▪ 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 ▪

𝙄𝙄𝙄

A few days later, Yangyang found himself sitting beside the same tree afterschool. Unlike last time, the girl had not come to the tree, or at least he thought so.

"Hi Yangyang!" Shuhua's head popped out from behind the tree. "What are you doing?"

"Something that I'm not going to tell you," Yangyang responded.

"Why not?" she frowned. "I thought we were friends."

Yangyang raised an eyebrow. Friends. He didn't have any real ones for a few months now.

"We literally met like a week ago and I haven't even talked to you after that."

"Well, if we're not friends yet, we can be friends now."

Yangyang let out a sigh and glanced at his notebook.

"I guess so. I don't think there would be any problem being friends with you."

"Great!" Shuhua sat down beside Yangyang. The young boy hesitated to open his book again but eventually did so. Shuhua stared at the notebook curiously.

"What is that? What is the use of this thing called an atmosplane?"

"Well," Yangyang inhaled a deep breath. "Do you believe that there is something above these blue skies?"

"Yeah, of course. There's space."

"No, not space. Another land where there are people like us who live there."

"Humans?" Yangyang nodded at Shuhua.

"But...aren't those only found in storybooks for children?"

"That's what everyone thinks. But there is actually a place above us, it's called the overground. And this atmosplane--" he placed his finger on the diagram in his book, "--will help us get there."

"Can't we use airplanes?"

"Airplanes can't travel to the height that we need it to travel."

"Oh," Shuhua spoke. "Don't you think Sphinx M would tell us all about this? Afterall, they said they want what's best for the citizens. If what you said about the overground is true then it sounds like there are better living conditions up there."

"That's what they said, but they could be lying to us. I bet there are more secrets that the government hides from us."

Shuhua blinked a couple of times and then said, "Can I help you with any of this?"

Yangyang hesitated.

"You actually believe me?"

Shuhua nodded and his lips curved upwards slightly.

"When do we start?" Shuhua asked. "Do you know where we can find an atmosplane?"

Yangyang nodded and started rummaging through his school backpack. He pulled out a bunch of shiny silver keys that were attached to a keyring.

"The atmosplane is hidden in the underground storage of National Taipei University of Science and Technology. However, we will need a pass to access the area which is on the 3rd floor of the science building. Luckily, my brother studies there so we will have no problem getting on the campus."

"Wow, you have a brother?" she asked.

"Yeah, his name is Yuting. He is in his 4th year of college. Do you have any siblings?"

The young girl looked down at the grass with a sad look on her face. It was as if rain had poured all over a flower garden.

"I don't know if I have any biological siblings, but the ones that live with me at the orphanage, they're like family to me."

"Oh, I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought up that topic."

"No, it's totally fine," Shuhua gave a small smile. "So, we're going to Taipei to get the atmosplane?"

The young boy nodded. Taipei was all the way at the northern coast of the island while they were at the southern coast. Yangyang had already checked and the GPS informed that it would take approximately 21 hours to reach by bicycle so they decided to take the train which was about 8 hours. Yangyang insisted on riding his bicycle multiple times but Shuhua claimed it was way more efficient on the train, even if it meant that they had to deal with the annoying radio that brainwashed everyone. She suggested wearing headphones and listening to music during the ride. It took a while, but he finally agreed.

"We can meet here exactly a week later since I know I can sneak out from school that day. Will 10 AM on Friday work for you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine with that. Do you want me to pack up all my belongings?"

"Only the essentials. You never know how much luggage the atmosplane can actually take."

"And we meet right here at this tree?" Shuhua asked for reconfirmation.

"Correct," Yangyang leaned in closer. "Can you promise me to not tell anyone else about this?"

"Of course, I know how important this is to you."

After planning for Friday, Yangyang headed back home. Shuhua strolled back to the orphanage and found a visitor. She ran and jumped up to hug him.

"Xiaojun!" Shuhua exclaimed.

"Didn't I tell you to call me Dejun for now?" the guy Shuhua had hugged said.

"But Xiaojun is a cute nickname," she pouted. "Oh, you dyed your hair?"

Dejun scratched the back of his head and gave a nod. His hair was blonde and shone under the light.

"What were you doing outside?" he asked.

"Oh, I was talking to my new friend, the one that I told you about."

"Yangyang right?" Shuhua nodded at Dejun. "What were you guys talking about?"

Shuhua smiled and replied, "That's a secret."

Dejun laughed and they both went to do their usual things. He was a close friend of Shuhua ever since he started helping out at the orphanage last summer. Dejun had no idea that Yangyang was friends with Shuhua too. The blonde haired boy smiled at the ground.

Secretly, he knew, or at least had a feeling that Yangyang had invited Shuhua into his plan. Shuhua being who she is, would optimistically nod and believe him. Dejun just hoped Yangyang wouldn't get her into danger.

𝙀𝙉𝘿 𝙊𝙁 𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙉𝙀 𝙄𝙄𝙄