It had only been a few hours since the beginning of the week and Seungmin was already done.

Just because he'd had the decency – he'd just done what a normal person in that situation would have done, he had no doubts about it – to tell a rather curious and excessive talkative Gryffindor to shut up, did not mean he deserved to be put into detention.

He snored loudly, staring at his plate full of steak and potato mash, completely unintrested.

"You should really eat something", noted Minho, sat across him, looking at the friend with concern. "We're not eating until dinner and Mrs. Kim will have you work your asses off, don't even doubt it".

"I don't have trainings like you do" flatly replied the younger, pushing the plate aside. "I'll just be in some stupid basement classroom, cleaning or decluttering I suppose".

Minho rolled his eyes, and stopped eating for a moment to make eye contact with Seungmin. He reached for the friend's hands and squeezed them tight. "It's okay to get detention Minnie. No one can always be on the top of their game".

"But you never got detention!", protested Seungmin, who, although did not want to admit it, was extremely embarrassed to have got it.

"I've never been that obsessed with being perfect either", snapped Minho back. "Just take it as a learning experience".

That was the reason why Seungmin especially liked Minho – he was the only one who could keep up with his constant bluntness; and was able to calm him down if he had to.

Seungmin took a deep breath. He knew Minho was right – the way he'd reacted after the mess (because it still had been a mess) the Gryffindor girl had caused was more than worthy of detention: he'd really snapped, now that he came to think about it.

"You're right Minho, thank you" he managed to let out at last. The friend smiled, feeling accomplished.

Seungmin then got up, sighing. "I'd better get going now. Don't wanna be late".

Before the older Prefect could protest (Seungmin's dish still lay uneaten on the left border of the dining table), he quickly took off towards the basement, arriving (as per his usual) a bit earlier. So he simply leaned against the wall opposite the door leading to Mrs. Kim's office, waiting for the teacher and his detention partner to arrive.

The Gryffindor girl was the quickest to do so. She looked as if she'd made a run for it, because as she stopped her breathing was pretty heavy and she naturally leaned against the cold and dark wall of the corridor as well.

Seungmin stared at her, not really worried about getting caught: she was the only slightly entertaining thing there was to watch in that specific place at that specific time, so he considered it completely normal that she would be what he would be staring at.

Apparently though, the girl gave his glance a completely different connotation: "There's no point in trying to kill me with your gaze alone", she muttered, embarrassed – or at least, that was how Seungmin interpreted her sudden hand gesture. "Look", she then went on, "I just wanted you to know that I am sorry about what happened. I know it's all my fault but I really wanted answers and... well... you were ignoring me so I thought mixing your infuse before the established time would be a great way to get your attention. Now I realize it was really childish and stupid of me... I apologize" she said at last, in a small and almost inaudible voice.

Seungmin was pretty sure she'd practiced the speech beforehand, and the Slytherin strangely appreciated it. It made him feel like someone actually cared about him; and although he was not exactly sure, he was grateful for that.

"It's a thing of the past now, I guess", he shrugged his shoulders. "It's all good now, don't worry".

Her face cracked into a shy smile. "Thank you", she muttered, awkwardly.

The boy did not exactly know what to say, so he was happy to see that Mrs. Kim had now basically reached them.

"Glad to see you both made it in time", she stated. By her tone, the boy couldn't really tell whether she was really annoyed or just really bored. "Your task is quite simple actually, it shouldn't take too long", she went on to explain ... "but I'll make sure to make it ten times harder if what happened this morning happens again" ...only to finish with a last warning.

The two Prefects nodded, utterly terrified.

"Yes Mrs", managed to let out Y/n. Seungmin just continued nodded – which, had it been someone else in his place and he the one watching, he would've definitely found the other extremely ridiculous. Struck by that thought, he stopped abruptly.

"Perfect then" the Potions teacher showcased a really fake smile, and invited them into her own office.

To be an office down in the very humid basements, it was actually pretty nice and cosy: it was clear that the teacher very mich cared about it, as there were no dirt spots and everything seemed to be very well-kept of.

Mrs. Kim solemnly sat on her master chair, covered in blood-red velvet. "Over the years, there is something I've always neglected", she admitted. Seungmin and Y/n just stood still in front of her, ready to recieve orders. "And that is drawing lists of which ingredients have been used during my lessons, which are still good to use, which are not and, most importantly, which need to be restocked".

She took out a fine piece of parchment and let the Prefects have a look. "In here we have all of the ingredients that are – or are supposed to be – in my office: in that big drawer right there, to be more precise. You'll just have to check what's in there and hand me a complete list of the quantity we have in display here and of what we have ran out of. You'll be discharged after you finish. Don't try to cheat, mind you. It's not like I'm not going to find out".

After she'd left, the two guys started their work – as Seungmin had anticipated, it was pretty boring, but also required a great deal of attention. It came to no surprise to him that the teacher absolutely despised it.

"I wonder how many students she puts into detention every week, to have this lists always updated", said Y/n after a very long while, when only a few more bottles were missing.

"A lot, probably", chuckled Seungmin. "She probably just puts them in for nothing".

"I can honestly see that", jokingly agreed Y/n, "it'd be like – you flinched? So disrespectful! Now you get detention, and you get detention! Everybody gets detention!"

While pronouncing those words, she had moved away from the drawer and had assumed her 'Mrs. Kim's attitude', which she liked to do in her Common Room whenever she and Jisung were gossiping and mocking the teachers.

Seungmin was simply laughing, amused by the Gryffindor's little theatre. "That's probably how it goes, most of the time", he'd agreed.

They then went back to work, this time more cheerfully (also because they only had a few things left to check). When everything was finished, it was already ten past eight.

"Whoa" let out Y/n, in actual disbelief. "I can't believe we stayed in there for this long. Dinner's probably already well over, and I am starving!"

"I'm sure that if we go there, we'll manage to find something" said Seungmin, thinking of  Minho, now doing his Quidditch trainings: of course there would be food for the team once they'd be done!

"If you say so", murmured Y/n.

They therefore started to make their way back to the Big Hall. The corridors were so quiet Seungmin almost felt like he was taking care of his Prefect duties, doing the usual patrollings, but that was not the case: he wouldn't have to do them until ten.

The walk was going peacefully – as every walk should be, in any case – when a sudden scream punctured the air like a very sharp knife.

The two guys stopped, paralyzed.

"What do you think that was?" whispered Y/n, cautiously looking on either side of the corridor. The noise of steps was approaching the duo.

"I actually have no idea", answered Seungmin, who'd also noticed the noise.

The two looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Then, just when Seungmin was about to say 'let's get away from here', a figure appeared on the far end of the corridor.

Seungmin could barely make it out, as it was already really dark – not even the full moon was doing much to help – but from what he could see, it was humanoid in appearance: well-built, skinny legs, oval face; but something about the way it was standing made it look like a stronger, more dangerous creature than a simple wizard.

The figure suddenly growled and broke into a jog, moving fast towards the two Prefects.

Y/n screamed, and Seungmin moved to the side – his head hit the bricked wall, and the last thing he heard before passing out was a very angry, worried call: "Chan!"

~🤍~
Hehehe. Hehehehehehe.

What d'you guys think of that? Why do you think Chan would act like this? Is it even Chan?
Or rather – do you remember? 😏

Tell me what you think's going to happen in the next chapter!

Bye bye, see you next monday~

Vic🌙.