Of course, Yejun being Yejun, didn't even look back—so he had no clue someone was following him. A shadow crept silently behind, just watching as he whistled his way back to his room like nothing was wrong.
He didn't look back once.
Yejun slipped inside, headed straight for the shower, rinsed off quick, then jumped into bed.
That's when the dream hit.
It was him. But different. Not like the usual dreams he had. This one felt… off. Real. Like it was either him right now, or him from the future. His dreams normally showed him past events, memories that replayed themselves—but this? This was new.
In the dream, Yejun wandered the school hallways. Alone. It was night. Definitely past curfew. The place was dead silent.
He walked for what felt like forever, until he realized something: he was on the fifth floor.
Not just any hallway. The fifth floor hallway.
His footsteps echoed as he moved deeper in… until he spotted something.
A shard of a mirror.
Right next to it… blood.
Exactly like the scene he and Doyun had found before.
But this time, the blood was in a trail, leading somewhere.
To a door.
A door he didn't recognize. He'd never seen it in the school before.
His hand reached for the handle—
And he woke up.
Just like that.
He sat up, looked around, heart still racing. Just a dream, right? Had to be. Probably didn't mean anything.
Or did it?
…Whatever. He didn't care that much. What actually mattered was—
It was the weekend.
No classes. No homework. No stress.
Yejun got dressed fast. No uniform, finally. He'd gotten so used to the stiff, over-the-top uniform that wearing his regular clothes felt weird. He threw on some grey jeans, a red shirt, and his favorite necklace.
Then he ran out the door. Time to find the crew.
As expected, the second he left the dungeon dorms, he spotted Jae standing there with a book in one hand and his bag in the other.
When Jae noticed him, he closed his book with that same cold-ass attitude and said,"Asher, Jia, and Sera told me to tell you to go outside. We're meeting there for some reason."
"Ah, alright—"
Then Yejun paused.
"…Wait. We have an outside?"
Jae blinked like he was stupid. "If you read the school arrangement guide, you'd know."
Then Jae picked up his pace, walking so fast Yejun had to half-jog to keep up. Damn, this guy was speed walking like he had a mission.
They weaved through the halls until they reached this massive door—it looked like the front entrance, except this one was wide open.
And behind it?
A huge green field with a pond right in the middle, trees scattered around, flowers blooming everywhere.
It was gorgeous.
But past all that pretty scenery… there was a forest. Not the cute, bright kind. A dark, gloomy one that didn't match the vibes at all.
Jae glanced at Yejun. "You gonna keep staring or start walking?"
"Damn, okay. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Yejun mumbled.
Jae rolled his eyes, all dramatic like always.
And that's when Yejun spotted them—Sera, Asher, and Jia were already there, sitting by the lake. Picnic blanket and everything.
Like who even brings that to school? Whatever.
Yejun jogged over, his usual grin on. "Sup, guys?"
"Hey Yejun!" Jia beamed. Asher gave him a small awkward wave, and Sera? She was a whole hurricane of energy, barely able to sit still.
Yejun and Jae joined the group. They started chatting about everything—homework, after-school stuff, the latest drama in the magic world.
"Hey Yejun, you didn't eat breakfast, right? We got sandwiches, want one?" Jia offered, being all mom-like again.
"Nah, I'm good," he replied.
"Suit yourself. Anyway—look what happened yesterday."
Jia pulled out a newspaper from her bag. At first glance, it looked normal, but when Yejun leaned in closer—nah, this thing was weird. The pictures moved like videos, and the letters bounced around.
Magic. Still weird as hell.
Then he remembered what they were talking about. "Oh damn… this is pretty dark."
Jia glanced down again, as if making sure she'd read it right.
"A girl who graduated from our school last year… she…" Jia paused, clearly unsure if she should continue.
"You know what? Just read it yourself."
She placed the newspaper down. The headline read:
"Liza B., former student of Hoziron Valley Academy, has been discovered to be a participant in Elevien. Reports confirm she's killed over 20 people. Still on the run—if you have any information, contact xxx-xxx-xxx."
There was more under it, but Yejun didn't need to read further.
Damn.
So Elevien really was as bad as Asher said.
Everyone went quiet—even Sera, who was never serious, had a thoughtful look on her face.
Until Jae broke the silence. "Why are you guys so worried? What's she gonna do? Follow you to your dorm at night? Be serious."
Just like that, the tension broke.
"Yeah, you right Jae," Asher nodded, his awkward smile returning.
The rest of the hangout was chill—Sera tried to jump in the pond, Jia had to hold her back, Yejun told Asher stories from the normal world, and Jae (who tried to study, of course) ended up falling asleep on the grass.
They stayed there for hours. Long enough to miss lunch.
By the time the sun started setting, Jae woke up to find his face had been drawn on with sharpie—courtesy of Sera. He freaked out, packed his stuff in a rush, and stormed off to clean up.
Sera felt kinda bad, so she followed him, Jia trailing after her like usual, and Asher just tagging along.
Which left Yejun by himself. Again.
He sighed and wandered through the halls, bumping into Nari at some random corner. They said a quick "hi" and kept walking, but—as always—Nari was holding that same notebook.
Weird. But whatever.
Then—
BAM
Yejun slammed right into someone.
"Shit! Watch where you're going, bitch!"
Doyun. Of course.
He cursed Yejun out for like ten minutes straight before finally getting to the point.
"But anyways… I had a weird-ass dream. About the mirror thing."
Yejun paused. Okay, now that caught his attention.
Normally, he would've laughed at Doyun for saying something like that, but…
He'd had the same kind of dream.
"So did I."
Doyun didn't even look surprised. He probably expected that.
"Yo, what happened in yours?"
Yejun tried to recall. "It was nighttime. I was on the fifth floor, and I found a broken piece of a mirror. Then I saw blood—like, a trail of it. It led to some door I've never seen before."
Doyun nodded slowly.
"Yejun... can you show me where that door was?"
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-Author
thank you for reading this chapter!