Dongsik. Why isn't he by Jungkook's or Jaehyun's side?

"Y/n," Mister Park's hand brushes past my waist, so I look at him and focus on what the male teachers have to tell me. "Count all the boys here. Write the names on this," the rude one hands me a piece of paper, "And make sure they're all present,"  he orders me to do. I obey without complaining and walk up to the students.

"Guys, can I have your attention, please?" I try to be noticeable, and lucky for me, they stop talking loudly to listen to me. "I'm going to cite your name, so raise your hand once you hear it, okay?"

"Okay," some of them respond, and I start. One by one, I check the small box next to their name to confirm their presence, and I reduce the emptiness on the page. In short minutes, all of the forty-eight names are said, and none of the students is missing.

"Tha—"

"Ma'am," Jaehyuk interrupts me, never leaving me alone. "Yes, Jaehyuk?" I force myself to be attentive to his words, ignoring the fact that his best friend is laughing next to him as if he was about to do something inappropriate again. "Are we gonna have some free time outside?"

"Yes," I make it short, but he carries on. "So, I have the right to invite you to the restaurant and spend some time with you, am I wrong?"

"No, you're not wrong," I shake my head and hold the piece of paper with one hand. "But I also have the right to refuse. So no need to try," I stop him way before he could attempt to go further and some of the students chuckle, getting him to not like it. "Come on, ma'am. I'll pay for you, and you can eat whatever you want. I'll be a gentlema—"

"She's not your friend, she's your teacher," Mister Park voices out and helps me to feel a little less tense. I'm tired of standing this horny and disrespectful kid. "Yeah, Sir."

"Now, you all keep quiet and listen because we're going to guide you towards another place close-by. This will only be empty with a giant screen, just like a cinema, but without any seats, however, once we're there, you respect the rules and do not make any noise, you do not damage anything. The documentary we are going to—"

"We're not watching a movie?" one of them complains as Mister Park was explaining everything. "What did I just say a minute ago? You do not interrupt me, you listen," his authoritative side brings a smile to my face once I see the student apologize and remain focused. "The documentary is about this place, about your life and how different life is when you do not have all types of electronic stuff like your phone, computer, or more. So, as evident as it is, your phone will be taken before the documentary starts and kept in a box the whole weekend, but," he puts a condition as he already heard them all whine. "You will be allowed to text or call your family once in the morning, and before going to bed, okay?"

"I didn't sign up for this, Sir," a student does not keep his bother to himself, not liking the idea that I find more than beneficial. "Are you trying to torture us or kill us? We don't want to be like old people, we need our phones twenty-four hours a day."

"If you cannot stay just a few hours without your phone, you have a serious problem, boy. We're here to educate you and teach you how to live without wasting time in an unrelated world. Whether you like it or not, you will do as told because we're not here to do your a favor," his harsh words shut him up. "I'm pretty sure that some of you are smart enough to know that you can live happily, and maybe even more happily that way than if you're dived in your devices twenty-four hours a day. So this trip is going to teach you, show you how important is it to connect with nature."

"Sir?" a kind boy raises his hand, and Mister Park permits him to speak. "I'm not complaining about this, I like the idea, but do we have proper bathrooms? A shower, toilets?"

"Yes, you do. We're not going to live like in the past, or in an ecological way, but just without internet, without devices around us that are not always useful," he answers with the right words, but I take a look at Dongsik who does not seem to be like usual. What has happened?

"Does anyone have any questions?" he asks them, but they do not say anything, they shake their heads. "Okay then, let's go," he leads them, and the other teachers follow as well, so I do so but keep my eyes on Dongsik, feeling worried about him.

He keeps his eyes down and walks forth, but I do not do anything yet. We all leave this place where we will sleep and eat, and we head towards the small place where the cinema room. "Ma'am," someone asks for my attention, so I smile at the boy and get closer to him while walking. "Yes, what is it?"

"What will we do after the documentary?" he quietly tries to know, being shy and calm like he usually is at school. "We will start to live like the people in it. The documentary is just to let you know more, to understand them, and maybe get curious. Don't be worried, this is going to be fun, but if you want to know exactly what we'll do, we will just go back there, some will cook dinner, and then we'll eat."

"Oh, great. Thank you for answering," he shows his gratitude in one of the sweetest manners, but we already arrive. One of my colleagues opens the door and lets everyone in, but Jungkook and I make eye contact for short seconds, I smile at him, instinctively, and being a soft boy, he responds with the same expression but bites his glossy lips.

He's so cute.

•••

4:40 pm.

The documentary now over, the exhausted and annoyed students get out of the room after breaking the rules and chatting the whole time. I knew this would be hard to convince them, they will not ever like this trip. The director should have listened to us.

A sigh escapes my mouth as the tiredness this situation caused needs to be breathed out, but once I see Dongsik step out, I go forward and stop him. "Wait. Can I talk to you?" I ask. The worry that I've been feeling since earlier hasn't faded away, it only increased after seeing him not pay attention to anything or talking to his best friends just once. He's was alone, quiet, so not the boy that he usually is.

"Yeah," he accepts, so I wait for everyone to be away, and we both follow them with some distance separating us from those students and teachers.

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything like that, but I feel like something is going on with you. Are you okay?" I do not hold back, willing to know if he isn't feeling good if something heavy is on his mind. "Yes, I'm good, ma'am," he offers me a smile, one that seems sincere. "Are you sure? I've noticed that you're staying alone when you always spend your time with Jungkook, Jaehyun, and Minjun..."

"Oh, we just fought a little but nothing serious. I don't want you to be worried," he runs his fingers through his hair and thinks about me when I'm here to make sure he's fine. "Oh, I hope you'll talk and solve this. I don't like to see you without anyone. That breaks my heart."

"I'm a man, I can handle it," he giggles and glances down at the ground, sounding fake. "And I don't want to be the cause of your broken heart, Miss Han. I swear, don't be worried, I'm okay."

"Okay..." I do not insist. "Would you like to cook dinner with some of the students and teachers?" I keep the conversation going to not leave him without anyone, and he raises his head up to lock eyes with me. "Yes, why not? Are you going to be there?"

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to do it," I tell him the truth about my intention. I feel hurt when I see someone like him with nothing but loneliness. I wonder what the fight was about though, this is odd to see them away from each other. "Okay then, I come with pleasure."

Some delight fills me, and we both step closer to the door, remaining quiet, and not knowing what to say more.

"Miss Han..." he clears his throat and stops, so I mimic him without willing to and gaze up at him. "What's wrong?"

"I...I don't want to bother you but...can I talk to you about something?" he behaves in a more serious manner, and I nod to him, not thinking twice before deciding to listen carefully. "I...uhm...I didn't tell Mister Park or the other teachers earlier because I don't feel comfortable enough with them to talk about this, but..." he pauses a lot between his words, rising the anxiousness inside of me as there seems to be a problem. He peeks down and hides his hands in the pockets of his grey trousers. "I don't want you to get in trouble at all, but not having my phone with me stresses me out a lot. I got to know just this morning that my little sister is really sick, and I'm really worried because she already has a disease that weakens her immune system, and my mom is alone at home to take care of her, so not being able to text her or check if she calls me is something I can barely handle, and I know I won't be able to sleep at night, so...I just...I want to know if it's possible to retrieve my phone. I won't use it but just check for—"

"Dongsik, you don't even have to explain yourself. I understand, and I'm going to give you your phone back," I reassure him, and at the exact moment that I see his reaction full of relief, my heart softens. "I'm really sorry about what is happening to you and your family, I sincerely hope your sister is going to get better soon..."

"Thank you so much, Miss Han..." he moves forth, but without any warning, he takes me in his arms and hugs me tight. "I don't know what I would do if you were not here..." his voice loses steadiness, I hug him back and rub his back. "I'm always here if you need to talk."

"Thank you..." his cheek brushes past mine as he's pulling away, but he gazes down. "I'm sorry for telling you this, I just needed to talk to someone..." he apologizes, but he raises his chin up and reveals some glisten eyes, tearing my heart apart. "Hey, no...don't apologize," I move my hand up to his face and wipe his tears away. "You can always talk about anything you want. Do not feel like I won't want to hear it."

"I feel really broken, and I don't know what to do," he bites his lips and averts his eyes from me as if he was ashamed of crying. "My girlfriend even broke up with me yesterday because I spend a lot of time with my little sister, but I did not dare to tell anyone about it."

"If she broke up with you just because you take care of your sister, then she was not worth it and did not deserve you. You deserve better than that, you're an amazing and loving boy, Dongsik," I hate on this girl for doing this, perceiving the despair in his eyes as everything seems to be snatched away from him since yesterday. "I thought I was in the wrong for making my sister pass first all the time...but it's just hard to leave her alone with my mom when I know the condition she's in..."

"You are in no way in the wrong, you are a great brother, you're doing great, and if she cannot understand that, then she's immature and stupid. Family should always come first..." my heart breaks at the thought of his little sister and mother who has no one else with them but him, this must put a lot of pressure on his shoulders. "You're the best, Miss Han, seriously..." he smiles at me but brings me some joy. I love to help others.

"Anyway..." he clears his throat and dries his tears. "We should go back inside," he rubs one eye and steps forth, so I agree and follow him to the door. Once we reach the door, the tall boy moves a bit faster but does not step inside, he opens the door for me and gestures me to go first like a gentleman.

He knows how to treat women.

"Aren't you cold without a jacket or coat?" he mentions that my body does not seem in a good state at all. I thought he wouldn't notice, but I guess the shakiness of it cannot be hidden. "Just a little."

He doesn't say anything as we're entering the cafeteria that is already full of noisy students, but after only short seconds, a fabric covers my shoulders and back. "Don't catch a cold, please," Dongsik places his warm leather jacket over me but does not realize how touched I am.

I wish every boy of his age could be like him, teaching would be way easier.

"You don't have to, Dong—"

"I'm good," he tucks his hands in the front pocket of his black hoodie. "I'm a bit hot anyway, so keep it," he stops on his way to the kitchen as the teachers are standing before the doors. Since I'm freezing to death, I enjoy the warmth of his jacket and keep it on me. "You can sit at a table, I'm going to talk with Mister Park," I tell him, and he goes away, so I step towards my colleague to have a talk.

"Hey," I grab his arm while he's speaking to someone, and I drift him away to be alone. "Where are the students' phones?" I question him, but he frowns at me, probably wondering why I'm asking this. "Why?"

"Well, Dongsik needs it because of something that is happening in his family, so it's important for him to have a way to be in contact with them," I don't give him the details since this is private, and to my greatest relief, he does not go against it. "Oh...well, let me give it to you," he walks towards the box that contains the phones, so I follow him.

"Guys! Who volunteers to cook today?" one of my colleagues does his best to draw attention to him, but none of the hands goes up in the air except for Dongsik's one. "All right. Let me pick the others."

"Here you are," Mister Park hands me the phone. "Thank you," I take it and put it in the pocket of the leather jacket. He will get it back that way.

"Tell him to maybe not use it in front of the others though, they're all going to get mad and be annoying as hell if they see him with it," he advises me, and I understand. "Yeah, but this is for a good reason, so I don't care if they get mad."

"Okay," he grins at my reaction, and we both go back to our colleagues. I stand next to Mister Park since he's the only one I feel comfortable with, but Mister Kang makes the student join us and Dongsik comes right by my side. "Your phone is in here," I whisper to him and touch the pocket, and he smiles at me. "Thank you so much, ma'am."

"No need to," I gently reply but turn towards the others, and the chosen ones enter the kitchen while the others are chatting or playing. "So, who wants to do the knife job?"

I look at Dongsik, but he does so. "I'm good at this, should we do it?" he asks in a quiet voice, and I agree without a second thought. "Here, I can do it with Miss Han," he raises his voice for them to hear him, and they let us get to work. We both wash our hands, but since there is some heater in here, I take the jacket off and place it on a table right next to us.

I watch him roll his sleeves up, but I do the same and step next to him. I take the gloves that are in a box, and I give a pair to Dongsik to then take one for me and put them on.

"Do you often cook at home?" I initiate a new conversation to not leave any awkward silence, and he nods. "Yes, I always cook dinner when I'm back home."

"Really?" I unwillingly express some astonishment since I don't know a single boy of his age who cooks every day. "Yes, I want to make sure my mom does not have to do everything. She already has a lot of things to do, so I take care of every task once I'm home."

"Aw, she must be happy to have you," I say, happy to know that they are still great children like him. "I hope she is," a tender smile turns his lips up, and he looks at the teachers, both waiting for the food to be given to us.

•••

11 pm.

I wake up in the middle of the night at the sound of someone knocking on the door, leaving a painful and intense nightmare. The darkness does not help me to come back to consciousness entirely, but I sit up, loving the fact that the room is not cold even if I remove my blanket.

I sigh and take a look at the time. I still have many hours to sleep.

I rub my puffy eyes and stand up, I close my warm and fluffy cardigan, and I put my slippers on to head to the door. I open it but fall upon someone I should not see here.

"Hey..." he lets out in a small voice, I lick my lips and peek over the wall to make sure no one is here. "Jungkook, what are you doing?" I whisper. "I...Can I talk to you...? Please..."

"Jungkook...we cannot be seen—" my sentence ends once he enters the room and puts his arms around me. "Please..."