haven - zb1

30

Jiwoong was making good progress, a little colour had returned to his face by evening, where the boys clustered in the fire heirs' room to keep him company and also have dinner. Somehow, the spirits caught on, and the food started to appear in the little sitting room of the fire heir's room. They began lounging on Quanrui's bed as they chatted and ate, who surprisingly, barely batted an eyelid.

When it was already deep into the night and the sky was pitch black outside, the younger ones began yawning and rubbing their eyes. Quanrui chased them to return to rest, but they all unanimously agreed that they were to have a slumber party.

"With whose bed, pray tell."

"Yours, of course, Quanrui. And there's an extra one. But we won't touch Jiwoong, rest assured," Taerae cheekily remarked, narrowly summoning a lump of earth to block a sizzling fireball from Quanrui. They all burst into laughter, even Quanrui couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.

"Alright, alright, just don't kick anyone off in the middle of the night."

They continued talking and laughing, sharing funny stories and good experiences.

"When we were young, maybe twelve or so, our elders believed the best way to make us become one with earth," Taerae said, drawling his voice at the end, "We were just left alone, outside of our territory, in the middle of the forest. Every night, an elder would come to check on us, all seven of us. And they found out that Gunwook had soiled his pa-"

"Taerae one more word and you'll lose your tongue-"

"Then there was that time-"

"You little-"

Erupting into peals of laughter and chaos as Gyuvin and Yujin tried to shield Taerae cowering from an enraged Gunwook. Once Gunwook had calmed down and Taerae repositioned himself far away from Gunwook, they continued.

"Honestly, our House has something similar to that," Woohyun said.

"What, they put you under the rain?"

"They toss us into a raging river."

"Like fish," Hanbin commented with a nod. "Like fish," Woohyun added, "And we were supposed to not only stay alive, but control all that water. It was insane. I nearly drowned."

"You're a water user though."

"That doesn't mean I don't have lungs-"

As they continued their noise making, Quanrui darted a look at Jiwoong, who had a contented look on his face but this deep, liquid sadness within his eyes, as if he was expecting all this to vanish soon.

When it was way too late and Woohyun joked that the sun was to rise in mere hours, they all decided to sleep. Four took the spare bed and the other three climbed into Quanrui's bed, who only stared at them and sighed. He let them sleep for a little, as he walked about the room extinguishing the flaming lamps. As he removed the last flame, instead of returning to his bed, he sank into a nearby chair, still cupping the little fire. Before he knew it, the thrill and excitement of the tiring day took its toll and he dropped off to sleep right where he sat.

-

He awoke when he felt skin brush against his, jerking up with a start. "Sorry, did I scare you?" Jiwoong's husky voice asked. From the limited moonlight, Quanrui made out Jiwoong's broad frame, with a blanket wrapped around him. It sounded like he had just woken, too. Quanrui suddenly noticed there was a second blanket draped over his shoulders.

"It's cold, you'll get sick. Plus, I don't know if it's a regular thing, but you were sleeping with a fire in your hand," Jiwoong said warmly, emulating the energy of a mother.

"Why are you awake?" Quanrui asked, completely dodging the others' remarks as he tugged the blanket tighter around him, "You should be resting."

"Couldn't sleep," Jiwoong shrugged, "I got a couple hours of sleep though. Probably better than you."

Sharp as ever, Quanrui said, "Something's bothering you. I saw it just now, you looked..." He struggled to pick out a word, but Jiwoong got it. Jiwoong was going to reply, then Gyuvin stirred and Gunwook let out the loudest and longest snore known to mankind, so Jiwoong gestured for them to relocate so they could talk.

They sat on their little porch, overlooking a neat plain garden. It was so dark the trimmed grass looked dark blue. They stayed silent, Jiwoong studying the bright moon and Quanrui checking over his shoulder to ensure they didn't bother anyone. Luckily, no one budged.

Finally, Jiwoong said, "This reminds me of that time. Everyone in our room, talking and laughing. We did that too, before it happened..."

Quanrui understood, so he didn't press on for more. Only saying, "This time will be different. Promise. We'll get out of this happy and alive, and way stronger, okay?"

Jiwoong managed a small, wan smile, "Of course."

AN: publishing all the pre-written parts then I'm taking a break for exams