โ &. AFTER HOURS. / @saerimm
ย ย ย heโs a creature of habit. itโs what seven years of reckless spontaneity does to a man. tonight, however, was not something he pulled out of thin air. no, tonight was his usual. itโs a typical friday, and that means typical friday nights, which should ( for every twenty something year old with a social life ) consist of typical end of the week havoc. by now his body acts on its own accord. dancing lazily to the loud bass. clutching his red solo cup tight as if it has always belonged there. the whole nine yards. the hexed soju has begun to wear off by now, leaving only a slight buzz in its wake. itโs fine. ( he swears. )ย heโs been in worse conditions before. tonight, he can handle himself.ย
ย ย ย exhibit a: heโs able to walk on his own two feet all the way back to the baek ho dorms in one piece.
ย ย ย exhibit b: this weekโs password comes easily in the form of a hushed whisper. the portrait hole swings open. heโs in. simple as that.
ย ย ย something akin to pride swells in his chest as he steps through the entrance and into the common room. for a boy adorned in red and gold, hubris is bound to follow isnโt it? envelope him tight in the sensation. wrap itself around his heart with a firm, strong grip. it was almost too easy. almost. but alas, luck never seemed to be on his side.
ย ย ย he sees the outline of a familiar person in the corner of the room, made only visible by the early morning moonlight. but even that is enough for him to realize how screwed he is. โsaerim noona,โ he calls out, lips curling into a tight smile. heโs already bracing for the berating thatโs soon to come. โyou can stop hiding now, i can literally see the top of your head.โ
ย ย ย heโs really hoping heโll be able to charm himself out of this one. after all, heโs done worse, been worse, seen worse. surely sheโll let this one slide, right? probably. ( but with saerim one could never be too sure. )
when she undertook the mantle of beingย baek hoโs housemaster, she also inherited the responsibilities that came with it. she was sworn in under an oath to protect her charges, to guide them, and aid them should they come to her seeking consul. in just a little under a year was all it took for oh saerim to become attached to her brood of wayward childrenโthough she uses the term children loosely, often making jabs at their recklessness and stupidity, which adults often associated children with. she had been their age once, and can relate to their need for freedom and autonomy, but they lived under yosulโs roof, and as such, should abide by the laws of the land since they partake in the luxuries and amenities at no cost at all. saerim endeavors to teach her students moderation, a word unfit for any baek hoโs vocabulary, but itโs something that should be practiced if they intend to enter wizarding society as civil servants like she had. there were some who were more susceptible to her advice ( the younger students who were much more malleable and easier to influence )ย and then there were those who were too hardheaded for her to crack. one student in particular, seo yujun, persisted in testing her patience. he was a student that held promise, but constantly toe the line between abiding by her rules and breaking them. tonight certainly was a testament to that habit of his as curfew had passed hours ago, yet there was no hide nor hair of the seventh year passing through her wards, alerting her of his return. so sheโs content to stew in a dark corner of the common room, lying in wait.ย
she neednโt wait too long for as she contemplates slumber, the wards she had put in place around baek hoโs common room ripple, recognizing the magical signature and permitting entrance. the room was blanketed in darkness, as had been saerimโs intention, so she waits for him to notice her, for him to realize he was not as slick as he thought he was. the nonchalant way he greets her wold have been off-putting if she were not more concerned about his whereabouts and reasons for staying out nearly past curfew. the woman doesnโt dignify him with a response as she stands, stepping out of the shadows with a look of consternation etched onto her countenance. years of observation granted her the ability to come to her own conclusions by taking in the appearance, noting their body language and the smells wafting off of captives held in custody. it taught her how to pick out the innocent, and the guilty, one of which yujun was, and it was a skill she used now to discern where he had been since he certainly wouldnโt tell herโshe was too tired to pull teeth and interrogate him, so sheโs content to make her assumptions. her heightened sense of smell told her most of the story: he smelled of cheap soju and smoke ( a bar ? perhaps a party ? ) the cloud of varying aromas also tells her heโd been in a crowd, compressed against other bodies where odors could stick to his clothes and skin. sheโs made her deductions and comes to the conclusion that, in typical baek ho fashion, was doing something she wouldnโt have condoned.
โglad to see youโve made it back in one piece, seo,โ saerim murmurs, keeping her voice controlled lest she wakes the entirety of their house with a shrill lecture.ย โiโm glad to know you think the rules i enforce are a jokeโbut i think youโre the only one who finds them funny, since youโre the only one who doesnโt follow them. which, i think, is the real joke here, donโt you think ?โ
