#20200721

The start gun fires right at that moment, and the opponent wastes no time blasting a beam of ice in your direction, separating the two of you as you jump apart to avoid the attack.

Hyunjin rolls out of the attack, gasping the transformation spell. He can hear some murmuring from classmates who have never seen his injury before and starts to get nervous again. It’s similar, he thinks, to his rider’s jeers he heard when he felt the first searing pain shoot through his left fin. 

Another sound cuts through all the other ones: a crack. Multiple cracks, in fact. He looks down to see the ice beneath his feet breaking apart from his massive weight. He looks to you and lets out a howl to which your necklace glows white in response, ready for him to take flight.

With his front paws, Hyunjin picks you up right as the ice dragon unflurles another one of his attacks. A summersault later, you are on Hyunjin’s back, ready to fight back. 

If there’s one thing Twilight Terrors do not do, it’s disappoint. Hyunjin blinds the other dragons with a wave of flames before picking it up and slamming it against the ceiling. You help him dive backwards back down just as another ice beam finds itself heading your way. A fireball is sent to counter the icy spikes the opponent sends right after. Hyunjin’s attack nicks the other dragon on the wing, immobilizing it for at least a few minutes. The glass panels protecting the audience vibrates as Hyunjin pushes off of it for his next attack. The ice dragon sends a spiral of ice shards to slow him down. You can tell the spiral is just like the last obstacle of the intermediate course, so you send the same pattern of magic down his body. Hyunjin grunts in understanding, and narrows his eyes in preparation.

He blinks the memory away. Not now. Not now! He isn’t sure who said it this time, but he sure remembers who said it six years ago. He must have flinched because he feels you pushing his ears down to block out the sounds, but the damage has already been done.

“Look at his tail!”

“Look at his tail! My boy, you’ll sell for millions.”

You pass through the first of the shards without a hitch and brace yourself for the next one.

“You don’t know how much Twilight Terror parts sell for, do you, you poor, naive thing? Maybe you’ll think twice before swearing your loyalty to someone. Oh wait! No one will want you after I’m done anyway. You’ll always belong to me.”

You can feel Hyunjin freezing up under you, rejecting your control, and there is nothing you can do. A shard impales his wings which freaks him out even more. Hyunjin tosses you off his back and collides into the glass on the opposite side.

The ice dragon, having recovered from Hyunjin’s burn, is quick to catch your falling form out of the air. You kick and stab with your dagger, but what is a human against a dragon? 

With a crash, the snowy reptilian lands back on the ice. It grabs you with one paw and slams you pass the frozen water and into the liquid below. 

Through the ice, you see Hyunjin’s distorted shape shaking his head to clear it of his memories and the uproar of the crowd. Your fingers burn from the cold and your head screams from the impact it took to break through the ice. Around your neck, the metallic necklace the proctors gave you earlier shines brightly. Just activate it with a spell and they’ll end the match and save you from this icy, airless torture. 

You can feel your body going limp from the lack of oxygen. If you wait any longer, you might not have the ability to hum the spell.

Hyunjin. Fight it.

Fight it. As if by magic, the Terror snaps out of his trance. The sight of the arena fills his vision once more, replacing the visions of the dungeon from his memories. Hyunjin roars in panic when he spots your lifeless body held under the freezing water. He takes off in flight towards you, not caring about what the audience has to say at the random mishaps his tail causes without your control. 

Five seconds till arrival, sixty until your body gives out. The opponent shoots an ice beam, knocking him off course. Ten seconds till arrival now, and fifty-seven till your demise. Hyunjin conjures the hottest flames he can manage and sends it on its way. To dodge, the opponent races further, dragging you along with it. Twenty and forty-nine. It isn’t fast enough for Hyunjin’s flames, however, and lets out a roar of pain and collapses to its side. Taking this opportunity, Hyunjin burns it up. In agony, the ice dragon drops you to roll around to smother the flames. In vain, of course; a Twilight Terror’s flames aren’t so easy to extinguish. Nethertheless, your body is sinking into the freezing depths.

Thirty seconds until the opponent activates their necklace and forfeits. Thirty-one left on your lifeline. Thirty two until he reaches you with his broken tail. 

“We tap out!”

Hyunjin’s human voice rings loud and clear through the arena. Everyone in the audience was holding their breaths. Even the proctors hesitated, unsure if they heard him correctly, before springing into action. 

He sees it clearly when they fish you out of the water, the trickle of blood from your head that runs down your uniform. It will stain there to remind him that he’s almost killed you. Again.

“Hyunjin!” Normally, he’d turn around for that voice, but not this time. “Hyunjin!”

The owner of the voice finally catches up to him and hands him a chocolate milk. “You did really well!” 

“Thanks, Hye Ji,” he sighs, not really putting thought into what he’s saying.

“You almost won! You had that other guy totally in the bag!” she continues excitedly. “And how you flew so fantastically even with your injury? Inspiring.”

“But I didn’t.”

Hye Ji blinks a few times. “Of course you did! You--”

“I threw her off of me. I threw her to her death.”

“I’m sure she knows you didn’t mean it…”

“Unfortunately it’s not up to her what she thinks; it’s just what happened. I’m unflyable.”

“Hwang Hyunjin.” Hye Ji’s sudden deviation from her cheerleader-y voice throws Hyunjin off guard. She pulls on his sleeve with her head down, unused to disagreeing with her crush. “I-I don’t know Miss L/N very well, but I know she won’t like it if she heard you saying that. I-if you must say it, I think she’d prefer you to say it to her face. That way, she can argue back, you know?”

Hyunjin looks down at his milk. “You’re right, Hye Ji. Thanks.”

The girl pokes her two fingers together. “Just doing what Miss L/N would since she can’t do it herself right now.”

Hyunjin thanks her again and makes his way to the clinic, stopping by the snack stand along the way. In the clinic halls, he sees three boys loitering there.

“Excuse me,” Hyunjin says sternly.

“Oh look who it is! The dragon of the dead deaf girl!”

“Excuse me,” Hyunjin repeats, louder.

“Is he even her dragon? Their pendants aren’t even matching. Besides, it’s not like a dumb witch like her can ever make it far as a rider anyway.”

The three proceed to plug their ears with their fingers and chant in a high pitched voice, “I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”

Hyunjin squeezes the chocolate milk so hard, it bursts. With the same hand, he slams one of them against the wall by the neck. “You take that back,” he growls.

“What are you going to do? Hit me with that broken tail of yours?” 

“Broken or otherwise, it’s a tail Y/N has spent weeks upon weeks trying to master, so you better take that back too.” His grip tightens. “Unless you want to outrun my fireballs.”

The boy tches and pushes Hyunjin off of him before walking away with his friends. With a shake of his head, Hyunjin rinses his hand off and heads for your room. Inside, he sees someone he wants to punch even more than those three hooligans.

“Chan.”

The upperclassman’s flicks his head to the side to look at Hyunjin with a sharp gaze. He is standing at the foot of the bed where you lay sleeping.

“How many more times, Hyunjin? How many more?” he whispers harshly, walking up to the other male. “How many more times do I have to see her like this because of you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you hate riders, but did you have to throw her off like that? And in the middle of a battle?” 

Hyunjin realizes what the whole situation must have looked like to the spectators. He, a rider hating reptile, mercilessly tossed you into the enemy’s jaws while he stood to the side, not lifting a muscle only to forfeit the entire match. How Hye Ji managed to still believe in him after seeing that, he does not know.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

Chan takes another step forward, backing Hyunjin against the wall. “Sure you do. She’s my-- My…”

“Girlfriend?” Hyunjin finishes for him.

“Well--”

A cough cuts him off. Both males turn toward you to see you scribbling something.

‘Chan, don’t be so hard on him; he didn’t mean it.’

Hyunjin doubts he even read the note as the other rider rushes to your side, taking your hand in his and rubbing your fingers.

‘How are you feeling? Do you need a nurse?’

‘I’m fine,’ you reply with a reassuring smile. 

‘If you need anything, just tell me okay? I’m always here for you.’

‘Actually, can I have a moment with him?’ 

Chan’s right eye twitches as he turns to look at where you’re pointing. 

‘He won’t hurt me,’ you promise.

‘Fine. I trust you, but scream if anything happens, okay?’

You nod, and he walks out the door with a firm gaze on Hyunjin. The dragon walks up to you timorously. 

“Hey. I got you this.” He pulls out a strawberry yakult. He rubs it between his hands, trying to warm it, before poking a straw in it for you.

‘Thank you.’

‘Y/N?’

You raise your eyebrow, and he fidgets with the edge of your blanket. 

‘I’m sorry. For dropping you. And for being a bad dragon.’

You can’t help but giggle at the last part. It makes him seem like even more of a sad puppy. 

‘I know you didn’t mean it.’

‘Still. It’s my fault. I understand if you want to take back your promise of taking me to the New Year’s Race.’

You place your hand over his. ‘I would never do that, but I do want one thing.’

He looks at you through his bangs. 

‘Tell me how you lost your tail.’

Hyunjin freezes. It’s not a topic he’s talked about to anyone, not even Changbin. Is he about to tell a rider of all people? He picks up his pen.

‘I can’t.’

You push down his pad. ‘I’m not asking you to write it. I’m asking you to tell me.’

‘But you can’t even hear it.’

‘So no pressure, right?’ The smile that accompanies your note makes his stomach squeeze unnaturally. 

Hyunjin frowns at you. ‘You know you’re asking much more than getting on my back or dragging me out to practice in the middle of the night, right?’

You match his expression and sit up straight, setting the bottle of yakult on the nightstand. His eyes are fogging the same way they did both times before he rejected your magic. With caution as to not trigger him, you place your arms around his shoulders. To your surprise, he rests his chin on your shoulder.

I know.

You didn’t have to say the words. It is like he can read your thoughts just by feeling your heart beating against him steadily and comfortingly. He was supposed to hate riders-- he was supposed to hate you-- but now, all he wants to do is everything to make sure you never leave his side. 

He remembers how differently his ex-rider’s heartbeat felt. It was erratic and dangerous every time he was with Hyunjin. He remembers how his own heartbeat mirrored Lee’s on that fateful night when he was tied to the ground by nothing but the trust he placed in that wicked man.

“I, Hwang Hyunjin, Terror of the Twilights, the last rays of the sun, hereby swear my soul and body to the service of my master, Lee. May no shadows of death or rain from the crying skies touch my master’s head before it feels the torment of my flames for as long as I live.”

“Good, good! You’re doing so well, my boy! There’s just one more step now.”

Hyunjin nodded at his master’s prompting and took on his dragon form. He raked his own claws against his skin to draw blood and offered it to Lee who let it rain all over him with a victorious laugh as his previously white pendant glowed a deep purple.

“Now… it is complete,” he sighs, slowly opening his eyes. “Let’s test it, shall we?”

Hyunjin was prancing around happily until Lee commanded him to freeze. Hyunjin gasped amazedly at the sensation. It was as if he was of one body and mind with his master, and he could not be happier than to share this experience with who he thought was his best friend…

… until he heard the talks about the demand for Terror parts on the black market. 

By then, it was too late to take back his oath. Hyunjin laid on the cold, hard stone, unable to do more than whimper as Lee cut into the first thing he could reach: his tailfin. Hyunjin could not feel the pain in his tail so much as he could feel the one in his heart.

“Why?” he kept roaring. “Why?” 

You feel the vibrations on his chest stop as he finishes his story. You don’t make an effort to move afterwards and just continue rubbing slow circles onto his back. He’s grateful for this, your warmth and your hospital gown that’s soaking up years of unshed tears. He’s also grateful for your steadfast support. You couldn’t have understood anything-- why he treated you like trash and why he is clinging onto you now-- but you’ve been there for him nonetheless. 

He feels like you would tell him to his face beforehand if you wanted his other fin for money, and he feels like he would give it to you without hesitation if you did. At the same time, he feels like you never would ask such a thing, that you would rather sell your remaining senses before you did. He feels like he can trust again. For you, he’ll trust again.

There’s a rustling outside your door, but not one which Hyunjin can process at the moment. Had he been able to, he might have opened it to see Chan taking his hand out of his pockets with a sigh of grievance and walking away down the hall.