Critically Over Easy ( Yujiko x Bloodysadist )

[Yujiko]

---

Name:

Noboru Koboyashi

Age:

34

Hair Color:

Black

Eye Color:

Brown

Ethnicity

Japanese

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Sexuality:

Gay (Out of the closet, but not openly advertised)

 

Occupation:

College Professor

 

Personality:

Noboru Koboyashi is not known for his gentle or subtle nature, but rather the opposite. He is blunt, observant, and judgmental. Though he has a rather analytical personality, Noboru enjoys anything that stimulates the mind; literature, psychological theories, philosophy- just to name a few things of the sort. He is cold and it may take sometime for him to understand some else's feelings, not to say he lacks empathy, he's just less inclined to notice how one is feeling. Even though this is the case for him, Noboru feels like he's quite inept at detecting a companion's feelings, but this often gets him into trouble.

 

Noboru is possessive in nature, but he's not assertive. Rather, Noboru is a passive aggressive person and would rather punish something he deems as wrong on his own terms later on, or perhaps do nothing at all about something. He can hold grudges for a short amount of time, but not for too long- he often forgets or finds that it's not overly important enough to keep up the effort it takes to be angry at someone.

 

Professor Koboyashi often finds average people uninteresting and dull, and isn't beyond mind games to make them more intriguing; however, Noboru finds the best companionship and most interest in the arts rather than people.

 

Likes:

Classical Music, Reading Novels, Debating Philosophy, and Going Out to Drink.

Dislikes:

Ignorance, Stupidity, Discourteous Nature, and Poorly Mannered Students (falling asleep in class, not doing homework, etc).

---

 

The sun's rays washed the school with light and warmth, a rather unseasonable sort; it was Fall and warmer now than ever before, least to Noboru's knowledge. L'Academie di Cibo ,the academy of food, sprawled across the vista of green plains that were native to the area and encompassed much of the sports fields and outdoor activities areas. The towering figure that was Noboru Koboyashi made long strides across the courtyard of the large culinary college, eyes moving both towards him and away from him simultaneously. He had a cool, yet negative air about him, and most students who didn't admire him from his career often shied away from him. Not only was he feared due to his personality, but he was one of the toughest teacher at L'Academie di Cibo, however Noboru's class could make or break a chef's reputation before they could even gain one!

 

It wasn't long before the tall monstrosity of a teacher waltzed his way past countless students and into a rather dull and large lecture hall lined to the walls with seats. Once inside the room he made his way over to a dark oak desk and set down his briefcase as well as a scarf he had wrapped around his neck. Piercing eyes shot over the large hall, a moving gaze that could cut a man in two, scanning and adsorbing the atmosphere. Noboru sighed before moving to a rather small chalk board and started to write the beginning of his curriculum upon the board. When he finished said, "How to taste the worst in the best of food. I am your Sensei, Koboyashi Noboru." Taking a seat, the tall well aged man picked up a small book, and started to flip through it's pages. He awaited his class to fill, and he never started a class without everyone being present.

 

Time went by and as it did the students began piling in, people of all genders and sizes- all ethnic groups, and ages. Those dark sharp eyes lifted from the pages of the small french book Noboru held carefully in one hand, and eyed the lot of people filling his classroom. "More...", he thought. The room wasn't full enough to be his entire class roster, not yet. Classes where to start at 8:00 AM, and the clock was nearing 7:54 AM now. An angry, furrowed set of brows and an evil gaze loomed over the class again. He scoffed. "How can so many still be missing?", he asked himself. Placing the small book carefully down the raven quickly grabbed a piece of paper that rested perfectly upon his desk and read a list of names. "23.. 46.. 51.....", Noboru looked up and counted the seats. "Number 8, 29, and 42 are missing...", setting the paper down the tall figure stood and ghosted across the room with a kind of dark purpose. He stopped just outside the door. Looking down to his watch he said to himself, "8:01 AM." A sharp irritated inhale was the precursor to the crossing of arms that followed. He stood waiting for his last few students. "8:04 AM..."

[Bloodysadist]

 

 

 

Name: Kang Minhyun

 

Nationality: Korean-Japanese, he is fluent in both Korean and Japanese, yet lives in Japan, separately from his parents;

 

Age: 19;

 

Height: 168cm (due to him being quite short, he was often made fun of in high school);

 

Weight: 48kg;

 

Hair: As a typical teenager, always wanting to try something new, Minhyun is often dying his hair, all kinds of colors. Currently he has gray hair;

 

Eyes: Dark brown, yet he tends to use blue, brown-yellow or gray contact lens; sometimes wears glasses, as he has a slight problem with seeing far away;

 

Major: Cooking. He is especially good at making sweets and cakes. That’s what makes him feel the most relaxed. He is also a good dancer, as in high school, he was in a dancing team, so in his free time, he likes to dance, to clear his mind;

 

Likes: Dogs (he has one in his apartment, a present from his parents for him, entering in the college), sweets, music;

 

Dislikes: Studying, making choices;

 

Live: Minhyun’s family has always taken care of him and spoiling him, as he was the first born and on top of that a boy, which is highly respected in Asia, yet that never letting him become a spoiled brat, due to a lot of circumstances, starting with high school. Even though his father wasn’t that short, Minhyun never grew up that tall, which only started causing the other boys from his class to make fun of him from time to time. It never grew to a full bully kind of a thing, yet it was enough to make him sick of school, his biggest escape from that being his dancing team. In his three years in high school, he managed to master two-three styles and combine them perfectly when dancing – street dance, free style, break dance. Many thought that he’d continue his career as a dancer, yet his passion for cooking took a lead, as since a young age, he was helping his mother in the kitchen quite a lot. Due to that sudden decision, he has decided to go back to Japan, where he was originally born, yet since 2 years old, his parents moved to South Korea, where his father was from, that leading to Minhyun being raised there. His parents weren’t against it, as his mother even offered Minhyun to live with her parents in Osaka, yet due to the college being in Tokyo, in the end, Minhyun ended up living alone in there. It wasn’t a problem at first, yet a little bit after he started college, his father got fired from the company he was working at, the money and everything turning to be a big problem for the family, especially since he was no longer the only child, having a younger sister that was in middle school already. Due to that, Minhyun was forced to find a work somewhere; the best place it being one of the most famous night clubs in Ginza. He eventually started working as a bartender there, even though not having much of an experience as one, yet as the problems kept on coming one after another, for his worst luck, he was having morning classes, every single day, with the strictest professor in the college.

 

 

 

 

“I told you million times already that I don’t want to live with my grandparents in Osaka, mother! I am going to survive in Tokyo, on my own. So stop worrying about me.” How many times has this conversation been hold, Minhyun already lost its number. Since his father lost his job, his mother was calling him every single day, trying to convince him to go live with his Japanese grandparents in Osaka, yet he wasn’t approving that at all. It was quite tough for him to be holding the same conversation every morning, especially after working till 2AM in the morning and having to get up at 6AM to be in the university at 8AM.

 

It was just the first day of the second semester, yet the gray haired boy already had a bad feeling about it. Seeing that he was put in Professor Noboru’s morning classes was just another stress for him, added to the already gathered around him old ones. He has been hearing from his seniors a lot of things and none of them were good ones. In the first semester he didn’t really have the chance to visit that professor’s classes, yet starting from now, he wasn’t even a bit excited about it.

 

“Alright then. Do as you please!” With these words, his mother hang up the phone, something she become to do a lot recently. It wasn’t like Minhyun didn’t try to understand how worried his mother was, having her child living on their own, in the capital of Japan, yet he couldn’t have it other way. He liked it that way. It was tough, but for the first time he was taking care of his own well being, which was a good experience and a way to grow up and turn into an adult sooner.

 

Checking the time, Minhyun realized he was already late for the train, hissing and quickly grabbing his bag, rushing out of the small apartment he was living in, locking the door and heading towards the train station, running. What was one good side though was the fact, that the trains were coming every 3-4 minutes, due to the fact that the life in Tokyo was just that hectically busy.

 

Reaching the train station, the next train was just about to arrive, the fight to get in, even now, after almost 6 months spent in Japan already, making him sick to his bones. Thanks god, he didn’t have to spend much in that hectic place, yet it was still enough to make him feel even worse. As he was coming home late, because of his work, having these morning classes every day from now onwards, it was like a punishment for a sin, he didn’t even know that he had committed.

 

After fifteen minutes fighting to survive inside the train, Minhyun finally reached his destination, once out of the train, taking a deep breath, fixing his gray hair a little and heading quickly to the exit. For his biggest luck, the university was just like another 15 minutes by foot from the station, yet, as he was already late enough, the young boy took the path, running. It wasn’t like he didn’t like exercising at all, yet lately that was the least he wanted to do at all. Barely having time to even eat properly, things like exercising were left way behind him.

 

Finally, he made it safely to the front gate of the university, taking another deep breath, before to step in. He headed to the main building, where the class was held, actually quite glad that at least he didn’t have to change into his cooking clothes yet – a small plus for his lateness.

 

Reaching the third floor, where the classroom was, he spotted from a far a tall, well shaped and very strict looking figure standing by the door, as if that person was wai-… Minhyun instantly took his phone, checking the time – 8:10AM. “Fuck!” cursing under his breath, the gray haired boy rushed to the classroom, stopping right in front of the figure of Noboru.

 

“Good morning, Professor Noboru. I am truly sorry for being late on the first day of your class!” Minhyun bowed all politely on 90 degrees, a way, to show that he actually was realizing he has made a mistake and that he was sorry about it. He has been hearing a lot from his mother how strict Japanese people were, when it was coming to being on time and how even a minute late could be a reason for anybody to be punished. Having that in mind, the young boy tried to never be late, yet since he started that job in the bar, it was becoming more and more impossible for him to be on time.

[Yujiko]

Dark eyes drifted from an expensive watch and lifted upwards to see the figure of a young student rushing towards his room. Those eyes of his narrowed as a tsk sound was made by the click of a tongue. "You're late," Noboru said in a deep harsh tone as the young man neared, and his hands moved to pull out a small box of thin cigarettes. "It's poor mannered to be late, young man," he said carefully before putting a cigarette between his lips. When Minhyun bowed perfectly before him the raven simply blinked and moved to light the cancer stick in his mouth. "It's Professor Koboyashi," spat the man before exhaling smoke in front of the boy. Looking back into the lecture hall the tall older man moved with long careful strides back over toward his desk. "Shut the door, tardy cook," demanded the sensei before looking back over to Minhyun. He blinked for a moment as an angry brow forced wrinkles to appear on his forehead. "Shut the door, now and take your seat," demanded the elder sharply.

 

Noboru watched Minhyun with a disappointed glare before taking another puff of his cigarette; moving over to the ashtray on his desk he would elegantly tap the small stick against it and knock loose the char at the tip, it was then that he began to speak to the class. "Good morning students, I am professor Noboru Koboyashi and you shall address me by my surname- Koboyashi," sharp evil eyes darted to the tardy student just then but only for a moment. "Today will mark the beginning or the end of your culinary career, and only you have control over whether or not you will pass or fail my class. I will not stand for late assignments, I will not tolerate ill manner, and as far as I am concern my class is the only goddamned class in this school that matters and you will treat it as such."

 

As he spoke, Noboru moved over to the chalkboard and paced in front of it before stopping in the middle of it and scanning the herd of students. "Now if you understand that, let us begin... On your desk is a small notebook, a small pen, and a thin paper back book about food tasting," his words flowed as if he had spoken them thousands of times, and the man would have sworn that he had- they were so rehearsed and dull, ugh... It drove him crazy. Moving back to his desk the well dressed professor placed both hands atop the oak and lean against it. "You can just throw that book away, it's not worth the paper it's printed on. Now, for your first assignment you will go out tonight and eat food at your favorite restaurant. Using that small book and pen you will use the first few pages to describe the service, and the atmosphere. Be sure to date your entries or I will not take the assignment as completed. Once you have eaten your favorite meal from your favorite restaurant I want you to describe all the things you love about both it and the location, and then I want you to write about everything you could do better..."

 

Noboru continued his lecture for the never hour so before looking down at his watch, he had described and educated the students on his experience and reputation as well as how he had become the respected critic he was. When the clock hit 9:15 AM the teacher paused and cleared his throat. "Alright class, that will be all for today- please turn in your assignments first thing in the morning and do not be tardy." Noboru's eyes narrowed on Minhyun for a moment," Okay, class dismissed! And that late student, see me after class- everyone else have a good day!", the moment the professor had dismissed everyone except Minhyun he would move back over to the dark oak desk he was quite fond of, and take a seat before lighting another cigarette.

[Bloodysadist]

As Minhyun darted to lift his gaze upwards, he spot the cigarette placed between the professor’s lips, raising his brow slightly. Was he even allowed to smoke inside the building? But then, on the other hand, this was just one of the many private collages, so any exception would be accepted, as long as well known professors were still teaching here. Bowing once again, after realizing he has called the professor by his first name, which only made him very embarrassed and well uneducated like, as his mother was always repeating that he should be careful about that the most in Japan, that now becoming his own bitter lesson.

 

Allowed to enter inside, Minhyun could feel all the gazes over himself. It actually made him shiver. It wasn’t like he didn’t get some popularity due to being “the guy with the *** hair color”, but being stared as if he was in a museum… feeling like an exhibit, no, that wasn’t his kind of thing. “I am truly sorry once again, Professor Kobayashi.” Repeating his apologize and he bowed all politely once again. As soon as the professor took his way back to the room, Minhyun closed the door, as ordered, even though the tone used to deliver the words… god, they only made him realize how fucked up he was from the first day.

 

“What the hell did you do to be this late, Mi-chan?” Throwing a small glare at his friend, as soon as he sat down, next to him, Minhyun took a deep breath, pointing slightly at his face. “You see my face, right? I had around 3 hours of sleep and I missed the train.” Explaining quickly, he made a sign to his friend to stop talking, as he was triggered enough by the tall standing figure at the front, not really wanting to cause any more problems.

 

Every word that Kobayashi was saying, it was like piercing into the young boy’s head, for a moment actually getting the feeling that with every bad thing that was mentioned, he, himself, was the portrayed bad guy, standing behind it. Was it really that bad to be late once? It wasn’t like he did it on purpose, but what could he do, when he didn’t even have the money to buy a car yet? He had a driving license, he took the course back in South Korea, yet with all the things going on and just the fact that he lived in Tokyo was enough, to make him leave the thought of buying a car, as the transport and everything was just very comfortable.

 

Staring down at the papers, Minhyun took them in hand, giving the written a small surprised gaze. He had to write… pages, not just a few sentences, about his favorite restaurant’s food, but pages? He didn’t have time to eat at all and what’s left to eat outside. Why did he even choose this class on the first place? Squeezing slightly the papers, he just focused on everything else the professor was saying, the end of the class actually coming to an end. That was surely one long and full with thoughts lecture for him.

 

“Bud, I am going to get changed. Will see you in the next class, okay?” Patting his shoulder, Minhyun saw his friend heading out first, just as he was about to actually do the same, actually realizing that he was called for after the class? Did that professor not read his name to call him just "the late student" and what the hell was all this high school like thing? Staying after the class? Was he serious?

 

Making a small face, Minhyun grabbed the papers from his desk, putting his bag and heading carefully down to the professor’s desk, making sure to take a deep breath before reaching it, smiling slightly and bowing once again. “Good work, Professor Kobayashi. What could I do for you?” He had just ten minutes before the next class and he had to change in his cooking uniform, wasn’t that the perfect day to get completely fucked up? Yep, it was, taking in mind that he was having his part-time job from 9PM and he was finishing here at 6PM. How much worse could this day become?

[Yujiko]

It was like a heard of elephants where leaving his class room, and the sound always made the older man rather uncomfortable- it made him feel as if ignorance and stupidity would one day trample him like a stampede of animals. Dark brown eyes fell on the cigarette between his fingers, and it was almost just a stub now. The long digits of the man's hand dropped down near the desk and dabbed the cigarette into the glass ashtray, putting out the small cancer-stick as Noboru let out a smoky and stinky exhale. After a moment the man rested a set of elbows upon the oak surface and leaned his chin against his thin smooth hands, it was then that his sharp gaze would move and settle on the nearing student. When Minhyun bowed and gave him that usual phrase he had heard many times before, good work, he gave a slight nod. "I know," he spoke softly from behind his hands.

 

Clearing his throat the man stood up, the back of his legs pushing the chair behind him back a bit and the sound of wood moving over tile filling the empty room. "Listen-," Noboru paused for a moment looking down at his paper," - Kang-san, don't waste your time if you're not going to be serious in this class. What I teach is worth it's weight in gold, and let me explain to you that I walk on gold every day. Don't try to give me a sob story about how you have to take six trains and ride a horse to get here from your grandfather's farm that you work on all night and day, I simply do not care." Hands slipped into trouser pockets as he spoke harsh words so easily, it was as if his was naturally just nasty and mean person.. Well, wait a second. He kind of is.

 

"Do not be late to my class, and most of all do your assignment," he demanded before looking towards the entrance into the classroom, "Now, get out of here, you're wasting my time and I'm tired of looking at you." Cold dark eyes stared through Minhyun before his head motioned to the door. "Go," reiterated the older man before he moved to sit back down at his desk. Noboru picked that small French book back up and began reading it with careful and cold eyes.

[Bloodysadist]

The moment Kobayashi stood up, Minhyun made a step back, actually flinching slightly by the sound that the desk made. The tall figure of the professor was like a scary shadow bent over the student, making the young boy just stay silent and feel even smaller than he already was feeling. Something in this man was seriously freaking scaring the hell out of him. It was like this man didn’t take anything around himself as a breathing human being thing, except for his own self.

 

Parting his lips to say something, Minhyun was overpowered by the professor’s words, realizing nothing was worth it arguing over this problem. It wasn’t like he’d be understood, nor he wanted to be pitied or something. Bowing after the professor finished speaking, the gray haired boy just turned around and walked out of the classroom, heading all silent to the changing room.

 

He was just so taken aback by that man’s words, that he didn’t even realize it when he was inside the room, the cold tone of Noboru’s voice repeating like a scary music inside his head. “Mi-chan, you alright?” He heard his friend’s voice and perked up at him, humming and shaking his head. “You seem like you just saw a ghost… Was it that worse?” The questions kept on just passing through Minhyun’s ears, him automatically just nodding, not even sure what for, but just nodding. “Just let me change first.” Saying that, he opened his locker and took out his uniform out of his bag, leaving the bag inside and dressing himself, as he left his usual clothes over it, locking the locker after taking one notebook and a pen, putting the keys inside his apron, turning back to his friend.

 

“Let’s go.” He made a sign to the other boy, making his way to the door along with him. “Hey, Teru, do you think that I could drop off that class?” The sudden question made Teru stop instantly, looking at Minhyun all surprised, taking a deep breath. “It is an obligatory class, so… even if you drop it out now, you’d need to take it next year. Don’t do that, Mi. He is just going to make your life even worse, if you do it.” Nodding silently, without saying anything else, both entered the next class: Basics of making sweets.

 

As it was his favorite class, so Minhyun actually felt that he’d be able to rest a bit in there, while in the same time rethinking what should he do once he finishes his classes and before going to work. Maybe a pack of cigarettes would be a good idea before finding where to eat and write that annoying thing? But then once again, he has never smoked, so instead of looking like an idiot doing that… and having in mind that he was either way still a minor in Japan, made him fall even more into the despair. But of course, he’d be able to manage it somehow, he was always finding a way to get out of the shits and it wasn’t like it was going to become any worse.

[Yujiko]

Unless the famed food critic was yelling at someone, he almost always had classical music playing in his head, and if any one student watched him just close enough they could see him moving ever so slightly to the orchestra playing in his mind. He was like that through the rest of his classes, simply playing Mozart to himself as he lectured the same story over and over again. Honestly he wasn't overly fond of teaching, but it was an opportunity for him- and besides once you reach a certain level of celebrity in the critic business you have less to critique and you reserve yourself for only the finest of foods. This may lead one to believe that Noboru wouldn't step food into a small whole in the wall, but they would be wrong. For the sake of fine and amazing food, he would go to the ends of the earth.

 

Later that night Noboru found himself resting on the couch, drinking a fine wine as the news played on his TV, and he was unbelievably bored. A gentle sigh fell from his lips as he stood and walked over to the island that was dead center in his kitchen, and for a moment he would stand there and drink wine. He stared down at the counter before finishing off his drink with one big gulp, and a hiss. Large hands lifted the wine and his legs carried him to a counter top wine cooler where he would place the wine, and quickly thereafter he would carefully put his wine glass into the sink. Noboru sighed again, "Dull," he murmured before walking into his bedroom. "My nights have become so dull..."

 

It was morning now, and the sun crashed down upon the school heartlessly. Sharp and dark eyes hung low with disinterest as the man made his way through the waves of students and towards his classroom. Quickly he had found himself there in his room, and he walked over to his desk setting down his briefcase as well as removing his scarf. He had to do something different soon, he thought to himself before going over to the chalkboard and scribbling on it. The chalkboard read, "Lesson One: Why your first assignment is absolute trash."

 

Once he finished writing, Noboru sat back down in his chair and picked up that small French book. His eyes were lost within its pages and so was his mind.

[Bloodysadist]

All the next classes went quite well, as most of them where some, that Minhyun had since the first semester. When the clock hit 6PM, the young boy was already out of the university, making his way to the train station – another hectic thing, he had to experience every day. As it was this time of the day, where students and working people were going home, it was just as full as in the morning. It was taking 30 minutes by train to reach Ginza from his university, which was actually quite benefited for him, even though for some it’d seem like a very long distance, no, that was just the least you could travel for your job, or any place you’d want to go in Tokyo.

 

Managing to once again fight his way through the “flock of sheep”, as he called all these pushy arrogant Tokyo Japanese people, Minhyun grabbed one of the holders, instantly resting his forehead over his stretched arm, closing eyes. It has become his habit to do this, since he started working and studying, the time for sleep only shortening more and more. At first, he found it very strange to sleep like that and he actually wondered how people could do it, yet soon enough, he found out himself, slowly taking these Japanese “bad habits”, as if that was something natural for him as well.

 

30 minutes passed quickly, as the driver already has announced that the next stop was Ginza. As the richest neighborhood in Tokyo, it was also full with all kinds of dangerous people, yakuza and what not. Even though knowing that though, Minhyun still decided to give it a try in that bar, as the money and actually the people he worked with were nice – something, that is very rare for most cases in Japan, while doing a part-time job in a place like Ginza.

 

Getting off the train and almost falling down because of the people pushing to get out behind him, cursing silently, the young boy safely got out of the train station. Looking around, he took a deep breath – it was already dark outside. He took his phone out, checking the time – 6:50PM. So, he had around one hour and a half to find a good place…

 

Without even realizing it, Minhyun’s legs were already moving to the big crowded streets of Ginza, so deep in his thoughts, that he didn’t understand it when he reached that small restaurant, not far away from his working place. He has been having a few meals in here, liking the place pretty much, as the one holding it was an old couple, despite the fact that being almost 70 years old, keeping the small business and making the best homemade like ramen. Entering inside, the young boy bowed his head in a sign of “Good evening” to the old lady behind the small bar plot, sitting on one table at the very corner of the either small restaurant. “A bowl of ramen, please.” Seeing the old lady’s smiley face, he couldn’t help it, but smile himself. As a person who’s major was Cooking, such places were to be appreciated the most for him.

 

Taking out the sheets, where the assignment had to be written, he slowly started writing down every single thing that evil, a.k.a professor wanted him to.

 

“The place’s name is Old Farm, placed in Ginza, a small, typical family restaurant, almost never full with clients, due to it being quite small, as a place itself, held by an old couple. The old lady is usually taking the orders, while her husband is making the food. The atmosphere is a typical Japanese styled, small wooden tables with two or four chairs, usually having a background jazz music as well. “ As he was about to continue writing, he saw the big bowl of ramen coming to him, his eyes literally shining like these of a little kid, when his grandmother was cooking for him.

 

“What are you studying, young boy? It seems to be requiring a lot of writing.” The old lady commented, as she placed the bowl with ramen in front of Minhyun, reaching out her hand to path the young boy’s shoulder. “You seem very exhausted. Do you work around here, dear?” It was very rare to meet anybody who’d say such a thing to you, just like that in Tokyo. With everybody living in their own busy worlds, things like caring for other were left way behind. “I do.” Minhyun simply answered, actually caught a little bit of guard, not even sure what more to say. “You aren’t Japanese, right? Where are you from, young boy?” As the old lady kept talking to him, the gray haired boy actually let out a small chuckle, pointing at himself. “It’s rare to be asked such a thing. Yes, you are right; I am half Korean, half Japanese. But I actually do live in Tokyo at the moment.” Seeing the old lady nodding her head, she made him a sign to wait for a moment, going back to the small bar and taking a cup of hot tea, along with a small plate with gyoza. “Here, this is from me. It seems to be tough for you and I guess that you don’t live with your parents. They wouldn’t let these big eye bags under your eyes happen.” Chuckling, the old lady left the things besides the ramen, leaving Minhyun to have his meal quietly. The time was passing slowly, while he was writing his assignment and enjoying the yummy food, as it almost has become the time for work, thanks god, he managed to finish that hellish thing on time, paying for his order and quickly rushing out of the restaurant, heading to his working place – 8:50PM.

 

When he finished work, it was already past 2AM, as usual, the boy he was working with giving him a drive home. It was hectically busy and he was just so tired that he’d collapse on bed the moment his foot stepped inside the room. That’s what actually happened though. As soon as Minhyun reached his room, he threw his bag on the floor, falling dead tired on his bed, his eyes instantly closing, as he fell asleep the next second. His little heaven though didn’t continue that long, as the clock hit 6AM, his alarm ringing. Cursing under his breath, Minhyun turned off the alarm once; trying to get his last few minutes of sleep, only until the alarm ten minutes later, rang again.

 

Once he took his morning shower and quickly ate a small bowl of cereal, Minhyun put on a pair of white ripped jeans, along with an over-sized black T-shirt, on top, putting on his leather jacket, a black hat and a black mask. Knowing that he looked terrible enough, he didn’t want to show it more than it already was, making Teru or anybody else worrying about him. Lastly putting a pair of glasses, Minhyun grabbed his bag and quickly headed out.

 

Thanks god, this time he managed to catch the right train, as soon as he already reached the university, he had whole ten minutes. 7:55AM – he made it safely to the classroom, taking his seat next to Teru, greeting him silently, just to see his friend pointing with his head at the blackboard in front of them: “Lesson One: Why your first assignment is absolute trash.” – Professor Kobayashi was officially his most hatred person in this university. Slipping a small cursing word in Korean under his nose, he took out his assignment, for just a mere moment, throwing his most despicable glance over the man standing in front of all them, students. He was making out the best chiefs? Bullshit. He was only making new enemies that way, everyday.

[Yujiko]

Noboru hadn't even noticed that Minhyun had shown up on time today, and honestly the man hardly even cared. The only thing that matter was that he would be waiting on no one to start his class, and those two who were late the day before actually had dropped out- it's okay though, he knew he would see them again if they wanted to graduate. Dark eyes looked up from the French book to see the room full, and then they drifted to a clock that rested just over the door's entry way. It was fifty-nine minutes past seven on the clock. With the sound of a clearing throat, Noboru stood from his desk- the sound of the wood chair screeching against the tile echoing throughout the room- and set the tiny book in his hand gently down. He walked across the the way to a wooden podium that was placed in front of, but centered before the blackboard.

 

"I hope you all did your assignments," he said plainly before continuing. "-And I cannot express how wonderful it is to start my class on time," in that moment the man found Minhyun and eyed him briefly before moving his gaze over the room. "For that, I say thank you for respecting me and my time- for it is worth far more than yours is...", he gave a short pause before looking back the board behind him. "As you can see, today is the beginning of the rest of your lives, and today you learn why your first assignment is... -Well you may as well give it to a homeless man because it's trash," most of the students stayed quiet, though an aura of sadness seemed to fall in that moment. "However," began Noboru again as he stepped around the podium and closer to the diagonally rising seats. "This will be what you use to mark your progression into understanding the intricacies of food. Eating is necessity to live, but food- that can be something that makes life worth living for. I have tasted some of the best food in the world and let me tell you the art of being a critic, the real secret is finding the mundane in those great works of art. It is tasting every molecule of the food you are devouring, and it is weighing that taste against the thousands of others you've tasted before- let me give you an example here..."

 

Noboru paced as he spoke, and the longer he lectured the less... Menacing he would seem? His tone seemed to change from one of judgmental severity to one of an actual professor, a kind of feeling that would invoke a desire to be more studious. "...How many tacos do you all think I've tasted? You probably can't even guess right? I have honestly lost count. I've had tacos from homes in Mexico, I've eat them out of food trucks, and I've had them in high end restaurants and the hardest part was knowing where I could draw the line. The reality of it all is understanding the variables that add or take away flavor, the ingredients and how they are cooked and presented- every detail, and that is why your first assignment will inevitably be horrid. You are for the first times in your life about to ride a bike with training wheels I will mold you into a tour de France all star if you apply yourself one-hundred percent."

 

The sensei stopped and looked about his class," Okay, that being said I would like you all to turn in your assignments now, just pass them all down and pilling them up into a stack. Today your new assignment will be going to that same restaurant you ate at the day before and eating the same exact meal, you will only drink water and you will eat slowly and taste your food. You will then write a few pages of all the things you could improve on. Only focus on the bad things about the food. Once all the papers are passed down you will be free to go, thank you." With those final words the teacher returned to his desk and the crowd of students began the process of passing papers to one another.

[Bloodysadist]

As the clock had showed 8AM, the class begin, as soon as the professor started speaking, the students silently starting to whisper to each other, everybody seeming just as confused as Minhyun, while the written on the blackboard was being explained. The more Noboru was talking though, at one moment, the young boy has lost himself into the words, actually starting to realize now that expect for being an arrogant man, Noboru was actually a professor after all. Probably half of the students were unable to understand half of the things their sensei has said, but somehow Minhyun managed to get the main idea of what was the man standing in front of them trying to teach them. It wasn’t just describing the meal you eat; it wasn’t the way the restaurant looked; it wasn’t the place it was being built at; it wasn’t even how fancy it was. The professor actually wanted the students to write down everything, as in taste, spices, every small detail, that could be described to critic or praise the meal. Maybe he was still missing something of course, he was sure he was, yet was he actually ready to give his trust to that person? He had a few months to see that for himself.

 

As the professor finished his lecture, all of the students started moving from their places, handing their assignments to one other, until all of the sheets were gathered on the first desk. Without saying much or even having the desire to even look at Noboru, Minhyun took his bag, checking the time – he had 30 minutes to take a small nap, before his next class. “Teru, I am going to the library. If I don’t show up in the break, come to check on me.” Seeing his friend chuckling silently and nodding his head, he patted the other’s shoulder, before to make his way to the library. It was a habit of his, if he had any free time left, to spend it there, sleeping. As the time for sleep was shortening more and more, Minhyun was like finding new talents, like sleeping anywhere, as long as he could rest his eyes for just a few minutes.

 

After the thirty minutes of sleep, the next classes passed just like that, the time for his job actually coming again. As yesterday, he first visited the small restaurant, ate the exact same food with drinking only water, as the professor expected him, while having another small chit-chat with the old lady and writing his assigment, before to head to his work place. It wasn’t as busy as last night, surprisingly for him, yet it was still loud and crowded enough to make him work his ass off, until the shift came to its end. Once he was driven home, the young boy once again, without even changing his clothes, just threw his bag on the floor, falling down on the bed, as soon, as the smell of the pillow reached his nose, he was already asleep. Until when was he going to be able to handle it all, he wasn’t sure at all, yet as long as nobody would find about his job, then it was all going to be fine, right?

[Yujiko]

"Thank god this class is over," the sensei thought to himself as the students began to pass the assignments down and into a nice and not-so-neat pile on a desk. The man ignored all the 'good works' that were spoken to him as the herd of idiophants, as he so called his students, left the room. A sigh of glorious relief fell from his lips like rain from the heavens and his eyes lifted to see above the book in his hands and he would eyes the tower of papers.

 

Later that evening was home, and the stack of people were now split in two- one he had read and graded, and others he had not. About three-quarters of the way through the raven sighed and sat back in his chair. Eyes hurt, butt hurt, back hurt- ugh... This was completely and utterly boring. Noboru lifted his hands and allowed them to rub his face before they dragged down his cheeks. He was almost done, but it was just so exhausting. With a quick sip of wine and a huff, the older man picked up the next paper. The name on it was Minhyun Kang and he blinked at it for a moment. "Hmm, the late one. Let's see what you go Kang-San," and immediately he began reading...

 

---

 

Two weeks later...

 

The sky was a dark hazy blue as the city lights polluted the night, and Noboru found himself out with some friends. It seemed like ages since he was able to cut loose and enjoy some him time. The raven walk around with a few rather questionably flamboyant friends in Gyoza, but it wasn't like people talked much about what they saw around here- and besides, Noboru was in disguise (also known as casual clothes). He and his friends wonder into a rather popular club-bar, orb of laughter seeming to over power the music, and it was obvious the group had alright had some drinks. "Okay okay, gentlemen the next round is on me!", declared the usually very stoic Mr.Koboyshi as he wondered off from the group and towards the bar.

 

As he moved past dancing strangers and bustling wait-staff the man found himself pushing past two men at the bar sitting closely together. "Pardon me, I'm so sorry just going to get some drinks really quick- Excuse- HEY EXCUSE ME!! BARTENDER!!", Noboru waved his hand with his evil brows furrowed just a bit. "HEY COULD I GET SOME SERVICE?!", the music boomed just behind him and the light of the bar kept him from the darkness that emanated from the dance floor. With a growl and a groan, the critic left the two men he was inconveniencing and moved to the end of the bar where he spotted a rather small bartender, he quickly waved and called out to them. As he did his eyes would wonder to find a rather cute little behind- Noboru grinned. "Hey!", called out the teacher to the bartender. "Hey hotstuff, can I get some drinks over here? Please? I'll give you a good tip!", he said loudly to the man behind the counter.

[Bloodysadist]

Two weeks has passed since the classes begun. Every day was just turning more and more hectic with all the critics Minhyun was receiving for every single assignment he has given to Professor Noboru. It was like, he hasn’t even made a step forwards to realizing what that man wanted him to write. The hours of sleep were also just got less and less, as the last few days, he had like three hours of sleep per day. It was all slowly dragging him to his limit and he knew it, yet unfortunately the only two days, a.k.a the weekends, where he could sleep a bit more, were now full with Professor Noboru’s assignments as well.

 

It was just like any of his last few days today, as the young boy was heading to the bar, noticing that the streets were unusually full, as if an even was happening around. As he entered the bar, the other guy he was working with grinned and waved his hand, pointing at Minhyun’s clothes. “You seriously have a good sense for clothes. You should do something connected with fashion, I swear.” Saying that, he patted the gray haired boy’s shoulder, before to get back to cleaning the bar.

 

It wasn’t neither the first, nor it would be the last time, he assured, that anybody was praising him for his choice of clothes. Minhyun wasn’t really doing anything special though, like choosing for hours what to put on. He was literally just grabbing the first clothes in front of his eyes. As for today, he was just wearing black skinny ripped jeans – his favorite kind of jeans, along with a black singlet and a navy colored oversized long slaved shirt. Adding the black hat and the mask, nothing else was that special. Oh, maybe only the fact that today he had these gray contact lens instead of his usual uncolored ones.

 

Leaving his bag under the bar, the young boy started cleaning along with the other guy, while chit-chatting and joking around. “So, I was seriously wondering, do you have a girlfriend, Mi?” Hearing the question he raised his brow, slightly chuckling. “Do you think that if I had a girlfriend I’d work here, especially at night?” Well, it wasn’t that any relationship could actually stop him from working in the bar, if he needed the money, but with all the young ladies every night, constantly flirting around with him and anybody else; it wouldn’t be the best idea. “But you are very handsome and I bet very popular!” Popular? Uh, well if being known for the odd guy changing his hair color every few weeks, yeah, he could be considered popular. Well, but in Japan, being popular probably didn’t only mean looking good… As for South Korea, there… there it was another story. “I can’t say that I am, but…” Finishing up with the cleaning, Minhyun washed his hands, perking at the other boy. “If I was a girl, I’d hit on you instantly.” Saying that, the other boy winked at him, letting out a small laugh, before to finish up his own part, soon the bar opening its doors.

 

It was a little bit past 12AM and the bar was hellishly full. Young people were going crazy on the dance floor, while middle aged groups of males and women were having their drinks taken one after another, while relaxing from all the stress they’ve probably gathered inside for a long time, chit-chatting each other.

Just when it got the busiest though, Mahiro, the guy, Minhyun was working with went for his break, so all the work was left for the young boy alone. As he was just taking the orders of two guys around their thirties, he heard a loud voice calling for him. “JUST A MOMENT, SIR.” As he had to fight the music to be heard, he shouted out, writing down the two cocktails the guys ordered, quickly making them, even if wanting to put a bit of show while making them, not having the time for that. As soon as he finished and gave the drinks to the obvious couple, even though both of them being males, he ran to the direction from where the following words came, raising his brow and without even taking a look at first, leaning a bit closer, yet more like aside, to the man’s ear, whispering: “Then you better really pay me a good tip, because my service is worth a lot.” As soon as he pulled back, grinning playfully, while holding a small glass of whiskey in his left hand, Minhyun took a better look at the face in front of him, his smile, his face and his body freezing on its place, the glass from his hand falling and breaking down. His worst nightmare… no, the end of his either way miserable life has just happened in front of his eyes. In front of him, right on front of him, the guy who… just tried to flirt him… and whom he flirted back… was no one else, but… Noboru Kobayashi, his teacher. “Sensei…”

[Yujiko]

A stupid smirk curled one side of the critic's mouth upward, and he quickly followed up with the roll of his bottom lip against his teeth. Nothing was more exciting than when the bartender began to move towards him, and he could feel it warm his chest and resonate somewhere down below. He leaned against the bar with both his arms and elbows resting against the counter top, and what happened next got him really going. It wasn't enough that the bartender come at his hoot and holler, but the younger and small man moved up to his side and whispered into an ear. Noboru's hand drifted from it's resting position to rest delicately on the back of the bartender as he would whisper, and it drove the older man wild.

 

Noboru's head moved along with his gaze to follow the mysterious bar-staff," How much do you want then?", asked the teacher as the grey haired boy pulled away, the once advancing hand now back on the counter. He held a charming and provocative grin toward Minhyun until suddenly he dropped the glass. The sound of shattering glass shocked the taller, older man out of his perverse moment, but he was oblivious to the words the student had spoken. Noboru rushed to move around the counter and help pick up the glass," Hey, hey!! Are you okay?, listen I was just kidding kid, really...!"

 

The older man stood up with glass in his hands, eyes looking about the gray hair, masked boy's face. "You don't look hurt, are you okay?", asked the teacher with concern written all over him. "I'll give you whatever money you want, I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to freak you out," It was quite evident now that Noboru didn't hear Minhyun speak sensei at all.

[Bloodysadist]

Cold electric like shudder went down the spine of the student, due to the unexpected body contact, obviously, the older male liking the idea of the flirting way too much, which only led to Minhyun feeling even worse, as soon as he realized who that man was. God, if he didn’t recognize his teacher, he’d just go with the flow and… oh god, he couldn’t even imagine it, no, no, such thing wouldn’t happen, right? He wouldn’t… or would he… actually he didn’t care about the gender, but, oh god…

 

While being taken aback by all that just happened, he didn’t even realize that his hand was cut on a few places, as he started picking back the broken pieces of the glass. What he didn’t expect and almost fell back though, was seeing his professor coming behind the bar and helping him? So… so, he didn’t recognize him?? God, he was lucky. Alright, so he should just act normal, right? He could do it, right?

 

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault, sir. I am just a bit clumsy at times…” Letting out a small awkward laugh, Minhyun tried to cover the real reason, one small side of him actually though finding it amusing that his teacher thought that flirting with him would make him freak out like that. This new side of the guy was quite interesting, he had to admit. The scent of the older male on the other hand, he could sense it better now and he had to admit again, he loved it. That guy… if he wasn’t such a hateful professor, he’d probably talk more with him and actually would even go for a drink with him. It wasn’t so untypical to do that with your professors in the university, well, as long as you were at the age to drink, which wasn’t applying for Minhyun yet, as he was still a minor – One more reason, why nobody had to find that he was working at a night bar.

 

As Noboru stood up, Minhyun pointed at the small bin under the counter, where the older male could throw the broken pieces, he, himself, getting up and throwing the last ones he was holding, there, looking back at the older male. “Thank you for helping me sir and… I am sorry for surprising you like that. I will pay one of your drinks, since I am really grateful for your help, so you shouldn’t give me any tips. I don’t think that I deserve them… anyways.”Saying this, the grey haired boy turned his head to the side, just to see the other bartender coming back, not realizing that now, just in that moment, Mahiro would fuck his perfect plan up. “Minhyuuuun, I am back.”

[Yujiko]

Expecting eyes danced between the ones that belonged to Minhyun, and the older man stood with uneasiness filling up every curve and grove of his body. He knew it was in modern day much more acceptable to be gay, but Noboru also knew what it could do to his reputation if something like this were to explode on the media. [Noboru Koboyashi molests a night worker!!][Famed food critic rapes unsuspecting man in public!!]. The ideas of smear headlines race through his head at a mile a minute and the older gentlemen swallows hard as he listened to the young barkeep speak. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t your fault, sir. I am just a bit clumsy at times…”

 

Noboru shakes his head from side to side as the small man before him dismisses the whole thing, but the critic is far to fearful to let him just go on his merry way. "N-no please, let me pay for the drinks and tip you well, then you can forget you ever saw me here. Just don't go and tell people I tried any-anything because I, I didn't!", the man spoke with a slight nervous stutter and he dropped the glass in his palms into the trash can under the bar top. "No, please don't worry about it really!", protested the older man further.

 

It was then that the other bartender was returning and Noboru's dark eyes shot a quick, sharp stare towards him. Suddenly he felt as if the weight of the world was pressing down upon him in that moment. As if he was just one step away from losing everything so easily. The teacher quickly took a step backward from the younger male, and he had begun to spin on his heels and leave until...

 

“Minhyuuuun, I am back.”

 

Noboru froze and an icy cold doom washed over him. Minhyun...?!

 

Was this the reason the student was late to class most days, and why he always looked exhausted? Still, Minhyun's assignments were the best in the class in Noboru's opinion and the poor child worked this late at night? The cold shock of hearing his student's name hadn't worn off yet, and the teacher turned his head back to look at the student. "Holy shit...", he said flat out.

[Bloodysadist]

"N-no please, let me pay for the drinks and tip you well, then you can forget you ever saw me here. Just don't go and tell people I tried any-anything because I, I didn't!" These words actually hurt him slightly. Did the man in front of Minhyun really thought that he’d just go and spread around that he was being flirted by a teacher? It was understandable if he didn’t do anything in return, but he, himself, actually returned the flirt and just in general, unfortunately, this was a part of his job. Every night he was really meeting all kinds of clients, who tried to flirt with him, tried to kiss him, tried to touch him, but if he actually didn’t want that, he was clearly saying it off, and well, once he had to call the boss, but that was just once. He wasn’t really caring even if it was a famous star that has came here and has done the same, as a part of his job, anything and anybody he saw, it was staying for him. It was a part of the policy of the bar and that’s why it was a high quality one, he was working at.

 

Before to be able to oppose any more to the older male though, he saw the male ready to leave, until Mahiro came back. From the reaction of the male, Minhyun realized it – now, his professor was aware of who he was. Meeting his eyes, he stepped back himself, the wounded hand itching slightly, which only made him wrinkle his face a little, his gaze running away from his professor’s and back to Mahiro. The other bartender was obviously unaware of what has just happened, as he just came to the gray haired boy and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, smiling all brightly. “Did you make a new friend, while I was gone, kid? He looks pretty good.” Saying all jokingly, Mahiro bowed his head slightly to Kobayashi, yet Minhyun instantly pulled away from the other boy’s grip, narrowing his eyes, taking a deep breath and all embarrassed looking at his legs.

 

“He is just someone I happened to know from before.” Mumbling that silently, he could feel his cheeks actually reddening slightly. It wasn’t that he was shy or something, just the opposite; he was feeling like his whole world has already ended. Until now, no one except Teru knew about his part-time job at the university and he was trying so hard to keep up with that, as Japan was quite hellish when it was coming to such things. As a minor, he was first of all forbidden to work in bars or any places, where there was being served alcohol, on top of that at night. Just by knowing that fact, just thinking that not anybody, but professor Kobayashi found him working here was enough for him to want to give up on life – literally. He had to talk with the older male and convince him not to say a word to the director of their college, whatever the price could be.

 

Of course, in his eyes, he was being hated by Kobayashi since the first time they met, and even until now, he didn’t actually think that he rose even a bit in the other’s eyes, which was only making him feel even worse. Not even guessing that he was wrong, he was just searching for a way to save himself from this situation, no matter what.

 

“I am taking my break now. Please take care of the costumers over there, senpai.” Saying that, Minhyun made the first eye contact for a while with his professor, as he walked to him, actually both to talk to him and go to the sink behind the taller male, for the first time tonight, pulling slightly down his mask, just enough to uncover his mouth. “Professor Kobayashi, would it be possible to talk to you for a minute or two?” Using the highest level of Japanese to speak to the male in front of him, Minhyun bowed to Noboru, before to make a few more steps forwards, just to reach the sink, finally washing off the blood from the few small cuts, hissing silently, yet trying not to mind the pain, quickly stopping the water and just grabbing a few tissues to wipe dry his palms.

 

His heart was going crazy against his chest; he was worried, in a slight despair and scared of what could happen next. The thoughts were like a storm inside his head, making him shake it a little, not even sure what to do next. It was just the worst scenario.