Donghyuck and Mark walked back to the house, with Donghyuck proudly carrying all the apples that Mark had knocked off from the trees for him. He had run out of cheese to eat, but apples were another favorite snack of his, so he didn’t mind one bit, plus, he had even gotten these for free! Johnny surely couldn’t complain about that. 

“I love apples,” he proudly said, skipping gleefully next to the weird robot assassin guy next to him, Mark, who was walking casually next to him while Donghyuck skipped everywhere. “I could surely use an apple pie right now, or apple roses, god, I love apple roses.”

Mark turned to look at him, titling his head in confusion. “I can remember what an apple pie is,” he said, remembering how Jaehyun’s assistant Jaemin always brought in desserts from the kitchen, always having a ‘sweet tooth’, according to Jaehyun. “But I don’t recall having heard about an apple rose before.”

Donghyuck slowed down his skipping, making sure not to drop any apples. They probably should have brought a basket, he thought to himself. “It’s just something my mom used to make, she made it up,” Donghyuck said softly, smiling. “Sometimes she would make a caramel dip for us to eat it with.”

Mark nodded, still not knowing what an apple rose was. “Sounds… sugary,” he said. 

“Heck yeah, it had a lot of sugar,” Donghyuck said. “I wasn’t allowed to eat sweets before bedtime because I would get ‘hyper’, apparently, but it’s obviously a big lie, I always see Johnny eating cakes from the palace right before he goes to sleep,” he explained. 

They reached the back of the house, where they could see the two Chinese working in the fields, one raising a hoe above him shouting he was the worm king, the other shouting at his friend to go back to what they were doing.

“That looks like fun,” Donghyuck said. “I want to help hoe the fields.”

Mark opened the door for Donghyuck to walk in, grabbing some of the apples to help him out. “You have to be careful while doing field work,” he warned him. “Constant sunlight for hours without protection can harm your skin-”

“Yada yada yada, the sun can fight me.” Donghyuck stepped into the house, struggling to carry the apples, while shouting, “JOHNNY!!! I BROUGHT APPLES!!! CAN WE MAKE APPLE PIE?!”

“I thought you wanted apple roses,” Mark reminded him. 

Donghyuck shrugged. “Only my mom knew how to make them. I would try but I’m not good with knives-”

Johnny came into view, frowning. “Where did you get those apples?!” he yelled at him. 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, predicting another lecture coming. “I went exploring with Mark here, he’s like a human compass,” Donghyuck explained, holding out the apples. “We can make apple pie-”

“Haechan, that’s dangerous,” Johnny scolded him. “And I told you to call me Youngho while we’re here, now go put those apples back, you don’t know what dirt or insects they can have.”

Johnny (or Youngho, if he wanted to play these stupid games) walked away, adding, “And don’t leave that far from here, we don’t know anyone in this town.”

Donghyuck stared at the apples in his hands, sighing. “If only mom were here,” he muttered to himself. “She would make me an apple pie or rose.”

Mark stared at Donghyuck, a new feeling washing over him, one that he couldn’t exactly pinpoint. Sadness, if he remembered correctly from Jaehyun. 

Yeah, sadness. It was pretty sad to see Donghyuck with the rejected apples in his hands, a tear falling down his face. 

“I can help you make an apple pie,” Mark suggested, watching how Donghyuck immediately whipped his head up to look at Mark. “Or an apple rose, though I don’t know what ingredients are to be used-”

“You’d make an apple rose?” Donghyuck asked, grinning again. “Apple roses!! I haven’t had one in over two years!! Of course I know the recipe by heart!”

Donghyuck rushed into the kitchen, thankful that Johnny and Xiaojun were probably doing work in the basement, leaving the whole first floor to themselves. He set the apples on the table and the faucet, splashing cold water on one of the apples, scrubbing it vigorously. “We have to wash the apples first and then you have to make thin slices and curl them up into rose shapes,” he rambled, setting the clean apple down and grabbing another one. “And you arrange them in a pan and you make a sugar mixture and sprinkle it on top and then for the caramel dip you have to melt sugar-”

Mark couldn’t remember the other models, having never interacted with them until that split second before they were awakened to set their task, but even though he hadn’t had much experience with humans, he had a feeling Donghyuck was a bit of one of a kind. 

***

“ I AM THE WORM KING!!” Yangyang was shouting in Korean, hoe above his head. “ALL MUST BOW DOWN TO ME!!”

Chen Le rolled his eyes, sighing as he continued to till the earth. “Yangyang, people are going to start staring,” he scolded him in Mandarin.

Yangyang waved him off. “Nah, don’t you see all these empty fields everywhere? The countryside is very vast, if I do say so myself, we’re not going to find anyone here,” he said, setting the hoe upright so that he could lean his head on it. “But hopefully we find Prince Hendery again, he was very handsome-”

“You with your obsessions again,” Chen Le mumbled under his breath. He didn’t say anything out loud, though, not wanting to ruin Yangyang’s interest. “Let’s just finish here.”

“I can’t find any more worms though,” Yangyang said, pouting. “I miss the worms, them along with you are my only friends in this cruel, cruel, wasteland- OH MY GOD, CHEN LE-”

Yangyang had been swinging the hoe in his hand and accidentally lost his grip, throwing it right to Chen Le’s direction.

The metal part of the hoe hit Chen Le’s shin, causing the latter to abruptly drop his own and lift up his foot in pain. “YANGYANG!! THAT HURTS!!”

“I’M SO SORRY!!” Yangyang shouted, rushing to Chen Le’s side and holding on to him. “I DIDN’T MEAN IT-”

Chen Le hissed in pain, rubbing the sore spot on his shin while pushing Yangyang away. “Don’t worry, just- ow, that hurts, dang it.”

He set his foot back down on the ground, limping away from the area that they had been working at. “I’m going to find some herbs,” he said, clenching his teeth as he tried not to think about the bruise that was surely going to form later. “Give me five minutes.”

“Chen Le, I’m really sorry,” Yangyang said. “I’m sorry, let me find some instead-”

“Yangyang, it’s fine,” Chen Le said, waving him off as he hobbled away, wanting to cry in pain. “You don’t know the herbs anyways.”

He inched his way slowly to where the trees were, hoping there were some arnica plants nearby. They helped with bruising and swelling a lot, having learned it from overhearing old women at the markets when Chen Le was trying to steal a piece of fruit for dinner. He tried it on his own once when Yangyang got tossed around from some bullies in an alley, and it certainly helped, to his amazement. 

Chen Le found some of the plant next to some trees on the side of the road, so he decided to sit down on the moss for a few minutes, rubbing on the sore spot on his shin. 

The pain will go away soon, he told himself. It always did, plus they had bigger things to worry about then some bruise forming. Chen Le knew they weren’t going to last here forever, so they had to save up all their gold pieces and make it last as much as possible and to be careful that no one would steal them. 

“You look like you’re in thought.” Chen Le looked up to see a tall person leaning against a tree. “I’m surprised you left Neo City so soon.”

Chen Le squinted his eyes at him. This guy looked familiar, though he couldn’t remember from where. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” he asked. “And how do you know I was in Neo City anyways?”

The guy stepped away from the tree, bowing down 45 degrees. “You said your name was Chen Le if I recall correctly,” he said. “And your friend had fallen ill for a bit. Hopefully he is okay.”

Chen Le could feel the light bulb go off in his head, but he wasn’t like Yangyang who was going to start worshiping this guy’s feet. “Oh, the guy in the palace,” he recalled. “The one who actually lives there.”

Prince Jisung gave an awkward shrug. “I mean… I guess? Technically? I didn’t lie, though, I don’t really do much.”

Chen Le rolled his eyes, pushing himself up. “Well, thank you for your concern, but Yangyang is fine,” he said, leaning against the tree beside him for support. “Tell your friend Prince Hendery thank you for catching him falling off a tree, too. I’m surprised you even talked to him about us.”

He didn’t miss how red Jisung’s face became. “You- you have to understand that it was a coincidence,” he explained. “And I’m assuming you heard of my father almost getting assassinated.”

“Yeah, I have nothing to do with that, I don’t even know what he looks like,” Chen Le said. “And Yangyang worships you guys anyways, plus, he can’t even hurt a stupid worm."

“That’s mildly intriguing,” Jisung muttered before glancing at the red sore on Chen Le’s shin. “You got injured.”

“Yangyang was being reckless.” Chen Le took a step forward, wincing. “I’m fine.”

“No, no, I have some tea, you should have some.” Jisung stood in front of him, holding out his hand. “May I?”
 

Chen Le sighed. He doesn’t remember the last time he had tea, and he could sure use some right now. “Don’t try anything with me, your highness,” he said, mocking him. “I will scream.”

Jisung couldn’t help but grin at the meaningless threat. “I wouldn’t dare.”
 

***

“Sir, would you like some tea right now?” Jaemin said, bouncing with excitement as he held an apple in his hand. “Renjun says he’s never tried tea before, and Taeil gave up some croissants and I thought it would pair nicely.”

Jaehyun was at his desk, trying to work out some measurements, Taeyong right beside him offering input when necessary. “Tea does sound good,” he commented, taking off his glasses. “What tea did you have in mind Jaemin?”

“Apple tea with a dash of cinnamon!” Jaemin exclaimed proudly. “It’s my mom’s secret recipe, too, so I just know Renjun would like it! He liked the meatloaf I brought in this morning that she made.”

“Oh, your mother’s cooking is good,” Jaehyun agreed. “I am in the mood for some apple tea, would you like apple tea, Taeyong?” he asked Taeyong beside him.

Taeyong glanced at Jaemin and Jaehyun. “I don’t recall having tried tea,” he admitted. “I don’t know if I would like it-”

“Well, then of course you have to try it!” Jaemin dashed away, heading towards the main room where he and Renjun had been scraping old paint of scrap pieces of metal. “I’m going to make tea!!”

Jaehyun shook his head, laughing at Jaemin’s antics, as he picked up his pencil again to work on the measurements. “Trust me, you’ll love the apple tea,” Jaehyun told Taeyong. “It’s not your normal tea, like jasmine or chamomile, but it’s pretty good. It’s also good for your immune system- well, not that you guys have to worry about that.”

Taeyong nodded in understanding. “Tea does provide a lot of antioxidants,” he recalled. “It’s good for your body.”

“Yeah, it really is,” Jaehyun said, staring at Taeyong. “For once, I’m having something good for my body.”

“It should be a routine, though,” Taeyong continued, unbothered that Jaehyun was still staring at him. “You need to take care of yourself more or you’ll get ill.”

Jaehyun shook his head. “Nah, no one cares if I get sick, it’s not like I have any family, anyways.”

Taeyong played with his fingers, looking at his lap. “I’m sorry to hear that, sir.”

“Nah, don’t worry about,” Jaehyun said, going back to his sketches. “It’s why I became a scientist, you know? I just want to make life better for everyone-”

“SIR!!” Jaemin rushed back into the room, panting and out of breath. “WE RAN OUT OF WATER, I HAVE TO GO GET SOME MORE!”

Jaehyun frowned. “That doesn’t sound healthy- Jaemin, why don’t you and Renjun go get some more, steal some more of Taeil’s pastries while you’re at it.”

Jaemin gave him a salute before dashing away, yelling at Renjun that they had a field trip.

Taeyong gave a small smile, still looking at his lap. “I thought you were going to be more healthy,” he joked.

Jaehyun waved him off. “Nah, it doesn’t hurt being unhealthy every once in a while.”