⛓️

The first thing Seonghwa noticed about this new place were several colourful birds that flew and cackled through the sky. Next were the many thick-rooted trees that lingered in the distance and a vibrant green field that seemed to stretch on for miles. The sun was shining bright in the cerulean sky, not a single cloud present.

It took Seonghwa aback, mostly because this looked like daytime and he'd left his house in the evening.

Hongjoong stood beside him, golden eyes shimmering under the sunlight. He used a hand to shield the upper half of his face from view, before looking around the vast area for something -- or someone.

Seonghwa frowned with mild disdain. Okay. He wasn't like, mad or anything, and the weather wasn't too bad. He was just confused and he didn't even know why Hongjoong brought him here in the first place.

"Is this another dimension?" Seonghwa asked, fingers pulling on the hem of the plain white shirt the shorter'd advised him to wear. He didn't feel disgustingly hot, but the sunshine was a little too bright around here.

"Yep!" Hongjoong chirped. "Flora; one of my faves."

Seonghwa, admittedly fascinated, studied the almost perfect scenery before him and concluded that the name did in fact match with it. He hummed and crossed his arms. "Okay. But I still don't know why you took me to this place."

Like everything had been intricately orchestrated, a grey static opening tore through the air, and out rolled a golf cart with Yunho in the driver's seat.

Seonghwa stood still, beyond speechless as to what'd just taken place, but once the blue-eyed boy wheeled the cart closer to him and Hongjoong, Seonghwa was able to regain his focus, albeit slowly.

Yunho's eyes lit up with surprise once he spotted Seonghwa, a big smile quickly spreading across his face. "Oh, hi. Hongjoong never told me you'd be coming."

Seonghwa awkwardly smiled as he searched for the right way to answer. "Hongjoong never told me what we would be doing, either."

Yunho shot Hongjoong a mock-glare, but the shorter was already grabbing a golf club and gloves, whistling nonchalantly.

"I'm sorry, Seonghwa," Yunho began as he got off the cart, his tone apologetic. "My brother can be a bit...wild, so to speak."

Seonghwa turned and saw Hongjoong a few feet ahead, already standing in position. On his head was a beige hat that protected him from the sun, or maybe not since Hongjoong had proved many, many times that he wasn't your average human.

"So you guys just...golf here whenever you have time?" Seonghwa inquired from Yunho, trying his best to ignore Hongjoong's hisses and squeals whenever he'd swung his golf club.

Yunho laughed, his ocean-blue eyes crinkling under his pink curls. He passed an unsure Seonghwa a golf club of his own. "Nah, not really. We have a mission to do later on today, so we just pass the time by doing what we like around here. This place has a bunch of grass and stuff, so we rented the cart for fun."

Seonghwa couldn't believe it. Sure, as a kid he'd occassionally went to theme parks, sparsely participated in yearly celebrations like Christmas and Halloween, but there was never a time where he'd decided he'd casually visit some foreign place just for fun. His life thus far had been structured and lackluster, and for the most part, he'd been okay with it. To him, familiarity was secure. Safe.

But now...

He couldn't help but wonder just how many places -- or dimensions -- Hongjoong and Yunho had frequented, and if they'd all been equally as exciting and exhilarating. Seonghwa wouldn't know; his life wasn't anything special.

"I don't know how to golf."

Yunho grinned. "Me neither, and neither does Hongjoong. We just do whatever we want and go crazy with it. And -- " the taller grabbed a golf ball and flung it into the sky with power that Seonghwa should've expected but didn't, and soon after the ball rolled against Yunho's converse. "We can swing as high as we want and the ball keeps coming back, simple right?"

"Stop explaininnnng," Hongjoong dragged out, his features exasperated. "It's fucking with my concentration. I'm sure Seonggie gets it by now, right?"

Yunho's fair eyebrows knitted, gaze switching between his brother and Seonghwa. "Seonggie?"

Seonghwa hurriedly sped over the turf grass and placed his ball into the open tee he saw, trying his hardest to focus.

"I bet you aren't better than me." And of course Hongjoong decided to pitch in his unneeded opinion. "Did you see how high I swung mine -- "

Seonghwa struck his ball as hard as he could, hoping the noise would drown out Hongjoong's incessant babbling. The ball flew considerably high, but apparently that wasn't 'impressive' enough for Hongjoong.

The shorter met Seonghwa's glare with a smirk and hooded, calculating eyes.

"Twas kinda meh."

"Shh, Joongie," Yunho argued, flashing Seonghwa a thumbs up. "Seonghwa you did great."

Joongie? The dark haired boy mulled over the unexpected nickname for a second, before shrugging it off. "Thanks."

Hongjoong then hit his ball, and as predicted it shot straight into the sky.

Yunho chuckled. "Bragger. Hey, Seonghwa, wanna team up and battle it out with my smug fun-sized brother?"

"Fun-sized?!" Hongjoong yelled, and Seonghwa couldn't not laugh at his hilarious outburst.

Yunho's smile broadened once he heard Seonghwa's laugh. "What's so bad about being fun-sized, huh? Or do you prefer Little Joong instead?"

Hongjoong outright threw his club at Yunho (which the taller missed), his face reminiscent of a cranky old lady's. Once again, Seonghwa couldn't contain his laughter, especially when Hongjoong directed his gaze at him.

Hongjoong tapped his club on the grass, his other hand planted on his hip. "Alright, I accept you guys' challenge. If I win, you guys get to do what I want. If you two win, I do what you want."

Seonghwa bit his lip, an uncharacteristic smile plastered on his face. "We win and you get called 'Little Joong' for the rest of the week."

Yunho was cackling, before giving Seonghwa a high-five. "Genius thinking."

Hongjoong's lips curled into a dark smile, his stare boring into Seonghwa's with so much intimidation that the taller had to look away. "Deal."

Yunho cheered, before passing Seonghwa an extra cap. "In case you need it. The sun's pretty bright today," he explained.

Seonghwa nodded, the taller's considerate nature reminding him far too much of Mingi. He pursed his lips at the thought and shoved it at the back of his mind. He couldn't afford to get all distracted now; he had Hongjoong to beat.

He and Yunho both took turns competing with Hongjoong. The three were far from professionals, they just hit the ball as hard as they could because they wanted to impress. Yet still, they were having a good time.

After Hongjoong served his shot, one that skidded over the trees and into the skies, it was finally Seonghwa's turn again.

"You can do this," Yunho encouraged him with a wide grin.

"Try to score higher than me," Hongjoong challenged, slightly leaning on his club and staring Seonghwa's body down. His eyes looked particularly intense and appealing under this light. They were like warm honey, swirling with mischief and playfulness.

Seonghwa averted his gaze, taking in deep breaths. Then he swung.

He didn't do bad per se, but it wasn't close to the best either. He cursed at himself, hating that he'd gotten side-tracked by Hongjoong yet again.

And judging by the smirk dancing on the shorter's lips, Hongjoong probably knew what he was doing. Seonghwa felt his hands clench.

"You did fine," Yunho assured as he took Seonghwa's position, but the shorter couldn't feel comforted by it because here Hongjoong was, hopping around with a little dance of victory. "Joong, we aren't done yet though."

"I know," Hongjoong grinned, directed his gaze at Seonghwa. "But I'm in the lead."

"Yeah right." Yunho didn't look half-bothered by it however, which Seonghwa didn't like. He wanted them to win. Didn't even know why; he just did.

He wanted to erase that irking smile off of Hongjoong's face and show him that he was better, because calling the shorter 'Little Joong' sounded better than whatever Hongjoong was cooking up for them.

After Hongjoong's shot, as well as Yunho's, Seonghwa walked up and settled his club by the tee, pushing aside any and all forms of distraction -- including Hongjoong. Although he obviously wasn't as strong as the two brothers, he'd always been gifted athletically. Channeling all his strength, he swung as ruthlessly as he could, shots of adrenaline sparking under his skin. His muscles rippled with every movement, but he could only hope it'd all been worthwhile.

"Wait, the hell?" Hongjoong's voice entered Seonghwa's ears.

Yunho exhaled a nervous laugh drenched with disbelief. "Oh my god."

Seonghwa looked up, but then he did a double take once he took notice of his golf ball in the sky. Or, what'd been left of it.

A mini flaming concoction had sliced through the sky, bright and explosive.

Seonghwa frowned in confusion; he had no idea what was happening.

But then he took notice of his subtly charred golf club, as well as the burnt ball coming to a stop between him and Yunho. "...What..?"

"Holy crap, that was amazing," Yunho clapped, but the nervous look in his eyes didn't cease. "I have no idea how you managed that, but that was so cool. We probably won now."

Hongjoong, on the other hand, didn't look as happy. He walked up to Seonghwa, bending to pick up the marred ball. "That's never happened before."

Seonghwa didn't like the look on Hongjoong's face, or the strange way he watched him. He rubbed the back of his neck, halting when he felt how cold it was to the touch. In fact, his hands felt the same.

"The weather's hot, that's probably why," Seonghwa muttered. "Sorry for the damage."

"No worries. Luckily, we can fix it," Yunho answered. He took Seonghwa's golf club from him, letting their fingers graze for a second before he let go. Then, he ran his hand over the affected part, smoothing it out with ice in seconds.

Seonghwa, once more, was taken aback. "Is -- is that part of your power?"

Yunho quickly nodded. "Yep."

Seonghwa admired the club's surface, extremely interested by this fact. "Actually, I -- "

"Sorry," Hongjoong interrupted as he pulled off his hat and adjusted his fluffy chestnut locks. "But I wanna head to town now. Heard there's a festival going on down there."

"Oh, right," Yunho snapped his fingers. "The festival."

"What festival?" Seonghwa asked.

Hongjoong rolled his eyes, grabbing the taller's arm. "You'll see when we get there, c'mon."

⛓️

The town, in contrast to the field Seonghwa had just been to, was buzzing with so much life and energy it'd rubbed his reserved side a little in the wrong way. But undoubtedly he became fascinated by the colour and the lush greenery that caught his eye.

People dressed quite closely to medievals surrounded them at every corner, friendly with charming smiles even when the three teens were dressed quite differently from them.

Yunho looked the most excited, and soon enough it spread to Seonghwa as well. He pointed out a bunch of stuff to Seonghwa, from the names of the buildings to the delicacies the vendors sold on the streets.

Seonghwa gestured at a certain rounded baked good decorated with pink icing. "That looks like a doughnut."

"It is a doughnut."

Seonghwa hid his embarrassment by staring at Hongjoong who was already at some other stall that sold bouquets and other objects made with flowers. He didn't look like his usual self in the sense that he was frowning.

"You guys can buy things here?" Seonghwa asked after realizing he'd been staring Hongjoong's way for far too long.

Yunho nodded, before taking out some a forest green laminated card. "Yeah. We got a pass from the mayor so we can buy what we want."

"T-The mayor?" Seonghwa gaped.

Yunho laughed, highly amused by Seonghwa's shock. "Yeah. This isn't our first time here, and since we help Flora by getting rid of Mons, the mayor gave us these passes. Sweet, right?"

"Yeah..." Seonghwa's eyes found Hongjoong again. "I'm gonna go talk to him about something."

Yunho nodded. "Sure! I'll be sure to get some food for you guys."

With a final nod, Seonghwa sauntered to Hongjoong's side, trying to look as casual as possible. "Hey."

Hongjoong dropped an eye-catching glove of sorts embroidered with silvery thread and little shiny jewels into the bag he had with him, ignoring Seonghwa for the most part.

Seonghwa could clearly see his small smile, though. "Little Joong."

Hongjoong scoffed, looking through the stall for other things he could buy. "What do you want?"

"You told me you'd answer another one of my questions if I came along with you," Seonghwa replied. "Which I did."

Hongjoong wrapped a simple choker around the smooth slope of his neck, the small icy blue crystal attached to it glinting over his olive skin. "I look pretty, right?"

Shock swam into Seonghwa's system, his breath seeming to have left him. He coughed, about to sputter out something that equated to an answer when he'd realized Hongjoong wasn't actually talking to him, but the lady who sold the chokers.

"Amazing!" she complimented, her dark brown eyes shifting over to Seonghwa. "What about you, dear? Are you eager to buy something?"

"He's not into jewelry," Hongjoong argued, which upset Seonghwa.

So he pushed past the shorter, flashing the woman a wide smile. "I actually am." That was a lie. "What do you recommend for me?"

"Oh, I know something perfect."

While the lady rummaged around for what she was looking for, Hongjoong stared at Seonghwa with a baffled expression.

"Didn't know you liked that kind of stuff," he said.

"Didn't know I liked them either until today." It was hard not to stare at Hongjoong, even more so with that blue choker he had on. Seonghwa denied over and over again that Hongjoong did in fact look pretty with it, because it was just weird.

The lady passed Seonghwa two sets of golden drop earrings, both with distinctively intricate designs. They twinkled majestically underneath the afternoon sun.

"Fuck. Take them now," Hongjoong whispered ecstatically next to Seonghwa.

"My ears aren't pierced."

But Hongjoong was already paying for both sets. "Then we'll get your ears pierced, duh."

Seonghwa wasn't looking forward to that. "I don't want my ears pierced."

"Come on. It'll look insanely good on you, trust me."

For a moment, Seonghwa couldn't reply as his face felt like somebody had just lit a match on it. Before the silence between them could get even worse Yunho showed up out of thin air, passing a wrapped sandwich to Hongjoong and something else to Seonghwa.

"Your doughnut," Yunho clarified, mistaking Seonghwa's stunned face as confusion. "Unless you don't like doughnuts -- "

"I do." Seonghwa didn't mean to cut him off so briskly, but he was jittery. Nervous. It didn't help that his limbs still felt as cold as they were when they'd been golfing, like he'd stuck them inside a freezer for an hour or something. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Fortunately, Yunho didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary as the three of them continued to trek along. Hongjoong, however, kept glancing at him every few seconds.

Seonghwa knew he probably didn't mean bad by it, but his piercing stares were just making everything worse.

It was just so difficult for him to ignore the younger boy.

⛓️

Much faster than normal, the sun dimmed and the moon revealed itself, highlighting Hongjoong's and Yunho's unique eye colours even more. Paper lamps lit up every corner of the town with various exuberant shades; something Seonghwa hadn't ever seen in person prior to today.

Yunho stared at the sky as he tapped something Seonghwa had just noticed was in his ear. "It's nearing 7PM."

"Shit," Hongjoong cursed, "guess our break time's over."

"What's going on?" Seonghwa asked.

"We're kicking some Mon ass," Hongjoong replied without breaking a sweat. "You wanna see?"

Alarm flashed across Yunho's face. "Hongjoong, we can't -- "

"I'm pretty sure Seonghwa wants to tag along," Hongjoong grinned, his face a perfect mix of sinister and enticing. "Right, Seonghwa?"

Seonghwa swallowed, adrenaline filling his gut. "Yes."

⛓️

a/n: not the best chapter, but i tried
thoughts