...HATE AT FIRST SIGHT?

After lying in my bunk until a little before midnight, I crawl out, my body aching but my insides churning with excitement. I'm fastening on my silky cold cloak when I feel a hand grip my wrist. I freeze and turn to see Liesl, staring up at me almost pleadingly.

"Emma," Liesl whispers softly, "take me with you."

My lips purse in doubt instinctively at her words. I look at her wide eyes, begging me, and I realize she can't sleep, either. And she's dying to get out of this dormitory too, just like me.

She knows I leave at night and she keeps her mouth closed. I can trust her, she's smart enough.

I nod an 'ok', and she grins widely and tip toes out of her lower bunk. She searches around for her cloak, and I just unfasten mine and put it around her tiny shoulders. It drags on the floor as we walk unless she bunches it up with her fists.

She follows me silently, so quietly that I almost forget she's even there. We go through the small old tunnel that leads to the bigger, tall tunnel. I glance at Liesl and see she's fascinated with the outside of the lift, and I can't help but grin.

"Okay, now you stand on this knot," I say low and quietly, gesturing to the knot on the rope, "and you pull the other rope down so you go up. Soon, if you go fast enough, you won't have to pull anymore and it'll take you up easily. But to stop, you just need to climb down just below the knot before the top, and at the very top the knot will stop the cycle. I'll go first so you can see what I mean."

I pull myself up and then the speeding air plays lightly with my hair. When I see the ceiling nearing, I slide down a little and the rope jerks to a stop when the knot is stuck in place. I climb a bit and settle myself at a good sitting spot with metal bars, and throw the rope down until the knot reaches Liesl. I'm so high up, that I can barely see her, a mere dot on the ground. I watch as she tentatively steps on the knot, and she lets out a loud gasp when she's soon zipping up through the air.

"Now slide down!" I call out, and she slips down the rope just in time so her head doesn't smash against the ceiling. I let out a whoop and clap, but stop quickly when I worry that somehow, Rudale is lurking on the top floor and might hear me.

I clear my throat and gesture with a tilt of my head to the big air vent. "Now we crawl."

After a few minutes we reach the opening and we drop down to the huge room with the strange mirrored wall. The rest of the boys are already there, and only Jimin notices at first.

"Who's--?" he stutters, his face surprised to see Liesl standing behind me. Soon everyone is staring at Liesl, and I see her blush and hide more behind me.

"It's ok," I assure them. "She's smart. She wouldn't tell on us, she really wanted to come with me. She knows I've been leaving at night for a while."

... "Oh," Kookie says, breaking the awkward silence. He breaks into a friendly smile. "Hey, Liesl. Glad you could join us."

"I will never tell anyone," Liesl blurts out, her bottom lip trembling slightly. She bites her lip and reddens, and repeats, "I will never tell anyone about this, because this is so... so damn cool!"

I resist the urge to burst out laughing. I meet Jimin's eyes and he's holding back laughter, too. Liesl wants to fit in with us already, and her using the word 'damn' just makes her look cuter than cool.

"That's good," I sigh, patting Liesl's back. "C'mon, let's introduce each other!"

Liesl meets all of the boys and every one of them laughs with her, except Jin. He stiffly shakes her hand, presses on a smile, and walks away and is suddenly interested in rummaging through a box. I frown at Jin's back. Why is he so tense?

We all grab a random box and start looking through it. I find lots of wires and cables with broken ends. I frown at my sad box. There's nothing really interesting.

"Look, guys!" Jin exclaims from the other side of the room. We all huddle around Jin, and he pulls out a heavy-looking black box which he carries in his arms and sets down in the middle of the room. We follow him and circle around the mysterious black box. It's dusty, but once Jin brushes it off enough, it gleams and shines. "Hold on," Jin mumbles, then runs back to his box and pulls out a couple of wires. He examines them for a few minutes while the rest of us poke and prod at the black box, then he plugs them in. Nothing happens.

"Dude," Yoongi sighs, "you need to plug in the other ends, too." He presses the ends of the wires into a weird box in the wall, and the black box begins to hum and whir to life.

We all shout in surprise and excitement, and I see Yoongi wears a smug smile through the mirror. We all press random buttons, wanting something to happen, when--

A strange sound fills the air. Everyone freezes in place. Several tones and pitches are played at the same time, forming this beautiful picture. It's relaxing and tranquil, then it changes to a darker and wilder theme. It sends a foreign surge of emotion through my veins, and my heart beats frantically when the multiple, blending sounds form a faster melody.

Melody. The word makes my eyes widen, and my stomach drops in a slow, dawning realization. I remember faintly reading something about 'melody'... or was it from the computer diaries?

I gasp. These sounds, these beautiful, haunting, nerve-wrecking sounds-- must be 'music'?

I remember now. Singing is a form of music. But this music is new-- there's no human voices.

"Music," I blurt out. I stare at Kookie until his eyes light up with realization.

"Oh!" he yells. "Hey guys, do you remember when we read about the music in the computer diaries?"

"Um," Namjoon says slowly, "I'm pretty sure you two were the only ones reading, and we were doing something else..."

"Well," Kookie says excitingly, "It's this amazing thing. We all sing sometimes, right? That is music. There's more to music than singing, though. There's these 'notes' within a 'song', and when they all come together from different parts, it forms a 'melody'!"

Everyone stares at Kookie. Liesl cocks her head to the side, thinking.

"Huh," Hoseok murmurs. He grins at me and Kookie. "Well, that's cool! It's really pretty..."

The music grows louder, drowning out Hoseok's voice, and sadder, then fades into a faint whisper.

I love it so so much. It takes a minute for me to remember to breathe.

"That was so beautiful," Taehyung says softly, mirroring my thoughts. Jimin leans over and presses another button.

Another music song plays, and this one is groovy. My fingertips tingle and I feel a strong beat pulsing within me, matching the song's pace. Before I know it, I'm swaying to the beat, closing my eyes and letting my body move on its own.

~~~

Liesl's POV

~~~

A new 'song' starts to play when Jimin presses another random button, and it's abrupt yet chill. I notice Emma's vibes are happy; she's smiling without a care in the world, rolling her shoulders and swaying her hips and soon, she's dancing with her full body. Just a small dance, but it's mesmerizing to watch. I also notice Jimin staring at Emma intently, a huge smile on his face. He looks at Emma a lot, but mostly when he thinks she isn't looking.

It's obvious how Jimin acts around Emma that he loves her.

Jimin steps in next to Emma and starts to dance as well. This makes everyone move forward, and dance along. I join too, and find myself next to Jin, at the end. For once, he doesn't mind me, he just laughs and smiles along with everyone else.

Ever since Andromeda 83 came onboard, I never really paid much attention to these six boys until I literally bumped into Jin turning a corner. He was walking with Taehyung. Taehyung laughed and helped me up, apologizing politely while Jin just stood stiffly. Whenever I'm around him, he acts irritated and annoyed. I don't know what I'm doing wrong...

I look into the huge mirror on the wall, and I see Emma's opened her eyes and is smiling back at Jimin. Her braid is loose yet pretty, her gold and green eyes twinkling, dimples showing. She's practically glowing, and so is Jimin as they dance together while staring into each other's eyes and smiling.

I smile. So this is what love looks like, huh.

Is there such thing as love at first sight?

I deflate a little when I remember the way Jin stared coldly at me when I entered the room.