Hongjoong seats himself on the seaweed green couch, Seonghwa sitting on the singular coral pink couch chair positioned beside the couch. The sand coloured carpet that spanned the entire living room floor really added to that beachy feel, even if it was a lake that they were situated under. Then again, this may be the only ocean-like place that's in Aurora.

"Would you like some toffee?" Byeongkwan is suddenly standing in front of Hongjoong, holding a bowl of the square white sweets.

Hongjoong, albeit hesitantly, took one out of the bowl. Out the corner of his eye, he sees Seonghwa grab one without hesitation and pops it into his mouth. Hongjoong stares at the sweet a little longer, inspecting it before slowly putting it into his mouth.

At first it didn't taste like anything, but all of a sudden a burst of flavour envelopes his mouth. It's sweet but not to sweet and it tastes like his favourite dessert. He slows his chewing; not so much to savour the taste, but to savour the feeling it gives him. He then finds himself thinking of home; of his mother cooking up said dessert, of him and his step-father setting the table as his mother dishes it out.

He doesn't realise he's crying until he feels Seonghwa wiping his cheek. He recoils away from the touch, surprised until he touches his own cheek and feels a wetness there.

"The toffee is enchanted to taste like your favourite dessert or candy. What did you taste?" Seonghwa asks softly.

"I...my mum makes this spiced pumpkin pie with homemade vanilla ice-cream for dessert sometimes, and it's my favourite dessert in the entire world" Hongjoong's voice sounds so small and vulnerable, even to his own ears, "I guess I miss my mum more than I thought, even though it technically hasn't even been that long in my world; a few hours maybe?"

"Maybe...it's okay though, you'll be back home before you know it" Seonghwa smiles, but Hongjoong can tell it's forced.

Hongjoong frowns internally, and wonders why Seonghwa would be forcing a smile, but he shakes his head free of those thoughts. Byeongkwan and Junhee aren't in the room, the two sorcerers cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Hongjoong then glances out one of the windows, watching all the sea creatures swim past. He then notices a familiar green shiny tail, and a knock at the door follows shortly after.

Byeongkwan dashes out of the kitchen and practically runs to the door, opening it. The wide grin on his face could outshine the sun, and Hongjoong could practically see the hearts in Beyongkwan's eyes as he gazed at the mermaid at the door.

"Hello Byeongie" the familiar merman chuckles.

"Hello Sehyoonie" Byeongkwan giggles, "do you want to come in or should I go out there?"

"No, I'll come in" Sehyoon reaches out a hand.

Byeongkwan nods, grabbing a hold of Sehyoon's head and Hongjoong watches with a shocked expression as Sehyoon's tail disappears and is replaced with green pants that were a similar looking material to the ones that Hongjoong wore. Sehyoon entered the house, letting go of Byeongkwan's hand and made a beeline for the seaweed green couch. Sehyoon sat next to Hongjoong, the blue haired boy managing a small smile.

He felt a little trapped sitting between his crush (though he didn't want to fully admit that he had a crush on Seonghwa), and someone who was basically a stranger.

"So" Hongjoong started, "how did you and Byeongkwan meet?"

It was an odd question, and Sehyoon seemed a little taken aback by it, but nonetheless, Sehyoon told him.

"I've known both Byeongkwan and Junhee since I was a little kid, since they've been living here in Aurorialis for so long. As I got older, I started to develop feelings for him, but I thought it would never work considering he is a sorcerer and I'm a merman. I tried everything, even to date other merman and mermaid's and try and forget my feelings for him" Sehyoon smiled wistfully, "but then, all of a sudden, he confesses to me that he's loved me for a while, so that plan went out the window" Sehyoon frowned, "I didn't accept it at first though. I hurt him, badly. Sorcerers aren't very well liked anywhere in Aurora, because of the horrible stigma that they all practice dark magic like Mikaelis. It doesn't help that Byeongie is somehow related to Mikaelis-" he stops himself, "I....I don't know why I said that"

Hongjoong can feel the colour drain from his face as he looks at the floor. Sehyoon continues on with his story, but Hongjoong isn't listening. Byeongkwan is the second person he's heard that's related to this Mikaelis guy, the first being Yunho. Both of them really nice, so they obviously had very different upbringings.

Which begs the question; how exactly is Byeongkwan related to Mikaelis? Hongjoong foolishly hopes he never finds out...

Welp, I guess y'all know what this update means; no more hiatus. It's been only five days akdhsjhdjsd I told you guys my hiatus wouldn't last long lol I can't seem to stay away from you guys, no matter how stressed™️ that I get