Nose buried in his datapad, Yoongi strolled down the hall of his dormitory. Test one in the lab yielded no reaction to the Alterverse skin sample from the last monster of the week. But test two showed advanced decay in the presence of direct sunlight, though the addition of water and darkness seemed to promote some cellular regrowth. He'd have to see if Dr. Kan would give him more samples to test. He'd need to check with Namjoon if there was any prior literature on the subject, or if Alterverse lore supported the idea of a species that matched these weaknesses. Direct sunlight could viably be converted by Citrine to something useful in the event they had to combat more of this particular type of monster.

Just a little past 8 in the morning, and the halls were mostly empty around him. The occasional classmate, the ones he knew were a bit more serious about their studies, mirrored his own movements really. Noses buried in their datapads, books, anything that aided in their work while at the academy. Sundays in the research dorm usually consisted of this for the more advanced students. If Yoongi didn't need to go to the lab today, he'd have probably just set up in his room to listen to music and write out his notes for most of the day. Such was life he supposed.

Or so he would have assumed had a loud crash not resounded behind him.

“Oh shoot!”

“Damnit!”

“Oh ! It's moving!”

Yoongi spared a glance behind him, and immediately raised his brows as two male students scrambled out of one of the rooms further down the hall. Shortly after them came a female student, cursing at the two boys he assumed. The trio all ran right past Yoongi, one of them shouting for 'security' he assumed from the garbled shouts for help.

Waiting only a moment, Yoongi turned and resumed his walk. He was only just beginning to bring his datapad back up to review when something crashed once again behind him.

Rolling out of the room the three students had just escaped was a...robot? On wheels?

Another student across the way opened their door to look out, and screamed. The robot on wheels immediately made an alarm noise, whirred, and charged into the now open room. Yoongi took a step back towards the room when a loud BANG made him freeze and wince, the loud noise hurting his ears. A moment later the student in the room the robot had driven into was shoving the now crushed robot back out into the hall. The student was brandishing a...was that a gun? It looked like one of those cartoonishly big bazookas. How in the world…?

“NO! You jerk!” The three students from before rushed right past Yoongi yet again, shouting at the boy who had destroyed what Yoongi assumed was their robot.

“That's half our project grade!”

“You three are the ones who ran off! What are you doing experimenting with battle programs?!”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH A BAZOOKA?!”

“IT'S A SONIC BLASTER IDIOT!”

“Oh my god...YOU STOLE THAT FROM DR. KAN'S ROOM!”

“I DID NOT!”

“OH ! IT'S STILL MOVING!”

The robot suddenly whirred back to life and charged forward towards the boy with the gun. The girl shrieked and immediately yanked the gun away to blast the robot again. Yoongi quickly covered his eyes this time, the volume of the gun still enough to make him wince even with his ears covered. More students filled the hall as they emerged to check the source of the disturbance. Some began shouting at the three for being nuisances, others were trying to get a closer look at the inventions, and everyone was being much too loud for Yoongi's liking.

Turning away from the chaos, Yoongi resumed his trek to the exit of the dorm. Taking a step to the side for others to rush past, he eventually made it to the door only to be greeted by a member of the faculty and a security officer. Oh boy.

Yoongi didn't even need to direct them, nor did he feel like sticking around to see the fallout of this scenario. Lab first, food next, library for sanctuary since clearly-CLANG CRASH RANDOM SHOUT OF SURPRISE – he wasn't going to get that here today. Just a quiet moment to study and write up his research notes.

Walking across campus toward the labs, Yoongi actually did slow down to enjoy the warm weather. Nice and comfortable. Maybe he'd add a nap in a corner of the courtyard before the library. When was the last time he left the dorm? Friday for the exhibition bout. He'd initially gone to join Seokjin...but one look at the crazed fans his friend and lab partner had chosen to sit with, and Yoongi noped it out of there post haste. He'd felt a little bad about that. Not for Seokjin's sake: he'd told both Yunyi and Hoseok he'd watch the bout this time. He supposed the next time he'd try to make it. Fourth time would be a charm, right? He'd also opted out of the meeting with the others that evening. Yoongi sighed. He really should try to see them more often.

“Min Yoongi.” Speak of the devil.

“Cheon Yunyi,” he paused to wait for his friend to catch up to him, “you're up early.”

“I'm supposed to take Jungkook to get calibrated for his support gear today,” Yunyi was carrying a rather large dufflebag, “So I'm taking this to the lab for when I meet him later.”

“Who's doing the pre-work?”

“Joohyuk said he would do it-”

“No he's not,” Yoongi rolled his eyes and offered to take the bag from Yunyi, “Come on.”

“Not a fan?” Yunyi followed him as he continued towards the labs.

“He's careless. He calibrated the gauntlet Minri used last week that ended up shorting out and blowing up while on her arm.”

“Oh hell...that was him? And he hasn't lost ranking for that yet?” Yunyi mused, a look of annoyance gracing her face, “No wonder the guys seemed so livid.”

“Malfunctions happen,” Yoongi paused once they arrived at the lab doors, bringing out his ID card to the security scanner, “that was negligence. Had Jimin reacted a moment later, Minri could have lost her arm at the best,” he mentally wiped away the thought of death, “this is not a game,” he muttered to himself more than to Yunyi, “Anyhow, has he ever been calibrated before? I could use the old data to sync the sensors more easily-”

“He's brand new.” Yoongi paused at that, “heard it right.”

“They gave you a new support?” Shaking his head, he led Yunyi into the lab towards the hardware testing area. He didn't want to vocalize it, since Yunyi was a friend and he already knew she had to be stressing about it already, but what were the school officials thinking? It was easy enough to get hurt when you were experienced, Minri just being the latest example. How did they expect a rookie to handle a fully trained operative? One misstep, one miscalculation, and boom, there goes an arm, and the operative would never be able to join Crystalline, let alone be maimed for life. Even if Yunyi was trained well enough on her own, and would probably end up being the control during her own fights rather than her support, just one misread of the output of a surge and-

“I hope he's good,” he vocalized while dropping her duffel bag onto a work bench and reaching into it to begin work. He normally didn't do a whole lot of hardware work, but he was leaps ahead of Joohyuk, and Seokjin wasn't around to finesse it. Probably off chasing after that blonde again.

“You and me both,” Yunyi sat herself next to him, quietly watching as he connected wires and sensors to check the output of the gear. Headset was in good condition. Good. Hm, the data analysis was off by a few seconds. He'd have to calibrate that back. That reminded him, her partner probably had a base line on file with the school he could attempt to use. He switched from the equipment to his own datapad, quickly sifting through student files. Jungkook...he should ask his surname. Nah, he'd find him eventually.

Yunyi shifted a moment before leaving his side to go check the other work benches. This wasn't uncommon for them honestly, and he felt no remorse at not carrying a conversation. Soon enough, Yunyi would wander over to Namjoon's bench to read one of his journals or books on Alterverse something or another.

“Is Namjoon studying folklore now?”

“Yeah. I was going to meet him later today to discuss that actually.” Wow, Dongho did not take care of his equipment, “you can join if you want.” He didn't need to look up to know Yunyi was smiling. It was all he could do not to smile a little bit himself. Really, Yunyi would have been right at home with the other research students. Yoongi hissed when the headset suddenly sparked, “or not. What the hell? No wonder Dongho was worthless. He must have dropped some liquid on this thing. It's going to take me a while to clean it up. I should just make your new boy do it.” But then Yoongi was certain he'd mess it up more. Ugh.

“Really? That piece of-” Yunyi paused to compose herself, “Well...maybe Namjoon should just come here? He said he had some new articles on the effects of socioeconomic class and how it potentially impacts the way Alterverse citizens perceive achievement and-”

“Namjoon is banned from the lab when I'm working on hardware,” Yoongi cut her off, “he'd just end up looking at us and we'd probably end up with an explosion.”

“...oh...” Yoongi didn't like that tone. He glanced up and saw Yunyi already with her phone in hand.

“...you just invited him over.”

“He said he'll be here in five minutes.” He really should be more annoyed at that, but it was Yunyi. Give that girl even a small glimmer of Alterverse information, and the true Alterverse nerd emerged. He didn't blame her though.

“Tell him not to come anywhere near me.”

Both jumped when the sound of a door sliding open from closer to the research area of the lab echoed into the room. To his surprise, Jimin emerged, and paused to stare at them looking just as surprised.

“I didn't think anyone else was here!”

“First: how did you get in here. Second: what are you doing.” Yoongi stated, immediately looking at the ID Jimin had in his hand.

“Oh! I Came here for Seokjin. He wanted me to drop off a report he forgot to leave in the lab, so this is his card. I was going to the gym anyways so it wasn't out of the way,” before Yoongi could even ask, Jimin added, “He had a library 'date' with Hani.”

“That guy,” Yoongi shook his head, “don't let that become a habit Jimin.”

“Understood! What are you two doing here anyhow?” He strode to the workbench, “do you need help?”

Well there was an idea.

“If you clean this,” Yoongi pushed the headset to Jimin, “properly, I'll not report you being here on another student's card.”

“What?! That's not nice!” Jimin sulked but planted himself next to Yoongi to look at the headset, “...Yunyi. How did you even function with Dongho as your support. This headset is...”

“Don't get me started.”

Relieved of his cleaning duties by someone who SHOULD know how to maintain the equipment, Yoongi excused himself to go to the research area. At least with Jimin there he could check on his projects at the very least. Behind him he could hear Jimin bemoan the state of the gear again while Yunyi simply agreed, groaning in frustration.

“This is how people get hurt!” Jimin gaped as he continued to inspect the items, “how did he even support you?! Yunyi you are amazing! You basically carried those bouts yourself!”

“Right?!”

“Hey Yoongi!” Jimin called back to him, “why don't we take this back to my dorm? I'm supposed to be meeting Taehyung there in about ten minutes, so we can both get this adjusted. Jungkook will be there too, you can meet him and finish calibrating later?”

Yoongi was only half listening honestly. Drawing up his chair to his work station, Yoongi quickly booted up the simulation for testing variables in a test environment on his computer. Pencil in hand, he began jotting down a few notes in a paper pad. He found he enjoyed the hand notes more these days over typing. His current project was testing the stress levels of some simulated Alterverse DNA via some simulations. The data from these tests could be used to sway Dr. Kan into giving him some more real samples to test. First, UV light exposure, then submerging at different water to pressure test, then complete darkness…

But really. Yoongi set aside the pencil, feeling his anger rising again. How the hell did Dongho even manage to be part of this school? Sure he was a decent fighter, but being a fighter was only important when you had to actually get into a fight. Support had to make sure their operatives were safe first and foremost. On top of that, how were operatives supposed to be safe if even the researchers who worked directly with them (like that idiot Joohyuk) couldn't even calibrate things properly? This past year Yunyi could have been far more hurt by idiots like those than by Hani's latest flashy display of hearts and bull beams. Without the technology here at the academy, thanks to Dr. Kan and his advanced teams, Minri would have lost her arm and then…

“You look like you're about to murder someone.”

Hell.

Yoongi swiveled in his chair to meet Namjoon.

“If you break something in here, it might be you,” Yoongi was only half teasing. The last time Namjoon was in the lab area he'd unplugged a computer half way through processing by tripping over the cord. This cord was behind a table mind you. They still didn't know how he managed that.

“Promise. Won't touch anything,” He pulled a chair up to sit next to Yoongi, looking over his simulation, “more DNA tests?”

“You know me.”

“What's next after these scenarios?”

“Fire more than likely. Seems classic enough to be effective.”

“Anyhow, have you seen Seokjin today around here? He has my notes from history.”

“Not today,” Yoongi returned to running the simulations, jotting down notes, “he's apparently with Hani in the library.”

“Ah. That whole lovesick boy in love thing is starting to get ridiculous. He just can't tell her no, eh?” Namjoon chuckled, “it's like he's a teenager with a war of hormones.”

“Okay, enough,” Yoongi fought the urge to laugh, “did you bring Yunyi all those books that make her heart a flutter?”

“Oh yeah,” Namjoon motioned to a backpack that looked like it was full of bricks, “I swear she doesn't sleep. Are you coming down to the cafe later by the way? I think Hoseok wanted to get us all together again.” When Yoongi didn't respond, he could practically feel the eyeroll from Namjoon, “you can't stay cooped up in here all day.”

“I'll take that bet.”

“Yoongi.”

“Ugh, fine, but only if I get through these,” he looked up from his notes and motioned to a computer off to the side next to Seokjin's workstation, “hey, can you turn that one on? If I use that in conjunction with mine it might make this go faster.”

As Namjoon rolled in his chair over to the computer, Yoongi heard Jimin call back to them again, asking once more if they could just go back to the dorms with the gear to get help from Taehyung and now Hoseok since apparently it was so much worse than he thought. He called back, telling them to go on ahead then and he could always meet them later. Really though, anything for them to just...leave him be for a few moments. How had his quiet morning turned into this mess? He blamed the bazooka. He really did. And Dongho. And Joohyuk.

Yoongi swore he hated people.

Something beeped, and Yoongi heard Namjoon swear. He looked back up and the console on Seokjin's monitor was flashing rapidly with different colors.

“What did you do?!” Yoongi rushed over, pushing Namjoon aside, “If Seokjin loses this research it's an entire semester's worth of work! I told you to turn the one next to it on, not his!”

“I just turned it on I swear! I didn't know it would do this!” Yoongi wasn't paying him any heed. He smelled something burning, and he realized the computer was hooked up to some wires connecting to a canister. It took only a few seconds for Yoongi to recognize the crystals within the canister. The simulated ones for the operatives to practice with. The gems were flashing as well with the computer, mirroring the lights from the computer screen. And the smell: it reminded him of sulfur. Gagging, Yoongi backed up, pulling Namjoon with him.

“We should-WATCH OUT!” Yoongi yanked Namjoon back harshly, seeing the canister begin to puff out against it's seals. He'd reacted just a moment soon enough to push Namjoon behind him as the canister exploded. He backed up, pushing Namjoon out of the lab area, the smell becoming unbearably strong. Sparkling dust erupted from the canister, filling the lab with the foul smell, and Yoongi shouted for Namjoon to cover his mouth.

But by doing so, Yoongi inhaled a lung full of the noxious, crystallized gas. The effect was immediate: his throat and nose burned. The sensation of tiny little needles piercing his skin followed, and then the burning in his lungs. He was only vaguely aware of the shouting voices behind him. Staggering in a painful haze, someone holding onto his arm to practically drag him, they stumbled out from the lab. The lab's alarms were ringing, emergency lights flashing.

It hurt to breathe.

He tried to move with the others, someone still holding onto his arm to drag him out. But his vision was just a kaleidoscope of colors and lights. He knew Jimin's voice, right next to him before feeling his other arm being pulled.

It hurt so much to breathe.

Every step he tried to take, the sensation of the needles just seemed to implode and increase. He couldn't move anymore. Yunyi was crying for him to keep moving. Damnit woman he would if he could…

It hurt too much to keep breathing…

“Yoongi,” a soft voice called to him, “Yoongi I need you to open your eyes.”

Yoongi groaned, the slight burning in his chest and throat still present. He tried to turn away from the voice, wanting instead to curl in on himself, bury himself into the pillow and- pillow? Tentatively, Yoongi slid open his eyes and was met with the sight of Dr. Kan looming over him. The doctor immediately smiled in relief.

“There you go! And hey, your eyes are only a little bloodshot!”

“Where…?” Yoongi tried to sit up, but his whole body just felt like someone had bodyslammed him a few times against a brick wall. The room around him was the clinical white of a hospital, and it didn't take him long to figure out where he was.

“You had an accident,” Dr. Kan sighed, “apparently Seokjin had an experiment set up to test the frequency of the gems, and a power surge must have thrown off the parameters. We're not certain how it happened: had it not been you, it would have been Seokjin tomorrow when he came in to run the test. We're still investigating, but I feel this is just an accident. You breathed in some vaporized dust from the Alterverse. You stopped breathing for a little while there, but luckily Jimin and Yunyi both know CPR. Let it be known investing in basic first aid for our students is well worth it.”

“Is Namjoon okay?” He asked quietly, feeling the burn at even just speaking.

“He breathed in a little, but just has a sore throat. He'll be fine.”

“Yunyi and Jimin?”

“All fine. But I'm sad to say your experiment is a loss. You'll be working late nights to make this up young man,” Dr. Kan added mischievously, making Yoongi laugh bitterly only to turn over and start hacking. Oh god it hurt to do anything.

“Take it easy. My tests show no long term damage. Consider this a mini vacation. All expense paid to the infirmary! And I'll be your nurse! Do you want a pink or white mini dress? I've got both!” Yoongi almost laughed again but ended up curling up in pain, “Ah, sorry, sorry. Try not to talk or overdo anything. I'll have the nurse come in and give you some sleeping medicine. Your friends out there are begging to come see you, but I'm going to send them away for now. Get some rest.”

Dr. Kan having left, Yoongi sighed (owwww), and curled up to try and sleep before the nurse came to give him medicine. At least no one else was hurt.

And at least he had some peace and quiet now.

Class was something of a bore for Hani. Not the training or the actual classes about Crystalline or the Alterverse. Those could be interesting. But classes like...math. Ugh. Hani loathed the times she had to simply sit and listen to the professor lecture on and on. Today's class was about chemistry. CHEMISTRY. Why the hell did she need to worry about chemistry? Leave that to the eggheads. Speaking of which…where was her lab partner?

For most basic education classes, all three of the student bodies came together. Even now, Hani could recognize Jiyeon with her partner (that one girl who recently got a lot creepier but Hani for the life of her could not recall her name), Joohyuk from the research team, and...okay, where was Seokjin? The seat next to her was empty, not even having the older boy's bag or other materials scattered across it. Hani had run late to this class today, and had assumed he'd just stepped out.

But here they were, nearing the end, and her lab partner was nowhere to be seen. At least this wasn't a true lab day. Just note taking. She didn't even try to hide her yawn at this point. She just needed this class over because then she could go to her true calling: kicking . Where was Seokjin anyhow? The nerd never missed class, let alone this one. To her credit, Hani did actually take notes this time without him. No that she really understood half of it: he could tell her later. Or if not him, she could get one of the other guys in class to tutor her she supposed.

The moment the teacher closed the lecture, Hani was already out the door. Now she just needed to eat, do some homework she supposed, and then back to the practice arena where she truly belonged. That, or out in the city for some shopping. There was an idea. Maybe Reni could get her manager to drive them to the city for some shopping after school today. Great. She had plans. Food. Study (blegh). Train. Shop. Perfect.

“Honeymoon!” Someone called to her.

“Nope! Not now! Outta my way!” Without hesitation, Hani practically parted a path for herself through the small group of boys and girls who'd come to meet her in the hall. Hani did note with some satisfaction that since the bout with Minri she'd seen a couple of new faces in her entourage. It was fantastic.

Life as one of the top ten was what most in the operative and support classes desired. Being top ten meant that you were in the top contending for a seat at the table known as Crystalline. With Garnet retiring soon, that meant within the year any one of them could become a member of Crystalline. And Hani knew damn well it should be herself. Truthfully, even if there were ten of them, only a few of those were really worth mentioning (of which Hani was one of course). It was one of the reasons the bout had been between herself and Minri, and even then it really should have been between herself and Reni.

Reni. Sans herself, Reni was one of the most well liked and known faces around the academy. But unlike Reni, Hani had built her reputation while in the academy. Reni had her fame backing her up. There's a clear difference there, really there is.

Another perk of being top of the list: head of the line. The cafeteria was full to the brim today, but that was never a problem for her. A sweet smile to the next boy in line, a flash of her ranking on her uniform (and maybe some of the due to her very deliberate deep neckline of her once modest school uniform), and into line Hani went. Much to her chagrin, she couldn't find Taehyung or Jimin in the cafeteria. Nor was there any sign of Reni. That was a shame. Instead, she had to grace to the table of first year rookies with her presence. The two boys on the end were very cute, if a little short honestly, so at least she had a good view during her meal. Gotta feed the tummy and the eyes.

Again, Hani scanned the cafeteria for any of the boys, or even Yunyi or Minri at this point. If she found one of them, maybe they'd be up for some practice. And to her delight, there they were. Well, not the girls, the more interesting of her species to be certain.

Huddled together, her partner was with both Jimin and Seokjin. The trio were outside, visible from one of the windows in the cafeteria. They actually looked distressed, talking animatedly to each other, Tae making big and wild gestures. Jimin even looked a bit angry, looking like he might be scolding someone, but it vanished quickly as shook his head. Seokjin placed a hand on his shoulder, the trio now much calmer. Huh. What were they even talking about?

Hani had to know.

Without bidding farewell to the two short guys she'd actually managed to get to come sit with her, Hani practically skipped through the cafeteria to the exit. By the time she'd made it outside, Seokjin was alone. He sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. Wow, the nerd looked super stiff right now.

“Jinnie~” Hani sang, siding up to the taller young man and slipping her arm around his, leaning her full weight into him. Seokjin visibly jumped, stumbling a little and looking down at Hani in surprise. Fortunately for them both, Hani was the superior physical specimen and kept the ungainly fool from falling to the ground. Nerd.

“Hani, um, hi.” Oh he was cute when he couldn't look her in the eye.

“You left me all alone during chemistry. Hani was so lonely without you,” she giggled. His face was slowly turning redder and redder. Excellent, “you're not feeling sick are you Jinnie?” Hani tiptoed up, resting her hand on his face as if to take his temperature, fully aware how the stretch made her blouse ride up and reveal her (rather magnificent if she must say so) stomach. Seokjin sputtered, muttering something on par of an apology while subtly trying to separate himself from Hani.

Say what she wanted about Seokjin being one of the research nerds, he was extremely nice to look at. Pretty face, tall, and from what Hani managed to sneak a peek at in the locker rooms (what? She totally entered the mens side by mistake), had some nice things going on under the well kept academy uniform. Nice. And he was shy, and reserved, but also her biggest “fanboy”. Doubly nice. Now, all she needed was him to come with her to the library, or even maybe her dorm. He'd get her homework done in no time, no doubt about that.

“Come with me~” she practically sang, pulling him by the hand towards the library, Seokjin following her without too much resistance, “I'm sorry I had to miss our date yesterday by the way. I'll make it up to you~”

“Uh, it's fine, it was just to look over your math lecture, no big deal...”

“So what are you up to today? You were arguing with the boys again?”

“What? Oh, that. No, just, hey wait a second,” He finally stopped walking, making Hani also stop. She arched a well manicured brow at him, waiting for the explanation on this delay to her pursuit of happiness. She had other things to do, come on already, “there was an accident in the labs yesterday. Yoongi is in the infirmary-”

“What?” That got her attention. While Hani didn't hang around the research folks too often, she knew Yoongi as a friend to Seokjin and Yunyi. He often came around during their practices along with Seokjin, “Is he okay?”

“Well...yeah. But he's in the infirmary, so I spent the day bringing him assignments and updating him on how his research projects were coming along.”

“Oh, oh good,” Honestly it was.

“I...I uh actually have to go see him again so I can't-”

“What? Nooo,” she whined softly, siding back up to Seokjin, “I need your help on my school work. You said he's okay right? So come with me for a couple hours. We can,” she leaned up again, entwining her fingers with his hand and whispering into his ear, “study and use your big brain to help me with my...needs.”

Seokjin's ears turned a deep red, and Hani smirked smugly to herself. That should do it.

“Ah, sorry, I...I really can't,” Seokjin quickly separated himself from Hani, much to her surprise, “he's hurt because I...I can't today. I'm sorry Hani. May-Maybe another time?”

“Pfft,” Hani let out a snort and turned away, “whatever. Go take care of your boyfriend then Seokjin. I'll just get Daehyun to help me,” with a small indignant 'hmph' Hani strode away. And did she make sure her strides were long so her glorious legs would be privy for him to see? Hell. Yes.

And when she didn't hear him running up behind her, sputtering out an apology and asking to join her after all, Hani paused to look back. Seokjin had already left. The bastard totally didn't even give her a second thought. The nerve. Well screw him then.

Nix the studying. Homework could wait. The nerve and audacity. Hani fumed to herself as she stalked towards the training arena, blatantly ignoring anyone who called out to her. Even when someone shouted “WOO!” to her, she strode right past them without a second glance. There was only one thing she needed right now, and it involved targets and destruction.

BAM! There went the door.

“You and you,” Hani proclaimed, pointing to a surprised Minri and Reni who happened to be in the training hall, practice weapons in hand, “I need a fight, and I need it now.”

“Ooooh, someone's pissed,” Reni chuckled, elbowing Minri in the side gently to shake the other girl out of her shocked expression.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Minri went back to the weapon rack, “what do you want to practice with?”

“Bow.”

“That's not a good sparring weapon though-”

“JUST GIVE ME SOMETHING!” Hani nearly screeched, startling Minri into dropping her bo staff with a loud clatter. But when she went to retrieve the bo, she ended up stumbling backwards and fell into the weapon rack, sending the remaining practice equipment clattering onto the ground. Reni was already laughing while Minri looked up at them sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders a little as if to say 'whoops'. Hani needed that. She let out her own laughter and reached down to help Minri back to her feet.

“How about we do target practice then?” Minri offered, “the range is set up already.”

“Sounds like a plan. Any of you ers beat my high score yet?”

“I think Yunyi got really close,” Reni responded, “She was so excited until Minri told her she was three points shy.”

“Aw, poor baby,” Hani chuckled to herself.

Despite her foul mood moments earlier, Hani did feel more at ease. Reni and Minri, along with Yunyi, were some of the first people she met while in the Academy. It just so happened to work our that they all climbed the ranks together. They were stable and known. They all knew they would never out shoot Hani, but it was cute to see them try. Or at least Yunyi try. Minri wasn't a good shot by any means, but Hani even had to admit she loathed the days they had to go toe to toe. She was just thankful that in real life, she wouldn't be constrained by sparring rules. Now when it came to wrestling, she had Minri beat for sure. That was a good time! Playful judo and wrestling and Reni forcing Yunyi to the ground while the other screamed and told her to get off, Minri being a good sport after Hani pulled the arm a little too hard…

Hani shook herself out of those thoughts. Whew. When did she get so sentimental?

“So who got you all riled up anyhow?” Reni asked, the trio taking their places at the ranged weapon range. Minri had just turned the simulator on, and discs of light flew across the range in quick succession. Hani was already shooting three arrows by the time Reni had asked the question, exclaimed loudly when all of her shots hit their mark near dead center and did a little spin to launch into her own victory pose. Reni laughed and tried her own luck, only managing to hit one out of the three.

“Shucks.”

“It was that nerdo jin,” Reni giggled at the nickname she used. Hani felt clever, “blew me off to go to the infirmary. Now I've got nothing to do. Oh! Reni, can Minhyun take us into town for shopping this evening?”

“Today? He's probably busy but I'll just tell him to come on down. What time do you want to go?”

“Is Seokjin okay?” Minri asked, taking a spot next to Hani to wait for her turn at the range, notching an arrow to be ready.

“Huh? Oh, he's fine. Jackass, but fine. He went to go check on Yoongi.”

“Oh right. I visited him this morning in the infirmary. Hoseok and Yunyi told me about it.” Reni mused,m “the burning in his chest is gone at least. Poor thing is paler than he usually is.”

“Eh-OW!” Minri yelped when she released the bowstring, distracted so her arm was caught by the string as it let the arrow fly way off the mark. Wincing, she continued, eyes wide, “is he okay?”

“I guess so.”

“What happened?”

“Accident in the labs-hey, where are you going?” Hani asked as Minri replaced the bow and was heading to the exit, “Aw c'mon, don't ditch me too!”

“No one told me he was hurt. I should at least visit.”

“He should be be fine. C'mon Minri. Come shopping with me and Reni for once instead! Minri wait!-ugh, she's as bad as Seokjin,” Hani grumbled when Minri made a quick exit.

“To be fair, he's friends with her partner and did bring her some nice things to read while her arm recovered.”

“I brought her magazines to read too!”

“Don't complain so much. You're starting to sound like Yunyi,” Reni soothed, “but your whining is not as cute.” Reni ruffled Hani's blonde hair, earning her a smack from Hani to back off.

“Oh go yourself.”

“I mean it! Yunyi keeps complaining about Jungkook being so new and green, and honestly I think that might do her some good.” Hani nodded quietly for once.

“Ready to go? Minhyun will be here soon.” Reni was already going towards the exit, “we can ask him to clean this place up when we get back.”

“Fiiiiine.” Hani sighed, following after the older girl. She did spare a glance towards the infirmary as they went...and maybe Hani had a few more magazines she could possibly part with in the morning.