NIGHTMARE

16 | pink tutus and terrible secrets

"hey, fag!"

changkyun sighed. these guys never did leave him alone. "what," he muttered in annoyance.

a shove to the shoulder. "didn't know you were into drag, tranny."

they held a crumpled paper up to his face and changkyun could just about make out the image of his younger self dressed in pink and loving it. right now, he was hating it.

"fuck off, already," he cursed at them, tearing the paper away.

"oh, what's this? joining weightlifting club are we? too bad you'll never be strong enough to fight back. weak."

changkyun felt himself being pushed backwards into a wall of lockers, his back smashing against the metal and his head catching one of the locks. he hissed in pain but they just kicked him again.

"nothing to say for yourself, faggot?"

"what's going on here?" a deeper voice demanded, approaching the scene in the corridor. mr son, here to save the day.

"nothing, sir," changkyun mumbled, his head still ringing from the blow.

"we don't tolerate bullying in this school, boys," mr son told them sharply, "now get out, i don't want to catch you again."

the group of boys slowly skulked off down the corridor and changkyun was left with mr son. his worst enemy.

"you okay, changkyun?" mr son asked kindly, picking up his papers whilst changkyun got unsteadily to his feet.

"y-yeah, sir, i'm fine," changkyun answered, brushing him off, though he hated himself for stammering.

mr son smiled when he saw the weightlifting club poster changkyun had dropped. "you thinking of joining?" he asked. "we've been looking for new members."

"uh... yeah, i guess," changkyun told him, scratching awkwardly at the nape of his neck.

"well, clubs always look good on your resume," said mr son. "they take up time, but it's worth it. plus, weightlifting is great if you're interested in bulking up."

"yeah," changkyun said quietly.

if he was honest, choir club was already taking up his time, and weightlifting club was only going to make things worse. how was he supposed to get away with missing baseball training? coach kwon would murder him the first chance he got.

"changkyun, i know i'm only a math teacher, but you can talk to me if you ever need to, right?" mr son looked so nice then, so genuine, that changkyun was having a hard time hating his guts.

"yeah, uh, thanks, mr son," he rambled. "i've gotta go..."

he could see why kihyun would like someone like mr son. he had a nice personality and a good career, as well as being physically attractive. what did changkyun even have to offer? underage sex and a place on the sex offenders list probably.

but the latter didn't seem as important as he felt his face turn red at the thought of fucking his teacher.

changkyun almost slapped himself. he needed to stop thinking these things. maybe he should transfer, forget about kihyun entirely. but deep down he knew he could never do that. every time he saw kihyun, thought about him, stepped inside his class - he knew he couldn't give up. he was already in way beyond his depth, but he still had a long way yet to fall.

yet the falling itself didn't seem to hurt so much. it was worth it if it meant being with yoo kihyun.

"fuck, i'm late." changkyun shook the thoughts out of his head as he sprinted towards the field for baseball practise.

on the baseball pitch, the team was already well into practise. coach kwon didn't seem very impressed to see changkyun - dressed in skinny jeans and his varsity jacket instead of kit, and late on top of that.

"lim! get your ass over here!" the coach yelled.

changkyun ran over, breathless, anticipating the thrashing he would receive.

"the game is next week, lim, you understand that?" coach kwon said in exasperation. "you can't be late. you have to be at your best, and you can't miss a single practise. got it?"

"yes, coach," changkyun mumbled.

"good," coach kwon sighed, "now pick up that bat and get your ass into the box."

changkyun obliged, and within moments he was in the batter's box again hitting home runs, thoughts of cute teachers and dangerous secrets traipsing through his mind.

after baseball practise was over and done with for the day, changkyun headed back to the boys changing room to pick up his kit to take home and wash. but as his hand closed around the door handle, he stopped. there were voices coming from inside, and he caught his name.

"is it true that changkyun's gay?" a slightly accented voice spoke.

"i dunno," another replied, "i thought that was a joke. why, you interested?"

"what? no," the first snorted. "there's this picture of him in a pink dress or something and it's going around school. everyone's saying it. i was just wondering-"

that's when changkyun lost his footing and slipped forward, tumbling into the changing room. the two boys who were inside stared at him before lowering their eyes in shame.

"uh... hey, changkyun," junhui said nervously. changkyun guessed his was the more accented voice.

"hey," said the other - jihoon - in a quiet tone.

changkyun just went to grab his stuff, shoved the kit in his rucksack, and marched back out of the changing room with his head held high. sure, he was embarrassed, and he kind of wanted the ground to swallow him up completely. but he had bigger secrets to hide than being closeted.

it was fun, though... somehow. chasing after yoo kihyun was like a game, and one changkyun wasn't going to be late to. he was going to win, and no one else could take the place of man of the match. not even god-lookalike mathematics teachers.

"chang!"

changkyun slowed down a little for soonyoung to catch up. "what's up?" he chuckled as soonyoung paused to catch his breath.

"my dad is so pissed at you," soonyoung accused, laughing. "you were so fucking late."

changkyun just shrugged, feeling a headache coming on from the collision with the locker door earlier. "coach will get over it," he said.

"oh," soonyoung said then, snapping his fingers, "a couple of guys on the team wanted to see the new avengers movie after school wednesday. you in?"

changkyun was about to agree, until he remembered he had something else to do on wednesday after school. "sorry, can't," he said as they reached the school gates where they would part ways.

"aw, why?" soonyoung punched his arm playfully.

"got detention!" changkyun laughed, skipping off in the opposite direction to his friend.

"you serious?" soonyoung scoffed, "you sound way too happy about that!"

changkyun grinned, far enough away for soonyoung not to catch the beaming smile. detention meant spending time alone with his favourite teacher.

of course he was happy about it.

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