WANDS AND SPELLS | VKOOK ✓

02 | utter disappointment

Hot silver curls of smoke unfurl into the warm air in the room, the aroma of the tender boiled chicken floating around the broth in that ceramic bowl was divine. Taehyung stared into it, with eyes full of sheer melancholy.

The diner was awfully quiet with just the sounds of forks and knives clanking. Taehyung nervously peeked through his eyelashes at his father who was now giving the bowl of chicken soup a gentle stir.

"Dad―" he called out, glancing at his mother sitting in front who just sighed when her husband didn't even spare the younger a single glance.

"Dad, I tried my best." the brunet informed, biting on the piece of bread he was given with the bowl of soup (which he didn't like cause he wanted gimbap today) before looking down at his lap when the silence continued.

He didn't speak a word after that and the family kept on eating in repose.

Taehyung was disturbed by his sister Kim Jennie who hit him with her elbow and gave him a disappointed look which was not directed at him, rather at their father who was too strict and bossy with both of them.

Taehyung just blinked at her as he returned back to eating.

"Your best doesn't mean you can become the best," finally those words echoed in the dining area that came from his father who finished eating and now was wiping the corner of his lips with the napkin he had in front.

"Dad, he used magic, he sneaked his wand in the hall, he cheated―" Taehyung tried to reason behind why he and Jeongguk got the same marks in the examination which will highly affect their overall grades at the end of the year. So it was important.

Jeongguk and Taehyung were having their own competition aside from the one all the students were having for becoming the next mage of Belfort.

To replace Jeongguk's father and take that place. This happens every after 25 years and now that it's time, all the students were lucky to get this opportunity because the previous batches never did get that.

It was Taehyung's father who was supposed to be the mage and he did become that too but just after some days of him getting the position, he was replaced by Jeongguk's father who lost to him by few points.

Fate played with him in the worst ways that he was excluded off the Belfort's board of directors plus he wasn't the mage anymore either.

What makes him go nuts is that Jeongguk's father, Jeon Jonhan become the headmaster of Belfort the last year. That's when Jeongguk started to get more privileges than he already was getting, now it was like no one was there to stop him from doing what he wished to do. No one dared to stop him.

"Your excuses won't get your extra points, son," he said throwing the napkin on the table, "You have to work more hard if you want to be the mage, if you want that wand."

His voice was harsh, more than Taehyung's liking and it expressed nothing but utter disappointment and frustration.

"You surely don't want to become failure, do you, Kim Taehyung?" he said glaring at his son who just huffed, "Please  like you should appreciated my efforts for once?"

"Efforts don't matter, outcomes do," well this of course isn't true cause results aren't always what matters the most, the efforts do but the brunet's father was too ignorant for understanding that.

"Do whatever you can just score better than that son of a―" he didn't complete the sentence and momentarily pulled himself off the chair only to walk away.

His mom following him as she wanted to talk to him for this type of behaviour. She doesn't like it all but seeing his bad mood, she thought it would be better if she talked to him in private.