While walking her way through the forest, something caught her attention; ancient marks were engraved on some trees, which she instinctively thought of trail marks guiding lost souls out of the forest. The trail marks all have the same etched sign- a letter Z with a crown on top of it, half of the crown was of the king’s , the other half was of the queen’s. She realized that it was the logo of the academy.

“Wow. It had been carved exceptionally on the trees, it looked one of those sculptures in Rome,” she exclaimed, her voice echoing through the grumpy forest. It didn’t even surprise her that she was more thrilled with how outstanding the marks were etched on those trunks than being finally able to find her voice back. The ancient carvings were just too beautiful not to be noticed.

After what seemed like a long and endless path of Z marked trees, she finally found her way outside the forest. As soon as she stepped out of the forest, she managed to breathe more evenly now but of course that didn’t last long, she sighed in frustration as she saw the wide expanse of green field in front of her.

“How am I going to find my way back to the office now? It’s not like there are any other trail marks to show me the way,” at least she’s a little less bad now that she could voice out her feelings; it’s a relief that her voice was actually back.

Out of nowhere, someone popped again.

“Now, what do you need?” she rolled her eyes, clearly showing her outright disappointment at the guy who just appeared. She didn’t need any more of those ill-mannered students of Z-Royale. She didn’t have to judge deeply to see if he’s different from the ones he met earlier. They’re all the same in her eyes now. 

“Well, try me. I’m not like them?” the guy cheekily told her.

“How am I supposed to believe that?’’ despite saying that, a part of her wanted to prod more if he could be of any help. In fact, he could be the only way for her to go back. It wouldn’t hurt now, would it? She thought to herself.

“Yes. I can be of great help, I know every little trail in this spacious garden,” he answered him as if he just read her mind.

“Well, you are?”

“Oh. I’m Yesung,”

Is that supposed to be his real name? Where the hell did he pop out from anyway? She brushed her unnecessary thoughts away,

“I’m Sunye,” she usually don’t tell anyone about her real name being Jiyeon; she had the habit of introducing herself as Sunye. She just didn’t trust him enough.

“Yesung is indeed my real name. And I just came by here because I was looking for a friend of mine around here. And by the way Jiyeon, it’s nice meeting you, but if you don’t trust me enough, I can’t help you then,”

“But - -“she stuttered. The last grip of hope was starting to slip away from her hand. Why can’t she just go on with him and not judge him that way? She mentally slapped herself for that. And then realization hit her,

“Wait. I don’t remember telling you that I’m Jiyeon. I’m pretty sure I told you I’m Sunye. . . And oh ,  You just answered my overflowing questions in my mind! I’m 100% positive that I haven’t voiced any of that! Don’t tell me . . .” her voice trailed off, as her mind wondered on the thing he could do. Mental telepathy; HE COULD READ MINDS!

He just shrugged like it was just a normal thing, “ Well, you can say that. I do read minds.”

“First, teleportation. And now, this? People like you really exist?” she just stared at him in awe.

“Why? Is it that surprising?” he scratched the back of his head, “Oh yeah. You’re a newbie.”

“How am I supposed to trust you when you’re infiltrating into my privacy? You should leave my thoughts alone,” she barked at him.

“You see, it’s not like I really want to divulge into your private thoughts. It’s just that my skills became a habit now that I find it hard not to read anyone’s thoughts randomly,”

“Do I even have a choice?” she said, resigned.

“Haha. You’re right; I’m still the key to your problem, y’know.” He .

“Oh well, if that’s the case, can you help me find my way back to the principal’s office?”

“No.”

“Why? I thought you would help me?” she sulked.

“As a matter of fact, yes, I will help you. But not anything related to the principal, especially at his office. You need to stay away from that place as much as possible,”

“But - -“ I need to talk to the principal. . .

“No more questions. I’ll usher you to the dorms,” he commanded her authoritatively; his voice unexpectedly condescending.

 She shuddered at how his mood changed drastically. He sounded so approachable and even sweet earlier but somehow her being stubborn about bringing her to the principal’s office made him a totally different person, the exact opposite of his former persona.

It left her no choice but to shut and even her mind and just obediently follow his lead to the dorms; her whole being suddenly surrounded with fear.

While striding along the vastness of the green field, he came into a halt. His back was still facing her but that only made her tremble; her sweat cold. It was as if he was having some kind of inner battle, struggling between his choices on whatever evil things that ran in his mind. She was mentally cursing herself already when he turned to her. Uh-oh, he actually read minds, she forgot that. As he got closer, she never felt this frightened before,

 “I’m sorry for scaring you. I didn’t mean to,” he shifted uncomfortably and turned his back to her immediately as he started walking again. She was at a loss for words. Feeling defeated, she followed his pace.

“I’m not usually like that,” he mumbled.

Nevertheless, she felt at ease now, sensing that he’s dropping his dark self earlier. And even more so, she wondered why the hell they are walking when she knew very well that they could just teleport with his aid.

“Well, it’s simple. Energy conservation and Physical Exercise,” He now beamed at her and was totally back to his calm and cheerful state, without a trace of his ominous character. Is he some kind of bipolar or something?

He looked at her accusingly.

“Oh yeah. I almost forgot that you read minds. How insensitive of me,” she sarcastically remarked.

He then chuckled amusingly at her. With that, she felt her cheeks grew hot.

They reached the dorms soon after. Then, she felt heavy gazes towards her, examining her from head to foot, scrutinizing every bit of her.

She looked at Yesung questioningly, “Well?” she waited.

“Don’t mind them. They’re just jealous,” he smirked and started explaining, “ Agua, Fuego, Aire, La Tierra and Aether. Those are the Five Royale Houses of the Academy,”

“Houses?”

“Yes. We don’t really call them dorms here. We call dorms as houses. And you’re in . . . hmmm. What’s your Zodiac sign? ”

“Ophiuchus. Why are you suddenly curious about my Zodiac?” Weird, really weird guy, she thought to herself.

“That’s the basis of how we assign your houses, and you are in the House of Aether,” he said essentially.

“Like seriously?” The academy is such. . . a weirdo just like this guy.

“Keep your thoughts to yourself,” he warned.

“Ooops,”

“And Yes, this is a serious matter. As an Ophiuchus-born, your element is Aether and therefore you belong to this very house,” he lectured her as they entered one of the door entrances, the purple one. There were actually 5 doors-  blue, gray, green, red and purple. She didn’t really care why. She’s curious about the more important one,

“I mean why do you assign that way? Aren’t we given the freedom to choose?”

“That’s just how things work here.”

“Is that all the explanation I can get from you?” she whined for the nth time.

“You’ll know more later. Aren’t you curious to see your cabin?” that’s just how fast he changed the topic.

“Cabin? I’m not sure how you call things here but is that supposed to be my room?”

“Yes. And if you’re lucky, you have the cabin all by yourself but if not, you’ll either have one or two pals with you,”

“I’m guessing that you’re done with the lectures now?”

“More to come but first, go to your cabin and wash-up. You don’t really smell okay,” he crinkled his nose and shot her an embarrassing smile.

She glared, “Like you smell any better, Kah! “ she right away darted towards the “cabin” in front of them where he ushered her into.

When she was about to enter her cabin,

“Jiyeon-sshi.”

She turned to him, “What now? I told you to go!”

“My mistake. Your cabin’s over there at the other side, the first one you see after entering the blue entrance, haha”

With that he was gone.  What a prank.

So that’s how you treat newbies , huh. She thought to herself. Karma’s a . Wait, ‘til you get yours, mind freak.

She then dashed away following his instructions and alas, she finally reached her cabin.

“Annyeong! I’m Luna! I’m your cabin pal! You are?  ” A petite blonde girl greeted her warmly as soon as she set foot on the very cabin. What a luck, she thought to herself.

“Sunye,” she shortly replied.

“Do you have any nickname you want me to call you in particular?” she was way too absorbed about this.

“None, just call me Sunye. I prefer that,” she just wanted to brush her away. She needed a rest. She’s starting to get really dizzy.

“Oh btw, What’s your Z?” she asked eagerly.

Aisshh, this girl just didn’t know when to shut up, does she? Aigoo.  And what was she talking about?

“What do you mean Z?” she asked nonchalantly.

“Your Zodiac Sign, my dear. You sure do have a lot to learn, you poor girl,” she even pouted. Ewww. I’m starting to feel weirder by the second.

“Err. Ophiuchus, what’s the big deal?” This was the 2^nd time Zodiac was mentioned to her.  Her head was pounding real hard now!

“YAHHHHHh!”

She was shocked at her sudden outburst, “What?”

“You’re on the wrong house! Why are you even here? Who sent you? This is Agua, you arggghh. You should be in the house of Aether!” she said breathless.

She wanted to complain that it wasn’t her fault but she felt so exhausted already; her surroundings started to look funny. The last sound she heard was Luna’s annoying wails, “Sunye! Sunye! ANYONE PLEASE HEEELPPPPPPPPPP! ”

Then soon enough, she didn’t hear anyone anymore. Everything faded into pitch black.

===

Another update for you! :))) Two characters had been introduced yet again! How do you see Yesung and Luna's characters? hahaha. the plot's still a little bit unclear, huh? you'll get to know more about the academy and the other characters as the story goes on! So, Keep updated! 

Remember to comment, subscribe and upvote too! :)