“Take care of yourself, and feel free to contact us if you can,” Myungsoo whispered, squeezing a small device shaped like a ring into Sungjong’s palm. "This ring is made up of quantum dots that can encrypt and send messages in real-time across lightyears instantly. It is still in the trial stage, but still better than anything we have in the market. I don’t think they will confiscate this from you guys.” He continued, his voice lowered even further as he enveloped Sungjong in a small hug. Tears were evident in Sungjong’s eyes as he nodded in reply. 

He slipped the ring onto his middle finger and took a last look around him.

All five males were gathered at the space base of their planet, bidding Sungjong farewell. Sungjong was more excited than he would have liked to admit, but he controlled it for the sake of his brother. Sungyeol looked comically distraught, as he struggled to hold his tears in. Woohyun would have called it a win because Sungyeol would not even get himself out of his room a few years ago when they were bidding Dongwoo farewell.

Yes, the entire group of them had been friends since young, since they were taken care of by the same group of caretakers. In their star system, children were separated from their parents at birth, so that brain and physical development would be less affected by differences in environments and resource access. This was to ensure fairness when it came to resources available to the children, allowing them similar chances to perform well in the final examination. 

To allow for more systematic caretaking, the children were divided into groups of 24, with a highly specialised medical team and teachers taking care of each group. Parents were free to get reacquainted with their children if they wanted to when the children turned twelve. Children were also free to decide who they wanted to live with as soon as they turned twelve.

Sungyeol and Sungjong were acquainted with their parents when they turned twelve respectively, but had decided against living with them, simply because they found it awkward living with people they had never known growing up. Sungyeol had opted to live with Woohyun and Dongwoo, who were closest to him growing up. Sunggyu moved in later on, while Myungsoo had decided to live alone. Sungjong on the other hand, lived with a few of his other group mates before moving in with Sungyeol after Dongwoo left for planet 480.

The space base was bustling with activity that day, filled with people bidding each other farewell and others filling the row of spaceships waiting at the takeoff pads. It was the time of the year again when 18-year-olds were sent to their respective planets around the star system to work and live.

There was minimal communication between the planets, to allow for minimal interference in space travel between the planets, which was dependent on low-frequency electromagnetic waves. Communication via cellphones and satellites was dependent on the same electromagnetic waves, thus for the sake of safe space navigation, communication between planets was kept to a minimum. 

As for space travel, it was usually from the direction of the planet they were on, which was planet 477 toward the direction of the other planets within the star system. Planet 477 was the first livable planet of the star system and the hub of all political and scientific innovation within the star system. 

Sungjong knew this was going to be the last time he would see his friends for a long time. His gaze stopped at Sungyeol, who was sniffing into Sunggyu’s shoulder. 

“I’ll take care of myself, don’t worry. You’ll hear from me soon. I will find a way.” He smiled hopefully at his older brother, before adding, “And I will bring Dongwoo-hyung back with me.”

As if interrupting their fuzzy moment, a bell rang in the distance, followed by an announcement stating that the spaceship leaving for planet 480 was going to take off soon. Sungjong quickly enveloped everyone in a bear hug, before giving Myungsoo and Sungyeol a peck on the cheek each. 

“I’ll be leaving, try not to miss me too much!” 

With that, he made his way to the spaceship quickly, resisting his urge to turn back.

~~

The ride to planet 480 was uneventful. As they were told not to bring more than 3 kilograms of items each, most people only brought with them keepsakes to remind them of their closest friends and family. 

Sungjong fiddled with the ring nestled on his middle finger. His heart was fluttering lightly against his ribcage. It was as if he was starting a new adventure, and the ring on his finger seemed like a form of encouragement for him.

The journey took 6 hours, and before Sungjong knew it, they were plunging into a brand-new atmosphere. Sparks flew outside the window, as Sungjong watched with awe. The sparks soon died down and the smoke cleared, revealing an open space with lush greenery, a large contrast to the highly urbanised concrete sky