003

My feet move hastily against the pavement as I jog to the train station. Since only government personnel live in Skypeak, Rebecca went out of her way every morning to meet me for school. She lives on the other side of Seoul, but she always insisted, despite the distance. She knew I felt rather isolated, and the little things she did are what made her my best friend.

Despite being crowded, the train station is one of my favorite places to be. There’s a such an aura of sophistication about the whole thing, and I can’t help but feel important. The towering ceiling above me is nothing more than an enormous glass dome, the grey, towering buildings and equally grey clouds swirling around us. The floor is a glossy white and business men walk briskly, dressed in freshly ironed suits as they head to work. Scheduled arrivals and departures, as well as advertisements and current news are projected as holograms against huge screens dividing the platforms. The trains themselves are sleek and jet black, cut down to be as aerodynamically efficient as possible, engines purring as they hover over the tracks.

Rebecca’s waiting at the platform already, bouncing on the balls of her feet and she swings her school bag back and forth, lips pursed into a frown against a petite face. Glossy chestnut hair falls in soft waves to her shoulders, her bangs pinned back with a chic pin. She doesn’t see me until I wave in her direction and I pick up my pace to keep her from waiting any longer.

The two of us walk side by side down the length of the platform until we find a somewhat empty car and step inside. The doors close behind us and we glide forward out of the station, until we’re traveling so fast that the cityscape outside the glass windows is nothing more than a matte blurr.

“You ready for exams?” she asks me, her delicate, cinnamon brown eyes widening. I let out a groan and slump my head against her shoulder.

“No. I fell asleep last night while studying for Astrology,” I mumble, “it’ll be a miracle if I remember anything,” She plays along with my theatricality and pats me lovingly on the back.

“That’s ok. You’re bound to fail anyway.” her pats gradually get more and more aggressive until she’s punching me in the back.

“Ow! Hey!”

The two of us slap each others shoulders before Rebecca laughs and grips onto the white handle above her head, swinging her weight straight into me.

“Why are you doing this?” I nearly screech, thankful for the vacant train car, “you’re supposed to say, ‘no, Mari, don’t worry, you won’t fail because you’re smarter than me and you didn’t need to study in the first place. Plus, you’re insanely pretty.’” I pause and flick my hair dramatically over one shoulder, batting my eyelashes for effect. She slugs me in the arm.

“You’re so full of it,” she laughs.

The train slows down until we drift to a stop. We step off with linked arms, our shoes clicking in unison. The station is packed from the morning commute, and it isn’t long before we see a few familiar faces as we make our way to the gates of the Academy.

Three students wait for us, a pair of girls accompanied by a rather tall boy with tousled brown hair. The girls on either side of him are petite compared with his figure and he has an arm looped around the waist of the girl to his right, dark hair swept past her shoulders. She’s leaning into his side comfortably and he dips his head down to whisper something in her ear before she recoils and giggles up at him.

“Hongbin and Misa are so cute, it makes me want to barf!” Rebecca shrieks deliberately so that the couple would hear her. Hearing her voice, Misa sees Rebecca and squeals, running across the courtyard to throw her arms around her neck in a tackle hug. Rebecca laughs and pretends to roll her eyes at me before she returns the hug.

“There there, Misa. Aunt Rebecca has come to protect you from Hongbin, everything will be ok,”

Misa chuckles again, the sound muffled against her coat.

“Thank god you guys are here, I was third wheeling hardcore with these two,” Miyoko adjusts her glasses as she points an accusing finger at them.

“Yeah, yeah,”

Miyoko turns to me, “How’s Leo?”

“He’s doing fine,” I smile back, my mind’s eye conjuring the image of how he had stared coldly at me this morning, “Leo should be coming with us tonight, too,” Miyoko’s mouth splits into a grin at the news, and I’m convinced part of it is because she won’t feel as uncomfortable around Hongbin and Misa with her own boyfriend along. It was especially hard for Rebecca and Miyoko since Augments couldn’t attend school.

“You never told me Leo was coming!” Rebecca exclaims to me as she grabs my arm, pinching my skin between her cream colored nails as she faces me, “What about Ravi? Did he say anything?”

The five of us start walking toward the front entrance of the Academy as the bell resonates through the courtyard. We head through the huge doors and file up the main staircase. The hallways bustle with students cramming last minute, shoving all the extra information into their brains as they can before the exams begin.

Hongbin, Misa and Miyoko all head off to their respective classes while Rebecca and I continue to walk together to Astrology. She keeps grabbing my arm and pestering me about Ravi and I have to bite my lower lip to keep myself from laughing at her reaction. I force myself to keep a somber expression and I knit my brows.

“He told me he had training tonight, I don’t think he’ll be able to make it,” I feel so horrible lying to her face like this, especially with something as important to her like Ravi, but I know she’s going to be thrilled when she sees him. Getting her hopes down low was necessary.

She slumps her shoulders and she looks so crestfallen that I want to immediately take back what I said, but I will myself to keep it a surprise.

“Training on the Friday before the end of exams? He needs to learn when to take a ing break,” Rebecca mumbles and adjusts her bag.

“Hey, you know he’s doing all this extra training for you. He’s doing this because he wants to keep you safe,”

“I know,” she mumbles again and swipes an extra strand of hair behind her ear, “but still. He promised last week he was going to come with us, remember?”

I peer into her face as she lowers her chin in disappointment, “At least everyone else will be there, and you have me, too,” She smiles softly and nods once, “You’re right.”

Hook. Line. Sinker.

Rebecca slides open the classroom door and the two of us take our seats, just as our professor walks in. We glance at each other and shoot a thumbs-up before he hands out the exams and the testing begins.

~~

A grueling six hours later, the exams finish and my brain feels absolutely fried. I definitely shouldn’t have dozed off while studying last night, since half the information I learned had managed to leak out of my memory by the end of the first page. Astrology was something I always struggled with, yet it seemed to come naturally to Rebecca.

Despite my grogginess, the thought of an entire month with no school sends a wave of energy through my body, and the two of us practically sprint out of the Academy. The clouds are tinted a darker shade of grey than they were this morning, threatening to burst open with rain in a matter of hours. Misa, Miyoko and Hongbin are already waiting for us outside at the gates, and we all take the train to pick up Hyuk.

As we exit the train station and start making our way to the edge of the secondary school, Rebecca snickers and points to a boy leaning cooly against the wall of the main building. The five of us nearly lose it. Hongbin chokes on his spit.

It’s Hyuk. He has his jacket draped stylishly over one shoulder, knee cocked, head tilted, and he’s chatting with some girls. They’re obviously enjoying his company, giggling madly and fidgeting under his close gaze, copper hair hiding playful eyes.

Hyuk is the youngest out of all of us, but his lean legs boost him almost to the same height as Hongbin. His looks alone make him look mature, which was probably the reason why so many girls hit on him. The poor kid was so clueless when it came to girls, he was always asking us for advice, even practicing his pickup lines.

Hyuk still hasn’t noticed us and I see Hongbin cup his hands around his mouth out of the corner of my eye.

“HYUKKIE~”

His head snaps in our direction and he immediately loses his composure, papers and books flying everywhere. The girls look slightly confused seeing us before they continue to giggle, waving goodbye as they join their friends, leaving a defeated looking Hyuk.

His gait is slow and uneven as he moves towards us, jacket still thrown over his shoulder.

“I hate you,” he mutters to Hongbin as he brushes past us, head lowered in embarrassment. Hongbin claps him on the back and smiles, laughing out an apology before we all start cracking up.

“Single for liiiiiiife,” I cheer and hold up my hand. His hard expression melts slightly and he returns my high five, chuckling softly.

We still have a few hours to kill before dark, so we decide to spend our time at a cafe before we head home to change. As I board the train back to Skypeak, Rebecca asks if she can come with me, no doubt to try and see Ravi, and I gently remind her to let him be. She stubbornly agrees.

A/N: YAAAAY FOR HYUK can't you totally see this happening like I feel like Hyuk would be the biggest dork ever

APPARENTLY VIXX IS HAVING ANOTHER COMEBACK LIKE NEXT MONTH?????????????????? ;-; someone save me pls

A huge thank you to everyone who's subbed so far! I'm only getting started with this fic, and I have a lot of great things in store for you all~ make sure to stay tuned!

xoxo Sahara