Biohuman

Chapter 126 Heavy History, Awkward New Starts

"Hmm, why're there more people in here than us?" Olivia asked. "I thought we were the only Third Year transfer students." Lee Seng popped out of the five and wandered down the decline. Manny hovered behind Lee Seng with Ritsuka, Evan and Olivia taking up the width of the space behind Manny.

"Ah, I heard this year there's a lot of Third Years. I thought Second Year would have the most, again. Guess I was wrong." Manny shrugged.  "8 Third Years, 6 Seconds, and 6 Firsts." They moved closer to the stage and Lee Seng noticed two Fourth Year students were standing in the middle of the the four Third Years. Vickie and Noah chatted amongst the group. Vickie casually looked up and noticed the rest of the Third Years coming with Manny and broke from the small crowd.

"Ah, you're here." Vickie waved. Lee Seng stopped at the bottom of the ramp and allowed the rest of the others create a circle around her. Vickie scanned the rest of the Third Years and nodded. "You two were the ones who got out fairly fast." She pointed at Ritsuka and Olivia. Her cold eyes moved over to Evan and Lee Seng.

Evan felt the cold stare that quickly landed on Lee Seng. Lee Seng stared at each other for awhile until she broke off and looked at Manny.

"I see you came. Thank you for coming. I don't know what will happen since yesterday happened." Vickie spoke. She moved her eyes to Lee Seng and shook her head. "You barely got out and looked hurt. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Lee Seng answered.

"Good, glad you're okay." Vickie nodded. She took a step forward, arms folded. "Just don't try to provoke Greenhorn more than you have. He isn't too happy you got off scot-free with the whole, incident that occurred. I'm more lenient, but not merciful."

"Mmm, I'll keep that in mind, uh..." Lee Seng turned to look at Manny.

"I'm Vickie Sanchez. Apart of the Academy Twelve and one of the 4th Years running Transfer Hell Weekend." Vickie stuck her hand out.

"Lee Seng Chang. Nice to meet you." Lee Seng shook her head. The two pulled away and Vickie nodded.

"You barely got out of the Ruined City in time, Chang. I hope your inexperience doesn't slow down the others in the next event. You guys can mingle for a bit longer. Get to know your other transfer students. You might be working with them." Vickie excused herself and moved past the group, going to the stairs on the side.

Lee Seng turned to look at the others, who were awkwardly standing around and then turned his attention to Manny.

"Well, that went... well." Lee Seng quietly nodded.

"Huh, she can be nice." Manny chuckled. "Anyways, you guys mingle. I'm gonna go talk to Vickie for a bit before things start." Manny waved and moved to follow Vickie. Lee Seng looked at the others before moving.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all. I need to go up there and get ready. Chat amongst yourselves." Noah nodded at everyone before turning left and going to the other side of the stairs. The other half of the group turned to look at Lee Seng and the others.

"Ah, you're the other Third Year transfer!" Olivia happily chimed. She started to greet them until she reached two familiar and similar faces. "Oh, you two." She pointed. Her gaze went to the guy with fading scars up his arms, neck, and cheeks.

"Nice to see you, again." Jae waved. Olivia's attention pulled off of Jason and onto Jae. He had a warm smile and Olivia noticed the fading scar marks on his hands. Jason's eyes moved to the rest of the new group and noticed Lee Seng among them.

"Jae, I'm gonna go sit over there." Jason pointed.

"Huh? O-okay. I'll follow you in a bit, 'kay?" Jae nodded. Jason nodded at Olivia before leaving. Ritsuka and Evan moved up towards Olivia.

"Hey, Olivia, who's your friend?" Evan asked. Olivia turned to look at Evan and then back at Jae.

"I'm Jae. Jae Kang. The guy who looks like me is my twin brother, Jason. We just moved in today due what happened to my brother and I at the exam." Jae answered.

"Ah, nice to meet you. I'm Evan. Evan Trainor." Evan stuck his hand out and Jae shook it.

"I'm Ritsuka. Ritsuka Yamada. Nice to meet you." Ritsuka waved. Jae nodded and Ritsuka's eyes turned to the other two. He moved over to introduce himself to the other transfer students. Jae's eyes moved to Lee Seng and Lee Seng hovered behind Olivia.

"How's... him?" Lee Seng nodded over at Jason who took a seat on the edge of the other side.

"He's... doing fine." Jae's smile softened. He looked like he was getting sad.

"Ah, um, I hope you guys are recovering well... I, uh..."

"It's not your fault, Lee." Jae stared at his fading scars on his hands before looking up. Olivia awkwardly tapped Evan to move and the two went over to talk to Ritsuka and the other transfer students. Lee Seng nodded and took a seat. Jae sighed and hesitantly sat next to him. Awkward silence enveloped them as they listened to chit chat a couple of feet away from them.

"I saw you came with Manny..." Jae cleared his throat. "I didn't think... that would happen again for you." Lee Seng nodded, looking at his hands.

"He's my roommate..." Lee Seng told Jae.

"Ah... How's that going?"

"I got over whatever initial reactions I had, but things... Things are going better, I guess. I'm trying not to... start anything."

"Mmm." Jae nodded. He turned to look at Lee Seng. Jae noticed Lee Seng was fiddling with his hands. His tail slowly moved above his leaning head.

'He's still the same after all this time. After all the fighting and all the... misunderstandings.' Jae thought. he sighed and cleared his throat, again.

"So, you and Jason got in and came a day later? You guys getting good treatment? The, uh... The burn scars are fading. You'll be pretty much back to normal after some more treatment?" Lee Seng asked. Jae folded his hands together and nodded.

"Mmm, the scarring isn't too bad for me. It shouldn't take as long as Jason, but... Jason, he..." Jae let out a sigh. "The doctors say his scarring might not completely fade even with the technologies they have now. He might live with scars of that day forever." Jae stared at his hands. The day would forever play in his mind.

'If only I could tell you why we pushed you away...' Jae sighed. Lee Seng raised his hand and moved it halfway to Jae before stopping. He reconsidered his actions and decided to pull his hand back.

"It's all in the past." Lee Seng nodded. "I'm just glad you guys weren't hurt more than needed. I hope the scarring hasn't damaged Jason enough to the point he can't use his powers."

"Mmm, I hope so too." Jae nodded. "Jason hasn't really used his powers since then... I think after everything that happened... He's more... distant."

'Just tell Lee about it. Just tell him!' Jae's thoughts screamed. Jae turned to look at his brother and sighed before making eye contact with Lee Seng.

"I know I don't deserve to say this to you, but.. If there's a chance we could just start anew, I would want that. Even if we aren't as close as before, I would still like to take that sliver of chance. I know Jason wants to, too."

"Mmm." Lee Seng nodded. His eyes moved past Jae and onto Jason. Jason was looking at them and he quickly retracted his stare and turned away. Lee Seng's heart ached.

'Life isn't fair, huh?' Lee Seng thought. He stood up and moved past Jae, who stood up and grabbed Lee Seng's arm.

"Hey!" Jae shouted. Lee Seng turned around and looked at Jae. Jae's face and actions were saying very different things. He was hurt yet his grip was firm. "Are you gonna... do anything to him?" Jae released Lee Seng and Lee Seng looked at Jason, again.

"No... I just..." Lee Seng took a sigh. "There's a potential that I might be stuck with one or both of you. I just want to let you and him know that I'm fine. Things will be awkward for a while, but... if it's possible, let's just start anew." Lee Seng smiled.

"Why would you forgive us...? After all we did...?" Jae asked. His eyes twinkled and he fought hard to not let his tears fall.

"The easiest thing I could do is just ignore you two and let you be okay with the hatred that's built up inside me. Honestly, I wonder every day why you left me just like Manny and the others did. As much as I want to say you and Jason left me... You guys physically were still around while the others weren't. You may have ridiculed me, beat me, made me wish I was dead, and so much more... But, I..." Lee Seng's voice cracked. Jae's hurt face shattered. He watched Lee Seng take a breath as he kept his eyes on him.

Jae could see Jason was looking. Jason was listening. Lee Seng took a breath and closed his eyes. A smile appeared on his face and he nodded.

"You guys were there even though you might've just bullied me. But I'm tired of this game. The best thing I can do for myself is this. I forgive you two for what you did to me." Lee Seng smiled. "I don't care what was said, honestly. I'm tired of constantly doing the opposite of what my heart and mind are both saying to me... The moment my heart and my mind said that same exact thing about you and Jason... It was the moment I really made my mind up about this. 'It's not worth it.' That's what my heart and mind tell me. It isn't worth the time to hate someone based on whatever things you were probably told by my own father."

"You..." Jae stuttered with a surprised look.

'I don't know it.' Lee Seng thought. 'But I have a feeling.'