Chapter Text
“The teacher talks too much, i don’t like her! And, she keeps talking to you like some… some dumb kid!” Till shrieked, grabbing the sides of his head.
Ivan sighed, clinging to Till’s waist. He was too short to hug Till’s shoulders, this was the most he could do. “Till, i told you to let it go..” he mumbled, Till was always one to bear grudges after all.
”Whatever, i want to play.” Till says.
”Okay,” Ivan smiled, fang pointing out. He pressed a kiss on Till’s cheek.
Till laughed loudly while tackling Ivan to the ground, they both roll on the grass together. Ivan locks fingers with Till before kissing his cheek. It was a sunny day today, singing practice had just finished.
”Till, our clothes are dirty now.” Ivan half-heartedly scolds. Their white uniforms were now mixed with green from the fake grass. Till sticks his tongue out with a pout.
”I’ll take the blame for it.” Till replies, hiding his face in Ivan’s chest. Ivan was so warm, Till loved wrapping his arms around Ivan. He stayed like that for awhile, Ivan cradling his head on his chest, while Till lay comfortably on Ivan like a pillow.
Ivan frowns, “They always blame you, I don’t like it.” Ivan replies, his brows furrowing in anger. He was right, though. The aliens loved blaming Till for every single bad thing happening inside Anakt. Till rolls his eyes with a slight sarcastic chuckle. It was a well known fact around the garden, the aliens hated Till’s rebellious nature. But, Ivan liked it. Rebelliousness is in every human, It made Till human.
”I don’t care, i’m not letting the dumb aliens hurt you. You’re too precious to me.”
Ivan’s cheeks turn an embarrassing shade of pink. “Till… i told you to stop calling me that.” Till giggles, he loves complimenting Ivan, if it meant seeing his flustered face.
“It’s true, though.” Till kisses Ivan’s nose, making Ivan’s breath hitch in shock and embarrassment. Ivan sat up and crossed his arms embarrased.
Till adored Ivan, he loved him. Till knew the moment Ivan out-sang the other kids during their first singing practice, Ivan was someone he could depend on. Till knew the moment he was snagged off the streets, and sold behind a thick glass like a wild animal on display, that God didn’t exist. The universe, the world, they were all gone. but if all he can do as a human is to believe…
“Not true…” Ivan mumbled, pouting. His face was bright pink all over, it made Ivan look cuter than usual. Till badly wanted to pinch Ivan’s cheeks.
”Whatever, come here.” Till said, still laying on the grass, he opened his arms wide and signaled for Ivan to hug him.
Ivan’s lips trembled for a second, before he begrudgingly jumped on Till. Ivan smirked, before tickling Till’s stomach, Till’s face lit up as he laughed. Till giggled happily while yelling at Ivan to stop. When Ivan did, Till pulled him in and kissed his cheek. Lately, kissing people on the cheek became a popular thing amongst the humans.
“I like you, Ivan. Do you like me, too?” Till quietly asked, his voice barely above a whisper. It was a question he often asked Ivan, Ivan always indulged in it.
Ivan snuggled his nose on Till’s neck, “I do, Till. I like you too.” He quietly replied, before the bell rang, signaling lunch time.
Till frowned but shrugged, “Our time was cut short, let’s go get lunch, hm?” He reached his hand out for Ivan, the short boy enthusiastically took the hand offered to him. Till always gave Ivan the food he liked, Ivan always told him he shouldn’t. Nothing stopped Till.
Ivan kept his eyes on Till, he liked Till so much. Ivan blushes when Till drags him along to the cafeteria. Ivan wanted to keep Till safe, he was going to make sure of it.
”T-teacher, i’m telling you, Sua stole my pencil!” Mizi tugged on the alien’s clothing, the alien scoffed and brushed Mizi away.
Sua, that cheeky little…
”Mizi, Sua has been sitting there the whole time. How could she steal your pencil? Just borrow one from a classmate.” The alien retorted, “Now, sit down, we have a class ongoing.”
Mizi clenched her fists in anger. How could they believe Sua so quick? Was it because she was quiet? Maybe because she was so well-behaved Sua didn’t need a collar so often?
The pink-haired girl angrily marches back to her seat. Who cares if Sua was the perfect little human? She keeps stealing Mizi’s stuff, it’s so… irritating!
Mizi reluctantly sat back down, a frown on her face. She silently glared at Sua from across the room, Sua doesn’t glare back. Her eyes were on the board. Of course, the perfect-outstanding student, she needed to listen all the time!
No one knew that Sua was a stupid, evil, hoarding thief. She would put up that behaved-pet front and smile, and then the entire population would fall for it. Sua had people fawning for her left and right, it was so annoying.
“Dismissed, go to the garden and wait for the lunch bell.” The alien says, Mizi badly wanted to punch her. The mere thought of Sua bewitching another alien adds fuel to the fire.
Mizi stands up, she messily grabs all of her items and shoves it inside the bag her guardian gave her. Mizi liked it. Until, a few stupid kids grew envious and vandalized it. Mizi punched them, and earned herself a beating from the aliens.
She huffed, she was about to open the door and leave. Until… she saw Till.
Till.
Mizi felt her face grow hotter. She hurriedly looks away from Till, It would be so embarrassing for Till to see her like this.
”Oh, it’s Mizi.” Mizi tries her hardest not to stumble on her words. “Hi!” Till greets her, he was walking to the usual spot he and Ivan go to. Speaking of Ivan, he was holding hands with Till while deeply glaring at Mizi.
”O-oh hi T-Till…” Mizi wants to punch herself. She’s already practiced this scenario so much, why can’t she say it without stuttering?!
”Till, we’re gonna be late.” Ivan nudges him. Wow. Mizi knew Ivan disliked her, but deliberately taking Till away? It was a new all-time low. “Practice, right?”
Till makes a panicked expression, and gawks. “You’re right! Sorry, Mizi. I’ll catch you later?” Till grins, waving at Mizi.
”S-sure, uhm… catch you later?”
“Bye!” Till yells, waving enthusiastically. Mizi felt like fainting on the spot.
Mizi surely does not miss the petty look Ivan sends her way. She sticks her tongue out at him and frowns, Mizi holds her shirt tighter. She could barely get close to Till, Ivan was always present to intercept their interactions.
Mizi first met Till three years ago. Till was beat-up sitting under a tree, away from the joys and cheers of the other children. She stared from afar. Mizi witnessed Till earlier that day, he was sneaking food for another human pet. The aliens ended up discovering this, they held Till down on the floor and punched him around, Mizi was behind a wall— her breath was stuck in her throat. Till spotted her hiding near the wall at the corner of his eyes. Mizi thought it was over for her, she was sneaking around for candy. Till stayed quiet though, even gave her extra sweets. It’s just… Till was a hero in her eyes. He was always beaming and helping others, taking the blame.
Till was her idol.
”Hi.” Mizi flinches and flips around, it was Sua. The cheeky girl who liked to follow her around everywhere. Mizi doesn’t understand the motive behind Sua’s actions. She didn’t have any friends, she liked following Mizi around, and she… Sua’s just weird, overall. Sua was smart academically and logically, but at normal type of smart? She’s flunked that part.
Mizi doesn’t answer. She walks away, quickening her steps while hoping Sua gets the hint and doesn’t follow her. Of course, Sua does not.
”Mizi…” Sua sings her name, and it was starting to piss Mizi off. Why did Sua like clinging to her so much, when she was obviously not interested? “Mizi.” Sua said again.
Mizi grimaces, ”What, Sua?” She finally says, Mizi’s eye twitches at the obvious gleam on Sua’s face.
”I’m sorry.” Sua said, suddenly leaning down and resting her chin on Mizi’s shoulder. Mizi stared down at her with a calculating expression. She wasn’t sure on what to think about Sua, she… Mizi sometimes consider her a friend, but most of the time? She hates Sua.
“Whatever.”
Hyun-Woo laughs boisterously, he kicks the ball with his feet skillfully. He passed it to Luka, who barely caught it.
”I’m no good…” Luka whispered, it was so difficult to do extra-curricular activities with his weak self. He didn’t like the idea of staying behind in a corner while everyone plays. From just a simple thing, Luka was already trying to catch his breath.
Hyun-Woo shook his head and frowned, he walked to Luka. “It’s not your fault, Luka. My Noona says everyone is made differently, physical things are probably not your strong suit. Do you want to color with me?” He grinned, holding Luka’s shoulder.
Luka flushed a bright pink. “Yea. I want to color with you, Hyun-Woo.” Luka’s first friend, Hyun-Woo. Luka would forever be grateful to him.
”Yea? Let’s go!” Hyun-Woo cheers, taking Luka’s hand and making sure to walk at a coordinated pace for Luka.
They sat under a tree, it was their tree. Everyone in Anakt knew that. Hyun-Woo rushed inside and came back outside in an instant, he was giggling while his arms hoarded a ton of art supplies. It was their favorite past-time. Hyuna did not like art much, she stuck to reading books. Well, boring.
”I want to make you, and then a pink flower.” Luka mumbles, resting his head on Hyun-Woo’s shoulder. Luka was feeling cold again, but Hyun-Woo was always there to warm him up.
Hyun-Woo sarcastically scoffed. “Why pink? That’s such a random color, maybe do red? Purple?” He suggested.
”Pink is the color of your face, when i say i like you.” To prove Luka’s point right, Hyun-Woo’s face froze and suddenly turned a bright shade of pink.
”S-shut up, Luka.”
”Hehe.” Luka chuckled, kissing Hyun-Woo’s cheek as an apology. Well, it just made Hyun-Woo feel more flustered.
They stayed like for a long time, bathing in each other’s warmth and company for hours. Luka hated his body and dumb diseases, it meant he couldn’t play with Hyun-Woo a lot. Hyun-Woo always liked to do art and singing with him, though.
”Hyun-Woo?” Someone peeked out from behind the tree. The two boys turned around.
It was Hyuna.
Hyuna, Hyun-Woo’s older twin sister. Their resemblance was uncanny, if it weren’t for Hyuna’s long hair, you could definitely mistake them for one another.
”Noona!” Hyun-Woo beamed, he set down the art supplies he was hoarding and hugged his elder sister. For some reason, Luka always got a bad feeling around Hyuna. I mean, she would deliberately hurt herself so Luka would pay attention to her and stuff. Luka also caught her staring one too many times, he only tolerates her because of Hyun-Woo.
Hyuna wasn’t smiling, “I need to tell you something, uh, alone?” She said, staring at Luka. Ooh, chills down his spine.
Hyun-Woo smiles, “Okay, Noona. Luka, wait here, okay?” Luka nods, staring blankly at the canvas with Hyun-Woo’s painted face.
Luka follows Hyun-Woo’s instructions and stays under the tree. He wonders what Hyuna wanted to tell Hyun-Woo. Luka did not like to consider himself nosy, just curious— he peeked an eye from behind the tree.
They were arguing, Luka frowns. He stands up and walks to them, cursing his weak stamina.
”Hyun-Woo, Hyuna.” He says, but they don’t pay attention to him. Odd. What were they fighting about? It must be their dumb sibling banters again. Hyun-Woo said that he and Hyuna often argued about dumb stuff, like, who took their blankets, etc etc…
”—-You’re so obsessed with him, Noona. It’s not good!” Luka could hear Hyun-Woo yell, were they talking about him? It wasn’t uncommon for Luka to be the topic of discussion, he was aware of Hyuna’s infatuation with him.
”Shut up!” Hyuna yelled, Luka flinches. He drags his legs there as fast as possible. Were they going to fight?
Hyun-Woo wanted to say something, but Hyuna beat him to it. She shrieked angrily and pushed Hyun-Woo in anger.
Bang.
Luka freezes.
”Hyun-Woo?” Hyuna whispers, her voice shuddering violently. Blood was everywhere, it slowly seeped through Hyuna’s feet. She backed away and fell on her buttocks, all she did was stare in shock.
Luka yells, making everyone turn to him, including Hyuna. The other children on the sidelines collectively gasp and run for the aliens.
”Hyun-Woo!” Luka sobs, holding Hyun-Woo’s bloody, smashed head in his lap. He didn’t care if he was getting dirty, he needed to save Hyun-Woo.
“Luka…” Hyun-Woo weakly whispers, oh crap, he was still breathing.
”S-someone help me carry him!” They hesitated, before three children voluntarily came forwards and helped him lift Hyun-Woo into their arms.
The aliens came after a few seconds, they take Hyun-Woo and get him medical attention immediately.
Hyuna was still in shock, mouth hanging open while tears flow down her face.