"It's about Jean Green!"
One of the teachers spoke suddenly, standing up with her phone in hand, eyes wide as she stared at the screen.
The rest of the staff room turned toward her at once, but Shawn didn't.
His fingers only tightened around the book he was holding, his grip slowly hardening as something unfamiliar stirred in his chest. His heart began to race, and he didn't even understand why.
"Amelia, I thought you left the students' gossip group. You're still in it?" another teacher asked.
"Why would I leave? It's entertaining more than TikTok," she replied casually.
"What about Jean Green?" someone else asked from across the room.
"There's a picture. It was taken in the bathroom, two boys kissing. One of them isn't visible, but the students are convinced it's Jean because apparently he's the only one who's been seen with the other boy," she explained, her voice carrying disbelief as she kept scrolling.
"How is that even possible? I've never seen Jean Green with anyone apart from his girlfriend… June London, Asher Brooks, and the other two," another teacher said.
Shawn's grip tightened further.
Girlfriend...
The word echoed in his head, over and over, drowning out everything else. His breathing shifted, coming faster, uneven, and his heart pounded harder against his chest.
"Apparently, he only started hanging out with that boy recently," Amelia added, still focused on her phone.
Not long ago...
That phrase repeated itself too, over and over. Jean had actually done it. Shawn had told him to stay with people his own age. Maybe this was exactly what Jean had gone and done.
"But what proves it's him? Just because he's been seen with that boy? I don't think Jean Green would do something like that," another teacher argued.
"Exactly. That kid is as straight as they come. Why would anyone even think that?" someone else added.
"You can't tell if someone is gay just by looking at them," another voice cut in. "How sure are you that he isn't, just because of how he looks, or because he has a girlfriend?"
"Even if he was, I doubt his parents would let something like that become public. Those people live for their image."
Another teacher scoffed. "Funny how they care about their image in things like this but don't care about his education. That boy has zero interest in school. He could score nothing and still wouldn't care."
"Why would he care when his parents could practically buy an entire city?" someone replied.
"Am I crazy for thinking that today he was actually paying attention in my class? He even took notes," another teacher said.
"Same here. I was stunned."
"Kids these days…" one of the older teachers muttered with clear disgust. "Why would a boy go around kissing another boy when there are hundreds of girls around him?"
Another added, "But honestly, this is probably karma. That Jean boy walks around like he's untouchable, like no one, not even a teacher, can say anything to him. Now he'll finally know what it feels like to be looked down on, to be pointed at, to be looked at with disgust, to be avoided by the same people who used to beg for his atten..."
The sharp scrape of a chair cut him off as Shawn stood up abruptly.
The room fell silent as all eyes turned to him.
"Shawn, are you okay?" the teacher beside him asked softly.
He wasn't.
He wanted to shut them all up.
But he didn't.
"Yeah. Sorry," he said, forcing calm into his voice even though he felt anything but calm. "I got carried away with all this drama and completely forgot I have somewhere important to be after school."
It was a lie, and he knew he had said more than necessary, but he didn't want to come off as the new teacher who couldn't mingle or who acted strange around others.
The teachers glanced at the time almost at once, surprise flickering across their faces as they realized how late it already was.
Shawn picked up his bag and headed for the door.
The moment he stepped out of the door, he heard a female voice drift from inside: "If I weren't married…"
It was followed by soft laughter and overlapping comments.
Once outside the tuition building, he walked straight toward the gate. The students were still in chaos, the entire place buzzing with tension.
Just as he was about to leave, the principal's voice came through the hallway speakers.
"Attention, students. Let's have order in the school. I am aware of what is going on, and I want to warn everyone against making assumptions without solid proof. From now on, watch what leaves your mouth, because it might lead you into trouble, especially once you leave this school and carry those rumors outside. You are dismissed. Go home. And watch your mouth."
It was obvious what the principal was doing, Shawn thought as he walked out of the gate. She was keeping the rumors contained within the school, preventing them from spreading further- probably to avoid having to answer to Jean's parents if things got out of control.
He walked toward his house, hoping the distance would clear his mind, but it didn't.
His thoughts kept circling around the same words-
Jean.
Girlfriend.
Kissing a boy.
His student.
Age gap.
The son of the man who had destroyed his life.
The one he couldn't stop thinking about.
The one he was trying to push away, even though he didn't truly want to.
The noise in his head grew louder until it became unbearable.
Before he even realized it, his steps had taken him into a familiar stretch of quiet, empty streets. And then, without stopping himself from using his supernatural powers like he had promised he wouldn't, he let go.
His body moved at an unnatural speed, cutting through distance in seconds, driven more by instinct than thought.
All he wanted was to get home.
The moment he stepped inside and locked the door behind him, he went straight to the bathroom and turned on the cold shower.
The freezing water hit his skin, but it did nothing to calm what was inside him.
Seeing Jean's father the night before had made Shawn realize that he harbored more anger toward that man than he had expected.
Every instinct in him had urged him to tear that man apart, to let the very thing he had created be the one to destroy him.
But Jean's presence had helped him keep the beast inside him under control. He didn't understand what it was about Jean that steadied his control, but by now he knew it wasn't imagination anymore, it wasn't coincidence.
Jean's presence and scent affected him deeply.
How could he hate the father so completely, yet not feel that same hatred toward the son?
If he hated Jean, everything would be easier. But it was worse, because it wasn't just him, the beast inside him recognized Jean.
And that thought unsettled him more than anything else.
Maybe it was because Jean was the only person he had been intimate with after becoming what he was.
And if that was the reason…
Then maybe there was still a way to fix it.
A way to break whatever this was.
And tonight, he was going to find it.