Chapter 9

The room I was in was wide with windows that shined light brighter than the sun. I still managed to see perfectly despite the light. There seemed to be nothing in the room except a big table in the middle with chairs surrounding it. Where was I? Was I in the Academy? Checking my surroundings to make sure that I was alone, I went towards the table and saw that the table wasn’t an actual table… It had the legs of one, but the top was that of a clock, each Roman numeral was raised from the top. The hands were in two different places and the closer I got to it, the stronger the atmosphere became; almost as if gravity was pushing me back from it. I counted the chairs and found out that there were thirteen.

I tried to walk more towards the table, but something wouldn’t let me. Pushing my feet forward, the force just pushed me back.

“How am I going to get closer to it?” I asked out loud, but my voice didn’t echo.

I heard a door open from somewhere in the room and I saw a girl running out of it, coming towards the table. Her uniform was different than ours; she had a more elegant gown than the regular skirt. The short sleeved royal blue dress ran down to the top of her ankles and a bright golden clock that was for the uniforms was not a stitch, but an actual pin. It settled right in the middle below her collar. Her brown hair was in a bun, but it was slowly falling out, her bangs hanging low over her eyes.

“Ah, these damn bangs might as well just cut them off,” she whispered as she went right towards the table and doing some movements of her hands, the top of the table lit up and above it showed little white dots, lines going back and forth as if they were a part of connect the dots. “Come on, don’t fail me now.”

The dots above were circling slowly over the table, but then one of them in the middle began to shake, making everything floating above it stop in motion and one by one the little dots started to fall towards the surface, each one disappearing in a little smoke cloud. Only several remained floating as it connected to the now red dot and before I could see what the dots created, the girl in front of me put her hands in her hair, frustrated, as she backed away from it shaking her head.

“No…this, this can’t be right. It’s a myth! A MYTH!” She shrieked. “But what I saw… No. Ovan didn’t find anyone on the missions!”

“Excuse me, but who are you?” I asked, but she didn’t seem to hear me as footsteps were heard behind me.

“Of course he won’t find them…” A voice called out and I turned around to see a boy about the age of 20 standing at the bottom of a huge staircase. I couldn’t see what was at the top only because more bright light shined from it. “He will never find them.”

“What are you doing…” The girl whispered.

It felt like we were playing monkey in the middle and I was the monkey. I was standing right in front of them, why didn’t they see me? This was a dream…my dream. I could control it, right? But when I wanted to be noticed, that action didn’t seem to work. The boy came in the light; his royal blue pants and matching long sleeve top just like the others had made me know what part of group he was a part of. But the thing that was missing was his clock stitch…er, pin. His black hair was a bit messy, but in the neatest way, and his blue eyes stood out, but there was no denying that he was sinister with that little smirk on his face.

“You know…you’re not really supposed to be down here.” He said.

“Says who?” The girl asked. “Last time I checked I play an important part in the group, too!”

I looked back at the girl, but I couldn’t see anything past her face except for her hair. Why couldn’t I see what she looked like? But her personality seemed a bit too familiar… “You’re…you’re just like me… Clara?”

“Whatever, Clara,” The boy sneered. “You are nothing to this group than eye candy to Ovan.”

“What is wrong with you?! The old boy that I used to know would never talk like that!” Clara shouted.

“Oh, so you’re saying that I was different back then?” He asked as he checked himself and shook his head. “Funny, because I think I’m still the same old me.”

The boy smiled and started to walk towards Clara. I didn’t like being in the middle of this as I slowly backed away and watched the scene take place before me. He stopped just a few feet away from the table and with a single flick of his finger, a huge gust of wind came bursting in the room sending Clara flying back into the side of the table. With her hands back, she stopped herself from fully crashing into the table, but metal falling apart could be heard inside it. The boy looked confused at his finger and then back at Clara who was full on glaring at him.

“Huh,” he shrugged. “Didn’t expect it to be that powerful.”

“That’s bull,” Clara said as she struggled to get up. I started to go over to help her, but I remembered…I can’t be seen.

“Oh well,” he turned around and started to walk back up towards the stairs. “At least it did the trick as I wanted it to.” He stopped and turned his head with a smirk on his face. “Thanks for being where you were. With that weight being thrown at the table, it did just what I hoped.”

“You broke it?!” Clara asked frantically as she turned around and tried to find some way to turn it back on.

“No…” He laughed. “You did.”

“Ovan will hear about this!” She shouted. “The second he gets back, I will tell him everything that I know!”

“And what’s that? That I broke the table when you were the one that caused the damage?” He asked continuing up the stairs. Clara clenched her fists and stood up straight, her face full of condidence.

“I know your secret!” She shouted.

The boy stopped in the middle of the stairs and turned around slowly. “What did you say?”

“I know your secret.” Clara nodded. “I saw what you did in the forest after the meetings.”

“Wait…you’re Marikan…” I whispered.

A smirk appeared on his face. “Is that so? Then why didn’t you stop me?”

“Because I knew that I did you would probably do the same thing to me as you did to those poor deer!” Clara looked disgusted as she was remembering what she saw. I put my hands over my mouth trying not to think of what she saw.

“Hmph, well, you might’ve been right.” He nodded as he put his hands inside his pockets. “Who knows?”

“The second that Ovan gets back-” She started, but Marikan clearly interrupted.

“But that’s the thing…you will keep your mouth shut.” He replied.

“I can tell him whatever I want. What are you going to do about it?” She asked.

But before anything could go further, I felt like I was being pulled by an unknown force up the stairs going past Marikan who was now walking to Clara. I grabbed onto a step, wanting to stay wherever I was just a little bit longer, but the force was stronger and it pulled me back, leaving the scene.

I didn’t shoot up in my bed like people do in the movies. Instead with a little jerk of my body, I woke up to find myself to be on my back looking straight up at the ceiling, the little hand moved just a little bit more than yesterday. So that was a dream… I put my hand on my head feeling a terrible pain in the front. Slowly I pushed myself to be sitting up, seeing that the sun actually rose today. Thankfully it wasn’t as bright as the light from my dream. It wasn’t until now that I felt a burning on my chest. I looked down and saw that my necklace was hot as flames! A light red glow surrounded the edges. Once I got it off, after a few struggles, I put it in the sink, running cold water under it and I let it sit there. It was almost as strange as my dream.

Speaking of which, that was strange. It felt like I was in the past, but I was just a hologram, an invisible one. Getting out of my bed, I took the still wilting daisy to the balcony and placed it on the railing, gaining some sun. Since there are no classes, I could take better care of it today. And no classes meant not seeing P-Goon! Or Hojoon. Or Hansol, Yano, and A-Tom… But…I do want to see them, well maybe not P-Goon as much. I have to see them today, right? P-Goon said that I would know the new rules today, so that will be a fun trip.

My heart was racing as I thought of all the possible outcomes if they found out that I had the book with me… Would Hojoon hate me for stealing? Will Hansol be judging and cursing me out that I did a stupid thing and I should’ve just stuck with research on the internet? Speaking of which, after I got water for the daisy, the little bowl that the ice rose was in was almost filled with water. One note that I took from the rose was that, even though it was melting, the formation of the rose was still intact. How thick was this ice? And how come it seemed like the water was dripping faster than before? Pouring the ice water over the daisy, I returned the ice rose back in the bowl and placed it where it was.

While I took a shower, I thought of my speech that I would give to Hansol and apologizing to him as to why I acted the way I did. I guess that I didn’t want him to bother me; another part of me said that I might’ve been late for the next class. Knowing that is kind of true, what I told him before leaving him was also true; I thought it could wait for later, but when I saw him talking to Yano, I could hear that he was very urgent to tell me. It was as if he would regret not telling me that it wasn’t him that told Seogoong.

After my shower was done, I grabbed my now cooled off necklace and got dressed in jeans and a light long sleeve red sweater. Tucking the necklace underneath my sweater, I grabbed my key and left my room, reattaching the key to my necklace after I locked the door. I could hear voices from behind some doors, like the girls were having hang outs in their rooms. While they were doing their little hang outs, I had other plans. First and foremost, I had to see Sue. After the fight from last night, I had to apologize for being a bit…stupid. Sure I said sorry last night, but I almost said it in a sarcastic way that I didn’t even sound apologetic at all.

The elevator doors opened up to the lobby and to my surprise…Sue wasn’t there. I looked around the whole lobby, even behind the counter, but she was nowhere in sight. I sighed in frustration wondering where she could be. I thought that P-Goon might know where she is, but considering that we don’t have any classes today, she doesn’t have to come in. This apology was important on my list of things to do, and I can’t let it slide today. Outside was deserted, not even a single roll of dust glided across the air. Do I dare to go outside and go inside the Academy? Clenching my fists, I made my way towards the door, but when I did, a familiar figure met mine. Hansol was standing by the door; a pair of skeleton keys attached to a ring was in his hand.

“Hansol!” I smiled. Wow, I never thought I would be happy to see him!

He looked up at me as he plucked the keys one by one, seeming like he was trying to find the right key. Hansol remained quiet as he unlocked the doors and came inside, his back side blocking the door.

“Hansol, good, you’re here.” My smile was slowly going away when I saw that he wasn’t…his usual self. “Look, I want to say how sorry I was about yesterday.”

“That doesn’t matter right now.” His tone turning serious. “I came here with some news.”

I blinked in confusion until it hit me. “You…I’m guessing you know about it.”

Hansol crossed his arms and huffed out a sarcastic laugh. “No, I just came here to visit.”

For some reason, Hansol’s form of sarcasm seemed to hurt me. “Ok, yes, I was the one who took it.”

“And you do know the penalty?” He asked raising an eyebrow at me.

“…eviction?” I asked, although that was probably the answer.

“P-Goon has…different plans for you.” Hansol started to explain. “I’m here to give you a message from him.”

“Wait, why can’t he come to me and tell me face to face?” I asked tilting my head. I had to be careful with my words, otherwise I would have them know their purpose…I didn’t want them to know just yet. “I mean…he is in charge of your group, right?”

Frustrated, Hansol dug one hand into his hair and let out a groan. “Don’t ask questions now, Trinity! You’re already in deep , so I would be careful with what you ask.”

I hung my head and slightly nodded. Although I wanted to yell back, I could tell that he was upset with finding out it was me who had the book all along. Behind Hansol, I saw a figure walking towards us and as he entered, I noticed that it was Jenissi, but instead he didn’t have his sunglasses on, so it was a bit odd to see him without them. He entered the building as Hansol made room for him.

“Good morning, theft.” Jenissi told me.

“Well, aren’t we just a bundle of sunshine this morning.” I rolled my eyes.

“If you didn’t know, Jenissi doesn’t trust people easily.” Hansol pointed out.

“Captain Obvious,” I whispered making Hansol roll his eyes from remembering that’s what we called each other when I came here.

“Jenissi, if you’d like to do the honors.” Hansol nodded.

“Oh, so he has to send two to get his job done?” I whispered. Hansol seemed to be the only one to hear it as he gave me a hard glare.

“Ok, so I can get out of here quickly,” Jenissi sighed. “P-Goon has rearranged the seats in your classes and also changed your lunch period as well as your Element practice, which will now take place in the morning right before classes. There was no way that he can rearrange the order of the other classes, so that was the only choice that he had on his plate. Also, at the end of the day, you are scheduled to meet one of us outside the Academy and we have to you back to your dorm room. And if you need to use the library then we would have to be there, too.”

Well, that wasn’t at all what I expected! The rearranged seats doesn’t sound too bad, I can always talk to them after the class. So P-Goon decided to spare me; what a lovely surprise.

“Any questions before we leave and lock up?” Jenissi asked.

Oh, I had many. “Yes, first off, why doesn’t P-Goon just throw me out? I did do something against the rules, didn’t I?”

“P-Goon decided to spare you only because you don’t know if you really possess the Air Element. He doesn’t want to expel you for not knowing or having full control of your powers yet.” Jenissi explained.

“Ok,” I nodded. “Second. Who will be with me in my morning Element practice and what time will that be?”

“You will be with P-Goon,” Jenissi said. Oh, big surprise there. “On some days. Mr. Eves will be with you on the days that he won’t be able to make it. And it will be at six in the morning. I’d bring a coat if I were you. The mornings are getting colder by the day.”

“Where will I have lunch?” The questions kept coming and I could see Jenissi’s eye twitch as he was getting slightly irritated as he probably didn’t know that I had so many to ask. But he kept his cool, his facial expression going into a relaxed posture and straightening his back more, bringing his shoulders back.

“You will have lunch in the classroom that you end with. As for your lunch, you may go to the cafeteria for lunch after your Element practice to have it delivered to you there, or you can make something for yourself. If you didn’t know, we do have a little grocery built specifically for the Academy grounds. It’s past the last dorm building.” Jenissi pointed outside.

Well, I learned something new today, good thing I brought my wallet from back home, otherwise I would be hopeless, especially for lunch!

“I think that’s all that he wanted us to do, right?” Jenissi asked Hansol.

Jenissi started to walk towards the door, when Hansol put his hand on his shoulder, making him look back. “Hansol?”

“Tell P-Goon that I would be coming back a little late.” Hansol looked at me and I could see something in his expression that I never saw before; sadness.

“Very well, but remember that one new rule-” Jenissi said as he nudged his head towards me. What did that mean?

“I will, I just need to talk for…give me five minutes, then I’ll be on my way, ok?” Hansol asked.

“Be quick,” Jenissi said as he left the building.

Hansol turned towards me and dropped the keys to the ground. I gave him a weird look, but when he came towards me and wrapped his arms around me holding me tight against him, I was in shock. With the kind of attitude that he has and seeing him do…this, I was at lost for words.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” He whispered as he let go of me and held me out in front of him. “You could’ve gotten expelled!”

“Don’t remind me…” I said while looking to the side.

“And why did you do it?!” He asked, his facial expression going back to seriousness.

“To return it…” I gave him a weird look.

Hansol shook his head furiously. “No, I mean the book! Why?!”

“Oh, P-Goon didn’t tell you? Hmph, some leader he is…” I said.

“Why, Trinity?” His tone becoming very stern.

“I can’t tell you, ok?” I sighed. “Look, I know that if I did you would…you would think some things that aren’t true.”

“Come on, you can tell me! If you tell me then I’ll tell you why I needed to talk to you the other day.” Hansol sighed.

Little did he know that I already found out about it, but I could tell that he wanted to get it off his chest, so, fine, I’ll tell him.

“I…I was curious, ok?” I confessed.

“Well, I can see that you’re curious about everything, but…” Hansol got cut off.

“No buts, Hansol! I wasn’t learning anything really new!” I explained more. “I had to know more about the history and events that happened here, not things that are just recent! And I know pretty damn well why they wouldn’t want to give away the dark information that happened here in the past.”

“I see that you read a lot.” Hansol sighed. “Ok, then, I want you to know that- Hey, are you listening to me?”

In the distance behind Hansol, I could see P-Goon heading towards the Academy meeting…Sue? What was Sue doing there? Then it hit me. I needed to talk to her!

“Hey!” Hansol got eye level with me. I looked outside again and I saw them head inside the Academy, out of sight.

“S-sorry I thought I saw…” I started, but then I shook my head and looked back at Hansol. “Go ahead.”

“As I was saying…if you’d let me talk to you.” He said raising an eyebrow as I remembered the other day. “I wanted to talk to you yesterday about Seogoong. You see, it wasn’t me who told him about you and…Hojoon being in the garden. So whatever you do, don’t you dare get mad at me before assuming who it was.” By the end of his little speech, his cheeks were flaming red and little snowflakes that were sounding him were turning into water, soaking his hair a little bit, making it stick to his face. His eyes were that icy blue again and a blue vein or two stood out on his neck.

“I’m sorry that I assumed.” I nodded. “And I understand.”

I could see that he was relieved, but he didn’t show it as he walked out of the building, locking it up, giving me one last look before heading out. If the door is locked, then there is no doubt that Sue has another key to get in here. I wish that I could’ve asked him about the rose that he gave me and why it was melting, but he didn’t have that long to talk to me. I would have to find him again, hopefully soon. Coming more towards the door, Hansol stopped his mid walk and turned around to see me. He hung his head and after checking his surroundings, he headed back towards the door, unlocked the door, and came inside, making me pace back a few steps.

“What are you doing?” I asked knowing that he has to get back soon.

“I forgot to tell you, on days like this, where classes are cancelled and since we are in this kind of situation, we can’t leave the dorm building. Well, not…you, but we can.” Hansol sighed.

“I can’t leave?” I asked furrowing my eyebrows.

“Don’t worry, Sue will provide you with meals for the entire building.” Hansol said.

So that’s probably why she was with P-Goon. At least, that’s what I assumed, I mean, why else would she be with P-Goon? Hansol was starting to head towards the door, but then I remembered what I wanted to ask him.

“Hansol, wait!” I said coming towards him, stopping his hand. Immediately his cold hand sent goosebumps up my arm and I suddenly backed my hands away. It must’ve been from using his ice powers from earlier as I could see a vanishing blue vein beneath his sleeve. Hansol looked at me with anticipation in his now fading blue eyes. “I have to ask you something.”

Hansol took in a deep breath and looking outside, he hung his head. “Trinity,” he started as he looked back at me with some kind of playful revenge look in his eyes, “whatever you need to tell me, I’m pretty sure it can wait.”

And with that he went outside the building and locked the door. He ran towards his destination, disappearing in the fog, but I could actually see him running even in the thick fog. It wasn’t until now that I felt my eyes do something weird. I didn’t have to strain them like I did in the past, but it felt like they were doing it on their own. Before my eyes could go back to normal, I ran to the closest mirror, which was actually the elevator doors, and I saw that my pupils were huge leaving a bit of my iris around the edge, but the color of my blue eyes had a light, almost grey color. Almost like the element of Air. Closing my eyes, I felt them get back normal again and I checked them again in the mirror to see that they were back to normal.

“But…I’ve just been here for two days and my Element is becoming strong.” I whispered. Just then the door opened up and I could see Sue in the back with at least ten big bags full of food. I turned around to see her putting the food on top of the desk. “Sue, I-”

“Good morning, Trinity,” Sue said nonchalant way. Not looking at me, she went around the counter and collected the bags.

“Do you need any-” I asked, but she shook her head.

“Nope.” Her answer was short and the way that she answered was like in a short click of the tounge.

I sighed and came over to the desk, leaning over to see her sorting out the food underneath. I could tell that she noticed my presence because she tensed up ever so slightly, but she continued working anyway. “Look, Sue, can we just talk?”

“If you keep acting like that we won’t.” She answered back.

I was confused as to what she was talking about, because I don’t know what she was referring to. “I’m sorry, but acting like what?”

“You know, Trinity.” She finally looked up and shook her head. “That is no way to talk to a leader or the oldest in the group.”

“But…how did I…” then it hit me. All my sarcasm and attitude towards Jenissi and P-Goon was the problem. “I…I’m sorry, but you talked to P-Goon with an attitude back in my room. How is my attitude any different from yours?”

“That doesn’t matter.” What was with her? She was acting more motherly like than yesterday!

“But-” I started.

“You are lucky you didn’t get expelled.” Sue stood up and leaned on her hands. “I try to keep everyone in this building safe. What happened so long ago… I don’t want it to repeat itself.”

“But, Marikan was-”

“I know that you aren’t going to be like him! This isn’t about him!” Her voice rose and I could see that her eyes were starting to swirl different colors of red and yellow. The veins beneath her sleeve started to turn a bright red.

“S-Sue?” I asked, getting scared of what was happening to her.

With a sigh, she lowered her head and everything in her eyes and veins turned back to normal. “I’m sorry, Trinity, but I try…when you went out to return, no, when I found out that you had the book, I had to protect you. Never in my years of working here had I ever have a student in this dorm building break a rule. I tried to not make you go, I was even going to return the book myself so you wouldn’t get in trouble, but when you said that you had to do it and show P-Goon that you weren’t scared, I knew that the outcome of you being caught was high. Even then I tried to persuade you to go at a different time, but you…you had the sense of adventure in your eyes.

“You had the same sense of adventure like me when I was your age. I got protective of you because I didn’t want you to have the same outcome like I did when I got caught.” Sue finished.

I stood there silent, listening to her side of the story. “What did you get caught in?”

She bit her lip and looked away from me, closing her eyes. Soon enough her arms were starting to shake and her hand went up to trying to keep sobs coming out. I wanted to comfort her, but for a reason, I know that she would push me away. “I would tell you what happened, but… What I can say is that it was my fault. It was my decision for saying yes and for listening to what my heart was saying…not to what my head was warning. Now, if you would, please head back up to your room, lunch orders are going to be prepared. What would you like? We have macaroni and cheese, seafood lasagna, spaghetti, or garden salad.”

“Seafood lasagna sounds good.” I answered nodding. Sue managed to smile and nodded her head as well.

“That’s one less person to ask. Lunch will be prepared after taking everyone’s order, which will take at least an hour or so.” She explained.

“Sue…I’m sorry, I truly am.” I sighed getting the appropriate apologize out. “I acted stupid for going at the time I did. I should’ve listened to your words.”

Sue stood there, her arms filled with pasta boxes. She nodded her head as she set them down on the counter. “Trinity, I know that you are grown up, I know that you are adventurous…you’re not only like Clara, but you are like me as well. But trust me when I say that you had a better outcome than I did.”

“What was your outcome?” I asked.

“That is for another day.” She nodded as she got out a clipboard and pencil out from underneath the desk. “Now, if you’d excuse me, I have orders to take. Going up?”

I nodded as we both went to the elevator. The ride was short as she only had to go to the first floor. Before she exited the elevator, she turned towards me and a small, sweet smile formed on her face.

“Thank you for apologizing and saying what was on your mind. You know…not all kids are like that.” She gave a small wink and the doors closed, leaving me to wonder what she meant by that. Going back to my room, music was now blasting from behind the doors of the rooms with laughter and chatting. The second I entered my room, the noise from the other rooms were completely blocked out. I decided to leave my necklace off just in case it started to do that weird burning sensation again. I plopped on my bed and not knowing what to do. My eyes went over to the flowers and the ice rose…stopped dripping. And this time, the color was bluer than before. The water in the bowl was all gone, as if the rose soaked it back up. I decided to leave it in the bowl, just in case it were to happen again. My mind went back to our little conversation and how it kind of resolved what happened between us. And that’s when the rose stopped melting. Could it be that it is connected to his feelings? That was a strong option, but how to explain Hojoon’s flower? He’s not Earth…at least he’s very weak in it, from what he told me. Hojoon seems to be growing stronger in Air than any of the others, so how can the daisy be connected to him? Maybe Seogoong tweaked it, or it could be Seogoong’s own flower?

I decided to take the wilting flower out on the balcony, as I gave it some water from the faucet in the bathroom. The thing about how the flower was, it wasn’t just wilting, but it seemed to not wilt any further. A regular flower would wilt and then it would turn into a rotting brown color. But this seemed to keep its color despite the fact that it might be dying. I should’ve asked Sue about my necklace and why it was burning this morning, but I know that she has more important things to focus on, so I wouldn’t be able to have the ability to ask. I have all day to do whatever, but I couldn’t get out of this building, except on my balcony. I needed to talk to Hojoon. The sudden thought of talking to him after knowing that he knows that I broke a rule… I didn’t want to even think of his reaction. Will he hate me? Will he be grateful that I didn’t get kicked out of the Academy like Hansol was? There was no way that I could contact him or any of the other members. Unless they have plans for me today, which I have no idea if they do or not, I am cooped up in the building until tomorrow. Getting out my laptop that I packed with me, I plugged it in my outlet next to my bed and booted it up, loading up my music.

Time for some searching. The minute that I got connected to the wifi, I searched every website for Star Academy in any hopes that I would find some pages either dedicated to it or even some information about it.

Nothing.

I should’ve known it. The “outside world” as they would call it wouldn’t know about this place. And why should they? If they knew about us… But wait. My parents. They don’t possess any powers that I know of. If they did, they would’ve shown me. But…does that mean that they are normal, then that means…I must’ve gotten my powers from my real parents. All sort of questions were running in my mind that it was starting to give me a headache. A knock at my door made me jump as I paused the music and looked towards the door. Who could be here?

“Who is it?” I shouted.

“It’s Hojoon.” A voice came from behind the door.

My heart raced as I noticed that his voice was very firm. I knew that he wanted to talk to me about my actions and how I needed to probably use my brain a bit more. How did he get in here past Sue? Well, he’s part of the group, so he probably has more privileges.

“May I come in?” He asked, his voice becoming a little softer.

I bit my lip and quickly got off the bed, putting away the ice rose that Hansol gave me. I didn’t want Hojoon to see it and get even more upset.

“Come in,” I sighed as I straightened out any wrinkles in my outfit after unlocking the door.

Hojoon walked in the room dressed in jeans and a plain t-shirt, his dark blue hair was just a bit fluffier looking, as if soft cotton or feathers were added. Once he saw what room I had, he stopped and looked around amazed.

“Wow,” he whispered.

“Expecting just a bedroom and a bathroom, now did you?” I tempted for him to laugh.

“Yeah,” He said, a little laugh coming out of his throat. I saw him avert his eyes towards the balcony and I saw some happiness in his eyes as he saw the flower. Hojoon cleared his throat and shook his head, crossing his arms across his chest. “Trinity, why-”

I raised my hand and shook my head. “I already know what you’re going to ask. Please understand that I just-”

“Please let me finish,” Hojoon interrupted me. I stayed quiet as he sighed again, disappointment hidden underneath. “I need to know why you went against P-Goon. I understand the book part, but going against our leader? Trinity, that could get you kicked out!”

“But, Hojoon, I didn’t!” I argued back. Here we were again; arguing about P-Goon. “I just want him to understand that I’m not afraid of him!”

“Oh, he understands all right. He’s going to be your personal guard.” He explained.

“I know…” I whispered. “Hansol and Jenissi already came this morning and told me the news.”

“Ah, so they did come.” Hojoon sighed. “Look, I can’t stay long. Sue doesn’t know that I’m here, considering she’s getting lunch orders. But, I just…want to make sure that you’re alright.”

I nodded my head and sighed sitting down at the edge of my bed. “Yeah, I guess that you can say that.” I looked at him and remembered his training he has with P-Goon. He didn’t have any bandages around his hands, which made me happy. “Didn’t have any training today?”

Hojoon put his hands into his pockets and sat down next to me. The closer he was, the more I saw the bags underneath his eyes. They were still there, but I could see that they were going away. He must’ve gotten more sleep last night. That was a surprise considering that they had a meeting after I got caught, according to P-Goon.

“Trinity, please don’t try to change the subject.” He begged. “I just want to know…why. Why you went against P-Goon.”

“You’re disappointed, aren’t you? Me being a new student and all…” I trailed off.

“I’m not disappointed.” Hojoon admitted. “I’m actually…in all honesty impressed of what you did. Did you break a few rules? Yes. Did you make P-Goon pissed off? Most definitely. But you did something to him that he never felt before in all the years that he’s been here.”

“And what is that?” I questioned.

“Challenge.” He answered looking over to me. “He’s feeling like this is challenging him. You can’t tell anyone that I told you, but he was talking about it in last night’s second meeting. He doesn’t like it, but I could even tell that he’s anticipating it.”

“You’re telling me that he’s never felt challenged at his job at all?” I asked.

“Nobody ever really risked it.” Hojoon shrugged his shoulders. “Not what you did, at least. Sure we had some troublesome students in the past which made P-Goon kick them out, but they didn’t do what you did. You actually went into the most restricted section and read what happened here in the past.”

“And you know what happened in the past, too?” I asked.

Hojoon stayed quiet for a while and he bit his lip. “No.”

“What? You don’t?” I gasped.

“P-Goon doesn’t want me to know until I’m old enough.” He answered.

I had a feeling as to why he doesn’t, too. I figured after they knew about it, they would think I was like Marikan. And I didn’t have a doubt in my mind that they would think that would happen to Hojoon. But…Hojoon would never be like him.

“Look,” I said, bringing a hand over to Hojoon’s. Hojoon tensed up when I touched his hand, but he quickly relaxed. “It was my mistake of taking the diary. I never should’ve done it and I should’ve waited. But my curiosity got to the best of me. And when P-Goon found out that it was missing, I had to come up with a plan to bring it back. I sadly choose the worst option.”

Hojoon nodded his head agreeing with me. I wasn’t saddened by him agreeing with me because even I knew it was a stupid move.

“But you know…” I said as I started to laugh a bit. “It was a bit fun, returning the book. Kind of like I was in a spy movie.”

Hojoon smiled at my comment and he turned his hand around to intertwine it with mine. My cheeks were flaming, but I kept my cool. “But like I said,” My voice was coming out, but only just by a whisper. “I went against him to show that I’m not scared of anything that he puts on me.”

He nodded as he scooted closer. “You know…” he said, his voice becoming unsteady, “if I were in your shoes, I would do the same thing. Since I’m not really part of the group…I can’t do anything.”

“Nothing?” I gasped.

“Nothing.” He answered, breathing out a sigh. “I could try to voice my opinion, but it most likely won’t be taken. When I heard the news about what he planned on doing with you, I wanted to speak out, but I knew that he probably wouldn’t listen to me. I’ve tried it in the past, so believe me when I say it doesn’t work all the time.”

“That’s not fair,” I sighed as I felt him thumb run over my fingers gently. My cheeks turned redder as he slowly turned his head towards me, I saw that he had some sort of emotion in his eyes, but I couldn’t really tell what it was. Hojoon’s breathing turned shallower as he brought his other hand to my cheek, making a stinging sensation since his hand was cool against it. “H-Hojoon?” I asked as he lightly searched my eyes.

“I admire your courage,” he whispered as his thumb was tracing little circles. “I hope that one day I can obtain it. But as for now, I guess I’ll learn it from you.”

“Now, now,” I managed to get my voice out. “You’re already learning your Element, I wouldn’t want you to get exhausted from learning another thing.”

Hojoon smiled and held his hand on my cheek, practically cupping my face. “It’ll be worth it.” His voice was a whisper and I just noticed that his face was closer to mine. I could feel his hot breath travel down almost hitting the nape of my neck. It felt like I was almost in a trance as I could feel energy between us, making my mind go into a daze. His eyes were going up to my eyes and back down to my lips constantly. We stayed in this position for what felt like forever, but before either of us could move closer, a ring echoed in the room. Hojoon bit his lip as he looked down, removing his hand from my cheek and my own hand. A teacher’s voice came over the speaker loudly explaining about tomorrow’s activities, but all I could focus on was Hojoon as he got up and straightened out his outfit.

“I got to go before I get caught by Sue and before I get in trouble with the group.” Hojoon explained as he was heading out the door. I turned towards him, feeling my heart pump out of my chest, wondering if he was feeling what I was. As for now, I was speechless at what just happened as he opened up the door and waved to me. “I hope to see you tomorrow.”

Before I could say anything or wave, he closed the door and I could hear his quick footsteps down the hallway. I put my hand to my cheek and I could still feel as if his hand was still resting there. What made him act like that? Well, it was definitely a surprise, but… I shook my head and tried to get myself together as I looked went to go take a shower. And as I passed the balcony, a certain flower was standing straight up and soaking up the sun.