Chapter 2

Yoomi had probably already reread the letter a hundred times in the last five minutes alone, yet she still couldn’t believe her eyes. She, boring and normal Lee Yoomi, was being invited to attend the Trillins Academy?! Was this a joke? Was she dreaming? What had she ever done to be made worthy to attend that mysterious, prestigious college of legend?! It was a commonly well-known fact that they only ever accepted either incredibly intelligent and gifted people or those that belonged to the richest families in the country- neither of which she was. So then how and why was she holding a very official looking acceptance letter from them in her hands right now?

"Are-are you sure this is for me? And it's real?" she finally managed to stutter out after a long stretch of shocked silence, seeking confirmation. A part of her was still convinced that it was all some type of stupid joke, because amazing things like this didn’t happen to painfully average people like herself, but another, more rational part of her knew that there was absolutely no way her parents would do something like that, nor was there any real reason for them to. Still, though, it was more than just a little difficult for her to comprehend the fact that she was invited to attend the most prestigious and secluded academy in the country. It just didn’t seem real- and that was saying something considering all of the weird stuff she had experienced thus far today.

"This is absolutely real, Yoomi-ah," her dad started gently, cautious of her reaction. He took a deep breath before continuing as if to prepare himself for what he was about to say next. He winced sympathetically as the words tumbled out of his mouth awkwardly despite how many times he had practiced them over the years and especially over the last few hours she had been at school. "Truth be told, you were adopted, my dear."

"Oh.” A delayed blink and then a confused frown overtook her features. “I already knew that though."

"What? You knew?" Her parents stared at her with wide eyes, looking like a pair of deer caught in the brightness of oncoming headlights in their shock. The atmosphere suddenly seemed tense and it was then that Yoomi seemed to think that maybe she had made a mistake in admitting such a thing so casually, but in her defense she was still reeling from her own surprise at the wild day she had and the invitation still clutched in her hand, so of course she didn’t handle the situation as well as she probably could have. Her stomach dropped at the lost look and slight guilt in her parents’ eyes. It wasn’t that she meant to sound insensitive or that she was trying to keep it a secret from them, she just truly had never had thought it was all that important. Knowing that she was adopted didn’t change the way she felt about them- they were still her parents, after all, the ones who had loved and taken care of her for years, biological or not.

"I-I just kinda figured it out on my own,” she spoke again, this time more hesitant, wanting nothing more than to comfort her parents and let them know her true feelings on the subject. “It was weird that you guys didn't have a single baby picture of me, adding on to the fact that I have no memories of my life before the age of twelve years old. Plus, if you haven't forgotten, you guys were the most awkward people ever when I was twelve and you could barely act like you knew me, so I just kinda assumed that I was adopted.” She gave them an apologetic smile after calling them out on their formerly questionable parenting skills, but shook her head and gave them a more genuine smile immediately afterward to let them know that she meant no harm by it and didn’t hold their past mistakes against them. “It doesn’t change anything; you’re both still my mom and dad,” she assured, “but what does that have anything to do with all of the strange things that have been happening to me today, or with this letter for that matter?"

"Dear, let me tell you about how we came along to adopt you. I need you to listen carefully and keep an open mind, okay?" She nodded for her mom to continue. Her parents still seemed tense and a little awkward, but they looked far less shocked and much more calm now than they had when she first walked in the door.

"I couldn't have children, so we have always wanted to adopt, but we just never got around to it,” her mother explained, releasing a long, drawn-out sigh. “Until one day, an elderly man came and knocked on our door, begging us to take you in.” Her eyes took on a glazed look, staring into the distance just over Yoomi’s shoulder as if lost in the memory of the first time she had ever met the girl she would come to love immensely as her dear daughter. She sighed again, this one much shorter. “You had just turned twelve at the time and you were crying for your mom and dad. We didn’t know you, but seeing you so upset and hurt like that broke our hearts, so of course, we welcomed you inside. It was then that he explained that you weren't human and that you were in danger, but you would be safe if you stayed with us. We felt bad for you, but more than that, you were our chance to have the child we always wanted.” She paused, collecting herself, before she continued, taking Yoomi’s limp hand into both of her own. The warmth of the action made them both feel better.

“The old man gave us a ring, the one you have on you right now,” her mom gently the cool metal that rested on her finger, bringing her attention to it, “and told us to make sure you have it on you at all times, saying that it was a charm to keep you oblivious, but safe. He warned us that on your eighteenth birthday, some strange things would start to happen to you, and when that time comes, a letter from this very academy would be sent to you and you would have to go there, for your safety."

"I'm… I'm not human?" These were the only words she could manage to get out, too shocked to do or say anything else. It felt like there was something heavy and thick caught in , preventing her from breathing, and she felt a distinct rush of lightheadedness accompany her mother’s confession.

"Apparently so, my dear.” The words were spoken so softly she almost had trouble hearing them over the static crackling in her mind. Her mom squeezed the hand that was still in her grasp in a sign of comfort and solidarity, giving her a shaky, apologetic smile as well. She knew that it must be extremely hard for her daughter to hear, let alone accept, just as it had been difficult for her and her husband to process all those years ago. “It would also explain the wings and the weird symptoms you have been getting today. I’m sorry that we couldn’t tell you sooner, and that we acted as if we didn’t know what you were talking about this morning. You must have been so afraid." The very idea broke her heart, but she couldn’t take back her actions, even if she did regret them. It had just come as such a shock to them both that morning that neither of her parents could respond properly. In fact, they had almost forgotten about the old man’s warnings until the letter came right after Yoomi had left for school. She had been with them for so long that they had come to see her as their own child and completely forgot about the fact that she was different from them, that she wasn’t human.

"I-I, I don't know what to say. This is all so much to take in at once." Yoomi stuttered quietly, gaze falling to the floor as she tried to wrap her brain around what she was being told and understand. Forget having everything dropped on her at once- this seemed like too much to take in, period. She may have already known that she was adopted, but how was she supposed to deal with finding out that she apparently wasn’t human? How would anyone in general deal with something like that? Was there a guidebook out there on how to cope? She seriously doubted it. Then, another thought seemed to hit her, the question emerging from the foggy confusion of her mind rather sharply. "Wait, if I'm not human then what am I?"

"Unfortunately, we don't know that either, Yoomi-ah. The old man only said that you would be safe surrounded by humans,” her father sighed. One of his big hands reached up to rub his temples before coming back down to be placed on her shoulder in a gesture of reassurance, just as it had earlier that morning. “He didn’t bother to explain much more than that. He just said that you were special and that hiding you amongst the humans would be the best way to protect you. Naturally, with the way he was talking, we thought it might be best to take his word for it- that’s not to say that we didn’t ask for proof either. But he was so serious and stern, so confident and concerned for you above all else, that it was hard not to believe him. Plus, there was always something special about you,” he gave her a fond smile, squeezing her shoulder briefly, “a certain sparkle to your eyes, a glimpse of indescribable color that was magic in and of itself. Of course, we had forgotten all about that stuff until this morning; to us, it doesn’t matter if you’re human or not. You’re our daughter and we love you.”

“And you just believed him?” Yoomi blurted out, wide-eyed, without thinking. She still couldn’t wrap her head around it. “You took me in despite the fact that he told you I wasn’t like you? That I wasn’t human?”

“Honey.” It was her mom’s turn again, her voice soothing and sweet; the effect it had on Yoomi was the same as being swaddled in a warm, fuzzy blanket on a cold winter’s night and it instantly made her relax, the panic that had begun to surface in the back of her mind fading slowly. “Please understand, as your father said, this doesn’t change anything. We loved you despite the fact that you weren’t our biological daughter, and you loved us too even though you knew you were adopted. The fact that you’re a little different is the same- we still love you either way. Wings or not, human or not, related or not, you’re still our daughter.”

“Mom,” Yoomi fought hard against the tears she felt coming on at the older woman’s heartwarming words. She loved her parents always, but what she felt for them at that moment was such a strong and sudden rush of gratitude that she felt bad for not telling them how much they meant on a daily basis. At the moment, she felt overwhelmed in more ways than one.

“As for the second part of your question, dear,” her dad gave her a calming smile as well, one full of love and honesty that mirrored that of her mom’s, “we didn’t believe him at first, even with that mysterious twinkle of stardust in your eyes.” He chuckled, goodnaturedly reaching his hand up to ruffle her hair in an affection motion that was very familiar to the young girl. She couldn’t help but let a small smile escape at the action. “The fact that beings other than humans exist is a little difficult to comprehend, and I’m sure you’re struggling with it too, right now. However, after what he showed us, we had to believe him,” he continued to chuckle fondly at the memory.

“What he showed you?” Yoomi echoed with a questioning tilt of her head, trailing off waiting for one of them to fill in the blank patiently.

“Magic, Yoomi-ah.” Now, her mom was also chuckling, tone coated with a thin layer of awe. The small smile on her face grew wider as she took in her child’s dumbfounded expression at her statement. “It’s best if you just wait and see it for yourself. I’m sure there will be plenty of it once you get to the academy.”

Yoomi found herself automatically nodding at her mother’s promise, not sure what exactly she was supposed to say. The possibility of magic was something she -and she was sure every other child in the world as well, especially those as curious and imaginative growing up as she was- had always dreamed about. However, now that its existence was confirmed, she didn’t know how to react. Remembering the wings on her back from this morning, she couldn’t deny that magic existed, not now that she knew she wasn’t crazy and it hadn’t been a hallucination. It was still a bit surreal though. Breaking away from that lost train of thought that was leading her nowhere, another important question entered her mind.

"Then, do you know why I don't have any memories from my life before twelve years old?" It was something that she had always wondered about. After having found out that she was adopted, she went through a period of her life where she often wondered about what her life might have been like before. That wasn’t to say that she was discontent at all like she told her parents, she was happy and she loved them, but the giant gap in her memory had never ceased to bother her. Eventually, she had just learned to deal with it, though it had still bugged her every time Soohee had gone on about the wonders of her tenth birthday, about finally hitting double digits, or she heard other kids reminiscing about learning how to ride a bike or getting swimming lessons at the age of five or six. Most of the time her lack of memories wasn’t a problem. However, it was at those short, little moments she mentioned before that she always felt empty, the distinct sensation of something missing haunting her. She had taken to brushing that horrible feeling off, but now presented with the opportunity to get some answers, she couldn’t ignore it any longer.

"It's the power of a charm put into your ring,” her mom explained, hand gently ghosting over the silver that rested on her finger once again. “The old man said it was to protect you, so that you could at least have a normal life before you turned eighteen."

"So he just took them all away?! And what is that supposed to even mean- that my life won't be normal any longer? And that I will have to leave you guys to go to this academy?" The panic was back again, anxiety bubbling in her chest and threatening to rise so high that it would block again and prevent her from speaking any further. Or maybe it was the tears that were quickly springing to her eyes once more that had her feeling choked. This was all too much for her to deal with- for anyone to deal with, really. First, she thought she was crazy, then she found out that she wasn’t human, and now she was being forced to leave her family and friends behind? With this realization, the wonderful and ridiculously prestigious academy everyone thought was amazing no longer sounded so wonderful or amazing to her.

Although she had known all along that they weren't her real parents, she still loved them dearly with all of her heart. They were great parents! They were always right beside her no matter what she did, and they gave her all the love she could have ever wanted. Even now, despite everything they had told her and everything she had just found out, they still did nothing but shower her in unconditional care and support. She couldn't imagine how she would be able to cope without them- she couldn't imagine going anywhere or doing anything without them, period. Even only moments ago she had been thinking about how lucky she was to have them, how thankful she was. She was still stunned and in a state of disbelief but had slowly been calming down and beginning to accept her new reality with their reassuring words and kind smiles. How was she supposed to face everything now, without that? Without them?

"Don't cry, my baby." The both of them enveloped Yoomi into their loving arms. She hadn’t even noticed, but by now the hot prickling that she had felt behind her eyes had turned into actual tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. "I promise that we’ll keep in contact. It's just like sending you to a boarding school, and not even abroad. It’s just like I said, we love you no matter what, and we always will. That’s something a little distance won’t change either. After all, once my baby, you will always be my baby. "

"Plus," her dad added, tone turning cheerier as he tried to look on the bright side and dismiss the heavy atmosphere that had begun to surround them, "you're graduating from high school this Friday and you still haven't started on your college applications, so this is perfect! You’ve already been accepted without even having to apply!" He grinned happily at Yoomi and patted her head once more. This time, the smile that bloomed was much weaker than the one that the same action had garnered previously, but it was still a smile nonetheless and that meant that, hopefully, she would be okay.

"I guess so..." she sniffed a few more times before closing her eyes and snuggling back further into their embrace. Her dad always knew just how to cheer her up. Honestly, she was more than thankful for them both.

***

Saturday

"Yoomi, are you sure you have everything?" And there she went again for the hundredth time.

"Yes, Mom." Yoomi groaned while trying to discreetly roll her eyes at her overbearing mother. Thankfully, her mom hadn’t been looking at her, too busy fussing over one of her packed suitcases at the moment, to notice.

"Casual clothes?"

"Yes."

"Formal clothes?"

"Yes."

"Pajamas?"

"Yes."

"Bags? Shoes? Socks?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes." The young girl rolled her eyes.

"Your phone? This is very important- it's the only way we will be able to communicate!"

"Got it right here in my pocket, Mom."

"What about your underwear and bras?"

"Oh my god, Mom! Yes, I've got them all! After all, you were the one who insisted to pack half my bags." Yoomi couldn’t help but roll her eyes again, though this time the action was more to cover up the fact that she was flustered at her mom’s rapid-fire line of interrogation than truly being annoyed with her. Don’t get her wrong, she appreciated her mom’s concern, really she did, but it had started to become a little frustrating after the fifth time she had gone through her anxious checklist. Not to mention the fact that all of the worryings was making her more nervous for her departure than she already was, to begin with.

“What about your-” Yoomi zoned out before her mom had even finished her next question, the distant sound of heavy footsteps catching her attention. Getting used to her newly heightened senses had definitely been a challenge, but one she had finally been able to overcome in the past few days. She was still working on controlling it completely, but at least she didn’t pass out from intense headaches or sensory overload anymore like she had on the day of her eighteenth birthday. In fact, it was rather nice having such sharp eyesight or to smell or hear things that other people didn’t, almost like a superpower or something. The only downfall to it was that she now paid even less attention to her surroundings than before, often getting distracted by the little things she could pick up that others couldn’t, and that was exactly what was happening now as the sound of footsteps stole her mind away from her ranting mother. To be specific, what she heard now was the sound of familiar old, worn down sneakers scraping against the grooves of a concrete sidewalk, the noise increasing as the footsteps approached.

"Soohee's here, Yoomi-ah!" Her dad suddenly shouted from the front door. Yoomi smiled. Not even a second later, Soohee was barging into her room.

"YOOMI-AHHHHHH!" Soohee screamed and then proceeded to give her precious friend a rather life-threatening hug. Mentally she scoffed. And people called her dramatic- truly, she was nothing compared to a worked up, emotional Kang Soohee. Of course, the amusement she felt was short-lived as her friend’s hug really was life-threatening, her arms wrapped around her so tight it was starting to hurt.

"Well, I'll leave you girls to it then. The driver should be here in about ten minutes, Yoomi,” her mom reminded her before leaving the room so that the two friends could say their goodbyes privately.

"Yah! I still don't get how you could not have told your best friend about applying to Trillins Academy. It isn't a small matter, you know, and how did you even get in?" Soohee wailed, still squeezing Yoomi in her deadly grip.

"I don't know either, Soohee-ah, it just kinda happened.” Said dying girl gave her an awkward laugh as she tried to pry her blubbering friend off of her so she could breathe properly. Suddenly, it became much easier, Soohee’s grip loosening as her voice turned uncharacteristically soft.

"Promise to keep in contact with me?” she asked quietly, refusing to release the other girl from her hug completely so that she could avoid meeting her eyes. “Don't forget me after going to that high-class college, okay?" Yoomi immediately softened herself in response to the hints of insecurity and sadness she could clearly hear in her friend’s voice, relaxing in her hold.

"I promise, Soohee,” she whispered back, just as quiet, though her voice was strong because she really meant it. Instead of trying to wiggle her way out of Soohee’s arms again, she wrapped her own around her and returned the hug just as tightly. “Thanks for being my friend all these years." Yoomi pulled back enough to give her a genuine smile but still kept her arms around her.

After that, the two girls chatted and laughed for a few minutes, Soohee teasing Yoomi about being a secret genius and swooning over all of the hot rich guys she would probably meet as a result of attending the famous academy. It felt good to just laugh with her best friend, especially after the shocking information from the other day that she was still struggling to cope with if she thought about it too much. It felt good to just be normal, especially when she thought about how her life might not be normal anymore after this, about how much everything would change after today.

Soon, they were hauling all of Yoomi’s luggage down the stairs and into the living room. Turning to face her parents once the last of her bags were stacked by the door, she immediately felt tears well up in her eyes. She was determined not to let them fall, though, having cried far too much already after the unexpected surprises she had received on her birthday and wanting nothing more than for this goodbye to be a happy memory instead of a sad one.

"Well, this is it," both her mom and dad put their arms around her, pulling her into one last hug. "Make sure to come and visit us whenever you can, okay?"

"Make some new friends there, and maybe bring us back a boyfriend someday, hmm?" her mom suggested playfully with a wink.

Yoomi laughed in spite of the bittersweet feeling that was growing in her chest. Of course, her mother would want her to find a boyfriend. Just as she was about to reply, a knock sounded on the front door, startling them all into silence. For once since gaining her new and improved senses, Yoomi hadn’t heard it coming ahead of time, too caught up in the moment to notice. Everybody shut up at once and gestured for her to answer it, expecting it to be the driver from Trillins.

When she opened it, she was greeted with the sight of a well-dressed man, who looked to be in his ea