“Giving ME detention! There should be someone to give the teachers detention for bad detention giving!” Sandeul spat out as he wiped what felt like the hundredth blackboard. “I'm sure they are just after cheap labor. Well, I'll show them! Cheap labor is cheap for a reason!” he growled, intentionally missing a spot.

The door of the classroom flew open. Sandeul started, half expecting a ghost to enter before realizing that the ghost wouldn't have had to open the door in the first place. He knew that mythism was just another form of racism, but ghosts had to be an understandable exception. They just gave him the creeps. He was glad they were in a special ghost class, separate from the rest of the student population. For obvious reasons.

At least they weren't the souls of dead people like popular belief dictated. Only then would it start to get really creepy. Luckily they were just normal people, born outside the visible spectra of the human eye, their molecules vibrating at another frequency than the physical world. It had to though, it was kind of limiting to be invisible to the rest of the world. Although there was a certain freedom that came with it as well. He wondered if the ghosts got detention too. How would they wipe the blackboard if they couldn't even grab hold of the duster?

“AAIISSHHH!”.

Gongchan's outburst brought Sandeul back from his wonderings. He didn't have to ask what the problem was. He was a hundred and ten percent sure it was about Jinyoung. It was always about Jinyoung. That boy had it bad. Probably the worst case he had ever come across. He did not envy him.

“The whole summer, Deullie, the WHOLE summer went into training my mind to be strong, to resist the enchantment of that stupid amazingly gorgeous idiot, and what do I have to show for it?” he dramatically pulled out a chair, letting himself fall into it, making as much noise as possible. Sandeul sighed, this sounded like it was going to take a while. “Nothing?” he offered, smirking. “Nothing!” Gongchan agreed. “I don't know why I thought I could beat it when half the school is under his spell. It's not like I'm outstanding in any way. I can't even shift properly!” he said, depressed and frustrated. Sandeul debated whether to tell him or not. He wasn't sure if it would help or not.

“I wonder what it's like to be Jinyoung.” Gongchan wondered, changing gears, gazing into the nothingness with a lovesick grin stuck to his lips. “It probably . Can you imagine how annoying it would be to have all the Channies of the world following you around with puppy-love-eyes, wagging their tail at you, hoping for a treat.” Sandeul snorted, starting to rearrange the desks. A shoe came flying past him. Oh, that little silly creature, he couldn't even throw a shoe properly. No wonder he took pity on him, taking him under his protective wing.

“Two can play at that game, I too can hit you where it hurts the most.” Gongchan smiled widely. Sandeul froze, holding a table in mid air. He wouldn't! He couldn't!! His eyes darted to the spot where he had left his lunchbox. It was only one table over from where he was sitting. No! Gongchan's giggle soothed him, it had just been an empty threat. Phew. Especially since this morning he had packed the rest of an insanely juicy watermelon. His mouth began to water just thinking about it. He put the table down and walked over to Gongchan, planting himself on the table in front of him.

“You should've seen your face.” Gongchan snorted. He had such a cute laugh. Actually, if you looked past all the goofiness, he was quite beautiful. Those half moon eyes that never stopped smiling, never faltering in making him feel better, no matter whether he was down or not. His delicate facial features making up one of the prettiest faces he had ever seen. He didn't get how nobody was able to see that. All they saw was an unfortunate misfit that couldn't control his powers, using it to attack him and make him a social outcast. It had worked out great for Sandeul though, since if he was popular they would probably never have become friends. He couldn't imagine life without Gongchan. His little Chanchan. He would never ever tell him as much, but he was his rock, his security blanket. And he didn't want to look past all the goofiness, it was part of what made him so amazing, making him laugh every single day.

Good friends were hard to come by, that was one thing life had taught him. Powers of persuasion could get you far, but true friends were something that couldn't be made with supernatural forces. Regrettably so. Heaven knew he had tried. But forcing someone to play with you apparently did not make for very loyal friends. He had been burned by that fact several times. He had never really understood the dynamics of friend-making, they lay beyond his grasp. And it wasn't like it was taught in school. 'How to get along with others 101', first lesson 'Learn to share your food.'. Yeah no, he would have definitely failed that course. The only way had been to use his gift to fight off the loneliness. Only, in the end it had always made him more lonely. Until Channie came along.

Gongchan had gone completely quiet, staring into space with a hint of a pout on his lips. Sandeul sighed. He had to tell him. “Chan-ah.” he started softly. “Mm?” Gongchan answered absent-mindedly. He was so oblivious, to the point that it had become the center of his charm. “For a Siren's power to work, it has to have contact with one of your senses and in cases of mild exposure, the effects fade quite quickly once you are out of reach.” he started explaining. “Huh?” Gongchan came to, returning from whatever faraway land to which he had traveled, giving Sandeul his full attention, “What do you mean?”.

“I mean, most people only mindlessly fawn over Jinyoung when they are around him, once he is out of sight, they snap out of it.” Sandeul used the softest part of his voice to soften the blow. “What?! But...” Gongchan sat up in his chair, trying to put the pieces together. “I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this, but you're in love with him. It's not just the spell.” he continued, monitoring Gongchan's reaction carefully.

Gongchan's forehead crinkled, the color disappearing from his cheeks. After a few moments he exhaled, shaking his head, “Naahh, you couldn't know. His powers don't work on you so you don't know how it feels.”.

Sandeul fought off a smirk of satisfaction. So he had managed to hide it that well. Of course Jinyoung's powers worked on him. There was no one that was immune to the lure of a Siren, especially not one as powerful as Jinyoung. That boy radiated brightness with more intensity than the sun itself. Completely and utterly blinding. But falling into a spell of another irked Sandeul to the core, particularly one that made him look like a slobbering idiot. He might not be able to control his emotions, but his stubbornness had excellent control over his salivary glands so he had vowed to never be caught drooling over him. And apparently it had worked.

“Come on, lunch is almost over. Help me move the last of these tables so we can go have something to eat before class starts.” Sandeul suggested, changing the subject. Poor Gongchan was in for a rude awakening, but he didn't want to be the one to give him that slap of all slaps in the face.