In all honesty, Myungsoo wasn't sure if they had done the right thing. 

Hell, he wasn't sure if he had done the right thing.

"Guys, it's weak against fire!" Dongwoo's voice brought him back from reality. Myungsoo nodded in reply, glancing at Hoya who already held his customized mic. Hoya caught his gaze and gave him a nod. 

"Hyung, cast Agilao at it! I'll back you up." Myungsoo commanded with firm tone. He wasn't the leader exactly since Sunggyu solemnly took the position, but he was the one who gave them commands  whenever they go to the mirror world. 

"Gotcha!" Hoya held his stance, he then yelled to his microphone, "Burn it, Apollo!"

From the microphone, there was blue flame that engulfed Hoya before it quickly gathered in a huge mass behind him, forming a giant humanoid figure with bright halo surrounding its head. It wordlessly casted a big fire ring which hit the monster in front of them, hard but not hard enough to kill it. 

Myungsoo held his own microphone in front of his mouth, "Queen Medb! Cast Agidyne to finish it!" 

Just like Hoya, blue flames immediately surrounded him, and yet he didn't feel anything. In fact, he felt comforted, as though he had a good grasp on his own consciousness. The blue flames moved behind him, forming a giant feminime figure seemingly sitting on a man posing as a chair. The figure laughed as it held out its hand, and just like that, a huge fire–bigger than Hoya had casted–struck the monster and killed it in one second.

"Good work, Hoya, Myungsoo!" Sunggyu called from behind them, clapping his hands even though one of it was holding his mic. 

An arm touched Myungsoo's shoulder, patting it. He turned to see Sungyeol, one of the expedition group member, grinning brightly at him. "Good job, Myungsoo!" he cheerfully said. 

Myungsoo nodded bashfully, turning his head slightly lower. 

It was a wonder that Lee Sungyeol is the Magician; since with that kind of smile, he should be the Star or the Sun.

.

.

.

It all began roughly six months ago when Myungsoo had to attend his high school friend's funeral. He wasn't close to her, but she had been in the same class as him, so he came out of respect. 

The trip turned sour when he was trapped in the village, alongside lots of other  people. Then, the murders started happening and one day he found himself in a strange world full of monsters after he touched the old mirror in the basement of his temporary house. Then came the long-nosed man and the quiet attendant...  

A lot of things had happened, and while it was definitely a story to tell, it was a story for another time. 

His main focus today would be the man currently speaking to him while patting his back. 

Sungyeol. Full name: Lee Sungyeol. 

Myungsoo had started calling him 'Yeol-hyung' out of fondness and affection since Sungyeol had helped him a lot ever since he started to (temporarily) live in the village. Sungyeol was even the one to go with him to the strange world the second time he went there. 

He always appreciated Sungyeol's help and he liked being close to Sungyeol. Likewise, Sungyeol liked to be relied on by him and didn't complain (much) about his habit of excessive skinship. If he didn't know any better, Sungyeol seemed like he enjoyed being hugged by Myungsoo. 

It was confusing; their relationship was. 

Myungsoo definitely felt attracted to Sungyeol, but it seemed like Sungyeol only thought of him as a cute younger brother who liked to cling to him. 

It was frustrating, to say the least. 

"Are we done here today, Myungsoo?"

Woohyun's voice snapped Myungsoo back to reality. He quickly let his eyes wander around the group. Dongwoo seemed like he listened to the chatters of his debatably-uncomprehensible Persona via his headset mic; Sungjong and Hoya had tried to poke and tickle Dongwoo while he was at it. Sunggyu talked with Sungyeol about the monster they had just fought. All in all, they didn't seem exhausted. Maybe another good half an hour of exploring around was doable. 

"Let's keep going." Myungsoo said, confirming it with Sunggyu. 

The leader didn't object, so they continued walking through the empty streets. It could be rather disturbing to say that they're used to the very bare streets by now. The only occupants on the streets were rogue monsters which they call shadows. They gave Myungsoo hardships early on since they were hard to fight, and they only got harder to fight gradually. The sun in the world shone brightly, it wasn't shy to make them feel like they're walking in a desert. However, thanks to Dongwoo's Persona who shielded them using magic barrier, they didn't feel the heat much. Before Dongwoo joined them, it was very harsh just to walk around, let alone fighting shadows. 

After they fought few more shadows, Myungsoo decided that it's time to stop for now. They weren't as exhausted, but clearly they weren't about to find another clues that day. "Let's head back." Myungsoo said towards Sunggyu. 

Sunggyu nodded. He reached out to his small bag to grab a small bottle. It has a word 'Goho-M' on it. He threw the bottle up into the air, and in a bright flash of light, they suddenly were in a small room with painted mirrors adoring the ceilings and walls. There was a big mirror, placed in the middle of the room. 

"Good work today." Sunggyu said, "We didn't find any clues but it was a good run. Let's go home and rest."

.

.

.

One of his favorite place to hang out was the area near the unfinished bridge. 

Myungsoo liked to watch the constructors work to repair it. They only had four or five more months, he thought, before he could leave the village. Part of him wanted to rejoice at the chance of coming back to his comfortable apartment, but another part of him felt burdened by that chance. He still had to find the murderer and along with it, saving the village. 

"I know you'd be here." 

Myungsoo turned around to see Sungyeol waving his hand, walking towards him. He sat next to him, eyes trained on the construction job of the bridge. "Surprisingly, a bridge took too long to repair." Sungyeol commented. 

"The storm was rather hard." Myungsoo replied, leaning back a little. 

"It was the hardest storm ever hit this village after three hundred years." Sungyeol noted, "Thankfully after that first storm, we learnt to be self-sufficient."

Myungsoo also thanked that fact. At least he wasn't starving in the village. 

"What brought you here, hyung?" Myungsoo asked, curiosity managed to win after a moment of comfortable silence. 

"I just feel like I'm going to find you here, and I was right." He didn't have to look at Sungyeol to see his grin, it was practically heard in his tone. 

Myungsoo smiled, "Where else am I supposed to be?"

"Running around the village, helping people out." Sungyeol answered, "I still don't know why you would hang out with that problem child. Who was his name? Uh.."

"Dongwoon? He's actually a good kid." Myungsoo commented. Dongwoon the Tower. He was difficult to approach at first, but after Myungsoo mentioned he was friend with Yoseob (the Star), the kid had immediately became more friendly. 

"And last month, you literally were hard to find because you kept hanging out with lots of people. I swear I saw you with at least seven people in a day! How did you manage to do that?" Sungyeol asked incredulously. 

Myungsoo only shrugged. It paid off, hanging out with those people. They were all good friends to him, and he liked hanging out with them. Not to mention, forming a friendship with them also gave him lots of advantages both in real life and in battle. 

"So, you know," Sungyeol's tone turned cautious. Myungsoo glanced at him without turning his head, he was curious as to why Sungyeol suddenly became serious. 

"From all of those people you hang out with, do you, like.." 

Sungyeol paused, he seemed conflicted about how to approach the subject. Now Myungsoo was definitely curious. He gestured, encouraging Sungyeol to spit it out. 

Sungyeol's face now turned red, even his ears were scarlet. He lowered his head, "Do you, um, like any of them?"

Now this was interesting. 

Myungsoo straightened up. He turned his body so it faced Sungyeol. "What brought this on, hyung?" he asked, eyeing Sungyeol carefully. 

"Well, it's just.." Sungyeol made a vague gestures with his hands, "I see you with a lot of people and all of them seemed close to you, so I was curious. Do you happen to, er, date one of them?"

The wild card holder blinked once. Then twice. Before he softly smiled, "Any particular reason you asked that?" he asked, fondness in his eyes. 

Sungyeol stammered a bit, "No.. Nothing. Just... curious."

"Too bad." Myungsoo said with fake regret and disappointment in his tone. 

"Wh-why would it be bad?"

Honestly, he had fun teasing Sungyeol. But now that this was happening and his brain finished processing about what exactly occuring right then, he felt super giddy and he felt like he was about to burst.

"No, I don't have anyone I date for now." Myungsoo answered truthfully, "However, there's obviously one person that I'd like to go on a date with."

He could literally see Sungyeol's heart broke at that, and he had to hold his urge to apologize and hug the older Persona user. Sungyeol hummed although it sounded a bit distracted. He turned his gaze towards the ground, hugging his knees. 

"What kind of person?"

Myungsoo hummed, "I usually call most of my friends with tarot related nicknames." he began, smiling to himself when Sungyeol piqued up at the mention of tarot, "I call this person the Magician."

"The Magician?"

"Right. Magician is someone I can rely on. They have flaws, but I accept those flaws and hold it dear to my heart. Magician was there when the Fool began his journey, so they're close and the Fool trusts the Magician."

"Wait, who's the Fool?" Sungyeol cut. 

Myungsoo laughed, "Just listen."

"Oh, alright."

"There were always tough times when I feel burdened by lots of things, but Magician always made it better. Honestly, I'm fine with our friendship, but Magician seemed to want more. I, of course, am not objecting."

"Who's this Magician?" Sungyeol finally asked. 

"Won't the answer upset you?" Myungsoo couldn't help but more. 

Sungyeol went silent for a while before he looked at Myungsoo. "Why do you think it would upset me?" he asked, eyes betraying him because even Myungsoo could see how glassy and hurt they look. 

Myungsoo smiled. "Sorry, hyung, I overdid it."

"What?" Sungyeol genuinely looked confused at that. 

The wild card leant in closer, "I teased you too much. Sorry." Myungsoo conveyed all the adoration he felt towards Sungyeol in the gentlest gaze he could muster. "Would a kiss make up for it?"

Sungyeol gaped. "You–wh–Myungsoo, what–"

"You are my Magician, hyung." Myungsoo grabbed Sungyeol's hands and kissed the back of them, "Go out with me?"

Sungyeol's eyes looked like they're going to pop out of its socket soon and the way he gaped made Myungsoo worry that a bug would enter his mouth. Well, then, it's the Fool's job to make sure his Magician is okay and kept him company on his journey. 

Myungsoo kissed Sungyeol softly, feeling warmth starting to spread on his chest. Sungyeol let out a startled noise. Myungsoo backed away, still smiling giddily at Sungyeol's flabbergasted expression. 

"Can I take that as yes?" Myungsoo asked, fully knowing the answer.

Finally, Sungyeol got his voice back and immediately covered his face with his hands. Even then, Myungsoo could see how red Sungyeol's face was. Adorable. His Magician was the most adorable in the whole world. 

"You idiot." Sungyeol managed weakly, peeking through his fingers. "Of course I'd want to go out with you."

Myungsoo dared to laugh, "I'm not an idiot, hyung. I am the Fool."