“Ready.” 

 

Sungjong placed his foot above the ers at the base of his board, getting ready to turn on the fire.

 

“Set."

 

He kicked on the ignition, though he didn’t turn them up high enough to overcome the friction between the board and the ground.

 

“Go!"

 

He aimed his hoverboard upwards, grabbed the sail with one hand, aimed his gun with the other, and kicked up the ignition to full, all in a matter of milliseconds. He shot the watergun into the air above Myungsoo, who was forced to divert his route slightly to avoid it. A similar splash of water came careening into Sungjong’s route, and he pulled his sail off to one side to spin himself around the circle, just missing most of the water - 

 

 

He felt a cold droplet touch his shirt, and it seemed that Myungsoo had seen it as well, as the upperclassman shot a smirk at Sungjong. 

 

If Sungjong made his lap around the ship now, Myungsoo would easily get to the top of the mast in time. He continued flying upwards, but this time directly at Myungsoo. After all, he just had to complete a lap around the ship before reaching the top, it didn’t have to be at that exact second.

 

He was soon within shootable reach of Myungsoo, breaking slightly so that he could turn around more easily as he hit his upperclassman with a spray of water from the gun. Myungsoo made a small yelping sound in surprise, and immediately turned back, his gun ready, but Sungjong was already on his way around the bottom of the ship, collapsing his sail and grabbing onto base of the board once he cleared the ship’s edge and entering freefall, flattening his back for the least air resistance.

 

Of course, free fall didn’t go on for very far, there wasn’t any “down” in space - the only gravitational pull on them was of the ship’s artificial gravity field, and that was only on the deck of he ship. He had to fire his ers again once he began losing his momentum. 

 

He soon heard Myungsoo’s ers blazing behind him, and he turned around so that he could see if any spritzes of water were flying at him. Indeed, Myungsoo had his gun at the ready, and the lack of air resistance - once again, because the ship’s artificial atmosphere only existed topside - and gravity meant that the water would continue sailing in the same direction indefinitely. Of course, it was freezing cold, but the thrill of solar surfing made that just a nuisance. 

 

Sungjong fired a spray of water back at Myungsoo, flailing his arm around to cover a lot of area that he would have to avoid. From there, he pulled up his sail to make maneuvering easier. 

 

The ship was huge, and it took him almost fifteen whole seconds of flying at top speed before he reached the bottom of the hull. Coming up would be easier, especially once he re-entered the gravity field that would make it much harder for a shot of water to hit him. 

 

Hoverboards mostly had a max speed, so it would be hard for Myungsoo to catch up to him at this point. The primary challenge behind solar surfing was navigating obstacles, but there weren’t very many on a ship in space, and it would be much too dangerous to attempt doing it through the hallways - though it would be a fun challenge. The sound of Myungsoo’s ers still in the distance, Sungjong confidently flew up onto deck, where the arrival of the gravitational field and atmosphered ruffled his path slightly before he was coasting along to the prize. 

 

“Stop right there, Mister!” a female voice interrupted Sungjong, and he looked down at the deck to see the woman who was speaking at the dinner glaring up at him, her hands rested on her hip. “Save the solar surfing for the school. We cannot be losing students in space.” 

 

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t know,” Sungjong said, slowing down his ers.

 

Before the woman could speak again, Myungsoo zoomed past Sungjong, reaching the top of the mast and touching the flag. “I win,” he said with a grin.

 

“Kim Myungsoo,” the woman grumbled, "I knew you were involved in this."

 

“That doesn’t count! I was following rules,” Sungjong protested as he eased himself down on the deck. Myungsoo chucked slightly as he landed as well.

 

“All we said was the first to the flag wins and getting spritzed by water means another lap around the ship,” he said cockily, “Sorry ma’am, I had to school a cocky little freshman."

 

Sungjong scoffed, “I’m taller than you. And I am not cocky. You, on the other hand."

 

“Enough. Sungjong, I will let you off with a warning this time, but please pass the message along to any of your friends that may think solar surfing will be a good way to pass the time. Myungsoo,” she fixated her steely gaze on him, “I know you realize that every time you get away with something like this, people find the theory that you are only here because of your father much more believable."

 

“Yes ma’am,” the two said in unison as she whipped around and made her way back below deck.

 

“What’s her name again?” Sungjong whispered to Myungsoo as soon as she was gone.

 

Myungsoo laughed, “She’s pretty important. Dean of the school of engineering."

 

“Do you not know her name?"

 

Myungsoo shrugged, “Nope! Don’t be too scared - she seems intense at first but she lives up to her word - she’ll do anything to help any of us out."

 

“I see,” Sungjong said, “Anyways, I still think that was unfair. I was clearly winning."

 

“That’s true, but do you think I would have challenged you if I thought I would lose? I knew a freshman wouldn’t be able to keep going in the face of authority,” Myungsoo patting Sungjong on the head, a gesture which he found to be rather irritating. “But since you did put up such a good fight, I think I can arrange something if you do me one small favor."

 

“What is it?” Sungjong asked, imagining an irritated Woohyun scolding him for solar surfing instead of gathering information. It did not seem like a very pleasurable way to pass the time. 

 

“A little sophomore a decided to have a bit of fun with last year was apparently already in a relationship with someone, and that someone decided that he would try to get revenge on me by sneaking into our room during dinner and stealing some of my stuff. To be honest, I’d rather skip the hassle, so do you think you could go get it back for me?” Myungsoo pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Sungjong, who read it over.

 

 

“Ughh,” Sungjong groaned, “Seriously? You want me to clean up your mess for you?"

 

“Yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do. Look, all you have to do is go to the room this guy has on here and figure out a way for me to get my stuff back without paying him or whatever the he wants from me in the letter."

 

Sungjong put the letter away, “Fine. But you have to tell me the mysteries first and I’m going to go win this contest before dealing with it."

 

“Deal."

 

With that, Myungsoo told Sungjong the stories behind the other destinations in alarmingly specific detail as the two of them walked back below deck to return their hoverboards to their proper positions. Sungjong didn’t have a notepad or anything on hand, but he found it easy enough to commit everything to memory until he got his hands on one.

 

Once Myungsoo was finished, Sungjong thanked him and immediately texted Woohyun to meet him at the Dean’s office. The two of them were the second group to arrive, with another group already inside. 

 

“I knew I could count on you,” Woohyun said with a grin, “So, who’d you have to to get the goods?"

 

Sungjong glared at him, “No one. I do have to go clean up someone’s mess though.” 

 

“Aw, well, if we win, I’ll help you out,” Woohyun said, elbowing Sungjong playfully.

 

“Sorry, you’re missing one. There’s actually five restricted areas,” said the dean’s voice from inside the room. Once the group before them left, Woohyun and Sungjong went in.

 

The woman smiled at the two of them, “Well, hit me with your best shot."

 

Woohyun relayed the two that they had heard from Sunggyu and Dongwoo, and Sungjong followed up with the other three right after that. The dean nodded along until the finished, at which point she shot them a grin. “Well, looks like you two have won. Fortunately, while you were gone, I managed to find a pretty sizeable reward…”

 

She pulled up a huge basket of sweets and snacks from under her desk. “Looks like you two won’t be going hungry anytime soon. I wouldn’t recommend eating any of these for an actual meal, though. But next time,” she looked at Sungjong, “Please refrain from breaking any rules if your quest for success."

 

“Yes, ma’am."

 

Woohyun fist-pumped and the two of them thanked the dean for the prize and made their way past a few other groups of freshmen, who stared in awe at their basket, towards their room.

 

“Now, what was this mess you had to deal with?"

 

---

Ferociously eloquent letter brought to you by Lin Manuel Miranda a.k.a bastard, orphan, son of a , and a scotsman dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the caribbean by providence improverished and squalor that grew up to be a hero and a scholar, ALEXAnDER HAMILTON heheh

it had to be done.