"This is it." Baekhyun says to himself, readjusting his backpack with a subtle jump. He stared at the vast gates and the burgundy brick wall that surrounded the school.

"You can do this, Baek. You're the man." Baekhyun says, taking one step closer to the entrance. The autumn leaves on the trees in the yard filled his vision. The facility was definitely better than his previous high school's but he still didn't understand why he had to transfer as a third year.

Baekhyun took a deep breath and walked past the gateway.

How difficult can it be to make a few new friends?

He took his time to walk down the path leading to the main office building.

I'm sure everyone here is nice. It's a very prestigious academy, right?

Making his way up to numerous stairs, Baekhyun placed a hand on the handle and gripped it tightly.

It's just school.

*

"Welcome, Byun Baekhyun, to Gi-Hyeon Academy. It's a pleasure to have you." Principle Kim says, extending her arm to the shorter male. Baekhyun blinks before hesitantly reaching out to shake her hand.

"Great to be here." Baekhyun half lies with a tiny smile before his eyes wander around her spacious office. The enormous windows that extended from the ceiling to the floor let the rays of sunlight stream in.

"Classes don't start until the third day so you'll have today and tomorrow to unpack, settle in, and explore the school grounds." She says taking a seat in her chair. Her desk was filled with papers and documents but on the pile in front of her was Baekhyun's transcript.

"Uh-"

"Don't worry. We'll have someone you to the dorms." She says before pressing a button on the phone sitting in one corner of her desk.

Within a few seconds, there was a knock on the door and a male student pushed the door open slightly, just enough for his head and shoulders to peek through.

"Principal Kim." He says and steps in further when she motions for him to come in.

"Yixing, meet Baekhyun. He's our new student." The woman says, gesturing to Baekhyun as he stood awkwardly with his backpack.

Yixing bows to the Ms. Kim as he approaches her before turning to Baekhyun with a smile.

"Welcome to our school, I'm Yixing." He says with a slight accent.

"Yixing was also a transfer student, from China." Ms. Kim explains to Baekhyun, almost with great pride. Yixing was slightly taller than he was and had an apparent dimple that sunk into his right cheek.

"Yixing, could you show Baekhyun to his room. It should be on the letter we sent out, with all the information about dorming." She says and Baekhyun nods.

"What about m-"

"-your luggage? It's all been delivered to your room. Don't worry." She says before Baekhyun nods again.

"Come on, Baekhyun." Yixing says walking to the exit. Baekhyun quickly turns around to Ms. Kim and bows, mumbling a rushed thank you before following the other male out of the office.

"You're a third year?" Yixing asks as they walk down the carpeted hallway. The school's buildings were European style, with fancy decor and beautiful chandeliers. He had never seen such kinds of designs in Korea.

"Yeah, you?" Baekhyun asks. Yixing glances at him as they walk side by side.

"Fourth."

"Oh-.!" Baekhyun panics for having spoken to a senior informally but Yixing just laughs.

"Don't worry. I don't mind. Korean isn't my first language anyway. I did that too, last year." He tells Baekhyun with a gentle pat on the shoulder. Baekhyun was thankful that Yixing was his guide. He seemed quite friendly and Baekhyun didn't mind his company. Maybe he should give the school a chance. His mother promised that he would enjoy this academy more than his previous high school.

"So..what's the school like?" Baekhyun asks as they exit the building. He still hadn't seen the actual school yet. And neither has he seen any students other than Yixing.

"School? It's fun." Yixing says without much enthusiasm, causing Baekhyun to feel slightly nervous.

"Are the classes difficult?"

Yixing shrugs. "Not really. N.P. is probably the best class."

Baekhyun raises at eyebrow. "N.P.?"

"Nova Practice." Yixing says, leading them onto a dirt path headed into the woods.

"What's that?" He asks and Yixing looks at him like he's crazy.

"You know. Where you practice your novas. It's quite self explanatory."

Baekhyun was even more confused. "What's my nova?"

Yixing chuckled. "I don't know, you tell me. Mine is healing."

Baekhyun frowns. Healing?

"Well, I didn't get any letters from the school about it..Where can I find out what mine is?"

Yixing pauses and turns around to younger male. "You don't know your own nova?"

Baehyun shook his head.

Yixing looks at Baekhyun. "Y-You do know what a nova is...right?"

The shorter male blinks in response and Yixing nearly falls over.

"Why? Is it important?"

Yixing looks up at the sky with disbelief and takes a deep breath.

"Baekhyun, this academy is only for people with a nova."

"Was I supposed to have one before I came here? I still don't understand where I can get one." Baekhyun says but Yixing shakes his head.

"Novas aren't something you can 'get'. Novas are elements, or in simpler terms, powers, that you're born with."

Baekhyun tried to hold back a laugh. "Powers? As in super powers?"

Yixing furrows his eyebrows. "Yes."

Baekhyun let out a forced laugh. "You're funny, hyung."

"I'm not lying to you. It's true."

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and walks ahead of Yixing. "Sure, why don't you just fly away then? If you can fly, I'll believe you."

Yixing jogged over beside Baekhyun as they continued down the path. "I told you, my nova is healing."

Baekhyun looked at Yixing with doubt. "Look, I don't know what nonsense this school is bu-"

"It's not nonsense." Yixing cuts in. "It's who we are. It's why this school exists."

Baekhyun sighs. "I'm one to believe it when I see it."

Yixing frowns. "Oh you'l see it for sure.."

*

"This is your room." They two boys stood outside a large wooden door in the dormitory. 

"How many students per room?" Baekhyun asks curiously.

"Just two. Our school only has about 400 students." Yixing explains.

"Your room card?"

Baekhyun reaches into his pocket and pulls out a plastic card with his room number and ID on it.

"Here." He hands it over to the older male, who takes it and swipes it over the lock on the handle. It clicks and Yixing pushes the door open.

The room was fairly large with two beds on either side of the room. There were desks at the ends of the beds, next to a closet built into the wall.

Suddenly, a door on the right opened up and a guy came out topless with a pair of loose sweatpants resting at his waist. He had thick lips and large round eyes that widened at the realization of the two other students' presence.

"Oh-! Are you possibly my new roommate?" He asks, attempting to cover up some skin. He spoke directly to Baekhyun before giving Yixing a glance.

"Y-Yeah, I'm Baekhyun." He says. The guy looks at Baekhyun expectantly. "Uh.."

Baekhyun doesn't know what else to say and extends his arm. The other male gladly returns his offer and shakes his hand.

"Kyungsoo. Strength nova." He says with confidence before giving him a smile. They were about the same height, making 'Kyungsoo' less intimidating.

Baekhyun nods, still not understand what novas were. "Cool."

Yixing nods, satisfied with himself. "Alright then, I'll see you two around at school. Baekhyun..Kyungsoo."

Baekhyun thanks him as the older male pats his head and waves to Kyungsoo before making his leave.

He sighs, noticing his luggage at the side of one of the beds. Kyungsoo had already organized his belongings on one of the tables and made his bed.

"So, what's your nova? You never mentioned it." His new roomate asks as he slips on a hoodie and dries his hair with a smaller towel.

Baekhyun blinks. "Uhm..you know..."

Kyungsoo raises an eye brow as the other male tries to avoid eye contact and pretends to busy himself with his suitcase.

"Actually, I don't."

Should I make something up?

Baekhyun awkwardly laughs. "My nova.is..uh..a secret."

Kyungsoo looks at him weirdly, putting down the towel onto his desk. "A secret?"

"Y-Yeah..I'm not very comfortable showing people."

The shorter male rests his hand on Baekhyun's shoulder reassuringly. "You'll have to show it eventually. We're having NP on the first day."

Baekhyun felt his heart clench in panic. His doom was coming soon. He was going to die from embarassment, if he wasn't discovered before the first day of school.

"Aha..that sounds.. fun?" His reply came out more like a questions. Kyungsoo laughs.

"Don't be nervous. You're a third year right?"

Baekhyun nods.

"I'm a fourth so we might not be in the same class." Kyungsoo says and Baekhyun's eye's widen.

"You're older than me?!"

"Apparently so." Kyungsoo says almost proudly and Baekhyun sits on the bed.

"Did you have a roommate last year?" He asks.

"Yeah, but he graduated. His nova was Flight." The older male explains casually.

Darn it! I should have seen him in action. Maybe then I would believe this superpower nonsense..

"Can you show me your nova?"He asks curiously. If Yixing couldn't show him his nova, then he had to ask Kyungsoo.

"We're not supposed to use them outside of NP..." He starts. "but I'll give you taste of what I can do."

Baekhyun's eyes brighten up at his words and watches closely as Kyungsoo slides his heavy suitcase closer to him.

"No..way!!"

Kyungsoo lifted up the luggage with only 3 of his fingers and Baekyun's eyes widen at the sight.

"Wha- How?!?" He asked in disbelief. Kyungsoo did it so effortlessly.

"My nova is a bit more flexible than others." The senior put the suitcase back down and Baekhyun attempts to lift it himself. Even with two arms, he was struggling to lift it off the ground.

"Can you lift a building?" Baekhyun asks amazed but Kyungsoo only laughs and shakes his head.

"Not to that extent."

Baekhyun pursed his lips together and nodded, still amazed by Kyungsoo's strength. But it still didn't prove that novas existed. Maybe Kyungsoo went to the gym often and had extremely large arm muscles under his grey hoodie. Maybe everyone here was brainwashed into thinking they had superpowers. He needed to see other novas. Preferably magical.

"So..What do we do now?" Baekhyun asks, looking around their room.

Kyungsoo shrugs. "Whatever you want, for now. It's.." He looks at the clock on his desk. "12:43..None of school activities start until the first day. We'll also be having an opening ceremony that day, too. I suggest you socialize now, while everyone is still settling into their new dorms."

Baekhyun pulls at the hem of his shirt, not knowing how or where he should start. Kyungsoo, being a senior, probably has his own group of friends.

Kyungsoo pulls on Baekhyun's arm and gives him a smile.

"Let's go to lunch. The cafeteria is open now. C'mon, I'll introduce you to some people."

-

"Yo!" A light brown-haired male calls over to Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Mostly to Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun follows closely behind him, almost hiding behind the shorter male as they approached the table.  The cafeteria wasn't extremely crowded but it seemed like a regular school cafeteria. There weren't unicorns or goblins walking around. Everything was just..normal.

Kyungsoo was definitely popular amongst his friends. It didn't take long for them to notice Baekhyun.

"Who's that?" 

Baekhyun tried to avoid eye contact with them but Kyungsoo would have none of it. 

"My new roommate, Baekhyun."

One male with narrow eyes and puffy cheeks smiled at him. 

"Minseok, Frost." He introduces and immediately another of Kyungsoo's friend was eager to speak up as well.

"Jongdae, Lightning!" The guy, beside Minseok, says almost too friendly. His lips curled up at the ends and his neat hair covered most of his forehead. 

Baekhyun shyly nods in acknowledgement. He and Kyungsoo sit down at the ends of the table before another person decided to introduce them-self .

"I'm Luhan. Telepathy." The boy who has first called out to Kyungsoo says. His face was flawless and he looked like one of those Kpop idols that Baekhyun was totally not obsessed with. Definitely not.

"You can read people's minds?!" Baekhyun asks and half panics. 

Luhan chuckles. "Only a bit. It's not as easy as it seems." 

Baekhyun lets out a relieved sigh but none of the guys seem to notice.

"Joonmyun. Water." A handsome male says from the other end of the table and looks Baekhyun in the eye. His appearance made him look like a top student. 

Baekhyun took this as an opportunity. "Can you do something? Anything." 

"Watch this." Jongdae says with a smirk and picks up his glass of water. Within a second, all the liquid in the cup was splashed on Joonmyun's face, soaking his hair and his clothes. 

Jongdae laughs at the drowned student but with only a short snap of his fingers, Joongmyun was completely dry and all the water was back in the cup again. It had been extracted from his hair and clothing and every droplet made its way back into the container. 

Baekhyun's eyes widen and Joonmyun glares at Jongdae.

"Yah! How many times have I told you to at least tell me if you're going to throw your spit-mixed water in my face." 

Jongdae leans away from his friend with an unapologetic smile. It was clear he was the prankster of the group.

"Sorry, hyung." Jongdae says but the other male just rolls his eyes. Baekhyun was still amazed at the stunt. If Kyungsoo's nova was impressive, Joonmyun's was definitely a sight.

"What about you kiddo?" Minseok asks with interest.

Baekhyun snaps out of his thoughts.

"H-Huh?" 

"What's your nova?" Luhan ask with a smile. 

Baekhyun blinks, not liking all the attention from the guys. He didn't have a nova, but he definitely couldn't reveal that. 

Kyungsoo noticed Baekhyun's nervous expression before waving his friends off. "Guys, give the guy a break. He's a transfer third year." 

Thank you hyung..!

Baekhyun let out a silent breath of relief. His heart was going to burst from the stress. He had to think of something. 

"We're all seniors here, except Jongdae. He's our age though so we're all friends." Luhan tells Baekhyun from beside Kyungsoo.

"We'll be your hyungs." Minseok says, giving Baekhyun a thumbs up but the latter can only weakly smile back.

"Anyway..where's Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo asks, casually resting his elbow on Luhan's shoulder. 

Baekhyun sits there awkwardly. Everyone seemed so nice and welcoming. If only they knew he wasn't like them.

"Oh, you know him. He's out in the woods aga- !" Joonmyun exclaims as he feels water splashed on his face again. His eyes were shut tight and the water dripped from him hair down his cheek.

Jongdae laughed at his friend's expression before Joonmyun extracted all the water back into the cup once more. Baekhyun tried to not laugh, as he watched how tightly Joonmyun was gripping the full cup of water.

"You think this is funny? Well, take this!" He says, tossing the contents of the cup towards Jongdae's face.

Except nothing actually came out of the cup.

It was all frozen ice.

"Yah, Kim Minseok!!" Joonmyun burst in frustration and embarrassment. At that Baekhyun let out a laugh along with Kyungsoo and Luhan.

This school...is too weird to be true.

Hello you!! :D Yes, you!

I want to give you a personal thanks for choosing to reading Protector! I hope you enjoy this book and give it lots of love >.<

Leave a comment! What do you think will happen? Will Baekhyun be caught? Who are your favorite ships? :)

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