Hansol yawned and sat up straight in his bed.  He scratched his head in confusion when he noticed that Xero was sleeping next to him.  Had he called him?  His entire memory of the previous night was fuzzy… but why?

His answer came when he saw the empty cans of beer littering his bedroom floor.  That was when the memories came flooding back…

Worst. Day. Ever.

Hansol slammed the front door and threw off his rain-soaked jacket.  He collapsed onto the couch and started to cry.  His mother rushed in and sat down beside him, immediately pulling him into a hug.

“What’s wrong sweetheart?” she asked, taking note of the stains on his clothing.

“I was just gonna go check the mail, but as soon as I walked outside I saw a, a… just take a look for yourself!” Hansol shrieked.  His mother walked over to the window and gasped when she saw a large white sign in front of the house across the street… a sign that read “HUMAN ONLY NEIGHBORHOOD,”.  There was also a group of young men standing around with paintball guns… that explained the stains.

His mother quickly hugged him again.

“Would you like for me to make you some soup?  That always makes you feel better,”

“Actually I think I’m gonna shower and go to bed early,” Hansol replied with a weak, fake smile.  His mother gave him a knowing nod and returned to her office.  Minutes later Hansol was in the shower, resting his head against the wall as steam filled the air.

“Why is this happening?  After all we did, after all we fought for?  I thought this time in my life was over… I was done feeling bad about being different… but now, I can’t help but think that maybe we should’ve stayed hidden after all,” Hansol said to himself as he wiped a falling tear.  He was distracted by the beep of his phone, causing him to poke his head out of the shower curtain to grab his phone, resting on the sink.

From: Xero

Hansoooollie! I’m bored. Can I pop over for a movie or something?

Hansol sighed.  Although he wanted to be alone, Xero did have a way of brightening his mood.

To: Xero

In the shower. Just pop into my room and I’ll be in there in a sec

A few minutes passed and Hansol stepped out of the shower and snapped his fingers.  In an instant his skin was dry and he was wearing a loose fitting t shirt and sweatpants.  He shuffled into his room to see Xero; sitting on his bed with a huge dorky smile, and holding a DVD in his hand.

“I got Immortal Wombats: The Movie! Wait… what’s wrong?  Your eyes are all red and swollen,” Xero rushed over to Hansol and inspected his face.

“I’m fine; it’s just… been a rough day,”

“Well, I know what’ll cheer you up,” Xero said with a mischievous grin.  He snapped his fingers and a case of beer appeared in the center of the room.

“Beer!? Seriously? But Xero, we’re underage and… well… we really shouldn’t… but honestly I kinda want to,”

“Then go right ahead,” Xero replied.  Hansol opened the case and tossed a beer to Xero before putting the movie in.  He was slightly startled by the incredibly loud techno music that played over the opening credits, causing Xero to giggle at him.

“Don’t laugh at me!”

“It’s impossible not to, you’re so adorable!”

Hansol rolled his eyes as he sipped from the metallic can.  He nearly spat the bitter liquid across the room.

“This… is awful.” He mumbled.

“I totally agree with you,” Xero said, shaking his head.  They looked at each other and smiled before taking a big gulp.  It may have been horrible, but something about it made them feel like actual adults.

The time passed and soon the movie ended.  By the time it was over, both Hansol and Xero were wasted.

“M-my favoritest part of the whole movie was when the cyborg ninja wombat and the dragon wombat were fighting on the bridge and that scary voice was all… MORTALITY!  That was soooo awesome!”  Xero slurred.  Hansol laughed out loud and rested his head on Xero’s shoulder.

“You smell so very good.  Did you know that?”

“It’s cause I’m awesome right?”

“Yeah sure whatever,” Hansol replied with a grin.  He felt himself getting dizzy and soon he slipped into unconsciousness.

Hansol held his throbbing head as he shook the memories from his mind.  He glanced over at his phone and realized he’d received a text from Seogoong.

From: Seogoong

 I don’t know how things are where you guys live, but here, it’s pretty bad.  People are really pissed at us!  Be careful you guys!

“You got the message too, huh?” Xero said, startling Hansol.

“Uh yeah… this is really getting out of control quickly.  Do you think that Sehyuk meeting with the president will change anything?”

“Hopefully.  But if this whole situation proves anything, it’s that in the future, we always have to tell the truth… no matter how ugly it may be,”

-----------------------------

The clip clop of heels echoed through the empty parking garage as Sohee rushed to her car.  She knew she had to keep moving, especially now that the cat was out of the bag and Vice President Kwon was about to be sworn into office.  She knew very well that she’d be his first target… seeing that she was his daughter.

“Slow down Sohee! Jeez, I can barely keep up!” Hyeontae called from behind her.  She threw her small bag into the trunk and got into the driver’s seat.  She hated driving but she could only use ten spells per day and she needed to save the teleporting for emergencies only.  Hyeontae climbed into the passenger’s seat and Sohee sped off as quickly as she could.

“Where are we going?” Hyeontae wondered aloud.

“No idea, we just need to get away,”

“But what about the revolution?  We’ve been working on a way to restart the Liberty Corps project for months and now you’re just gonna abandon it because dad’s about to take office?”

“This is a BIG deal Hyeontae!  Now he has the power and the resources to do something terrible!  We just need to keep our heads down until his term is over, then we’ll restart the revolution,”

“Wow… he really scares you doesn’t’ he? I’ve never seen you like this before,”

“Of course he scares me Tae… he should scare everyone,” Sohee replied as she pulled into the parking lot of a large superstore.

“What are we doing here?”

“I’m here for hair dye… it’s time to lay low,”