Kyungsoo sat curled up in his bed, blanket wrapped around his bare shoulders in a comforting hug. After over a month at the Academy, he had become used to these nights alone, where Jongin wouldn’t come back from training until close to midnight. Jongin always told him he didn’t have to wait up, but Kyungsoo didn’t like sleeping until his Guarder was back- it was nice to see him at the end of the day. He had learned to fill the empty space with other amusements.

“And now… our Teleporter!” an announcer’s voice crowed from his laptop screen, and his speakers let out a splat of tinny applause. Kyungsoo watched with wide eyes, waiting patiently with the audience in the video for someone to take the stage. There was a pause of confusion where it remained empty, and then Jongin appeared in the space, all tousled hair and careless limbs. The audience gave a gasp, and so did Kyungsoo, enraptured with Jongin’s effervescent presence.

“Hey,” the Jongin on the screen said with a smirk. He adjusted his mic casually, and then flashed a smile at the cameras. “I’m Kai.”

There were some screams in the audience. Jongin winked, his lips curling up in a coquettish smile. Kyungsoo laughed out loud, fingers tightening around his blanket.

The video-Jongin proceeded to disappear, only to reappear several times in succession around the stage, each time in a different cheesy, yet undeniably attractive pose. He flashed under the lights, blue leather and sheer fabric clinging to his form with delectable easiness. After a good minute or so of this, he finally stopped in the middle of the stage, face split in a wide grin. He was enjoying himself, Kyungsoo realized. He loved the crowd- and he played them like a fiddle.

After the screaming and applause had finally quieted, Jongin lifted the mic to his lips again. “I’m so thrilled to be here…” he said, and began to explain the Guarder program to the sponsors. Kyungsoo tilted the laptop screen closer to him, wanting to look at this video-Jongin more closely. His eyes were lined with dark makeup, and his shock of white hair was styled into a pretty mess. Kyungsoo himself remembered this look well. He had seen it on television constantly when the Guarder’s had first begun their promotions, at least three or four years ago. He realized with a start that the Jongin in the video was only fourteen. Strange- his makeup and styling made him look even older than he did in the present day.

Fourteen, Kyungsoo thought, disturbed. They were so clearly exploiting his looks, dressing him up like a Barbie doll in clingy clothes and facepaint, just so that the sponsors might hand over some money. It seemed…dishonest. Of course, it wasn’t just Jongin- other Guarders stood lined up at the back of the stage watching their peer with amusement. Tao and Luhan were missing, as they had been from the beginning of promotions, but Jongdae, Junmyeon and Chanyeol were all just as made up, lighting and makeup turning them into teenage models.

“What are you doing?” a voice suddenly asked, and Kyungsoo looked up, startled and guilty, so see Jongin at the door.

“Nothing,” he blurted out quickly, hitting pause on the video, and then blushed.

Jongin raised an eyebrow, glancing first at the laptop and then back at Kyungsoo, shirtless underneath his blanket. “I see,” he said slowly. “You know if you want some, uh…private time…you can just pull the curtain closed.”

Kyungsoo blushed redder, realizing he had made his situation look very incriminating, and shook his head. “Oh no, that’s not…I wasn’t doing…” he spluttered, and then bit his lip when he realized Jongin was trying not to laugh. He opted to simply turn the laptop around instead of talking.

“My promotion stages?” Jongin asked after he had peered closely at the bright screen. He sat down on the edge of Kyungsoo’s bed, taking the laptop from his outstretched hands. “Why are you watching these?”

Kyungsoo shrugged. “I was bored. I was just browsing- they popped up on my feed-”

“I was so little!” Jongin exclaimed, interrupting him, and then unpaused the video. Laptop-Jongin sprung to life, tossing his hair back with a smug grin. “Oh, god,” Jongin groaned with a laugh. “I look like such a tool.”

“You look like a model,” Kyungsoo said without thinking, and then blushed again. “I mean, like, the way they dressed you up-”

Jongin laughed, cutting him off again. “I know. They really went hard at the beginning of promotions. God, why did people watch these?” His face wound up in distaste.

Kyungsoo shrugged again. He knew why- the flashy, silly promotions had been a break from all the heavy, constant news of the war. When all the television showed was people dying, sometimes it was nice to just watch some teenage boys with superpowers and blue leather pants. Besides, at the time, the Guarders had been such a novelty, such an incredible discovery that everyone had wanted to track their progress. When superheroes were being created, why wouldn’t you watch them instead of dying masses of rabid sick people?

“You guys were nice to look at,” Kyungsoo said instead of explaining. That was true. It had helped that the four Guarders who had been announced to the public were all stunning.

Jongin let out a snort of laughter. “Are you kidding? I look like a plastic smurf.”

Kyungsoo smiled. “You don’t miss doing these at all?”

“God no,” Jongin said. “Promotions were the absolute worst.”

“Are you sure? You look like you loved the crowd,” Kyungsoo noted, and they both watched as the video-Jongin blew a kiss at the audience.

“Mm,” Jongin grunted non-committally. “Well, they certainly did not help my ego.” The Jongin on the screen finished his speech and bowed graciously, before disappearing from the stage again, and the announcer began to introduce Chen. “Besides, we have no time for stages anymore.”

Kyungsoo nodded in assent. “Too much training now?”

Jongin shook his head. “We had just as much training back then.” He rolled his eyes with playful exaggeration. “No, now we have to deal with you lot.”

Kyungsoo laughed. “Oh, sorry to burden you. Of course, you’d rather be blowing kisses to your thousands of sponsors than sitting here with me.”

Jongin grinned. “Nah. That was fun for a while, but…” He trailed off, shrugging.

“But what?” Kyungsoo asked, closing his laptop.

“But I’m not cut out for that stuff,” Jongin said. “Not continuously, anyway. It’s fun when you’re on stage, but they prepare you so intensely that you get to hate it. All the things I said up there- all the expressions, the poses, the hair flips, everything- it was all prepared. They drill you for hours to make sure you’re presentable.”

“Oh,” Kyungsoo said, mildly surprised. Video-Jongin had seemed so natural, so casual and comfortable with the crowd. And to think that attitude hadn’t been organic. He looked Jongin up and down, from his perfect jaw line to his long legs, and thought privately that he looked like he was born for the stage.

“Yeah,” Jongin answered, not looking at him. “Anyway, we should get to bed.” He rose from Kyungsoo’s bed, peeling his blazer off in one fluid movement. “Mind if I use the shower first?”

Kyungsoo shook his head mutely. He waited until Jongin had disappeared into the bathroom and he could hear the water starting, and then he opened his laptop back up, restarting the video where the Teleporter was announced.

-

Yixing awoke to the sound of a creaking door, boyish voices hazing through in hushed shouts of Jongdae Chanyeol Baekhyun.

“What’s happening?” he asked blearily, sitting up from his bed to see Jongdae pulling open their dorm room door, his Academy blazer thrown over his silk pyjama shirt. His small frame was silhouetted in the moonlight, shadows long and looming. “Jongdae? Where are you going? It’s one in the morning.”

“I know,” Jongdae grinned devilishly, and pulled the door the rest of the way open. “I could hear Chanyeol and Baekhyun out in the hall, I just want to see what they’re doing.” He disappeared through the door, the hushed shouts growing louder. Yixing gave a long sigh before looping his legs over the bed, following him.

Jongdae had joined Baekhyun and Chanyeol at the end of the hall, who were both fully dressed. Baekhyun waved Yixing over with a sunny smile. “Hey! Coming to join the party?”

“What party?” Yixing demanded, wrapping his arms around his chest. “You guys should be in bed. We’re not supposed to be out of our rooms at night.”

“Baekhyun said he has a surprise,” Chanyeol said. His eyes shone with excitement. “You can come see it too, if you want.” The three boys shifted with anticipation.

“Baek, are you insane?” Yixing hissed. “What ‘surprise’ do you have at one in the morning?”

“Come with us and you can see,” Baekhyun giggled. “It’s downstairs. By the back exit in the Maths hall.” He and Chanyeol turned towards the stairs, laughing in hushed tones.

“They’re going to wake everyone up,” Yixing muttered. “So dumb.”

“Aren’t you curious?” Jongdae said quietly, and Yixing turned to see that his eyes were flashing, a small cat-like smile playing his lips. “Come on.” Without waiting for Yixing’s answer, he took off after the others, bare feet sliding over the marble flooring.

Reckless. For a moment Yixing found himself wondering why he had even been partnered with Jongdae in the first place. He thought back to the first night, where his Guarder had been so charming, so sweet and gentle.

Yixing glanced back at their dorm room, torn, before giving an exasperated sigh. He followed.

They reached the back exit, somehow not running into any supervisors, and Baekhyun pushed the door open, grinning from the tips of his hair to his toes. “Ta-da!”

There was silence. The other three stood at the door for a moment, simply staring. Chanyeol was the first to break the sheet of shock, and leapt forward with a wild laugh. “Holy !” He clapped a hand over Baekhyun’s shoulder, and the two fell into one another, giggling with glee.

“Holy ,” Jongdae repeated quietly. Yixing turned to him, mouth set in a line, ready to pull him back upstairs, but then he saw that his Guarder was in awe, his eyes widened in anticipation.

“Jongdae,” Yixing said hurriedly, recognizing his expression, and grabbed his arm. “No. This is ridiculous.”

“Yes,” Jongdae breathed, and stepped forward, brushing his hand off. “It is.”

He joined Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who were gathered around the surprise, laughing with excitement.

“What are you going to do?” Yixing asked in distress. “Take it for a joyride?”

“Exactly,” Baekhyun answered wildly. He spread his arms out over the cherry red Ferrari, parked in stark juxtaposition beside the school’s dumpsters, and laughed again. “Surprise, Yixing!”

“No,” Yixing replied sharply. “You guys will get caught. You can’t leave the school property without permission, it’s in the rules.”

The three boys had ceased to listen, instead whipping open the doors of the car and clambering inside.

“Jongdae!” Yixing called out. “You can’t, please, you can’t…”

A window rolled down, and Jongdae stuck his head out. “Come join us, Yixing!” He gestured with a hand, a mad grin on his face, and Yixing simply shook his head, the car already rolling away. When it had disappeared around the corner of the school he stood for a good minute longer, as if expecting it to come back, but the night stayed empty.

-

“This is insaaane!” Jongdae screamed, his voice whipped away in the wind through the open windows. From the front seat Baekhyun was laughing, a long wailing sound in the night air. Chanyeol sat beside him, one large hand gripping Baekhyun’s thigh, knuckles white.

“Do you even have your licence?!” he yelled at Baekhyun, sounding terrified but exalted.

“Of course!” Baekhyun screamed back, and then slammed on the breaks. The three boys were launched forward in a lurching squeal, and then thrown back to their seats, tears of laughter peeling down their cheeks.

“You sure don’t drive like it,” Chanyeol gasped in between laughs.

“You want a turn?” Baekhyun asked, wiping away the moisture from his cheeks.

“I’ve never driven in my life,” Chanyeol said by way of answer.

Baekhyun shrugged. “Your loss.” He placed his hands back on the wheel, and proceeded to turn the Ferrari into a narrow U-turn, throwing Jongdae against the right side of the car with viscous suddenness. Once back on the road Baekhyun took it slower, a smooth forty miles per hour instead of his breakneck one-twenty they had been going at for the past twenty minutes. Jongdae felt it was safe enough to unbuckle his seat-belt, and he leaned over to stick his head out the window, making little waves with his hand.

The absurdity of it all somehow made Jongdae feel calmer. Baekhyun had somehow led them out into the countryside, and they hadn’t yet shared the road with a single car. Jongdae lived almost constantly with the urge to use his power, force the energy up from his body and out to the tips of his fingers, crackling with light into the surrounding air- but now that feeling was almost entirely absent. Perhaps it was the adrenaline that had taken its place.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun were chattering up front, lost in each other’s worlds, but Jongdae tuned them out, instead focusing on the night sky. There was no light save the moon and stars, something Jongdae had not experienced ever in his eighteen years of existence. He had zero clue where they were right now, but he trusted Baekhyun enough to find their way back to the school. He didn’t even know whose car this was, or how it had gotten inside the school gates. When he had asked Baekhyun the boy had just giggled, telling him ominously “I have connections.”

Jongdae wished he could steal a few of those connections. He hadn’t been this far away from the Academy in years, and the feeling was beautiful.

“Mind if I have a go?” he called to Baekhyun, and the car slowed to a stop.

“Not at all,” came the reply, and they exchanged spots.

“I’ve never driven either,” Jongdae stated, not really an admission, but more of a warning.

“Right pedal’s the gas,” Baekhyun laughed. “Left’s the brake. Don’t go too fast.”

“Alrighty,” Jongdae said with a breath, and nudged the car into motion. It lurched forward and Jongdae immediately hit the brake, surprised at the suddenness. The boys jerked back and Chanyeol chuckled. Jongdae glanced at his fellow Guarder, his surprise softening into a smile, and then he hit the gas again, this time letting the car cruise forward on its own accord.

By the time they reached the Academy again it was three in the morning, and the buzz from adrenaline had started to fade into exhaustion. Baekhyun said he would deal with the car, rushing the others back to their dorms. Jongdae trudged slowly up the stairs, dreading entering his room. The excitement of the night had started to morph hotly into guilt, and he was remembering Yixing’s shocked face when they had driven away with sudden clarity.

He reached his door and opened it, ready to apologize. But Yixing wasn’t waiting for him, as he had partly expected. Instead he was curled up in his bed, the covers pulled up to his ears, apparently fast asleep. Jongdae swallowed, the sight of his auburn hair twisting him with yawning self-reproach.

-

“Minseok,” Mr. Lee smiled broadly, and motioned for him to enter. Minseok walked into the office, textbooks clutched between tight fingers against his chest. At the sight of the principal he felt his pulse quicken, and he had to force himself to keep him face smooth.

“Sir,” Minseok said back with a small nod. The man was not particularly intimidating in stature, but there was something in his expression that made Minseok want to straighten his posture, fix his hair, and put on his best suit. “You wanted to see me?”

The principal nodded, that broad smile still splitting his lined face. “That is correct. Have a seat, Minseok.”

Minseok obliged without hesitation. He faced Mr. Lee across his wide oak desk, the space seeming to stretch into miles between them.

“Tell me, how are you finding the Academy?” Mr. Lee asked, his fingers steepled beneath his chin. He leaned back into his chair, still grinning as he awaited Minseok’s response.

“It’s very wonderful, sir,” Minseok answered, fighting to keep his voice from trembling. He had never been this close to the principal before. Although he had met people of much higher authority over his lifetime, for some reason the man’s presence was suffocating.

“That’s good,” Mr. Lee said casually. “Very good.” There was a beat of silence, and he looked over Minseok over, his eyes shining behind his wire frames. Minseok tried to remember what Luhan had told him before he had gone in- don’t fidget, Baozi, that’s just a sign of weakness- but he couldn’t stop himself from shifting. The silence was unnerving. “I’ve heard you have top marks in all your classes,” Mr. Lee finally said, voice smooth.

Minseok was unsure how to respond, and instead just gave a nod of assent.

“That’s very impressive.”

There was another pause, and it was clear that the principal was awaiting a response. “It’s only been five weeks,” Minseok managed to say. “That could change.”

“Hmm,” Mr. Lee agreed. “I would say that makes it even more impressive that you’ve managed to surpass your classmates in such a short time.” He raised an eyebrow.

“I have the same grades as Junmyeon in History and English,” Minseok said faintly, just because he felt he needed to say something.

“That in itself is a feat,” Mr. Lee responded, his voice dry. It was curious- although he was praising Minseok, he could not help but feel chastised.

“Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Lee grinned again, leaning forward over the desk towards Minseok. “No. Thank you, Mr. Kim. Your drive is admirable. I daresay it needs to be rewarded.”

Minseok’s textbooks slipped in his hands, unable to keep his surprise at bay. He fumbled for them and then looked up, meeting the principal’s eyes with bewilderment.

“We will discuss more at length later,” Mr. Lee continued, a shadow of amusement in his eyes. “For now, I just want you to know that your efforts are being recognized. You have class in a few minutes, so I won’t keep you for much longer. But perhaps this weekend, we can meet again?”

It was not a question. Minseok simply nodded, his face numb.

“I have an opportunity for you to undertake,” Mr. Lee explained. “It will take some time to understand. But its affects will be revolutionary. I do not exaggerate.” The broad smile spread across his face again.

“It’s an honour, sir,” Minseok breathed, amazed that he still had his voice. “Truly, an honour.”

A/N: So I wrote that whole first section after watching this fancam:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvB-4Tckexs&list=RDEM8pcTzpJ1bdF1cAGNREqtrg&index=2 Go watch it it's incredible godbless (and yes, that's the outfit I was thinking of while writing lol). Also I'm sorry updates for this story are so sporadic. I actually have a ton already written in the AU, the struggle is just trying to piece all the ideas together into something coherent for you guys. Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll stop talking now bye.