Late | k.ys

10

A few weeks passed without anything eventful happening. The magicians constantly checked up on him, via run-ins at school, private messages, group chats, or video calls. They also had weekly virtual meetings to check up on each other's statuses. Yeosang continued to watch the flaming-haired girl in drama class, still unable to catch even a syllable of her name. And for some strange mystical reason, he kept running into Hyesoo. In the hallways, auditorium, cafeteria, and various other places. Hyesoo kept flashing him a bright smile whenever they come across each other, causing his heart to beat erratically. He couldn't help but feel happy; however, he was also upset about the fact that her murderer was still on the loose. And it stressed him out more that he didn't know the name of the only suspect they had.

One fine September morning, Yeosang walked in homeroom to see Yunho jiggling his leg like crazy. Mingi seated next to him didn't look any better. Yeosang sighed.

"What is it now?" he asked uncaringly, taking the seat behind them.

Yunho and Mingi turned around simultaneously, almost whacking their heads against each other. They avoided a collision by drawing back at the last nanosecond.

"We have a tournament tonight against a few schools teams, including the Ferocious Falcons," Yunho explains, shuddering.

"And as their name implies, they are rather ferocious," Mingi adds.

"Which makes them terrifying."

"Oh basketball," Yeosang took out his notebook and started doodling, not caring any less.

"Hullo," San took a seat behind Yeosang. "You have a game tonight, don't you?" He glanced at the two jittery students in front of him.

"How do you remember but Yeosang doesn't?" Mingi exclaims. "I thought his personality type was the one that allowed him to remember the littlest of details."

"If you're going to make me memorize every single little detail in my life, my brain is going to explode," Yeosang answers simply.

"Where's Wooyoung anyway?" Yunho changed the subject abruptly. He looked around for a glimpse of their crazy friend.

"Maybe he chickened out," Mingi decided.

"Or he was so nervous he threw up and couldn't go to school," San predicted.

He was half-right, as Wooyoung didn't appear for the rest of the school day. Yeosang and San walked home, but not before Yunho and Mingi made them promise to watch their basketball game and drag Wooyoung's butt over to the gym. Yeosang did some homework and took Wooyoung's homework from his bag before walking over next door, slightly curious on the state of his best friend. He knocked on the door, calling his friend's name. "Wooyoung?"

The door swung open, but it was Mrs Jung who stood on the doorway. Yeosang bowed swiftly in a polite manner.

"Hello, Yeosang," Mrs Jung beamed. "Do you want to see Wooyoung?"

"Who's that, Mum?" Wooyoung's muffled voice yelled from upstairs.

"Yeosang, dear!" Mrs Jung yelled back. She ushered Yeosang inside. "Come in, come in. He said he was feeling ill, that's why he couldn't come to school today."

"I have his homework right here," Yeosang patted the papers under his arm.

"Oh goodness, you're such an angel," Mrs Jung looked like she was going to cry. "Wooyoung's lucky to have a friend like you."

Yeosang entered the Jung household after taking off his shoes. He could hear Mr Jung talking into his phone from his office located somewhere to his left. Wooyoung's little brother Sooyoung ran around the living room, holding a toy airplane in his hands. The wooden steps creaked as Yeosang ascended the stairs, finding himself on the second floor. Behind the door on his right he could hear Wooyoung's older brother Jooyoung yelling as he slammed his console's buttons over and over. Yeosang kicked the door on his left open without hesitation, already imagining what he was going to expect inside.