The force fields have greatly improved. Or the nymphs have just stopped attacking. Either way, Jongdae feels safer. The tension that hung over the school for the last couple of weeks has been lifted, mostly because it’s holiday season.

Christmas is only days away. Most holidays aren’t celebrated at Jeolban, but the school always puts a bit of their budget into the Christmas party. The party is held in the largest classroom, which will be decorated by the students. Food will be served as well, though it isn’t anything out of the ordinary. The party is mostly for dancing, but few like to exchange gifts. Baekhyun is one of those people. Unfortunately, his gifts are usually in the shape of a fake turd. The party always has a great atmosphere despite the teachers’ attendance, and no student would be stupid it enough to miss it.

“It that we can’t buy gifts this year,” Baekhyun mumbles, pouting. The two of them are visiting Kyungsoo in the infirmary. Well, Jongdae is. Baekhyun doesn’t leave Kyungsoo’s side even though he’s healing well.

“Nobody wants your gifts,” Kyungsoo retorts sharply.

“I agree,” Jongdae chimes in, crossing his arms. “They always bring trouble.”

Baekhyun gasps. “How could you not like the goat harness, Jongdae? You are a goat!”

“It’s not funny.” Jongdae wants to glare at his friend, but Baekhyun has that sly smile on his face and okay, it’s a little funny.

“At least you didn’t get holy water,” Kyungsoo grumbles. “You do know that’s just a myth, right? It was a waste of your money.”

Baekhyun shrugs. “The garlic thing turned out to be true, so why I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“And what if it turned out to be true? I could’ve died or burned myself.”

“You know I would never hurt you, Soo.” Baekhyun tells him, his tone suddenly serious. A blush creeps on Kyungsoo’s cheeks as he tries to look unaffected. Jongdae smirks at the sight. “Well,” Baekhyun continues, “not badly, at least. Messing with your garlic allergy is just a bit of fun.”

“Shut up,” Kyungsoo barks, slapping Baekhyun on the shoulder.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo continue to bicker back and forth, much to the amusement of Jongdae. He’s waiting for Baekhyun to make a move, because God knows Kyungsoo won’t ever admit to liking such a nutcase. Eventually, the argument tires Kyungsoo out. The latter groans as he leans back on the bed.

“Are you okay?” Jongdae asks his friend, who is looking paler than usual. “Should I call the nurse?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “I’m fine,” he mutters weakly. “Just a bit tired.”

Baekhyun sends Jongdae a hopeless look from the side, but Jongdae ignores it.

“I thought you were getting better?”

“I am,” Kyungsoo answers, rubbing his eyes.

“You don’t look too good to me,” Jongdae tells him. “When are you going to be released again?”

“Just before Christmas…” Kyungsoo trails off, his eyes closing slowly. His body goes limp, which appears to raise alarm in Baekhyun.

“I’m calling the nurse,” he insists, jumping up from his spot.

Jongdae doesn’t feel too concerned about Kyungsoo. He’s still recovering, so it’s not surprising he’s easily drained. He’s about to call Baekhyun back for over-worrying, but then his eyes fall on the hand-shaped bruise on Kyungsoo’s upper arm. It’s quite strange – they should be healed by now, or at least shrunk. Jongdae purses his lips and decides to let Baekhyun call the nurse anyway.  

---

The nurse lets Kyungsoo go back to his dorm earlier than expected. He has healed well, though some bruises still remain. The nurse explained that Kyungsoo’s immune system worked on the internal damage before getting to the bruises. It’s relieving for all of them. Baekhyun even cracks some jokes about it, but Jongdae isn’t blind to Baekhyun’s concern for their friend. When Kyungsoo looks away, Baekhyun’s eyes will linger on the bruises sticking out from his shirt. It always looks like as if he wants to do or say something, but Baekhyun isn’t one to express his feelings in that sort of way.

Right now, it is nighttime. Jongdae and Baekhyun are escorting Kyungsoo back to his dorm with special permission from the headmistress. She barely gave them a glance, just waving them away to get back to her paperwork. It was worrying to see her so distraught and busy, but Jongdae and Baekhyun were too happy with her decision to care.

As they pass through the dimly lit halls, Jongdae notices several distressed students and teachers. His gut feeling tells him something is very wrong. Trying not to play into it too much, Jongdae resumes listening to Baekhyun’s everlasting blabbering – right now the topic is his urge for raw eggs. Jongdae scrunches his nose at the thought of swallowing a raw egg whole. Kyungsoo is visibly disturbed by the imagery despite having seen it numerous times, but Baekhyun is completely unaffected. The latter groans in delight as he tells of the taste and smell.

Just as Baekhyun is about to go into detail, a teacher runs past, her heels clacking over the stone floors. Her breath is irregular and her eyes panicked. When she has passed them, the three students share a look. They don’t want to rush while Kyungsoo is still recovering, but the sheer urgency of the teacher who walked by left them with no choice.

Just before they exit through the west wing, a shrill scream is heard. A shiver courses through Jongdae’s body at the sound.

He quickly pushes the door open, only to be immediately hit with too many things at once: frosty wind, thick snow, fresh air, smoke, yelling personnel, terrified students – and fire. Jongdae feels himself going numb as flames tower over the nocturnal dorm, engulfing the building whole. Nothing registers in his mind for the next couple of minutes, not the wetness of the snow, not the heat of the flames, absolutely nothing but Kyungsoo’s hand clenching around his.

There is a dry silence between them. They all know saying something right now is useless, but to keep quiet is so strange too. After several minutes, Baekhyun is done with the silence. He drops the hand that rested on Kyungsoo’s upper arm, and sprints off to one the teachers close to the flames.

“Baekhyun, stop! It’s dangerous!” Kyungsoo immediately calls, shaken out of his frozen state. The moment he takes a single step to go after their friend, Jongdae pulls him back.

“Don’t put yourself in danger either,” Jongdae says firmly.

Kyungsoo’s thick brows are furrowed while his eyes keep darting to Baekhyun. His pointy teeth draw blood from his full bottom lip without him realizing it. Kyungsoo has never looked this distressed.

Jongdae can’t resist checking up on Baekhyun either. As he moves his eyes to their friend, he feels a rush of energy. It courses through his entire body, but settles in his legs. The energy now feels dark, heavy, and as if something is pulling him towards the fire. The urge overtakes him completely – his vision sways, his legs tremble, and his mind empties itself.

The sudden cease of bright orange lights in his blurred vision snaps him out of it. Once his eyes clear, Jongdae can see wizards surrounding the fire, the energy out of the flames or conjuring up a water spell. The fire is stubborn. It relights itself time and time again, setting fire to anything it can catch. But it doesn’t last forever. Jongdae watches the flames becoming shorter, and eventually tiny.

Just as Jongdae wants to see the last of the fire die, Joonmyun stomps over to them while dragging Baekhyun by his arm. Kyungsoo immediately perks up. With a frown, however.

“All students are to keep away from the fire,” Joonmyun tells them after letting Baekhyun go.

“You are an idiot!” Kyungsoo barks, smacking Baekhyun on the shoulder.

“Sorry,” Baekhyun murmurs, giving Kyungsoo his best pout and puppy eyes.

“You may be immune to weather but not to fire! God, I can’t believe you can just put yourself in danger like that!”

“I didn’t put myself in danger! I just wanted to ask a teacher what happened,” Baekhyun argues.

“Being that close to such a gigantic fire is putting yourself in danger!”

“Okay, guys. That’s enough,” Jongdae interjects firmly, stepping between his friends.

Kyungsoo scowls at Baekhyun while the latter angrily crosses his arms like a child.

Jongdae turns to Joonmyun, “What’s going to happen now?”

“The headmistress hasn’t said anything to me, but I think it’s safe to say we’ll be sharing our dorms soon.”

Kyungsoo’s face twists in shock. “My stuff… it’s all gone…”

Jongdae purses his lips. He hadn’t even thought about that.

“Oh, Soo. I’m sorry,” Jongdae whispers, pulling his friend into a hug.

“Did anyone get injured?” Baekhyun asks in the meantime, his worried eyes still on Kyungsoo.

“No deaths, thankfully. Only one student has minor burns,” Joonmyun informs. “She was just out of the dorm when the fire started.”

“When did it—” Baekhyun halts his words as the crowd drowns him out.

The four of them turn to the burned remnants of the dorm, eyeing the crowd that has now gathered around the debris. Jongdae suddenly feels a sharp pull again. Before he can register what’s happening, his mind is in a haze again. His legs pull him towards the remains, as if he’s no longer in control of his own body. There’s a vague “where are you going?” in the background, presumably from Joonmyun, but Jongdae can’t do anything except close in on the burned wreckage. As the heat closes in and smoke fills his nose, Jongdae’s eyes pick up a dark red glow, one that is awfully familiar. It is the source of the pulling, but before Jongdae can step closer, a hand on his shoulder pulls him back.

“What are you doing?” Joonmyun squeaks, snapping Jongdae out of his trance. The latter is giving him a concerned look, and Jongdae sees the same expression on his friends’ faces in his peripheral vision.

Jongdae finds no words to speak, so he just points at the glow that took over his mind. For the first time Jongdae gets a look at it without blurred vision, and he isn’t surprised to find Demonic scripture amidst the ashes. The ashes are still glowing orange with heat, but the Demonic beats them in brightness. Everyone surrounding the scripture has a dark red hue to their faces – an awfully eerie sight.

“Demonic…” Joonmyun mutters in fascination, his brows furrowing.

“You read Demonic, right?” Kyungsoo asks.

“A little.”

“What does it say?”

Blood drains from Joonmyun as he concentrates on reading it, his lips thinning into a line. Jongdae has a gut feeling the message isn’t going to be anything kind, but he needs to hear it anyway. Fear creeps into his body as Joonmyun’s expression grows somber.

“It says…” Joonmyun begins softly, pausing to clear his throat. “It says all of you will die.”

Jongdae swallows. His eyes move to his friends’ automatically to read their reaction, and finds nothing but terror.

A fire swallowed a whole dorm. What else could possibly be waiting for them?

---

“Dear students of Jeolban,” the headmistress opens, “I am torn over the current situation of the school, but I am happy to announce we will not cancel the Christmas party.”

Sighs of relief are heard all over the place. At least there’s one good thing happening in this cursed school, Jongdae thinks.

“Regarding the situation of the night dorm, we have made a list as to who will live where. The list is on the notice board in both the dorm and in front of the office. The curfews are still on. If you note anything suspicious, report it to the office immediately.”

She takes a deep breath, and Jongdae sees a sudden sadness in her eyes.

“The school has received numerous requests for students to be pulled out of Jeolban by both students and parents. Given our current situation, it is understandable that students or their parents no longer trust Jeolban. All requests are obviously granted, but we have a new safety protocol when handling these requests. More information on this is available at the office. Lastly, the Christmas party organizers are looking for more volunteers. You can register yourself with Hyoyeon at the office.” The headmistress gives a half-hearted smile. “Thank you.”

As she walks off, the crowd breaks out in murmuring. Jongdae bites his lip in worry. Things aren’t looking well for Jeolban.

---

The Christmas party is great. Not only does it serve as a good distraction for Jeolban’s awful situation, the food is good and the atmosphere is warm. Jongdae has devoured an exact number of eleven cream puffs. They’re making him nauseous but he can’t stop. Eating cream puffs is already a rare occasion as it is, so he’s better off making the most of it. As he plops the twelfth into his mouth, Baekhyun comes in sight with a smirk. That can’t be anything good.

“You know how I said that I couldn’t prank anyone because I couldn’t go the supermarket in town?”

Jongdae puts his cream puff down, giving Baekhyun a serious look. “You got to be kidding me. I’ll tell Kyungsoo if you went into town, Baek.”

Fear flashes over Baekhyun’s face at that. “No, no! I didn’t go into town! I swear!”

Jongdae squints his eyes in suspicion. “Okay. Go on, then.”

“Well, I thought I was going to give Mrs. Yun a prank-less Christmas, but then I remembered the toilet roll trick! You know, making a turd out of it with water and all. I stole every last one I could find and completely covered Mrs. Yun’s desk with it! Man, she’ll have such a shocker.”

“Your pranks are making me sympathize with her, Baekhyun. How many more times are you going to put fake turds around her workspace?”

“Enough times so she’ll always think it’s fake. Then, one day, when she assumes it’s a fake turd, it’ll be a real one.”

Jongdae bursts out in laughter. He has to admit that’s a good one.

“You’ll get in so much trouble,” Jongdae commentates, another laughing fit finding its way out.

“I sincerely hope that it will be cat poop and not your own,” Kyungsoo chimes in out of nowhere. The two of them turn to see their friend crossing his arms and peering at Baekhyun in disappointment.

“We’ll see about that, Soo.” Baekhyun fills in with a grin.

Kyungsoo scrunches up his nose. “Gross.”

Laughter emits from both Jongdae and Baekhyun again, leaving them in an extremely good mood. Jongdae can easily say he hasn’t felt this happy in a while. Baekhyun can’t seem to stop his laughter, losing his breath while trying to steady himself. He makes the mistake of grabbing onto Kyungsoo’s bruised arm for support, causing the latter to cry out in pain. Baekhyun immediately yanks back his arm as if it touched fire, shocked that he hurt his friend.

“Goddammit that hurts!” Kyungsoo spits, sinking to the floor while holding his arm.

“Soo, I’m sorr—”

“What happened here?” Joonmyun asks after rushing to them, gasping at the sight of Kyungsoo on the floor. “Are you okay, Kyungsoo?”

Jongdae and Joonmyun help him up while Baekhyun watches in guilt.

“Soo, I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry,” Baekhyun mutters, grabbing his friend’s hand.

“It’s fine,” Kyungsoo replies with a groan. “Let’s just go to the infirmary to get some pain-relieving cream. The one in my room burned up after all.”

Baekhyun nods his head and takes Kyungsoo by his healthy arm, leading him out. Jongdae watches them get stopped by teachers several times before he turns his attention to Joonmyun, who is still watching Baekhyun and Kyungsoo in concern. Jongdae’s breath stocks in his throat when he finally gets a good look at Joonmyun. Instead of the usual slicked back hair, Joonmyun has his fringe covering his forehead. The gentle brown makes his hair look soft and fluffy, making Jongdae want to run his fingers through. Then there’s the over-sized beige sweater he’s drowning in. Normally Joonmyun is so prim and proper, but now he just looks cute.

Joonmyun finally tears his gaze off the pair and his eyes meet Jongdae’s. The second their eyes meet Jongdae feels his heart skip a beat. Cute Joonmyun is really affecting him badly. A small smile appears on Joonmyun’s lips and Jongdae swears his body heats up. He breathes deeply and mentally notes down cute Joonmyun is dangerous.

“I had something I wanted to talk about with you,” Joonmyun says, biting his lip. “Can we go somewhere people won’t hear?”

Jongdae nods, his mouth too dry to speak.

The two of them move to the hallway, passing several classrooms until they are completely out of earshot. Joonmyun is nervous the whole time, checking behind them to see if no one is following them while obsessively plucking at his fingers. Once they come to a still, Joonmyun takes a deep breath, really igniting the curiosity in Jongdae. What could possibly make him this nervous?

“Okay. First of all, you have to promise not to tell anyone about this.”

Jongdae is taken aback by such a bold start of a conversation, but nods nonetheless.

“You promise?” Joonmyun asks, holding his pinky up.

“I promise,” Jongdae answers. He tries to stop a smile as he takes the pinky into his own.

“If you tell anyone this, I’ll make the whole school think you went nuts. I swear.”

Jongdae holds his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay! I won’t tell.”

“Good.” Joonmyun nods. “Well, to begin, Minseok told me you wanted to get in touch with your demon side. I might know someone who can help you.”

“Really?” Jongdae chirps in delight, eyes beginning to sparkle.

Joonmyun hands him a folded piece of paper. “This is where he lives. But you didn’t get this from me! I didn’t push you to do anything that would break the rules.”

Jongdae grins, finally understanding Joonmyun’s weird behavior. Of course Joonmyun would be like this. He is a goody two-shoes after all – and on top of that he is the one checking whether the students follow the rules.

“Wow, Joonmyun… this is great. I really appreciate this,” Jongdae tells him sincerely. His thoughts suddenly remember Kyungsoo, who is still injured. He then thinks of Minseok telling him about the attack Luhan has planned. Pursing his lips, Jongdae decides he can never let that happen to anyone in this school. “I’m going.”

Joonmyun’s eyes widen. “Right now?” He asks in disbelief.

“I could actually help this school if my only power wasn’t shapeshifting into a goat,” Jongdae supplies.

“Well… okay. As long as you know what you’re doing.”

Jongdae raises his eyebrows. “Aren’t you coming as well?”

“Wh-why would I? That’s against the rules!” Joonmyun splutters.

“You want to help the school too, right? If this person can help me with my demon powers he’s sure to help you with your magic as well. Imagine what we could do if you, me, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo, and maybe even Minseok got help with our powers! It will help us a lot more than doing math homework and studying magic history.”

“I don’t know… I really don’t like the idea of breaking the rules.”

“It’ll just be one time! And it’s for the greater good!”

Jongdae’s persuasion skills prove to be good as Joonmyun reluctantly nods his head. “Okay. I will go with you. But this is one time and one time only!”

Jongdae grins in delight. Without thinking it through, he grabs Joonmyun by the hand and pulls him along. The touch of their hands tingles in a most pleasant way.

---

A/N: yooooo!!!
sorry for the super late update :C I was having a rough couple of days so I wasn't really feeling it :/
hope you guys will like this chap!! the real fun starts now!!

Thank you for subbing, voting and commenting!!!! means a lot to me<3
kisses!!!!!!!!!

ps: is it snowing where u live? we just got bulldozed here + we are getting a frost period