“Despite the fact that I’m his younger sister, Jinki really doesn’t do me any favors when we’re on the field. It’s probably a good thing, but you’d think he’d have some sympathy for little old me when he weighs twice as much as I do. Okay. Not that much, but seriously. Maybe I should ask his new friend to come more often though. He wasn’t quite as on his game as usual.”

-Lee Doyun (Jinki’s middle younger sister)

                Kibum had to lay low from work for a couple days while Garum took a couple extra precautions, so that meant he wouldn’t work until the next week. A shame really. He could use the money… but as it stood, he had his hands full at school.

                True to form, Psitassi seemed to have been one of the makers of the Kibum fan club and though she did not run around with gaudy holosigns randomly cheering him on, there were a handful of other people who did. He wasn’t too surprised with the Moladhi who joined the ranks, or the odd Dawbn, but he didn’t expect a couple Varium or the actual number of female and male Terrans that started to approach him if he was by himself or with Jinki. The only plus side to them was they kept the less than enthused students – like Crawven and his ilk – completely at bay.

                “Why are you so bad at being a buffer?!” he demanded in annoyed frustration after being… not really accosted but certainly bothered by a trio of ‘fans.’

                “I’m literally one of the least intimidating people in the school,” Jinki laughed with a shrug, waving back when the latest trio turned to wave farewell, giddy with their success.

                The effect was similar when he was anywhere near Ercite as well. “No one minds a Dawbn,” they commented nonchalantly, completely unbothered by the lack of attention they themselves generated.

                Surprisingly, Henry wasn’t half bad as a deterrent, but that was largely because Kibum’s fan club kept trying to make him out to be Kibum / Almighty Key’s rival. What kind of rival, they were careful not to say, but there was no mistaking the sly smiles and odd giggles that followed the suggestion.

                “Hey!” he grumbled in complaint. “I was here first. If anything, he’s my rival!” he tried to defend himself, all bravado and a thumb jabbing into his chest. It was not the defense he thought it was.

                “Really?!” Excited squeals and giggles all around made him deflate.

                In frustration, he looked around for something to wield as a weapon, but there were precious few loose items anywhere on campus and he scowled before shaking his fist at them. “You want a rival? I’ll give you a rival!” he frowned, already chasing after the small group.

                Kibum didn’t know whether to laugh or roll his eyes at the display. Completely ineffective at convincing the audience of what he wasn’t but dramatic enough to chase them off in delight and feigned fear. “I’ll take it,” he admitted with a satisfied shrug.

                Not surprisingly, Larad was the best at being a deterrent. Varium weren’t known for being hostile but they were large and, as Kibum had been reminded in his bout with Boro, they could do a fair bit of damage even when they were being careful. That had been true on numerous occasions with his pseudo-siblings too… With a single unreadable look, the eager duo deflated and slowly backed away, leaving Kibum alone.

                “I think you might be my new best friend,” he laughed, flashing Larad a crooked smile.

                “Oh?” the taller man hummed, daring to actually pat Kibum on the head like a doting older brother.

                “Or not,” Kibum grumbled, brushing the hand away as the crooked smile became a slight grimace. Larad simply shrugged and hummed under his breath before they resumed their walk.

                As nice as it was to have… escorts was probably a good term, the school was simply becoming too much to keep using as a home away from home. He just didn’t know where he could go to kill time off campus that was cheap and otherwise free from people who would be distractions.

                “Why don’t you just go back to your dorm room?” Jinki asked with a nod towards the dorms after he broached his frustration with the second year.

                Kibum waved his hand in front of him and shook his head. “No thank you,” he responded tersely. Jinki didn’t pry but he had a thoughtful look about him now whenever he asked around the whole dorm room situation. Kibum wouldn’t be surprised if he was starting to suspect something either. Especially with the way he always avoided saying anything about his mother or guardian. Truth be told, he was the only person that knew Kibum had a guardian, short of the school anyway.

                “Well, it’s not a full-proof plan for all your free time but you’re welcome to come with me to my coaching sessions if you’re just looking to kill time around your classes,” he offered en route to another of Kibum’s lessons, one hand gesturing fluidly with the statement.

                Kibum took a breath and scratched at his face, both hands free. All their materials were digital anyway and easily accessible from their personal data channel. One could have a holo-reader for more in-depth reading, like in the library, but it was easy enough to work around otherwise. “You said you coach at the high school and middle school your siblings go to?” he queried hesitantly.

                “Yep,” was the quick response and a bright grin. “Hajoon’s twice a week in the afternoons, Doyun’s once a week, and if you really want to be busy, you can join me at the community center in the mornings to work with Siwoo,” he added with a playful wink. “Not that I think I’d ever get you to join that time slot willingly,” he chuckled with a shake of his head.

                “Probably not,” Kibum snorted in agreement, but really only because it was nowhere near his actual apartment. Knowing his luck, it was probably also a morning after he worked at The Stars Align too.

                “Either way, the offer stands,” Jinki encouraged, pausing at the entryway to Kibum’s next class. He looked inside and his mouth twisted to the side like he wanted to say something, but the side-eyed glance said he didn’t know how it would go over.

                “Just say it,” Kibum laughed once, already pretty sure he knew what it was about.

                Jinki wrinkled his nose but used his hands to shrug and took a breath. “You’re doing alright with pulling your other grades up but… we really do need to address-”

                “Terran biology. I know,” he sighed with a slow roll of his eyes. He almost didn’t realize he crossed his arms at the same time and he noticed Jinki glance down at them. Self-consciously, he forced himself to relax and brushed at one thin eyebrow instead. “I’ve got some time this weekend,” he tried to say as nonchalantly as possible, but it fell much flatter than he intended it to.

                “Don’t sound so excited,” the second year chuckled, hiding his mouth behind his hand to try and temper the appearance of his mirth.

                “Shut up,” he grumbled back, shuffling awkwardly in place.

                Jinki’s laughter faded but his smile did not. “We could meet in the library-”

                “Not a chance,” he interrupted quickly, glancing around to see if any of his fans, or others, were in the vicinity. Yep. There was one down the hall. Watching like a creeper. From afar.

                Jinki followed his line of sight and nodded in mute understanding. “I could go to you,” he offered instead, the implication being Kibum’s dorm room.

                “Nah ah,” he denied just as quickly. There was no way in the solar system he was going to show… well anybody his room if he could help it.

                “Hmm,” the second year hummed thoughtfully, brow furrowed as he tapped at his chin. “Well… if you don’t mind the noise of various siblings,” he began to explain, giving Kibum a hesitant look. “You could come by my house to study,” he finished when no interruption or denial appeared.

                “You said you have four younger siblings, right?” he asked with a wrinkled nose and slightly pursed lips.

                “Yep,” was the easy answer.

                “And you help all of them before and after school?” he added, hand waving in front of him to denote the time difference.

                “With training and homework and breakfast and supper and…” he trailed off, face scrunching as he tried to think of anything else that should have been there.

                Kibum frowned and jerked his head back to look at Jinki closer. “When do you ever have time for yourself?” he asked, surprised by the question that slipped out. It took Jinki aback too and his expression blanked for a second. “I mean, you mentor me, tutor others, go to school events as much as physically possible. What is wrong with you?” he asked as a playful aside before turning serious again. “You hang out with your friends and stuff but what do you like to do?”

                Infuriatingly, Jinki simply shrugged and tossed out, “I like to help people.”

                “Ugh. That’s such a lame answer,” he scowled, blinking around a slow eye roll. “I will get a better one later,” he demanded, pointing at finger at Jinki’s nose. “But it’s almost time for class.”

                “Right,” Jinki coughed once, moving back a step to make sure he was out of the way.

                Kibum reached out to catch Jinki’s wrist when he saw another student moving behind him. “Watch out,” he called, pulling the other man closer and bracing his shoulder to hold him steady as the Varium walked by with a glance at them.

                “What?” they asked in a neutral tone.

                “Watch it,” Kibum grumbled, his brows furrowed and eyes slightly narrowed. The Varium simply laughed under their breath and raised one brow before shrugging and continuing on.

                “Thanks,” Jinki murmured quietly, his voice sounding uncharacteristically close.

                Kibum’s gut tightened when he realized just how close he was. The space between them was barely a hand’s breadth, Kibum was still holding Jinki’s wrist, his other hand was gripping the nearest shoulder and… Jinki’s fingers were lightly resting against his side. “No problem,” he murmured, letting go and stepping back quickly while he looked away, briefly enchanted by the light dancing in the other man’s beautiful brown eyes.

                A quiet murmuring of delighted giggles at the end of the hall made them both look over. Kibum’s fan club of four now were grinning so hard it looked as if their faces might split at any moment. Jinki offered them a single wave with an awkward smile and they squealed before running off in contentment. “Never a dull moment,” he laughed, looking back at Kibum.

                “No,” Kibum agreed, leaving the answer intentionally vague as he looked the other man over.

                “Good luck with class,” Jinki encouraged, pointing towards the doors.

                “Yeah. Sure,” he responded with a glance at the door in question. Terran biology. Ugh… Stifling a sigh, he looked back to see that the second year was already walking off and he started in surprise. That was different. “Jinki!” he called, feeling his mood lift slightly when the other man turned around without pause, his honest face an open question. Kibum gestured at the door, then tapped just above his communicator, and gestured at Jinki in mute inquiry.

                “No problem,” he smiled back, his eyes nearly disappearing in his face. It didn’t help his brown bangs very nearly covered them currently. He needed a trim.

                Nevertheless, it made Kibum smile to get such a response. Satisfied with the answer, he finally convinced himself to turn around and go to his literally least favorite class.

 

                Jinki really didn’t think much of his invite for Kibum to join him in his coaching sessions after school hours. He sent him the info of course, because he said he would, but beyond the possibility of finally getting a chance to figure out what the issue was with Terran biology this weekend, he figured that would be the end of things.

                Until then though… on Thursday afternoons, he helped Doyun with her middle school team. “Jinki!” she called as soon as he arrived, waving her arm energetically as she always did. She had yet to grow out of her youthful exuberance of little sister energy. Hajoon would still greet him, but not like this anymore.

                “That’s Coach Lee,” a couple of her friends reminded her to which she promptly stuck her tongue at them. They were just as fast to return the gesture.

                He waved at them with a smile. Honestly, he didn’t mind if they called him Jinki but their head coach was a stickler for rules and that was one everyone except Doyun abided by. And that only because they were siblings. Speaking of said coach… “Coach Choi,” he greeted with a quick bow as the tall, muscular man with thick eyebrows and short black hair approached.

                “Jinki,” he greeted, a smile resting easy above his chiseled jaw and strong chin. “Can you run them through the paces?”

                “Of course!” he answered energetically. “I’ll just change and be right back.”

                Coach Choi waved him off and Jinki hurried to get into more grav jump appropriate gear. A high impact body suit and gravity manipulation pads with a thin helmet for good measure. It wasn’t usually an intentionally impact sport but it often ended up that way sometimes. Jogging out in the plain gray attire, he saw the mixed middle schoolers getting stretched out and warmed up but then noticed Doyun waving to get his attention before she pointed near the entrance with a confused look on her face. Following her gesture, he looked and frowned curiously when he noticed a figure that looked suspiciously familiar. “Kibum?” he murmured to himself, jogging over until he was close enough to confirm. His eyes widened when he realized it really was him.

                “Nice suit,” was the first comment out of his mouth. Yep. Definitely him and not some weird hallucination.

                Jinki moved his arms in front of him in a somewhat self-conscious manner. The suit was made of a thick material but form fitting so players couldn’t grab onto it in a match. As such, it did little to hide his physique and it made him awkward in front of Kibum. So much so that he blurted, “What are you doing here?”

                Those thin eyebrows rose in amusement and a playful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You invited me, didn’t you?”

                Dumbly, he blinked at the answer. “Yeah,” Jinki eventually managed to force out. “I just didn’t actually expect you to come,” he admitted with a laugh.

                “Ouch. I’m hurt,” Kibum teased, tilting his head to the side to look around Jinki. “Your sister?” he prompted with a nod.

                On cue, Jinki turned to see Doyun running up herself. “Uh huh.”

                “Who’s this, Jinki?” she asked, pulling up short directly beside him as she looked Kibum over, a wary expression on her face, though it was partially hidden by the helmet, a hard casing that covered the head entirely with a transparent face shield.

                Kibum looked at Jinki expectantly while he tried to figure out how to answer. If he said his mentee, she’d probably take it about as well as one of Kibum’s fans… “A friend from school,” he answered with a gesture at the first year. “Kibum. He didn’t have any plans after school so I suggested he come and see how good you guys are,” he complimented, leaning down slightly to be closer to her level.

                “Yeah?” she asked with a bright grin, one of her teeth chipped from an awkward encounter earlier that week. “Do you grav jump too?” she wondered, arm flailing back towards the group.

                “Can’t say that I do,” Kibum shrugged, his eyes rising to look over them again.

                “Jinki! Doyun! You coming?” Coach Choi asked, his voice louder than it needed to be.

                “Oops. Yes, sir!” Jinki answered quickly, reaching out to give Doyun a nudge first. He turned to point at Kibum but couldn’t find the right words so he simply shook his finger at him instead and then ran off to join the team.

                “Good luck, Jinki!” Kibum called after him, his voice dancing with mirth.

                It took most of Jinki’s control not to look back and say anything. He had practice to attend to anyway and if he got distracted, it would probably not end well for him. With practiced ease, he corralled the players and listened while Coach Choi gave them the rundown. Just a training match today after their usual drills. Half and half with a relatively even mixture of males and females on both sides.

                With nervous excitement, they adjusted their grav gear and waited for the coach to turn on the gravity manipulation field. Two shimmering barriers popped up around them when he did, one inside the other, heralding the rise of the gently humming sphere from the floor. It floated to the center of the interior barrier and fell completely still as it stabilized. Another switch clicked and there was a pulse like a sound wave washing over them. The grav gear vibrated faintly, synching to the sphere’s signal.

                “Players ready?!” Jinki called as the familiar thrill of adrenaline pumped through him, his feet rising hesitantly off the floor.

                “Sir!” they shouted in unison, the vibrations bouncing around the resonating chamber.

                “Let’s go!” the second year cheered, clicking the high grav command on his gear. “High grav!” he called, feeling the automatic pull of the sphere towards its center of gravity.

                “High grav!” the group echoed in unison, following his speeding trajectory.

                Like the hare being chased by the hounds, Jinki stayed in the lead, shouting commands as he reached various points around the interior field. Low grav let him slingshot past the center of the field once he was beyond it, swinging close to the edges of the interior field but never crossing it in his trajectories. Boost left or right disrupted the gravity command to allow a short burst of speed in either lateral direction while boost up and down provided the same effect in a three-dimensional field. Zero grav created a short hovering or gliding window while no grav allowed for an immediate cessation of all artificial gravitation effects, sending the players plummeting from natural gravity.

                Glancing back, he saw that most of the players had managed to keep up relatively well. A couple were lagging behind, having gotten the controls on the grav belt mixed up. Doyun was not among them, determined sibling that she was. Now that they were good and warm, it was time for obstacle drills. “Coach Choi!” he called, glancing down at the older man who was wearing a satisfied smile on his face.

                “Good job, Jinki! Keep it up!” he congratulated, activating the asteroid looking platforms that rose up from the ground where the gravity generator had come from.

                “Static practice!” he announced, waving a hand forward to send the kids past him. His next task was to ‘inspire’ them to use the obstacles and their grav gear to get around the field without allowing him to push them into the secondary field – the out of bounds zone that stalled players for ten precious seconds in a scoring game.

                Players scurried to and fro while he gave them a head start. After counting to ten, he joined the fray, careful to not target Doyun unfairly. That aside, he had a longer reach than they did so it made for great practice for when they would have to compete against year mates. Even so, it was still a workout using the obstacles as platforms to assist his attacks. It only got worse when they shifted to dynamic practice, and harder still in the last stage of drills: chaos field. It was his favorite but also the most challenging because the obstacles constantly moved, often times knocking into players that weren’t observant enough, and the gravity field was always shifting, reversing gravity effects just as often as warping them altogether.

                By the time Coach Choi finally called it, he was thoroughly exhausted and more than ready to take a break. “Recovery!” the coach shouted, ending the chaos field and allowing for a gentle descent of the players.

                “Coach!” one of the female players panted, pointing a limp hand in Jinki’s direction. “Coach Lee is trying to kill us!” That made Jinki laugh. He would have countered her but he didn’t really have the breath for it.

                His sister had his back though. “That’s what you get for slacking off in practice, Magda,” she huffed, waving at the other girl dismissively.

                “That’s rich coming from his sister,” she shot back, tapping the face shield so it retracted and allowed her voice to come out louder.

                She flinched when a couple of the other players laughed at the accusation. “Clearly you didn’t see him launch her into the out of bounds zone a couple times,” one of the male Terrans snorted.

                “Hey!” Doyun yelped, rounding on the other player. “It was only twice!”

                “More than me!” they taunted merrily.

                Jinki finally caught enough breath to shout, “Hydrate!”

                “Sir!” came the automatic response, general chatter falling away though quiet conversations continued without fail.

                “Good job,” Coach Choi commented as he moved close to clap Jinki on the shoulder. “You can take a break for now. I’ll work with them on team tactics,” he added with a nod towards the open space of the hall. “Friends of yours?”

                Jinki blinked in surprise and turned to see who he was talking about. “Uh… not exactly,” he answered when he realized they were a couple of Kibum’s fans, if he wasn’t mistaken. Kibum himself had moved closer to the field, intentionally settling away from the entrance and the seats nearby, apparently unphased by being in the literal open. His followers had enough sense to be nervous.

                “As long as they don’t disrupt practice or start taking pictures, they can stay,” the coach explained with a warning look in their general direction. There were only three of them, but Jinki was pretty sure one was just shy of fainting.

                “Yes, sir,” he agreed, tapping his face shield out of the way as he wandered over to his bag to retrieve his own hydration bottle. Only then did he shuffle in Kibum’s direction and half-sit half-fall into place next to him.

                “Huh,” Kibum grunted, eyeing him with an unreadable expression while Jinki took the opportunity to simply rest.

                “What?” he asked without looking at the first year.

                “You’re so awkward on solid ground, I never would have pegged you for a decent grav jump player,” Kibum teased, the sound of a smile obvious in his voice.

                “Yeah well, looks can be deceiving,” Jinki agreed with a slight turn of his head, just enough to give the other man a side-eyed look. He took a quick sip while Kibum snorted and then asked, “Your fans behaving?”

                Kibum shrugged, the motion obvious in his periphery. “More or less. They came to haunt me but got distracted by you. I think they might be your fans soon,” he winked, reaching out to poke Jinki in the side with a single finger.

                “Hey!” he yelped, annoyed and embarrassed by how much it tickled and made him want to squirm. With a groan, he sat up and took another deep breath. “Manage to get any studying done or did you spend all your time staring too?” he asked, leaning over to look at the ‘sleeping’ holoscreen that had some sort of homework on it.

                His mentee didn’t deign to answer. Instead, he pushed Jinki back with one hand and waved the screen away instead. “I don’t stare. I observe,” he corrected, daring the other man to correct him.

                “Sure,” he intoned with a slow nod of his head.

                “Shut it,” Kibum grumbled, caught between being annoyed and laughing again. Jinki didn’t respond, focusing on taking another drink of water. Eventually, Kibum spoke again, “Your sister’s not half bad either.”

                “She’s nowhere near Hajoon’s level yet but she loves it the same,” he agreed with a nod. “If you come tomorrow, you can watch her run circles around me,” he winked with a laugh at himself.

                “She’s that good?” the first year asked with raised brows, clearly surprised.

                Jinki shrugged and hedged, “Maybe not all the time but she has her days.” He grimaced with wide eyes upon recalling a few of her very punishing ambushes.

                “Tempting,” Kibum hummed, a sly smile dancing at the corners of his mouth. “Hmm…” he sighed, eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he nibbled on his bottom lip. “If I come to Hajoon’s practice too, will you come to one of my performances?”

                “To The Stars Align?” Jinki blurted with a start, not expecting that. Kibum smiled and nodded in response. He frowned slightly, immediately running the numbers through his head. “I don’t know,” he hesitated, watching the smile start to slip from Kibum’s face. “You always have such late shows,” he explained quickly, waving one hand in front of him to show he meant no offense.

                Kibum scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Not during the week, dummy. Galaxies know you’re stupid busy then. For a weekend performance,” he clarified, expression shifting to genuine interest.

                Jinki managed to keep himself from blurting out an automatic yes. “If you agree to come to one of Siwoo’s practices too…” he trailed off suggestively.

                Kibum hissed between his teeth with a grimace. “Three practices for one of my performances? That’s just mean,” he commented, leveling a skeptical look at Jinki.

                “Maybe,” he shrugged, glancing at Doyun. “But if you go to Doyun’s practice and Hajoon’s and don’t even try to make it to Siwoo’s, she will forever hold it against both of us.”

                One of those thin eyebrows rose again and Kibum crossed his arms in wary contemplation. It was easy to see he rather was entertained by the idea of seeing Jinki trounced by Hajoon but that early morning practice was no small ask. “Fine, but you have to come this weekend,” he relented, holding one finger in front of Jinki firmly.

                “This weekend?” Jinki echoed, one of his brows rising to mimic Kibum.

                “Yes. It’s your fault I’ll likely have a gaggle of new watchers and it should be your job to help keep them under control,” he explained with an unabashed wink.

                Jinki face palmed with a muffled groan. “Okay,” he agreed with a heavy sigh, sliding his hand down his face so that it paused to rest on his cheek. “Please tell me your shift is on Saturday…”

                “Give me some credit,” he snorted with a laugh, reaching up to brush at black bangs with his fingertips. Jinki just looked at Kibum with a skeptical twist of his mouth.

                They both jumped when Coach Choi surprised them. “Jinki! You ready to get back up there?”

                “Yes, sir!” he responded almost without thinking. Only after he’d waved back at the coach did he turn to look back at Kibum with an apologetic grimace. “Sorry.”

                Kibum shooed him off with a wave of his hand. “Go have fun trouncing the younglings. It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” he added with a glance back towards the entrance where a small but growing crowd of ‘fans’ were lingering.