To confirm my dread, two more Prefects from the second year informed me of their unavailability first thing Tuesday morning. I dismissed them halfway through their apologies. Not to be particularly rude, but really, there was nothing I could do about it. And now the school was three Prefects short.

I decided to message the three Senior Prefects, and I wasn't surprised that none of them responded. Heck.

At third period, Lichen walked over to my seat to tell me she was a little relieved that Sojin had suggested to our trainer the topics she suspected were included in the IAC coverage. I had messaged her and Yixing of what Sojin and I tackled regarding the IAC.

"We're still behind though," Yixing answered for me. I forgot that we were seatmates. He'd been very quiet.

"It's better than not knowing anything," Lichen offered, her voice tender.

"It's better if they didn't cheat us," Yixing spat back. Lichen wanted to say more but Yixing had pulled over his headset.

"Just let him be," I told Lichen.

Among us all it was Yixing who was most pissed. Yes, Lichen had been pretty outspoken in her reaction but Yixing proved to be ten times more hostile internally. The guy was murderous. Tao said he didn't sleep an inch the previous night just to study and it showed in the terrible state of his eyes today. His sense of justice was extremely strong. I didn't think he would forgive them, whoever plotted this, anytime soon.

Lichen sighed, directing her attention back towards me. "How's Sojin?"

"Better, I guess. She's coming to class later."

"Already?"

"My exact same word to her." I snorted.

"Why?"

"I have no idea."

"It's not like we still have training. Or that our brains are still ever attentive in class."

I smirked at her. "You forget it's Sojin we're talking about here, Lichen."

She scoffed heavily. "She's insane."

"She is, but don't pretend you're not giddy to see her again."

She rolled her eyes then. "Not as giddy as you are, lover boy." She blew a raspberry, passed Yixing a worried gaze and a soft pat and finally skipped back to her seat.

A few minutes before the bell for lunch was to be sounded, I felt my phone vibrate. My hope flared. Perhaps one Senior Prefect finally responded. Positively. Or was it Sojin?

When I opened the message, my hopes crumbled. The Prefect from the second class couldn't make it. She wouldn't even be around for classes because it was the funeral of her uncle.

I extended my condolences to her when we were finally dismissed and the second class pupils were still lingering outside their classroom. My eyes took a quick scan of their population and paused momentarily on their Class President. Cho Shinji. Why was she not a Prefect anyway?

I shook off my dejected spirits to attend to my other duty: fetching Sojin. Just for today I had my car parked across the entrance gates. Sojin lived from a walking distance, but with her disability, I bet we would need the help of a four-wheel. My pulse was already throbbing against my ears with just the thought of being able to see her again. Oh, the irreversible consequences of being smitten to the core.

Miss Arquette's house was so much lighter under the sun's golden rays, but just as magnificent. I realized, as I raised my hand to press the doorbell, how very similar this would be if it came to me asking Sojin out on a date.

Before I could ring it though, the gates produced a low, deep moan and gaped open. But nobody was there. To answer my confusion, the speaker mounted on one of the posts crackled to life, and Sojin's voice resonated through the static.

"Come in, Luhan. I'm just prepping up. Be right down in a moment."

The gates swayed back shut as soon as I was inside. Some automatic machine, huh. Not a shock seeing as Sojin was such a digital guru.

The double glass doors opening to the living room was open, but I opted to remain out. The landscape blanketing the entire lot was a sight for sore eyes. It wasn't as grand as the gardens back in the incinerated mansion, but the relatively smaller area held its own charm.

The verdant field appeared to be regularly mown, with decorative logs positioned around low wooden tables into makeshift benches and flowers of varying colors and sizes scattered across select corners. In the middle of the western field was a tiny fountain. By the opposite side were two tire swings hanging from an enormous branch. I instantly knew that Sojin frequented them. And then I was crestfallen.

Would she still be able to ride them with her present condition? Wouldn't it be too dangerous?

"Admiring the view?" I swiveled around at the sound of her voice. "Hello, Luhan."

Sojin was in her uniform, her right leg and right arm dressed in much thinner bandages. I suspected she had insisted of it to not make her condition seem as bad. She was only holding onto one crutch. Would that be enough? She told me she'd be in crutches.

Smiling, she wiggled the fingers of her right hand before curling them around the handle of her support.

I dashed to her side and placed an arm around her waist, fully conscious of the electrifying sensation associated with touching her. "Don't you think you should take two crutches?"

She shook her head. "That's too much of a hassle. My left half is completely able anyway. Let's go?"

She was smiling sweetly up at me and I, gazing down at her. Was she really up for this?

"Luhan?"

I blinked. "I am really tempted to just carry you right now, you know that?"

"I'd rather you didn't." She advanced forward.

Surprisingly, she was well-adjusted to her infirmity; you would think she'd been in crutches all her life. Or was she simply that adaptable to change?

I helped her into the passenger's seat before I rounded over to enter the driver's seat. I was thrilled over such a trivial thing, driving with Sojin to school. It felt as though there was something going on between us.

Was there? At least from my end I was certain there was. I was suddenly brought back to my thoughts the previous night, about publicizing my affections to quite an audience. And about feeling a certain sense of forever with Sojin. They were all so overwhelming, and only a tad bit terrifying. But Sojin was definitely worth it.

When we arrived in school, I found myself feeling nervous. Beside me, Sojin was looking just as apprehensive.

"Sojin, are you sure about this?"

"Yes."

"I can always bring you back home, you know."

"No," she said firmly. "And I need to talk to Yifan anyway."

Whoa. She hadn't mentioned this. "The Head Principal? Why?" What she had said about him, and what they'd gone through together were still vivid in my brain and I didn't like the idea of her seeing him again. Even when it was just for academic whatsoever purposes.

"It's about the IAC," she said. "I'll tell you guys later or tomorrow."

"Couldn't you just discuss it over the phone?"

Sojin ignored me and reached for her door. I immediately hopped out from my side to come to her aid.

"Careful, Sojin."

"I'm fine, Luhan, really. Thanks for doing this."

Sure enough, people's eyes were feasting on her the entire time. From the moment she entered the entrance gates to when she trudged along the quad's perimeter up until she reached the Students Building, Sojin held everyone's undivided attention. She didn't look affected, but I knew better.

Lichen had attempted to hug her when we entered class at five to one, but Sojin held a palm up before she was crushed beneath Lichen's embrace.

"Sorry," Lichen grinned. "It's so good to see you up and about, Sojin."

Sojin returned a sweet smile. "Likewise." She proceeded to settle on the seat beside mine. She managed to greet Yixing - and have him greet her back, to Lichen's irritation - along the way. Did everyone just develop a soft spot for Sojin? Was it about her current condition?

Meanwhile I was feeling heavenly with the girl I loved sitting beside me. So much had happened over the weekend; from the plotted disaster to my inner devastation and Sojin's external counterpart of the ruin, to our intimate exchanges in the past three