Finally Back

Kim Minho sighed as he leaned more into his car seat. It'd been two weeks since his birthday, and he was now currently on his way back to school.

Uncle Chan had told him, to his disappointment a few days ago, that they were unable to find the culprit responsible for planting his dad's gift in his locker. So, they resulted to monitoring his father's every move more closely, as well as in tightening his own security as a precaution. 

Which meant that he was going to be a lot more suffocated than usual. Another sigh. He was finding it difficult to breathe through the pairs of eyes on him already.

Nevertheless, he was happy to be returning.

He really missed everyone and had already considered Country Z as his second home, even without him realizing it.

The crazy four were seated together, a few minutes into their break time, when they spotted a trail of cars entering the school premises. They stood and went out of the building as the cars slowed down.

Kim Minho spotted them and waved, a bright smile on his face. He called out to the driver and requested him to stop the car so he could get off before they proceeded to the parking lot. Ralph, one of Kim Chan's men, was still a bit hesitant to let him go, especially after the instructions he got.

"It's okay Ralph, I'm just going to be around my best friends is all. You can trust them, and even if you don't, then feel free to get off and join me". Ralph's shoulder slumped on hearing how adamant Minho was with his request. He had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

"Very well then. We'll be waiting for you out here till the school day is over".

Once Minho got down, he was immediately ambushed with a group hug from his friends.

"What took you so long kiddo", Zane asked with a light hit on Minho's arm. "I missed you too bro", Minho replied rubbing his arm.

"Welcome back", Auston acknowledged next with a half smile. "Thanks", Minho replied back with a smile of his own.

"Gosh Minho, I'm so glad you're finally back. How could you even go like that and just leave me alone with these two. You have no idea how much they bullied me these past few weeks", Minjun complained, and Minho only shook his head in amusement. If his memory served correctly, it was Minjun who normally bullied them most of the time with his merciless jokes and pranks.

"It's nice to see you too Minjun", Minho replied and Minjun finally let him go. "At last, the crazy four is complete now", Minjun said with a wide smile. Auston's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at that.

"The crazy what?", he questioned. "The crazy four, you know...us", Minjun replied pointing round the group. 

"Nobody calls us that"

"Dude you can't be serious...Wait you're actually serious?", Minjun burst out laughing.

"No way, dude come on".

"What's so funny?", Auston questioned next with a cocked eyebrow.

"Bro, the entire school calls us that", Minjun replied laughing harder this time. Zane and Minho joined in as well on seeing Auston's genuine shock.

"Bro, how did you not know that? Now I'm really scared you might actually be turning into a statue for real", Minjun added wheezing now, and Auston could only sigh helplessly. He'd officially been termed as a madman now because of his friends. 

Kim Minho, on the other hand, soon felt like himself again as he spent more time with his friends silly jokes and banter. He really did miss all of them so much.

...

"Kim Minho!", Nari practically screamed before she tackled him. She'd been talking to him frequently online, but it felt a whole lot better to see him in person again.

"How are you?! Sheesh, you didn't even tell me you were coming back today", She said breaking away from the hug. 

"Let's just say I wanted that to be a surprise. By the way, I heard you've improved significantly in your school work. How are classes with Auston going?", he asked and Nari only smiled bashfully at him.

"Hmmm, I wonder what Auston must think of you though. He's probably wondering how on Earth someone like you is going to end up being the next historian".

"Stop making fun of me like that!", Nari whined, and Minho quickly mimicked a mouth zipping gesture.

...

It was dismissal time, so Kim Minho made his way to the school gym. He'd been so busy after he arrived that he hadn't had the time to look for Astrol yet. He had asked Nari minutes ago about Astrol's whereabouts, and she'd directed him straight to the school gym.

Kim Minho finally spotted the familiar silhouette he'd come to know so well as he got closer. She was standing in front of her open locker. Feeling a little playful, Kim Minho careful walked up to where she stood, and hid himself by the other side of the locker, the locker door now between them.

Astrol was done for the day and was just sorting out her gym locker. Out of habit, she found herself replaying the happenings of the day while she was at it. She'd heard about Kim Minho's arrival and deep down she felt weirdly relieved for some reason.

She put the last of her stuff back in place and motioned to shut her locker. The moment she did however, her eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline, and she resisted the urge to scream as she registered the familiar face.

"Do not sneak up on me like that", she muttered still a bit shaken, but Minho only laughed.

"Surprised?", he asked. "More like shocked".

"Why?", he asked still clearly amused. 

"Because I didn't expect you to pop up here like this. It's been really peaceful and quiet for me these past few days you know", she casually replied with a shrug.

" *Sigh* I thought I'd pestered you enough to at least make you miss me".

"No, you pestered me too much that I was grateful you were gone for a while", she stated. Kim Minho feigned disappointment.

"So I didn't bother you enough then. Oh well, at least you don't hate me as much". Astrol frowned. "And what makes you say so?".

"The fact that you're no longer looking at me like you want to murder me", she heard him say with that stupid smile on his face. Astrol resisted the urge to roll her eyes, when it hit her. This was the exact same place she first met this strange prince.

It was also the place where he'd proposed friendship. Back then, she was certain that he was the one responsible for Bora's sadness and all that had happened to her. Nari had also ended up getting upset with her too because of him.

Only the heavens knew just how angry she was. If looks were indeed able to kill, then she'd have murdered him thousands of times that day. But now, it'd seemed like a long time since that happened when it'd happened only weeks back.

"How did you know I'd be here anyway?", she asked, suddenly curious now. "Nari told me you'd be here", he shrugged. Astrol shook her head. She sometimes forgot that the two were really close. She made a mental note to watch out for Nari as well, otherwise it would be a lot more difficult dealing with this persistent prince.