The Secret Seven. ||ENHYPEN||

But me

Niki and Jungwon accompanied me to the garden, their curiosity piqued.

Jungwon chimed in, his expression thoughtful. "2024, huh? That's quite a distant future."

Niki's inquisitive mind took over as he inquired, "It must be incredibly advanced. How much progress has been made in technology? You must come from a very futuristic world."

"Advances in technology have been significant," I responded. "Compared to this time period, your world feels quite dated."

Niki scoffed. I responded to Niki's scoff with one of my own.

Niki huffed in mock offense. "You know I always get ticked off by your 'old' comments. Geez, we're not that outdated. Do you guys live in floating cities or set up colonies on the moon or something?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at Niki's dramatic reaction.

"No, no floating cities or moon colonies," I clarified with a smile. "We still reside on Earth, thankfully. Regarding flying, we don't sprout wings, but we utilize a vehicle known as an aeroplane. That's how we soar through the skies these days."

"Aeroplane?" Niki repeated, his eyes widening in intrigued surprise.

I grinned, amused by Niki's wide-eyed fascination. "Well, honestly, at this point, it feels like I'm educating a kindergartener. We usually introduce aeroplanes to kids when they start learning their ABCs. A stands for aeroplane, after all."

Niki pouted, retaliating with a huff. "Hey, it's not our fault we weren't born in the 21st century! If I were from your time, I'd be way smarter than you!"

Jungwon joined the fray, siding with Niki.

"He's right," he interjected, standing shoulder to shoulder with his brother.

Realizing I was outnumbered, I raised my hands in surrender, admitting defeat. "Alright, alright." I chuckled, amused. Such babies.

As we continued our stroll, I spotted Heeseung at the edge of the fountain, his hands immersed in a canvas, his brushes dancing with colors.

"Hey, Heeseung," I greeted him softly, approaching his side.

Heeseung gave me a warm smile, his eyes sparkling with humor. "I'm glad you didn't ask an obvious question," he said, his tone mimicking a higher pitch to imitate someone. "Like... 'Are you painting?' when I am clearly painting."

I raised an eyebrow, amused by his comical imitation. "Don't worry," I assured him, playing along. "I'm sane."

He observed the two boys by my side, his gaze lingering on Niki and Jungwon.

"Spending time with them, are you?" he inquired, gesturing in their direction.

I smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's right."

A mischievous smile tugged at Heeseung's lips as he spoke to the younger ones. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow her for a moment," he said, already pulling me towards him.

Jungwon protested, his face turning into a playful pout. "Hey! She's with us! How can you just steal her away like that? That's so rude!"

Heeseung gave a firm look to the younger ones. "Just for a moment, I said," he assured them.

I turned my attention to him, curious about his sudden painting endeavors. "Why are you painting all of a sudden?" I inquired.

Heeseung answered my question, explaining, "I'm honing my skills. There's a grand ball scheduled in the palace soon, with princes from other kingdoms attending. There will be a range of 'competitions' during the event. I don't want to fall behind the others."