“I beg of you, just this once, can you please cast a spell and erase all of my memories from the last thirty minutes?”

Jongdae sat at a table, his head in his hands as he tried to forget the horrible things that he had just witnessed.

Jiyoung cackled. “Nope. And what’s the big deal anyway? Back in my day, guys didn’t care if they showed their junk, in fact, they would jump at the chance to show them off and boast.”

Jongdae shrugged. “It’s just… weird. I see my private parts every day, but I’ve never ever seen another man’s." He shivered. “And I don't want to ever again.”

Jongin walked up to the table, wiping his wet hands on his shorts.

“Jongdae, you know there’s toilets here and those sink thingies where you wash your hands? This place is super fancy.”

Snorting, Jongdae replied, “I don’t know if fancy is the right word, Jongin.”

“Speaking of fancy,” Jiyoung began, “where’s your little crush, Jongdae? What was her name again? Emery? Quite the gem, isn’t she?”

Jongdae scoffed in response, burying his face back into his hands. “I don’t have a crush on her. I don’t even know what it feels like to have a crush. Seriously, I was just distracted by her lack of clothing, doesn’t mean I’m attracted to her.”

Jongin joined in, jabbing lightly at the older male’s shoulder. “Don’t lie. We was seein’ those googly -eyes.” His eyes got wide and he interlaced his fingers. “Oh Emery. I love, love, love you sooo much.”

Jongdae only furrowed his brows in annoyance as the other two burst out laughing. “You both are immature.”

“Says the guy who blushes whenever s are mentioned,” Jiyoung shot back, resulting in a blushing Jongdae.

Jongdae tilted his head to the side, straightening up when he noticed Emery gliding across the dance floor in long strides; however, he frowned once he saw the half- Luhan behind her, almost coughing when he saw his bare, chiseled chest, and his pants which were hanging dangerously low on his hips, reminding him of when he was fully on stage, dancing around with his s floppi – Jongdae, calm yourself – it made him shiver in disgust just thinking about it! In Sector Two, clubs, dancers and nudists were unheard of. People kept to themselves and didn’t party. Now that he thought about it, there was never a great amount of authority either, like in Sector Three, nor was there a complete lack of it like in this sector. Sector Two was definitely much more well-mannered and calm compared to the other ones.

Emery stopped next to him. “Jongdae, Jongin, I want to you to meet my friend, Luhan, you probably recognize him from his performance earlier.” She turned to Luhan and grinned. “It was great, by the way.”

Luhan leaned forward, leering as his nose hovered over hers. “How ‘bout I give you a private performance later, hm?”

Jongdae coughed, and the two looked his way as he beat his chest a few times with his fist, shaken by both of their flirtatious behavior.

Smiling, Jongin put out his hand, greeting, “Hi, my name’s Jongin.”

Luhan shook his hand. “Cool, cool,” he said, “and the shy one?” He beckoned his head towards Jongdae.

“That’s Jongdae. He’s all blushy and stuff ‘cause of all these people around.”

Jongdae wished the floor would open and swallow him whole. Luhan nodded his head and Jongdae’s lip twitched when the man winked at him. He continued to eye him in the corner of his eyes, flinching when he looked back at him, flashing him a charming smile. Embarrassed, he looked back at the table. Is he going to be all the time or…?.

Emery clapped her hands. “Let’s go out. My treat,” she stated.

**

The small place was a bit rundown, to say the least – there was a disgusting shade of yellow peeling off of the walls, the wooden tables were covered in scratches and Jongdae could’ve sworn there was a family of flies living there. He kept an eye on the people dining, fixing his mask whenever he saw someone he deemed suspicious.

“What would you like to drink, sir?” The soft voice was barely audible over the loud customers in the crowded restaurant.

Jongdae swatted at an incoming fly, narrowly missing before replying with, “You have water?”

“Yes, sir.”

He looked around the place. “Then water, please.” She walked away.

“You look like you’re in quite the predicament,” Jiyoung said.

Jongdae swatted at another fly. “Ain’t that the truth,” he muttered, annoyed.

“So Jongdae, Jongin, where you guys from? It's obvious you guys ain't from here." Luhan’s chin was resting on his interlocked fingers as he gave him a steady stare.

“I’m from the good ol’ Sector three,” Jongin said, drumming his fingers on the table.

“Really? That’s a long walk, you guys must’ve been dyin’ from the heat.”

Jongin bobbed his head. “Yeah, it was so hot. I thought we was gonna fall in a pool of our own sweat!”

The three looked at Jongdae.

“Um.” Again, he was stuck on whether he should admit the truth or lie. We’re going to be partners, he thought, lying isn’t going to benefit anyone. “Sector two,” he hesitantly spoke.

Luhan’s eyes widened. “Ah, so you saw that big ol’ explosion, right?” He turned to Emery, moving his hands around in a dramatic manner. “I heard hundreds of people – poor and rich, were killed in it. Boom!” he shouted, startling Jongin, who let out a gasp. Emery only snorted at the scene. "Dozens o' people. Dead. Just like that." Luhan leaned in, his voice was just loud enough to be heard over the chatter. “And I heard the guy who did it all was a kid. Can you believe that ?”

One of Jongdae’s hands formed a fist, the other brushing his scar through his shirt.  

“But,” Luhan said, lifting a finger in the air,” I was thinkin’ about it. Why’d a kid pull somethin’ like that? Someone from Sector two, no less.” He looked at Jongdae. “No offense, but your people over there are real weird. You all mind ya own business and are real quiet and borin'. Hell, I barely even saw any men in your pubs! It was like a ghost town. So why’d a kid blow the place up? Where’d he even get the to do that. Wanna know what I think?”

Jongin sat forward. “What?”

“Guess.” Luhan smirked.

Emery thanked the waitress as she set their drinks on the table, quickly ordering them food and waiting for her to walk away before answering. “I’m guessing it wasn’t actually him who did it, was it?”

Luhan snapped his fingers. “Bingo. What poor boy’d be able to afford the supplies to make that?” He cackled, sipping his beverage, then shaking his head. “in’ Christ, are the Council that stupid? An adult, well, maybe it’d be believable, but a child? They that desperate to find a scapegoat?” His shoulders shook as he continued to laugh.

Jongdae slipped his straw under his mask, sipping his drink.

“Like, those guys in Sector Two clean houses for a livin'. What kind o’ slips would he be gettin’ for a job like that?” He shook his head again. “Huh, I get more slips and I strip and fish for a livin’.I swear, I almost died when I heard what was happenin’. I burst out laughin’ at the tall tale. The worst thing is that I heard the guy who got blamed got attacked in Sector one along with some other guy- his partner or somethin’ like that. Turns out they’re both magical folk.” He gave Jongdae a smirk before raising his glass into the air. “Well, good luck to ‘em.” 

Jongin and Jongdae glanced at each other, having mental conversation before the latter averted his eyes to Luhan. Catching each others unwavering gazes, they challenged each other until an arm blocked their view.

“Here’s your food, sir.”

The smell of burnt chicken made his toes curl and stomach ache. He tore his gaze away from Luhan, placing his hand beside Jiyoung, drumming his fingers against the table as he swallowed down saliva. God, it was disgusting just to look at. He saw Luhan watching him in the corner of his eyes as he slowly lowered his mask so it sat around his neck, picking up the chicken and shoving it in his mouth.

Jongin moaned. “Thanks for the food. It’s so good,” he thanked with a mouth full of meat.

Emery nodded and giggled. “No problem. Luhan introduced me to this place when I first came here.”

Luhan set down his meat. “This place has got the best food in town.” He turned to Jongdae. The latter was shoveling food into his mouth, resisting the urge to gag. “What do ya think, Jongdae? It alright for you?”

Jongdae nodded, swallowing it down. “Just fine.”

Luhan was shady. Sure, Jongdae wasn’t exactly uncomfortable around him – mostly because the guy unknowingly stood up for him – but there was no denying the fact that he seemed to know more than he let on. There was something about the mischievous glint in his eyes that left Jongdae uneasy; Luhan especially wasn’t hiding his want to challenge him.

After Jongdae finally finished eating, he happily pushed his plate away from him, wiping his hands on his shorts.

“That certainly wasn’t hygienic,” Jiyoung said.

He shrugged. Looking up, the first thing he noticed was the curious look from Luhan, who was staring openly at Jiyoung with wide eyes. He pointed. “The rock talked.”

Emery shot him a confused expression. “What?”

“It talked.”

She snorted. “You really need to cut back on the alcohol, Luhan. Have my water, you need it more than me.” She passed over her drink.

Pressing a hand to his mouth, Jongin smothered guffaws into his palm. “It’s alright Luhan, I was havin’ the same reac – TION!” He hunched over, letting out a groan as he grabbed his leg. “Jongdae,” he groaned.

Jongdae nudged his head towards Emery, shaking his head. The other male seemed to understand because his eyes widened, shoulders sagging with a quivering bottom lip. His guilt tripping would have worked if not for the sudden buzzing in Jongdae’s ear. Swatting his hand, he let out a grunt of irritation.

The fly flew in his sight. He attempted to smash it, failing and almost knocking down his drink instead. Then a hand, attacking so fast it was a blur, came out of nowhere and grabbed the bug, crushing it.

“I’m sorry, darling,” Emery said, wiping her hand on her napkin, “but you seemed to be in quite the predicament.”

Jongdae went to thank her, but paused once he processed her choice of words, glancing at Jiyoung, Luhan and Jongin.

“You look like you’re in quite the predicament,” Jiyoung said

That can’t just be a coincidence.

Noticing his silence, Luhan leaned forward. “Somethin’ wrong?”

Slowly shaking his head, Jongdae replied, “No, no, nothing’s wrong.” He flashed a close-mouthed smile, and the two strangers at the table looked at each other before striking conversation. He glanced at Jongin, catching his gaze and gave him a nod of reassurance before putting his mask back on.

**

The dinner had ended smoothly, as Jongdae had somewhat excluded himself from conversation and played around with Jiyoung. The social butterfly that was Jongin had done all of the talking, to his fortune, however, nothing – not even Jongin’s random questions - could shake away Luhan’s wandering eyes.

After lunch, Emery had escorted them to a hotel they could stay at. The place was nicer than the one in Sector Three but still was pretty ragged. Jongin headed to the bathroom and Jongdae sat on the ripped, stained sheets covering the bed. He threw Jiyoung’s rock up a few times as she hummed silently to herself.

The rock went up and back down. “So what’re your thoughts on our new acquaintances?” Jiyoung quizzed.

Huffing, Jongdae threw her up once more. “Honestly? Mischievous. Secretive. They act is if they know more than they let on and are playing mind tricks on us. I don’t like it.”

“Really? You seemed smitten with Emery.”

Jongdae cleared his throat, another blush covering his cheeks. “I, um, oh God, leave me be.”

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry, lover boy.”

He muttered under his breath, though, she ignored him.

“The other day, when I told you and Jongin to try and channel into your aura, what happened?”

The rock landed in Jongdae’s hand and instead of throwing it back up, he let it sit the