“Laaa~ Lala laa~ Lalalala~ Lala~”

A teenage girl leaped forward with her right leg while singing. When the tip of her right foot reached the ground, she jumped forward with her left leg. She sang a sound and continued to walk on the way while repeating the same procedure.

“Aren’t you worried at all?”

She turned her head to her side. The man that was accompanying her was the one who asked that question. She couldn’t see his face because of the hoodie that he was wearing, but she could say for sure that the man was looking at her.

“What should I be worried about?”

“Girl, you-”

“Not girl, it’s Claire. Call me by my name already!”

The man sighed and opened his mouth again.

“…Claire, you are a teenage girl. Should you really be traveling in the middle of nowhere alone with a man you don’t know?”

“Oh?”

Claire jumped once more and landed in front of the man with her two feet.

“You are acting like a grandpa again?”

The man took a step back.

“I’m not acting like a grandpa, but you are acting like a little kid.”

“What?”

Claire frowned her brows. One of the things she hated the most was being called a “kid.” The man poked the place between her frowned brows with his finger.

“You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t a kid. Traveling alone in an unknown place and with an unknown man, that’s what only fools and kids do.”

“HEY!”

The annoyed young girl stamped the ground with her foot in frustration.

“Shut up! I have the ability to move in space, so I can run away if there is any danger. You get it?”

“Sigh.”

The man sighed again and shook his head. He moved past the girl and continued to walk without saying anything else.

Claire turned behind and shouted towards the departing man’s back.

“You are the one who wants to act all mysterious! You are the one who is hiding his face with a hoodie! Are you that ugly? See who is acting like a kid now!”

The man didn’t respond to her and just continued to walk.

“Tch!”

She clicked her tongue and stamped her foot again. The man was walking forward without even looking at her as if she didn’t exist at all.

‘How can you wear such clothes in this weather?’

It was summer and they were on a mountain, but he was wearing pants with a long hoodie that almost looked like a cloak or coat.

She had been working with this man for a while now, but she has never seen his face. He wouldn’t talk that much or do anything more than what they were ordered to do. Claire didn’t even know his name. She could say for sure that he was a young man considering his voice and well-built body, but he always acted as if he was much older than her.

“Stop! Wait for me!”

She moved his feet and ran towards the man.

.

.

.

“I guess we have arrived.”

The teenage girl ran forward and looked down from the edge of the hill.

“I can see large boxes and tankers there. It should be the place.”

The man also looked down. He could see a hole down there. There were lots of mining equipment and machines around it.

“Hurry up! There is no one there now, let’s go.”

The girl created a small portal in front of herself and the man and they both jumped in it. They were standing in front of the entrance of the mine when they exited the portal.

After walking for about five minutes in the dark and narrow paths of the mine, they could see some shiny things in the distance. Shiny crystals half-buried in the walls and the ground were eliminating light that brightened the dark interior of the mine.

“Mascry…”

The man mumbled something under his lips as he looked at the beautiful crystals.

“Hey, boss. Will you really be able to take all of them out of here?”

Claire looked between the crystals and her boss. They seemed to be deep in the solid ground. It wasn’t easy to mine mascry, you needed to have the right equipment and treat the ore with care.

The man took one step forward. He approached the pink and purple crystals slowly.

Shhhh

Dust rose to the air as he walked. He stopped walking and stood in between the crystals.

Shhhh

The dirt in the ground started to shake and move. The tiny bits of soil rolled on the ground and moved away from the half-buried crystals.

Shhh Shhh

Gradually, the whole body of the crystals started to become visible. The soil piled up in the middle of the road, blocking the way that they used to walk here. It took the man only a few minutes to push aside all the dirt and take out the shiny crystals.

“Wow! You have a nice power!”

Claire clapped her hand with excitement. She moved forward and touched the crystals. They were a mixture of purple and pink. They seemed soft and smooth, like candy. You would think that they are filled with a pink and purple liquid at the first glance.

The man piled up the crystals in one place. Claire stood beside him and moved her hand. Two portals appeared in the air. One of them covered the crystals. The pile of crystals disappeared in an instant as if they were gobbled up. Clare and the man moved towards the second portal after that and stepped into it.

This time, they found themselves in a big room after exiting the portal.

“Wow!”

There were people waiting for them in the room. One of them came closer and examined the ores.

“This many will cost millions… no, billions-”

“Shut up. We are not selling them.”

Someone else smacked the back of the man’s head. He threw his cigarette on the floor and pressed it with his foot.

“I will tell Master that you have done your job. You can go.”

The hooded man nodded his head silently and turned back.

“Hey!”

Claire also exited the room and ran to the man’s side.

“What about telling me your name now that we have finished our mission?”

“….”

“Come on! I should at least know your name. We have been working with each other for more than a month and I still know nothing about you!”

“Why do you even need to know my name?”

“Huh? Why you say… so that I can call you with something other than “Hey” maybe?”

The man stopped walking and looked at her.

“Keep calling me “Hey”. I really feel comfortable being called “Hey” you know.”

“….”

He turned around and started walking again.

“Annoying bastard!”

Claire clenched her fists and shouted behind him.

“Remain nameless and die in loneliness! Asshole! Who do you think you are? You are only a piece of shit who wants to seem mysterious and cool! Idiot!”

She yelled loudly and cursed till she ran out of breath. The man didn’t seem to mind any of her words, he just walked forward silently.

“AARGH!”

The teenage girl stamped the ground and groaned in frustration.

***

Dee

Dee

DeDeDeDe

Dee

“Argh shut up!”

Dee

Dee

“Where the hell is that goddamned phone?”

Kairen looked everywhere searching for his phone. The sound of the alarm was so annoying that he wanted to smash his phone just to get rid of that sound.

“Here.”

He took out his phone from under his bed’s mattress and turned off the alarm.

“How did it even go under the mattress?”

He threw the phone aside and stared at the ceiling again. He felt too tired to move out of his bed.

Kairen didn’t need an alarm to wake up. He couldn’t really sleep much from anxiety last night. He spent half of the night, trying to fall asleep and the other half staring at the ceiling with his eyes wide open. His eyes hurt and his body was stiff.

BANG

“Kairen! Wake up you’re- Oh, you are awake.”

Kairen looked at Kain who had jumped into his room. His eyes were puffy with dark circles under them.

‘Didn’t he sleep last night?’

“Hurry up! Get out. The breakfast is ready, come and eat. You shouldn’t be late.”

Kain said those and hurriedly ran outside again.

‘Why do you seem more anxious than me?’

Kairen lazily got out of the bed and went to wash his face while scratching the back of his head.

‘I don’t want to go…’

Kairen grumbled inwardly and picked up his toothbrush. His face in the mirror looked awful. Like a turn pice of toilet paper, crumbled and ugly. His short, light brown hair was puffy and his hazel eyes seemed tired.

‘I’ll sleep a whole day after coming back.’

He promised that to himself and brushed his teeth. There wasn’t much time left. He had to get ready, eat breakfast, and move out soon.. You shouldn’t be late for your exams, especially if it’s SMF’s entrance exam.