I drag Baekhyun behind me until we reach the back exit of the library that leads into the administration hall. I stop for a second before opening the door, giving the fairy a good look.

What about the leather jacket, designer baseball cap and sunglasses made him think he could sneak into a school unnoticed? There’s not enough time to yell at him for his poor choice in outfit so quickly I slip off my uniform blazer and throw it at him. He seems to get the picture and replaces his leather jacket with my coat that barely fits around his shoulders.

It doesn’t help much, but anything is better that what he came in wearing.

With that, we slip out the door and race down the hallway. It’s generally empty, probably most of the kids had gone home. But it’s the teachers that we have to watch out for. And as if just on cue, the sound of heels on tile echoes from the opposite end of the hall. My eyes scan for any quick hiding spot. I see an empty office to my left. It’ll have to do for now.

We dart into the office, inside which is a small coat closet. Without thinking, I pull him inside the closet and close the door behind us.

We hurriedly squeeze into the small space and settle underneath the swinging coats. When I look up, his face is close, really close, to mine and for a minute I’m glad that it was dark in here because I’m sure my ridiculous face was bright pink. Quickly, I shove him out of my face and nestle myself in. It’s a tight fit, but it works.

I peek my eye through the slit in the door and  wait until the lady in heels passes us by.

But just as I give Baekhyun the nod to get up and leave, a polished pair of shoes strides into the office. With another pair following close behind.

“Who’s that?” Baekhyun whispers.

“That’s…” My breath hitches in my throat as I see, Principal Oh take a seat in front of the closet in the large leather chair. It’s his office isn’t it? Just my luck.

The other figure takes a seat across from the principal and when I open the door just a tad wider I see the reddish-brown hair of Sehun, his expression uncharacteristically timid. As if this situation couldn’t get any worse.

I shake my head at Baekhyun and crouch deeper into the closet. If one of them finds us in here. My life will be over. Not only will I have issues with Sehun but I’ll be in trouble with the school and then my Dad will find out and…

Principal Oh’s voice echoes in the room. “Tell me again why you came in second place in your math exam?”

There’s a pause before Sehun replies. “I only missed one question, it just happens that the other kid did slightly better. But in all my other subjects I ranked first-”

“You understand that if this happens once, it’s likely to happen twice, then soon you’ll be doing no better than average. Then what will be people say about me? I’m already having issues with someone going around vandalizing my school and now my own son is falling behind in his studies.”

Son? I mouth the word in awe. I think I just discovered something unexpected.

“I mean what am I even paying all those tutors for if you aren’t ranking first?” Principal Oh continues.

Sehun doesn’t answer, instead just looking at the ground.

Principal Oh raises his hand over his head in frustration, but pauses mid-air when he realizes the office door is still open. “We’ll talk about this more when I get home.” He whispers. “Get going. You can’t be late to your after-school tutoring, or you might fall even further behind.”

Shifting forward, I place my ear even closer to the crack as I hear Sehun leave the office. This. This is gold! Finally, I’ll found something on Sehun. A weakness of his-

“Ow!” Baekhyun yelps which shocks me out of my thoughts as he wiggles his foot from under me.

“Shut up!” I hiss while keeping my eyes on the principal whose ears had perked up at the noise.

“You were sitting on my foot. How much do you weigh even?” He continues.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up.”

Principal Oh’s forehead is wrinkling as he turns toward the closet. Toward us.

“Do you see what you did? Now we’re done for. Me. And YOU.” I poke at Baekhyun’s chest. “are dead.”

“Relax. Your face is already bad enough without the frown. Just sit back and watch.”

My heart races as the leather shoes step closer while Baekhyun aims his finger through the small crack in the door. Pointing straight at the wastebasket in the corner.

“Pow” He whispers. Suddenly the wastebasket burst into blue flames a thin line of smoke rising to the ceiling. Principal Oh’s feet stop just in front of our hiding spot before his nose catches whiff of the smoke. When he sees the fire, his voice raises to an almost laughable pich. “F-f-fire?! Secretary Shin! Secretary Shin!” The bald man races out of the office faster than I’ve ever seen him run before.

I glance back at Baekhyun who shrugs his shoulder in delight. A smug grin spreads on his lips. For some reason, maybe it was the actual fire outside but I’m suddenly feeling a little stuffy.

“Let’s just get out of here, fast.”

Luckily, there weren’t many more people left in the building. After escaping the office we made it pretty smoothly out of school and onto the grass courtyard. I stopped at the stone entrance way and threw my head back against the pillar. “You are lucky I’m out of breath, fairy-boy or else…” I take in a much needed deep breathe. “Just never come to my school again, do you hear me?”

“Whatever.” He slips his leather jacket back on and dangles my coat back at me. “Let’s not forget that’s it my magic that got us out of there.”

I clenched my teeth. “And whose fault that we were hiding in the first place?”

“You were hiding from someone before I got there anyway, right?”

I glower my eyes at him before changing the subject. “How on earth did you even find me in such a big school?”

“That’s easy. You have…” He leans forwards and wafts from my hair to his nose. “a strong scent.”

I give him a not so subtle view of my fist.

“I’m not teasing this time. Humans are easy to distinguish by their scents. It’s not a bad smell… mostly.”

“I don’t like it.”

“What?” Baekhyun asks.

“This magic stuff. Gives me the creeps.” I snort back.

“Magic is the most precious resource in this world and is a beautiful tool for creation. You uncultured human-”

“Magic?”

We both jerk back to see a head of wavy hair peeking over the wall. I almost hit my head against the brick. Nearly forgot about him. Cashier-boy walks over to us and extends a hand toward Baekhyun who just glares at it. “My name is Chanyeol. Do you mind if I talk to Ji Ho privately for a few minutes?”