A/N: Sorry this update is short, originally it was a much longer chapter but I realized there was just too much so I ended up separating it into two parts. So part 2 is coming soon I promise!! 

“Do you have any questions?” 

Mr. Lee smiled across the desk from Minseok, eyes unwavering. “I know that this may come as a shock. But I can assure you, apart from the date, nothing about this project has changed.” 

For a moment Minseok was at a loss for words. He had questions, of course. He had many. But somehow he knew that it didn’t really matter, that whatever he said next was arbitrary. The events that were to transpire in the next twenty four hours would happen regardless of his questions and their answers. 

“I suppose I have just one,” Minseok said finally, grounding his voice firm. He had learned how to steel himself the past couple months, to respond without tremor, and to look Mr. Lee in the eye. It made him feel safer. 

The principal nodded at him to continue. 

“Why the secrecy?” 

The words surprised even Minseok himself. He had accepted the strict confidentiality without question during the first month or so, but when the details of the project became more and more clear, he had begun to wonder. Perhaps it was a stupid question. But it didn’t feel that way- intuitively, in the hollow of his stomach, Minseok felt there was no reason for the project to be kept such a secret. Especially from the rest of the students. 

Mr.Lee’s smile broadened further, but Minseok saw his eyes tighten. “Minseok,” the principal said, almost chiding. “You must understand. The students cannot be distracted at this moment. Their time will come. For now they must stay focused.” He paused, searching Minseok’s reaction before sitting back in his chair. “Do you think they would act differently, if they knew?”

Minseok thought it over before responding. The Principal did make a point. “I guess they might.” 

Mr. Lee nodded, sighing. “I have no doubt that you are ready for this, Minseok. You’ve worked very hard the past few months, another week or two would have changed nothing of your readiness. I have full confidence in you, you must understand. And I want you to feel confident in me, in my transparency.” The principal paused, steepling his fingers under his chin.  “And so I’m going to tell you this, though it is hardly important, but in the name of sincerity it is reasonable that you should know.” 

“Okay,” Minseok said, when it appeared the principal was waiting for him to respond. 

“You are close with Mr. Wu Fan, yes?” 

Minseok couldn’t help but furrow his brow in confusion. “Yes?” 

Mr. Lee was looking past him, as if deep in thought. “Yes. You know his lineage. His father’s importance in all that is going on, with the Pythia. With the war.” 

Another pause. “Yes,” Minseok repeated.

“Then perhaps it will come as no surprise to you that Kris has been involved as well.” Mr.Lee looked directly at him now, and when he spoke again it was without a smile, but an expression of earnest. “It was his initial recommendation that drew me to you,” he said, almost tender. “To you and Luhan.” 

He let Minseok absorb the weight of that. Kris had known all along? Yes, that was what Mr. Lee was trying to tell him. Kris had known everything. He probably knew more than Minseok knew himself.  “Oh,” he said when the silence was too long. 

Was he angry? Was he thankful? Minseok couldn’t tell. He didn’t think Mr. Lee cared either way. 

“So,” Mr. Lee said, beginning to stand from his desk. “We will see you tomorrow morning then, Minseok. Rest well.” 

“Yes, Mr. Lee. Of course.” 

He left unsettled. There was one missing element in all of this that was making his chest ache. In all the talk of secrecy, of preventing distraction, of Kris and his help. 

Luhan. 

Why hadn’t he been there? 

-

“Don’t look at me like that, Chanyeol,” Jongdae hissed, fighting to keep his voice low. “This is important.”

His friend threw his hands up in the air, giving one shake of his head. “Sorry, man. I don’t know how else you want me to react.” 

“You could at least pretend to take me seriously,” Jongdae said, and crossed his arms over his chest, decidedly grumpy. 

“Why are you pouting?” came Baekhyun’s voice, bounding over to mess with Chanyeol’s hair before taking a seat next to his Guarder. 

“Nothing,” Jongdae said, looking away. 

“He thinks he saw a top secret file,” Chanyeol said in a voice that was somehow both serious and laughing. “Because apparently the Academy is hiding something classified. And he wants to be a detective and find it again.”

“Chanyeol!” Jongdae snapped. “Really? You think this is such a joke you’re telling a KAE student?” 

Chanyeol had his hands up in the air again, but this time he was actually laughing, and so was Baekhyun. 

Only at Jongdae’s unrelenting glare did they quiet, and Baekhyun looped an arm around his shoulder. “Come on, hyung, I don’t like seeing you so worked up. What did you see?”

Jongdae sighed, shaking his head. “It was on the training monitor. It looked like…” He hesitated for a moment, knowing he had to choose his words carefully for Baekhyun to even slightly understand. “I don’t know. Like it was predicting some bad things.” 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol exchanged a glance, and his Guarder just shrugged. 

“I mean, if you really want to find it again, why don’t you just ask Yixing?” Baekhyun asked.

Jongdae frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Computers, man,” Baekhyun said with a smile. “That’s his thing. Remember?” 

-

Luhan awoke from a feverish dream, head pounding, palms sweaty. The feeling of badness hit him immediate, of dread. Something was wrong. He did not need any proof apart from his own knowing. 

He had to talk to Tao. Without thought he leapt from bed, the urgency pulsing over and over in his mind in a thrumming song- Tao. 

“Luhan,” Minseok’s voice stopped him. 

He looked up to see that Minseok was already awake and fully dressed. At once the thrumming stopped, dissipating into a cold, hard fear, one that he could not explain.

“I was about to wake you up,” his friend said, the hint of a laugh edging at his words. “Did you read my mind?” 

Luhan didn’t say anything, fighting back the waves of ice through his body. 

“Luhan?” Minseok asked again, his voice going soft with concern. “Are you okay? I’m nervous about today too, if that’s what it is.” 

“Today?” Luhan raised his brows. “What’s happening today?” 

“We’re meeting with the Principal,” Minseok said, confused. “He didn’t tell you?” 

The memory was vague, buried deep under the layers of roiling feeling, but it was there. “Yes…” Luhan hesitated. “I guess he mentioned it to me. I didn’t realize…” he paused, looking at his best friend, and was washed over in sadness. 

Minseok had been his best friend for years, Luhan had known it and felt it and been nothing short of ecstatic when he had showed up at the Academy’s door. But they hadn’t been like that for...for quite a while now. While they slept and rose in the same room every night and day, their conversations- meaningful ones, at least- were far and few between. Always they were busy, schedules never quite lining up, and Luhan had gone through so much in the past few months he hadn’t been able to do anything about it. A sting of guilt settled in his stomach. He recognized, in that moment, that he and Minseok were all but strangers. “I didn’t realize you would be there too,” he said finally. 

Minseok smiled, sweet, unaware of all that had just gone through Luhan’s mind. “Oh. Well I am. We’re scheduled to meet him in ten minutes. I knew it was early, so...well, I figured I’d let you sleep to the last possible second. I know you need as much of it as you can get these days.” 

Luhan couldn’t help but smile back, touched. “Thank you,” he said, pushing himself up to stand. “Well then. Let’s go meet Mr. Lee.” 

-

When Kris heard the news he was struck with relief. He understood, of course, the challenge that this posed for Mr. Lee and his team, but for Kris it didn’t change much except for ridding the next two weeks of anticipation. And oh, how he had been anticipating. 

He had been nervous from the start, but the past month had been excruciating. Kris had found it more and more difficult to complete his tasks. He didn’t like pretending. At first, when he had barely known the Academy students, it had been easy. Lying to their faces was no different then to any old stranger. But after living with them for a few months, seeing how close his peers had become with them- it was starting to feel wrong. 

And in all honesty, he had started to doubt himself. While he been steadfast in his recommendation at the beginning, he recognized quickly that bonds between students were more nuanced than he had originally assumed. During the day he could remain quite confident in telling Mr. Lee the same thing over and over again, but at night he would lie awake, staring at the ceiling with the overwhelming feeling that he had made a mistake. 

But now it was happening. Mr. Lee had informed him that the procedure was to take place the following morning, and Kris’s part in all this was over. 

And so he treated himself. The Academy’s pool was a luxury the students practically never used, it was booked so often these days for the Guarder’s training. But that morning seemed like the perfect opportunity, and he left the water feeling calm for the first time in months. 

Until he found himself in the locker room with Tao. 

-

Another A/N: Now is a really good time to go read my fic Locked if you haven’t already. I never thought I’d actually get to the point in this story where that scene was relevant lol. I wrote it before most of Pythia so some terminology is different, but if you have the time would highly recommend, it’s sorta kinda important to the story :)