chapter 6

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not proofread 😼 shadow wizard money gang


"Whoa, are you okay?"

He wants to kill Ann.

"I am fine," Hosuh mutters, shifting his elbows on the desk to support his swaying head. He makes sure the movement is slow, as cautious as the ripple of water from a gourami's fins. The last thing he would want is another sting piercing through his bones.

"Mm, you don't look fine. No offence. Actually - I hope you take offence if it means you'll stop whatever it is you're doing." Stephen watches him carefully - too carefully - and Hosuh can only hope there are no marks on his face. "So, what is it? Drugs?"

Almost immediately, he looks up. "What?"

Stephen shrugs. "You look high. Are you high?"

"You-" The heat that scrabbles his face is, for a split moment, fiercer than the bruises on his back. "I- Stop." He turns back to the binder in front of him. "Class has started."

Stephen shrugs, setting his bag down by the desk before clambering in his chair. "I don't see the teacher anywhere."

"She'll be here soon."

"Yeah, well, if she's not here in the next fifteen minutes, we are legally allowed to leave."

"Ugh."

Stephen's eyes freeze on him like a paralyzed owl's, his glare scathing enough to unearth quarries. "Hey, sorry for making conversation like a normal person," he rolls his eyes, leaning back in his seat. "I didn't know you were gonna be a jackass."

If he were any more lucid, he would feel half-bad. Instead, the pain that bursts through his fluttering rib cage with every breath he steals from the earth leaves him occupied, putting the value of Stephen's remarks down a few notches.

"Good morning," a voice too chipper for 8:00 am filters through the door. Miss Choi walks in with a stack of papers in her arms, her hair falling freely over her shoulders. There is a fresh stain on her juniper sweater - Hosuh presumes it came from coffee. "Good morning..." She squints. "Where is everyone?"

"It's a Friday," a girl from the back replies unenthusiastically.

"Sheesh, talk about an early weekend." She wrings her hands after setting down the stack on her desk. "Well, uh... I have nothing for you in this classroom. Let's head to the kitchens and I'll tell you all about today, alright?"

Hosuh taps a nervous finger against his leg, unable to ignore the aches that amplify from stake knives to venom-licked bullets. When the boy crosses his arms over his chest, it is not to , but to provide support to his posture.

Stephen does not talk to him as they walk down the desolate corridors, but he still follows him to their usual table, like a rat stuck to its wheel.

He wants to kill Ann.




Today, Miss Choi wants to hone in on their knife skills.

"Knives are fundamental to cooking," she explains over her shoulder as she rummages through an overheard drawer, the apron around her torso double-knotted in place. "They're essential starting blocks. And you can't build a tower without a foundation."

She turns around with a box full of chef's knives and sets it on the table in front of her with a clang that has Hosuh wincing. "Does anyone know the two basic cuts?"

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⏰ Last updated: Oct 22, 2023 ⏰

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