The first day Jungkook saw him, the room fell silent. The new teacher walked in — confident, calm, every step precise and sharp. His presence alone commanded the air to still. He wasn’t like the others who stammered or smiled too kindly. No, Niko had a presence that drew eyes and silenced whispers.

The girls already whispered to each other in the back row, giggling behind their notebooks. Even the boys straightened up, not wanting to get on his bad side. He placed his things neatly on the desk, lifted his gaze slowly, and that was enough — the whole room straightened like soldiers.

Jungkook sat near the window, where he usually hid from attention. His dark hair fell into his eyes, and he kept his gaze on the open notebook before him, pretending to write. But he couldn’t help but glance up now and then. The way Niko spoke was different — calm but firm, every word landing like it had weight.

When a group in the back tried to test boundaries, talking too loud, Niko didn’t even raise his voice. He simply looked at them. That was enough. The noise died instantly.

Jungkook’s pen froze midair. He’d never seen anyone silence the class so effortlessly.

As the lesson went on, Jungkook’s thoughts drifted, though his eyes kept finding their way back to the front. The teacher’s sleeves rolled up slightly as he wrote on the board, revealing veins and a strength that didn’t match his clean, composed voice.

When the bell rang, students swarmed around Niko — questions, compliments, excuses to stay. Jungkook waited until the crowd thinned, standing with his bag over one shoulder.

He hesitated for a moment before approaching the desk. His voice was low, quiet, almost swallowed by the hum of the hallway. "Um… your class was… good," he said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

It wasn’t much, but for Jungkook — the boy who rarely spoke to anyone — it meant something.

Niko’s eyes met his for the first time. Jungkook froze under the steady gaze, heart thudding faster than he wanted. There was something about the way Niko looked at people — like he saw through the silence, through the shyness, through everything Jungkook tried to hide.

When Jungkook finally walked out, the faintest heat touched his ears. He told himself it was nothing. Just another teacher.

Yet, for the rest of the day, every time he looked out the window, all he could think about was that unshakable calm, that sharp gaze — and the quiet realization that maybe, for the first time, someone had actually noticed him.