Chapter Ten

Yoomi was still reeling from the news that having telepathy made her a member of the S-class when the four boys ushered her to the headmaster’s office. Apparently, Jinwoo was right and it wasn’t a power, but a special ability (sometimes considered their second power) that all S-ranked vaeli -and only S-ranked vaeli- possessed, just another thing that set them apart from the rest and boosted their status. She wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that, or the fact that she seemed to possess this rare gift, when just an hour earlier she was still wondering if her power would ever come, and what that fully implied. Neither did the boys, hence, why they were now knocking on the familiar door to her grandfather’s office that Yoomi had been to when she first arrived at the academy. It had only been roughly a week and a half since then, but it seemed like a lifetime ago.

A faint ‘come in’ could be heard from the other side of the large wooden door and the guards stationed outside the room pushed them open for the small group of students.

“Well, hello! What brings you here today, boys?” Yoomi heard her grandpa’s voice from where she was standing behind the boys’ tall figures that kept her out of sight for now. He sounded like he was familiar with them, something that surprised her.

“Headmaster Lee, sir,” Suho began, tone respectful. He bowed his head in polite greeting as he stepped aside and gently guided Yoomi forward with a warm hand on the small of her back. “This girl here is showing signs of possessing telepathy, and we’d like to ask for your help in clarifying it.”

“Ah, Yoomi-ah,” her grandfather smiled at her warmly. She returned the gesture, albeit a bit awkwardly given the circumstances, greeting him with a smile of her own. She had to admit though, his soothing, familiar presence did calm her down a little. “Yes, please, all of you come in and sit down.” He motioned for them to take a seat on the still slightly uncomfortable chairs that rested in front of his desk.

“Wait a minute, Headmaster. You know Yoomi?” Baekhyun asked with innocent curiosity. He tilted his head to the side in confusion, and once again, Yoomi was struck with the thought that he looked a like a cute little puppy. She would have awed at the sight or about it if the situation was different.

“Of course,” her answered, gesturing once more for them all to come closer. “Yoomi here is my granddaughter.”

“Granddaughter?!”

“I thought Yoomi was raised by human parents,” Lay trailed off uncertainty, hoping that either the headmaster or Yoomi would explain. Since she was still very much confused about the whole thing herself and the topic of her birth parents was both a mystery and a sore subject, she decided to let her grandpa handle it. Her head was still feeling muddled from her fainting earlier and the whole S-class bomb being dropped on her, so she was sure that any explanation she would try to provide would come out jumbled and incoherent anyway.

“That’s true,” he confirmed Lay’s statement with a stern nod and light frown. “There was an unfortunate incident that occurred, resulting in the death of Yoomi’s vaeli parents.”

“Then why didn’t you just raise her yourself?” Baekhyun then asked, a deepened frown appearing and his eyebrows angling downward. He seemed to realize how straightforward and potentially rude and accusatory the statement sounded right after he said it, hastening to correct himself with a sheepish smile.“With all due respect, sir.”

“The circumstances were terrible, as I said. I can’t go into details about it right now, so please forgive me. The bottom line is that Yoomi had to be raised by humans for her own safety. You said that you believe she possesses telepathic abilities?”

“Yes, sir,” Suho answered respectfully. “Kai said that she could hear his voice when he spoke mentally and that she responded accordingly. That means that she belongs in S-class, does it not?”

“Yes,” he nodded calmly, not at all put off by the students’ surprise, “you boys are right when you say you think she has telepathy. It’s correct that Yoomi is an S-rank.”

“What?!” she yelped, beginning to freak out again. How could he say that with a straight face and act so calm? “I’m an S-rank? How? Grandpa, if you knew I had telepathy and stuff already, then why didn’t you tell me?” she complained, feeling a little betrayed. If he had told her when she first arrived at the academy, then it would have saved her a lot of trouble, not to mention minor anxiety attacks and bad mood swings. Plus, it was something she would have liked to know anyway, something that might have made adjusting easier on her. “Do you know what my power is too?” she asked hopefully. A part of her was wishing that he would prevent the horrible feeling of betrayal from deepening, but another part of her was hopeful that he did, wanting to know her power more than anything else. The conflicting feelings made her feel queasy.

“Yoomi-ah,” he sighed heavily, sounding even older than he actually was. He suddenly looked weary and the girl felt a little bad for accusing him of keeping secrets from her, but she also needed answers. “When it comes to things like this, it’s best if you figure them out on your own rather than have people telling you everything. Especially in your case. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t help you, even if I do know these things. We already talked about this briefly when you arrived at the academy. Everything shall be revealed with time,” he promised.

“Oh… but Grandpa-”

“No, Yoomi. I’m not telling you,” he cut her off in a stern voice, ending the conversation.

“Okay, I understand,” Yoomi mumbled quietly, turning away from her grandpa with an evident pout of dissatisfaction on her face. Or at least, she was trying to understand it. She wasn’t happy about his decision, that was for sure. But he was the headmaster of the academy and her grandfather, the only biological family she had left, so she decided that she would trust him on this since he probably knew best. Even if she didn’t like it, she would have to deal with it; it’s not like she could change his mind anyway, so she didn’t really have a choice but to accept it.

“Wait,” Yoomi blinked, quickly backtracking, though she was still upset. Her intense curiosity and confusion were warring with her need to childishly sulk. “I’m really an S-rank?” She was shocked, to say the least, voice tinged completely with disbelief. The boys seemed to be just as surprised as she was.

“She’s really an S-rank?” Kai echoed- for whatever reason, he seemed to be the most vocal of the boys was about his surprise at the sudden turn of events.

“Headmaster, how-”

“Headmaster!” a loud and very familiar voice called from the hallway. The doors to the room were thrown open abruptly, the wood banging against the walls from the sheer force of it. Everyone jumped and turned to look at whoever it was causing all the noise. Standing there, were her two friends, panting and looking extremely distressed.

“Sumin? Jinwoo?” Their heads popped up at the sound of Yoomi’s confused voice.

“Yoomi-ah! Thank goodness!” Sumin yelled. Ignoring everyone else in the room and the proper protocol for this type of situation, she ran forward and threw her arms around her dear friend in a crushing hug. “We were so worried about you! First, you have telepathy, and then Kai just grabbed you and disappeared! We looked around the library a little, but when we realized you weren’t there, we decided to run straight to the headmaster’s office to see if you were here and ask for help finding you if you weren’t. I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Me too,” Jinwoo seconded Sumin’s frantic rant, smiling at Yoomi over her shoulder now that he had caught his breath.

“Thanks, guys,” she told them sincerely. Having her friends by her side also made the situation a little better, putting her more at ease. They had been there for her ever since she had come to the academy and she was thankful that fact wasn’t changing now. “I appreciate the fact that you were so worried about me, but do you think you can let go, Sumin-ah? It’s kind of hard to breathe,” Yoomi joked, forcing a chuckle and patting her on the back. It was as much an attempt to reassure her friend as herself, trying to make the formerly heavy air more comfortable and lighthearted.

“Oh! Of course,” she laughed, releasing her. “Sorry for just barging in here like that, Headmaster Lee.”

“It’s no problem,” he assured, smiling fondly at the bubbly girl that was clearly very good friends with his granddaughter. He seemed glad that she had made friends and was fitting in well. “I assume that you two are my dear Yoomi’s friends.”

“Yes, sir.” Jinwoo nodded, his words and tone much more formal than Sumin’s.

“I see. Well, then I’ll go ahead and explain everything as simply as I can,” her grandpa said. Everyone went quiet and listened, paying a little closer attention now. “For you two that just came in, I’m Yoomi’s biological grandfather. Our precious Yoomi here is an extraordinary girl, and she happens to possess S-rank level abilities. I’m afraid that I can’t tell you any more than that, but I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out on your own soon enough, Yoomi-ah, just like you did this. Now that you all know though, Yoomi will be moving to S-class right away, as well as moving into the S-class housing. One of you boys should take her to the administration building later in order to fix her schedule and arrange for her change in uniform and any other necessary procedures. As for you two,” he turned to Sumin and Jinwoo, “since you both appear to be such good friends of my granddaughter and even skipped class to look for her, I will inform your professors to excuse you from the last class you missed, as well as allow you to skip your last period in order to accompany Yoomi and say your farewells, should you both wish to. Remember though, just because she’ll be living in the S-class housing doesn’t mean that you still won’t be able to see her in school and on campus.”

“Thank you, headmaster Lee,” Sumin and Jinwoo both said, dipping their heads to him in a bow of gratitude and respect. Yoomi noticed that Sumin was looking really sad though and couldn’t help but feel her own heart sink a little as she realized why. Her friend’s voice when she spoke was more lackluster and quiet than it usually was and Yoomi could tell that she was probably upset that they wouldn’t be roommates anymore. She was disappointed herself about that fact, having grown to like living with Sumin very quickly. She couldn’t even protest though because she was still in shock and trying to process everything that was going on. It was a lot to take in- and that was an understatement.

“And Suho, here,” her grandpa motioned to the handsome boy that never failed to make her heart beat twice as quickly as usual, “is the S-class leader, so you will now be under his care. Follow his instructions and report to him everything you do as you would to your previous dorm head.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”

“We’ll arrange a room for Yoomi at the house, sir,” Suho promised. “And Kai will take her to the administration building after classes since they share some classes together and already know each other well.”

“But Yoomi and I share a class together too,” Baekhyun grumbled unhappily, though nobody but her really heard him, or if they did, they just chose to ignore him and pretend they didn’t. Yoomi looked over at him and saw him pouting. Even in her stunned state, she managed to send him a small smile to cheer him up and then turned back to face her grandfather when he said her name to get her attention.

"Oh, and Yoomi, dear," her grandpa called, "since you missed the S-class Acceptance ceremony at the beginning of this academic year in which Sehun and Kai here were present for, the Vaeli Ministry will be notified and another acceptance ceremony shall be scheduled for you in the near future."

"Acceptance ceremony? There's such a thing as that?" Yoomi inquired, already not liking the sound of it. "Can we not have one, please? I don't like the attention." The girl could not help whining, already imagining how much more talked about this event would make her, on top of all the gossip she already had to endure.

"Unfortunately, I cannot allow that, my dear. It is compulsory that every member of the S-class is officially declared an S-rank through an acceptance ceremony." Yoomi could only give a sad pout at his answer, knowing she couldn't change the law.

"On that note, here's the late birthday gift I had promised you, as well as a congratulatory gift for you for joining S-class." With that said, headmaster Lee handed Yoomi a small golden box, tied together with an elegant bow on the top. Yoomi thanked him sweetly and proceeded to unwrap the gift at his urging.

It looked like another charm for her charm bracelet, this time in the shape of a royal blue crystal. She loved it and couldn't wait to add it to her bracelet. "It looks like you really did know that I'm supposed to be in S-class, grandpa."

He only smiled fondly at her. “I hope you will enjoy your new accommodations, my dear. Remember to come and see me again if you ever need anything else. I expect you boys to take good care of my precious granddaughter, okay? And no funny business,” her grandpa joked with a chuckle. Yoomi’s cheeks immediately started to heat up a little at his teasing and she hoped no one noticed. Since when had the old headmaster become as bad as Sumin when it came to teasing her about boys? Well, she still didn’t know him that well, but family was family she supposed, and just like her own mother, it looked like her new family was going to give her a hard time about these types of things.

“Of course, sir,” Suho agreed easily. As the leader and oldest out of those present, he was doing most of the talking. “We will be taking our leave then. Have a good afternoon, Headmaster.” He stood up and they all followed his example, heading back towards the office doors.

“See you again,” her grandfather said as the doors closed behind them, sending her one last reassuring, parental smile.

After they all left the headmaster’s office, everyone exchanged brief goodbyes, Baekhyun going on about how excited he was that Yoomi was going to be living with them now, while Lay and Suho politely smiled at her and welcomed her to S-class. Even though her grandpa had given them the option to skip the rest of the period they were in, none of them were going to. Baekhyun complained, saying class was pointless and boring just like he had when Yoomi and he first met but didn’t go against Suho’s decision on the matter, the student union president thinking it was only right that they all attended their classes and actually learn something, as he had put it. Everyone went back to their respective classes while Kai, Sumin, and Yoomi headed to Human Behavioral Studies class together.

“Well, that was quite the episode, wasn’t it?” Sumin spoke up in her usual cheerful, happy-go-lucky kind of way, unlike how she was when she first learned that Yoomi won’t be her roommate anymore. Her mood swings were quite severe, but at least she wasn’t sulking anymore. Yoomi would choose loud, happy Sumin over sad, sulky Sumin any day. In fact, it made her feel a lot better to know that her friend was okay, even if she was still disappointed that they wouldn’t be seeing each other as much anymore.

“It was, wasn’t it?” Yoomi laughed along a little forced, trying to shake the remains of the shock from what she learned earlier. She had made herself a promise to always look on the bright side and try her best to adapt when she had come to Trillins and she intended to keep it no matter what.

“I know I like the idea of you living with us, Yoomi-ah.” Kai winked at her, to which she returned with a grimace. Sumin giggled next to her and nudged her in the side, giving the girl suggestive looks she promptly ignored.

“Don’t you dare try anything on me, Kai, or you’re dead meat!” Yoomi threatened, blood rushing up to her cheeks in record time. The blush on her face contradicted her serious glare, making her not seem as scary as she had meant to. Deep down though, she felt relieved, the playful banter relaxing her from her previous stressed state with its normality and lightheartedness.

“Who knows, you might actually like it once you’ve had a taste of it.” Kai was the one giving her suggestive looks this time and she smacked him on the shoulder for it.

“Ooh, feisty, I like it. I’m gonna have a lot of fun with you, Yoomi.” Kai gave her another one of his y smirks and disappeared in black puffs of smoke the next second, just before she could smack him a second time or hit him with a sarcastic comeback.

“Ugh, that is so cute. He so has the hots for you, Yoomi-ah!” Sumin giggled to herself beside the flustered girl.

“What? No! He’s just teasing me!” she protested, shooting her friend a warning glare as well. “And that’s not cute, that’s harassment!” She pointed at Sumin sternly, causing the other girl to only laugh.

“Sure, sure. But make sure to tell me when your next date is!” Sumin teased and summoned her wings to fly ahead of her, leaving Yoomi to run after her friend once again.

***

After classes were over, Kai, Sumin, and Yoomi met up with Jinwoo in one of the gardens to go to the administration building together. The whole thing was finally starting to hit Yoomi for real, the reality that she would be leaving her friends and moving to S-class a little bittersweet. She was happy to finally know something about her abilities, but she was really going to miss sharing a room with Sumin.

“Why do we have to walk there?” Kai grumbled, complaining to the trio of friends that didn’t really care about his whining. “I could just teleport all of us there right now, and we wouldn’t have to waste a single spec of energy!”

“Um, Kai, from what I heard, Yoomi fainted when you teleported her earlier today, so I don’t think we should do anymore teleporting right now,” Jinwoo advised, trying to play peacemaker, to which Yoomi returned with a grateful smile.

“Oh right,” Kai muttered, seemingly devastated to have to walk to the administration building for the second time that day. But at least he got to skip training, so he it up. He was still feeling a little sore from training the previous day- he had been pitted against Luhan for once instead of being on his team, and the usually quiet boy hadn’t gone easy on him at all. The thought of walking up all those stares with his aching muscles was horrible.

“Wait…” Kai started again after they have taken only a few steps, a new way to get out of walking popping into his head. “We can fly there! I’ll carry Yoomi!”

“I think that’s a great idea!” Before the girl in question could protest, Sumin agreed to Kai’s proposal, even clapping her hands happily. She shot Yoomi an unsubtle wink and the girl knew exactly what her friend was thinking and why she agreed to Kai’s idea.

“What? No!” Yoomi yelled back, horrified at the thought of somebody as hot-headed and reckless as Kai carrying her through the sky. Plus, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she had become a little hesitant when it came to flying ever since Jihoon had dropped her that first day. She had made no further progress herself either when it came to flying; she apparently just at it and could do no more than hovering a few feet off the ground for a couple of minutes at most.

“Why not? You even let Sehun carry you in flight training.”

“I didn't let him, Kai. It wasn't like he asked. It happened because I was fifty feet off the ground and falling to my death, you idiot! If Sehun hadn’t caught me, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Ugh, fine. Remind me to get somebody to teach you how to fly soon.” Kai muttered the last part under his breath and she unconsciously laughed at his misery.

They all ended up walking there in the end, and Yoomi was once again greeted by the kind Mrs. Lee at the front desk when they got to the administration building. They all greeted her and she told them to follow her to her office.

“Why don’t you all sit down at the seating area over there while I get Yoomi’s new schedule printed out and arrange her other necessities. I’ll get someone to bring you kids some snacks.” Yoomi turned back to her friends as Mrs. Lee disappeared into the back and they all went to sit on the couches situated on the other side of the room.

“What club did you join, Yoomi?” Kai asked after stuffing his handsome face with cookies. She appreciated the attempt at casual conversation to pass the time nevertheless, even if he was getting crumbs everywhere.

“Enhanced First Aid Training. What club are you in?”

“Dance club. Lay hyung, Sehun, and I are all in that club.” Wow, so Kai danced too then, and Sehun as well. Suho had already told her about Lay, but knowing that her fellow first years were in that club too made her curious. She wondered what the three of them were like while they were dancing and got a little too wrapped up in her fantasies of trying to figure it out. She had to admit, the idea itself was kind of impressive. She wondered what clubs all of the other boys were in. “Impressive isn’t it?” Kai gloated as if he had read her mind. Actually, now that Yoomi thought about it, if telepathy was an S-class ability, maybe he had read her mind. Before she could narrow her eyes at him and ask, he was already flirting with her again. “I can dance for you some time if you want since we’re gonna live together now. Or would you rather do something else?” Thankfully, it was at that point that Mrs. Lee came back, sparing Yoomi from any further forms of what she liked to label as harassment.

“Here is your new schedule, Yoomi.” The nice secretary handed her a perfectly folded paper gently. “And I also have your new uniforms here, as well as some papers for you to sign and print your thumb. It’s just an identification form for S-rank individuals so that we can keep track of you legally until an official acceptance ceremony is scheduled for you,” she added, handing the young girl a pad of ink.

“I remember doing that when my telepathy showed up the first time and I was named an S-rank,” Kai nodded from beside her, confirming what the older woman was saying.

“Oh, also, you have to change into your new uniform right now, so that we can get a new student ID photo of you to update on your ID badge and legal data,