“Mountain-climbing gear?”

Lana raised an eyebrow as Kyungsoo dove under the bed, digging out an elaborate network of harnesses and other oddly-shaped doohickeys she couldn’t place a name on. She couldn’t help but wonder if such gear was really necessary for spying on her father. The heavy-duty equipment seemed a bit excessive for the task at hand, which was simply getting up to his second-story apartment balcony unnoticed. And wouldn’t someone notice two teenagers scaling the side of an apartment building in broad daylight?

“Well, how else do you expect to get from here to there?” Kyungsoo insisted.

Lana sighed. He always insisted everything would be fine, no matter how disastrously his plans inevitably unfolded.

The teens hopped off the bus now parked outside an average apartment building. The faded-white structure, no more than three stories tall, sat nestled within a suburban neighborhood nearby Exoplanet High. The quaint building was a perfect fit for Dad, who Lana knew preferred small living to an extravagant lifestyle.

Kyungsoo heaved the equipment over his shoulder and led his friend around the side of the building, eyes glued to the windows and balconies above. As the two walked, he mouthed words to himself, seemingly keeping mental track of the passing apartments. And though he knew nothing more than Dad’s apartment number, the boy seemed to know exactly where to go. Lana had no idea how it was possible, but she got the feeling this had something to do with his uncanny ability to find the apartment she had broken into during the Great Zombie Apocalypse of ‘57. She had to admit, the boy seemed to have a gift for spatial cognition.

Before long, Kyungsoo suddenly stopped, letting the gear slide from his shoulder to the ground. Lana followed suit, halting where she stood and looking up in search of the balcony. On the second floor straight above was a very strange sight to say the least. In fact, Lana almost didn’t believe her eyes when she found herself looking upon another set of mountain equipment already dangling from the veranda.

“What the?” she mumbled, narrowing her gaze incredulously. She was sure her eyes were playing tricks on her.

“Huh,” Kyungsoo tutted. He shielded his eyes from the sun with one hand and gazed up at the balcony with equal surprise. “That’s strange.”

Lana turned to face him, cocking her head to the side curiously. “Kyungsoo, is it possible that we’ve been here before?”

He shrugged. “I don’t see why we would come back here,” he dismissed. “Besides, this is someone else’s equipment. Whoever put it here probably ran off in a hurry and had to leave it. Well, at least this means we won’t have to waste time setting mine up.”

...Kyungsoo seemed to genuinely believe that scaling the side of an apartment building was normal, everyday, perfectly acceptable behavior.

Alas, in the end, he decided it would be more fun for them to rappel down from the roof instead. And so, after expending much more time and effort than was absolutely necessary, the two eventually landed on the balcony outside Lana’s father’s apartment.

Kyungsoo held a finger in front of his lips, silently warning Lana to keep quiet. He tiptoed over to the pulled-shut curtains, pressing his face up to the glass double door to peek through them. After a moment, he turned to Lana, waving for her to join him. She crept over, taking his place at the window, and peered through a slit in the drapes.

Lana’s young father, Kris Wu, was lying on the couch, his tall body strewn across the length of it and his feet dangling off the edge. He propped his head up in one hand and held a remote control in the other, seemingly totally immersed in a program he was watching on TV. And though he was wholly boring to spy on, Lana couldn’t help but inwardly thank goodness he was participating in a healthy, sane activity unlike Yunee.

After a few minutes, she heard the faint, muffled sound of a doorbell ringing. Kris glanced behind him, hit a button on the remote, and hopped off of the couch, casually jogging out of the living room. A moment later, he returned, trailed by a woman Lana recognized immediately as Uncle Kevin’s wife, Granny Marina. Only, she was definitely not nearly as old and decrepit now as in 2033. The English sashayed in indignantly, swathed in a headscarf and a pair of overlarge sunglasses. In her iron-tight grasp she carried what looked like a crumpled, strangled newspaper. She shoved it toward Kris’s chest furiously.

The young teacher took the paper, gazing down at it in apparent confusion. From Lana’s point of view, she could just barely make out the cover page. The words “Dragonette Express?” headlined. In smaller print, the paper continued, “Has Dragon Express finally found love? Will he retire and settle down with his new sweetheart? Shocking photos reveal Dragon Express sleeping with—surprise—a woman!”

“What in the Devil’s name is this?” she heard Marina hiss in English.

Kris’s face went completely blank. “Marina,” he sighed, “calm down.”

She snatched the paper back from him, bunching it up in her fist again, and proceeded to pace the room furiously. “I will not calm down, Kris,” she snapped. “This is just—I don’t even know what to say, Kris. Frankly, I’m shocked and disappointed. I just can’t believe you would get caught doing something like this.”

“Marina, that picture was taken from outside my bedroom window—”

“You slept with a girl!” she exclaimed, waving her hands wildly through the air. “I thought you were gay, Kris. You never told me you were biual! And what the hell are you doing sleeping with a student? Don’t think I don’t remember that schoolgirl barging into your apartment Friday afternoon. I tried not to think anything of it, tried to give you the benefit of the doubt—”

“Calm down,” Kris sighed again, grabbing her by the shoulders to hold her in place. “Relax, Marina. I didn’t sleep with this one.”

“THIS ONE?!” Marina cried out. She looked to be on the verge of fainting. “Kris, please, please don’t tell me this isn’t the first time you’ve hooked up with a student.”

He groaned pleadingly, “Come onnn, Marina.”

“Tell me the truth. Even if you don’t, I’m only going to find out anyway. You know that.”

Kris stared at her in silence for a moment, obviously caught between a rock and a hard place. Finally, he sighed, “I sort of have this thing for schoolgirls, okay?”

For probably the first and only time in history, Marina’s jaw fell straight to the floor. If Lana could see through the woman’s sunglasses, she was sure her eyes would be far wider than even Kyungsoo’s widest. After gaping gobsmackedly at Kris for a long moment, she finally composed herself and grumbled, “Is this why you became a teacher? It never made sense to me, but...” She trailed off, shaking her head. “Oh my god.”

He nodded listlessly.

Marina cradled her forehead in her hand as if nursing a headache. “Next thing you know,” she crooned, “it’s going to be all over the news that Dragon Express has a secret job as a teacher and diddles his students, and you’re going to land your @$$ in prison.”

Kris groaned again. “It’s fine,” he insisted, frowning. “I’ve already stopped. Besides, Yunee’s different. I really like her. She’s funny... and cute... and interesting... It’s not boring anymore when she’s around.”

“Oh my god,” she clucked again, pulling the shades off her face at last in a somehow ominous gesture. “In all my years, I’ve never seen you talk about anyone like this. You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

Kris gave a slight shrug.

Without a moment’s warning, Marina grabbed him by the collar. She yanked him away, dragging the impossibly tall man out of the living room and out of sight. “I want to know all about this little brat,” she snapped. As the two disappeared, Lana could hear her demand, “Where’s the nearest bar?”

Author's Note
Hello! So, we’re finally starting to get into why Kris likes Yunee. What do you think of his newly-revealed schoolgirl feti$h? Also, can anyone take a guess as to whose mountain-climbing equipment was abandoned at Kris’s apartment when Lansoo got there? Please comment! I’d love to know what you guys think. :)

So, for the past week or so, I’ve been planning a new fic. I’m MOST DEFINITELY not going to start it until I’ve finished at least one (or preferably both) of my other fics. Anyway, there’s something I have to get out of the way beforehand: planning characters, yaaay! This fic will take place in a brand-new universe (no Yunee; I know some of you will rejoice because you’re sick of her) and I want to take a different approach to this one. That is, I’m going to give the main character multiple love interests—at least 3 and maybe even 4. I do have an idea of who I would like to use, and I have planned out some characters that would be awesome and amazing. However, I’d still like to give you guys a chance for some input and see who you’d like to see as a love interest if you choose to read it. This means it’s time for some polls! Please vote on every poll below, choosing the member you want to see most in my next fic: