8 THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE

"And his eyes turned all black, like he wasn't human almost, like his eyes were bleeding ink, like he was soulless—"

"Yeah, I get it," Kookie interrupts. We both sit with our legs crossed on the floor of the dark old storage closet, leaning close and whispering intently. He tilts his head to the side and purses his lips in thought. "Rudale was 'supervising' my Safety and Defense class, and he wanted us to do hand-to-hand combat WITH knives and WITHOUT any fast-healing serums so if we got hurt, he'd want us to stop our own bleeding—" I shake my head in disapproval, "—that guy's psycho, I agree, and Vicky kicked him out when he began to become annoying. He also wanted us to race against each other on the climbing wall WITHOUT any safety harnesses, I mean, we do that sometimes but we don't COMPETE against—"

"Ok," I interrupt, "I get it." The hovering orb by our sides casts pulsing shadows on Kookie's face and makes his eyes look like a deep metallic blue. "Isn't he one of the adults on Andromeda 83? He has to be. Also, don't you think all the people from Andromeda are a little strange? Like, they all have this side to them that's all quiet and focused, like they're robots almost until they shake out of it."

Kookie nods. "And the adults from Andromeda are also cold, even worse. Remember when Taehyung and Jimin said when they came here, that their old ship was super strict? Maybe that's how they acted over there, but now that they're here, they want to blend in more... or something. Also, remember the moment they just arrived? They were all super quiet and obedient. Like they were soldiers."

I nod vigorously. "And so far, all the people from Andromeda are way ahead of us in classes. It's insane how... how deadly they are in Safety and Defense class... I don't know why the Andromeda people aren't all in the top Safety Defense class instead of class 4..."

A quiet murmur outside the door startles us both. For the third midnight in a row, we can't be left in peace. Kookie grabs the hovering orb and muffles its pulsing light with his hand. I stare at the knob of the door, turning so slowly--

Taehyung's head pops in. He grins when he sees us. My shoulders sag with relief. He comes in, and so does Jimin and Hoseok. I haven't gotten to know Taehyung much yet, but so far I like Jimin and Hoseok. Even if they radiate with charm and became popular the moment they walked into this ship, they don't act like popular jerks. Although they're sometimes immature, it's funny to watch them goof around.

Although Jimin jokes around with me a lot, deep inside I like his attention, now that I know he isn't just using me for amusement. My heart flutters as I feel his gaze on my face.

"Whatcha guys doing?" Hoseok asks, all of them sitting on the floor so we form a circle. It's cramped, so Jimin's knee presses against mine.

'Oh,' I think in my head, 'we were just talking about how strange you guys are. Also, how your General Rudale totally creeped me out in the hall. It could be a hallucination, but I'm pretty sure it was real..."

"Uhm, we were just talking," Kookie says quietly.

"Can we join you from now on?" Hoseok asks, his eyes hopeful.

"Oh! Sure," Kookie says, smiling. Kookie seems like he'd do anything to make these boys happy. These boys bonded so fast, you can just tell by looking at them, their affection for each other makes it seem like they're brothers. It makes me happy inside that Kookie found them. Like me, there aren't many people Kookie hangs out with.

We show Hoseok the computer we've been working on, and he's utterly fascinated. Taehyung smiles broadly, his lips forming a cute box shape. Then Taehyung and Jimin want to see the computer again, and Taehyung's mouth is slightly open the whole time.

It makes me melt a little inside as I watch Taehyung. All his actions are either sexy or so freaking cute.

"Hey," I say softly, and they look up to me from the computer in their hands. "So, you guys know, uh, General Rudale?"

Jimin drops the computer, and although it's from a small height, it still makes a loud 'clang'. I wince, hoping nobody else heard from outside, and Jimin mutters "sorry, sorry" a thousand times.

Taehyung sits frozen on the floor, staring at a spot on the ground. Hoseok stares at me, then starts touching his neck nervously.

"Well," Hoseok mutters after a whole minute of awkward tense silence, "he was our Combat teacher. He was really rough with us. Not like here. Several students passed out during training, it was normal to cry and have nosebleeds. But nobody cried in front of General Rudale, unless you're asking for trouble.

"The most upsetting thing about him is, during a Combat lesson, he was dueling with this girl because she had no partner. But it was unfair, as she had two small knives and Rudale had a lot more experience and had blades in his boots and spiked knuckle braces. They wouldn't stop fighting, and eventually the girl was fighting for her life. You see, the fighting ring is on a higher platform, and you can fall of the sides and survive, but there are these genetically bred... monsters that will tear you apart in seconds that live on the bottom, so if you fall, your only hope is if you get rescued by an adult right away."

I close my eyes for a moment, my hands flying up to my mouth. What kind of 'training' did they have, with the constant fear of the monsters below them?

"General Rudale was taking his time with the girl, purposefully humiliating her and hurting her. He never liked her; she talked back to him, and had too much heart to try and fight her classmates, afraid of hurting them. Rudale believes the 'weak' don't deserve to be among the 'strong'. And, when she was exhausted, Rudale just... pushed her off the edge."

I gasp against my fingers, my lips trembling. Disgust and hate starts to curl inside of me for Rudale.

"The worst part is," Hoseok whispers, his voice faltering, "is he could've saved her. He was the only person the monsters would completely listen to, and he could've just yelled, anything, for the monsters to hold back. But no, he just stood there, and Jin almost jumped over to try and help the girl."

"...Jin?" Kookie says so quietly.

"Yeah," Hoseok says grimly. "That girl was the love of his life, they went through so much together, and their love for each other was truly beautiful. And when the girl died so tragically with Jin being held back by several people, feeling helpless, something broke hard inside him. He may act cheerful, but really, he's always hurting from the wound that never healed.

"Namjoon is the closest to Jin, and at first they would cuss out Rudale and ask for trouble. They could only do that because they are the best in combat, and Rudale could never kill them. He... he really is terrible. It's like he doesn't feel anything. Like he's not human, even."

It takes a moment to realize there are hot messy tears streaming down my cheeks. I sit curled up with my knees tucked into my chest, rocking back and forth slightly in an attempt to calm myself, hatred boiling beneath my skin. Jimin rubs my back, watching me closely, and I feel a little better. I can see Kookie shaking with anger, and I tell how much he's restraining himself to stay quiet.

"I had no idea," Kookie mumbles, his jaw clenched shut but his eyes calming to a mournful dark.

My throat hurts, but I will my voice to resurface. "How long has it been since...?"

"Just six months," Jimin murmurs. "Then, the ship began to break down."

We sit there in silence, Kookie and I still processing the tragic story. How could such evil be inside someone? Do the adults of our ship know what Rudale has done? Would they kick him out if they knew?

....

As the five teenagers sat on the cold floor of the closet together, their silence thick with sorrow and hatred, they were oblivious of the imposters that walked on the ship. Blind to the danger nearing them, and to the fate of 2804 teenagers. Still deep in space with help light years away, they would have to fight on their own...