We walked out of the music room and Taehyung parted ways with us, going to his room.
"How old are you, Jisung?" I queried as we took a seat in the living room.
"Oh, I'm 23.. But I was born in 1655." He smiles like it is completely normal.
"So.. Two hundred.. and twenty three?" I hesitated, and he nodded hesitantly at my clarification.
"When were you born?" He then faces me, but his smile slightly dropped as he sees the face I'm making at him.
I bit my lip.
Why does it feel weird being born from this century?
"1855." I quickly confessed, and Jisungs mouth was agape.
"You're a literal baby!" He exhaled in a mixture of shock and excitement.
"Taehyung was only born in 1850!" I exclaimed, and the revelation made him flop backwards on the sofa.
"It's just us two from this era though. I have no idea who the oldest is.. But I'm sure it's not you.." I tried to soften his panicked expression. Someone's clearly touchy about his age.
"Do you want some tea?" I grimaced at him in a bid to change the topic of conversation, and he nods while pouting at me.
I rush off the chair into the kitchen, putting a large pot of water on the stove to boil. I remembered that Rita said if I am to make tea, to make enough for everyone. They wont catch me slipping.
I looked down at my feet, and I could see a dusting of sand on the floor.
Where has that come from?
I bring in the tea pot and then walk to the cupboard for some teacups, and then I see another little pile of sand near the unit.. Like a tiny sand drift.
What on earth?
I bring over the cups and Jisung notices my confused face.
"What's up?" He quizzes.
"Nothing, there's just sand in the house-"
"Sand!?" Jisung shoots to his feet in excitement.
"Uh.. Yeah." I quirk my brow at him.
"Get another cup!" He beams at me, and as I get up and enter the kitchen, I hear some chatter suddenly in the living room again.
I walk back in the room to see who it might be..
"Oh goodness, do you not have clothes?!" I gasped, almost dropping the tea cup, as I am blinded by the sight of a very scantily clad man.
He looked over to me.
"It's quite warm in the desert." He spoke with no emotion, and I had to fight the urge to drift my gaze to his body.
I was completely lost for words.
The men I had been surrounded by until now were incredibly modest, with no more than their clavicle seeing the daylight, already leaving little to the imagination, but this really took the biscuit.
I felt my heart pound out of my chest, and as he noticed me all flustered, broke into a small smile.
"I'm Jeongin. Sorry about the sand." He held his hand out for me to shake, and I just stared at his extended limb, still in shock.
He had a slightly golden hue to his skin, and his arms were veiny, like he had been carrying just enough weight to increase his blood flow.
I took his hand in mine to shake, and his skin felt softer than I expected. For some reason I thought he would be.. gritty.. and rough feeling.
"Watch this.." He pulled his hand away, then held his hands a foot apart, and began manipulating a thin stream of sand in swirling motions between his palms.
It was hypnotic.
"Okay, I've seen that hundreds of times." Jisung then teased Jeongin, shoving his arm, knocking the sand out of his control and sprinkling it onto the floor.
"What brings you here then, brother?" Jisung queried, and Jeongin gave him a weary look.
"The bandits found my den. I tried to fight them off with my golems, but they seemed to have done their research. I had no chance." He huffed in defeat.
"What do you mean, 'research'?" I quizzed, and Jisung and Jeongin both looked at me slightly worried.
"Uh.. We all have weaknesses. My sonar can easily be countered with similar frequencies, rendering those powers pretty useless. Jeongins is water. Sand can't be manipulated in water-"
"-About that! I have been practicing, but these bandits were just too powerful. Machinery is advancing. War weapons are being used against us." Jeongin admitted, then taking a tea cup, spoiling it with a sprinkling of sand, then demonstrating his ability to now manipulate the wet sand.
"That's amazing. Is it just sand you can control?" I ask him, fully drawn into his ability to do that sort of thing.
"I can do it to anything that is a small particle, and up until recently, it only worked with sand. I travelled in land slightly to test other mineral compositions including mud, clay and small stones, and that works pretty well. I'm just working on how water affects me, as it makes it all pretty heavy, but as I am also getting used to bigger particles, I'm hoping it'll eventually come naturally." Jeongin explained, excited that he had someone to explain it to that would actually listen.
"Sorry to overload.. The foxes don't understand physics and chemistry." Jeongin then scratched his head awkwardly.
"Foxes?" I gasped.
"Yeah. I grew up in the desert, but my family were killed in a terrible sand storm when I was really young. I was adopted by the foxes, and then was granted the ability to manipulate the minerals. Then the rest is history. That's just why I'm a little slow at learning my abilities. I'm self taught." Jeongin then smiled brightly at me.
"Well, I'm learning as well. We can learn together." I beamed at him, and Jeongin gave me a bashful smile at my suggestion.
"You'll need to wear more clothes, though." I blushed, and he held his hands up to his chest to hide his skin.
"Will you be staying here permanently?" Jisung asked, and Jeongin nodded with sadness.
He's had to leave his family behind. That must have been really hard.
"We will need to get Rita to give you another room!" I exclaimed, and he raised his hands to dismiss my suggestion.
"I'd prefer an underground dwelling.. I'm not so accustomed to the.. 'House' life." He exhaled, then took my hand to take me outside.
I just followed him with no thoughts, and Jisung trailed behind.
"Ah, over there." He pointed to a slightly overgrown area that looks fairly hidden, and then held his palm on the ground.
He closed his eyes, and I felt a slight vibration under my feet.
"Ah, there's a cave, that's handy." He spoke to himself, and Jisung placed his hand on the ground almost to see what Jeongin is talking about.
"I'm pretty jealous." Jisung sighed.
I watched Jeongin as he then slowly lowered the ground level into steps, rising and sinking the soil to move the rocks.
"I'll need to sort some home furnishings, but I'll show you when it's done?" Jeongin suggests, and I nod in agreement.
"Will H being okay with you being so close to the forest?" Jisung asked with some worry in his tone.
"Ah, yeah. He'll be fine." Jeongin dismissed his worries, and I just gave them both quizzical looks.
"H?"
"Oh, the forest fae." Jeongin smiled, and then it clicked. That's who I must have met in that building earlier!