The two of them were aimlessly wandering the halls, both holding onto the half-assed directions a teacher had muttered at them before disappearing. The hallways were nothing like the ones near the entrance—they were darker, colder, and dead silent except for the sound of their footsteps echoing off the high stone walls.
The windows, already scarce, were basically useless now. All they showed was the pitch-black night outside, like the world had just stopped existing beyond the glass. The only light came from torches set into the walls every now and then, casting flickering shadows that danced across the floor and stretched across their faces.
Just like how the school looked outside—tall and ominous—it felt just as intimidating inside. Enormous ceilings. Endless corridors. Like it had been built to make people feel small on purpose.
Doyun walked ahead slowly, his hands tucked behind his back, shoulders stiff. He looked like he was trying to stay calm, but the pace of his steps said otherwise.
"Why did I have to be stuck with you…" he muttered under his breath, though the silence made it ring loud and clear.
"I'm not happy about it either, so stop whining," Yejun shot back without missing a beat.
They'd been trying to find the basement where their common rooms were supposed to be—supposed being the key word. The teacher had told them they'd be sharing a space down there. Something about how the school grouped students differently every year, how the rooms changed by magic depending on "compatibility," whatever the hell that meant.
But if they were compatible, then clearly something was broken in the system.
Now they were in the farthest, most shadowed part of the school. The torches barely lit the way here, and the air was weirdly cold. It didn't feel like a school anymore—it felt like a dungeon.
They weren't even supposed to be out anymore. Everyone else had already gone to their rooms. The rules were strict as hell, and being caught out this late? Instant punishment. And at a school like this, that could mean anything from detention to getting hexed.
Still, they walked. Mostly because stopping meant admitting they were completely lost.
Yejun rubbed the back of his neck, already feeling sweat clinging to his skin even in the cold.
"Yo… Doyun, maybe we should switch routes or something. Pretty sure we passed that torch, like, three times now—"
But then he stopped.
Both of them did.
A noise. Quiet. But not natural.
Jingling.
Like… keys.
Yejun froze. His stomach dropped.
That was definitely a teacher.
Doyun stiffened too. He didn't speak—didn't even glance at Yejun—but his body said everything. He slipped his hands out of his pockets and slowly started backing up, each step barely making a sound on the stone floor.
Yejun just stood there.
Wide-eyed. Unmoving. Like his brain stopped functioning.
Doyun shot him a look over his shoulder. Even in the low light, it screamed "are you serious right now?" He mouthed something aggressive—probably "move, bitch"—but Yejun didn't catch it, too stunned to react.
So Doyun did what Doyun does. He marched back, grabbed a fistful of Yejun's robe, and yanked him with zero warning down a nearby hallway they hadn't checked before.
It was even darker than the others.
Pitch black.
They kept walking until the hallway curved slightly, and then Doyun stopped. He pulled Yejun close, pressing his back to the wall, hidden by shadows.
Yejun couldn't see anything. Not even Doyun's face. The only thing he could hear was his own breathing—harsh, fast, too damn loud in the dead silence.
Then the keys jingled again. Closer this time. A lot closer.
Yejun's breath came even quicker, chest rising and falling like he'd just sprinted across the school. Doyun tried mouthing something to him again, but what was the point? Yejun clearly couldn't see jack shit.
So without thinking, Doyun reached out and pressed a hand over Yejun's mouth.
The same move he pulled in the hotel.
But this time—it wasn't funny.
This time, it was too real.
The air around them felt like it held its breath. Like the hallway itself was waiting to see if they'd get caught. Doyun's hand was warm against Yejun's face, his palm sealing over his lips firmly. Yejun froze completely, heart pounding like crazy in his chest. His whole body tensed, like every nerve in him was on high alert.
He could feel the heat of Doyun's hand, feel his breath bouncing off it, dampening his palm.
It felt wrong.
No—it was wrong.
But Doyun didn't let go. His hand stayed put. Maybe he was too focused on the footsteps, on the threat around the corner, to realize how close they were. Or maybe he did notice. Maybe he just didn't care.
Then a voice echoed down the hallway. A woman's voice. Firm. Sharp.
"...I told you I heard something. Check the west wing again."
Yejun's eyes widened. That was definitely a teacher.
But before he could react to that—
Another voice answered.
Deep. Male. Different.
"Relax. It's probably just the walls again. This place always sounds like someone's watching."
Yejun stiffened even more.
That… didn't sound like a teacher.
Doyun's hand twitched slightly, still pressed against his mouth.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them dared to breathe.
They just stayed in the dark, silently listening to the footsteps growing fainter, but that voice—the man's voice—lingered in Yejun's head like a whisper.
Who the hell was that?
And why did he sound like he didn't belong here?
the hell was that..?
And why did he sound like he didn't belong here?
Was that even a teacher.. and if he was, what was he doing here... the supervision is done by one teacher only.. So why would there be two of them? this didnt sit right with Yejun, it didnt feel like the teachers had just made a mistake, it felt almost as if intentional..
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-Author
Layout getting so hard frfr, i'm still trying to figure out if i should actually have a layout for stuff like their schedule or just go for it💔💔💔
thank you for reading this chapter!