There are good and bad days. Some bad days come with absurd things that make the day even more bitter. Other times, there may even be some relief and make the day less bitter, such as someone saying a cheerful good morning or being released from duty early.

"I can't believe it," Addai muttered, looking at his cellphone.

That's what exactly had happened. Addai had just been excused from his classes because his students were going to a lecture about Defense against Magical Creatures - which he had also signed up for, but he would leave without anyone noticing. Now, he would no longer need to invoke the "ninja mode" and enjoy the rest of the afternoon off.

Plans? He always had one or two. 

This time, he committed to finishing a drama that he had started watching (a long time ago). Still... he procrastinated on finishing it. Not only because it had lots of drama, but it was also a slow-burn drama. He had watched a couple of dramas like that and read lots of novels, mangas, manhwas, and danmei, but that one... wait, come here real quick.

Let's enlighten your thoughts about what Addai was feeling about that drama.

Do you know when you happen to remember a specific scene from a show, and your brain starts torturing you with a full cinematic edit about that, and your eyes start twitching and watering? That's it. This is what was happening to that poor dorama lover.

Also, he swore he had seen the main tag "romance" in the drama's description. Now, imagine if the main tag was "drama"? Tears, snot, and a heart in pieces.

The last time Addai watched an episode, he collapsed from crying - and, of course, Umbra judged him all the way. The next day, he woke up with a stuffy nose and swollen eyes, wondering how he was going to teach with that terrible appearance. In the end, he pretended to have the flu (even wearing a mask and everything), and it quite worked out fine.

Ok, end of empathy time. Let's go back to our scheming boy.

His plans for the afternoon were simple, but there was a complication: Lydia saw him watch a trailer for the next season of that same drama. To make things worse: she also watched that drama.

Lydia invited herself to watch the rest of the season with Addai, who disentangled himself from her in every way possible and imaginable. She seemed to have a radar for when Addai felt like watching a drama, and when he least expected it... she was by his side.

“Addai!!!” Lydia called, beaming all joyfully at the terribly startled Addai. “Let’s watch something!! You promised me you’d finish that dorama with me!” she grinned shamelessly.

Addai felt a headache kick in, and he was ready to turn into his hermit mode. He needed to get away from that situation quickly!

“I didn’t promise shi-“ he looked at Lydia, who was very happy and beaming. “…” then frowned and let out a sigh. “Ok… let’s watch it.”

“Aha! Let’s watch at my office!! I kind of bought new chairs and pillows because I basically live working here, so I need to sleep a little during lunch breaks and before heading home at night. Oh! I have a projector and let’s call Mine and… do you know Fani, Woltz and Aarush? They’re adorable! Let’s watch with them and-”

Jesus Christ.

Lydia was always that way, and Addai learned that from his tutor and friend. While she flooded Addai with her talking, the desire to turn into a ninja grew more and more.

“Or… if you prefer only the three of us to watch it…” Lydia grinned, and her smile was very suspicious.

“Wait, the three of us?” Addai interrupted his fleeing plan and looked at her.

“Yup! You, me… and your sweet tutor,” she grinned.

It seemed like Addai had heard the worst nonsense of his life, but he still couldn't find words to refute that nonsense, so he stared at Lydia for a few seconds while his cheeks slowly acquired their usual reddish tone (but this time, it was from sheer irritation).

“I can grant a seat beside him hehe~” Lydia grinned again, just like Umbra did once.

“…" Addai couldn't believe what he was witnessing. "I’ll watch it alone,” and he decided, as simple as that.

When he was about to go away, Lydia grabbed his arm, and damn she was strong, Jesus Christ! His poor arm felt the fierceness of that grip, and his muscles screamed in agony, but he kept his composure pretty well.

"Wait! I prepared my office for it… and it’s perfect! You will come, won't you?" she asked with glowing eyes.

...

Maybe Mine was right about his softness for smiles.

"…" Addai looked at Lydia with his grumpy face and sighed. "Fine… wait for me then. I’ll be going soon.”

Lydia immediately perked up!

“AH! Sure buddy!!!” she jumped on her spot, all joyful. “I’ll wait for you. I'll also call Mine to join us!!”

“Fi- WHAT?” he gasped and blushed.

But Lydia was now far.

Addai needed to intervene.

So, their chasing started. What an odd scene that, fortunately, no students saw that.

Imagine the scene: the most esteemed Herbology teacher running away from the new Dark Mana teacher. And Lydia was laughing out loud, launching eventual bomb plants to distract Addai from her, but one thing he didn’t imagine was that she had a little help from her vines spell, which helped her to climb the building and stick her tongue out for the baffled Addai.

“Catch me if you can! I'll fetch your sweet tutor to watch the dorama with us!!” Lydia laughed out loud, and lots of vines held her higher, far from Addai.

“WAIT!”

The problem wasn’t Mine’s presence. The problem was the dorama itself!

There were tons of romantic scenes, and they were close to the sweetest episodes. He was sure Mine bewitched him, so he didn’t want to see those scenes with Mine by his side. What if Mine bewitched him even more?!! Imagining that made his face turn red, and when Lydia caught a glimpse of that, she threw another bomb plant full of red roses.

“Give them to him!!!” she shouted, and the vines turned into an agile paraglide. “See ya!!!!”

Oh God, he was in trouble.

“Umbra! Help me!” Addai quickly called his cat, whose shadows started condensing in front of him.

But Umbra wasn’t moved. She lazily looked at him, turning into a cat, and meowed as if she asked "Seriously?"

“Umbra… save my skin and heart, pleeeease…” Addai crouched and pleaded to the unmoved cat, whose whiskers twitched, and she licked her owner’s nose. “Ah… I’m doomed,” he sighed, and the cat meowed.

Resigned, Addai took Umbra from the floor and carried the fuzzy, purring cat in his arms - Yes, she was that shameless. He took his bag and started scheming schemes to not watch that specific dorama and maybe start a new one. Yeah, it was a good idea! This way he could avoid embarrassing scenes, and Mine would have a chance to watch something from scratch with them and not get lost.

Lydia's office was quite far, and that cursed paraglide surely helped her arrive quickly. So, Addai needed to hurry as well. When he reached the main corridor, the one that's near the garden and gazebo, someone called for his name.

“Addai! Oh my… what a good fortune seeing you two here,” someone approached.

The person’s voice was gentle and very pleasant to hear, once it was clear and soft. Blond locks of hair mixed with shades of white and a thin strand of brown made the person's serene blue eyes the protagonist of his appearance.

"Oh… Hi Mr. Shire," Addai placed Umbra on the floor.

Shire smiled a gentle and serene smile, and patted the young teacher's shoulder, caressing Umbra’s ears right after. He surveyed something in the young teacher's looks and chuckled at the sight of new colors mixed with the ordinary black and dark brown his junior used.

“Hectic afternoon, isn’t it?” Shire took a few vines from Addai's cloak.

“Hm hm,” Addai nodded, looking at his feet and feeling his ears turn red.

"I see you made new friends," Shire looked at the bright, clear sky. "It's nice having friends, especially for youngsters," he chuckled when Addai slightly pouted.

“She… she’s not a friend,” Addai grumbled.

Shire chuckled, and Umbra hopped on his shoulders. "Oh, my Miss. Umbra. Are you curious about where I'm looking at?" he chuckled, and the cat nuzzled in his hair. “Let’s watch the clouds then. Join us, Addai.”

Addai nodded and followed the other teacher. He placed his bag on the floor - next to his feet - and looked up at the clear sky with a few white-as-snow fluffy clouds. The warm breeze blew them, followed by a few butterflies from the garden.

Shire calmly looked at Addai and grinned before speaking. "You seem happier."

That took Addai by surprise, and he couldn't help but be messy with his answer, which didn't come out.

"Oh my, it seems I was too abrupt," Shire laughed. "I just felt you're happier, and that's something very nice... isn't it?"

“…” Addai looked at his hands and nodded, silent.

"When I saw you bickering with Mine the other day, I couldn't believe it was you," Shire said, and Addai's shoulders slightly tensed. “But soon… it seems you finally came out of your shell,” he chuckled when Addai’s fingers started translating his embarrassment. “I knew you’d fit in soon,” he posed proudly.

Addai chuckled at the last statement, and the tension on his shoulders relaxed, leaving only a silly grin on his embarrassed face.

A sole butterfly approached and landed on Addai’s hand. It was beautiful and pinkish, and the wings’ patterns were difficult to discern, but he was sure they were exquisite by how elegantly it fluttered its wings. It flew a little and came back to him, now landing on his shoulder and staying there even though Umbra got slightly interested in biting it.

Then, one more butterfly approached and landed on his hand. This time, it was a yellow one and very delicate. He lifted it up high, and it flew alongside the pink one. They danced in the air, fluttering and making the wind be their guide through that waltz.

"I wanted to talk to you about a thing," Shire stated, breaking the feeble moment Addai was witnessing.

“Sure thing, Mr. Shire,” Addai looked at him.

As Shire approached, he looked to the sides, scanning the area to ensure no one was around. His cautiousness made Addai's senses turn sharper... until his senior's eyebrows softened then spoke in a carefree way despite his serious eyes.

“You’re bewitched,” Shire whispered, serious and very attentive.

Addai frowned slightly, confused. "Come again?"

Shire chuckled before speaking. “You're bewitched by our little and charming Light Mana teacher.”

… what?

… WHAT?!

Addai didn’t know where to bury his face, his flushed face. He felt his skin steaming and itching because of how much red he was.

“Mine Karawaga… yes, yes… he is a good person… he is smart… intelligent… good looking… careful…” Shire started telling many qualities Addai already knew by heart. "Oh my, I didn't know you could reach such a blush color," he chuckled and fanned Addai's face while Umbra looked at him with her silly grin.

“… I need to go, Mr. Shire,” Addai sloppily bowed and took Umbra in his arms.

“Sure, Sure…” Shire chuckled. “Ah! Don’t forget your bag!” he took Addai’s bag and placed it on his shoulder. “There, there! Now, you shall go and… bewitch him back!” he finished with a beaming.

Addai’s eyes couldn’t focus anymore, but he didn’t notice he nodded, then tried to “un-nod”, then got all embarrassed and went away sloppily.

“Yup, he’s in trouble,” Shire chuckled, and his cell phone rang in his pockets. "Ah... and so am I,” he sighed and took the phone to answer the call.

“/Mr. Shire! Don’t forget our meeting! I changed my number because I lost my human cell phone/” the voice grumbled. “/Ah, it’s Agarath/”

Shire’s lips turned into a faint smile. “I know that."