Serena was exhausted and it was only the third class of the day. She got transferred to the new school, Feather Academy, a week and a half ago, which was home to two distinct groups of people: those who are marked, waiting for their powers to manifest, and those who are winged and need to practise using their powers.

The process of being winged is complicated and is still not fully grasped by society. Say two marked people were placed in the same situation - what made the difference between the one who proceeds to be winged versus the one who stays simply marked? There is a correlation between winged and activators, the 'regular' person who helped activate the marked's power. During the process, the winged and the activator form an invisible bond, though it is also speculated that this bond was predetermined already and that the moment the marked becomes winged is the moment that the bond is at its strongest. Powers are also strongest when these two are in close proximity, hence the activator is strongly encouraged to transfer to this academy - by strongly, it usually meant 'automatically' and that's how Serena ended up here. Unfortunately only Serena knows it was a huge mistake that no one believed her in.

It all happened two weeks ago when she was mistaken as the one who winged Kyungsoo. It was a pouring day at the park and Serena's mom always warned her not to stand under trees when a lightning storm occurred:

"Ah this umbrella is useless!" Serena tried to keep the umbrella from flipping over because of the strong winds. If it wasn't for the midterm she wouldn't have gone to school. It made matters worse when the local construction men decided that the main road had to close due to bursting pipelines due to the weather. The only way back to her home was through the park, and she hated the feeling of walking through the mud as it made squishing noises. 

A strong surge came from the center of the park and rippled outwards. Serena felt the air tense at it came towards her and the mud on the ground solidified. It was still a downpour but the earth was no longer swayed by the water's power. Serena felt a slight familiarity with what was going on so she tried to search for the source. As she picked up her pace, Serena recalled back to when she was young and first witnessed someone being winged. Every pair of 'wings' is unique to the person who is winged and Serena was fascinated by them. When she arrived at the scene, however, it was apparent that the event was already over. It was strange though, as there was only one person visible at the scene.

A guy, wearing Feather Academy's uniform, was lying on the ground and seemed to be unconscious. The rain drenched his entire body, but the dirt was completely dry surrounding him.

"This must be the guy who was winged. His sleeping face looks kind of cute." Serena squat down beside him and poked his shoulder. "Are you alive?" There was no response so Serena started to panic. Should she call for an ambulance? Maybe calling the academy would be better since they probably had experience with this?

"Excuse me…"

Serena looked over her shoulder to see a woman holding an umbrella and a notepad. "I'm from the Academy and we got a notice that someone has been winged in this vicinity."

Serena pointed at the guy. "Yeah, he-"

"Great we'll take it from here, you can relax for a little bit." The woman fixed her glasses. "Please stay for a little bit so we can get your personal details." Serena figured that they might have needed a witness' claim for confirmation, but she did not expect that it was the registration as an Activator. There were people that came to check the guy's pulse and school id and all this happened when it was still pouring. They brought a tent to surround the area. Serena watched in wonder. The first time she saw someone winged was between an older couple, so the school was not directly involved during that time.

It was an hour before the guy opened his eyes. He appeared to be slightly out of it still. The woman brought her clipboard and a fold up chair next to him. "Do Kyungsoo, correct?"

He nodded in confusion and spoke timidly. "What happened?"

"Congratulations on being winged. We will be moving you to the special class beginning next week."

"I…was winged?" He looked around his body and indeed his mark was now more defined on his skin. He certainly felt a little different, but couldn't completely grasp what it was. His eyes met Serena's. "Were you…?"

Before Serena could refuse the woman replied. "Yes, she's your Activator and will be attending the classes with you. By the looks it seems like you two have never met before until today, so we'll need to schedule some time before next week for you two to be familiar with each other."

"Wait what.…?" Serena was taken back by the sudden decision. She had always wondered what school was like with the marked, but this really shouldn't be happening to her as she wasn't really the activator for Kyungsoo.

"Don't worry about it we've dealt with these incidents before." The woman looked confident.

Ugh, these people are the exact reason why misunderstandings happen. Serena wanted to facepalm as she knew the woman would not take her seriously.

In the evening, Serena's mother was overjoyed that her daughter was going to the Academy.

"Oh Serena, this was your dream since your childhood!" strips of vegetables were flying from the spatula she was holding.

Serena was sitting at the dinner table with her head buried in the workbook. "I guess…" She was lost in her thoughts and was unsure if it was the right decision to lie about what happened. She wasn't particularly pessimistic in personally, but she feared this would bite her in the end. On the other hand, she really wanted to get into the Academy and if she didn't really wing someone then this was the only opportunity to do so.

"What was it like to be up close? What did you do? How did you guys meet?" Her mom loved to gossip with her friends so she wanted to know as much information as possible. 

"Argh, don't bother me with questions right now!" Serena needed to take a break from the mess she caused.

Her mother frowned. "That's not the way to talk to someone who's going to feed you in half an hour." She continued on with her thoughts. "I heard that the dormitories are pretty different compared to other boarding schools. It's like they mentioned something about Activators living with the person they winged…"

Serena's eyes widened. "Please don't tell me this rumour is true." The last thing she wanted right now is to stay 24 hours around the person who would hurt the most from her lie.

The week went by too quickly as it was already time to meet Kyungsoo for their 'bonding' time before they moved into the dorms.