there's a reason why pureblood studies should be an elective and as jeon miseon stares at her son, who's clutching a watch in his grasp, she couldn't help but heave a sigh.

it looks like she'll have to talk to the board again and push the matter at hand.

who gives a rat's arse about muggle studies, anyway?

they are wizards and witches in the wizarding world!

muggleborns who have been exposed to anything muggle must be thoroughly briefed to learn about everything that involves the wizarding community because, the last she checked, no wizarding child after graduation has been found coming back to their mortal world. and she recalls no memory of any wizard and witch— pure-blood or half-blood— leaving this magical world for something so simple.

squibs, perhaps, she understands.

what's the use of automobiles when you have brooms and floo? apparate where you want to go, or use a portkey? what's the use of phone when you have floo call and patronus (granted, not everyone has the luxury of conjuring one)? what's the use of vacuum when you have elves in your home who will clean and cook for you?

what's the point of spending years in this magical community when you plan to come back on that muggle world where limited— and even no magic must be performed?

simple things can be done in the wizarding world, yet the school chose to pay more attention with teaching magical kids what a rubber duck is for, when they should be educated about proper customs in the world they now belong.

no school subject, not even history, teaches muggleborn children how functions are done— how common courtesy is performed.

what it means to give someone a jewelry.

atrocious.

writing a letter to her husband and another to her dear friend in new zealand, she watches the two owls deliver her missives. 

 

━━━━
 

"you what?!"

yerim startles in her seat, almost spilling her pumpkin juice on her uniform after hearing woojin's outburst.

with a mutter, she slams her cup down on the table and looks at him with a deep frown on her face. "what do you mean 'what'? it's just a simple watch. actually bought it with my own money."

woojin continues to look at her in aghast, sputtering as his hands motions for something she couldn't fully understand.
why is he making it sound like she's done something wrong? the watch was antique-looking that it overshadowed the fact that it's cheap. not to forget that he'd even mentioned once to her that he's not big on anything modern; pretentious that he is. 

besides, jeongguk was already rich enough so there's no reason for her to spend every savings she had for a measly gift. it's a simple thank you for tutoring her and making her pass arithmancy.

(she has no idea why she had to choose that when divination is much easier.

oh, well.)

when woojin makes a grab at haechan's shoulder, yerim's brows furrow deeper.

"haechan, help me out here," woojin says exasperatedly as if he had aged fifty more years. "i can't with this girl."

"what is it?" haechan asks while blinking, looking between her and woojin.

when the latter glances at yerim, saying "go tell him what you did," with a wave of his hand before using it to cover his face, she faces haechan and reports, "i sent jeongguk a watch last yule."

haechan pales. "you what?!" 

 

━━━━
 

slytherins worship the road jeon jeongguk walks on. he's a snake through and through, after all.

a slytherin prince.

he's vile like a true serpent, throwing insults when needed and getting away from trouble even when he's the one who instigated it in the first place. he's filthy rich, his parents are powerful— his father's family being part of the sacred five and his mother coming from another noble family, as well as being a member of lady auxillary.

their whole lineage has been housed by salazar slytherin for centuries.

he's smart, too, and it's no surprise to anyone that he's slytherin's unperturbed chaser in quidditch just like his mother, prefect in his year and one of the rumored candidates to be house boy next year.

things are looking up for him, not only because of his name but also his undeniable good looks.

everyone likes jeongguk; he gets the most proposal for dates from girls. he got the most attention during triwizard even when he's not one of the champions and yet— and yet...

there's always something wrong with something so perfect. and slytherins do not understand jeon jeongguk's fascination with that gryffindor muggleborn.

(mudblood.)


 

━━━━

"she what?!"

unlike the scuffle in the great hall courtesy of kim donghyuck's ear-piercing outburst, lisa manoban's voice was almost inaudible with how loud the hallway was since they've just been dismissed for the day.

kim yugyeom sighs in return, muttering, "i knew something like this would happen. what i don't understand is why no one told her anything! doesn't she have those two little minions of hers?"

"it boggles me that they didn't get those kind of gifts from her, either," jung eunha interjects with a snort.

rounding a corner on their way to the courtyard where jeon jeongguk usually loiters on his free time, lisa mumbles, "are you really sure she didn't use amortentia on him?"

eunha rolls her eyes. "in what? first year? i don't even see what he saw in her back then. and even more now! he's ing blind, i'm telling you."

"shush," yugyeom exclaims as they near jeongguk, eyes trained on the blasted watch that's wrapped around his wrist.

it looks like he didn't even notice them with how he's fumbling over the trinket.

"hey!" lisa calls, kicking jeongguk's foot with her own. "is the rumor true?"

"please tell me it's not," eunha grumbles even though the three of them already knew the answer.

fortunately for them, jeongguk was enthusiastic enough to shove the wrist watch in their faces as a way to retaliate their questions. "you mean this?" he asks with a wide