A/n: This symbol ~ indicates a scene change or a POV change.

If you looked at Yeosang, the first thing you'd think is that he's different. Not in the 'oh this guy has a unique face, so handsome' or 'look at his eye colour, is that natural?'. He's different as in you'd widen your eyes and slowly back away from him, trying not to make eye contact while at the same time staring at him, wondering if he actually exists.

One would think having no marks on your face in a world full of people with marks wouldn't be that big of a deal, but unfortunately for Yeosang, it is.

Where he's from, the mark on both your cheeks defined who you are, your status, your personality, how powerful your magic is. It's like the world would wreak havoc if marks didn't exist. Yeosang personally thinks it's a bit dramatic really, never quite understanding the significance of them, why people let it rule their way of thinking to such an extent.

He'll never understand because he doesn't bear a mark, he never has. Early on in his life, Yeosang knew he was different. He and his mother, who also didn't have a mark, lived in the outskirts of the kingdom, isolated from everyone else. He never left that area, his mother telling him to stay home while she went into the village to buy necessities, always covering her face.

The one time he begged her to take him out into the village it was magical, literally. Being unmarked came with the additional downside of not having powers. That day, he had seen something he had never seen before, people using magic in their daily routine like carrying heavy things, growing crops, and even entertainment. He remembered watching a puppet show with other children, mesmerised at the dolls that were moving by themselves.

It would have been a nice memory if his mother hadn't forced him to cover his face because after a while, barely being able to see anything, he tripped, revealing his face to the crowd at the market stall.

He still remembered the sound of the collected gasps, the disgusted and shocked faces of the children his age, like he was a disease ridden animal. He hadn't come back since then.

And ever since then Yeosang had grown up to be bitter at the world, for making he and his mother seem so vile that he even hated himself at one point, for having 10-year-old Yeosang painting marks on his face with the juice from berries, then angrily wiping them off, ashamed that he had dared to think that he'd fit in.

An old lady visited them occasionally, who seemed to be the only person not appalled at the way they look, bringing them baked goods and showing Yeosang magic tricks. He had no idea who she was though, his mother didn't say anything about her either, he didn't mind since he could learn about magic from her. Magic would have made their lives a lot easier especially for his mother who was sick. He couldn't care less about marks, but he's always wanted magic.

The question of why they were different was constantly asked by Yeosang but always dismissed by his mother, saying he wasn't old enough to fully understand. By the time he was 18, she had passed away, leaving him all alone.

Yeosang spent the next few years of his life depressed and alone, not wanting any contact with the outside world. It was them who made his mother like this, she had been sick but unable to get medicine all because of her lack of marks. He stayed in his little home angry at the world.

He made sure he'd never have to leave his patch of land, growing all the fruit and vegetables himself, hunting meat out in the woods instead of going to the village and having to cover his face. He even gathered lumber for the colder days, chopping the wood with great effort.

Yeosang acknowledged that he will have to live like this forever, living a strenuous life while the rest of the world used magic.

Ever since his mother passed, he lived isolated, never once even coming in contact with another person for around 2 years.

He liked it that way, Yeosang thought it was peaceful. Until someone came tumbling into his life, quite literally.

It was a cold day, Yeosang had been in the woods hunting for some food, laying some traps and bait.

He had just sat down for a break when he heard a loud thud, followed by some rustling and what sounded like groans of pain.

In his two successful years of avoiding interaction with anyone, this is what broke his streak. Usually, he would have just ignored the person and let them get out of their mess on their own, he couldn't care less about the safety of a stupid marked person.

But this time, they were in his territory. He lived in the outskirts of the kingdom, where no one went, and the fact that someone came to his side of the forest and probably injured themselves let alone hunted here, annoyed him.

It annoyed him because he had no choice but to help them. After all, if he left them there and people came searching for this person and found him in the forest near his house, it would cause unnecessary problems and be made into something huge.

Yeosang slowly walked to where he heard the sound, groaning when he saw a figure on the floor, holding their leg in pain. He wouldn't have minded if this person just hunted here and left but no. Now he had to help this guy or at least get him away from near his house otherwise he'd get into trouble.

He winced when he saw a small puddle of blood coming from the injured leg.

Yeosang knelt in front of the guy and shook him, it would be easier for him to carry this guy if he wasn't unconscious.

He was a tall guy and even though Yeosang was strong enough to carry him, he was honestly not bothered.

"Hey" he tapped his shoulder. "I'm going to help you but you need to get up".

The man groaned, revealing his alarmingly deep voice. As someone with a deep voice himself, even Yeosang was surprised at the other's voice.

He lifted the man by his arm, swung it over his shoulder and held his waist to aid the other while walking. There wasn't an alarming amount of blood coming from his leg but Yeosang decided that he definitely still needed bandages.

The walk to his house wasn't far from the forest but was still a challenge with this huge man putting 90% of his body weight on Yeosang and limping clumsily. He was wincing in pain throughout the journey and Yeosang already regretted bringing him to his home.

He carefully sat him down on a cushioned stool and the other immediately relaxed once the weight on his leg had been lifted, sighing and leaning on the wall behind him.

Yeosang rushed to get his medical salve and bandages, needing to work fast in case the guys leg got infected. This out of character enthusiasm to help this guy surprised Yeosang. Never would he have thought he'd willingly bring an injured stranger to his house and use his precious resources on him.

He blamed it on the fact that he hasn't interacted with a single person for two years, its human nature to want interaction after years of solitude.

Sitting on the floor, he reached out for the injured leg. The man above him was going in and out of consciousness so Yeosang just went for it, hoping he wouldn't feel too much pain. First, he wiped off the excess blood around the wound, which earnt a whimper followed by some inaudible mumbling.

Spreading the balm on the bandage, he then wrapped it around his leg. This was the last of his medicine which he'd made himself with the medicinal herbs it took years for him to find. So he hesitated a little before giving the last of it to the bandage, but eventually, with a frown he did it. The wound wasn't too big so Yeosang finished up quickly.

He looked at the man leaning on the wall, hopefully asleep and not dead. He doubted this injury would kill anyone but he still held his palm out to his face to feel for any breathing.

Yeosang looked at the red clovers on his cheeks, he knew about the colours and shapes of the marks since he'd always been curious about what they meant. He didn't care anymore now that he was older though, but it was interesting to know at least. This guy was clearly part of the lower class, evident by the red colour.

He let him sleep for a while, leaving him alone in the house and headed out to his crops and gathered up some for dinner.

The sun started to set by the time he was back and Yeosang saw that the man was still asleep. He sighed, not knowing what to do with him. He definitely can't stay the night, he  couldn't risk having people look around for this guy and find him in his house.

It's not that he's a secret from everyone and he has to stay in hiding forever, he's sure a few people know about him or at least there are rumours about an unmarked person living in the outskirts of the kingdom. It's the fact that if people came and find this guy in his house, 'unconscious' and with an injured leg, he'd probably be sent to the dungeons or burnt alive by the village people. Which, is ironic because he's the one without magical powers.

As his mind was somewhere else, stressing about the guy in his house, he accidentally dropped the pot he was about to make soup in, the loud clattering sound shocked the man awake.

He looked around, visibly confused, then stood up. He yelped and grabbed his leg, clearly forgetting that he's injured.

"Are you okay?" Yeosang asked, slowly walking up to him.

The man whipped his head to the unfamiliar voice, eyes widening when he saw him. He nodded timidly, looking down in embarrassment. "Thank you. For helping me".

Yeosang shrugged, turning back to his stove and started cooking. "What happened to you?" he asked, might as well get an explanation as to why he had to help him with his injury.

The guy turned red, almost matching the marks on his cheeks. "I- uh was hunting in the forest".

Yeosang nodded. "Your first time or something?"

"Uh well, my friend usually hunts since he's stronger than me but he was unwell today so I had to fill in for him. I've done it before but- I wanted to try something different today". The guy explained as if he was getting interrogated, clearly intimidated by Yeosang's presence. Yeosang only hummed, waiting for him to carry on.

"To be honest, I was too lazy to actually hunt so I wanted to use a spell to catch a deer I found, but I must've said it wrong, it bounced back and hit my leg. The only thing after that I remember is someone pulling me up but that's it."

Yeosang paused his cooking for a second, turning to face him which made him gulp. "You're not very bright for someone with clovers on your cheeks". Typically, those who bore clovers on their cheeks had intelligence and strategy as their greatest strength. Yeosang never understood how a mark could influence the literal biology of your genes and brainpower, but he's acknowledged that he'll never understand the laws of this world. Internally, he remained adamant that it's just the placebo effect.

The man laughed lifelessly, "I know I know it was dumb of me, let's just say I was experimenting with hunting spells."

Hunting was best done without spells, only helpful with things like luring prey towards yourself or with camouflage. The man had wanted to try making a spell to hunt prey straight away, sort of like striking them with a bow and arrow. He admits his calculations need a bit of tweaking but he's sure he can succeed, it would help many people who don't have the skill for hunting.

There were times when Yeosang wished he had magic in him, hunting was a chore he hated, especially when he got blood all over him, leaving him smelly and having to scrub extra hard on his clothes, blood wasn't the easiest of things to get off.

He had the option of going out into the village and buying any meat or fish he desired as his mother did, but he was stubborn. He'd rather go through all the trouble than interact with people he hated. Yet here he is tending to the wounds of a marked person and even making dinner for him. He could have helped him then kicked him out, even Yeosang himself has no idea why he's doing all of this.

He placed the bowl of soup in front of the man, it had vegetables from his garden and the meat he had hunted today in it. The man looked up at him in surprise for a second, then slowly picked up the spoon and dug in, clearly hungry and appreciated the aroma. He also gave a bowl of rice since he could tell the other was hungry.

Yeosang smiles, then immediately caught himself. He had no idea why he smiled at the man who wasn't even looking. He had to admit, the other had a friendly and innocent aura around him that stole Yeosang's attention. Maybe that's why he kept him for dinner at his house. The other seemed to appreciate it since he ate wordlessly and quickly.

"Oh my god". The man says in between bites, Yeosang looked up at him in confusion when he didn't continue after a while.

"This is the best thing I've ever eaten in my life"

Yeosang didn't know how to respond to the compliment, just sitting there frozen. He thought his food was mediocre, well, the only other food he'd ever had was his mothers so he didn't really have much to compare it to. But Yeosang appreciated the compliment anyway, growing food was a difficult job.

"You have to give me your recipe or at least tell me which stalls you bought these ingredients from".

His bowl is empty, and Yeosang could tell he wanted another helping but was too shy so he got up and gave him another serving, the other taking it gratefully.

"I didn't buy it from anywhere, I grew them myself".

The man looked up and nodded in understanding. "Oh okay, my friend's family own a patch of land like you! they grow and sell their crop too".

Yeosang just hummed, not really interested in his life story and honestly wanted him to just finish eating and leave.

"I'm Mingi by the way", the man said and smiled widely.

Yeosang wished he didn't feel affected by the introduction, but Mingi's smile was really comforting. He didn't know what making friends felt like but... he wanted to think that these are the first steps in making one. He just couldn't help the alarm bells ringing in his head about these marked people, he was unsure if this was a good idea.

"I'm... Yeosang" he decided to risk it and tell Mingi his name, he somehow feels not-on-edge with him, especially when his face brightens when he hears Yeosang's name. Mingi had already caught on that Yeosang is the shy type, judging by his silence and short answers.

"So, Yeosang. Are you willing to sell your crops to me, or maybe share the spell you used to make them? I've seriously never tasted food this good in all my 20 years of life."

Yeosang silently noted that Mingi is the same age as him, then realised what he said and turned to him in confusion. "I didn't use magic, I don't have magic in me like everyone else".

Mingi dropped his spoon and the loud clatter made Yeosang flinch. Great, I'm going to lose the first-ever person I didn't hate talking to. He hated how wide Ming's eyes got and how his mouth just stayed open, not saying anything.

"Couldn't you tell? I have no marks" he says, pointing to his face.

"I just thought you were covering them with a spell, I know some people cover them sometimes for different reasons. I didn't want to cross my boundaries asking why, since you took me to your home and saved me... I didn't know you were... unmarked" Mingi didn't say it maliciously, in fact, his tone only displayed confusion, but still, Yeosang hated the way it made him sound like a rare creature of some sort.

"So you're telling me..." Mingi starts. Yeosang braced himself to be verbally abused, hopefully not physically since Mingi's leg was injured. He can outrun him at least.

He felt sad since Mingi seemed really polite and friendly, this was the first eve time he's not felt repulsed in the presence of a marked person. He should have just told him it was a spell and he actually has red diamonds or something.

"You grew these from scratch? Doesn't that take so long- I've heard it's impossible!"

Yeosang looked up and frowned. Mingi had just completely ignored the fact that he was unmarked and just started talking about his damn vegetables instead.

"Um yeah? I mean it's not that hard but I agree it's quite long- arent you... did you just ignore that I'm unmarked?" He couldn't help but question him, with all his (limited) experiences with marked people, he'd always been given horrified stares and called dirt and other things like that but Mingi had just forgotten about it, he wondered if all clovers were this confusing. Or maybe the thought of Yeosang being unmarked disgusted him so much that he erased it from his mind.

Mingi only shrugged. "I've heard rumours about people without marks existing, I just thought you were a myth to be honest. We're both just human after all, you just look a little different and don't have magic. I actually think that's really impressive, no one here would be able to live without magic and here you are doing everything by hand. You're really cool" He moved his fist towards Yeosang who flinched, thinking he's about to be punched.

When he didn't move, Yeosang just stared at the fist in front of him, wondering what Mingi was trying to do. Is he putting a spell on me?

Mingi got the hint that Yeosang doesn't understand, and smiled widely. "You have to bump my fist with your fist, it's just a friendly gesture".

Yeosang eyes him suspiciously, wondering why punching someone's fist would be a friendly gesture. He hesitated a bit but Mingi's smile was gentle and inviting and somehow made his worries dissolve away.

He bumped his fist roughly, making their knuckles clash uncomfortably and they both yelp. "Not that hard Yeosang! it's supposed to be a firm but gentle bump". Mingi explained using his hands, taking Yeosang's fist in his and made them bump with the perfect force.

"It's kind of like a sign of acknowledgement, for example, I say 'wow your food is so good Yeosang!' and you say 'thanks Mingi!' and we fist bump". He made them do it again, his hand still held Yeosang's fist.

Yeosang suddenly felt like he had a stomach ache, but not like the ones where he accidentally undercooked his meat and needed to shit a ton. In fact, he had never had a stomach ache like this before, it kind of spread to his chest too, making his heart beat faster.

It wasn't painful but Yeosang didn't know how he felt about it. He looked at Mingi who was still smiling at him and it got stronger. This time he felt his cheeks heat up, maybe he had a fever.

"You're talking an awful lot about my food, do you like it that much?" Yeosang looked down, trying not to look at Mingi and changed the subject away from fist bumping.

The nod from Mingi was enthusiastic. "I'm serious! Is it because it was made by hand and not magic? it tastes incredible".

"Thanks" He replied awkwardly, Yeosang realised he hadn't thanked Mingi yet for the compliments, even though he had been doing it non stop.

"Would you perhaps be willing to sell them?" Mingi started asking, waiting for a response. When Yeosang only looked at him in confusion, he carried on. "This self-grown food is a hundred times tastier than food grown with magic, I just know you'd earn a lot if you started selling them."

Yeosang didn't even have to consider it to know that it was a bad idea. No one would even breathe the same air as him let alone buy food he had grown with his hands and frankly, he didn't want to sell it to them. Also he doesn't even know this Mingi guy so why should he do something he suggested?

Mingi acknowledged his hesitation as a no and just smiled. "Of course it's fine if you don't want to, I'm sure there are millions of reasons why you wouldn't want to, being unmarked in a world full of marked people, your feelings are valid". Mingi tapped his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

It made Yeosang feel weird again and he didn't think he could take all this anymore. He had been living fine with no human interaction and now he was being ambushed with kind words from a stranger. Yeosang thinks Mingi would suit having hearts on his cheeks instead of those clovers. "It's getting late, I'm sure your family is wondering where you are".

The sun had almost completely set and Mingi turned around to look out the window, seemingly surprised to see the evening sky. "You're right, I should get going".

He stood up, headed for the door then suddenly turned back again. Yeosang looked at him with a confused frown, mostly because Mingi seemed like he wanted to say something but was a little nervous, the only indication of this being the way he fiddled with his hands.

"Could I... take some of your soup home with me- it's not for me I swear! I have this friend who's unwell right now, and I just know he'd love it. Also... my hunting today didn't really go to plan so I can't bring back any meat today." He smiled sheepishly.

Yeosang almost laughed, not in a mocking way, but because Mingi looked really cute, he must have been worried Yeosang would think he's weird. He was flattered. To be honest, he's had food made with magic before, since his mother mostly bought from village stalls instead of growing them so he does know what it tastes like, therefore had no idea why Mingi liked his grown food that much. Yeosang could tell the difference between the two but he didn't think it was this big.

He gave him the rest of the batch he made anyway, feeling a little generous and secretly wanted to make Mingi smile again and, he did, leaving his home with a wide smile and a wave, limping slightly due to his injured leg.

Yeosang didn't watch him go, although a lot of effort was put in not to watch. He didn't want to grow attached to a stranger he'll never see again. All he did was help Mingi when he was injured, there was no reason they should see each other again.

Yet a week later, he stood looking at Mingi in shock when he had come knocking at his door, especially when there was someone else with him too.

"Hi Yeosang" Mingi had the biggest grin on his face. Yeosang was surprised at how natural this felt, like they've been friends for years and been going to each other's houses all the time.

The guy next to him was shorter and had softer features compared to Mingi's sharp ones, Yeosang would have assumed he's younger than him and Mingi, but the way he carried himself made him seem older.

"I thought you were joking when you said he's unmarked" The other guy whispered to Mingi but Yeosang heard anyway. Mingi hit him for whispering too loud.

"This is my friend, Jongho. He's the one I was filling in for that day I got injured, he wanted to meet you when I told him you saved me". Yeosang widened his eyes and Mingi notices his discomfort.

"Ah, I didn't tell anyone about you- only Jongho I promise! I figured you didn't want anyone to know about you so I made an excuse for everyone else. Sorry... I now realise that I should've asked before even telling Jongho about you".

Yeosang felt touched at the fact that Mingi thought about his feelings and, even though he could have just been lying, Yeosang decided to believe him anyway. Besides, if this Jongho guy was Mingi's friend, then he must be a nice person too.

The diamonds on Jongho's cheeks glowed a pretty red. Diamonds were for people who are both athletically and mentally strong, which he thought suited Jongho, even though they haven't even spoken to each other yet. In the folk tales his mother had got him in his childhood, the heroes were almost always diamonds.

"I wanted to say thanks for helping Mingi hyung back then, he's too egotistic sometimes, thinking he can just invent spells and that they would work all the time" Jongho laughed at Mingi who was pouting and Yeosang thought he had a really pretty smile.

He didn't want to seem rude by asking why they're at his house so he just lets them in after it was clear that they weren't planning to leave any time soon. Yeosang was still cautious around them though, even though Mingi had been nothing but kind to him, he's only interacted with him for less than 3 hours and now there's another person that he's known for a minute.

Honestly, he wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, hoping this wasn't some cruel plan because he's unmarked. It was going good so far but he didn't want to let his guard down yet.

"How's your leg?" He asked, just to break the ice a little, which was nothing like him. Usually, he was never the one to talk first, Yeosang kept surprising himself recently.

"Oh, about that. I'm really sorry Yeosang". Mingi's expression was something very close to guilt which worried Yeosang. "I had to heal myself with a spell so no trace of you would be found. I took off the bandage you gave me".

"Oh, I see" Yeosang had forgotten everyone could just magically heal themselves in a second, rather than bandaging and waiting for weeks. "Why didn't you just heal yourself before leaving?" He remembered watching Mingi struggling to walk after he'd left.

"I didn't want to ruin your hard work after you took me in and helped me. It would have been a bit mean to rip the bandage off and heal myself with a spell right in front of you".

All the thought behind this made Yeosang grateful. Especially the fact that Mingi had thought about how people would be suspicious if he came back with a bandage instead of healing it himself, it was the first time he'd ever felt touched.

For the rest of the day, they talked a lot, mostly the pair asking questions to Yeosang about how he lives his life and showing them around his home.

After years of being isolated, it was only natural for his brain to ring alarm bells, warning Yeosang not to give them too much information or get too close to them, but his heart was telling him to go for it, to welcome people in his life for once.

He decided to listen to his heart.

He learnt that Jongho was a polite boy, only a year younger than him which also made him a bit of a troublemaker, it was easy for Yeosang to grow fond of him quickly. When the sun started to move towards the horizon, Yeosang offered them dinner which they both happily agree to. This is where he also learnt that eating with people is much nicer than eating in silence. Alone.

Jongho had tried his food last time from Mingi so he was particularly excited this time to eat it fresh. Yeosang smiled watching the two eat enthusiastically.

"Hyung this is seriously so good" Jongho raved and Yeosang hated to admit the way his heart skipped a beat being called hyung. He's never been called hyung before.

"If you won't sell these at the market at least sell them to us please" Jongho pouts, making it incredibly hard to resist him. Yeosang knew he was doing it on purpose but he couldn't help it when he was this cute.

~

Visits to his home came around thrice a week, and Yeosang found himself looking forward to seeing them. Sometimes only one came if the other was too busy but Yeosang didn't mind, both Mingi and Jongho's company grew on him and he soon became comfortable with them.

Even comfortable enough to make a life-changing deal with them. After weeks of nagging Yeosang, the pair had finally convinced Yeosang to sell some of his crops. It wasn't that serious but Yeosang took it as life-changing.

In the long run, it would help Yeosang live an easier life. They had agreed that Yeosang would give some of his hand-grown crops for Jongho to sell alongside his family's magic-produced food. In return, they would get Yeosang things like, medicine, clothes, all things that were difficult for him to get because he would have to go into the village to buy it, or things like chopping wood, which was difficult without magic and also time-consuming, especially in winter days when he used up more wood for the fire. He didn't really need money since he did everything himself so he was fine with Jongho and Mingi sharing 80% while he got 20%, in case he one day needed money.

It was a bit sad, seeing the food that he struggled to grow being taken off into Jongho's wagon to be sold to ungrateful and rude marked people, but he held it all in, accepting the fact that he will indeed be making his life a lot easier.

The first day, Yeosang was worried when he saw Mingi and Jongho running towards him in the evening, at a time they never came. They had been banging on his door, making him run to them, asking what was wrong.

"Hyung! You won't believe it"

Yeosang's fear died down upon seeing the younger's happy face. He had thought they'd been caught or were in trouble.

"We sold out the first batch already- everyone went crazy for it, even though I put them up for a high price!". Mingi said, and Jongho excitedly pulled out a small bag of coins, Yeosang gasped at the heaviness of it.

"Wow... well done you two" Yeosang ruffled Jongho's fluffy hair while he gave a big gummy smile. "Okay, I'll take 20% of it and you two can take the rest".

The pair in front of him burst out laughing and Yeosang looked in confusion, wondering what was so funny.

"This is your share, we already took ours," Mingi said, placing the bag of coins into Yeosang's hand, who took it with wide eyes.

"You mean this is only 20% of what you earnt today?" Yeosang was in shock, wondering how high Jongho put his crop for sale, he hadn't given him much to start with.

The pair nodded and Yeosang smiled widely, pulling out his fist so they could bump it, happy with their achievement. It was clearly not enough for Mingi as he pulled them in for a hug, making both Yeosang and Jongho whine.

Yeosang hadn't hugged anyone since his mother, which was two years ago so even though he complained about it, he secretly held onto Mingi and Jongho tightly, enjoying the comforting touch of his new friends.

"Oh, right" Yeosang tried not to be disappointed when Jongho pulled away and went outside and brought some wood. "You said you were short on wood".

He knows that diamonds had crazy strength but actually seeing Jongho pick up lots of lumber without even struggling had Yeosang in awe. He took it gratefully, it had been snowing the past few days and Yeosang was using up his wood too quickly, he was just putting off going to the forest to chop some. Luckily he doesn't have to anymore if they keep this partnership thing they have.

It all started with him helping Mingi out, and now, he has two people he can depend on, and vice versa. He found two people who don't judge him by the lack of marks and magic but instead focus on him as a person. Yeosang had never thought he'd be able to form any type of relationship with anyone, being happy with the thought of being alone forever. But now, looking at Mingi and Jongho, it would have been a very sad life.