Them and Us | Ateez

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"Slow down if you don't want to roll down the hill!" Hongjoong's voice shouts behind him.
Mingi ignores the warning and rushes down, his shoes crunching the first autumn leaves.
A toubled wind travels from the forest to the Academy grounds.
The metal gates open with a groan as the new necromancer enters with sparkling eyes.
Hongjoong plops down on the softly cushioned bench and huffs while Mingi is stretching his long arm below it in search of the cards.

The black haired male focuses on the wind rushing in his face like warm sun rays as his eyes close. Soon enough, quiet laughter grows louder in volume. It's rusty like a town's old clock and is accompanied with a gentle tap once in a while.
Opening his eyes, the raven head stares into Killian's amused face.
"Fancy seeing you here, warlock."
"It's been a while." the male agrees.
Mingi looks up from the tarot cards to stare at him.

"Weren't we here like the day before yesterday?"
"I was saying that to Killian."
The red haired male lets out a dragged "oh" as his head turns to look at the gravestones.
"Which one is his?"
"The one in the back yet he likes to use everyone else's except his own. Right now he is rather confidently striding towards Janis grave." Hongjoong's black eyes follow the soul across the graveyard.

"You would make a great race caller." the man comments, leaning against the cold rock of his fellow spirit.
The necromancer turns his head to look at Mingi.
"Do you remember which card you pulled?"
"Yes." the other answers, shuffling through the cards in a hurry.
He recalls the picture vaguely yet the name of the card is still in his mind.
"This one. The star."
Hongjoong reaches for the card in Mingi's hand and inspects it.
"Quite fitting. Do you know the meaning of it?"

"No, do you?"
"This card is the seventeenth one in the deck, in short the meaning is something along the lines of when the situation is bleak, you will find a new way to keep going."
"Woah." the male exhales as his chocolate eyes stare at the card.
"It usually stands for optimism, hope, faith and in certain cases longing or truth." Hongjoong says before giving the card back.
The red head takes it and begins shuffling it with the other ones.
"Can you show me how you did it the first time?"
"I think I can, I'm not sure."

Mingi doesn't remember what exactly he did so, spreading the cards out, his hand reaches for the first that falls into his radar of interest.
He looks at the drawing, feeling Hongjoong lean in to see as well.
"Wheel of fortune?" he reads out loud.
His friend only hums.
"An unforeseen event, completely out of your control, changes everything."
"That was so monotonously said as if you read it from a learning book."
"Oh, Mingi, the days of you sleeping in are nearing their end. You will have to spend many nights learning all of the tarot, rune and bone meanings."

"What now? Bone?" the male repeats.
Hongjoong thinks a bit, then shakes his head.
"No, bone reading was for the bees if I'm correct. You'll have it next year."
"And what if I jump the ranks?" Mingi asks, rather ready to not be stuck in one place for a whole year.
"Then you'll be a fool to skip the lectures."
He sighs dejectedly.
"Does the card mean that me finding a way to communicate with the dead is an unforeseen event that changed everything?"
"I wouldn't say so. Every card has its timing, be it next week or next year. The wheel of fortune usually refers to events about to happen within the next twelve years."

"Twelve years? I will be a middle aged man!"
Hongjoong shrugs, slightly amused at his reaction.
"Then you will have an unforeseen event when you're a middle aged man."
"But how do I know which event the card is referring to? I could have unexpected things happening every day for all I know!"
"It won't tell you clearly since quite frankly, tarot cards just as runes are like guidelines. They are vague because a card or a piece of rock shaped bone can't see your future."
"Wait, runes are made of bones?" Mingi asks.
"They used to in ancient times."