Serena got up extra early to arrive before the time that the principal had assigned. While she walked under the pedestrian overpass, she felt a cold stare from somewhere. When she turned around, there was no one there. She didn't notice a slim figure on the bridge who was watching her every step. Some would say this person would be as quiet as Kyungsoo, but the difference would be that he hated company while Kyungsoo would be at least trying to make friends. 

 

He wasn't interested in talking to her, but she was someone he had to keep an eye on simply because of all the commotion she was causing at the school. As long as he kept his distance, it shouldn't affect him. One thing he was good at was being unnoticed, somewhat like a ninja in the shadows. At least, that's what he likes to think that way in his mind.

 

As he began to walk away, another guy rushed by him. The panicking guy was mumbling something about being late for his next job, but the self-proclaimed ninja didn't even bother caring about what it meant. After all, his 'job' at the Academy was to be the loner.

 

Serena finally reached the principal's office. The door was left open as if it was waiting for Serena to go into the room.

 

"Come on in Serena!" The Principal's voice echoed across the room. "Please close the door when you enter!" Serena obeyed. 

 

The principal was dressed very formally and wore a really nice black sunhat. 

 

"Have a seat, have a seat." She pointed at the couch. "I'm glad you didn't bring your Winged with you, as this was going to be a private talk between you and me."
 

"Does...this have something to do with winging Chanyeol?" Serena speculated.

 

The principal nodded. "Partially. You see, we have never re-admitted someone who was kicked out, whether it was an Activator or a Marked. We made a special exception because of the one you winged." She brought over a folder with Chanyeol's name on it from her desk. "As speculated..."

 

Serena was confused. "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

 

The principal lifted her index finger. "Your re-admittance comes with some fine prints. Since you were able to wing Chanyeol there are a few others that you will need to wing in order to stay at the school. If you agree to this, then you must at least attempt to wing them all - we'll be keeping an eye on you. If not, then you and Chanyeol are most welcome to leave right after our talk. Oh, and if you decide to quit in the middle then all of your Winged will have to leave as well."

 

"Wing more?!" The task seemed impossible for Serena, especially since she had little knowledge of how she was able to wing Chanyeol. "Isn't this kind of forced?"

 

"Oh no, we're not taking the same route as what Chanyeol was doing." She waved the idea away. 

 

"So you guys knew that he was targeting Activators and didn't do anything about it?" 

 

"Nope! There's no need to intervene unless someone's life was in danger. And as you know, Chanyeol isn't the type to do that." The principal continued on with Serena's mission. "These guys won't be easy. You'll need to have genuine bonds with these fellows in order to wing them." 

 

"But why me?" Serena felt like there was more to it than simply because it was a requirement to stay at the Academy.

 

"Honestly speaking, I'm not a hundred percent sure you're the one for this job. When time comes we'll know for sure, so for now just accept this task as-is." The principal's face became worried.

 

"So how many are there." Serena figured if it was only one or two more troublemakers it shouldn't be that hard. The principal stood up and opened up a cabinet. Her finger hovered over the files and she counted in whispers. 

 

"Ten to be exact." She stopped at the last folder. 

 

"T-ten?!" If Serena was drinking a liquid that moment it would have spilled out from . Luckily she wasn't offered any. "There are nine more I have to wing?"

 

"Don't worry about winging all of them at once (although that would be great if you actually did!) We'll release the information one by one so that you won't get too overwhelmed."

 

"I'm already overwhelmed after hearing that number." Serena was not feeling confident about this at all. 

 

"Think about it this way, you're at 10% already!" The principal laughed alone. "Plus you'll get some special perks, such as being able to skip classes. And free feel to call me Principal Kim. I know students were having a hard time realizing what my name was since I don't have a name plate." She tapped her head. "I should really buy one eventually."

 

It didn't seem like Serena had much of a choice here. "Alright I'll give it a go." She said as she wondered who she was supposed to wing next. 

 

Principal Kim gave the details of the Marked that she should be looking for. Serena had never seen this person, although she wasn't at the Academy for that long and hardly interacted with the Marked apart from Chanyeol. Perhaps he would know something about him?

 

After Principal Kim sent a very perturbed Serena along her way, she logged back onto her desktop computer. There was a reason why she had to use paper files for all Marked students instead of keeping them in the digital database. She considered it a miracle to be able to pinpoint down which ten Marked were the right ones. There was no way of identifying what powers they had prior to the winging process so it took a long time to properly deduct who they were. When Chanyeol was winged with one of the powers speculated, Principal Kim felt a little more assured.

 

Looking at Serena's profile and her history, Principal Kim was sure that she had no shady background. "She's quite lackluster as well..." She spoke to herself. "No significant skills...but can multi-task and learn new skills quickly. I guess that's sufficient enough."

 

An instant message popped up on the desktop. 

 

CHY: No signs of suspicious activity for today. 

 

Principal Kim felt that something was wrong. It's been way too long since the last time since they came out, but all that they can do right now is just wait.