Anxiety. There was no other word for it. I wake up feeling my wings tingle, and not in the good way. Something’s changed, but I didn’t know what just yet. My first instinct is to think of the boys under my care; did one of them get hurt? That can’t be it though, I left them all happy last week. Thankfully it’s a Monday so I can check up on all of them at once, it would be a nightmare to have to visit each and every one of them at their respective houses…

As I enter the school, I spot Suho in the student council room, speaking with one of the teachers.

“I saw a request for an immediate transfer for a fellow student on my desk this morning,” Suho says, frowning at the piece of paper in his hands.

“Yes… Wu Yifan has decided to transfer back to China.” The teacher looks reluctant to elaborate, sighing softly. “It’s sudden, but there was nothing we could do to convince him otherwise.”

“But Kris-- Or Wu Yifan as it seems he’d rather be known as, he was our friend. He said nothing to us… Do you mind explaining?” presses Suho, trying to maintain his composure.

“That’s confidential, I’m sorry.” The teacher leaves, smiling apologetically at the boy but he stays true to his words. Suho slumps in his seat, throwing the piece of paper across the room.

“What game is he playing at?” he mutters, taking out his cellphone. He starts texting someone, and I can see the name ‘Yixing’ flashing on the screen.

But I don’t pay too much attention to Suho anymore. My mind is whirling at the sudden news. Why was I not informed? Why did I not see this coming? What kind of guardian angel am I, that I can’t even see one of them suffering under my care that he would just up and leave?

A sudden noise interrupts my thoughts as Lay burst through the door, throwing questions at Suho. Chanyeol is not far behind him, and everyone is in the room soon enough, with the exception of Tao.

“Can I just say, I had no idea of this.” Chanyeol speaks, holding up his hands. “I may be one of his closest friends, but this came out of the blue for me.”

“Did the teachers say anything?” asks Sehun. “He was on the basketball team, and no-one would dare to bully him…”

“That’s the thing…” Suho coughs, unsure of how to continue. “I may or may not have peeked at his original request for transfer--”

“Wow, Suho-hyung, who would have thought,” whistled Kai.

“Whatever. The point is, it said that he was being bullied… That he felt as if he didn’t belong…” There’s a silence as everyone tries to absorb what has just been said. Even I myself am confused.

Didn’t fit it? As one of the popular guys, making new friends in the past few weeks, he felt as if he didn’t fit in? And what about Tao? I was so sure that there was something there…

“Who’s going to tell Tao?” someone says, and everyone just looks at each other, wondering how to break the news to him. Tao was always more sensitive than most, that they learnt when they watched a movie together and Tao cried like a baby at everything.

“Tell me what?” Oh god. How I’m glad that I’m invisible. As selfish as it is as their guardian angel, no-one wants the job of breaking news like that to someone who may or may not have had a budding crush on someone who just ups and leaves. Tao enters the room, whining, “So you guys met up early without me, how mean.”

“Wake up early next time,” retorts Luhan, reaching over to grab Tao into a headlock, ruffling his hair. He glances at the other boys, shooting them desperate signals as to what to do next. I wrack my brains too, thinking of the best way to get out of this situation. As much as I believe in telling Tao the truth, now was not the time.

Oh! I hurry over to Suho, whispering my idea into his ear. I hope this works…

“Tao! Yes, I wanted to tell you about this thing…”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to help me with student council duties today?” he asks, nodding at the other boys. They seemed to get the hint, encouraging Tao to take up the offer. “You’ll get the day off classes,” he adds, and smiles victoriously when Tao nods happily, cheering at the free pass out of class.

“Just let me go to the toilet first, I need to pee.” Tao runs out, and all ten of the others breathe out a sigh of relief.

“I’ll keep him busy for the day… You guys try to find out more about Kris-- I mean Yifan, please?”

“What if… he doesn’t want to talk to us? I mean, he did say that he felt like he didn’t belong…” says Kyungsoo, chewing his bottom lip. “I’d thought-- y’know, after saving me and all--”

“We won’t assume anything for now, let’s just try to get some form of contact with him.” All of them were unsure of Suho’s plan, but they had nothing better. And none of them could deny their want of an explanation from Kris.

I would have gone to Kris, to find out the truth myself, but I have somewhere else to be. Back at the academy.