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Preschool was the most relaxing time for Kim Dahyun. She would stare out at the vast world through the window next to her desk and count the clouds as they passed by. Her teacher would always ask her to help pass out papers and materials to her peers, and her classmates adored her quick banter and bright smile.
The peace for her ended when she and her classmates watched a stunned kid slowly levitating during storytime; floating higher and higher to the ceiling as the seconds passed. Her teacher sighed and stood from her chair to grab the child and keep him melded to the ground. “It’s always the ones who can fly…”, the teacher muttered quietly as she waited for the child in her arms to calm down.
The next school day, an intimidating man dressed like an officer stood at the front of their colorful classroom and explained how complicated the world had become over the last few decades and detailed how some of the children would be taken away from the class as time went on. Those kids that were taken away would start learning at a different school to promote their superhuman abilities.
A small four-year-old Dahyun was told about her family’s lineage that afternoon when she was picked up from school. Her grandparents had been one of the first people to show signs of the superhuman genetics that had begun appearing in people’s DNA. Her four grandparents each only had one power. Scientists assumed that this caused more powers to mutate in the DNA for the offspring. Her dad had three powers: flight, telekinesis, and understanding animal speech. Her mom had two: the ability to remember everything and hypercognition.
Dahyun’s parents discussed with her how humans without powers hated those with them in the beginning, but over time the superhumans and powerless humans had come to a compromise.
They lived their lives fairly segregated from each other; superhumans went to different schools and lived in different neighborhoods. Humans tried to keep their prejudice of the “others” to a minimum as did the superhumans.
Dahyun’s destiny was to be one of the great superhumans of the new generation with an unknown amount of abilities, so before she could properly spell school, she began her training at one of the most elite schools for superhumans ever founded.
Dahyun would wake up every morning and walk along her streets to her new school. As she grew, more students whose powers had appeared walked with her. Most of the kids around her didn’t understand why she got special treatment of being allowed to go to the school with them, so they would play pranks on her. A boy who knew how to fly would dangle her in the air by her ankles as she screamed, girls with telepathy would read her mind and tell the entire school, and kids who could inflict pain without a single touch would laugh as Dahyun slumped over crying on the sidewalk.
As a seven-year-old, Dahyun already hated going to school and she dreaded leaving her house. She would be tormented by the kids in her neighborhood, the kids at school, the kids at the park, and even the kids at her church. She was always surrounded by children with superpowers and she had none to defend herself.
She began to wake up extra early in the mornings to avoid the kids around her and ducking into bushes or standing behind trees anytime she encountered one of her tormentors.
Her school days consisted of her training for every superpower that could come to mind. Anything from vast intelligence to knowledge of languages to speaking to insects. She had spent her entire day trying to move a book with her mind while another seven-year-old in her class accidentally set fire to a pile of books. Dahyun sighed as her teacher frantically tried to put out the fire and she stared out the window reminiscing her peaceful days. A kid in her class who had telekinesis pushed Dahyun’s book off her desk and made it slam to the ground with a loud thud. Everyone turned in their seats to marvel at another prank that had been pulled on the powerless girl. Dahyun wanted to run, to cry, to never return to that school again, but all she could do was keep trying.
Her parents were never home once she was old enough to stay by herself. They were always on some mission around the world that they claimed would be too boring for them to explain, so Dahyun stopped asking. She stopped asking questions, stopped calling and texting them, and when they came home once a week, she wouldn’t leave her room to greet them.
An early winter morning had her teeth chattering as she hid in a bush and waited for some teens to pass her by. “Hey, bush girl!” A voice rang behind her as she tried to warm herself up. She turned towards the person and noticed a slightly taller girl with brunette hair. Dahyun made eye contact with the girl as they stood facing each other in awkward silence. The taller girl finally spoke again, “Why are you always hiding in a bush? And why do I always see you wearing that costume? Are you one of those weird people who think they’re a superhero?” Dahyun looked down at her bright red school uniform and shook her head, “This is my uniform and I definitely don’t think I’m a superhero…” Nayeon shrugged and held out her hand to help pull Dahyun out of the bush, “You never answered my question about hiding in bushes. I walk to school every day and you’re always dipping in and out of them like a ninja.”
Dahyun brushed a few leaves off herself and nodded, “The kids on my street aren’t exactly my favorite, so I hide from them a lot of the time.” They were still lightly holding hands as the girl introduced herself, “Well, I’m Nayeon. Maybe I can be your favorite kid.” Dahyun slowly nodded with disbelief as she took her hand away. “I’m Dahyun. I go to Prescott Elite Prep School, so I don’t think we can be friends…” Nayeon scrunched her eyebrows together and adjusted her backpack, “Why not? Just because you’re a superhero doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” Nayeon joked. Dahyun nodded as they began to walk together in the same direction, “I guess I’ve just never thought about being friends with a regular human.” Nayeon laughed so hysterically that her large two front teeth could be seen, “A regular human? You make it sound so awful. What’s your superpower anyway, nonregular human?” Dahyun stopped walking and looked at her feet, “I… I don’t have one.” Nayeon happily stuck out her tongue, “See, we’re exactly the same.”
Dahyun trotted a little to catch up with Nayeon who was still walking, “What do you do at school?” Nayeon gave a small chuckle and turned to the smaller girl, “What do you mean?” Dahyun repeated her question, “I never went to school officially. What do you do there?”
“I don’t know. Math? We read a lot. I’m pretty sure our schools are the same.” Dahyun shook her head, “Some days I have to read through and finish an entire dictionary to see if that triggers any memory powers. I’ve stared at the wall for an entire day trying to get it to melt or move or change colors or anything really.” Nayeon grabbed her hand and stopped them both from walking, “You had to stare at a wall all day?” Dahyun looked in her eyes and emphatically nodded, “And that’s not even the most boring, but I can’t even remember anymore.” Nayeon kept a hold on Dahyun’s hand as they walked on, “Let’s be friends.” I’ve never had one, Dahyun thought. Dahyun cautiously nodded, “Okay, let’s be friends.”
After walking together for five minutes, they parted to go to their separate schools. Dahyun to train her nonexistent powers and Nayeon to her normal middle school.
From that day on, the two would walk through Nayeon’s neighborhood hand-in-hand until they parted to their own schools. They were walking together one dark afternoon as a high schooler that Dahyun knew came up to them to speak. Dahyun hid behind Nayeon in fear of the boy and tried to remember which power he was able to control.
“I heard you’re one of the fastest runners in your school.”, the boy said to Nayeon. Nayeon agreed and noticed how scared Dahyun seemed, so she wanted to rush the conversation, “I am.” The boy started to tie one of his shoelaces, “Well, race me to that stop sign at the end of the road.” Dahyun grabbed a tight hold of Nayeon’s arm and pleaded with her eyes for Nayeon to say no. Nayeon shook off Dahyun’s arm and agreed, “Fine, what do I get if I win?” He stood up straight and smiled before moving his hair back with his hand, “I’ll tell the kids on my street to leave Zero alone, and I’ll buy you lunch for a week.” Nayeon nodded, but Dahyun grabbed a tight hold of her arm again, “Please don’t. I don’t remember what his power is, but you can get hurt.” Nayeon turned to face Dahyun with a sigh, “It’s fine, I promise not to get hurt, okay?” Dahyun slowly nodded and removed her hands from Nayeon’s arms.
Nayeon readied herself to race the boy and they had Dahyun count them down. Dahyun then suddenly remembered the boy’s power was super speed and knew Nayeon wasn’t winning anytime soon. Before Dahyun could blink, the boy had run to the stop sign and back. He laughed in front of Dahyun and confidently told her that the kids wouldn’t be leaving her alone until she got powers. He ran back to the stop sign and Nayeon was still only halfway to her destination. Before she could finish the race, the boy tripped Nayeon onto the pavement and ran back to his house on another street.
Dahyun quickly ran over to help an injured Nayeon who had large cuts on both of her knees and down one of her shins. She helped Nayeon get to her feet and made her rest her body on Dahyun’s shoulders as they walked the short distance to Dahyun’s house to get Nayeon’s wounds cleaned.
Dahyun carefully walked them up the stairs into her bathroom adjacent to her bedroom and grabbed her first aid kit. Nayeon winced as she pulled herself on top of the sink countertop, so Dahyun could see her injuries more clearly. “Why did he call you Zero?” Dahyun grabbed a rag and ran water on it before answering, “Zero powers, remember? Everyone just calls me Zero now. Everyone except you, anyways.” She lightly dabbed the scars as Nayeon winced even more, “Who would have thought a small 12-year-old would be helping a 14-year-old with their wounds? Maybe that’s your power!” Dahyun ran the rag under the sink again and hummed out a “Hmm?” Nayeon watched attentively as Dahyun delicately tended to her wounds, “Your power. Maybe you’re a healer!” Dahyun lightly laughed, “I’m just cleaning the scars… you’re far from being healed.” Nayeon grabbed Dahyun’s hand to get her attention as they looked in each other’s eyes, “But you’re good at making me feel better.” Dahyun gave a small smile and felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. “Are you blushing?” Nayeon asked. Dahyun softly shook her head and turned to get some antibacterial spray. “It’s going to sting,” Dahyun said when she turned back around, and her blush was finally gone.
Once Nayeon’s wounds were clean and patched up, Nayeon grabbed her friend’s hand and lightly intertwined their fingers together. “You didn’t tell me what you did at school today. I love hearing your stories.” Dahyun played with the older girl’s slender fingers and shrugged, “I had to work on teleportation again today. Fast forward: I didn’t teleport.” Nayeon smiled and looked down at her smaller friend which made her heart pound a little too hard. Nayeon let go of her friend’s hand and hopped off the bathroom counter, “Actually, I think I should get home. My mom might get worried because of my injuries or something.” Dahyun agreed and let Nayeon leave.
The next chilly morning, Dahyun waited for her friend, but Nayeon was taking much longer than normal. Dahyun didn’t think too much about it and walked herself to school without Nayeon. In the afternoon, Dahyun didn’t see Nayeon either, so she just assumed that she was sick and shrugged it off. Eventually, Nayeon was back, but was more jittery that morning, “My mom says we can’t walk together anymore.” Dahyun didn’t really know what to say to that, but she answered back, “Why?” Nayeon avoided eye contact with her friend and kicked a few rocks on the ground, “She says that this is just the beginning. You’ll end up getting me hurt even more if we keep hanging out.” Dahyun couldn’t fully comprehend anything in the moment, so all she managed to say was a small, “Oh.”
Nayeon nodded and went on walking alone to school.
Dahyun didn’t even try to concentrate at school after the morning she had. She lost the one friend she had ever made and all because a boy with super speed. She zoned out during class and stopped doing what the teacher asked of her. The afternoon walk to her empty house was where she felt heat rising in her throat as she tried to hold back tears.
At the same time, a breathless Nayeon who had been running laps at her school track felt a sharp pain in her heart that she tried shaking off by running even harder. She was trying to forget how much she could be laughing in the hands of Dahyun instead of suffering as much as she was.
Dahyun continued to walk to and from school alone, but she secretly waited to see Nayeon every day. Nayeon would walk alone at first, but as time went on, she gained more and more friends to accompany her to school. Dahyun would catch her laughing her heart out and smiled at the fact that at least one of them was happy.
Months passed and Dahyun’s life felt stagnant without her friend in it. Her parents had come back from saving the world or other jobs that Dahyun imagined they did and were now always home. Dahyun still stayed in her bedroom most of the day and only left to grab food or head to her disaster of a life at school.
Nayeon was seen walking with the boy that had tripped her on that fateful day and unless Dahyun’s eyes deceived her, Nayeon was laughing. Dahyun stood on the sidewalk ready to face her old friend as she tried to calm her anger.
She pulled Nayeon by the arm and made them both walk onto the grass, “You’re hanging out with him? With other superhumans?” Nayeon shook off Dahyun’s arm and rolled her eyes, “Yeah, why not? The girl who can control fire is pretty hot,” she said with a wink. Dahyun scoffed and took a step back to look over the person she cared for, “He’s the person who tripped you. He’s the reason we don’t hang out anymore. Also, all those kids you’re laughing with bully me.”
Nayeon rolled her eyes again as the superhuman teens grew impatient of waiting and left Nayeon behind. “Have you ever thought that you get bullied because you’re not trying? Not trying to get to know them and you’re definitely not trying hard with your powers, Zero.” Dahyun felt like she had been punched in the gut, “Ouch. Not even calling me Dahyun anymore. I thought we were the same.” Nayeon backed away and turned to walk to her school, “We were never the same. You’re a superhuman and I’m a human. It won’t work.”
“Friendship?! Friendship won’t work?” Dahyun was almost yelling, but Nayeon had already turned away. Nayeon gritted her teeth and tried to calm down her mind, it was never friendship. At least not for me.
Dahyun returned home that afternoon defeated, but she hadn’t cried after weeks of losing her best and only friend. She sighed and all she wanted was to nap and never wake, but she did wake up. Dahyun woke to stones being thrown at her window as she groggily stood up to make sure her window was closed. She assumed it was some neighborhood kid using telekinesis from his own house, but when she looked down her eyes met with Nayeon’s.
Dahyun opened her window to the cool spring night and grabbed a blanket tighter around herself, “What do you want?” Nayeon whisper-yelled from across the lawn, “I wanted to apologize. I said some things I didn’t mean today.” Dahyun rolled her eyes and felt her heartache. She was closing her window curtains when Nayeon stopped her, “Wait, just let me up so I can explain.”
Dahyun thought it over for several long seconds and finally, she agreed, “If you can climb up here without my parents finding out, then we can talk.” Nayeon nodded and twenty minutes later she was standing in Dahyun’s upstairs bedroom. Dahyun waited for an explanation as Nayeon looked at the ground and around Dahyun’s room. She was still avoiding all eye contact with Dahyun before she found the right words to say, “That day… my mom didn’t say we couldn’t walk together anymore. She barely even cared about my cuts.” Dahyun sharply inhaled and felt even more pain that she had been suppressing, “Great, so you lied?” Nayeon responded in shame, “I felt things that day I didn’t want to feel, so I lied, yes.”
Dahyun just wanted her old friend out of her house at that point. She could feel a headache making its way to her frontal lobe, “And what did you feel, Nayeon?” Nayeon felt her thoughts running a mile a minute and her heart pounding too hard in her chest, “I felt what I always feel when I’m around you, but a lot stronger. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to care for you. I wanted to kiss you.”
Dahyun didn’t know how to respond to Nayeon’s words or how to respond when Nayeon took one step closer, then two steps, then three. Dahyun didn’t back away as Nayeon kept walking closer. Nayeon grabbed one of Dahyun’s hands with her own and lightly played with her thumb and fingers. She felt both her heart and mouth take a deep sigh of relief, “I missed your small hands. I missed you.” Dahyun looked up at her with dazzling eyes before Nayeon left a light peck to her lips.
Dahyun’s brain didn’t know what to think. She had always considered Nayeon as only her friend, but her heart pounding in her chest and ears turning red confirmed what her subconscious already knew. For a brief second, Dahyun could hear what Nayeon was thinking. Wow, I want to do this again. A thousand times more. I never want to leave her side again. Dahyun took a step back with a smile before running down the stairs to find her dad.
“Dad! I think I have telepathy!” Her dad nodded with a great smile, “What was the trigger? We’ve been trying to get those pesky powers working for almost a decade.” Dahyun shook her head, shrugged, and pretended not to know before heading back upstairs. “Nayeon, did you hear? I got my pow-” Nayeon was already gone. She had slipped back through Dahyun’s bedroom window and headed on her journey back home.
The next day, Dahyun couldn’t contain her excitement to see Nayeon. She dreamed of holding her hand again and them laughing together. She waited and waited for Nayeon to show up, and again Nayeon never showed. Dahyun sighed and walked on to school. Weeks later and she finally saw a small glimpse of Nayeon going into her house after an errand with her parents.
-
Weeks passed and those weeks turned to months. Months turned to years of Nayeon avoiding Dahyun at all times. Dahyun figured that Nayeon hated the kiss that they shared and wanted nothing to do with her anymore, but her mind couldn’t stop replaying the words she heard with telepathy, Wow, I want to do this again. A thousand times more. I never want to leave her side again. Eventually, she vowed to stop trying, and then her mind stopped finding Nayeon in the mornings and afternoons, and finally her heart stopped yearning for what could have been.
High schooled aged Dahyun had mastered her telepathy, but all her parents and teachers were still shocked that no other powers had shown themselves. Her day was mostly spent trying to read a willing volunteer’s mind correctly and precisely. In the beginning, she had to concentrate for up to half an hour as she sat staring at a stranger, but after years of training, reading minds was second nature to her. When she wasn’t training her telepathy, her task was still to find any extra abilities that she had. The only days she liked were language study days. Her new friend, Chaeyoung, was a master of languages, but the time was mostly spent with Chaeyoung teaching her cuss words in all languages.
Dahyun had invited Chaeyoung over for the evening and they made their way to Dahyun’s neighborhood. Chaeyoung had been born to human parents, and her DNA had mutated on its own, so most of her life she lived with humans and not superhumans. She had rarely stepped foot into a superhuman neighborhood, so she was shocked when everything appeared normal and exactly the same as the human neighborhood one street over.
As they were walking, the two bumped into Nayeon wearing a track outfit and surrounded by friends. Dahyun was planning on ignoring her until Nayeon stopped walking and just stared. The two groups of people were five feet apart and just staring at each other. Chaeyoung looked around confused as to why they were in an awkward standoff, but she didn’t say anything.
Nayeon cleared her throat, “Dahyun, you look good. How are your powers coming?” Dahyun was stunned that after years, Nayeon could still feel so familiar in conversation. Dahyun sighed, “They’re doing as they always did, Nayeon.” Nayeon nodded with a sad smile, “Right.” Dahyun and Chaeyoung walked around the small group of girls and continued on their journey to Dahyun’s house.
Days later and Nayeon found herself on Dahyun’s doorstep. Her hand was hovering over the doorbell and her mind was zooming back and forth on whether to press it or not. She made up her mind and quickly rang the bell. A man she had never seen before who she assumed was Dahyun’s dad came to answer the door. Nayeon tried to look as friendly as possible as her bunny teeth stuck out, “Hi sir, is Dahyun home? I just want to briefly talk with her.” The dad gave a hearty laugh, “Yeah, she doesn’t get many visitors. I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you. Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Nayeon tried to decline and claimed she only wanted to say a few words, but Dahyun’s dad insisted. Nayeon was invited inside and waited in the entryway.
Nayeon hadn’t been in that house in 3 years, but everything still looked relatively the same. There were more family photos showing they had gone on road trips and traveled abroad. Dahyun looked happy in those photos. Nayeon smiled at that.
When Dahyun saw her old friend in her living room hallway, all she did was sigh. What was it this time? Was she going to try to apologize again? “Hey Nayeon, what’s up?” Nayeon looked up at Dahyun on the stairs and gave a small smile, “Can we talk in private? Just for a few minutes.” Dahyun’s brain wanted to say no in every language that Chaeyoung had been teaching her, but her heart was screaming yes. I can just read her mind and never speak to her again, Dahyun thought, but the truth was she wanted to speak, wanted to see her smile, wanted to touch her. Dahyun motioned for Nayeon to come up the stairs and they both walked into Dahyun’s bedroom.
Dahyun winced when she remembered what happened last time in this bedroom with Nayeon. Her first and last kiss and she had been left to overthink and feel heartbreak. “Was that your girlfriend?”, Nayeon suddenly asked. Dahyun was taken aback. They hadn’t talked in 3 years, and that was the first sentence out of Nayeon’s mouth. Dahyun sat on her bed, “Chaeyoung? No. Is that what you wanted?” Nayeon quickly shook her head, “No, that’s not what I meant.” Nayeon took a second to get her thoughts together and Dahyun watched on, trying to control herself from just using her telepathy. “I never stopped thinking about you… after that day.”
Dahyun gave an angry sigh and counted to ten, “Then why did you leave? Why have you been avoiding me for years?” Nayeon stood a little closer to Dahyun’s bed and looked down at the girl with a messy bun, “Because you didn’t like me back. Not the way I liked you.” Dahyun scoffed, “I’m not the one that ran away after we kissed, am I?” Nayeon cautiously sat on the bed not wanting to anger Dahyun even more. She got close, but not close enough to touch. “Can we just not be mad at each other for today?” Dahyun didn’t say a word and didn’t move, but Nayeon’s knee lightly grazed her and she took a deep inhale. Nayeon had placed her hand lightly on Dahyun’s knee and moved her body closer, “I know I should apologize… maybe you should apologize too, but for today can we just skip that part?” Dahyun tried to figure out what she should be apologizing for, but Nayeon had already cupped one of her cheeks and was moving to kiss her.
Dahyun could feel her heart racing in anticipation and she felt the shakiness of Nayeon’s hand on her skin. She wasn’t strong enough to deny herself Nayeon’s touches. She probably never would be.
“Dahyun, what did you two want for- Oh, what is this, honey?” Dahyun and Nayeon had pulled away from each other as her dad stood in her bedroom doorway with an amused look. “Does my Dahyun have a girlfriend?” Dahyun stood up and tried to will the blood rush in her face to go down. “No dad, we were just talking…”
“Yeah, I’ll leave you two alone to talk, then.” Once her dad had gone, Dahyun breathed out slowly, “I think you should leave actually.” Nayeon stood and tried to grab Dahyun’s hands to plead to stay. Dahyun shook them off and stepped away, “I said leave!” Nayeon slowly nodded and walked herself down the stairs and out the door.
Dahyun’s dad yelled from downstairs, “Dahyun-ah, why did your friend leave? I invited her to dinner.” Dahyun screamed in a pillow and yelled back downstairs when she was done, “She’s a human, dad. It doesn’t matter, nothing will ever work. I was about to kiss a human. Do you still want me to go fetch her for dinner?”
When dinner was finally made, Dahyun’s dad tried to find the right words to say to his daughter, “You know, I dated a human when I was in high school.” Dahyun nodded and tried to zone out of the conversation, “And yet you still married mom, a superhuman.” Dahyun’s dad opened his mouth to say something, but he had to agree. “It’s not illegal anymore, Dahyun-ah.” Dahyun took her plate to eat in her bedroom, “Just really looked down upon by both humans and superhumans, yeah… She doesn’t even like me anyway. Tomorrow she’ll go back to ignoring me, so it’s fine.”
Dahyun heard the thud of stones on her window two days later. She sighed and stayed under her covers. The stones became more erratic as she covered her ears with her pillow. She used her telepathy before she was willing to get out of bed. Please Dahyun. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all of it. Just please come to your window. Dahyun sighed and got up to her window. “What, Nayeon? What?” Nayeon screamed, “Let me up!” Dahyun threw her hands in the air and waited for Nayeon to climb up to her window.
Nayeon breathed deeply when she finally made it into Dahyun’s room. Dahyun looked at her expectantly, “Just tell me what you want, Nayeon. Stop confusing me for once.” Nayeon nodded, “Okay. Okay. That day you got your power… telepathy, right?” Dahyun nodded. Nayeon continued, “I could hear your thoughts for half a second the same way you could hear mine.” Dahyun shrugged, “Okay… what were they?” Nayeon fidgeted with her nails, “Your words were: I’m kissing my friend… so weird. After months of dreaming about kissing you, that’s what I heard.” Dahyun tried to think all those years back and maybe Nayeon was right, “I was stunned, okay? My brain hadn’t caught up to my heart yet.”
Nayeon sighed, “So, you didn’t hate the kiss? You wanted to kiss me?” Dahyun nodded so Nayeon could understand, “I wanted to kiss you.” Nayeon grabbed Dahyun’s hands and Dahyun didn’t shove them away this time, “Let me stay the night?” Dahyun nodded and Nayeon smiled.
Dahyun woke up in the arms of Nayeon and shook her awake, “I got astral projection! I got my second power!” Nayeon wiped the sleep from her eyes and nodded, “Yeah, I know. Me too.” Dahyun stopped her excitement, “You too? What do you mean, you too?” Nayeon pulled herself onto her elbows and shrugged, “Me too. Guess I’m not human after all.”
Dahyun sat up quickly in her bed and intertwined her fingers with Nayeon’s, “That means this could work. Us. And you could go to school with me and train your powers.” Nayeon shook her head and stretched, “Actually, I have to go get to track practice. Can’t miss those laps.” She left a small peck on Dahyun’s lips before running down the stairs leaving a confused Dahyun in her bed.
“Good morning, Dahyun’s dad. Dahyun’s mom.” Dahyun cringed as she heard Nayeon greet her parents while going down the stairs.
That afternoon was the first time in a long time that Dahyun and Nayeon walked home together from school. Dahyun didn’t want to push the superhuman topic that had made Nayeon leave in a rush that morning, but she couldn’t help it. “Come to school with me, please,” she pleaded. Nayeon held tighter to Dahyun’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “I can’t. I’m a track star and I have scholarships lined up for me already. I’m not going to give that up because I had one out of body experience.” Dahyun let go of Nayeon’s hand, “It wasn’t one out of body experience. It’s literally your DNA.”
“Well, could my DNA get superspeed? I kind of want that in my life more.” Dahyun sighed, “You’re really going to keep pretending you’re a human?” Nayeon was about to start getting angry, “What do you mean? I am a human!” They were now yelling on the sidewalk and Dahyun was on the verge of tears, “I could report you as having superhuman abilities, you know?” Nayeon breathed deeply but was still shouting, “I have been training for track my whole life. Just as long as you have been training your powers. You can’t ruin my life because I won’t go to school with you. Track is everything to me.” Dahyun understood, but it still hurt, “And if you’re my everything?” Nayeon shrugged, “I honestly don’t know, Dahyun.” Dahyun felt a tear rolling down her face, “And if I say I love you?” Nayeon sighed, “Again, I don’t know, Dahyun.”
“So, none of this meant anything to you. All these years of friendship, the stories we shared, last night?!” Nayeon gritted her teeth and wanted so desperately to go back to last night instead. She wanted to erase that she had ever said anything about being superhuman. “We were never friends, Dahyun… we were barely lovers.” Dahyun laughed and nodded, “Are you serious? That meant nothing to you?!”
Nayeon started to walk to her house and abandoned Dahyun in the middle of the path. Maybe this would have never worked whether I was human or superhuman, Nayeon thought. Dahyun watched her friend or lover or enemy walk away and declared that she was done trying. Everything she felt obviously wasn’t felt the same way Nayeon felt it or this could work. Their relationship could be great if Nayeon just tried. She settled on the thought that Nayeon never had as strong as feelings for her, but Dahyun was wrong.