19

Three weeks passed, Jaemi and Chanyeol had not been talking for the past few weeks, not because of the incident a few weeks ago, but because of the school technical problems.

Chanyeol took over the position of the student president, definitely he needs to do something to calm the students down, that’s why he was too busy that he could even skip lessons.

After the blackout, students in the school slowly speculated as they passed on rumours around the school, some saying that the blackout was a bad omen, and sometimes the rumour spread like wildfire that even those people who didn’t believe slowly believed in them.

Other people outside of the school would think that they are being paranoid, but actually they weren’t at all.

Because the entire school was blackout, and not just one block.

And another reason, was because of the rumours and stories that was passed down from the graduates of the school.

Twenty years after the school was built, there was a blackout not long ago, and at that time the blackout lasted for ten long hours, that twenty girls and boys were sick as they either were physically weak or they had health conditions.

Definitely, the seniors passed down the incident from one batch to another, and definitely, ignorant students would create a big fuss about it and exaggerate the story. For example, those twenty girls and boys that were merely sick and stressed out, those students would say that they died in the blackout because they were killed by a mysterious killer in the dark.

What rubbish, I must say.

But, the rumours spread, and it’s hard to say that what those ignorant students said were believed by people and lies made up slowly became the truth in students’ eyes.

Twenty years later, and here we are, another blackout that though did not last for ten hours straight, but it’s hard not for students to speculate about it.

And what made the students even terrified and paranoid, was because after the blackout, came a fire.

Jaemi stood patiently in line as she waited for her turn to be served. While she stood in the queue, people around her were in their own conversations, whispering to themselves, but Jaemi was completely ignorant.

In fact she had no idea what the pupils were talking about, only until Eunmi told her the entire incident, then she realized what was going on in the school, and realized how busy Chanyeol must be as the acting president.

“With those rumours, it’s hard to say major events will have to be put on hold,” she whispered to Eunmi and she nodded sadly.

Then, at the corner of Jaemi’s eyes, she saw Chanyeol sitting at a bench alone, looking through thick documents as he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. His eyebrows were knitted together, and never once had Jaemi seen Chanyeol so serious in his work.

Well she must really believe in Baekhyun when he says that Chanyeol really focuses in his work when it’s time.

Speaking of him, where’s Baekhyun?

Chanyeol slammed the file close as he groaned and sighed. “Those students, adding oil to the fire,” he muttered under his breath and closed his eyes, thinking of a way to deal with the problem of calming the students down.

Baekhyun tapped on Jaemi’s shoulder as he smiled brightly. Jaemi looked at him and heaved a sigh of relief. “Hey Baekhyun, I was looking for you. I didn’t see you with Chanyeol just now, I thought you were sick or something,” she said and cracked a smile.

Baekhyun scratched his head and glanced at Chanyeol. “He told me not to disturb me. Whenever he works, he needs to be alone in a peaceful place and no one is allowed to disturb him,” he explained and Jaemi frowned. “But the canteen is so crowded and noisy, can he really focus here?”

Just then, a girl pushed her from behind and she fell forwards onto Baekhyun as he quickly held both of her arms, preventing her from falling.

Just that close contact, was able to make Baekhyun’s heart flutter as electric sparks were already forming in his body.

Jaemi looked up at him and smiled, then brushed her arms as she quirked her lips. “Somehow, it feels especially hot and stuffy here today,” she said, frowning and Baekhyun immediately nodded. “You thought so too? It seems like something bad is going to happen today,” he muttered and Jaemi chuckled. “Didn’t know you believe in the rumours,” she said and Baekhyun shook his head immediately. “Of course not! Chanyeol doesn’t believe it, why should I believe it? It’s just my instincts,” he clarified.

During lesson, Jaemi listened attentively to the teacher, while people around her were whispering, discussing among themselves, obviously not paying attention.

Eunmi slowly leaned towards her side, whispering into Jaemi’s ear as she sighed. “It seems like Chanyeol can’t handle the rumours,” she whispered.

Jaemi nodded, frowning.

Just then, the fire alarm rang. The sirens started blaring in the school as the students and teachers shot up from the seats, looking around desperately.

The students looked around, the girls screaming and whispering, while the boys looked out of the window, looking for any signs of fire or smoke while Jaemi blinked in surprise.

After the fire alarm, was followed by a smell.

All of the students pinched their noses and coughed, as they eyes slowly travelled out of the window, and they saw a trail of smoke billowing from the opposite block of their classroom.

“Fire!” a student shouted in the classroom and that was when everyone panicked.

Chanyeol on the other side, was trying to calm his classmates in his class with the help of Baekhyun, but it was no use, the students were paranoid, and it was also their first time experiencing such a chaotic situation in school.

No matter what they learnt during emergency drills was useless, because their minds went blank at such circumstances.

 Chanyeol squeezed his way towards the front of the classroom and immediately discussed with the teacher. “Attention students! The fire it now spreading from the opposite block, so we must immediately evacuate! Follow me!” the teacher exclaimed with the help of Baekhyun and Chanyeol.

Then, the students followed the teacher, meeting up with other classes as they squeezed their way through the hallway, pupils frantically walking as fast as they could.

Chanyeol followed them, as his main objective was to lead the pupils to safety, together with the teachers and calm the students’ down while they pinched their noses, coughing as they tried going through the hallway with all those smoke blinding their eyes.

“There was a pupil in 7A who suffered an asthma attack,” a student whispered to the student beside him and he raised an eyebrow. “I thought the pupil had weak lungs, that’s why she fainted?”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened in shock and he stopped in his tracks, and then quickly turned to the other direction towards Jaemi’s class.

The pupils pushed past him as he squeezed through them towards Jaemi’s classroom but no one was there. He turned back and scanned the surroundings as he covered his nose and coughed.

He quickly rushed down the stairs, looking for any signs of Jaemi and he bit his lip, praying that she would be fine no matter what.

At the corner of his eye, he saw a figure lying unconsciously at the end of the stairs and he immediately shouted. “Jaemi!”

He quickly held her up, cupping her cheek and tapping her face lightly, dusting the soot off her face. Jaemi coughed, her eyes slowly opening as she tried talking, but her eyes rolled back and she slipped into unconsciousness again.

Chanyeol gathered his might and lifted her up with one arm under her thigh and the other supporting her back.

He rushed down the stairs, breathing in heavily as he held Jaemi’s head close to his chest. Jaemi’s eyes slowly opened again and she vaguely saw Chanyeol’s face, as she tried calling him but she no energy left.

--

It was ten minutes after the commotion and the teacher finally was able to evacuate the class, and everyone pushed Jaemi away from Eunmi. Just within a few seconds they were already separated, with Jaemi lagging behind as she coughed, inhaling the smoke coming from behind her.

Just as she was about to walk down the stairs, the students behind her again squeezed in between her as she lost her grip on the railing and rolled down the stairs.

--

“Jaemi, you’re going to be alright,” he said, assuring her and also himself while he ran towards the general office.

On the way, he saw Baekhyun and he quickly handled Jaemi to Baekhyun, entrusting her to him. “Jaemi fainted, I need you to bring her to the sick bay. I need to help the others,” he intstructed and Baekhyun nodded his head. “You can count on me.” Chanyeol smiled and nodded, then patted his shoulder and quickly left to help the teachers.

 He immediately ran into the sick bay and placed her on the bed gently, Baekhyun sighed and her hair as he softly smiled while he waited for the staff to attend to Jaemi.

It was only after ten minutes Jaemi slowly opened her eyes and she looked up at the ceiling. As she turned to her right, she saw Baekhyun smiling down at her. “Jaemi, you’re finally awake,” he whispered and Jaemi slightly frowned. She sat up, looking left and right and she tugged on Baekhyun’s shirt. “Baekhyun, where’s Chanyeol?” she asked anxiously while Baekhyun blinked. “He’s fine. He’s with the teachers,” he explained.

Eunmi burst into the room and held onto Jaemi tightly. “Jaemi! Are you alright? I couldn’t find you!” she exclaimed and heaved a sigh of relief.

“I’m fine, who carried me-“

Chanyeol walked in, and he looked at Jaemi anxiously. “Are you alright?” he asked and Jaemi smiled, nodding her head.

Chanyeol turned his attention to Eunmi. “Eunmi, go to Jaemi’s dormitory and take out the first aid kit,” he ordered. “Ah yes, and take out the medical oil from Jaemi’s drawer. The third compartment on the left,” he ordered and Eunmi blinked in surprise, then quickly saluted as she nodded her head. “Yes, sir.”

She wondered, when did Chanyeol know the things in their dormitory better than her?

 Then, Chanyeol walked towards one of the staff. “What’s the situation outside?” he asked as he wiped away his sweat on his forehead.

“The fire from the opposite block has finally been extinguished. And we realized that the fire came from the science laboratory,” the staff explained. “But we also found out, that at the same time, we realized that the smoke was actually coming from another room, which was the home economics room, the second level.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened in shock and he frowned. “That means, it was actually just a level above us. If I made the wrong decision and ordered the pupils to go up to the rooftop, we will all be roasted chickens,” he muttered under his breath.

Now that the situation is finally under control, Chanyeol was most worried about the pupils in the students, and how the rumours and spreading fast.

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