Archive of Our Own ^beta

Stepping out of the portal always made Donghyun's headache flair, and he had to stop on the other side to wait for it to calm down. It had - he thought - nothing to do with how they made the portals and more the difference between what was in them and what was outside them. But he didn't know for sure. For all he knew, it was because he had to concentrate so hard to make sure the opposite side landed in a place he could breathe.

"Gonna be okay?" Hyunsung asked, his hand falling gently on Donghyun's shoulder. Jungmin chivied the rest of them past him and away from the mouth of the portal.

"Yeah, I think so," Donghyun said, and sighed as the portal closed and his headache eased.

"If this is a safe place, we're staying for a while." JungMin said, neatly stepping between the arguing twins before fists flew.

Donghyun shook his head. "We can't," he said wearily. "We have to get home."

"Oh, wow," Minwoo said, looking over his shoulder, and Donghyun turned to see what he looked at.

They stood at the foot of a mountain that went taller than anything from home - evidence they hadn't found Earth yet again - with the green they'd only seen in textbooks. Donghyun rubbed his head at the phantom ache and sighed. "Let's find a place to camp and see what we can find by way of food and water," he said.

They split up into pairs with the ease of long practice, Jungmin trading with Hyunsung to make Donghyun sit down out of the sun and rest, to get a drink and try to rehydrate. The last place had been so dry. At least it was cooler here.

"I don't think any people are here," Jungmin said, settling down next to Donghyun. "It's quiet, and nothing around smells of people, or of anything they bring."

Smog, he meant, Donghyun knew, resting his head against the tree behind him. "It is clean air," he admitted. "I wouldn't bring anyone back here, though. It's too... too pristine. There's no way it wouldn't be damaged in two years."

Jungmin huffed his agreement. "Less, probably," he said. He sighed and stretched until his back popped. "It would be something...." He stopped talking, straightening up to listen. Donghyun closed his eyes to listen better as well, the sounds traveling through the air. Not any of theirs, however, because the voices were wrong and the cadence was even less familiar. Whatever language they spoke, it wasn't Korean. Or Japanese.

The voices got louder, or at least closer, which meant that they'd been wrong, that this place was inhabited, and they needed to move on sooner rather than the later JungMin had wanted. Donghyun took a deep breath and let it out, gathering his tattered resources to try to get another portal ready.

JungMin put a hand on his thigh, distracting him. "You can't," he said softly, making sure his voice didn't carry. "You can not open another portal so soon. You need to eat and sleep, and maybe for more than one day. Besides, you can't possibly hold it until the others get back here."

Donghyun sagged into the tree, muttering curses in his head. Jungmin was right. He was always right about situations like this. He didn't like it, and so his acquiescence was less graceful than usual. "We need to move. If they see us...."

By the time he'd gotten the words out of his mouth, the people they'd heard speaking came into sight and immediately stopped, staring at them. Then they sped up, coming closer, talking between each other, and one pulled out a communication device, or so it seemed, considering the way they spoke into it as their companion stopped in front of Donghyun and Jungmin. They asked a question, and both of them shook their heads, shrugging, trying to indicate they didn't know the language.

The one on the communication device suddenly turned, putting their back to their companion's. Seconds later, Kwangmin and Minwoo appeared from the same direction as the two strangers, and they stopped as well, eyes wide. "Donghyun?" Minwoo asked.

"Stay there," Donghyun said. "Don't antagonize them, please."

"Don't antagonize them?" Jungmin asked.

Donghyun shook his head and closed his eyes.

"I see how it is," Hyunsung said, sitting down next to Donghyun. Donghyun could feel how tense he was, in spite of his light words and tone. "You send us off and get new friends."

YoungMin sank down on his other side, between him and Jungmin, and handed Donghyun his water bottle. "Drink. We found a stream of clean water."

Donghyun gratefully took it and drank, hoping that whatever magic Minwoo had, he would be able to understand these strangers and explain who they were, with some... coherence to it. If that wasn't too much to ask.

The water felt good going in, cooling everything off, and Donghyun closed his eyes again, suddenly so utterly exhausted he could barely think. "Thanks," he said to Youngmin, handing the water bottle back, and then he left it all up to them and passed out.