Chapter 5

After breakfast, Yoomi went and got changed into the academy's training/athletic uniform. It consisted of a strappy gray fitting workout top with the school emblem on the left side of the chest and short running shorts in a darker shade of gray with workout leggings underneath as well since it was gonna be winter soon. The training uniform set was supposed to have a two-tone cropped (for girls) windbreaker jacket as well but they were once again distinguished by rank with different color combinations for A-class, B-class, and S-class so not knowing her rank at the moment, she was told to just wear her own jacket.

By the time the three had arrived at the field where physical training classes take place, everyone else was there already. Lucky for them though, they had arrived just before the final bell rang. Yoomi seriously would have hated herself for being late on her first day.

“Alright everybody, gather round!” the trainer called in a voice that clearly said he wasn’t messing around and wouldn’t tolerate people not listening. He was kind of intimidating with his larger stature, muscles, and the shiny whistle hanging around his neck that Yoomi knew from experience was a strange source of power and authority for all gym teachers and trainers. His eyes scanned the crowd, inspecting all of the students and making sure they were ready for class. They stopped on her and Yoomi felt herself freeze up a little, never comfortable when it came to being singled out by teachers-- nonetheless good-looking ones.

“You must be the new student,” he eyed her up and down, making her fidget lightly underneath his gaze. “I am Trainer Kim. Introduce yourself.” The whole class turned towards her direction, clearly interested in the new transferee. As Jinwoo had said, it must not be a common occurrence to get new students like this, so everyone was curious.

“Hello, my name is Lee Yoomi,” she said simply, still not feeling comfortable with so many people’s eyes on her. Sure, she was usually confident, but she still wasn’t the most outgoing unless with her close friends.

“Rank?”

“Huh?” She blinked, the short and abrupt question throwing her off.

“What rank are you?” the Trainer Kim asked, clarifying his previous statement with an impatient tsk. “I need to know what rank you are so I know what I’m working with and how far to push you,” he explained briefly, unable to identify her rank since she didn't have on the academy's jacket that would've showed her rank.

“Um, I don’t know what rank I am yet,” Yoomi smiled awkwardly at him in apology. “I don’t know what my power is either, in case you were wondering about that too. I’m sorry.” Instantly, the field was filled with the whispers and gossip of her classmates. She had expected this, but she couldn’t avoid the sharp twinge of annoyance and self-consciousness she felt at the minute.

“She hasn’t gotten her power yet?” They muttered, not even bothering to hide their judgment.

“She’s a no-rank?”

“Why did she transfer here?”

“How can she not know? What’s wrong with her?”

“Tch, figures,” Yoomi heard a sort of familiar voice scoff. Glancing over she was met with the sight of Sehun, once again in a royal blue uniform instead of the black and white like everyone else, glaring at her. The curses that flew through her head at that moment would have earned her some pretty severe punishment if her parents knew of it. It was now official- Lee Yoomi had the worst luck ever. Honestly, she wanted to scream. As if noticing her distress, Jinwoo and Sumin both stepped a little closer to Yoomi as a show of support, although whether this was because they also noticed Sehun or because of the harsh whispering from their peers, she didn’t know.

“I see,” the trainer nodded, not seeming too bothered by it like the students were. Maybe Yoomi’s grandfather had told some of the professors about her situation, or maybe he was just more understanding than her classmates. “I’ll have to work with you a little more closely for your first week here, then. It will give me the chance to evaluate your capabilities and help you catch up to the others since you transferred in so late. Be ready to work hard,” he warned.

“Yes, sir,” Yoomi agreed, bowing her head a little in acceptance and thanks. Even if it was a little embarrassing and intimidating to have the teacher single her out specifically, she was glad that this way she could catch up to the others, which was one of her main concerns. Besides, she also really enjoyed physical activity, so she didn’t mind working a little harder. She was a naturally active person, and always excelled at the sports she tried.

In the end, he had meant his warning and Yoomi did end up working far harder than she had expected to on her first day. Trainer Kim had her running extra laps and doing things the others didn’t have to do after the class had finished stretching as a group. Apparently, it was to test her speed and endurance so that he had a baseline of what she could and couldn’t handle. There were various other tests of her physical abilities too, which she took while the rest of the class ran their own practice drills. By the time class had ended, she was exhausted, still slightly out of breath even though she had been on a break for a couple of minutes now, and feeling just a tad bit sorer than she usually was after a typical workout for her old gym class. Afterall, her physical capabilities now exceeded what would be normal for a human, and she was still trying to get used to them. It was worth it though to get the trainer’s nod of approval, and she felt proud of herself when he told her that she was surprisingly very close to the level that most of the class was at for the majority of the tests he did. This meant that she wouldn’t have to do as much catching up as either of them had originally thought. He looked vaguely impressed, and Yoomi felt a little bit of pride swell up in her chest. Another good thing that came out of taking all of those tests was that she didn’t have to interact with Sehun throughout the entire period.

“Yoomi-ah!” Sumin ran up to the exhausted girl as soon as class ended, Jinwoo following right behind her but at a slower pace. “How did you do? I’m sure you did great! Just ignore what everyone else is saying, okay?” She smiled, seemingly still worried about all of the gossip and rumors that had been spreading around after Yoomi’s introduction and how they were affecting her friend.

“Okay,” Yoomi agreed easily with a smile at her two friends. In spite of her rotten streak of recent bad luck, she really must have done something right to get great friends like them. Thanks to them, she didn’t even mind the constant whispering, not really.

“Do you need us to show you to your next class after we finish changing? We have a small break, so we have time.” Jinwoo asked her, always the practical one.

“Sure, thanks,” Yoomi was quick to take him up on his offer. She remembered what The Spire looked like, the building where combat training class is held in, but she had to admit that she had no clue how to navigate the countless bridges and stairways to get there from here since she couldn't fly yet. Hopefully she’d get the hang of everything soon, but knowing herself it would take at least another week or two before she could walk around campus confidently without getting lost.

After that, Yoomi waited for Sumin and Jinwoo outside of the locker rooms while they changed back into their regular uniforms. She had opted not to change herself, since she was just going to have to put it right back on for combat training in a few minutes once she got to class. She figured that this way, she would save herself some time and effort. However, as she was waiting, Sehun came out of the changing room, still clad in his training uniform for some reason, and looking mighty fine in it as well-- though she would never be caught admitting to that. Subconsciously, she jumped and tried to avoid him by turning her head away and looking somewhere else, but she had been too slow and he had already spotted her, a smirk on his face.

“Well, if it isn’t Latte girl again. The two of us seem to be bumping into each other quite a lot, huh?” he sneered. He was never going to let her live that down, was he? Yoomi sighed. “For someone without a power, you sure have a lot of nerve.”

“It’s not my fault we’re in the same class together. I’m not exactly ecstatic about it either if you haven’t noticed,” she protested with a frown.

“Forget it,” he turned away from her with a scowl, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I don’t want to waste my short break on you. I’ll get you next time, Latte girl.” Yoomi stared at his back, dumbfounded as he just walked away. He had been the one to walk over and start bothering her, and then he just left? She didn’t like Oh Sehun at all.

“Hey!” Sumin greeted the distracted girl happily, practically jumping on her arm. Jinwoo shook his head at her antics and smiled at Yoomi, who now had a smile on her face as well. “Let’s go! We can show you another one of the academy’s gardens before the next class.”

After they had both dropped Yoomi off at the familiar large domed tower called The Spire, the pair left, heading to their own respective classes. It took her a moment to double check that she was in the right place, trying to recall what Lay had told her about the building and the different floors before she headed inside. The world must seriously hate her though, because before she had even made it through the door, she bumped into something hard and let loose another long string of curses in her head when she heard the same haughty voice from her last class.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you, Latte girl? It hasn't even been thirty minutes since you last bumped into me.”

Yoomi looked up with narrowed eyes in irritation and there he was. Oh Sehun. He had his arms crossed cockily and was glaring down at her with annoyance that matched her own clearly written on his face.

“I hate to break it to you, Caffè boy, but bumping requires two people,” she snapped, glaring right back at him. “I thought I told you to watch where you were going.” For a second, Sehun looked surprised, but it was just a quick flicker and his face darkened immediately afterward, not at all happy with her defiant response.

“You-”

“Woah, it’s you again!” a playful voice exclaimed, interrupting Sehun before he could kill her, or vice versa since Yoomi was one hundred percent done with his at this point. Sehun gritted his teeth and turned to face the newcomer along with Yoomi, whose gaze was more curious but still held her annoyance and frustration.

“You really need to stop interrupting me, Jongin. You’re not my babysitter,” Sehun grumbled lowly.

“Might as well be,” his friend shrugged in reply, a teasing grin on his face. Yoomi recognized him as the other tall, attractive boy that was with him when she had spilled her drink on him. Just like then, he had perfect timing. Also just like then, he shot Yoomi his y smirk and a few flirty comments. Forget Sehun killing me, she thought, amused but still irritated, at this rate, I’m going to have a heart attack from all the good looking guys in this school.

“Kai at your service.” The boy gave a low bow, dramatically sweeping his arm like the prince in a classic Disney film. “And sorry about that, sweetheart.” He smiled at her, straightening up. His smile was contagious and Yoomi fought against the corners of her lips that were twitching, itching to follow his example. “Sehun here just doesn’t know how to talk to pretty girls. I think they make him nervous,” he said in a stage whisper, leaning closer to her.

Yoomi blinked in response, just a little flustered, before breaking out into laughter so strong her cheeks flushed a light pink, causing an amused sparkle to dance in the boy’s eyes. For a split second, she thought they looked completely black, but it must have been a trick of the light since his eyes were already a very dark shade of brown. He stood back up to his full height with a pleased expression at his ability to make her laugh, walking backward away from her and grabbing hold of Sehun’s arm in the process. “If you ever want to hang out with a guy that isn’t afraid of cute girls, just look for me.” He smoothly winked at her and then pulled a protesting Sehun away with a chuckle of his own. She lost sight of them in the crowd and then saw them reappear on the other side of the room a few seconds later. Still calming down from her laughing fit at his unexpected sense of humor -it was a mystery to her how someone so lighthearted could be friends with Sehun, though she supposed they got along because of their naturally big egos-, Yoomi could do nothing but shake her head a little in stunned disbelief. She had no idea what had just happened, but she definitely liked Kai.

***

Combat and sparring class had totally worn Yoomi out and she was more than ready to get some food for her growling stomach afterward. Not only was she very, very hungry, but her entire body was screaming in pain from the harsh training she had just put herself through. Just like in physical training, her combat trainer had pulled her aside in order to test her combat skills. Never in her life had she worked herself as hard as she did today, and she was more than simply exhausted. Although she was tired, she also felt great. The energy and adrenaline coursing through her blood was exhilarating and new, and she actually liked the feeling it gave her.

Now, it was lunch time and she was more than ready to eat. By some miracle, she had made it to the central mess hall on her own and was currently lined up to get her lunch, looking around for Sumin and Jinwoo in the process. But before she could spot them, her eyes landed on somebody else not too far from where she was standing. A little confused and hesitant, she continued staring at him until he finally turned around and saw her, confirming that he was indeed who she had thought he was.

“Hello, Lay sunbae!” She greeted first with a bright smile.

“Hi, Yoomi-ah,” Lay greeted her back, albeit shyly with his signature perfect, dimpled smile. It was nice seeing him again, but what shocked her most was that he was wearing the royal blue uniform of S-class. The surprise prevented her from speaking for a minute. That, and she had to pull her gaze away from his cute dimples when he spoke again. “It’s nice to see you again. How’s your first day at the academy going?”

“It’s been great so far, sunbae. I haven’t lost my way around yet.” Mostly because Sumin and Jinwoo have been dropping me off everywhere I had to go, but still. She was going to take what she could get and she was proud of it.

“I’m relieved. I'm glad my tour was of some help to you.” Lay gave her another angelic smile and left after promising her that she would see him again. She was glad that she got to talk to him again, but a part of her was still stunned and curious about her new discovery of his rank.

“Yoomi-ah! Over here!!” Once again, Sumin’s familiar voice sounded from behind Yoomi and she turned in a circle to look for her.

“Yah, Yoomi! Were you talking to Lay sunbae?! How did you know him?” Sumin almost screamed in the poor girl’s face as soon as she sat down at the table.

“Huh?” she blinked dumbly, overwhelmed by Sumin’s sudden interrogation. “I met him yesterday before you got back to the academy. He was nice and even helped me find the administration building and gave me a tour of the school.”

“Damn,” Sumin’s eyebrows shot up in an impressed look as she elongated the vowel of the word, a smirk on her pink lips. “Lee Yoomi, you haven’t even been here for long and you’ve already been on a date with one of the hottest and most popular guys at the academy! My little baby’s grown up so fast,” she faked wiping a tear from her eye.

“It wasn’t a date!” Yoomi’s cheeks pinked at the ridiculous statement while Jinwoo just shook his head in amusement and focused on his food, knowing better than to interrupt girls when it came to talking about guys. “He was just showing me around since I got lost. And what did you say about him being popular again?” Yoomi asked, trying to distract her friend and calm down the heat that blossomed in her cheeks. Normally Yoomi wasn’t one to freak out over guys or get flustered so easily, but as stated before, she had a weakness for cute things, and Lay definitely fit that description. Plus, she was, sadly, a complete bumbling idiot when it came to romance. She had never been in a serious relationship that lasted more than just a month or two in the past and even the idea of being in love and doing coupley things made her feel nervous and her heart beat faster. So naturally, all of this meant that she would be a little embarrassed at the implication of her and La