Wednesday

~Yoomi’s POV~

It had only been a few days since Yoomi had made the promise to herself that she would become stronger and finally work out how to properly use her powers. She had snuck away from the others after dinner, needing some time to herself. She trained with Xiumin still, but that was only for an hour or so a few times a week and she knew she needed to work on it more than that on her own if she was going to make any progress. Plus, she and Xiumin usually worked on her telepathic abilities since he was the best at it, so she hadn’t really been able to receive guidance on her other unique power.

It had been more difficult than she had originally thought it would be to sneak away. Having two overprotective mates and ten other close friends that varied in levels of clinginess, it had been a real hassle to sneak out without any of them noticing, knowing that if they had, they would have almost absolutely demanded that they come with her or prevented her from leaving at all, depending on who it was. She knew there wasn’t really a need for her to have to sneak off, but she also knew that the guys would definitely worry and even offer to help her had they known. And she didn’t want their help; not because she was confident in her talent or thought she would do fine on her own, but because she didn’t want to have to depend on them for everything. Like Xiumin had said to her in one of their previous training sessions, each vaeli’s power was unique to their own self and it was up to the individual to figure out what worked best for them. No matter how supportive the other guys were, she knew this was something she had to figure out on her own; she promised herself she would do it, she had to.

Yoomi had nearly been caught twice, and the one time she was caught, she ended up being forced to lie through her teeth and make up some half-nonsense excuse to D.O. that she didn’t even remember anymore since it had been such gibberish. D.O. of all people! She had been lucky he let her go, but she knew deep down that he was suspicious about her behavior and would probably bring it up again later.

After getting through D.O., she had to deal with Kai begging her to do homework with him — well, more like do his homework for him since she had already finished hers, that lazy bum. She was left with no choice but to use her other high card — telling him she was on her period and had absolutely no energy to deal with his stupidity.

Once she was finally in the clear, Yoomi quickly made her way to the beach. Although there were private practice rooms open for students to use at any time, Yoomi preferred an area even more secluded than that, not wanting to run into Jihoon or Mina or anyone else, even her friends, at the moment. The beach was almost always empty at this hour, not to mention it had been getting colder outside lately as the seasons slowly began to change, so even during the prime day time hours, the beach was still pretty much void of any people. Despite the temperature though, Yoomi still loved the beach. The clear blue water, gentle sand, and brisk wind against her face all made her feel at peace and more connected with nature. The beach and swimming pools had always been soothing places to her, and she was going to take advantage of that calm mindset they provided to hopefully aid with her training.

She positioned herself near the edge of the water, tide just out of reach, and plopped herself down comfortably in the sand that was still warm from the sun’s heat, contrasting the chilly breeze. She had never tried training on her own, but she decided that starting with the aetha meditation and simple stretching strategies they usually engaged in as a group during power training class was as good a place to start as any. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to focus on the energy coursing through her the same way that she remembered Xiumin and their trainer describing. She had greatly improved in these small exercises since the first class when she had been clueless.

After finishing her meditation, Yoomi felt more centered and definitely more confident. She pushed herself to her feet, dusting sand off her pants and stretching her limbs lightly to get her blood flowing again. She wasn’t sure if there was a certain stance or motion she was supposed to do in order to call upon and control her ability, so she decided to just do whatever felt natural. Analyzing the memory of the one time she had clearly used her powers, which just so happened to be the time she fought with Xiumin, she tried to force her body and mind to replicate the experience— minus the overwhelming anger.

Instead of getting mad, she focused on the odd pressure and feeling of power she had felt at that time and tried to grasp it mentally. Reaching both her hands out, palms facing outward, she tried to force it to the tips of her fingers, where she had learned powers are manifested most easily at, but to no avail. Yoomi could certainly feel the power within her, and at times could even take a firm hold of it in her mind, but still no luck with bringing it out. She figured she was missing something. What am I doing wrong?

Then, she remembered a method Lay had once told her about, a quick start or shortcut to getting one’s power to manifest. He had said that each vaeli’s power could be solidified and present itself as an image — one of a flower. It begins as a seed, then a bud, and finally blossoming into full bloom once the power has been mastered. And eventually, she won’t even have to imagine the process of the blooming flower, or the flower at all, in order to call upon her power.

Yoomi unconsciously smiled to herself at the thought of her mate. She wondered what Lay would say, what he would do if he was here with her at the moment. Surely, she knew that the sweet angel would definitely tell her that ‘everything will be alright’ with his soft dimpled smile, assuring her in ways no one else can.

“Alright, enough daydreaming, Lee Yoomi,” she said aloud to herself to snap out of the love-sick daze just the mere thought of one of her mates brought her into. “You can do this!”

Straightening up her posture and reaching out with both her hands once again, Yoomi closed her eyes tight and started on creating a mental image in her mind of the flower.

But what type of flower? The thought suddenly occurred to her before she got too far. Then the memory of a certain light pink and purple flower came to mind. On the first day she got to the academy, the day she first met D.O. in his greenhouse, she had gotten stuck in her clumsy attempt to save one of the buds trapped by some entangled vines.

That’ll do.

She started once more, taking just a moment to mentally scold herself for getting distracted again so easily. With a mental picture of a tiny brown seed, she poured all her concentration into making the seed change into a more matured form than the last. She imagined the essence of her power sprinkling over the seed like water, or warming it like the sun, encouraging it to grow the entire time.

Yoomi felt it before she saw it. On the tips of her fingers was a strange sensation that brought shivers to her skin. Cracking one eye open to take a peek at her progress, she was surprised to see that her effort had not gone to waste. Right there, dancing lightly between her fingers was a light pink dust that sparkled like what she used to think fairies were like back before she had learned of her vaeli heritage — like the gold dust that trailed after Tinkerbell. In awe, she wiggled her fingers and watched as a deep violet purple began to intertwine itself with the soft pink. As she spun her fingers the way she often saw Suho or Jinwoo do when forming water into small contained balls, the shiny particles began to spin, rotating in such a way that she was instantly reminded of the Milky Way and the stars. It was honestly beautiful and left her speechless.

However, just as quickly as it had come, the colorful dust had vanished, slipping through Yoomi’s outstretched fingers like the sand beneath her feet. Her awe had faded with it, letting out a disappointed huff as it disappeared completely. Had she lost her concentration? Why did it go away? As pretty as it was, what kind of power was that in the first place?

She repeated the whole process again a few times, only to be met with the same result of the dust vanishing after a few seconds, unable to actually do anything apart from sparkling. The frustrated girl had started glaring at her empty palm without even realizing it, when a cough suddenly interrupted her thoughts, the girl immediately spinning on her heels to turn to look at who had found her.

“Ahem.”

“Baekhyun oppa? How did you know I was here?” She asked abashedly, not thinking she would be caught so soon. She was so surprised by his sudden appearance that it took multiple dazed blinks for her to fully register that he was there.

“Why, I followed you of course,” the older boy replied with one of his signature grins, before moving closer to ruffle her hair affectionately. “I originally just planned to watch since you looked so determined, but it seems as though my Mimi got stuck, huh?”

She let out a small huff, knowing that Baekhyun knew fully well that she wanted to figure it out on her own. She couldn’t deny that she was secretly grateful, though, considering she didn’t manage to get very far on her own. Plus, the affectionate action and endearing nickname she had grown to love to hear coming from him ensured that she couldn’t even muster up the strength to be mad at him. 

“Oh, come on! Shrug off that pout, Yoomi-ah,” he attempted to console the girl while maintaining his usual optimism. His grin had softened to an encouraging smile that Yoomi couldn’t help but return with a small, exasperated smile of her own. She found it hard to not smile whenever Baekhyun was around. “You know I just can’t help it if you’re looking so cute being clueless like that.”

“Tch, excuses,” she mumbled under her breath, although meaning for it to be playful to tease the older boy back. Her playful attitude was obvious by the upturned corners of her lips and the mischief that now lit up her eyes.

“Yah! When did you start being so sassy?” the older boy reprimanded teasingly with an amused laugh, “My precious Mimi must be hanging around Sehun, that bad influence, too much these days. Stay away from that brat, Kitten! You understand?” He light-heartedly wagged his finger at her, mimicking a parent scolding their naughty child.

“Deh, deh. I shall stay away from bad influences,” Yoomi droned, deadpanned. Her fake bored expression turned inquisitive and her eyes lit back up, altering the male to the fact that she was about to say another teasing comment. She looked at him curiously with feigned innocence. “Does that mean I need to get away from you right now, oppa?”

Baekhyun’s mouth dropped in pretend disbelief at what the girl said before advancing towards her with outstretched arms and a creepy grin. “Come here, you little rascal! You need to be punished just for that.”

With a squeal, Yoomi jumped into the air and out of his reach, not letting up the chance to stick her tongue out at him in a playful irking manner. Baekhyun followed suit, his much bigger, stronger wings from years of use beating quickly behind his back in a soft glow. He chased her around, making exaggerated motions and claims of having to eat the naughty kid as food once he caught her. The two played around with child-like blissfulness, chasing each other around until they were both out of breath.

As the two laid together on the now cool sand, waves crashing softly on the shore, and chests still heaving from laughter, Yoomi felt at peace. It was finally dark enough for some of the stars to begin making their appearance, but while the sight would have normally made her happy, she couldn’t bring herself to admire them in the same way tonight. The stars reminded her of her minuscule progress earlier — the progress that was far less than what she had hoped for. She had known it would take practice to fully master her power, but was it wrong of her to wish she was better at it than she was? Maybe she had been too ambitious earlier.

“What’s wrong?” Baekhyun asked, causing Yoomi to realize she had released a disheartened sigh without meaning to. His brown eyes watched her carefully, his expression still soft and gentle, letting Yoomi know he wasn’t pushing her to answer if she didn’t want to, but that he was also serious and would be there for her if she needed it. It was different from his usual loud and outgoing persona. Yoomi had known he could be serious when the situation called for it, but this felt different from even that.

Yoomi found herself subconsciously swallowing as she continued to stare back at him. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but when they had collapsed on the ground, they had done so in a tangle of limbs leftover from their playing. His left arm was thrown out to the side and acted as a pillow underneath her head, and her own body was pressed against his side. The heat his form gave off was undeniably warm and comforting, reminding her of the same feelings she got every time she laid with Suho or Lay.

At the realization of how close they had gotten, Yoomi’s heart began to beat faster. A small part in the back of her mind was suddenly nervous, wondering if this was it. The boys had already come to the conclusion that they would most likely all eventually bond with Yoomi. With Suho and Lay, it had been a complete surprise, but now, some part of her knew. Although the nerves existed, she couldn’t bring herself to care about them; it felt right to be in his arms. She had always felt at ease around Baekhyun; even from the very first moment they had met in class, his bright boxy smile had made her feel happy and carefree like everything was going to be okay.

“I-,” she had to stop and remind herself of what his question had been. “I just wish I had made more progress. I think I’ve figured out how to manifest my power now, but what good are pretty little lights if I can’t do anything with them?” she admitted.

“‘Pretty little lights’, huh?” Baekhyun repeated, seeming amused. His face split into a crooked grin that was still soft around the edges. As if having read her mind, he continued with “Did you forget how we met? I remember you being more than impressed with my ‘pretty lights’ then. Trust me when I say that just because your power is beautiful, doesn’t mean it can’t be deadly. You’ll get the hang of it eventually, and until then, if all you can do is put on a rainbow dust light show, I’ll join you.” He chuckled, bringing up his free hand to twirl his fingers around a strand of her long hair, leaving iridescent little sparkles of white and gold lights in its way. Yoomi giggled at the flirty display, her eyes captivated by the lights and the movement of his slender fingers.

Baekhyun smiled in satisfaction at her reaction, then twirled his fingers in a circle next, white and gold swirling lights shooting up into the sky. They burst after reaching a certain height, exploding into the shimmering miny firework display she remembered from their first meeting.

“I could never forget.” The confession had slipped out before she could really think about what she was saying, too stunned by his words. She was truly, deeply touched by everything he had said, her heart swelling. What had she ever done to deserve him, to deserve Suho or Lay or any of the others?

“I’m glad to hear it,” he laughed, light pink staining his cheeks at her boldness. It was only then that Yoomi realized what she had stated so firmly, and she felt her own blush coming on.

“I-I mean-”

“You know, Yoomi,” he interrupted before she could start rambling and fluster herself even further, not that it really mattered since the rest of his sentence flustered her anyway. “You’re really cute when you get all embarrassed like that.”

Before she could do anything else, his soft lips were pressed against hers, effectively halting any protests she might have had at his teasing. She had thought it was impossible given the incredible sweetness of her two current mates, but Baekhyun’s kiss had to be the most gentle she had ever experienced. It wasn’t hesitant, but the pressure behind the kiss was so faint that it felt as if their lips were just barely brushing one another. She knew Baekhyun didn’t lack confidence and it wasn’t as if he was treating her like glass, it was more like the kiss itself was an embrace, giving off the same steady comfort as his body heat.

Despite the ghost-like caress not lasting longer than one of his warm hugs he often ambushed her with, she was breathless by the time he pulled away. She hadn’t even been conscious of the fact that she had closed her eyes until her lashes fluttered open to reveal the deep gold Baekhyun’s usual warm brown orbs had turned to. It was like staring into the sun, but she found she didn’t mind, only experiencing the gentle heat of a spring day instead of the blinding harshness of summer. His eyes were so caring, so gentle and soft.

Yoomi felt the familiar tingling of the bonding mark begin to spread just below her collar bone, off to the right side slightly. For some reason, the burn this time started slow and then gradually built up to the sharper pain she was used to experiencing. Just as quickly though, it disappeared, soothing relief washing over her as his free hand came up to brush against her skin, the other curling itself further into her hair in a gentle, loving hold. His fingertips danced over her collarbone, circling the dark tattoo that had appeared. Her gaze followed the motion as if in a trance, admiring the sixteen pointed star-like brand. There were dots at the end of the longer points of the star, a circle like the sun cut out in the middle. It reminded her of one of his fireworks and Yoomi was sure there wasn’t anything else that would have fit him nearly as perfectly.

“I think mine still hurts a bit. Care to kiss it better, my mate?” Her eyes met his again, the golden twinkle showing just the slightest bit of pain behind his teasing, smile looking a little strained around the edges. At his jest, her own eyes widened. She felt bad that she had forgotten, so absorbed in the euphoria that bonding with Baekhyun made her feel.

Instantly, her left hand reached out and pressed itself against his chest. Realizing it wasn’t enough and that direct skin-to-skin contact was better, she removed her hand and quickly slid it up underneath his t-shirt. Again, she didn’t even think about how bold her actions came across as until Baekhyun said something, his posture relaxing once she made contact.

“Well, it’s not the kiss I asked for, but this will do, too,” he teased, letting out a loud laugh at her mortified expression.

“Sorry, oppa. I-I was-” Yoomi stammered, looking away in embarrassment as she tried to bring her hand back out. His own hand had automatically jumped to grab it, thin fingers wrapping delicately around her wrist. He squeezed her wrist lightly through the fabric of his shirt and directed her touch back to his own mark.

Hand over hers, he leaned in and pressed their foreheads together, a blissful sigh escaping his lips. His warm breath fanned her face and this time it was Yoomi who found herself pressing an impossibly soft kiss against his lips.

***

Friday

Yoomi wasn’t sure that shoving thirteen young adults, most of those being rowdy boys, and their semi-strict S-rank professor that looked like he really just wanted to sleep and not deal with them at all into one medium-sized private jet was a good idea, but that was exactly what Trillins had done. She found herself squished between Baekhyun and Chanyeol on the ride to the Institute of Gamssin-Sam, where their annual fall school trip was being held. It was about an hour-and-a-half-long trip, but it definitely wasn’t boring with the boys around, especially since she was sitting with two members of the beagle line. They kept her entertained with jokes and hilarious antics, as well as their typically over-dramatic behavior, and just general playful cuddling with Baekhyun — with Chanyeol trying to in for some affection every once in a while as well. The newly bonded pair was on their third and last day of needing to be close to each other in order to ease each other’s pain.

When they had come back to the S-rank house Wednesday night, the boys had certainly been surprised to find out that they were now mates. The shock came not really from the fact that Yoomi had bonded with another one of them since they had pretty much expected that at this point, but that it was Baekhyun. Kai had been certain it would be him next, while Chanyeol and Chen were in disbelief that their fellow trio member had ditched them for Yoomi (and maybe they were a bit jealous as well, Chen in particular after what had happened on his birthday). Sehun, by now, could only roll his eyes at the girl taking yet another one of his arguably favorite hyungs, but he was used to it by now. At least that meant they kind of had similar taste and he could finally accept that she wasn’t seducing his hyungs — it seemed to be more of the other way around if what had taken place over the weekend was anything to go by. D.O. grumbled about how the two of them together would certainly be chaos, going so far as to say that Baekhyun would be a bad influence on her, but didn’t seem actually opposed to it, especially since the pair was giggling the entire night and looked so happy. However, he did scold them a few times for being annoying and loud. Kris gave them his sincere congratulations and even blessed the couple like a father would at his daughter’s wedding, making Yoomi promise not to do anything stupid if Baekhyun ever tried to bring her into one of his schemes. Luhan and Xiumin just shrugged, as if casually going “oh another one? Okay”, not ones to get too invested in the drama. Then Tao, the rascal, instantly claimed that Baekhyun must’ve prayed to the gods and begged the stars and skies twice daily for Yoomi to finally bond with him, to which Baekhyun replied with “Tao, you little ” and started chasing him around the house to give him a good beating. Although of course, he stood no chance against their resident martial arts genius.

As for her other mates, Lay and Suho had seemed to know immediately what had happened the instant the new couple had walked through the door together, Baekhyun’s arm wrapped around Yoomi’s shoulders. Suho had smiled proudly, truly happy that one of the boys he considered his brother had found happiness, as well as glad that he seemed to love Yoomi just as much as him. It made both Suho and Lay happy that they knew Yoomi was well-loved and would be taken care of between them all. While Suho had simply smiled from afar and gave them space, choosing not to rush them like some of the others, Lay had waited patiently for his turn to personally congratulate them. He had patted Baekhyun on the shoulder in the sweet, soft way only Lay was capable of and, similar to Kris, had made Baekhyun promise not to drag Yoomi into anything that could be too dangerous or troublesome. Baekhyun had seemed almost offended, but the kind smile on Lay’s face said he knew that Baekhyun wouldn’t actually do anything that could ever hurt her.

***

The thirteen S-ranks and Trainer Ahn stepped off the jet into a plain field, having been the first group to land, as their jet was sma