While two friends were waiting for the class to start, a new professor entered through the door, and the lesson began with his introduction.
"I'm Park Chanyeol. You might have heard the news - your former professor won't be able to come because she's pregnant. I will be taking over the classes she was giving this semester and likely afterwards as well."
Jungkook's face immediately darkened; he didn't like any change happening in his life.
After a while, the lesson ended, but for Jungkook, it felt like it was over for good. He hated when classes were combined and taught together, and this new professor had done exactly that from his very first day. On the other hand, Baekhyun was not himself. Throughout the lesson, his mind had been playing a whole film reel of sinful thoughts about the new anatomy professor.
As soon as the classes finished, Baekhyun began bothering Jungkook about it.
"Kook... He was really handsome."
The sentence he had just heard for the fiftieth time in five minutes after the class was climbing to the top of the list of things Jungkook never wanted to hear again. With a tired expression, he slowly brushed his hair back with his hand, propping his elbow on the table and resting his head on his hand. Leaning slightly forward on the table, he yawned as if sleepy, and looked at his friend with half-closed eyes.
"Yeah, hyung, that's the fifty-seventh time you've said that, I get it already."
Baekhyun, ignoring his attitude, couldn't hold back his excitement and continued talking.
"Ugh, Jungkook, I wonder what kind of sex he likes? Does he enjoy foreplay? Is he passive or dominant? Calm sex or rough sex, wha-"
Jungkook's eyes shot wide open in shock at the words coming out of his friend's mouth, instantly wiping away any trace of sleepiness as he tried to shut him up.
"Hyung! The professor just arrived today, stepped onto campus for the first time! Why are you already thinking about stuff like that!?"
Pressing his hand onto his friend's lips, Jungkook scolded him. The brief silence they managed lasted until Baekhyun bit his hand. Pulling his hand away from his friend's mouth, Jungkook frowned and looked at his mocking expression.
"What? So what if I'm really impressed and-"
His sentence was cut off by Jungkook's tired reproach.
"Hyung, ENOUGH!"
Laughing, he leaned back.
"Okay, I'm quiet. Looks like you don't have anything to say either, kook."
Realizing he had reached his daily quota of dealing with his friend, Jungkook chose not to push further and saved himself.
Jungkook rolled his eyes at his friend and stood up.
"Let's eat something, your head's all over the place, hyung, come on."
Baekhyun felt hungry and stood up without hesitation. They left the classroom and went to the café, ordering coffee and snacks, then sat down at a table.
Jungkook's mind was disturbed by the nightmare he had seen for hours. He wasn't sure if he should tell his friend or not. Baekhyun usually told him not to worry much, that it would pass one day-but it never did.
"Jungkook, come back to us, you're daydreaming."
His friend's voice brought him back to reality, and he realized he was staring at his coffee, lost in thought.
"Hyung, I have to tell you something."
Baekhyun looked at him curiously as Jungkook cleared his throat, trying to decide where to start.
"I had a dream... the same dream I always have, but this time it was different."
He struggled to keep the word 'death' from slipping from his lips.
"What happened, Jungkook? Tell me."
Baekhyun's demeanor in the classroom was gone; he propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward, waiting for Jungkook to speak.
"I... I wasn't just running away this time. I finally died, hyung."
Baekhyun looked at his friend in disbelief. Seeing him end what had always been a nightmare of running away worried him.
"Maybe it's a good thing your nightmare is ending, Jungkook. Don't worry too much."
He should have worried, should have panicked, but Jungkook had no idea. He had no clue what kind of danger he was facing.
"Maybe you won't see it again. You escaped it. Don't think about it too much."
Baekhyun's words didn't ease the bad feeling inside Jungkook. It was as if they were a warning, something he needed to pay attention to.
While they were talking, they didn't notice the person approaching their table.
"Hello, may I join you? If it's not a problem."
Startled by the voice, they stopped their conversation and looked at the young man. Jungkook, thinking Baekhyun would probably refuse if asked, spoke first without waiting.
"Of course."
The young boy set his coffee on the table and sat beside them, smiling warmly.
"I'm Jimin, nice to meet you."
He extended his hand to Jungkook and introduced himself.
"I'm Jungkook, and this is Baekhyun."
Feeling the need to introduce his friend sitting across from him because if he didn't make a move, Baekhyun might stay distant. To Jungkook's surprise, Baekhyun also reached out his hand warmly and got close to Jimin.
"So you're Jimin."
Baekhyun looked at the boy across from him with a tone of mockery, making Jungkook feel as if they had met somewhere before.
"Yeah, and you must be Baekhyun."
The strange bond between the two young men made Jungkook curious because he had never heard of anyone named Jimin from his friend before.
Curiosity getting the better of him, he asked the question he wanted to hear the answer to.
"Do you know each other?"
Baekhyun, guessing that if they lied, Jungkook would know, chose not to take the risk.
"Something like that, he's an old friend of mine."
When Jungkook nodded to show he understood, he felt he should leave them alone for a bit.
"Okay, then you guys sit and talk. I'll go to the bathroom-"
His sentence was cut off as both Baekhyun and Jimin objected at the same time.
"No, you can't go alone, kook."
"No, you can't go alone."
Baekhyun's attitude was usual, but Jungkook didn't expect such a reaction from someone he had just met.
Realizing they raised suspicion together, Jimin tried to fix the situation.
"W-well, we'll come with you."
When he nudged Baekhyun under the table with his foot, Baekhyun went along with his friend.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want anything to happen to you."
Though Jungkook was very curious about what caused such paranoia, he didn't want to question them. Everything happening right now was strange, and he was sure if he focused too much on it, the end would be like those two young men in front of him. Without protesting, he nodded for them to come along, and they went to the bathroom together.
When they arrived at the bathroom and Jungkook went into one of the stalls, Baekhyun and Jimin whispered, thinking he wouldn't hear them.
"Why are you here? Why did you come, Jimin?"
At that moment, Jimin realized his friend didn't even know why he was there.
"I was told to help you protect Jungkook, Baek. I've been here for a while, trying to get used to the school and figure out who might be around. Aren't you here for the same reason?"
Baekhyun's panic increased, but knowing Jimin wasn't aware of many things, he tried to stay calm.
"Yes, but if they assigned you, the situation must be serious."
Jimin didn't want to worry his friend, but the situation was indeed serious as he thought.
"Actually, it's so serious that we might have to stay even at his house. Nothing should happen to him."
Baekhyun leaned against the wall behind him, closed his eyes, and ran his hands through his hair. Though he didn't expect the task to be easy, he hadn't truly thought it would get this serious. Things were slowly getting to a point where he really didn't want it to, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.
Desperately, he said the words that had been repeated for years-but this time to his friend himself.
"In short, you mean we have to keep him away from the underworld."
Jimin nodded in agreement. He agreed with his friend's words. They really had no information, didn't know how to protect him, and Jungkook would eventually become suspicious because of their strange behavior.
"Yes, Baek, he must have no connection to the underworld whatsoever. Believe me, I have no info either, but at least let's not leave his side. We'll stay at his place tonight. You can probably handle getting permission from his dad, right?"
Baekhyun smiled confidently, showing off his role as Jungkook's closest friend. He was proud of the privilege it brought him.
"I got this, Jimin. Don't worry."
Jimin rolled his eyes and looked around. Seeing the stalls were empty, fear crept into him, and only two words came out of his mouth.
"Jungkook's gone."
Baekhyun's smile faded as he heard those words, and he suddenly found himself checking the stalls one by one. Jimin, trying to understand what was happening, looked at his phone to check the time and realized that while they had been talking, Jungkook had already left without them noticing.
Baekhyun checked the small stalls again and again, when the door slammed open and the anatomy professor came in, diverting their attention and causing them to become somewhat frightened.
Chanyeol was surprised by his students' unexpected reactions as he entered.
"Don't be afraid, kids. It's just me."
Jimin tried his best to soften the mood, acting as if they hadn't been caught red-handed.
"Sensei, was that you? Sorry, we didn't realize you came."
Chanyeol decided it was pointless to scare them further but wanted to know what was going on. Maybe he could learn something useful.
"It's okay. You look worried. I hope there's nothing important."
Jimin nodded in agreement. He shared his friend's concerns, not knowing how they could protect Jungkook with so little information, and knowing that Jungkook would eventually get suspicious of their strange behavior.
"Yes, Baek, he must have no connection whatsoever to the underground world. Believe me, I don't have any information either."
"No-" Baekhyun cut Jimin off and gave one of the silliest answers possible in a restroom full of open stalls. "No, Sensei, there's nothing wrong. Our friend was in the restroom; we were just waiting for him."
Inside, Jimin silently listed every affectionate word he could think of for Baekhyun, while Chanyeol sensed something was off but didn't show it. Instead, he voiced what they had realized a few minutes earlier:
"Which friend are you talking about? All the stalls here are empty."
Jimin thought they were doomed and looked down at the floor. Baekhyun glanced into the stall he was in and, as if trying to push the limits of how ridiculous he could get, asked:
"What do you mean? Jungkook should have been here-how did he suddenly disappear?"
Chanyeol tried hard not to laugh at what he heard but began to lose faith that Baekhyun was sober, turning his eyes to Jimin.
"How long have you two been waiting here?"
Without hesitation, Jimin answered before Baekhyun could:
"Since 11:50, Sensei."
Chanyeol showed them his watch and, thinking they might need to hear it out loud, said:
"It's 12:11 now, and I don't think anyone stays in the restroom for twenty minutes. He must have left while you were distracted. Instead of searching the stalls, check inside the school-you'll find him."
Then, clearing his throat, Chanyeol spoke quietly to Jimin, thinking Baekhyun wouldn't understand:
"You should get coffee for your friend to wake him up. Otherwise, I'm not looking forward to seeing both of you in my office."
Baekhyun wanted to sink into the ground hearing that, while Jimin apologized repeatedly to Chanyeol and grabbed his friend's arm, pulling him out of the restroom.
When they stepped out, just as Jimin was about to scold Baekhyun, they saw many people rushing to the courtyard. Curious, they decided to postpone looking for Jungkook and followed.
Upon entering the courtyard, they approached a crowd gathered in a circle with heavy steps. Parting the crowd, they expected a fight but were surprised to see a furious Hoseok, a bleeding Jungkook, and someone fighting Hoseok to protect Jungkook.
As they ran to break up the fight, some in the crowd recorded videos on their phones, some shouted "fight," and others tried to intervene.
When Baekhyun, Jimin, and a few others separated Hoseok from the other guy, Jimin and Baekhyun struggled to hold Hoseok while others helped Jungkook out of the crowd. After escaping the crowd, they both left the area.
Walking down the hallway with heavy steps, the young man looked at Jungkook to make sure he was okay.
"You alright?"
Jungkook nodded slightly, smiling at him.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just my lip got split. But you look worse."
Jungkook was serious when he said that. The young man's eyebrow was cut, his eye bruised, and his lip was bleeding. He had gotten hurt protecting Jungkook.
"Thanks for helping me. I'm Jungkook."
The young man looked at Jungkook with a faint smile.
"I'm Yoongi. That troublemaker-everyone knows him. I didn't want you to get involved with him in your first year at school."
Jungkook knew he had gotten off lightly and felt lucky, but this was his first time seeing Yoongi in person. The philosophy Baekhyun had instilled in him for years-"trust no one, be careful"-made him uneasy.
"I haven't seen you before. Are you new to the school?"
Jungkook's voice was cautious; his lip still hurt, but his eyes were more alert than curious. The young man's face had a kind of anonymity-like a silhouette never leaving a mark in his memory, as if passing by every day unnoticed.
"I'm an upperclassman, and I usually prefer to stay in the classroom."
Yoongi's voice flowed like cool water, calm and measured. His words were just right, neither too much nor too little. The tiredness in the corners of his eyes was typical of those who avoid crowds-a gaze of someone who has watched the world but never fully joined it.
Jungkook nodded in understanding, his curiosity sparking new questions.
"I see. So why did you feel the need to help?"
This question was more personal. His eyes searched Yoongi's face, as if looking for an answer in his pupils. He felt a tremor inside himself; Yoongi's gaze was steady and calm but held something strange-cold but not indifferent; distant but deliberate... as if Jungkook had been chosen.
That answer was never going to be given openly.
After a few silent minutes, they reached the infirmary, where the nurse applied iodine to Yoongi's eyebrow and carefully placed a bandage. The room smelled of cleanliness mixed with sharp iodine. Under the dim light, Yoongi's face looked even paler. The nurse's fingers trembled lightly as she cleaned the cut on his eyebrow, as if touching a painting rather than a wound.
Jungkook was given a thin ice pack for his lip, with additional packs for Yoongi's eye and lip corner. As Jungkook pressed the pack to his cheek, the cold seeped into his soul like glass. His mind was heavy with thoughts, not pain. Why had this stranger helped him?
Meanwhile, down the hall, Baekhyun and Jimin paced anxiously, waiting for news. They listened for footsteps beyond the frosted glass door. Baekhyun's face was tense, lips pressed into a thin line. Jimin's eyes kept darting to the infirmary but also down at the floor. His thoughts were restless and uneasy.
"I've never seen that kid get into fights... I haven't even seen him at school, Jimin."
Baekhyun's voice was serious, barely a whisper, but laced with growing fear. His eyes stayed on the infirmary door, but his mind wandered in a deep underground place.
"This is suspicious... He might have a connection to the underworld."
Jimin sighed deeply. He was tired of his friend's paranoid behavior.
"Don't be suspicious of everything, Baek."
His voice was tired, yet cautionary. His hands were in his pockets, thumbs nervously flicking in and out.
"I don't think Yoongi has anything to do with the underworld. We've been in the same class since I got here. He's never drawn attention before."
"No one knows the real name of the Hell Prince, and no one has ever seen him. So maybe he... could be Yoongi."
Baekhyun sounded scared of his own words, as if afraid that a mere possibility was becoming real. Yoongi's gaze brought only one place to Baekhyun's mind: the silent gates of hell.
Jimin smiled faintly, but it was a mix of irony and melancholy.
"If that were true, he would act out of duty, not empathy. It's that simple. Yoongi was there and helped."
"Why do you defend Yoongi, Jimin?" Baekhyun's voice sharpened. His eyes locked on his friend.
"Do you know something? Or... do you like him?"
"No," Jimin said calmly but with a hint of sadness.
"I just don't believe you're part of something like that. And no... I don't like him."
But as he finished, his eyes drifted elsewhere. That glance revealed a secret desire.
Seeing the hidden longing in his friend's eyes, Baekhyun was sure things were exactly as he feared.
"Are you going to tell me you don't want to sleep with him at night, or do more?"
His sarcastic tone cut through the air like a knife. The words from his friend's mouth mirrored his own feelings, but he lacked the courage to admit it. He sighed as if wanting to avoid prolonging the conversation.
"If I never told you that... it means it was just your imagination."
Before Baekhyun could answer, their conversation was abruptly cut off by a muffled cough. Time seemed to freeze briefly. Turning toward the infirmary door where the sound came from, they locked eyes with Yoongi and Jungkook.
Yoongi's indistinct expression from the shadows and Jungkook's wounded smile at the corner of his lips stirred a storm among those inside.
Baekhyun and Jimin's minds went blank, their bodies seeming to abandon them. Panic swirled in their thoughts as their reflexes took over. Suddenly, Baekhyun sprang to his feet while Jimin dropped to his knees, raising a hand toward him. Their positions were so absurd it was as if they had stepped onto a stage disconnected from reality.
"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"
Baekhyun's voice was dramatic, both suppressing embarrassment and mocking helplessness as he echoed lines from the play. His fallen posture seemed to surrender to the desperation of the role.
"Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love And I'll no longer be a Capulet."
Although reluctant and ashamed, Jimin played along in this strange moment.
"I take thee at thy word.
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I never will be Romeo."
His voice was barely audible, eyes watering from the ridiculousness of the situation. Baekhyun forgot his tension and seemed to enjoy Jimin's act even more.
"What man art thou that, thus bescreened in night, so stumblest on my counsel?"
Baekhyun finished the last line with an almost theatrical bow.
The body on the ground buried its face in his legs out of shame, while Jungkook and Yoongi, standing by the door, were like spectators witnessing the scene. There was a brief silence. Then neither of them could hold back.
Laughter burst from Jungkook's throat, muffled yet unstoppable, and on Yoongi's lips appeared a faint, slow smile-noticed for the first time that day.
No matter how much Jungkook tried to suppress his laughter, he couldn't stop it.
"Hyung, what's all this fuss? Calm down, we didn't hear anything."
Baekhyun sheepishly scratched the back of his neck as Jimin took a deep breath and stood up again. Trying to hide his embarrassment, he dusted off his pants.
Baekhyun, wanting to avoid making Jungkook suspicious and to torment Jimin a little more, started acting foolish again.
"So... even if you heard, it wasn't that important anyway, you know... it just happened reflexively, Jungkook."
Jungkook raised his eyebrows skeptically.
"Okay, Baek, fine, let's call it reflex," he said sarcastically. "But have you ever read or watched Romeo and Juliet... Did you get some kind of revelation or something?"
Baekhyun got more stuck by his friend's rightful question.
"That's exactly what happened, Kook A revelation came down. The angel got bored and probably thought, 'Let me give this kid some culture.'"
His sarcastic tone completely dissolved the tension in the atmosphere. Even Jimin chuckled lightly.
"Alright, hyung, don't get mad." Jungkook nodded with a smile.
"I'm not mad, okay. Anyway," Baekhyun said, becoming serious. His eyes briefly flicked to Jungkook's lip with sudden awareness.
"How did your lip get hurt, Kook? And why did you leave the restroom without telling us? And the fight...?"
Jungkook shrugged, pressing the ice pack to his lip.
"It just split, hyung. Nothing to make a big deal about. I called out when I left the restroom, but you were distracted and didn't hear me. When I got to the courtyard, Hoseok hyung was angry and yelling. I usually wouldn't get involved, but he provoked me. Then Yoongi hyung saw and stepped in."
While Baekhyun focused on Jungkook, no one except Jimin noticed the fear that flickered in his eyes-the fear that Yoongi might have gotten hurt.
Jimin's eyes drifted to the bruise forming on Yoongi's eye. Right under Yoongi's left eye, contrasting with his usual porcelain white skin, was a dark bruise. The color shifted between navy blue and black, the kind that would eventually turn yellow.
His pupils froze for a moment. His fingers nervously twitched inside his jacket. His shoulders tensed. It was as if a thin layer of ice was cracking right before his eyes. He wanted to say something, but the words were heavy on his tongue; a knot of fear and a tightening unease gripped his throat and chest.
He took a few steps closer to Yoongi.
"Yoongi..." his voice was soft, like a melody blended with the wind, yet it carried the fragile tension of glass ready to shatter.
"You... you usually didn't get involved in fights."
Yoongi didn't look directly at him. He only turned his head slightly, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. He left a brief pause before answering; time seemed to slow in that silence.
As Yoongi's silence stretched on, Jimin added quietly,
"Does your eye... hurt?"
Yoongi's lips moved. His reply was cold but carried a trembling echo. He shook his head slowly and hesitantly, almost painfully.
"No," he said simply. "It doesn't hurt, Jimin. Don't worry."
A heavy silence settled between them-oppressive and uncomfortable.
After a moment, deciding to break the silence, Jimin chose to change the subject completely.
"Let's get to class already. You know the professors might not let us in if we're late."
No one questioned him when his words drew everyone's attention. As they started moving down the corridor, Jungkook and Baekhyun joked between themselves, Jimin joined in, and Yoongi quietly listened alongside them. When they parted to their respective classrooms, they all felt a little calmer.
Hours later, the school bells were swallowed by silence. The day was winding down; the sky was cloaked in a leaden gray. The sun had slipped below the horizon, replaced by a metallic chill. Leaves rustled in the wind; dust swirled above the earth, carrying the day's weariness.
The four youths met again by the school's exit gate. There was no conversation-perhaps it wasn't needed. Their footsteps accompanied each other in silence. Jungkook, backpack slung over his shoulder, laughed lightly while teasing Baekhyun. Jimin was quiet. And Yoongi... was like a silhouette.
Even Yoongi's footsteps were nearly inaudible. He walked as if gliding above the pavement without touch. There was no visible fatigue in his body, but his movements were stiff. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets, head slightly bowed. His shoulders were neither hunched nor straight-just flat, sharp, and numb. Walking beside him was like walking with a ghost. Physically present, but his spirit seemed elsewhere.
At the corner of the street, he stopped. The air suddenly felt colder. The wind stirred through Yoongi's hair in a silence so deep even the birds held their breath.
Breaking that silence, his voice was low but clear.
"I have some business to take care of," he said, as if rehearsed and spoken countless times before.
"I'm leaving you here."
Jungkook turned his head slightly toward him. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. Though he was curious, he decided to keep it to himself this time.
"Alright, Yoongi. See you tomorrow."
Yoongi bowed his head in farewell. His gaze briefly met Jimin's. There was something strange in that look-like a farewell, a guilt, or a warning. Maybe all, maybe none. Then he turned and headed down a side street. The sound of his footsteps was heard for a few paces before fading into silence. His shadow stretched on the wall under the faint streetlight, trembling, then as if someone had flipped a switch, it vanished.
Minutes later, he returned to the place he belonged. A place where time stood still, darkness took form, and light shrank away in fear. The ceiling was too high to be seen; soot-covered stone arches descended from above, as if swallowing the sky itself. The stone walls seemed to have witnessed not time, but pain-damp surfaces exuding a heavy scent of decay; every crack deepening as if sealing a scream.
Here and there, a blackish liquid oozed between the stones, staining the dark floor. Each step echoed a muffled, heart-wrenching moan from below the earth.
At the far end of the long hall stood a throne, illuminated only by faint light filtering behind it and candles sporadically placed along the walls. The faint glow from the crimson sky outside the windows added an eerie chill to the throne room.
The candle flames were small, flickering as if their lives were near end. So weak, they barely lit themselves, let alone the corners. The light seemed to refuse reaching into the shadows-as if something or someone lurked there. The shadows did not merely stand still-they moved, shifted shape, watched. Each was conscious; like restless beings hidden in the corners, waiting impatiently. This room was no longer just a room.
Not a cellar, not a ruin.
It was a boundary.
A membrane stretched between reality and oblivion, sanity and madness, life and death...
Here, there was no time. No salvation. Only remembering stones, waiting shadows, and darkness that swallowed light.
From the darkness, Yoongi appeared. But this Yoongi was not the man who had left school. His face was sharper, his gaze darker. With his arrival, the room seemed to change; even the stones seemed to hold their breath.
Another silhouette approached from the dark. The footsteps echoed, defying the silence, filling the room with a heavy presence, making the air grow dense. Then a voice echoed:
"Do you have news, Yoongi?"
Yoongi fell to his knees, unable to stand before the weight of the Hell Prince. Whether it was respect, submission, or surrender was unclear. One truth remained: no matter how close, how trusted the man was, Yoongi was helpless before him. In this state, he couldn't think of the angel he sought.
Clearing his throat, Yoongi spoke the words his prince wanted to hear:
"Yes, my lord. I believe... I know who holds the chalice."