This year had been all study and no play for Hyun Ki. His father seemed to unrelenting. Every time he was home he would get a shake of the head and be told that there was nothing in the wizarding world, that he should stay home not get sorted like some sort of prized dog and help his mother. Hyun liked baking, yes but there was more out in life for him.

Mostly he hated that his father used his mother against him as a guilt tacktick. It wasn’t fair to say that she was struggling. Not only was it playing dirty, but Hyun Ki felt like it belittled the bakery that she had managed to build and make successful. So he kept his head down, avoided most people, and worked to prove that there was more than just blood status that mattered to the world of wizards.

When his class let out and Hyun gathered his books. the weather had been lovely recently and of course that meant the gardens were in full bloom. They had a lovely campus and it was a crime to not take advantage of it.

On a bench in the gardens was one of the few people that he had any sort of connection around the school. Eun Min had seemed less herself when they came back for the semester. She spoke only a little about what she had found in France and he was a little worried about the lack of energy she seemed to come home with.

“Hey,” he spoke sheepishly to the girl with an equally soft smile. “Do you mind if I join you?” He then asked hugging his books close to his chest. She might have been his friend but the last thing he wanted to do was step all over her alone time if she wanted to keep alone.

There were times that Hyun thought maybe his dad was right and this world was just too stubborn. That the separating by blood was sill. Still being just as stubborn about completely staying away from magic didn’t fix anything. Hyun Ki wasn’t sure what he was doing. He was sure that once all this was over there was a good chance he was just going to end up working with his mom anyway. So maybe going to this school wasn’t worth it.

At the same time he would never trade it because of the people he got to be close to. One of those people was Eun Min. But he was worried about her. Since the summer she had been weird. And Hyun couldn’t drag it out of her. Then again he wasn’t good at dragging feelings out of people. He didn’t want conflict, nor did he possibly want to ruin friendships because he stepped somewhere he didn’t belong.

Hyun nodded a thank you and sat carefully close to her. It reminded him of the night that they were paired for a dance. That day he was scared f getting someone he didn’t know and then just getting stuck getting dragged this way or that. Instead he got paired with Eun and it was one of the best nights he had ever had at Mabeob. They did nothing but talk, eat sweets and stair at the stars in the sky.

“Yeah just lots of papers and stuff,” He smiled gently. “You have been sparse too though.” They were in the same house. Some of the same classes but still it seemed like they didn’t run into each other nearly as much as they used it. That was the troublesome part. He didn’t think that he had done anything to upset Eun but there was that chance and Hyun was worried that maybe he had.

Now that he was sitting next to her and she was smiling and talking to him Hyun felt silly. She was probably just busy like he had been. “Good. Ready for a break. How about you?” He asked hoping that she would give him an honest answer. Most people shrugged off the question with fine, or okay. Much like he had but there was nothing going on in his life right now besides school.