SRS 30

After that, Yohan and Mikael ended up in a cold war. It got so bad that Suhyeok, who had common classes with them, eventually came over and asked what was going on between them.

It wasn’t surprising. They usually sat together, but that day, Yohan had quietly slipped out of line and taken a seat all the way in the back without saying a word.

“I just have some things to think about, that’s all.”

Yohan smiled awkwardly, then half-listened to the lecture on Learning and Decoding Multidimensional Languages while staring at the back of Mikael’s head.

Mikael, Mikael, Mikael…

The name wouldn’t leave his mind. Yohan absentmindedly scraped his thumbnail with his index finger as he replayed every moment he’d shared with the young man, from their first meeting to their latest conversation in Spirit Studies.

Mikael was difficult to figure out in every sense: his identity, his personality, even his intentions toward Yohan.

Yohan knew that Mikael was unusually affectionate only toward him. After all, he’d received a mandrake from him twice now. They always sat together in class, too.

Even the first-year students noticed. When Mikael wasn’t around, they often came looking for Yohan instead. If their relationship was that obvious to others, then the special treatment he felt wasn’t just in his head. One thing Yohan was sure of: whatever the reason, Mikael genuinely cared for him.

But how was he supposed to respond to that?

Yohan spent the entire class thinking about it without saying a word. Only near the end did he finally reach a conclusion.

“Mikael.”

As soon as class ended, he went to him.

“Go on, have your talk.”

Suhyeok said, pulling Kylus away. As always, he knew when to give Yohan space.

Left alone in the now-empty classroom, Yohan faced Mikael’s calm expression and asked quietly.

“If I tell you everything, will you tell me everything too?”

“……”

The man’s eyes widened slowly in surprise.

“You want me to?”

“Not now.”

“Ah.”

Mikael relaxed again, returning to his usual expression. He remained silent for a while. Humming under his breath, he let out a small laugh.

“If you tell me everything, I probably will too. That’s the rule, after all.”

It was the answer Yohan expected, but it wasn’t enough. Not like this. Yohan furrowed his brows, his tone growing serious.

“Are you saying that because you want to, or because you feel like you have to?”

“Does that matter?”

“It does.”

He emphasized the words. He didn’t want to sound reckless or demanding. Mikael watched him silently, then sighed and stood up. Sitting on the edge of a desk, he clasped his hands.

“…Probably out of obligation. If you tell me something, it’s only fair that I give something in return.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“Hm?”

“…I don’t want it to be like that.”

Yohan pressed his hand against his eyes. The hours of reflection during class had paid off, he could finally say it.

“I want you to tell me things because you want to, not because you’re pressured to. I want it to be your choice, like mine will be. So when you’re ready, give me a sign. If I’m ready then too, we’ll both talk. Until then, I won’t pry into you.”

He had prepared his words carefully, and they came out exactly as he meant them.

Talking with Mikael earlier had been uncomfortable, and the silence between them even more so. He didn’t want to go through that again, which was why he proposed this.

Mikael grew quiet and stared at him for a long moment.

…Did he dislike it?

Yohan took a hesitant step forward, worried he’d said something wrong.

“…You’re so proper, Yohan.”

“……?”

“And so upright. It’s almost enviable.”

“Mikael?”

“That must be why God loves you too.”

“……”

Twice now, he’d said things that didn’t fit the moment. Yohan realized Mikael wasn’t really talking to him anymore, but to himself.

It was a strange way to communicate, one Yohan had never experienced. He’d put real thought into his words, hoping to reconcile, yet Mikael’s detached muttering made him frown. He didn’t let his irritation show on his face. There was something lonely about Mikael’s expression, something that stopped him.

Right then, Mikael seemed almost like he had when they first met, mysterious, sacred, and somehow detached from the world.

As Yohan silently watched him, Mikael slowly closed and reopened his eyes, smiling.

“I’ll do as you said, Yohan.”

His curved eyes softened with a belated reply. Yohan squinted, then sighed when Mikael reached out and lazily swung their joined hands.

And just like that, their strange cold war came to an end.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

“Haa…”

It had been a long, exhausting day. Maybe it was because of all the emotional strain. Fresh from the shower, Yohan dried his hair and flopped onto his bed.

He was feeling sleepy. He rubbed his eyes. It wasn’t lights-out yet, but he couldn’t keep them open. After watching him nod off, Kylus said he’d wake him for roll call and told him to nap a little.

Yohan stubbornly shook his head. He hated sleeping when he was this tired, waking up always left him feeling worse.

When he tried to fight off the fatigue, Suhyeok laughed and moved over to Yohan’s bed.

“Then how about a scary story to keep you awake?”

“Scary story?”

“Yes. I heard something from the magic students today. Apparently, there’s a ghost story at Fantasiademia.”

It hadn’t even been two months since they’d enrolled, however with his usual social charm and wide connections, Suhyeok already knew all sorts of rumors. Yohan, intrigued, sat up.

“What kind of ghost story?”

“They say that at one in the morning, the statues in the Rose Garden start moving, and a new path opens. At the end of that path, there’s supposed to be a dragon’s lair filled with treasure and gold.”

Suheok’s tone made it sound like an exciting adventure. Yohan raised an eyebrow, listening seriously. The part about statues moving and paths appearing didn’t seem impossible, he’d already experienced similar things. But treasure and a dragon’s hoard? That part was too far-fetched.

“…You believe that?”

When Yohan gave him a skeptical look, Suhyeok waved his hands quickly.

“Of course not. I’m just saying that’s what they’re telling people.”

“That’s a pretty useless ghost story, then.”

“True. I mean, what would anyone even do with gold here? It’s not like we can go shopping or live luxuriously inside Fantasiademia.”

Suheok agreed and flopped down on Yohan’s bed. Yohan and Kylus joined forces to roll him off, and in the middle of their scuffle, the dorm inspection began.

The dorm supervisor peeked inside Room 304 and nodded in satisfaction.

“Everyone’s here tonight.”

After what had happened during their first inspection, Yohan and the others still seemed to have a “troublemakers” reputation in the supervisor’s mind.

It wasn’t entirely fair, but Yohan figured that if they continued showing good behavior, that image would change eventually. Once inspection ended, they chatted a bit longer, and around midnight, everyone finally lay down to sleep.

It wasn’t long before…

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

A loud, urgent knocking rattled the door of Room 304. It was enough to wake anyone, and the people who had barely fallen asleep jolted awake with wide eyes.

“What’s going on? What’s that noise?”

“An attack?!”

One by one, they sat up in the order of who slept closest to the door. Kylus grabbed his weapon just in case, and Yohan threw on a coat over his sleepwear. While Mikael stood silently watching the door, Suhyeok went to open it.

A pale-faced student stumbled inside. It was a familiar face.

“Isaac?”

Yohan called his name, surprised to see the student from the neighboring room. As soon as Isaac saw him, he ran over, shouting.

“Something terrible’s happened, Yohan! Melek and the others are gone!”

“What?”

“So the professors finally started kidnapping students…”

Kylus muttered coldly, tightening his grip on his sword. Yohan stared at him, thinking he must’ve gone crazy after too many spars with the Phantom Sword Master, then hurriedly made Isaac sit down on a chair.

“Calm down, Isaac. Tell us what happened.”

After catching his breath, Isaac explained everything. Melek, who had heard the rumor spreading among the magic students, had gathered twelve people from his dorm—including his own roommates—and disappeared, leaving behind only a note.

Yohan groaned and massaged his forehead.

“Don’t tell me… they went to check if the ghost story’s real?”

He couldn’t believe anyone would actually fall for such nonsense, but Melek and the others obviously had.

As Yohan sighed, Suhyeok clicked his tongue.

“Idiots. Why’d they go running off for a stupid rumor?”

Isaac hesitated, then added quietly,

“Well… the rumor said there’s also a pass to the commercial district at that place…”

“A what?”

It was a term none of them had heard before. Yohan, Suhyeok, and Kylus exchanged confused looks, then turned together toward Mikael.

The white-haired student shrugged and explained,

“It’s a place in Fantasiademia’s central zone. There are weapon shops, all kinds of stores, food, entertainment, it’s basically the academy’s city center. Professors can go in anytime, but students can only enter if they meet specific conditions. The entry pass is one of them.”

“What?”

“There’s a place like that?”

“That’s… interesting.”

Well, it made sense. The distance between Fantasiademia and the nearest village was pretty far. It was only natural that the professors would want a place like that inside the academy grounds.

Yohan nodded calmly, but Suhyeok and Kylus exchanged looks full of obvious excitement. When they turned to look at Yohan with the same sparkle in their eyes, he felt a shiver running down his spine.

“Don’t tell me you two are planning…”

Before he could finish, both men had already grabbed one of his arms.