Chapter Text
Han rushes through the crowded halls of the university, his backpack almost falling off as he accidentally bumped into someone slightly. He apologized quickly before scurrying off again. He was sweating by the time he reached the door to his class, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead down into the curves of his eyebrows.
Han quickly took out a pocket mirror and a small rose scented tissue from the pack he carried in his bag and patted the sweat from his face and neck. His small fingers brushed through his hair, trying to comb it down and tame it. After a quick minute of trying to make himself look as presentable as he could, he spritzed on some of his favorite cologne, Dior’s Sauvage. Obviously, Han himself didn’t purchase this, being stereotypical broke university student he was, no, his best but also rich friend Hyunjin had gifted it to him a few months ago for Christmas. Han loved the scent so much that he now exclusively wears it only when he knew he has this specific class.
Now, Han knew that this was extremely silly and probably inappropriate of him, but he had a crush on his Modern History Professor, Lee Minho. Before every single lesson, he would make himself as pretty as possible, but not the try hard kind, he had to convince his professor that he just always looked good. During every single one of his history lessons, he’d simply stare at those thick muscular thighs and those large veiny hands that he wished would wrap around his throat and-. Basically, he just really, really likes his professor.
As Han patted down his shirt as he finally walked into the room, no one bothered to look up except Lee Minho himself. Nothing more than just a brief glance his way, Han knew that he doesn’t really mind when students are late, after all Minho never called anyone out on it before and he was sure that even is he did, a short explanation would be more than enough to suffice for a dismissal. Han quickly finds a seat that was in the center, but also somewhat in the back of the lecture hall.
During the entire lesson, he didn’t manage to type even a single word into his word document. Minho was in the middle of his lesson about the part that the working class had during the Russian revolution when apparently, Han’s staring was too intense that he turned around. They made eye contact for only a moment, but it was more than enough for Han to feel both giddy, and extremely anxious. Minho continued teaching the class and answering questions, while Han stuck burning holes into his laptop for the rest of the lesson.
As soon as Minho started wrapping up the lesson, he immediately started to pack his bag, much like the rest of his peers, all eager to get out. He felt his cheeks burning up as he tried to walk as quickly, but as naturally as possible to the door to make his swift escape until he heard something that made him want to be swallowed whole by the floor.
‘Han, do you have some spare time? I’d like to discuss something with you.’ He heard the voice of his professor say.
‘I- I have- actually yes I um do.’ He internally facepalming as he stutters through his response. He walks quickly back into the lecture hall and towards Minho’s lectern.
‘Han, I don’t usually mind it when my students are late, but I’ve started to notice that you’re almost late for every single one of my lectures.’ Minho speaks with a professional but caring tone, one that Han hears every night in his dreams.
‘I umm… I’m sorry I just,’ He struggled to come up with an excuse, how could he admit the truth? Does he just say hey yeah, no sorry professor, I was too busy making myself hot to seduce you! Absolutely not, that’s a horrible idea, he told himself.
‘Han, I won’t push you to tell me if you don’t want to, but I just wanted to know if there is anything bothering you incase you needed some help or adjustments with your work.’
‘That’s not necessary professor... I’m sorry for being late so often... umm... ill try to be on time in the future.’ He answers, not wanting his professor to worry about him.
‘Actually, that’s not all that I wanted to about discuss today, Han, I read the draft that you submitted, and honestly I am extremely impressed, you’re works are always good, but I really didn’t know you could write something like this.’ Minho says this with a small, genuine smile.
‘O-oh you flatter me professor … honestly I wasn’t very sure about this topic.’ He answers honestly. The essay in question was one that Han had written about the importance of cosmetic items throughout the world wars, the impact they had on society and the economy. Even though he was genuinely interested in the topic he had chosen, topics about cosmetic items and other things of that nature were somewhat frowned upon amongst certain kinds of historians. He wasn’t sure how his peers or his professor would react if he wrote about something as trivial and small as makeup or beauty, even if that was his passion as a visual art major.
‘Unsure? How come? Cosmetics does in fact play a large role during the entirety of history, there is no doubt about it, and I think the way that you approached this topic and wrote about it just brought out even more meaning.’ With every word that Minho speaks, Han’s head gets dizzier and dizzier, so anxious that it felt like he had eaten something that had gone bad.
‘It’s just … once I tried to write about it during high school, but the teacher at the time told me it was stupid.’ He left out the part when he also told himself that it was stupid.
‘Well, it isn’t Han, I find this topic very interesting, and it’s almost like a breath of fresh air since not many students choose topics like this one. I could tell that this is something you’re probably interested in and not just something that you picked because you though it would be easy to write about or that it’ll get you a good grade.’ Minho says, his smile grows a bit more as he stares directly into his eyes.
‘Thank you so much professor.’ This time, Han is just genuinely grateful that such a great professor seemed to have enjoyed reading his work, he felt proud of himself that someone whose writing he genuinely enjoyed reading would complement his work.
‘You don’t have to call me professor when its just me Han, Minho is just fine.’ He smirks a little.
‘O-okay professor.’ He says, not even fully processing what was being said to him.
Minho raises his brow at him a little as he chuckles slightly at Han’s slip up. He excuses himself for a faculty meeting as he bids Han goodbye.
‘I need to get going now before I’m late for my meeting, ill email you my actual feedback later so keep up with the good work Han.’ Minho just smiles and walks away, leaving Han’s mind to spiral into madness about the totally normal interaction that just took place.