Summary: Everyone knows his not-so-little- crush on you, even his own students. In fact, his huge crush is driving his students insane when all they want to do is pass finals.
(Request by @jookiemonie)
Genre: fluff, professor!jk x professor!yn
Word count: 2.8k
Warning(s): swearing, flirting during work, work stress/overload
You loved your profession. You loved being able to make college life slightly better in any way you could, even though you still had to give stressful exams. Not only did you love your profession, you also loved your colleagues.
The accounting department was filled with friendly and approachable professors. The dean for the school of accountancy was Kim Namjoon - a very intelligent man who was also very amicable.
Every school would also have the most popular professor. For your school, it would be Jeon Jungkook. He had been a professor at the college for slightly longer than you. He was also the first colleague you befriended.
It was lunch and your faculty’s dean, Namjoon, would use that opportunity to introduce any new staff or bid farewell to those leaving.
“She’s our faculty’s newest professor, yn. She’ll be teaching the year 3 modules.” Namjoon turned to face you with a warm welcoming smile, “We hope you’ll like it here.”
“Thank you, Namjoon. Nice to meet you all.” You gave a slight bow to the small group of professors before you and Namjoon walked away from the centre of attention.
“That was worse than teaching a full lecture.” You breathed out, feeling tense from being under the gaze of the other professors. Namjoon handed you a bottle of water, “I feel the same way too every time I stand there.”
You laughed, accepting the bottle. It was that moment that you knew Namjoon was a very caring colleague. You knew of deans who were too intimidating to approach for even a casual discussion. It felt relieving to know that this faculty’s dean was not one of those.
“Yn, am I right? I’m Jungkook.”
A young charismatic voice spoke behind you. You turned to face the man who introduced himself as Jungkook. Clean shaven, donned in a business casual outfit and his hair pulled back, Jungkook extended his hand out for a handshake.
“Nice to meet you.” You reached out to shake his hand. “I’m the professor teaching the year 3 modules. Well, not the only one anymore.” His grin grew slightly wider, and you noted how inviting his gaze was.
“Glad to take off some of the load.”
“I’ll let you two get familiar with each other, you’ll be working together quite often.” Namjoon took his lead, patting Jungkook on the back as he walked away.
Jungkook’s attention quickly went back to you after saying goodbye to Namjoon, “Would you like to have lunch together now? I can be your personal tour guide.”
You chuckled as you accepted his offer.
—
You slumped in your chair, taking a big gulp of water. “I can’t imagine how you managed the entire batch of year threes.”
“I had other professors to help me too but we’re all mainly in charge of different batches. So I guess it wasn’t too bad.”
You were still adjusting to the campus grounds, occasionally forgetting which lecture hall was located at. Jungkook always offered to be your tour guide whenever he was free.
“Prof Jeon!” A couple of seniors approached Jungkook, waving their hands widely at your colleague. “How’s senior year going for y’all?”
The two of you stopped as Jungkook conversed with his ex-students. “Stressful, we’ve been busy applying for jobs.”
“Right, you guys are graduating soon. Hope you manage to secure them by graduation!” Jungkook cheered them on with sincerity in his voice.
You admired how Jungkook interacted with his students, past and present. He never forgot their names, the rowdy and the quiet ones. He was patient and understanding with all of his students. Jungkook was definitely a professor with a genuine passion to teach and help others.
That, of course, would mean he was well loved by his students. Even after his modules, his students would approach him for help, be it academic or career wise.
He was the popular professor in your faculty, there was no doubt about that.
“You’re really good with them.” You commented as you both walked towards your lecture hall. Jungkook smiled, “I try my best.”
“Well, you’re definitely doing something right.”
“Feels nice to hear that from you, yn. I appreciate it.”
You felt your heart rate quicken with his soft smile, you blinked as you looked straight ahead. “Thanks for walking me as well. I’m getting used to the layout, you don’t have to bring me around now.”
He shook his head, “It’s fine, I love walking with you anyway.”
This time, you froze, your eyes shifting to your students passing by the two of you to enter the lecture hall. You were sure they overheard what Jungkook had said as you saw their giddy smiles and looks as they passed you.
Clearing your throat, you bowed your head slightly to say bye to your really handsome colleague. “Thanks again Jungkook.”
—
“I already bought you your favourite drink. I’m sure you’re super thirsty after teaching for 3 hours straight.” Jungkook’s raised his arm to show the drink in his hand.
“Were you,” you looked around to see other students walking down the corridor, “Were you waiting outside?”
“Yea, I thought you ended at 2.30pm but I forgot you told me you end at 3pm on Thursdays.”
You smiled as you unlocked your office door, entering with Jungkook. “You didn’t have to wait out here, could’ve just texted me.”
“Didn’t want to disrupt your focus during lecture. Plus, I don’t mind waiting for you.”
Maybe it was the way he said it, the tone or the cheeky grin on his face. You weren’t sure what it was, but it felt as if there was another meaning to it.
“Thank you for the drink anyway, I actually am pretty thirsty.”
He flashed a toothy grin as he took the seat opposite your desk - the seat where your students sat at for consultation. “How’s midterms season going?”
You sighed, “Tiring. I’m booked almost every free slot for consultations now.”
“I have a few extra slots, if the workload is too much, I can take some of your consultations. We’re teaching the same syllabus anyway.”
You shook your head as you took a sip, “That’s alright! I can manage.”
Jungkook nodded his head, “Don’t get me wrong. I’m fully aware of your capabilities. Just want to be there for you when I can.”
Feeling your cheeks grow hot, your eyes locked on the drink as you placed it back on the table. “That’s really sweet of you.”
Just then, there was a knock on your office door and Namjoon’s head peeped in. “Am I interrupting?”
“N-Not at all! Come in.” You cleared your throat as Jungkook straightened up in his seat, turning away from you.
“Just wanted to let you know about the midterms meeting tomorrow morning. I’ll be sending out an email invite later as well. I’ve just been checking in with everyone individually first.” Namjoon’s eyes trailed off towards Jungkook and he let out a short chuckle to himself.
“But I guess I’m interrupting you two lovebirds.” He teased and you nearly choked on air. “N-Namjoon!”
He bellowed in satisfaction, “I’m kidding, you two look like teenagers that were caught sneaking around.” He made his way to the door, “Pretend I didn’t come in! Bye!”
A thick awkward silence engulfed the two of you as both your eyes fixated on the area that Namjoon had just been.
Jungkook broke it, letting out an awkward laugh, “Joon’s a real funny one, isn’t he?”
“Y-Yea he is.”
—
“Hey Jungkook, these were the papers you wanted right?”
That voice.
In an instant, Jungkook had straighten his spine and adjusted his tie as he looked up to you with the practice paper he had asked for. He had been engrossed in his work that he didn’t see you walk over to where he was eating.
“H-Hey, yea,” He reached out to take the paper from you. “Thanks yn. I owe you one.”
With a smile, you reached over to give him a light pat on his shoulders before walking away from him, “It’s fine, I’ll just look for you the next time I need help.”
“R-Right of course, y-you can!” He nodded his head as he watched you walk back to your desk, grabbing your laptop and heading off to your next class.
Jungkook was smitten.
And he was doing a bad job at hiding it.
“You look like you just drank 10 bottles of alcohol, why is your face so red?” A voice beside him made him jump in his seat as he turned to his to smack his colleague with the practice paper in his hand. For a moment, he had forgotten that he was having lunch with Namjoon at the dining hall.
“Shut up, Namjoon.” Jungkook cleared his throat as he reached out for a bottle of water to calm himself. Namjoon chuckled, “My dear friend, even a blind person can see your huge crush on yn. Do something about it.”
“I-I can’t…” He sighed dejectedly, “We’re both teachers and colleagues. We need to be professional… Besides, I doubt she sees me the same way.”
Namjoon only shook your head, “Yea sure, keep telling yourself that.”
—
Jungkook loved to pass by your classes. He was thankful for the windows along the corridors that allowed him to take a glance at you teaching your class.
He admired your passion for teaching. He admired how you always managed to find a way to connect with the students. He admired how you could be firm and strict with them, without going overboard.
He admired you.
A lot.
He hated how he would stumble over his words when you would approach him without notice. He hated how he felt his cheeks go burning red when you compliment him or smile at him. But he loved it at the same time.
Jungkook loved being around you, during lunch breaks, during the nights where you had to work over time, during training workshops. Being a college professor was not easy feat but you always made it a lot brighter.
“I’m swarmed.” You sighed as you opened a can for a refresher. “It is finals season after all.” Jungkook offered his snack of chips to you which you happily took some.
You were lounging in his office, your only break before you had back-to-back consultations with your students. Jungkook flashed an encouraging smile, “You’re an amazing professor, you’ll survive.”
“Thanks Jungkook, but I’m only as half as good as you.”
“That,” He pointed at you, shaking his head, “Is utter bullshit.”
You let out a laugh, making him melt as he composed himself while you weren’t aware. “I-It’s true.” He defended himself, a little bit less confident this time.
“You’re cute.” You nonchalantly commented as you got up, ready to head back to your office to start consultations. “See you around when I get to breathe, Mr. Jeon.”
Cute.
Absolutely lost it.
Jungkook couldn’t remove the smile on his face even after you left his office. He even talked himself to calm down and get over it. But you had stunned him for the rest of the day.
—
You and Jungkook hosted had back-to-back finals review workshop in the same lecture room. Jungkook had booked one of the lecture room or his review lecture right before yours, unintentionally of course.
However, he had overran and you were waiting outside with your students. With a gentle knock on the door, you peeped in to draw his attention.
“Mr. Jeon?”
Jungkook nearly dropped his pointer when he heard you call his name.
“Miss yn!” His eyes darted to the clock before back at you, “I overran, I’m sorry about! I-I’ll quickly wrap it up.”
“No worries!” You smiled at him before closing the door.
His class erupted in murmurs as a couple of girls were giggling amongst each other. Not only did the professors know about his ‘tiny’ crush, so did his own students.
Clearing his throat, he gathered the attention of his class to wrap up his session.
“I’m sorry about again, Miss yn.” He bowed apologetically.
“N-No, it’s alright! Don’t worry about it!” You smiled as you connected your laptop to the screen. “W-Well, I hope your review lecture goes well.”
“Thank you Mr. Jeon.”
—
A frustrated groan rang through his ears. A familiar familiar sound he had been hearing the entire finals season.
“I don’t get it Mr Jeon. Why is this the amount adjusted during consolidation?”
Jungkook paused, trying to figure out a different way to explain the consolidation. “Okay, it might be easier if you compare what entry should have been passed under the Group level versus what has been passed under the legal entity. For example, if—“
Jungkook’s eyes had shifted from the paper to the door when there was knock. “Come in.”
“I’m sorry to disturb,” you spoke apologetically, “Namjoon asked me to pass this to you as I was passing by. I’ll just leave it here.” You quickly dropped the folder on the coffee table before closing the door behind you.
Even though you were gone, Jungkook’s eyes remained on the door to the glass window as he watched you walk away from his office.
“Mr Jeon,” his student whined once again, “I’m this close to losing my sanity with this question. Can you please make googly eyes on Miss yn some other time?”
His cheeks felt hot as he had just been caught by his student drooling over you. “R-Right,” He flashed an apologetic smile, “Sorry about that.”
He knew he had to ask you out once finals season was over.
For his own sanity as well.
—
“I’m glad the long awaited break is here.” You said with a big sigh of relief as you left the campus with Jungkook. “Thinking of just sleeping for a few days straight and just laze around.”
Jungkook laughed, “You sure you don’t want a more fulfilling or exciting break?”
“Leave the adventure to the kids. I’m just ready to bum around.”
This was it.
His chance.
“H-Hey yn…”
“Mmm?” You hummed, your eyes shifting to look directly at him. He felt his courage dwindle just from locking eye contact with you but he had to do it. He didn’t want to waste his summer regretting that he was a coward.
“Would you perhaps… Like to go on a date with me?”
The corners of your lips were pulled upwards as you broke into a wide grin. “A date?”
“Y-Yea… I like you and if you feel the same way, I’d love to take you out on a date.”
You let out a light laugh, shoving him lightly as you replied, “I’d love to. Thought you’d never ask.”
His eyes widened, “R-Really?”
“Yes really.” You smiled at him. Jungkook was definitely on cloud nine. His smile reaching from ear to ear as he pulled you in for a hug.
You happily wrapped your arms around his torso, your head leaning against his chest as you savoured the moment. “I’m so relieved to hear you say yes.” His voice muffled as he buried his face in the nook of your neck and shoulder.
Reluctantly, you pulled back slightly, “How about we leave campus this instant and get some good food?”
Jungkook nodded his head, “Sounds like a great plan.”
With your fingers intertwined, you made your way to Jungkook’s car as you both buckled in and headed off to enjoy your first date.
—
It didn’t take long for news to spread, after all, some of his ex students followed him on his Instagram and some of yours followed you as well.
You spent most of the summer together with Jungkook and it was one of the best summer breaks you had, including your student years.
Namjoon was one of the first few who learnt about your relationship and he was ore than supportive of it. “Glad to finally see the two lovebirds in real life.” He extended out his arms to pull both of you in for a hug.
“Ready for a new semester, dean?” Jungkook asked, patting Namjoon’s buff shoulders.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He chuckled.
After a short catch-up, Jungkook walked with you to your office. You were certain that most of the students, especially those in the cohort you’re both assigned to, knew of your relationship.
“Nice one prof!” One of his ex students hollered, throwing a fist bump in the air as he approached Jungkook with his group. Jungkook laughed, “Tone it down, we don’t have to announce it to everyone—“
“Everyone already knows.” Another student giggled, “You two look great together.”
Jungkook shook his head, his grin not leaving his face, “Well now that we’re together, you guys can stop wasting time on rumours and start focusing on your modules yea?”
You laughed along with Jungkook as you both head off, leaving the students to grumble about the modules.
“We’re definitely going to be bombarded during our first class.”
Jungkook nodded his head, quickly leaning in for a swift kiss, “Doesn’t matter, it’s worth it.”
