Sitting next to the burnt hole on the couch, Serena looked at the local classifieds for part-time jobs on her laptop. If she could find some that suited Minseok, then they might be able to talk and get to know each other some more in order for Serena to Wing him. In all honesty, she was still confused by the process. How was she able to wing Chanyeol so easily while he couldn't find someone to wing him before?

 

As if Chanyeol heard her thinking about him, he came out from the washroom after a short shower. Steam was rising from his body as he used his powers to quickly dry himself up and didn't bother to cover his top, but his hair was still wet. Serena stopped browsing and just stared at him with a blank face.

 

"What?" He said in an amused voice.

 

After blinking once Serena shook here head to snap out of staring and focused back on the laptop screen. At least, she tried to as the image was still firmly imprinted in her head. Noticing that Serena wasn't going to show any further reactions, he walked into his shared room and closed the door. Finally something popped up on Serena's screen that Minseok could do and she immediately texted him the link. A few minutes later she heard back from him.

 

 

"Huh?" Serena read the message twice to make sure she understood it. Kyungsoo opened his room door to the scene in order to walk away from Chanyeol (who still didn't have his shirt on) and sat down beside her.

 

"What's up?" Kyungsoo asked. 

 

"Minseok just said that he could pay off his debt...but that doesn't sound right." Serena pointed at the message. "If the debt was so small, he wouldn't need to take so much time off of school for jobs."

 

"I agree." Kyungsoo was in his thinking position. "Something sounds really off."

 

 

 

Serena didn't like the sound of this job at all, especially when they had to mention that no murder would happen. "Any idea what gala he's mentioning about?" She asked Kyungsoo.

 

"No clue." Kyungsoo wished that he could have been more knowledgeable so that he could help Serena. 

 

"I'm going to see the principal in ten minutes, do you want to come with me?" Serena asked. 

 

"Uh, sure!" Kyungsoo replied. The two of them quietly slipped out of the suite so that Chanyeol wouldn't notice them missing. Serena knew that the guy meant no harm, but sometimes his behavior would irk both Serena and Kyungsoo. 

 

"How are you able to sleep in the same room as him?" Serena joked as they walked outside.

 

"Sometimes I wonder that myself." Kyungsoo felt that he was definitely getting more used to Chanyeol and his quirks though. On many occasions Chanyeol would take care of him, while other times he would step on his tail."

 

Once again the principal's door was open. "Hi Serena! Did you manage to find Minseok at the beach?" Serena explained the situation to the principal and expressed her worries about the upcoming job that he got. "You said a gala?" The principal recalled a recent message from CHY mentioning a gala that they should keep an eye on. "You guys know what? How about I give you tickets to the gala to check up on Minseok?"

 

Serena almost immediately agreed. "Though, what's the dress code?"

 

"I'll get you dressed up for the occasion, don't worry about that. I told you, doing this comes with perks." the principal winked. "The gala is happening tomorrow, so I'll book an appointment a few hours before. Sounds good?" 

 

Serena was fine with it. She wasn't too much into fashion or dressing up, so having this opportunity would be a great experience for her. These things don't come by often. 
 

"Great. Hope things don't turn out badly tomorrow, but I'm sure your Winged will be able to handle it." Once Serena and Kyungsoo left, Principal Kim hurried and contacted CHY, letting him know that the new activator would be attending the gallery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Principal Kim had always been uncertain to let new Activators into dangerous situations, but it seemed like time was running out and Serena was the only one who could carry out the job. Even though she sent out an experienced Activator as back up, neither one of them could mess up or else they would be in great danger. That was partially the reason why she didn't tell Serena about the true plans yet, because simply knowing might just put her in more risk. 

 

Self-proclaimed ninja watched as Serena left the principal's office. He knew something was up with himself as he keeps on seeing her by coincidence. He continued to have no intentions of ever approaching her, or anyone for that matter. Keeping his distance was always his forte, so he shouldn't need to make a move. Maybe it was time for him to stay at his dorm for a while so that it would be 100% impossible for him to bump into her.

 

---

 

The next day, Serena went to the dress shop herself after being teased by Chanyeol about letting him go as well. Kyungsoo had to drag him away so that they could borrow suits. Serena had thought about asking Lizzy to go with her, but she might want to come to the gala too. It wasn't that she didn't want Lizzy to go to the gala with her, but that the gala might be a fraud as the principal was suspicious about.

 

The dresses on the racks were lined up by color, ranging from silk white to deep purple. The stylist came up to her and observed her appearance. 

 

"I-I don't want to stand out too much." Serena said quietly and the stylist nodded in confirmation.

 

Meanwhile Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were at a local mall walking around in their suits, with Chanyeol being a little impatient. 

 

"Why do girls always take such a long time dressing up..." Chanyeol said. He caught a glance of himself in the reflection of a store window and adjusted his hair. 

 

A little conscious of his height against Chanyeol's, Kyungsoo tried to avoid eye contact with him. "Personal preference, I guess. I don't mind waiting."

 

"It's not like I don't mind waiting either." Chanyeol quickly corrected himself. "I just prefer it if it took less time."

 

Kyungsoo thought of an analogy. "That's just like saying you want a great pulled-pork sandwich done from scratch in five minutes!"

 

"Hrng, you may be right..." Chanyeol was still trying to adjust back to his old self, but there were some habits such as arguing, that were hard to shake off in an instant. "But compare it with guys. All we need is an itchy suit and uncomfortable shoes!"

 

For once Kyungsoo agreed with what Chanyeol said. He wasn't used to wearing suits and for some reason they were always prickly with the inner lining. Wearing the school blazer was another thing, since he wore it so often that it stretched easier. They walked past a photo printing shop and overheard the argument that the customer was having with the salesperson. 

 

"I've been here so many times, I've gotten the VIP every time!" The customer insisted. 

 

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm new here and I was never told of a VIP program."

 

"Call your boss! I'm sure he'll recognize that it's me!"

 

"I'm sorry, I don't have his number. If you want to come by another day..."

 

"What if you're here again the next time? You see those pictures of the boy group STARS on the advertisement poster over there? I shot those!"

 

"You seem quite young to be a professional..."

 

The customer continued to argue. "I know I'm still in high school, but I do freelance work!"

 

Kyungsoo didn't manage to catch a glimpse of the customer's face. "Poor fellow. He just wants a discount..."

 

Chanyeol placed his hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder. "Sometimes it's best to walk away from customer arguments. You never know when they start going crazy. Let's go, Serena's probably ready by now." They hurried along to the meeting place near the taxi stand. Some people who passed by them stared at their formal suits, but the two ignored the glances. When they arrived, they saw the back of a girl who was dressed in a light pink silk dress. The back of the dress was longer than the front and the top was carefully decorated with a few beads. It also had one strap on the left shoulder that made the overall look more modest. The hair was curled at the bottom, and she held a clutch which matched her outfit.  At the bottom the shoes were wobbly silver pumps, as she was not used to wearing them.

 

"S-Serena?" Kyungsoo stumbled out, as both guys were unused to the outfit and appearance. 

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A/N: Just a heads up the next chapter might be longer than usual so it might take longer for me to update depending on how fast I can write it out (I've planned up to chapter 31 so far lol) :P There's going to be a lot of action to cram in!