ENCHANTED ━ kim dongyoung

. . . . chapter one.

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KIM DONGYOUNG smiled to himself.

he stood at the entrance of the academy he once graduated from, it gaining more physical conspicuities as modernization ran stronger. what amazed him more was how it was already mainly managed by his best friend. what a funny thought it was. eagerness to enter filled him up.

apart from his white inner shirt, all his clothes were black, starting from the trench coat, to his slacks, then to his oxford shoes. as soon as he passed through the guard and into the school premises, he took his sunglasses off, revealing his captivating black eyes.

many old teachers recognized him, as he made his mark as a loyal, popular student, greeting him with utmost enthusiasm and him giving back the same energy by flashing his cute gummy smile.

he eventually stopped the walk emitting elegance which caused everyone to stop and stare, turning his heel then knocking on his best friend's, or should i say principal LEE TAEYONG's office door thrice before entering.

"i haven't seen you for so long!"

taeyong pulled him into a big, welcoming hug.

they then sat down on seperate couches which were face to face right after, warm grins playing on both their pairs of lips, joyed by the fact that it was finally the perfect time to catch up with no interruptions.

doyoung was awestruck. the surroundings to him were all too familiar, probably because he'd spent a lot of his time lurking in the room itself back when he was a student.

the old books were still there, less dusty, and with more color variety rather than just red, green, black, and blue with barely legible gold fonts for the titles. the old tv with antennas upgraded to a flat screen, it currently playing viewable news radio. the consistent rustic theme previous principals were going for a couple years back got diminished thanks to taeyong's bright choices of artworks and family pictures to place all around.

doyoung got flashbacks, nostalgia taking his thoughts' wheel. he remembered the first few weeks of being president of the student council, still clinging onto taeyong while entering for given tasks because he was too intimidated by his grandfather. he also remembered the old man allowing the two of them to stay in the room while they waited for their guardians to pick them up after class, them getting fed with appropriate amounts of gossip.

"didn't know you were next in line for principal," he said.

the older one shrugged. "well you know, favorite grandchild things."

"you seriously think you're the favorite when your grandpa just passed his burdensome kid cult to you?"

"kid cult?"

the pair burst into a fit of laughter, continuing their small talk with topics varying from work, the weather, and traffic seconds after.

"have you found her?" taeyong brought up.

both understood who the person he pertained to was despite no names getting dropped. immediately, the mood shifted from one bursting with yellow to one painted with a gloomy shade of blue.

"i've searched everywhere, but no." doyoung sighed, eyes coated with despair. "has she really not come back here yet? or greeted anyone? even just through facebook? have any of the teachers got some sort of news about her apart from, i don't know, her being presumed dead? have you heard any of that? please, i need to know. maybe she just doesn't want to see me."

"you know i'd tell you right away if i knew anything."

he was crestfallen. he bit his bottom lip, all the hope and denial he tried holding onto until the very last minute of that situation fading little by little. his best friend, on the other hand, could only give him a sympathetic half-smile, his mere prescence being the only thing her could offer amidst the melancholy in the air.

"it's been four years, taeyong."

"i'm sorry."

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while on a not-so-hectic shift, the school nurse MOON RAEIL was sitting pretty on her desk inside the clinic, invested in the storyline of the romance novel she was reading.

from across her, giggles of best friends who excused themselves for bullshitted reasons of sickness occupied two of the three beds. they really just went there to escape english class by faking mild sickness.

without warning, one of the male teachers barged in, startling all three of them. she cast him a dirty look before shifting her precious attention back to her novel.

"knock before entering," the nurse irritatedly clicked her tongue, thinking him and his oldened ears wouldn't hear her with that volume ears as she continued, "rude hag."

"what did you say?"

realizing his hearing didn't fail him this time, the woman quickly stood up, letting go of the book. plastering an ingenuine smile, she placed her hands below chest, bowing for courtesy he definitely did not deserve. "good afternoon, sir."

he disregarded the greeting. it also seemed as if he heard the faint giggles, judging from how he walked closer to the beds with a look of suspicion and placing two of his palms on each of their foreheads to check if they were really feverish. raeil could see from meters away that the girls were trying so hard to not move while faking asleep, hearts pounding.

seeing how they obviously got away with health lies just to stay inside the clinic with nice air conditioning, he placed hard pinches on their ears, making them sit up terrified.

"does the school look like sleeping quarters to you?!" both flinched at the volume of his voice. "go back to class."

the girls obeyed, rushing out hand in hand, red tints on their cheeks due to the embarrassment.

when the two girls finally stepped outside, he stood in front of the woman, arms crossed as if he was getting deeper into a pointless lecture. "i think none of them were sick in the first place, ms. moon. and i'm sure you were aware. why are you tolerating this kind of behavior?"

"honestly, it's not that big of a deal. they're tired, let them rest," raeil replied, mirroring his crossing of arms while letting her lower body lean on the desk. "also, haven't you done worse in your school years? you really used to be the talk of the town, sir! for things just as bad. no teacher had physically hurt you though, hadn't they?"

raeil called back to her previous experience with him as a senior in a school in incheon. she somewhat had a clear memory of him and his rowdy friends causing annoyance to the entire campus. to anyone, it was truly unpleasant to look back at.

threatened, the man pulled her by the collar of her uniform, her trying to maintain the blank expression while he dragged her out of the clinic on the way to taeyong's office.

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