all that bloodshed, crimson cover (we'll still dream anyways)

i just wanted you to know

"Kim Chiyeol, what are you doing?"

"Goodness!" Kim Chiyeol jumps back in shock, coming face-to-face with Song Dan, who has her bag slinged over one shoulder, face in utter confusion at the spectacled boy who was creeping outside the teachers' lounge.

"Dan-ah! The thing is... Ms. Park... I... uh... Why are you here? Did practice end early today?"

"Yeah, practice was cut short today. Why are you avoiding the question? Are you spying on the teachers?"

"How did you- I mean, not really..."

Chuckling softly, Dan probes Chiyeol, "Kwon Ilha put you up to this, didn't he?"

The bow of Chiyeol's head tells Dan everything she wants to know. Before she could snicker at Chiyeol and tease him even more, the door to the teachers' lounge slams open, startling Dan and sending Chiyeol a few feet into the air.

"Chiyeol. Dan-ah, you're here too. Let's go up." The sternness in Ms. Park's voice is unusual, catching Dan's notice but being overlooked by Chiyeol who is more worried about getting in trouble for sneaking in on the teachers.

The class, like always, is a noisy mess after the mere five minutes they were left alone, save for Jang Younghoon and Kook Youngsoo who have their noses buried in their books.

"Oh, Dan. You're back. Here's your report slip. You are ranked fifth in the class and sixteenth in the cohort. Good job!" Yoojung, the ever-reliable class president, welcomes Dan as she slides into the seat behind her.

"Thanks, Yoojung."

"Guys," Ms. Park starts, getting the class' attention and effectively quietening them down.

--

Rather than concentrating on what the man on the screen is saying, Dan is more focused on Ms. Park's expression as her eyes wander across the class. Worried is an understatement - her typical smiley and kind eyes are troubled, downcast and almost glassy with a sort of sadness. From where she sits at the back of the class, Dan can almost see the quiet sighs she has been letting out ever since she told the class about the cancellation of the rolling admissions.

The subconscious pursing of her lips, the helpless looks she sends to no one in particular and the unsettled fiddling of her fingers on the table are all bothering Dan, leaving her confused and slightly distressed. Despite not being in class very often, Dan knows that their homeroom teacher is the epitome of composure. For her to make an expression like so must mean something is very wrong.

"...those who are currently high school seniors will all be mobilised."

This sentence sets the class off into murmurs and exclamations, everyone evidently taken aback and flustered. Dan's eyes widen, darting from Ms. Park to the screen where the man is still droning on about high schoolers being drafted for military training.

Is he serious?

The well-kept minister continues to address the conference room of reporters, keeping a steady voice and emotionless gaze amidst the blinding camera flashes. Dan, however, can see the way his voice quivers as he announces the government's plans to admit high schoolers for military training. She knows it's a facade, though. Such a decision must have gone through countless levels of authority to come to a conclusion, and she knows Minister of Defence Park Sangman sits at the top of the hierarchy.

He's the 'final boss' for such decisions to be cleared so why is he acting sympathetic now...

Dan's hands are itching to reach for the phone stuffed in her bag but is halted by Ms. Park banging her folder on the teacher's stand. A flurry of questions emerge from the students, of which she tries to answer, but when it becomes clear that their homeroom teacher is as clueless as they are, the commotion from the class dies down.