It was the dawn of a Sunday, when pale orange washed over the village that was once covered by the dark blanket of night. Seven-year-old Hongjoong yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and sniffing the morning dew wafting through the window sills. Once his eyesight cleared, his feet landed softly on the hard wooden floor as he got out of bed, kissing his stuffed bunny goodbye before he made his journey to the front door.
Tip-toeing past the door of his parents' bedroom, Hongjoong stilled when he picked up muffled shuffling from inside. His ears pounded loudly with the rush of anticipation while he waited for any signal that his parents were waking up, and when there were none, he continued his journey and reached his destination. Standing up on his toes, he grappled the brass door knob, twisting it.
When he stepped outside, he smelled the endless freedom that was before him. Hongjoong beamed, feeling the gust of autumn wind grazing his skin, listening to the cries of the songbirds as wonder filled him to the brim- until he was sure that he would topple over just from the excitement of seeing the outside world.
Light on his steps, he skipped through the gravel path that led from the entrance of the cottage house to the main road, some rough shards sticking to the pads of his feet. He paid no mind, though, as he had seen the first target of his day and he quickened his pace. Bending down, he observed the patches of orange, white and black that weaved through the fur of a sleeping cat. It was snuggled up beneath the shadow of a cart that was half-filled with firewood that his mother would burn beneath the stove whenever she cooked. He smiled when it stirred and stretched before him, its mouth agape. Then, it looked at him with a lovely pair of yellow eyes and he giggled when the bristles of its fur tickled his legs as it circled him. He managed to brush a few strokes of the soft fur before he heard leaves rustling, and what sounded like hurried footsteps.
Looking up, ignoring the meows of the cat that demanded for attention, his keen eyes peered into the dense brush that was a few lengths ahead of him. It was the edge of a forest, which his father had warned him countless times to never go into. If he got lost, it would be troublesome for him to be rescued, his father had said. He also warned that the wolves would gobble him up in one bite.
In the next second, trying not to stumble on his feet, he was navigating through the foliage. The snippets of light that fell through the gaps in between the leaves from the trees towering over him were the only light source he had as he trekked through uncharted territory, his face occasionally hit by swinging branches and his feet caked with soil. Within a minute, he had thought of turning back to return home before he got lost, and especially before his parents woke up to find him missing.
His mother would definitely make him do more treacherous chores. Then, there was going to be 'the encounter' with his father. He could already feel the stern gaze burning into him.
Inhaling deeply, Hongjoong turned around, about to trace back to where he entered the forest from, when he heard it again.
The distant sound of footsteps.
Hongjoong groaned. On one hand, he wanted to go back to his modest little home and sneak in through his window, then pretend to be snuggled up on his bed.
On the other, the smell of freedom and the curiosity burning in his chest called out to him, insisting that he should follow the footsteps and unravel the mystery person and what they were doing in the forest.
He went further on his conquest, trying to cover his tracks by watching where he stepped, careful not to break a single twig. When a musty smell hit his nose and the sound of rushing water grew, he realised that he was near a stream, or maybe a river. In a distance, the foliage was thinning out and there seemed to be a clearing.
After trudging through more dirt and enduring swarming flies, he sighed in relief when he was finally on open ground. A few steps away, there was a wide stream littered with clumps of jagged rock.
And on the other side of the stream he found the culprit, the other's back turned to him. The culprit behind the footsteps that lured him here.
Turns out, the culprit looked like a boy his age, a dishevelled raven crown on his head. What was he doing out here?
"Hey! Over here!"
The boy tensed his shoulders, then spun around to meet Hongjoong's gaze opposite of the stream. Hongjoong waved his arm, beaming like the sun.
"Are you okay?" Hongjoong asked, his smile and arm falling when he observed the other boy's features. The boy's mouth was quivering, his eyes dark and tear streaks shining on his cheeks due to the reflection of the rising sun's light on them. Something terrible must have happened.
"Nevermind, you don't look like it. Is it okay if I come to you?"
The boy watched Hongjoong, his eyes widening at the question. He cast his eyes downward, shuffling his feet and wiping away whatever remnants of liquid remained on his face. Hongjoong wanted to approach him and try to comfort the shaken boy, only doing so when the boy nodded.
"What's your name?" asked Hongjoong, walking towards the boy after hopping over the smooth rocks scattered across the stream. He was going to give a reassuring pat on the boy's shoulder, but thought against it.
"Ss...Seonghwa."
"Okay, Seonghwa. I'm Hongjoong," Hongjoong said, looking up at the taller boy, Seonghwa. "What happened? It looks like something bad happened."
Seonghwa gazed downward. He immersed himself by looking at the blades of grass below him. "It's terrible."
"Oh, um, I'm sorry," Hongjoong said, uncertain on how he could comfort the other boy. "Will you tell me what happened? Well, if you're okay with it."
Before Hongjoong could continue, he smelled the faint trace of smoke and his chest tightened at it. Smoke? He did not expect to smell the same choking odour that was common in the kitchen when he helped his mother to light the firewood. He had sputtered coughs then, grimacing at the fumes of the flames. But now it seemed that it was not just a small fire burning on stacks of firewood. It was stronger, though faint, like something huge was burning in a distance.
There was an outbreak of fire somewhere.
Hongjoong's heart raced, and when he craned his neck to look upwards, he spotted a rising black cloud in the sky. He snapped his head toward Seonghwa's direction, whose face was drawn blank, his body shaking and his hands curled into fists.
"Seonghwa!" Hongjoong cried, closing the gap between them and holding the quivering boy's shoulders. "Seonghwa, calm down, please!"
Seonghwa closed his eyes, streams of fresh tears rolling down his face, his breaths ragged. Hongjoong was squeezing Seonghwa's shoulders, then in the spur of a moment, he embraced the boy, letting Seonghwa wet the fabric on his shirt. He didn't know if it would help, but his mother always let him cry on her shoulder whenever he was upset.
"It's alright, Seonghwa. I'm here for you. Breathe."
Hearing Seonghwa's breaths evening out, Hongjoong finally let go of him. His eyes were puffy and red, a trail of mucus dripping slowly from his nose. Without hesitating, Hongjoong wiped it with the long sleeve that draped on his arm, then rubbed the tears that pooled on the other boy's cheeks.
Seonghwa was still, his ears reddening. "Um... Hongjoong-ah, you didn't have to do that."
"Oh, sorry! I only wanted to help," Hongjoong said, peeling his gaze away from Seonghwa and dropping his arms. Inhaling deeply, Hongjoong dared to look back at the boy. "I think we should sit down first."
"Yeah, we should."
After Hongjoong and Seonghwa settled down beneath the shade of a tree, away from the warmth of the sun at the bank of the stream, Seonghwa started to explain what happened before he ran into the forest.
"I was woken up today because my sister was shaking me awake. She was frantic, asking me to leave the house and run as far as I could in the forest. She said for me to wait for her there. I never listened as I had just risen from sleep and was so confused..."
"I was crying, asking her why I had to run away. She never said anything. She just shook her head and led me to the edge of the forest and told me to run. She told me not to look back, but I did. That's when I saw it. The fire. Burning from the rooftops of my village."
Hongjoong gulped, thinking of the big cloud of smoke in the sky. Poor Seonghwa. He looked down at the other boy's hands, which were tense and curled tight. Hongjoong reached out to rest his own hand above Seonghwa's, and Seonghwa unfurled the fist. Hongjoong gave it a comforting squeeze.
Seonghwa sighed. "I hope she comes here soon. I hope she's not d- that she's fine."
"I'm sure she'll be okay, she will keep her promise," Hongjoong said, and Seonghwa agreed. A moment passed, before Hongjoong lit up. "Hey, how about we play something while we wait for your sister to come?"
"Really?" Seonghwa grinned, his eyes glinting with excitement. Hongjoong noted that it was the first time he saw happiness radiate from the boy, and fawned over it silently.
Seonghwa grabbed Hongjoong's hand that was already holding his, pulling Hongjoong up to stand with him. "What do you want to play?"
And then all was bright and fun, where the forest was filled with laughter and cheer as the boys chased each other; their minds taken off from the reality of their world.
The forest critters scattered as the children stumbled through foliage, taunting each other while on the chase.
The tiny fishes in the stream vanished when Hongjoong was pushed into it by a mischievous Seonghwa, who rid the smirk on his face when Hongjoong pulled Seonghwa with him. Hongjoong's eyes stung when he opened them underwater and when his head reached above the surface, he blinked rapidly while the rest of his body was still submerged. Seonghwa was looking down at him, a radiant smile plastered on his face. He had already found footing in the stream and reached his arm out to help Hongjoong stand up.
Still grasping onto Seonghwa's arm, Hongjoong balanced himself as he stood on the smooth, pebbly ground beneath the water. Thankfully, the depth of the water was only up to his chest, but for Seonghwa, it was up to his navel. Hongjoong shook his head, droplets from his hair spraying Seongwa like a wet dog shaking its fur. Seonghwa raised his arms up, shielding himself from the barrage of water droplets.
Seonghwa waded the stream and clambered to the bank, Hongjoong in tow. Hongjoong was soaked to the bone, the cotton material of his clothes clinging to his body. He dropped onto the patch of grass beside Seonghwa, who was already lying down with his eyes glued to the sky. Hongjoong was about to break Seonghwa out of his trance, before a thunder of footsteps and violent rustling of foliage that progressively grew louder broke the tranquility.
The both of them glanced at each other briefly before sitting upright, watching a teenage girl stumble out from the dense greenery on the opposite side of the stream.
"Noona!" Seonghwa exclaimed, immediately standing up from the ground. He darted towards the girl, nearly slipping as he hopped over the stones to reach her. When he was within arms length, he jumped into her arms and clung onto her. She was kneeling on the ground, and Seonghwa could wrap his arms around her back.
Hongjoong followed suit, keeping his distance as he watched Seonghwa's reunion with his sister. The scene made his heart swell with warmth, though he could sense something was amiss.
"My little Mars, I'm sorry," said Seonghwa's sister, her voice trembling. Up close, Hongjoong could see the familiar features she shared with Seonghwa. He gasped when he realised there were red, angry burns dotted on her face.
"What's going on?" Seonghwa asked, reluctantly letting go of her warm embrace, looking into her eyes. "Tell me, please."
She shook her head. "I don't have time. I need to get you out of here," she said, pausing to look at Hongjoong. "You too."
"But-"
"Seonghwa, listen to me, okay? You're going to be okay. You're going to grow up to be a fine man, and I know you will." She said, smiling softly. She stroked Seonghwa's messy hair. "You'll have this friend of yours, too."
"What? What are you talking about?" Seonghwa pleaded, tightly holding onto her hand, afraid of letting go. "We should go home! We should help put out the fire!"
Hongjoong slowly moved towards them, unsure of what to do. He was thinking of going back home, thinking of how he would have to face their scolding for leaving the house without asking for permission. Meekly, he asked her, "Um, should I go back? My parents are probably worrying about me right now."
When the girl turned to face him, Hongjoong's stomach dropped at the sorrow in her eyes and the emptiness of her smile.
"I'm sorry. I- I don't think you should."
Hongjoong crept closer, Seonghwa looking between the two of them. Of course the fire could have possibly spread to his house. The stench of smoke, that he had briefly forgotten about while playing with Seonghwa, was overbearing now while the wind carried the distant screams of its victims. He had hoped that his parents would have evacuated by now, and the fire might subside. He wondered how it started. It might had come from-
"The fire is not accidental," said Seonghwa's sister, eyes boring into both of the boys before her. "Evil people are trying to ki- destroy our home and everyone in there. They won't stop... They won't stop until they get me. It's safer for the both of you to leave."
"No! That can't be. No one would ever be so cruel! And why would they want to get you?" Seonghwa cried out, his voice hoarse from all the crying he had done. He had been through so much in just a span of a day. "If we leave, can't you come?"
Seonghwa's sister grabbed her little brother's shoulders, determined to make Seonghwa listen. "My dear Mars, I'm sorry but this time, I can't be with you. I won't be here anymore. If you come back one day, you will never see me again."
Before Seonghwa could protest, she took off something from her neck, handing it to her brother. "I don't have much time now. I have stored some power in this necklace since the world I will take you to has no such magic. I will transport you and your friend there and come back to this world with all my remaining magic and surrender myself to them."
"Who? Who's them? What world?" Seonghwa asked, voice shaking. Hongjoong reached out to place a hand on Seonghwa's back, his mind trying to decipher what his sister had said. It seemed that she had a power to transport people to another world. Could Seonghwa have the power too? It was possible for kin to have the same kind of special ability, though it depended on how many were already possessing the ability. He did not know the teleportation ability could be that powerful that it could make people transcend worlds.
In the distance, there were angry shouts. It was growing louder, and Hongjoong could pick out from the voices that they were looking for someone. A girl with wild shoulder length black hair and burns on her face.
"Quickly! Let's go," Seonghwa's sister whispered, before placing her hands on the both of their shoulders.
"Take care of him, dear," was the last thing Hongjoong had heard before his world turned blindingly white.