The music’s turned off randomly, and the speakers start up.

“Joshua, please report to the Principal’s office. Joshua to the Principal’s office.”

The strobe lights go on again and the music starts up again, so I guess that’s all I’m getting. I just move, grabbing Jeonghan’s wrist on the way.

“What’s he want to see you for?” he roars over the noise of the final party.

I just shrug.

Jeonghan stays a little closer than normal, today. Walks almost shoulder-to-shoulder with me. It’s funny, but it’s really comforting. I’m getting more of a feeling that I’m being protected, rather than stalked by an angry demon.

“Does it really make that much difference?” I ask softly.

“What?”

“Whether I’m dying or not?”

He shrugs a little. “I don’t know. I guess so. It puts me on edge.” He sighs. “Okay, so I guess it’s more than that. I mean… in the end, you did save my life, however unwittingly. And I guess it’s just a pity that yours is shortened.”

“I’m not dead yet.” A new thought comes to me and I gasp, halting right in front of the door in complete, stupefied shock. “You were dying! Why were you dying? Why were you bleeding so much?!”

At that moment, my uncle slams the door to the Principal’s office open and gives me a hard look. “Joshua. Inside. Now.” He glares at me while I go to sit, and glares at me some more before leaning in. “So. I don’t know if you remember this, Joshua, but every five months the school automatically gets all the students’ medical situations in, if students have a llowed their hospitals to do this. It’s so that we can keep a check on students’ progress and help them if they need it.”

“Yes, I know, I oversee it myself most of the time.”

My uncle swirls his computer screen towards me unhappily. “Mind telling me what this is?”

I close my eyes for a moment, exhaling slowly.

“How? Why?” My uncle in the Principal’s chair deflates, all his anger dissipating. He looks at me like I’ve just told him he’s lost a son in war. “Why, Joshua? How?”

I sigh. “I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know either?”

I shrug. “Stage two, this time.”

“God, stage two.”

I think about how ironic is, to use the Lord’s name when there’s a demon outside the door.

“Does your mother know about this?”

“No,” I say slowly.

He gives me a dangerous look. “You are going to tell her, aren’t you Mr. Hong? Joshua? Jo, shu, ah?”

I can’t answer that.

“Joshua, you can’t keep this from your mother. She almost died of heartbreak last time.”

“That’s exactly why I can’t tell her now.” My uncle’s already in his early fifties, and greying around the edges. “If I tell her, she will panic. This isn’t for her to know. Not if I can help it. She doesn’t need this kind of pain if it just takes an operation.”

He looks at me long, and testily. “…I heard about your Ovo, too.”

I automatically turn my wrists down. “Oh.”

He’s very quiet for a while. “…you just don’t have any luck, do you?”

I shake my head with a small smile. “No, sir.”

“Well, at least you’re still a Prefect.”

I sigh deeply at that, looking around his office. “Yeah,” I say softly. “This place is all I have. When I leave Deck High… I don’t know what I’ll do. It’s the first place I’ve ever been loved. This is the only support I have. I know I’ll do well in the final exams, I’m not worried about University placement, either. But… I’m scared of being alone after all this. When I stop wearing the uniform, when I take off the tie… who will I be?”

He smiles a little, sentimental like I am. “Who knows? You might find that you’re still Joshua.”

“So?”

“You weren’t eavesdropping?”

“I was busy.” Jeonghan shrugs. “What are you in for?”

I look away for a moment. “He found out I’ve got cancer. He was… upset that I’m not telling my mom.”

“You’re not gonna tell her? Dude, I’m a demon, and even I think that’s ed up.”

“Well, you’re crazy anyway,” I mutter. “Anyway! Coming back to the original point!”

Jeonghan looks me up and down. “It took you seven weeks to wonder why I was dying in the first place? For somebody who is so smart, how can you be so stupid?” He eventually realizes how exactly I’m looking at him, and then mellows down a little. “The truth?”

“The truth,” I demand.

“…I had some gambling debts and uh, I guess certain figures were kind of pissed off I couldn’t pay them off.” He grins at me. “But don’t worry. When you save a demon’s life, it’s like their life is renewed. I got all my debts cleared and all my money taken off me, so it’s not like I can go out gambling again.”

I purse my lips, slowly making my way back to where the party is going on in the gymnasium. “Better not.”

“Hey,” he smiles gently. “I heard you were taking a breather.”

“Yeah,” I exhale slowly, turning to him. “I’m glad you came out. At least you won’t smoke.”

Seungcheol chuckles, leaning over the edge of the wall beside me. “What are you doing out here, anyway? And where’s your hellish bodyguard? He’s been sticking really close today.”

I try to smile, but it ends up as a straight line across my face. “He’s got some time off to dance. I just… needed a little moment, I guess. There’s a lot on my plate recently.”

Seungcheol puts a comforting arm around me. “You did well for this week, Joshua. I don’t know if we really showed our appreciation, but… we’re all awed, and extrem