"Min Ki!" Key waved from across the street while they were both well on their way to school.

 

"Aish... He knows my secret and now he's acting all buddy-buddy with me?" Min Ki whispered to herself.

 

"What do you want?" she sighed and turned to face him.

 

"I just... wanted to walk with you," Key backed off a bit, sensing that she was in a bad mood.

 

"Okay, look. Just because you know my secret doesn't change anything about us. We still aren't frien-"

 

Min Ki kept on walking, and on the way, bumped into someone. If it wasn't for Key behind her to catch her fall, Min Ki probably would've suffered a concussion. Min Ki swatted Key's hands away, making him let go of her.

 

"Mianhe- Seunghyun?" she recognized his tall figure first on the ground. "Mianhe, let me help you," she said, picking up all of the stuff he had dropped while he dusted off his clothes. Min Ki couldn't help but notice the items in her hands. A training guide to bending, a bow and arrow target, and parts for a practice dummy all inside of a plastic bag.

 

As Min Ki gave the bag back to him, she mouthed, "Training?"

 

"Yeah," he said, making Key confused. "I gotta go now, see you later, Monkey!" he shouted. Min Ki face palmed.

 

"Monkey? Wait, who was that?" Key, utterly confused, asked.

 

"Seunghyun, fire bender, his nickname for me, training," she listed off all of things he must have been confused about calmly.

 

"Monkey? BWAHAHAHA, I'm gonna call you that from now on, alright Monkey?" he burst into laughter again.

 

"Then I'll burn your everyday," she rolled her eyes and continued walking.

 

He chuckled, taking the comment as a harmless joke. "So is there a certain place where the benders train?"

 

"Yeah," Min Ki replied. Here we go with the questions again.... I can't give away too much..... she bit her lip, reminding her to stay quiet.

 

"Can I go there?!" he wiggled his eyebrows at her. Min Ki shoved his shoulder, making him stumble back a few steps.

 

"Are you kidding me?! Of course not!" she snapped and shot a sharp glare at him before stomping off to the school entrance.

 

***

 

"Mikki! Left, to your left!" Jiyong shouted through the microphone, his voice booming through the isolated room in which Mikki was in. 

 

Mikki secured the blindfold around her eyes and turned left, randomly shooting a gust of air in the general direction he led her to. 

 

Suddenly, a large splash of water came towards her, which Mikki was assuming was a whirlpool technique, and drenched her from head to toe, making her fall back.

 

"Finish!" Jiyong sighed. "Mikki you can take your blindfold off now. Go dry off and get ready for stage 1 again." Mikki scowled and nearly ripped her blindfold off her face. She looked around in the remote, bright red arena. It was called the 'Side Stage'. It was located directly above the Center Stage, and would be lifted up to the second floor for training. The Side Stage was the place where most trainers go to battle and prepare. There would be 10 stages. Each one gets harder, but the catch- the person is blindfolded and is guided by their mentor from a separate room, in Mikki's case, Jiyong. 

 

Jiyong entered the room. "Mikki, I don't get it. You're usually so focused. What happened there? Is there something on your mind?" he questioned, hovering over her.

 

Key... Mikki thought. Ever since he found out she was the avatar, Mikki couldn't stop worrying about it and couldn't get it off her mind.

 

"It's nothing, I'm just tired," she sighed and ran her hands over herself, bursts of wind spurting from the tips of her fingers, drying her body almost immediately.

 

***

 

Meanwhile, Key and his mother were sitting through a silent supper.

 

It was like their normal dinners, both of them wouldn't talk. Key's Yorkshire terrier, Coco, sat patiently under the table, hoping that any scraps of food would be dropped for her to eat.

 

Finally, Key spoke. "Umma?"

 

"Hm?" she responded back, still focused on her food.

 

"You know those stories... the avatar...?"

 

"What about them?" she asked back.

 

"Where did you get them? Did you make them up, or...?" Key shrugged.

 

His mother stopped eating for a moment. "My friend told it to me. Why?"

 

"Where did she get it?" 

 

"Sweetie, I don't know. Just finish your dinner, arasso?" she dropped a piece of her steak down for Coco to gobble up.

 

Key sighed and took a big mouthful of his vegetables. "Arasso," he said with his mouth full.

 

***

 

BRRRRIIIIINNNG!

 

Everyone in Min Ki's class were packing up their things and getting ready to leave, when Teacher Jung stopped them.

 

"Ah-ah-ah!" he shook his finger at them and motioned the students on their way out to sit back down. "I haven't given you your assignment yet."

 

The class groaned. "Oh, no need for that! You are all lucky that I'll be putting you into partners! I already have them planned out, and here they are!" he sang, holding up his clipboard.

 

"First off. Kim Bo Bae with Lee Jinki...." he started reading and checking off the names as he went.

 

Min Ki rolled her eyes. Ugh... Just with my luck, I'll be paired up with-

 

"Kwon Min Ki with Kim Kibum."

 

Fantastic.