#cdfopen

„Come on…freeze already!“

 Daehyun was mumbling to himself while sitting in front of a small stream he found near the cirque. From the moment he joined the cirque, he started to explore the surroundings, searching for a place where he could practice properly and eventually improve his skills. It still was impossible for him to freeze flowing water and a stream was the perfect opportunity to start trying. He almost spent every day sitting there, staring at the water and tried to freeze it. But it never wanted to work. He surely knew that flowing water was way harder, or more likely impossible, to freeze but Daehyun was eager to find out if he could actually make it. No matter how hard he tried or how much he concentrated, it never worked out the way he wanted to.

The sun had just come up.  Yoongi rubbed his eyes, a quiet yawn throwing his mouth wide open as he stretched like a sleepy cat that walked along the edge of the camp grounds.  He was tired, and the internal clock that had ruled his body with an iron fist was insistently declaring that it was bedtime, but he had something that he had to do.

His freedom was already days old, had been days old by the time he'd arrived here.  Yoongi had walked through grass countless times already, feeling its softness beneath his bare feet... but he hadn't had time to truly experience it.  The thought had happened upon him hours ago, and Yoongi had impatiently waited for his chance.

There was a wide patch of grass settled just beyond the borders of the campgrounds, circled by trees.  The boy stood on the edge, toes curling gently, before he stepped into it.  Morning dew had fallen, leaving a cool, wet sheen on his skin as he walked a quiet, wide circle around the edge of the patch; as he completed the round, he stopped and allowed himself to fall backwards, back pressing to the ground as he laid in the grass and just breathed.

It felt so nice.  Everything smelled like morning, like bright promises of new days and earth and pink and orange on the horizon.  He closed his eyes and rolled himself back and forth a few times before coming to a rest on his belly, cheek pressed against the grass beneath him, arms and legs splayed out like a giant starfish as his clothing soaked up the cool dew.

After their old healer had left and Junsu had taken up the mantle, he had stocked up on many medicines that she hadn’t kept around because of her ability. Most of it could sell for quite a bit of money on the black market but he knew that it was all needed. What happened if something went wrong and there were too many people hurt or sick for him to help everyone heal? While he had the ability to heal others, he was in no way a god and knew that there were always times where he would need help.

All of the medicine was kept in the front half of the main medical tent in locked cupboards that were near his desk in the area that was partitioned off from the beds in the back. It was always locked and he wore the key around his neck (though in all reality it wouldn’t be too hard to break in if one put their mind to it!). Usually he didn’t leave any of it unattended -- it went in a cart with him to first aid tent during performances and then was safely stowed under his cot at night -- yet sometimes even he made a mistake.

In a moment of human weakness, Junsu had gotten up and run to go relieve his bladder. His constant intake of water that day due to the growing heat had ended up being his downfall. He hadn’t even made it to where the bathrooms were, instead having to run behind a tree to relieve himself so that he didn’t wet his pants on the way over.

Walking back seemed to take much longer than usual. It wasn’t normal for him to leave his work place so people continued to stop him and ask him questions. His usual -- yet somewhat strange -- smile never left its place on his lips as he continued to respond. He even went out of his way to inquire on how people were doing, though most of his conversations were short and to the point.

When he got back to the medical tent, however, a noise in the tent stopped him from entering right away. The sound of glass being set onto the metal tables inside run out clearly to him. A frown pulled at the corners of his lips as he tried to decide what the sound was. Maybe someone had brought him food? Though that wasn’t likely, the cirque had switched to using paper plates to save some room in their trucks (and quite frankly there were too many people to use the normal dishes all the time!).

It didn’t take him very long to come to the conclusion that someone was going through the medicines though whether they needed something or were trying to steal something was beyond him. He quickly pushed back the tent flap, not hiding his entrance. His smile was gone and his face was stern, eyes searching the person that was very obviously now going through the medicines. “What do you want?” He asked them, voice clear and tone demanding.

Chanyeol let out a small hum, the sun's hot rays beating down on him. It was finally starting to get warmer outside, and he loved it. 

The snow was beginning to melt, and every second step he would take, he found himself trudging through mud. That was the one downside to spring, he supposed, the melting snow, and the mud that would follow suit. 

It didn't bother him too much though; he had always loved running around and playing outside as a child, especially in the more dirty of conditions. 

He wished he could relive those days just once more, but gathered that a grown man playing in a mud puddle was deemed unacceptable and would be frowned upon. 

And so, he settled for taking a stroll in the forest, basking in its beauty; despite there being no leaves on the trees.

He fell silent, merely listening to the sounds of nature. It was a nice feeling, he thought, as he settled himself down against a rock. The cirque had been pretty quiet lately and he found it unsettling.

He sighed, shifting so his back was against the rock, and his head tilted back so he could look up at the blue sky. It was calming, to say the least. He often found himself staring at the sky whenever he felt lost. It had always been the one thing that stuck by his side through thick and thin.

It always left a smile on his face at the end of the day, knowing that there was something he had to fall back on when things got tough, because relying on people only brought him so far.

Jieun walked away from the big tent, two big bags full of costumes in her hands. As a member of the cleaning team, it was her task this week to keep everything clean so, after the performances, she had to make sure not a single thing was out of place. As the lightweight she was, she had been put in charge of all the costumes, thinking that probably wouldn't make her do much physical efforts. However, Jieun regretted how wrong they all had been: the bags weighed way too much for her but, as proud and stubborn as she was, she had said nothing and continued with her task.