𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓻𝔂❤︎

Chapter 5

The rest of the day passed in a blur, but Y/N's mind kept drifting back to that moment in chemistry class. The way Mr. Le had leaned over her paper, catching her mistake-the way his eyes had crinkled in amusement behind his mask. No matter how hard she tried to focus on her other classes, her thoughts kept returning to that brief interaction. It wasn't just the embarrassment of getting something so simple wrong, but the way he had singled her out with that quiet, sarcastic humor he seemed to reserve for moments like those.

By the time the final bell rang, signaling the end of the day, she was relieved to head home. She walked through the school's crowded hallways, the sound of lockers slamming and students laughing fading into the background as she replayed the events of seventh period in her head. That light touch on her paper, the soft chuckle hidden by his mask-it lingered in her thoughts.

She had always felt a strange pull toward Mr. Le, but today had made that feeling even stronger. There was something about his calm presence, his dry wit, and the way he seemed to see through everything without ever showing much of himself. It was hard to explain, but she found herself looking forward to every chemistry class, not just for the subject itself, but for him.

When she got home, she went straight to her room, tossing her backpack onto the floor and collapsing onto her bed. Her violin sat in the corner, untouched since her last practice session. Orchestra didn't really excite her the way chemistry did, or maybe it was just the difference in teachers. Either way, she found herself staring up at the ceiling, thoughts drifting back to Mr. Le.

She pulled out her lab paper from her bag, smoothing out the crumpled edges as she scanned it again. The circled mistake seemed so small now, but it still carried that same weight from earlier. His pen had left a faint smudge on the page, and she traced it lightly with her finger, almost laughing at herself for how ridiculous she was being. It was just a correction-one he made a dozen times every day-but to her, it felt like something more.

A knock at her door startled her out of her thoughts. "Dinner's ready," her mom called from the hallway.

"I'll be down in a minute," Y/N replied, quickly tucking the lab paper back into her backpack. She wasn't ready to explain why she had been staring at a simple chemistry worksheet like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

At dinner, the conversation with her family flowed as usual, but her mind remained distant. The thoughts of Mr. Le, his sarcasm, and his oddly gentle demeanor were hard to shake off. She wondered if he even thought about these moments after class, or if he just went home like any other teacher, grading papers and preparing for the next day. To him, it was probably just another routine interaction, but to her, it felt like a subtle connection-something unspoken but present all the same.

Later that evening, as she sat at her desk doing homework, her phone buzzed with a message from one of her lab partners. The group chat was mostly about the lab and what they thought would be on the upcoming test, but in between, there were a few jokes about her mistake from earlier.

"Guess we should double-check everything next time, just in case someone gets creative again." One of them teased.

"Mr. Le definitely didn't let that one slide, huh?"

She rolled her eyes with a smile, typing a quick reply. "Yeah, yeah. I'll triple-check next time, promise."

Her thoughts wandered again. Tomorrow was another day, another chemistry class with Mr. Le. She wasn't sure why that filled her with a sense of anticipation, but it did. There was something about those moments, those quiet exchanges, that felt different than anything else in her day. She didn't know what to expect, but a part of her was excited for it-excited to see what sarcastic comment or amused glance would come next.

And as she fell asleep that night, it wasn't the embarrassment of her mistake that stayed with her. It was the way Mr. Le had looked at her, the faint hint of a smile in his eyes, and the fact that, for just a moment, she felt like she wasn't invisible at all.