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The Next Day
Planet Zudaclite

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"Hey Minkyu. Do you have a minute bud?"

I gently shook him to wake him up, and he jolted a bit before he woke up.

"Hmm...?"

He sleepily hummed.

"We had to make a pit stop to refuel the ship. There's a little store at the station that were at, and I wanted to know if you wanted anything?"

"...Do they have strawberries, or rice balls???"

"They definitely have strawberries, but I'm not too sure about the rice balls. I'll check and see though~"

"...Thank you~~~~"

He smiled, gently rubbing his eyes.

"No problem bud~. You can go back to sleep now~"

"...Okay~"

He smiled and then immediately submerged himself back under the blanket.

He's sharing a room with Junsung, so he's sleeping right next to him, calm and comfortably. The thing that I've noticed about Minkyu is that he kind of changes when he sleepy.

He isn't as timid as he normally is when he's completely awake. He'll act just like anyone else, and he becomes a bit friendlier too.

It gives me hope that there's a chance that he'll grow out of his timidity sooner or later, but that's just a hunch.

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I exited the ship, finding multiple members outside.

Donghyuck was outside with Suyun, showing her around the station and retelling the story of how she met Jay here.

Shotaro and Sungchan were standing in front of the store together having a nice chat and eating Japanese Dango.

Chan and Felix were stood near the fuel pumps. Chan was helping Felix train his Stand for our future battles.

When I entered the store, I found Taeyong and Xinrei. Taeyong was stocking up on Strawberry Macaroons, since those are one of his favorite snacks. And Xinrei was stocking up on necessities for the others, especially the babies.

He's very thoughtful like that.

Thankfully, after looking around for a bit, I found everything that Minkyu wanted. I picked up his strawberries, and I got him a pre-packed rice ball and sushi tray, along with a box of Strawberry Pockys.

He's gonna love this, I just know it~.

I paid for everything, and scurried back into the ship. I quietly entered Minkyu's room again, and placed it where he could find it later.

I quietly left the room to let him and Junsung sleep a little more. I went back outside for a little longer, but we all returned inside after a while.

We immediately set off for Planet Nethea, and thankfully, it's only about an hour away from here. The sooner we find ATEEZ, the better.

"Hey Xinrei?"

"Mhm?"

"Have you and the kids come up with your hero names and costumes yet?"

I asked, and he shook his head.

"The majority of us were supposed to at the start of our new semester, but we might not be able to do that for a while now"

"You know, Ten-hyung and Doyoung-hyung were the ones that helped the rest of us come up with ours when we were younger. When you all are ready, they could be the ones to help you all come up with yours too. And then they can help implant your costumes into these rings"

I pulled out a ring from one of the ship's compartments.

"I noticed that all of you have rings like these, but I always thought that they were just for fashion. What do they do?"

"These rings are very special. They let you call on your hero costumes at any given moment. That way, the tedious task of manually changing into it is eliminated"

"I see... These must've really come in handy when you first got them"

"Oh, they did. And I know that they'll come in handy for you and the kids too, even if you don't choose to become heroes after this"

I put the ring back in its compartment, and sat down near the cockpit.

"We don't have to become heroes...??"

Xinrei questioned, seeming a bit confused.

"Regardless of if you have powers or not, we all still have a choice of what we choose to be. Take your grandfather Zhenya and grandmother Luoyang for example. They have an amazing set of powers, just like your father. But just because they had useful and strong powers, they didn't become heroes. They may choose to help us if we need it, but they don't make it a profession like most of us. You and Xinya also have an amazing set of powers, but that doesn't mean you have to be heroes like your father. You can choose to live regular lives, and only help out if you must. No one's forcing you to be a hero Xinrei. That wouldn't be a fun way to live if we were all forced to be something that we don't want to be. Just do what you're comfortable with, and you'll definitely go far"

"...Thank you hyung"

He had a blank expression, but I could feel that he was grateful for my opinion on the matter.

Xinrei doesn't really express himself often, unlike his sister, so in situations like this, he's a bit awkward and doesn't know what to say.

But he still means well and he's a very hard worker. Even with the stress he's feeling with being separated from Renjun and Nitro, he's still keeping his cool for everyone's sake.

He's a lot like Renjun. But even still, he's even more amazing as his own person. He'll do great things, even if he chooses not to be a hero.

"Anytime kiddo"