Title: Discovering the Universal
Pairing: Kyumin (ninja!standard OTPs)
Disclaimer: Super Junior belongs to themselves.
Summary:
The International Extras Academy is a school set aside for a race of super-humans called Extras who each possess a gift called a Legacy. Cho Kyuhyun is a new student, studying there to finish his last years of training as a Weather Extra. He expects to make friends and learn everything he has to know. But what he doesn't plan for is Lee Sungmin, the most powerful Extra in the world.
Discovering the Universal
Chapter Eighteen
It was like a light had been turned on and suddenly, Kyuhyun could see. He had become more aware of everything around him. He could almost feel the heat of the Universal’s skin radiating off him as they sat beside each other in History of Diversity. It was the first class we’d ever had together, Kyuhyun thought.
He’d been questioning and questioning and questioning. Did he like Sungmin? He liked the way the Universal spoke, his voice soft and manly. He liked the way he dressed, casual and perfect. He enjoyed the way Sungmin looked when he concentrated, biting his lower lip. He loved the way Sungmin laughed.
But above all, he loved that Sungmin’s greatest trait was his most hidden. His unfailing kindness meant that he always put everyone before himself. He isolated himself so that he wouldn’t hurt anybody. He was willing to live in loneliness if it meant that everyone else was safe.
And Kyuhyun wanted to be there with him and let him know that there was someone who cared.
“Dinner?” he asked as the class ended, his throat closing up and turning him hoarse.
Sungmin shook his head. “Sorry, not tonight.”
Before the Universal had even finished speaking, Kyuhyun felt empty. He nodded miserably and tried to smile as Sungmin vanished.
His side felt cold as he walked through the halls. He missed Sungmin walking beside him. It had taken him so long to get Sungmin to be comfortable with him. Discovering the Universal was like an addiction to him. He couldn’t stop wanting to know more. And why had he made the effort? Why hadn’t he just walked away?
“Subconsciously, you love your Potential already, even without meeting him or her. When you finally realize your Potential, that love is released. You will know when you have your Potential because you will not be able to think of much else other than that person. You will want to know anything and everything about him or her.”
He remembered Professor Park’s words clearly. He’d already gotten an answer to his questions and he hadn’t even known it. He hadn’t really thought of anything else other than Sungmin since the day he’d first sat in the library with him and talked. He’d wanted to know everything about Sungmin, even tracking down Hankyung and demanding what he knew.
What if we are Potentials? The thought slipped into his head and made a smile form on his face and his heart jump. It was possible. Sungmin’s Legacy was strong and Kyuhyun’s Legacy was much weaker. Sungmin’s powerful Legacy could help his grow until it almost matched Sungmin’s. It made sense.
He swallowed as he understood. He liked Sungmin. He thought back to all the times that he’d felt those tingles shooting down his spine whenever they touched. His heart beat faster.
“I like Sungmin,” Kyuhyun whispered to the empty hallway. The words made his lips tingle and he smiled wide. He repeated the words again and his heart jumped into his throat. He did like Sungmin. He liked everything about him.
What if we are Potentials?
%<>%<>%
“Have you seen Sungmin?” Eunhyuk asked a few days later. Donghae, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Kyuhyun and Eeteuk were all lounging in the Telekinetic dorm, waiting for dinner to start.
Kyuhyun knew he was only there because Eeteuk had noticed him looking very preoccupied and was worried and was trying to get him to say what was on his mind.
“Why?” Kyuhyun wanted to know.
“He’s in my Elemental Combat class and I wanted to ask him if I could borrow his textbook,” Eunhyuk answered.
“He always knows where Sungmin is,” Yesung piped up. “He’s completely obsessed with the guy.”
“Who’s obsessed?” Eeteuk asked distractedly as he rifled through some of his books, looking for his notes.
“Kyuhyun. With Sungmin,” Eunhyuk called back but Eeteuk had gotten side-tracked by some of his papers falling to the floor.
“Really?” Donghae asked interestedly. “So he’s like, in love with him then?”
When Kyuhyun didn’t answer, every head turned towards him. They saw the conflicted expression on his face and immediately knew what had been plaguing the magnae for the past few days.
“Oh god, he is,” Eunhyuk groaned, slapping his forehead.
Yesung crossed his arms. “I told you not to fall too deep!”
“Aish, I knew something was up when he kept trying to talk to him,” Eeteuk said exasperatedly. “You aren’t the first and won’t be the last to get a crush on him.”
“It’s not like that!” Kyuhyun protested. He liked Sungmin more than everyone thought. He knew he did. And about a hundred other people did as well.
“Then what’s it like?” Donghae asked.
Kyuhyun paused. He could hear Sungmin’s laughter, see his mouth twisting as he told Kyuhyun about his dead family, his hands turning the pages of books carefully, his dark chocolate eyes so guarded.
“It’s different,” Kyuhyun insisted as he saw the Universal’s gentle smile in his mind’s eye.
Yesung looked carefully at the magnae. “He’s serious,” the Laserbolt Extra murmured.
Eunhyuk rolled his eyes, “Like we haven’t heard that before. Look, if you really feel so strongly about him, tell him. He’ll do to you what he’s done to everyone else.”
Kyuhyun shook his head. “I don’t think he’ll reject me.”
“Why not?” Eeteuk asked.
Kyuhyun hesitated a moment and then spilt out what he’d been keeping to himself for the past few days. “He’s my Potential.”
Eunhyuk shook his head, “That can’t be.”
Kyuhyun turned to face him angrily. “Why not?”
Donghae shrugged, “You heard him. He said he has one already.”
Kyuhyun could think of no argument for this and gaped. He could feel his heart squeeze painfully. He’d forgotten that Sungmin had mentioned it.
“We said we didn’t think he had a Potential but he began to correct us,” Eunhyuk added.
“You really do need correcting,” Eeteuk scoffed. “Didn’t you two pay attention in class?”
“What do you mean?” Kyuhyun felt slightly panicky. Was there something else to consider now?
“We pay attention in class! Sometimes…”
“Actually, we’ve skipped a fair number of classes. Like that one with Mr. Lee on Diverse Legacies,” Donghae said thoughtfully.
“Wait, what did you mean about correcting?” Kyuhyun asked, trying to make himself heard.
Eunhyuk said, “Well, actually, how many times have you caught us skipping-?”
Eeteuk interrupted quickly, “Sungmin doesn’t have a Potential.”
“He said he did!” Eunhyuk protested.
“You said he was correcting you. He was correcting you because Uniques don’t have Potentials.”
“So what do they have then?” Donghae asked.
“They have Promiseds,” Eeteuk explained.
Kyuhyun felt his body go cold. He had been wrong. Sungmin didn’t have a Potential. He had a Promised. What was a Promised?
%<>%<>%
He didn’t have to wait long to find out. A day later in Evolution of Extras, Professor Park walked in and gave him his answer.
“All right class, settle down. I want you to open your textbooks to the chapter on Lifeforce which will be tied into Promiseds,” Professor Park announced.
Kyuhyun immediately flipped to the right page. Sungmin appeared right beside him. Kyuhyun’s heart sped up. He turned to look at the Universal and his mouth nearly dropped open. Sungmin’s eyes were dull and there was a light sheen of sweat on his face. He looked sick.
“Are you okay?” Kyuhyun asked, worry immediately coating his voice.
I’m fine.
The words stopped just short of slamming into Kyuhyun’s brain. Whatever the Universal said, he was not okay. Kyuhyun didn’t get the chance to pursue his inquiry as Professor Park started talking.
“I’m sure all of you are familiar with the term ‘Lifeforce’. The Lifeforce is what gives being to everything. It’s what powers your Legacy and keeps you alive. Each time you use your Legacy, you draw some of the Lifeforce in order to use it. The Lifeforce runs on the energy of everything it creates. The stronger the living things are, the stronger the Lifeforce. The stronger you are, the stronger the connection you have with the Lifeforce and therefore, your own Legacy,” Professor Park began.
Kyuhyun shifted. He could almost feel the tension that was radiating off of the Universal beside him. He wondered what was setting Sungmin on edge.
“…a very important part in your lives. Not only does it give your Legacy power, it helps to select a Potential for Extras who need one,” Professor Park continued.
Kyuhyun tried very hard to concentrate.
“Now you’ve already learned about Potentials and that Diverse and Telekinetic Extras don’t usually have them and that Elemental, Metamorphic and Corporeal Extras do. But what we’re going to learn about are Promiseds.”
The Weather Extra focused on the word.
“I told you when we learned about Potentials that Uniques were a whole different thing. They don’t follow the rules. They have their own set of rules. Unique Extras don’t have Potentials. They have Promiseds.”
Kyuhyun felt Sungmin move slightly beside him and he turned to look at the Universal. He wondered how it must feel to hear his evolution singled out. Sungmin’s breathing was slightly heavy and he looked almost nervous.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Kyuhyun whispered. He wanted to comfort the Universal.
I’m fine.
“…studied Uniques. It makes a great deal of sense as to why we evolved the way we did and why Uniques evolved slightly differently. A Unique is an Extra who has a Legacy that is usually quite powerful and the only one of its kind. Unique Legacies include Life, Time Travel, Universalism, Immortality and a few others besides. Life is the ability to make dead things live. Time Travel is pretty straight-forward. And you can ask Sungmin about Universalism.”
Kyuhyun wanted to shout at Professor Park for putting Sungmin on the spot like that. The Universal kept gazing towards the front of the class, acting like he hadn’t heard a thing.
“Now, with powerful Legacies like these, what other Legacy could possibly help them reach their full potential? Uniques are already pretty strong. And that’s where Promiseds come in. Promiseds are not like Potentials. As you know, a Potential helps you reach your full power. Promiseds do not. Promiseds are called such because they were promised to the Uniques by the Lifeforce.
“A Promised is an Extra who is created to be the perfect match for the Unique in every way. Their Legacies are similar, their personalities have the right amount of clash and flow, their thoughts run similar ways and even their physical appearances complement each other. Uniques are powerful and therefore, their Promiseds must be able to cope, not only with their powerful Legacy but with everything that makes a Unique.”
Kyuhyun felt as though he couldn’t breathe. Sungmin’s Legacy was way more powerful than his. Their thoughts never ran in the same way either. And Kyuhyun knew that his looks could never compare to the Universal’s. Maybe he wasn’t the Universal’s after all. He bit his lip. But he felt so strongly about him.
“…Promiseds can also come from every category. Diverse Promiseds, Elemental Promiseds, any category could have an Extra who is a Promised. Other than that, it’s a similar process to Potentials. Touch allows the Promised and the Unique to find each other more quickly. They’ll want to know everything about each other.
“Now because they’re Uniques, they don’t all follow the rules, even for their own category. Some Uniques have Potentials because they’re compatible with more than one person. If this happens, the Unique either chooses one to be a Promised or chooses none at all. Except for once, all of the Uniques in history have chosen none.
“And sometimes, Uniques have no Potential or Promised. That is a very rare scenario and it usually only happens with the strongest Uniques. The Uniques who have the most dangerous Legacies and usually have an X-class almost never have a Promised or a Potential. Those Uniques forever isolate themselves,” Professor Park explained.
Kyuhyun’s head was spinning. There seemed to be three levels of Uniques and Promiseds. There were the Uniques who had a Promised, Uniques who had Potentials and Promiseds and then Uniques who had neither. Kyuhyun ground his teeth in frustration. Why did Uniques have to be…well…so unique?
“…more discussion later. You’re dismissed,” Professor Park finished. The class began to pack up.
“Dinner?” Kyuhyun asked. He wondered which kind of Unique Sungmin was.
The Universal looked at him and for a second, Kyuhyun thought he was going to decline. Then he nodded.
%<>%<>%
The two Extras picked up their trays from the cafeteria and both of them silently agreed to sit alone. They made their way to one of the little alcoves and settled in. They were silent, save for the click of Kyuhyun’s chopsticks as he began to eat.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Kyuhyun asked, noticing that Sungmin wasn’t eating.
The Universal shook his head, “I’m not hungry.”
Kyuhyun looked at him. The Universal looked tense and withdrawn.
“Are you okay?” Kyuhyun asked.
Sungmin was quiet but then spoke softly, “I just wish that learning about Promiseds had come later.”
Kyuhyun jabbed at his chicken. He wished the same thing. He could have done without knowing that Sungmin was promised to someone who had been perfectly tailored for him. Someone who definitely wasn’t Kyuhyun.
“Professor Park shouldn’t have singled you out,” Kyuhyun growled, turning his feelings on their teacher.
“He had to teach his course. I just wish it wasn’t now.”
“Which one are you? The Unique with many Potentials, one Promised or none at all?” Kyuhyun wanted to know. He glared at his food.
Sungmin sighed, “Just one.”
The Weather Extra’s chopsticks stabbed through a piece of chicken. There was a hot, angry feeling in the pit of his stomach. How many other people felt this way when they learned that Sungmin wasn’t interested? Kyuhyun hated being a part of the people that Sungmin rejected. He nearly laughed after. Sungmin hadn’t even rejected him. He’d never said anything.
“Do you know who it is?” Kyuhyun asked, a little more edge to his voice than he intended.
Sungmin looked at him but said nothing. The two finished their meal in silence and parted ways with soft goodbyes. Kyuhyun felt sick. He’d spent so much time trying to get the Universal just to look at him and he was already beaten by an unknown Promised.
A tear fell down the magnae’s cheek. He was stopped before he could even say anything. Then an idea occurred to him. What if he did say something? What if Kyuhyun approached Sungmin and told the Universal that he was his Potential? That had to count for something didn’t it? Kyuhyun wanted to know everything about him. Only Potentials wanted that.
He made up his mind. He would tell Sungmin about this. He swore it.
%<>%<>%
Sungmin stared out of the Unique common room windows. He was quietly debating getting back at his Evolution of Extras teacher for telling them about Promiseds sooner than he liked. But it wouldn’t change anything.
He wondered how long it would take before Kyuhyun put two and two together. He knew the Weather Extra was starting to realize something. The distracted look on his face said everything. He was beginning to understand.
Sungmin bit his lip and closed his eyes. He couldn’t run. He didn’t particularly want to either. He let out a soft sigh as he thought about Kyuhyun once again. The Weather Manipulator had been in his thoughts for a long time now. He couldn’t push him out. It was hard enough being around his Promised and keeping quiet.
Why did you curse him? Sungmin demanded of the universe. And just like always, there was no answer.
Sungmin finally realized that he was stuck. He couldn’t keep Kyuhyun safe. No matter what, the Weather Manipulator was close to death.
%<>%<>%
I'M BAAACK! Sorry for taking so long guys. My computer is fixed now and updates will be arriving quickly! Kyu finally gets it and Min is just being Min….good grief…anyways, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. If you don’t understand the Unique and Promised bit, I’ll be happy to clarify even more. Thanks for reading~
Now tell me, what's up in the KyuMin world? I've been so busy with life that I haven't followed them as much as I would like. What's happening with the Kyu and the Min?