Ah, break. Minhee's most favorite time of the year. Break meant hagwon and Christmas and minimum wage shifts at some shady fast-food chain. Break meant quarters in an arcade machine, piping hot sweet potatoes, bitter coffee with artificial sweetener. Break meant peace, immature banter, and a well-deserved break. No more killing homeroom teachers and causing glitches in the matrix. He'd had enough of that to last a lifetime, and everything had just settled into an odd kind of normal.

So, rest assured, when Hyeongjun called him at 3:00 AM in a breathless panic, Minhee was most definitely not prepared.

"Minhee... Minhee, can you hear me?" his desperate voice panted over crackly speakerphone.

"Jun? What's wrong?"

A pause while Hyeongjun caught his breath. From the dogs barking and children singing in the background, Minhee could safely assume he was in some rich residential neighborhood. Why was he so panicked?

"Meet me outside your house in twenty minutes. Pack a bag, stuff for maybe a week? Yeah, a week. See you soon,"

Muffled curses from a voice suspiciously similar to Wonjin's echoed before Hyeongjun hung up.

Why would he need a week of clothes? Neither Hyeongjun nor Wonjin were rich, considering they roomed together in a cramped one-room flat without a running sink. Where would they even take him for a week?

This had to be some elaborate prank, right? Without school, the two of them likely just had too much time on their hands. Yet the fear, the desperation in his voice were so raw.

To pack or not to pack, that was the question. His supplemental Chinese homework wasn't due till Friday, so it wasn't as if he didn't have time. It was just a hassle.

Break it down. Worst case scenario, he'd have to explain to his dad why he was out of the house so late and why he had a suitcase packed. Could lead to a fight, could make Dad think he was running away. Dad would likely be angry, but it wasn't as if Minhee had much to lose. He'd maybe scold him a bit, slam the door if he was in a particularly bad mood. And the flip side meant really helping Hyeongjun with something.

Did he really want to help Hyeongjun and Wonjin though? After the odd stunt they'd pulled at the field trip? Whenever he asked about then, the two of them would share an odd look and shake their heads.

What do you mean, Mr. Lee's been teaching us all year?

For God's sake, who is Ms. Go?

Echidna? Is that like an enchilada?

Were they amnesic or just messing with him?

Before he could talk himself out of it, Minhee was packing. Jeans and button downs and an extra pair of sneakers. Two toothbrushes, because he almost always would lose one. A tube of glittery blue toothpaste. Maybe his extra-warm sweatshirt. A swimsuit? Why the heck not.

"Okay. Okay, you're really doing this, Kang Minhee,"

Hyeongjun was incapable of lying, anyways. And what was the worst that could happen?

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

"So... don't freak out," Hyeongjun cautioned, blowing on his mittened hands. The knitted wool seemed to change color under the flickering streetlight: a vibrant spring green to a deep-sea blue to a royal purple. Must be an elaborate trick of the light; Hyeongjun was inexplicably good at those.

"Uh huh," Minhee nodded, tapping his foot impatiently, hand loosely gripping the handle of his plastic rolling suitcase. 

"Seriously, if you scream, I will clock you," Wonjin grumbled, nibbling on a thick thread from the unraveling fingered gloves. His eyes kept drooping closed, head nodding so far down Hyeongjun had to give him a hard forehead push to get him back into it.

"What's with all the dramatic foreshadowing, guys?" Minhee asked with a nervous laugh, "Is someone hiding in the bushes? Please tell me you guys did not pay someone to hide in the bushes,"

"If you're sure you're ready," Hyeongjun shrugged, pulling off his now white gloves, "Youngtae! You can come out now!"

Well, dramatic foreshadowing be damned, Minhee was not at all ready for this.

Hyeongjun raised two fingers to his lips, took a deep breath, and whistled. Almost on cue, a large chariot made of — was that gold? — descended, manned by a boy about his age. He really must not be getting enough sleep if that thing pulling it was a winged black horse.

Just for safe measure it seemed, Wonjin jumped on Minhee's back and blocked his onset of screams with a mouthful of wool.

"Sugardrop! There's a good girl," Hyeongjun cooed, petting the black horse's snout (was that even what it was called? Minhee didn't know, he wasn't exactly an expert on horses), "Did you miss me? Huh, baby? Did you miss me?"

"Damn, not even a thank you?" the boy driving (if you can even drive chariots) pouted, running a hand through his dirty blond hair, "Jun,"

He looked like the guy every girl would be head over heels for. A small, round face, a button nose, and thin, smiling lips. His large, cat-like eyes sparkled with good-natured mischief. The type of kid teachers would hate.

But back to the issue at hand.

"You... flying horse... gold," Minhee mumbled, eyes wide. His butt landed on cold asphalt as he pitched backwards, shaking his head in disbelief.

This wasn't possible. This shouldn't be possible. What millionaire got so bored he decided to recreate a Greek chariot in gold?

"Should we knock him out?" Wonjin asked lethargically. The pretentious bastard was leaning against a lamp pole, apathetically examining his fingernails.

"Hyung! I thought we're trying to get in less trouble!" Hyeongjun grumbled, pulling his mittens back on.

"Okay, okay!" Wonjin sighed, putting up his hands, "Just a suggestion!"

"Is no one going to talk about the... the flying horse?"

"That's Sugardrop! The bestest best girl in the whole word," Hyeongjun beamed, "And a baby,"

What was there to say to that? Minhee nodded slowly, taking a step backwards towards the steps of the apartment complex.

"That's... nice and all," he nodded with clenched teeth, "I'll just... go to bed now,"

"Where are you going?" suddenly Wonjin was in front of him, looking extremely displeased, "You're coming with us,"

Before he could even open his mouth to protest, the other boy linked arms with him and marched him into the chariot.

"New kid's bag? Check," he noted, "Okay Jun. We're ready!"

"What? No, I am not—"

Hyeongjun snapped the reigns, and they were off.

A straight upwards ascent, so fast it left Minhee gasping for breath. Who were these kids and what had they done to his best friends? Who even were his best friends?

"I haven't introduced myself yet," the unnamed boy gasped in realization, "I'm Kim Taeyoung. Son of Apollo,"

Minhee awkwardly shook his outstretched hand, flinched a bit when Taeyoung slapped him on the back.

"Apollo. Sounds foreign. Like... the Greek god?"

"Exactly!"

The vigor with which Kim Taeyoung responded was slightly concerning. The way he was saying that made it sound like he was the son of the god. Which most definitely wasn't what he meant, was it?

"Thank the gods, my hair was getting old," Hyeongjun mumbled with a sigh of relief, "What color should I try? Red? Orange? Brown again?"

"I vote red," Taeyoung called with a cheeky smile, "Fire engine red. Go big or go home,"

"Red it is then," Hyeongjun nodded contentedly, "Min, what do you think?"

The way he asked that so casually, as if they weren't flying in a gold chariot pulled by a Pegasus, was worrying. How the heck was he not kicking and screaming?

"Don't worry. Photokinesis is his specialty," Taeyoung added, like that explained anything, "Can I call you hyung?"

Photokinesis. Manipulation of light. That... would make sense. How his clothes changed color every time the light hit him.

Minhee would probably wake up in the morning with a headache, hunched over his desk, trying to remember the odd dream he'd had. But if this was a dream, then he supposed he could have some fun.  

"Sure?" Minhee said it like a question, "How old even are you?"

"Born in '03," Taeyoung's face lit up, "Hyeongjun told me all about you,"

Now was probably the time to ask about Ms. Go. But for some reason, words stuck in the back of his throat like gum on the sole of his shoe.

"Well, Wonjin hyung's mom is Hecate," Taeyoung continued, "Goddess of magic? Yeah, he might be cool if he wasn't such a jerk,"

"Kim Taeyoung, I can hear you," Wonjin grumbled.

"Oh look, we're almost there!"

Hyeongjun excitedly pointed to a picturesque green field. This was it? They'd scared the shit out of him for... a potato field?

But behind a cute white cottage was something that most definitely should not be there.

A scattered village of cabins, each so different it was dizzying. One had grass growing out of the roof, another was made entirely of marble. Yet another had a roof made of bones, which was most definitely not disturbing.

"We're going down!" Hyeongjun yelled over wind so strong, Minhee's short bangs whipped around.

Minhee screamed, and they were on solid ground.  

"You're okay!" Taeyoung reassured him, holding his arm to help regain balance, "We're here!"

A small crowd of vaguely teenaged kids had gathered around him. The attention was dizzying, their gazes expectant, like they wanted him to do a flip. All too reminiscent of memories he wanted to forget.

Hyeongjun's feet barely touched the ground before an extremely tall boy tackled him with a hug. Still shorter than Minhee's freakish height, but tall.

"Dohyon, I can't breathe," Hyeongjun choked, standing on tiptoe to pat the tall boy on the head.

"But hyung, I missed you," he whined, still koalaed onto Hyeongjun.

A short pretty boy scoffed, grabbed the tall boy by the collar and pulled him off. His delicate features contrasted sharply with the annoyed expression on his face.

"I knew you'd be all right," he said with a slight eyeroll, "Hurry up, Seungwoo hyung's looking for you,"

"Damn, Pyo, not even a hello?" Wonjin teased.

Pyo (he was assuming that was his name) glared wordlessly at him. That was the fastest Minhee had seen Wonjin shut up, ever. He'd have to get some tips from him later.

A smiley blond freckled boy gently took Sugardrop gently by the reigns.

"Don't worry, you guys," he reassured them, "I'll take care of Sugardrop,"

Hyeongjun's shoulders relaxed as the blonde boy whisked the flying horse away.

"Well then," Wonjin cleared his throat, "Ready to meet Han Seungwoo?" 

Author's Note: As a multistan, I will die with a Cravity, ONF, TBZ, and Golcha comeback all at once (which reminds me: I was trying to become a Goldeness while also trying to become a Deobi and NCTzen, I decided I'd get back to Golcha after I wondered Seungmin of NCT was performing The Stealer)