Window to freedom °•Minsung•°

7)

Jisung took advantage of the exercise Minho had given to the class to move away from the professor and start walking through the desks, sometimes asking if anyone needed help.

It was his duty after all.

It had nothing to do with how pleasantly uncomfortable he felt around Mr Lee. Of course not.

"I'm really not that much older than you, Jisung" Minho had said, laughter on the tip of his lips.

What a dangerous sentence to say.
Jisung shook his head and ignored the little jump his heart had made remembering their conversation.

He frowned deeper.

" I just met him. What's wrong with me?"

It was all admiration. Had to be. He felt so skiddish around him because he was older, more clever, more experienced. Yes, that had to be it.

"Look at how the colors spread on the map and search for shades that don't seem coherent with the rest" Minho was explaining:
"That's where the astronomical influences end and the geographical ones start"

His voice was steady, he sounded so sure of himself. Jisung wondered how he could act like that in front of a whole class of people who expected everything from him. Jisung would have already died out of pure anxiety.

"Here, this is different" the girl called Julia was saying.

"Nice! Raise your hand then" her friend responded.

Julia looked horrified:
"Are you kidding?? If I do I'll have to talk to him!"

"Oh god, Julia has a crush" one of the boys, Matt retorted.

"Of course I do! Have you seen him"

Jisung swallowed saliva and walked back to the teacher's desk, embarassed to find himself agreeing with a girl he was supposed to be teaching to.

"It's not a crush. It's not."

And yet his heart picked up when he had to sit next to the professor, so close and yet so far.

"Are they doing well?" Minho asked in a breath.

Jisung looked down, ignoring the sharp edge of his jawline and the way his dark eyes glimmered in the natural light:

"Julia found something but she's scared of telling you" he snitched.

Minho laughed:
"That girl is brilliant... just a bit... distracted"

Jisung met his eyes.
Did Minho...know?
From his resigned smile, he seemed to be aware of the student's weakness. Jisung suddenly felt panicked. What if the professor could read through him as well??

"It's not the same thing thought."

He told himself:

"I'm his assistant. It's normal for me to look up to him as much as I do. She's a student, that's just weird and creepy"

"So? Are you sloths done? Come on, the exam won't be this long, you know?" mused Minho to the class:

"Julia" he called then:
"Found something?"

The girl jumped, caught on the spot and turned a bright shade of red:

"No! I-I meaaan... Yes, I have!"

Jisung could barely conceal a giggle and he saw the corner of Minho's mouth turn upward at that:

"Let's hear it then"

A bunch of stumbles over words later, Julia managed to give a convincing answer and after Minho commented:

"Great observation skills Julia... may want to get some english counseling thought, mh?"

the lesson continued smoothly 'till the end. The professor dismissed his class and made Jisung answer a few of the students' questions before they both left the building side by side.

"That went well" Minho commented, cracking his neck then releasing a hum.

Jisung avoided his gaze:
"Yeah..."

"So what made you choose this job, Jisung?" the professor asked politely.

The younger boy twisted his hands togheter, nervous about talking of his own personal thoughts and dreams:

"Well... professsor Kim told me this would be a great experience for me and I trust him with my life" he started.

Minho blinked, urging him to continue:
"But this is just that for me, experience" he admitted:

"I actually chose this course because I've always wanted to work outside, to do something practical...you know?"

He stole a shy glance at the professor and kept talking once he saw that he was still listening:
"I like getting my hands dirty, helping others. May it be people, animals or plants"

Minho hummed and seemed to think on it:
"You could make a great laboratory professor then... Maybe for Zoology or...Botany?"

Jisung nodded excitedly:
"That's exactly what I'd love to do!"

Minho smiled at his energy and placed a hand on his assistant's shoulder:
"You're practically already there, Jisung. Trust your boss on that."

Having said that, he winked.

He winked.

Jisung was filled with the burning desire to bury himself alive.

"Ugh I'm fucked, I'm so fucked"

______________________________________