Joohyun awoke the next morning to the sweet smell of tangerines, making her nuzzle in closer to the soft warmth that embraced her. She sighed at the even breathing she felt in her hair, realizing that she was still in bed and Seulgi was still hugging her tightly as if to protect her from every evil in the world. Joohyun blushed freely as she looked up to see Seulgi’s sleeping face. The high school student was sure that even if she saw that sleeping face every day it would continue to be the cutest thing she’s ever seen. If she was honest Seulgi kind of reminded her of a bear. Joohyun sighed contently as she got out of bed, careful not to disturb the sleeping girl next her, and made her way down to the kitchen preparing something to eat for Seulgi and herself before quickly eating, showering, getting dressed nd heading out with her backpack on her back.

“Morning Hyun!” Wendy was quick to greet her as Joohyun exited her home, locking the door behind her. She smiled at her friend and went to her side.

“Morning Wan!” Joohyun said as the two began their walk towards school. “Yo, did you manage to finish your calculus homework last night?”

“I did all but one. Problem 11 on page 150 was a total . I swear Professor Lee didn’t explain how to solve anything like that!” Wendy replied with a whine as she dramatically clung to Joohyun who laughed.

“I know! I was hoping to copy yours!” Joohyun said with a groan as the two continued their walk.

“So what did that girl from yesterday want?” Wendy said with a smirk on her face. “Did she confess? Did you say yes?” She said in a cooing voice making Joohyun groan out loud again.

“No!” She replied extending the o somewhat. “She’s the daughter of a friend of my grandparents that came to stay here for a while from the mainland, but she doesn’t know any Korean so my grandma wrote her a note to tell me that they would be going out of town for a while.” Joohyun said not looking at her friend in the eye. She really hated having to lie to Wendy but it’s not like she could tell her the truth.

“Joohyun! Wendy! Good morning!” The duo heard a (loud) familiar voice calling their name from behind them which made them stop walking and turn around.

“Yongsun! Byul! Hey!” Wendy greeted the two women that were walking hand in hand towards them.

“Hey love birds!” Joohyun teased as the two came to a stop next to Joohyun and Wendy.

“Hey!” Byuli, a nineteen year old car mechanic and longstanding girlfriend of Yongsun, greeted nonchalantly as she gestures for the four to continue walking which they did.

“Byul did you cut and dye your hair again? It looks dope!” Wendy said with a grin and Byul nodded with a smile tucking a strand of orange hair behind her ear.

“Yeah Byul, short hair really suits you.” Joohyun added with a thumb up.

“Thanks…” She muttered quietly as Yongsun grinned at the embarrassed smile on her girlfriends face.

“Joohyun you have your own girlfriend to compliment, leave mine alone!” Yongsun said with a laugh at the blush forming on Joohyun’s face.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” The younger girl whined out making Yongsun laugh.

“Wait do you mean that blue eyed girl?” Wendy asked and Yongsun nodded with a smirk. “Hah! Friend my ! Joohyun how could you?! All this time I’ve been turning down girls for you and you go behind me back like this!” Wendy said dramatically holding her chest making Yongsun and Byul laugh and making Joohyun hit her in the arm.

“Shut up Wan! She’s not my girlfriend!” Joohyun said with a huff. “And what about you?!” She added pointing a finger at Yongsun. “Shouldn’t you be at work?!”

“How could I when I was bedridden and could barely talk?!” Yongsun said with a fake cough making Byul grin.

“We’re going out on a date today so she called in sick.” Byul said with a smile and Joohyun sighed.

“What kind of teacher are you?! Is this what you’re teaching the new generation? To lie and be lazy?” Joohyun said with a dramatic and accusatory tone making Yongsun whine.

“Hey! It’s not like I’m doing this every single day!” Yongsun defended with a whiny voice. “You don’t think I’m a bad teacher right baby?” She asked turning to Byul who chuckled.

“No honey I don’t.” She said patting her head. “Anyways we need to get going! We’ll see you around you two!” Byul said with a smile and waved turning to leave with Yongsun pouting and clinging in her arm.

“Bye bye you two!” The duo replied with a grin as they entered their school. Their grins however faded once they remembered they had math as their first class. The duo sat at their respective seats near the window and looked on at the professor as he did his row call. The friends prayed to the gods above not to be called at the front to show their homework to the professor but as luck would have it Joohyun was the first one he called. Receiving a grim smile from Wendy she walked up to the professor’s desk and handed him her notebook. A few moments later he returned it and smiled.

“Good job on solving number 11 Miss.Bae.” He said as Joohyun looked at him incredulously and dumbfounded made her way towards her seat.

“I thought you didn’t do number 11.” Wendy whispered as the professor graded another student’s notebook quietly.

“I thought so too…” She said before the duo was scolded for talking during class. Joohyun was confused for a moment before it hit her. Seulgi must have solved it. It had to be her; she had no idea how to solve that kind of problem. A smile formed on Joohyun’s lips. Seulgi always seemed to pure and innocent to Joohyun, kind of adorable and always cute. She couldn’t wait to get home and thank her. Maybe she’d make her something good to eat. She loved how much the young girl enjoyed eating, her smile always made Joohyun’s heart soar. She wanted to see that smile again. Joohyun was brought out of her daydreaming by Wendy’s voice muttering something.

“What the hell is that?!” The girl was looking out of the window which made Joohyun follow her gaze to the Exolysk that imposed it’s presence on the island. She squinted her eyes and saw nothing shrugging, thinking Wendy’s eyes were playing tricks on her, but just as she was about to turn her attention back to class, or rather daydreaming about Seulgi, she saw it. It seemed like flashing, like what you would get if a mirror or really shiny metal was reflecting sunlight. She raised her brow and noticed the shining object stop and fall down into the ground, making a lot of dust come up in the air.

That had been the most exciting thing to happen that day, with the rest of school being as tiring and boring as any other day. Joohyun stretched as she walked outside with Wendy at her side.

“If your girlfriend isn’t picking you up today how about we go check out that thing we saw during math?” Wendy suggested making Joohyun roll her eyes.

“I told you she’s not my girlfriend!” The girl said blushing softly. “Also what makes you think whatever that was is still there? It’s been eight hours Wan!” Joohyun added with a roll of her eyes.

“Still aren’t you curious? Come on we gotta go check it out!” Wendy said tugging at Joohyun’s arm to which the later relented and followed rolling her eyes.

“Fine let’s just get this over with!” Joohyun said making Wendy smile brightly.

The duo made their way towards the Exolysk, chatting about the classes they didn’t have together and other things normal teenage girls talk about, and after about a one hour walk they were nearing the imposing slab.

“God I hate this thing! It makes my throat constrict whenever I’m near it!” Joohyun said as she rubbed her neck with an uncomfortable scowl on her face.

“Sorry Hyun! We can leave if you want.” Wendy said with a sheepish smile which made Joohyun sigh and shake her head.

“No we’re already here, might as well check out what we saw.” Joohyun replied with a smile as she motioned for Wendy to lead the way. As they got even closer to the pulsating slab Joohyun sighed at the sight.

Seulgi was sitting on top of Gomdori, which was leaning against the Exolysk with about three large cables connecting it to the slab. Joohyun wouldn’t have an issue with it honestly, she could probably find some way of explaining it to Wendy who was standing next to her with wide eyes. What she did have an issue with was the young, dirty blonde haired girl Seulgi was sitting next to.

How is Joohyun going even to survive all the gloating?