The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a bare boy with a brown bowl cut with green highlights on his bangs. They stared each other for a full minute, registering what the heck was going on before the other grinned. He stared at him with a brow raised, questioning why he suddenly smiled so he asked and the other shrugged. "Mine's bigger." He rolled his eyes. He was stuck with an idiot. "My name's V. Yours?"

Although he was stuck with an idiot, he'd rather keep himself busy than to wait in silence. "Suga," he answered.

"What do I look like?" he asked. "You're pretty skinny. There's barely anything on your face other than pale skin. You also have green hair." Suga looked up, now noticing how green his bangs were, just like him.

"Your mouth is big," he stated.

"...that's it?"

"Yeah." He suddenly started laughing. "You're a funny one." They suddenly stopped moving in their cargo. "I guess this is where we separate. Good luck with your human. The world is a pretty small place so I'm sure we'll meet again."

"Yeah..."

The cargo hold opened, pouring light into their cell. The two got off the cargo and went their separate ways, left and right. Suga continued down the pathway that led him into a dressing room. There were racks of clothes that he would be able to choose from. He started off with the undergarments before he headed over to one side of the room to pick out a pair of pants. He grabbed a pair of dyed blue jeans with cut-outs to give himself a little bit of edge. Then, he headed over to the top section and grabbed himself a yellow and black button up and a varsity jacket. After, he grabbed a pair of white socks and white shoes as the final step, about to skip out on accessories but stopped and grabbed the red pair of shades as he left the room. He entered a giant room full of other Sapphires that were sitting in rows like an auditorium.

His head turned when someone laid a hand on his shoulder. "Told you we'd meet again," V grinned. He scanned Suga's sense of fashion and clicked his tongue so he did the same to him. V was wearing a white leather jacket and dark jeans. It doesn't fit him, Suga thought to himself. "Let's grab a seat," V said, leading them to a couple of empty seats in the middle of the room.

He noticed that all the Sapphires were male and looked like college students. That's what this facility makes...he thought. As they waited for someone to start, more and more Sapphires piled in. He was kept busy by V who was talking a mile a minute. He pretended to be engaged in the conversation but let him do all the talking. Finally, the lights dimmed down and the chattering quieted down. A man with white hair that couldn't have been more than 70 stood in front of the microphone at the podium.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Ronald and I run the facility along with many others. I'm sure you're all excited to meet your human as do all Sapphires but to get you ready, we must educate you on the human world. We wish we could have given you all the information there is like a computer but that would mean you're just machines - robots  - but you're not. You're Sapphires, something even more complex than a computer. You can transform, you can sense what your humans are feeling and you can even see their nightmares. Believe it or not, I wasn't there to see the first Sapphire." His comical fact broke the tension and nervousness among the Sapphires in the room. Even Suga cracked a small smirk.

"Only certain people know how you're really made but they've most likely passed on. It’s these machines in the facility that really know the process of your making and that is why we have tight security. We wouldn’t want anyone of you to go into the wrong hands. So back to the topic of education - this whole room will be attending classes to better understand the human world and will be taking classes for one year. There are many rules you have to follow and many secrets of the human world. You will also be practicing to transform so your human will not be disappointed. Remember: your human is your top priority."

The whole room applauded at his closing statement. "Sounds scary, huh?" V nudged Suga with his elbow. "The human world sure sounds complicated and dangerous if we have tight security." Now that V interpreted Ronald's words, it did sound frightening. All he had to do now was go through his classes and when the year passes, he would worry about it later.

All the classes they took were pre-recorded and displayed on a giant flat screen TV. Everyone paid close attention to the classes; even the Sapphires that were lazy and rebellious by nature. When it comes to their human, every Sapphire is interested. During their transforming practices, they were hooked up to a machine that sent them a signal to transform because it is only their human that is allowed to give them commands.

And so a year passed by quickly and the Sapphires were ready to be sent out to their destination, whether it be down the street or across the globe. "Hey, where are you going?" V asked Suga. The two have been pretty much stuck to the hip the whole year. V was quite a sociable one so he talked to all the Sapphires in that group but he preferred Suga's quiet demeanour. "A couple miles from here,” he answered.

The other's smile faltered but then put on his biggest smile. "That's great that you don't have to travel far."

"Where are you going?"

"2510 miles from here. It will be up north," he answered. "I should have picked better clothes if I had known I was going there." He looked at his leather jacket before looking at Suga's top. "And I guess you won't be going to a tropical rainforest." Suga snorted. V had a strange way of stating he didn't like his sense of fashion. "This is super weird but..." he held out his hand to Suga, "I hope you all the best. You and I will be waiting for another year until our human turn 19. It'll be lonely waiting for him or her but I'm glad you were with me the time I opened my eyes. If we do meet again, let's not ignore each other."

Suga smiled and grabbed his hand. "Yeah. Let's meet again."

The two friends were separated and were shipped off. When Suga woke up, he was under a giant tree. He didn't know how he got there but he didn't panic. It was normal, he guessed. Standing up, he took a look around his surroundings. There was nothing but grass around the lone tree but further away there was a forest of trees and bushes. If someone were to explore and pop up there, he would be found and if someone were to fly above him, he would be easily seen. The location wasn't the place he wanted to stay at so he walked away from the tree and towards the bushes. He just walked straight, not really knowing where it would lead him until he found a cave in viewing. He stopped in his tracks and heightened his senses to check if any human or animal was in that cave. He stayed still like a statue for ten minutes before he declared it was safe and entered the small cave, deciding it was the best hiding spot for him. The cave provided him shelter and it shielded him from view. For the short year, it would be his home while his human would have just turned 18 and waiting dreadfully for high school to be over.

A year went by quickly for him because he was basically on 'standby'. It felt kind of like a dream. Dreams seem to last only ten minutes when in reality, hours have gone by, but for him, a full year went by. The first time he 'woke' up was when he felt this tingly feeling in his body. He didn't understand why he felt like that. Was it because he was on standby for so long? He stood up and ventured out his cave. The feeling felt stronger but then it faded away. He wasn't sure what to make of it so he headed back to his cave and a week later he finally knew what it meant.

In front of him, was his human. He smirked.

On his first night at her human's residence, he only had five hours of sleep. He made sure his human slept before he did. It was common courtesy but to him, it was a rule. Humans might not know it but Sapphires have their own rules to abide to when it comes to their human. Not all Sapphires follow them - it's really their own choice. He also woke up at six in the morning because his human woke up. That was his own rule.

That morning he wasn't able to greet her downstairs when she left the house and shut the door. She had no breakfast and he was slightly concerned but he couldn't do anything about that at the moment so he went back to his bed he shared with the other two Sapphires. And it would be like that every day. Piyoon would wake up early, leave for school or the library and come home exhausted. She would eat quickly before she locked herself up in her room and the cycle would repeat itself for the month.

So it was quite refreshing to wake up at noon after their conversation the other night. He headed downstairs while Piyoon was in the washroom and greeted Riley who was in the kitchen as usual. "You're up late," he mentioned.

"I slept late," Suga replied. "Hey, do you know a good place to go? I want to take Piyoon out."

"On a date?" Riley smiled. Jimin, who was in the living room, perked up, overhearing their conversation. He turned off the TV and headed over to the kitchen. "You wanted to take Piyoon out?"

Suga nodded. "She agreed last night. I just want to get to know her better. So, is there anywhere we could go and talk?"

"Cafes are always a good place to talk," Riley said. "Maybe a certain animal cafe would be nice."

"Cafe..." he pondered. It seemed like a good suggestion. He couldn't think any other place anyway.

"Why don't you just talk about home? Why is there a need to go out?" The two Sapphires looked at Jimin. "I mean, wouldn't it be dangerous for you to go out? You're unregistered. You should be Registered first."

"I want her to want to register me. I don't want her to do it by force just because I'm her Sapphire. She has a choice."

Riley and Jimin looked at each other. The truth is out of the bag now. "But if she does decide to register another Sapphire, you'll die."

Suga shrugged carelessly. "It's her choice."

"What are you guys talking about?" The three turned around at the sound of Piyoon's voice.

"What kind of animal do you like?" Suga asked, making the other three look at him.

"Mmm...bunnies. Why?"

"Let's go to a bunny cafe. Right now."

Piyoon, Suga and Jimin ended up at a cafe that let bunnies roam around while they enjoyed their light lunch. Suga had his arms crossed against his chest while he side glared Jimin under his shades. "This is a date," he stated while Piyoon was busy with the bunnies. "I don't understand why you have to be here with us."

"It's dangerous for the both of you. You're not Registered," he glared back.

"We're in a cafe full of bunnies. How dangerous can that get? Also, shouldn't you be with your human? What kind of Sapphire leaves without their human's permission?"

He turned his body to face him and looked at him straight in the eyes. "It's because my human trusts me. I am also ordered to protect Piyoon. Also, what's up with your attitude? Haven't they taught you some respect? You know, I thought you were pretty quiet and nice but I guess not."

"It's not my attitude," Suga corrected. "It's my personality. I'm very blunt. My personality is also quiet but when I get peeved..." Jimin let out an unamused laugh. He liked Jungkook's quiet personality so much better.

"You know, I can hear your conversation," Piyoon spoke, letting the bunny go. She looked at Jimin. "And Suga's right. What are you doing here? You could have just dropped us off and picked us up. We're in a place full of bunnies."

"You think I'm your taxi driver? I don't deserve to play with bunnies either?" he asked with a brow raised, picking up a random bunny that tried to squirm out of his grasp.

"Riley would have been compliant." He let out a dry laugh. "I can't believe you two are ganging up on me."

"That's why he's my Sapphire," she gladly stated and Suga smiled. The entire time when Suga tried to ask her questions to get to know her better, Jimin always butted in and answered for her.

"What color do you like?"

"She likes red, purple and white, although it's not really a color."

"What food do you like best?"

"She likes burgers the most. She eats one at least once a week."

"What movie-"

"She's more of a TV person. Those only run for an hour max because she has an attention span of a goldfish."

"Jimin!" Piyoon fumed. "I have a mouth, so why do you keep answering for me?"

"They're simple questions. Everyone knows it."

"Yes, sure. Everyone but Suga. You just need to be quiet, alright? If you want to be here, just stay on the side and let me answer."

Jimin scoffed and shook his head. "I don't know when it happened, but you're being more of a as time goes by. You aren't that nice girl I know anymore." With that, he stood up and left the cafe. His words left her gaping. It was random and out of nowhere but it still stung because he never lied. He was always blunt with his words though he never notices.  Sure, his words were becoming meaner as time went by but not to this point. It was the first time he ever said that to her and it really hurt. Has she really changed?

"Hey, hey," Suga called, making her look up. "Don't take his words so seriously. He was only getting on your nerves. He didn't mean it." If this was him before she met Jungkook, she would've believed him but after all the commotion and the emotional roller-coaster, she didn't know anymore. Maybe she was changing.

After another session of 20 questions, they were ready to leave. They stepped outside and she half wished Jimin was still waiting for them but he was nowhere to be seen. "I guess we're taking the bus home together," Suga said, leading the way. She looked around one last time before catching up to him.

While they were waiting for the bus, she received a message from Shownu, asking where she was. Usually, she'd ignore him but she did a lot of thinking last night about his opinion on Sapphires. She realized she owed him a big favour. He basically shielded her during the incident at the restaurant and even checked up on her. He didn't deserve to be ignored after all he did for her so she decided he wasn't bad at all. She replied, "I'm waiting for the bus, why?"

"Where?" he replied immediately after.

"Outside the bunny cafe. The one near the indoor playground."

"Thought that was you." She whirled around to see Shownu with a couple of his friends. "What are you...?"

"Who's this?" one of Shownu's friends asked. He was someone she never met before. He was pretty tall but had a cute face with small eyes.

"Piyoon," Shownu introduced.

"Oh! You mean the girl who-" he wasn't able to finish his sentence when Shownu elbowed him in the stomach. "How about you guys go home? I'm gonna hang out with Piyoon."

"You'd ditch us for a chick?" I.M, his other friend asked incredulously.

The other laughed. "She's not just any chick, she's-" Shownu pushed both his friends away before they could say another word. "Go home!" They rolled their eyes and walked away. He turned back to Piyoon but then noticed Suga behind her. He held out his hand for him to shake. "I don't think I properly introduced myself before you lifted me up by the collar." Piyoon bit her lip, mentally apologizing. "My name is Shownu, Piyoon's classmate and friend."

Suga stared at his out reached hand before glancing at his human and she gave him a small smile. He took the other's hand and gave him a firm but small shake. "...Yoongi."

"Yoongi?" he questioned. "You two must be siblings. But you don't look alike."

"Siblings don't have to look alike," she pointed out and he shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm an only child."

"Right...So my brother and I have to go home."

"Right when I ditched my friends for you?" Shownu asked with an exaggerated gasp. "That's not fair."

"I didn't agree to hang out with you. Plus, we saw each other yesterday."

"But you told me where you were. Usually you'd ignore me so I think I have a valid point, don't you think? Plus, yesterday was nothing. I was only there to make you laugh."

"To which you didn't," she said, lightly rolling her eyes.

"I totally did!" he argued. "I made you laugh." Piyoon denied it again. "Fine, I'll make you laugh. If I make you laugh, give me a favour."

"What kind of favour?" she asked, taking the bait. She wasn't the type of person to back down from a bet she knows she'll win.

"A good kind of favour," he replied. "Let's go to the carnival. My friends and I were planning to go there. I'll call them back and we'll go together."

She looked at Suga uneasily. She wasn't so comfortable with him being in such a large crowd. Sure, other Sapphires wouldn't recognize him with sunglasses on but Hunters and Nappers would. "My brother doesn't like crowded places," she said.

"Well, we can go at night, how about that? It will be less crowded then," he proposed.

"Um..."

"Yeah, we'll go," Suga responded for her. "We'll see you there then." He nodded and waved them goodbye.

"You're comfortable with that?" she asked her Sapphire. "Bad people might find you."

He grabbed her wrist, placed her hand in his and squeezed it tight. "If you hold my hand like this, there will be nothing to worry about."

"But-"

"You shouldn't worry about me. It will be fine, I promise." She knew it was a bad idea, but she trusted him anyway. After the sun fell, Suga and Piyoon left the house. They met Shownu at the bus stop so they would walk there together. It was quite far of a walk because the road was blocked off for the carnival and the bus had to take an alternative route. "Here, for you," Shownu gave the two a bracelet each.

"What's this?" Piyoon asked, inspecting it. It was a slip on bracelet with wooden charms around it. It looked quite peculiar and odd. For sure it wasn't something she saw in stores. "A gift from me to you. Found it around my house and no one wanted it. There were two so I thought I'd give them to you."

"Thanks, but I don't wear accessories," she said, returning it to him but he declined it. "Keep it safe then, I won't need it. But Yoongi, you should wear it. It's more of a bracelet for dudes anyway." Piyoon shrugged and helped him put both of them on. She didn't have a safe place to keep it anyway. The three headed towards the carnival, making small talk. Then, they met up with Shownu's friends, three of them that she already met and a new friend named Jooheon. The group travelled from one carnival game to the next, winning many prizes, most of them gifted to Piyoon. They were quite competitive and rich, in her perspective. Each game was $5 and if one of them didn't win, they would pay up again.

Bored of watching them play the same game five times, her focus shifted to the Ferris wheel. It wasn't very tall but she was still fascinated by it. She used to go to this same carnival every year when she was young with her parents and their Sapphires. Jimin and her would always ride the Ferris wheel because her parents were afraid of heights. Her mood went sour after the thought of him. She tried to convince herself that it was Jimin that changed and not her but who was she kidding? Sapphires don't change at all. It was definitely her and the thought wasn't pleasant. She didn't want to change.

"Are you alright?" She looked up to see Shownu. She looked past his shoulders to see the other boys still playing the same game. Shownu was the one who stood by the side and watched his friends waste their money on a single prize. "You want to ride that?" he asked.

She looked at him. "No, it's fine."

He turned her around and led her towards the line. "Well, it's kind of too late. I already asked your brother for permission." She panicked and tried to turn back around to get back to Suga but he stopped her by holding on her shoulder. "Don't worry about him. He's safe."

"You don't get it, he's-"

"Piyoon," he called, stopping. "We're not that close as of yet but you can trust me. I won't let anyone close to you become hurt."

"You don't get it. He can't be-"

"I promise," he said, looking straight into her eyes and she stared right into his. His eyes were telling her to trust him. After a reluctant pause, she nodded. He smiled and guided her to the line with his arm over her shoulders. "If I lose you, your brother will kill me," he explained his intimate gesture.

Unfortunately for them, the Ferris wheel was a popular attraction, making them wait in the long line; the longest she ever waited in. "We should head back. It's pretty long."

"I already paid for this," he said waving the two tickets in the air."

She frowned. "When did you-"

"When I asked your brother," he answered, cutting her off.

"You really like to cut me off in the middle of my sentence, don't you?" she asked with a small glare. He shrugged with his free arm while the other was still around her shoulders. He should have let go by now but he didn't and she didn't mind. They were both wearing a sleeveless shirt and Piyoon was a bit chilly. With his warm bare skin touching hers, she felt more warm and comfortable.

"So Piyoon, tell me a bit about yourself. You've talked a bit about your parents but I want to get to know you."

"Will you cut me off?" she asked with her brow raised.

"Bite me if I do."

She shook her head with an amused smile. "What should I tell you? How about you ask the questions and we both answer?"

"20 questions? Alright." He paused to think of something. "What will you be once you graduate?"

She expected a simple question like, what's your favourite color or what kinds of weather do you like, just like Suga asked her that afternoon. She didn't expect him to ask her that kind of question but answered anyway. "I'm not sure yet. I'm only on my first year. I might work in the government, just like my parents. I do have an interest in Sapphires after all."

"What about future and family wise? What do you want to do?"

"I haven't thought that far," she honestly told him. "I'm just focusing on graduating right now. But I'd love to have a family. And for sure two children. It will be lonely if I had one child and worked every day."

"Is that so? Okay, next question."

"You didn't tell me what you're going to do," she quickly cut in.

He shrugged. "It's not important."

"It's unfair that you know what I want and I don't know yours. We made a deal."

Shownu laughed. "Alright, fine. After I graduate, I want to be a chef. And then after that, I want to move away from here. A country across the globe preferably and then work as a chef. Chefs don't need to know the language to work."

"What about family and children?"

He looked and her and shook his brows. "If only you want to."

She scoffed and pushed him away as he laughed. He stuffed his hands in his khaki shorts as they moved up the line. She stared at his hands in his pocket and slightly shivered from the loss of warm contact. If only he didn't make such a joke. She mentally cursed at him, wishing his arm was still around her.

They continued to speak about life and people. She found out that Shownu was homeschooled before entering a high school so he could attend the university. He was also forced to take a major his parents wanted him to take but was secretly taking cooking lessons on the side and also had a part time job at a diner. He was quite a busy guy.

Finally, after a long wait they were able to get into a cart. The two got in and sat across from each other before the door closed and the ride continued. "Oh, and just so you know, I'm afraid of Ferris wheels," Shownu nervously laughed.

Piyoon deadpanned. "Are you serious? Then why did you buy the tickets!?"

"Because you looked like you wanted to ride it. Also, I wanted to get to know you more. How else would I get you to talk to me except in a confined area that's 30 feet up in the air? You can't even escape if you wanted to."

She rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "The Ferris wheel isn't even that bad."

"Easy for you to say. We're in the air with no seat belts on and if there's a gust of wind, we're done for." Suddenly the ride jerked to a stop making the cart swing. Shownu let out a small yelp as he gripped the sides of the cart. "I'm also afraid of heights."

"We're not even high up!"

"Once again, easy for you to say! Once my feet are off the ground, that's high enough for me." She rolled her eyes and watched in amusement as he shook his legs nervously and gripped on to the side of the cart. The ride continued to move and he shut his eyes while they went higher and higher. She shook her head with a small smile before looking out to see the view and it was amazing. She could see the lights of the carnival illuminate the dark sky and blend with the city lights until it cut off into darkness. It was breathtakingly amazing.

"Is it that nice? You're smiling."

She looked at Shownu who did look a bit pale and was still holding to the sides of the cart. She nodded. "Yeah, it is. You should see it for yourself."

He shook his head. "Yeah, no thanks. I'll hurl."

"Come on. It's really pretty. Plus, it's dark so you won't be able to see how high you are off the ground."

He glanced outside before sighing. "Can I sit next to you?"

She nodded. "Don't trip," she warned. He was about to get up but after her warning he sat back down. "Wow, Piyoon. Just wow." She laughed. "What?" "Did you really have to say that?"

Seeing how serious he was made her laugh even harder. "Fine, I'll go to you." She stood up like it was no big deal and headed over to sit beside him while he held on for dear life in case the cart toppled over. She even shook the cart just to peeve him off. He let go of one side of the cart for her to sit down but immediately grabbed her hand. "Don't do that! I'm seriously scared!"

She shook her head but held his hand. "Look." She reached over and pointed outside the window on his side. He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand before looking outside the window. His eyes widened at the amazing view. "Wow," he said.

"Yeah, wow," she agreed. The two spent the ride looking outside the window on their side of the cart while it took them around. No one spoke a word but it wasn't awkward. The scenery had them mesmerized, making the silence relaxing. Shortly the ride was over and they got off with their hands still held tightly together. Shownu thought he was going to topple over once his feet touched the ground but he did much better than expected. "You're alright?" she asked and he nodded. "Let's find your brother."

They headed down the exit to see Suga already waiting for them. Piyoon lit up and she let go of Shownu's hand and grabbed Suga's outreached one. Shownu immediately felt the emptiness of his hand and smiled to get rid of that uneasy feeling.

"It's time Piyoon and I head home," Suga told the other. "Thanks for taking care of her."

"Not a problem. It's dark so have a safe trip. Piyoon, text me when you're back." She nodded and waved goodbye but he stopped her. "You laughed back up there, so you owe me a favour." hung, totally unaware she was laughing. "You were actually laughing at my misery but that still counts. I'll think of something after. Don't bail." With that he waved goodbye and walked off to find his friends who probably gone broke.

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I quite enjoy this chapter. Any comments?