When Baekhyun woke up the next morning, he found himself back on the bed again. Clearly remembering going onto the floor with Chanyeol, he began to wonder if he had moved back at some point. Rubbing his eyes in confusion, he sat up in bed and let out a small yawn. He spotted Chanyeol sitting on the floor packing things away in the bag they had bought. Just as he finished tying the bag securely closed, he turned his head and saw Baekhyun.

“Good morning, sleepy head. I thought you were going to sleep all morning,” Chanyeol commented, getting up from the floor and hanging their bag on the end of the bed.

“Sorry...I must have been more tired than I thought…” Baekhyun said while rubbing the back of his neck. “Have you eaten breakfast yet?” 

Chanyeol shook his head and held up the bag of buns from yesterday.  “But I think I saw a bun in here that had some chocolate on it,” Chanyeol stated as he shifted the buns around in the bag. 

“Ooohhh! I want it!” Baekhyun quickly called, sitting up on the bed and crawling over to Chanyeol.

Chuckling slightly, Chanyeol pulled out a clean handkerchief from his pocket and laid it out on the bed. He found the bun with chocolate and placed it down before pulling a bun that had some sort of nuts mixed in for himself.

“I’m sweet and you’re nutty,” Baekhyun said proudly, giggling to himself. 

“Hey!” Chanyeol lightly snapped. “I am not nutty.”

“You made fun of me yesterday so I get to make fun of you today,” the prince simply commented with a smirk on his face.

“Aahhh...what am I going to do with you?” the wizard sighed. He shook his head but could not keep himself from smiling because Baekhyun seemed in a better mood than yesterday. “Want to go down and heat these by the fire?” Chanyeol then asked. “Nothing's better for breakfast than a nice warm bun and maybe some cider if they have some.

“Let’s go right now because you just made my stomach rumble with the thought of that,” Baekhyun told him as he grabbed the handkerchief and held it carefully in his hands so as to not drop their buns.

Grabbing the bag off the end of the bed, Chanyeol followed Baekhyun out of the room. One last glance was given to make sure nothing had been forgotten before he swung the door closed.

Seeing a fire burning in the fireplace, Baekhyun headed directly over to it and placed the buns down in front of it so they could warm up. Meanwhile, Chanyeol went to find Tiffany to ask her if there was a warm drink he could buy. He was pleased when she said there was fresh warm apple cider that had just finished being made that day. Chanyeol happily bought two glasses and brought them over to where Baekhyun was sitting on the floor. 

“How are the buns coming along?” Chanyeol asked while handing Baekhyun one of the glasses of cider.

“The chocolate on mine looks like it is starting to melt, so that is a good sign!” Baekhyun told him excitedly, poking a pocket of chocolate to show how it stuck to his finger. Bringing his finger up to his mouth, he popped it in and the chocolate off, humming in delight. 

“Well they smell great. That’s for sure!” Chanyeol commented happily.

Taking the bag off his shoulder and placing it down on the floor, Chanyeol sat down next to Baekhyun. They let the buns sit in front of the fire for a bit longer before they finally picked them up and began eating their breakfast. 

“There’s just the right amount of chocolate in this,” Baekhyun told Chanyeol excitedly. 

“It appears these are walnuts,” Chanyeol told him while his lips. “And a faint taste of butter too.” 

They both took a sip of the apple cider after a few more bites of their breakfast, and were shocked at how amazing it tasted. It was just made today, and fresh made foods and drinks are the best, but this beat both of their expectations. For some reason, Chanyeol had thought something would be off with the taste. It is easy to add too much cinnamon or make it too watery. But this was perfect.

“I almost don’t want to leave this town,” Chanyeol said as he placed his hands on the floor behind him and leaned back comfortably to baskin the warmth of the flames.

“Well if it’s true what you say about these rings then you don’t get to stay here,” Baekhyun told him sadly, because honestly he would not have minded staying here either. “If you want it gone then you have to come with me.”

“What if we just stay here then?” Chanyeol questioned as he watched the fire crackle in front of them. “We could just find a better place to live. Sure the rings would never come off...but if we both like it here…”

“I told you before, guards will be coming through eventually to make sure I’m not hiding out somewhere,” Baekhyun told him flatout. “Staying in a town would only cause problems for them...and that’s the last thing I would ever want.”

Chanyeol leaned back up again, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees.

“If that’s really the case, then we should get moving again,” Chanyeol spoke. 

Baekhyun nodded his head in agreement and stood up from the floor, but not before folding Chanyeol’s handkerchief and passing it back to him.

The two of them then made their way out of the pub so they could go onto their next leg of their journey. As soon as they left the pub, however, Chanyeol ended up colliding with a large man carrying an axe. The man had enough mass to him that the force of them colliding sent Chanyeol toppling to the ground.

“Watch where you’re going!” the man angrily shouted. He glared down at Chanyeol and scowled at him. "Good for nothing." The man wore dirty clothes and had a scar above his left eyebrow which appeared to be fresh. His hands were heavily calloused and his barreled chest heaved up and down in anger.

“Sorry, sir. It was an accident,” Chanyeol replied calmly as he started picking himself up and dusting himself off.

As he went to stand up, the man reached down and grabbed a fistful of Chanyeol’s hair, violently yanking it.

“What’s up with this ing hair color of yours? You’re a freak!” the man exclaimed.

“Sir...please let go of my brother,” Baekhyun spoke up, nervously playing with the edge of his sleeve.

“Oi! Was I talking to you, shorty!?” the man shouted as he looked him up and down quickly.

“I...I said, let my brother go,” the prince spoke up again.

“I...I…” the axe man mocked before tossing his axe onto the ground and averting his attention back to Chanyeol. “So what’s up with your ing hair? You one of those damn wizards or something?”

Chanyeol kept his cool, taking a quick glance back at Baekhyun to see him standing there looking uneasy about the whole situation. Even though the man still had a tight grip on his head and was keeping it down, Chanyeol stood up so he was at least on his feet. His body stayed bent at the waist, and his knees were slightly bent, but it was more important not to be on the ground during an altercation like that. It would leave him too vulnerable.

Seeing the way the other men were looking at the bag Chanyeol had dropped on the ground, Baekhyun moved quickly to pick it up and held it to his chest securely. 

“Sir, if you would kindly release me I would be more than willing to talk all of this out,” Chanyeol told him while doing his best to look up at the man.

“Unless you answer my question, I’ll get angry,” the man told him through clenched teeth.

“Do as he says buddy,” another man standing behind him chimed in. 

“Now answer me,” the man holding onto him said again. “Are you a wizard? Or just a boy who likes to make himself look pretty?”

“Sir, have you thought that maybe I’m normal?” Chanyeol asked. “I could have been born with his colored hair and not be a wizard. Or maybe I like the color red and wanted to color it like this.”

“Then I’d call you a liar!” the man shouted before bringing a knee up and knocking Chanyeol in the gut as hard as possible. Only then did the man release his grasp and let him fall to the ground.

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun screamed as he ran over to him and kneeled down. “Sir, please stop it! We were just leaving!” he cried out. 

A few people were now peeking out from other shops and homes, trying to see just what was going on outside. The man was now standing over them, simply staring down and staying silent. 

“Hey! Stop bothering those two!” a familiar voice called out.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol looked over to see that it was Amber, the young woman from yesterday who had given them the delicious buns. With her hands on her hips she came over to them and stood between the man and the two of them.

“How many times have you tried to cause fights because you drink early in the morning?” she asked with an unpleasant look on her face.

‘It’s that freak's fault for running into me!” the man shouted.

“Leave them alone and go get yourself together before I report you,” she told him firmly, not showing any signs of