Lesson 2: My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through

"Help me!"

Namjoon looked up from his paperwork (because being an evil overlord is more than just destruction and devastation, you know) and frowned. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, but he wasn't quite sure where it was coming from.

When he didn't hear it again, he shrugged and went back to working on some official documents about his demands that had to be sent to the townspeople soon. It was probably just his imagination or something.

Of course, that's when the screaming started up again.

"Help me! I'm stuck!"

It wasn't his imagination.

With a sigh, Namjoon rose from his desk and walked out of his office, listening carefully and frowning as the screams got louder. The voice was definitely familiar now, and he didn't like it one bit.

He found himself at the end of the hall and for some reason, the screams seemed to be coming from inside the wall itself. Raising one hand, Namjoon knocked on the wall and the screaming promptly stopped.

"Who's there?" Namjoon demanded.

"It's me!" The voice replied. "Jeongguk!"

Jeongguk. That name sounded familiar.

Where did he hear it again... Namjoon's eyes narrowed as he tried to think back to where he had heard this name until finally, it had hit him.

Jeon Jeongguk. The Rubik's cube kid who hadn't been paying attention while he was trying to teach and yet was still somehow really good at all the practical exercises he had run for those villain wannabes.

"Jeon Jeongguk," Namjoon began, eerily calm considering the situation. "Please tell me how you ended up in my wall."

He already knew the stupidity was going to give him a headache.

"Well," Jeongguk began, voice slightly echoey for some reason, "I decided I was going to come to show you something that I've been working on, but your guard wouldn't let me in-"

"That's his job, yes."

"-so I decided that if I couldn't come through the front doors, I'd just go through the back door, but you don't have a back door, so I ended up wandering around your rose garden maze for about an hour or so, I'm not really sure, but your roses are really pretty and I may have stopped to smell them for a bit because you know what they say. Anyway-"

"Jeongguk please just get to the point" Namjoon groaned, rubbing his temples in irritation.

"I was getting there!" Jeongguk protested with a huff. "Anyway, I saw a grate and I knew that it's for the airflow in your castle... mansion... lair... thing, so I decided I was going to climb through it so that I could end up somewhere inside and I was sure I'd find my way to you eventually."

He paused for a moment.

"But... uh... I kinda got stuck."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Namjoon stated flatly. "How did you even- actually, no. I don't want to know."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Jeongguk muttered and if he wasn't currently, you know, stuck in the air duct in Namjoon's wall, he probably would have shrugged.

"Can you move at all?" he asked, not wanting to leave the kid stuck in there for much longer. He might be an evil overlord, but he wasn't outright cruel without a reason. The kid was a bit smarter than everyone gave him credit for, but he was not wise whatsoever.

Also, it might be worth it someday to have Jeon Jeongguk indebted to him. Maybe.

"Not really," Jeongguk replied, voice muffled. "My shoulders are stuck."

"Great. Just great," Namjoon whispered to himself. He sighed and straightened up to his full height from his perpetual slouch caused by slaving over the paperwork (he would burn it all if he could) and spoke loudly, his voice booming and echoing through the empty halls.

"Jeongguk, I need you to stay completely still and hold your breath, alright?"

"What, why-"

"Don't ask any questions, just do it. You asked for help, so I'm helping you." He was beyond exasperated, really. You just didn't try and break into a villain's stronghold without at least expecting that it wouldn't go so well. Especially not if you're a fellow villain. (Or in this case, a villain in training).

"In three," Namjoon said clearly as he began the countdown. "Oh, and close your eyes too. Just in case. Two. One."

He pressed a button on a remote that he carried with him at all times and immediately, the entire ventilation system began the clean-out process, pushing all debris out of the ducts with an incredibly powerful stream of air.

Namjoon heard a weird squealing noise as Jeongguk came dislodged from the shaft and was hurtled back toward the outside of the building. When he heard a very undignified shriek and a faint thump, he knew the kid was going to be alright.

"So," Namjoon began, standing in front of Jeongguk with his arms crossed. "What have we learned today?"

"Never try to climb through your air ducts because you will get stuck," Jeongguk mumbled, obviously embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I just really wanted to show you this thing that I figured out and-"

Namjoon cut him off with a sigh and the wave of a hand.

"You can show me now if you really want to."

"I can?" Jeongguk's eyes were sparkling like a child who'd just been told that they could have any toy they wanted. "Really?"

"I'm already out here anyway," he shrugged and Jeongguk's smile seemed to grow even more.

He might be evil sometimes, but he wasn't about to ruin this kid's day.

And besides, the town could suffer a little longer.