Chapter Text
FIVE
Gravel crunched underneath the soles of his worn down canvas shoes; his steps were hurried, yet carefree and light. The sun was just beginning to hit its peak for the day, and Jungwon squinted a bit as the glare suddenly caught his eyes for a second, but he basked in the flash of warmth provided by the rays that managed to peek through the tops of the taller trees.
“C’mon, Sunghoon, wait for us!” he shouted, giggling as he stumbled slightly on a larger piece of rock and causing the boy next to him to cling a little tighter to the sleeve of his fuzzy orange sweater.
“Careful,” Jay murmured, patting Jungwon’s arm before letting go of his sleeve, his voice still rough and hanging on to the last shred of sleep he had managed to catch the previous night.
“Not my fault you guys are slow. Grow longer legs like mine!”
Jungwon rolled his eyes. As expected of the handsome athlete. Sometimes, he thought Narcissus had nothing on Sunghoon. Yet, Jungwon had to give the older boy some credit—after all, he was the one who had found the spot that became the day’s adventure, albeit very accidentally and very irresponsibly (according to Heeseung).
Smiling, Jungwon quickly jogged the rest of the way to the older boy’s side, bumping into him shoulder to shoulder before wrapping his arms around his waist and hugging tightly. The taller looked down at him, face blank. He gently poked at Jungwon’s dimple, a familiar show of affection that Jungwon accepts from all the boys, however grudgingly at times.
“Thanks again, Sunghoon. For showing the way and coming with me. You’re the best!” He exclaimed, turning up the sweetness in his voice.
“Beats laundry duty with the others, I guess,” Sunghoon smiled, then, a short twitch of the lips. A smirk, really.
But Jungwon knew when his cuteness is working, so he took it.
“And what are we, huh? We agreed to this too!” the fourth boy pouted as he caught up to the other two, dropping the bundle of multicolored nets from his arms roughly at their feet. Hands on his hips, his pink hair ruffled softly in the morning breeze as he paused for a moment, a little out of breath from their uphill hike. “And why did we have to walk so far for this anyway!”
“Yeah, and why so early,” Jay huffed, finally joining the three boys at the top of the small hill that deviated off the side of the seemingly infinite gravel road.
“Because, dummies! This is when the butterflies are most active!” Jungwon bounced a little on his feet, choosing not to argue with Jay about how eleven-thirty AM is not “too early” by normal people’s standards. Instead, he gestured in front of himself as performed a dramatic about-face, waving his arms as if introducing a grand prize. “And this is obviously the best spot for a sighting!”
The other boys looked around, taking in their surroundings fully. It wasn’t much of anything different than they were used to seeing—endless fields of weeds and wildflowers naturally overgrown, some nearly as tall as their shortest companion; the bright specks of yellow and white popped brightly in the sun against shades of green. The gravel road they know so well, frequently followed here and there, but always somehow leading back to home. And beyond it, to each side, the thick trees of the woods stood tall, obscuring any further view.
Below their place on top of the hill, however, there was a mossy pond, and from this viewpoint they could just barely catch a glimpse above the tops of some of those strong trees–only to see more. An even taller and more condensed stretch of woods, probably enough to qualify as a full-fledged forest now.
Jay hummed, joining Jungwon at the peak of the hill, peering down over the edge. There, next to the pond—something even more interesting.
“Look, there’s another road down there…where do you think it goes?” he muttered, mostly to himself. Next to him, Sunghoon shivered, almost imperceptibly. But Jungwon always noticed these things. It was important to always notice the small things.
Jungwon rolled his eyes, again (he’s surprised they haven’t gotten stuck like that—as he vaguely remembers his grandma used to tell him they would—with the frequency he does it out of habit).
“Not the point of today’s excursion. We’re here on an important mission, folks! Focus!” he clapped once, twice. Then he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket, quickly becoming immersed in his own scratchy handwriting.
Sunoo grabbed the nets, passing out one each to the other boys, and ducking out of pure instinct after handing one to Sunghoon as the older boy swatted the net lightly at his head.
“Okay, we’ll spread out around this area, but stay within sight of each other, as you all know!” Jungwon lectured on, still furiously checking his notes. “And if you catch something, be gentle! And bring it to me right away! But remember, we’re looking for greenish-yellow and black wings!” His voice grew more high-pitched as the others begin to disperse, clearly no longer paying him any mind.
“I bet I’ll find one before any of y’all besides Jungwonie even learn to spell Charybdis!” Sunghoon announced, tapping his net roughly against Jay’s shoulder before stumbling off down the edge of the hill towards the pond, not sparing the new road a single glance and cackling at Jay’s indignant “hey!”
Jay was right on his heels then, following Sunghoon despite the clear directions to spread out.
As usual.
“Spell it then, loser, if you’re so smart!”
“K-A-R-I-B–”
“Dumbass, it’s C-A-R-I-B–”
As their voices grew smaller with distance, Jungwon finally looked up again from his trusty notebook to watch them make their descent, making a mental note to bring up the topic of restarting the group's biweekly English-Lit lessons again with Jake.
Without the two bickering boys, a comfortable silence fell into place, only disrupted in part by the sounds of cicadas and various other insects, small bursts of birds chirping occasionally adding to nature's orchestra. Looking over, he saw that Sunoo had wandered further away to the other side of the hill’s edge, facing the other direction.
Jungwon watched as Sunoo fiddled with the handle of his net, fox eyes drifting towards the mysteriously well-paved road opposite the pond. The pink haired boy stared for a moment, biting his plush bottom lip.
“What if we really find one, Wonie?” he whispered before turning back to meet Jungwon’s deep gaze, tilting his head at how the younger’s eyes, normally so bright and full of wonder, suddenly seemed to darken with something he couldn’t place. He reached a hand out carefully, lightly brushing Jungwon’s fingers as if to hold his hand, but deciding against doing so.
Furrowing his brows, Jungwon chewed on the end of his ink pen as he maintains eye-contact for a moment. He turned away quickly before the other could notice the tears beginning to wet his bottom eyelashes just a little.
“Let’s worry about that part once we find one, yeah?” he quipped as he headed down the hill towards the strange road that had unnerved Sunghoon so, and if his words were a bit shaky he would blame it on trying not to fall down on the rocky surface.
He didn’t have the heart to admit out loud that he knew they would find no Ornithoptera chimaera here.
They were nowhere near the natural dwelling place of this particular species after all.
They were nowhere near anything, actually.
They were nowhere.
Jungwon was not the first of them all to arrive at this place, though his adaptable nature and thirst for knowledge sometimes made it seem so.
The small boy arrived quietly, calmly, unlike most of the others. He arrived like the first bloom of flowers in spring, making no noise or fanfare, but welcomed so dearly anyhow.
He had made his way down that long gravel road towards a large concrete building with soft but assured steps, as if he had known all along exactly where he was going and why, a single ink pen in hand.
He was always good at that. Appearing to have it all together.
Upon reaching the large structure that seemed to be a huge abandoned apartment complex, or perhaps an old hotel, or even some sort of long term care facility—his mind raced a bit with possibilities—and before even deciding whether or not to knock on the large red door (a terribly and confusingly mismatched design choice for such a building, he thought, hunching forward to inspect the door closely) he was finally met with the first person he’d encountered since his arrival to this place, face to face. Quite literally.
A boy had stepped out of the doorway, nearly missing breaking Jungwon’s nose with the door. Though, he didn’t really seem to care much about that as he slammed said door shut behind him, tilting his chin up at Jungwon as they stood facing each other.
This boy was a little taller than him, but looked a bit younger in the face. A tiny layer of baby fat still padded his cheeks, which were puffed out a bit with the boy’s attempt at making an authoritative frown. His face was framed by soft-looking chin length dirty blonde hair, a few strands falling in front of his piercing eyes that gave Jungwon a quick once-over. For a quick second, Jungwon felt as though he were a prey standing meekly in front of a hungry tiger.
“Who are you?”
Jungwon jumped a bit, gripped his pen tighter, not expecting a deeper voice to come from such a face, nor the harsh tone that the boy spoke in. Though, he supposed, if this was the boy’s place of residence, and Jungwon was a random person judging his front door, he could maybe see where the aggression would come from.
He’d probably react the same. But then, he wouldn’t have such an ugly door either.
His gaze slowly drifted from the other’s face, back to the door behind the boy. Now that he looked closer, he could make out odd markings etched deeply into the wood along the curve of the door, beginning at the bottom of one side and arching over and down to the other, and a few more underneath the old-fashioned lion head door knocker—symbols and perhaps letters of some foreign alphabet he couldn’t quite place.
It was no language he’d ever seen before. His fingers itched for a piece of paper, the urge to write it all down and interpret the meaning quickly overriding the current social interaction in the levels of importance in his brain.
“Name’s Jungwon,” he replied distractedly, and a little too belatedly he realized, if the other boy’s pinched face was anything to go off of—meeting those fierce eyes again, now more full of distrust than before. “Yes, sorry, I’m Jungwon. Real name, totally not a fake name. Why would I have had to make up a fake name? I don’t care if you know my real name, it’s just a normal name, probably thousands of Jungwons out there—and I don’t even know you! Or what this place is. Where even am I? Is this your house? You look way too young to own a house—mansion, actually— and didn’t your parents teach you not to open the door for strangers? And you, what are you, anyway—some sort of professional name taker?"
Rant over, Jungwon let out a huff as he clipped his pen to the collar of his shirt and crossed his arms while matching the other boy’s eye contact. Now that his dark eyes were fully widened, accompanied by a slightly slacked jaw, Jungwon thought he resembled more of a baby kitten than a tiger.
“Uhm…no?”
Jungwon sighed, running his fingers through his hair.
“Right, well. Thanks for answering exactly one question,” he nodded.
“Hey, I live here. You’re the one who should be getting interrogated!”
“Interrogate me then, Mr. Name Taker, Keeper of the Ugly Red Door.”
“Excuse me? I painted this door, it’s artistic! It’s a statement!”
“An ugly one.”
The blond scoffed, but before he could continue their back and forth, the door opened again, softer this time.
“Niki?” an airy, yet musical-sounding voice asked, “who is it? Are they from the Outside?”
The boy—Niki—pouted, leaned back against the edge of the doorframe and crossed his arms petulantly.
“I was getting there, Heeseung. We haven’t even gotten past his name yet.”
Jungwon smirked at that, but as this Heeseung guy stepped out around Niki, Jungwon pressed his lips together as his amusement turned back to nervousness.
This guy, though maybe a hair shorter than Niki, had an unmistakable air around him that told Jungwon he was the one Jungwon should really be answering to. His shaggy black hair tinted slightly bluish-green, blue hoodie and loose fitted jeans gave him a boy-next-door vibe, but there was something about his eyes and his overall presence that had Jungwon stepping back just a tad.
“Hi, I’m Heeseung,” he introduced, a bit unnecessarily, but Jungwon appreciated the politeness. “What’s your name?”
“Jungwon,” he answered—projecting his voice more confidently this time—and flitted his gaze over to Niki, coughing a bit into his elbow to cover his laugh at the way the younger boy rolled his eyes and theatrically mimed writing down his name onto a guest book. “Nice to meet you both…I think?”
Heeseung smiled brightly, and Jungwon found himself entranced again. He’d never seen such perfect teeth.
“Likewise,” he said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb, “and that’s Niki, I’m sure you’ve realized. Sorry about him, he’s a bit territorial.”
“Wow, rude. I’m literally just doing my job here. Who was unlucky enough to lose at rock paper scissors and have to welcome the Newcomer again? Oh yeah, me!”
“Scaring them off is the opposite of welcoming, Kid, hate to break it to you.”
“This is bullying. I’m going back inside.”
Jungwon fully giggled then, catching the attention of the two other boys.
“Oh. Right, um. Well, Jungwon, welcome to our humble abode!” Heeseung grinned, bowing.
“Uh, thanks, I guess?”
“You are from the Outside, right?” Niki interjected, looking Jungwon over again, then apprehensively looking out behind him in the distance, as if searching for someone—or something—else that may have accompanied Jungwon.
“I’ve never been here before, if that’s what you mean,” Jungwon answered, absentmindedly adjusting his shirt sleeves under his sweater vest, fruitlessly trying to pull the short sleeves down further over his chilled skin. “And um. Not exactly sure how I ended up here in the first place? I kinda just…woke up? And was here? I mean, it didn’t feel like I had actually been asleep, exactly…but, well. I can't seem to...remember very much. I just, when I saw the road I figured if I followed it, I’d find somebody else eventually. And… here we are.”
Heeseung smiled again, this time not showing his nice teeth. It was a sad sort of smile, one that told Jungwon lots of things he wasn’t sure he wanted to actually hear. So he didn’t think about them, or give Heeseung a chance to say them.
“So, what is this place, then?” he asked, rocking back on his heels as he looked up at the building.
“We call it the Sanctuary,” Heeseung gestured towards the concrete structure. “At least—that’s what I named it in my head, and I guess the name sorta stuck.”
Jungwon cocked his head, humming as another chill ran through him. Now that the sun was beginning to set, the air was cooler, but he had to admit the slightly dilapidated building made a pretty picture with the pink and purple in the sky as the backdrop.
“What’s the writing on the door mean?”
“We don’t know, it was there when Heeseung found the place,” Niki let out an irritated sigh as he ran a finger over some of the markings, “wish it wasn’t there, though, kinda ruins the aesthetic a bit, and it wasn’t fun trying to get an even paint job with it messing up the wood like that.”
“...Right,” Jungwon drawled, “but surely you guys are curious about what it says though? Wait—Heeseung, you found this place?”
Heeseung nodded, smiling again.
“Did you—I mean, were you…” Jungwon trailed off, unsure how to phrase his question. He’d been walking a long time before finding anything, and he was starting to feel the fatigue settle in his bones.
“Same thing that happened to you. Woke up in a field alone, followed a road, found this place. Except there was no one else here when I found it, so…figured it was mine. Squatter’s rights!”
Jungwon blinked, suddenly realizing how heavy his eyes were.
“Well, I suppose we should get you settled for the night. Niki, go let Jay and Jake know we’ve officially got a fifth.” Heeseung motioned Niki to go inside ahead of them, gently placing an arm around Jungwon’s shoulder.
“Yessir,” Niki huffed, giving Heeseung a two-fingered salute and eyeing Jungwon one more time before heading inside.
“There’s only four of you guys here?” Jungwon mumbled, relaxing a bit in Heeseung’s embrace as they followed behind the younger boy, “this place is…gigantic, though. I mean, it’s weird, that it would be so empty…,”
“I stopped questioning a lot of things about this place a long time ago.”
As they headed inside the building, Jungwon would later chastise himself for not paying much attention to his surroundings at that point, letting his weariness take hold of him too tight to make any useful observations. It was nothing fancy, the carpet clearly old and a bit musty, mustard yellow and patterned in brown. The few pieces of furniture—a few tables, bookcases, shelves—all made of wood, nothing modern. A large maroon couch and a couple of recliner chairs, mismatched and well-worn in. Scattered pieces of fabric, some throw blankets, some random bits of clothing, a stray jacket or overshirt thrown carelessly over the back of a loveseat. Magazines, books, a couple of stained coffee cups covered the tops of two rickety looking tables.
“Room’s ready.”
Jungwon looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar, velvety voice. Another boy, appearing similar in age to Heeseung. Black hair with an undercut, somehow both sharp and gentle facial features but with a jawline that could cut glass.
This boy neither smiled nor frowned, yet his stare made Jungwon feel as though he were seeing through right down to Jungwon's soul.
And he had on the ugliest red pants. What was with these people and red? Jungwon clicked his tongue at the offensive clothing, before looking back up and unintentionally meeting the other boy's gaze again, shivering.
“Thanks Jay—this is Jungwon. He’s like us,” Heeseung nodded assuringly as he pulled Jungwon closer in toward his side, as if to convince the other boy of something. Even though this Jay, as Heeseung called him, seemed unperturbed by Jungwon’s presence altogether.
He hummed at Heeseung's words, but kept his full attention on Jungwon.
"You look cold," he finally said, focusing his gaze on Jungwon's bare arms covered in goosebumps, and his thin sweater vest that really did nothing to keep in any sort of warmth. "I'll get you something warmer to put on. Gets chilly at night here."
And with that, Jay handed over something small to Heeseung before he sauntered off down the long hallway to the left of the main area, which had multiple doors evenly spaced out, hotel-style.
"Come on, your room's down this way too," Heeseung explained, gently guiding Jungwon by the arm when the younger hesitated.
"Wait—I still don't—,"
"You'll be okay here, trust me. The doors lock anyway; your room's key showed up on the table this morning—that's how we knew you'd be coming."
Heeseung held up the object Jay had given him—a small silver key, with what was presumably a room number carved on the end.
Jungwon shook his head, each minute that passed starting to make everything feel more and more like a weird dream, the kind you have after taking a little too much cold medicine.
The duo came to a stop in front of one of the rooms, number 115. The door was opened by a crack, and Heeseung pushed it open wide for Jungwon before handing the smaller boy the key.
"Be careful not to lose it, now. The Sanctuary does not like having to hand out replacement keys—trust me, I learned the hard way!" The older boy laughed, pulling out his own silver key that he had attached to a dog tag chain around his neck.
Jungwon nodded, before assessing the room he figured he'd be calling his for the next undetermined length of time.
It was small, just big enough to fit a twin size bed, a desk with a tiny lamp, and a closet with a couple of drawers next to it. All wood, even the bed frame, and the floor, but at least there was a small throw rug next to the bed. The walls were a pretty eggshell blue, but bare aside from a tiny window with a ledge above the bed. To the right of the door was a tiny bathroom, the old tile appearing to have been scrubbed clean recently in an attempt to make it seem a bit newer.
“It’s a bit…empty. That's strange,” Heeseung said under his breath, tapping his fingers along the door frame, the offhand comment making Jungwon frown a bit in confusion, “but—well, I’m sure that’ll change in time. Try to get some sleep, okay?”
Jungwon nodded, giving the older boy a dimpled smile as he left, shutting the door softly behind him.
Sighing, Jungwon sat on the small bed, and he felt all of his remaining energy leave his body. He didn’t even notice as he fell asleep quickly, curling up on the bed, key still in his hand. He hadn’t even bothered locking the door.
When he awoke the next morning, sunlight shining in through the small wooden window panes—the first thing he noticed was the softness of a blue cashmere blanket covering him, and a folded up orange soft knitted sweater at the end of the bed, with a single book on top of it.
And for once, he was warm.