Twenty-Five Fish

"You idiot... Stupid! Stupid!" Hamin groaned, hitting himself in the head repeatedly as he returned to his classroom.

He dropped into his seat and banged his head down on his desk so hard that it caught the attention of the entire class. But no one was all that worried about him. They just assumed that Hamin was being Hamin again. The boy recovered pretty quickly, anyway.

"Let's just focus on studying," Hamin sighed, grabbing his pencil and getting back to work.

Even though Hamin studying was an even stranger sight to everyone than him randomly banging his head on his desk, no one paid him any mind. This included Euiheon, who acted like Hamin didn't even exist when he came back to the classroom, his nose no longer bleeding but cheeks still slightly flushed.

The only person who showed any concern for the two boys was Yuel, who watched them from across the room. He figured something must have happened after Hamin pulled Euiheon out a few minutes ago. He hoped it didn't make their already rocky relationship worse, considering how hard Hamin was studying these days to try and be on good terms with Euiheon again.

At the same time, Yuel was in no position to be worrying about someone else. He turned to the boy next to him.

"What is it, Yuel?" Edin immediately said. "Do you need something? Are you thirsty? I can run to the vending machine and get you a drink."

"N-No, I'm not thirsty. I don't need anything," Yuel replied, waving his hands out to keep Edin from getting up.

It had been like this ever since the day Kyungwon showed up at their school out of the blue. While Edin had always been attentive and caring toward Yuel, he was taking it to the extreme lately by trying to do every little thing he could to make the boy comfortable. But it was actually having the opposite effect and quite frankly putting Yuel on edge.

Yuel understood why Edin would be worried about him though, given how he had rushed off that day in full panic. But he had no idea how he was supposed to explain what had happened. He just knew that he would have to eventually...

"Hey, Yuel," Edin said. "Do you want to study together after school today?"

Yuel received this question on the daily. And each time, his response was the same. "Sorry, but I'm going to study at home."

"It's okay. You don't need to apologize. But could you just, um..." Edin paused with a conflicted look on his face. "...text me when you get home?"

"Sure."

Yuel would have already done so without Edin asking for the millionth time. It was the least he could do. He felt bad about always declining Edin's offer to spend time together, but he just wasn't ready to talk to him yet.

At least for now, Yuel could use the upcoming midterms as an excuse to go straight home after school and avoid being alone with Edin. But what about after the midterms? He couldn't just leave Edin hanging indefinitely. The boy was bound to be curious about Kyungwon and why Yuel reacted the way he did upon seeing him. However, Yuel feared that once he started explaining one thing, he would have to explain everything.

But then again, what exactly was everything?

. . .

Four years ago

While Kyungwon didn't know it, Yuel and his true first encounter happened a few weeks before the two were officially introduced by Yuel's mom.

It was the weekend, which Yuel had been spending relaxing alone at home until his mom asked him to bring over some files to her English hakwon that she had forgotten to pack that morning. Although he told her he'd be right there, the truth was that he always dreaded going to his mom's workplace.

It was a fairly big academy that taught students from elementary school all the way up to high school. All the classes started and ended at different times, so there were constantly mobs of students coming and going. It reminded Yuel of the hallways at his school in between periods, except here, the chaos persisted all day.

Just being here for five minutes gave Yuel anxiety, so he wondered how his mom was able to keep herself sane running this place six days out of the week. Or maybe she wasn't able to, after all. Her mind did seem to be all over the place, as she often left things at home or forgot about important dates like parent-teacher conferences.

Yuel looked around for his mom, the files she requested securely in his hands. He wanted to quickly get this visit over with and return home. While peeking into the classrooms that were visible from the hakwon entrance, he caught sight of a new male teacher. Yuel paused, finding himself unable to turn away.

The tall teacher towered over his elementary school students. He was at least a head above Yuel as well, and Yuel was considered to be on the taller side among his peers. Apart from his height, another thing Yuel noticed was the way the teacher looked at his students. His downward gaze didn't carry the usual sense of superiority Yuel often felt with his teachers at school. There was a kindness in the man's eyes that made whoever he was watching feel acknowledged and respected, even someone as small as a second-grader.

Yuel wondered what it would be like to learn under a teacher like him. Considering how all of his male teachers were graying men in their late forties and fifties, having a young and handsome instructor would definitely give him a reason to pay more attention in class.

When Yuel stared for a second too long, the man finally sensed his gaze and glanced out the door. But before their eyes could meet, Yuel spun around, hoping the man hadn't seen his face. He hugged the files in his hands tightly over his racing heart, feeling so embarrassed to the point of being nauseous. Just where on earth was his mom?

Taking deep breaths, Yuel tried to console himself by thinking about the fact that that man probably wouldn't be around in a couple of months. With how hectic the class schedules were, most teachers didn't last a full year before quitting from burnout. Chances were, that teacher wouldn't be any different.

But how wrong Yuel was.

A few weeks later, Yuel came home from school to the sound of his mom's laughter ringing loud from the living room. It took him by surprise as he had never heard his mom sound that happy before. He almost believed she was incapable of laughing. Right when he wondered what could have gotten her giggling so much, he learned that she wasn't alone. There was a male voice that laughed with her, making a joking reference about something only the two of them seemed to find hilarious.

"Mom?" Yuel said, walking into the living room.

He froze after just a single step, as did the two adults who realized they weren't alone anymore. Yuel immediately recognized the man as the teacher he assumed he would never meet again. This time, there was no spinning around and hiding his face. The man had already gotten a full look at him. And now that their eyes met, Yuel simply couldn't look away.

"Hi," the man said. "You must be Yuel."

People often told Yuel that he had a pretty-sounding name, but this was the day he realized just how true that was. Even if the man never uttered his name again, Yuel felt like he would remember the sweet way he was called just now for the rest of his life.

"Oh, um, hi..." Yuel turned to his mom, who looked just as flustered as him. "What's going on?"

"Oh, so, this is Min Kyungwon. He started working at my hakwon last month. He's attending college in Korea, but he spent most of his life abroad," she quickly explained even though Yuel didn't exactly ask for an introduction. "Anyway, he's just here to help me carry some supplies back to the hakwon for the upcoming summer science courses."

The academy always held special courses during the summer and winter breaks for the students to learn English in a creative way. This time, it seemed they were going to do some sort of science experiment judging from the boxes of beakers that the two adults were holding.

What was strange was that Yuel's mom always just ordered supplies straight to the hakwon. He didn't know why she didn't this time.

But before he could ask about that, his mom asked, "Why are you home so early?"

"I have half days this week since it's the final exam period."

"Oh, was that this week?" Of course his mom forgot. "Well, study hard, and good luck on your tests tomorrow."

"Okay..." Yuel replied awkwardly.

His mom wishing him good luck sounded just as foreign to him as her laughter. She was never one to care about his school life, or his life in general as a matter of fact. He was starting to doubt this could actually be his mom and not some nicer doppelgänger.

"We should get going, Kyungwon."

"Sure, Dayeon."

They call each other by their first names instead of work titles, Yuel thought. He wondered what that could have meant. Were they close? Even though Kyungwon had only been working at his mom's English academy for a month?

"Oh, right." His mom stopped just before leaving the living room. "Starting next week, Kyungwon is going to tutor you on Mondays and Wednesdays."

"What?" Yuel blurted out.

He had never asked for a tutor, nor did he even need one with his straight A's. But he didn't complain. Why would he, when he had once dreamed of what it would be like to have a teacher like Kyungwon? His dream had somehow come true, and he didn't dare to question it for fear that it might be taken away from him.

Kyungwon smiled at the boy, the first smile among countless many to come. "I look forward to teaching you, Yuel."

"O-Okay..." Yuel stuttered in complete awe.

There it was. He said Yuel's name for the second time, and it sounded even sweeter than the first.