Chapter 27 - The Two Jokers  

The next two days were as eventful as they could get. Chanyeol’s Phoenix mark hasn’t done anything much to me yet, except a few tingles here and there. It was an odd feeling to be honest, but I got used to it over the time. 

As for the poisoned food fiasco, well... after that night, it turns out everyone but me and Tan, were throwing up in their toilets for having food poisoning. It wasn’t just the Kimchi that was rigged, it was also the homemade orange juice that everyone had after dinner that made them sick. Ofcourse me and Tan were spared of a bad morning only because I was Kyungsoo’s baby doll and little Tan was already suffering enough from fright. 

“I wouldn’t dare hurt my precious little Tan.” Kyungsoo had reasoned, curling his big arms around my pup in a affectionate way. “He’s already suffering enough. I wouldn’t give him anything that would disrupt his growth. That plant was supposed to help him grow. It’s too bad the others immune systems didn’t sit well with my herb.” 

“Then what about me? Why didn’t I get sick?” I had asked. He scoffed at my face right away. 

“That’s because you’re a measly human, turtle. You don’t have enough meat on your bones.” 

I think it was safe to say that pretty much everyone in the house envied the little dog, even Namjoon and Jungkook who had come back to the house the next day, groaning and holding their stomachs in pain. 

I sighed and relaxed back onto my arms. I felt the little Phoenix on my back move a bit as I stretched my shoulder joints. The slight tingly feeling spreaded up and down my shoulder before it subsided. My eyes were closed as I let the bright, yellow sun warm me up with its heat. For once, the weather was nice today. The chills from minseok’s powers were still up in the air but they were toned down to fit the bright, warm atmosphere. The coldness seemed almost transparent. I wondered what must be going on with Minseok? 

“I don't think Minseok would back down this easily, Tan” I said to my pup as we both gazed at the sun. We were both sitting on the roof of the main building. The edges were railing free which gave me an opportunity to swing my legs over the edge. Tan on the other hand was sitting like a gentlemen. Both of his front paws were on top of each other while his bum and body was settled in the most clean, pristine position of a model. He looks way too good for a dog. Is that normal? 

“I have a feeling he’s going to bring Krystal into this.” I continued. It’s been two days since I last heard of the guy. After saving chanyeol, I haven't seen him anywhere. Even Krystal looked a bit irritated in the class today. Infact, she still looks the same. I could see it from up here. She and her group of friends were all sitting on the grounds, under a giant tree, eating their lunches. 

Shaking my head, I combed my fingers through Tan’s soft fur. He has grown a bit. It was quite a shocking experience for me to see Tan’s big covering my face this morning. Instead of the little teacup size I saw him in yesterday, he was now as big as a toaster. He can still fit in my arms but he seemed a bit heavy. Looks like whatever herb Kyungsoo is feeding him is finally doing it’s trick. His sudden growth almost seemed magical to me. 

“Yoonmi...” 

My ears perked up at the familiar voice. I twisted around a bit to see a tall figure standing over my head. 

“Oh, hey.” I greeted, recognising the silver haired boy. He was looking down at me with a shiny glint in his eyes. I moved a bit to see that he wasn’t in his usual attire. Infact, he seemed to be dressed in a loose military jacket, black pants and black army boots. It gave him an impression of having strong muscles and a lean figure. It made him look distinctive to his normal black robes he donned everyday. I had to hide my face in my hair before he could see my blush. 

“Come, come. Join us.” I motioned him, after I got my cheeks in control. 

But he shook his head. Instead, he bent down and wrapped his long limbs around my waist before lifting me up. I instantly panicked. 

“What—No, no! Don’t do that! I’m heavy!” I exclaimed, trying to wiggle out of his grip. I didn’t want him to break his back because of my weight. But to my dismay, he picked me up like a rag doll. 

“Be quiet, you’re not heavy.” He insisted in my ear, as he suddenly put me down on my feet. “Infact, you weight like a feather. Maybe, I should ask Kyungsoo hyung to feed you a bit more.” 

I scoffed. 

“No thanks. I’m already growing fat with his cooking.” I retorted as I thought about the amount of food the earth warrior forces in me everyday. It’s a lot. “I swear I have already gained 50 pounds in the past two weeks with him.” 

“No, you didn’t.” He laughed at my exaggerated expressions. “Infact, you look a bit healthy now. Remember, I was the first warrior you ever met. I saw how skinny you were.” He reminded me. 

I smiled at the old memory. 

“That was the day I first discovered that I was a wielder.” I said quietly, thinking back to all the chaos that has happened since then. I looked at him and his healthy figure “I also remember you being a on that day. You still are. I mean, look at these poor weak, muscles—” I motioned to his round biceps that were clearly not weak looking “—and that tummy, woof, your belly is coming out, Namjoon—” I teased, poking his non-existent belly and abs that I refuse to acknowledge “—And oh, you still look like a dandy puppet to me. Made of sticks and no meat.” I sniggered. 

He looked at me with narrowed eyes. 

“I’ll show you what I’m made of.” He challenged, snaking his arms around my waist again. Before I could even react to his movement, I found myself facing his , upside down. “Let’s see how you think of this.” He said, swinging me around on his shoulders like a rag doll. 

“AHHHHHHH!” I screamed. “You stupid koala boy! Put me down this instant!” I screamed again, wiggling in his grasp. “I’m warning you Kim Namjoon, put me down this instant, or I swear to god, I will make a chicken stew out of you.” I threatened loudly. 

Apparently, to my dismay, the threat just went over his head like a fly. I was still being lagged around on his shoulders like a rag doll. I tried to wiggle again but he tightened his grip on my legs before heading to the stairs. I could see Tan following us with his little paws right behind Namjoon. 

“You are so dead, koala boy.” I muttered, hitting his back with my knuckles. I aimed it at his fine before I heard his yelp. He instantly let me down, carelessly mind you, and rubbed his in pain. “Huh! Serves you right!” I grinned, flicking him on the forehead. 

“Ya!” He exclaimed, but I ignored him. I picked my baby pup up and descended down the stairs in an orderly fashion. I could see him tailing behind me, pleading with his big, glossy koala eyes. 

“Sorry, Yo-yo. Please forgive me?” He apologised, holding his ears. 

“Yo-yo?” I said the word dramatically. 

“It’s your nickname.” He answered sweetly. 

“Why?” 

“Because you look like one.” 

I thought over his words. Yo-yo? What kind of name is that? Wait— does he mean...

“Are you calling me fat?” I countered with a giant frown on my face. He looked offended. 

“No! Ofcourse not!” 

“Then why yo-yo?” 

“Cause you look like one.” 

“Yo-yo are fat, you dumbo!” He looked scandalised. 

“No! Yo-yo are round and playful. They are cute!” 

“Exactly. They are round, which means you’re calling me fat.” 

“No, I’m not!” 

I huffed and continued down the stairs. 

“Yo-yo, Wait!” Ughh... why does he insist on calling me a yo-yo? 

“It’s yoonmi. Not yo-yo.” I warned him. He raised his hands up in surrender. 

“Okay, fine. I will call you Yoonmi, not yo-yo. Happy?” I nodded. “Now, come on.” He said, taking Tan out of my hands. “I’ve to show you a special place of mine.” 

I frowned. “What special place?” I called out. 

And few minutes later, here we are, standing on the northern side of the campus, starring at an old building. I was breathing heavily beside him as my chest clogged up and pained at every breadth I took. 

“I hate you for making me run” I grumbled at the innocent looking warrior who latter rubbed my back in slight pity. I shrugged his hand off and glared at his face. He gave me a small innocent, cheeky smile in return. He was combing his hand through Tan’s fur. 

Like a child, I poked my tongue out at him and ignored his existence. Shaking my head, I looked back at the huge building with red rusty bricks, large tinted windows and a Victorian look. It didn’t appeal much to my eyes. It looked old and ancient, which I’m guessing it might be. 

Letting my eyes roam up, I read out the carved letters on the front. 

The Celestial Library 

I sniggered. 

“Your special place is the school’s library?” I grinned, eyeing his tall figure mischievously. He frowned at my words. 

“What’s wrong with a library?” He seemed offended. 

I rolled my eyes. 

“Gosh, you’re such a nerd.” I teased. He pouted at my teasing. 

“Well, this is the nerd you will have deal with your whole life now, yo-yo.” He countered, using that annoying nickname again, before putting his nose up in the air and entering the building. I laughed at his antics before following him inside. As soon as I stepped in, I was jumped by another boy. A very jumpy and excited boy with a huge bunny smile on his lips. 

“Hello, noona!” He screamed, grabbing me into an unexpected hug. I nearly had a heart attack when he pecked me on the cheeks. The smile on his face was contagious and seemed so innocent and bright. I swear I’m going to go blind soon if he didn’t stop. 

“Hello, kookie.” I greeted the boy, hugging him back. I saw his head dip down in embarrassment. 

There was a rosy tint to his cheeks. But I didn’t think much of it since I was sporting the same red tint on my own cheeks. 

“Wow... you look like a bright yellow banana, kookie.” I told him as my eyes went over his clothing choice. He was dressed in all yellow from head to toe. Yellow cap, yellow hoodie, yellow jeans and even yellow shoes. The boy was donned in yellow. 

I glanced back at Namjoon and did a double-take. They both looked so different. One looks like a military god, ready to capture a python and the other look exactly like a little yellow python himself. 

“Do you like it?” The tall boy asked me, modelling his body around for me to see how bright and happy he looked. “Jimin hyung gave it to me years ago. You know... when he was not crazy. I wore this to remember him. And Ofcourse to impress you.” 

I was taken back by his openness of discussing another one of his hyungs. His tone seemed sad and longing to my ears, but it brightened up at the end. 

“You look amazing.” I complimented him, cupping his face with my hands. I pinched his cheeks lightly before patting him. He just melted into my touch. 

“You have so many lovely and dovely feelings running inside you, noona. Ugh, they’re making me feel all mushy.” He whined when his face got in contact with my exposed skin. I saw him glow. “Too mushy.” He mumbled again, seeming to lost in the feeling. I just smiled in return and intertwined my fingers with his so he can still feel my emotions. 

He’s such a baby. 

Woof! Woof! I looked down at my pup who was barking at jungkook’s relaxed face. 

“Oh, hello hyung.” The boy replied, still not letting me go. “You can play with Namjoon hyung today. I’m busy with noona.” 

WOOF! WOOF! The barks got louder in protest. I laughed. 

“No, hyung! Play with Namjoon hyung! Noona is mine!” Jungkook exclaimed suddnely, twisting his giant muscly arms around my frame like a metal claw. “Shoo!” He shooed at my pup.

For the first time in my life, I was shocked at the glare that Tan threw at the yellow covered boy. The literal fire element was burning in his eyes. 

“It’s okay, Tan.” I reasoned with the two creatures kindly. After all, they were both boys. And boys are blindly stupid when it comes to a girl’s attention. “You’re still my favourite boy.” I cooed to the pup. The animal swung his tongue around his face before retracting it back inside. Then, he looked the other way, completely ignoring my little pout. 

Soon, all four of us walked inside the building. I could see a huge grin on Namjoon’s face and a shiny blob of happiness swimming in his eyes. He seemed excited. I turned to where his eyes were looking. 

I suddenly stopped in my tracks. My mouth hung open at the view in front of me. There was no way in hell that this is a library. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Namjoon whispered to me. “It’s the oldest library in the history of our world. It contains all the records, dating back to the first of our civilisation. Anything that you need, you can find it in here.” 

“B-but it looked so plane from the outside.” I whined, not believing this. The place was beautiful. I could see the old style architecture in every corner. Especially the comfy furnitures that gave you the old, paper book, homey feeling.

“They wanted to keep it as a surprise.” The silver-haired warrior said, shrugging. “Besides, this is just the first chamber where you can see all the floors. There are many others, hidden away throughout the library, ready to be discovered.” 

I looked at him in disbelief. 

“Okay, now you are just exaggerating a bit.” I motioned to the huge space. “This is already big enough.” 

I heard him chuckle. Jungkook also joined in. 

“Noona, this is just a small part.” The yellow banana beside me explained. “The Celestial Library is a magical place. No-one really knows how big it is. The maps here are changed every few months because every week, something new is discovered.” 

“Magical?” I questioned. He nodded and motioned Namjoon to take over. 

“No-one really knows but it’s believed that this place was build when life was established. It’s a beacon for our world and all the others. Magic roams around this place like a living breathing human body. You could even get lost here for weeks if you don’t remember your way out. The passageways are always changing.” 

“So, it’s like Hogwarts?” I said, thinking back to the moving staircases in the movies. 

They both looked at me with puzzled eyes. 

“What’s a Hogwarts?” I slapped my forehead in stupidity. Of course they won’t know Hogwarts. 

“Nothing.” I waved the word away and changed the topic. “Let’s go on in.” 

And with that, we headed to the large help desk in the middle of the chamber. 

“Anything you want to search on?” The taller warrior asked me as we stood in the small line. 

I pursued my lips and thought about any topic I might want to learn about. The symbol topic would be great but Chanyeol said to keep it a secret so I’ll probably have to come here alone some other time. The history seemed a bit boring too. What about... oh yes, the upcoming homework for Soongi’s class on Friday. 

“Decks.” I announced, startling both of them. “I want to know some background information on decks and the different types there are.” 

Namjoon nodded before repeating the words to the staff lady. She went through a thick catalogue before pointing to the third floor. 

“Third floor, right hand side. This is the map you will need. Please mark any new developments onto this and bring it back.” She informed, handing him a large piece of paper that contained a complicated drawing of the whole building. It was so small, I could hardly read it. She also handed Namjoon three small buzzers and a small bell. 

I watched as both of the boys thanked the lady before stuffing each of the buzzers in their pockets, leaving the third one for me. I placed it in my coat’s pocket just as I saw them hooking the small bell onto Tan’s Gucci necklace.

Tan didn’t a