Sana has this trick. She does this whenever she decides against a choice that would have made her happy.

 

It isn’t a groundbreaking idea nor an infallible one at that. She simply tells herself that it’s all for the best. She keeps doing this until she believes it.

 

It is not a good trick.

 

Still, it’s better than nothing, so that’s what she does when she drops out of the Academy.

 

She tells herself it’s for the best because there’s nothing that should make her think otherwise. If anything, she thinks she should have done this sooner. She should have known better than to waste the past 17 years of her life trying to develop her powers.

 

The Academy is for people with super abilities that can actually help others, not for weirdos like her.

 

On the bright side, she’s pretty good at academics. She figures she’d do well in a regular high school. So what if her dreams of becoming a superhero didn’t work out? It’s not as if it’s her fault that her so called “gift” isn’t exactly useful.

 

She knows it’s a lost cause, so Sana packs her bags, moves into another city, and tries to fit into a world she hopes would be kinder to her than the last. Her powers absolutely—for the lack of a better word—, so maybe being normal would actually be an upgrade.

 

Her new school is not that different from the one she left, really. It has the same strange faces and dull halls and boring classes, except this time, everyone doesn’t have to spend after-school hours training for something that isn’t even gonna happen for Sana.

 

Still, she knows she doesn’t have to use any supernatural ability just to help someone out. That’s why even now, she does small acts of kindness. Occasionally, she branches out to not-so-small acts like helping this one girl in school when she’s getting bullied.

 

Sana is no stranger to this kind of incidents. One would think that people who want to save the world wouldn’t do such cruel and petty acts, but Sana guesses there is still villains in everyone, even superheroes in training.

 

Here, she’s just Sana, but back in the Academy, she was that weird kid with the questionable gift. She knows how it feels to be an outcast, so whenever the girl, Nayeon, gets pranked, Sana helps her out. When the girl sits alone at lunch, Sana sits on the furthest corner of the same table. When the girl doesn’t get picked for pair work, Sana lets herself be Nayeon’s partner by default.

 

It’s not much, but it’s way more than what Sana had when she was in the same awful situation.

 

Well, Sana did have Mina. Ah, Mina, the only person Sana missed ever since she left, the only person Sana considered a friend—until Sana realized that Nayeon is also her friend now, that is.

 

This realization only comes to Sana one night in the school library. They just finished their pair work, and Nayeon was about to leave, but before turning away, she places an umbrella on the table in front of Sana.

 

When Sana voices out her confusion, Nayeon looks back, and instead of explaining, she asks, “Do you have an umbrella?”

 

Sana blinks. “No…”

 

Nayeon nods once. “I thought so. It’s raining outside, and I always see you walking in the rain, so take it.”

 

It is true that Sana never does anything to shield herself from the rain when it pours. She’s hoping that this would help her conjure a force field or make herself intangible since some powers only start showing or get strong enough in times of need. Unfortunately, after the countless times that Sana ended up drenched, her powers are still missing in action. She didn’t think anyone would care enough to notice this though.

 

Usually, it’s her who thinks about other people’s sake, so it was unusual for Sana to have someone who cares about her well-being.

 

“But what about you? Do you have another umbrella?”

 

“I’ll be fine. My jacket can take it.” With that, Nayeon turns around again, but Sana holds her back.

 

“No, wait, just use it,” Sana says, standing up before handing Nayeon the umbrella. “I’m gonna be here for a while. The rain will probably stop before I go back to our dorm.”

 

“It’s gonna rain all night,” Nayeon replies, placing the umbrella back into Sana’s hands. “I already checked the forecast.”

 

“Then let’s walk back together,” Sana decides. “I’ll finish this in my room. Just give me a few minutes to fix my things.” She doesn’t wait for Nayeon to argue and quickly stuffs her things into her backpack. She swings her bag over one shoulder and leads Nayeon out of the library.

 

Nayeon’s umbrella is a bit too small for two, and Sana protests when she notices that Nayeon is holding it so that it is mostly covering Sana.

 

“You’ll get sick!” Sana exclaims.

 

Pointing at the hoodie covering her head, Nayeon says, “I’m okay!”

 

Fed up with Nayeon’s stubbornness, Sana snatches the umbrella from Nayeon’s hand, puts an arm around Nayeon, and pulls her closer, so that they’re both covered from the rain.

 

Sana knows she won’t get sick from the rain, and that the worst that could happen is that she’ll get wet and cold. After all, no matter what their powers are, all Supers don’t get sick like normal people do. Sana figured she might not have a useful power, but at least, she has an impenetrable immune system.

 

However, Nayeon doesn’t, so Sana tries her best to keep her friend dry until they finally reach their dorm. Back in the Academy, the dormitories were tall and wide because every student lives on campus. Here, Sana’s dorm is a small, three-story building because most of the students go home after school.

 

“Do you like studying in the library?” Nayeon asks Sana as they ascend the stairs leading to the second floor where Nayeon’s room is. “You never leave that place with me after doing our work there. I guess I’m more productive there, but I find it easier to do schoolwork when I’m comfortable, so I just study in my room.”

 

“I’d prefer studying comfortably too, but the walls here are thin, and my next-door neighbors aren’t exactly quiet,” Sana explains, frowning at the thought of her inconsiderate dorm mates.

 

“If you want, you can stay in my room when we have pair work. Or even if we don’t. My room is pretty peaceful.” Before Sana can argue, Nayeon holds the girl by the arm and doesn’t let go until they’re in front of Nayeon’s door. “Just remember my passcode,” Nayeon says as she keys the digits in, then looks expectantly at Sana. “Got it?”

 

“Y-yeah, but I don’t wanna impose,” Sana hesitates.

 

“It’s okay, I promise. I really don’t mind it.” Nayeon enters her room and leaves the door open, which Sana takes as an invitation to come inside.

 

As Sana closes the door behind her, she observes, “Your place is neat.”

 

“Neat as in clean, or neat as in cool? Never mind, it’s definitely the first one.” Nayeon answers her own question as she places her bag on her desk and sits on the chair in front of it. When she looks back at Sana, she sees the girl awkwardly standing near the door while hugging her backpack, making Nayeon chuckle and tell her, “Please relax. Make yourself at home.”

 

“Okay,” is Sana’s shy reply. She places her backpack on Nayeon’s bed and takes the room in. There isn’t much to see, really. Unlike Sana’s room filled with clutter, there is barely anything on display in Nayeon’s room. The walls are bare with no posters to cover the plain white paint. There is nothing on her bed apart from a light blue blanket and two pillows. Her dresser is almost empty apart from a hairbrush and a picture frame with what Sana assumes is a family photo. On Nayeon’s desk are a few stacked books and a pen holder. What catches Sana’s attention is the shelf on top of the desk. “Are those comic books?”

 

“Yup,” Nayeon confirms. “Both fiction and non-fiction.”

 

Sana stands up to look closer at the shelf filled with comics. “This is neat as in cool.”

 

Nayeon chuckles again as she watches Sana awkwardly eyeing the books with her hands behind her back. “You can borrow them if you want. Or, you know, at least touch them.”

 

“Thank you,” Sana answers embarrassedly before reaching for one of the books.

 

It isn’t usual to see physical copies of books, not these days when people barely even make paper anymore. People can request for these books in libraries, but these aren’t even on display. Before, libraries used to have rows and rows of shelves filled with books, but now, they’re just filled with rows and rows of tables with built in tablets.

 

The last time Sana held a book made of actual paper in her hands, she was still in the Academy. Mina had a lot of books, including comic books, but Sana has only ever borrowed one comic.

 

“Sure thing. I’m just glad you don’t find it lame.”

 

“Why would I find it lame?” Sana asks as she flips through the pages of a comic entitled ‘Smash.’ “Where did you even get these?”

 

“At an antique store. Sells stuff from the 1900s to early 2000s.”

 

“Really?!” Sana exclaims more than questions. “Where?”

 

“Oh my God, I’m joking.” Nayeon laughs. “I got them online. Like a normal person.”

 

“Ah, of course.” Sana feels her face heat up, wondering what else she might do to make herself even more embarrassing. “Must have cost a fortune to have these on paper.”

 

“I have some money I saved from doing a lot of part-time jobs instead of joining clubs back in middle school. Just basic programming stuff.”

 

“And you choose to spend them on these, huh?”

 

At that, Nayeon frowns. “Why not? I like doing it. These books take my mind off things. If you were me, you’d pay anything to escape your life even just for a little while.”

 

“Sorry, I hope you didn’t take that the wrong way,” Sana apologizes. “I think it’s good to have something that makes you feel so good you’d work hard for it,” she adds before gesturing towards the book she is holding. “I can borrow this, right? I know how it feels to want to run away from everything sometimes.”

 

“Sure,” Nayeon approves then adds, “and if it makes you feel any better, this can be your escape now, too.”

 

---

 

It does make Sana feel better, having Nayeon in general.

 

This kind of friendship is unfamiliar to Sana. She had Mina at the Academy, but the girl wasn’t training to be a superhero. Along with four others, she designs gadgets and suits for the Supers. Thus, Mina mostly stayed in her lab while Sana was training.

 

On the other hand, Nayeon is constantly around. They had most of their classes together and sat together at lunch. After school, Sana stays in Nayeon’s room not only to study but also to hang out when they have no schoolwork to do.

 

Over a short time, it got easy for Sana to be casual with Nayeon. She makes Sana feel at ease, comfortable enough to just lie in bed with her while talking about all kinds of things.

 

“Who’s your favorite superhero?” Sana asks Nayeon. She wonders why she’s never asked this question earlier, considering that she’s known about Nayeon’s interest for a while.

 

“You,” Nayeon answers without missing a beat. “You saved me from my loneliness and my cynical, alarmingly negative thoughts about humanity.”

 

Sana freezes.

 

What is the right response to that?

 

Thank you for saving me, too?

 

Now that you mention it, here’s a funny story: I actually am supposed to be a superhero?

 

“You’re welcome,” is what Sana settles on.

 

“What about you? Do you have a favorite so far?”

 

Sana doesn’t have to think before answering. “Uhi.”

 

Confused, Nayeon blinks. “Umm, which book is that from?”

 

“I read about her somewhere else,” Sana explains, recalling what she read from that one comic she borrowed from Mina. “There was a tsunami back in 2068 that hit an island called Niihau. If she hadn’t made the island disappear as the waves came crashing in, it would have been wiped off the map and disappeared forever.”

 

“Oh, so her power is invisibility.”

 

Sana nods. “Uhi means cover in Hawaiian.”

 

“That’s cool,” Nayeon remarks. “I can’t believe I’ve never heard about that. Singlehandedly making an entire island disappear? I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”

 

I can, Sana thinks with a light sigh. “It was pretty awesome. It’s a very small island with very few people though. Probably why no one really cares that much about it.”

 

“I still think it’s incredible. It that nowadays people think that kind of stuff is irrelevant.”

 

“Yeah, well, there’s a reason why they call it ‘superheroes’ not ‘above-average-heroes,’” Sana says bitterly, wishing she could have been better.

 

“If you were a superhero, what powers do you want to have?”

 

“Same as Uhi’s,” Sana responds. She could have had those powers if only she had successfully developed them, but then again, she wouldn’t be here if she had. A moment passes, and Sana realizes Nayeon is staring at her in silence. “What?”

 

“Oh, I was waiting for you to make a dramatic comment about wanting to be invisible.”

 

Sana shakes her head. “I’m not gonna do that. I just think it would be great.”

 

“What would you call yourself?” Nayeon questions further.

 

“Only relevant superheroes need aliases,” Sana says instead of answering the question. “There are so many existing superheroes, and all the good names are already taken, so it’s kinda pointless to think about what you’d call yourself if you’re not sure you’ll even earn the right to call yourself anything.”

 

“It’s a hypothetical question, dude,” Nayeon says, elbowing Sana. “You’re no fun. Lighten up!”

 

Sana rubs her arm where Nayeon hit her before throwing the question back. “Well, if you’re so fun, what’s the name of your superhero alter-ego?”

 

“Pretty Girl,” Nayeon answers quickly. “It means pretty girl in English.”

 

Sana laughs. “So your ability is being pretty?”

 

“Exactly,” Nayeon confirms. “Do you know how much power there is in being attractive? I mean, okay, I guess you would have an idea.”

 

“Are you saying you find me attractive?” Sana grins.

 

“I’m saying you can go to school without being bullied for being weird,” Nayeon answers sadly.

 

If only you knew, Sana thinks as she looks at Nayeon. “Yeah, I don’t know about that.”

 

“I just want to look in the mirror without hating what I see,” Nayeon continues. She grabs a lock of her curly hair before speaking, “I just hate this stupid, ugly hair—“

 

“Messy hair,” Sana corrects.

 

“—and these stupid, ugly eyebrows—“

 

“You mean voluminous,” Sana offers.

 

“—and these stupid near-sighted eyes—“

 

“You can wear contacts,” Sana suggests.

 

“—and this—wait, you don’t like my glasses?” Nayeon consciously pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she looks at Sana expectantly.

 

“Nayeon,” Sana starts, meeting the other girl’s gaze. “I like you and your glasses and your eyes and your face and your everything. I like seeing you. I like being with you. I like knowing that at the end of the day I’ll get to be around you and just you.”

 

Nayeon doesn’t say anything for a while, and Sana is about to apologize for saying too much when—

 

“I like you, too.”

 

---

 

For Sana, letting Nayeon know about her powers wasn’t a question of whether to do it or not. It was only a matter of how and when.

 

Apparently, the answer is ‘suddenly’ and ‘out of the blue’ respectively.

 

“You’re translucent,” Nayeon says simply and calmly, after a few seconds of staring at Sana’s body. She still hasn’t moved from her spot near her bedroom door where she was standing when Sana abruptly said, ‘I have something to show you,’ then turned… translucent without any further warning.

 

“I should be invisible, but I’m not powerful enough to do that, so yes, I’m translucent,” Sana confirms before turning her body back to normal then sitting on the edge of Nayeon’s bed. “People have been using that word to describe me before I even knew what it meant. Or how it’s spelled.”

 

Nayeon walks closer until she’s in front of Sana. “So… you’re an actual superhero.”

 

“I’m not,” Sana disagrees. “I’m a reject.”

 

“You save people. Isn’t that what superheroes do?”

 

“I never saved anyone.”

 

“You saved me,” Nayeon reminds Sana. “I already told you that before, didn’t I?”

 

“You know what I mean.” Sana lets out a sigh before lying her back on the bed and covering her face with her hands. “I just wish I could turn invisible.”

 

“Me, too,” Sana hears Nayeon say softly, then feels the bed dip next to her.

 

Sana removes her hands from her face to look at Nayeon. “Celare.”

 

“What?” Nayeon looks back at her, puzzled.

 

“That’s what I would call myself if I were a superhero,” Sana elaborates. “It means conceal, hide.”

 

“That’s cool,” Nayeon comments. “Would have been cooler if no one can see you.”

 

Sana chuckles. Nayeon never fails to make her do that. “Yeah, if only.”

---

 

When Sana told Nayeon about her secret, she just really wanted Nayeon to know about it.

 

That’s it.

 

What she didn’t expect was for Nayeon to think about ways to strengthen her powers.

 

“So ideally, you should be able to turn invisible, yes?” Nayeon asks as she paces back and forth in her room.

 

“And intangible,” Sana begins enumerating as she sits on the bed and follows Nayeon with her eyes. “And make other things invisible or intangible. And conjure force fields.”

 

“And in the Academy, students with underdeveloped powers are exposed to high levels of stress for them to use their powers better, like leaving someone in the desert to force them to use teleportation,” Nayeon recalls from Sana’s stories. “This didn’t work for you, right?”

 

“If it did, I wouldn’t be here.”

 

“Well, what if the opposite would work for you? What if the reason why you can’t unleash your full powers is because you’re too stressed?”

 

Sana narrows her eyes. “I don’t think it works that way.”

 

“I know. It’s just a dumb theory of mine. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try.” Nayeon concurs. She stops pacing and sits next to Sana. “What relaxes you?”

 

“I… don’t know,” Sana responds sluggishly. “I mean don’t you think I’m already chill by the default?”

 

Nayeon chortles and nods. “True, but like, when do you feel most at peace? When do you feel a calm so comforting that you wish you could just stay like that forever?”

 

“Right now,” Sana answers easily. “I feel that way when I’m alone with you.”

 

“O-oh,” Nayeon stutters. She clears before lifting both her legs onto the bed, crossing them as she faces Sana. “Then show me the best that you can do.”

 

“Okay,” Sana says as she mirrors Nayeon’s position and rolls up the sleeves of her jacket. She concentrates on her right hand, and one by one, she makes all her fingers disappear completely then her palm. “That’s the best I can do so far. I can only make my hand invisible if I focus all my powers on it.”

 

“And you’ve never done anything more than that?”

 

“Hmm, I made a pen disappear once, but I don’t know if I can do it again.”

 

This makes Nayeon stand and get a pen from her table, handing it to Sana as she sits in front of the girl. “Try it now.”

 

Sana tries but fails, only managing to make part of the pen disappear at a time. She lets out a sigh of defeat, but Nayeon takes her unoccupied hand.

 

“You can do it,” Nayeon encourages. “Just relax.”

 

Sana takes a deep breath and focuses on the pen in her hand. Still, nothing happens except—

 

“Whoa,” Sana hears Nayeon whisper, making her look up from the pen and see that Nayeon’s attention is somewhere else. When she follows Nayeon’s line of sight, she sees that the girl is looking at her own hand, or rather the lack of it.

 

It turns out that Sana made Nayeon’s hand invisible without even realizing it. Sana doesn’t understand it. The last time she made a pen disappear, she felt like she might faint in exhaustion. She even has to exert so much effort in making her own hand disappear, but this… She’s doing this like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

 

“Are you scared?” Sana feels the need to ask this though she can’t see any sign of fear in Nayeon’s face.

 

“No, I don’t think it’s scary,” Nayeon answers, not looking up from where her hand is supposed to be. “It just feels strange because I know my hand is there, but I can’t see it. I mean, it’s still there, right?”

 

“It is,” Sana verifies with a smile, rubbing her thumb over Nayeon’s. “You feel that?”

 

“Mhm,” Nayeon grins, finally looking up at Sana. “Great. It’s still there.”

 

“It’s still there,” Sana repeats, then brings Nayeon’s hand to her lips before she realizes what she just did.

 

Nayeon doesn’t say anything, and Sana takes that as a sign to let go of her hand.

 

“I’m sorry,” Sana utters lowly and thinks that this would be a really great time for her powers to come out because she would really like to disappear right now.

 

“What? Why? You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the idiot who’s getting flustered over you kissing my damn hand.”

 

Only then did Sana had the courage to look at Nayeon’s face and observe that her cheeks are a bit pink. “Would you have liked it better if I kissed you somewhere else?” She jokes, but it only makes Nayeon more flushed.

 

“What? What kind of question is that?” Nayeon squeaks nervously. “B-besides, it’s not like you’re ever gonna do that.”

 

Sana blinks. “I’m not?”

 

“Well, I mean, why would you?” Nayeon asks with a sad smile. “Let’s be real. I’m not really much to look at. Who would ever want to kiss someone like me?”

 

“I do,” Sana replies. “There are times when I would catch myself looking at you, wanting to kiss you, and wondering if you’d ever let me.” Instead of replying, Nayeon looks down and avoids Sana’s stare, making Sana ask, “Did I say something wrong?”

 

“No, I just…” Nayeon trails off without raising her head. “I’m finding it hard to believe anyone would look at me that way when I’ve spent most of my life thinking nobody would even bother looking at me.”

 

Sana swallows in an attempt to ease the heaviness in her chest as she thinks about how Nayeon sees herself. She wishes there is something she could do to make Nayeon realize just how beautiful she is, but words already failed her, and she can’t think of anything else to say.

 

So Sana guides Nayeon by the chin until they’re facing each other.

 

Then, she leans in.

 

---

 

A/N: You can find me at twitter.com/minamyouwu