Jinah had already changed by this time. She was wearing green camouflage, long pants, and a gray shirt. She ran her fingers through her stiff, straight hair and ruffled it carelessly. She took out the black barrettes and threw them on the ground. Luhan didn’t know why she was so angry but he wanted to know. He closed the door behind him before anyone could peek in and leaned against it, his arms crossed as he watched her release steam quietly.

          She kicked the sleeping bag to the side and swore softly as she yanked her necklace off, snapping it unevenly. She tore the bracelets off her wrist and replaced it with a black digital watch. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror, which was wide and on top of a small box with drawers. A little case was on top of the box, too. She growled in frustration as she screwed up her still-stiff-with-gel hair again. She ran her fingers through it hastily and whipped her bangs back and forth a few times. She looked like she just woke up, but she still looked cute.

          She pulled her hair back with a hair tie from the little case. Jinah then rinsed her face in the water bowl in the corner of the room, next to the small box. It was there for whenever Jinah was extra stubborn and determined to sleep in, or when her lungs were dying on her and the room was too dry for her comfort. Miss Kim dumped water on her whenever she slept in or refused to get up. The water was about four days old and it wasn’t as cold anymore, but she didn’t care. As long as the filthy thick makeup came off of her, she was satisfied. But the thing was, her makeup wasn’t even thick. Hardly. It was just mascara, eyeliner, brush of foundation and blush, some skin cream, and lip gloss. It wasn’t even half of what Yooni used. She rubbed it all off with the water. Then she dried her face with a white towel that was next to her, which now became damp. She didn’t bother to fold it neatly back in place. The ends of her bangs were dripping in water, the baby hair framing her face also wet. Luhan didn’t know why he noticed all these little details, but he saw it all. He did.

          Jinah scoffed. “What, are you going to release me now that I have none of that garbage on my face?” she said bitterly. She knew that Luhan had been watching her the whole time. But if she had to be honest, she was surprised the expression on his face wasn’t horror or disgust. It was simply… what was it? Curiosity?

          “No.”

          “Right. The paperwork.”

          She dragged her knapsack from halfway across the room and opened it roughly as he didn’t say anything to her sentence, not that she expected a reply. She wasn’t pretty. Or so she thought. Jinah was one of those girls that weren’t narcissistic, unlike some Verax and Callidum girls. She threw in her water flask in the knapsack which she took a drink from, some medicine pills, lip balm, pencil case, notebook, and a locket. She also packed pants, an extra shirt, socks, and a big indigo hoodie. Her hands reached the spine of a book but she hesitated. Then she spoke quietly, an edge to her voice, “Can I bring a few books?”

          Luhan thought about it for a second. She could, right? She wasn’t taking much. The base was spacious. Why was she even asking? He didn’t see any problem with it. “Yeah, sure.”

          She immediately packed six books.

          “Whoa, whoa, didn’t you say ‘few’ books?”

          “This is nothing compared to the entire collection that I wish I could bring to accompany me,” she said stoically.

          Luhan bent a knee, his leg propped up against the door. The little movement and noise caused the eavesdropping maidens to gasp a bit. He didn’t really care. “Then bring your whole collection.”

          Jinah shook her head somewhat sadly – no, not really… her eyes were clouded so he couldn’t really tell how she was feeling other than the passive mask she had, which didn’t say much. She tightened the straps around her knapsack and she shouldered it. “I can’t. Not only won’t it fit, but the collection is not mine to keep. Future candidates will need it.”

          She snatched a dark, almost-black indigo cap and put it on her head as she got up and heaved a sigh. “Let’s get out of here,” she said, wearing her jacket.

          “You look nice.”

          She frowned. “What?”

          He laughed a bit, stepping forward. She instinctively took a step back. “I said you look nice. You look good even without makeup, or a dress, or fancy hair.” He took note that her hair was still in a ponytail, as it was peeking out of the gap on her cap. “I wouldn’t release you.”

          Jinah snorted. “Okay blondie.” She didn’t believe a word of it.

          She twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open. Berry and a few others stared at her as they quickly recovered. Resilience was an attribute that is taught at Callidum. Miss Kim was also there, staring, and so was Miss Park. Representatives aren’t allowed in the final part of the ceremony for some reason, so they didn’t really know what had happened. They could only catch a few words from the Announcer. They knew about the challenge, and knew that the Prix they were fighting for was Jinah.

          “Jinah!” Miss Kim took her by the shoulders. Her tight grip hurt and Jinah winced, but didn’t say anything. “You got picked by a Top gang? My girl!” She hugged her tightly as she whispered gently, her voice a bit shaky, “You did excellent. All your efforts, your sufferings… it really paid off, didn’t it?”

          Jinah hugged the woman back. “Guess it did.”

          She released her. “Miss Han made you kimchi stew, enough for thirteen mouths to eat for at least one meal. And,” she took out a small velvet pouch from her blazer, took Jinah’s hand, and clasped it within Jinah’s grasp.

          Miss Han bustled in, a plastic package in her hands. She gave it to Jinah and then hugged her right after. Jinah had to juggle the package to keep it from falling to the ground, and if Luhan hadn’t took it from her, it might’ve fallen. Miss Han let go of her. “Kim raised you into a wonderful, beautiful girl. You’re amazing, Jinah. It was such a privilege to feed that big appetite of yours.” A bell rang and Miss Han wiped her hands on her apron. She smiled. “I should go. Be safe, alright? Don’t go around picking fights. You’re in enough danger as it is, it seems.” She glared at the Top gang. Then she whispered, “Really, I think a Basic gang would’ve been better… less of a target… you just had to attract a Top gang, didn’t you?”

          Jinah laughed. “It was because Yooni and Jaein were making a fuss about how ugly I was. So, I kind of have to give them credit for being loud and idiots.”

          Miss Han laughed. She didn’t like Yooni and Jaein either. “Be safe.”

          Jinah nodded as she gave the cook a small smile. After some thought, Miss Park asked a bit hesitantly, “What about Jaein?”

          Jinah shrugged. “Don’t know. Couldn’t care less. Sorry, Miss Park.” But she didn’t sound sorry at all.

          Miss Kim looked her in the eye. “Miss Han is right. I made a masterpiece. No – no, you did. You grew up to be such a –” Miss Kim bit her lip. “You’re brilliant. I can’t believe you’re seventeen! Oh dear, I still remember you at five, standing up for whatever you think is right, even when you were alone, asking for seconds, you really, really loved sweets… you still do, I’m sure? I’m sorry I forbid it for such a long time. I sneaked a whole box with the kimchi stew package.” She eyed the package in Luhan’s hands.

          Jinah allowed Miss Kim to rub her cheek. Miss Kim let out a choked laugh. “Well, here I am, being a silly old woman, simply reminiscing at the old times…my dear, you are so beautiful, absolutely amazing. Never forget that.”

          Miss Kim hugged her one last time. With so much emotion, it was a wonder Jinah didn’t break down. “Sorry for causing you so much trouble,” said Jinah.

          “Don’t apologize.” Miss Kim sighed as she wiped her eyes. “You should get going now.”

          Jinah nodded. “Don’t cry, Miss Kim. I’ll visit soon anyway.”

          Miss Kim chuckled wearily as she shook her head side to side. The ends of her short, black hair was curled inwards. “Making empty promises is a bad habit of yours. You need to rid yourself from it from now on.”

          The younger frowned. “I’m not lying.”

          “You are going to be much too busy learning and training and traveling with your gang, Jinah. There is no way you could juggle all that and visit your old dwelling. Most gangs don’t even allow that to happen. Their base will now be your home.”

          “Well if it isn’t illegal I’m going to make it happen. I will visit. I can…right?” she turned back at the gang.

          Luhan grinned. “Of course.”

          “See?” Jinah turned right back to Miss Kim, a determined expression on her face. Each crease, every line – that driven glint in her eyes, her determination, her dimples, her rosy cheeks… none of it had changed over the years, thought Miss Kim. “I’ll visit. I swear.”

          Miss Kim laughed in defeat. “Alright then. I’ll be waiting,” she choked out.

          Jinah smiled a bit. “Good. And… I should go now. I’m no longer my own luggage; I now have to take care of these losers, right?”

          “Hey! Who’re you calling losers?” Baekhyun yelled from the back, and Miss Kim laughed.

          Miss Kim nodded at Jinah. “You found yourself a good gang.”

          “Maybe. But they found a terrible Prix.”

          “Oh, don’t say that.” Miss Kim chuckled. “Don’t be so cold to your gang. Goodbye.”

          “See you,” Jinah corrected her former teacher. “I’ll see you soon.” Then she turned to leave. It wasn’t really a goodbye. It was just a small break. She was just exploring elsewhere, getting out of the dwelling, experiencing.

          On their way out, Berry and many other maidens stared and whispered and did a bunch of stupid things that made some of them uncomfortable, but they walked on without really doing much. Lay smiled at a few, and one girl went overboard and fainted. Lay laughed awkwardly as he turned their back on them and left the dwelling. Jinah’s determined expression hadn’t worn off. She was going to visit Miss Kim and the Callidum dwelling, no matter what.

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Littttlllleeeee bit of fluff hehe. Oh, and this is the last time I'll put up my replies to people on my chapters. I discovered a new feature - to reply on the comments directly! I thought they'd make an annoying chain of messages the way Facebook does, but they don't!! So yeah, this is the last time. Please continue to comment though! I really really appreciate them all~~ Tell me how the chatper was!! The more in-depth your comment is, the more I can enjoy interacting with you & I'll cherish them, though I love them [the comments] all! ^^

Next chapter will take place at Wolf's base. Lots of description, more Lay - lots of Lay, he explains a lot. I hope you'll look forward to Chapter 11!

@hae4eva: keke you'll see ^^ most don't treat her poorly though, just Xiumin. As for Aheun (Xiumin's sister).. we'll see~ 

@Kosianfanfics: I'M DYING FOR IT I FEEL YOU. Just updated! And yummy, oh dear. That made me laugh really hard XD

@SleepDreamer & KpoploverXOX: updated!

From now on, I'm gonna do this thing called status check-up, hehe. Every tenth chapter, I'll tell you my "status". Right now, I'm at 26 subscribers (ty~), 17 comments (tysm! I cherish them all + personally reply to them), 431 views (tyty!!), and 3 upvotes (thank you lovelies!! > 3 < ). So yeah! That's my current situation. Thank you all~~

By the way guys, what do you think about a love triangle? >:)

Long A/N as always.. my bad D:

-deardeerhan