Soon, the heat became a little too unbearable. Hongjoong wanted to strip down to his underwear and jump in the water, which was exactly what Seonghwa was doing; paddling around in the lake. He seemed to be getting better with each passing minute, and the water looked nice and refreshing.

"I really wanna go in there" Hongjoong whined, pouting.

"Then go in" Jongho says, "honestly, I think I might too"

"Me three" San stumbled over, plopping down beside Hongjoong, "it feels like I'm inside a fucking volcano"

Jongho chuckled, shaking his head. The Banshee then strips off his shirt, walking towards the tiny lake. Seonghwa smiles when he noticed that Jongho is joining him.

"Come on you two! The water's amazing!" Seonghwa called out.

San and Hongjoong glance at each other before the both of them stand up and strip off their shirts. However, Hongjoong starts to think that maybe he shouldn't have.

'Fuck' Hongjoong internally whimpers, noticing the confused look San was giving him.

"Are they..." he trails off.

Hongjoong nods, knowing that San was referring to the scars on his legs and stomach, "I uh, I have issues with my body. I used to be...bigger than I am now so...yeah"

San just nods, humming, "if you stay in that water for long enough, they'll disappear" and with that, San runs and jumps into the small lake, his head popping out of the water just seconds later.

Hongjoong doesn't know if San meant that the scars will disappear or his body image issues will disappear or both, but as soon as he dips into the nice cool water, he finds himself relaxing a little. He paddles around aimlessly, dunking his head under every so often before suddenly coming face to face with Seonghwa.

"Hello there" Seonghwa grins.

"Hi" Hongjoong smiles back, "are you feeling any better now?"

"Yes. I still feel a bit stuffy and congested but I'll be fine" Seonghwa hums.

Hongjoong nods, and for some reason he feels himself drawing closer to to Seonghwa. He raises one of his hands to feel Seonghwa's forehead, frowning, "you still have a bit of a fever"

Hongjoong's hand was cool to the touch because of the water, and the elven Prince finds himself leaning into it, only half realising how close their faces were to each other. Hongjoong blushes, gulping as Seonghwa seems to get closer and closer. Their lips barely brushed together before they suddenly pulled apart. Hongjoong covered his mouth with his hand as Seonghwa looked anywhere but Hongjoong.

'I did not just almost kiss Seonghwa...did I? Did I even want to? I think I did...oh my Gods...this isn't good. This is basically forbidden romance; we're from two different worlds! This can't happen!' Hongjoong thinks to himself, panicking a little.

From a little ways away, Jongho and San share a knowing glance, smirking at each other.

'I wanted to kiss him. Did he want to kiss me? Why did I want to...do I...perhaps...have a crush?' Seonghwa thinks to himself, chewing on his bottom lip.

Seonghwa paddles over so he's close to Hongjoong once again. Hongjoong drops his hand from his mouth, gulping again.

"Sorry..." Hongjoong said quietly.

"No need to apologise Joongie. You did nothing wrong" Seonghwa smiles, leaning in and kissing Hongjoong's forehead before paddling off and getting out of the water.

Hongjoong, San and Jongho also exit the water, and Hongjoong glanced down. He gasps; San was right, because his scars had disappeared and he didn't feel anything negative towards himself. He looks over at San who gives him a knowing smile.

"I told you" San said, "that water has amazing properties. Just wait until we get to Aurorialis"

Hongjoong giggles, skipping away happily towards the tent, although he felt slightly awkward around Seonghwa because of earlier. He still didn't really want to leave Aurora, but he knew he eventually had to...

Lol sorry for not updating this in a billion years >~<