“Whatcha watching mom?” Bomi sat down on the couch next to her mother.

“The news, can you believe it? Old man Charles died today” Bomi’s mom shook her head in disappointment.

“What’s the big deal? He was like 100 years old.”

“The ‘big deal’ is he was the last person born on earth. He was the only thing keeping us tied to our home”

Bomi sighed “Mom, this is home now”

Bomi’s mother grabbed Bomi’s hands “No, this is temporary. One day it’ll be safe to go back to earth, you’ll see.”

Bomi lacked her mother’s enthusiasm on the topic. “All right mom” Bomi got up from the couch and grabbed her bag. “See you after school”

“Have fun sweetie!”

-

At school, Bomi sat in her usual seat next to her best friend Minhyuk.

“Did you hear the news?” Minhyuk asked.

“About old man Charles?”

Minhyuk nodded. “Got me wondering if we’ll ever go to earth. I bet everyone’s probably thinking the same thing huh”

Bomi agreed.

Then the class jerk walked over and slammed his hands down on the Bomi’s desk. “What are you two yapping about?”

“Leave us alone Jooheon” Bomi tried to give him an intimidating stare but he wasn’t fazed.

Jooheon reached out and touched a strand of Bomi’s hair. “Your hair looks pretty today snowflake”

Bomi smacked his hands away. “I told you to stop calling me that!”

Minhyuk wanted to stand up and push Jooheon away from Bomi but he was too scared. Jooheon was the person nobody wanted to mess with.

“But snowflake! It’s your pet name! I’m still waiting for mine” Jooheon laughed.

“Yeah how’s blockhead sound?” Bomi retorted.

“Ouch” Jooheon removed his hands from her desk and held them over his heart. “That hurt snowflake. Hurt right here.” Before leaving he pushed Minhyuk’s math book on the floor. “Oops, my bad”

Once he was gone Bomi punched Minhyuk’s arm. “Ow!” he whined.

“That’s for not having my back”

“I wanted to…I just..”

“Yeah yeah, save it”

The teacher came into the classroom and called everyone’s attention. “Before we get started I have very exciting enouncement to make.” The teacher spoke in all seriousness “The space station is offering a special two month educational program for kids around your age. This is a huge opportunity for you and can get you into high position or even in the council. You’ll be separated from your family during that time but the payoff is well worth it.”

Minhyuk elbowed Bomi and smiled.  “That sounds amazing” he whispered.

The teacher continued. “You were all possible applicants but we have selected people randomly. I’ll leave the list posted on the bulletin board so you can check it after class.”

-

When the bell rang everyone charged for the bulletin. Minhyuk and Bomi stood in the back of the line. “I really hope I get picked. I can just see it now, Councillor Minhyuk.”

Bomi laughed. “Doesn’t sound too bad, being a councillor. Getting to make the rules and call the shots.”

Bomi observed the kids as they walked away from the bulletin board. They either had on sad or enthusiastic expressions letting her know who was making the list.

“Yes! I Got Picked!!” Yelled Wonho, the class president.

Soon enough it was Minhyuk and Bomi’s turn to check the bulletin. “I can’t look, Bomi look for me!”

Bomi checked the sign for they’re names. “Sorry Minhyuk, looks like you weren’t picked.”

Minhyuk sighed “that’s all right, let’s check for your name” Then almost instantly his pouty face turned into a smile. “You got picked Bomi!”

“Really?” Bomi had to look and see for herself and there it was. Her name printed in black and white.

Bomi couldn’t stay excited for long. “But Minhyuk, you’re the one that actually wanted to go. This isn’t fair”

“That’s why you have to go; you have to go so you can tell me all about it!” Minhyuk tried desperately to look happy for Bomi.

Bomi shook her head.  “It’s not like I’m going to end up in the counsel anyway. We all know I’m going to end up working in engineering. “

“Please Bomi! You have to go. Do it for me?” Minhyuk pulled his best puppy dog face.

“Oh all right! But we should have some sort of last hurrah before I leave. I mean, we’re not going to see each other for two months”

Minhyuk nodded “I have the perfect idea of what we should do"

As they were leaving Bomi bumped into a someone and got knocked onto the floor. "Ouch"

"Are you okay?" The boy asked.

Bomi immedetly froze up when she  saw who she hit. It was her long-time crush, Kihyun. He was an upperclassman that probably way out of her league. Bomi had spoken to him a total of two times. The first time was to ask for a pencil and the second time was when she perposely dropped her pencil on the floor. 

Kihyun waved his hand in front of her face. "Miss? Do you need me to call the nurse?" 

"Huh?" Bomi snapped out of her daze "No no, I'm fine"

He then helped Bomi stand on her nnow weak knees. "I saw that you were on the list for the two month program"

"You know my name? I mean..." Bomi bit her tongue.

Kihyun laughed "You're cute. See you tomorrow"

Bomi nodded and watched him walk away. "He said I was cute!" Her face blushed.

Minhyuk groaned and shook his head. 

-

“You want me to go in there?” Bomi looked at Minhyuk like he was the strangest person on the ship.

“To get to the unauthorized part of the ship, yes” Minhyuk smiled.

“Why are we going over there anyway? Won’t we get caught?”

“It’s part of the adventure!” Minhyuk pointed to the air vent. “Now go!”

Minhyuk helped lift Bomi into the air vent. Then he climbed up and got in. The vents were big enough for them to be able to crawl side by side.

“How much longer” Bomi complained

“Not much further. See we’re right over the classroom.” Minhyuk pointed to the hole in the duct were you could see the room.

Minhyuk tried to keep moving but Bomi stopped him. “Is that the Prime Minister?”

“I think he’s talking to our teacher”

They decided to listen in on what they were saying.

“Did you inform the students?” The prime minister asked.

“Yes, they all think they are entering an educational program that will grant them success.”

“Very good, tomorrow they will get on the shuttle. They should land on earth by mid-afternoon.”

“Will they be okay?” The teacher asked. “Is it safe?”

“That’s why we’re sending them. We need to see if it’s safe to live on Earth again.”

Minhyuk gasped and Bomi quickly covered his mouth with her hand. “Shhh…”

The two of them turned around and left the vents. They didn’t dare to speak until they got to Bomi’s living quarters.

“They’re sending you to Earth!” Minhyuk exclaimed. “They’re sending you all like little lab rights.”

“We have to tell, people can’t be okay with them killing a group of kids.”

“We can’t tell.” Minhyuk disagreed. “They’ll shut us up before we can”

“Then what do we do?”

“Pretend to be sick tomorrow or skip school, doesn’t matter, just as long as you make sure not to show up to school tomorrow” Minhyuk ran his fingers threw his hair. “I can’t believe they’re going to do this."

-

Bomi stayed up and waited for her mom to come home from work. Even though Minhyuk told her not to tell she had to tell her mom. She knew she would understand.

“Mom”

Bomi’s mother opened the door. “What are you still doing up? Can’t sleep?”

“Mom there’s something I have to tell you”

Bomi’s mother took off her shoes and sat down on the couch. “Go ahead sweetie, tell me”

“You know that space program I got picked for?”

“Yes, I’m so excited for you”

“No mom, you shouldn’t be”

“How come sweety?”

“It’s a trap! They’re sending all the kids to Earth to see if it’s safe to live on.”

“Sweetie that’s crazy”

“It’s true! I overheard the prime minister saying it”

“You must have misheard him”

“But I didn’t! Minhyuk heard him too”

“Oh here we go again with that Minhyuk kid again. He’s a terrible influence on you.”

“Mom, are you listening to me? They are going to kill me!”

“I don’t want to hear any more of this” Bomi’s mother walked into her room. “This is a great opportunity for this family. You’re going and that’s final!”

“But mom..”