the damned

Kang Daewon . 27 . Claw Retraction

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shownusqueen:

| minhyuk | let’s get our hearts racing this morning lol

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imphyeju:

HOW DID ONE DEFINE THIS RELATIONSHIP? hyeju didn’t know why she was constantly wanting this professor’s attention while somewhat understanding that he didn’t like her presence. did he like anyone though? hearing his comeback, she smiled. ah, so this was why she tortured herself from time to time. “ it would be highly out of character of me to come with some etiquette, ” she explained before rolling her eyes at her own statement. she did this often enough that he should have learned that knocking on his door was never going to happen.

slightly shocked by his response, she put her hand on her chest. “ it’s a miracle, professor kang has uttered some kind of gratitude to one of his most annoying students, ” she dramatised before laughing and shaking off any theatrics. knowing him, hyeju was always surprised if there was more than a look of disdain on his face, or perpetual annoyance for anything in his field of vision. but it was gone just like that moment of silence. ah, such sweetness was fleeting. however, the smile on his face lit her face up a little. she had to bite back the smile on her face by both his smile and surprising kindness. “ that wasn’t my objective anyways. i thought you’d want some.  it’s chamomile with a hint of lemon, ” she continued. 

“ then, what can i help you with? ”  looking from his bandaged hands back to the piles to him, in general, she knew his claws were a problem. it was that she didn’t know how much of a problem it could be. the whole process looked painful. it seemed like every other day there was either blood on his knuckles, or bloodied bandages. it confused her to no end. no matter how much research she could do on this ability, there was nothing she could come up with other than he had to live with it. but, it looked like he couldn’t live with it for the rest of his life. it wasn’t out of pity, it was out of concern. and just like why she kept coming back to see him, she didn’t understand why. it still confused her. 

Well, at least she was right about that. Every time she came to see him, which was quite a lot if he was being honest, she never once knocked on the door. She seemed to think it was perfectly normal just to burst your way into someones office, regardless of what they might be doing at the time. Which could lead to some awkward situations as he never locked the door. Students were more than welcome to come in, but he would prefer them announcing themselves and being polite about it. That was just never going to happen when it came to Hyeju. “ At least you are consistent about that, ” he did have to offer as an upside. 

He just chuckled a little, softly shaking his head from side to side. “ Normally you just don’t do anything that deserves my gratitude, ” he explained, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly, “ Though if you do something that does, like this for example, then you might get a little more of it. ” He wasn’t going to be rude about it, even if she was one of the more annoying people who came on by from time to time. “ Though for next time, ” he continued in a softer tone of voice, “ I’m not really a huge fan of tea. But I’ll drink it, don’t worry. ” It would be rude just to leave it to get cold, so he would work out a way to force it down. Hot drinks had never been something he was a huge fan of, always opting to get a cold soda if he ever had a choice about what to drink. 

It was clear that she wanted to help in some way, though Daewon was just a little confused as to why that was. “ I am not sure there is anything you can help me with right now, ” he mused as he looked across the desk at her. He followed her eyes, almost self-consciously hiding his hands a little as he saw them linger on the bandages wrapped around them. “ And you do not need to help me, either. ”

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impnao:

🐾 — “SHRIMP CRACKERS? I’VE NEVER HAD those before! i’m gonna get some for myself and then i’ll share with you too, okay?” she offered with a smile. it was the least she could do to since he was nice enough to give her the information. “law? wow… so, you’re really, really, REALLY smart, huh? i probably won’t get taught by you though. i’m a dance student so i don’t do classes like that.” she stared at him in awe, wondering if law was just as confusing as she perceived it to be. it had to be considering one had to know all of the laws in the entire world to be able to teach it… maybe. at least, that’s what she assumed. her eyes flicked down to where he was rubbing along a scar on his hand before she looked back at his face. “does it hurt…?” she asked reluctantly, hoping that she wasn’t overstepping her boundaries in some way by asking. she was curious. “sometimes when people step on or pull my tail, that hurts me. so… i kinda know how you feel.”

This was one very bright and cheerful student, that was all he could really think as he continued to listen to this girl talk. Apparently, having canine physiology also meant that she had the energy of a dog as well... a very excitable dog like she had just been show her favourite chew toy or something. “ You could say I’m really smart, yes, ” he agreed with a smile, just nodding his head a little. While he didn’t like to brag, he did think he was a smart person, not just anyone could study law, let alone teach it. But he wouldn’t really say he had a big head about it, but he was not the sort to push off a compliment like that. The next question did have his pausing, a small sigh slipping past his lips. “ Yes... it hurts every time. ” He knew that she was trying to help, but he very much doubted that someone pulling her tail or stepping on it hurt as much as extending his claws hurt him, but he wasn’t going to mention that. 

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impxtaejoon:

Sometimes, Taejoon wished he had physical manifestations instead of the bullshit astral imprisonment he had that frankly he couldn’t even use lest he wanted to die earlier than expected. If anything, his powers fucked him over in more ways that he could count. Losing a year of life for every human he sends and traps in another dimension wasn’t exactly the best of feelings after all, and he’d much rather have physical manifestations than have to constantly worry about how much of his life would he lose should it happen again.

This wasn’t one of those times.

He had just dismissed a class and was on the way back to the faculty lounge to get himself a cup of tea after being reminded of the upcoming student trials again. God, he hated the trials as much as some of the other students did. And that was when he saw Daewon and his bloody knuckles. He didn’t even have the chance to look away and continue on to the lounge when the older male had called him out, Taejoon’s own eyes narrowing at the other. Rolling his eyes instead, he strode over and opened the first aid kit beside Daewon and took out the medicine and bandages. “Give me your hand—don’t argue with me on this.”

Daewon did clench his jaw a little when he realized who he had called out. He didn’t like looking like this in front of other staff, it just made him look rather pathetic. Mind you, most people expected him to be pathetic because he had never reached Gleam standards and had always been stuck as a Flare. Even now if put through the trials that were coming up for the students he doubted the outcome would be any different. So he shifted a little, averting his eyes for the moment and simply pretending that he hadn’t said anything. But it was apparently a little too late for that. 

Taejoon had come over and now apparently wanted to help. He had been told not to argue about handing his hand over, but Daewon was not in the mood right now. “ I can do it myself, ” he responded stubbornly, pressing his lips together into a straight line. “ Don’t you have other things to be doing instead of helping me? ” He looked as though he had been on his way somewhere, so it was probably better if he kept on going and didn’t waste his time trying to clean up this bloody mess. “ Just go on, ” he urged, nodding his head in the direction the other had been heading, “ I’ve dealt with this enough times to do this by myself. I’m fine, I don’t need your help right now. ”

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Ever wished you were someone else?

He cocked his head to the side, the smallest of smiles quite evident on his young looking face. “ Haven’t you ever wished you were someone else? ” Everyone did at some point, even if they didn’t want to admit it. These days, a lot of people were quite happy to be themselves, but he knew for a fact there were many more who just wished they were someone else, in some other situation. “ But yes, I have wished that I was someone else. Someone normal who could go and be a lawyer like I want without having to worry about accidentally impaling someone when I get angry. But, that is just a silly wish, I am who I am and I’m not going to change just because I want to. ”

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Are there any perks to your power?

A hard and rather laugh left his mouth at that, snorting just a little. “ Perks to have claws made out of bone and having to rip my hand open every time I have to use them? I wouldn’t say so. ” His power was just nothing but a curse that he couldn’t get rid of. And trust him, he had tried to break his claws, cut them off, anything. They just regrew every time. “ But, ” he added with a sigh, “ I suppose you could say there are some perks. Like being able to climb walls, or rip a man’s throat out if I wanted to. ”

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Is there a particular sad memory that comes to your mind often that you wish went away? Is it too personal to share?

Daewon paused at the question, lips pursing together as he absently started tracing one of the old scars on his knuckles with a finger. “ Just one, ” he admitted softly. It was not a story he told anyone, then again, no one went around asking so he just didn’t tell. Not that he supposed he would if anyone asked. “ They day I found out about my power, ” he spoke after a moment, “ For most that would be a good day, realising you were special and all. Not me, that just marks the day I spilled blood, took a life. Even if I didn’t mean it, it happened and there is nothing I can do about it. I wish that memory would just go away. ” 

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impaiko:

She nodded, offering a soft but sweet smile as she inched closer to him. She couldn’t help the small wince that happened upon her face when she saw his hands. Even holding back the pain, she could tell it hurt. How couldn’t something like that hurt? Aiko cried when she got a paper cut, so she could only admire his strength in being able to keep a straight face while talking to her. “Well, it wasn’t super important. Or at least, I don’t think it was.” Letting out a nervous chuckle, Aiko nibbled on her lip as she searched for something that sounded right. What had she wanted to talk about? Was it something about the assessment? Probably, but for some reason she couldn’t be completely sure. A lot of things were bothering her as of late. Her performance in the pool, her grades, her friends ( or lack there of ), and now the power assessments. She supposed she could say any of those were what she came for and it wouldn’t make a difference to him. “I’ve been kinda stressed lately. A lot of things don’t seem to be going my way at all.” 

He did pick up on the wince, her eyes moving to his wounds. Daewon shifted his shoulders a little, trying to make more of an effort to hide his hands. This was not something he wanted anyone to look at, he didn’t even looking at the mess he made himself, it was disgusting no matter how many times he had seen it by now. He couldn’t imagine how this must look to someone seeing it for the first time. He was slightly irked that he was being bothered even if it wasn’t that important, but he kept the rather neutral look on his face for the time being. He’d said he would help her and listen, so that was just what he was going to do. No turning her away just because he wasn’t feeling his best and was currently bleeding on his desk. “ Like what? ” He asked, gesturing for her to take a seat. “ Well it is good you are talking to someone about it. I have found one of the best ways to relieve stress is to talk about it with someone. ”

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impeunbyul:

Eunbyul wouldn’t consider herself polite by any measure. In fact, she was often told to be quite the opposite and she agreed. It’s hard to shake off what was ingrained deep within but recent times found her quickly learning that Imperium prefers the well-behaved. Not to say she doesn’t have her harsh moments but the last thing she wanted was to get on her professors’ bad side. Who else would teach her to control her power otherwise ? 

She took his words as invitation to step forward and focused her attention on his knuckles, unfazed by his open wounds. With a flick of her wrist, the blood lifted into a small blob and momentarily hovered until she moved it towards the towel, her grin widening in triumph. Eunbyul stole a glance at the teacher before narrowing her eyes at his hand, slightly apprehensive. It was a trick she’s been practicing for a while, mostly on herself, but surely a teacher wouldn’t mind, right ? Gripping the nearest table, Eunbyul felt herself weaken as she poured her energy, releasing it from her fingertips and feeling it’s effect on his blood flow. Seconds passed in silence until she released a deep sigh. “ That’s all I’ve got. ” Eunbyul couldn’t heal his wounds completely but there was pleased smile on her lips as she looked upon them now, considerably smaller and no blood in sight.

Daewon was normally pretty hesitant about letting students practice their powers on him. While he was sure that was part of being a teacher here and he did want them all to get better so they didn’t end up in the same situation he was, it was still just a little worrying. This was just different, he was already bloody and in pain so what the worse than could happen? He could be in more pain, probably, but he was already suffering. If there was a chance she could make it better, then he wasn’t in the mood to pass up on it. 

He was silent as he watched her work, rather impressed with what she was able to do. At least she didn’t appear to be making the situation any worse and she saved him the bother of having to clean up the blood by himself. That was just messy and painful work, whereas this wasn’t actually hurting him in the slightest. “ Not bad, ” he mused once she was done, inspecting her work for a moment as he flipped his hand over, “ Not bad at all. I can see why you’re a Gleam. ” There were still holes in-between his knuckles, but they were much smaller than they had been, not to mention they weren’t bleeding anymore. He’d still have to cover it up though, it was still an open wound and it could still easily get infected. “ Well, thank you, ” she had helped him out, so he might as well thank her for it. 

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imphyeju:

HYEJU HAD A TENDENCY TO VISIT DIFFERENT FACULTY. there were a few who were interesting. that included moon taesung with his big and fluffy angel wings, and the one she was headed towards. not that it really was the best idea, he was much more… negative than some of the professors she had the chance to talk to. but he somehow ( inadequately if she could add ) tolerated her presence. she had no idea why she pestered the man so much, but there was something incredibly addicting about him. and as she opened the door to his office, she wasn’t surprised to hear the blistering anger in his voice. 

“ knocking? what’s that? please enlighten me, ” she replied sarcastically as she listened to the professor’s words. kang daewon, a flare professor for law. and in her experience, she wasn’t sure how to think of him. it was very much confusing to her. though she had to wonder if  everyone who graduated as a flare was like him. placing a cup in front of him, she shrugged her shoulders. “ i thought you’d like some tea, ” she added. noticing the man’s bandaged hands, she stared down at the pile of papers in front of him as well. claw refraction, she reminded herself. it didn’t seem like a useless power to her. staring down at her own hands, she remembered the amount of scarring and burns she had with each acid attack. it was painful to have powers. 

“ do you need help with grading at all? you seem exceptionally angered today, ”  she offered with a smile. if she could do at least something for him, it would be worth the visit. one thing off his plate, right? 

He sighed a little heavier when he realized who had just come into his office. His lips twisted into a slight frown as he looked at her for a moment. She sometimes did this, just burst in as way of announcing herself and most times he was in better moods. But he was currently feeling a little stressed, students were not the only ones who had to do work and had deadlines. And he needed to get this all graded so he could had it back next lesson and set them the next part to work towards their major. Daewon really didn’t have the time for these kinds of distractions, though he was slightly thankful for the distraction from his work for the moment. 

 “ Knocking is something that you should educate yourself on for next time you want to come and visit, ” he told her rather plainly, flexing his fingers a little, ignoring the slight aching pain ricocheting up his arm in response. Though he did pause for a moment as he watched her come over and put a cup in front of him. This was not something he had expected and he was stunned into silence for a short moment. “ Well, thank you, ” he responded after a moment, “ But this doesn’t make up for just bursting in here. ” The last part was spoken with a smile as he pulled the cup a little closer. 

At the offer he just chuckled a little, lips still slightly twisted upwards. “ I do not think I could let a student help with my grading, ” not that he supposed she had any bad intentions like changing a friends grade, but he couldn’t allow that. “ This is something I have to do myself. ”

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impnao:

🐾 — SHE FROWNED AS HE REVEALED that he’d eaten all of the crackers, ears drooping down and tail following along. “oh…” she mumbled. she should have gotten there sooner. curse her short legs! “okay. what were you eating? was it super delicious like it smells?” at the very least she could hear about how good it tasted while he was eating it. maybe she could get some later if he was nice enough to tell her what it was he was eating. nao cocked her head to the side then, tail swinging side to side as she watched him intently. “my name’s nao! who are you? i’m sorry. i forgot to ask. mommy always said i was really rude sometimes because i’d forget to introduce myself. your food smelled really good, so i forgot” she explained with a smile as she leaned over the back of the bench. “hey! what’s your power? i bet it’s something really cool because you look super cool.”

It seemed like she had believed him, which was good because he didn’t exactly want to be found out as a liar. “ They were shrimp crackers, ” he informed her with a small smile, “ And yes, they were quite nice. I have a liking for all things shrimp- they are my favourite snack. ” He didn’t mind sharing that information, either, it was not like it was something to be embarrassed about or anything. “ I am Kang Daewon and I teach Law, ” he responded as she finally told him who she was. Now he knew her name he was going to make a point of remembering it, just because he liked knowing who everyone was, it made it so much easier to tell them off if he ever came across someone causing trouble. “ My power? ” He hesitated for a moment, absently running a finger along one of the scars on his hand. “ Claw retraction, ” he admitted eventually, “ But I wouldn’t really say it was cool. ”

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impxkali:

it was only when the professor blocked her view and snapped kali out of whatever distracted daze that she’d been in, did she actually know and see what she’d been doing unknowingly up until now. and when she did, well kali let out an almost distressed, panicked noise as her hands slapped on the pages that were burning, snuffing it out as quickly as she could whilst her mind stopped her from thinking about the first ten years ago. so no, she didn’t want to burn the school down– “s-sorry– i.. i-i didn’t.. i– i didn’t mean too– sorry..” even her words sound panicked as she finally gets the fire out and pushes the notebook away. it had been a while since she’d inactively used her powers herself. it was ember that used them after all, kali pretended she didn’t have them.. they were too dangerous for her, but now she felt disappointed in herself for not even noticing it until the professor had actually pointed it out.

He hadn’t meant to frighten or surprise the girl, though he did feel a little bad as she made a rather distressed noise as she attempted to put out her notebook. It was clear that she hadn’t even noticed she was doing it, but he smiled at her, just trying to look as friendly as possible to calm her down. “ I know, it’s okay, ” he told her with a nod of his head, “ But something must be clearly bothering you. Do you want to talk about it? ” Talking normally helped with these kinds of things, he knew that it helped him when he was still getting to grips with his claws. Though it had still taken him a hell of a long time to be able to retract his claws again, but he liked to think that talking about it had helped somewhat and it wasn’t just because he was completely incompetent at his power. 

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impaiko:

“Are you sure? I can come back later.” Even though she was offering him privacy, her actions contradicted her words as she stepped into the room completely, holding her hands behind her back. Most people already thought her to be a bit scatterbrained, so she didn’t want to give him a reason to think she was. But for the life of her Aiko couldn’t remember what she came in here for. Was it to complain? Possibly. The assessments were swiftly approaching and it was safe to say that she was stressed out, but it didn’t really feel like that was her purpose. It was hard for her to keep her thoughts all aligned and with the bloody serving as a reasonable distraction, it only made sense that she’d lost her train of thought.

“I think I just wanted to talk.” A nervous chuckle escaped her lips as she tried to hide the embarrassed expression on her face. “The past few days have been difficult and I think I wanted a neutral party to ask for advice. But if you’re busy I can come back later. You were just the first person I thought of.”

“ I’m sure, ” he nodded his head a little, smile still on his face, though he was still trying to bite back pain. He didn’t actually want to be dealing with this right now, but he was not the sort of person to turn someone away just because he was having a bit of a bad time. For now, he just made an attempt to stop the bleeding so he didn’t just get blood everywhere, pressing hard on his knuckles, wincing ever so slightly with a small hiss through his teeth, though he tried to play it off as nothing, straightening himself up in his chair a little more as he pulled his eyes back to the teenager in front of him. Daewon just hoped that this wouldn’t take too long, he did need to sort this out before it became infected or something. 

He raised a brow, tilting his head a little to the side. “ You think? ” He repeated, “ You don’t actually remember why you came to my office? ” But what was more surprising was that he was apparently the first person she thought of for this kind of thing. He wouldn’t say he was the best at giving advice, while he was optimistic with his students, he was not there to offer any life advice. “ I don’t know what I can offer in the way of advice, but I’ll see what I can do. What’s troubling you? ”

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impaiko:

She hadn’t meant to seem creepy. She’d walked in with the intention of speaking to Daewon about something, but now she couldn’t quite remember what it was she wanted to talk about. As soon as she entered the room, the familiar scent of blood filled her nose and instantly brought worry to Aiko’s features. She knew it was common for him, but that didn’t mean it looked any less painful. After a few moments of watching silently, he spoke up and it took her by surprise. For the most part she thought she had been being sneaky, going by unnoticed but she supposed she wasn’t as stealthy as she’d like to be.

“Sorry, teacher.” Stepping out from behind the door frame, Aiko offered an apologetic bow and a soft smile. “I didn’t want to startle you when you were..” She gestured to his hands and frowned. “Cleaning up. I figured I’d wait until you were done to say anything.” 

He’d thought he was alone... he would have liked it if he was alone. Daewon never liked having people around for the aftermath, it was just slow and painful and showed the more sensitive side of him. Which was not really something he wanted to showcase to his students, but he supposed that couldn’t be helped when none of them seemed to be familiar with the concept of knocking on the door before they entered. Sometimes he did wonder if any of them had grown up with manners, but he decided not to question it, just sighing a little as he looked at the teenager. 

“ It’s fine, ” he lied quickly, offering Aiko a smile, “ it can wait. ” It probably couldn’t as he was still bleeding, but he didn’t really want to be doing this when there was a student around. Especially because it hurt and he did tend to get a little... mouthy when he was in pain. No doubt someone would complain if they found out he was heavily swearing in front of students, even if he was sure most of them probably swore themselves, anyway. “ What did you want? ”

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impeunbyul:

Eunbyul couldn’t help but stare as she leaned against the wall, arms crossed and eyes narrowed in slight concern and fascination. Sharp, bone-like structures protruded from human flesh and, in an instant, retracted leaving no traces of its existence save for the liquid pooling in his knuckles. And It was that, the deep crimson blood that drew her attention. While it was a minor quantity, Eunbyul could recognise its faint scent anywhere, and her fingers itched with a familiar sensation. The desire to control was ignited. 

She had thought to make her presence known and lips parted in preparation, but she was caught before a noise could escape. Pushing herself off the wall, Eunbyul emerged from the shadows and each step held caution as she approached. Actions often spoke louder than words, and Eunbyul wasn’t oblivious to the stiffness of his posture or the tightness in his jaw. No one liked to be exposed in their weakest moments and judging by his demeanor, he was no different. “ Kinda hard not to, ” she admitted but, with a sigh, averted her gaze from the blood to meet his eyes. “ Need help ? ” Lifting an index finger ever so slightly, Eunbyul awaited for the approval she wouldn’t have otherwise asked for had he not been a teacher.

People often told him one of two things about his power. Either it was really cool, or it was really creepy. It would be less creepy if he didn’t shout in pain every time his claw extracted and there was less blood, but there was very little he could do to change that. It was just the way things worked. It was like his power had manifested wrong or something just because it caused him great pain to use it, that shouldn’t happen. Everyone else seemed to feel nothing when they used their given gifts and it just wasn’t fair. 

He stalled for a moment, staring at the student in front of him before his eyes moved to the blood pooled around his knuckles, the ripped open holes still clearly visible. They would heal up and turn into scars eventually, but for now, it was quite disgusting to look at. “ Staring is not very polite, ” he countered with a small shrug of his shoulder. Though she was offering to help and that did confuse him, until he happened to remember what he power was. While he was not a test dummy, he supposed he didn’t want to get in the way of someone improving their power if they could. “ Go ahead, ” he offered, extending his hands a little. 

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impnao:

🐾 — SHE STARED AT HIM FOR a long moment, wondering if maybe she’d done something wrong in her approach. what else had she missed when asking him to share? oh! “please? please share?” she tried. of course she had to be polite when asking for someone to share their food with her. she had been raised with manners after all. “it smells really good! it smells super, super good!” her nose wiggled a little as she spoke, tail moving from side to side as she continued to watch him in the hopes that he would be willing to share his precious snack with her. she really hoped he would be willing to since she’d asked so nicely. however, she would most likely walk away if he said no. maybe… she might also beg him a little more and try using more of her ‘puppy power’ to persuade him to share just a little bit with her. “pretty please?” she whispered, puffing her bottom lip out as she looked up at him through her bangs.

This was all rather confusing for the male. He only blinked a little more as he continued to stare at the student for a little longer. Daewon was just a little baffled, it was like he was actually being spoken to by a puppy. Which he supposed was accurate seeing as he could easily tell this girl had canine physiology but it was still a little... odd. His eyes moved to the packet of shrimp crackers next to him for a moment before looking back at the girl. “ Sorry, ” he lied pretty quickly, feigning a mask of innocence as he reached for the packet, scrunching it up a little, “ You’re too late, I just finished them. ” He hadn’t, but he didn’t really want to share them with anyone, even if they were trying really hard. So it was a good thing he was a good liar then, most people ended up believing him. Besides, why would a teacher lie?