“I can’t believe you got Joonmyun to come along,” Baekhyun tells Jongdae in disbelief. Both of them are packing their bags. Baekhyun immediately agreed to coming along as soon as the words left Jongdae’s mouth, but was left baffled when he heard Joonmyun came along.

“Then I’ll have another surprise for you,” Jongdae replies with a grin. “He’s the one who came up with the idea.”

Baekhyun halts halfway through folding his underwear. “No way. You’re lying,” he accuses, squinting his eyes at Jongdae.

“He actually told me not to tell anyone it was him, but I doubt that matters now that he’s coming along.”

“How did you convince him to come? Did you use your demon powers to manipulate his mind or something?”

“I’m not on that level yet,” Jongdae says pointedly before he chuckles. “But he was surprisingly easy to convince. I didn’t even do anything special, I just told him it would be one time and that it would help the school. Seems to me he just cares about Jeolban as much as we do.”

Baekhyun purses his lips before continuing to pack. “Well, as long as he won’t be annoying I don’t mind if he comes along.”

“I’m sure he’ll be a lot more reasonable outside school. Kyungsoo told me he’s really nice in their room.”

Baekhyun hums disapprovingly. After the fire in the night dorm the students moved into the day dorm. Baekhyun really wanted Kyungsoo to come live in their room, but both Kyungsoo and the teachers refused, saying it would only be trouble. Instead, they assigned Kyungsoo to Joonmyun and Minseok’s room, where he is more than content. Baekhyun is obviously still bitter about it.

“You’re becoming as biased as Kyungsoo just because Joonmyun was nice to you once,” Baekhyun grumbles.

“Not true. And it wasn’t once. He’s been nice all the time lately.”

“That makes it sound like you’re in love with him,” Baekhyun comments dryly before breaking out in laughter.

Jongdae, instead of laughing along, freezes. Joonmyun’s pretty face pops up in his head, his dazzling smile, his engaging eyes. Jongdae feels blood rush to his cheeks at the general thought of Joonmyun. Noticing Baekhyun’s pointed stare snaps Jongdae out of his trance. He continues packing, not thinking of Joonmyun at all.

“You’re crazy,” Jongdae mutters to save himself.

After the two of them finish packing, they leave their room as quietly as possible, not wanting to pull any attention.

If everything went according to plan, the teacher by the front door is in a deep sleep courtesy of Joonmyun’s potions. Joonmyun first flat-out refused to “poison” a teacher, but enough pressing from Jongdae got him to do it. Baekhyun even offered to handle the rest of the plan after Joonmyun made the potion – slip it into a mug of coffee and hand it over to whatever teacher is running the early morning shift. Joonmyun then told him the teacher wouldn’t trust him and decided to do it himself.

The potion only works for ten minutes, so Jongdae and Baekhyun have to make it quick. They originally wanted to make it last longer, but it would put the dorms in danger thus they settled on ten minutes instead.

Baekhyun slowly pushes the front door open. Jongdae peeks where he can, relieved to see the teacher slumped in the snow. Cautiously, they tread outside. Jongdae cringes when thick snowflakes and an icy wind whip him in the face. At least he’s packed up well. Baekhyun, on the other hand, is wearing his regular shirt-and-shorts combo, only slightly irritated by the white flakes. Jongdae curses his cold blood for the nth time and carries on.

As they move to the back of the building, Jongdae’s eyes manage to spot a weak orange light coming from the trees. That ought to be Joonmyun. Jongdae trudges towards the light with a nasty scowl, bitter about the awful weather. How will they ever get a proper move on with this wind?

Jongdae and Baekhyun enter the small clearing cautiously, but that tension drops as soon as they see three familiar faces.

“You’re here too, Minseok?” Jongdae immediately asks, surprised to find him here.

Minseok shrugs. “Joonmyun told me to cover for him but I wasn’t having it. Besides, I’m not one to slap away an opportunity to improve my powers.”

“You’re more than welcome,” Kyungsoo chimes in. “God knows I need at least one calm person around.”

“I’m calm!” Jongdae protests.

“Really? Because you just shouted that.”

Jongdae bursts out in laughter. “Okay, okay.”

“We should get out of here before the sun rises,” Joonmyun suggests, shifting between his feet. The wizard seems nervous – his hands keep playing with the strings on his backpack, his eyes keep darting back to the school, and he bites his lip in worry.

“Don’t worry,” Baekhyun cheers, patting Joonmyun on the back. “It’ll be fine. The sun rises in like half an hour. I’m sure we’ll be out of here by then.”

“I still think we should leave. Right now.”

“I agree,” Kyungsoo affirms. “That light is going to attract people.”

The five of them proceed to leave the clearing, moving further into the woods.

---

“The sun… I can’t take it anymore…” Kyungsoo gasps, falling to his knees.

“Stop whining and apply more sunscreen!” Baekhyun barks.

The sun is not gentle on a vampire. Not even on a half-vampire. Kyungsoo got sunburn the moment the sun rose. The rest of the group was concerned at first, but as Kyungsoo needed to stop every fifteen minutes it got old fast.

“We’re never going to get there at this rate!” Baekhyun cries out, stomping his foot in the snow.

“Let’s just take a few moments to rest,” Minseok proposes calmly. “Maybe I can enchant him with a protective spell or something.”

“That would be great,” Joonmyun commentates, shooting a concerned glance at Kyungsoo.

They settle down in the thick snow, long past caring about wet feet and wet butts. Jongdae plops down next to Joonmyun and watches Kyungsoo in worry. Despite having seen Kyungsoo in pain for the past hours, it doesn’t get any less easy to watch. This time Baekhyun is by Kyungsoo’s side, helping him apply the cream as Minseok fumbles through a spell book.

“How much further is it actually?” Jongdae asks Joonmyun, who is readjusting his hat and gloves. The latter looks cute all puffed up in an oversized winter coat.

“We’ll get there in the evening,” Joonmyun answers with a small smile. His tone is high. Jongdae suspects he might still be nervous about leaving the school behind.

Not entirely sure if he can ask, Jongdae settles for enjoying the view in the clearing. Before this, they walked through the thick pine forest, but eventually met the path they were supposed to take. Once the sun started shining the beauty of their surroundings became visible: the sight of a white blanket on pine trees was a sight to see. And it wasn’t just sight that stuck with them – smell too. The morning dew along with the smell of pine made for a memorable scent.

“Are you still worried about breaking the rules?” Jongdae then asks, catching Joonmyun off guard.

Joonmyun’s eyes widen before he gazes down, drawing figures in the snow with his shoes. “Yes,” he admits softly.

“They’ll understand.”

“For you, maybe. For me? Definitely not. I’m supposed to be a role model.”

“I guess so.” Jongdae notices the remaining frown on Joonmyun’s forehead. A chuckle escapes his lips. Joonmyun looks over at him in surprise, to which Jongdae replies with a poke to his frown. “Stop worrying or I’m leaving and then you’ll have to brood on your own.”

Joonmyun blushes at that, the frown disappearing. “Okay.”

“Good,” Jongdae approves, grinning. “Tell me more about the wizard we’re visiting. I wasn’t listening when you told me before.”

Joonmyun rolls his eyes. “I figured you weren’t. You’re always more absent whenever Kyungsoo or Baekhyun is around.” Jongdae laughs at that, knowing how well it’s true. “But this wizard… he’s… he’s not really normal.”

“I’m half a goat, I’m pretty sure I can handle weird.”

“Not like that,” Joonmyun tells him. “And being half a goat isn’t weird either, Jongdae. What I’m talking about is just hard to describe. You’ll know what I mean when we meet him.”

“How do you know him? He doesn’t sound like your kind of crowd.”

Joonmyun scratches behind his head. “Well… he’s the son of my mother’s ex. We lived together for a while until he moved to his current place.”

“You’re half-brothers?” Jongdae asks in disbelief. “Wait, your parents are divorced?”

“No, he’s not my half-brother,” Joonmyun answers, a little overwhelmed with the questions. “My parents got divorced a long time ago. His dad was my mother’s boyfriend for a while so that’s how I got to know him.”  

“And he’s a super powerful wizard?”

“Yeah, he is.” Joonmyun looks a little sad after answering, his lips pursed.

Jongdae feels a sharp pain in his chest at the sight. “What’s wrong?” He asks in concern.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just… I entered puberty when he came to live with us and seeing him do all these amazing things while not being to do anything myself awakened some insecurities in me. After all these years I still have them. I can barely create light beams let alone do anything useful with my magic. When you came back that one night from the supermarket all beat up I felt so useless.”

Jongdae frowns. “But we didn’t even know each other that well back then.”

“I still felt awful. Minseok was able to help you and I wasn’t. He’s a lot more useful than me.” Joonmyun mumbles the last part, but Jongdae clearly hears it. Jongdae gazes over to Minseok, who is chanting a spell from his book, orange light shining from his fingers. 

“Minseok is very powerful for a half-blood,” Jongdae observes. “Is he making you feel the same as the wizard? Insecure?”

Joonmyun stills at that. After a while, he nods meekly. “He’s my friend and I treasure him a lot… but he learns so fast and does things I wouldn’t even be able to do if I dedicated my life to it.”

“That must be frustrating,” Jongdae commentates.

“Sometimes. I try not to let it get to me and focus on the things I can do instead of what I can’t.”

“It’s kind of strange. I’ve never paid much attention to my powers until I entered Jeolban. And even after that I ignored my demon side for a long time.”

“Did your father not encourage you to pay attention to that part of you?” Joonmyun asks, all traces of sadness replaced by curiosity.

“Well, both my parents knew I wasn’t very gifted when it came to powers. That’s why they didn’t bother to train me. I don’t really mind, though. I knew my shapeshifting was a lost case to begin with and that my demon powers were something too strong for me to possibly control at that age so I’m not really upset about it. That aside, now that I can train my demon powers, I’m rather excited about it.”

“I’m sure Yixing will teach well.”

“Yixing? Is that his name?” Jongdae asks.

Joonmyun nods, but before he can open his mouth to elaborate, Baekhyun cuts through.

“We’re going to have lunch!” He announces.

“Did the enchantment work?” Jongdae questions as he sees Kyungsoo looking weak.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo rasps. “I’m still going to eat in the shade, though. Somewhere under a tree or in a cave. The less I’m in the sun the better.”

“We shouldn’t stray off the path,” Joonmyun tells him. “It’s only going to get us in trouble. None of us know this forest well.”

“It’s just for lunch,” Baekhyun protests. “We won’t stay away for too long.”

Jongdae wants to protest again, but Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are gone in a flash, leaving him sighing. He finally understands what Joonmyun felt like when he was dealing with Baekhyun. Joonmyun gives him a sympathetic pat on the back.

The three of them are then enveloped in an awkward silence as they watch the direction Baekhyun and Kyungsoo disappeared to. Eventually, Minseok sighs and turns their way, an unamused look on his face.

“Should I go after them?” Minseok asks.

“It would be appreciated,” Jongdae replies, nodding.

Minseok follows Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s trail, his dark-dressed figure remaining visible for quite some time in the obscenely white forest. The earlier silence returns, but this time it’s a little less awkward as the Jongdae and Joonmyun busy themselves with unpacking their lunch. Jongdae went with cheese crackers while Joonmyun brought an entire lunchbox filled with nutritious snacks.

“That looks good,” Jongdae commentates, his mouth watering at the sight.

“Cheese crackers? Really?” Joonmyun retorts with a raised eyebrow. “I knew you and Baekhyun were alike but I’d really expect you to at least feed yourself better.”

Jongdae cackles with laughter. “Baekhyun’s actually pretty culinary. I’m the one who can’t cook to save my life.”

“You can’t even make yourself a proper lunch?”

Before Jongdae can answer, Joonmyun snatches the box of cheese crackers out of his hands and chucks it back into Jongdae’s bag. Joonmyun then scoots closer to Jongdae and forks an egg roll, bringing it up to Jongdae’s lips. Like a machine, Jongdae opens his mouth. Once the now empty fork glides out of his mouth, a grin appears on Joonmyun’s face, which makes Jongdae combust instantly; skin heating up, brain turning to mush, and heart hammering in his chest. While his body is completely raging on the inside, his outside is utterly calm and composed. He opens his mouth when he needs to and chews when he needs to, but other than that he doesn’t waste any energy.

“Do you like the egg rolls? Minseok gave me a good herb to season them.”

“Y-yes,” Jongdae mutters, trying his best not too sound nervous.

“I also made dumplings. Not very healthy but they’re my favorite. Want to try one?”

The sparkling look on Joonmyun’s face has Jongdae nodding robotically.

“You should really know how to cook, Jongdae. You can’t survive on instant noodles and cheese crackers forever.” Normally, this would’ve sounded like the nagging Joonmyun who patrols the halls and disapproves of everything Jongdae does, but now he just sounds bemusing if not a little concerned. Jongdae feels a bit of warmth flooding his stomach and he can’t resist smiling.

“I know,” he answers softly, making Joonmyun look up from his lunchbox.

A small smile pulls on Joonmyun’s lips, a shy one. Blush follows, painting his cheeks a pretty pink, giving Joonmyun that dangerously adorable look. For a short while, only mere seconds, they do nothing but stare into each other’s eyes. Jongdae feels his body go aflame in those milliseconds. The emotional strength of these feelings scare him a little. With all the power he can manage, he averts his eyes, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment. What was he doing staring at Joonmyun like that? It’s not like he’s in love with—

“Jongdae! Jongdae, help!” Kyungsoo comes stumbling out of the bushes, falling to his knees in the snow. His face is drained and outs sheer terror, causing all of Jongdae’s hairs to rise.

“What’s going on?” He asks urgently.

“Baekhyun! He’s—he’s gone!”

---

A/N: lol i can just feel you guys' frustrations through the screen<3
but hey!!! u got a buttload of suchen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hope you guys liked this rather short and rather ty chapter!!! I didn't get a lot of comments on the last chapter so I figured that one wasnt as good :c hopefully you guys do like this chapter!!!

thank you for voting subbing and especially commenting!!!!!! you guys are the best!!
kisses!!!!!!!

ps; next chapter is gonna be all about baeksoo but dont tell anyone!!