"Seon should sing with Miss Hana!" Bogum's voice rang loudly through the bar, enough to draw the attention of other nearby patrons, before muttering to themselves and turning back to their own conversations. The outburst earned a sharp glare and a jab to the side from said teacher, and though his usual broad smile didn't falter, Seon did notice the sly look in his eye, subtle that it was.

"I said I'm not going to sing," He hardened his glare against Bogum, an expression he kept more so to cover the disappointment he felt when Hana's shoulders dropped upon hearing that Bogum hadn't volunteered himself to be her duet partner.

The teachers were all gathered at a local karaoke bar- definitely not the usual spot for them to hang out. Someone had suggested the change in venue, rather than the bar they usually frequented, and Bogum had been the one to make a competition out of the karaoke aspect. Two teachers would sing a song of someone else's choosing. The other teachers would act as both audience and judge, and vote between each pair on who gave the better performance. It hadn't yet been clear what would be in it for the winner, or the loser for that matter.

Even so, Hana had already put herself up for the first round, most likely with the expectation that Bogum would do the same. To tell the truth, Seon was also surprised too. Bogum had made a hobby out of pressuring Seon into things he didn't want to participate in, but he made the mistake in hoping that Bogum would let the Karaoke portion go as long as he at least showed up. The other teacher had even gone as far as to recruit Yul, Seon's nephew, to pester him at home about joining the other teachers that night. He swore to give that boy a hard time at school next week for the part he played in this.

A few voices broke out among the group in tipsy heckles toward Seon, and Mr. Park nudged his side with an offering of freshly poured soju, along with a wink. He only responded with a firm downturn of his lips.

"You won't drink; you won't sing..." Bogum counted the two points on his fingers, looking up to his friend with a faux-puzzled look, "Why did you even show up?"

A hand pressed irritatedly to Seons forehead, briefly pushing his fringe aside.

"You forced me to come," He muttered.

His eye flickered towards Hana, who by now had backed away from the main part of the group and was talking with some of the other female teachers. She directed a half-hearted smile towards Song, and lifted her hands up in a shrug as if to say, "Oh well. Song, in turn, returned the smile- one that didn't quite reach the eyes, and lifted her eyebrows in a sympathetic way.

Off to the side from the two, stood Cheae with her arms crossed, and characteristically tense. She stared Hana down for a moment, then darted her eyes toward Seon and Bogum before looking back to the shorter woman, gaze almost softening as Song said something to the shorter of the Literature teachers.

Hana shook her head then, her short hair splaying lightly away from her face. The movement must have brought Seon back into her field of vision, because their eyes met just for a second before he darted his eyes back to Bogum and let irritation cover his face. He hoped the heat rising in his face would be mistaken for anger towards this imbecile.

Meanwhile Bogum was looking up thoughtfully, drawing his brows together so that his face scrunched in a comical, deep-in-thought way before chuckling as he said, "Huh! So I did!"

He gestured towards the now half empty bottle of soju on the table next to them. Everyone but Seon had already had at least one glass.

"Well, it's one or the other~" Bogum grinned, and Seon grimaced in response.
He was never much of a drinker, and for good reason. His tolerance was terrible! Sure the teachers were all out together as friends, but he couldn't let himself get to such an embarrassing state in front of Hana- er, his colleagues.

Seon frowned at Bogum as his resolve began to fade away. At least karaoke would be less humiliating of the two options. Just then, Hana appeared next to him, causing him to step back suddenly in shock. He felt himself collide sharply with the table at his side, and grunted at the sound of clattering glassware.

"Mr. Jin, are you ready to- AH!" She cut herself off with a yelp, followed shortly by a shattering sound. Hana and Seon instinctively jumped away from the now broken bottle, both moving to avoid the spreading puddle of wasted soju.

So much for not embarrassing himself in front of Hana. And everyone else, obviously.

Almost as quickly as the mess happened, Seon was being pushed towards the karaoke machine, along with Hana. He fought against Bogum, insisting that he should clean it up himself, but the other man was having none of it.

"This wouldn't have happened in the first place if you just agreed to sing with Hana!" Bogum exclaimed, and Seon couldn't help but glance at the woman at the sound of her name. She had a hesitant look on her face, one of worry, with the soft creases in her forehead barely hidden behind the soft fringe of her overgrown bangs. Her lips were drawn in a puppy-dog frown, matching those equally puppy-like eyes of hers that were, of course, directed toward Bogum.

"We don't have to- I can help clean up!" Hana offered, but Bogum shooed her with his hand, a grin spreading on his face as he nodded toward Seon.

"If I clean it up myself, this guy will owe me," he winked, and Hana's light blush didn't go unnoticed by Seon. Oh that bastard, "Besides, everyone's already been waiting long enough for you both to get started. I want to hear my dear Seon sing with the pretty Miss Hana!"

Hana immediately straightened up at the compliment, her cheeks staining even deeper. Seon felt his own face warm up a tinge, and looked away abruptly. With a few stuttered words in response, Hana then let out a light cough to clear her throat, and once again made an attempt to ask Seon if he was ready to go up.

"It doesn't look like he'll let us help anyway…" she trailed, as an employee of the bar jogged past the two with a towel in hand. Bogum had already picked up a majority of the larger glass shards, and was dropping them into a bag that a second employee held out for him.

"...Right." Seon's response came reluctantly, and he continued to avoid her gaze. Between the fluttering of his heart and the fuzziness in his stomach, he felt like he was barely holding it together. He was still pissed at Bogum, but this was… exciting. It would be the first time he and Hana did anything that wasn't directly work related together. Just the two of them. Along with the other teachers watching, but it was as close as Seon would ever get to something like this. Eventually the rush of nerves that he felt around her would have to go away if he just played pretend long enough.

Seon could be happy in secret, at least.