Deja Vu

It was officially the last day of school in the month of December. They had long finished their exams, and spent the last week engaging in a small orientation for the following term, while their results were being compiled.

Astrol was seated in the middle of the secret garden she'd stumbled upon before. Ever since she had discovered the place, she would very often visit it. Nature still found a way of calming and easing her mind, and Astrol couldn't help but be reminded that she hadn't changed as much as she thought she had.

That little girl was still in there after all, despite all the torture she had been through, not to talk of the trauma she had experienced.

Astrol closed her eyes as she revelled in the feeling of the calm breeze caressing her face.

Not much later, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps but didn't bother to turn around, she already knew it was him. She'd been running into Minho quite often since she had started coming to the hidden garden.

Yet, it hadn't seemed to bother her as much as she thought it would. Somehow, being in his presence and surrounded by greenery like this seemed right, familiar even in some way.

Minho sat down across from her, enjoying the peaceful smile on Astrol's face. It was the most at ease he'd seen her yet. 

"What are you thinking about?", he asked after studying her for some time.

"What if I told you I was trying not to think?", Astrol asked, her eyes still closed against the cool breeze.

"I'd get that. Though, that wouldn't explain the smile on your face, not unless it's because you're suddenly happy to see me", he teased and Astrol's eyes finally snapped open.

"Did you hit your head on your way over?, because if that's what you think, then you must be suffering from a serious concussion", she deadpanned but Minho laughed instead.

"God, I'm really going to miss your snarky comments. Too bad the term's already over", he uttered and Astrol frowned. 

It took her a minute to understand what he was trying to say before she finally remembered that they had made a deal. She would let Minho trouble her for the term only, as a way to extinguish her guilt for the auditorium incident.

Wow, she couldn't believe she had actually forgotten about that. At first she couldn't wait to get the annoying prince off her back, but now, she was so used to him being around that she didn't feel as relieved as she thought she would.

"Oh", Astrol muttered softly. She blinked severally still trying to come to terms with how quickly the term went by.

"What, disappointed?", Minho asked next, and Astrol had never felt a stronger urge to slap the smug smile off his face. 

"As if, I'm ecstatic that I don't have to deal with you anymore"

"Really, you didn't seem ecstatic a while ago".

Astrol just rolled her eyes at him. "I'm only upset that I won't be able to come here anymore since our deal is over".

"The deal was for you to treat me as a friend and let me pester you. I never said you couldn't once the term was up", Minho said, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Besides", he shrugged, "I don't own the school so you have a right to come here whenever you want, and even if I did, you wouldn't listen to me anyway"

"Sure you don't, and yet you freaking rule the school with everyone wrapped around your finger", Astrol snorted, but Minho only smirked.

"You know, you think too highly for someone you claim to hate", Minho stated, and Astrol found herself sputtering for a comeback. Claim to hate?, the nerve of this guy.

"Okay first of all, everyone thinks that way about you and the rest of the crazy four. And second, I don't claim to hate you. Just because I don't look at you like I want to stab you all the time anymore, doesn't mean that I don't want to stab you sometimes. Besides, you're royalty, so I hate you by default anyway", Astrol uttered glaring at him.

"I see", Minho nods, "So you do think highly of me", he says before immediately bending to dodge the rock that came flying at his face in reply.

Minho laughed as Astrol continued to glare daggers at him. He watched as Astrol reached for a bigger stone this time around, and rose both his hands in surrender.

"Wait wait", he started, holding back the smile tempting to form on his face.

"Can I at least ask you one question before you decide to pummel my face?"

Astrol weighed the stone in her hand, seemingly enjoying the feel of it. "You've got five seconds prince"

"Why?", Minho suddenly asked, and Astrol arched an eyebrow, unable to mask her amusement. 

"Is why your favorite word or something, you use it quite a lot", Astrol said shaking her head.

"You said I had five seconds", he stated making Astrol scoff at him in reply, before he proceeded to clarify. "You said you'd hate me by default because I'm royalty, why is that?", he asked and Astrol's amusement disappeared instantly.

She felt her face pale at first, and hadn't even realized that she had dropped the rock she was holding. It was just a simple comment, she didn't think he'd bother about it. She said similar things to people in the past, but apart from her friends, no one had ever bothered to ask for her reasons. They'd probably assumed that she was part of the people who were either jealous or just didn't like the fact that royals held so much power.

Either way, she'd let them think what they wanted to, it was a lot easier that way than explaining her actual reasons. Where would she even start from?. She had experienced so much at the hands of royalty, she'd seen first-hand what the thirst for that kind of power did to people - Jaehyun Go was proof of that. Not to talk of the countless bullying she'd undergone in the hands of royals.

Deep down however, maybe she hated royalty because of what it took from her - her precious parents and family wiped out. Or maybe it was the fact that she couldn't bring herself to face her true identity, because her courage died along with her parents, and she'd let them down by living a lie because of her fears. 

She'd always talked about her dislike for royalty so casually, no one had ever asked before. No one, except for him. Now she couldn't help but wonder which would kill her first. His constant annoyance, or his stupid curiosity.

"I...I have my reasons", was all Astrol could manage to say, wanting desperately to end the conversation.

"You really like this place don't you", Minho asked suddenly, looking out at the small stretch of nature surrounding them. It was like he could tell what she was thinking, or maybe her expression gave it away. Either way, she was grateful for a change in topic.

"Yeah it's nice", Astrol replied. She reached for a sunflower close by. "I really love flowers", she subconsciously muttered.

"Me too", Minho seconded, and she turned to him with a disbelieving look. "I'm serious. I also know a lot about them too", he said, but Astrol looked unconvinced.

Minho reached for a purple flower; "Hibiscus, represents wealth and prosperity", he picked at the white fluff rolling between them, "Dandelion, represents hopes and wishes, and it's said that if your wish is pure and is made with a sincere heart, then it just might come true", he added.

"Is that proof enough, I could go on if you want"

"No, it's fine. You just don't seem like a flower person", Astrol replied. Minho seemed to contemplate something before turning to her again.

"Is it because of my royal status? You're surprised that a royal of my caliber would care to know about something as mundane as flowers, right?", he asked and Astrol couldn't help but realize just how much prejudice she'd actually held against royals.

Her face flushed with shame and she felt stupid. It wasn't like she'd meant to think that way. All the royals she'd met were always so vain and proud. He was a Kim with a face like that for crying out loud, what was she supposed to think?, he was the last person she had expected to be any different in that aspect.

"No, of course not", Astrol mumbled frowning.

"So what do I look like to you then?", Minho asked. "Easy, an irritable cocky prince", she answered without hesitation.

Kim Minho smiled, "Are you always this direct?"

"Yes, why? You don't like that I'm straight forward?"

"Believe me I do"

"Well whether you like it or not, it's your problem anyway", she huffed in reply, before returning her focus to the greenery before her.

"How come you know so much about flowers by the way?", Astrol asked after some time.

"My mum has always loved them, so I naturally grew to like them too, but I've always been fascinated about them for as long as I can remember".

"Huh, my mum loved flowers a lot too", Astrol uttered quietly, gazing down at the sunflower in her hand with sad eyes. Minho noticed the change in her mood, and was about to switch the subject to distract her again, when he spotted a bee hovering over the flower in Astrol's hand.

"Astrol, put the flower down gently, there's a bee", Minho said with alarm, dropping his voice down to a whisper. Astrol's attention finally caught on the bee perching about the flower. "It's okay, this won't hurt me".

'I've experienced way more pain so this is nothing' she mentally added.

"Are you sure, you could really get stung", Minho insisted worried. Astrol only smiled as she was hit with a blurry feel of Deja Vu.

She remembered how worried her mum was back then too. She couldn't really remember it clearly since she was so young then, but she remembered her mother telling her about having people as friends instead of insects.

"Yeah", Astrol rose her head to meet his gaze,

"I'm sure".

...

Nari had just finished speaking with Mr Jang, and was in a very happy mood. Mr Jang had requested that she wait behind while everyone left for break time. She got really worried because she knew it was about her performance in the exams. Not to mention that every time, ever since she had been asked to wait behind, it was always bad news.

She was however shocked to find out that she did really well - like - way better than she had expected. She talked with him for a while longer before she eventually bid him goodbye. 

As Nari made her way down the hallway, she couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face. She was so proud of herself. 

'Now, I won't have to worry about looking like an idiot in front of him. That is if I ever see him again. Would he be proud or _'

"Hinari", Nari heard someone call out and she immediately stopped in her tracks. No one had ever called her by her full name like that before. Even her own parents referred to her using her nickname - Nari. 

She had never thought of how it would sound being addressed by her full name before.

And surprisingly, she found it to be a lot more pleasant than she would've guessed. Mostly because of the way the person said it. It was a soothing deep masculine voice that sounded all too familiar.

"Hinari", the voice called out again. 

'It can't be, can it?'

Nari slowly turned around to see if it was who she thought it was, and all but froze once more. 'How can my ears and eyes be playing tricks on me simultaneously?'

Nari just stood staring wide-eyed at a gorgeous Auston standing some feet away. He had never called her by her name before and she had never expected him to address her fully either. She really never knew that her name could sound so good called fully like that.

It didn't matter how good it sounded anyway, because now, now she didn't want anyone saying her name like that other than him. 

'I really am out of my mind', she thought still in disbelief that he was actually standing right before her.

Nari watched as Auston made his way to her, and unconsciously held her breath with every step he took. So by the time he reached her, she was practically breathless.

Auston lifted his hand and gently patted her on her head. "You did good", he said with a slight smile on his face, making her freeze all the more.

'Oh my god! Did he just touch me?! A-And he smiled at me too right, please tell me I'm actually not seeing things!'

Nari's face only blushed the more as soon as she noticed the amount of attention on them at the moment. 

Auston was proud of Nari's big improvement, and although it wasn't in his nature, he decided to congratulate her in person. So, he'd made his way over to Mr Jang's classroom. 

Auston gave her one last pat on the head before he turned back and disappeared into the hallway now crowded with students. Nari just stared after him, and as she watched him disappear down the hall, her temporary shock finally cleared. She internally face palmed herself for not saying anything.

'Dammit, why did I black out so much', Nari mused annoyed at herself. She was in the middle of scolding herself, when some of her friends began poking at her excitedly and bombarding her with questions. She hadn't even realized how many people surrounded her, all wanting to have a word with her.

...

"Gosh man, I should really let you babysit my sister more often", Zane teased Minjun while they waited for Auston and Minho to arrive so they could leave together. 

"May I remind you that I was only doing you a favour? And I am not a babysitter", Minjun retorted with a crumpled face, making Zane laugh. 

After Minjun had dropped Sumi off, Sumi had told him about how Minjun had helped her out. His little sister was practically bursting with excitement as she spoke, and Zane felt grateful to Minjun, especially since he knew about Minjun's history with the place. 

He was glad Minjun could do that for his little sister.