The next day, the tension between Seonghwa and Hongjoong was still there, but not as noticeable; at least not to them, but it was to Jongho and San. Jongho, who was in between the two, felt almost suffocated by the tension. 

"Whatever happened yesterday" Jongho began, "you two had better sort it out between yourselves. We have to ride together for weeks, so we can't have any bad blood between any of us"

"There's no bad blood here Jongho" Seonghwa huffed, "it's just that we almost kissed and it seems that Hongjoong is embarrassed by that"

Hongjoong can feel his entire face, and perhaps his entire body, heat up and suddenly, he's sweating more than he previously was. 

"Why the hell would you just announce that out of nowhere!?" Hongjoong exclaims.

Seonghwa just blinks, "it's not that embarrassing Hongjoong. Maybe you should be glad we didn't kiss" Seonghwa huffs.

"I-you-what-okay, did you just assume that I didn't like it?" Hongjoong says, offended.

A few seconds later however, he immediately regrets saying that. But then again, was he really that put off by it? Or was it just a front because he didn't want to face the fact that he might be getting a crush on someone he met just a few days ago? 

'This is really confusing and I have no idea how to handle this. I want my mum' Hongjoong whimpers quietly, burying his face in Elya's soft mane, 'I wanna go home'

Elya neighed; a soft sound that makes Hongjoong think that the horse might be reading his thoughts. It was as if Elya was saying that everything was okay, and for some odd reason, that made Hongjoong relax but he didn't raise his head. He didn't want to look at anyone, especially not Seonghwa. 

He only raised his head when San suddenly cheered, a wide smile on his face, "guys, look up ahead!" 

Hongjoong's head snapped up, and sure enough he saw a large lake just up ahead. The way it shimmered in the sunlight was mesmerising, and the colour was bluer than the sky. 

"Wow" Hongjoong said, in awe of the vastness of it.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Jongho hums, "but the lake itself is nothing compared to the kingdom"

Hongjoong suddenly wonders if it's really just a lake, or if it's an ocean instead. Then again, it didn't have any waves, but it was so big that Hongjoong wondered where it ended.

"How long would it take us to get to the other end of the lake?" Hongjoong asks.

"About a day and a half at least" Seonghwa answers before Jongho can, "would you let us keep going, or do you want to see your lover Jongho?" 

Hongjoong doesn't even have to look at him to know Seonghwa is smirking like the devil himself, and Hongjoong can't help but giggle when Jongho's cheeks turn a bit pink.

"If it's okay with you, may we stop here?" Jongho looks at Hongjoong. 

The blue haired boy blinks, nodding, "of course. I'd honestly love to meet Yeosang, and see the kingdom if we're allowed to"

He hadn't heard much about Aurorialis thus far, but he did know that it was apparently incredible and majestic and large, so he wanted to see it for himself. He carefully slips off of Elya as the others slowly head towards the lake. He then notices a sectioned off pool surrounded by large ethereal white rocks and several smaller stones, and he finds himself wondering what the purpose of it was. Jongho wanders over to it, smiling.

"This is basically our way of communicating with the merpeople" Jongho said, "it's not very old though, not as old as the kingdom that's for sure. It the last hundred or so years the merpeople started communicating with those who lived beyond the lake, so they needed a way to greet them without coming to the surface. You throw one of these smaller stones in, and think of the person you wish to talk to" 

Jongho throws the stone in, thinking of Yeosang. Seonghwa stands on the other side of Jongho, and San stands on the other side of Hongjoong as Yeosang comes into view. Hongjoong's breath caught in his throat; Yeosang was stunningly beautiful. He had cream coloured skin, a silvery white tail and beautiful blonde hair that stopped halfway below his ears. 

Once Yeosang realised that he was being called through the pool, his lips curved upward into the widest smile when he locks eyes with Jongho. 

"Jongho! My love, it's been too long! And hello Seonghwa, San. Oh, I also see you have an unknown person with you there! Hello to you too, whoever you are" he giggles.

Hongjoong figures that Yeosang is a very bubbly, optimistic person, and he wouldn't mind being friends with the merman.

"Uhm, yes, this is Hongjoong. He actually comes from the human world" as Jongho says that, Yeosang gasps, "so we are on our way to meet with Jongdae, but we decided to make a stop here because...well..." Jongho blushes.

"Because he wanted to see you, and also because I kinda wanted to see the kingdom. I've heard it's very beautiful" Hongjoong says, smiling kindly. 

"Oh, of course. I'll tell Junhee and Byeongkwan to make a potion to allow you all to breathe underwater, and Sehyoon will take it up to you. Shouldn't take too long" and with that, the image of Yeosang fades. 

"You know, I kind of wish we got here at night" San pouts, "the light from Aurorialis emits a light so bright that it almost looks like the lake has its own light source. It's a really pretty blue-green colour, and the Shades hate it. We'll definitely benefit from camping near the lake tonight" 

Hongjoong just nods as he goes and sits right at the edge of the lake. Seonghwa, after a small internal debate, follows Hongjoong and sit next to him.

"You'll love Aurorialis" Seonghwa smiles, "it's been a while since I last saw it myself, so I'd love to see it again"

A tense silence falls over them, and Seonghwa feels incredibly uncomfortable by it. He's not the only one though, and after exhaling loudly, Hongjoong decides to say something.

"We really need to talk about that almost kiss" Hongjoong suddenly says, suddenly wanting to die from embarrassment, "I'm not usually this forward about these things, but I don't want any awkwardness between us anymore"

Seonghwa just nods, "did you...want to? Or was I reading the situation wrong?"

"I...I don't even know" Hongjoong said dumbly.

"San has said before that you have something called 'homophobia' in your world, where there's people who hate those who have a relationship with others of the same gender?" At that, Hongjoong nods, "we don't have that here. In fact, it's more normal than you think"

Hongjoong feels oddly relieved by that. He really honestly feels at home there, which scared him. A large part of him doesn't want to go back, but he would miss his mother and stepfather far too much, and he couldn't just leave them.

'Then why do I want to?'

Well...here's an update lol

Also, this is completely unrelated, but Wolf is actually one of my favourite EXO songs >~< I know It's low key but high key a wholeass meme, but it's actually a really good song...