the man when he’s finished.
The man smiles after checking it. “You got it right. You’re way more capable than you think you are. Just a bit unmotivated.” He says, putting the paper down.
“And while it may be right, your punctuation is a bit off here.” The blonde says while showing him where he made an error.
The boy quickly erases it, trying again. He looks up at the man for validation. He sighs when he shakes his head, meaning it’s still incorrect.
He chuckles. “You’re thinking about it too much.” He takes the boy’s pencil, rewriting it correctly for him.
“Oh.” Riku feels silly for not writing the very obvious answer sooner. He flushes. “I knew that.” He lies, scratching his neck.
The older man finds him adorable. Without realizing, he strokes the boy’s hair. Riku leans into the touch without realizing, either.
The man immediately lets go upon realizing what he’s doing. He apologizes for touching the boy without his permission.
“I’m sorry.. I don’t know what got into me.”
Riku smiles, shaking his head. His ears get hot as he thinks about the gentleness of the touch. “No, it’s okay. I..I liked it.” He confesses quietly.
The blonde man freezes, obviously taken aback by the boy's answer. “You did?”
The Japanese boy flushes again, nodding.
The older man grins, reaching his hand up to do it again. Just as he’s about to make contact with the brunette boy’s locks, there’s a loud thud in the hallway.
He jerks his hand back, looking up to see what could’ve caused the noise. He gets from behind the boy urgently.
“Stay right here.“
The man goes outside the hallway to check the noise out. He comes back in once he realizes that the nighttime janitorial staff is responsible for it.
The boy looks back at him with anxious eyes. “W-What was that?“
The man smiles, shaking his head. “Just the janitor, don't worry.” Riku relaxes his shoulders.
He yawns and it doesn’t go unnoticed by the man. “Tired?“ He asks the boy. The younger shakes his head, blinking to stay awake.
The blonde sighs. “You’re struggling to keep your eyes open.” He says, helping the boy pack up his things.
“It’s late. Go get some sleep, I’ll still be here tomorrow.” The man adds, laughing.
Riku stands up, zipping his bag. “Are you sure?”
The man nods. “I’ll see you next week.”
The boy gives the man a lazy smile, beginning to walk towards the door. He stops, turning around. “Thank you.”
The blonde smiles. “It’s my job.” He tells the tired boy. They exchange one last look before Riku leaves him alone in the empty classroom.
He laughs to himself when he catches himself staring at the boy’s oddly feminine gait again as he walks away.
“I’m a pervert.” He mutters to himself when the boy leaves. He gets started on his lesson plans for the next few days, leaving the classroom far later than intended.
Back in Riku’s dorm, he FaceTime’s Jaehee, telling him everything that happened, leaving out nothing. They talk for a while before Riku leaves to eat dinner.
He makes himself a sandwich with the ingredients he has in his mini fridge.
He takes a long shower afterwards, washing the long day off of him. He shampoos his hair, pausing as he gets flashbacks from the man earlier.
He strokes his own hair in the same spot the man did earlier. He smiles at nothing as he remembers the safeness of the touch.
He finishes showering half an hour later. He checks his schedule as he gets into bed, grimacing at the bright phone screen.
He quickly turns his brightness down, doomscrolling a bit before falling asleep. He thankfully doesn’t forget to set his alarm this time.
Riku dreams peacefully for the first time in a while.