That was Then and This is Now

Final.

a/n: prompt no. 9 for the north wind and the sun, a sebaek fic fest.

dedicated to the anon who pushed me to join the fic fest in the first place (not like forced me to but you know what i mean askjfhk) ♡

September

There's a thin line between love and hate. Or so they say.

Sehun wasn't sure if he agreed with this sentiment. If he did, it would mean that somehow, some way, some day, he could potentially love Byun Baekhyun. That was impossible. He would rather spend an entire school year in a class of eighth graders than to go out with Byun Baekhyun. That was saying a lot considering Sehun absolutely detested middle schoolers, which was why he chose to teach elementary school in the first place. It was already bad enough that the school went from kindergarten to eighth grade, so he still had to see the older students around campus.

It was Friday afternoon, towards the end of the day and the students were spending their remaining hour in art class, finishing up their ladybug projects. Sehun was sitting at his desk grading the spelling tests from that morning although he wasn't actually doing much grading, more so grumbling to himself like a crazy person.

The screaming and laughing outside his closed door informed him the students were back. He opened the door to reveal an extremely excited Naeun with her ladybug in the palm of her hands. Messily painted with red and covered with little black hearts instead of the normal spots.

"Look, Mr. Oh! Look at my ladybug!"

Sehun grinned, bending down to look at the painted rock. "Wow, looks like a real ladybug. Nice work Naeun!"

The six year old girl skipped happily to her desk after receiving compliments from her teacher. The rest of the students quickly poured into class with their projects, earning themselves a "no running boys and girls" from the teacher. He took a look at all the children at their desk and realized there was one missing. Before he could ask the class about it, Seungjae, along with the one person he was hoping he wouldn't see, came walking through the door.

"Look at my ladybug, Mr. Oh! Isn't it cool? Mr. Byun let me pick the eyes out and everything!" the little boy chirped, looking up at the art teacher beside him.

Sehun forced the corners of his lips up into a tight smile. Said art teacher looked up at him with a bright grin. How insufferable .

"The kids had so much fun with this project. I'm thinking about doing something similar next week. Maybe a bee next time. Doesn't that sound cute?"

Baekhyun was all smiles. All the time. It should be pleasant. Who would want to work with a grumpy Gus all the time, right? Only when it came to Baekhyun did Sehun find it irritating. He knew that they work with children, so yes, they should try to look happy most of the time. He just didn't know how Baekhyun had so much energy all the time. He gave Baekhyun a polite nod and smile as he ushered Seungjae into the classroom and closed the door before he could say another word.

"Mr. Byun is so much fun, I wish we got to paint with him everyday!" Seungjae grinned from ear to ear, running off to show his classmates his freshly painted ladybug.

Fun . He was fun too, Sehun grumbled internally. Hell, anyone could help a bunch of six year olds paint rocks and glue on googly eyes. What was so special about that guy anyway? He was frowning, he could feel it. He smoothed out his furrowed brows with his fingers and told the students to pack up their backpacks. If his mother were here, she would nag him about how he'll get wrinkles and will never find someone to marry if he kept that grumpy face up.