WHO ARE YOU?|ATEEZ FANFIC (In Editing Progress)

Chapter 8|Growing together

The light of the sun broke through the white curtains into the living room as the new day was announced by the chirping of sparrows and the calls of seagulls, that circled above the roof of the two-story house. Warm rays of sunlight filled the room and tickled Hongjoong’s face, who was lying on the couch sleeping, covered with a thin blanket. His right leg hung off the couch, which was far too narrow for Hongjoong to turn properly on it without almost losing his balance and falling, although he was by no means a particularly tall person and should actually fit on the couch easily. His bandaged hand rested on his stomach. Soft snoring sounds escaped his slightly parted lips, but compared to Mingi, who was sleeping on the Armchair in the living room as well, Hongjoong’s snoring was like that of a mouse. The loud snoring, the tickling of the sun on his face and the cries of the seagulls were what finally woke Hongjoong from his sleep. With his eyebrows furrowed, he rummaged around on the couch and grumbled before opening his eyes slightly. He looked around tiredly. The living room, which was connected to the dining room and the entrance area of the house, was only dimly lit in the early morning hours. The few rays of sunlight that illuminated the living room came through the windows on the east side of the house, illuminating the living room area, as well as the dining area of the room. The light was yet not strong enough, to reach the entrance area of the bottom floor right behind the couch Hongjoong was laying on, leaving it in half-darkness. The door to the kitchen was open and the sound of the running faucet reached Hongjoong’s ears. Confused he turned around to look at the clock on the wall near the entrance door of the house. He furrowed his eyebrows. It wasn’t even 10 am yet. Who would be awake at that time? He swung his legs off the couch and sat up straight, stretching thoroughly before getting up and walking toward the kitchen entrance. As soon as he arrived at the door frame, his mouth formed into a soft ‘ah’, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the frame, eyeing the men standing at the kitchen sink, cleaning fresh vegetables under the water.

“I guessed it must’ve been you.” He said, startling Seonghwa. He dropped the tomato in his hand into the sink and turned around to look at Hongjoong. Relieved that it was just Hongjoong, he exhaled and smiled embarrassed at his reaction.

“Hongjoong. Good morning.” He turned back around, grabbed the tomato and put it on the cutting board next to the stove on which a few eggs were already frying in a pan, smelling so delicious, Hongjoong felt his mouth watering.

“Smells good.” Hongjoong entered the kitchen and approached Seonghwa, who took a knife to cut the tomatos into thin slices.

“You know you don’t have to do this every morning, right?” He said. He jumped up onto the kitchen counter and watched Seonghwa chopping vegetables for breakfast. Fresh rolls were baking in the oven, enough for all eight boys in the house. Seonghwa just smiled.

“I like to do this. It’s relaxing.”

“You find it relaxing to cook while everyone else is still asleep?” Hongjoong giggled.

“You could at least wake someone up to help you. You don’t have to do this all by yourself every day. Or we introduce shifts.” Seonghwa gave the younger a skeptical look.

“Are you sure you want Mingi to stand in the kitchen while everyone is asleep? And nothing against you, but I personally don’t want to have you in the kitchen on your own.” Hongjoong nodded with an amused smile on his lips.

“Fair enough.” He said, then his eyes wandered down to Seonghwas leg. He was wearing one of the pyjamas they had found in the closet up in the room where the boys were sleeping in. It was a white pyjama with a small pocket on his chest, the pants cut right above his knees. He was wearing no socks and was standing barefoot in the kitchen, with only the bandage around his ankle, which had almost completely gone down in swelling after the last two weeks of healing and care they took of it. Although Hongjoong’s burns on his hand were fresher than Seonghwa’s wound, they had already healed much better. It hardly hurt anymore when Wooyoung wanted to change the bandage. During the first few days, it burned so badly when Wooyoung cleaned the wound that Hongjoong almost hit Wooyoung at one point. He was lucky, however, that none of the burnt areas on his skin had to be removed. The thick blisters had shrunk considerably after a few days and had now completely disappeared, but the open wounds, especially on the fingertips and knuckles, where the burns were worst, were still quite sensitive to the touch. However, it wasn’t too bad and he was still able to work well with it, while Seonghwa was still limping badly with his ankle. Although it didn’t look as bad as it had in the first few days after the bite, the pain had barely subsided, which is why Hongjoong wasn’t a fan of Seonghwa being on his feet unnecessarily. He knew that even though Seonghwa was smiling and appearing like everything was fine, he was in pain. Hongjoong sighed deeply and looked up at Seonghwa’s face again.

“But seriously, hwa.” He said. Seonghwa stopped in his movement and turned his head to look at Hongjoong, who looked at him with concerned eyes.

“Didn’t we say you’d take it easy?” Seonghwa hesitated and continued the cutting of the vegetables.

“I’m taking it easy, Joong.” He answered, obviously frustrated by Hongjoong words.

“I’m not going to the supermarket with you. I’m not doing anything to keep the house clean. The only thing I’m doing is feeding the horde.” Hongjoong nodded understanding.

“I know..” he jumped off the counter and stepped closer to Seonghwa.

“I just don’t want you to be in pain.” A gentle smile crept onto Seonghwa’s lips as he added the vegetables to the fried eggs in the pan.

“I’m not in pain right now.”

“How about you take turns cooking with Wooyoung? He said he can cook.” Seonghwa giggled.

“Wooyoung already does enough by taking care of our wounds. You really don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine.” Sighing in frustration, Hongjoong shook his head and looked out of the window. The house that the group had chosen as shelter was close to the beach, barely a three-minute walk from the water, and fairly centrally located in the small town. Less than ten minutes walk away was a supermarket that, suspiciously, was stocked with fresh food every day, although there seemed to be no other person around in town. They didn’t put much thought to it though. A skate park and a boat dock were probably the most interesting things about the place and the house they now lived in was comparatively the smallest in the city. During the first three days after they had escaped from the flames in the underground tunnels, they had looked for a simple house, nothing fancy, where they all had enough space, as to not draw any attention to them. It had two floors. On the ground floor there was only the living room, the dining area and the kitchen and the first thing you saw when you entered the house was a staircase that led to the upper floor, which consisted of a bedroom, a guest room and a bathroom. There were three beds in the rooms, two in the bedroom and one in the guest room, and technically there would have been room for all of them, but for one thing, Hongjoong preferred to sleep near the house entrance, in case of someone coming in while everyone was asleep to attack them, which was why Seonghwa was sleeping in the guest room on his own. The reason why Mingi didn’t sleep with the other boys was obvious: his snoring. They had tried it the first three nights. He had slept in Yunho’s and Jongho’s bed, while Yeosang had shared the bed with San and Wooyoung, and by the third night Jongho had finally had enough of Mingi’s nightly noise that he had thrown him out of the room and banned him to sleep in the living room. Hongjoong was fine with it. He and Mingi had taken advantage of the new bed arrangement to spend the evenings talking a lot while the others were already asleep. After Mingi fell asleep, Hongjoong often made a tour of the house to check on the others. He just wanted to make sure they were okay. How Yeosang, Wooyoung and San could sleep together in one bed was truly a mystery to Hongjoong. Every night, the three of them lay close together, arm in arm like spider monkeys, Yeosang usually in the center of the embrace, sleeping peacefully. Yunho and Jongho did not have this problem. After Mingi no longer shared the bed with them, they had a lot more space and since neither of them was particularly cuddly, they avoided each other quite well in their sleep. Seonghwa was the best at allocating beds. He had the bed in the guest room all to himself and slept like a baby. That was also one of the reasons why he liked to make breakfast for the others early in the morning. He got by far the most sleep and he showed his gratitude for that, by letting the boys wake up every morning to fried eggs and baked bread. When the small duck-shaped kitchen clock rang and Seonghwa announced that the buns were ready, the two heard Mingi grumbling in the living room, awakened by the loud noise. Seonghwa immediately turned off the alarm and turned to Hongjoong.

“Can you wake up the boys for breakfast?” He asked and Hongjoong sighed.

“You know they get grumpy when we don’t let them oversleep.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that breakfast is ready.” Hongjoong nodded, persuaded.

“Yes, Sir.” He walked past Seonghwa and out of the kitchen, where he saw Mingi, who was rubbing his eyes wearily on the armchair and grumbling.

“Go and help Seonghwa set the table, Mingi.” Hongjoong ordered and Mingi nodded weakly.

“Give me a minute.” He grumbled as Hongjoong reached the stairs.

“Don’t fall asleep again.”

“Yes!” Mingi sighed in frustration and stood up as Hongjoong climbed the stairs to the boys. He opened the door to the bedroom and the first thing he saw was San, lying in the middle of the bed facing Wooyoung, his arms wrapped tightly around Wooyoung. Yeosang was squeezed between San and the wall, unable to move much, slumbering quietly, his mint-colored hair disheveled. Like every morning, Hongjoong first went over to the bed that was pushed into the corner of the L-shaped room where Jongho and Yunho were sleeping.  He sat down at the foot of the bed and laid Yunho, who was lying on his stomach and drooling all over his pillow, and put a hand on his thigh. He shook him gently and soon received a tired grumble from Yunho.

“Too early..” He mumbled sleepily and Hongjoong smiled amused.

“You say that every morning.” He said, got up and opened the curtains, letting in the bright sunlight. The light hit Yunho and Jongho directly in the face. Both grumbled and turned in bed, while San just grimaced and pulled the covers over his and Wooyoung’s heads.

“Close the curtains…” He growled grimly and Hongjoong crossed his arms.

“Get up, sleepyheads, breakfast is ready.” He scolded and then left the room. Frustrated, Yunho took a deep breath and sat up.

“Come on guys.” He said and got up, but the others didn’t move. Yunho rubbed his forehead as he padded over to the bed of the three sleepyheads before throwing himself across the bed across all three of them. Crushed under his weight, Yeosang opened his eyes and squirmed beneath him.

“Uff you fat ass.” He said, grimacing, gasping for air.

“Get off, you’re crushing us!” A pout grew on Yunhos lips as he snuggled up to the three boys, spreading his arms to wrap them into a tight hug.

“You should appreciate my hug, Yeosang.” He said, squeezing the three boys until they were all wide awake.

“My hugs are a privilege not everyone has.”

“Your hugs are murderous.” Exhaling in relief, Yeosang sat up as Yunho finally let go of them and stood up. San had to stretch thoroughly after the tight hug, while Wooyoung tiredly rolled out of bed and got onto his feet. He padded out of the room to claim the bathroom for himself first, while Yunho looked after Jongho, who finally got up and went downstairs with him, where Mingi was just distributing the plates on the table, with fried eggs already fairly distributed for each boy, so everyone had two.

“Good morning.” Mingi’s morning voice was deep and smoky, more so than usual, that his words were difficult to understand.

“Morning.” Jongho answered. He sat down on one of the chairs, while Yunho went into the kitchen to greet the oldest.

“Good morning, Hyung.” Seonghwa smiled, when he saw Yunho and shut down the stove. He handed Yunho two bread baskets with hot, golden-brown buns in them and asked him to bring them to the table. He took some toppings from the fridge and brought them to the table as well. Five minutes later, everyone except San was already down at the dining table waiting for the blonde so they could finally start eating, when San finally came down the stairs, holding up his pajama pants.

“These stupid pants are too big for me.” He complained as he sat down and Wooyoung grinned.

“With your small hip, that makes perfect sense.” San smiled amused.

“Thats true.”

“I’ll make them tighter for you later today, okay?” Seonghwa offered and San nodded. Hongjoong smiled.

“Lets eat.” He said and that opened the breakfast. Like every morning, they ate in silence. Everyone took bread and everything they needed and they ate with relish. When everyone had finished eating, they drew lots with matches to decide who had to do the dishes and that morning it was Yeosang, who got to work in an annoyed mood. While Seonghwa rested on the couch and had Wooyoung change his bandage, Hongjoong put the remaining groceries back into the fridge, which was already pretty empty again.

“We should go to the supermarket today.” He said, loud enough for everyone to hear, and they agreed.

“First we’ll change your bandage.” Wooyoung replied, which made Hongjoong sigh in frustration.

“Again?” He asked, stepped out of the kitchen and caught a serious glare from Wooyoung.

“Do you want it to get infected?” Hongjoong hesitated and shook his head.

“No.”

“Then sit down.” Hongjoong reluctantly sat down next to Seonghwa on the couch and waited patiently until Wooyoung replaced Seonghwa’s bandage, with a large plaster, before he began to carefully unwrap Hongjoong’s hand. Seonghwa watched him and grimaced when he saw Hongjoong’s hand. The last time he had seen the wound was when it was still very fresh, because Hongjoong usually got it bandaged by Wooyoung in the bathroom. From his fingertips to the back of his hand, his hand was red, covered in scabs and beginning to form a scar.

“Looks painful.” Seonghwa said carefully, but Hongjoong shook his head.

“It’s itching a lot recently.”

“I’m glad it’s not festering anymore.” Wooyoung added. He carefully cleaned Hongjoong’s hand with a rag and water before applying a cream from the medical section of the supermarket, which was specially designed for burns and was supposed to accelerate skin healing and reduce scars.

“I think it will be very red for a few more weeks, but it should fade.” Wooyoung finally said as he wrapped Hongjoong’s hand in a fresh bandage and stood up. Yeosang and Yunho were sitting together on the stairs while Mingi had gone to the bathroom and Jongho and San were sitting at the table.

“Should we go swimming today?” Yeosang asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“It’s so hot today.” He added.

“Why don’t we go to the skate park and have a picnic?” San suggested and Hongjoong thought about it.

“We haven’t been to the skate park yet,” he said.

“Maybe we can go skating first and then go for a swim.” He suggested and the group agreed.

“But first we’re going shopping.” Seonghwa reminded Hongjoong and he nodded.

“Yes, first shopping.”

While Seonghwa stayed at home together with Mingi to relax, the others got dressed and left the house to go to the supermarket. Hongjoong walked at the back of the group and watched them walk through the streets with a smile on his face. He was happy to see how well the boys were getting along now, after all the arguments they had in the first few days. Yeosang in particular had developed extremely positively since the group moved into the house. He was more relaxed, much more open and got on much better with everyone than before. He even seemed to be developing something like a friendship with Wooyoung, even though sometimes the two of them still filled the house with bickering. Nevertheless, the general mood between the eight boys was now much more relaxed than before and they had built up a healthy level of trust with each other. When they arrived at the supermarket, the boys spread out in the aisles. Wooyoung had made himself comfortable in the shopping cart, which San pushed past the vegetable shelf towards the snacks, with Yeosang following them.

“What do you want?” San asked as he pushed Wooyoung in front of the snack section. Wooyoung looked thoughtfully at the selection before pointing to a pack of gummy bears.

“These!” He said. San nodded, reached for the gummy bears and gave them to Wooyoung. Yeosang was looking through the snacks carefully, looking for something delicious, when Hongjoong came around the corner, his arms full of groceries, looking at Wooyoung.

“Get out of the shopping cart.” He scolded. Sulking, Wooyoung climbed out of the shopping cart with Yeosang’s help and crossed his arms.

“Boring.” He grumbled, shoved a handful of gummy bears into his mouth and walked away sulking. Followed by Yunho and Yeosang, he walked to the aisle with all sorts of drinks and grabbed a cola can.

“You want one?” He offered Yeosang, who nodded, and caught the can of Coke that Wooyoung threw to him. He gave Yunho one as well before taking one for himself, opening it and drinking from it.

“What else do we need?” Yeosang asked. Wooyoung rummaged in his pocket for the note Seonghwa had written him, which listed everything they would need for the next few days.

“Apparently we’re out of bread.”

“Already got it!” Jongho called from across the store and Wooyoung nodded.

“Okay, we got bread. Hongjoong just got veggies-“

“Funny, because he never eats them.” Yunho interjected, making Yeosang and Wooyoung giggle. When they had everything they needed in the shopping cart and left the grocery store, ready to go back home to unload the groceries, Wooyoung stopped once again and looked back at the store. Every time he left the store he was overcome by an unpleasant feeling of loneliness. It was strange to leave a store without bumping into other shoppers, without going to the cash register and paying, without hearing conversations in the queue. It was strange to be in a town, as small as it was, where they were the only people around. Since they arrived in this city, they had not seen another human being. Not even the Halateez showed up, but the boys were more than relieved about that. But no other people at all?? But what unsettled him even more than the empty aisles in the grocery store, the deserted streets and the abandoned houses was that it did not feel like they were alone here. Every day he felt like he was being watched, but he couldn’t see anyone. Who was stocking the shelves in the store? It made him feel so weird. The fact that he was surrounded by his friends helped him to overcome this weird feeling of loneliness and at this point, when he was talking about them as friends, he meant all of them. While he didn’t remember what it was like to have friends before he woke up in the desert, he was pretty sure that how he felt with the seven boys was what friendship was. He felt so comfortable every day walking the streets with Yeosang, San and Yunho to explore the area, or using the Playstation in the living room with Jongho and Mingi and getting totally destroyed by Jongho, when they played Mario Kart together. He enjoyed sitting on the couch with Hongjoong and Seonghwa in the evenings and watching the sunset with them before going upstairs with the others to sleep. Having someone to talk to late into the night until Jongho cursed them and sent them to sleep was also something that Wooyoung found comfort in. All these moments made him feel so comfortable and happy and yet he couldn't ignore the strange feeling of loneliness that was sitting in his bones, sending goosebumps all over his body whenever he reminded himself about it. Only when he felt San's hand on his shoulder did Wooyoung turn away from the grocery store and shake off his thoughts. The blonde put an arm around Wooyoung's shoulders before they followed the rest of the group. Back at home, Mingi helped them unpack the groceries while Hongjoong sat down with Seonghwa and chatted with him until all the food was stowed away and the group, this time complete, made their way to the skate park. So that Seonghwa did not have to put unnecessary strain on his ankle, he sat down on the empty shopping cart and let Mingi and Wooyoung push him through the streets, which both amused and frightened him, especially when Wooyoung intentionally sped up his pace when they turned into another street. After about fifteen minutes of walking they arrived at the park. It consisted of a wavy pit that started flat and got deeper further back, a few ramps and hills of varying steepness, steps and benches to sit on and palm trees that provided them shade. Next to the skate park there was a small building, a shop that belonged to the park, in whose windows skateboards with colorful patterns and funny stickers were displayed. As soon as the boys had parked the shopping cart next to one of the palm trees, helped Seonghwa out and laid out the blankets they had brought for the picnic, they entered the store and looked around. Hongjoong took four of the skateboards from the shop window and handed them to Yunho and Mingi.

"Do me a favor and don't break the boards." He said and Yunho nodded.

"I can not promise anything." Hongjoong grinned amusedly, then walked over to a box filled with knee and elbow pads and colorful helmets hanging on the wall next to them. He picked up the box and packed some helmets into it, which he then left the store with. Wooyoung and Jongho had laid out the blankets on the steps. Wooyoung placed the picnic basket that Mingi had packed with Seonghwa while the others were shopping next to the picnic blanket, before he and Jongho ran over to Yunho and Mingi and took a skateboard from each of them.

"Shall we bet on who falls first?" Jongho suggested with a grin as he grabbed a helmet and elbow and knee pads from Hongjoong's box. Hongjoong just looked at him, dumbfounded.

"Please don't bet on things like that." He said, but the others just giggled.

"I'll say Mingi." Wooyoung said, for which Mingi nudged him in the arm.

"We'll see about that." He challenged him, and with that they also grabbed protective equipment and ran off. Shaking his head, Hongjoong looked after them before he put the box on the floor and sat down next to Seonghwa, who watched the younger boys trying out the boards with a gentle smile on his lips. It made Hongjoong smile too. Seonghwa's black hair shone like silk in the sun. He ran his hand through the black strands and tucked them behind his ear, then he turned around and looked straight into Hongjoong's eyes, who immediately looked away.

"The weather is really good today." He said, distracting from the fact that his cheeks were turning red. Seonghwa just smiled and nodded. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and looked up to the sky, letting the sunlight shine directly on his face.

"It's really good." He replied. Meanwhile, Yunho, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho were the first to try out the skateboards. While Jongho didn't hesitate, he stood on the board and immediately took on one of the hills, Wooyoung stood a little nervously on the skateboard, supported by San, who held him by the arms and looked at him with a calm expression.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall." He promised, but Wooyoung did not seem convinced by his words and shook his head. He looked down at the board beneath his feet.

"You won't let go of me?" San nodded. An amused smile formed on his lips.

"I won't let you go, but you haven't even really tried it on your own yet." Yeosang grinned at the sight.

"Well, he definitely is not going to learn it this way." He said as San suddenly, without warning, took a few steps and pulled Wooyoung along on the board. Startled, Wooyoung grabbed San by his broad shoulders and tightly gripped his white T-shirt, his body tense from head to toe.

"Are you crazy?!" he scolded San, who just grinned. Yeosang laughed behind him.

"Not funny!" Wooyoung grumbled and got off the board. San let go of him when Wooyoung had solid ground under his feet, then Wooyoung bent down, picked up the board and handed it to Yeosang.

"You try it." He said. Yeosang shrugged.

"Fine." He took the board from Wooyoung's hand as Jongho casually rolled past him on his board, taking curves and steering as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Wooyoung crossed his arms and watched Yeosang climb onto the board. He stretched his arms out to the side for balance and used his foot to make the board slowly roll forward. As the board moved straight ahead, he placed his second foot on the board and tried to stay upright before attempting to steer. Wooyoung pouted. Of course, Yeosang got it right away.

"Not bad, Yeosang." San praised and Yeosang grinned with pride.

“Let's see if you can take me on!" Jongho shouted to Yeosang. He was standing with his board at the edge of the pit, ready to roll down the wall with his board. San looked at him with his arms crossed.

“Do you think you're ready for such tricks?" he asked and the youngest just grinned.

“Of course! I can do it!" With that, Jongho took a deep breath, pushed the board over the edge and then rolled forward. The board rolled over the edge and with a powerful swing down the steep wall.

“Wohooo‼!” Jongho cheered as he successfully rolled through the pit, past the others. Yeosang put his hands on his hips.

“Just wait! I can do that too!" he announced, grabbed his board and climbed out of the pit, also stood on the edge and looked over at the others. Jongho stood there, his board tucked under his arm, looking over at Yeosang with an bright smile on his lips.

“You can do it, Yeosang!" he called encouragingly. Yeosang nodded. Gathering all his courage, he pushed his board over the edge like Jongho had shown him. He took a deep breath, shook out his arms and then rolled down the pit wall. The wind hit him in the face and for a moment he felt as if he was simply falling, but when the board landed safely at the bottom of the pit and rolled a few meters further, he breathed a sigh of relief as the others cheered for him. He stood a little shakily next to the group and jumped off the board.

“Great Yeosang! First try!" Jongho praised him and patted him proudly on the shoulder. Yeosang grinned broadly and then turned to Wooyoung to offer him the board again.

“Do you want to try again, Woo?" He asked, but Wooyoung just shook his head and smiled.

“No thank you.” He said and Yeosang nodded before continuing to ride the board. When Yunho, who had ridden his board up the hill outside the pit, stopped next to San and Wooyoung, he picked up the board and offered it to San.

“It's your turn." He offered, San accepted, grabbed the board and started trying it out himself. Frustrated, Wooyoung walked over to Seonghwa and Hongjoong and sat down on one of the steps, taking a deep breath.

"Don't you want to try it, Hyung?" He asked Hongjoong, who just shook his head, clearly averse to the idea.

"A roasted hand is enough for me, I don't need broken bones as well." Wooyoung grinned.

"Makes sense." The three of them sat there for a bit while the others had fun with the skateboards before Seonghwa called them together to eat. They ate bread and fruit, strawberries, apples, grapes, and peaches while the sun slowly sank on the horizon, coloring the sky in shades of red, yellow and pink. Taking a moment to breathe after joyfully eating another strawberry, Wooyoung looked up at the sky and smiled contentedly, which was noticed by San, who was sitting right next to him. He smiled at the sight, put an arm around Wooyoung's waist and rested his head on his shoulder.

"Who would have thought that we could sit somewhere so peacefully again." He murmured contentedly. Hongjoong, who rested his head on Seonghwa's lap and had been talking quietly with him while eating, while Seonghwa ran his fingers through his hair, looked up at the sky relaxed and nodded in agreement.

""When we were in the desert, I hated staring at the sky at night," he said. His voice sounded calm and relaxed, as if he could fall asleep at any moment. He felt so comfortable.

"Why?" Mingi asked. Hongjoong shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably because there was nothing else to see except sand and sky. It frustrated me."

"Technically, it's still the same sky." Jongho suddenly interjected and Hongjoong raised his head to look at him, obviously confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Well," Jongho chewed quickly on an apple piece, swallowed, and then pointed in the opposite direction from the large lake, where a high rock wall encircled the town. They had escaped from the tunnels through a hole in this very stone wall.

"There you go to the tunnels that were under the warehouse that stood in the desert. The tunnels were barely three kilometers long in total, so I assume the desert is right behind this wall." He explained and indeed his words made sense to Hongjoong. The temperatures here were about the same as in the desert. The only difference was the fresh wind that blew in from the lake, making the overall weather seem cooler.

"Makes sense." Hongjoong said and sat up.

"Either way, the sky here is so much more pleasant to look at." He continued before standing up and stretching thoroughly, then turning to the lake. The others looked up at him in confusion as he suddenly pulled his shirt over his head and threw it to the ground.

"So who wants to go swimming?"