Teacher's Pet Seongjoong

06

  Seonghwa's pov

   A while of being a pillow, and a shoulder to cry on, later, I left Yunho in my room. I taped a sticky note with my whereabouts to his forehead, then left my dorm.

Yunho had given me Mingi's number before he fell asleep, so I had texted the older man about where to meet him.

"What happened between the two of you?" I asked once I was sat in his living room.

The man sat before me looked more disheveled than I had ever seen him. His hair was messy, his tie was pulled loose, and his blazer was laid against a chair.

"I told Yunho I was uncomfortable with others knowing about our relationship- just while he's still a student here- yet he still called me later in the evening without warning. Now, not only do his friends- you, Yeosang, and Wooyoung- know, but also another professor.

"I don't know any of you three as well as Yunho does, so it made me anxious that you'd catch on, and now that you do know for sure... it's fear instead of anxiety that one of you will slip up and we'll get caught." Mingi confessed.

"Mingi, you do remember that this is a college and not a high school, right? You're both way past eighteen, so the worst that could happen would be harshly spoken words. You wouldn't lose your job, and Yunho wouldn't be kicked out.

Yunho can handle name-calling and insults exceptionally well- I've seen him retort harsher back than what was said to him. His sense of self worth and self acceptance is amazing, Mingi. He wouldn't be shaken down or scared away if anyone said anything about it."

"That's him, though. I know Yunho is strong; he's the strongest man- no, person- I've ever met. I'm not about to explain my own traumas, but I'm not nearly as strong as Yunho is as a result of my own past issues.

Seonghwa, I love Yunho, I really, truly do, but I don't know how well I'd be able to handle being insulted and degraded by my coworkers. I wouldn't want Yunho to have to deal with people saying things to him, and taking care of me and how I feel about it- that wouldn't be right to him.

I don't want either of us to get hurt, Seonghwa. I love him, and I know he loves me. I know the words may not affect him, but they will affect me, and then that'll affect him. I don't want him to be stressed."

"I completely understand that, Mingi. Although you and I have just met outside of the classroom for the first time, know that none of us would say anything about it. We might joke around about it in private to Yunho, but only to Yunho, and just us four around.

  None of us would tell anyone else about you two- who would we even have to tell? Us four friends are just that- it's only ever been the four of us.

  And about Yunho's call to you last night, he did so in my stead. Hongjoong and I are becoming romantically involved, and we had an issue last night, so Yunho called you so you'd give the phone to Hongjoong.

  Although he may have gone the "wrong" route with  how he asked for Hongjoong, he made that decision for me because I was upset. The blame of that is just as much on me and Hongjoong as it is on Yunho." I explained. Mingi looked confused as I spoke, but waited for me to finish first.

  "You and Hongjoong are dating?" He asked.

  "Right now we are undefined, but we have a mutual interest that we are exploring."

  "Oh my god I'm an asshole," Mingi groaned, "I thought Yunho was lying about that!"

  "Has he ever truly lied to you before- apart from little white lies about insignificant things to spare your feelings?" I asked. Mingi shook his head.