Chapter Text
First of all, this is not a fairytale.
It’s a nightmare.
"Help me!" Soobin screams, his nails digging and breaking into the skin of Taehyung's arms. Taehyung shocks into movement, pulling, trying to move him, but it’s like his feet slide against the concrete. Even as he pulls and Soobin moves towards him, the monster sticks, stretches with them, stuck to Soobin's ankle and skin.
"Help me!"
Once again.
This world is not a fairytale. It’s plagued with monsters and magic and nightmares. This world is all Taehyung has ever known.
Taehyung learned when he was younger there used to be no beasts like they experience now, beasts that were once something from myths.
But something changed.
No one really knows why or how. Taehyung and everyone else calls them Nightmares. Because the beasts look like the strangest combinations of things, something that can only come from people's dreams. Not that Taehyung has ever seen one before. Scientists are still researching, but somehow with the evolution of beasts came the evolution of humans who have strange abilities.
Taehyung is an outcast. But not like the ones that go here: the Academy.
The Academy is a place where the people that don't fit the mold of this world can go. Like maybe they have something strange about their body, like an extra arm, or maybe they can jump to impossible heights. Abilities. Some call them powers. The Academy is located in Korea, the only Academy in Asia for outcasts to go train to become dreamwielders. Only a thousand attend. There are other schools like the Academy but they are called something different and located in different regions.
Dreamwielders are special people who can use dream weapons, weapons infused with the energy of good dreams to defeat the Nightmares. The top members of the school normally become celebrities once they graduate, fighting the strange beasts that seem to seep up from the ground. Yet even though they may have these powers, not everyone can become a professional dreamwielder. Only a select few who graduate with their team become professionals.
Really they're all outcasts.
Taehyung especially. He isn't too sure why he's here.
Every dreamwielder is in a team. A soul team. Sometimes it can be a duo or a triad, or more, but every dreamwielder needs a soulmate. A soulmate who can interact and match with your powers well. It helps to create an intimate bond between members of the team and boost powers, like an energy pool members can draw from by drawing from their bond. It helps prevent or lessen the consequences of using the abilities, such as soreness or fatigue. Soulmates can only find each other when they interact with another's power. Because of the intimacy of the bond, where sometimes emotions and thoughts can filter through, the team becomes lovers, something closer. Some stay platonic, but it’s rare since the bond is so overwhelming and the match so well done that one naturally falls for the other.
Taehyung got sent to the Academy at a young age, his parents dropping him off on the doorstep and abandoning him. For what reason, he knows not. He doesn't really remember anything from his childhood either. All he knows, for a fact, is that he has no power. No power at all, unless you'd count the sixth sense. Because somehow he always ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time.
He does have a knack for that.
Headmistress Song put him in the lowest class, also known as the lowest rank. In his class there is hardly anyone there that he shares his classes with. Only three others. They all live in the F dorm, or that's what the students call it. F for failure. His dorm has individual rooms in a single hall with a shared bathroom since they have no team, no soulmates.
The other dorms are also classified by ranking. The highest level has dorms like an apartment building, where their whole team, all their soulmates, live together.
Class or rank is determined by skill level. Those with the best teams and highest skills go in the highest rank with the best resources and classes specifically tailored to their needs. For example, the Bangtan team. Bangtan is the highest rank of the highest in the Academy, a team of six soulmates. Lovers. They're like a clique that only associate within their own group, their own rank, which honestly is only made up of them six at the top. They're untouchable. Gods and celebrities within the academy. Taehyung has no doubt they'll graduate soon and be celebrities all throughout Asia too.
So Taehyung is an outcast among outcasts. The lowest of the low. The King Outcast who always has a knack for getting in horrible situations. Like now, an hour before Taehyung tries to save Soobin.
Taehyung frowns, his lips puckering as he stares down at the puddle of water on the ground in front of him. The teal tiles of the bathroom shine under the fluorescent lights of the Academy, the large bathroom prestigious and practically glowing in sparkles except for the strange puddle. Why is there a puddle?
Taehyung squats down, tilting his head to the side. It goes from the outermost teal stall all the way to the teal sink.
Mixed with yellow.
Taehyung scrunches his nose.
The Academy is rich. Rich like the Korean President and United Nations fund it rich, so it has a reputation to uphold with its gaudy rich tastes that screams classist. Such as a completely teal bathroom bigger than his dorm room or the Great Hall that really looks like a ballroom with it’s tan marble floors and vaulted ceilings and chandeliers.
All this to say, why the fuck is there a large puddle in the bathroom of the most prestigious school where a janitor would most definitely have mopped it up by now? There's fucking urine in it!
Footsteps thud across the floor and Taehyung stands up, peering over his shoulder just as someone runs in, skidding across the floor. When he sees Taehyung his eyes widen. He gasps, catching his breath and holding onto one of the teal stall doors.
The person looks familiar, pink hair falling into his blue eyes. "Have you seen Soobin?" He gasps.
Soobin? Oh, he must be Yeonjun. They're popular in their class. Gossip has started flying around them. Wondering if they're soulmates to be able to work that well together. Taehyung never has thought much about it, doesn't care much for the other's gossip ever since so much gossip has swirled around him himself. He finds it's better to not listen in at all lest he hears something about himself.
"Soobin?" Taehyung asks. "No."
He looks back down at the puddle, his lips puckering again. Why is Yeonjun even looking in the bathroom? This bathroom is called Seaworld as a joke, everything a weird teal color. Every single thing except the toilet paper. The toilet paper is white, strangely enough, why not go with teal too?
Yeonjun walks further in, surprisingly tall and peers down at the puddle. "Wait, why is--" Suddenly he gasps, stumbling into the stall and clutching his chest.
Taehyung startles. What the fuck? Again?
Before Taehyung can even move, reach out or speak, Yeonjun's eyes darken and glare at him. He pushes off the stall, his face hard and lips curling into a snarl. "You liar."
"What?" Taehyung furrows his eyebrows, leaning away from Yeonjun who storms into him, pressing into his chest. What is Yeonjun's power? What just happened to make Yeonjun react to him like this?
"What did you do to Soobin?"
What did he do? To Soobin? Taehyung's eyes widen and he steps back. Yeonjun looks like he could breathe fire, his nostrils flaring, and burn Taehyung to a crisp. "What do you mean? I told you I didn't see Soobin?"
"You're lying!" Yeonjun shouts, his eyes shaking as his chest heaves. He sharply points down to the puddle, his finger surprisingly foreboding as it seems to glow under the fluorescent lights.
Taehyung frowns.
"That's him."
What? How? How could Soobin be a puddle?
"You thought you could get away with it?" Yeonjun continues, getting riled up again and clenching his fists. "His scent led me here and he's a water bender! God, he was so terrified, I can't..." Yeonjun scowls, his eyes burning and Taehyung swears he might start crying.
Are they soulmates? Is Yeonjun's powers smell? Like a dog? Weird.
"I swear I didn't see anything --"
"Shut up!" Yeonjun snaps. "Where is he? What did you do?"
Taehyung pauses, hearing whispering. Behind them, peering around the corner of the exit are others peeking in. God. Oh god. No.
Taehyung's heart begins to race, stepping back and almost slipping in the puddle which makes Yeonjun twitch, jerk forward like he's going to strike.
Fuck.
The rumors are already swirling. He can tell. See the dark eyes all staring at him, all accusing. But why? He didn't do anything. He really didn't. What power do they think he has? It's nothing! Why is he even here in this godforsaken place?
"I promise!" Taehyung suddenly shouts. Yeonjun steps back as if he was struck. "I will find him, and he will prove to you I didn't do it."
"No one can find him better than me," Yeonjun snaps. "I don't know why the headmistress hasn't thrown you out."
Taehyung flinches. He doesn't know why either. He's literally in the lowest ranking class.
Yeonjun finally steps back. "I will find him and then you will have us to answer to." Yeonjun gives him one last glare before he spins on his heel and struts out, pushing past the people crowding all around the entrance. They stare after Yeonjun, then Taehyung, going back and forth and Taehyung really wishes they would all just leave him the fuck alone.
"Leave," Taehyung snaps, all the eyes staring at him. "Unless you want to be a puddle too."
They all scamper out and Taehyung waits until the last one disappears. He sighs, falling back against the wall and sliding down, covering his face with his hands. The muscles in his neck and back relax minutely, his hands unclenching and leaving behind crescent indents in his palms. Why the fuck is he here? In this Academy? One of the select thousand. Why?
He has to find Soobin. He can't be tied to something as serious as this. No doubt Yeonjun is reporting this to the headmistress or the authorities. If Soobin is missing it's probably very serious.
Wait.
Did a Nightmare enter the school?
Taehyung hands fall away from his face, his eyes widening. That's the only thing that could scare Soobin enough for him to piss himself, right?
Taehyung glances back over to the puddle, his eyes narrowing. He needs to leave, leave before anyone else gets here and assumes the same thing Yeonjun did. Even though it's probably a little too late.
He pushes off the ground, stumbling over his feet to leave. What is he going to do? How is he going to find Soobin better than Yeonjun can?
Taehyung stumbles to a stop, slowly turning around and peering back to the puddle. From the sink...to the toilet. The toilet….the sewer? Did Soobin enter the pipes?
Can Soobin turn into water? Did he enter the sewers? If it’s a Nightmare can it follow him? There are so many Nightmares in the world, so many different kinds, is this something this Nightmare could do too? How could a Nightmare even enter the school? The headmistress spelled it ages ago, same as the leader before her and the one before that. They protect the academy from beasts to create a safe space to learn.
Taehyung shakes his head, quickly racing out of the bathroom.
The sewers. He has to get to the fucking sewers. He quickly runs through the halls, the heels of his loafers slapping on the hardwood floors and echoing so that it makes his ears ring hollowly. His only solace is that classes have ended and the only people here are ones who have afterschool activities.
Posters and flyers of classes and events and applications to join teams hang on the walls, rippling and floating in the wind as Taehyung runs past until one falls on the ground behind him.
The few stragglers there watch him in disgust or suspicion as he runs past. They probably heard him before they even saw him to be honest, all of them looking curiously before seeing that it was Taehyung and their expression darkening.
But Taehyung pays them no mind. He knows where he needs to go.
He flies around the corner, his feet sliding on the floors. He slips, falling--
"What the-!"
That's the only warning Taehyung has before he barrels into someone, both of them tumbling onto the ground, Taehyung falling on them like dead weight. The man below him hits the ground hard, groaning.
Taehyung gasps, scrambling to get off the groaning boy. Taehyung pushes off and onto his knees. "I'm so sorry!"
Oh...shit.
Jeon Jeongguk.
Taehyung would know who that is anywhere. Jeongguk is one of the most popular people in the whole Academy, known to be a part of the Bangtan team who will graduate soon and no doubt be celebrities in all of Asia, already celebrities in the Academy.
Jeongguk's eyes squeeze shut, grabbing the back of his head as he pushes up onto his elbows. Taehyung's eyes are impossibly wide, his eyes flitting over Jeongguk.
He’s so close.
Taehyung's heart pounds, his cheeks flushing. Jeongguk has an undercut, his hair parted and one side rolling back, gelled back maybe to show off his cut and style. Dangling earrings twinkle in the bright lights and he has a tight red uniform on. It sticks to his skin like someone poured liquid over him and it folded and bent to the lines of his muscles then hardened into a uniform. A second skin. Probably from whatever gym thing he was doing. Or practice.
"Fuck, I have super strength, but you managed to knock me down, what the fuck?" Jeongguk groans and the words make Taehyung's blood burn through his veins. Yes, that's the only reason he feels that weird tingly sensation. Not because of the major fucking crush he has on him. Jeongguk is fucking hot, fuck. His soft skin, practically glowing under the bright lights, his nose leading a straight curve to his lips and then to the mole underneath.
God, he's never been this close to him.
Taehyung pushes off the ground, stumbling a few steps back. He can't...he's already done enough. If others find out he's a freak who can push around the strongest man at the school, he'd be even worse off.
Jeongguk pushes off the ground, his eyes opening and falling on Taehyung. Taehyung stills, their eyes connecting. An explosion of heat shocks his chest, like a heart attack and Taehyung stumbles back in shock, the heat electrocuting his senses and racing down his spine.
Jeongguk doesn't respond, tilting his head to the side as he looks down at Taehyung.
Soulmates.
He is soulmates with Jeon Jeonggguk. But that's impossible. Jeongguk already has five other ones. He knows they’re soulmates, even though no one asks. Everyone just knows. They never associate with anyone out of their team, normally always attached at the hip.
Yet, Jeongguk doesn't know. Taehyung knows Jeongguk doesn't know because of the way he doesn't look shocked. Like he doesn't feel the urge to leap forward and spill all his secrets, like what Taehyung wants to do. Taehyung wants to jump forward and sob about his day, cry for help, for understanding.
No, Jeongguk only seems intrigued by the situation, his eyes dark on Taehyung and sweeping over his body in curiosity. Scanning over his black slacks and weird silky vintage button down. Probably wondering how Taehyung was able to knock him down. It makes no sense after all.
Normally one can only tell if they're soulmates if their soul and powers are compatible when their powers interact. So why can Taehyung tell? He doesn't really have any powers to be able to interact with. How did he interact with Jeongguk’s power? Knock him down? Fuck.
Soobin.
He forgot.
Taehyung's eyes widen. "Sorry!" He drops down in a steep bow, Jeongguk's eyes widening.
Taehyung scrambles off to the direction of the janitor's closet, his head racing.
"Don't run!" Jeongguk shouts after him.
Jeongguk is his soulmate! But he doesn't know. Soobin is in the sewer! Fuck, turn right! Finally Taehyung finds the janitor's room, a large room full of supplies, a place he used to hide and eat when he first came to the Academy after his parents gave him up. He quickly swings the door open, slamming it shut behind him.
He looks around the room, his eyes adjusting, looking for the light switch--wait.
There it is! Taehyung ignores his search for the light switch, immediately running through the dark to the latch on the floor. He lifts the heavy metal circle, the sewer cover, and peers down.
"Soobin!" He shouts, his voice echoing down the tunnel. It echoes and echoes, yet no answer.
Taehyung squints his eyes, leaning over the edge, but he can't see anything at the bottom. It's so dark. There's probably some low lights there, something to light the passage. He ignores his mind screaming at him, red flashing warning signs running through his brain.
If a Nightmare is down there, he wouldn't be able to handle it, especially if Soobin can't.
Fuck.
But he crawls down the tunnel, the old metal of the ladder forebodingly creaking and wincing under his feet and hands as he crawls further and further down until he is almost completely encapsulated in the darkness, the only light a small circle above him. Why is it so far down? The further he goes down, the more stronger the pungent scent is, the smell of the sewer burning his nose and making him gag. Soon enough though, the scent fades, like he’s getting used to it.
He hops off the last rung, his feet landing with a dull thud on the concrete. He peers around him, seeing some low lights hugging the wall like he thought.
It doesn't illuminate much, only a small circle on the ground in front of it with lots of dark spaces in between. Dark spaces where anything could be. Soobin or Nightmare.
Taehyung squints his eyes, his pupils dilating, and he can see, see the weird passageways of the sewers.
Fuck, it's huge. Soobin could be anywhere.
"Soobin!" He calls again, his voice echoing hollowly, spreading down the hallways. His heart pounds, so loud down here. Can the Nightmare hear it? Wherever it is? He feels like it can.
What if it's not even down here?
Fuck. What if he's worrying for no reason? What if Soobin isn't here anyway? Wouldn't Yeonjun have guessed? Have known? Or did his scent end at the bathroom and that's why Yeonjun was so desperate?
Taehyung frowns, spinning around. He's at a dead end, so there's only one way to go. He quickly enters a brisk jog, scanning all the walls and floors as he runs. "Soobin!"
The more he runs, the more his heart pounds, and his breaths are louder, like a ticking time bomb.
"Soobin!"
He turns a corner, and ahead, there, he can see a figure in the dark, hunched over between the two circles of overlapping shadows between lights.
"Soobin!"
Soobin jumps, looking around him since Taehyung's voice echoes from all directions. Soobin leaps to his feet, spinning around as if to fight. Taehyung runs to him, sprints, colliding into Soobin who shouts and pushes at him.
"Stop! No!" Soobin pushes his hand back, summoning water and Taehyung yelps quickly to avoid being coated in liquid shit as he drags Soobin into the light.
"Soobin, it's me! Me! Not a Nightmare!"
Soobin freezes, his arm raised high in shock. "You!...You?..." Soobin gasps, catching his breath before he settles. "I don't know you, actually."
Taehyung pauses. "I’m Taehyung. Doesn't matter I guess, as long as I'm not a Nightmare. There is a Nightmare, right?"
Soobin's face darkens, the shadows covering his face and making his skin look more ashen. "You may not believe me, but--"
"I believe you," Taehyung quickly cuts in. "So there is one."
Soobin nods, a little skittishly. "I think it followed me."
Taehyung frowns, already stepping back to pull Soobin along with him back to the entrance and far far away from any potential Nightmare. Rather than fight it, he'd rather outrun it. Put as much distance as he can between the two.
"What does it look like?"
"Pink, light pink like bubblegum---like a large wad of chewed up gum and it kept moving and reforming and pretty much glued and formed around me until I couldn't breath and it was strangling me, I managed to escape, but I think---"
Soobin suddenly cuts off, his eyes widening as he looks up and behind Taehyung.
Fuck.
Soobin stumbles backwards, raising a finger behind Taehyung. "L--like that."
Taehyung feels his worst fears come alive, a dark weight settling in his stomach. His luck today is wonderful, absolutely fucking wonderful.
He can feel its presence behind him, getting larger and stronger like an invisible weight pressing on his back. Probably as it slinks out of the sewer, taking form and growing.
Taehyung doesn't have a dream weapon on him. No one does except the administration. Weapons used to destroy Nightmares, special swords and powders and bullets filled with the energy of good dreams people have had. Students can only get a hold of them during weapons class or gym, or for a show or....special occasions by the Academy basically.
What the fuck ? What happened to the barrier, the spell around the school that protected them from Nightmares?
Taehyung gulps, then turns around. It's as Soobin described it. He takes a step back, eyeing the beast. Pink bubblegum, like someone chewed on it and spit it out. It has a weird stringy mouth that pulls apart then rejoins and molds together wherever it wants on the body. Gum. A fucking gum monster. How does one even destroy that? You cut it up and it reforms.
Fuck.
They need the dream weapons.
The monster moves forward, the gum sticking and pulling off the ground with weird popping and smacking sounds like someone smacking their lips together.
Maybe Taehyung can distract it, inhibit it enough before help comes? Or maybe...
Taehyung turns back around, locking wide eyes with Soobin. "Run."
"What?!"
"Run!" Taehyung shouts, running past Soobin and grabbing his hand as he passes him. He jerks Soobin behind him, taking off. Soobin stumbles and struggles behind him. Taehyung whips them around a corner yelping, hearing the Nightmare gain speed behind them.
"How can you see?" Soobin cries, trying to run after Taehyung, but he's lagging, stumbling and slowing them down as Taehyung pulls him from ahead.
"You can't?" Taehyung answers, too distracted as he runs in the dark, seeing another corner up ahead. Fuck, how can he find another exit?
Soobin suddenly screams, his body jerking back and Taehyung jerks back with him, stumbling backwards over his feet and turning around. Soobin grapples with Taehyung's arms, screaming as Taehyung stares wide eyed at the monster, its mouth suckling on Soobin's back ankle, pulling him farther back. Soobin's body is hanging in the air, suspended between two forces, dark and light.
Taehyung's arm shakes, his knees shake.
"Help me!" Soobin screams, his nails digging and breaking into the skin of Taehyung's arms. Taehyung shocks into movement, pulling, trying to move him, but it’s like his feet slide against the concrete. Even as he pulls and Soobin moves towards him, the monster sticks, stretches with them, stuck to Soobin's ankle and skin.
"Help me!"
God, what can he do, what can he do! He can't do anything! He's weak, he has no reason to be here, he shouldn't even got accepted, why did he help--
"Taehyung!"
Taehyung jumps and leaps forward, dropping Soobin and he collides to the floor in a high pitched wail and a deafening crack of his chin hitting the concrete. Taehyung leaps over him, on instinct, flying up and above, high over Soobin's knocked out body before colliding with the gum monster.
Fuck.
Fuck!
What is he doing?
The gum folds around him, the Nightmare absorbing the impact and his body and almost pressing into his skin and into his pores and it feels like Taehyung can't breathe and his eyes water and fuck---
Fuck!
His arms grow cold and his legs and his heart and god, goosebumps race up down his arms and spine, and he’s shivering— fuck it’s cold —swears a cloud escapes his lips, then a crackling--
A webbing.
The Nightmare warbles, falling back and away from Taehyung. Taehyung drops on the ground, his feet stuck to the inside of the gum monster as it tries to run away, slide away into the sewer. It drags Taehyung with him.
Taehyung shouts, trying to grab onto the concrete behind him. What is that?
Ice?
Is the monster freezing?
Ice crackles and forms over the monster, the Nightmare struggling to move and go further, starting to tip into the sewer.
Fuck!
Will Taehyung fall in with him? Drown in the sewer water? A Gum Nightmare keeping him down?
He screams, his fingernails bleeding as he fights, pulls himself back and tries to grab purchase on something. The monster tips over and Taehyung's foot pulls over the edge, Taehyung can see it, the dark and smelly liquid with weird clumps.
No!
Pop! Crack!
The monster breaks off, falling into the liquid as a frozen solid and splashing the sewer water on the bottom of Taehyung's pants.
Taehyung sits frozen, his heart pounding in his ears and he can hardly breathe or catch his breath. His ankle still hangs over the edge, the monster floating in the water, dark ice coating it and freezing it.
What just happened?
Did Soobin freeze him? Like an extension of water maybe?
Taehyung quickly scrambles to his feet, wincing as soon as he puts pressure on his ankle, stumbling. He limps, hopping and skipping as best as he can to Soobin's side. He falls to his knees, wincing as he rubs his ankle. Probably sprained.
Soobin is bleeding from a wound on his chin, all because of his stupidity. "Soobin!" Taehyung pushes him over on his back, shaking him. "Wake up! We need to leave!"
Soobin groans, wearingly blinking his eyes open. He's incredibly pale, his eyes looking around like in a fog. "Taehyung?"
"Yes, it's me, you froze the Nightmare, let's go."
"I froze it?" Soobin stutters and tries to push himself up. He frowns and winces, grabbing his chin and noticing the pain. Taehyung helps him up, pulls him up even though Soobin careens heavily into his side. "But I can't manipulate ice?"
"Maybe survival?" Taehyung grunts, wrapping an arm around Soobin's waist and quickly trying to move them back the way they came.
Taehyung winces with every step, biting his tongue as they silently move as fast as they can. Soobin is still a little weak-kneed with passing out, and keeps looking behind him as if the Nightmare will come back. It probably can, not dead until annihilated with a dream weapon. The further they get along, and the closer they get to the hole, Soobin regains strength, more so helping Taehyung instead of the other way around.
They quickly scramble up the ladder, Taehyung on the bottom. Soobin pulls up out of the hole and into the bright light that makes Taehyung wince. Soobin reaches a hand down and helps Taehyung out, the two of them collapsing on the floor of the janitor's closet.
"Um, what are you two students doing here? Coming from the sewer?"
They startle, Taehyung throwing his arms over his face and Soobin throwing his arm out as if to summon his power. But in the silence, Taehyung sees a confused janitor staring down at them.
"Is this a new trend? A new place to hook up?"
Both Soobin and Taehyung look at each other in disgust before pulling away.
"I already met my soulmate and it's not him!" Soobin argues vehemently. Taehyung winces, even though it's not like he wants Soobin as a mate.
It's just...unwanted.
That feeling. It's stupid, especially since he doesn't really want anything to do with Soobin and Yeonjun, not when he now has Jeongguk, maybe all of Bangtan, he wouldn't know unless he interacts with them, but ---
God, shut up! He can't burden them. Tarnish them with his reputation.
"There's a Nightmare," Taehyung suddenly grits out, Soobin pushing off the ground and Taehyung struggling to stand up since the adrenaline has begun to wear off and his ankle throbs. He favors his right leg, his left ankle hanging limply in the air as he bends his leg and leans against the shelves on the wall.
The janitor pales, his eyes widening.
"It took Soobin. Someone needs to go down and kill it. Get the headmistress."
The janitor shakes, fumbling with the radio on his hip before calling to his coworkers. The next intermissions are snippets of other janitors freaking out and one going for the headmistress.
They all wait, the radio still going off, exclamations of shock, surprise and disgust. They all stare down the hole in trepidation, Taehyung's ankle sending waves of pain up his leg and Soobin's chin probably doing the same. He probably broke it or cracked it, Soobin now cradling his chin and seeming kind of faint again.
They don't wait for long, thundering footsteps racing down the hall until the door swings open and there is the headmistress in all her glory, a tall, foreboding woman with hawk-like eyes and a large curved nose.
Her eyes glint over the three of them, the large curved blade in her hand shimmering with a blue light. A dreamblade.
Taehyung's eyes latch onto the blade. He’s never been allowed to hold one before.
"You two go to the infirmary. We will deal with this," Headmistress Song snaps, breaking through the crowd with two other professors behind her who Taehyung recognizes as the history and gym professor. "You will not tell a single soul about this."
They all back away, the three professors disappearing into the hole.
It's too late to reign in all the rumors though.
The janitors all know, and the next day all the students know, looking at Taehyung as he walks down the halls, now wearing a boot.
At the infirmary the previous night, Yeonjun raced to Soobin's bed and completely disregarded Taehyung. Never apologized or thanked him, if anything glared at Taehyung for breaking Soobin's chin.
Now Taehyung walks to the headmistress's office, having received a letter in his dorm late in the evening, slid under his door. He has a room to himself in the lower ranking dorms. So when he got the letter, he knew it had only been for him and him alone, ordering him to appear at the headmistress's office at ten in the morning.
He knocks on the door, a large ornate wooden thing that looks like the entrance of a gothic cathedral. The doors have carvings, etchings in the wood of weapons and dreamwielders and Nightmares. Of victory and success. Like a good omen.
"Enter."
Taehyung pushes open the door, the door heavy yet the door hinges don't even creak. Headmistress Song sits behind her large wooden desk, glasses low on her aristocratic nose. Behind her are large windows with thick curtains, showing the sprawling foggy forests below from their location up in the mountains.
"Kim Taehyung."
Taehyung nods, his dark hair curling around his eyes and ears as he bows down to greet her before straightening back up. He made sure to dress smartly, wearing some tan slacks and a large sweater vest pulled over his button down. Not to mention loafers. Or loafer, in this case. He hates the fucking boot.
A very light academia vibe, something he'd think the headmistress would approve of.
"Sit down." She gestures to the chair in front of her. A large ornate upholstered green velvet chair, the one next to it the same color. A set.
He quickly goes to the chair, placing his leather bag on the ground by his feet. The chair feels comfortable but he can't find it within himself to lean back. He instead leans forward, clutching his knees between his hands.
Why does Headmistress Song want to see him? Not Soobin too? What could this be about? Could he be getting expelled? For what? Did the rumors get to her? There's no way she believes that? She went down and killed the Nightmare herself so she knows. She knows , Taehyung reassures himself.
"Mr. Kim, as of today you are officially moving up ranks."
Taehyung freezes. "What?"
"Last night, you showed that you have a knack for dreamwielding."
"But I didn't dreamwield! I didn't have a weapon of any kind."
"Which makes it more astounding. Somehow you incapitiated the Nightmare enough to escape and save Soobin. You have fast reflexes. You already can fight since every level is taught, but now we can specialize it. Improve it."
Taehyung splutters, his hands gesturing wildly around his face. "But...but--I did nothing!"
Headmistress Song furrows his eyebrows, her hair in a tight bun and it makes it wiggle. "What do you mean? You did everything."
What?
"Soobin told us."
Told them what?
"You were able to see in the dark, and somehow you froze the monster, or partially froze yourself--something like that. I understand he lost consciousness. However, we need to make sure we properly train you to help manifest these budding powers in a safe and beneficial way for society, do you understand?"
No. Not at all.
"Yes, Headmistress."
Headmistress Song smiles, leaning back in her chair. "Outside you will get your new class schedule. You may be surprised about where you're placed, but I suspect I might know what your power is fleshing out to become."
Taehyung waits, twisting his fingers in the hem of his sweater vest.
She doesn’t elaborate.
So she won't tell him?
Her face darkens. "I hope you didn't tell anyone about last night."
Taehyung shakes his head. Even though the whole school knows, so he doesn't know what the point of trying to hide it is.
"We are holding an assembly today. Classes are cancelled for the day. Head straight to the Great Hall after you get your schedule."
Taehyung nods, his fingers wringing together, his ankle dully aching.
"You are dismissed."
Oh.
Taehyung quickly bows again, nodding and grabbing his stuff before walking as quickly as he can out of the office. The door closes with a thud behind him that almost makes him jump.
Powers. He has powers? Potential? She doesn't want to expel him? He's moving up. Does this mean a new dorm? Or is that later?
"Excuse me, Kim Taehyung?
Taehyung jumps, almost out the door of the administrative office. He looks behind him and sees the secretary peering over the top of her cat eye glasses. She looks at him curiously, holding a hand out with a single piece of paper.
"Your new schedule."
Shit. He forgot.
He quickly turns back around and grabs it, a flush growing on his ears and neck before pushing out the door and hightailing it to the Great Hall. He glances down at the paper, it crinkling where his fingers hold it too tightly.
He’s made it to the grand staircase, at the top of the balcony that shows the Great Hall when he stops.
Freezes.
The chatter of the students below swirl and blur around him, fading away to a low hum.
His schedule.
It's the high level courses, the highest levels. What type of fucking powers does the headmistress thinks he has? He definitely doesn't have the prowess of Bangtan.
Because that's who are in those classes.
The Bangtan team.
And his soulmate, Jeongguk.
Oh, fuck, he has a soulmate. A soulmate from the most prestigious soul team at the Academy.
How is he supposed to create distance when they'll be in the same class?
Fuck.