Yejun couldn't focus.
Like—at all. No matter how hard he tried his mind kept drifting off somehwre else.
As he sat back down, brain foggy and heart lowkey racing, everything Asher just said was bouncing around in his head like a damn ping-pong ball.
Doyuns uncle. Dark magic.A group called Elevien. Some guy called master.
Bro, what the fuck?
He stared blankly at the front of the class while Doyun scrolled on his phone next to him like nothing happened.What the fuck, theres no way that thing worked, right? Asher had gone to sit further down the row, acting totally normal again, which made the whole thing feel even more surreal. Was he just being dramatic?
But no—Asher looked serious. Scary, even. Just for that one second.
Yejun shook his head and tried to snap out of it. This was all way too much for a first day.
The door creaked open again, suddenly the teacher walked in, opening both doors causing wind around the class, papers started flying. The teacher quickly walked to the front of the class, then his serious expression quickly turned nicer into a perfect smile. Almost too perfect to be trusted..
"Alright, everyone settle down," the man said with a calm voice. "Welcome to your first History of Magic class."
Yejun blinked.
Okay, weirdly… the teacher didn't look how he expected.
He wasn't old and grumpy like most history teachers. He was in his early 30s maybe, tall, with neat dark hair and the kind of calm, quiet energy that made people automatically respect him. His robes were old, black with gold embroidery, simple but elegant. He set down a worn-out leather book on the desk like it was something sacred.
"I'm Professor Rinh. And no, before anyone asks—this won't be a class where you just read textbooks and memorize dates," he said, glancing around the room with a small smirk. "History here is dangerous. Powerful. And more important than you think."
Yejun leaned forward a little without even meaning to.
Professor Rinh continued, "You'll learn about kingdoms lost to time. Magic that was forbidden. The ones who tried to rule this world—and the ones who tried to save it."
Okay. This guy knew how to get attention.
Most of the class had gone quiet. Even the students who were goofing off earlier were actually listening now.
Yejun sat up straighter, trying to play it cool, but inside he was still spiraling. Like, maybe this was just normal magic school drama, or maybe he was slowly getting wrapped up in some dark evil plot and didn't even know it yet.
"Magic has been around longer than any of us," Rinh continued, walking across the classroom slowly. "But in the wrong hands, it corrupts. And when people forget the past… it always finds a way to repeat itself."
Yejun didn't know why, but those words gave him chills.
Doyun snorted quietly beside him, barely paying attention. "Dramatic much," he mumbled under his breath.
Yejun ignored him.
Professor Rinh paused at the windows for a moment, staring outside. The wind made his robes flutter slightly. Then he turned back around and said, "I know a lot of you think this class is just a requirement. But I hope to change your mind."
He walked back to his desk, opened his book, and the pages flipped on their own—freaky magical style.
"We'll start today with something simple," he said. "The first recorded use of spellbinding magic. Open your books to page twelve."
The rest of the class fell into a rhythm—books opening, pages turning, students scribbling notes or pretending to care. It felt weirdly normal, considering the whole dark magic cult might be real situation happening in Yejun's brain.
But as the minutes passed, Yejun found himself paying more and more attention. Rinh had a way of speaking that pulled you in—like he'd lived through the stories himself. And he actually cared about what he was teaching. He wasn't boring. He was… kinda cool?
By the end of class, Yejun wasn't thinking about Doyun or Elevien or anything else.
Just magic. History. And how, for the first time since arriving, he felt like someone in this place knew what they were doing.
As they packed up to leave, Professor Rinh said, "Yejun, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Yejun froze for a second. "Uh—sure."
The other students filed out. Even Doyun gave a weird look before leaving.
Yejun walked up to the front of the class, unsure what this was about.
"You seemed a little distracted at the beginning of class," Rinh said gently. "Everything alright?"
Yejun rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Just… first day, confused I guess."
Professor Rinh gave a small nod, then reached into a drawer and handed him something.
"Here," he said. "It's a charm. A basic calming spell, nothing too strong. You can keep it with you in case things feel overwhelming."
Yejun blinked. "Oh. Thanks…?"
"Don't worry. This place can be strange at first," Rinh added, his voice calm and almost warm. "But I think you'll be fine. If you ever need to talk, I'll be around."
Yejun nodded slowly. "Right… thanks, Professor."
He left the classroom holding the charm in his hand, still kinda confused. It was just a little glass marble with runes etched into it, but it glowed faintly in his palm.
He had no idea why, but for the first time since arriving, he felt… kinda safe.
He was now walking in the hallway, pysically in the hallways but mentally? God knows where at this point. Yejun had just now realized—that was a double period. No wonder it felt like his soul had aged fifty years. Now that it was over, he was supposed to have a free period, and he'd really been hoping to chill with his friends… but of course, every single one of them had class.
With a long sigh, Yejun wandered through the hallway. It was completely empty now, most students already tucked into their next class.
Well—almost empty.
A girl was in the middle of the hallway, books scattered all over the floor, frantically scrambling to pick them up. Yejun paused. Normally he wasn't the "helpful stranger" type, but… meh. He felt nice today. Character development or whatever.
He jogged over, giving her a small smile as he knelt to help. Picking up the books she dropped one by one, she didnt have much books to carry so it didnt take long.
And then he saw her face.
Huh. She kinda looked… familiar?
Wait a sec—wasn't that the girl who got called first at the Selection Ceremony?
"Hey," he said, squinting. "Isn't your name something like… Nari? I think it was?"
The girl's face quickly lit up. "Yeah! It actually is!"
But just as fast, she ducked her head, flustered. "Sorry, I just—got excited. I haven't really made any friends yet so I-I..uh, sorry, I'm sorry, it's whatever."
Yejun chuckled softly. "Nah, it's fine. I get it."
He handed her the last of her books and stood up. "What class do you have now?"
"Transfiguration…" she mumbled, barely audible, her hair falling in front of her face covering it so she couldn't be seen. As id she was trying to hide herself from peoples views.
"Ah, nice."
There was a pause. Then she looked up slightly. "Well—I'll go! Hope to see you again!" and just as quickly as she appeared she disappeared.
Before he could reply, she scurried off down the hallway, hugging her books to her chest.
Yejun blinked. Weird. But… she wasn't all that different from him, actually. He remembered how it felt back in middle school, how hard it was to talk to people even when you wanted to. It was kinda familiar, kinda sad.
He stood there for a second, alone again in the hallway, stuck in his thoughts—
When he felt something behind him.
Like a presence. A shadow.
Yejun spun around.
Doyun.
This guy had apparently been watching him from a distance the entire time. What the hell?? Creepy much?
"What do you want?" Yejun snapped, still half-startled.
"Damn, chill," Doyun said, raising an eyebrow. "I just got a letter from the school and—look, just read it."
He passed over the letter like it was cursed. Yejun opened it, and it read:
Dear Doyun and Yejun,
You two have already noticed you had class together.
We are adjusting your schedules,effective immediately, you will be sharing all classes.
This may seem strange, but considering the current dangers in the magical world, and the individual who has been targeting both of you, this arrangement will ensure your safety, and help the school keep better track of you.
Goodbye.
And of course, the letter burned to ash in his hands.
Yejun stared at the flakes of ash floating in the air like, what the fuck.
"Safety my ass," he muttered. "I don't wanna have every class with you!"
Doyun sighed. "Listen, I don't either. But that's not the point…"
He locked eyes with Yejun. His expression went cold, serious. It sent an actual chill down Yejun's spine.
"Yejun… that teacher we just had. Mr. Rinh… didn't his voice sound familiar?"
Yejun blinked. "Now that you mention it… yeah."
"Thank god," Doyun exhaled. "I thought I was going crazy."
Yejun frowned. "But—wait, are we just gonna skip past the letter?"
Doyun looked away. "Shit. You're right."
Yejun sighed, rubbing his temples. Then—wait.
Hold up.
"We're seventeen," he said suddenly. "That means we only have a year left, right? And then we're free. So I don't actually have to deal with you for that long."
He smirked, feeling weirdly victorious, as id he just solved a murder mystery case. That is, until—
"Pfft! Yejun, are you serious?" Doyun started laughing. "No one told you?"
Yejun scowled. "Told me what? Why are you laughing like that?!"
"You do know one year in this world is two years in the normal world, right? So technically…" Doyun trailed off, enjoying the chaos. "We've got four years left in this hellhole."
"WHAT—?" Yejun's brain short-circuited. "That makes no sense!"
"It's true," Doyun said, shrugging. "We'll still go up in grade level—like, we're both first-years now, and we'll go up to Year Four. It's just that the way magic world time works, you'll be seventeen for two years, then eighteen for two more. Mentally and physically we age normal. But two years outside equals one year here."
Yejun's eye twitched. "So technically… how old are we?"
Doyun rubbed his face, exhausted. "Even if two years pass outside, our bodies and minds age like only one has. So yeah. We're seventeen. Not fifteen. Not twenty-one. Seventeen."
Yejun stared at him.
Then just collapsed face-first onto the nearest bench.
This school was going to kill him, no like seriously, theres no way he can go like this for four more years!
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-Author
Ok, so if you see i'm posting less recently i'm actually posting the same amount, I just decided ill start making the chapters longer soooo yeah, now it takes longer to write one chapter(save me)
thank you for reading this chapter<3