“Don’t worry, it’s safe or I wouldn’t let these two roam around here.” Haseul said, as she offered a hand to help Jungeun and pointed out Yeojin and Yerim playing ahead of them. It was their second time visiting Europa and while in the first time a couple of days ago they just stopped by at dawn to watch the beauty that was the sunlight reflecting on the ice surface of the moon, make it light up with a variety of shades of blue and white, an spectacle of its own. This time, however, they were there to explore a bit more.

Similar to the Earth’s moon, there was a base in Europa, a single huge glass dome creating a space where one would be able to breath and move. There wasn’t a city, just a couple of stations and a stop to fuel the spaceships and provide emergency care if needed. Now their group was in a small venue, a large ice rink in front of them – or at least it looked like one, it wasn’t a frozen lake or a men made place, it was the very own surface of the satellite with kilometers of frozen water under their feet. As Haseul informed, it was perfectly safe to walk on, but for Jungeun who had never stepped on such place, it was unavoidable to feel a little wary – at least for her, Yerim didn’t seem to have a problem to just slide on the ice with the special skates that made her go much faster than she would ever be able to with normal shoes.

“Isn’t it weird to have such a place here when barely anyone ever visits?” She asked, holding Jo’s hand a little tighter as she risked her fist small steps.

The brunette smiled, grabbing her other hand so she could start skating while facing the blonde – Jungeun’s protective side was about to tell her it was dangerous, but Haseul seem so carefree and confident that she couldn’t do so. “When they installed this base, they thought expanding the limits would be easy and perhaps they could create a new colony over here. I heard they started to work on it, but there was pre-existence ecosystem on the bottom of this ice ocean, the biologists doomed it too dangerous to interact with it, besides it’s too far away and it would be expensive.” Haseul explained, if there was one thing she was well versed it was about all the important places in their galaxy and how things worked there. Europa, although not as attractive as some outer planets found later by scientists, had once been source of great hope for humanity.

“This area was supposed to be part of a much bigger attraction, some kind of park or something, but since they didn’t have the funds, it was all that left. Luckily the dome still covers this part of the place.” She proceed, her small feet sliding against the ice with ease as she made sure Jungeun grew more confident – the skates wouldn’t allow her to lose balance and she probably could’ve left the younger girl on her own, but she couldn’t lose the chance of holding hands with Jungeun. “What means the place is all ours!” Grinning, she let go of one of Kim’s hands, using her grip on the other to lead the way, starting to circle the rink a little faster.

Jungeun tucked the pilot a little closer, making sure Haseul wouldn’t let go of her – she was starting to get used to the weird feeling of balancing herself on top of the skates above a whole ocean of frozen water, but still a small part of her was afraid she would end up with her face on the ground as soon as the brunette left her on her own. “I knew they tried to colonize many places before settling down with Mars, but I never heard of it before. How is this possible? This place is huge.” She pointed out the opulent station at east.

“Because the government never talks about their failures?” Haseul said with a shrug. “I wonder how much they hide from us…”

With a short nod, Jungeun looked around, searching for the rest of their team. Yerim and Yeojin were still playing, pushing each other lightly and laughing, the usual – except that Hyejoo wasn’t following behind today. Sooyoung was also absent of the rink, both sat at the bench in silence. Kim pursed her lips for a moment, wondering if there was something wrong with them. However, Hyejoo stormed out, walking away back to the ship before she could ask Haseul about anything.

Jo probably had the same in mind, because Jungeun noticed her eyes becoming slightly darker as she watched the scene. Shaking her head, the pilot looked at Jungeun with the same loving gaze that would never fail to make her feel warm inside, and gripped her hand a little tighter. “Hold on tight, let’s try something fun, hm?” The brunette suggest, giving her a mischievous wink before starting to spin them – no need to say Jungeun couldn’t hold in her little scream that were both excited and scared, at least until she notice how it was completely safe, and could finally enjoy the experience.

That moment, like most in the last couple of days, was a happy one. Ever since they kissed back at Raven’s lounge in a quiet night, things had changed subtly. If before she would search for Haseul’s hand out of need or fear, now she did it naturally, for the simple feeling of warm skin against hers. She always liked Haseul gentle brown eyes that always sparkled with wittiness, they seem to shine a little brighter with fondness lately and Jungeun decided that ‘liking’ might be too weak of a word to describe the way it made her feel. There was no awkwardness between the two of them, even though Jo was still able to take her breath away with her sudden hugs or cheek kisses that were just a little too risky – she would complain, but hug her tighter, because there was nothing she wanted more than having Haseul by her side. Jo would gift her with gentle, chaste kisses once in a while and she returned then whenever there was a chance, shyly at first, but more confident now.

In many ways things were still the same. They still spent a lot of time with the rest of the crew and although they wouldn’t make an effort to stay away of each other, they didn’t expose their…What was it? A relationship? To call it a simple friendship would be a mistake, but she couldn’t name it properly.

They hadn’t talk about it yet, and Jungeun didn’t push for it. Kim didn’t want to think too much, she didn’t want to consider what was going to happen when it was time for her to separate from Haseul and the rest of the crew – she knew she liked the pilot, but she had grown fond of the whole crew and to think that soon she might not be able to ever see them again was enough to make her heart ache…Bringing them to a stop, she hugged Haseul by the neck, strong enough to be a little uncomfortable to the brunette – Haseul didn’t try to break the embrace, instead she caressed her back gently, as if she understood what was going through her mind. 

Haseul left a quick, light kiss on her jaw. “We should head back now. I know you and Yerim don’t get cold easily, but I’m about to freeze for real this time!” She whispered as if it was a big secret and Jungeun chuckled softly, refusing to release the shorter woman from her embrace. Yerim and Yeojin were probably eyeing them right now, but she didn’t mind them – when would she have the chance of being publicly affectionate with Haseul again? In a week they would be on Mars, and once she didn’t even know what was expecting her… “Jungie, are you okay?” Haseul’s voice was an octave lower, her tone worried.

“I’m fine.” With a small smile, she nodded, leaning in to kiss Haseul’s cheek. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“You always say that.” Returning the smile, Jo cupped her cheek with one hand. “Whenever you need, princess.” Jungeun didn’t like to be called by this title that didn’t belong to her truly, however, she didn’t mind the word when it was Haseul the one saying it – there was no irony to it, just genuine affection and for a moment being an illegitimate princess didn’t seem so bad.

“Argh, disgusting.”

“I think it’s pretty cute!”

Needless to say, Yeojin and Yerim had finally decided to take an interest on them and in the worst time possible.

Haseul left out an overly dramatic sigh, breaking the hug. “You see why I always say Yerim is my favorite child?”

After they came back on board, Haseul took them out of the satellite, hovering over the gas giant that was Jupiter – staying too close was a risk, but at the right distance, they could use the gravity in their favor and it would make a lot easier to go back to open space. As soon as it was safe, the others found their own ways inside the ship: Yerim went after a surprisingly quiet Hyejoo, while Sooyoung disappeared in the direction of her room and Jungeun went to talk to Vivi about something else.

Now Haseul was sat by the table at the conference room, her slender fingers touching the smooth surface that detected her every move to access some information – their trip schedule. They had just a little over a week to end this mission, the prospect didn’t made her as happy as it should. Knitting her eyebrows, she tried to concentrate in thinking about something else for them to do before going to Mars. They needed to be there at least two days before the deadline, or else she wouldn’t be able to explore the city Jungeun would stay in and make sure the Saeg princess would be safe there or else she would have to…What? What could she even do?

“Unnie!” Yeojin called, and by her impatient tone, it wasn’t the first time she had tried to grab the older girl’s attention. They didn’t use this kind of honorific usually, although their family had Korean origins, such formalities were put aside along with their original language to give place to simpler, more efficient words in what Earth considered their ‘global language’. Yeojin choice of words was probably only a way to make her sister snap out of her thoughts. “If you guys get married, does it mean I’ll be part of the royal family as well?”

Blinking, it took a moment for the older Jo to realize what the other girl was talking about and when she did, her eyes grew wider. “Shiu! Where do you even get these ideas from?” She asked in a low tone, looking around to make sure they were alone. Okay, she was aware she wasn’t the best at hiding how close she was to Jungeun, but she didn’t expect to be asked such questions out of nowhere – well, that’s what you get when you have a little sister living with you. “Jungeun doesn’t like talking about it, you know? And no, even if she had a title, I don’t think they would like to give humans a place there.” Haseul pursed her lips, grimacing. She didn’t like to think about the future, especially regarding something as complicated as the way Jungeun’s family – the King himself – would react if he knew about them. “We’re not even…We’re not doing this.” Shaking her head, she averted Yeojin’s brown eyes that were so much like hers.

“You aren’t dating then?” The younger brunette clicked her tongue, tilting her head to look at her sister with skepticism. Jo Yeojin might not be a tech genius like the Baby Wolf, or a walking encyclopedia like Jungeun seem to be, but she surely wasn’t dense – at least not when it comes down to her older sister.

The pilot shook her head, ready to deny the best way she could, but she didn’t have a chance.

 “Well, at least you got a girlfriend.” Yeojin shrugged, disregarding Haseul’s protests. “I thought you would end up fighting Sooyoung over who will propose Vivi.”

“Oh, shut up, small bean!” Reaching to ruffle the small brunette’s hair affectionately, she left out a soft giggle before letting go of her annoyed sister. Haseul looked at the brunette, her smile giving place to a more serious expression. “I meant it, Yeojin. Don’t ask her anything like this, okay? It’s…”

“Complicated? I got it.” As usual Yeojin cut her off, but the younger Jo’s tone was a little softer this time, sympathy in her gaze. Yeojin might seem loud and a bit reckless, but she was actually very good at making people around her feel good and showing them great care – perhaps it was the result of being raised into a small family that was as close as possible.  “I like her, you know. I mean, for you.” Yeojin’s voice was small now, as she gesture Haseul with a gentle wave of hands. It wasn’t common to spot such a sincere look on her face, but the older woman knew it was genuine – she smiled at it. “You smile and act even more like a fool when she is around. And she is not much better, getting her ears to match her eye color every time she sees you and all.” With a soft airy chuckle, the brunette shook her head. “I don’t know how you’ll make it work out, but I’m glad you’re happy.”

It was hard to not grin like a fool when her little sister was being so sweet, therefore she did it, reaching to hug the smaller girl’s a little too tight for Yeojin’s liking. “When did you become so wise?”

“You know, I’ve been stuck with Sooyoung and Vivi lately. And Sooyoung is busy half of the time, while Vivi’s idea of fun is to sit down and read while she recharges her batteries.” Making a face, Yeojin shrug Haseul off. “It gives me a lot of time to observe you play the fool for our guest.”

Deciding to ignore the little offense in her words, the pilot fixed her gaze on her little sister. “And what about Yerim and Hyejoo? You guys are always together.”

“Come on, are you that blind by Jungeun?” Scoffing, the younger Jo replied. “They are always together, I’m third wheeling. Sometimes I hang out alone with Yerim, but then the Baby Wolf starts to act like she’s back to her moody teenager phase and Yerim goes running to hug her. It’s disgusting.” Once again Yeojin made a face, this one very similar to the one she had expressed earlier at the ice rink.

Haseul laughed at her sister antics. She knew Yeojin loved and was happy for all of them – although she took note to herself to pay the girl more attention in the future, she didn’t want her to feel out of place.

She was about to suggest them to call their parents and watch a movie later, when a deep, yet very familiar voice called her.

“Haseul.” It was Sooyoung, she had that one look that never failed to send chills down Haseul’s spine – her friend surely knew how to be cold when she wanted to. “May I talk to you?”

Jungeun had asked Vivi to help with some research, more specifically, to help her to find more information on the people she would meet once they arrived in New Mars.  When she was with Haseul, it was easy to ignore reality and pretend they would never reach the red-turned-green planet, but she knew better than rely on such illusions. It was tempting to ask the pilot to not take them there and just accept her as a new crew member, however her father probably wouldn’t be pleased with it, and she couldn’t burden Jo or anyone else with the responsibility – neither could she forget about Yerim, who needed to go back home safely. Therefore, it was better to get to know more about the people she would be staying with and her new home, she would need to be able to adapt, at least until she could find a way out to live on her own.

There was still a big possibility that she was been sent to be married off, but she was trying her best to not panic about the idea and create a plan instead. If she wasn’t very keen of the idea of getting married to a stranger before, now that she had Haseul in her life, she couldn’t even picture how it would be to be with someone else.

Sitting beside Vivi, she watched as the girl went rapidly through a series of web pages, collecting information in such a fast pace that it was hard to tell what she was even doing. Yet, Jungeun trusted Vivi and she knew the android was doing her best to find the place she had requested and verifying all the data on it – the answers weren’t very clear though. It was a house of moderated size at the outskirts of one of the biggest cities in New Mars, it was surrounded by green and looked a lot like a perfect imitation of the European ruins she had seen. The house was too big to one person only, what probably meant the person waiting for her had a bunch of servants or family members she didn’t know about – the first scenario were was more likely, her dad wouldn’t hand her to someone who didn’t have proper means.

“The name you told me isn’t the same name as the one in the contract. It’s under a construction company.” Vivi informed, her usual smile didn’t match her confused eyes. “She is only a tenant, and it’s pretty recent.”

Jungeun furrowed her brows, a little surprised and confused. She was expecting this house to be a family home, maybe something passed through the generations since it looked relatively old – terraforming started over 150 years ago, but people were only able to start moving in in the last century, slowly constructing a new civilization there.

Leaning in to see the digital screen where Vivi worked at, she too a good look at the information there. “Is this the only person with this name in the area?”

The android nodded. “The only one that matches the description.” She touched the screen lightly, opening a bigger picture of the woman in question.

Kim stared at the picture for a moment, taking in all the details of the stranger’s face. Pretty features, with a sharp jaw and thin lips, expressive eyebrows over her eyes and blond locks. And her eyes…Not purple, but light bright blue eyes. Putting a face to the name gave her a weird feeling, and it didn’t make any easier for her to know what waited for her.

Jung Jinsol was the person waiting for her.

A thick silence involved the two women as they stared out of the window of the lounge, being greeted by the bright surface of Europa shining thanks to the sun rays that reflected on it, acting like a mirror. With Raven slowly getting farther away of the satellite, it was quite a view and Haseul would usually appreciate it. However, she couldn’t bring herself to relax now, not when Ha was still beside her without uttering a word.

“Were you fixing Baby Raven again? Why?” She started, knowing that any problems Baby Raven could have, it wouldn’t be discussed now, as Sooyoung surely had more serious matters in mind – sometimes Jo wished she didn’t know her friend so well, at least she would be able to feign ignorance.

“Just making sure it’s working properly.” The taller woman replied, her voice a little deeper than usual, her tone so uniform that it was clear how calculated it was. It was a cold side of Sooyoung that was usually directed to hostile outsiders and not to her best friend.  “I’m just doing my job, you know, like you were supposed to do yours.”

The pilot took a deep breath, she knew what it was about and she would rather not having this conversation. “Sooyoung, I know where you’re coming from, but…”

“No, Haseul, you do not.” Ha’s stern tone matched perfectly her face, dark chocolate eyes boring holes on Haseul’s face as she stared back at the captain. “What was that earlier? Did you forget about the attacks already?”

“Of course not!” Jo defended. “But we’re far away from home now, and there was no one there to see us anyway.” Haseul said, straightening her back to face the mechanic. “I know you having your reasons, but I wouldn’t risk our safety. Heejin is keeping me informed and we’re taking all precautions.”

Sooyoung narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re over simplifying it, Haseul. Direct attacks aren’t the only thing that can harm us, or them…If there is an distinction now.”

The shorter brunette sighed, Sooyoung wasn’t wrong. Her strategy of ignoring the big picture could go on only for so long and unfortunately, optimism could be very costly for them. “I’ll always put our crew first, you know that.” It was true, she valuated the members of the crew lie a family, and not only because Yeojin was part of it, she genuinely cared about all of them. Still, she also cared about Jungeun and Yerim. “But they’re also a part of it now.”

“For how long? What do you think will happen when your time with her is over?” The question made Haseul wince and avert her gaze, clenching her fists. She would rather not thinking about what would happen when their time together was up, albeit it was cowardly of her, it was better than to torment herself with the inevitable.

Seeing her reaction, Sooyoung’s gaze softened slightly, a small sigh leaving her lips. “Don’t get me wrong, Haseul. Saegs may look like any human, but they’re very different. Their minds, their values and how they react to things…I know it very well.” Ha pursed her lips, taking a seat by the window. “Maybe under other circumstances, but she is not an average person and you have to keep it in mind. If not for you, or the rest of the crew, for her.”

“I…” Haseul’s voice was small, weak as if the burden on her shoulders was finally showing its true weight and crashing her. She hated the other girl’s words, how right she was. “I don’t want to hurt her or anyone else.”

“But you don’t want to lose her neither, do you?” Sooyoung asked with a pitiful look. She could see right through Haseul’s thin façade. “You know, when we decided on taking this job, I thought many things could go wrong, but I never thought it would be because you can’t help but fall for someone you met only three weeks ago.”

“I can’t believe it myself.” Three weeks didn’t seem like a long time, not long enough to meet someone and fall for them, to become so attached to the point where all the lines were blurred and she couldn’t think straight. To be honest with herself, since the very beginning she knew it was going to happen. She knew it in the moment her eyes had notice the sparkle on Jungeun’s red ones and she was drawn to it, love at first sight was such a silly concept, and she was the poster girl for it. If meeting her was enough to make her heart respond, spending time and becoming closer to Jungeun, was enough for it to break free and search shelter on Kim’s hands.

Jungeun had fit into her life so easily, bringing down any walls she had around her heart and making her way into it, as if it was her place all along – and Haseul loved the feeling of carrying her inside her chest, she loved liking her, loving her. Perhaps she was too childish, too immature or reckless, but there was no way to deny her feelings and how much she wanted to clingy onto them and cherish every moment she had with Jungeun. Every night she would let her mind run free, imagining all kind of scenarios where they managed to make things work out, where this whole trip was never a mission, just a fated meeting and they were free to do whatever they wanted. It was easy to think of a reality where their time was not limited, and there wasn’t anything to fear, be it the judgment of society or the consequences of their actions.

She wasn’t ready to go back to a life without Jungeun and she wouldn’t. “I won’t lose her. I made a promise and I’ll keep it.”

“Remember, you also made a promise to the king.” Sooyoung cut her off. There was much more at stake than a heartbreak and she was the one to remind Haseul of it. “You’re being paid to pretend to be her friend and keep her happy, not to date her. You can’t afford to forget about it. We can’t afford losing our captain.”

Sooyoung pursed her lips, her sharp eyes noticing as a shadow slowly walked away from the place. Dropping her shoulders, she shook her head ever so slightly.

Haseul, unaware of it, shook her head, hugging herself as she tried to put herself together.

“I didn’t forget my promises to him or to any of you. I’ll keep my word, but for this you have to trust me.” Her brown eyes met Sooyoung’s dark ones, her gaze was strong and determined. She need to do things right, for everyone’s sake. “We’ll go to Mars and make sure she will be safe and happy there, and then we’ll go back to Earth and figure out what the heck happened and how to stop it from happening again. After it, I’ll find my own way to her.” She forced a smile that was more confident than she could feel right now. “Destiny somehow put her in my path, and I’ll make sure to keep her.”

Although the results of her research weren’t the ones she expected, it was a relief to know a little more about what was expecting her. There wasn’t much information on Jinsol, she looked like a pretty standard citizen, she wasn’t rich or of a noble bloodline, but it looked like she had a stable life and Vivi couldn’t find anything bad on her – Jungeun would rather to think her dad had picked a nice person for her, whether or not it was for a marriage.

Checking the time, she noticed it was already late and Haseul must be waiting to her at their usual spot at the lounge. They would always meet at the ending of the day to talk about everything and anything and just enjoy each other’s company, and those were very precious moments for her that she wouldn’t want to skip even for a night.

She had a small smile on her face as she made her way to the place, her light steps barely heard on the huge spaceship. Jungeun yawned, thinking that she might ended up sleeping on Haseul’s shoulder considering how tired she was – it wouldn’t be a bad experience, it was one of her favorite places and much warmer than her pillow. Her foolish, romantic thought were interrupted by the muffled sound of voice.

Jungeun stopped in her tracks, resting a hand against the metal doorframe as her red eyes spotted two figures talking near the windows – the same place where she usually sat with Haseul to cuddle. However, that wasn’t Haseul’s voice.

Her eyes recognized Sooyoung’s tall and slender silhouette standing in front of Haseul’s shorter one. The mechanic had a serious expression on her face, her tone was quiet and firm, her gaze strong as she spoke. At first it was hard to discern their words, their voices too small to be heard, but Jungeun’s hearing had always been good and in the quietness of the lounge, even whispers could echo through the room…She wish they didn’t.

“Remember, you also made a promise to the king.” It was Sooyoung’s voice again, not the playful and gentle one that she usually used to speak, but the deeper and colder one that sent shivers down Jungeun’s spine.

A promise? Kim wasn’t a fool, she knew they had a contract with the King, after all it was how she had joined the group to begin with. Still, Ha’s choice of words made her uneasy. What kind of promise could Haseul possibly do to her father? Her days of doubting Jo’s reasons were so long gone, that it was hard for her to even think about something like this.

“You’re being paid to pretend to be her friend and keep her happy, not to date her…” Jungeun frowned, blinking her eyes as if she had just seen and heard something wrong. But Sooyoung was still there when she looked, and although Haseul didn’t say a word for a long moment, she could see her shoulders tense up and fists clenched – Sooyoung wasn’t lying, was she? It took her a moment to allow reality to hit her, and when it did, it was so hard that she could barely breathe.

‘Pretend’? She was naïve in many ways, but Haseul had never come across as a fake person, her actions didn’t seem calculate, nor her smiles looked forced. Yet, it all was a show? The overly warm welcome was just part of the things her dad had paid for? Where the line between what was just an act and Haseul’s real self? Dating wasn’t part of it, so was she supposed to believe it was something genuine because Jo was able to like her as more than just a duty? It was more likely that the human was just going an extra mile for thinking it was what Jungeun wanted…

She could’ve laughed at herself. How pathetic she didn’t look, always looking for Haseul’s soft touch and protection? Trusting her with all her secrets and confiding her fears and hopes? What were precious moments for her, were probably torturous hours of work for the pilot.

The heart that rested assured on Haseul’s hands, was now crashing into pieces, as if her tight fist had shattered it as easily as Sooyoung’s words had ruined her trust.  Haseul’s voice could finally be heard, it was much quieter than Ha’s, perhaps the guilt was affecting her usual clear speech – Jungeun wished it was, and even if only a bit, Jo could feel the consequence of her actions. “I didn’t forget my promises to him or to any of you. I’ll keep my word, but for this you have to trust me.” Trust…The princess didn’t think she would ever be able to trust Haseul with anything, but maybe her friends could. Maybe, in the end for Haseul, it was all business and she would look after the people she really cared about, the people she really loved.

Jungeun’s already broken heart, sink into her stomach, painfully taking her breath away as she forced herself to walk away of the lounge.

As she walked through the long corridors of Raven, she slowly drown into her own memories and her new interpretation of things. Jungeun thought she had protected herself well, judged people’s character correctly and only allowed them into her life once she knew who they really were – she was a fool, a child who didn’t know a thing about humans or even about her own species. The warm welcome from the crew was planned, their gentleness and all the little things that she had considered as more than a simple signal of professionalism, seen as a gesture of friendship, weren’t more than acts as well. She wondered if they had programed Vivi to act as well – Hyejoo must’ve.

She spent all her life only being able to rely on Yerim’s company and now she realize how silly it was for her to think she could trust these people she barely knew, to think they would be able to see beyond the color of her eyes and the money her father could provide.

What Haseul had said about needing money to help her parents? Well, this might as well be just another lie, but if it wasn’t, she surely had found an easy to get some. Raven had been renewed to receive them and Sooyoung even gave Yerim pocket money, Haseul always said they could buy anything she wanted…Looks like the King was generous enough.

A sarcastic, weak laugh left her, as broken as she felt right now that the tears were starting to suffocate her.

Was it her father’s way of fixing things between them? Of compensating her for all the years of loneliness where he pretended she didn’t exist even though they lived under the same roof? Well, he had almost succeeded.

Haseul was surely good at pretending. Haseul was good at pretending to be nice, pretending to care about her, pretending to enjoy her presence and want to have her around, and even at pretending to love her…And for a while, she was so good at it that Jungeun was genuinely happy and her mission was perfectly executed.

The tears finally made their way down her face, forcing her to wipe them away with a hand as her steps grew faster to reach her room. Sobs threated to shake her, but she did her best to hold it in, afraid of meeting someone in the path – maybe she should be angry, wanting to scream her lungs out at everyone for treating her like a toy, for fooling her into believing she had finally found a place where she belonged to.

The door closed behind her back, keeping out all the people that had broken her. The first thing she saw when she lifted her gaze, was the mirror reflecting her face and showing everything she always hated. Her red eyes were crimson now, but not only the irises, her sclera in a deep shadow of pink that made her eyes look like the drawings of evil creatures in human books. Perhaps she wasn’t different of said creatures, destined to live in the shadows, unable to trust anyone and fated to having an unhappy ending…Once more she laughed, this time louder, with no humor. How dramatic of her.

She had accepted her life would never be as free as other people’s, that her eyes would be a curse she wouldn’t ever be able to get rid of. Why Haseul had to come into her life only to give her false hope? Jo probably didn’t care at all. Maybe she was just like the snob Saegs they met at the Moon, and for her Jungeun wasn’t more than a nuisance that she might as well use as a way to reach her objectives. Perhaps it was what all the crew thought about her, maybe even about Yerim.

Sooyoung had kept her distance and she was even willing to scold the captain, probably Haseul had gone overboard with her acting.  All of them weren’t good people, Jo, however, was on a league of her own. How greedy one had to be to put such an act? Jungeun would have understood if she had rejected her subtly, it was Haseul who usually looked for her company and not the other way around, and even like this, it was ultimately Jo who had taken the decisive step in their relation...No, it was a lie. Haseul, the more despicable she may seem right now, had never forced her into anything, she was the one who let herself fall for the sweet illusion that the pilot was.

Taking a place on the bed, she hugged the pillow tightly, allowing herself to cry all the tears that burnt her eyes. Tomorrow she would have to be strong to face everyone, strong for her and Yerim. She would also have to decide what to do from now on.

But as for now, she would allow her heart to release all of its pain and her mind to regret every moment, she would let herself free to feel all the sadness and hopefully, it would be enough to ease the pain.

Later that night Haseul stopped by, knocking on her door lightly and asking if everything was alright – Jungeun didn’t answer, pretending to be asleep. She wasn’t able to proper sleep, the pillow was still too cold and pain was still too big.

Haseul noticed that something was wrong in the very first morning after her conversation with Sooyoung.

She had waited for Jungeun the night before, but she knew the girl was tired after a long day out and decided to not insist when she didn’t get a reply. Yerim was with Hyejoo and Yeojin again while Vivi was quietly examining their routes, so it must mean that Jungeun was fine, right? If something bad had happened the rest of the crew would’ve told her. Still, she wished she could have said her goodnight to the younger girl, she was getting used to give Jungeun a kiss and a tight hug before going to bed and be followed by the warmth of the contact – that night seem oddly cold.

Therefore, Jo was excited to see Jungeun first thing in the morning, and ignoring Sooyoung’s words to be careful and not let her heart led her actions, she stood outside Jungeun’s bedroom and knocked on the door. She knew ignoring the problems wouldn’t make them go away, but she didn’t want to waste the time they had left and maybe they could plan together a way to keep in touch even after the mission was over. To think about the mission made her grimace and shake her head, it’s been a long while since it was not about work for her anymore, still she would keep her word and bring Jungeun to her new home. With Raven it wouldn’t be hard to visit, maybe if she could book some work on New Mars she would be able to visit often and it wouldn’t be so bad – of course, if Jungeun’s father allowed it.

With a sigh, she shook her head once more, knocking on the door again.

She heard a soft ‘beep’ before the door was thrown open, and immediately smile ready to greet the girl. All she received in her turn was a cold look that made her feel small and awkward all of sudden – Blue contacts hidden the true color of her eyes, a new barrier between them. Jungeun was looking at her like a princess, not the kind and shy girl that found joy in the smallest things, but like the princess in the old movies – unapproachable.

Ignoring the feeling of uneasy that the blonde had brought her with such cold greeting, she reached for her hand and leaned in to kiss her soft cheek – Jungeun stepped back, breaking any contact. “Do you need something?” That tone, so distant and indifferent, wasn’t anything like Jungeun either. The feeling only got worse, Jungeun’s strong stare making her self-conscious.

“I just wanted to say good morning. I didn’t get to see you last night.” She smiled, hoping the blonde would return the gesture – Jungeun averted her eyes instead, her only answer a short nod. “Are you fine, Jungeun?” She tried to not sound as concerned as she felt, but it was probably useless. Jungeun was usually a very calm person, sweet and sometimes a little playful, it wasn’t like her to be so quiet in the mornings – at least not since they had grown close to each other. Seeing her like this made Haseul think about when they first met.

“I’m fine.” Was the short, uncharacteristic reply. “I need to wake Yerim up now. I’ll see you later.” Kim gave her a tight lipped smile, but the brunette knew her well enough to know it was forced. She turned around, heading to the purple eyed girl’s room and Haseul watched her with worried eyes.

Maybe she should’ve followed her and insisted more, maybe she should’ve known something was wrong and tried to fix it. But she didn’t, giving Jungeun the space she seemed to need now.

Haseul figured soon enough that the blonde’s weird behavior wouldn’t fade away any time soon.

At the breakfast Jungeun was quieter than usual and Yerim had a worrisome expression on her face whenever she glanced at her friend, albeit she seem to be as confused as Haseul regarding the reason for the sudden change.

Things didn’t get any better as the day went by.

Jo approached the girl after breakfast to ask her about their next destination, she was thinking about trying to go to Titan and seeing Saturn from up close, there were some stations place around the planet and it would be a nice opportunity to see a lot of things without worrying much about safety. Her ideas, however, never had the chance of being expressed.

“I want to go to Mars. The sooner the better.” Jungeun had announced, her voice a little unstable as if she wasn’t comfortable with the decision.

Haseul narrowed her eyes, staring at the girl. “Now? We have still a few days to go and it won’t take more than a day to fly there, we can…“

“I want to go. There’s no point on delaying it, right?” Her tone was still as cold as before, but Jo could tell there was a hint of bitterness to it. “You said we should go earlier and investigate, so let’s do it.”

Pursing her lips into a thin line, the brunette bite back a comment. What was happening to Jungeun? Was she getting nervous because the end of their journey was getting closer? It didn’t make sense for Kim to become like this instead of talking to her like they used to. “You’re right, I said. But we still have time, and if you change your mind…” She tried to be reasonable. “Even when we arrive there, I don’t plan on taking you to the place before the right time, we’ll-“

Once more she was cut off, this time the bitterness in Jungeun’s voice was clear. “Of course. You have to keep your word, don’t you?” There was clearly a deeper meaning behind her words than Jo was able to grasp in the moment, albeit the princess didn’t give her time to ask. “Then let’s do it.”

“Jungeun.” She reached to touch her arm, brown eyes looking for red ones – all she found was blue, the red hidden by the contact lenses. She frowned slightly at it. “Is everything okay?”

The Saeg girl looked at her hand instead of her eyes, as if she was considering something and for a moment Haseul thought Jungeun would tell her what was going on. She didn’t. “Don’t need to worry, everything will go according to plan.”

Haseul’s frown deepened, she didn’t like this cynical side of Jungeun, she hated not knowing what happened for her to act like this. “Did I do something wrong?”

Jungeun finally looked back at her, the blue shining with an unknown emotion. Shrugging off her hand, Kim straightened her back. “How could you?” Shaking her head with a humorless smile, she just walked away again.

This scene set the atmosphere for what would be the rest of their day. Jungeun didn’t speak to her unless she was obligated, she didn’t speak much with anyone actually, aside Yerim whom she would clingy onto as if her life depended on it. It was no surprise when she didn’t show up at their place at evening, the surprise was her insistence on making Haseul set Raven’s course to New Mars, ignoring anyone else’s opinion.

Haseul did as she was asked, deciding she would give Jungeun time to digest whatever thing had happened to her. Tomorrow she would try to fix things up, and hopefully Kim would be more willing to talk.

It was late at night when someone knocked on Jungeun’s door. Everyone in the ship should be asleep by now and her heart pounded on her chest at the thought of Haseul coming to check on her again – she didn’t know if she would be able to talk to her without letting the truth out and ruin what was left of their happy lie.

Kim tried to ignore, but whoever was on the other side was pretty determinate to be answered even if they had to wake up the rest of the crew for it. With a deep sigh, she stood up, covering herself with her old cloak that was more of a protection mechanism than a need in the moment. “You can do it.” She whispered to herself, deciding she would kick Haseul out as fast as she could and wouldn’t allow her weak side to take over again.

Nevertheless, the face that greeted her wasn’t Haseul’s, but a slim one with heavy dark eyes and an enigmatic smile. “Hello. Mind if I come in?” Sooyoung asked, and Jungeun didn’t have much choice besides stepping aside and allowing her in.

It was the first time Sooyoung ever entered the place, but she didn’t bother to look around, eyes fixed on Jungeun’s face. “I see you’ve been doing a good work at giving Haseul the cold shoulder again.” Were her first words, said so nonchalantly that it took the blonde aback. She knew how close Sooyoung and Haseul were, but Ha never came across as the type that would come over to plead in favor of a friend in a lover’s quarrel – by the look on Sooyoung’s face, she could tell it wasn’t the real reason. “I said it before, she really likes you. Whatever reason she had in the begging, it’s very different now.”

Jungeun crossed her arms, adopting a protective posture. She didn’t need to be fed anymore lies and Sooyoung should know better than try to convince her when she was the one that revealed the truth. “For me it does. I trusted her honesty and it turns out that it was just another job for her. But I reckon that it’s the same for you, so it doesn’t bother you, does it?”

Sooyoung snickered, shaking her head slightly. “You really think it’s the truth? That the fool that is willing to take you to an abandoned city in the middle of nowhere risking her contract just to please you, is a cold hearted greedy person that doesn’t care about you?” With another chuckle, she waved her hands in dismissal. “That fool is willing to risk so much for you, I wonder if you’ll ever be able to see it.”

“Sooyoung, enough about it.” Her tone was firm, different than when she was with Haseul, with Ha she didn’t have issues standing her ground. Sooyoung was like her dad, and perhaps a bit like herself, she wouldn’t get intimidated by it. “What do you want here?”

“I guess it was about time you showed your true temper.” With a raise of brows, Sooyoung gave her a small smile before adopting a serious expression. “I know what you heard and I know what you think, but you need to understand that this situation is bigger than you and Haseul, and the consequences it can have for both.”

The younger woman felt her shoulders growing tense as Sooyoung’s tone went from mischievous do deep and serious. She forced herself to not move, eyes fixed on the brunette. “Go straight to the point. What exactly is bigger than us?”

“I mean that humans and Saeg shouldn’t be together, especially when one of them is a royal. It puts both of you at risk.” Sooyoung didn’t hesitate, her words coming easily as if she had waited for long to say it. “Haseul should know better and so do you.”

She didn’t expect to hear a Purist speech coming from Sooyoung. Of course she knew relationships between both species were still look down by society and she had experienced it in their days on the Moon. But still, she refused to believe someone else should have the last word on her happiness – if there was any left yet. “I don’t know where you’re going with it, but I don’t plan on bowing down to anyone’s opinion.”

“That’s what I thought you’d say. Stubbornness runs in the family.” Ha’s lips curved ever so slightly in a smirk. “But you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“And you do? First you come here to advocate for Haseul, and now you’re doing the complete opposite!” Jungeun stress was about to explode and Sooyoung would be the target of it. The last 24 hours had been hell for her, she didn’t need Sooyoung twisted games now. “Are you just trying to mess with me?”

Sooyoung’s smirk disappeared as she stepped closer. “I’m just trying to make you see the bigger picture. I’m not against you, neither I’m against Haseul. But,” She raised her right hand, touching her eye with her index finger – Jungeun gasped, surprised with such action. “I’m a direct result of what a union like this can cause.” Lowering her hand, a tiny contact lens on the tip of her finger, she allowed Jungeun to see what was behind it all along.

“You…” It was her turn to step closer, realization washing over her. “Who are you?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not your sister, more like a cousin.” Sooyoung smirked again, her eyes crinkling, barely hiding the bright eye that looked so much Jungeun’s.

But it wasn’t the same. Sooyoung’s eyes were burgundy.

A/N: And here we have our good and old angst everyone knew was going to happen. But I wonder if many of you saw this plot twist coming? I left some clues about it throughout the story. We're near the ending now, and hopefully within the next two weeks the story will be over.

As usual, thank you a lot for reading and I'm sorry for any mistakes, and I'm always open to talk if you want to. See you next week!

P.S: Please do not spoil Sooyoung's identity in the comments xD