"Baekhyun..Baek!" 

Baekhyun blinked his eyes, snapping out of his thoughts. 

"H-Huh?"

Kyungsoo stared at his roommate weirdly. They were getting ready to head to breakfast but Baekhyun just wasn't in his right mind."You've been staring at the floor for the past 5 minutes. Are you sure you're ok?"

Baekhyun nodded slowly. "Yeah," before making his way into the bathroom. He the faucet and let the cold water run over his hands before he cupped the water and splashed it onto his face.

What was that dream..?

No matter how many times he tried to shake off the thought, he couldn't help but have an uneasy feeling in his chest. There was no way Chanyeol would kill anyone, let alone threat him. The Chanyeol he knew and loved was not that kind of person. It wouldn't make any sense to dwell over something that wasn't true or even real.

Baekhyun pushed the handle to cut off the water stream and stared at himself in the mirror.

"It didn't happen, Baek. Just let it go."

-

"Baekhyun! You're alive!" Jongdae says with a smile as he and Kyungsoo approached the table. Baekhyun smiled weakly.

"I am." He pulled out his chair, noticing that Chanyeol wasn't here yet. Minseok wasn't sitting in his usual seat next to Jongdae and the table seemed quieter than usual.

"How are you feeling?" Joomyeon asked, putting down his chopsticks.

Baekhyun shrugged. "Tired, ha.."

Luhan gave him a tight but sincere smile. "Good to have you back."

"I wasn't gone for that long." Baekhyun jokes, taking his seat beside the senior.

"Hey Baek."

Baekhyun felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around. The second his eyes met Chanyeol's, his eyes widened in shock and he nearly jumped out of his seat, causing the taller male's hand to fall out of contact.

Chanyeol chuckled, confused. "What's wrong? Did I surprise you that much?"

Baekhyun's breathing was uneven and his heart was beating faster than normal. He didn't see the same Chanyeol from his dream. It was his Chanyeol before him. It was his loving boyfriend who made him feel like the only person in the world. It was the Chanyeol who he hated at first but came to love. It was his Chanyeol.

"N-No.." Baekhyun smiled before sitting back down in his seat across from Chanyeol. Jongin also walked over with his tray and slide into his chair next to his boyfriend. It was weird to see Jongin making the commute rather than him popping up wherever he pleased.

"Since we're all updated with what's going on.." Joonmyeon started off. "I wanted us to talk it all through, now that Baekhyun's back."

Kyungsoo nodded, knowing that it was eventually going to brought up. "And the nova test is tomorrow.."

"Baekhyun, do you feel..like, any more powerful or strengthened?" Jongdae asked out of curiosity. "After what Joonmyeon told me, I've been pretty curious what your nova does!"

Baekhyun blinked at the sudden change in topic. "W-Well..I'm not too sure about it myself but I..I can take people's novas."

"How come you never told us?" He frowned.

"It's just..My family's history was more complicated and this power had caused a lot of problems for my grandfather so I didn't want to bring it up..I don't know really.." Baekhyun didn't want to talk about himself anymore. "What about you guys? What do you plan to do about the nova test?"

Kyungsoo went first. "I'll prove my strength. Who knows what I'll be carrying tomorrow? But I have to show Ms. Kim that I have control over my novas."

"However, for many students, it's not difficult to mess up on this test. If they get scared or nervous they could easily break the nova energy flow." Joonmyeon commented.

"I'll be honest," Jongin spoke up. Under the table, his hand was entwined with Kyungsoo's. "I'm scared. I don't want to be kicked out. I don't want to leave this school..I don't want to be apart from you guys and I definitely don't want to break up with Kyungsoo.."

Kyungsoo pulled Jongin closer and Baekhyun suddenly felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He hadn't fully thought of the consequences Jongin woud face after his powers were weakened and taken away. Even Minseok and Sehun were in worse conditions and Baekhyun hadn't realized how much he had hurt others.

"I'm sorry." Baekhyun apologized, feeling smaller the more the thought about the situation. "It's my fault."

"No it's not." Jongin said looking over at him. "I'm not blaming you for any of this. This must have happened for a reason.."

"Jongin's right. Baekhyun, you're not at fault. You didn't do it on purpose and with novas, nothing is definite." Kyungsoo says reassuringly. However, the rock in Baekhyun's chest didn't lighten. His eyes met Chanyeol's and he didn't know how to feel.

"Let's get to class first. The teachers are supposed to go over the process of the examination for tomorrow." Joonmyeon said. The began to clean up their tables and stack up their bowls.

"Baekhyun.." Luhan stopped the junior as everyone made their way downstairs.

"Hm?" Baekhyun turned around to face Luhan. Chanyeol stopped, noticing that Baekhyun wasn't by his side, but was too far from the other two to hear their conversation.

"I know that you're feeling uneasy right now-"

"I'm not." Baekhyun cut in, trying to seem as casual as possible but Luhan rolled his eyes.

"I'm not an idiot. I can read your mind, Baek."

Baekhyun's shoulders slouched and he swallowed. "Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to others but when your brain is running at a thousand miles per hour next to me, I can feel your thoughts radiating off you. I wasn't trying to snoop into your privacy." Luhan explained.

Baekhyun looked up at the senior. "What should I do? Everything is a mess. Everyone is trying to pretend like it's alright but it's not. Nothing is okay."

Chanyeol watched as the two conversed.

"Also.." Luhan looked over to where Chanyeol was standing before leaning closer to Baekhyun. "I..I had a dream last night. And it wasn't a good one."

Baekhyun's eyes widened. "By any chance, was it about-"

"-Chanyeol? Yeah." Luhan breathed out.

Baekhyun's heart was restless. This was too strange to be true.

"Did he..by any chance..hurt anyone in your dream?" Baekhyun cautiously asked. How was he supposed to tell Luhan that he had dreamt of Chanyeol, his boyfriend, killing Sehun? Luhan would probably faint.

"Well, he was acting strange. His personality was cold and rebellious. And he wasn't necessarily the nicest person. It was as if something else took over him." Luhan tried to think back to the blurry memory.

"Oh.."

"I saw some of your thoughts about your dream but not much of the details. You seemed to be afraid of Chanyeol in your dream. Do you remember why?"

Baekhyun slowly shook his head, before bitting his lip.

"No."

Luhan sighed. "Okay. I just thought I'd tell you..Let's go to class now."

Baekhyun nodded before walking towards the stairs. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he had walked right passed Chanyeol who was patiently waiting for him. Chanyeol reached out and grabbed Baekhyun's hand, chuckling at how fast the shorter male was walking. Baekhyun paused and looked up, startled.

"Yah, you planned on leaving me even though I waited for you?" Chanyeol walked down to the step that Baekhyun was on before holding his boyfriend's hand tightly.

"O-Oh, sorry." Baekhyun couldn't help but relax at the comfort of Chanyeol's hand in his. He hated those dreams. Why did Luhan have them too?

"Let's go!" Chanyeol cheered, swinging their arm softly as they exited the cafeteria.

Luhan watched at the two left the building.

"Why didn't you just say it..." Luhan mumbled to himself, looking down at the palm of his own hand.

-

"Today we have our safeguard Kris to explain to us to rules and importance of safety during our first nova test."

Jongin fidgeted in his seat as Tao kept his head down. Sehun was still not awake and the two friends felt unmotivated.

"I'm sure you are all aware of the exam tomorrow that is and will be unlike any exams you've ever taken. The Nova test is a test of your ability, mental strength and concentration. Not only do you have to demonstrate your powers, but you must prove to the teachers that you have what it takes to keep your novas. It is taken into consideration that some of you may have ha prohibition spells and you may not have had much practice outside of NP." Kris explains smoothly. His attention drew to Chanyeol and Baekhyun sitting in a corner together. Then his eyes landed on a certain dark haired male who found his shoes more interesting than Kris' explanation.

"This exam will be taken in a clearing in the forest where you are allowed to use the elements of nature to prove your abilities." Kris continued. "Any attempts of cheating can result in a prohibition or expulsion, depending on the extent of the actions taken. Understood?"

There were mumbles of responses from the students but Kris could care less.

"The tests will be given through your category rankings. I'm sure you are all aware of how it goes. Each test will take up to at most 5 minutes so don't think of postponing the examination. If anyone does skip out, you are at risk for expulsion..."

Tao nudged Jongin. "How's Sehunnie?"

"He's hanging in there.." Jongin responded with a tiny smile. Tao nodded.

"Yixing won't let me see him but I already know what's been going on." Tao mumbled partially to himself.

"What do you mean? It's not as simple-"

"It's Baekhyun isn't it?" Tao spoke quietly.  "His nova.."

Jongin took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah.."

Tao looked over to the junior sitting just a couple feet away from them. Baekhyun was sitting slightly further away from Chanyeol than usual but the taller male said nothing about it.

"He did that to Sehun, didn't he?"

Jongin shook his head. "It's not Baekhyun hyung's fault. He couldn't help it- he didn't even do it on purpose!"

Tao frowned. "But he still took it. Aren't you scared he'll take yours too?"

Jongin sighed. "Too late for that."

"W-What?" Tao's eyes widened and his face expressed confusion. Jongin had already expected this kind of reaction.

"You know what I mean."

"Is that why you said last time- you couldn't teleport?" Tao asked.

Jongin nodded.

"What the hell-?!"

"You two," the two boys looked up and Kris stared them down. Tao felt his heart drop. It was the first time in weeks that Kris had looked at him. "What's so interesting that you're willing to ignore the rules and instructions for tomorrow's test that I'm currently explaining?"

Jongin knew Kris was only putting up an act and bowed his head in apology.

"Sorry."

Tao did the same shortly after Jongin, only out of respect. Jongin showed no signs of regret or annoyance. He was too tired and confused to care about his classes. This test wasn't merely a test of your powers, but to test your capability of saving the school from self desctrution. If they couldn't find a way out of this, they would be done for.

"As I was saying," Kris continued. "There will be no re-examinations and no one is safe to pass. I wish good luck to you all. Class is dismissed."

Tao kept his eyes on the tall blonde male, remembering their last conversation.

Keeping his head held high, Tao made his way over to Kris, who was packing up his papers at the desk up front of the green room. Students were all filing out and Jongin seemed to dazed to realize that Tao wasn't with him. Baekhyun and Chanyeol left together, however it seemed that Baekhyun was walking much faster than his boyfriend.

Tao cleared his throat, causing the latter to turn his head around. Kris's face showed a hint of surprise before it went away.

"Do you need something?" Kris asked, going back to organizing his documents.

Tao frowned. "That's it? That's all you ask me?"

"What else did you expect me to say to you?" Kris refutes calmly.

"Aren't you wondering how I'm doing?"

Kris shrugs. "How are you?"

Tao didn't feel any better. Why wasn't he paying any attention to him?"

"Nevermind." Tao huffed. There was no way he'd get a response out of him. Whatever their relationship was before was over. Tao sighed and turned around the leave the room, his backpack casually slung over one shoulder.

"Panda!"

Tao stopped in his tracks as Kris called out his infamous nickname. Why was his heart racing?

Tao looked over his shoulder. Kris stared back at him with a a smirk.

"You look so good in black."

Nevermind, Tao thought. It wasn't over.

Hey! Sorry for such a late update, I hope you guys don't hate me too much! >.<"

Leave a comment! How do you think the test will go? Any predictions who will get through and who won't? What will happen to Chanyeol and Baekhyun's relationship? Still shipping Taoris, anyone? xD

Featured comment: SheChanyeol : i barely comment in fics but OMGGGG this fic is sooooooo exciting <3 maybe chanyeol will possess the power phoenix that his grandfather had omgggg let's just see in the upcoming chapters <3

SARANGHAE! <3