Serena's eyes were swollen as she walked on the street with her luggage. She couldn't face her mother when she arrived back home, nor anyone else that she knew from before. Would her mother let her move out of the city? Maybe another country? If her mom wouldn't let her do so, she might as well stay at home forever. After all, she could pretty much buy everything online now.

 

She stopped by the park where she first met Kyungsoo. The earth was altered and left an imprint where Kyungsoo was winged. 

 

If only I was a little earlier, maybe I would have really been the one to wing him. Maybe then I would have been admitted properly to the Academy. Maybe then I wouldn't be so embarrassed of what I had done. Serena continued to drag her bags back home.

 

Back at the Academy, Kyungsoo went back to an empty suite. He still had Serena's backpack that she left behind when she ran from the classroom. He examined the exterior of the bag - it had a red gingham pattern with a few zipped compartments. After a few moments it began to remind him of Serena and he had to drop it into her old bedroom that he had once wanted.

 

His heart was emptier than ever. Kyungsoo had truthfully believed in Serena after she had risked her life during the practice battle. He had even started to open up to her, but then this all happened. He didn't know whether to thank or hate Chanyeol for what he had done. He took off his school blazer and hopped onto his bed.

 

If Serena didn't wing me, then who did? Kyungsoo was lost in his thoughts. He still couldn't recall what had happened during his winging. Whoever it is, whey did he or she leave? It's going to be pretty lonely in his life again.

 

---

"Serena, what am I going to do with you..." Serena's mother helped her bring the luggage indoors. "Why didn't you say a thing to your own mother?"

"I'd thought you would stop me from going to the Academy." Serena sheepishly talked back.

 

"And I would have!" her mother lightly slapped Serena's back. "I even told all my friends that you have become and Activator! What am I going to say to them now? And look at your eyes! Go have a shower."

 

Serena's tear ducts wouldn't let her cry anymore, but she was glad her mother had accepted her back into the home. She went into her old room to pick out a fresh set of clothes. One of the walls was filled with her old drawings of how wings might have looked like during the process. Now she didn't want anything to do with the Winged and begun to take them down. Chanyeol's figurative slap of reality brought all of her hopes down of ever becoming an Activator. 

 

"Well...now that's out of the way..." Serena forced herself to say, "I can focus on my future career path...whatever that may be."

 

After dinner Serena stayed in the living room with her mother. "You're always welcomed back at home Serena." Her mother said. "After your brother went overseas to attend University and your father followed for a business opportunity, it has gotten really quiet in the house when you left a few weeks ago for the Academy."

 

"I'll be here for you mom." Serena ate her pear. "You could have called me anytime when I was the Ac.." she started to sniffle.

 

"Enough about the Academy." Her mother was peeling her own pear. "No need to mention the past."

 

"Thanks mom." 

 

Serena woke up from her sleep that night with her palms soaked in her sweat. She had a nightmare of a maze, where the walls began to ignite into flames. The more she ran, the higher the flames went and changed from orange to blue. When she finally got stuck at a dead end in the maze, she saw a tall figure standing in front of the wall. She couldn't see who it was but saw that he was holding out his arm for her. The flames continued to chase her so she ran towards the man but the fire was faster than her. 

 

"NO!" She screamed. It engulfed man who seemingly disappeared from view. Her entire dream world turned black before she was able to wake herself up from the dream. 

 

She checked her phone for the time. 11:27PM. She didn't sleep for an hour before the nightmare interrupted. She went to her desk to grab a small sip of water before attempting to sleep again. It took her two hours to finally drift off in a deep slumber.

 

She woke up in the morning from chatter coming from downstairs. Did her Mom invite guests over already? Serena concluded it was best just to stay in her bed and be silent until they left.

 

"I'll go check on Serena." She heard her mother speak from downstairs.

 

Oh no...they know I'm here... Serena hid under her covers as her mother slowly opened the door.

 

"Serena...Whenever you do that I know that you're up already." Her mother said before pulling off the bedsheets. "You might not want to hear this, but a girl named Lizzy says she's a friend of yours from the Academy and would like to see you. I think the adorable guy next to her is a Winged? He has an interesting choice for hair color..."

 

Why would Lizzy be here? Serena was genuinely curious of the visit. She brushed her teeth and tidied herself up before seeing Lizzy waiting patiently at the dinner table. 

 

"Hello Serena!" She greeted warmly. Sungjong gave a small wave. 

 

"What brings you here?" Serena was surprised. Lizzy's face was much brighter than when Serena last saw her at the school hospital.  "And how did you get my address?"

 

"I have connections." She winked and headed directly to the topic of the visit. "I heard what happened yesterday."

 

"I'd be shocked if you didn't" Serena said slightly sarcastically.

 

"I trust that you're not a bad person." Lizzy openly said. "In my books anyone who is willing to protect someone else with such bravery isn't bad. You must have had a reason to not reveal the truth?"

 

Serena looked away. "I had to tell Kyungsoo one day, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly."

 

"I wouldn't think the Academy would make such a big mistake either." Lizzy looked at Sungjong who shrugged back. "Don't be too upset from the incident. I'm sure you'll become an Activator one day. You have what it takes to be one."

 

"I'm moving on from being an Activator." Serena said. "It's always good to have ambitious dreams, but I have to realize when to stop when it's truly impossible."

 

"It's not impossible, Serena." Lizzy insisted. "Even someone like me who gets sick often became an Activator." Sungjong once again frowned when Lizzy mentioned being sick. "And I'm far from being perfect."

 

"Even if I got back, Chanyeol will still be there." Serena shared her thoughts. 

 

"Chanyeol's not that bad. He's just a little...misguided." Lizzy had trouble describing his attitude. "I'm sure he wouldn't go after you again after all that he had caused already."

 

"I'm still convinced." Serena placed her head on the table. 

 

Lizzy took out her phone. "I'm not here to persuade you to come back! I'd like to keep in touch with you as a friend though. Number?"

 

Serena nodded and exchanged numbers. 

 

"Let me know if anything comes up!" Lizzy chirped. "I probably should head back to attend some classes." Serena stood up to lead Lizzy to the front door. Once outside, she spoke to Sungjong. "Can you get Dongwoo for me? There's one more place I need to go to."

 

Inside, Serena's mother came to the dining table. "Oh, she left already? I thought she might have wanted lunch with you."

 

"She has to go back to school." Serena explained.

 

"That's fine too." Her mother handed Serena a piece of paper. "Can you help me grab these from the supermarket? I'll need them for dinner." 

 

Serena went to the closest market to grab the items her mother needed. It was only a few things, but she didn't manage to pick up fish sauce so she had to head over to another store to see if they sold some. On the way there, she passed by an alleyway with several guys rushing out and pretending they did nothing as they blended into the walking pedestrians. 

 

Curiosity got the better of her - Serena peered into the dark alley and saw a fallen Chanyeol lying on his side.