RING!!!
RING RING!!
The moment the bell rang, every child in Class D shot up like popcorn in a hot pan.
"BREAKFAST!"
"FOOD TIME!!"
"I call dibs on the strawberry milk!!"
Tiny chairs flipped.
Crayons rolled under tables.
One desk straight-up levitated.
Within ten seconds, the classroom was empty.
Except for Alina.
She stood in the middle of the room, blinking at the sudden silence like she had just survived a baby stampede.
"…Huh." She sighed. "Okay then."
Just as she leaned against her desk to breathe—
A voice whispered behind her:
"Hello, Miss Teacher~"
Alina nearly jumped.
She turned to see Boo—a.k.a. Max, Class D's self-declared King of Crayons grinning at her.
"Boo? You're still here?" she asked, surprised. "Didn't you run with the others?"
He dramatically flipped his glitter-sparked crown and hopped onto her desk like a dramatic ghost prince.
"Of course I'm here. If I left, who would tell you all the secrets of this kindergarten?"
Alina blinked.
Then slowly leaned in, resting her chin on her hand.
She'd stopped being surprised an hour ago.
Now she was just emotionally exhausted and weirdly invested.
"Alright, what's the hot gossip?"
Boo looked left, then right. Then he floated slightly higher until he was eye level with her and whispered, wide-eyed:
"Do you know the principal?"
Alina nodded, trying to act normal. "Yes… tall… dark… scary?"
Boo nodded. "He isn't as decent as he looks."
Alina leaned closer.
"Explain."
Boo whispered, covering half his face with one hand like a spy in a drama.
"He wants 99 wives."
Alina choked.
"WHAT?!"
"Chinese, Korean, Japanese, American, African, Indian… ALL." Boo's eyes went wide, his voice hushed but intense.
"I heard him say with my own ears: 'I want 99 wives.'"
Alina looked at him, her soul quietly leaving her body.
"…Are you sure you didn't hear him say 99 files?"
"NO!" Boo slapped her desk with his tiny palm. "He said WIVES!! W-I-F-E-S!!"
"That's not even how you spell it—"
"Miss Alina," Boo said seriously, gripping her sleeve. "This man is dangerous. He wants to make one wife for each continent. He wants to build an international wife empire."
Alina cracked.
Her face twisted like a broken emoji.
"Do you even know what a wife is, Boo?"
He nodded solemnly.
"Of course. A wife is someone who brings you food, hides your report card, and yells at you to brush your teeth. Like my mom."
Alina burst into laughter.
"That's not a wife, that's a mom!"
Boo shrugged. "Same thing. He wants 99 of those."
Alina was wheezing now, bent over her desk.
Boo placed a gentle hand on her head.
"Don't worry, Teacher. If he ever proposes to you… blink three times and I'll throw slime in his face."
"That's… very specific."
"I've trained for this."
"Alright, Boo… don't say things like that to the other, okay?" Alina said gently, trying to keep a straight face.
Boo pouted, crossing his arms like a betrayed royal.
"Ya ya…" he mumbled, clearly not sorry at all.
Then, with absolutely no warning, he began floating out the classroom on his back hands behind his head like a little nap-loving cloud.
He drifted toward the hallway like he was riding an invisible magic carpet, muttering things like:
"I was born too wise for this school..."
"Wife empire… I still believe in you…"
Alina stood in the doorway, shaking her head with a tired smile.
She picked up her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and gently closed the classroom door behind her.
The hallway was quiet.
The soft sound of distant chatter echoed from the breakfast hall.
She headed toward the staffroom, hoping for five minutes of peace—maybe tea.
But fate, of course, had other plans.
Because right in the middle of the corridor… he appeared.
Dante.
Tall. Serious. Striding toward her like a storm in a fitted black coat.
His steps were silent but the pressure he carried felt like thunder.
His long, curved horns glinted under the hallway lights dangerous, regal, stupidly attractive.
Alina's breath hitched.
His shirt..dark, clean-cut hugged his figure in all the right places. His sleeves were rolled up just enough to show veins that had no right looking that sharp.
His face? Cold and unreadable.
His jawline? Sculpted by magical winds.
His eyes?
Fire. Pure fire.
As he walked past her, he didn't stop.
He just glanced at her, a flash of red flickering through his gaze. Not flirtatious. Not gentle. Just... impatient. Powerful. Dangerous.
Alina flinched internally.
'Why does he look like he could ruin a kingdom with one sigh?'
She swallowed hard and lowered her gaze, pretending to check something in her bag.
'Don't look. Don't look. If you look again, you'll start imagining weird things—'
"I want 99 wives."
The cursed memory hit her again.
"Nope. Nope, Boo is a liar. A very dramatic, glittery liar."
But the thought refused to leave.
What if... what if he did say that?!
She shivered.
"I am not blinking three times. I am NOT blinking three times."
***
Alina stepped into the staff room quietly, her mind still echoing with Boo's dramatic words about "99 wives" and her near brush with the embodiment of tall, terrifying perfection in the hallway.
Gabriel was already sitting at the round table near the window, his soft golden hair glowing slightly under the morning light. He looked up with his usual calm smile.
"How was your first day?" he asked, his voice like sunlight after rain.
Alina exhaled slowly and sank into the chair across from him.
"It was… fine." She managed a tired smile. "Some fireballs. A rock-boy. Y'know. Normal teacher stuff."
Gabriel chuckled softly.
There was something about his smile that made her feel calmer like her brain could finally sit down and have tea.
After a pause, Alina looked at him hesitantly.
"Um… If you don't mind me asking…" she trailed off, fingers fidgeting with the strap of her bag. "What's your… race?"
Gabriel didn't seem surprised by the question.
He simply smiled, the light catching the edge of his irises just right.
"Angel," he said gently.
Alina froze.
Angel.
Her eyes widened.
SHE WAS SITTING WITH AN ANGEL.
Her brain short-circuited.
Fire-breathing dragon babies? Okay. Vampire toddlers? Sure.
But an actual angel co-worker?!
She stared at his perfect posture, the soft warmth in his tone, the quiet glow in his skin, and thought—
'Wow. I look like a potato next to this man.'
Before she could recover, Gabriel leaned in a little, his tone lowering into a whisper.
"And them?" He nodded discreetly toward the door.
Miss Kelly and Professor Hobb had just walked out together, their footsteps sharp and their faces...unsmiling as always.
"They're both gremlins."
"GREMLINS?!" Alina whispered, almost dropping her bag.
She'd read about gremlins.
Mischievous. Trick-loving. Sneaky little chaos-makers.
No wonder Hobb kept giving her that look like she owed him pencils from a past life.
"Why are they so serious, then?" she whispered.
Gabriel smiled knowingly.
"They're retired troublemakers. Now they only cause emotional damage."
Alina giggled then blinked, realizing…
Her heart was beating faster.
She was sitting across from an angel.
And not just any angel..a handsome, kind, radiant angel who smelled like clean wind and good decisions.
She quickly looked down.
'Don't fall in love. Don't fall in love. Don't be the cliché teacher who falls for an actual angel—'
"Let's go?" Gabriel asked, already standing with his usual gentle grace.
Alina nodded too quickly.
"Y-Yes. Let's go."
She followed him out the door, her heart fluttering.
Forget Boo's gossip.
The real problem here… was that heaven might be working in the same building.