Merlin felt like a bandit. Moving through the Academy’s grounds while avoiding the cameras, ducking at the slightest glimpse of a figure, and evading even the most miniscule of lights, it was all so surprisingly exhirating.

  Maybe he should do this more often. He’d always liked vigintes after all.

  “Remember,” he started as he and the other two that made up his little crew of misfits neared the gate, ducking beneath neatly trimmed grasses, or behind statue plinths after every few steps taken, “we’re not to waste even a second. We get what we want quickly and leave before Mr. Sam’s done with his patrol.”

  “Oh, Merlin, we’re so dead,” Hakyun groaned, biting at his fingernails. “Professor Jung’s gonna kill us. No. The dorm master will have our heads first and deliver it to Professor Jung.”

  “That’s enough whining, four-eyes,” Chima growled. “If you were going to be this way, you should have just stayed back.”

  “As if I can just sit in the dorm while you guys head out,” Hakyun snorted. “I’m the sense of reason between us three. If I’m not present, who knows what nasty things you both could get up to. No way I’m letting you miscreants loose.”

  “Then suck it up and stop compining.”

  “I’ll try my best. But, just so you know, if we three lose points, Spearhead will most likely drop in the rankings. The rest of our mates will hate us.”

  Merlin’s steps slowed at those words; it was one thing for only Nikoi to despise him if his accusation turned out to be a reach, and it was another for all the students of his Cohort to despise him for ridiculing their hard work. Even worse was that there was a possibility of those two scenarios occurring at the same time.

  However, he didn’t let it bother him for long. He had taken the first step already, there was no point in stopping now.

  And, besides, they had gotten to the guardhouse already, a square structure of ceramic surrounded by a railing designed to keep stubborn students like Merlin and his roommates out.

  Although, it seemed it would fail tonight.

  “He’s not in,” Merlin noted, narrowing his eyes as he peeped in through the windows of the guardhouse. “Let’s go in.”

  “You say that like the door will just be left—” Hakyun’s words were caught in his throat as Merlin turned the handle of the door and pulled it open. “No way.”

  Merlin was unsure why Hakyun was surprised. Ninety percent of the time, when one wasn’t expecting another to come snooping around, they were always uninspired to lock their doors or simir. It was honestly quite the hassle having to lock and unlock things after all. And there was also the possibility of mispcing the key or forgetting the password if it was an automated door. All in all, Mr. Sam was obviously not expecting anyone to come towards his home, so he had not thought it was necessary to lock it.

  The interior of the guardhouse was just as Merlin remembered it to be the st time he was there. A couch rested against the wall, and in front of it was a simple wooden table. To the edge was a fridge, and beside the fridge was a bed and a cupboard. And since everything was the same, that meant the security pad would be in the same pce as it was st time.

  Merlin fshed his phone’s torchlight across the room, towards an almost obscure edge, and there was another table, this one a lot bigger and wider. On the table were books arranged neatly, and at its center was the security pad he had come seeking.

  “Keep your lights low,” Merlin said as he approached the table. “And one of us has to stand guard.”

  Chima gnced at Hakyun.

  “What?” Hakyun blinked.

  “Stand guard,” said Chima.

  Hakyun frowned. “Why should I be the one to do that?”

  Merlin’s nose twitched. “Guys. No bickering now, please.”

  Hakyun clicked his tongue. “Fine.” He walked towards the door and opened a small gap, and peeped out of it. “Hurry up.”

  Merlin put down his phone and picked up the pad. He put it on and was greeted by the Academy’s insignia and a booting icon. A few seconds ter, a lockscreen appeared, bearing with it a request to unlock the pad with either a biometric scan of his finger or the password.

  Merlin clicked his tongue.

  “What is it?” Chima asked as he joined Merlin at the table.

  “It’s locked,” said Merlin.

  Chima’s brows twitched. “Hold on. You thought it wouldn’t be locked?”

  Merlin shrugged. “It’s used to keep records of students leaving and returning, I didn’t think it needed to be locked.”

  “You sound dumb, Mel.” Chima shook his head. Merlin nodded in exasperation. “Anyway, what do we do now?”

  “We leave,” Hakyun chimed in. “We don’t know the password, and waiting here will just turn us into sitting ducks. I don’t want to be punished, okay? I need a clean record.”

  “You’re acting like we’ll be sent to prison. Chill out.” Chima sighed, then turned back to Merlin. “We should at least search the room; we might get a hint.”

  Merlin’s brows dropped. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we can’t sign in using the biometrics, so our only bet is the password. From my experience, people are always cautious about forgetting passwords so they write it down somewhere they can easily get to it, in the case they forget. Mr. Sam must have hidden the password in here.”

  Oh… That was reassuring.

  “That’s just wishful thinking,” said Hakyun. “The better option we have is getting out of here.”

  “You’re being the killjoy now, Hakyun,” Merlin said. Hakyun clicked his tongue. “So? Where do we start?”

  Chima rubbed his chin as he gnced around the room. “We don’t have all the time in the world, so we’ll have to narrow our search area. The most likely pces to keep passwords would be…” His eyes caught the stack of books on the table. “Search those, Mel. There might be a piece of paper in them, or maybe it’s written on their edges. If there are bookmarks too, search them.”

  Merlin nodded. “And you?”

  Chima’s eyes fell on the cupboard. “I’ll search in there. I hope Mr. Sam forgives me for going through his things.”

  “It’s for a good cause,” Merlin tried to sound reassuring.

  Chima nodded, and they both got to work.

  Merlin found out a lot about Mr. Sam by rummaging through the books he had stacked on his table. First of all, the ones pced in the middle of the stack were completely different from that which began it. After all, the first book was an encyclopedia focused on the ins and outs of camping; but after it came books that made Merlin wince, and, well, take second gnces at their pictures, since they toyed with his teenage hormones. The more he checked them, the more he wanted to trade pces with Chima.

  Thankfully, his somewhat pleasant dilemma was put to an abrupt end when he came across a bookmark that had words and letters arranged in a way passwords usually were in the center of one of the books. He pulled it out as the burning on his cheeks rexed.

  “Found it,” he said.

  Chima stopped his search immediately and crossed the room to once again stand beside Merlin. He took the bookmark and studied it intently and nodded. “Yeah. This should be it.”

  Merlin typed in the password into the pad, and watched with bated breath as the pad registered his input. Then it unlocked.

  “Phew…” He breathed out.

  “Hurry,” Hakyun reminded them.

  Merlin quickly got to work.

  Things were made easy for them. Since the pad belonged to the Academy, it had only a few apps installed, at most six or seven, but Merlin didn’t count. He found the sheets app where he recalled the records to have been kept and scrolled through it, starting from the day of the Grimoire sparring css, and it didn’t take long for him to find what they had come looking for.

  “He did leave the Academy,” Merlin said, drawing the attention of Chima and Hakyun. “The next day.”

  Chima’s shoulders slumped slightly as he craned his neck to take a look at the information too. “Says he wanted to purchase something.”

  Merlin turned to Hakyun, who was still diligently keeping watch despite the conversation going on. He could feel that his roommate was somewhat sad that his deduction had proven true at the end of the day. Hakyun was definitely well aware of the direness of the situation now.

  “Do you know where Itaewon is, Hakyun?” asked Merlin after a low sigh.

  Hakyun was silent for a few seconds. “Why do you ask?”

  Merlin pursed his lips. “That’s where Nikoi went.”

  Hakyun took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

  “Yes, I know where that is,” he replied. “It’s a district known mostly for its nightlife scene. In other words, the perfect pce to sell drugs.”

  Chima rubbed his forehead. “You know this doesn’t mean that Nikoi actually purchased steroids, right? There’s no need for you to feel down.”

  “Yes, I know that, but the possibility has doubled now.” He paused. “Anyway, what do we do now? Report it?”

  Merlin had realized a while back that the reason Hakyun was so hesitant and scared to embark on their mission was because he was fighting the possibility that Nikoi was actually on steroids, and, most likely, didn’t want to have to find out that it was actually true. As such, Merlin decided not to jump the gun. If there was a possibility that Nikoi had headed to Itaewon for something else, then he would have to find out what that was in hopes that he was wrong about this whole thing.

  He made up his mind…

  “No,” he replied to Hakyun’s question. “We head to Itaewon.”

  Merlin felt like a bandit. Moving through the Academy’s grounds while avoiding the cameras, ducking at the slightest glimpse of a figure, and evading even the most miniscule of lights, it was all so surprisingly exhirating.

  Maybe he should do this more often. He’d always liked vigintes after all.

  “Remember,” he started as he and the other two that made up his little crew of misfits neared the gate, ducking beneath neatly trimmed grasses, or behind statue plinths after every few steps taken, “we’re not to waste even a second. We get what we want quickly and leave before Mr. Sam’s done with his patrol.”

  “Oh, Merlin, we’re so dead,” Hakyun groaned, biting at his fingernails. “Professor Jung’s gonna kill us. No. The dorm master will have our heads first and deliver it to Professor Jung.”

  “That’s enough whining, four-eyes,” Chima growled. “If you were going to be this way, you should have just stayed back.”

  “As if I can just sit in the dorm while you guys head out,” Hakyun snorted. “I’m the sense of reason between us three. If I’m not present, who knows what nasty things you both could get up to. No way I’m letting you miscreants loose.”

  “Then suck it up and stop compining.”

  “I’ll try my best. But, just so you know, if we three lose points, Spearhead will most likely drop in the rankings. The rest of our mates will hate us.”

  Merlin’s steps slowed at those words; it was one thing for only Nikoi to despise him if his accusation turned out to be a reach, and it was another for all the students of his Cohort to despise him for ridiculing their hard work. Even worse was that there was a possibility of those two scenarios occurring at the same time.

  However, he didn’t let it bother him for long. He had taken the first step already, there was no point in stopping now.

  And, besides, they had gotten to the guardhouse already, a square structure of ceramic surrounded by a railing designed to keep stubborn students like Merlin and his roommates out.

  Although, it seemed it would fail tonight.

  “He’s not in,” Merlin noted, narrowing his eyes as he peeped in through the windows of the guardhouse. “Let’s go in.”

  “You say that like the door will just be left—” Hakyun’s words were caught in his throat as Merlin turned the handle of the door and pulled it open. “No way.”

  Merlin was unsure why Hakyun was surprised. Ninety percent of the time, when one wasn’t expecting another to come snooping around, they were always uninspired to lock their doors or simir. It was honestly quite the hassle having to lock and unlock things after all. And there was also the possibility of mispcing the key or forgetting the password if it was an automated door. All in all, Mr. Sam was obviously not expecting anyone to come towards his home, so he had not thought it was necessary to lock it.

  The interior of the guardhouse was just as Merlin remembered it to be the st time he was there. A couch rested against the wall, and in front of it was a simple wooden table. To the edge was a fridge, and beside the fridge was a bed and a cupboard. And since everything was the same, that meant the security pad would be in the same pce as it was st time.

  Merlin fshed his phone’s torchlight across the room, towards an almost obscure edge, and there was another table, this one a lot bigger and wider. On the table were books arranged neatly, and at its center was the security pad he had come seeking.

  “Keep your lights low,” Merlin said as he approached the table. “And one of us has to stand guard.”

  Chima gnced at Hakyun.

  “What?” Hakyun blinked.

  “Stand guard,” said Chima.

  Hakyun frowned. “Why should I be the one to do that?”

  Merlin’s nose twitched. “Guys. No bickering now, please.”

  Hakyun clicked his tongue. “Fine.” He walked towards the door and opened a small gap, and peeped out of it. “Hurry up.”

  Merlin put down his phone and picked up the pad. He put it on and was greeted by the Academy’s insignia and a booting icon. A few seconds ter, a lockscreen appeared, bearing with it a request to unlock the pad with either a biometric scan of his finger or the password.

  Merlin clicked his tongue.

  “What is it?” Chima asked as he joined Merlin at the table.

  “It’s locked,” said Merlin.

  Chima’s brows twitched. “Hold on. You thought it wouldn’t be locked?”

  Merlin shrugged. “It’s used to keep records of students leaving and returning, I didn’t think it needed to be locked.”

  “You sound dumb, Mel.” Chima shook his head. Merlin nodded in exasperation. “Anyway, what do we do now?”

  “We leave,” Hakyun chimed in. “We don’t know the password, and waiting here will just turn us into sitting ducks. I don’t want to be punished, okay? I need a clean record.”

  “You’re acting like we’ll be sent to prison. Chill out.” Chima sighed, then turned back to Merlin. “We should at least search the room; we might get a hint.”

  Merlin’s brows dropped. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we can’t sign in using the biometrics, so our only bet is the password. From my experience, people are always cautious about forgetting passwords so they write it down somewhere they can easily get to it, in the case they forget. Mr. Sam must have hidden the password in here.”

  Oh… That was reassuring.

  “That’s just wishful thinking,” said Hakyun. “The better option we have is getting out of here.”

  “You’re being the killjoy now, Hakyun,” Merlin said. Hakyun clicked his tongue. “So? Where do we start?”

  Chima rubbed his chin as he gnced around the room. “We don’t have all the time in the world, so we’ll have to narrow our search area. The most likely pces to keep passwords would be…” His eyes caught the stack of books on the table. “Search those, Mel. There might be a piece of paper in them, or maybe it’s written on their edges. If there are bookmarks too, search them.”

  Merlin nodded. “And you?”

  Chima’s eyes fell on the cupboard. “I’ll search in there. I hope Mr. Sam forgives me for going through his things.”

  “It’s for a good cause,” Merlin tried to sound reassuring.

  Chima nodded, and they both got to work.

  Merlin found out a lot about Mr. Sam by rummaging through the books he had stacked on his table. First of all, the ones pced in the middle of the stack were completely different from that which began it. After all, the first book was an encyclopedia focused on the ins and outs of camping; but after it came books that made Merlin wince, and, well, take second gnces at their pictures, since they toyed with his teenage hormones. The more he checked them, the more he wanted to trade pces with Chima.

  Thankfully, his somewhat pleasant dilemma was put to an abrupt end when he came across a bookmark that had words and letters arranged in a way passwords usually were in the center of one of the books. He pulled it out as the burning on his cheeks rexed.

  “Found it,” he said.

  Chima stopped his search immediately and crossed the room to once again stand beside Merlin. He took the bookmark and studied it intently and nodded. “Yeah. This should be it.”

  Merlin typed in the password into the pad, and watched with bated breath as the pad registered his input. Then it unlocked.

  “Phew…” He breathed out.

  “Hurry,” Hakyun reminded them.

  Merlin quickly got to work.

  Things were made easy for them. Since the pad belonged to the Academy, it had only a few apps installed, at most six or seven, but Merlin didn’t count. He found the sheets app where he recalled the records to have been kept and scrolled through it, starting from the day of the Grimoire sparring css, and it didn’t take long for him to find what they had come looking for.

  “He did leave the Academy,” Merlin said, drawing the attention of Chima and Hakyun. “The next day.”

  Chima’s shoulders slumped slightly as he craned his neck to take a look at the information too. “Says he wanted to purchase something.”

  Merlin turned to Hakyun, who was still diligently keeping watch despite the conversation going on. He could feel that his roommate was somewhat sad that his deduction had proven true at the end of the day. Hakyun was definitely well aware of the direness of the situation now.

  “Do you know where Itaewon is, Hakyun?” asked Merlin after a low sigh.

  Hakyun was silent for a few seconds. “Why do you ask?”

  Merlin pursed his lips. “That’s where Nikoi went.”

  Hakyun took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

  “Yes, I know where that is,” he replied. “It’s a district known mostly for its nightlife scene. In other words, the perfect pce to sell drugs.”

  Chima rubbed his forehead. “You know this doesn’t mean that Nikoi actually purchased steroids, right? There’s no need for you to feel down.”

  “Yes, I know that, but the possibility has doubled now.” He paused. “Anyway, what do we do now? Report it?”

  Merlin had realized a while back that the reason Hakyun was so hesitant and scared to embark on their mission was because he was fighting the possibility that Nikoi was actually on steroids, and, most likely, didn’t want to have to find out that it was actually true. As such, Merlin decided not to jump the gun. If there was a possibility that Nikoi had headed to Itaewon for something else, then he would have to find out what that was in hopes that he was wrong about this whole thing.

  He made up his mind…

  “No,” he replied to Hakyun’s question. “We head to Itaewon.”