"Baekhyun!" Joonmyeon and Chanyeol ran after the shorter male, causing the crowd to gasp and watch in surprise. There were murmurs of the two top student's names, as they pushed past the students. Baekhyun managed to slip through the security easily, too easily, but once Chanyeol and Joonmyeon approached the entrance, Kris came over and stopped them. Blocking the entrance and holding them back, Chanyeol watched Baekhyun get deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Kris!" Joonmyeon looked up at him with confusion. "Baekhyun he-"

Chanyeol shoved Kris' hands off. "What the do you think you're doing?! Baekhyun just went inside and-"

"You guys can't go in, at least not yet." Kris said firmly. Joonmyeon stopped struggling and furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean? This isn't about us, its about Baekhyun!"

"There's a reason why Baekhyun was allowed to go in."

"They didn't call his name!" Chanyeol yelled, getting angrier and angier each second. There was an uneasy feeling that settled in his stomach and his heart raced with panic.

"I know that Chanyeol." Kris spoke calmly. It was begining to get on Chanyeol's nerves.

"Then are you saying that you guys let him in-"

"-on purpose?" Kris finished and nodded.

Both Joonmyeon and Chanyeol's eyes widened.

"Why?!"

"Why would you send Baekhyun in?! All of the sudden he just got up and started running- what the is going on?!" Chanyeol grabbed Kris by the collar of his shirt. He could feel himself getting impatient and restless. Flames itched under his skin.

"Calm down, Yeol-"

"Don't call me that. Why the did my boyfriend go inside?" Chanyeol emphasized each word. Kris pulled Chanyeol's hands off him, staring down at him hard.

Joonmyeon stumbled back, suddenly realizing what may have happened.

"No way...she wouldn't." Joonmyeon shook his head but Kris's expression only confirmed his prediction.

"I didn't think she would do such a thing either." Kris said, turning his head to look at the endless forest.

"What?" Chanyeol asked, still left out.

Joonmyeon put an arm on the latter's shoulder. "Chanyeol..remember what you learned about dream novas..."

-

Baekhyun ran until his legs hurt and his chest tightened. His hands were cold and his head hurt.

It was if he suddenly had woke up from a daze, some sort of hypnosis.

"Where..am I?" Baekhyun looked around. It was as if he was lost for the first time again.

Baekhyun!

He turned around at the voice ringing in his head.

"Who are you?!" He calls out. It was the same voice from earlier.

Only you can save us all.

"Save us? What are you talking about?" Baekhyun looked around but saw no one around.

Baekhyun!

Baekhyun was starting to get annoyed. "Who are you and why do you keep calling my name?!"

What is your nova?

"Why do you want to know?"

Oh, I know. I want to see if you believe it.

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. Was someone trying to play with him?

"Theft...theft nova." He stated, eyes darting from tree to tree.

Are you sure?

"O-Of course." Baekhyun hesitated.

But you can teleport. Are you sure you don't have a teleportation nova?

"That was an accident..I can't teleport." Baekhyun confirms.

But you can also control the wind. And create ice.

Baekhyun shook his head, "What are you talking about?"

Try it.

Looking down at his hands, Baekhyun didn't feel or notice anything different. Wiggling his fingers, Baekhyun felt a surge of energy run down his arm.  Slowly, crystals of ice wrap around his hand, forming tiny bue shards. His eyes widened and Baekhyun shook his hand.

"No, no! That wasn't me I swear!" Baekhyun waved his hands to get the chilly feeling off but the leaves on the floor began to blow in a circular motion and then surrounded Baekhyun's feet.

Still sure?

"Stop it! I know you're doing this!" Baekhyun yelled at no one in particular. He kicked the now motionless leaves in anger.

It's all you. But the question is, where did you take these novas from?

Baekhyun shook his head. "I- They're not mine! I didn't-" Sehun, Miseok and Jongin's faces blurred in his vision and he froze. "-steal them."

Baekhyun stared at the ground in disbelief. "I-I.."

"It's great to see that you've realized it yourself." The familiar voice in his head suddenly sounded too real and Baekhyun lifted his head.

"Ms. Kim?" He stared at her in confusion as the school principal came closer. She was dressed in her usual professional suit.

"Hello Baekhyun." She greets with a smile. Baekhyun was still lost.

"You were-"

"-the voice in your head? Yes." She says, her smile slowly fading. "And I was also in your dreams."

"What dreams?" Baekhyun asked.

She looked at him, amused."I don't think you'd want me to say."

Baekhyun's ears went red. "The one with Chanyeol?"

"More or less." She answers, approaching the student.

"How-"

"Have you ever heard of dream novas?" She asked, giving him a knowing look. Baekhyun's eyes widened.

"..dream novas?"

Ms. Kim nodded. "That's my ability. People with this nova can search and manipulate other people's dreams."

 Baekhyun tried to keep his breath steady. "W-Why?"

"You have something we all need. It was the only way to get through to you." She explained as if it was only that simple. 

"What do you want from me?"

"Baekhyun, do you understand that your nova is able to take away another person's powers? You, yourself, are a danger to everyone around you."

"I- I don't use my powers on anyone. And for anyone that I've stolen from, it was only an accident!" Baekhyun defended himself. 

Ms. Kim snickered. "Or was it?" 

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. 

"Nothing happens by "an accident", Byun. Just like how you and Chanyeol's grandparents suffered. Novas are not only powers, but they are a source of energy, a source of life. They hold our personalities, our emotions, and..even our memories."

"So..if I can take that away, does that mean that I killed them?" Baekhyun asked. Ms. Kim's expression was unreadable. 

"To a certain extent. When someone loses their nova, they bodies return to the human world and they are "reborn", you can say, as different people. They would have lived as if they had never known novas ever existed. They forget all the people they've met here and their memory is wiped clean of everything." Ms. Kim spoke with depth in her voice. 

"What about Sehun? and Minseok?!" 

"They're held in the state between our world and the human world. Because you've been taking their powers away bit by bit, the effect has not taken over as strongly but in other cases, it's gone within 48 hours." 

Ms. Kim stood before Baekhyun. She was not intimidating but Baekhyun could tell she was wiser than she appeared. 

"Like Song Min-ah, previously a voice controller. You took away her powers and that was truly when your nova had awoken. However, after she was released from the school, we had no track of her whereabouts. I sent Kris to find her a week or so ago, but it turned out that she had already become a whole new person. She could have been living out of Seoul, or maybe even abroad. The student we once had at this school is now gone, forever."

Baekhyun's hand trembled. "I-I did that?"

"Even if it was by accident, or an unconscious action, you took away one's life, one's future. However, you can save our school, both worlds. The reason why these strange things keep happening is because there is a power growing too strong in our school, causing disorder and unbalancing the systems." Ms. Kim spoke with all seriousness.

"What exactly is the point of this test? Where are my friends?" Baekhyun asked, feeling a wave of uneasiness wash over him.

"They're fine, or will be, if you do me one favor."

Baekhyun turned to her. "What kind of favor?"

Ms. Kim put her hand on Baekhyun's shoulder. Baekhyun's eyes widened as her voice appeared in his mind, whispering the impossible.

Almost immediately, Baekhyun backed away, shaking his head.

"I can't. There's no way- I'm not capable of doing that." Baekhyun tried to tell her but it didn't seem like his words would get through.

"I guess you don't care about your friends. Kim Jongin and Do Kyungsoo? The campus couple?"

Baekhyun couldn't help but feel shocked and awkward that even their school's principal knew about Jongin and Kyungsoo's relationship.

"W-What about them?"

Ms. Kim face relaxed and she crossed her arms across her chest. There was no way she was backing down.

"Maybe this will help." Her hands reached out and Baekhyun shut his eyes.

Within seconds, he seemed to be in another dimension. He was back in his room and nothing was unusual until Kyungsoo came barging in with anger.

" Jongin! That !" Kyungsoo cursed. His eyes were red and his hands were red and cut.

"Hyung! What happened?" Baekhyun asked, feeling frightened and worried by the senior's rage.

"Kim ing Jongin happened! That bastard thinks he can do whatever he wants and take me for granted. With his powers gone, I just taught him a lesson." Kyungsoo snickered, putting his history books into his bag. Baekhyun stared in confusion and surprise before his eye caught onto a dark red liquid dripping down Kyungsoo's arm.

"Kyungsoo, you're bleeding! I'll-"

Kyungsoo shrugged it off. "It's not my blood."

"Huh? But-"

Kyungsoo smirked, watching he liquid slide down his skin. "It's Jongin's."

"No!" Baekhyun yelled, before opening his eyes and realizing that he was still in the forest.

Ms. Kim was still standing before him and he knew it had all been a terrible nightmare, a trick.

"Where do you stand now?" She says, knowingly.

"Those..that was not Kyungsoo hyung. The person I know is not cruel and heartless. The person I know loves Kim Jongin with all his heart. He wouldn't ever do that to him!"

Ms. Kim's lips twitched in annoyance and she raised her hands again.

Baekhyun's eyes shut and once again, he was at a different location. His heart hurt from his landing but he knew it was in his head.

"Baekhyun!" Chayeol came over, kneeling down beside his boyfriend.

"Are you okay?" He asked, caressing his face. Baekhyun nodded, relieved to be back in Chanyeol's arms. Was this not a dream?

"I'm fine. We have to get Kyungsoo and-"

"Who's Kyungsoo?" Chanyeol asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Baekhyun looked up a him. "Yeol, I'm talking about Kyungsoo hyung! You know, strength nova?"

Chanyeol frowned and shook his head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Fine," Baekhyun sighed. "Let's get Jongin to-"

"Baek, I don't know why you keep mentioning other people but those people don't exist." Chanyeol repeated, patting Baekhyun's shoulder. 

 "What are you talking about?" Baekhyun ran a hand through his hair. "Then what about Yixing? Or Luhan?"

"Are you sick?" Chanyeol asked, reaching to put a hand on Baekhyun's shoulder.

"No! How could you forget them?!"

Chanyeol laughed, brushing his hand ontop of Baekhyun's head affectionately. "I thought we went over this already, babe. I got rid of them."

Baekhyun froze and there was a sense of deja vu. 

"G-Got..rid of them?"

Chanyeol nodded. "Now I can have you all to myself." The taller male processed to pull Baekhyun closer but the latter immediately pushed him away. 

"D-Don't touch me!" Baekhyun exclaimed. This was all a dream, it had to be. However, Chanyeol's touch felt so real, too real. 

"What's wrong? You don't like it?" Chanyeol's voice was sly and dangerously playful. 

"You wouldn't hurt your friends." Baekhyun spoke hesitantly. 

Chanyeop chuckled. "I told you I killed them. They all threatened me. But in the end they were just weaklings." 

Baekhyun backed up to a tree and his heart beat unevenly. 

A spark of fire engulfed Chanyeol's hand before a tiny flame floated in his palm. 

"Only you understand me, Baekhyun. You love me, don't you?" Chanyeol came closer. Baekhyun shook his head. 

"I don't love you. You're..you're not Chanyeol!" Baekhyun pressed his back against the tree trunk.

Chanyeol's smile fell, eyes turning gray. "You dont?"

The fire in his hand burst and became stronger. 

"You promised, you would never leave me." Chanyeol pressed his burning hand on Baekhyun's wrist, causing him to feel intense pain under his touch. 

"Oh my god-!" The wince, wishing the pain would fade. And it did. Baekhyun found himself back in the forest and Ms. Kim looked at him knowingly. Sweat glazed his forehead and his heart beat faster than ever. His hands were cold and his legs felt weak.

"You still won't do as I ask?" 

Baekhyun looked down at his wrist. There was a pink mark that wrapped around his arm but he felt no pain. 

"I'm telling you now Baekhyun, your actions will save us all. It's either just him, or them all." She spoke carefully. Baekhyun felt tears fill his eyes, blurring his vision. How had it come down to this? 

Ms. Kim put her hand on his shoulder again. "What's it gonna be Baekhyun-ssi?"

"If I do..t-this one thing. We'll be safe? Kyungsoo..Jongin..Yixing hyung..Luhan, all of them..they'll all be safe.?" Baekhyun asked, feeling everything slip from his fingertips.

Ms.Kim nodded. "Even you."

"But...Chanyeol-"

Ms. Kim finished it for him. "-will disappear from this world forever."

Leave a comment! 

[ 2 chapters left ]