𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇. enhypen

twenty

With a snort, Jaeyun butted into the conversation again. "I don't know..." He reached out and caught a lock of Heeseung's hair between his fingers. "This version of you is starting to grow on me. Reminds me of my grandfather." He pressed his free hand to his lips to muffle the chortle that rose in him as he watched Heeseung instantly frown. Even Sunghoon seemed to find amusement, laughing when he straightened his back.

"Stop teasing him guys." Jihye warned sternly at them over her shoulder, then placed a hand on Heeseung's arm to pull him away from his reflection. "It's only for tonight. I'll turn you back to normal when we get back."

Heeseung no longer had the energy to fret of his hair color, instead he waved a hand above his head as he asked, "Couldn't you have made me a smidge taller though? There wasn't any need to take away from height."

"But had I done that-" Smiling brightly, Jihye threw an arm around Heeseung and pulled him down by the neck, until his head was close enough for her to assault his gray tufts. "I wouldn't be able to ruffle your hair like this." Heeseung struggled to turn his head in Jihye's grip, a protest rising to the tip of his tongue as he looked for a way to pry her off. But thanks to a self defense lesson she had with K a while back, Jihye was skillfully able to keep him anchored where she wanted him.

"Oh, so you're allowed to tease him but we aren't?" Jaeyun interjects just as Heeseung gives up and allows the assault to happen.

Jihye pursed her lips in an attempt at offense, but it was short-lived as she turned to grin widely at Heeseung instead, whose appearance was rather flushed. "This is affectionate jesting." Jihye giggled, smiling impossibly bigger when Heeseung turned his head to hide his embarrassment.

She was tempted to continue teasing, but the three of them needed a fully functioning Heeseung to guide them through Hadal. Jihye draws back her arms, giving Heeseung the chance to stand up straight. "But I'll stop now before Heeseung dies of shame." She told as she fixed up his tousled hair.

"Thanks." Heeseung mumbled quietly after taking a deep breath to cool down his ardent blush.

To apologize for her blatant teasing, Jihye summoned one of the hats inside the haberdashery into her hands using a spell and tossed it over to Heeseung. "Here. Use this to cover it up." She watched as he put it on, a vast majority of his hair disappearing under it. "It serves as a double disguise as well."

"Good thinking." Once again, Jaeyun butted into the conversation. "Now Heeseung doesn't look half as old-"

"Alright, that's it." Heeseung said loudly to drown out the rest of Jaeyun's words as he began lunging towards him.

"I was only joking! I take it back!" Jaeyun quickly shouted, smiling widely in a very unapologetic way as he stretched his arms out to shield himself from Heeseung's wrath. "Please! Spare me!"

Enlivened by this, Jihye steps out of Heeseung's way and let's him charge his body directly into Jaeyun's torso. She laughs as the two begin to playfully wrestle with each other, the action being something she's never seen two royal children do.

"Shouldn't we pay for that?" Sunghoon asks by Jihye's side, referring to the hat Jaeyun snatched from Heeseung's head at that exact moment. "Otherwise we'd be stealing from the shop owner."

"You're absolutely right." Jihye agreed with him as she began digging into the pockets of her coat in search for the sack of money she brought with before leaving the Eastern Castle a twenty minutes earlier. "I'll leave some coins inside the shop."

Sunghoon glanced at Jihye's left hand as she pulled out what she was looking for. There was a white bandage wrapped around her palm and he scrutinized the cloth for a moment longer than necessary, before lifting his head towards the storefront. He uncrosses his arms when he notices a bright yellow sign that sits on a counter. "Hold on." Sunghoon pointed inside the store, causing Jihye to halt in her movements. "The sign says that no foreign currency is accepted."