CHINGUX 2014: have a super-time! (1/1) for kyunqsoo
Title: have a super-time!
Author: bcnf3nf
Recipient: kyunqsoo
Pairing/Focus: baekhyun/girl!kyungsoo, jongdae/girl!kyungsoo, chanyeol/girl!kyungsoo
Rating: pg-13
Warnings: genderswap
Length: 8600 words
Summary: Sometimes Baekhyun wonders about his past life and the amount of sin he must have done to be stuck babysitting two adults with offensive superpowers.
High school is the best time of your life, they say. Baekhyun really wants to agree, but high school so far has been nothing but mental and physical pain. And two annoying best friends, which sadly are the best thing about his high school life. It probably would have been different if he were in a normal high school like he intended to be, but Baekhyun guesses that life just doesn't always go as planned.
"Enter your student ID and tasks will be given according to your powers," Mr. Jung tells them, pointing at rows and rows of blue capsules behind him. Baekhyun tenses up on his seat-power exam on his first year was all theory and this is his first time seeing test capsules. What if he doesn't get out alive? "You have thirty minutes to finish all ten tasks. Good luck!"
It's halfway through his junior year, and Baekhyun has just finished his history midterms with his head still hurting from all the names and dates he failed to remember. He stares at the door of his capsule and sneaks a glance to where Jongdae and Chanyeol are standing in front of theirs, punching in their student IDs to the machine. Baekhyun decides that he doesn't have any other choice but to just wing it. He's got a good hang on his powers, anyway.
The screen inside the capsule shows his ID photo, eyes droopy and hair messy, a constant reminder of how much Baekhyun absolutely regrets getting drunk in the welcome party the night before they took his ID photo. Next to his face it says Byun Baekhyun/EL13005 and under it Light Manipulation. This is the first time he's ever been in a test capsule-the amount of advanced technology in this place never ceases to amaze him. He stands still in the middle of the machine, unsure of what to do, and watches as his surroundings turn pitch black.
"Light up your palm," a robotic female voice says.
Well that's easy, thinks Baekhyun. He turns his palm upwards and tilts his head a little, letting light surge out of his palm.
"Excellent," the robotic voice responds unenthusiastically. "Light up your eyes."
Baekhyun smirks. This is definitely going to be his first A of the semester.
*
His parents are normals, and his brother is, too. So Baekhyun was calm and unsuspecting when he took the obligatory filter test after middle school, answering quizzes and letting strangers inject him with unknown liquids and hook him to machines. Baekhyun thought that everybody had gone through the same set of tests as he did, but apparently he was only one of the few who had to be assessed for five hours straight. When he finished, he emitted light from his hands and it was a quick you have one hour with your family before he was transferred to a quarantine complex on the outskirts of the city.
He's placed in a house with two boys his age. Jongdae's power started manifesting when he was thirteen, he told Baekhyun, and he's been living in the complex since then, only seeing his family from behind thick glass for almost two years now-still considered too dangerous for contact. The other one, Chanyeol, entered the facility a couple of days before Baekhyun did. He's also still categorized under too dangerous for contact, but he gets visits from his telekinetic father from time to time. They always say that Baekhyun is lucky-his power is more or less harmless and has been deemed safe for release after only six months of quarantine. So Baekhyun gets to go out once a week, visit his family, meet his old friends, wander around Seoul. He wonders if it's really better to be able to interact with normals, though, because he still have that bright yellow tag around his wrists, letting everyone know what he really is.
It really doesn't help that they're called hazards. Being called supers or mutants would actually be a lot cooler, but the government was all for originality, so. Yeah. As stated by the law, hazards are kept in quarantine through their high school years, being taught the necessary knowhow on power control and ethics in addition to the regular curriculum. They live in small houses equipped with safety measures according to the residents' powers. Baekhyun doesn't really think that this is convenient, because they are not allowed to install locks on their doors and he shares the place with some of the nosiest people in the world who know nothing about privacy.
"Let's get ice cream," Jongdae whines that afternoon, barging into Baekhyun's room and sweating like he had just run a 5K marathon. It's mid-June and the dome is as hot as their house that one time Chanyeol had a fever and couldn't control his heat emission. The government did a great job making the hazard complex, which basically is just a thick-glass dome, look like the actual world outside, complete with artificial weather changes and fake plants and animals. The major problem is that they tend to go overboard with their weathers. Overcompensating, Jongdae calls it.
Baekhyun groans from where he's lying on the cold floor of his room. This place is too small and way too hot for two people to be inside, and Jongdae apparently decides that this is the right time to latch himself onto Baekhyun, nagging him to go buy some ice cream. Jongdae is definitely five years old. "Go away!" Baekhyun wails, trying to push Jongdae off of him. At times like these he really wishes that his power has just a little combative bit to it. If he had Jongdae's power he'd definitely electrocute the hell out of this grown man who possibly aspires to be a koala. "I don't need your body heat Jongdae go away please I'm gonna-"
"Uh, guys?" a deep voice interrupts Baekhyun's effort to push Jongdae who is currently hugging him tight, chanting ice cream, ice cream lowly to his neck. They both turn their heads to Chanyeol, who looks scandalized but not the least annoyed by the heat, probably because the nature of his power had forced him through higher temperature than this. Once again Baekhyun whines internally at how useless his power is. Chanyeol stares at them judgingly and continues, "Do I want to know why you're cuddling on the floor drenched in sweat?"
A collective ew comes out of his and Jongdae's mouth at the realization of their position, and Jongdae finally moves away from Baekhyun's breathing space. Baekhyun rolls around on the floor before sitting up, leaning on the side of his bed-he originally planned to stay on the floor all day but the whole commotion has ruined his mood. Jongdae is up on his feet, clearing his throat and looking pleadingly at Baekhyun. "Ice cream?" he squeaks, still.
"Ooh, ice cream!" Chanyeol chimes in. He turns his head to Baekhyun and starts wearing his puppy face. "Let's go?"
Sometimes Baekhyun wonders about his past life and the amount of sin he must have done to be stuck babysitting two adults with offensive superpowers. He sighs in resignation and picks up his hoodie from the bed. "Fine, let's go."
*
Baekhyun never really considers his power amazing-it has its potential, but it's practically nothing compared to electrical manipulation or fire control. He will never, however, admit this fact to his two housemates, who consistently claim that they have the most incredible power on earth and therefore the rest of society should bow down to them. For all they know, Baekhyun loves his power and believes with his entire being that the ability to manipulate light equals the key to rule the world.
The topic has somehow become their go-to discussion whenever they run out of hot girls and gossips to talk about. Jongdae, of course, snorts at the phrase light manipulation. "Name one thing you can do with that," he challenges.
In all honesty, Baekhyun doesn't have any idea how light manipulation will help him take over the world, but Jongdae doesn't need to know that. "Blinding lights," he answers confidently.
"But that's defense," Chanyeol joins in on the conversation, still munching on his fries. Chanyeol is gross-that is all anyone needs to know about this guy. "What are you going to do-whoops," a piece of potato flies in Baekhyun's direction, and thank goodness for his amazing reflex, because ew saliva. "Sorry," Chanyeol still dares to grin. "I was saying, what are you going to do if you have to attack someone?"
I will call one of you for help is the actual answer. "I can make strobing light," Baekhyun tries. In his defense, defense is the best offense.
"Still not an attack," Jongdae retorts with a smirk.
"Well, it is!" protests Baekhyun. "If they have epilepsy," he adds meekly. Why does he even bother engaging in this conversation? This is just Jongdae and Chanyeol making excuses to tell him his power is shit-not that he doesn't already know. And in three, two, one..
"Your power is shit," Jongdae and Chanyeol comment, laughing in satisfaction. Thank you, best friends. Such encouraging words.
Baekhyun scowls at the duo, trying to avert his gaze elsewhere, and that's when he sees Zitao. From the way he is fixing his hair incessantly, Baekhyun knows just where the younger boy is going, and he is struck with an idea. "You know what," he says, standing up on his feet and motioning his friends to follow. "How about we have a little contest?"
When it comes to mischief, it's very easy to move Jongdae and Chanyeol, who are now following him to the washroom. Baekhyun believes Zitao will be there in a few moments. "Whoever makes Zitao screams the loudest wins," Baekhyun says hurriedly, finding a spot to hide. "And I don't mean anything sexual!" he manages to confirm before the door clicks open and all three of them each hides in a stall.
There is only one reason why Zitao would try to fix his perfectly-styled hair, and it is when he's about to have a class with Oh Sehee. And by default, just before the bell rings, he will be in the washroom, adding more gel to his hair and making sure each and every strand of his hair is in its perfect position. Sadly for Zitao, he is acquainted to three toddler-hyungs.
Jongdae has already started-Baekhyun can see from the way his hair is starting to stand up from the static electricity Jongdae makes. Baekhyun always carries a snapback in his bag since he found out that Jongdae can do this-fixing his hair again and again is too much work. Baekhyun peeks through the door of his stall and sees Zitao with his hair, looking like a rockstar. Rockstar from the ‘80s, that is. He stifles a laugh as he anticipates Zitao's reaction when he looks up to the mirror.
"ARGHHHHH," one, two, three-Baekhyun counts five seconds of Zitao's scream before he proceeds to trying to make his hair look normal. Not bad, not bad at all, Kim Jongdae. Now he's going to wait and see what Chanyeol does. Baekhyun plans to attack last-he's just figured out a new way to use his power, and he wants it to be a surprise.
According to an informal rule in their group, they are not allowed to cause pain on their prank subjects, so Chanyeol needs a little creativity if he wants to make Zitao scream without physically attacking the poor kid. Zitao has calmed down, somewhat, frantically pressing his hair down, too immersed in his hair-fixing ritual to even look around and find the cause of his problems. This kid is such an easy target. Baekhyun is watching intently, waiting for Chanyeol to do something, when he notices from the mirror that the tissue on the side of the sink is burning. Sigh, so uninspired.
Noticing the fire, Zitao gasps a little before throwing some water in the direction of it. And then it's over. Baekhyun almost laughs at how pathetic Chanyeol is with this whole prank business, but a more important thing awaits-it is now his turn. The thing he's about to do, Baekhyun has never done this in front of anyone before-he's only tried it once, twice in the darkness of his bedroom, but he thinks he's ready to show it off.
Baekhyun closes his eyes, inhaling deeply as he tries to think of one grossest bug he has ever seen. Big, green eyes, yes of course. Scaled skin, long, red tongue-perfect. He opens his eyes and projects a hologram of what he's thought up, grinning proudly as the image takes shape next to Zitao's mirror, just slightly larger in size than his head.
One, two, three, Baekhyun's heart swells up in pride with every second of Zitao's scream, and it sounds like music in his ears as he counts seven, eight, nine-that's a good ten seconds there. He is a clear winner of this match and he takes back his bug projection, patting himself on the back. Whose power is shit now? Ha. Ha.
They all emerge from their stalls, just a tiny little bit guilty about Zitao, who is now curling on the floor, half-sobbing with messy hair. Poor thing might have to skip his next class, now. "That was so awesome," Chanyeol sighs unhappily at Baekhyun. "So, so, awesome."
Jongdae helps Zitao up, rubbing the dark-haired kid's back to calm him down before sending him out the room. They should be thankful that Zitao hasn't got complete hang on his power yet-time control combined with wushu doesn't really sound like good news for them. "You suck," Jongdae smacks Chanyeol on the shoulder, pouting. "And Baek that's awesome but your power is still shit."
The bell rings and they head to their class, half-running. Baekhyun sticks out his tongue at Jongdae. "Whatever," he retorts smugly, "You still owe me dinner."
*
Relax, thinks Baekhyun, sitting rigidly on his seat trying not to squirm in fear. He's been in this room way too many times, but nothing can possibly make it less intimidating. Empty your mind, he commands himself. It's for your own good.
Long fingers touches his shoulder slowly, eerily, and a strict voice comes, "That's not going to help, Mr. Byun." For Baekhyun, the worst thing about going to a hazard high school, aside from it being a hazard high school, is the hazard teacher. It is totally unfair that the head of the disciplinary committee is a mind reader-how is Baekhyun supposed to put into use all the manipulation skills he has? "And I heard that."
Baekhyun resorts to chanting I'm sorry Mr. Shim, I'm sorry Mr. Shim repeatedly inside his mind to prevent himself from thinking of anything that may make things worse.
While he's not quick with his wits when people are playing pranks on him, Zitao is pretty quick with his mouth. Within two class periods, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae are called to the disciplinary office. Mr. Shim takes his seat in front of the three of them, sighing deeply. "What to do with the three of you," he whines. Some wrinkles are appearing on his otherwise young features, probably because of all the snooping inside other people's mind. "You're even on the same wavelength in insulting my wrinkles, amazing," he comments with a scowl. Oops.
There is a knock on the door, and at Mr. Shim's come in, a girl with long blond hair and pale skin enters the room. If Baekhyun remembers correctly, she is a senior named Kim Joonmi and Jongdae stalks her social media pages every single night. Research, he reasons-which translates to helpless crush. Judging from the tiny electric sparks appearing at the tip of Jongdae's fingers, Baekhyun definitely remembers correctly.
"Something wrong, Mr. Kim?" teases Mr. Shim, obviously aware of what's wrong. Baekhyun doesn't need to be a mind reader to tell that Jongdae is currently begging Mr. Shim not to rat him out on his undying love for the senior who doesn't even know his name. With Jongdae in his mercy, Mr. Shim continues, "Okay, then. Miss Kim, welcome."
Joonmi nods politely, smiling at the three of them. "Hello, I'm Kim Joonmi," she greets with a soft, lovely voice. The tips of Jongdae's hair start short circuiting and he frantically scratch his head to turn them off. "Uh," Joonmi mutters, looking at Jongdae with sincere concern. "Do you need a hand?"
Again, Baekhyun doesn't need to be a mind reader to tell that Jongdae is screaming yes inside his head, although the two Kims are definitely talking about different kinds of work to do with said hand. Baekhyun holds tight to the sides of his seat and tries hard to hold back his laugh while Chanyeol is already shaking with stifled laughter beside him. Mr. Shim clears his throat sternly, but Baekhyun can tell he's snickering. Jongdae quickly shakes his head. "No, no, please continue," he splutters.
Confused, Joonmi tilts her head, pouting a little, and even Baekhyun thinks that extremely cute. She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear before opening a file folder in front of them. "So, as you probably know, I'm the head of this year's prom committee," she spreads out a pile of paper in front of them and Baekhyun leans forward to examine them-prom concepts, stage sketches, something titled Random Ideas! <3 on top of the page, and a signup sheet. "And Mr. Shim told me that the three of you are volunteering to be in the decoration team, so, welcome!" she cheers, clapping her hands.
Jongdae doesn't ask any question and jots down his name and number on the signup sheet, smiling excitedly. Meanwhile, Chanyeol whispers we have prom? to Baekhyun. At Baekhyun's nod, he turns to look at Mr. Shim and asks meekly, "We're volunteering?"
Baekhyun decides to wait for Mr. Shim's answer-prom committee sounds like a lot of work. Baekhyun doesn't like work.
"This is your detention," a voice echoes inside of Baekhyun's mind. Mind readers are bad enough, but people who take the liberty to make voices inside your head are definitely the worst. "Work hard, hopefully then you'll be too busy to pull pranks on freshmen," commands Mr. Shim's voice. He's smiling devilishly at the trio, motioning for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to write down their names. "Why, yes, Mr. Park, I thought you said you really wanted to help out with prom," he says out loud with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Baekhyun grins at Mr. Shim and resignedly fills out the signup sheet. Baekhyun doesn't like work.
*
This prom thing is something new. Baekhyun always thought that proms are only for seniors, but apparently when you're in a school where the whole student body consists only of a hundred people, everyone is invited. Now, he's all for party and dances and the possibility of drunk display of power, but they expect people to actually bring dates. Which will not be a problem for such a charmer like Baekhyun, but how do you take one girl when everybody walks around in packs of three to four, all with varying degree of beauty and unknown power.
One Kim Minseok is sent flying across the school cafeteria and lands in front of the table where Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae are eating their lunch. Jongdae hurriedly approaches him and helps him up, asking if he's hurt and if he should call Yixing over. But Minseok simply shakes his head before he grins at a blonde who is giggling with her friends on a table of four girls wearing too much pink. Baekhyun wonders if it's a Wednesday. It is. "Now will you go to prom with me?" Minseok yells over.
The girls giggle some more, but the one wearing a pink headband, Luhan, Baekhyun thinks her name is, smiles at Minseok and nods shyly. Minseok jumps up excitedly and sends a greasy wink at Luhan before leaving the premises.
"Whatever, man, I'm going to prom alone," whines Chanyeol. He's been covering his head since the second Minseok came crashing like a wrecking ball, whimpering in fear. This, everyone, is a fully-grown, ridiculously tall man with fire control as his power. "Girls are too scary."
Baekhyun snickers at him, offering a comforting pat on his back. "Maybe you just haven't found the one you-"
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Jongdae cuts him, holding his phone up between the other two while bouncing on his seat. "Kim Joonmi just texted me!" he whisper-yells excitedly.
Aw, so cute, little Jongdae thinking that Joonmi only texted him when Baekhyun is absolutely sure that the vibrating in his pocket also comes from her text. But he doesn't have a heart to tell that to Jongdae. Maybe just let him have this one false happiness.
"Huh? I got a text, too," Chanyeol comments all of a sudden while reading something on his phone. "She just wants us to join her right now at her table."
Jongdae instantly sulks. Sorry man, Baekhyun mouths at him as he picks the younger up from his seat. Chanyeol pats Jongdae's back and mutters sorry repeatedly as they walk towards Joonmi's table, the one towards the quieter corner of the cafeteria. Jongdae sighs dreamily and starts smiling again at the sight of the long blond hair.
"Ah, you guys are here!" Joonmi greets them with an eager clap. She gestures for the three of them to sit around the table, and Baekhyun notices a handbag that isn't Joonmi's on one of the chairs. "Kyungsoon should be back to join us in a moment."
The name sounds familiar, but not really. But familiar. "Kyungsoon?" Chanyeol finally asks.
Joonmi slurps on her drink (strawberry milkshake, Jongdae mutters under his breath) while playing with her phone. "Yeah, she's in your class, I think," she says, giggling at something before quickly typing into her phone. Baekhyun wonders if this is also how normal girls act in the other side of the world, ignoring actual human being in favor of friends on their phone. Joonmi finally looks up, describing Kyungsoon in further details, "She's small and cute, shoulder length hair? Big eyes? No?"
"Unnie, I'm not small," comes a voice scolding from behind the three of them. Baekhyun turns to see the prettiest set of eyes he's ever seen in his entire high school life. Small and cute, indeed, wearing a sky blue barrette covering her hair, with her bangs almost reaching her eyes. The girl smoothes her pleated skirt before sitting down opposite from a gaping Chanyeol. "Uh," she starts, hesitating to continue probably because there are three boys silently gawking at her. "Hi? I'm Kyungsoon?"
Her voice sounds like red velvet cupcake with the most delicious cream cheese icing, and Baekhyun is fully aware of how nonsensical that sounds, but then again Kyungsoon. Nothing else matters. It is impossible that Baekhyun has never seen this girl before, especially if she is in the same class as he is. Maybe she's from a different power bracket-with the way she looks, she's probably from the Hybrids. Definitely. Half an angel. Baekhyun gives himself an imaginary smack in the head for thinking such a cheesy thing. But the girl actually looks too beautiful to be an ordinary hazard. "Baekhyun," he says immediately as he snaps out of his thought. "Uh, junior. Elemental Bracket."
Kyungsoon giggles before the other two can introduce themselves. "I know," she replies. "We're in the same class. You're Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae," she states, pointing at each of them accurately with the mention of each name. "The troublemaker trio."
"No way," Jongdae breathes. "I've never seen you before."
Kyungsoon busies herself with a folder full of papers that she fishes out of her handbag. Baekhyun wonders if these girls have ever heard of a laptop or a tablet before, because aren't those more convenient than papers? Also eco-friendly. But maybe if you're pretty you get to do anything you want. Kyungsoon hands each of them a list titled Things to Do!. "Yeah I don't talk much in class, and outside I hang out with the invisibility kids," she explains. "They tend to make me invisible. Like, literally."
Chanyeol laughs like an idiot. "Ah, so that's why," he mutters with a stupid grin on his face. He starts reading the list on his hand after realizing (a little too late) that he's staring at Kyungsoon with drool almost coming off his mouth. "So, uh," he clears his throat and points to the paper. "What is this?"
Joonmi, who has been giggling at her phone on the background, finally decides to grace the conversation with her presence. "Kyungsoon here is the head of decoration for the prom, guys," she tells them excitedly, her high ponytail bouncing from left to right. "You will work with her often now! Yay!"
"Yay!" the three of them echo. This should be fun.
*
Well, no, not really, this isn't fun.
The first word coming from all three of them immediately after Kyungsoon and Joonmi are out of earshot is "Dibs!"
Baekhyun turns to his friends with an overdramatic gasp. "Mine," he states. This is nonsense-didn't Jongdae already have Joonmi? Also didn't Chanyeol say girls are scary? Of all three of them, surely Baekhyun is the one most suitable for Kyungsoon. He has no fear of girls and no unattainable crushes to deal with. "You have Joonmi and you're scared of girls," he points out.
Jongdae scoffs. "One, I don't have Joonmi," he reasons. True. All he has are dreamy sighs and hopeless grins at the sight of her. "Two, it's a totally plausible plan to go after two girls at once." Sure, Jongdae. "Three, Kyungsoon and I click, obviously."
"If your definition of clicking is staring at her with gooey eyes and your jaw hanging open, then I click with her, too!" Chanyeol protests. Baekhyun agrees. "I'm the perfect fit for Kyungsoon!" Chanyeol adds. Baekhyun disagrees.
"I'm older," says Jongdae.
"I'm the oldest, though," interjects Baekhyun.
"I'm the tallest," Chanyeol tries.
"I saw her first."
"We saw her at the same time!"
"I'm in the same class with her."
"We're all in the same class!"
"I have the coolest power."
"That's irrelevant!"
In the end, the debate becomes too stupid for Baekhyun to follow, so he opts to watch as Chanyeol and Jongdae continue bickering, and it's only when they almost succumb into a sissy fight that he decides to step back in. "Okay, okay, let's just settle this the way we always do," he yells over the two of them. They stop to turn and look at Baekhyun. "How about we have a little contest?"
*
OPERATION: DKS
1. +3 points for each non-business-related conversations started by DKS
2. +5 points for each voluntary use of emoticons in text messages
3. +25 points for each selca together
4. +50 points for each pre-prom date
5. +9999 points if DKS agrees to go to prom with you
- Mind manipulation, bribe, and threats will result in instant disqualification
- Dates need to be confirmed by credible witnesses
- Unless there is already a clear winner, final scores will be counted one day before prom
"This looks totally dumb," Jongdae comments as he tapes the piece of paper on the wall of their flat's common room. The three of them huddle around the paper and the scoreboard next to it, and Baekhyun can feel his two best friends grinning next to him. "I love it."
*
When they get to class on the next day, barely seconds before Mr. Jung enters, Baekhyun finally understands why he's never seen Kyungsoon before. She sits in the front row, farthest from the door, diligently taking notes and never looking away from the teacher. Meanwhile the troublemaker trio, aptly, are seated in the back of the class, rarely ever paying attention. As soon as they are seated, and Mr. Jung starts his lecture on managing the magnitude of power you let out, or something, Baekhyun takes out his phone and texts Kyungsoon.
to: kyungsoon <3
hey i see u now :)
Sent. Baekhyun taps his fingers on the table, anxiously waiting for the reply. Kyungsoon doesn't look like the type to be texting during class, though, so maybe-
His phone vibrates.
from: kyungsoon <3
i also see you mr byun
Mr. Byun. Baekhyun is liking his new nickname too much right now, and he's struggling not to let out a giggle. He steals a glance in Kyungsoon's direction, and wow she's doing an amazing job texting while still paying full attention on Mr. Jung, who by the way is looking straight at him. Uh-oh. Baekhyun shifts in his seat-he's probably not being subtle enough with his texting. But then his phone vibrates once again and he forgets everything, excitedly checking the new text.
from: kyungsoon <3
not to break your heart mr byun, but you probably forgot that i am a technopath
His face falls and Baekhyun wants to cry. How the hell did he forget? It's Mr. Jung's class and therefore any electronic devices are within his control. Hazard teachers are definitely the worst part of being in this high school. Mr. Jung clears his throat. "So put your phone away, Mr. Byun," he says, already standing next to Baekhyun's seat, gripping his shoulder threateningly. The whole class doesn't seem to understand what's going on, thankfully, so most of them just shoot him questioning (and sympathetic) looks. "Pay attention to class," his teacher stresses once more before letting go of Baekhyun's shoulder.
His best friends, being supportive as always, are snickering at him. "Bad move, man," Chanyeol whispers from his left. Baekhyun doesn't really care, honestly, because he can see from the corner of his eyes that Kyungsoon is smiling at the whole commotion, and then he feels his phone vibrate.
from: kyungsoon <3
sorry. ttyl ;)
Five points. Totally worth it.
*
In the beginning of their game, Baekhyun was kind of hoping that Kyungsoon is the type to play hard to get, whose attention needs to be earned, who holds her head up high and refuses to talk to lowlifes like Jongdae and Chanyeol (Baekhyun not included, of course). Two weeks into the competition, Baekhyun is still sure that Kyungsoon is, in fact, all of the above, but he realizes that she is also extremely smart. She has probably watched enough chick flicks to realize that all three of them are betting on something (her), and decided to go with it.
The text all three of them received this morning is a solid proof of Kyungsoon playing along: decoration meeting today @ gym, 1pm dont be late ;) ;) ;) And everyone gets 15 points, just like that. Maybe the rules need some revisions, but Baekhyun thinks it's too much of a headache, and for this matter, his housemates agree.
"I'm sure she'll end up going to prom with one of us, anyway," Jongdae states as they walk to the gym later that afternoon. The smug smile on his face suggests that he thinks Kyungsoon will choose to go with him, but Baekhyun doesn't really know where Jongdae got all that confidence-his score is still the lowest among all three of them. "The scores won't really matter."
Chanyeol asks to stop at his locker, where he takes out a red snapback and puts it over his hair, checking his reflection on the mirror inside his locker. Baekhyun tsks impatiently after a couple of minutes. "Can we stop counting the scores, then?" Chanyeol inquires when he's finally finished with his hair-fixing, snapback-wearing ritual. "I'm getting so confused about everything. I'm bad with numbers."
To be completely honest, Baekhyun agrees. None of them are particularly strong in math and whoever came up with all those scoring rules (all three of them, but mostly Baekhyun) is really giving them a hard time. "Yeah if no one manages to take her to prom let's just all treat each other pancakes and ice cream and be celibate the rest of our high school life," he finally suggests as they enter the gym.
Most of the decoration team is already there-Oh Sehee, their junior who has wind blowing on her hair 24/7, making her look like a walking shampoo commercial, and Zitao, who of course is only here to be with Sehee. There's Luhan, the girl who sent Minseok flying across the cafeteria the other day, and Jongin, a handsome yet very quiet freshman whose power is teleportation and Baekhyun has no idea how he fits into this team. Kyungsoon is also there already, walking around the gym with a notepad on hand, making notes about God knows what. She has her hair tied up in a ponytail, messy because her hair is a little too short for it, but Baekhyun thinks she looks sexy. Chanyeol can't stop himself from whistling.
Maybe that's how Kyungsoon notice them. "Ah, you guys are here!" she cheers from where she stands. She starts running towards the spot where the rest of the team are seated, and Baekhyun can't tear his sight off of her-her sweaty collarbone, her body bouncing up and down, her beautiful smile framed by that messy hair. Kyungsoon is so beautiful. She catches her breath and makes them sit in a circle. "So, let's get started!"
Baekhyun leans his head on Jongdae's shoulder, sitting cross-legged on the gym floor and listening to Kyungsoon reciting their plan. Colored light balls from Baekhyun, floated on air by Luhan, and frozen in time by Zitao. Jongdae will be in charge of making lightning patterns behind thick glasses, which will be put around the gym. Kyungsoon bites the tip of her pencil before turning to Chanyeol, who has been staring dreamily at her direction. "I'm thinking of making some sort of a fire gate for the entrance," Kyungsoon trails, checking on her note. She said the other day that she will make sure everyone who volunteers in the team will get to use their power-to encourage education, she reasoned. But she's been having quite a hard time with Chanyeol's and Jongin's powers. "Do you think you can make it look like fire but not hot? Like, can we make a fire gate and not kill people?"
From the looks of it, Chanyeol is still too busy staring to come up with an answer. "Uh," he trails and looks at Baekhyun and Jongdae for answer. Baekhyun nods absently-it's entirely possible for Chanyeol to control the temperatures of his flame. There was this one class that taught him to do so, although Baekhyun isn't sure if Chanyeol can be trusted with it. Now that he thinks about it, it would be better if Chanyeol doesn't do that. Baekhyun starts shaking his head but Chanyeol has already turned to face Kyungsoon. "Yeah, I guess, that's possible." Great. Now everyone's going to die in flames.
"Cool!" Kyungsoon smiles happily, checking things off her list. She then tells them that Sehee will be in charge of making light breeze inside the gym which can make a swaying effect for the light balls up there, and that she can't come up with anything for Jongin so his power will be used to put up other decoration in the gym instead. "Is that okay? I'm so sorry," Kyungsoon adds, looking at Jongin apologetically.
Jongin blushes and looks down. "Uh, yeah, sure, it's okay, no problem," he blurts. Baekhyun finally understands how this freshman fits into the team-he has a (glaringly obvious) crush on Kyungsoon. He actually looks harmless and cute this way, as opposed to his usual cool and mysterious aura. Sadly he's going to have to compete with three seniors for her attention.
Kyungsoon tilts her head and smiles at Jongin, who instantly seems like his heart has stopped. Baekhyun feels for the guy. "Uh, noona," Zitao speaks up. "I'm not really sure I can use my power that well," Zitao mumbles, his face turning a shade of red.
"Oh, that's right! It's okay, Tao," Kyungsoon comforts him with her smile, and Baekhyun is so jealous because 1) he wants to be comforted too 2) how come Zitao has a pet name? Who is Tao? This is unacceptable. Baekhyun is so pulling another prank on that kid. "We're going to get some help from Miss Song! She's an enhancer," Kyungsoon explains.
Zitao still looks lost, so Baekhyun butts in. "She'll help you control your power, unleash potentials, make you a better person, all those things on a self-help book, she'll do that," he tells Zitao. He still looks confused, and Baekhyun starts wondering if it's because of their language barriers. "She speaks Chinese?" Baekhyun tries. Zitao finally looks relieved and starts nodding. Stupid little brat.
"Any more questions?" Kyungsoon asks the group, shooting a thankful glance at Baekhyun for helping with Zitao. Baekhyun looks back at her with a grin. This is going smoothly.
Miss Song enters the gym, greeting them with a loud, cheery Hi. The general consensus is that she is the nicest, kindest, most beautiful hazard in the world, the ultimate favorite teacher at their school, and so far nobody has proven this wrong. "Ready to try out the decoration today?" she asks Kyungsoon after hugging each and every one of them. Baekhyun still feels warm and fuzzy from the hug-volunteering for prom committee so far has been a lot of fun.
With the help from Miss Song, Baekhyun creates numerous light balls of different colors effortlessly-he feels stronger than ever, his powers has never been easier to control. Luhan floats each ball up and Zitao freezes them in time, letting the breeze that Sehee made sway the light left and right. The lightning pattern that Jongdae makes looks absolutely beautiful behind huge colored glass that Jongin and Kyungsoon have placed around the gym. Kyungsoon raises the ground on the center of the gym by a few inches for the stage, and in a whim asks Chanyeol to make fire effects on the corners of the stage.
Everything is done faster than planned, and in an hour they all step back to admire their hard work. "This is amazing," Sehee gushes. This is actually the first time Baekhyun has ever heard her say anything with emotion, and apparently it's a first for everyone else, too, because all eyes are on Sehee right now. "What?" she snaps, blushing slightly. "It does look amazing."
"It is amazing, guys," Miss Song compliments. She then shoves everyone through Chanyeol's apparently-safe fire gate. "Now, try it out, as if it's the actual prom," she tells them, smiling.
Thank God he thinks faster than most-faster than Jongdae and Chanyeol and Jongin, at the very least, because at Miss Song's order, Baekhyun quickly steps next to Kyungsoon and offers his hand. "Go to prom-decor-trial with me?" he asks, putting on the sweetest smile he can muster.
Kyungsoon laughs an adorable laugh before taking his hand. "You're fast," she comments. Baekhyun can see Jongdae and Chanyeol glaring at him, before asking other girls to their fake prom-Jongdae timidly asks Luhan, while Chanyeol resorts to asking Jongin, who grunts before taking the older guy's hand. Zitao looks like his face is going to split in half when Sehee agrees to go with him. He probably forgets that it's just a fake prom.
Miss Song thoughtfully plays some music, and it's starting to feel like the real thing. "Can I have this dance?" Baekhyun asks, raising an eyebrow and pulling Kyungsoon to the dance floor. Kyungsoon laughs some more and nods, letting Baekhyun lead her to some sort of waltz dance he just made up. With Kyungsoon's hands on his shoulders and his hands on Kyungsoon's waist, Baekhyun realizes that this is as close as they will ever get, and that finally Baekhyun is alone with her, and there will probably not be any other chance to do this, so, "Will you go out on a date with me?"
One of the light balls up there pops when Kyungsoon shyly nods. "Sure," she says. "I'd do that."
*
The happiness didn't last long in Baekhyun's case. As soon as Jongdae and Chanyeol heard about his success in getting a date, they shamelessly approached Kyungsoon, asking for dates, too.
Baekhyun wanted to cry when Kyungsoon said yes to both of them. This evil, albeit beautiful and charming and adorable, young lady surely knows how to play this game.
"I'll see you in the park the day before prom," she had said. To all three of them, who just stared at her in confusion, because how could she say yes to all three dates? How? "You get one hour each," she explained, as if it was a game. Well, it was a game. It's just not supposed to be hers. "Woo me."
Who the hell uses the word woo?
Well, anyway, that happened, and this is the day, and Baekhyun is resolved to fight his best in this date-off. He has styled his hair and fashion to perfection, armed with a perfect one-hour date plan. In the spirit of friendship, he still goes to classes and lunch with Jongdae and Chanyeol, although they look at each other highly alarmed.
In the hallways of their school, more and more boys have become evident victim of a hazard rejection. The guy who has just passed Baekhyun has a scratch mark across his face, possibly from the refusal of a cat-girl who is standing near her locker a little further ahead. In another end of the hall, there is a guy with drenched clothes and a small cloud hovering above his head, pouring rain on him. Baekhyun can only assume that the guy had upset a weather bender earlier. He sighs. Asking a girl to prom is difficult enough already, and Baekhyun swears that superpowers make it ten thousand times worse.
"Well," Baekhyun says as the three of them steps outside the school building and to the park. He has the first turn for the Kyungsoon date, which is in ten minutes, and they have agreed that the other two will sit somewhere they can watch-as witnesses, of course. Not that they've planned to sabotage or anything. Really. "Good luck, I guess."
Jongdae and Chanyeol give him a pat on the back, muttering good luck although Baekhyun isn't sure how sincere they are. The park is more or less empty, with some people sleeping under the treea and one or two girls walking by the path in the middle. Baekhyun can see Kyungsoon waiting for him, seated on a bench near a small fountain on the other corner of the park. The tips of his finger start lighting on and off as an effect of his anxiety.
It gets worse once he's close enough to see Kyungsoon more clearly-she looks absolutely breathtaking. Her hair is let loose, but part of her hair is pulled into a small braid forming a pretty headband in front. She's wearing a yellow sleeveless shirtdress with tiny white flowers on it, sitting with one leg on top of the other, reading a book on her lap-Baekhyun is probably in love. He can practically feel his eyes emitting pink lights, and he struggles for a minute to turn them off. "Hi," he breathes when he finally reaches where Kyungsoon is at, with all the light on his body under control. "Kyungsoon, hello."
Kyungsoon looks up from her book and smiles. "Baekhyun," she replies, scooting to make space for Baekhyun to sit next to her. She puts her book inside her bag and looks at Baekhyun, resting her chin on one hand. "So, what are we doing today?"
"This," Baekhyun answers. First, he thinks to himself, set the atmosphere. He dims the light around them, making the three-o-clock lighting of the park seem like way past midnight. Then he makes a show to point his fingers on air, making tiny little dots that look like stars above the two of them. He waves his hand once more, creating a number of tiny light balls that look like fireflies moving gracefully around the two of them.
His date looks around, smiling in fascination. "That's so pretty," she mumbles.
It's a good start to a great date.
*
Surprisingly, the sabotages sent by his friends didn't really do much harm to Baekhyun's date. It's entirely possible that Jongdae and Chanyeol were only eavesdropping on their conversation, trying to learn little things about Kyungsoon. On Jongdae's date, there wasn't any sabotage needed because he basically sabotaged himself when one of the lightnings in his thunderstorm date hit a nearby tree. How did he think that thunderstorm date was a good idea, anyway? Thankfully Chanyeol was able to control the fire.
"You okay?" Baekhyun asks Chanyeol, who is sitting next to him under a tree in the park. The time for Jongdae's date should end any minute now, and Chanyeol is up next. Baekhyun has never seen Chanyeol this dressed up before-a shirt with rolled-up sleeves instead of his usual t-shirt, gelled hair instead of his usual snapback. A bouquet, a bag of God-knows-what-Chanyeol is apparently this type of guy. The love-fool type. Baekhyun almost doesn't want to win anymore and starts rooting for Chanyeol, but nah. He likes winning more than he likes Chanyeol.
Chanyeol looks at him nervously, sweats trickling down his face. "Baek, will you help me out?" he begs, reaching for Baekhyun hands. "Please, please, please don't do anything to sabotage my date? I'm already too stressed out as it is," Chanyeol says. His eyes are doing the puppy thing Baekhyun has not learned to reject yet.
Honestly, if Jongdae manages to ruin his own date, then Chanyeol is surely going to do worse. Baekhyun won't tell Chanyeol this, of course, the poor guy already looks like he's going to combust. "Sure, Chanyeol," he replies, squeezing Chanyeol's hand and giving him a smile. "Relax, you're going to do great," Baekhyun lies.
There's a sound of Jongdae clearing his throat. "Am I interrupting something, here? Should I just tell Kyungsoon that she's going to prom with me because you two are going together?" he asks, flopping down next to Baekhyun who immediately lets go of Chanyeol's hands. "She's waiting for you," Jongdae says to Chanyeol. He surely realizes how nervous Chanyeol is, because he continues with a gentle smile and a pat on his back, "Go, you'll do well!"
Chanyeol mutters a small thank you to the two of them before leaving, and Baekhyun turns to Jongdae. "Do you really think he'll do well?"
Jongdae looks at him incredulously. "Of course not, it's Chanyeol."
*
The decoration for tonight's prom looks extremely pretty. Baekhyun's light balls shine in different colors, floating lowly just above their heads. Couples are taking selcas in front of Jongdae's pretty lightning patterns, while some boys are acting out stunts around Chanyeol's fire gate to upload to their social networks. Kyungsoon had also made Baekhyun do an additional decor, painting an aurora on the dark ceiling of the gym. With Miss Song's help, all these pretty things should hold until tomorrow morning.
On one corner of the gym, two fine young men wearing their best suits are seated next to each other on one of the tables. "Can you believe she picks Chanyeol," Jongdae grunts grudgingly, eyeing Kyungsoon, who is dancing, and Chanyeol, who is making an effort to dance. Kyungsoon looks absolutely beautiful in her mint tulle dress and side-swept curl. And Baekhyun hates to admit this, but Chanyeol looks perfect with her, wearing his pressed suits and matching mint tie. Every time Chanyeol stares at Kyungsoon and grins like an idiot (which is pretty much the whole night), Kyungsoon smiles back fondly. It's probably endearing if only Baekhyun weren't so bitter about losing. Also, Jongdae won't stop whining. "And I'm stuck with you as my date!"
"That's my line," complains Baekhyun.
From their date-off, Baekhyun has learned that women, whether a normal or a hazard, are basically the same. Woo me, Baekhyun remembers Kyungsoon saying. Then he remembers the way Chanyeol awkwardly presented her with a bouquet of white camellias, which she took coolly. The way Chanyeol subtly asked her if she knew the meaning of the flower, which she answered with a no and a curious glance that she tried hard to hide. "It's you're adorable," Chanyeol had answered, blushing furiously. Baekhyun and Jongdae wanted to barf, but Kyungsoon, apparently, was wooed. It didn't help that Chanyeol was such a sappy person that the bag he brought turned out to be a hundred handmade paper cranes. "I made these for you," he had said. Again, Baekhyun and Jongdae wanted to throw up, but Kyungsoon, of course, became more wooed. If that's a thing.
Then again, Baekhyun can't deny that out of the three of them, Chanyeol is the one who sincerely likes Kyungsoon the most. Jongdae still has that unresolved crush on Joonmi, who by the way looks stunning tonight, in her maroon dress with a slit revealing enough of her milky white thigh, and Baekhyun-well, Baekhyun was only in it for the competition. "Honestly, though," Baekhyun comments, sipping on his spiked juice. "Don't you think they look good together?"
A Taylor Swift song has just started playing and they watch as Chanyeol shyly fits his hands around Kyungsoon's waist, swaying side to side. Chanyeol is generally a happy person, but Baekhyun has yet to see him beaming this much. Kyungsoon looks like she's trying to look chill about being with Chanyeol, but Baekhyun can see her flushing from time to time. "Yeah," Jongdae replies, flinging an arm around Baekhyun's shoulders. Chanyeol was afraid of girls just a couple of weeks ago, and now he's slow dancing with one, looking so idiotically in love. "Look at him," Jongdae sighs. Baekhyun sighs along.
It's probably the song, or maybe he's just lonely, but for some reason Baekhyun rests his head on Jongdae's shoulder. "You're not that bad of a date," he comments, closing his eyes for a moment and realizing how gay that sounded. But whatever.
Jongdae moves his hand to brush on Baekhyun's hair, and Baekhyun should probably be mad because he spent a long time styling it, but it feels good so he shuts up. "Yeah," Jongdae answers. "You're not so bad yourself."
They observe the way Kyungsoon pulls Chanyeol down by the tie, whispering something in his ear that makes him blush noticeably even under the dim lighting. Chanyeol nods and Kyungsoon tilts her head upwards, and Chanyeol hesitantly lean in for a kiss. "Aww," Jongdae and Baekhyun exclaim at the same time. Hashtag proud parents.
At this moment Baekhyun glances sideways to see Jongdae smiling widely at Chanyeol. He sees the way Chanyeol giggles shyly with Kyungsoon before going in for another kiss. Baekhyun smiles and realizes that this must be what happiness feels like. No need for a pretty date to prom, no need to have the coolest power among your friends, no need to be normal. As it turns out, all Baekhyun needs are friends to mess around with, friends who don't mind that his power is shit, friends who don't mind going into stupid competitions and still feel happy for the others no matter who wins.
Well then, Baekhyun thinks, maybe high school is the best time of your life.
Author: bcnf3nf
Recipient: kyunqsoo
Pairing/Focus: baekhyun/girl!kyungsoo, jongdae/girl!kyungsoo, chanyeol/girl!kyungsoo
Rating: pg-13
Warnings: genderswap
Length: 8600 words
Summary: Sometimes Baekhyun wonders about his past life and the amount of sin he must have done to be stuck babysitting two adults with offensive superpowers.
High school is the best time of your life, they say. Baekhyun really wants to agree, but high school so far has been nothing but mental and physical pain. And two annoying best friends, which sadly are the best thing about his high school life. It probably would have been different if he were in a normal high school like he intended to be, but Baekhyun guesses that life just doesn't always go as planned.
"Enter your student ID and tasks will be given according to your powers," Mr. Jung tells them, pointing at rows and rows of blue capsules behind him. Baekhyun tenses up on his seat-power exam on his first year was all theory and this is his first time seeing test capsules. What if he doesn't get out alive? "You have thirty minutes to finish all ten tasks. Good luck!"
It's halfway through his junior year, and Baekhyun has just finished his history midterms with his head still hurting from all the names and dates he failed to remember. He stares at the door of his capsule and sneaks a glance to where Jongdae and Chanyeol are standing in front of theirs, punching in their student IDs to the machine. Baekhyun decides that he doesn't have any other choice but to just wing it. He's got a good hang on his powers, anyway.
The screen inside the capsule shows his ID photo, eyes droopy and hair messy, a constant reminder of how much Baekhyun absolutely regrets getting drunk in the welcome party the night before they took his ID photo. Next to his face it says Byun Baekhyun/EL13005 and under it Light Manipulation. This is the first time he's ever been in a test capsule-the amount of advanced technology in this place never ceases to amaze him. He stands still in the middle of the machine, unsure of what to do, and watches as his surroundings turn pitch black.
"Light up your palm," a robotic female voice says.
Well that's easy, thinks Baekhyun. He turns his palm upwards and tilts his head a little, letting light surge out of his palm.
"Excellent," the robotic voice responds unenthusiastically. "Light up your eyes."
Baekhyun smirks. This is definitely going to be his first A of the semester.
*
His parents are normals, and his brother is, too. So Baekhyun was calm and unsuspecting when he took the obligatory filter test after middle school, answering quizzes and letting strangers inject him with unknown liquids and hook him to machines. Baekhyun thought that everybody had gone through the same set of tests as he did, but apparently he was only one of the few who had to be assessed for five hours straight. When he finished, he emitted light from his hands and it was a quick you have one hour with your family before he was transferred to a quarantine complex on the outskirts of the city.
He's placed in a house with two boys his age. Jongdae's power started manifesting when he was thirteen, he told Baekhyun, and he's been living in the complex since then, only seeing his family from behind thick glass for almost two years now-still considered too dangerous for contact. The other one, Chanyeol, entered the facility a couple of days before Baekhyun did. He's also still categorized under too dangerous for contact, but he gets visits from his telekinetic father from time to time. They always say that Baekhyun is lucky-his power is more or less harmless and has been deemed safe for release after only six months of quarantine. So Baekhyun gets to go out once a week, visit his family, meet his old friends, wander around Seoul. He wonders if it's really better to be able to interact with normals, though, because he still have that bright yellow tag around his wrists, letting everyone know what he really is.
It really doesn't help that they're called hazards. Being called supers or mutants would actually be a lot cooler, but the government was all for originality, so. Yeah. As stated by the law, hazards are kept in quarantine through their high school years, being taught the necessary knowhow on power control and ethics in addition to the regular curriculum. They live in small houses equipped with safety measures according to the residents' powers. Baekhyun doesn't really think that this is convenient, because they are not allowed to install locks on their doors and he shares the place with some of the nosiest people in the world who know nothing about privacy.
"Let's get ice cream," Jongdae whines that afternoon, barging into Baekhyun's room and sweating like he had just run a 5K marathon. It's mid-June and the dome is as hot as their house that one time Chanyeol had a fever and couldn't control his heat emission. The government did a great job making the hazard complex, which basically is just a thick-glass dome, look like the actual world outside, complete with artificial weather changes and fake plants and animals. The major problem is that they tend to go overboard with their weathers. Overcompensating, Jongdae calls it.
Baekhyun groans from where he's lying on the cold floor of his room. This place is too small and way too hot for two people to be inside, and Jongdae apparently decides that this is the right time to latch himself onto Baekhyun, nagging him to go buy some ice cream. Jongdae is definitely five years old. "Go away!" Baekhyun wails, trying to push Jongdae off of him. At times like these he really wishes that his power has just a little combative bit to it. If he had Jongdae's power he'd definitely electrocute the hell out of this grown man who possibly aspires to be a koala. "I don't need your body heat Jongdae go away please I'm gonna-"
"Uh, guys?" a deep voice interrupts Baekhyun's effort to push Jongdae who is currently hugging him tight, chanting ice cream, ice cream lowly to his neck. They both turn their heads to Chanyeol, who looks scandalized but not the least annoyed by the heat, probably because the nature of his power had forced him through higher temperature than this. Once again Baekhyun whines internally at how useless his power is. Chanyeol stares at them judgingly and continues, "Do I want to know why you're cuddling on the floor drenched in sweat?"
A collective ew comes out of his and Jongdae's mouth at the realization of their position, and Jongdae finally moves away from Baekhyun's breathing space. Baekhyun rolls around on the floor before sitting up, leaning on the side of his bed-he originally planned to stay on the floor all day but the whole commotion has ruined his mood. Jongdae is up on his feet, clearing his throat and looking pleadingly at Baekhyun. "Ice cream?" he squeaks, still.
"Ooh, ice cream!" Chanyeol chimes in. He turns his head to Baekhyun and starts wearing his puppy face. "Let's go?"
Sometimes Baekhyun wonders about his past life and the amount of sin he must have done to be stuck babysitting two adults with offensive superpowers. He sighs in resignation and picks up his hoodie from the bed. "Fine, let's go."
*
Baekhyun never really considers his power amazing-it has its potential, but it's practically nothing compared to electrical manipulation or fire control. He will never, however, admit this fact to his two housemates, who consistently claim that they have the most incredible power on earth and therefore the rest of society should bow down to them. For all they know, Baekhyun loves his power and believes with his entire being that the ability to manipulate light equals the key to rule the world.
The topic has somehow become their go-to discussion whenever they run out of hot girls and gossips to talk about. Jongdae, of course, snorts at the phrase light manipulation. "Name one thing you can do with that," he challenges.
In all honesty, Baekhyun doesn't have any idea how light manipulation will help him take over the world, but Jongdae doesn't need to know that. "Blinding lights," he answers confidently.
"But that's defense," Chanyeol joins in on the conversation, still munching on his fries. Chanyeol is gross-that is all anyone needs to know about this guy. "What are you going to do-whoops," a piece of potato flies in Baekhyun's direction, and thank goodness for his amazing reflex, because ew saliva. "Sorry," Chanyeol still dares to grin. "I was saying, what are you going to do if you have to attack someone?"
I will call one of you for help is the actual answer. "I can make strobing light," Baekhyun tries. In his defense, defense is the best offense.
"Still not an attack," Jongdae retorts with a smirk.
"Well, it is!" protests Baekhyun. "If they have epilepsy," he adds meekly. Why does he even bother engaging in this conversation? This is just Jongdae and Chanyeol making excuses to tell him his power is shit-not that he doesn't already know. And in three, two, one..
"Your power is shit," Jongdae and Chanyeol comment, laughing in satisfaction. Thank you, best friends. Such encouraging words.
Baekhyun scowls at the duo, trying to avert his gaze elsewhere, and that's when he sees Zitao. From the way he is fixing his hair incessantly, Baekhyun knows just where the younger boy is going, and he is struck with an idea. "You know what," he says, standing up on his feet and motioning his friends to follow. "How about we have a little contest?"
When it comes to mischief, it's very easy to move Jongdae and Chanyeol, who are now following him to the washroom. Baekhyun believes Zitao will be there in a few moments. "Whoever makes Zitao screams the loudest wins," Baekhyun says hurriedly, finding a spot to hide. "And I don't mean anything sexual!" he manages to confirm before the door clicks open and all three of them each hides in a stall.
There is only one reason why Zitao would try to fix his perfectly-styled hair, and it is when he's about to have a class with Oh Sehee. And by default, just before the bell rings, he will be in the washroom, adding more gel to his hair and making sure each and every strand of his hair is in its perfect position. Sadly for Zitao, he is acquainted to three toddler-hyungs.
Jongdae has already started-Baekhyun can see from the way his hair is starting to stand up from the static electricity Jongdae makes. Baekhyun always carries a snapback in his bag since he found out that Jongdae can do this-fixing his hair again and again is too much work. Baekhyun peeks through the door of his stall and sees Zitao with his hair, looking like a rockstar. Rockstar from the ‘80s, that is. He stifles a laugh as he anticipates Zitao's reaction when he looks up to the mirror.
"ARGHHHHH," one, two, three-Baekhyun counts five seconds of Zitao's scream before he proceeds to trying to make his hair look normal. Not bad, not bad at all, Kim Jongdae. Now he's going to wait and see what Chanyeol does. Baekhyun plans to attack last-he's just figured out a new way to use his power, and he wants it to be a surprise.
According to an informal rule in their group, they are not allowed to cause pain on their prank subjects, so Chanyeol needs a little creativity if he wants to make Zitao scream without physically attacking the poor kid. Zitao has calmed down, somewhat, frantically pressing his hair down, too immersed in his hair-fixing ritual to even look around and find the cause of his problems. This kid is such an easy target. Baekhyun is watching intently, waiting for Chanyeol to do something, when he notices from the mirror that the tissue on the side of the sink is burning. Sigh, so uninspired.
Noticing the fire, Zitao gasps a little before throwing some water in the direction of it. And then it's over. Baekhyun almost laughs at how pathetic Chanyeol is with this whole prank business, but a more important thing awaits-it is now his turn. The thing he's about to do, Baekhyun has never done this in front of anyone before-he's only tried it once, twice in the darkness of his bedroom, but he thinks he's ready to show it off.
Baekhyun closes his eyes, inhaling deeply as he tries to think of one grossest bug he has ever seen. Big, green eyes, yes of course. Scaled skin, long, red tongue-perfect. He opens his eyes and projects a hologram of what he's thought up, grinning proudly as the image takes shape next to Zitao's mirror, just slightly larger in size than his head.
One, two, three, Baekhyun's heart swells up in pride with every second of Zitao's scream, and it sounds like music in his ears as he counts seven, eight, nine-that's a good ten seconds there. He is a clear winner of this match and he takes back his bug projection, patting himself on the back. Whose power is shit now? Ha. Ha.
They all emerge from their stalls, just a tiny little bit guilty about Zitao, who is now curling on the floor, half-sobbing with messy hair. Poor thing might have to skip his next class, now. "That was so awesome," Chanyeol sighs unhappily at Baekhyun. "So, so, awesome."
Jongdae helps Zitao up, rubbing the dark-haired kid's back to calm him down before sending him out the room. They should be thankful that Zitao hasn't got complete hang on his power yet-time control combined with wushu doesn't really sound like good news for them. "You suck," Jongdae smacks Chanyeol on the shoulder, pouting. "And Baek that's awesome but your power is still shit."
The bell rings and they head to their class, half-running. Baekhyun sticks out his tongue at Jongdae. "Whatever," he retorts smugly, "You still owe me dinner."
*
Relax, thinks Baekhyun, sitting rigidly on his seat trying not to squirm in fear. He's been in this room way too many times, but nothing can possibly make it less intimidating. Empty your mind, he commands himself. It's for your own good.
Long fingers touches his shoulder slowly, eerily, and a strict voice comes, "That's not going to help, Mr. Byun." For Baekhyun, the worst thing about going to a hazard high school, aside from it being a hazard high school, is the hazard teacher. It is totally unfair that the head of the disciplinary committee is a mind reader-how is Baekhyun supposed to put into use all the manipulation skills he has? "And I heard that."
Baekhyun resorts to chanting I'm sorry Mr. Shim, I'm sorry Mr. Shim repeatedly inside his mind to prevent himself from thinking of anything that may make things worse.
While he's not quick with his wits when people are playing pranks on him, Zitao is pretty quick with his mouth. Within two class periods, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae are called to the disciplinary office. Mr. Shim takes his seat in front of the three of them, sighing deeply. "What to do with the three of you," he whines. Some wrinkles are appearing on his otherwise young features, probably because of all the snooping inside other people's mind. "You're even on the same wavelength in insulting my wrinkles, amazing," he comments with a scowl. Oops.
There is a knock on the door, and at Mr. Shim's come in, a girl with long blond hair and pale skin enters the room. If Baekhyun remembers correctly, she is a senior named Kim Joonmi and Jongdae stalks her social media pages every single night. Research, he reasons-which translates to helpless crush. Judging from the tiny electric sparks appearing at the tip of Jongdae's fingers, Baekhyun definitely remembers correctly.
"Something wrong, Mr. Kim?" teases Mr. Shim, obviously aware of what's wrong. Baekhyun doesn't need to be a mind reader to tell that Jongdae is currently begging Mr. Shim not to rat him out on his undying love for the senior who doesn't even know his name. With Jongdae in his mercy, Mr. Shim continues, "Okay, then. Miss Kim, welcome."
Joonmi nods politely, smiling at the three of them. "Hello, I'm Kim Joonmi," she greets with a soft, lovely voice. The tips of Jongdae's hair start short circuiting and he frantically scratch his head to turn them off. "Uh," Joonmi mutters, looking at Jongdae with sincere concern. "Do you need a hand?"
Again, Baekhyun doesn't need to be a mind reader to tell that Jongdae is screaming yes inside his head, although the two Kims are definitely talking about different kinds of work to do with said hand. Baekhyun holds tight to the sides of his seat and tries hard to hold back his laugh while Chanyeol is already shaking with stifled laughter beside him. Mr. Shim clears his throat sternly, but Baekhyun can tell he's snickering. Jongdae quickly shakes his head. "No, no, please continue," he splutters.
Confused, Joonmi tilts her head, pouting a little, and even Baekhyun thinks that extremely cute. She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear before opening a file folder in front of them. "So, as you probably know, I'm the head of this year's prom committee," she spreads out a pile of paper in front of them and Baekhyun leans forward to examine them-prom concepts, stage sketches, something titled Random Ideas! <3 on top of the page, and a signup sheet. "And Mr. Shim told me that the three of you are volunteering to be in the decoration team, so, welcome!" she cheers, clapping her hands.
Jongdae doesn't ask any question and jots down his name and number on the signup sheet, smiling excitedly. Meanwhile, Chanyeol whispers we have prom? to Baekhyun. At Baekhyun's nod, he turns to look at Mr. Shim and asks meekly, "We're volunteering?"
Baekhyun decides to wait for Mr. Shim's answer-prom committee sounds like a lot of work. Baekhyun doesn't like work.
"This is your detention," a voice echoes inside of Baekhyun's mind. Mind readers are bad enough, but people who take the liberty to make voices inside your head are definitely the worst. "Work hard, hopefully then you'll be too busy to pull pranks on freshmen," commands Mr. Shim's voice. He's smiling devilishly at the trio, motioning for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to write down their names. "Why, yes, Mr. Park, I thought you said you really wanted to help out with prom," he says out loud with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Baekhyun grins at Mr. Shim and resignedly fills out the signup sheet. Baekhyun doesn't like work.
*
This prom thing is something new. Baekhyun always thought that proms are only for seniors, but apparently when you're in a school where the whole student body consists only of a hundred people, everyone is invited. Now, he's all for party and dances and the possibility of drunk display of power, but they expect people to actually bring dates. Which will not be a problem for such a charmer like Baekhyun, but how do you take one girl when everybody walks around in packs of three to four, all with varying degree of beauty and unknown power.
One Kim Minseok is sent flying across the school cafeteria and lands in front of the table where Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae are eating their lunch. Jongdae hurriedly approaches him and helps him up, asking if he's hurt and if he should call Yixing over. But Minseok simply shakes his head before he grins at a blonde who is giggling with her friends on a table of four girls wearing too much pink. Baekhyun wonders if it's a Wednesday. It is. "Now will you go to prom with me?" Minseok yells over.
The girls giggle some more, but the one wearing a pink headband, Luhan, Baekhyun thinks her name is, smiles at Minseok and nods shyly. Minseok jumps up excitedly and sends a greasy wink at Luhan before leaving the premises.
"Whatever, man, I'm going to prom alone," whines Chanyeol. He's been covering his head since the second Minseok came crashing like a wrecking ball, whimpering in fear. This, everyone, is a fully-grown, ridiculously tall man with fire control as his power. "Girls are too scary."
Baekhyun snickers at him, offering a comforting pat on his back. "Maybe you just haven't found the one you-"
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Jongdae cuts him, holding his phone up between the other two while bouncing on his seat. "Kim Joonmi just texted me!" he whisper-yells excitedly.
Aw, so cute, little Jongdae thinking that Joonmi only texted him when Baekhyun is absolutely sure that the vibrating in his pocket also comes from her text. But he doesn't have a heart to tell that to Jongdae. Maybe just let him have this one false happiness.
"Huh? I got a text, too," Chanyeol comments all of a sudden while reading something on his phone. "She just wants us to join her right now at her table."
Jongdae instantly sulks. Sorry man, Baekhyun mouths at him as he picks the younger up from his seat. Chanyeol pats Jongdae's back and mutters sorry repeatedly as they walk towards Joonmi's table, the one towards the quieter corner of the cafeteria. Jongdae sighs dreamily and starts smiling again at the sight of the long blond hair.
"Ah, you guys are here!" Joonmi greets them with an eager clap. She gestures for the three of them to sit around the table, and Baekhyun notices a handbag that isn't Joonmi's on one of the chairs. "Kyungsoon should be back to join us in a moment."
The name sounds familiar, but not really. But familiar. "Kyungsoon?" Chanyeol finally asks.
Joonmi slurps on her drink (strawberry milkshake, Jongdae mutters under his breath) while playing with her phone. "Yeah, she's in your class, I think," she says, giggling at something before quickly typing into her phone. Baekhyun wonders if this is also how normal girls act in the other side of the world, ignoring actual human being in favor of friends on their phone. Joonmi finally looks up, describing Kyungsoon in further details, "She's small and cute, shoulder length hair? Big eyes? No?"
"Unnie, I'm not small," comes a voice scolding from behind the three of them. Baekhyun turns to see the prettiest set of eyes he's ever seen in his entire high school life. Small and cute, indeed, wearing a sky blue barrette covering her hair, with her bangs almost reaching her eyes. The girl smoothes her pleated skirt before sitting down opposite from a gaping Chanyeol. "Uh," she starts, hesitating to continue probably because there are three boys silently gawking at her. "Hi? I'm Kyungsoon?"
Her voice sounds like red velvet cupcake with the most delicious cream cheese icing, and Baekhyun is fully aware of how nonsensical that sounds, but then again Kyungsoon. Nothing else matters. It is impossible that Baekhyun has never seen this girl before, especially if she is in the same class as he is. Maybe she's from a different power bracket-with the way she looks, she's probably from the Hybrids. Definitely. Half an angel. Baekhyun gives himself an imaginary smack in the head for thinking such a cheesy thing. But the girl actually looks too beautiful to be an ordinary hazard. "Baekhyun," he says immediately as he snaps out of his thought. "Uh, junior. Elemental Bracket."
Kyungsoon giggles before the other two can introduce themselves. "I know," she replies. "We're in the same class. You're Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongdae," she states, pointing at each of them accurately with the mention of each name. "The troublemaker trio."
"No way," Jongdae breathes. "I've never seen you before."
Kyungsoon busies herself with a folder full of papers that she fishes out of her handbag. Baekhyun wonders if these girls have ever heard of a laptop or a tablet before, because aren't those more convenient than papers? Also eco-friendly. But maybe if you're pretty you get to do anything you want. Kyungsoon hands each of them a list titled Things to Do!. "Yeah I don't talk much in class, and outside I hang out with the invisibility kids," she explains. "They tend to make me invisible. Like, literally."
Chanyeol laughs like an idiot. "Ah, so that's why," he mutters with a stupid grin on his face. He starts reading the list on his hand after realizing (a little too late) that he's staring at Kyungsoon with drool almost coming off his mouth. "So, uh," he clears his throat and points to the paper. "What is this?"
Joonmi, who has been giggling at her phone on the background, finally decides to grace the conversation with her presence. "Kyungsoon here is the head of decoration for the prom, guys," she tells them excitedly, her high ponytail bouncing from left to right. "You will work with her often now! Yay!"
"Yay!" the three of them echo. This should be fun.
*
Well, no, not really, this isn't fun.
The first word coming from all three of them immediately after Kyungsoon and Joonmi are out of earshot is "Dibs!"
Baekhyun turns to his friends with an overdramatic gasp. "Mine," he states. This is nonsense-didn't Jongdae already have Joonmi? Also didn't Chanyeol say girls are scary? Of all three of them, surely Baekhyun is the one most suitable for Kyungsoon. He has no fear of girls and no unattainable crushes to deal with. "You have Joonmi and you're scared of girls," he points out.
Jongdae scoffs. "One, I don't have Joonmi," he reasons. True. All he has are dreamy sighs and hopeless grins at the sight of her. "Two, it's a totally plausible plan to go after two girls at once." Sure, Jongdae. "Three, Kyungsoon and I click, obviously."
"If your definition of clicking is staring at her with gooey eyes and your jaw hanging open, then I click with her, too!" Chanyeol protests. Baekhyun agrees. "I'm the perfect fit for Kyungsoon!" Chanyeol adds. Baekhyun disagrees.
"I'm older," says Jongdae.
"I'm the oldest, though," interjects Baekhyun.
"I'm the tallest," Chanyeol tries.
"I saw her first."
"We saw her at the same time!"
"I'm in the same class with her."
"We're all in the same class!"
"I have the coolest power."
"That's irrelevant!"
In the end, the debate becomes too stupid for Baekhyun to follow, so he opts to watch as Chanyeol and Jongdae continue bickering, and it's only when they almost succumb into a sissy fight that he decides to step back in. "Okay, okay, let's just settle this the way we always do," he yells over the two of them. They stop to turn and look at Baekhyun. "How about we have a little contest?"
*
OPERATION: DKS
1. +3 points for each non-business-related conversations started by DKS
2. +5 points for each voluntary use of emoticons in text messages
3. +25 points for each selca together
4. +50 points for each pre-prom date
5. +9999 points if DKS agrees to go to prom with you
- Mind manipulation, bribe, and threats will result in instant disqualification
- Dates need to be confirmed by credible witnesses
- Unless there is already a clear winner, final scores will be counted one day before prom
"This looks totally dumb," Jongdae comments as he tapes the piece of paper on the wall of their flat's common room. The three of them huddle around the paper and the scoreboard next to it, and Baekhyun can feel his two best friends grinning next to him. "I love it."
*
When they get to class on the next day, barely seconds before Mr. Jung enters, Baekhyun finally understands why he's never seen Kyungsoon before. She sits in the front row, farthest from the door, diligently taking notes and never looking away from the teacher. Meanwhile the troublemaker trio, aptly, are seated in the back of the class, rarely ever paying attention. As soon as they are seated, and Mr. Jung starts his lecture on managing the magnitude of power you let out, or something, Baekhyun takes out his phone and texts Kyungsoon.
to: kyungsoon <3
hey i see u now :)
Sent. Baekhyun taps his fingers on the table, anxiously waiting for the reply. Kyungsoon doesn't look like the type to be texting during class, though, so maybe-
His phone vibrates.
from: kyungsoon <3
i also see you mr byun
Mr. Byun. Baekhyun is liking his new nickname too much right now, and he's struggling not to let out a giggle. He steals a glance in Kyungsoon's direction, and wow she's doing an amazing job texting while still paying full attention on Mr. Jung, who by the way is looking straight at him. Uh-oh. Baekhyun shifts in his seat-he's probably not being subtle enough with his texting. But then his phone vibrates once again and he forgets everything, excitedly checking the new text.
from: kyungsoon <3
not to break your heart mr byun, but you probably forgot that i am a technopath
His face falls and Baekhyun wants to cry. How the hell did he forget? It's Mr. Jung's class and therefore any electronic devices are within his control. Hazard teachers are definitely the worst part of being in this high school. Mr. Jung clears his throat. "So put your phone away, Mr. Byun," he says, already standing next to Baekhyun's seat, gripping his shoulder threateningly. The whole class doesn't seem to understand what's going on, thankfully, so most of them just shoot him questioning (and sympathetic) looks. "Pay attention to class," his teacher stresses once more before letting go of Baekhyun's shoulder.
His best friends, being supportive as always, are snickering at him. "Bad move, man," Chanyeol whispers from his left. Baekhyun doesn't really care, honestly, because he can see from the corner of his eyes that Kyungsoon is smiling at the whole commotion, and then he feels his phone vibrate.
from: kyungsoon <3
sorry. ttyl ;)
Five points. Totally worth it.
*
In the beginning of their game, Baekhyun was kind of hoping that Kyungsoon is the type to play hard to get, whose attention needs to be earned, who holds her head up high and refuses to talk to lowlifes like Jongdae and Chanyeol (Baekhyun not included, of course). Two weeks into the competition, Baekhyun is still sure that Kyungsoon is, in fact, all of the above, but he realizes that she is also extremely smart. She has probably watched enough chick flicks to realize that all three of them are betting on something (her), and decided to go with it.
The text all three of them received this morning is a solid proof of Kyungsoon playing along: decoration meeting today @ gym, 1pm dont be late ;) ;) ;) And everyone gets 15 points, just like that. Maybe the rules need some revisions, but Baekhyun thinks it's too much of a headache, and for this matter, his housemates agree.
"I'm sure she'll end up going to prom with one of us, anyway," Jongdae states as they walk to the gym later that afternoon. The smug smile on his face suggests that he thinks Kyungsoon will choose to go with him, but Baekhyun doesn't really know where Jongdae got all that confidence-his score is still the lowest among all three of them. "The scores won't really matter."
Chanyeol asks to stop at his locker, where he takes out a red snapback and puts it over his hair, checking his reflection on the mirror inside his locker. Baekhyun tsks impatiently after a couple of minutes. "Can we stop counting the scores, then?" Chanyeol inquires when he's finally finished with his hair-fixing, snapback-wearing ritual. "I'm getting so confused about everything. I'm bad with numbers."
To be completely honest, Baekhyun agrees. None of them are particularly strong in math and whoever came up with all those scoring rules (all three of them, but mostly Baekhyun) is really giving them a hard time. "Yeah if no one manages to take her to prom let's just all treat each other pancakes and ice cream and be celibate the rest of our high school life," he finally suggests as they enter the gym.
Most of the decoration team is already there-Oh Sehee, their junior who has wind blowing on her hair 24/7, making her look like a walking shampoo commercial, and Zitao, who of course is only here to be with Sehee. There's Luhan, the girl who sent Minseok flying across the cafeteria the other day, and Jongin, a handsome yet very quiet freshman whose power is teleportation and Baekhyun has no idea how he fits into this team. Kyungsoon is also there already, walking around the gym with a notepad on hand, making notes about God knows what. She has her hair tied up in a ponytail, messy because her hair is a little too short for it, but Baekhyun thinks she looks sexy. Chanyeol can't stop himself from whistling.
Maybe that's how Kyungsoon notice them. "Ah, you guys are here!" she cheers from where she stands. She starts running towards the spot where the rest of the team are seated, and Baekhyun can't tear his sight off of her-her sweaty collarbone, her body bouncing up and down, her beautiful smile framed by that messy hair. Kyungsoon is so beautiful. She catches her breath and makes them sit in a circle. "So, let's get started!"
Baekhyun leans his head on Jongdae's shoulder, sitting cross-legged on the gym floor and listening to Kyungsoon reciting their plan. Colored light balls from Baekhyun, floated on air by Luhan, and frozen in time by Zitao. Jongdae will be in charge of making lightning patterns behind thick glasses, which will be put around the gym. Kyungsoon bites the tip of her pencil before turning to Chanyeol, who has been staring dreamily at her direction. "I'm thinking of making some sort of a fire gate for the entrance," Kyungsoon trails, checking on her note. She said the other day that she will make sure everyone who volunteers in the team will get to use their power-to encourage education, she reasoned. But she's been having quite a hard time with Chanyeol's and Jongin's powers. "Do you think you can make it look like fire but not hot? Like, can we make a fire gate and not kill people?"
From the looks of it, Chanyeol is still too busy staring to come up with an answer. "Uh," he trails and looks at Baekhyun and Jongdae for answer. Baekhyun nods absently-it's entirely possible for Chanyeol to control the temperatures of his flame. There was this one class that taught him to do so, although Baekhyun isn't sure if Chanyeol can be trusted with it. Now that he thinks about it, it would be better if Chanyeol doesn't do that. Baekhyun starts shaking his head but Chanyeol has already turned to face Kyungsoon. "Yeah, I guess, that's possible." Great. Now everyone's going to die in flames.
"Cool!" Kyungsoon smiles happily, checking things off her list. She then tells them that Sehee will be in charge of making light breeze inside the gym which can make a swaying effect for the light balls up there, and that she can't come up with anything for Jongin so his power will be used to put up other decoration in the gym instead. "Is that okay? I'm so sorry," Kyungsoon adds, looking at Jongin apologetically.
Jongin blushes and looks down. "Uh, yeah, sure, it's okay, no problem," he blurts. Baekhyun finally understands how this freshman fits into the team-he has a (glaringly obvious) crush on Kyungsoon. He actually looks harmless and cute this way, as opposed to his usual cool and mysterious aura. Sadly he's going to have to compete with three seniors for her attention.
Kyungsoon tilts her head and smiles at Jongin, who instantly seems like his heart has stopped. Baekhyun feels for the guy. "Uh, noona," Zitao speaks up. "I'm not really sure I can use my power that well," Zitao mumbles, his face turning a shade of red.
"Oh, that's right! It's okay, Tao," Kyungsoon comforts him with her smile, and Baekhyun is so jealous because 1) he wants to be comforted too 2) how come Zitao has a pet name? Who is Tao? This is unacceptable. Baekhyun is so pulling another prank on that kid. "We're going to get some help from Miss Song! She's an enhancer," Kyungsoon explains.
Zitao still looks lost, so Baekhyun butts in. "She'll help you control your power, unleash potentials, make you a better person, all those things on a self-help book, she'll do that," he tells Zitao. He still looks confused, and Baekhyun starts wondering if it's because of their language barriers. "She speaks Chinese?" Baekhyun tries. Zitao finally looks relieved and starts nodding. Stupid little brat.
"Any more questions?" Kyungsoon asks the group, shooting a thankful glance at Baekhyun for helping with Zitao. Baekhyun looks back at her with a grin. This is going smoothly.
Miss Song enters the gym, greeting them with a loud, cheery Hi. The general consensus is that she is the nicest, kindest, most beautiful hazard in the world, the ultimate favorite teacher at their school, and so far nobody has proven this wrong. "Ready to try out the decoration today?" she asks Kyungsoon after hugging each and every one of them. Baekhyun still feels warm and fuzzy from the hug-volunteering for prom committee so far has been a lot of fun.
With the help from Miss Song, Baekhyun creates numerous light balls of different colors effortlessly-he feels stronger than ever, his powers has never been easier to control. Luhan floats each ball up and Zitao freezes them in time, letting the breeze that Sehee made sway the light left and right. The lightning pattern that Jongdae makes looks absolutely beautiful behind huge colored glass that Jongin and Kyungsoon have placed around the gym. Kyungsoon raises the ground on the center of the gym by a few inches for the stage, and in a whim asks Chanyeol to make fire effects on the corners of the stage.
Everything is done faster than planned, and in an hour they all step back to admire their hard work. "This is amazing," Sehee gushes. This is actually the first time Baekhyun has ever heard her say anything with emotion, and apparently it's a first for everyone else, too, because all eyes are on Sehee right now. "What?" she snaps, blushing slightly. "It does look amazing."
"It is amazing, guys," Miss Song compliments. She then shoves everyone through Chanyeol's apparently-safe fire gate. "Now, try it out, as if it's the actual prom," she tells them, smiling.
Thank God he thinks faster than most-faster than Jongdae and Chanyeol and Jongin, at the very least, because at Miss Song's order, Baekhyun quickly steps next to Kyungsoon and offers his hand. "Go to prom-decor-trial with me?" he asks, putting on the sweetest smile he can muster.
Kyungsoon laughs an adorable laugh before taking his hand. "You're fast," she comments. Baekhyun can see Jongdae and Chanyeol glaring at him, before asking other girls to their fake prom-Jongdae timidly asks Luhan, while Chanyeol resorts to asking Jongin, who grunts before taking the older guy's hand. Zitao looks like his face is going to split in half when Sehee agrees to go with him. He probably forgets that it's just a fake prom.
Miss Song thoughtfully plays some music, and it's starting to feel like the real thing. "Can I have this dance?" Baekhyun asks, raising an eyebrow and pulling Kyungsoon to the dance floor. Kyungsoon laughs some more and nods, letting Baekhyun lead her to some sort of waltz dance he just made up. With Kyungsoon's hands on his shoulders and his hands on Kyungsoon's waist, Baekhyun realizes that this is as close as they will ever get, and that finally Baekhyun is alone with her, and there will probably not be any other chance to do this, so, "Will you go out on a date with me?"
One of the light balls up there pops when Kyungsoon shyly nods. "Sure," she says. "I'd do that."
*
The happiness didn't last long in Baekhyun's case. As soon as Jongdae and Chanyeol heard about his success in getting a date, they shamelessly approached Kyungsoon, asking for dates, too.
Baekhyun wanted to cry when Kyungsoon said yes to both of them. This evil, albeit beautiful and charming and adorable, young lady surely knows how to play this game.
"I'll see you in the park the day before prom," she had said. To all three of them, who just stared at her in confusion, because how could she say yes to all three dates? How? "You get one hour each," she explained, as if it was a game. Well, it was a game. It's just not supposed to be hers. "Woo me."
Who the hell uses the word woo?
Well, anyway, that happened, and this is the day, and Baekhyun is resolved to fight his best in this date-off. He has styled his hair and fashion to perfection, armed with a perfect one-hour date plan. In the spirit of friendship, he still goes to classes and lunch with Jongdae and Chanyeol, although they look at each other highly alarmed.
In the hallways of their school, more and more boys have become evident victim of a hazard rejection. The guy who has just passed Baekhyun has a scratch mark across his face, possibly from the refusal of a cat-girl who is standing near her locker a little further ahead. In another end of the hall, there is a guy with drenched clothes and a small cloud hovering above his head, pouring rain on him. Baekhyun can only assume that the guy had upset a weather bender earlier. He sighs. Asking a girl to prom is difficult enough already, and Baekhyun swears that superpowers make it ten thousand times worse.
"Well," Baekhyun says as the three of them steps outside the school building and to the park. He has the first turn for the Kyungsoon date, which is in ten minutes, and they have agreed that the other two will sit somewhere they can watch-as witnesses, of course. Not that they've planned to sabotage or anything. Really. "Good luck, I guess."
Jongdae and Chanyeol give him a pat on the back, muttering good luck although Baekhyun isn't sure how sincere they are. The park is more or less empty, with some people sleeping under the treea and one or two girls walking by the path in the middle. Baekhyun can see Kyungsoon waiting for him, seated on a bench near a small fountain on the other corner of the park. The tips of his finger start lighting on and off as an effect of his anxiety.
It gets worse once he's close enough to see Kyungsoon more clearly-she looks absolutely breathtaking. Her hair is let loose, but part of her hair is pulled into a small braid forming a pretty headband in front. She's wearing a yellow sleeveless shirtdress with tiny white flowers on it, sitting with one leg on top of the other, reading a book on her lap-Baekhyun is probably in love. He can practically feel his eyes emitting pink lights, and he struggles for a minute to turn them off. "Hi," he breathes when he finally reaches where Kyungsoon is at, with all the light on his body under control. "Kyungsoon, hello."
Kyungsoon looks up from her book and smiles. "Baekhyun," she replies, scooting to make space for Baekhyun to sit next to her. She puts her book inside her bag and looks at Baekhyun, resting her chin on one hand. "So, what are we doing today?"
"This," Baekhyun answers. First, he thinks to himself, set the atmosphere. He dims the light around them, making the three-o-clock lighting of the park seem like way past midnight. Then he makes a show to point his fingers on air, making tiny little dots that look like stars above the two of them. He waves his hand once more, creating a number of tiny light balls that look like fireflies moving gracefully around the two of them.
His date looks around, smiling in fascination. "That's so pretty," she mumbles.
It's a good start to a great date.
*
Surprisingly, the sabotages sent by his friends didn't really do much harm to Baekhyun's date. It's entirely possible that Jongdae and Chanyeol were only eavesdropping on their conversation, trying to learn little things about Kyungsoon. On Jongdae's date, there wasn't any sabotage needed because he basically sabotaged himself when one of the lightnings in his thunderstorm date hit a nearby tree. How did he think that thunderstorm date was a good idea, anyway? Thankfully Chanyeol was able to control the fire.
"You okay?" Baekhyun asks Chanyeol, who is sitting next to him under a tree in the park. The time for Jongdae's date should end any minute now, and Chanyeol is up next. Baekhyun has never seen Chanyeol this dressed up before-a shirt with rolled-up sleeves instead of his usual t-shirt, gelled hair instead of his usual snapback. A bouquet, a bag of God-knows-what-Chanyeol is apparently this type of guy. The love-fool type. Baekhyun almost doesn't want to win anymore and starts rooting for Chanyeol, but nah. He likes winning more than he likes Chanyeol.
Chanyeol looks at him nervously, sweats trickling down his face. "Baek, will you help me out?" he begs, reaching for Baekhyun hands. "Please, please, please don't do anything to sabotage my date? I'm already too stressed out as it is," Chanyeol says. His eyes are doing the puppy thing Baekhyun has not learned to reject yet.
Honestly, if Jongdae manages to ruin his own date, then Chanyeol is surely going to do worse. Baekhyun won't tell Chanyeol this, of course, the poor guy already looks like he's going to combust. "Sure, Chanyeol," he replies, squeezing Chanyeol's hand and giving him a smile. "Relax, you're going to do great," Baekhyun lies.
There's a sound of Jongdae clearing his throat. "Am I interrupting something, here? Should I just tell Kyungsoon that she's going to prom with me because you two are going together?" he asks, flopping down next to Baekhyun who immediately lets go of Chanyeol's hands. "She's waiting for you," Jongdae says to Chanyeol. He surely realizes how nervous Chanyeol is, because he continues with a gentle smile and a pat on his back, "Go, you'll do well!"
Chanyeol mutters a small thank you to the two of them before leaving, and Baekhyun turns to Jongdae. "Do you really think he'll do well?"
Jongdae looks at him incredulously. "Of course not, it's Chanyeol."
*
The decoration for tonight's prom looks extremely pretty. Baekhyun's light balls shine in different colors, floating lowly just above their heads. Couples are taking selcas in front of Jongdae's pretty lightning patterns, while some boys are acting out stunts around Chanyeol's fire gate to upload to their social networks. Kyungsoon had also made Baekhyun do an additional decor, painting an aurora on the dark ceiling of the gym. With Miss Song's help, all these pretty things should hold until tomorrow morning.
On one corner of the gym, two fine young men wearing their best suits are seated next to each other on one of the tables. "Can you believe she picks Chanyeol," Jongdae grunts grudgingly, eyeing Kyungsoon, who is dancing, and Chanyeol, who is making an effort to dance. Kyungsoon looks absolutely beautiful in her mint tulle dress and side-swept curl. And Baekhyun hates to admit this, but Chanyeol looks perfect with her, wearing his pressed suits and matching mint tie. Every time Chanyeol stares at Kyungsoon and grins like an idiot (which is pretty much the whole night), Kyungsoon smiles back fondly. It's probably endearing if only Baekhyun weren't so bitter about losing. Also, Jongdae won't stop whining. "And I'm stuck with you as my date!"
"That's my line," complains Baekhyun.
From their date-off, Baekhyun has learned that women, whether a normal or a hazard, are basically the same. Woo me, Baekhyun remembers Kyungsoon saying. Then he remembers the way Chanyeol awkwardly presented her with a bouquet of white camellias, which she took coolly. The way Chanyeol subtly asked her if she knew the meaning of the flower, which she answered with a no and a curious glance that she tried hard to hide. "It's you're adorable," Chanyeol had answered, blushing furiously. Baekhyun and Jongdae wanted to barf, but Kyungsoon, apparently, was wooed. It didn't help that Chanyeol was such a sappy person that the bag he brought turned out to be a hundred handmade paper cranes. "I made these for you," he had said. Again, Baekhyun and Jongdae wanted to throw up, but Kyungsoon, of course, became more wooed. If that's a thing.
Then again, Baekhyun can't deny that out of the three of them, Chanyeol is the one who sincerely likes Kyungsoon the most. Jongdae still has that unresolved crush on Joonmi, who by the way looks stunning tonight, in her maroon dress with a slit revealing enough of her milky white thigh, and Baekhyun-well, Baekhyun was only in it for the competition. "Honestly, though," Baekhyun comments, sipping on his spiked juice. "Don't you think they look good together?"
A Taylor Swift song has just started playing and they watch as Chanyeol shyly fits his hands around Kyungsoon's waist, swaying side to side. Chanyeol is generally a happy person, but Baekhyun has yet to see him beaming this much. Kyungsoon looks like she's trying to look chill about being with Chanyeol, but Baekhyun can see her flushing from time to time. "Yeah," Jongdae replies, flinging an arm around Baekhyun's shoulders. Chanyeol was afraid of girls just a couple of weeks ago, and now he's slow dancing with one, looking so idiotically in love. "Look at him," Jongdae sighs. Baekhyun sighs along.
It's probably the song, or maybe he's just lonely, but for some reason Baekhyun rests his head on Jongdae's shoulder. "You're not that bad of a date," he comments, closing his eyes for a moment and realizing how gay that sounded. But whatever.
Jongdae moves his hand to brush on Baekhyun's hair, and Baekhyun should probably be mad because he spent a long time styling it, but it feels good so he shuts up. "Yeah," Jongdae answers. "You're not so bad yourself."
They observe the way Kyungsoon pulls Chanyeol down by the tie, whispering something in his ear that makes him blush noticeably even under the dim lighting. Chanyeol nods and Kyungsoon tilts her head upwards, and Chanyeol hesitantly lean in for a kiss. "Aww," Jongdae and Baekhyun exclaim at the same time. Hashtag proud parents.
At this moment Baekhyun glances sideways to see Jongdae smiling widely at Chanyeol. He sees the way Chanyeol giggles shyly with Kyungsoon before going in for another kiss. Baekhyun smiles and realizes that this must be what happiness feels like. No need for a pretty date to prom, no need to have the coolest power among your friends, no need to be normal. As it turns out, all Baekhyun needs are friends to mess around with, friends who don't mind that his power is shit, friends who don't mind going into stupid competitions and still feel happy for the others no matter who wins.
Well then, Baekhyun thinks, maybe high school is the best time of your life.