The afternoon session was sword training with the Apollo and Iris cabins. Apparently, the three cabins 'did everything together,' from sports to practice to homework.

That also meant he got to see Hyeongjun again after three hours.

It wasn't difficult to spot him in the sea of people: his firetruck-red hair stood out like a sore thumb. He was chatting with the boy who'd driven the chariot (Taeyoung, he thought) last night, pursing his lips and violently shaking his head.

"No, no, I'm still older than you, so you're going to call me hyung!"

"C'mon, Hyeongjun, two months isn't all that much,"

"I'm still born the year before you!"

"Whatever, Hyeongjun,"

"Come back here Kim Taeyoung!"

The two chased each other in the crowd, side stepping around an annoyed Ahn Yujin and almost body-slamming into an annoyed boy who was bickering with Yena.

"I'm going to kick you're a—I mean, butt today," he challenged loudly.

"As if," Yena scoffed, "When have you ever beat me?"

Before she could laugh in his face, a man strode confidently in front of the chaos.

He looked oddly familiar. The mischievous single squint of his eye, the sharp slope of his nose, the soft point of his chin.

Hyeongjun, now cross-legged next to Taeyoung, straightened his back, bit his upper lip.

Wait a second. This was that man.

The one who burst into the pretty man's (Wooseok, he remembered) office, panting, eye wide with fear.

It's Jinwoo! He's... he's missing!

The color drained out of Hyeongjun and Wooseok's faces simultaneously.

Who was this Jinwoo? What was starting?

"Alright everyone!" the man announced, clapping his hands for silence. Only a chorus of grumbles followed, but he kept the same fake smile on his face nonetheless, "We've got someone new joining us today. Kang Minhee, can you introduce yourself?"

All eyes were on him. Hyeongjun gave Minhee a not-so-inconspicuous thumbs-up that did nothing to ease the awkwardness.

"But you just introduced him!" someone in the crowd protested.

"Yeah, let's just get this over with!" Yujin chimed in.

A deep breath. Minhee could do this, even with everyone glaring at him.

"Hi," he waved, voice oddly tinny, "I'm Minhee. Kang Minhee. People seem to know me."

Unenthused applause. Hyeongjun was the only one who seemed genuinely excited.

"Wonderful. Now that that's done, let's begin the demonstration."

Everything was background noise: the sword he unsheathed (Minhee must have gone numb if a damn sword wasn't exciting), some discussion about critical points, Yena stepping up to the front.

"And if you thrust—like so—you should be able to at least temporarily disarm your opponent."

Jisung leaned heavily on his hand, eyes starting to shut. Yujin (that was the bob girl's name, he learned), sighed, leaned in close to whisper something in Minhee's ear.

"His lessons are boring as hell," she grumbled, "Like? We saw the demonstration."

"I can hear you, Ahn Yujin!" Jinhyuk shouted from the stage. Yujin just rolled her eyes, smirked.

"Then wrap it up!"

Jinhyuk's face turned a little redder as he sheathed his sword again. Yena hopped off the stage with a self-satisfied smile.

"Practice, everyone! Yena can help you. Minhee, Hyeongjun, come here."

With that, everyone stood up, grabbed a wooden sword. Hyeongjun pushed through the crowd, huge smile on his face, waving at a rather dazed Minhee.

"Mini! You ready for this?"

What was he getting ready for?

"Sword practice, silly! Did you just...not listen to Jinhyuk hyung's lecture?"

Hyeongjun giggled, handing Minhee a wooden sword with such easy Minhee assumed it was light as a feather. What a surprise when he almost dropped it.

"Oh. Right."

Right. Right, right...

Sword practice. Why not?

"Hyeongjun! Minhee!"

Oh well. That would be, like, only the fifth most impressive thing he'd seen in the past 24 hours. Wasn't that funny? Wonjin had read his mind, his mom was a Greek goddess, some kid caught on fire and acted like nothing happened...

This place was weird. Really, really weird.

"Coming, hyung!" Hyeongjun called out with his signature sunny smile.

Minhee had no choice but to follow.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"Don't get stressed out. Just hold your hands—like so, very good— and lift it."

Those stupid movie characters made it look so easy. The wooden sword was heavy, unwieldy, and odd in his sweaty hands. Even though Jinhyuk assured him he was doing great, Minhee couldn't help but feel like he was doing something wrong.

Hyeongjun, for whatever reason, was playing his color-light tricks with Jinhyuk's hair, changing it from black to silver to brown to blonde, which only worked to further distract Minhee.

"Jun. Junnie, I think you're distracting him. Stop, please,"

Hyeongjun pouted, eyes sparkling mischievously.

"But I'm bored, hyung."

Jinhyuk ignored him.

"Good. Now lift it. Swing with your—nope! Hands. You had it right the first time."

This was infuriating. Minhee's ugly orange camp T-shirt stuck to his back. His bangs were plastered across his forehead. His legs trembled. But still, he did repetition after repetition under Lee Jinhyuk's watchful eye. Hyeongjun sat cross-legged on the side, making a crown out of dandelions.

"That's enough, Minhee. Very good,"

But even though Jinhyuk wore a proud smile, his eyes betrayed him.

"Hey, sunbae?"

He turned around, smile twitching.

"Hyung is fine, Minhee. We're going to have plenty of time to get to know each other,"

Hyeongjun trotted over conspicuously to listen in, dandelion crown slipping down his forehead.

"Hyung, then. Who is..."

Jinwoo, but the name died on his tongue when he saw the fire ignite in Jinhyuk's eyes. Not angry, as most fire was usually described as, but fearful. Like a wildfire burning everything with no rhyme or reason, and Jinhyuk was trying not to get burned.

"Who is who, Minhee?"

But the patient tone was one, replaced by a something rushed. Like this "Jinwoo" being missing was something to hide. Hyeongjun was mouthing something to him desperately—was it 'no'? —that he couldn't quite catch. Now was probably a good time to drop the subject.

"Uh, cabins one and five? Who are they?"

Hyeongjun shot Minhee a relieved thumbs up. Jinhyuk's regular demeanor returned, calm smile back on his face.

"Ah yes! They're the capture the flag team captains. Cabin one is—"

"Zeus! That's Mark hyung's cabin!" Hyeongjun interjected excitedly, standing on tiptoe to place the dandelion crown on Jinhyuk's head.

"Zeus? The god of the sky, right?"

Jinhyuk nodded, adjusting the crown.

"Yeah, but it's well... Mark's their only camper. Because—"

"Because if the 'Big Three' have too many children, there's chaos!"

Hyeongjun looked especially proud at this, a huge smile on his face. Jinhyuk nodded. It was clear he was annoyed at being constantly interrupted.

"Yes. So far, we've only had two. And trust me, we do not want a third,"

The look his teacher and friend shared were enough to keep him from asking further.

"And cabin five is Serim hyung's cabin! Hangyul hyung is over there too, and he's super nice, he taught me how to use a spear, and—"

Jinhyuk laughed, patted Hyeongjun's shoulder.

"Slow down. Cabin five is Ares's cabin,"

Ares. The name rang a bell?

"Ares is the god of war. Though most of his children thankfully don't take after him all that much," Jinhyuk explained, pointing to a shoddily painted red cabin.

Minhee nodded. All those names Hyeongjun spit out made no sense, but were they supposed to?

"Anyways," Jinhyuk continued, picking his sword back up while simultaneously balancing Hyeongjun's dandelion crown on his head, "Ready to move on to slashing?"

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"Dang, you're the worst sword fighter?" Minhee grumbled, icing a bruised cheek. Hyeongjun smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I may be bad, but I've been practicing for... how long has it been? Eight years?"

Muscles Minhee didn't even know he had ached. Did you know your ear muscles could hurt? Because Minhee's did.

"And you said you're bad," Minhee groaned, to which Hyeongjun only giggled.

"Hey there, puppies," Wonjin greeted with his signature smirk, "What're you talking about?"

Minhee would never be able to get over how he had just... appeared, out of thin air, though Hyeongjun seemed unperturbed.

"How I creamed Mini during practice today!" Hyeongjun sang with a satisfied smirk. Wonjin slow-clapped, rolled his eyes.

"Wow. You beat someone who picked up a sword for the first time. Congratulations,"

Hyeongjun frowned, slapped him on the shoulder.

"Still. Our Mini was pretty good, for a beginner. Jinhyuk hyung said so,"

Wonjin whistled, nodded at Minhee.

"Congrats. Jinhyuk hyung's one of the best sword fighters. Unlike that guy,"

Minhee searched for any ounce of sarcasm, but failed to find any. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards without his permission, but Minhee didn't mind.

"Damn, is being complimented by Jinhyuk hyung really that great?" a Wonjin with a voice dripping with sarcasm asked.

Was it that? Or was it the way the setting sun reflected in Wonjin's eyes? Hyeongjun's arm linked in Minhee's? The din of excited conversation in the background?

"Mini? Everything okay?" Hyeongjun asked.

It was like a puzzle piece finally, finally clicked and Minhee could finally, finally belong. A warm feeling filled his chest, like the sun's rays touching every corner of the earth.

Yes. Everything was more than okay. So much more than okay, that Minhee couldn't quite describe it.

"Ey! Kang-tese. You going deaf?"

Minhee looked over his shoulder to take in the two of him, his best friends, together with him, smiling with him, and finally...

He swung his arms around their shoulders (though he did have to crouch down a bit because they were, you know, short) smiled with all his teeth.

"Nope. Everything is perfect,"

Yes. Truly, how could things get any better? 

author's note: i originally planned to write the practice fight between mini and jun, but guess who got bored. (hint: it's me!). seongmin introduction soon, too! and AAAAA CRAVITY NEW HAIR COLORS? dying. also, planning on publishing something new! i've got a tbz fic ft. 127 where they're superheroes and they hate each other and it's mostly an outlet for my dumb jokes and writing soft things. there's also my jaehyun fic, with all the jaehyuns and chaos (?). and a college-setting isekai thing with tbz '98 line. AAAAAGH so many good ideas not enough writing motivation :,)