#20200707

“A deaf handicap! Can you believe it?”

“Hyunjin, calm down,” his friend and roommate, Changbin, sighs.

“Easy for you to say; your rider is head prefect,” Hyunjin grumbles at the other shifter.

Changbin just lets out another sigh and focuses his attention on his dinner.

“Who says we need riders anyway?” Hyunjin continues. “We can fight and fly perfectly well without them!”

“You know that isn’t true.”

“I’m a Twilight Terror,” he hisses.

Changbin rolls his eyes at the mention of the superior dragon breed. “I’m going back to the dorms now. You should find her and get some practice in before the great ‘Twilight Terror’ falls face first into dirt in class tomorrow.”

“Like claws I will,” he curses while taking the unfinished custard from his friend’s plate.

It appears that you have the same idea as Changbin though. As soon as Hyunjin puts his tray onto the collecting belt, you walk up to him.

‘Practice?’ you sign. 

“I can’t understand your stupid hand dance,” he snickers and pushes your forehead backwards with two fingers.

You figure out what that meant, so you pull out a notepad and write your question onto a sheet.

With the same cocky smile on his lips, he leans down towards you and exaggeratedly replies, “Nnnnoooooo.”

Despite his answer, Hyunjin makes his way to the training grounds after he has lost you. It is actually a commonality for him to practice whenever he has a chance. By himself, that is.

“Face first?” Hyunjin mocks. “We’ll see about that.”

After a quick chant, the pendant around his neck glows and turns him into a gorgeous, deep purple reptile. Hyunjin lets out a majestic roar and takes off into the air.

He loves the feeling of the night air under his wings and the feeling of control as he maneuvers around the training course. Over the horizontal beam, around the rotating spikes, toss a fireball at the target, through the-- Bang! His tail accidentally slams against a pole, sending him face first into the sand below.

“Claws…” Hyunjin groans internally, picking his head off the ground. 

Fustratedly, he thumps his useless tail against the ground repeatedly until he feels an extra weight trying to hold it down. When the dust cloud he created settles down, he nearly gasps when he sees you clinging onto him with wide eyes.

You shake your head and make a thumping motion with your arm. ‘Don’t hurt yourself,’ you sign regardless of his understanding. 

Hyunjin blasts a breath of hot air into your face before flinging you off of him and flying away as quickly as he can.

Once alone again, Hyunjin curls up into himself and paws at his left tail fin, or rather, the lack thereof. He can still remember the day he lost it like it was yesterday. He can also still remember the man who took it from him. The man he called his rider.

Hyunjin knows deep down he cannot maneuver as fluidly and precisely without the spells of a rider even if he had a functioning tail, but he would rather keep trying every night by himself than admit it. Speaking of spells, how are you, a deaf rider, supposed to control him? You probably cannot even enunciate the most basic of spells, he realizes with a scoff. He realizes his hypocrisy when making fun of your handicap when he has one as well, but he would rather disregard that thought too.

“We’re going to be having free practice for class today. Remember, the New Year Race is in just over three months!” your professor announces. 

“Are you competing this year?” a she-dragon asks, bumping her snout against Hyunjin’s wing.

“We’ll see, Hye Ji,” he replies, hiding his tail even further between his two front legs. Hye Ji sighs at the response and flies off with her rider to find a training spot.

You cannot tell what the dragons are saying even if you can hear, but you can clearly see her intentions. You give Hyunjin a suggestive nudge, and he growls dangerously at you.

“Now, now, Hwang,” your professor chides. “Be nice. Maybe L/N can take you to the Race this year.”

“I don’t need a rider--”

“I’m sure you don’t.” Turning to you, she signs and vocalizes, “Ready?”

You nod, but Hyunjin lets out a grunt. To no one’s surprise, he starts to stalk off. As he does so, he feels a sudden weight overcoming his head, causing it to drop onto the ground and halting his movements. Angrily, he turns to the professor for using a spell on him. To his surprise though, her necklace wasn’t the one glowing; yours is. 

“How?” A spell like that is difficult and even more so when used on a dragon who has not accepted you as its rider yet, not to mention the even greater increase of difficulty due to your inability to have even heard the words to it before. Still, the white shine of your pendant is unmistakable.

After you release your spell, his curiosity bests his pride, so he stays where he is, watching your every move. You walk over to give him a few gentle strokes along his side-- a friendly, and non-invasive spot to pet.

‘I’m going to get on now, okay?’ you sign. 

Your professor translates, and Hyunjin lets out another grunt and flies off.

“What did I expect? I really hope he comes around before he can’t graduate,” your professor sighs and goes to check on her other students. You’ll figure it out, she hopes.

Flying alone makes him feel weightless and free. Although your earlier spell was impressive, it scared him, knowing there is someone who can control his muscles like that. So what if he isn’t able to make quick turns or fly in the same spot? He is a Twilight Terror; he can just blast away anything in his path.

He flies towards a nearby pole to prove his point. He gathers all his frustration and insecurity into a ball of plasma and condemns the approaching obstacle into obliteration.

Wait. Approaching?

Hyunjin’s eyes widen as he realizes that the pole is only one of many rotating ones on a gear-like contraption, and the next one is coming faster than he can react on his own. Suddenly, his muscles feel a sharp burst of energy and pivots his body just barely under the incoming barrier. His tail is left behind, however. It jerks uncontrollably behind him as the situation becomes more dire. 

Hyunjin lets out a worthless roar in your direction, demanding that you get your spells together quickly. You cannot hear him, but you understood his message. Honestly, you are disappointed with your lack of ability, but you simply are not used to working with a dragon with only half its fin, especially from a distance. Still, that is no excuse for you not to be able to save him. 

At the last Hollywood-like second, you manage to get Hyunjin out of harm’s way. He looks at you incredulously before flying a clear path towards you and turning human just as he lands. It’s only then that he notices how pristine your white riding uniform is. The underside of your coattails, the area most easily burned during fights, flaunt a brilliant crimson colour. Either you’ve just purchased the outfit or you are just that good at riding. 

With your professor gone, Hyunjin snatches the notepad from your coat to communicate.

‘How did you conjure spells like that?’ he scribbles and pushes the words into your face.

You take the pad back. ‘Let me on your back and you’ll see.’

Hyunjin scoffs at the idea. ‘Why didn’t you use them on me last night?’ he asks, referring to your rather pathetic attempts of holding his tail down with your physical body.

‘It wasn’t time yet. I don’t control dragons when I’m not supposed to. That’s abusive.’

Abusive? Hyunjin narrows his eyes, unsure whether or not you are lying. Why not use your powers when you have them, especially when you can control dragons who haven’t sworn their loyalty to you and from a distance no less. 

‘Who are you?’ he decides to ask.

You smile when you read his words. Eagerly you scribble your response. ‘Your friend who’s going to take you to the Race!’

Hyunjin rips off the page once he’s read it, crumples it, and tosses it at your black boots. “I’ve not entered that thing once in all the years I’ve been here,” he snarls in your ear, not caring that you can’t hear him. “No rider has ever been able to be my rider, let alone a friend.”

As he tries to walk off once again, you pull on his sleeve.

“What?” he whips around angrily.

You reach forward to press something into his mouth. It doesn’t take long for him to recognize the familiar sweetness of an appai berry. You hand him the page he threw at you, now with the words ‘good work!’ written on the back, and walk off the practice grounds, leaving him behind this time.

“Where did you get that?”

“Get what?” Changbin asks, popping another berry into his mouth and swirling his blue necklace around idly. A familiar red pouch sits besides him.

“This!” Hyunjin exclaims as he snatches the pouch before his roommate can grab another one.

“Dude, chill. It was just hanging on the door knob when I came home. Are they yours?”

“No,” he replies curtly.

“Hey! Then give them back!” yells Changbin after his friend as the latter makes his way back out again.

It doesn't take long for Hyunjin to find your dorm room. The look of excitement across your features when you open the door to see him only fuels his anger. 

“What is this?” he yells. “You think bribery is going to work?”

Your blank stare causes him to drag his hand down his face in frustration. Without a choice, he writes on your white board, ‘I don’t want any of your bribes’ and tosses the pouch at you.

You grab his wrist to prevent him from leaving as you write, ‘If you don’t want bribes, then earn it.’

“What?” he vocalizes. You understood that.

‘Earn the berries like you did today.’

‘This is ridiculous. I’m not a child.’

‘Then think of it as an add-on. You want to know how I work my spells, don’t you? Just try letting me on you, and you’ll find out AND get appai berries. It’s a win-win.’

‘Don’t you get it? I’m NOT letting a rider on my back.’

‘I’m not asking you to swear loyalty to me. Consider it a favor.’

‘And what makes you think I’d do you a favor?’

‘Because we’re friends! :D’

Hyunjin wipes away your emoji with his hand. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

For the next few days, while you are trying to coax him into a ride, Hyunjin has been trying to figure out your spellcasting methods by himself in the library. By his reasoning, there aren't too many riders who can control dragons who don’t let them, so the school journalists must have done an article about you somewhere sometime during your career at Sheng.

“Changbin, can you get the door?” he calls with an arm full of borrowed newspapers and magazines.

“Yeah, sure. One second.” 

“Thanks,” Hyunjin nods once the door swings open. He nearly drops all the manuscripts once he sees who else is inside the room though.

“What is she doing here?” he gestures accusingly at you with his head.

You wave innocently at him then beckon Changbin to sit back next to you.

“I’m helping her sketch a blueprint of a model of your tail so that she can practice on it since, you know, you won’t let her practice on you,” replies Changbin.

‘Thank you,’ you sign.

‘My pleasure.’

“You sign?” Hyunjin scoffs.

“She’s taught me a few things,” the other male shrugs. ‘He’s such a soggywog,’ he signs to you.

You giggle, which surprises the Terror since it’s the first sound he has heard from your mouth. It’s more pleasant than what he imagined a deaf person is able to muster, but again, it’s another fact he would rather not dwell on.

“What did you say to her?” he demands, to which his roommate shrugs and shares a knowing smile with you.

‘I think it’s about as good as it can get,’ Changbin writes, turning back to the blueprint. 

‘I’ll get to building it then,’ you write back and give him a quick hug as thanks before signing your goodbyes.

“You two sure got close,” Hyunjin notes as his friend closes the door behind you.

“She’s nice, so why not?” Changbin conjures a red pouch of berries from seemingly nowhere and starts munching on one. “They’re mine this time. Hands off.”

Hyunjin waves him off and spreads newspapers on the desk you have just vacated. “Anyway. I’m trying to figure out how Y/N is casting her spells. Want to help me?”

“Nope! She’s also going to constrict half of my tail and practice riding me, so I’ll find out sooner or later.”

“And I don’t suppose you’ll be telling me afterwards.”

“You’re so smart, Hyunjinie~” he coos mockingly.

“I’m telling your rider you’re cheating on him with another rider.”

“Oh, Chan already knows,” Changbin tells him. “He’s riding with her in case something goes wrong.”

“When did this happen?” the younger one wonders aloud.

“When you were busy avoiding your rider,” Changbin answers. “Not that I understand why. She’s so nice and pretty.”

“She’s not my--”

“Oh right, it’s cause you already have Hye Ji!”

“Seo Changbin!”

Hyunjin isn’t curious about what you can do about a broken tail like his. He isn’t! The only reason that he is hiding in one of the corners of the practice grounds is because he likes it there. Yeah, totally!

He sees you and Chan step back from Changbin as the dragon takes on his reptilian form.

‘Beautiful,’ he sees you sign towards the Death Fangs and get started fitting a contraption that will constrict the movement of the left half of his tail.

Chan helps you up and then gets on behind you himself, and your white necklace begins to glow as Changbin lifts up off the ground. Hyunjin frowns when Chan laughs upon figuring out your trick. Your lips are moving but not in a way the common spells would require them too. If you aren’t saying the spell words, what are you saying? 

Just then, your magic flickers a centimeter too far to one side, sending Changbin into a spinning spiral. Hastily, you pull on a string to release the constriction and increase your magic to steady the dragon. Chan helps, and a mix of blue and white ribbons of magic surrounds the three of you until Changbin is upright again.

During your increase in powers, Hyunjin can make out your chants. No, not chants, singing! How has he not noticed how you place a hand over your voice box to feel the vibrations as you ride? Rather than using different words for different spells, you use different frequencies! 

Chan has Changbin land with his arms around you much tighter than they were before the accident. Given the possible outcomes of what just happened, the tightness is warranted, but not in Hyunjin’s opinion.

‘I’m sorry,’ you sign once you have dismounted. 

‘No worries. It’s why we’re practicing,’ Chan assures. 

Of course the prefect knows how to sign too.

Changbin lets you reattach the constriction, and you are in the air again in no time with Chan right behind you. By the end of the session, you are able to maneuver Changbin through the easy course without any incidents. With satisfied nods, the three of you decide to make your way to the dining hall for dinner together while Chan bombards you with questions about your technique.

Hyunjin steps out of his hiding spot after you have left nothing but the memory of the white of your uniform behind. He doesn’t even realize how sore his legs have become from standing in the same spot for so long until he moves. Something about your riding is that enchanting that he forgets just how much time has passed. He wonders how you haven’t been able to find a single article about you yet.

“Hyunjin?”

“Hye Ji? What are you doing here?” He whips around to face the yellow dragon.

“Just out for a little air,” she replies with a sweet smile. “Want to fly with me?”

“I, uh, just finished training. I was just heading in for a shower,” Hyunjin lies.

“Come on, just a little bit?”

“I’m really tired, sorry,” Hyunjin tries, unconsciously moving the muscles that would hide his tail behind his back if he had one at the moment.

“Then I’ll carry you!” offers Hye Ji. “I tried it with my girl friends once. It’s really fun.”

“Your rider’s not here!”

The girl shrugs. “We can take the easy course. Come on, please?”

Before long, Hyunjin finds himself on top of the dragon fifty meters above the ground. 

“Hold on!”

She is right about one thing: this is really fun. Until they fly a little too close to a beam for his liking.

“Watch out!” Hyunjin yells. 

If he had been flying by himself, he would certainly not have been able to avoid it. Just then, he imagines you are sitting behind him, taking him from harm’s way as Hye Ji swoops naturally over the pole. Then suddenly, he is you. He is seeing the exact path you took not minutes ago with a broken tail swaying in the wind behind you. He looks to the side at how comfortable Hye Ji’s wings are without having to compensate for an imbalanced tail. 

He then closes his eyes and feels the wind blow effortlessly pass him. It’s a nostalgic feeling-- one he very much enjoyed years ago. He remembers flying without a care of where he is or where he’s going. He remembers flying without having to prove anything to himself or anyone. Most of all, he remembers flying with the laughter in his ears. Laughter from his--

His rider.

The thought jolts Hyunjin’s entirety. Being unaccustomed to riding, the motion jerks his body to the side of Hye Ji where he loses his footing and slips and begins an all to familiar journey to the ground. 

He chants the transformation spell to soften his landing with his wings.

“Beautiful,” Hye Ji breaths at Hyunjin’s deep purple scales. “I-I mean, I’m sorry about dropping you!”

The male shakes off the dust and returns to human form before she can see his tail, especially after she has just witnessed him face planting into the floor. Again.

“It was my fault,” Hyunjin says with a shake of his head. “I think it’s time I go back for that shower.”

“Wait! Don’t you want a ride? The dorms are very far from here,” she offers.

“No thanks. I’ll walk back.”

“I said I’m sorry!”

Hyunjin turns around to give her a small smile. “Don’t worry. It wasn’t you; I just have a few things to sort out myself.”

“I think I’m in love.”

Hyunjin raises an eyebrow at his roommate who’s sprawled across his bed. “Just from one ride?”

“She’s just… that amazing, you know?” he sighs exasperatedly.

“You’ve fallen one too many times today, haven’t you?”

Changbin sits up. “I’m just kidding, you know.”

“Good. You had me really worried there for a second,” Hyunjin chuckles with a shake of his head and turns back to his math homework.

“You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to play Chan dirty like that.”

Hyunjin looks up at his friend. “What about Chan?”

“S-M-I-T-T-E-N. She’s going to be in a lotta trouble with his fangirls. You know, since he’s head prefect and all.”

“He’s known her for one day,” Hyunjin objects with the shake of his head.

“At least he doesn’t avoid her like the plague.”

“I’m not trying to cozy up to that rider.”

“YOUR rider.”

“She’s not my--”

“Seriously, Hyunjin?” Changbin snaps. “How long are you going to go about that idea? You realize that riders get graded on how well they control their dragons, right? You might not care about not graduating or whatever, but have you thought about them? Do you know how many riders quit this school because they’ve been paired with you and your attitude? Do you realize how many of their hopes and dreams you’ve ruined?”

“I--”

“Yeah, sure your future isn’t what you want it to be because of your tail, and I’m guessing it’s some rider’s fault, but don’t you see that you’re doing the same thing to other people?”

“So what if I’m projecting my pain onto them?” Hyunjin retorts. “I’m a selfish, vengeful, futureless dragon. Maybe I should drop out myself to spare some rider from a poor, unfortunate fate of flying a half-tailed lizard!”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“You’re right, it’s not. You just want to protect your rider’s little girlfriend because she’s strong and pretty and bribes you with berries.”

“No, I want to protect you, Hyunjin,” Changbin states plainly. “Y/N is unlike any rider I’ve ever seen before, and I really think she can help you feel like who you were before. Just give her a chance.”

Hyunjin opens his mouth but is unable to find a counter reply. Changbin sighs and ruffles the younger dragon’s hair before heading to bed.