[CONTENTID1]Chapter 14[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]"You take a bath under the moonlight that spills down; I’ve never seen an expression so captivating before"[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]            Lu Han sits in his seat, fidgeting in his tuxedo. He's currently sitting in the balcony seat, nauseously looking at the incredible view below him with sweaty hands and a flushed face. The boy wasn't a big fan of tall places, especially not the balcony area.

            He's always had an irrational fear of heights, and the stuffy, almost restricting tux he was forced to wear doesn't help. Trying to calm his nerves, Lu Han takes deep breaths and thinks about Sena, and how blindingly dazzling she looks tonight. Even from so far away, he can spot her from the crowd like she was a diamond in the rough. Her pearl blonde hair in an elegant bun, her statuesque build clad in a simple black dress with white accents, like stars in the midnight sky. The flowy ebony dress kisses the floor, and so did the boy's jaw when he saw her.

            However, he finds that even with Sena on his mind, his fear doesn't lessen.

            "Are you okay?" Sehun mutters, placing his hand on Lu Han's shoulder. "The ceremony is almost over. There's only two more awards left, since this is the ceremony for sophomores. Then we have ten more minutes until the celebratory dinner..."

            "You seem to know a lot about these things," the Chinese boy whispers back, trying not to think about how high in the air they are.

            "Well, I used to go to a private school," the Korean snorts. "It's all the same. A ridiculous amount of rewards to please the parents of kids who are good at nothing, a genus freak who manages to get the majority of the medals..." There was a bitter edge to his voice. Lu Han had a bad feeling his best friend was talking about Sena. After all, she's gotten the most medals tonight by good margin—she swept the academic category clean, and the only one who can compete with the lofty amount of medals she has earned was, in Lu Han's displeasure, Wu Kris, the boy he met at the café.

            "...the award for Wushu goes to our one and only Huang Zitao!" The announcer dramatically pronounces. "This boy represented Ace Academy in nationals and came back with the gold medal! Congratulations Zitao!" A tall, intimidating boy with a hooked nose and dark eyes came up on stage, collecting his medal, before smiling for pictures and walking back to his seat.

            "I went to first grade with him," Sehun muses. "He was the one who broke my arm. No surprise he's now doing martial arts."

            "And now!" The announcer waves his hand in the air, "The award we've all been waiting for! The junior valedictorian of this year! Wu Yifan and Kang Sena, please come up stage!"

            "There's two?" Lu Han frowns. "I thought only one can be the valedictorian?"

            "They're calling the two up for suspense," Sehun spits out. The Chinese boy wasn't sure if it was because Sena was nominated again, or if the sight of Kris disgusted him. He hopes it was the latter—the two siblings weren't at each other's throats since last night, and he wants to keep it that way. "The name they'll call out is valedictorian. The other is the salutatorian."

            "That's..." Lu Han starts, struggling to find the right words, "that's really cruel," he finishes lamely. "For the salutatorian, anyways."

            "There are two bright, young students on stage," the judge smiles slyly, "but, this envelope only has one name on it." Even from so far away, Lu Han can still see Sena snort and roll her eyes. Her long neck was decorated in medals, but so was Kris's. The Chinese boy crosses his fingers for luck, praying with all his might that Sena would win. "The one I call out is the valedictorian of Sophomore year. The other, the salutatorian—or, as I'd like to put it, th—"

            "Just get on with it!" An impaitent kid yells out from the crowd of expectant students.

            "The name on this envelope is Kang Sena!" The announcer rushes out, gesturing to the pair on stage. They both had big, fake smile on their faces, but despite that, looked better than anyone in the room. No emotions were let through, no matter how miniscule. Lu Han finds it disappointing that Kris didn't look at all sad. He guesses that it wasn't the first time.

            As Sena steps on the podium and grabs her microphone, she smiles one last time and begins her speech.

            "I'm so proud of you, kid!" A deep, cheerful voice greets Sena as she struts off stage. As the familiar voice reaches her, she runs with her arms open and her smile wide.

            "Dad!" She held him tightly, as if he were her lifeline and she was about to fall off a cliff.

            "My baby daughter," he kisses the top of her head happily, unafraid of wrinkling his designer suit. Even at this age he still looked handsome, and attracted so much attention from the reporters and other parents. "She's breaking hearts and stealing all the awards even at this age. It's all from your dad, you know."

            "Dad," Sena laughs, the rare melody like fairy lights twinkling in the air. She was all too aware of the flashing camera lights and stares of other envious kids. "Weren't you always the salutatorian, though?"

            "We don't speak of the dark past, kid. What's important is that you kicked everyone's today, and it's great publicity for MedLife."