The muted booming noise and students´ yells were echoing through the hallways. The school festival was just around the corner and although there would be close to none guests, everyone was trying their best to make their addition to the noise perfect. School choir, music club, all the sports clubs and even the kids that don´t attend any club were busy with practises and preparations. The festival in this school was a little different, though. The institute itself was a secret and so only some guys from the ASC were expected to come and cheer the students up. That´s why I didn´t understand the reason behind the festival here in the first place.

But I was glad that with the festival behind the doors, there was almost nobody in the library. It was the most quiet place too and I couldn´t be happier with my supposed to be punishment. Since I started helping out here two weeks ago, I had made a huge progress with my secret investigation. It was surprisingly easy to steal the keys to the forbidden section and I used my chance to copy as many documents as I could at the time.

Everything that I or Seunggi discovered was being kept in my room. It´s not that I didn´t trust the frog like boy but if found, it was better to have only one culprit so the other could continue with the search. Also the more we knew, the more we were aware that our discovery was like the Pandora’s Box. For better survival chances we both started working out.

“Hey, Hyukjae.”

The quietness in the library got interrupted by the gentle voice of my friend. Seunggi sat next to me and put his legs on the table. He was smiling and I knew he was glad that he managed to run away from the preparations. As the president of the student council he had many responsibilities and I gave him a pitiful smile.

“Don´t look at me like that or I´ll make you eat this book,” he joked and pushed the book into my face.

“Please, I prefer fairy tales, they taste sweeter,” I begged and pretended to cry.

“Okay, I will make sure you eat the Little Red Riding Hood next time,” Seunggi put the book back on the table and we both laughed. A loud ´shhh´ made us cover our mouths so we could continue laughing.

I liked Lee Seunggi. He was a smart guy and he had similar thoughts as me. He was curious about the origins of the chimeras and he too wanted to know the answers to all the questions. He volunteered to be the student council president in order to gain more access to the information and so when I arrived, we quickly formed a team. We would often cover for each other and use each other as alibi. He was the president and I the top student, nobody would dare to question us. And just like Seunggi was the respectful student on pedestal, I did my best to stay low profile. Nobody even knew that my chimera trait were the transparent wings, apart from my friend of course. That´s how careful we both were. It was necessary and we were under a lot of stress. Fortunately we had each other to trust and that made the stay in the institute less lonely and paranoid.

“Is your detective coming tomorrow?”

“Well, only those who are aware of the chimera project and also know of this place are coming,” I sighed and sprawled myself on the desk, “but Heechul hyung is probably a higher-up and also friends with the chief so there´s a possibility.”

“You want him to come, don´t you?” Seunggi laid himself on the desk next to me and looked at me with his minus like pupils. I was already used to them and was able to look back at him easily.

“I would like you to meet him and also for him to know of your existence in case something happened to me-“

“Don´t talk like that, Hyukjae. Nothing is going to happen,” Seunggi interrupted my speech. He would often talk like that. I don´t think he was that naïve, more like he was trying to reassure us. It was almost definite that something would happen sooner or later and Seunggi didn´t like that foul smell of danger. I understood but I wanted to be prepared for the worst.

“Anyway, you can count on him.” I finished quickly and closed my eyes.

The noise in the school continued until the late afternoon which I happily passed in the quiet library. Seunggi would always come to chat for ten minutes or to bring me a snack. I would give him a good pat on the back and send him to the battlefield again. In the evening we met in the cafeteria together with all the other kids around our age. We already knew the reason behind the age limits but of course we didn´t open that topic in room full of students.

“Seunggi? Are you alright? You look a little pale,” I asked my friend and put my palm on his forehead. It was hot and I was becoming worried.

“I´m not feeling very well but I guess I´m just tired,” Seunggi gave me a small smile and I hummed.

“Should I bring you to the infirmary? Tomorrow is the festival, it would be better to rest earlier today,” I told him and ran my fingers through his black hair. But I got really frightened when I brought my hand back and it was full of knots of black strands. Even Seunggi looked startled and allowed me to take him to the school doctor immediately.

“It´s nothing serious, right?” Seunggi asked the older man in the white coat. The doctor stayed quiet and so the boy´s hopeful eyes turned to me. “Right?” He asked a little quieter.

“Sure,” I gave him a huge toothy grin because I knew that the eyes that would gave me away would disappear between the wrinkles. I wasn´t sure at all.

“Lee Hyukjae, right?” The doctor asked me and I nodded. “Go back to your room, your friend is staying here tonight.” Seunggi was a little panicking now and once again his hopeful eyes were on me. I gulped down the lump in my throat and cleared it.

“Can I stay too?” I asked the doctor but the answer was a strict ´no´. I couldn´t do anything.

I went to my friend and gave him a tight hug as he was sitting on the bed and secretly sniffling. I knew he wanted to cry and I knew he was scared because his fingers were clutching my shirt tightly. Seunggi was in pain and I didn´t know how to help him. I just simply hugged him and whispered in his ear that everything would be fine and that the pain would go away. How I was going to wait for him tomorrow morning in front of the door and how he would come with me to the festival to meet hyung. I told him he was my best friend and he didn´t need to worry because I believed in him. When he calmed down, I gave him my best smile and left.

When I woke up the next morning, Lee Seunggi was already dead. He died without any warning, in pain and alone.

Hello! So instead of action came drama. I had a little different plan than to kill Seunggi (please forgive me T_T I miss him already) but it turned out like this. Fate is a little cruel and the future doesn´ t look much brighter, the next chapter is a little scary too. This story is still far from the end so bear with it, please :D Thank you for reading and have a nice day! - PandaHero