Chapter 2

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As Kai said, his hyung was indeed in a foul mood. Having wakened up at before ten in the morning had triggered his anger, and then the squealing girls all over the hallway and a slightly stupid looking girl – she looked cute though – standing dumbstruck in front of the principal’s room’s door when they were about to get inside.

And now Kris was glaring to practically everyone.

The principal’s room was originally crowded with their chatters and presence, but with a glare from the leader, they immediately shut up. The magnaes who were busy bickering about their breakfast this morning immediately stopped as well and they even dare to pout. Their Kris Hyung could barely cover his growing canines behind his lips. Sehun and Tao shuddered.

“Hello, boys.” An old lady greeted them kindly. She stood behind the large desk near the window, not at all looking annoyed at the boys’ antics. “Please sit down.”

“Thank you, Principal...?” Suho trailed off.

“Oh, call me Mrs. Han, please.” She smiled at him.

“Mrs. Han.” He addressed as they sat down on the old, gray leathery couch.

Mrs. Han looked at each one of their faces, still smiling as she pulled out a file holder from the drawer under her desk. Inside the file holder were twelve registration forms of the boys before her.

“So,” she started, “Can I know who is who? I know we’ve met at the registration, but I’m getting a little senile, boys.”

Some of them smiled back warmly while some others were already distracted with the things in the room. Suho looked at the boys, wondering who would start introducing themselves first. He saw Chanyeol, Sehun, Tao, Kai, and Chen were already wandering around with their eyes.

Oh these kids – they had a really short attention span.

He glanced at Kris who wasn’t paying attention as well. Unlike the others, his eyes didn’t wander around. He was looking at one object on the principal’s desk, his eyes narrowed into slits as if seeing something strange... Or was he just trying to brush off his anger? Suho never really knew what’s in Kris’s thoughts.

Suho cleared his throat and nodded politely. “Well, hello, Mrs. Han. My name is Kim Joonmyeon. Everyone calls me Suho.”

“Hello, Suho.” She replied.

“My name is Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun.” Baekhyun said with a smile.

Mrs. Han nodded. “Do I call you Baekhyun?”

“Yes.”

“Hello, Baekhyun.” She said.

“I’m Park Chanyeol. Your sweater looks lovely, Mrs. Han.” Chanyeol grinned.

“Why thank you Chanyeol.” She smiled.

“I’m Kim Jongdae. Please call me Chen.”

“Hi, Chen.”

“And I speak Mandarin.” He grinned.

“Really? That’s good.”

“Not so fluent though.” Lay snorted. “Hello Mrs. Han, I’m Lay. My name is Zhang Yixing but people call me Lay.”

“Hi, Lay. Are you Chinese?”

“Er, yes.” Lay said.

“Okay,” she smiled. “Who else?”

“My name is Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo. You can call me Kyungsoo or D.O.”

“D.O?”

“People call me D.O when we stayed in Canada.” He explained.

“Okay.” She nodded.

“I’m Kai. Kim Jongin. Kai. You can call me whatever.” Kai smiled boyishly.

“I’m Sehun.” The magnae chirped.

Mrs. Han laughed. “Hello, Sehun.”

“I’m Xi Luhan. People call me Luhan.”

“Or Lulu.” Xiumin snickered, and Luhan glared at him.

“Hi, Luhan.” Mrs. Han mused. “Wow, you and Sehun look alike. Are you two twins?”

“No.” Sehun and Luhan shook their heads in unison, but they chuckled and pumped fists as if sharing some private jokes only the two of them knew.

“I’m Huang Zitao. Please call me Tao.” Mrs. Han nodded.

“I’m Kim Minseok. People call me-”

“Baozi.” Luhan interrupted, laughing at his own sweet revenge.

Xiumin glared at Luhan. “I go by Xiumin.”

“Okay, Xiumin.” Mrs. Han laughed.

She eyed the last male in the line, waiting for him to tell her his name, but he seemed too absorbed with something on her desk. She followed his line of sight and found him staring – glaring – at her family picture.

Xiumin nudged Kris awkwardly.

“What?” Kris snapped out from his focus.

“Introduce yourself.”

He turned to the principal, startling her. Suddenly dark brown eyes were burning her.

 “My name is Wu Yifan.” He said distractedly as if something was bothering him.

Mrs. Han’s eyebrows twitched slightly. She decided maybe it was the photo that sidetracked him and made him look at her in a way probably only he could.

“Does she look familiar to you?” Mrs. Han spoke up to him, gesturing the photo on her desk with her eyes. “That’s my granddaughter.”

Kris looked away from the picture back to the lady. He regarded her intently, his lips pressed into a hard line.

“Her name is Sarang. Han Sarang. On her other side was my late husband.” She explained the photo for Kris’s unreadable expression. Kris looked at the photo again. “You might have met my granddaughter when you walked here.”

Met her when they walked there? The dumbstruck girl?

Realization hit him and Kris’s interest piqued. His eyes flashed, but not many people in the room really noticed. “I’m sorry, what’s her name again?”

His question drew all the attention in the room. Was it really curiosity dripping in his tone? As long as they could remember, Kris would rarely spare a second glance at a girl.

“Han Sarang. Her name is Han Sarang.” The principal said. Kris silently stamped the name in his head.

“What class is she in now?” Kris asked again.

“Whoa, Hyung.” Kai stifled a confused laugh, while the others were already at loss for words.

Suho gave the principal a tentative glance, assessing her facial expression briefly, before looking back at Kris. Knowing the guy for so long, Suho was positive there was something behind Kris’s inquisition.

“English Literature.” She checked his time table. “She’s in the same class as yours now.”

Kris raised one eyebrow slowly and restrained himself from smirking.

“So, anyone have a question?”

Sehun raised his hand, “Where’s the-”

“No, we’re done.” Kris stood up from his seat and threw a bold look to the boys, wordlessly demanding them to dismiss themselves as well. The boys stood up and Kris looked at Mrs. Han. “Thank you for the explanation, Mrs. Han. Can we go to our classes now?”

Mrs. Han frowned slightly, but she brushed the eerie feeling off her mind. “Sure. This is your schedules and school map.” She handed each of them an identical folder that contained several sheets of papers. “Have a good first day, boys.”

The boys bowed at her in acknowledgement and walked out of the room. The two alphas were the last ones to be out of the room, and Suho closed the door behind him. Kris was still deep in his thought when Sehun whined.

“Hyung, I was just going to ask her where-”

“Just follow the hallway and turn left.” Kris snapped before Sehun could finish his question.

The magnae blinked. “Did you just give me the direction to the toilet?”

“Yes, Sehun.” Kris drawled. Sehun blanched, scurrying away to the toilet as he dragged one of the boys along with him.

Lay gaped at Kris. “You still can read our minds?”

“Kind of.” He answered.

“Doesn’t it need some fair amount of energy, Hyung?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yes it does.” Kris pressed a hand on his chest. “And it’s taking a toll on me now.”

Luhan realized Kris was starting to pant. “Then why were you reading minds? Surely you didn’t do it just to read Sehun’s mind asking for toilet.”

Shaking his head, Kris planted his palm on the wall beside him to support his body. He felt like he’d just run for hours. Why was he this tired? Usually reading minds was an easy task for him. He could do it just like snapping his fingers.

But then he comprehended, he was in his human form now. Feeling so weak, so powerless, and so... so human. It just never occured to him that a small thing like reading minds could drain this much energy from him.

“You saw something.” Suho said. It wasn’t a question.

Kris looked at him and nodded.

“What did you see, Kris? Were you trying to read the principal’s mind?” Xiumin asked.

Kris’s breathing became heavier. “Yes, I tried to read her, but I couldn’t. She’s not a werewolf.” He looked at his friends. “But I saw it. The black pearl.”

Nine pairs of eyes instantly widened at him. The... black pearl? Series of gasps and ‘what’s erupted.

“It’s... here?” Kyungsoo murmured in disbelief.

“Are you sure it’s the black pearl we’re looking for, Hyung?” Chen asked.

“I don’t know... but I’m pretty sure it’s the very same black... oh ,” Kris hissed as he struggled to stay vertical. Luhan and Baekhyun helped him to keep standing up straight. His whole body felt almost numb now. He closed his eyes briefly, but he opened it again and looked at Baekhyun. “Can’t you feel the black pearl around this area, Baekhyun?”

“No,” Baekhyun shook his head. “I’m turning off my supernatural senses, Hyung. It exhausts me a lot lately.”

“Exhausts you a lot. Damn true,” Kris panted. He really hated his human form now.

“You really couldn’t read the principal’s mind?”

Suho answered Luhan, “No, he couldn’t. She’s pure human.”

“How do you know?”

Suho looked at Kris, his eyes reprimanding him. “She couldn’t see your eyes turning red when you read her.”

Kris paled. . He totally forgot about that. A werewolf’s eyes would always turn red every time they use their supernatural power, and every living creature could see it except for pure humans. If only she was a Supernatural, or had a sixth sense, she could’ve found out that they were werewolves. That they were after the black pearl. Suddenly he felt relieved that she was only a human. He had to be more careful now.

“We still have to find it. The black pearl. It should be still around here.” Baekhyun said.

“And see if that black pearl is really the one we’re looking for.” Kyungsoo said.

“Where did you see it?” Chanyeol asked.

“In the photo. The granddaughter – she was wearing a necklace with the black pearl as the pendant.” Kris muttered. So that’s what was behind his inquisition earlier. “And I thought she was only a dumb girl.”

“I suppose she isn’t.” Lay said.

Finally having some of his energy regained, Kris flipped through his folder and glanced at the schedule in his hand. English Literature. Room 201.

“I have the same class as her now.”

“The granddaughter?”

“Yes.”

Baekhyun reminded Kris, “Don’t even try to read her mind, Hyung. Not with your condition like this. It could be deathly to use your power against the owner of the black pearl, especially if she’s a Supernatural.”

“I know.” Kris nodded.

But he didn’t think it would be the problem here. Her grandmother is a pure human. He was sure the granddaughter is, too. But then how could she have the black pearl with her?

Suho tapped his shoulder. “Be careful. We’ll meet at the parking lot after school. You sure you’re okay now?”

“I’m fine.”

“Alright, call us if you need anything.”

Kris nodded and his heel, walking in search for classroom 201.

He repeated your name in his head, amused. Han Sarang. So after years of trying to find the black pearl, apparently it was here, in a small suburb of South Korea, in the possession of a human.

He smirked. He knew, for a fact, that they would get the black pearl sooner or later. He just didn’t think it would be this easy.

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