NIGHTMARE

17 | the complexities of detention

changkyun crumpled up another sheet in his fist as he walked into detention with mr yoo. it was the fourteenth sheet he'd torn down on his way, and it was the same damn printout of that childhood photo and the words IS CHANGKYUN GAY printed on it.

it's not like it was rocket science. yes - he was, duh.

still, his negative mood did lift slightly upon entering kihyun's classroom that wednesday afternoon.

"hey, sir," he said as he passed the teacher's desk.

kihyun blinked at him. "what are you doing here?" he demanded.

changkyun perched on the edge of the desk and narrowed his eyes. "don't you remember, sir? you gave me detention."

kihyun just stared back down at his work, really regretting his decision at this point. "well... go and sit down, and get on with some work."

changkyun tilted his head and analysed the teacher for a moment. kihyun had kind of shut off after that kiss, like they couldn't even be friends anymore. "where should i sit?" he asked.

kihyun missed the playful tone in his voice. "anywhere you like," he brushed him off.

changkyun smirked and walked around the desk to kihyun's chair. without another word, he pulled the chair out a little, and sat directly onto kihyun's lap.

"changkyun?!" kihyun squeaked, "what are you doing?"

"you said i could sit anywhere i liked," changkyun explained, "and i like this seat pretty good."

kihyun tried to push him off but changkyun stayed firm on his lap. "you can't do this," he hissed, "get off now."

changkyun sighed. "okay, sir, i will," he said, "but first you have to do something for me."

"...what?" kihyun asked carefully.

changkyun leaned close to the teacher's ear and whispered, "call me sexy."

"changkyun!" kihyun screeched, "that is completely inappropriate!"

"say it or i'm not moving," changkyun countered, crossing his arms as if he was in for a long wait.

"d-don't try and tell me what to do, mr lim." kihyun attempted his most authoritative tone, which came out as a slightly angry tremble.

"did you just stutter, sir?"

"n-no, i didn't."

"you just did it again!"

"okay fine!" kihyun burst out, "you're sexy. now get off my lap."

changkyun burst out laughing and walked languidly away from the desk, taking a seat in the front row and putting his feet up. "so, kihyun, why'd you give me detention? wanted to spend more time with me?"

"get on with some work please," kihyun told him. he buried a reddening face in a pile of paperwork, wishing the ground would just swallow him up.

changkyun emptied his books from his bag onto the desk and patted the seat beside him. "can you help me with this, sir?"

kihyun's eyes shot up nervously. being around changkyun made him feel all kinds of weird, but he couldn't figure out why (or didn't want to figure out why). changkyun was just a student - his student.

"please?" changkyun stuck out his bottom lip and patted the seat again.

kihyun couldn't resist, and slid into the seat to look at changkyun's work. "okay, so what do you need help with?"

"well, there are a lot of things," changkyun admitted, shooting kihyun a look. "first of all, there's this super cute guy who won't let me talk to him..."

kihyun frowned. "chang-"

changkyun sat upright and shuffled closer to kihyun, taking his hand in his and holding it. "i kissed you that night, hyung," he implored, "why can't you just tell me how you feel instead of all this bullshit?"

kihyun snatched his hand away. "that's not how the education system works, changkyun," he said quietly.

"no one's here," changkyun said, "and they don't even have cctv in this class-"

"i could lose my job," kihyun blurted, turning back to face him. "doesn't that mean anything to you?"

changkyun gazed into his eyes for a moment, before his gaze drifted down to his lips. he swiftly cupped kihyun's face in both hands and pressed their lips together, kissing him softly at first.

kihyun knew it was a bad idea - probably one of his worst - not to pull away and give the boy the telling off he deserved. but instead he kissed him back, winding his fingers into changkyun's hair. despite everything, he wanted him.

finally, changkyun pulled away, still only just parting from kihyun's lips. breathlessly, he whispered, "you mean more than that to me."

kihyun felt his heart melt. he'd never truly meant anything to anybody, and he found himself suddenly wanting to entrust the eighteen year old with his life, and his love. suddenly, they weren't teacher and student anymore.

"sorry," changkyun mumbled, "i shouldn't have done that..."

kihyun watched wordlessly as changkyun packed up his things into his school bag and started to leave. it was so wrong, but he really wanted to kiss him again.

"wait."

changkyun stopped at the door, looking downcast and ashamed. kihyun stepped towards him and wrapped his arms around him, never wanting to let go.

"why are you doing this?" changkyun murmured, breathing in the smell of kihyun's shampoo.

"because i-i..." kihyun stammered again and stumbled backwards. "because i don't want to lie to you."

"lie?"

"about how i-" kihyun broke off and went back to his desk. "i mean, you can't leave yet. detention isn't over, and you've still got five hundred lines left to write."

changkyun narrowed his eyes and threw the teacher a puzzled look, but did as he was told and sat back down again. "what line am i writing, sir?"

kihyun sat down at his desk and gazed at him from across the classroom. "write... true love knows no limits. five hundred times."

"five hundred times?" changkyun exclaimed. but he was grinning, eyes bright and beaming, because kihyun hadn't turned him away yet.

"yeah, get to it," kihyun answered.

he went back to marking his work, glancing up at changkyun from time to time. it was like kihyun was stuck in a neverending loop - where what's right seems wrong, and what's wrong seems very right.

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