“You've made an interesting range of magical objects.” Jimin pushes off the wall and slowly paces towards me. “I wonder who provided your base materials, though?”

“You psycho,” I breathe. “You put that snake there, didn’t you? This is a school! What if someone else had come across it first?!”

“That would’ve been a real shame,” Jimin says insouciantly. “But now I have even more questions. You came back from Winter Break knowing way more about magic. Who's teaching you?”

“Wha-,” My face burns- , I can’t let him find out about the Hado. “I read books and practiced. Anyway, why the hell is that your business?”

“I want to find out the full truth. Then I’ll finally have permission to kill you.”

“What is your problem? I don’t see the rest of your gang actively trying to kill me like you are.”

“They don’t view you as a threat,” Jimin replies smoothly. “I see you for exactly what you are. Ever since you arrived at Windsong, you’ve ed up everything. Apparently you mentioned something to Taehyung about, ah, wiping memories.”

I cross my arms. “You’re just pissed you’re finally being held accountable for what you did to Lucy.”

He narrows his eyes. The temperature in the room seems to rise- I recognize Jimin’s characteristic white-hot fury beginning to emerge.

“Shut up,” he growls. “Don’t talk about things you don’t know about.”

“I do know about this. I know exactly what you did. You’re insane. You... completely up her life- you’re the reason why she’s been miserable for years- but then you still want to keep her around for . She’s not your playthi-,”

I gasp. Jimin has pinned me against the wall by my shirt, his body pulsing with rage. Intense waves of heat radiate off him; my entire body is involuntarily shaking.

“If you say one more thing,” Jimin utters. “I’ll kill you.”

My throat is parched- I could not speak even if I wanted to.

“You don’t know anything about Lucy and I. Don’t you dare- you don’t know half the things that have happened in this town.” Jimin’s hold on my shirt tightens.

The heat around us intensifies, swirling around us like a cage. I take a deep, raspy breath in- it’s getting harder and harder to breathe. Stars erupt in the back of my eyelids, a tell-tale sign that I am dangerously dehydrated.

“Stay away from them,” Jimin says in a low, harsh voice. “All you do is cause pain. Taehyung, Lucy, Jin- anyone else. And if you say anything else about wiping Lucy’s memories to anyone-,”

“Get off her!”

The stifling heat disappears as Jin- my savior- shoves Jimin away from me. Behind him are Taehyung, Namjoon, Hoseok, and Yoongi.

I have never seen Taehyung look angrier than I have in this moment. The air goes frigid, plummeting to below freezing in the matter of seconds. The sudden change in temperature is too much of a shock for my already weakened body- Jin catches me just as I nearly topple to the floor. I am too tired to even thank him.

“You ,” Taehyung hisses, and before anyone can even react he punches Jimin so hard in the face that he goes flying backwards, hitting the wall and sliding down, black snake blood sticking to his body.

“Stop!” Hoseok yells as Taehyung lunges for Jimin again- this time with a handful of chi. Jimin rolls out of the way just in time. Taehyung collides with the wall, sending an explosive boom! echoing through the air. I watch in shock as the wall caves in from the impact. Screams are audible from the surrounding classrooms- fire alarms suddenly start sounding as the sprinklers gush water.

“,” Jin mutters. “This isn’t good.”

“I’m trying to help you,” Jimin rasps. He wipes away the blood trailing from his mouth. “It’s her fault that we’re even fighting.”

“No, it’s because you put your ing hands on her,” Taehyung snarls. “Don’t you-,”

“Both of you shut up. We need to get out of here. We can take care of this... situation after, but when people start coming and they see us at the scene of the crime, it’s going to get messier,” Namjoon cuts in.

Jimin and Taehyung glare at each other for several long, tense moments. I can already see Jimin’s reddened cheek beginning to swell. The sound of footsteps grow closer and closer.

Finally, Taehyung looks away, his jaw clenched.

His eyes land on me. I am still lying in Jin’s arms, my body still too nauseous to move.

His gaze softens. Slowly, he steps towards me. I warily draw further and further back into Jin as he approaches. The sight causes his eyes to dim.

“Joo,” he murmurs.

I look away.

Hoseok puts his hand on Taehyung’s arm.

“Guys, let’s go,” he says.

“See! What did we tell you! The moment we left you alone, you almost got killed!” Dev yells.

Sighing, I slump down on the bench Jin is sitting on and rest my head on his shoulder. Students rush out of the building, rapidly chattering away about this afternoon’s freak accident on the 3rd floor hallway.

“I heard that an oil tanker inside the generator room exploded!” one girl exclaims to her friend.

“What? Why would there be an oil tanker at Windsong? And what the hell is a generator room?”

“Okay, then... do you think it was a demon? This school is old as hell. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were evil ghosts around here.”

I snort. She’s not far off from the truth.

“Is everyone still hanging out today?” Sofia asks Jin. “After Taehyung and Jimin’s blowout, I don’t know if I want to be in the same room as them.”

“I kind of do,” Tom says. “Seeing Taehyung and Jimin fight each other? Damn. That would really be a spectacle.”

Sofia rolls her eyes. “Their pain is not your pleasure. Also, where’s Lucy?”

As if on cue, we see Lucy pushing her way through people, making her way to us.

“Did you guys hear about what happened today?” she asks, her eyebrows raised.

“Dude. Haven’t you been checking the group chat?” Dev questions.

“No. My phone died. Why?”

Sofia facepalms. “Luce, this is the kind of stuff you can’t do. What if something happened and you needed to call us but your phone was dead-,”

“Okay, okay, sorry! I’ll bring a charger. But seriously, what happened?”

I bite my lip. “Well... basically, Jimin set some sort of snake monster on me- what was it, Jin?”

“A baby basilisk.”

“Yeah, to test if I had magical powers. And then... well....,” I grimace. “I was kind of yelling at him about... uh...,”

“About what?” Lucy goads.

Jin, Dev, Sofia, Tom, and I exchange glances.

“Well... about you,” I finish. “I told him to stay away, and he got pretty pissed.”

“Pretty pissed is an understatement,” Tom says in a low voice. “He could’ve killed you if Jin and them hadn’t gotten there in time.”

“I’ll on Taehyung any other day, but I’m happy he beat the out of Jimin,” Dev snorts.

Lucy is perfectly, utterly still. I would’ve thought that she hadn’t heard what we said, save for the fact that her face is deathly pale. The five of us stare at her nervously, anticipating her response.

“I have to go,” she finally utters.

“Wait, Luce, are you going to find him?” Dev asks, stepping towards her in concern.

“I’ll text you guys later,” she responds.

“No, don’t go!” I protest, rising to stop her- but Sofia beats me to it.

“Hey,” she says, boring her eyes into Lucy’s. “Don’t. You can’t talk to him.”

Lucy hesitates for a moment. The anger in her eyes abates, slowly replaced with resignation. She takes a deep breath in.

“You’re right. Joo...,” she turns to me. “I’m really, really sorry that happened. It’s all my fault- but I swear, I already blocked him and I’m cutting off all contact with him-,”

“It’s not your fault,” I emphasize. “And good. I’m really happy to hear that. Just stay away from him.”

Lucy nods. “Yeah. I am. Thanks, guys.”

“Thank god,” Dev exhales. “I’m so happy. I didn’t know if you’d keep seeing Jimin, but you’re really not- phew.”

Lucy cracks a smile. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, does anyone want to go to Chopons tonight to study? I’m feeling a change of scenery.”

“I’m going to go work on a few designs I made. What if we had pencils and stuff that were magical weapons in disguise? Cliche, I know, but they’d be really useful. Especially if something like today’s incident happens again. You’re welcome to join,” I add.

“I have an interview for a summer internship,” Dev says apologetically. “Otherwise I’d study with you.”

“Same,” Tom sighs. “Gotta keep the scholarship board happy.”

“Sofia and I are going to Evan’s house for that kickback thing,” Jin says hesitantly. “Are you... gonna come?”

Lucy shakes her head. “I have no reason to be there now that Jimin and I aren’t- you know.” She turns to me. “I think I’ll study at home. I don’t want to disturb you.”

“We haven’t hung out in forever,” I pout.

“We literally live together now. We’ll be seeing each other every day.”

“I can’t get enough of you.”

Lucy rolls her eyes, smirking. “Stop flirting with me, baby.”

In an attempt to kick Lucy, my head topples backwards. I am no longer leaning on Jin’s shoulder; instead, I am lying on his lap. He looks down at me in a combination of shock and amusement. My face is bright red as I attempt to play off my mishap.

“Enjoying the view?” I snort.

He rolls his eyes, grinning. “I’d enjoy it more if you were holding up a mirror.”

“Ha ha.”

“Date,” Sofia loudly calls.

“This is gross,” Dev mutters.

“Jin and I are married, actually,” I say, dramatically wrapping my arms around him. “He IHOP’d his way to my heart. Sorry we didn’t invite you all to the wedding.”

“Your skirt’s riding up, idiot,” Lucy snorts.

“Good,” Jin snickers. “More of a view for me.”

“Ew!” I giggle, trying to roll away from him. He cages me in with his arms, cackling wildly.

It is while I am laughing and squirming in Jin’s arms when I see Taehyung.

He is standing on the other side of the lawn, his hair ruffled and his uniform shirt untucked. He is surrounded by friends- who are enthusiastically speaking and laughing with each other- but his eyes are pinned on me. There is something hard in his gaze- something intense and piercing that makes my chest ache.

“Joo?” Lucy quizzically asks, looking at how quickly the smile has been wiped off my face.

“Nothing,” I say, clearing my throat. I elbow Jin in the gut (not too hard) and he lets me go with an oof!

“I’m getting a divorce,” he jokingly grumbles.

“I’m the best thing that ever happened to you,” I smirk. “Alright, I’ll see all of you later. Good luck on your interviews,” I nod to Dev and Tom.

“Luck, schmuck,” Dev gloomily replies. “It’s hard thinking about computer science when you’re going to school with a bunch of monsters trying to gut you.”