Bit of a warning, if you're reading this on a phone, kindly mind the part where they're texting, it might be a wee bit confusing due to the alignment and all. Try to view it in desktop mode or something if it's not working properly, that will help! That being said, enjoy part 1! And look forward to the finale on Chanyeol's birthday!

Everyone settled into their seats, some had notebooks and pens, ready to scribble down whatever they thought would be important for their tests, some were sitting with full attention, and some had their heads on the desk, already halfway into their naps.

“Good morning.” A tall, lean male walked into the room, his glasses barely hanging onto his face, he looked like he was in his mid-forties, some white strings of hair already falling along with his dark ones, proving his age and experience, he had tanned skin and his arms were filled with papers and files, so much so that they threatened to fall any second.

The hall buzzed with the students returning the greeting in a murmur, they weren’t in school anymore, and thus, didn’t have to stand up, but they still straightened up, adjusting their seats for yet another interesting lecture.

“Today, I’d like to deviate a little from our original plan,” The man began, thick, deep voice resonating within the room, catching the interest and attention of everyone sitting in front of him, “Today, we are going to take a brief look on how our ancestors used to behave around what we call in our present day, myths.” The professor paused for some suspense. He noticed the top students sitting directly in the first row furrowing their brows in confusion, “You may wonder what this has to do with our main course of studying ancient history,” he smiled gently, “Our ancestors had beliefs that affected their behavior, and thus, the way their governments ran their society.”

The professor paused again, collecting his thoughts and grabbing his e-pen and a tablet, all connected to the e-board. “It is said,” He started again, “that our ancestors believed in shapeshifters, people shifting into mythical animal forms,” The professor paused again to let the murmur spreading in the room subsided, “This has been documented in the majority of the ancient societies’ writings.” He paused, tapping on his tab to display the pictures he had prepared, “The sphinx.” He pointed at the e-board. “Mermaids, Unicorns, Basilisks.” The professor paused again, smirking slightly at his students perking in attention, “That’s right, Griffins, Basilisks, Centaurs, and even hippogriffs. All the creatures used in your favorite movies and books are originally parts of these myths. You know them through your entertainment, but the ancient societies knew them through their religions and beliefs.

“They thought the sun rose when the blue phoenix of the west went to sleep, and the red phoenix of the east roused from his. They thought that if the seas were angry, it meant someone had awoken the loch ness monster from his deep slumber, thus, upset him.” He continued giving examples of other creatures, expanding and enriching his students’ imagination. And then finally, he ended his presentation with a slide containing mini pictures of some of the mythical creatures and what the ancient civilizations believed they did. “Our ancestors believed that these beings were behind every single natural phenomenon.” He finished, tapping lightly on his tab, the e-board immediately went dark signaling the end of that presentation, “Form groups of five, pick a shapeshifter, study the natural phenomenon connected to it, and make a presentation of how that had affected the respective civilization that had worshipped it.” The professor smiled again, hearing the low murmur of complaints, but he wasn’t about done. “Your coursework this semester will be decided based on how well you’ll do on this presentation.” He finally collected his files and went for the door, leaving a roomful of gaping students.

/*\*/*\*/*\*/*\

“The coursework for the entire semester, man.” Jongdae facepalmed. “Mythical creatures.” He said, voice muffled by the hand rubbing his face slowly.

“I don’t know why everyone is so shocked though, Professor Kim has always been unconventional.” Kyungsoo pointed, munching on god knows what.

“Do you ever stop eating?” Jongdae wondered.

“Only when I’m sleeping,” Kyungsoo replied, sticking his tongue out.

“And they’re supposed to be seniors.” Baekhyun shook his head, amused. “But seriously, guys, what are we going to do about the presentation?” He asked, frowning slightly.

“Obviously, we’ll do it, which creature should we pick?” Jongdae wondered, eyes on his phone, checking his e-mail to see the list of mythical creatures their professor sent them along with that day’s slides.

“I want to do mermaids,” Kyungsoo spoke up.

“Gosh, what are you? Fifteen?” Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “How about we do it on Centaurs?” He offered.

“I like the idea, but I don’t want my presentation to end up as a spin-off from Harry Potter.” Jongdae scrolled a little to read more about the mentioned creature when something caught his eyes. “How about we do it on Phoenixes?” He was awed at the graceful creature he saw in the pictures, “They look majestic.”

Baekhyun smiled, “That’s not a bad idea, although I’d have preferred Centaurs or Griffins.”

“Are you that obsessed with the series?” Kyungsoo side-eyed him.

“Not really, I just feel like we should look at them from outside of the box they were placed in because of these movies.”

Just then, the trio’s phones started vibrating, they looked at them, finding a few texts sent into a group chat someone had added them into, they scrolled to the beginning to understand what was going on.

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

Guys this is a group chat for our ancient history class, we need to coordinate so there’d be no duplicates in our presentations

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

Professor Kim said there should be no duplicates and any funny business will cost some of us the entire semester, let’s work together, please.

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

Okay so who chose what?

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

We called dibs on Dragons

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

We really like Chimeras, so we chose them

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

Our group decided on Kelpies

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

Our group wanted dragons, but they’re taken already so we’ll take griffins, we’re "harry potter" fans

Also, some of my friends forming another group haven’t been added yet but they told me to say they picked Pegasus

Their phones kept vibrating until their hands almost went numb, placing the group chat on mute, they watched helplessly as most of the creatures were taken on the spot.

“Oh shucks, all the creatures we were just talking about are taken. Dang!” Jongdae mumbled.

“Dude, hurry up and claim phoenixes before they’re taken, too!” Kyungsoo said, having a tough time putting the food in his other hand away to type on his phone.

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: DinoDae

You guys are monsters, you took all our options in a second!

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

It’s first come first serve, bro

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: +82XXXXXXXXXX

Well, hurry up and pick something else, then

To: ancient history class 4th year

From: DinoDae

We already picked Phoenixes. I dare y’all to try and steal them

Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief when no one showed interest in claiming their last option. Pocketing their phones, the trio decided to head to the nearest café and get their dose of caffeine, they can afford to waste some time there, too, since the following lecture won’t be for a few hours.

“Where were you last Saturday? We called you like a bazillion times, Baekhyun.” Jongdae asked as soon as they settled into their chairs with their drinks in hand.

Baekhyun paused, lips inches away from the straw of his iced americano, “Uh, I was with my family.”

“I told you he’ll be with his family, he does it every year.” Kyungsoo smiled victoriously, a hand popping from under the table, palm up.

“I don’t understand the significance of that day, that your family forces you to spend it with them every year,” Jongdae commented, hands going into his pocket and then dropping a five thousand Won bill into Kyungsoo’s outstretched hand.

“You guys bet on this?” Baekhyun’s eyes widened, watching the exchange between his closest friends.

“He thought you were getting laid somewhere, I told him you were hanging out with your family as you do every Seollal, he bet me, and I won. Like always.” Kyungsoo shrugged, reaching out for the cookies he had ordered along with his drink and munching on them.

Baekhyun sighed, “I can’t believe you thought I was getting laid.”

“I know right, I told him you would tell us, but he wouldn’t believe me.” Kyungsoo looked too smug for Baekhyun’s liking.

“No, I wouldn’t, but still.”

“Wait, you wouldn’t tell us?” Jongdae repeated, “That means you might be getting laid every time you go MIA on us, but we wouldn’t know any better, would we? No one spends that ridiculously huge amount of time with their family, after all.” Jongdae crossed his arms, looking so much like a detective, “Just admit it, Byun, you have a boyfriend behind our backs, don’t you?”

“I wish.” Baekhyun slumped his shoulders a little, looking wistful for a second. Kyungsoo patted his back companionably.

They had a few more lectures after that, and then they had to separate, Kyungsoo had cooking classes, Jongdae had musical rehearsals, and Baekhyun, well, he had to go home.

It was so disheartening, to see his friends doing extracurricular activities after their lectures and having fun every day while he had to go straight home because otherwise, his family will go crazy.

Baekhyun understood where they were coming from, and he knew that they cared for his well-being but that was too much. It wasn’t like he was going to get kidnapped on the campus or on his way back.

Not to mention, they had shot down all his requests to stay over at his friends’, stay in a dorm, or rent an apartment with his friends, even if it was in the same neighborhood.

He never managed to live his childhood or his teenage time like the other kids, he wasn’t allowed to stay late anywhere, he wasn’t allowed to go out with his friends, they’d even do a thorough background check on all his friends, and if they sniffed that there was someone Baekhyun might have liked, romantically, the whole house would be turned upside down.

Baekhyun couldn’t wait to get away from them. His older sister told him they weren’t like that with her when she was younger, so, he was wondering what was so different, why they were more overprotective over him, a guy, than they were, over their first-born girl.

For now, he just needed to stick to the rules. And it wasn’t like his parents mistreated him, anyway. They were pretty well-off, and they never told him ‘no’ to anything else. Whatever Baekhyun asked, Baekhyun got. A sports car of his choice, the newest phone model, the most expensive of clothes, and the best of anything that he’d even think of. All they requested in exchange was that he sticks to the rules they set for leaving the house and being back on time.

Baekhyun remembers one time, during his rebellious age, he had snuck out of the house and went to stay over at a friend’s. Not only was there an entire police unit looking for him just two hours after, but he was also severely grounded, he had to sleep in the basement for two weeks and wasn’t allowed his phone for another two.

Baekhyun had thrown lots and lots of tantrums as a spoilt kid, these tantrums mostly worked, somehow. His parents really couldn’t say ‘no’ to him. His first tantrum won him freedom from his bodyguards. The second had allowed him to attend hapkido class alone without either of them going with him, and the last was supposed to grant him the freedom to go to university abroad, but his parents had resolutely refused to let him get anything but homeschooling, it was when Baekhyun had threatened to keep trying to run away from the house, that they’d relented and let him attend university in the capital city.

They all moved out of their home and went to live in Seoul just for Baekhyun. Though they still have to go back to their main house in Busan during the holidays. Especially for Seollal, the entire family, along with the extended ones always went there and stayed in the family mansion. Even those living outside of the country would come back to attend the holiday with them.

To everyone on the outside, including his friends, Baekhyun’s family was overprotective of him because his parents were important people, but Baekhyun knew better, he knew the reason behind that was much more than just being the son of important people. He was taught, when he was six, his parents had sat him down, and explained everything to him.

Parking his car in the underground garage, Baekhyun went in, yelling that he was home before going upstairs and changing, he wanted to get his homework and the assignments due soon done as fast as possible.

Baekhyun was what you could call, a top student. He was expected to be, anyway, due to his family’s status, he was expected to get top scores, and now that they let him attend a university with his friends, they expected him to do even better.

Not that they’d do anything if he didn’t do well, but the disappointment in his mother’s eyes would be too much for him. So he does well, to prove to himself that he wasn’t just another spoilt kid, and to see the pleased smiles on his parents’ faces, too.

To everyone, having important parents meant the kids barely managed to see them. But that wasn’t the case for Baekhyun. His parents had made sure to be a constant presence in his life. And if one absolutely needed to leave the other would make sure they were with him. At no point in Baekhyun’s life was he left home alone with the caretakers, He didn’t know whether he should blame this on their overprotectiveness or their care for him. But both cases could be attributed to the intense love they had for their children, and even though they got on his nerves more often than not, Baekhyun adored his parents. They were his role models, and he would do the impossible to see them smile.

The knock on Baekhyun’s door interrupted him from typing the last paragraph of what he could proudly call a very well-written paper on the French revolution. He looked up to see his mom’s head popping into the room, “Baekhyun, dinner’s ready, let’s go.” She said before her head disappeared again.

“How was your day, son?” His father asked as they started eating.

“It was alright but very interesting,” Baekhyun replied, pausing before taking another bite in case his father asks about something else.

“How was it interesting?” His mother was the one to ask, this time.

“Our ancient history professor gave us a presentation and set the entire coursework for the semester on how well we’ll do it.” Baekhyun put his fork down, waiting for their conversation to be over so he could start eating again, he couldn’t possibly answer his parents’ questions while munching on his food, that would be impolite.

“What was the presentation about?” his mom inquired curiously.

“Shapeshifters, the mythic animals they turned into, and how that had affected the civilizations that worshipped them.” He answered.

His parents both smiled mirthfully looking at each other as though that was an inside joke that only both of them understood. “And he set the coursework for that alone.” His father looked back at him, his eyes shining with something Baekhyun didn’t understand but knew had a meaning.

“Yes…?” Baekhyun’s answer was more of a confused question rather than a reply, he eyed his parents warily, they were still smiling as though they heard a good joke.

“Well, son. Better pay great attention to that presentation, then. Wouldn’t want your semester lost because of such an easy task.” His father finally said. Baekhyun nodded dumbly, still feeling confused and a little lost.

“Did he assign you the creatures you would do the presentation on or did he let you choose?” His mom pressed.

“He let us choose,” Baekhyun answered, getting back to his food before it went cold. He thought he heard his father mumble something about their professor losing his touch, but he was sure he just imagined it because it wouldn’t have made sense otherwise.

“Can we know what you chose?” His mom inquired again, giving a quick glance towards her husband and then back at him. Baekhyun took a deep breath, urging himself to be patient, this was the first time his parents had questioned him so much about college.

“Phoenixes.” He answered, stabbing his food with his fork, sulking just a bit. He was startled when his parents exploded into laughter, both at the same time, Baekhyun stared at them, dumbfounded, he didn’t say anything that funny.

“Were you the one who chose?” His father asked a minute or two later, trying to steady his breathing.

“No, Jongdae chose, I wanted Griffins.” He mumbled.

“I see.” His father nodded, barely holding in another bout of laughter.

“Ah, we almost forgot to tell you, Baekhyun. We have a family gathering tonight, put on something nice.” His mother said, lightly patting the top of his head and smiling sweetly at him.

“We’re going to Busan? No way, I have classes tomorrow!” Baekhyun objected.

“No, no, we’re meeting here, we don’t want it to feel stuffy in the house so we will be sitting in the garden, under the pergola.” She assured.

Baekhyun nodded but didn’t ask anything else, he wasn’t in the mood to inquire about their hysteric laughter just a minute prior, he just wanted to finish his food and get back to his homework so he can play online a little before their guests arrived, he was hell-bent on advancing on to the next rank in League of Legends before the month was over.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Baekhyun, I’ve heard a lot of things about you.”

Baekhyun smiled politely, the lady who was speaking to him looked like she was twice as old as his mother, she was dressed so elegantly he would have pegged her as the Queen of England. She was accompanied by a young boy, more like a young man, he was significantly taller than Baekhyun, with tanned skin and dark hair, he had a mysterious aura around him, and he looked calculating and careful. He kept eyeing Baekhyun as though assessing a product he was about to purchase. Baekhyun s