Sylvania || jjk

3

"No, Eun, this is not like our old school!" I said, desperation creeping into my tone.

For the past ten minutes, Eun had been relentlessly nagging me to skip our very first history class at Sylvania, and I was two seconds away from shoving my history book into her mouth just to shut her up.

"We will definitely get in trouble if we get caught," I huffed, shoving my stationery into my pink bag. Just as I reached for the castle's map, Eun yanked me back with the force of someone who had way too much energy for this early in the morning.

"Come on, Chaeng!" She clasped my hands dramatically, staring into my soul like she was trying to hypnotize me. "Do you really want to sit through some boring lecture about how this castle was built with flying horses and ancient spells and–ugh–history?"

A sigh slipped past my lips as I untangled myself from her grip. "Eun, it's literally our first class here. You cannot just skip it because you feel like it."

She groaned loudly, flopping back in defeat. "Fine," she muttered, like I had just sentenced her to a lifetime of misery.

I smirked, watching her reluctantly grab her books from the shelf. "That's my girl," I teased.

Eun shot me a withering glare, rolling her eyes so hard I half expected them to get stuck that way. Honestly, at this rate, she was playing a dangerous game with her optic muscles.

The door to our dorm room clicked shut behind us as I turned the key and tugged twice to make sure it was locked. Just as I slipped the key into my blazer pocket, Eun let out a soul-deep groan beside me.

"I really don’t want to go," she whined, dragging her boots against the floor like gravity was personally attacking her.

I rolled my eyes and started down the corridor. "We literally haven’t even sat down yet."

"Exactly! That’s why now is the perfect time to bail. No one even knows us yet. We could disappear into the walls. Live in the kitchen, maybe."

I glanced over my shoulder, deadpan. "You're not blending into anything with that neon-green scrunchie."

Eun huffed, tugging the scrunchie higher like it was some kind of war crown. "It’s called fashion, Chaeng. You wouldn’t get it."

"You’re right. I probably won't."

She groaned again – louder this time – and trudged after me like a sulking toddler. "Alright, fine. Let’s go learn about dead wizards."

We turned down the main hall, which was still buzzing with students heading to their next classes. Just as I unfolded the map to make sure we were headed in the right direction, Eun suddenly gasped.

"Holy crap, look at that little thing!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. "What little – what, where?!"

She pointed ahead dramatically at a sleek black cat strolling across the marble floor with the confidence of someone who paid the bills around here.

I squinted. "It’s just a cat, Eun."

"Not just a cat. That’s Harley’s cat."

I blinked. "...And?"

Eun lowered her voice, like the cat was going to file a complaint. "I heard it bit a second-year last term because he looked at it funny."

I narrowed my eyes. "Then why are you approaching it like we’re filming a nature documentary?!"

But she was already crouching down, hand extended like she was about to summon it with a Disney song. The cat paused, eyeing her with suspicion… then slowly padded over.