Location: Earth

Mingi

Out of everyone in the stable, Mingi is the only one who can't fly. Sure, it doesn't bother him so much, after all, Jongho is supposed to be able to fly but can't. Hongjoong can't fly either, but that didn't stop him from loving all the others who could fly. All in all, Mingi doesn't let himself think too much about his differences. He's the only one who can do magic, and that's a unique trait worth being proud of, but being unable to fly, makes him feel like he's unable to fit in...

It's on one of these gloomy nights, when rain has fallen for too many days on end, that Mingi spirals into his lonesome thoughts again, when all the others are asleep, each one spiking through his mind like needles before he drifts into a forced slumber.

An alarm rings, and Mingi reaches out a hoof to turn it off, hearing the satisfying click of it stopping and preparing itself for the next day. Does he want to get up? No, his bed is so soft... Why would he even-

"Mingi, you don't have a bed" His subconscious mind reminds him. "Oh... WHAT?!"

His eyes fly open, panic evident in them as he moves without thinking, ultimately tumbling off the bed, only to see a fluffy, white cotton-like structure underneath him, cushioning the fall. Lifting his head, he tentatively picks up a hoof and gently pushes against the floor. It's cold but soft, as he had felt when he fell onto it. weirdly, it had a tension to it, as though preventing him from just sinking through. Are these clouds?

Before he could think any longer, a knock sounded at the door. "Mingi-ya! Breakfast is ready!"

His mind had yet to form cohesive thoughts, and he blurted out the first thing he thought of. "Yes, eomma..."

A muffled chuckle sounded just outside. "Well, I wasn't expecting to be a mom ever, but looks like I achieved it earlier than expected." Mingi's mind finally clicked and made the connection from voice to appearance.

"Oh, ohmygosh, sorry Yun. I'll be out in a moment."

"Hurry up, before woosansang hoover up all the pancakes." Yunho's voice drifted off, and Mingi hurried to get his thoughts together. Somehow, just somehow, he was in the cloud realm, and all his friends were here. Maybe he'd get more answers later, as he could definitely use some breakfast. Picking himself up from the floor, albeit with some difficulty, he stood up and took in his surroundings.

The floor and walls were white, the only splash of colour came from a vase of roses on the nightstand and a painting of a sunset on the wall beside the window, which was shielded by sky blue blackout curtains. This room... didn't feel like him. Yes, maybe it belonged to him, but it lacked the Mingi vibe. Now wasn't the time to think about it, however, as he had his stomach to satisfy.

He wandered out the room, pacing down a corridor before entering the large common area, where he was greeted by a familiar pink and white phoenix.

"Good morning Mingi!"

His voice sounds a little higher pitch than usual...

"Good morning Sangie! Are you having a cold?"

The phoenix looked at him with an expression of you-did-not-just-say-that.

"Mingi... are you sure you're not having a fever?" He waved one wing in front of his face.

"I'm Sannie."

What sorcery is this?!

"Ah yes, that's what I meant to say, yes," Mingi choked out weakly, "I was confused for a second."

The phoenix's eyes turned into slits, as though he were smiling. "Don't worry, you're probably just tired. We did party till pretty late yesterday." He was picking up a lot of info from this version of San.

"Yeah, we sure did. D-did I drink too much?"

San tilted his head sideways thoughtfully before answering. "Actually, you didn't. Why? Are you alright, Mingi?"

"Ye-yes, I'm fine. I just... need to use the bathroom." He rushed off down the corridor, looking into each room as he passed, before ending up re-entering his own room, San watching from behind him disapprovingly. Seeing San's expression, Yunho strolled over.

"Is something wrong, Sannie?" The griffin asked his friend.

"Mingi's acting really weird today."

"What do you mean?"

"He said he needed to use the bathroom. Animals like us technically don't have "bathrooms"."

...

Unable to locate aforementioned bathroom, Mingi soon realized animals don't have typical bathrooms, and that he'd flubbed his attempt at appearing normal. Back in the place he'd woken up in, he skittered around in circles, only calming down slightly upon catching sight of his own reflection, sighing in relief to see he was at least still a unicorn. Imagine the horror if he'd become, say a hippogriff. No hate against Wooyoung, but yeah... he'd rather be his original majestic self.

It still didn't make sense: If San is the phoenix now, then what is Yeosang? And why can't he remember anything?

His tangle of thoughts was interrupted by a high-pitched screech. "Mingi! We're gonna be late! Hurry out and eat!" This time, he knew for sure who this was.

"Yes Woo!" He opened the door and came face to face with the Pegasus. At least under the process of elimination he has another one down. In a moment of relief, he spoke without thinking.

"Thanks for cooking breakfast, Woo."

To his horror and dismay, the Pegasus looked confused. "But I don't even cook well. Remember when I flipped a whole pan of eggs onto the floor? Y'all didn't let me in the kitchen after that. Nowadays, Yeosangie does most of the cooking. Anyways, hurry and eat, I'm gonna go get ready."

"Get ready for what?"

"School, obviously. You forgot today's a Monday?!" He flubbed it again.

"A-ah, no. I'll go eat now." Mingi hurried off, leaving Wooyoung standing there shaking his head. Yeosang, who had got all his things ready the quickest, witnessed this action. "Something wrong, Young-ah?"

The Pegasus and hippogriff looked toward the living room as the former spoke.

"Mingi's acting really weird today."

...

Breakfast was a quiet affair for Mingi, as everyone had gone to get ready, and he was able to silently eat and collect his thoughts.

First, he was in a cloud realm in who knows where. Second, his friends had the same names, but it appeared they had different forms here. Third, he literally had to leave for school in minutes even though he had no idea where it was and what to expect. Sincerely, he's in a bad position, but if he can get through the day with no hitches and mishaps, everything will probably be fine, hopefully. That's provided no one finds out he isn't really this world's version of himself. Though he also suspects that some of them may have suspicions on him. Especially the woosan pair.

Whilst handling his inner turmoil, Mingi ate as fast as he could, not wanting to stir up more attention and trouble by causing them to be late. To his apparent luck, the version of himself that lived here, supposing there was another Mingi, was a very neat unicorn. The books and quills were piled neatly in his dresser drawer, and he even had a book strap to bind all his stuff together. It was hard packing all the items, and he couldn't help but wonder how he even did it. But lo and behold, he had a successful attempt, and picking up the strap in his mouth, carried his things out.

The others were gathered at the door when he arrived, and he swore their jaws dropped when he appeared. And it wasn't a good thing. "Err... Mingi. Are you absolutely sure you're alright?"

Struggling to answer due to his load, the unicorn responded in a muffled voice. "Yes, Sangie, I'm fine. Why?"

"Nothing... Just that you usually don't carry your things like that, saying it'll break the strap and all. Only reason why you did use it is because it kept everything together just in case it did drop."

"Oh, ah, yes. What am I doing?" Mingi chuckles awkwardly and slaps himself in the head, immediately dropping his strap's worth of supplies, picking it up and swinging it onto his back. "So, shall we be off now?"

It was then that the griffin voiced his opinion. "Mingi, as the oldest amongst us here," "Though you don't act like it," "Though I don't act like it, thanks second in command. It might be safer if you stayed home today just in case you're actually ill."

The unicorn, in a state of immense relief, stuttered out a response which was immediately drowned out by the self-proclaimed-and-everyone-agrees loudest one. "Aww, but we're playing Pegaball in gym today. You sure you don't wanna join?" Wooyoung gave his best puppy-dog, or should I say pega-pony eyes, and Mingi, not wanting to seem like a spoilsport, gave in.

"You know what, it does sound like fun today. I'll just inform the teacher if I'm unwell. C'mon guys." He skipped ahead, missing the look the foursome shared. No words were needed to know what each one of them were thinking. "Mingi, you don't even like Pegaball."

...

In Mingi's context, the rest of the day hadn't involved many "obvious" mistakes. When they'd left the house, he tested if he could fly, which somehow, he could, but smashed into a few clouds along the way when he went out of control. He had gone to the wrong classroom by following San, but subsequently realized he had the same classes as Wooyoung, so he just followed the Pegasus instead.

Although he had been given a warning for being late, it was a somewhat success overall in his mind. Also, he almost poisoned himself during lunch. Turns out this universe's him is allergic to carrots. But, he didn't too much of it as it was now the coveted gym time and Pegaball. Pegaball turned out to be a hellish way of dodgeball where there are no reins attached. Anyone's allowed to just fly up and dump a ball on anyone's head. So of course, there were always accidents...

And Mingi... Did not remember much of the game, for within the first minute or so, four pink and white striped and slightly sparkling balls whacked him in the head, knocking him out cold.

When he came to, all that was visible were blurry white lights and four very familiar yet blurry faces. "Mingi! You're up!" The nurse rushed over, pronounced him fit to head back to class, gave him some headache pills, and left to more urgent matters, e.g., her game of solitaire.

The unicorn, eager to head back to class or home, depending on how long he had been out (he was informed it had only been ten minutes), sat and got up, only to be pushed back into the soft bedding by the Pegasus. "Wha- Wooyoung, what are you doing?"

The Pegasus scowled, if it were even possible for horses to scowl, and fired back. "You mean what are YOU doing. You've been acting suspicious the whole day; we just didn't bring it up. What's up with you, Mingi?"

Sensing the severity of the atmosphere, Mingi decided it would be safest to stay silent.

"What now? Cat got your tongue? What exactly is wrong with you?" This time, it was the phoenix who questioned.

"Everything's fine," he wanted to say, but that clearly wasn't the truth, so he settled for a "You wouldn't understand," which was definitely not the way to go. It only served to aggravate the situation.

"What do you mean we wouldn't understand? Have you been keeping secrets from us? Are you an imposter?" The weight of the last accusation hit Mingi in the face harder than the balls earlier. "N-no, there's nothing wrong. I'm fine."

"He's stuttering. He's probably lying," the griffin muttered bitterly.

With a single smooth wingbeat, the phoenix flew onto the bed and shoved his face right in front of Mingi's. "If you're not an imposter, then you can obviously answer these simple questions. What is Woo's favourite breakfast? What's my favourite colour? What is Sangie's favourite food? When is Yun's birthday?"

The mixed-up names and faces confused Mingi, and in his haste to answer and prove himself trustworthy, forgot how different his "friends" were in this realm. "Ham, purple, chicken, 0323."

All their faces fell simultaneously and grew into ones of suspicion. "So you really aren't Mingi. Who exactly are you?"

"I AM Mingi!"

"Liar..."

The four trailed out the room, and the unicorn, in desperation, leapt out of bed and ran after them. "No! Guys, wait up...!" With each step he took, Mingi felt himself slowly sinking into the clouds. "Please wait for me! Don't leave me!" He sank further in, and he attempted swimming to get back up, but it was like swimming in a thick bank of snow.

"Wait for me! Wait up! Wait up. Wait up..."

...

"Mingi! Wake up! Wake up. Wake up..."

His eyes flew open in panic, and he was faced with the same scenario in the medical room, surrounded by his friends. "Mingi, are you alright?" The Pegasus questioned, and the unicorn flinched. "Mingi, what's wrong?"

It was then that his senses clicked, and he realized he was in the familiar barn, with all its rustic furnishings, the smell of hay, and the voices of his friends, whom all sounded rightly matched again. "Yun..."

The Pegasus stepped forward, nuzzling his friend on the face. "Yes, Mingi, what's wrong?"

"What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare, crying your heart out while sleeping. It hurt to leave you like that, so we woke you up."

"Oh..."

"Is there anything wrong?"

"N-no, everything's fine."

"Mingi, don't lie to us. We know you're not fine. We're your friends, you can tell us anything. We'll help you no matter what."

The rest nodded in agreement, and the unicorn, convinced by the sincerity of their words, brought up his hidden, innermost feelings.

"I'm... afraid. Afraid I'll get left behind, afraid I'll never fit in with you guys."

He watches as their faces fall, just like in his dream, but this time, they morph into ones of concern.

"How could you ever think that?" the hippogriff exclaimed.

"You all have wings, you all can fly. I feel pathetic when I see all of you soar above me, it's almost like I'm lacking something. It feels like one day y'all are gonna spread your wings, fly away, and never return. And I'll be left alone..." His eyes fogged up, and he gently brushed the tear drops away with a foreleg. There wasn't a single dry eye in the crowd, until Wooyoung chimed in.

"Ohmygosh, Yeo, you're crying?! Quick, quick, collect it! Phoenix tears have healing properties, we can definitely use it." "Aish- Woo, you ruined a moment." "Well I'm sorry, San-ssi, but this is too good an opportunity to pass."

The hippogriffin pair proceeded to fight, the phoenix calling out scores that were grossly inaccurate, while the two horse-like ones watched their antics with unamused expression, before continuing their heartfelt conversation.

"Mingi, we love you for who you are. You don't have to fit in to be a part of us. Everyone has points that make us unique, and we're all different for a reason. It's like a puzzle, each piece is unlike the others, allowing it to form a cohesive picture. You are meant to be the way you are, and you're perfect just the way you are. And for the record, you're my best friend. I'd never leave you. We'll never leave you. Anything that happens, we'll face it together."

The trio in the fight ceased their bickering to nod their agreement. Forgetting it was in the middle of the night in his elated state, Mingi magicked and fired a firework out Yeosang's escape window, where it lit up the sky with a loud "BANG!". From the house came a scream. "AAAAH! Oi, who did that?!"

There was a chorus of four voices. "MINGIIII..."

"I thought you guys just said, anything that happens, we'll face it together..."

.