** DOUBLE UPDATE! JUMP BACK A CHAPTER IF YOU HAVEN'T YET READ **

The ferry trip had been déjà vu in all the worst ways; it was the rocking of the boat without the comfort of the wide, furnished deck (yes, even Sehun had to admit that in comparison, Gem's ship was near luxurious), and the bustling and noise of the crew without the amiable temperament possessed by their previous. Everybody crowded on the dirtied, plastic chairs sullenly, just waiting for the land on the horizon to near enough for them to be off.

Then they were bustled back into their minibus. The port they'd docked at was odd, for it was, for the most part, just that. Beyond a few gas stations and a scattering of squat houses, the place was bare, framed with stretching fields, workers toiling amidst them under the late afternoon sun just visible from the dock. 

JinJu, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were the most confused, blinking in surprise as the driver pulled onto a dusty dirt road; Main Island was "funny," Lay had then explained, watching the farmland flash by through the window.

"Glaross, the capital of Athe, is in the very centre," he told them, making a fist in the air to illustrate. "And in the middle of the city is the Royal residence. The city surrounds it, and everything gets gradually sparser the further out it goes. It eventually just blurs into farmland— like this. The closer to the middle, the more urban."

JinJu thought it was weird, but nice, in a way. "It's kind of like a rose," she mused, and Lay snorted from behind. "I wonder what it looks like from above."

"You know, I've never thought of that." Lay leaned out the side, bracing himself on the seat opposite his across the aisle. "Hey, Kris," he called out; said Walker stiffened visibly, then heaved a sigh.

"What."

"Have you ever flown above Main Island? Like, for the view?"

"No."

"I have." Zitao turned in his seat, catching JinJu's gaze with eyes narrowed kindly. "Rose-like is a nice analogy. It's amazing how it kind of expands... And at night..."

Chanyeol had watched the exchange with narrowed eyes; luckily for him, Zitao seemed to be put in a mood for reminiscence, staring dreamily out the window, so the interaction didn't last. The following few hours passed with inconsistency— by that he meant it'd go slowly, then the time would be all but eaten up. Granted, that was when he'd fallen asleep. When his eyes had shut, his surroundings were green, rolling rice fields and fluffy clouds, and the sun was yellow and high in the sky.

When they opened again, their bus was enveloped in smoke, and grey and black buildings with ornate fastenings; in umbrellas and canopies in every colour under the sun lining the sidewalk; in a mishmash of old, elegant stone buildings, modest tin houses, sleek skyscrapers and everything in between. The sun was engorged and low, a dusky orange glow emitted over the city from behind its smoky veil.

A sharp pain throbbed in his forehead suddenly, and he turned to glare at JinJu. "You were snoring," she explained, shooting him a hard glare. Chanyeol, however, couldn't help the slow grin that crept across his lips as the implications his noise probably had dawned on his still sleep-foggy brain.

"I bet they loved that," he replied after a moment, jerking his head in the general direction of the back of the bus. JinJu's scowl quickly morphed into a smirk mirroring Chanyeol's own as she turned around, chancing a peek behind her.

Chanyeol started at the abrupt squeak she let out, without warning, whirling back around as though she'd seen a ghost. And this wasn't the first time she'd reacted that way either. It was concerning, now he thought on it a bit.

He turned to face her, scanning the back row suspiciously in his peripheral vision before devoting his attention to JinJu. "Hey," he began, voice a low whisper, "Is... I mean, are they threatening you?"

“What?” JinJu blinked a few times, looked more than slightly befuddled. "No," she finally forced out, shaking her head in vehemence, "No, no it's nothing like that."

"Then why..?"

"I keep... Accidentally making eye contact." She looked down, the faintest hue of pink staining her cheeks.

"So?"

"So nothing, Chanyeol! They're kind of intimidating, in case you hadn't noticed," she hissed, bringing her lips to Chanyeol's ear to all but breathe the words, not about to give the Shifters the satisfaction of knowing they intimidated her. Chanyeol stiffened at the feel of cold shivers rolling across his shoulder blades, JinJu's hot breath hitting his ear, especially the lobe; he was weak around the ears, so much so that he wore muffs 24/7 in winter. He winced, pulling back slightly— then, he snorted, because at such close proximity he could see a fleck of dried drool on JinJu's chin, and he was already plotting to drag out telling her-

Behind them, Baekhyun coughed a few times.

Both Chanyeol and JinJu pulled back and turned, eyebrows drawn in question. "Is there a problem?" 

Chanyeol probably didn't need to act so affronted, and yet there was something about the way Baekhyun hung around sometimes... He didn't know if his friend had a crush on JinJu, or if he could chalk it up to inexperience with girls. It could really be either, knowing Baekhyun, but Chanyeol did know that he wanted to avoid the former at all costs. For the time being, dissuasion, by means of general displays of overprotectiveness, was his greatest weapon.

Baekhyun shook his head in a jerky manner, "No, no, I just, ah... Look!" Chanyeol started at the sudden shout, scowling once again before joining JinJu in peering out the window, where Baekhyun was frantically pointing his finger. "It's just so different to Jaedue..." He explained, then trailed off; for the Defectives' attention was truly caught by the dancing of smoke, the jostle of people, the patchwork of colours that flew by outside.

Lay's eyes, however, danced amusedly between Baekhyun, and JinJu and Chanyeol, narrowing slightly as he, too, tried to figure things out. After a few seconds he gave up; he'd have to watch a while longer, observe how things panned out before passing judgement there.

Jongdae's gaze was practically burning holes in JinJu's general direction, and Lay realised that he also seemed to have the same idea.

It was all very interesting.

"Zitao?" he called softly across the aisle, and said Walker hummed a reply. "How much further away are we from-"

"Half an hour, around about," Zitao quickly replied. "We're about ten minutes from the Palace, and then, given the time of evening, fifteen or twenty minutes from there."

Lay nodded, "Thanks."

The sky was dark when the van finally came to a stop, parking itself longways in a yard beside a long, dirt driveway. Sehun heaved a melodramatic sigh of relief as he reached his arms overhead, arching his back and lengthening his legs— much to Luhan's displeasure, Sehun's shoe nudging insistently against his ankle.

He ignored his cousin's glare, as per usual.

Not even the prospect of dragging his bountiful luggage up the dr