TITLE: The Land Down Under

AUTHOR: lovelines

PAIRINGS: ricsyung, woodong, jindy, ot6

GENRES: adventure, auworld, sci-fi/fantasy

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is what happens when I go on an 80s music binge (because I got the idea from Down Under by Men At Work. XD lol). OTL Anyways, it's not really romantic per-say, but more so a dynamic relationship between all six members, with main Shinhwa pairings being the prominent ones. I would like to someday expand he idea into a complete story but for now it's just a one-shot.

SUMMARY: Below the rest of us, is a civilization completely secret from people and the government. To those who live there, it is referred to as the Land Down Under.

Dust swirled about their feet as they stood at the edge of the abyss, shoe tips reaching the edge. One step and it would all be over...or was it really?

  One pair of feet shifted and a section of the ledge cracked at the small movement. Bits and pieces of rock broke, tumbling downwards into the darkness. Each of the men waited to hear a noise, signalling that the pebbles had reached the bottom. No such sound was made, and the man who knocked them over the edge looked up and smirked excitedly at the other five.

  "Ready?" he asked, and the other's either grinned or smirked as well and nodded their heads.

  All of them looked back into the darkness.

  "Five, four, three, two," Taking a large breath and sighing, giddiness building in the speaker's stomach, he took one last look at the other's before grinning widely. "One!"

  At the same time, all six of them leapt up and catapulted themselves off the edge, into the waiting darkness.

  Woops and shouts of laughter could be heard falling with their twisting bodies, wind whipping around and getting into their clothes. They flipped through the air, arms spread wide and hair being tugged at by the fast tornado of wind created by their decent. 

  Suddenly, a light slowly started appearing below. Each man knew what it was, and smiled to himself excitedly.

  "To the Surface!" one yelled loudly.

  "To the Surface!" the other's chorused as the light kept getting brighter and brighter.

  Finally, it got so bright they had to close their eyes. The light started to envelope them and it slowed their fall down drastically.

  The six of them took one large gulp of air before holding it.

  The air was replaced with liquid, and the light disappeared completely. Opening their eyes underwater, the men started swimming towards the surface of the pool, light from an actual sun shining at the top.

  One head made it above the surface, the others quickly following after and breathing in greedy gulps of oxygen. 

  "Woohoo!" the red-haired one cheered, throwing his hands up and laughing before swimming towards the edge of the lake they were in. The others laughed as they followed after him.

  "Minwoo!" another man yelled after the red-head, one of the shorter members. "Wait for me!"

  "You're too slow Dongwan!" Minwoo yelled back and grinned as he stepped up onto the bank, shaking the water out of his hair. He pulled off his soaked jacket, wringing it out as Dongwan stepped up as well.

  The dark-haired man shoved Minwoo's shoulder and rolled his eyes as Minwoo laughed again.

  "Hyungs!" the youngest then yelled to the two shortest. "Quit flirting!"

  Suddenly arms wrapped around his waist, a tall man hugging him from behind. 

  "Andy-ah, just let them be." the tall man said into his ear. Andy just rolled his eyes before trying to peel the man's arms off his waist. When the other wouldn't let go, he pouted slightly and struggled some more.

  "Jun Jin! Let go of me!" he whined and Jun Jin only chuckled, pressing a light kiss to Andy's neck before letting him go.

  "Jun Jin, you should treat Andy better." a voice said behind the tall man, and Jun Jin turned around to face his 'mother bird' who stood there. The pretty man had his hands on his hips, fixing a stern look on the other.

  "Hyesung-hyung." he said, putting a hand over his heart and speaking with a fake, scandalized voice. "How dare you think I don't treat my Andy well." Grinning, Jun Jin wrapped one arm around Andy's waist again and pulled him close, much to the youngest's chagrin.

  "Hyesunggie~" the last man then spoke, speaking cutely as he came to stand next to Hyesung. As the taller of the two tried to put an arm around Hyesung's shoulders, the younger of the two tried to elbow him in the stomach.

  "Yah! Eric Mun, don't touch me." he said grumpily, crossing his arms. 

  Eric rolled his eyes before nodding and holding his hands up in surrender. He only smiled at Hyesung cheesily, making the pretty man scoff and walk away, up the small hill of the lakeside.

  "Why are we here again?" Jun Jin asked as he walked up next to Minwoo and put an arm around the shorter man's shoulders after leaving Andy with Dongwan. 

  "Just for fun." Minwoo said and smiled, standing on his tip toes to kiss the side of Jun Jin's neck before running off towards Hyesung. 

  Seeing Minwoo coming after him Hyesung suddenly started running towards the forest enveloping the lake. 

  "Yah! Lee Minwoo! I don't feel like being around anyone right now!" he yelled at the red-head who only laughed and continued to run after him, even when Hyesung made it into the trees. 

  The other four watched the scene with amusement and laughed.

  "We'll talk more later hyung." Andy said, giving Dongwan a small hug before running up to Jun Jin and lacing his fingers with him, unlike before when he had been trying to push him away. The short muscled man smiled as he watched the two youngest walk off after Hyesung and Minwoo before suddenly feeling arms wrap around his waist. 

  "You love me, right Dongwan?" he heard in his ear and chuckled, leaning back into the strong chest behind him.

  "Of course I love you Eric." he said, smiling and holding onto the arms wrapped around him. 

  "Good. At least your not mean like Hyesunggie."

  Dongwan only shook his head, reaching up and running a hand through Eric's hair before unlocking his arms. 

  "Come on. Let's catch up with the others." 

  "Augh, hyung." Jun Jin whined, leaning his head on Minwoo's shoulder as they sat in the small diner. "This is so boring. Let's do something fun." Pouting, he tried to use his puppy eyes, which only made the older smile and pinch his cheeks.

  "Don't worry Jinnie. We're gonna go soon. Right after those two are done eating." he said, pointing to Hyesung and Dongwan who were eating, albeit not too silently. Eric and Andy were at the counter, ordering their third ice cream cones as Hyesung and Dongwan finished their left over sandwiches and fries.

  "Fine." Jun Jin deflated, clinging onto Minwoo's arm and resting his head on his shoulder. Laughing again, Minwoo patted the younger on the head before closing his eyes and laying his head down on Jun Jin's.

  Eric and Andy came back to the table with their ice cream just as the two had fallen asleep, staring at Hyesung and Dongwan with weird expressions as those two continued to eat. 

  "Why do they always have to do that when we come here?" Andy asked the oldest as they sat down in the fake leather booth, reflected red light splashing onto their clothes.

  "I don't know..." Eric muttered in reply, his ice cream carefully. "Maybe they just don't want to forget how the Surface tastes." With a smile, he nodded his head and continued to eat his ice cream, while the youngest looked at him like he was crazy. Then Andy shrugged his shoulders and started to eat his as well. 

  "Yah!" Hyesung yelled at the other five as they all ran down the street. After eating at the diner, they decided to walk around the streets a bit before it turned dark, and they would have to return.

  The pretty man was currently doused in what could only be water from the drinking fountain at the corner they had stopped at. Someone (that someone being Eric) decided it would be a great idea to mess with the thing even though a sign on it said 'out of order'. So now he was soaked and raging as he ran after all the others (because they had laughed when it happened).

  "You get back here!" he screamed at them as the others laughed at him while they continued to run down the street.

  Even though people were giving them funny looks, they barely noticed as they grinned and giggled like schoolboys. 

  "I hate you guys." Hyesung muttered with a towel wrapped around his shoulders, sitting in front of the fire they had made. All six of them had returned to the lake after their water escapade, Andy bringing Hyesung a towel to dry off. 

  'Sorry for laughing hyung.' he said, pecking the other's cheek before handing him the towel. 'Use this.' With that, the maknae smiled before walking over to Dongwan and placing himself in the other's lap. 

  Jun Jin was laying down, head resting on Eric's thighs while Minwoo laid on the ground like a starfish and looked up at the sky.

  "Why don't we have stars?" Minwoo suddenly asked aloud, turning everyone's attention to him. Even Hyesung, who was still annoyed with everyone turned to face him with a questioning, almost sad look. 

  The red-haired man turned to face everyone else.

  "I mean...I know we have nice things. We have the Aurorous Lights and the Gem Caverns...but we don't have stars..." As he spoke, the man turned over onto his stomach and put his head into his hands, elbows digging into the sand of the lakeside beach. The others all slowly nodded at the thought, before Eric suddenly spoke up.

  "Well, maybe because while we have many things, the Surface doesn't." His fingers played with Jun Jin's hair as everyone turned to face him and he smiled softly. "All they have is the stars really...and besides, we can come here anytime."

  Everyone nodded slowly before small smiles broke out on their faces. 

  "He's right you know." Dongwan suddenly said, resting his head on Andy's shoulder with his arms wrapped around the youngest's waist. "Even though we don't have stars we can come back anytime. Our Light Pools are prettier anyways in my opinion."

  "Shut up hyung." Andy suddenly muttered, hitting Dongwan lightly in the face. "Nothing beats the stars. You just think the Light Pools are better because they're your Family Tie." The maknae grinned and turned to face Dongwan, who smiled sheepishly.

  "I still think they're the best..." he mumbled as everyone rolled their eyes at him.

  "We should get going." Minwoo suddenly said, sitting up in the sand and trying to wipe it off his shirt.

  "Aw~ Do we have to leave now?" Jun Jin whined, burying his face into Eric's lap and pouting as the other's stood up.

  "Yes Jinnie. We have to be back before the ceremony starts." 

  Eric lightly patted Jun Jin on the face who swatted his hand away in annoyance. The older kept poking his face though, eventually make Jun Jin grunt in frustration and quickly sit up, walking away from his hyung.

  Rolling his eyes playfully, Eric got up from the ground and dusted his pants off like everyone else before they started to put out the fire.

  One by one the embers started to fade away, until only a dim glow resided inside the pile of wood.

  It was completely silent for a moment among them, only the noises of small waves and forest critters being heard. Then someone stepped into the water of the shore, turning around to face everyone.

  "Down Under?" Andy asked his hyungs, grinning as he waded further into the lake before turning to face the center of it.

  "Yah! I was supposed to go first this time!" Minwoo yelled at the maknae who only laughed and waded farther in, before he started swimming as the water got deeper. 

  Even though the lake was positively freezing, none of them minded as they all entered and swam out towards the middle. 

  "Hold your breath." Minwoo commanded, everyone nodding before reaching out for each other's hands. "And don't let go." Everyone nodded again, smiles on their faces before suddenly taking one large breath, and plunging themselves beneath the surface of the lake.

  Everything was dark for a moment, water swirling around them as air bubbles floated to the top and broke upon making contact with the atmosphere.

  Again, the light appeared, and everyone closed their eyes as it swallowed them whole.

  "Eric...get off me..." Hyesung muttered as the taller laid across his back, sopping wet and grinning like a madman. However, he complied and climbed off the pretty man who peeled himself away from the cliff-side floor and stood up, pulling off his jacket and wringing it out.

  "When can we go back again?" Jun Jin asked excitedly to Dongwan who smiled at the younger.

  "Soon, Jinnie. Now hurry, we have to get ready."

  "Yeah! Don't wanna be late hyungs!" Andy yelled, already pulling off his shirt and walking towards the cave entrance. Minwoo was right behind him, running a hand through his wet hair.

  "Who knows...maybe we'll go back even sooner once this is over." Minwoo said, mostly to himself as everyone started walking out of the cavern.

  "Let's move to the Surface one day!" Jun Jin exclaimed as they all walked together.

  "With a big house." Eric continued, nudging Hyesung's shoulder and grinning. The pretty man rolled his eyes but continued anyways, a small smile tugging at his lips.

  "And a yard with green grass." he said, looking over at Dongwan to keep it going.

  "So when it rains..."

  "Everything comes alive." Minwoo completed Dongwan's sentence, before wrapping an arm around Andy's shoulders. 

  "And the world is brighter than normal." Andy finished, turning around as he walked with Minwoo to face everyone else.

  "And we'll always be..." they started quietly as they put their hands together. "Shinhwa!"

  The sound of laughter and merriment filled the spacious cavern as the six men walked out of it, and at that moment, everything was perfect for them, because they knew in their hearts, more adventures were yet to come, no matter how many years they lived.

THE END

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