The weather was blustery with a chance of winds up to 70km/hr. Sure the weather hasn't been that good for a while, but Serena was fortunate enough to be able to stay at home. Her mother let her browse around for a school she could attend in the future.

 

"Good education is better than no education." Her mother told her before. "Take your time deciding, but you still have to attend school so don't go thinking I wouldn't notice if you're just delaying the inevitable!"

 

Serena had begun to wonder how Kyungsoo was feeling. She took out her phone to read their past messages to each other. He seemed to be so conservative, but willing to improve himself. I think if we spent a little more time together, then we could have become good friends. She knew it wasn't the best of ideas to start texting him again - what if he already blocked her number? What if he didn't?

 

"If only..." Serena sighed. "Oh shoot, I just remembered my backpack was missing!" Normally it wouldn't take someone this long to remember when her belongings were gone, but since she usually carried all her ID in her pockets, nothing super important was in the bag when she left it. 

 

"Well, it's a bit too late now." She continued to sigh. "It was a pretty sturdy bag too."

 

Next she thought about Chanyeol. It was certainly strange to see him act so polite during the time he was at her house. Perhaps it was the right decision to help him out after all. Maybe it was because he was influenced by the others in his little group? Nevertheless, there was definitely something more to Chanyeol than his actions. Lizzy's words kept on ringing in her head. Serena would assume that Lizzy knew a bit more about Chanyeol, since during the time at the hospital Lizzy automatically understood what his intentions were. 

 

---

At his dorm, Chanyeol was preparing to deliver back the containers. He opened his drawer to reveal a pair of black, thick-rimmed glasses.

 

"I haven't worn these in ages." He took them out and cleaned the lenses. "I wonder if it still fits alright." Sliding them on, the glasses fit nicely on his face. Although they were purely cosmetic, Chanyeol loved to wear them when he was younger as it made him look smarter. Ever since his life was a little more violent he didn't have the opportunity to wear them anymore. His bruises were still showing, but the glasses helped hide a portion of it.

 

Chanyeol felt a little weird dressing up just to return containers, but he did want to change his appearance to signal a new beginning. When he went outdoors, he realized the weather wasn't the best.

 

"Oh geez, why didn't I check the weather before dressing." The wind answered him with a few gusts. 

 

He had planned to purchase some pain reliever cream (as he did not know what brand the aromatic ointment was) to repay for Serena's gratitude. The pharmacy had quite the lineup of people holding cold medicine and cough drops. Even Chanyeol felt a little feverish, but he brushed it off as pain in his bruises. 

 

Once he ended at the footsteps of Serena's house, he took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell. Serena answered the door and peered through the door crack before opening it fully.

 

"Um, who are you?" Serena saw some familiarity in the face, but the blowing wind made it hard for her to keep her eyes open.

 

"Uh." Chanyeol was taken back. "It's me."

 

When he spoke Serena immediately recognized the voice. "Huh? You look different. Come inside, it's chilly out there." She took a long look at Chanyeol from bottom up. "Are you sure you're not his twin brother or something?"

 

"Nope, it's me." Chanyeol the bag of containers at Serena. "I came to return these."

 

"Oh..." Serena looked inside the bag and saw the cream. "What's this?"

 

"I figured you might be running out since you applied so much last time." Chanyeol was beginning to burn up again. "Sorry to intrude, but do you have some water I could have? I'm thirsty."

 

Serena looked up at Chanyeol and saw that his lips were dry. "Sure, sure. One second." She headed to kitchen to fill a cup. Hrng, he's acting strange today. She was a little happy inside to have someone thank her with a gift for what she has done for them.

 

When she came back Chanyeol was slouching on the wall with a knee on the ground. "Hey, are you okay?!" 

 

Although Chanyeol wasn't sweating that much, he explained, "It's burning inside..." Serena noticed his skin was also red and hot to touch. By hot, Serena could have probably cooked an egg on his skin and it would be well done within seconds. 

 

Chanyeol also started to feel dizzy. Did he catch some illness while he was at the pharmacy? All he was thinking of at that moment was to get to somewhere cooler. Outside. With the remaining energy he had left in him, he rushed outside to the cold air. Serena grabbed the closest jacket from the coat rack and followed him out. 

 

Chanyeol was on all fours when he reached the sidewalk, but he could not feel . What on earth is going on? His mind was so clouded he couldn't find an explanation. 

 

"Hang in there!" Chanyeol heard Serena's worried voice loud and clear. Without hesitating, he reached out to grab her hand in desperation and yelled out in a deep tone.

 

The moment when their hands met Chanyeol was freed from the pain. A pair of orange flaming wings bursted out from thin air behind him and began to expand in size. A single flap sent a heatwave radiating from Chanyeol which pushed away the windy weather. Serena couldn't move from the spectacle. In her eyes the wings looked like a phoenix born from a single speck of fire. It also reminded her of the nightmare she had a few days ago, but instead of the fire consuming the man, the man created the fire. 

 

Although Serena was so close to the source of the fire, it didn't feel very hot and intimidating. The flaming wings wrapped around the two in a circular wall of fire, crackling and welcoming the two. Finally grasping what had happened, Chanyeol stood up while his hand was still holding onto Serena's. 

 

"You..." Chanyeol's voice was shaky. With his other hand he held up his palm and a small flame appeared. 

Serena started to talk meekly as she stared at the flame. "Did...I just...become your Activator?" Chanyeol nodded slowly in response. This was not what Serena had expected to ever happen, and she was pretty sure Chanyeol was thinking the exact same thing. When the circle of flames died down, Ms Won was waiting for them and was just as shocked. 

 

"The Academy received an..." Ms Won glared at the two. "Well, I'm sure both of you know the gist of what I am going to say."