Big windows, grey colored walls and a quiet classroom. It was always the same thing inside the school, but there was an exception that Mingyu could vouche for. As the teacher continued to discuss about the history of the globe, Mingyu looked over his notebook, drawing doodles left and right. The notebook gleamed on his face a bit, it was an electric type of notebook that doubles as a tablet. 

Mingyu erased his doodles as he aimlessly opened the school's website on his notebook as he searched for Jihoon's student number in the site. He didn't think much of it, especially when other students were also busy with their own tablet. Mingyu found the courage to send a message to Jihoon during class, after all, it was safe, right?

"What are you doing? :)" Mingyu wrote as he sent it to Jihoon's student number, after a few seconds, he got a wary response from the Mayor's son.

"How did you get my student number?" Mingyu inwardly smiled at the response, it was to be expected from Jihoon after all.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Did you search my name up in the school's website?" Jihoon dismissed Mingyu's statement.

"Maybe." Mingyu wrote before sending the message to Jihoon. He waited for a bit, looking at the glass board, he was expecting a reply immediately, but it took a while before he received a message back from Jihoon.

"Mingyu-ssi, I think you left something in my house last weekend. I think we should meet after our morning class." As Mingyu read Jihoon's response, he felt the message was too stiff, too distant. But Mingyu went along with it. He skeptically wrote "Okay." to reply, yet he felt bothered by it. It was a strange response. Mingyu couldn't get his mind off of Jihoon. He was excited to see him, especially when somewhere along the mess he made they were on speaking terms now.

The bell rang obnoxiously and just like in the army, the students stood up in unison as they start their break time. Mingyu makes his way to the doorway with a small smile, unfortunately he felt his teacher's judging eyes on him and immediately reverted back to his stoic expression he usually wears. 

"Hyung, why are we going this way?" Asked Chan as they walked side by side in the east wing of the school, "Aren't we going to the cafeteria?"

"We are." Mingyu replied, his eyes scoped out the area.

"Why won't you tell me where we're going?" Chan questioned. He was suspicious and wary of his buddy's actions, he knew that he should keep an eye on him since Mingyu was a bit careless and not as disciplined as the others.

Mingyu kept quiet, his eyes still looking left and right. He knew that Chan was looking at him weirdly, and he understood why but he was more enthusiastic to meet Jihoon more than caring for his image at that moment. It wasn't long until his eyes landed on Jihoon, his face brightened and he was a bit to greet him when suddenly his eyes trailed to the right to find Wonwoo with him. It was no surprise, but still, the picture of Jihoon and Wonwoo together made his stomach churn for the worse.

"May I speak with Mingyu-ssi, in private?" Jihoon had his usual stoic face, somehow, Mingyu wondered if he was putting on an act as well? 

"The only private place in the school is the restroom...." Chan commented, as he looked to their right, there they stood conveniently in front of the men's restroom. He quietly took a step back as he nodded in response to Jihoon's question. 

Wonwoo on the other hand remained quiet as he sees Jihoon dragging Mingyu inside the restroom. There on the side of the hallway stood Chan and Wonwoo. Chan felt a heavy air between them. He wasn't basically nervous but he felt his heart rate going faster. Chan stood flimsily on the side as he looked at Wonwoo's expressionless face. The older kept quiet, blatantly ignoring Chan's curiousness as he stood prim and proper.

"I don't think we formally introduced ourselves." Chan managed to say. He felt a bit strange having difficulty talking to a person. He brought out his hand to shake as he said, "I'm Lee Chan." 

Upon hearing his introduction, showing no sign of interest, Wonwoo looked to his right to find Chan's hand waiting for him. He gave a deep sigh before shaking Chan's hand out of obligation. 

"Let's get along from now on." Chan said, completely ignoring the cold shoulder Wonwoo was giving him.

Meanwhile in the restroom, Mingyu found himself being dragged inside a cubicle by Jihoon. Frazzled by the older's actions, he was speechless throughout until he was made to sit on the closed toilet.

"Why are you--"

Jihoon immediately silenced him with a hand on Mingyu's mouth. Jihoon leaned over as he spoke in a hush yet firm manner, "Messaging me through our notebook is dangerous."

Mingyu's furrowed brows were apparent as Jihoon continued to warn him, "The government knows the content of our messages." Mingyu tapped Jihoon's hand, he was taken aback by what Jihoon said as he tried to gather his thoughts. Jihoon pulled his hand away from Mingyu's mouth as he crossed his arms.

"....We don't have any privacy.... at all..." Mingyu pointed out, still dumbfounded by the new found information. From the cameras in their schools, to their neighborhoods, they were never allowed to be completely private. Even if they don't have cameras inside their homes, there were always cameras outside to peek through windows. 

"The only place where we can't draw suspicion is in our houses or the big tree just near the town library." Jihoon said.

"Near the town library?" Mingyu repeated.

"The cameras don't reach that big tree, and there's no signal over there." Jihoon explained.

"And how do you know all of this?" Mingyu raised his brow, curious of Jihoon's knowledge about the town.

"Being the son of the Mayor, I have been exposed to political gatherings, super top secret plans and of course, blueprints." Jihoon nonchalantly reasoned, as he leaned on the closed cubicle door. "We can't hold get-togethers forever if we plan to continue this kind of relationship." 

Upon hearing those words, Mingyu's ears turned red as he had an apparent grin on his face, "This kind of what?"

"This kind of sneaking around that will have both of us killed all because of your secret kind of relationship." Jihoon pointed out as he leaned a little closer to Mingyu's face to emphasize his point.

"Are you proposing we start meeting there?" Mingyu had to swerve the subject to something else, he felt his palms sweating the minute Jihoon leaned towards him. He couldn't take the closeness, the place they were in wasn't helping either.

"Yes." Jihoon said bluntly. "It's safer there. Plus, they won't suspect anything since it will look like we're just going to the town library. The library and townhall are the only exceptions where we can go alone freely."

Mingyu felt a rush of warmth enveloping his chest as he looked at Jihoon who was still explaining everything to him. He couldn't deny that it felt great being on speaking terms with Jihoon and it felt so surreal for him, having to sneak out, hold secrets and basically be himself with someone he never even dreamt of being close to.

"Yah." Jihoon clicked his tongue, "Are you even listening to me?" His small eyes looked over Mingyu's glazed ones.

"Sorry.." Mingyu let the word slip out of his mouth, "It's just that.... it's interesting to be with someone who is not medicated.. It feels strange... yet oddly relieving."

Hearing Mingyu's reasoning rendered Jihoon to be quiet, he felt flattered by the tall guy's words. "....Well.. you dragged me into this mess... Like I had any choice ."

Jihoon's spunky attitude made Mingyu chuckle a bit, "I guess so."

Meanwhile in the orderly halls outside the bathroom, the two continued to stand stiffly next to each other.

"They're taking their precious time, huh?" Chan broke the ice, the atmosphere was far too heavy, but he was met with silence.

He looked at Wonwoo who was uninterested to say the least, "Erhm.. It's amazing how you always have high grades in school."

And again, Chan was met with silence. Wonwoo stood there like a rock, quiet and cold. Chan was about to give up, especially when all the handbooks that he read about starting a conversation have failed him at that moment, when suddenly a loud rumbling sound came from his stomach. It wasn't just a hush rumbling, but it reached through Wonwoo's ears.

Wonwoo looked over to where the younger was and gave a slight chuckle. 

Large boxes were treated delicately as it boarded a handful of military trucks. The General watched over every single one of his subordinates as he felt a solem wind wash through him. He closed his eyes and felt the familiarity of the fateful day he met his adopted son. As soon as the General opened his eyes, he noticed a woman wearing a distinct white lab coat. 

He could tell she was not pleased with what they were doing, he could tell that her values were the opposition.

"General." The woman said, "Sign these and you'll be able to bring this back to the globe." The look of distaste in her face as he took hold of the clipboard and placed a few of his signatures was obvious to him. 

"Do you hate your job?" The General asked.

Taken aback by the upfront question, the woman gathered enough common sense to respond, "I just have to do it."

"Then it's the same with me." The General a fatherly smile to the woman, "It's not what I want and for how long I wanted to stay here rather than go back inside, but maybe someday, y'know?"

The woman looked at the General with a surprised expression plastered on to her face. She didn't expect him to reply, she felt like he was unlike the other people inside the globe.

The General raised a hand to wave goodbye before boarding one of the trucks as they took the long way round to go back inside the globe.

"Did you bring the books?" His voice was hushed as he looked to his left and right warily. He looked at the tall man before him who just arrived. Jihoon asked for Mingyu to meet him under the big tree after school.

"Yeah, yeah." Mingyu drawled out, opting to sit beside Jihoon under the big tree near the library. "You read so fast, I feel like you're going to finish all my books in a week. He placed his bag on Jihoon's lap which was filled with books. Mingyu watched as the smaller guy's fice lit up with excitement as he opened the bag before him.

Mingyu observed the way Jihoon's nose would crinkle and the way his eyes would squint and his dimples would show. The way Jihoon's hair would hide a bit of his eyes and the way his cheeks would turn pink from the increase blood flow.

"You're staring at me again." Jihoon pointed out with a stern tone of voice.

This time Mingyu remained quiet, Mingyu's intense gaze warmed up Jihoon's body, he felt his spine tingle from Mingyu's eyes which Jihoon immediately broke eye contact with. Jihoon felt strange under Mingyu's gaze but oddly enough he didn't hate it.

"What's with you..." Jihoon mumbled to himself.

"Have you ever wondered what's outside the globe?" Mingyu's voice felt like velvet to Jihoon's ears. Although the question was absurd, Jihoon immediately responded.

"H-huh?" Jihoon fumbled a bit as he added, "I don't understand why you're third from the school ranking... Isn't it obvious there's no life outside the globe?"

"But what if there is? Do you want to know?" Mingyu's solem voice felt new to Jihoon, it was a breath of fresh air.

Jihoon furrowed his brows, he felt uneasy for a bit, he felt Mingyu's heavy feeling reaching towards him. He didn't know why but somehow he felt scared of something unknown.

"N-No... and I don't I want to know..." Jihoon shook his head unable to make eye contact with Mingyu.

"I want to know." Mingyu cut him off, "I want to know if there's a chance to leave this place."

"Oh." Jihoon sounded disappointed, "If there is something outside, you're going to leave here? It's not that easy." He added an awkward scoff.

"I just want to feel free..." Mingyu said in a hushed manner, "I want to leave this place and take you with me."

"I see- WHAT?" Jihoon's eyes grew like golf balls, he looked at Mingyu who was unfazed with his own words. He felt his heart throb inside of his chest, he felt a bit embarrased, as well as shy.

"I just think you will like it outside. Y'know, no one controlling us, making our own decisions, feeling genuinely happy." Mingyu smiled in a nonchalant manner, "But it's just a thought."

"i think you're taking these books way too seriously." Jihoon tried to sound annoyed as he scanned through the new books he received from Mingyu.

"I guess so." Mingyu chuckled, showing his canines.

Jihoon didn't know why but he felt happy hearing those words. He felt a sense of oerwhelming happiness. The fact that Mingyu thought of him, he felt butterflies fluttering inside his stomach like it was roaming a meadow filled with flowers. Mingyu looked over to his side to find Jihoon smiling to himself, that made him smile as well.

AN: FINALLY MANAGED TO GET THIS OUT HAHAHAHA Well a new term started and well... all my professors jsut want to kill me with lots of projects O<-< but luckily my favorite way of procrastinating is writing lol. I hope you guys enjoy this alot. Please be safe, and I hope everyone finds a ray of light, just like how the lonely Mingyu finds Jihoon who can share his emotions with him in this fic :)

Reviews are greatly appreciated~ tell em what you think <3