News had gone out that the former Keeper of Sleef had escaped. People voiced out their concerns and frustrations, demanding a proper explanation. Their complaints quickly died down when the Academy introduced an unexpected evaluation competition featuring the ERA 97 members. It would give the students a chance to observe the ERA 97 members as well as learn from them without having a formal class.

The last time ERA 97 had their evaluations was just before they were accepted into the Mythos Hunting program. Only those with the best scores could become Mythos Hunters, so everyone had trained hard before the final evaluation. No one had expected to do another evaluation after they became Mythos Hunters, but it wasn't abnormal for the Academy to host live evaluations. It was rare, but not unheard of.

On the day of the competition, the students were told to wait backstage and prepare themselves. The Instructors would sit in a VIP room at the grand stand so that they could view everything from a far height. The ERA 97 members could see their Instructor from the live footage on the television screen in the back, while other students could see the live footage through the large screen at the center of the stadium.

Each participant received a badge. The weapons available were modified to match their actual weapon, but would be unable to harm another player. It would only be strong enough to pierce the badge, meaning that no one needed to worry about getting hurt. A hit on the badge would mean a lost and only the winner would advance.

"We can't afford to lose," Jungkook told the three. "Compete well."

"Don't worry about us," Yuna said as she tied her hair into a ponytail. "I know how to keep my position."

"If I end up needing to battle you guys, I won't go easy," Seokmin said.

Jungkook smirked. "No one said to go easy. Bring it."

A horn echoed in the air. Everyone looked at the screen as two photos were on the screen: Jo Miyeon and Kim Yoohyeon.

"Rank #9 and Rank #10," Yuna said, respective to the girls' ranking numbers. She crossed her arms. "This is going to be boring."

"What are you talking? The closer the rankings, the more exciting it is," Seokmin argued. "Miyeon is really fast and great at stealth. She's skillful with her daggers. Yoohyeon, on the other hand, is slower than Miyeon, but she's more focus and knows how to manage her time. If she can wear Miyeon out in time, then she can get a clean strike with her sword."

"The problem with that is that Yoohyeon can't last that long," Yuna complained. "We saw her fight before. Heck, I heard that ever since Yoohyeon was assigned to Kihyun's team, she got worse."

Yoo Kihyun was one of the four Instructors for ERA 97. He was known to be the top from ERA 93 before he became an Instructor. He had never found a Mythos during his time as a Mythos Hunter, but he had spend his time mostly taking up assassination jobs. To this day, he was one of the most feared members in the Academy.

They witnessed the battle play out through the screen. As Yuna predicted, Yoohyeon hesitated and lost her sword, causing Miyeon to win when she struck Yoohyeon's badge with her dagger. It was a smooth and easy win for Miyeon. 

The screen then showed the next two students. Yuna raised an eyebrow while Seokmin blew a small whistle.

"Good luck, Yuna," Seokmin said. "You're going against Eunwoo."

"Piece of cake," she said. "As long as I attack him from a close distance, he won't be able to attack."

Seokmin nodded. Jungkook patted Yuna's shoulder, causing her heart to skip a beat.

"Good luck. Do well," Jungkook told her.

Yuna blushed. "I-I will."

She took a deep breath, then walked out of the waiting room. Seokmin stared at Jungkook, who kept his eyes on the screen. When Jungkook figured that Seokmin wouldn't stop staring, he sighed and turned his head.

"What?" Jungkook asked.

"No," Seokmin mumbled. He looked away. "Nothing. I was wondering if you did that intentionally or not."

"Do what?"

"Pat Yuna's shoulder."

"I did it to show my support?" Jungkook said, confused.

Seokmin clicked his tongue, shook his head, then pointed at the screen for Jungkook to watch.

Yuna stepped up to the battle field and saw Eunwoo coming out from the other tunnel. He had his bow in one hand and a quiver full of arrows around his back. She looked at him carefully, trying to figure out what he was thinking and his next moves. 

A few boys hooted and cheered for Yuna, but when she gave an icy glare to the audience, they quickly silenced themselves. Jieun, who noticed, giggled, catching Kyungsoo's attention.

"What's so funny?" Kyungsoo asked.

"Ah, nothing. I just realized that my students are quite popular and quite cute," Jieun said, smiling.

There was a loud horn echoing throughout the stadium, signaling the beginning of the battle. Eunwoo didn't waste a second, knowing that he would be at an advantage if he kept his distance from her. He pulled out an arrow and pulled the strings of the bow before releasing the piercing stick. Yuna whipped out her fan, opening it and deflecting the arrow from puncturing her.

Then, she dashed forward, secretly pulling out her throwing knives from behind the fan and whipping it towards Eunwoo's direction. Eunwoo gritted his teeth and pulled several arrows to hit the incoming blades, preventing them from flying in the air for a second longer. He pulled out another arrow and tried to aim at her, but her throwing knives distracted him from targeting her.

Yuna smirked. This is so easy.

She neared him even closer, catching him off guard. She heard him whisper in frustration as she pulled out a throwing knife and punctured Eunwoo's badge. Eunwoo sighed as the horn beeped, signaling his lost.

Yuna scoffed. "That was hardly a battle."

"I can't do well in one-to-one combat," Eunwoo murmured. "Everyone knows that I depend on others in order for me to be at my top shape."

Yuna didn't say anything else. She unfolded her fan and walked off the stadium. Her fanboys screamed and cheered her name, but she ignored them and returned to the waiting room.

"Well, would you look at that," Jieun said to Kyungsoo. "It looks like my student beat yours."

"Eunwoo is a far-ranged attacker who depends on hiding spaces. In an open field like this, he doesn't stand a chance," Kyungsoo said. "I don't blame him for failing. He did what he could do." The next pair appeared on the screen. "It looks like Jinsol is also going up."

"Byungchan… Who's he?" Jieun asked.

"That's Kihyun's student," a tall man said. He smiled. "Kihyun doesn't have a lot of good students. In an ideal world, he would've been managing your students, Jieun."

"Ooh. I'm glad they paired me with my students." She shifted her gaze to Kihyun and addressed him: "You'd make them more depressing."

Kihyun didn't say anything. He continued to stare ahead, motionless.

"Hello? Is he okay?" Jieun asked.

"Kihyun isn't much of a talker," the tall man said, "but I am! The name's P.O. I'm the Instructor for the all-girls team."

"There's an all-girls team?" Jieun inquired.

"Yes! I manage Jung Chaeyeon, Kim Jiho, and Jo Minnie," P.O said proudly. He gave her a wide grin. "They're all sweet little darling, don't you think?"

Jieun's eyes sparkled. "I get what you mean! I think of my students exactly like that, but they're kind of bratty at times."

P.O let out a hysterical laugh. "I understand why the Academy decided to bring you back. I just don't understand why they didn't bring you back sooner!"

Jieun smiled. "Although I don't recall seeing you when I was an ERA 93 student."

"When you left, there was a sudden increase of orphans born in 1993 joining the Academy," Kyungsoo explained. "That's when P.O and Kihyun joined."

"Yeah. We only heard about how horrible you are, but you don't seem that terrible," P.O said.

Jieun let out a fake laugh. Her eyes grew cold as she stared back at the stadium. She witnessed Jinsol finish off Byungchan without doing much since Byungchan didn't seem interested in fighting. 

"Yes, well, I must have been terrible if I was kicked out," Jieun murmured. She eyed at P.O, who was still smiling widely. "Don't you agree?"

P.O didn't notice her change of tone. He remained oblivious and laughed at her statement until he saw the next two players walk in. The audience let out a hysterical cry. Girls shrilled loudly and everyone seemed quite hyped up with the next contestant.

"Oh, would you look at that?" P.O said. "It looks like my student is going against yours." Jieun looked at the stadium and saw Jungkook standing across the stadium from a cute girl. "That's my student. Kim Jiho."

"She looks quite weak," Jieun remarked.

"Ah, I thought that, too! Of course, that changed when—"

The horn beeped. Jungkook took out his sword. Jiho seemed quite shy around him, but she managed to grab ahold of her weapon and pulled it in front of her. She was carrying an abnormally large scissors. The scissors were practically around her height, perhaps even taller than her by a feet or two. She grabbed the scissors with two hands.

"I'm sorry, Jungkook!" Jiho squeaked. She positioned the scissors so that the tip of the sharp blade pointed at him. Then, she opened the scissors and lifted it. Letting out a shy shriek, she charged at him as if she was going to chop him in half.

Jungkook remained quite calm. He stood awfully still, a bit bored. As Jiho neared him, she started to fear hurting her crush. When she was close enough, she closed her eyes and snapped the scissors closed. She stopped her tracks and continued to close her eyes. Then, she opened one eye, only to notice that Jungkook was not standing in front of her.

"Did I get him?" Jiho whispered to herself.

"No," Jungkook said from behind. Jiho gasped. She tried to move her scissors around, but it was too late. Jungkook grabbed her badge and crushed it, winning the battle.

Jiho blushed when she realized that she was close to Jungkook. She collapsed on her knees and covered her blushing face. Jungkook sighed and walked out of the stadium. He glanced up, briefly locking eyes with Jieun.

Hm? Jieun blinked. It looked like he was looking at me.

"Why did they even pair him up with a girl? All the girls never fight seriously when they have to fight him," P.O complained. He sighed, then smiled when the next pair of names came up. "Well, well, well! It looks like the Academy is putting your group members against mine again!"

Jieun looked up. This time, Seokmin was battling Miyeon.

"Kihyun, how are you feeling? You only have one student left," P.O said.

Kihyun continued to remain silent, but there was a dark aura around him. Jieun pressed her lips.

"He's not much of a talker, is he?" she asked.

"Of course not. I heard that his assassination jobs are so dark, he had to cut off his tongue so that he wouldn't spill any important details," P.O whispered loudly.

"My tongue's not cut off," Kihyun muttered icily, "and I don't expect much of my students. They're all terrible and they've grown worse."

P.O snickered while Jieun gave him a small frown.

The Instructors continued to watch the battle. Seokmin was having no trouble keeping up with Miyeon's speed and defended himself from her attacks with his twin swords. 

"Look," Seokmin said to Miyeon as she continued to try to strike him, "it's against my policy to use my full strength of girls."

Miyeon glared at him. "Are you calling girls weak?"

"Oh, definitely not. Have you seen Yuna when she's angry? She'll flip over the entire room," Seokmin said. "I guess it's kind of like how you girls react when you're battling Jungkook. You don't try and he wins with ease."

"Jungkook is a whole different story!" Miyeon argued. "Don't you understand that it's practically a crime for us to harm him? He's perfect."

She let out a dreamy sigh. Knowing that she was distracted, Seokmin took the opportunity to extend his sword, hitting her badge. Miyeon blinked and snapped out of her thoughts. She angrily glared at Seokmin, who gave her a friendly smile.

"I win!" he exclaimed.

The competition continued. Students fought each other, won and lost, climbed up and down the rankings. The battles went on for a good three hours before it finally came to an end. By the end of the event, Jungkook, Yuna and Seokmin snagged the top three positions, earning many praises from everyone around them. People cheered, but they weren't surprised. Everyone had expected them to win anyway.

Everyone was ready to be dismissed until the Members of the Ministry suddenly appeared on camera. The Instructors stared at the screen with surprise. The clip snapped to a close-up of Jaejoong, who smiled fondly at the camera.

"I request that everyone be seated," Jaejoong said. There was a few murmurs of confusion, but they all obeyed. "I hope you all have been enjoying the competition! I am quite proud to see our students compete with each other for the top positions. I am proud of every one of you." The grin on his face widened. "Something that we always tell our students is that they should be prepared for anything, even for the unexpected. We take out words very seriously and we believe that the Instructors should live up to this policy as well."

There was stillness in the air. Jieun's eyes widened and she leaned forward, staring at the screen.

She broke into a scoff. "The audacity…"

"Which is why…" Jaejoong extended his hand towards the camera. The screen changed in a blink of an eye. Then, four faces popped on the screen with their names. Everyone's eyes widened and people began to whisper and scream in excitement.

All four Instructors had their profile image vividly displayed on the screen: Do Kyungsoo vs Lee Jieun vs. P.O vs. Yoo Kihyun. Then, their photos changed to a live video footage of the four.

P.O leaned forward, showing off his goofy smile as he stared up at the screen. Kihyun barely moved an inch when he saw his name on the screen and continued to keep a straight posture in his seat. Kyungsoo seemed quite surprised with the sudden announcement while Jieun secretly gritted her teeth.

"Well then, Instructors," Jaejoong continued. His eyes seem to be staring at Jieun. "Would you all step back stage and prepare for the competition?"

* * *

"This is new. I wonder how the Instructors feel about this," Yuna remarked. 

All the ERA 97 members were assigned a special VIP seating behind a protective glass window. Two groups sat in the lower front and two groups sat behind them. Yuna, Jungkook and Seokmin took a seat in the front. Kyungsoo's group sat in the second front seat while P.O's and Kihyun's group sat behind. 

"Didn't seem like Jieun liked this idea," Seokmin said.

"She seemed to have anticipated, though," Jungkook added. "She didn't look too surprised. She just looked angry."

"Who do you think is going to win?" Yuna asked.

"Our Instructor is going to win, of course," Jinsol said out of the blue. Everyone looked at her while she smirked and glued her eyes on the screen. "Don't you think so, Jungkook?"

There was a sarcastic giggle from behind. They all stared at the all-girl group. Jiho gave Jinsol an innocent smile.

"Kyungsoo, over our Instructor? Our Instructor seems quite childish, but when he's serious, he is quite strong," Jiho remarked.

"You all forget about our Instructor," Byungchan said, gathering everyone's attention. "Do you not know who Kihyun is? He came out as the top from ERA 93. He's hard to read and quick in action. All your Instructors are subpar compared to mine."

Seokmin laughed. "You all talk big about your Instructors, but may I remind you that top title used to belong to our Instructor?"

"Your Instructor was kicked out of the Academy. She's probably rusty," Jinsol countered. "Don't you remember who fainted from the battle? That's right, it was yours. Our Instructor was the one who saved everyone."

"Introducing the Instructors for ERA 97: Do Kyungsoo, Lee Jieun, P.O, and Yoo Kihyun!"

The crowd started to feel restless. Witnessing the ERA 97 students battle each other was great, but watching the Instructor battle was on a whole different level. This was the main course that everyone was eager to watch and take a part of.

Jungkook, Yuna and Seokmin sat at their special VIP spots with the other Mythos Hunters. Yuna could feel the other girls glare at her back with envy over the fact that she was the one who could sit next to Jungkook. She glanced behind her shoulders and smirked, causing the girls to scowl.

The doors to the stadium lifted open from the four corners. From each corner, an Instructor came out, walking cooly with broad steps. They were all wearing the same black Instructor's coat and captain's hat. 

"Oh, there's Jieun!" Seokmin exclaimed, pointing at the smaller figure. However, Jungkook already had his eyes on her the moment she stepped onto the stadium. 

The four Instructors stopped right in front of the gates and waited for it to close. The center of the group opened. A long table filled with the Instructor's requested weapons as well as various other weapons came up. The Instructors all located their weapons on the table, knowing exactly what they were going to do next.

A bell echoed in the air, silencing the whispers from the crowd. Jieun lowered her cap and took a deep breath, calming herself down. P.O let out his usual goofy grin and shifted his weight to one side, casually grinning at the others. Kyungsoo continued to bat his eyes around, observing everyone's behavior with a turn of his head. Kihyun remained awfully still, but his eyes would move around at times.

"Ready in three…two…one…!"

There was a hollow horn echoing in the air. Even though the battle had started, neither of the Instructors moved. Everyone looked at them, slightly confused. Jieun looked around, noticing that none of the men were making their move.

"What's going on?" Yuna whispered.

"Not sure. It seems like they're just waiting for someone to start," Seokmin replied.

Then, Jieun took the first step forward. Everyone hitched their breath, observing Jieun's footsteps. She made her way towards the long table with no problem at all. The three continued to watch her as she grabbed a random item from the table. Shaking her head, she picked up another item, tuning a whistle, acting as if she was shopping for something.

"What's she doing?" Yuna asked. "Is she making fun of the Academy?"

"Why aren't the other three doing anything?" Seokmin wondered allowed.

Jieun continued to hum a tune and shifted around the items. Then, she heard someone walk over the table. She looked up, noticing that P.O had made his way to the table and was standing across from her. He, too, casually looked around the items.

"You don't seem worried," P.O remarked. He smiled. "Why?"

"Well, we can't get hurt," Jieun said. "So I'm not afraid of injuries. I just need to protect myself from getting hit, right?"

"True," P.O admitted. "But don't you think you're being too careless? I mean, let's say that I—" P.O grabbed a crossbow and pointed it at Jieun. "—picked this weapon and shot you right now. You'd lose, you know?"

Jieun laughed. "But you didn't shoot me, right?"

P.O smiled. "I like your attitude. Want to team up?"

"Oh, no thank you," Jieun said. "I can do this alone."

"Aw, that's too bad."

"Sorry. I don't team up with back-stabbers," she remarked.

Suddenly, Kihyun appeared right behind her, holding a dagger near her neck. Jieun quickly dodged the attack, ducking down. Kihyun gazed down at her silently while Jieun smirked. She stuck out her foot and whirled it in a circle, attempting to trip him. Kihyun quickly tapped his toes against the ground and dodged her attack. He did a few backflips and stared at her until Kyungsoo rushed in to attack him with a sword. He dodged Kyungsoo's sword and continued to flip backwards. Kyungsoo glanced at Jieun, who smiled and waved at him.

"Yoo-hoo!" P.O hooted. Jieun turned to him. He waved at her with a grenade in his hand. "Have an avocado!"

He threw it towards her. Jieun widened her eyes and rolled on the floor. As soon as the grande hit the ground, it exploded, bursting into small shards. Jieun covered her entire body with her arms and got up, widening her eyes. P.O laughed hysterically and pointed at her, slapping his stomach.

"My god he's insane," Jieun whispered under her breath.

She heard the wind cut near her ear. She quickly deflected the sword with the pair of metal sticks she found on the table. Kyungsoo grunted while Jieun stared at him in disbelief.

"Aw, come on, Kyungsoo! We're friends!" Jieun whined.

"I need to look good in front of my students," Kyungsoo insisted.

"Yeah, well, I kind of have to do the same," Jieun whispered.

Once again, Kihyun came in to attack Jieun from behind. She managed to avoid his swift attack, but noticed a grenade flying towards her from the sky. She gritted her teeth and dropped her weapons and rolled away. Kyungsoo and Kihyun both managed to avoid getting directly hit by P.O's grande.

From afar, everyone could see what the strategy was: get Jieun out first.

Yuna shot up from her seat. "That's so unfair! That's not fair!"

"Sit down, Yuna," Seokmin urged her. "There's nothing in the rules that says no teaming."

"I don't care! That's not fair at all!" Yuna cried out. She didn't like Jieun, but she didn't like injustice more.

"Stay still, Yuna. This is Jieun we're talking about," Jungkook told her.

"Yeah, but we don't know how weak she is without her Kreo creatures," Yuna whispered to him. "It's not like she's going to summon her Kreo creatures, you know?"

Jieun exhaled and puffed her cheeks. She looked at the three men, who were keen on kicking her out. She narrowed her eyes.

From what she had observed for the past few minutes, Kyungsoo was the type to fight close-up in the front. Kihyun was good at sneaking behind her and had stealthy moves. P.O, on the other hand, was unpredictable with his grenades and didn't seem to care who it hit as long as it something.

Jieun closed her eyes. Okay. I know who to kick out first.

She darted her eyes to P.O. "Hey, P.O, what about teaming up?"

"I team with no one," P.O said. He opened a smoke bomb and allowed the smoke to cover the ground and air. "Here's some smoke."

"Sorry, but I don't smoke," Jieun said. She surprised everyone by dashing towards P.O. He quickly stepped back one step, opened up a grenade and threw it towards her. She was fast enough to avoid getting hit. P.O crossed his arm to protect himself, but Jieun dashed pass him. She grabbed something from the long table and returned, charging towards Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo hitched his breath as Jieun countered his sword with a spiky mace. She sensed Kihyun speeding towards her with his dagger. Jieun jumped in the air, jumping off of Kyungsoo's shoulder and spun in the air. From the corner of Kyungsoo's eyes, she saw Jieun smile and wave.

"Have an avocado!" she exclaimed.

Kyungsoo looked in front of him, noticing one of P.O's grenade right in front of his feet. He widened his eyes when he realized that Jieun had passed P.O in order to steal a bomb. He tried to escape, but he wasn't fast enough. Kihyun managed to run away from the explosion by a hairline. 

The bomb went off right in front of Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo let out a cough and checked his badge, noticing that a shard had pierced through it. He groaned when he heard his name through the announcements:

"Do Kyungsoo, OUT by Lee Jieun."

Kyungsoo grimaced and glared at Jieun. Jieun smiled and shrugged her shoulders. She playfully waved at him as the ground opened below him and swallowed him to backstage.

Seokmin howled and cheered, standing up. He laughed and turned to Kyungsoo's team.

"Take that!" Seokmin yelled.

Hyunbin glared. "Shut up. Our Instructor is still not in his top shape because of the Mythos of Sleef."

"Whatever! Our Instructor took yours down!" Seokmin cried out. He cheered loudly and turned to Yuna and Jungkook. They both glared at him, telling him to stay low. Seokmin sealed his lips, nodded, and sat back down.

"Ah… the smoke might have been a bad idea," P.O remarked. "I totally didn't see her steal my grenade."

Kihyun glanced back at him. "You know you always lose when you release the smoke bomb, right?"

P.O blinked. As the ground cleared up, he noticed that there was grenade below his feet. He placed his hand over his mouth and shrugged his shoulders.

"Whoops. Guess I was being careless!" P.O laughed as the grenade exploded, hitting his badge.

"P.O, OUT by Yoo Kihyun."

The ground opened below P.O's feet. He waved at the crowd before being swallowed by the ground.

Kihyun and Jieun both stood at a pretty good distance from each other. Kihyun was awfully still while Jieun moved around a little on her spot. Then, she began to walk, circling him and watching him. He only moved his head a little to follow her movements.

She stopped abruptly. Kihyun didn't move. The two faced each other and stared. 

Then, Jieun whipped out a thin metallic dagger from her sleeves. Without a moment of hesitation, she stabbed her weapon on her badge. Kihyun raised an eyebrow and stared at her while she smiled.

"I don't want to fight you," Jieun said. She grinned. "You're too scary."

She giggled as Kihyun gave her a distasteful look. He clearly didn't like the fact that she took herself out of the game on purpose. 

"Lee Jieun, OUT by Lee Jieun."

The ground opened beneath her. Kihyun was awarded as the winner of the event. People stared at him, confused and wondering why Jieun lost on purpose.

Jungkook stood up. He continued to furrow his eyebrows. Then, he turned and began to walk out of the VIP room.

"Jungkook? Jungkook, wait!" Yuna exclaimed. She followed after him. Seokmin said his goodbyes to his fellow Mythos Hunters and chased after the two.

Jungkook stormed down the steps and the halls until he arrived at the backstage of the battle stadium. Jieun had already joined the other losing Instructors. The three Instructors watched Kihyun on stage from the television screen. She then noticed a presence standing behind her. She turned and beamed.

"Hey! You guys came!" Jieun cried out.

"Why did you lose on purpose?" Jungkook asked.

"Well, I knew that I wasn't going to win against him," Jieun said.

"You didn't even try!" Jungkook shouted.

Jieun sighed. She rested her hand on his shoulder. He jolted before jerking away.

"Look, sometimes, there aren't battles worth fighting for," Jieun said in a matter-of-fact tone. "This happened to be one of them. Kihyun was well aware of it, too. Right, Kihyun?" 

Everyone looked at Kihyun, who suddenly appeared nearby. Kihyun glared at Jieun, but didn't say anything. He walked away, leaving Jieun clicking her tongue and shaking her head.

"He needs to use his voice," Jieun commented. "If he keeps quiet like that, he's going to lose his voice."

"Kihyun had always been pretty quiet," Kyungsoo said. 

"Who cares if he's quiet or not? You could have won against him!" Jungkook retorted.

Jieun gasped then grinned. "Aw, you think that I could have won? That's so sweet!"

"Jieun!"

"Your Instructor is correct, Jungkook," Kyungsoo said. "All the Instructors realized that this battle wasn't worth our efforts. P.O is way more strategic than he actually was at the field. I was purposely slower and Jieun was even more playful than usual. Kihyun didn't even use half his strength."

Jieun pointed to Kyungsoo. "See? He gets it."

"But what about honor? Of representing yourself as the best for your group?" Jungkook asked.

"Honor?" Jieun scoffed. "Is that why you're hunting for the Mythos? For honor?" She took a step closer to him. Jungkook uneasily backed up. "Focus, Jungkook. This isn't time to think of honor." She gave him a cold look before flashing him a smile. "Well, I'm off to prepare! We're leaving tonight."

"We're leaving early again? Come on! Don't you want to walk down with the huge crowd and get a personal message from the Ministry?" Seokmin complained. "We missed the entire event and I heard that it was really extravagant!"

"We don't need that," Jieun insisted. She glanced at Kyungsoo. "Right?"

"We're leaving early, too," Kyungsoo said. "I've already told my students to start packing."

Jieun gave him a worried look. "Good luck. If you need anything, let me know."

"Of course," he said. He gave her a small nod of acknowledgement before walking away. 

Jieun watched him fade away until he disappeared at the corner of the room. She looked back at her students, who were glaring at her furiously.

She only smiled.

"Well then," she continued, taking a deep breath. "Let's start packing, shall we?"