“You know, it’s impossible to really watch anybody else during practice time and Jinki is pretty hardcore about taking studying seriously, but even I can see that he’s at least interested in Kibum. Oh, he acts like this for all his mentees. The whole big brother thing. But it’s not the norm for him to invite someone over. Of course he gave the whole ‘unusual circumstances’ thing, but come on. I’m young yes. Blind… no.”

-Lee Hajoon (Jinki’s oldest younger sister)

                It wasn’t that he thought Jinki was not telling him the whole truth, but it was strangely gratifying to see that Hajoon could indeed ‘run’ circles around her older brother as promised. She was also harder to fend off with questions Doyun hadn’t been inclined to ask at the time, but when Jinki threatened to stop helping her – even as an obvious bluff – she let it go for the time being.

                Granted, it didn’t hurt that their coach was a tiny fireball of a Terran woman who was quick to keep her team in line. Pale in complexion with ice blue eyes, flaxen tightly braided hair and a sharp nose, Coach Jung had a voice that could rival a bullhorn and a quiet ferocity to match it. A retiree from a previous championship team, she was whipcord muscle and unbending command and Jinki was utterly at her mercy as much as the rest of the team.

                Kibum almost felt sorry for him. At least until he saw Coach Jung eyeing him speculatively and he immediately retreated to the entrance to escape her dire gaze. A couple of his fans were there too, but they seemed equally intimidated by the woman and loathe to trespass in her domain. If he’d had any money to spare, he would have offered Jinki supper afterwards. Poor bastard looked completely worn out.

                Hajoon hardly faired any better. “You were slacking off today,” she complained, one arm slung over her older brother’s shoulder as he stoically supported her along.

                “Maybe you just got better since last week,” he breathed instead, giving her a gentle nudge before looking at Kibum. All he could manage was a sympathetic smile.

                “Ugh…” his sister groaned with a bedraggled laugh. She pointed right at Kibum and glared at Jinki in the process. “I know he’s the mentee Henry told us about but I’m too fragging tired to ask about him today.”

                “Thank the galaxies for small miracles,” he teased, offering the still quiet Kibum the ghost of a smile. “Oof!” he coughed when Hajoon thumped him in the side with her free fist. “Now you’re just being mean,” he pouted, giving her a puppy dog look that she immediately folded to with a pitiful sigh.

                “I hate it when he does that,” she admitted to Kibum, raising one hand to dab at her sweaty hairline with the back of her wrist.

                Obligingly, Jinki turned to look at the first year with said expression and Kibum’s lips curled into a bright smile. “I would say that I agree but…” he trailed off, shrugging and keeping the rest of the sentence behind his closed lips.

                “Special mentee indeed,” she scoffed, a crooked smile alighting on her face.

                The teasing Jinki shared with his siblings with almost enviable. When Kibum had lived with ‘siblings,’ the exchanges had been practice barbs more than anything. And rough housing was far less playful. It wasn’t that they had a bad relationship exactly, but it was clear from the beginning they’d never be the best of friends either.

                They parted ways at the nearest hover hub on the way back though and Kibum promised he’d come by tomorrow. “To study!” he huffed when Hajoon gave him a questionable look. “She’s worse than Henry,” he added, looking her up and down once with his eyes. Finally recovered from practice, Hajoon took it in stride and posed, framing her chin between her thumb and index finger as she smiled brightly.

                “Come on you,” Jinki chuckled under his breath, deftly catching her under the arms and bodily pivoting her towards the hover tube.

                “Jinki!” she yelped, groaning with her head thrown back at the treatment.

                “Give her much more time and she’ll start grilling you,” he explained to Kibum as he wrangled her into the entryway like any good older brother would.

                “See you tomorrow,” Kibum waved once, laughing outright when Hajoon had to have the last word.

                “Bye, special mentee!” Only her hand jutted between the doors to wave animatedly before Jinki yanked it back so the carrier could close behind them.

                Taking a breath, he looked around and was relieved to see that his general ‘fans’ were nowhere to be found. Apparently they’d had enough for the day. So had he in all honesty. He’d intended to spend more time studying the past couple days. And while he’d had more peace from perpetual interruptions, Jinki’s secondary endeavors were all too easy to watch. His uniform and demeanor hid a surprising physique and athleticism that Kibum had not expected and he didn’t know what to do with that information.

                Sunny greeted him when he got back to the apartment complex, her screen in working order again. Either the replacement part had come in or his patch job had worked better than expected. That put him in a good mood, but the quiet of the apartment dampened it. On the activity screen, he had a blinking notice about this month’s energy bill and he sighed. Waving it away, he brushed his fingers against his mother’s still frame image and smiled softly.

                “Hey mom. I’m back,” he murmured, carefully removing his shoes before stepping further inside. He went through his evening routine with single-minded intensity: minimal shower, nibble on one of the stored bits of food from lunch, focus on homework, and then settled on the small fold out bed. He turned the lights off but looked towards where his mother’s picture was, grateful for the dark that kept ghostly flashes of memories from surfacing. “You’d like him.” He was quiet for a long while, taking one slow breath after another as he let a thought percolate in his head. “Should I bring him so you can see?” he finally whispered, pulling the thin blanket up to his chin with a furrowed brow.

                In the approximately nine months he’d been here, he’d never brought anyone over. Not once. The place was plenty clean. What floor space he had was empty of clutter. The walls were bare but otherwise unmarked, all of which made it easier to forget he’d lived here before. The standard tepid metal covering like those in most cheap housing complexes could almost make him think it was a cookie cutter version of his old home. Almost. There was space for two people in the form of a small table and two chairs that could slide up like the ones in the canteen. It had a small storage space in the corner where a food processor could be accessed – for a fee. The bathroom was cramped but tidy…

                “Maybe,” he mused, closing his eyes tightly as he curled up into a ball on the bed. It was weird how Jinki was actually a maybe considering even Passeri and Jackson were hard nos… Go figure.

                Morning came all too early and he lazed about for a little before he forced himself to get up and head out. Better that than sitting in the dark or turning the lights on and wasting electricity. Jinki was supposed to let him know when he was available so he opted to go to a run-down park in his area of the city. Not half as nice as the ones near the school, it was a favored location of the older poor, anybody with a pet – usually modified or synth versions of old Earth dogs and cats, and those like him just looking for peace and quiet.

                Green grass dominated in the sectioned off space with smooth pathways running around and through it. There were also the occasional benches under the odd real tree, half-grown things with straight brown trunks crowned in green and yellow foliage. The majority of trees were simply holograms, towering behemoths of winding branches and overflowing leaves and vines of greens and golds and reds. Very lifelike ones but fake all the same. Cheaper that way and to greater effect. It was lacking in flowers or any non-Terran plants, but that wasn’t unusual for Terran based planets, especially those that were in the process of being fully terraformed. Sentry drones patrolled the area, keeping an eye on everything to maintain a certain degree of safety and comfort amidst the citizens.

                Finding a patch of grass in the early morning sun, Kibum laid out and pulled up his personal link to scroll through the pages at school. Notices about finals coming up, announcements for special events, athletics competitions, volunteer opportunities, some global science conference highlighting a new energy source, etcetera kept showing up. Forums held answers to innumerable questions and if he dove into those, he knew he’d find references to Almighty Key somewhere. Not that he had any real interest in seeing what else the rumor mill had managed to churn out about him.

                Psitassi was still dying to see him perform but he hadn’t been to work yet. That was probably why he’d had a larger than usual following lately. They wanted to make sure when he was going to work so they could follow him. Probably. He rolled his eyes at the thought and turned the screen off. He didn’t have to worry about access to information since he paid for it with his school money, but it was boring right now. Resting in the rarely changing weather inside Yonichi, it was all too easy to fall into a light slumber.

                The sound of an alert in his ear woke him with a start and he blinked quickly. “I’m up!” he blurted, tapping the communicator to receive the incoming message.

                Sorry. Breakfast took longer than expected but I’m ready if you are. Just let me know when you’re heading this way. The message was relatively short for Jinki but Kibum read it in his voice, imagining the smile that likely accompanied it.

                He sent a single thumbs up image in response, largely because he knew it annoyed Jinki when he did so. But it was better than no response. He laughed to himself when he recalled the face Jinki had made upon hearing his explanation for the first contact number. It was his father’s before Kibum had been given his own individual contact number – like all Terran minors under the age of 13. Derived from their genome and codified into manageable numbers, all people born on a planet under the Universe Concordium Agreement (UCA for short) were eligible for a contact number that was usable anywhere in their territories. He ersely hoped his father was still in the territories somewhere and just constantly got bombarded by all the messages and calls that were meant for him. It would serve him right. Especially the angry annoyed ones he had probably generated from not responding.

                As it stood, there were precious few people that had Kibum’s personal contact number and not the message delivery code assigned by the school, which he largely ignored. He still had to check it for official school messages from time to time though…

                “Okay,” he sighed, sitting up reluctantly as he activated the location function on the message that would show him where to go. “Eh?!” he exclaimed in horror. It was on the other side of the city. Not a particularly well-off area but well enough to be a place he himself wouldn’t go regularly. Granted, it was decently close to the schools Jinki’s siblings would be going to but still. “Oh come on,” Kibum whined, tapping the ETA number. Just over two hours on foot and a cab would cost him an arm and a leg. He could go by hover hub but that would only cut his time in half – give or take – and cost money he didn’t want to spend.

                Frustrated, he activated his communicator and typed out a message. Why are you so far away?! It’ll take me forever to get to you. He huffed after hitting the send button and then frowned as an uncertain sensation . He was missing something wasn’t he?

                A message came back quickly and he read: Aren’t you at the school? Shouldn’t be THAT far.

                “Ack!” he face palmed, berating himself for not recalling that fact. Thinking on his feet, he chewed on his bottom lip and sent back, Took a walk for some fresh air. Ended up a little further from my room than I thought. Not a lie at all. Everything was quite true in that statement.

                He jumped when a call actually came through. Clicking the connect button, Jinki’s voice flowed through quickly, “Morning!”

                Kibum raised a brow at the unnecessarily chipper voice and grumbled back, “Morning.”

                “So. Where are you? I can come pick you up if you’re really that far out,” he asked, focused enough on the call but clearly distracted by the muffled noises in the background.

                “Eh…” he trailed off with a breathy whisper. He couldn’t give his actual location. That was way too far from the school and way too close to home. But maybe… “A little further than where I work.” That was a lie but it wouldn’t be by the time Jinki would arrive.

                “Yikes! Some walk,” Jinki chuckled, no doubt shaking his head at the answer. “If you send me a location pin, I can give you a lift on my mom’s hoverbike. She’s sleeping right now so she won’t need it at the moment.”

                “Oh,” Kibum mumbled, briefly jealous of such a commodity. It would make things so much easier out here. “Sure,” he added after a slight pause, listening hard to the continued noise in the back of the call.

                “Yes, you’ll meet him soon. Siwoo… Daejung! Give me a sec! Sorry Kibum,” he apologized, his voice suddenly getting louder as his attention returned. “I’ll be there in about thirty minutes. See you soon!” he smiled before the call ended rather abruptly.

                Kibum was half certain his siblings had cut him off but there was nothing to be done. He debated where to drop the location pin and then shrugged as he chose a spot on the closer side of The Stars Align. Now all he had to do was get there in thirty minutes. He made it with about five minutes to spare and had an even greater surprise when it was Hajoon that pulled up on the hoverbike.

                “Hey special mentee,” she grinned with an infuriatingly teasing tone.

                It took Kibum a second to recognize her face when she pulled the helmet off but he knew her voice instantly by the name she gave him. “That’s Kibum to you. And where’s Jinki?” he asked suspiciously, his arms crossed in front of him.

                Hajoon laughed and tossed her straight brown hair over her shoulder with a flick of her hand. “He couldn’t escape Daejung so I volunteered,” she winked, activating her personal screen to show him a glowing ID card. “Doyun was so mad because she doesn’t have her hoverbike license yet,” she explained in giddy excitement.

                “Lucky,” Kibum drawled eyeing the bike and the rider intently. A glorified bicycle without wheels, the hoverbike floated at hip height with a long padded seat that had a rail at the back to keep you from sliding off and foot pedals to press down on for security.

                “Yes, you are,” she preened her cheeks rising in amusement while she tossed him a second helmet.

                “You… are a brat,” Kibum snorted, catching the helmet deftly and putting it on with only minimal trouble. He hadn’t really worn one in a while.

                “And your ride,” she responded without missing a beat. She didn’t even pay him any attention when she turned her sights on the hoverbike and settled in place with natural ease. “You coming?” came the question after a brief pause, turning her head to look at him.

                Kibum deliberated on whether to say yes or anything at all. He really did. Was it worth it to acquiesce to this child’s whims as his only source of transportation in a reasonable amount of time? Maybe. Probably not. Did he tell Jinki he would come? Yes… Stifling a groan, Kibum kept his mouth shut and dutifully slung his leg over the bike to settle into place behind Hajoon.

                “Hold tight!” she instructed in an excited voice, revving the bike – as much as one could – before kicking off.

                He couldn’t help it. Kibum yelped as he slid back, bumping into the railing at the back and clinging reflexively to her sides. Hajoon giggled, the sound involuntary, and he was oh so tempted to tickle her again, but even he wasn’t fool enough to do something like that while in the air.

                While they made their way through the second level of traffic, primarily reserved for vehicles of a non-hover car variety, Hajoon rattled off question after question at him. “How did you meet my brother?” “How did he become your mentor?” “Why?” “What are you studying?” “Why aren’t you at the school? Really?” “Did you eat breakfast?”

                The questions seemed never ending as the sixteen-year-old turned into an insatiable toddler. Kibum let them wash over him without answer as he took the opportunity to look around instead. It was usually dark when he traveled by cab and though they weren’t flying very high, it was enough to see the patterns of the city change as the tall buildings in the center fell away. The university hung over a large portion of the city, unmissable no matter where you were, but the rest of the landscape shifted like ripples on a large pond. Tall spires in the center; a slump where businesses of various sizes nestled; another slump for parks and natural breakers for sound; followed by a step up for well-off residential homes and at the outer edges, public housing.

                Beyond those were charity houses – places where residents lived who had mostly out of dome jobs or little to no money to afford a place of their own. If not for the apartment his father left him, Kibum likely would have had to stay in one such place. He pushed the thought away and blinked when Hajoon announced they were almost there.

                The first thing that came to mind was the fact that Jinki lived in a house. A two-story house. It shouldn’t have been a surprise considering the size of his family and the fact his parents always seemed to be busy, and since Jinki had to have mentioned it before, but compared to Kibum’s own living situation, it hit him like a punch in the gut. An ugly niggling feeling of envy stirred and he angrily stamped it down. It wasn’t Jinki’s decision to live in a house. It was just where he had ended up. Had Kibum’s situation been different, he might have been able to say the same.

                His eyes alighted on a larger slab of space that the hoverbike wouldn’t need and he frowned. “Hovercar?” The question hung in the air for half a second before Hajoon realized it was directed at her.

                “Yeah. Dad works on the weekends and he’s using it now.” The explanation was quick and simple, a shrug accompanying the words like it was no big deal. Another blow to Kibum’s sense of worth. He was certain Jinki had told him about it before but hearing it and knowing it were two different things. And then they went inside. “We’re back!” Hajoon’s voice was subdued, like she was trying not to be too loud.

                “We’re in the back!” That was clearly Jinki’s voice. At a much higher volume too.

                Kibum looked over and noticed the flash of annoyance on Hajoon’s face. “Shh!” she hissed in response, nudging Kibum and pointing at the shoe storage box beside the door before she headed in. “You’ll wake mom.”

                “You know her room is soundproof when the door is shut,” Jinki reminded her as he clumsily made his way into the open, hampered entirely by a youthful growth that seemed to be attached to his waist. “Daejung,” he laughed with a heavy sigh, one hand resting on the boy’s black crowned head.

                “This is new,” Kibum commented with a finger pointing between them while he slid his shoes off. He turned his attention away to put them in the shoe box and then flinched as a new body appeared in front of him when he looked up. “Ayah!” He hadn’t even heard the young girl come up…

                Hajoon wandered close and smacked the girl lightly in the back of the head, sending straight black strands flying forward. “Quit sneaking up on people!” she chided, earning her a pretty impressive glare from dark eyes that practically sparked and a downturned mouth set in a dour position.

                “Siwoo does that to everyone,” Jinki explained with a quiet grunt, obviously trying to extricate himself from his brother’s grip. The boy seemed otherwise determined to remain exactly where he was, his eyes glued on Jinki’s face with an expectant look.

                Kibum gave the girl a slightly crooked look, inspecting the loose fit clothing that hung off her wiry frame in folds of colorful fabric. Her sense of style was terrible and that bowl cut wasn’t doing her any favors. “Hi?” he offered, waving a hand in hesitant greeting.

                Siwoo’s expression turned thoughtful when she grabbed her chin in her hands and squinted at him. It felt almost like she was trying to see through him. It made Kibum feel awkward and he glanced at Jinki who wasn’t paying him any attention then. But he jumped once more as Siwoo talked, her voice high and young, her finger pointed at him firmly. “You can come in, but don’t touch anything.” The last part was said in a tone that indicated warning and Kibum struggled not to laugh. It would have been rude at the very least.

                “Siwoo!” Jinki called with a grimace on his face. “I’ll go to an extra practice with you if you help me with Daejung here,” he bribed, flashing her a winning grin.

                “I’ll do it!” Doyun suddenly announced, bounding into the room as if she had been summoned, one hand already reaching for her younger brother’s arms.

                “No!” Siwoo wailed, turning on her heel and launching herself at the trio. Kibum looked at Jinki with suspicion and the second year quickly held up one finger with a brief shake of his head. At least he wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on Kibum.

                Together, Doyun and Siwoo pried Daejung off and hauled him into the back room, bickering over his head about whose practice Jinki should come to as a result. For his part, Daejung seemed pleased with himself, glancing between his two sisters in obvious satisfaction. Kibum would wager he was the real winner in all of this.

                “Is it always like this?” he asked, glancing at the floor to make sure he wasn’t about to step on something as he moved further into the interior of the home.

                “Sorry,” Jinki apologized, rushing over and offering a harried shrug in response. “They do this whenever we have a new guest. Middle child syndrome or something to that effect. And as for Daejung, weekends are sacred to him. It’s the only time he really gets to rope me into playing with him.” His smile was magic as it lit his face up in embarrassed joy, one hand rubbing the back of his neck at the same time.

                “Far be it from me to interrupt.” Kibum wasn’t sure if he was welcome or not, despite Siwoo’s announcement and Jinki’s obvious warmth at his presence.

                Jinki waved a hand in front of him. “It’s fine. I’ll play with him tomorrow for sure. No, I haven’t forgotten about tonight,” he added when Kibum opened his mouth like he was going to say something.

                “Not what I was going to ask but good,” he grinned, pleased by the admission.

                “Oh.” Jinki deflated slightly but then perked up again. “What were you going to ask?”

                The swift recovery made Kibum smile, the corners of his mouth turning up just enough. “How many rooms do you have?” Hajoon had said their mother had her own room, soundproof to boot, and the thought was almost incomprehensible to Kibum. Growing up, privacy was not a word in his vocabulary and the reminder stung.

                Jinki gave him a look, his smile softening as any number of thoughts ran through his mind. “Would you like a tour…?” he offered quietly, one hand gesturing to the space around them.

                Kibum considered it but then gave up on the idea pretty quickly. “I’m good,” he promised instead, knowing it would only make him more envious. He had no desire to feel that way right now. Especially not after the sensation at just being in front of the house. “So?” His hand rose in front of him to offer an equally silent question, not sure where they were going to go for the purposes of studying.

                He didn’t get an immediate answer to his question as Jinki asked, “You hungry? Did you eat breakfast?”

                It would have been so simple to turn him down. Easy. Like he had done to countless people innumerable times before. But the lingering smells of whatever had been prepared previously hung in the air like a wafting cloud of savory goodness that teased at Kibum’s senses and prompted a very audible gurgle from his stomach. He shut his already open mouth and looked to the side with a pressed lip expression.

                Jinki laughed, the smile returning in force as his eyes crinkled naturally. “Come on,” he encouraged, grasping Kibum’s wrist and pulling him along to the kitchen space first.

                Kibum’s eyes wandered over the interior as they went, unintentional but utterly unable to look away at the same time. He knew the material was metal like in all the houses save for the very rich, but it looked wooden or at least like it was covered in a pastel beige wallpaper. Still pictures of Jinki and his siblings peppered most available spaces. A family photo hung on the wall just across from the stairs leading up to the second floor, all of them considerably younger than they were now. More startling, brown carpet – or at least the imitation of it – rasped under his sock covered feet, a pleasant but foreign sensation. He had to fight the impulse to pause and feel the fibers with his fingers…

                Being hauled down the main entrance hallway and into the kitchen on his left, Kibum struggled to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. Space! There was so much of it! An actual island in the middle of the room where Hajoon was currently munching on some quick wrapped snack, her attention on a holovid that showed grav jumping players moving quickly across the screen. A half-wall divider separated the kitchen space with an obvious dining room, the table stationary and not retractable, though at least it seemed as if the chairs were. One overhead light was on but blessed sunlight streamed in through fully transparent windows, creating geometrical shapes of glowing illumination on the floors and walls.

                He was dragged from his awe by Jinki’s question. “What do you want?”

                Eyes wide and slightly dazed, Kibum turned to look at what Jinki was talking about and his eyelashes fluttered. The food processor was on with a plethora of options glowing softly on the screen. The selection was vastly more complete than what was available to him and he immediately blanched with a shake of his head. “I can’t afford that.” He clapped his mouth shut with a nervous look at Hajoon, annoyed with himself for saying such a thing out loud.

                Jinki immediately waved his hand in front of Kibum’s face and gestured at it again. “We have three athletes in the house. If my parents didn’t have more of an unlimited plan, at least one of us would go hungry at some point,” he laughed, intentionally focusing on Hajoon in that moment.

                Almost as if she felt his gaze, she looked up from the video and paused it to ask, “What?”

                “Nothing,” he waved off, quick to shake his head and return his focus to Kibum. “So?”

                Kibum’s stomach behaved in the sense that it didn’t growl again, but he could feel it gently gnawing on his spine at being reminded it was empty. Swallowing around a mouth that seemed to be too wet all of a sudden, he glanced at Jinki to be sure it wasn’t some trick. “You’re sure?” He didn’t mean for it to come out as suspicious as it did, but he was relieved when the second year simply smiled with an understanding chuckle.

                “Positive,” he affirmed, a single nod sending wavy brown locks into his eyes.

Kibum had a sudden impulse to brush them out of Jinki’s face and his eyes widened slightly at the realization before he immediately turned to face the food processor. Food. Now. All he had to do now was figure out what he wanted versus what would be acceptable (see not desperate for something different) and choose accordingly. It was almost magic the way the food materialized in the space below the ordering screen. Almost. He was well aware it was pulling the proper chemical and nutritional elements and molecules together from a storage of waiting ‘materials’ with which to make said food items, but the science never seemed to diminish his wonder.

                Spoils in hand, he hesitantly moved to the island and settled on a stool that had been summoned, apparently for him. Jinki had moved to his sister’s side and was peering over her shoulder, tracing people and plays with her, talking in a low voice as they discussed strategy and technique. It was more than obvious he was keeping her distracted and pretending to be otherwise interested in something else himself, but Kibum was grateful all the same. He hadn’t had such a full meal in… he couldn’t recall.

                He was certain that one of them at least would call him a slow eater. He savored the food and took his time, allowing it to settle bite by bite before he moved to the next. His fear was largely that his stomach couldn’t handle the sudden influx of the wholeness of the meal, but Jinki didn’t question it. When Hajoon looked at him curiously, her brother directed her attention back to the screen with some new perspective or question and she was distracted once more. Only when he was finished, a glass of water that had materialized nearby in hand, did Jinki take notice of Kibum’s state.

                “You good?” he asked, a simple question of confirmation.

                Kibum took a breath and another sip of water before he nodded. “Yeah. I think I am.”

                “Okay!” The sudden cheer startled both him and Hajoon. “Be a good little sister and clean up for me, would you?” he prompted, pressing his lips to the side of Hajoon’s head in a brotherly fashion before he hurried around to usher Kibum ahead of him. “Time to study!” he encouraged with unusually boisterous energy.

                “Jinki!” the two complained at the same time, sharing a brief moment of camaraderie at the seeming betrayal.

                “No and no,” he responded, pointing at both of them firmly. “We’ll be in dad’s study,” Jinki added on as he grasped Kibum’s wrist again, tugging him gently after. Hajoon made a complaining noise in his wake but didn’t say anything outright. Kibum kept his mouth carefully shut and simply followed along. It was why he’d come in the first place. Breakfast, or rather lunch at this point, was a bonus but… yeah. Terran biology.

                Jinki’s father’s study was a spacious place complete with a large desk – crafted of fake wood and a padded chair of some kind, with more family still frames dotting the walls. Gray walls matched the almost black carpet and a single window continued to let the natural light of the sun stream in. Kibum positioned himself immediately in front of that beam of light and retrieved the files for his upcoming exam related to Terran biology.

                “Alright,” Jinki mused, pulling up the stool on the other side, a quiet hiss of sound indicating it came from the floor. “Your homework shows you have a decent understanding of the topic. Your test scores… do not.”

                It was hard not to roll his eyes at the general rundown of his performance in the class. “Let’s just say I don’t like this topic,” he grumbled, not looking at Jinki while he gazed down at the latest notes from the previous lesson.

                “Great! That’s like me and physics,” Jinki beamed, happy to have some kind of better understanding of the issue. “It’s my worst subject but I still got passing marks in it. I’m sure you can too,” he promised, his habitual grin back in place.

                This time, Kibum did roll his eyes, but he waved a hand as if giving permission for Jinki to offer whatever words of wisdom he intended. In all honesty, he had little trouble understanding Terran biology, but he loathed the subject. It… angered him in a way that was hard to put into words so most of whatever he learned he let slip through his fingers, having no desire to hold onto it whatsoever. No matter how much he learned about it, it wasn’t like it was going to change anything at all.