glass | gyuricky

five.

october.

The two weeks leading up to the class trip were uneventful at best, the monotony of high school interrupted only by the two precious art lessons they had every week. Gyuvin marveled just a little at how much those hours seemed to matter, even though he tried his best not to let them; then again, it wasn't like he had much reason to care about any subject in school other than art. Unlike people like Gunwook who hadn't decided what they were going to pursue in university, Gyuvin had known since he was a sophomore that he wanted to study art. Everything else took a backseat. His parents were understanding, and he knew he was lucky for it; they'd never gotten on his case for not doing well in math and chemistry. He wouldn't need linear algebra ever again in his life once he graduated, if he had any choice in the matter.

Gyuvin stopped by his locker, Wednesday afternoon after his trigonometry class ended, to pack up his stuff before going home. The trip was tomorrow and there wasn't going to be time for him to come by his locker and get anything he'd left behind, so he ticked off a mental list of things he needed to take with him in his head before he shut the door and scrambled the lock.

Most of the school was empty on Wednesday afternoons by the time he got out of class. Mr Im's trigonometry classes were known to end late, mainly because he was so unironically passionate about math no one could really stop him when he really got into a teaching mood. Gyuvin never really minded. It wasn't like he listened, anyway.

As he shouldered the front doors open and stepped out into the mid-afternoon sun, he heard another set of footsteps behind him, even, neat clicks on the linoleum tile.

"Hey, Gyuvin." Ricky caught up to him in a moment, rearranging something in his briefcase before looking up.

"Hey, Ricky. What are you doing here? There's no class today." Stupid question, actually, but any conversation was conversation

Ricky pretended to roll his eyes. "Believe it or not, your class isn't the only one I teach in this school."

"What, you mean the world doesn't revolve around me?" Gyuvin shot back, smiling.

"Oh, of course it does. My sincerest apologies for forgetting," Ricky answered, shaking his head as he laughed. "Seriously, you drive me nuts. Why are you in school so late?"

"Class ended late as usual," Gyuvin shrugged. "It's a regular thing at this point."

"Well, do you want a ride?" They stopped walking just then; Gyuvin hadn't even realized he was subconsciously following Ricky across the parking lot instead of the other way towards the main road. The beep of a car unlocking sounded, and Ricky gestured towards the car, opening the driver's side door. "I could drop you off, if you'd like."

"Oh," Gyuvin said, a little stunned. "Actually, that'd be great. I hate walking up the slope. Every day I wonder why they built a school at the bottom of a hill."

"Get in," Ricky said, smiling. "I promise to drive safely and not turn us into a pretzel around a tree trunk, if that makes you feel better."

"It doesn't," Gyuvin answered, deadpan. The interior of the car smelled like leather and a faint woodsy scent, pine? He wasn't familiar enough with cars to know what brand or model it was, but it looked nice. It looked like a car Ricky would drive, all black and sleek and seamless leather.

"Give me directions, okay?" Ricky said, pulling out of the parking lot smoothly. "I'm not the most familiar with this town, unfortunately, I only just moved back a month ago."

The car was almost silent on the road, unlike his mother's old Subaru that creaked every time they went over the slightest bump in the road. They'd gotten another car since then, but since they hadn't gotten rid of the Subaru Gyuvin was automatically the next owner of the car. He'd drive it to school if he could remember to fill up the gas every time it ran out, but as it was, he'd forgotten enough time to give up on the enterprise and just make the walk every morning. It wasn't too far, in any case.

"You're going the right way," Gyuvin said. "I'll tell you when you have to make a turn. Where were you before you moved here?"

"I was working in Seoul," he answered. "After I graduated from the University of Arts, I worked on the curation team for one of the museums in the city."

"Not the one we're going to?"

He smiled. "Unfortunately not."

"Why'd you leave? Did something happen?" Gyuvin wondered if he was pushing boundaries, asking questions about his teacher's past like this. But he also knew that Ricky was not like any other teachers he'd ever had in his life. Something was different here, and Gyuvin was willing to take the risk to figure it out.

"No, not really. I suppose I just got tired of city life. I spent my childhood here, but my family relocated to Seoul when I was nine." He spoke so naturally, so comfortably, like he was talking to a childhood best friend. It was different from the way he spoke in class; it was almost like he was putting up a facade in the classroom, acting a certain way to get people to like him. It worked, clearly, but it just didn't seem like him.

Was this him? Was Ricky letting his walls down just around Gyuvin, or was this the way he treated everybody?

"Anyway, I guess I needed a break from the city. I missed this place," Ricky finished. "What's on your mind? You're a little quiet."

You. "Oh, nothing," Gyuvin said quickly, recovering. "I lived in Seoul for a while too, you know. Just a couple of years when I was younger. I can see why you'd want to get away."

"Yeah?" Ricky answered, lighting up. "So you get me. I miss the peacefulness of being in a small town. It's always noisy in the big cities, even at night. It just never really stops."

Gyuvin nodded slowly. "You like quiet, huh?"

"I like peace," he said. "It's not exactly the same."

"My house is just up there, but you can drop me at the corner," Gyuvin said, sitting up in the passenger's seat to point ahead. "It's a cul-de-sac further in, and I don't want you to have to take the roundabout."

"Alright," Ricky said, pulling over at the turn. "Thanks for the company. Remember to pack for the trip tomorrow, okay?"

"Well..." Gyuvin hummed, his hand freezing on the door handle.

"Of course you haven't started packing," Ricky sighed. "I don't know why I'm surprised. It's colder up in the city than it is here, so make sure to pack warm clothes, okay?"

"Okay, I will. See you tomorrow, Ricky."

"See you tomorrow, Gyuvin."

Gyuvin didn't look back as he closed the door behind him and headed up the street to his house, though the buzz of adrenaline still ran hot in his fingertips.

That was definitely...something.

He couldn't shake the spring in his step as he entered his room, dropping his bag on the floor by his bed. It was just a conversation, really. The ride couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes, but something had changed. He tried his hardest not to think about it, as he went around the room picking up things to pack for the school trip tomorrow, letting stereo music drown out his thoughts.

"I wanna grab both your shoulders and shake, baby, snap out of it."