“Jongdae,” screams Chanyeol from where he’s waiting downstairs, “you better be ing ready because I know I am!”

“Language,” reminds Jongdae’s mother as she passes the boy, who’s bouncing on his heels excitedly, and Chanyeol actually looks contrite for more than a second.

But then Jongdae is trudging down, bag slung over his shoulder, and features set in an unreadable expression, and he mutters, “Only you’d be this excited to go to school.”

“Dude,” says Chanyeol, “dude. Did your sense of adventure jump off a cliff or something? It’s Haneul High, man. We’ve only been waiting to go since we were like, in the womb. Aren’t you the slightest bit excited about this?”

“About as excited about it as you are about my mum’s tuna lasagna,” declares Jongdae dryly, reaching the bottom rung of the stairs. Haneul High, the Seoul-based superhero high school for kids with super powers, or kids of super-powered parents. Like Jongdae and Chanyeol.

His mother’s voice rings out from the kitchen, “I heard that.”

“Look.” Chanyeol places a hand on his shoulder. “You know you’re probably just a late bloomer. I mean, you might have some kickass power that nobody else has, and maybe it just takes longer to manifest itself!” He adds, slightly sullenly, “I mean, look at me.”

“Breathing fire is cool,” Jongdae attempts to reassure him, but on the inside, he’s wincing slightly. Chanyeol can’t really light anything bigger than a candle. “You’re technically an Manipulator.”

A Manipulator being someone with an ability corresponding to natural or elemental powers. Like people who control wind, water, fire, the earth, the weather, and etcetera. Even though Chanyeol has the barest mininum of Fire Manipulation, he’s still counted as one. And Manipulators with the purest of powers are treasured, for having the most natural-based powers of all super-people.

Chanyeol sighs dramatically. “Well, could be worse.”

“Yeah,” agrees Jongdae glumly. “You could have no powers at all. Oh, wait. Like me!”

“Calm yourselves, children,” says Kyungsoo, who’s just come in through the door. Unlike the other Manipulators in the area who mostly consider themselves to be of a higher class than everyone else and basically look down on those with unconventional abilities, Kyungsoo is one of the nicest people Jongdae’s ever met, despite the fact that he’s probably ten times more powerful than Jongdae will ever be. “I see Chanyeol’s ‘ready-face’ is on full blast.”

“Don’t worry, you’re only four minutes late to the pity-party,” says Chanyeol cheerfully, and he takes Jongdae by one arm, and Kyungsoo by the other, and hollers, “See you later, Mrs. Kim!” as he drags them out the door, even as Kyungsoo sighs and says that he’s just gotten here.

It’s not like Jongdae’s not looking forward to going to Haneul High. He is. Just… not completely. 

He’s been waiting for his powers to show up for the past fifteen years, and still, not the slightest bit. Jongdeok, his older brother, had manifested powers when he was nine, inheriting their mother’s ability to control technology. 

Jongdae’s just hoping he even has a power. He’d take anything at this point. 

“Come along,” Kyungsoo is saying, and Jongdae blinks out of his reverie. The bus is here, he hadn’t even noticed, and Jongdae numbly follows behind Kyungsoo and Chanyeol up the steps to the bright yellow bus. 

There are already a bunch of other kids seated in the bus, and Jongdae can’t wait to get out there and thoroughly embarrass himself in front of everyone by not being able to do anything at all.

Kyungsoo helpfully pulls him along by the sleeve as they head for the unoccupied seats at the back of the bus, and Jongdae has never felt more like a lamb being led to slaughter. He voices this thought to Chanyeol, who snorts, and comments on how they haven’t even reached the school yet.

“Hi,” says a kid who’s sitting a seat away from them, and he seems friendly enough. Until he focuses his attention purely on Kyungsoo and says, “Hey, you’re the geokinesis guy. Shouldn’t you be sitting with your type instead of these losers?”

“I would prefer the company of these two over everyone else in this bus, thank you,” says Kyungsoo briskly, and the boy scowls, turning back to his seat-mate. 

“Touching,” says Jongdae, “and it seems that even super high school has its own little social stigmas.”

Kyungsoo leans back in his seat, just as the driver calls for everyone to buckle up their seatbelts, and murmurs, “Sorry though. It’s not fun being called losers, I surmise.”

Chanyeol’s still smiling, but the slightest hint of a frown-line creases his forehead, and he waves his hand at Kyungsoo, going ‘pshhh.’ “As long as you don’t think we’re losers, then it’s cool.”

“But you are,” deadpans Kyungsoo, “you know I only hang around you two to lord my intelligence and superiority over you.”

Jongdae calmly reaches over and flicks him in the forehead. 

And predictably, when the bus starts to fly, Chanyeol responds to the situation with much excited screaming and whooping, sounding like his capslock key has just shattered into pieces.

Jongdae regrets sitting next to him. Jongdae regrets not bringing his earphones like the ever-smart Kyungsoo (“I am the true genius,” says Kyungsoo, and Jongdae twacks him again). Jongdae regrets his entire life.

They reach the school soon enough, to the relief of his eardrums, and he can’t help but think it really does look quite wonderful, with all its students freely using their powers, and buildings of creamy white and greenery everywhere. Jongdae thinks, maybe this won’t be too bad.

Until the orientation happens, of course. 

The new batch of students is led to the gymnasium, where a Mr. Jung smiles at them, asks them to call him Yunho instead, and tells them they have to display their power to be placed into the proper track, a test called the Power Placement.

Hero, or Sidekick. Also nicely worded as Hero Support.

(No surprise where Jongdae’s going.)

He watches with increasing despair as students go up and showcase some of the better powers he’s seen. One bespectacled boy can spit acid, another can shapeshift into anybody he wants, and there’s even a tiny girl with the power to read thoughts. A Fire Manipulator who can blast fire from his palms receives loud applause, which only serves to give Chanyeol grief, when he breathes a tiny little flame onto his finger, and Yunho marks him as ‘Sidekick,’ later on in the orientation.

Kyungsoo, of course, is placed immediately into the Hero track, and he glances awkwardly at the two of them when he returns from the platform, obviously knowing that they won’t be sharing any classes.

He’s good though, and deserves to be in that track, and so Jongdae whispers to him, “Congrats. Join us at lunch, yeah?” and gives him a thumbs up when Kyungsoo grins honestly at him.

“Kim Jongdae,” comes his name after a few more people.Time to face reality.

Jongdae walks up to the platform, and stands there for a good five seconds, before stating, “I don’t have a power yet.”

There’s sniggering and slight laughter from the Hero track kids, minus Kyungsoo. The Hero Support track kids all nod sympathetically. Jongdae doesn’t know whether to run away or fall over and ask that kid from before to spit at him until he’s liquified completely.

“Off you go to Hero Support, then, for the time being,” offers Yunho, and it’s obvious that he thinks Jongdae will probably remain there even after he gets his powers. That is, if he even gets one.

Chanyeol shrugs at him when he returns to the crowd, and whispers, “At least we’ll be in the same class, then.”

The new batch of thirty manages to split evenly into Hero and Sidekick (Jongdae knows the name Hero Support means the same thing basically) tracks, with the former having one or two more people than the other track, and Jongdae grips at his bag almost painfully as they head off to their classes, only half paying attention to what Chanyeol is nattering on about, something about lockers and stuffing.

It especially , when they’re about to head into their class, and Jongdae sees his older brother with a few of his friends.

He ducks his head, hoping his brother doesn’t see him, but Jongdeok’s friend spots him, and says way too loudly, “Hey, your brother’s a sidekick?”

Jongdae glances up and his eyes meet Jongdeok’s, and immediately he tears his gaze away from his older brother’s in slight shame, hurrying into his classroom, and even as he slams his forehead down on his desk, he can still see in his mind the look on Jongdeok’s face. Confusion. 

He’d never really told his family that his powers hadn’t manifested yet. And now, his older brother, his perfect older brother in the Hero track with the fantastic scores has a sidekick for a little brother. 

Perfect.

“Why is it so cold,” grumbles Chanyeol, and he blows small flames in front of him, trying to warm up the space around him. 

“Quit it, you might set something on fire,” exclaims a girl in front of him, and Chanyeol immediately sticks his tongue out at her.

“Is he always like that?” asks a boy from beside Jongdae, and Jongdae remembers him as the kid who made light glow from his palms during the orientation. “I’m Baekhyun, by the way.”

“Jongdae,” he replies, and his lips twist in amusement. “He is. That’s Chanyeol. The loudest human being to ever grace this side of the planet.”

“Hi!” says Chanyeol at that very moment, smiling widely at Baekhyun, before turning back to argue with the girl on the pros and cons of fire.

Baekhyun chuckles. “He’s not going to go far with that debate. Soojung over there is about as cold as her power is. She can make it snow.”

“And that’s all I can do,” interrupts the aforementioned girl, looking glum. “Lousy Manipulator sub-powers are lousy.” She brushes her long hair out of her face, and sighs.

“Tell me about it,” agrees Chanyeol sadly. He perks up after that, though, and says, “Have you ever tried setting snowflakes on fire? Can we try? Oh my god, flaming snowflakes would be amazing! Please?”

Jongdae shakes his head, watching the girl shriek in horror at Chanyeol’s suggestion, and turns back to Baekhyun. The boy’s got dark brown hair falling neatly around his sharp face, and he’s got the prettiest smile, easygoing and sweet. It makes Jongdae relax, and continue with the conversation. “You can produce light, right? Photokinesis is an Manipulator power too.”

“I can, but what’s the good in making light come out of my hands?” Baekhyun holds up his palm, and immediately, it begins to glow. “Not much, when I can’t go any brighter than a twenty watt bulb.”

“Still,” says Jongdae, “at least you’ve got something.”

At that moment, their teacher chooses to walk in, and the students all scramble for their proper seats, before she introduces herself as Hyosung, and spends the rest of the lesson teaching them about the history of sidekicks.

The walk to lunch isn’t as subdued as Jongdae thought it’d be, with Chanyeol lighting up the festivities, literally. He manages to actually set Soojung’s hair on fire, completely by accident, and Soojung retaliates by sending a small cloud to snow on him for the rest of the day. Chanyeol merely brushes the snow off every few seconds and chatters on about random, inane things. Soojung looks disgruntled.

Jongdae thinks it’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

And Baekhyun chuckles, the tips of his hair glowing slightly with each peal of laughter, and Jongdae catches himself glancing over just a few times too many.

They catch a free table, all four of them, and one of Soojung’s friends bounds over to join them, an easygoing girl with short hair pulled back in a snapback from the sophomore Hero track. Amber is fun and fits in immediately, only mentioning her power to control the weather once when Chanyeol asks, and joins in the conversations smoothly.

Kyungsoo slides in with a tray soon after, and quietly comments on how almost all the kids in his class are all jerks. Jongdae just pats his shoulder, and steals his banana milk.

The six of them make a strange combination, but it works. And it’s more than Jongdae had expected, to be honest. He figured he’d just have Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, until the placements for which students would be paired into teams happened, at the end of their senior year.

 The day ends unspectacularly, and they wave goodbye to Amber and Soojung, who take another bus, before heading off home on their own.

Jongdae sits with Baekhyun on the ride back, falling easily into conversation about where they’re each from, as Chanyeol interrogates Kyungsoo on what his classes were like.

“Really? That’s not far from where we are,” says Jongdae in surprise, when he learns where Baekhyun stays. “You could come over and hang out, sometime.”

“Awesome,” beams Baekhyun, and he’s very literally beaming. Jongdae can’t help staring. He looks almost angelic. “I’ve never really been over to anyone’s place before.”

“Come tomorrow night,” suggests Jongdae, and he exchanges phones with Baekhyun to trade phone numbers. “We’re having pizza night. Kyungsoo is bringing his famous homemade cookies.”

“Famous?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow in amusement.

Jongdae grins. “Well, they should be.”

The four of them get off at the same stop, and they wave goodbye to Baekhyun before heading one way, and separating again when Kyungsoo heads off to his place with a goodbye.

“So,” says Chanyeol, grinning, “that was a good first day, right?”

“Yeah,” mumbles Jongdae, thinking about his brother again, and how he’s going to tell his mother. “More or less.”

Being neighbours is ridiculously convenient, most times, but Chanyeol’s room is close enough to Jongdae’s that he can hear what’s going on if it’s loud enough, and if any sort of confrontation’s going to go down tonight, Jongdae doesn’t want him to know about it.

They trade farewells of “see you later,” and immediately on entering the house, Jongdae sees his brother waiting for him. “Jongdeok,” he says. “Now you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jongdeok’s face has an unreadable expression on it. “You’re in Hero Support.”

“Where I belong,” says Jongdae thickly, “since I have no powers anyway.”

“Maybe you’re just a late bloomer,” says his brother, but Jongdae just shrugs, and makes for his room. “Jongdae. Jongdae!”

“What?” he snaps, turning back. “I’m sorry I’m not going to be like you, okay? Or mum. So whatever. I know it’s useless to think that I’m going to amount to anything. Just leave it.”

Jongdeok is left speechless as Jongdae climbs the stairs and locks the door to his room behind him.

“,” says Jongdae quietly, setting his bag down on the floor. “What’s the use of even going to superhero school if I can’t do anything?”

He kicks back onto his bed, and lies there for the rest of the night, just staring at the ceiling.