The Art Teacher | Jikook ✓ | The Next Chapter

Chapter 2: The Boss

Jungkook

"Talk to me, Jin," I say, cuffing up my dress shirt sleeves as I walk around the dorms.

He hums. "The group has been progressing well. All five members seem to be in good spirits."

"Will they be ready to debut?" I question, looking around to make sure that the living conditions are good.

Jin follows me. "Ki-moon has been trying his best to keep everyone positive, but Jung-nam has been isolating himself from the group recently and no longer knows if he wants to do this. He's long since stopped sleeping in the bunk-room and has barricaded himself in the closet and tries to limit interaction with his elders as much as possible."

My lips form a frown. "If it's been going on this long, why has no one told me?"

"We've been trying to handle it. He's been eating and drinking. Occasionally, you can hear music coming from his closet-bedroom."

I exhale and massage my temples. "It's too early for this. If he's struggling so much, we should just push back when they debut and ask him if he wants to either quit or go visit his family for a bit. If he doesn't need too long, we can give the kids a week off. But he needs to talk to us."

Jin's phone vibrates and he answers it, handing it to me instead.

"Yes? Any reason I'm on the phone?" I tap my foot on the ground.

"There's some... blond who is here, saying he's your assistant. But you don't have male assistants ever."

I exhale and look at the time. 8:45. "Ask his name."

The security guard working the front desk asks and I can hear Mr. Park's voice.

"Let him in." I stare up at the ceiling. "Thank you for checking for the boys' safety." I hand the phone back to Jin and go to open the door for the blond. I want this group to do well so that I can get them better dormitories built where they can have better rooming instead of this hostel-style dorming.

A gentle knock sounds at the door and I check the peephole just to make sure that it's my assistant before letting him in. He beams when he enters, wearing a pair of black, thickly framed glasses.

"I was scared that I would get lost, so I showed up even earlier for Mr. Min to tell me that you were here. Am I considered late because I wasn't by your side at eight forty-five?"

"You're fine, Jimin," I exhale, grabbing my coffee and breakfast sandwich. "I hope you used your company card."

He blinks. "I have one?"

"Yes." I sip my coffee and head to the bunk room and knock.

Jimin follows and looks around curiously until Lee Nam-gi, the second youngest member of the group, opens the door.

"Mr. Jeon!" He beams, brown eyes lighting up as his bleach-blond hair falls in curtains around his eyes, creating a gentle heart shape. "We didn't think you'd be coming."

"Well, I'm here. I heard there were problems. Please warn everyone that I'm here so they can get dressed."

He nods and bows, closing the door and alerting the other members except for the maknae who is locked in the closet, I would assume.

"Is there something going on?" Jimin asks, looking worried. "He was so young. Are we here because something is wrong?"

"Yes and no."

He opens his mouth to further question, but thinks better of it, drinking his frozen mocha instead.

This time, Min Dae-ho opens the door, the two out the remaining four members lined up behind him obediently. His calculating eyes take in Jimin before he looks at me, silver hair creating a shadow over his eyes.

"Where's Ki-moon?" I ask.

"He's in bed. He doesn't feel well. None of us know why. He said it's just nausea."

I nod and enter, stopping and looking around to see Park Ki-moon swaddled up on the top bunk furthest from the door.

Jimin steps in after me and nearly trips, only for me to steady him.

"Park, now is not the time. Strike o—" I freeze, looking at his dazed state and then at Ki-moon again. Silently, I steady the blond and let go of him once he's secure. "Are you okay?"

He covers his nose. "One of your trainees is in a rut."

My eyes widen. "We have scent purifiers in here and most of the members are betas, so they should more than balance out any pheromones. But we don't have any alpha members anyway."

Jimin tugs on my shirt and points to the closet. "It's coming from there."

I exhale and let him hold onto me as we approach the closet. Carefully, I knock on the closet door. "Jung-nam, are you okay in there?"

"I-I feel weird, Mr. Jeon." His voice cracks. "And I wanna go home, just for the day. Can I go home? I feel weird."

"Jung-nam, I thought you said you were a beta."

He opens the door, irises red and dark purple hair a mess. "I thought I was. P-Please don't kick me out."

Jimin buries his nose in me and I can hear Ki-moon rustling in his bunk.

"You're not getting kicked out. This is just your first ever rut. So it's a little intense for the omegas."

The purple-haired youngest frowns. "Is that why Ki-moon is in his bed?"

"He's okay, you don't need to feel bad, little one," Jimin says, his voice soothing and parental.

Jung-nam blushes. "My name is Choi Jung-nam. What is your name?"

"Park Jimin." The blond giggles, still holding onto me.

"Can you go check on the boy in his bed?" I ask him. "I'm going to take Jung-nam home."

"Will he be back?" Kim Yong-gi asks nervously. "We don't want to debut without him."

"It's up to Jung-nam whether or not he stays. If he wants to, he'll debut with you," I explain to the redhead.

The purple-haired alpha fiddles with his fingers. "I want to. I just wanna get put on the proper scent blockers so that I don't cause any problems again."

"That's a good idea."

"Don't most companies keep alphas and omegas separate in groups?" Yong-gi asks.

I pause. "They do, but this isn't most companies. We have evolved too much as a society to segregate. Your leader is an omega. That wouldn't have flied in a lot of groups unless it was an omega-only group. We go on talent and talent alone. The public won't know any of your fertility-classes because you're minors and it's none of their business. If you wish to make them public when you're eighteen, that's up to you."

Jung-nam blushes. "I don't want everyone knowing that I'm an alpha."

"Then our team will make sure that never happens," I promise. "Can you pack up a bag so I can drive you to your family's?"

He nods bashfully. "Yes, thank you, Mr. Jeon. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"It's no problem," I assure him. "I promise."

Author's Note: It seems like evil Mr. Jeon has a soft spot for this group of trainees. Is anyone curious to learn more about them and why they mean so much to Jungkook?

What do you think of the story so far?

Make sure to take care and love yourself as best as you can.

With lots of love,

-BBM