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The artificial sun hung suspended at its zenith, an unblinking eye overseeing Anakt Gardens. Only when its unnatural stillness finally registered did Luka bother to glance at his watch—12:00. High noon. The designated time for lunch queue.
Pursing his lips, Luka quickened his pace, weaving through the carefully manicured paths of the Gardens. Clematis flowers and vines enveloped him on every side, the smell intoxicating in its sickening sweetness. He had been so absorbed in his morning behavioral training that he'd nearly forgotten the regimented meal schedule. Being late was highly, highly frowned upon, and he had no desire to face the disapproving looks of the staff. No desire to face Father’s fury when he’d inevitably find out. He shuddered at the thought, wrapping his arms around himself.
The serving tables came into view as Luka rounded the final corner, the familiar utilitarian stand contrasting the lush greenery surrounding it. He slowed his approach as confusion creased his brow. The sight before him was unexpected, to say the very least.
A line of people jutted out from the serving table, curving and doubling back on itself like one of the mechanical snake toys so often left in his cot by the more troublesome students. Luka blinked, trying to process the scene. It was more than busy—it was packed. By his estimate, at least three-quarters of Anakt's residents were already queued up for their afternoon jellies.
The last morning announcement had told the children to better heed the schedule, so why were they still disobeying? And why was nobody doing anything about it? The Segyein on lunch duty for the day served the jelly not with a glare, but with one of their typical forced smiles, not seeming to mind the crowd’s earliness in the slightest.
Everything about this situation irritated Luka. The disorder, the blatant disregard for rules, the inexplicable complacency of the staff—it all grated against his sense of how things should be. How things needed to be. However, he decided it would be best not to make a scene; according to Hyuna, his strict adherence to the rules and willingness to force it on others was part of what made him such a frequent target. “Live and let live,” she’d said, “and they might just leave you alone.”
Swallowing hard, he slotted himself into the line, hands clasping and unclasping involuntarily. It was so loud. Too loud. Luka felt himself begin to shut down at the sheer volume, staring off mindlessly at the barrier only a few yards away.
The two children in front of him swiveled their heads just to shoot him strange looks. Their whispers, a string of contemptuous gibberish to Luka's ears, carried just enough volume to make it clear they were talking about him. A familiar ache bloomed in his chest, but he forced his face to remain impassive. After a moment that stretched like hours, they turned away, apparently deciding he wasn't worth their continued attention.
The boisterous group who filed in behind him, though, were a different story.
Luka could feel their presence at his back, an almost palpable pressure. He resisted the urge to turn, instead focusing on the slow shuffle forward of the line, one step at a time. It was only a matter of time until—
A meaty hand clamped down on Luka's shoulder, nails digging into his flesh through the thin fabric of his uniform. Before he could react, he was yanked sideways with brutal force. The world tilted and blurred as he stumbled back. By some miracle, he managed to stay upright, but by the time the dizziness subsided, he found himself staring at a wall of backs. Five interlopers now stood where he had been, and left no room for him.
Resisting the urge to find a Segyein aide to give them a detention, he sighed and walked to the end of the line, readying himself to repeat the process. After all, these children never stopped once they remembered how complacent he was. No, it would only become worse.
Most people, shy as they were, just silently inserted themselves in front of Luka without sparing a second glance. A few more shoved and jeered. By the time he reached the serving table with his tray, he was dead last and alone, facing a Segyein whose practiced smile had long since curdled into impatience.
His face burned hot with shame. How embarrassing this was, to have allowed his peers to step all over him. But it was not like he had the strength to fight back—whenever he tried, he wound up with ugly bruises that took weeks to go away. Only Hyuna could defend him, and she was preoccupied with Hyun-woo in the meadow… as usual.
Refusing to meet the Segyein’s gooey eye sockets, he held his tray aloft, as if waiting for an offering. After a second of nothing, the Segyein gurgled something that, in human language, roughly amounted to “We have no jellies left. Run along now.”
Luka's stomach clenched, a familiar ache that seemed to grow sharper with each passing day. He resisted the urge to start sucking and biting at his sleeve, a nervous habit Father had tried so hard to break him of. "I am... very sorry to have bothered you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he tried to practice his manners. “Are you certain there's nothing left? Not even plain jellies? I typically have five ounces less than all the other pet-humans, so... um..."
Luka's words died in his throat as he noticed the Segyein's growing sneer, its translucent lips curling to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. A drop of viscous saliva fell from its maw, sizzling as it hit the ground between them. Grip tightening on his empty tray, Luka mumbled a tight "Sorry” before speeding away from the line and toward the meadow.
Thankfully, no other students seemed to take their lunch in the meadow. Too many bugs, they said—which, ironically, was the exact reason Hyuna and Hyun-woo always stayed. They both delighted in setting clumps of uneaten jelly out as bait, and then snatching up whatever space beetles scuttled over to eat from them. Luka did not understand the appeal, to say the least—he found those wretched creatures disgusting—but he did understand the appeal of Hyuna’s smile, even if directed at Hyun-woo.
Even if Luka wished her smile was directed at him instead.
Once Hyuna noticed Luka silently approaching, she grinned and waved, trying to motion him over. “Luka, get your butt over here! Woo wants to show you this cool beetle we got! It’s huge!”
Oh joy, Luka thought. Regardless, he walked over as calmly as he could and sat down criss-cross in the tall grass, inhaling the fresh air.
“What’s goin’ on? What took you so long?” Hyuna asked. Luka was hardly able to hold back a smile as Hyuna reached over to muss his hair—if it were anyone else, he’d be swatting at them, but Anakt knows how much he craved Hyuna’s affectionate touch. Every time he received it, it felt like he had won something—something much more important than his collection of first place plaques.
“Not very much. I—“
Unfortunately, that was when Hyun-woo decided to shove a big, ugly, green beetle right in his face. The thing’s pincers snapped shut at the mere sight of Luka as its six legs writhed and writhed, trying to escape Hyun-woo’s uncomfortably tight grip.
“Look at it! It’s a super, super rare variety nowadays—the scientific name is Cotinis mutabilis, but entomologists call it a figeater beetle. They used to be common back on Earth, but most died during the invasion.”
“That is nice, Hyun-woo.” Luka said, leaning back.
“Those that survived mutated into these things! They’re approximately three times larger and twice as strong and…“
Hyun-woo paused in an excited attempt to recall more inane bug facts, but Hyuna quickly plastered her hand over his mouth, shushing him. “That’s enough, Hyun-woo! Don’t you see you’re scarin’ him? Put Tim away.”
“I am not scared of it. Just annoyed,” Luka muttered.
That was when he noticed Hyuna’s tray piled high with neon jellies, both plain and sweet—gifts from the other students, much to Luka’s chagrin. Most were untouched and unopened, save for one plastic container in front of her, wherein she’d mushed a plain and sweet jelly together to create… something. It was something, alright. The purple color of the slop, though, was strangely appetizing.
Luka cast a melancholic look down at his own tray. Just looking at Hyuna’s had made his stomach growl uncontrollably, his mouth salivating against his will. He was so hungry that it hurt.
“Wait…” That's when Hyuna noticed Luka’s completely empty tray, her brows furrowing. “Where the hell is your food? Did you seriously eat it on the way here or what?”
Luka mumbled, “The others cut in front of me again,” before raising his sleeve to gnaw on. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stave off his ravenous hunger. He briefly considered tearing off a piece of the fabric to eat.
“They what? I told ‘em not to do that!” Hyuna yelled, causing Luka to flinch. “There was seriously nothing left?!”
“No. It was all gone by the time I managed to get up there.” Luka paused. “Father said I was starting to get chubby, so perhaps it’s for the better.”
“Bullshit! You’re all skin and bones—no, wait, here…” Hyuna began to dig through her pile of jellies, eventually pulling out three containers of sweet ones and plopping them down on his tray. “There. Eat up, won’t’ ya?”
Luka stared at his prize with wide, watery eyes. His chest inexplicably warmed at the gesture, even more so as he glanced at Hyuna, who was smiling encouragingly at him. “Go on. Eat up, class starts in half an hour.”
“But…” Luka’s protest died on his lips. He knew he should not. If Father learned of him eating a regular serving, let alone three large ones, he could only imagine how cross he would be. But he swore he could smell the artificial sugar through the plastic, calling his name, taunting him.
“No fair!” Hyun-woo whined. “I said I wanted more sweets, and you wouldn’t let me have any!”
“It’s different.” Hyuna tsked. “Luka actually needs it. Don’t you, Luka?”
Luka, unfortunately, was unable to respond. He had shoved so much sweet jelly into his mouth that it was near impossible to talk through it, let alone coherently. When Hyuna noticed how full his cheeks were, she couldn’t help but giggle. “You look like a chipmunk!”
Luka paused his chewing for a moment. A chipmunk? Was that meant to be a compliment? Not knowing what to say, Luka shrugged before eating yet another sticky spoonful.
Hyuna patted Luka on the thigh before looking off into the distance, out to where the other students sat to eat. “… I’m gonna handle the issue. Promise. Nobody’s gonna cut in front of you like that.”
Luka finally swallowed. “I am just confused. The Segyein told us we were to line up at noon, but everybody else seemed to already be there. I should have been first in line.”
Hyuna gave him an indecipherable look. “… Nobody actually listens to that schedule. You know that, right? People start headin’ there at, like, eleven-thirty. Show up then tomorrow, you’ll have an easier time.”
“But the rules say noon.” Luka blinked up at her. “They reminded us.”
Hyuna sighed and ruffled his hair again with a look of pity. “Oh, Luka. You’ll get it one day, okay? But for now, just follow my lead.”
Luka nodded, if only because he saw no other options. After a moment of silence, he leaned onto Hyuna’s shoulder to continue to eat. It always amazed Luka how warm she was. Warmer than the summer day, warmer than his Father…
Hyuna let out a chuckle at the sight of Luka curled up to her like that, and leaned her head on top of his, ignoring Hyun-woo’s offended gawking and the way Luka was mistakenly dropping every other bite onto her linen shirt. Clothing could be washed. Making sure Luka got what he needed was much, much more important.