Chapter Text
Jaebeom is studying for a degree in music at Seoul National University. He’s in his senior year now and one of his elective classes was to take Marketing and Public Image when he was choosing the electives - hesitant and not at all pleased, he never expected that a subject like that could be taught by a face as sculpted and handsome as one is of Mark Tuan.
Mr. Tuan is just a TA but he’s been holding classes ever since their academic year began. The professor in charge of the module went somewhere away for work and instead of taking a two-month leave, he’s decided to put his assistant in charge until the end - “Mr. Tuan will take care of you” he wrote in a short email to the students.
Upon seeing the information, Jaebeom sent silent prayers to the heavens because while his mind can’t deal with all the marketing plans and essays about the importance of keeping your wits in public and dealing with the media, he still deemed that the biggest blessing SNU gave him was being able to drool over the handsome teacher’s assistant.
Jaebeom didn’t know much about Mr. Tuan, or just Mark, as he preferred for the students to call him by the first name because Mark was only three years older than the rest of them. He moved to Seoul six years ago also to attend SNU and along the way found his love for teaching, he also owns a dog and likes Overwatch.
Those are the only information Jaebeom could find out about him and he decided to treasure it until the opportunity comes up. Meaning that he’s holding onto that for after he graduates and makes a move onto the assistant.
He’s tried several times to ask Mark for help or mention anything that could be of interest to Mark during lectures, but every time Jaebeom tried, his throat would clench and mouth dry out.
Every time Mark entered the auditorium Jaebeom would get a sudden waft of electricity across his chest. It amazed him how looking and thinking about Mark never gave him butterflies, it felt exciting and like nothing Jaebeom ever experienced. He would fight his friends for saying that he only feels like that because “Mark is forbidden fruit.”
Winter semester was over sooner than Jaebeom expected, it was only an intro for the real planning and analyses that were scheduled for the spring semester. Those plans, however, were messed up because of a world pandemic. Universities and students were forced to adapt to a sudden change in holding lectures - Zoom university was born.
Jaebeom had no idea how to feel about that. He was back in his hometown and while he appreciated the time spent with his parents, he sulked. He sulked for days how is going to get his TA’s attention when they are separated by miles and miles away?
Days before the official start of the online classes, he got an email of information on how to work with the application along with pointers on how to make his account presentable and academic enough. All students were required to put a selfie on their icons and keep their microphones on during the whole lesson. Jaebeom spent the day overthinking how he’s going to manage to get a suitable icon that would show the university administration how professional he is, but at the same time, he had to look handsome enough for Mark.
After fiddling with his phone for two hours to get the perfect selfie, he just put it down on the cold floor tile because his phone was near the temperature of boiling. Eventually, he set up his account on the application and managed to choose one selfie he deemed as good enough.
The night before the lectures started again, he lied in his bed thinking about different scenarios that could play out during the period he will spend sitting by his oak table and too comfortable of a chair in his room.
He enjoyed his home environment; from the subtle lavender fabric softener, his mum used, to photos he put on the wall above his desk, the countless CDs and records he had lying above on the shelves and under his bed…
He thought about how he’s going to miss the physical lessons, not only because he wasn’t sure how, in the online environment, he’s gonna see Mark’s sculpted, blemish-free face with the perfect nose and full lips, he also already missed his friends he’d go with for a beer after a long day of lessons.
The next morning he woke up to his mum’s yelling to wake up, “Are you trying to pull the same nonsense like in high school, son?” she asked. Jaebeom shivered upon the memory of his father dragging him up from the bed one day because enough was enough - Jaebeom was late to school way too many times.
Little did his parents know, Marketing and Public Image was held twice a week, at 9 in the morning as the first lecture to start his day. Last semester, he was late once for it because he stayed up until 3 in the morning, trying to find the perfect chord to go with his song.
That day, he almost ripped his hair out worrying how is Mark going to react when he enters - Jaebeom did think about just skipping class and avoiding the menacing stare he was so sure Mark would throw at him, but alas, a good attendance score was important for the scholarship Jaebeom was under and he had to go in.
After psyching himself in front of the massive wooden doors of the auditorium the lessons were held, Jaebeom went in and every fear was washed away after Mark greeted him with a slight nod and “good morning Mr. Im.” Jaebeom still cringes when he remembers how he just stood at the entrance for a good few seconds staring at Mark until Jackson called him over and his legs barely moved to the narrow seat reserved for him. “Bro you’re too whipped for the TA” Jackson whispered and if they were in another lesson, Jaebeom would’ve definitely hit the back of his head.
It was 20 minutes before the start of the lecture and Jaebeom was already logged in, waiting for Mark to come on and start the lecture. He had his breakfast with him, already half-eaten but forgotten because of his running nerves.
He was scrolling through his Twitter timeline on another tab opened when the application rang, signaling another participant just entered the room - it was Mark. Jaebeom flight instinct flared up and he was milliseconds away to just close the app and jump back in bed.
That’s when Mark spoke up through his speaker, “good morning Mr. Im, always one of the first ones to show up I see. How did you enjoy your extra week off?”
Jaebeom was livid, he was so sure he was going to fall off the chair hearing Mark’s deep voice surround him in his room!
Heart beating so loud he could’ve heard it in his eardrums, he slowly turned on his microphone and shakily spoke. “Yes, good morning, uh- Mark, I did enjoy the- the week, weeks, it’s nice.”
Oh, he would’ve slammed his head into the oak table if the microphone wasn’t on.
“I’m glad to hear that Jaebeom, I hope this semester will be fruitful despite the circumstances” Mark spoke up again and just as Jaebeom’s brain stopped buffering after hearing him say his name, other students joined in and their already turned on microphones, created noise loud enough to drown out anything Jaebeom would’ve said.
More students piled in the room and Mark slowly started with the introduction.
He explained the materials necessary for the current semester, as is expected from students, and continued saying how much he values real-life lessons because of the contact. “That is why I will ask you all to also turn on your cameras too. I talked to other professors and even if it was not said in the email you got, we still think that students having their cameras on will not only make it easier for us speakers to still create some contact, but it will also put troublemakers in order. We wouldn’t want you playing games or walking around during the lesson. So please, do turn on your cameras.”
A choir of groans could be heard as students one by one started turning on their cameras and protesting how “unfair” or “totally irrelevant, Mr. Tuan” is to turn on their camera.
Jaebeom waited until most of the students turned them on, and after he saw Jackson’s sleepy face - still in bed, with a big red hoodie on.
He turned back to the wall facing his back and checked out the surroundings in one glance. If Mark paid attention to him, he’d see Jaebeom’s middle clothes’ chair - not too clean, not too dirty clothing was thrown on there, he would see the end of Jaebeom’s bed, above which was posters of his favorite artists, and one shelf that held frames securing photos of his family and friends.
Maybe if Mark had a lucky day, he’d also see Jaebeom’s cat lying on the bed, but alas, she was outside right now. Glancing down himself, he noted his sweatshirt, the one he’s been wearing for the fifth day in a row, has some a coffee stain on, but overall, the sweatshirt was deemed to be presentable enough.
Mark’s voice reminding everyone to turn on their cameras made him hurry up to turn on the camera and that’s when he saw that Mark himself has finally turned on his too - the comfort of being his own home and luxury of probably being able to sleep much longer than usual was easily seen on Mark’s face. His face was the tiniest bit puffy from sleep and his attire was much more relaxed, Jaebeom took a moment to savor in how angelic he looks and also thanked the gods because Mark’s camera seemed to be very high definition - must be because he plays games so often, he needs good technology.
After everyone was settled in once again, Mark began with the lecture. During the lecture, Jaebeom realized that being present to the lecture like that might not be so bad.
He was alone in the house, he didn’t have rude people talking over Mark so the TA had 120% of his Jaebeom’s devoted attention. With the finishing words on why pricing is more important than people understand, Mark logged off and Jaebeom was left with a sudden emptiness in his chest.
A sudden idea than he can just screenshot the lecture then drool over Mark popped up in his mind as an idea but common sense was faster to tell him that might not be the most morally correct thing.
Suddenly he was pulled out from his thoughts as Jackson invited him to a separate Zoom room. It was a private room with Jackson and a guy from the first year called Youngjae, apparently, future librarians are taking programs a bit differently and that's why he was sorted out with second years.
They were already immersed in conversation when Jaebeom logged in the video call. It seemed that Jackson was filling Youngjae in on the TA whose lecture just ended.
“Morning guys. Why are you gossiping about Mark?” Jaebeom inquired
“Oh don’t worry, I just thought it’d be nice if I finally updated Youngjae on all the sappy things you’ve been telling me about Mark,” Jackson said without interest but suddenly he screeched like a bird and begun again, “oh my god Youngjae! Have I told you about the time he almost pissed himself when Mark-”
“STOP STOP STOP” Jaebeom plead but Youngjae’s loud laughing has started to fill the room and Jackson joined too.
Deciding he’s had it enough with people making a joke out of his failed crush, he exited the room and prepared materials for the next lesson - Music Behaviorist Theory, he can finally relax.