Magic Rich Boy // JHS

seven: thing

Seven: Thing

Both Hoseok and Maria were on their knees, hands politely placed on their thighs and eyes gazing the floor as they waited for Namjoon to begin their scolding. They had been kneeling for ten minutes now and their legs were going numb, but, even if they had to get their legs amputated, nobody dared move or look at Namjoon.

He sat on his desk, glowering at them. Namjoon wanted them to feel sorry and felt as if a quick scolding was to light of a punishment. He knew by now their legs must feel as if they were on fire. It wouldn't kill them and it also made up for the pain he now felt on his back. But looking at the time, he decided it was enough since he wanted to go home now.

"How do you guys know each other?" was the first thing he asked, still willing to let them suffer through his questions.

"We're friends," answered Hoseok. "We met not too long ago."

"Why were you being as reckless as Hobi, Maria-ssi?" Namjoon noticed he let Hoseok's nickname slip but he wasn't going to correct himself.

"Um... We were... We were being chased by a bum!" Maria lied, making Hoseok look at her incredulously.

Can you not? She wished Hoseok hadn't made it so obvious that she had lied. Of course, she wasn't going to tell Namjoon about the demon-thing they saw, he wouldn't believe them.

Namjoon did notice the lie.

"I wasn't expecting for you to be like this, Maria," the disappointment in his voice was evident, it made Maria feel like a little kid who broke a vase.

"I-I'm so sorry! It'll never happen again," Maria bowed completely.

Hoseok looked at her shocked and copied what she did, "We're very sorry, sunbae!"

"I can't have an intern that runs around like a kid. People can clearly get hurt."

Hoseok was confused. Namjoon was completely ignoring him, his anger towards Maria. He looked up and saw Namjoon's serious stare with Maria bowing at the end of it. This got on his nerves, so he cleared him throat to make Namjoon look at him.

"You guys can leave," Namjoon said after catching Hoseok's squinted look.

"Yes, sunbaenim," Hoseok retorted in an irritated tone, getting up and wincing at his pained legs.

"Yes, Mr. Kim," answered Maria, embarrassed of everything that happened after they ran into the building.

Maria had a bit more difficulty getting back on her feet. Hoseok helped her up by grabbing her arm. Namjoon glared at Hoseok and he glared back.

"We'll be leaving now," Maria bowed, Hoseok still holding her arm. "Again, we're sorry for what happened."

When they left, Maria immediately looked at Hoseok who then let go of her. They both stumbled, struggling to maintain their balance, towards the elevators where members of Namjoon's department stared and whispered. However, Maria and Hoseok were still thinking of what happened outside. After Namjoon let them go, the only thing that it meant for them was that they had to go home.

They didn't want to leave.

Going outside of the building was like a death sentence to them. Hoseok was especially nervous about it—he couldn't stop thinking that it would come back and actually catch them this time. Maria tapped her foot anxiously. Her only thought was that once Hoseok left, she would be alone and the last thing she wanted was to see that thing by herself. The fact that Matthew was home was the only thing that comforted her right now.

Once the elevator arrived and both of them were on, Maria mustered the courage to ask him the only question that would give Hoseok some temporary piece of mind.

"Wanna come ov‒"

"Yes."

Maria was regretting not driving to work today. She had hoped that maybe Hoseok had a car, but he had taken a cab from home. They were both almost running to the bus stop, only looking forward and ignoring everyone around them. The goal was to go the Maria's apartment without any issues.

They were paranoid, but as nothing happened while they rode the bus they began to calm down. Hoseok didn't want to be by himself just yet though so they continued to walk back to Maria's place, where Matthew stressed over a twenty-page essay.

Matthew had attended a few classes today and was assigned this godforsaken essay. It was due next week and he had an exam to study for. Essays were his weakness. They made them rethink his whole career path. Maybe he didn't need to be a doctor in Islamic studies. Nobody was forcing him to do this, that's for sure. But every time he felt like that, he knew that there was no way in hell that he was stopping now. His student loans weren't going to pay for themselves. Also, he wanted to be a college professor and, eventually, teach lectures at prestigious universities to get that coveted six-figure salary.

He pulled at his hair in frustration as he sat in front of his laptop.

He shook his head. "You got this. You got this in the bag, Matthew," he mumbled weakly to himself as he continued to write his fifth page.

Matthew heard the front door open, announcing his sister's arrival. He stood from his desk, glad to have an excuse to take a break. Walking into the living room, Matthew was ready to do what he was almost sure would become a habit that would be passed down generation to generation.

"You've finally come–"

That is before he saw the visitor.

"And this is?" Matthew questioned, surprised his sister had brought a friend home.

Maria was taking her shoes off when she heard Matthew come greet her at the door. She looked at him and saw him blatantly staring at Hoseok, who was behind her cautiously removing his shoes once he made eye contact with Maria's gigantic sibling.

"This is my friend Jung Hoseok," introduced Maria walking towards the living room sofa. "Hoseok-ssi this is my brother, Matthew."

Hoseok extended his hand towads Matthew, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," answered Matthew, squinting his eyes.

"Please, come in," called Maria from the sofa. "You can sit wherever you want."

Hoseok felt a bit flustered. He thought that he and Maria were going to talk about what happened in front of the House, but, looking at Matthew's skeptic stare, they weren't going to be able to talk alone in a while.