#dragon!hyunjin

I told you to tell me when you’re tired! We could have taken more stops! he can imagine you nagging as you drag him towards a hollowed out tree. He lets out a coughy-laugh at his hypothetical dialogue and continues the rest of the walk himself, knowing you too are worn out from using magic nonstop. 

‘I’m going to get some more water,’ you write to him, waving your empty bottles.

‘I’ll come with,’ he replies, getting up from the tree.

You shake your head and force him to sit back down. ‘Rest. The stream’s not far, and I have my daggers.’

‘Well, yell if another dragon spots you.’

You salute him, and he watches your back walk away with a tired sigh. Wearily, he leans back against the tree and looks up for any predators. He doesn’t even notice his vision growing dimmer and dimmer as the winter breeze tickles at his hairs until a voice pulls him out of his slumber.

“Hwang Hyunjin? I finally found you! This forest made it a tad difficult, but no worries.”

The Terror freezes. He knows that voice anywhere. “Lee.”

“Long time no see, my boy. Turns out you were hiding in this academy all along! I should have known.”

Hyunjin turns slowly around to see the man he hates most now with a large scar across a sewn-shut eye that was not there before. In his hand dangles a purple necklace. “You can’t do anything when I’m human,” he snarls.

Lee chuckles. “So what? You’re going to stay like this for the rest of the race? You can’t even survive like that out here, let alone win.”

“How did you get in here anyway? This is a students only event,” Hyunjin hisses.

“How doesn’t matter,” the man hums. “What matters is that I’ve found you now, and it’s only the matter of when you’re going to be mine again. Speaking of which, how’s your new rider? Pretty little thing, isn’t she?”

“You keep your dirty hands off of her!” Hyunjin hollers.

Lee only chuckles at his anger. “Oh, my dear boy. You know that you’re the only one I’m interested in, but if she can help me get to you, then I suppose I don’t mind her company again.”

Again?

“Ever wonder why my dragon isn’t here right now?”

As if on cue, a grey reptile lifts off into the sky. Between its two front paws is you, tied and gagged. Behind your back, your fingers are spelling something.

‘Run!’

Like claws he will! Not when you were attacked by goblins and definitely not now. He unsheathes a knife and makes a long cut along the abdominon of the dragon as it swoops down. It roars in pain and drops you.

Hyunjin dashes over, standing between you and the foe. Lee mounts his pet and again flies towards Hyunjin, grabbing you both between different limbs, and returns to the air. Hyunjin stabs and stabs with his knife, but with his master on his back, the grey dragon’s body is no longer its own. It can roar all it wants, but trumpets of victory is all Lee can hear. 

“So nice to see you again, Miss L/N. I’ve been looking for you too.”

Hyunjin looks at you confused. What business did you have with Lee, and why was he talking aloud to you? However, you are too occupied thrashing around to free yourself to notice your friend.

Knowing you can’t respond to him with your gag, Lee turns to Hyunjin. “So what’s it going to be, Boy? Are you going to transform, or am I going to have to kill this poor, innocent girl here?” he taunts, having the dragon fly higher and higher into the sky. “Guess you can decide on your way down!”

With that, the dragon drops both your and his bodies. Hyunjin knows that it’s all over for him if he transforms, but it’s all over for both of you if he doesn’t. The ground is approaching much faster than survivable. Decide on his way down? There’s only one option given to him, and Lee knows it.

Hyunjin pulls you into his arms, tearing away your gag and mumbling a spell. Lee cackles triumphantly as deep purple scales appear before his eyes. He flies closer to Hyunjin and casts a spell immediately, making him freeze up to prevent him from flying away. However, this means Hyunjin is continuing accelerating downward.

A dragon can survive a fall from this height, but not you who is still wrapped up in his frozen arms. Luckily, there’s one part of him that Lee doesn’t control: his white prosthetic fin. Hyunjin angles it so that he rotates just in time for him to land on his back and uses his belly to absorb your impact.

“How sweet, taking the fall for your savior this time, eh?” Lee teases, walking over to the fallen dragon. Hyunjin can only glare at him uselessly. 

Savior? He doesn’t have much time to think as pain replaces all thoughts when Lee wastes no time on his first incision, this time for a claw. He can hear you singing from between his arms where he has you securely protected between his arms, but it is in vain; even you cannot over power another magician whom a dragon has sworn to. 

“You know, maybe it was a good thing you were rescued six years ago,” Lee hums cockily, inspecting the claw he has just detached from the Terror. “Your parts are even more beautiful now that they’ve matured.”

Rescued? Hyunjin doesn’t remember any of this. One moment he blacked out from pain, and the next, he woke up at this school.

Just then, he hears a voice from above. “Hyunjin?”

On any other day, the Terror would have cursed at that voice, but today, it was music to his ears.

“Oh my claws, that’s Hyunjin!” cries Chan

“Got more friends to help you out?” Lee scoffs. “What are they going to do against a Twilight Terror?”

He forces Hyunjin onto his feet, dropping you to the side and mounting the dragon to which Hyunjin screeches in distress, but before he can see where you landed, Lee has already taken him into the air. From a distance, Changbin is zeroing in on his location.

“Fire.”

Hyunjin watches in horror as a flame erupts from his own mouth towards his friend. 

“Wanna fight?” Changbin roars, narrowly missing the attack.

“It’s my rider’s doing!”

“Rider? I thought you hated riders!”

“He’s why!” 

“Hyunjin!” Chan exclaims once he’s confirmed his identity.

“A prefect, eh? Ooh, I’m really scared,” Lee laughs.

“Where’s Y/N?” demands Chan.

“Somewhere. Don’t care. You can find her now before some wild goblins kill her, or you can try to fight me and end up dead. No guarantee your corpses would be buried together though.”

“And who are you?” growls Chan. He casts his gaze down and sees Hyunjin’s bleeding paw. “Nevermind, I know exactly who you are, Lee.”

“Surprise, surprise! I’m famous! But unfortunately for you, your time to escape unscathed has run out,” Lee snickers, making Hyunjin release another shot of fire. 

“Just find Y/N!” Hyunjin begs his roommate.

“And leave you to this man?”

“Don’t worry, Hyunjin,” Chan calls out as if he can read the dragon’s mind. “Y/N’s not that weak. Just worry about yourself for now!”

Chan avoids another fireball as he talks. Regardless of who’s controlling him, Hyunjin is still Hyunjin, and Chan cannot hurt him. He also knows that any attack he aims at Lee will just be blocked using the Terror’s body. How is he to free him from that man? he ponders, skillfully slanting Changbin to avoid a stream of flames. 

In the midst of his planning, Chan spts something grey in the corner of his eye. He suppresses a giggle when he notices it’s you on the back of Lee’s previous ride with your ability to control other dragons. You are signing a rescue plan to him, and Chan repeats it to Changbin who relays it to Hyunjin discreetly, all the while standing his ground against Lee and keeping everything under the villain’s radar.

Hyunjin wants to yelp happily knowing that you are alright, but he keeps his calm to hide your presence. He gives the slightest of nods when he’s understood the plan, hoping that you can see it. Once you’ve received the okay signal, you jump into action.

Lee is surprised to say the least. You swoop in with his dragon, biting off Hyunjin’s white prosthetic which throws the dragon off balance. Unlike you, Lee has never flown Hyunjin with only half the normal number of fins. He yells curses as his dragon begins to topple, and Chan takes this chance to attack from the front, ripping off Hyunjin’s necklace. 

As soon as he does so, Both Lee and Hyunjin begin their descent to the ground, so Changbin grabs Hyunjin. 

“You won’t succeed again L/N!” Lee curses having spotted you. Since you and the dragon you are riding are nearby, Lee regains control of it, overpowering your magic with his rights as its owner.

“Y/N!” Chan yells, reaching his hand down for you as Changbin swoops in, lifting you away from the reach of Lee. Together, you watch the man ride away with taunts of his return.

“I told them the course wasn’t ready!” Chan scowls as soon as all four of you are back on the ground.

“What do you mean?”

“Remember when I got pulled out of the winter ball?” he both sighs and signs. “There was something wrong with the force field around the course. Force fields are what keeps nonstudents like that creep out of campus, but we were having trouble maintaining the one around this course. I told them we needed more time to fix it, but they insisted that the New Year’s Race can’t be postponed!”

‘Well what are we going to do now?’ you ask. ‘Hyunjin can’t turn into a dragon for even a second, and two humans aren’t going to survive until midnight in this forest.’

“Having three people on a dragon might be dangerous especially with all these battles going on, but we can wait here with you,” Chan offers, and Changbin nods. 

‘We can’t possibly ask that of you. Besides, Lee already has his eyes on Hyunjin. He can’t keep hiding in the school forever.’

“I have a plan,” Hyunjin announces. All heads turn towards him, and he to you with his notepad. ‘I’ll swear to you. It’s the only way you can overpower Lee.’

Changbin agrees, silently surprised that Hyunjin is willing to hand himself to another rider after six years of swearing that it’ll never happen. Chan on the other hand, is surprised at how bewildered you look. Shouldn’t you be ecstatic that he’s finally accepted you?

You grab Hyunjin’s wrist and stare into his eyes. Don’t.

Your partner furrows his brows. ‘Why not?’

You look around and finally back to your partner. ‘Can we talk? Privately.’

Hyunjin nods and excuses the two of you. Once you’re alone, you start writing urgently.

‘You can’t swear to me.’

‘This whole time, I thought I was the one with a problem with it, not you.’

‘It’s just that…’ You bite your lip, unsure of how to tell him. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’

Hyunjin takes your hand in his. ‘What do you mean?’

‘The first person you’ve sworn to has already hurt you. If I do it too, you’d never recover from it.’

‘Y/N, what are you trying to say?’

You pull your hand back and turn away. ‘I’m not a dragon rider, and I was never intended to be your rider from the day we were assigned to each other,’ you finally confess. 

Hyunjin puts a hand on your shoulder to turn you back his way. You can’t look at him.

‘I’m a dragon trainer. Because I can control dragons that aren’t my own, I’m hired to rehabilitate injured and traumatized dragons such as yourself. After the treatment is complete, I adjust them to a real rider.’

Hyunjin can’t believe his eyes. ‘So what are you saying? All this time, everything we’ve been through together, you did just for a wage? All the things you’ve said to me, were they all just scripts?’ Are all my feelings just bought by money? 

You press his hand down to stop him from writing and shake your head fervently. ‘I sincerely care for every dragon I work with!’

He glares at you.

‘Please believe me…’ You bite your lip. ‘And if it makes you feel any better, I’m not getting paid to work with you.’

‘Then why are you here?’ he scoffs, making you wince.

‘The girl who rescued you from Lee six years ago asked me to be here.’

‘Someone you owed a favor to or--’ He cuts himself off, and his eyes widen into round discs upon realization. How familiar he thought you looked from the start. How you knew his preference for appai berries. The unidentified girl in his flashbacks. How Lee knew who you are earlier. It all adds up. 

“It was you,” he breathes, his voice barely a whisper as memories he tried to repress come rushing back. 

“Why?” he kept roaring. “Why?” 

In his blurred vision, he spotted an pre-teen version of you, Lee’s rider-in-trainning, approaching him with a blade behind your back. 

“Ah, Miss L/N. Have you brought the other scalpels like I asked?”

You nod your head carefully having picked up a sense of what he is attempting. “What are you doing, Master?”

“Let me teach you the real reason we spend so much time befriending these beasts,” Lee chuckled. “Watch!” 

With that, he ripped Hyunjin’s fin clean off, making your heart drum in your ear with fear.

“No!” you cried. You raised your hidden blade, trying to stop your mentor. You succeed, giving him a large gash right across his eye. 

Lee screamed, and his magic faltered for just a moment. You took this chance to approach Hyunjin for his necklace, but all he saw was a person coming at him with a knife. In his fear, Hyunjin released a series of flames. You managed to rip off his necklace right as Lee recovered from the shock and as the dungeon Hyunjin lit on fire began tumbling down on all of you.

And then all was quiet.

The last thing he saw before the world went black was a girl struggling to get a pillar off of him. She was bleeding in the head right where her auditory cortexes were.

‘I was so scared of Lee, I left you at Sheng Academy and ran. I hid and got around with whatever wild dragon I can use to enter local competitions for their prize money and learned to ride without my ears until a rich lady recognized what I can do and paid me to rehabilitate one of her trophy dragons with an amputated leg. My career started after that.’

‘So I’m the one who blew out your ears?’ Hyunjin gasps.

‘That’s not the point.’ You reach up for his cheek as a single tear of guilt slides down. ‘The point is, you don’t want to swear to me.’

‘No, I can and I will,’ Hyunjin writes adamantly. ‘You can leave me, or cut me up; I don’t care. It’s the only way we can get Lee off both our backs.’ 

You disagree. ‘We can break his pendant and release you from your oath.’

‘Nothing can break a magic pendant though.’

‘No, not nothing.’

“You’re insane,” Changbin decides, demanding that Chan signs it to you which the latter refuses.

‘What are the chances of its success?’ Chan asks instead.

‘It depends on him,’ you answer, motioning to Hyunjin. ‘You need to leave now, or this won’t work.’

‘This… this is too dangerous. I can’t allow it!’ 

You look Chan in the eyes. Your charisma isn’t only limited to dragons. ‘You’re going to have to.’

The oldest male takes your hand and frowns at you. He then kisses the back of one before letting go. ‘Come back to me.’

You don’t answer.

Hyunjin makes sure Chan has left before he turns back to where they have found Lee sleeping on a field. “Okay, here we go.”

You nod and step into the clearing, carefully sliding a blade from your thigh. The winter sunset kisses your hair as you tiptoe towards the man. You let out a low note to keep his dragon asleep and hover over your target. You pull the knife back and bring it down to his neck when a hand catches your wrist.

“You honestly think that would work?” Lee sneers. “Have you learned nothing from your time with me?”

You snarl and jump back.

“Why so shy? It’s just me, Sweetie,” he hums, standing up and spreading his arms out. “But honestly, what were you thinking, coming alone at me with nothing but a dagger? What happened to your other friends? Left you behind to complete the race, I suppose? That is quite typical of prefects; they care about nothing but their image.”

Hyunjin clenches his jaw, feeling oddly defensive for the rider.

He continues. “Not answering? That’s alright. I must admit, it’s rather noble of you to try and save little Hyunjin, but as I always say, noble acts are usually the most foolish ones.”

Lee says something and his dragon awakens. It knocks you to the ground, and Lee bounds you up like before. “Now, let’s hear you scream for your knight in shining armor.”

He takes your own blade and digs it into your shoulder, staining your white coat with red. You bite your tongue and snarl at him.

“Resilient, aren’t you? That’s why I took you under my wing. Well, that and your special ability.” A round kick to the head. “Too bad your heart isn’t nearly as tough. We could have been rich, Miss L/N, we really could have. That Terror could have bought us a whole mansion with a pretty fountain in the front.” Another stab. You can’t hold it this time and let out a cry. “There it is! Good girl,” Lee approves. “You know, it’s not too late. Just give me the Terror, and I’ll let you free! I’ll even take you back and give you your own room in the mansion.” 

Lee sighs at your lack of response and motions at his dragon. It takes a step back and conjugates magic at its mouth for an attack. At this, Hyunjin cannot sit still and watch any longer. With a powerful roar, he flies into the clearing and throws the other reptile into the trees while shooting a fireball at Lee. 

“Oh goodie!” Lee cheers and grounds Hyunjin immediately. He turns to you and pulls on a rope which tugs you up so that you dangle from a tree. “I’ll tell you how this is going to work this time, Hyunjin. I am going to light this tree on fire--” he does so-- “and going to take, oh, just some of your parts. If you cooperate, I might finish in time for what’s left of you to save her before she burns to death! Isn’t that fun?”

Hyunjin roars in protest, but stays still for his master. He keeps his eyes on you as you thrash around in attempts to save yourself from the incoming flames. He doesn’t even feel Lee's knife entering the second part of his tail; all he can hear are your panicked gasps, and all he knows is that Lee is going far too slowly for him to finish on time. Forget his threat, Hyunjin has to break out of his hold now or you’re dead!

But how?

He catches sight of your eyes that are filled with tears from ash irritation and fear of your impending doom. Your gazes lock together and you stop squirming. Slowly, you let a small smile spread over your lips. 

That smile. He has seen that smile before. It’s the one you gave him before saving him from the goblins at your own expense. It’s a smile of gratitude for the time spent together and apologizes for the time you’ve cut short. It’s a smile of hope for him and resignation for yourself. It’s a smile of peace. A smile of acceptance. A smile of farewell.

“Hyunjin...” 

The voice. His name. It’s softer than a feather yet stronger than a storm. It pierces through his heart and awakens something in him. He wants nothing more than to hear it over and over again. From you. From you when you’re happy, from you when you’re mad, from you when you’re excited, from you when you’re alive.

“NO!” he bellows, watching your coat catch its first flames and your body going limp.

Hyunjin wills his front arm to move to crawl to you, and it does. 

“What are you doing?” Lee shrieks as his purple necklace begins to vibrate. “STOP!”

Another step. It’s now enough for Hyunjin to crane his neck up off the floor. 

‘No, not nothing,’ you had told him. ‘A dragon’s loyalty oath puts its master before itself. We just have to find something you want more than Lee when you swore to him. We just have to find something you want more than yourself.’

Hyunjin unflurs his wings and Lee’s necklace shatters into his face, piercing through his brain. This goes unnoticed as only one thought resides in Hyunjin’s mind, body, and soul: hearing you say his name again.

Without either of his tail fins, Hyunjin can no longer fly. He opts to climb through the flames and rip you from the ropes with his jaw. When he succeeds, he falls to the ground and rolls around to put out the flames. 

Hyunjin immediately returns to human form and begins resuscitation on you, ignoring the burns he’d just received himself.

“Come on, Y/N, come on!” he cries. “I did not just agree to your stupid plan for you to die on me!”

He pinches your nose and blows twice, making sure your chest rises each time. On the second one, you suddenly cough, spraying black saliva everywhere. 

“Hyun…” you try before being interrupted with another cough attack.

When you turn back to face him, you see him with the widest smile you’d ever seen. He lets his head collapse onto you and soaks your chest in tears. Weakly, you bring your hand to his head and stroke his hair.

“... jin.”

‘So this is it then? Really?’

You press a new white frame onto his pendant. The second rising sun of the year casts a glow around the both of you.

Hyunjin sighs and helps you adjust your new white coat around your cast. ‘Your wounds haven't even healed yet.’

‘I’ll be fine. Promise.’

‘I know you can be, but I don’t trust that you won’t do something reckless again.’

‘Touche,’ you laugh. It’s a beautiful laugh. Hyunjin wishes he could record this one. ‘Make sure you graduate, okay?’

‘I won’t let you down,’ he promises. ‘Have you told Chan?’

‘Why would I tell Chan?’

He rolls his eyes. ‘You know he has the biggest crush on you.’

‘He deserves someone who’s not trying to get herself killed every week.’

‘Sounds like my kind of girl,” Hyunjin winks. 

You scoff humorously and toss a red bag at him. He catches it and knows exactly what’s inside. 

‘Good work, Hyunjin!’

He shakes his head and pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket, and unfolds the crumpled parchment. He shows you the back of it which reads ‘Good work’ then folds it before flipping it over so that all you can see is the word ‘friend.’ It’s the note you had given him during your first practice when he asked you who you are.

You place a hand over your heart, touched.

Hyunjin walks over and pulls you into a hug. “Thank you. For everything.”

~4 years later~

You wipe sweat from your forehead and look up to the new school you had built for disabled dragons and riders alike. There are still a few odds and ends you have to sort out, but you cannot be more excited for the opening. 

Just then, you feel the snap of a twig from someone approaching you from behind. You whip around to confront the intruder, but before you can, he speaks. Or rather, signs.

‘Are you hiring? I have a degree from Sheng Academy,’ the man signs fluently.

Your aggravation melts into joy. 

“Hyunjin!”

--end--

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.

You look excited as you stand on the field waiting for him. Well, you look excited every time you see him, and Hyunjin is starting to feel the same when he sees you.

He tilts his head to the side, asking why you called him out today. He closes his eyes when you gesture for him to do so and feels you fiddling with his necklace. When you tap him on his shoulder, he opens his eyes and looks down to see a frame made of white gold clasped snuggly against his pendant.

‘Turn dragon, but add an eee sound to the end of the spell.’

He does as told again and watches the usual purple swirls envelop and transform him. When he is done, however, he feels a new weight on his extremity. He turns around to see a white prosthetic fin attached to his tail.

He huffs a puff of smoke at you in amazement. You beam back at him and hold up your notepad.

‘I thought about how to do this while stuck at the clinic, but it took a while to figure out even after my discharge. I hope this helps you fly with your dragon friends again.’

Hyunjin returns to human form to write. ‘Aren’t you scared that I’ll never let you on again if I can fly by myself?’ he teases.

‘You don’t get appai berries when you fly solo,’ you shoot back.

Hyunjin performs a dramatic display of misery that makes you chuckle silently. Rolling your eyes, you indicate toward a metal can that you have also brought.

‘Transform again so I can paint it purple for you.’

Your companion shakes his head. ‘I like it white.’

‘But it doesn’t look natural,’ you object. 

He raises his previous message again for you to read.

You shrug, nudging the paint away with your foot. ‘Want to test it out still?’

Within seconds, Hyunjin is in the air with a discoloured tail following him. After six years of imbalance, he almost fell from the new fix, but you are there on the ground to straighten him up every time. He recalls this feeling, being able to glide to the side and move his tail however he wanted to. He used to do this with his buddies in the forest before he met-- No, Hyunjin told himself that he isn’t going to dwell on the past anymore, not when you’re here in the present right now, and he can’t bear to drop you from the sky again. It’s still a work in progress, but you promised him a shoulder whenever he’s struggling with it. 

Still, there’s no crime in relishing the feeling of weightlessness in the air. As enjoyable as it is however, Hyunjin knows there’s something missing.

‘How is it?’ you ask once he’s landed.

‘Something’s not quite right…’

You furrow your brows, wondering where you could have made a mistake, but before you can come to a conclusion, Hyunjin chants his transformation spell again. He then knocks you off your feet and sweeps you onto his back.

Hyunjin lets out a roar towards the advanced obstacle course to which you laugh and lean forward in preparation. Before you can even blink, the two of you are cutting through the air, going faster with each stroke of the Terror’s powerful wings.

Much better.

Hyunjin cherishes these practices the most when there’s no one watching and nothing on the line. It’s just you and him. It’s nice, and he wishes he could keep it like this forever, but with the way your eyes twinkle with laughter and the way your hair blows in the evening breeze after he lands and you roll off of him onto the grass, he can’t help but wonder if he can have something more.

What? you ask with a motion of your head, referring to his staring.

He shakes his head. Nothing.

You nudge at his shoulder, and he gives in, turning to sit facing you. He reaches over to cover your eyes, making your breath hitch, so that you can’t read his lips.

“I know I’m not charming like Chan or reliable like Changbin, but I like you, Y/N,” he confesses. “I like you a lot.”

With that, he draws back his hands to reveal a confused expression on your face which quickly turns into a pout. He laughs and knocks your forehead back with two fingers.

‘What did you say?’ you interrogate.

‘I said ‘Take me to the Race!’’ He pumps his fist into the air.

You smile widely and imitate his action. He laughs and bumps his fist to yours. He’s going to compete. After all these years, he’s finally going to compete.

After coming to terms with his feelings and with the annual winter ball around the corner, Hyunjin knows what to do. The winter ball’s sole purpose is to celebrate the past year and the upcoming race, so Hyunjin never really had a reason to go until now. He’s feeling a little nervous about even attending the ball itself and is why he waited so long to purchase a bouquet of gold-tipped, cream coloured flowers mixed with a few pastel pinks and purples for accent. 

He knows you are in the library, so that’s where he went, but he almost doubted his location for a second. Since when was the dusty, ancient place so crowded? He peers past the mob and sees you in the center of it.

But you aren’t alone.

Chan had set up a whole ambiance for you complete with twinkling fire fairies and petals on the ground. He places your hand on his acoustic guitar for you to feel the vibrations as he plays a sweet song and one of his friends nearby signs for you the words he is singing. When he is done, he takes your hand and gifts you a dozen scarlet roses.

‘Go to the dance with me?’ he signs.

No sensible human would turn down something like that. Hyunjin suddenly feels like he can’t breathe when you nod with a shy smile and Chan pulls you into a relieved hug. He slips out of the cheering crowd, unable to bear it any longer.

As he storms down the hall, he hears a familiar voice call out to him. “Hyunjin? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me, Hye Ji.”

“I, um, have something to ask of you,” the girl admits. Why does she look nervous?

“Go for it,” Hyunjin nods. 

“Will you go to the winter ball with me?” she squeaks. 

Hyunjin looks at the bouquet of flowers in his hands with a sigh. Slowly, he lifts his eyes back up to face her. “Sorry, Hye Ji. I don’t think I’ll be going this year. I’m sorry.”

“It’s Miss L/N, isn’t it?” she calls as he tries to leave.

Hyunjin turns around, surprised. Hye Ji is looking at her boots with her hair covering her face.

“I’m sorry,” Hyunjin repeats. 

“I-it’s fine,” she chokes. “Y/N’s really great and all. I would choose her too if I were you.”

“Hye Ji--”

“I said it’s fine!” she yells and runs away.

Three nights later and Hyunjin is moping alone in his dorm room, picking at his recipient-less bouquet. The prefects’ opening dance should have ended by now. He imagines you in your rose gold gown and silver heels looking like you stepped straight out of a fairy tale. He imagines you swaying gently with Bang Chan as the prefect leads you to the beat of the music.

There’s no crying over spilled milk now, he decides with a sigh. What’s someone as talented and sweet as you going to do with someone as broken and angsty like him anyway? Someone who’s charismatic and top of his class, someone like Chan, looks a lot better next to you.

There’s a sound at his door to which his ears perk up excitedly. He had ordered two portions of lamb rib stew to hopefully eat himself into a coma. 

“Coming!” he calls, pulling out a bottle of cider.

Once he opens the door, he almost slams it back shut in shock. 

Instead of a delivery man, you stand in front of him in all of your perfect hair, perfect eyes, perfect nose, perfect lips, perfect everything glory. Not to mention you are complete with a bag of lamb rib stew in your hand.

‘I met the delivery mister on the way. Can I come in?’ 

Hyunjin swallows with difficulty and steps to the side for you, nearly passing out when the tulle of your dress brushes against his leg as you walk by.

‘What are you doing here?’

You shrug your pearly shoulders. ‘Chan got called away for some duties after the opening dance. Apparently there’s something wrong with the course for the Race. It doesn’t seem like he’ll be back before the ball ends, so I left after telling Changbin. I’m not intruding or anything, am I? It looks like you bought two servings of lamb. Were you expecting someone?’

‘I must have ordered it wrong,’ he lies, rubbing the back of his head. ‘Have you eaten?’

You shake your head and he immediately offers you a takeout before getting two glasses for the cider. You thank him, and the two of you begin eating. After dinner, he excuses himself to toss out the trash, and you notice the cream bouquet by his bed.

‘Were you going to ask someone to the dance?’ you ask when he returns.

What was he supposed to say? That he randomly sports flowers in his dorm?

‘Something like that. Someone else asked first though.’

‘Hye Ji came alone today though.’

‘It’s not Hye Ji!’ he writes a little too quickly. ‘They… they can be yours if you’d offer me a dance. You know, since it’ll be a waste of such a pretty dress if you only do one waltz in it.’

You giggle, and he can’t tell if it is because of his words or how red he must be right now.

‘Sure. They’re gorgeous. Thank you.’

You place your right hand in his left, and he takes you to the center of the room. You put your other hand confidently on his shoulder, and he timorously finds your waist. After a few awkward steps, you begin singing to ease his tension. As expected, he moves elegantly with your tune as if you’re on the training grounds, flying. It’s a lovely sound, he thinks, and even more so when you’re singing it just for him in the air or like right now.

‘You’re staring again,’ you trace into his back, the motion sending shivers down his spine.

He doesn’t know where the courage came from, but Hyunjin decides to give you a proper explanation this time. He points at you, taps his cheek, then draws a semi circle around his face.

‘You’re beautiful.’

You aren’t sure why Hyunjin is staying human ten minutes into the assignment, but it doesn’t stop you from staring at him hopefully.

“Don’t even think about it,” he grumbles for the nth time. 

When you point to his back, he rolls his eyes and takes your notepad from you.

‘I already found out about your little secret, so just stop it already.’

You look at him with a sly smile of disbelief. 

‘You sing and manipulate your spells with different vibrations instead of words,’ he writes with a triumphant smirk.

The way your usual cheerful demeanor falters at his words almost makes him feel bad. Almost. Instead, he writes, ‘Just give up and stay off my back.’

You take the pad back. ‘How did you find out?’

It’s Hyunjin’s turn to be flustered; he did not foresee this question. ‘Changbin told me.’

Your grin tells him that he messed up his answer and that you realize that he’s lying. Do you really trust the older dragon that much? He looks at the note that came with your drink earlier that you’ve stuck to the back of the pad. Or did you trust Chan?

You gesture for him to keep the paper when he tries to hand it back and indicate for him to write another answer. Hyunjin feels his cheeks tingle with heat uncomfortably, so he finally turns dragon and walks ahead of you with his long strides… 

… right into a goblin nest.

He had wondered why you clocked him in the head with a pebble moments before he heard the threatening screeches of the vile creatures, but now he is wondering why you followed him here, panting and bent over your knees, if you knew what he-- and now you as well-- has gotten into.

Anyone else taking this assessment would be delighted to find this many targets in one place, but not him. Goblins, although weak, are crafty, especially in large numbers. The worst of them are mother goblins, protective and merciless. Hyunjin doesn’t need to take a look around to know that they are what makes up most of the muscle force in a nest. Thankfully, they all seem to be ground goblins, meaning he can still fly up and incinerate everything on the ground before he inevitably crashes into something.

But then, there’s you. Despite his apathy towards your kind, he isn’t cruel enough to kill you. At the same time, both you and him are not getting out of this unscathed if you stay any longer, Twilight Terror or otherwise.

In his indecision, Hyunjin barely notices you signing something towards him. He recognizes the alphabet and thus the two letters you are repeating to him.

‘G-O.’

He watches your small smile-- a familiar smile, he thinks-- as your necklace gleams white and his wings unfurl. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a goblin arching her morning glory backwards with her gaze trained on you.

Hyunjin lets out a distressed roar as he feels himself lifting off the ground as you grow smaller and smaller in his field of vision. Thankfully, you dodge the first blow from the goblin, but how much more can you take, especially with the other ones quickly approaching? 

Without thinking, Hyunjin swings his tail downwards and sweeps you off of your feet and onto his back. He shoots several breaths of fire onto the meddling vermins down below as you take him out of the area. His ears perk up at the sound of your voice. It’s smooth and even just like his current flight. It’s a beautiful sound, he decides as he gets lost in it, ignoring the nineteen beeps that sound from his kill-count necklace.

He flies off the edge of the forest and over the neighboring sea where the morning sun reflects orange and gold off the waters. Once out of harm’s way, you let out a peal of giggles at your and his success. Hyunjin can’t help but grin too. Part of him wonders how you are able to stay so on pitch while laughing.

Laughing.

The sounds of six years ago come flooding back into his head. Laughing. He was laughing too with his rider until he heard his turning more sinister.

“Lee?” a feminine voice calls out. 

Hyunjin can’t remember who said that. He only recalls trying to move, but his muscles not listening, not when they had sworn their existence and loyalty to his rider. The weight that he had come to adore on his back became heavy and suffocating. The same weight he feels on him now.

You feel your powers losing control over the dragon, starting with the unfamiliar tail. Hyunjin veers hard towards the left due to the imbalance and crashes into the side of the cliff. Something snags Hyunjin’s purple pendant off and it falls into the ocean with a splash. Without it in his proximity, Hyunjin returns to human form as the two of you free fall after the stone.

Hyunjin grabs onto a sturdy branch along the fall, but you aren’t so lucky. 

“Y/N?” he calls out. “Y/N!” 

Thankfully, you quickly resurface onto a rock and wave to him with a bright smile in your annoying wet-but-still-pristine uniform. 

He involuntarily lets out a sigh of relief and begins lowering himself down to meet you. When he turns around again, he sees you falling comedically backwards into the waves.

“What do you think you’re--!”

You begin swimming, and it doesn’t take a fool to know towards what. Just beneath the surface floats a gem that glows a purple hue. Luckily, it doesn’t look like you’ll have to dive deep for it. 

Wait.

Stones don’t float.

It’s a sea goblin! Hyunjin watches in horror as the vermin notices you and pulls you under the waves for a tussle. You unsheath the dagger at your thigh but miss its head as you thrust forward your weapon. The goblin slams you against a sharp rock, dying the surrounding water red as a sharp pain blossoms from your shoulder. It again hurls you at another rock, this time making sure your head meets it first and knocks you out.

Hyunjin is already swimming by the time your body sinks to the ocean floor. The goblin is racing him towards you to finish the job. No, not to finish the job; it’s racing to take his necklace! Hyunjin notices a familiar glint attached to a chain wrapped around your dagger. You hadn’t missed your thrust earlier; you just had a different goal that what everyone imagined. 

By some luck, Hyunjin reaches you first and ignores the sharp nails being dragged across his abdomen as he holds you and your knife against him and takes you to the surface to transform.

The goblin doesn’t stand a chance. It quickly swims deep into the ocean upon seeing the dragon, but a little water is no trouble for a Terror. Hyunjin sends a deafening roar after it and follows with a flame so hot, water evaporates immediately in its proximity.

A soft chirp sounds from his remaining necklace. Beep! Twenty. 

“Y/N!” he squeaks at your unconscious form.

The only visible injury is the one on your arm, dying your white coat the same color as its underside, but Hyunjin knows how dangerous head injuries are. He puts his ear to your chest; at least you are still breathing. 

If he were Hye Ji or any other dragon, he would hold you between his mouth and fly back to school, but with his tail, he will be risking giving you another concussion if he attempts that. He could make the journey alone since he is used to the falling, but that would mean leaving you alone. He slams the useless appendage against the sea despite knowing that you’d object to it if you were awake.

Then wake up and scold me! he screams internally.

To make matters worse, the water Hyunjin evaporated is already raining down on him. He shelters you away under his wings and roars repeatedly in distress.

After a solid minute, he hears a reply from an upperclassman proctor. “Is that Hyunjin?”

He lets out another roar, his feet shifting anxiously. “Yes! Yes! Over here!” Soon enough, Hyunjin can make out the familiar shape of his roommate and his rider. 

Of course it's Chan.

“Where’s L/N?” Chan gasps as soon as Changbin puts him down.

Hyunjin lifts his wing up for the other male to see. As soon as he spots your form, Chan pushes past the dragon and scoops you up into his arms.

“A concussion,” Chan announces. He looks at Hyunjin. “In the case of a medical emergency, I have the right to make you terminate your assignment before the allotted time you have for your task. Return your tracker now and aboard my dragon.”

Hyunjin transforms and tosses the metal necklace to him with a dark lookl. “I finished already anyway.”

He ignores the stunned look on Changbin’s snout as he climbs on the reptile. Although offensive, he can’t blame his friend for his surprise; Hyunjin hasn’t completed a single assignment with a rider since he enrolled, but for some reason though, he isn’t proud of his new achievement. As the trio flies to campus, a heavy feeling weighs in his chest where his necklace used to hang.

The wind in his face that he used to enjoy so much now makes him sick. Your limp body in his arms only reminds him that he’s never going to truly be able to fly again. He has to admit that you are the most versatile rider he has ever seen, so if you aren’t able to control a tail like his, then maybe it is time to finally face the truth. It’s finally time to call it quits.

Your resilience both mentally and physically is admirable, Hyunjin notes when he sees you out of the infirmary and walking about in less than a week. The next thought he has is to hide so you can’t see him. However, what you want to find, you will find.

‘You didn’t visit me once in the clinic,’ you pout accusingly.

‘Why would I visit you?’

He expects you to pull another ‘Because you’re my dragon!’ nonsense, but instead, you take his hand and put something cold in it. He looks down to see his necklace that he never took back from your dagger.

To your shock, he hands it back to you. “I don’t need this anymore.”

‘What?’

‘I don’t need this anymore. Keep it. Sell it. I don’t care.’ There’s a reason why he’s gone a week without retrieving it from you in the first place.

With a tight frown, you stand firmly with your feet apart and press the notepad against his chest, demanding an explanation.

‘I’m quitting. I’m not going to be a dragon anymore. I can’t graduate anyway by the way I’m going. I just wanted’ he crosses out the last three words and hands the pad back to you. I just wanted to tell you first before leaving. Maybe that’s why he has been avoiding you.

You’re oddly unfazed by his decision. You simply write, ‘Why?’

He looks at your shoulder. The one blemish you have on your uniform resides there. The stitching is so fine, you can hardly tell it’s there, but the faint brown of dried blood is more obvious. ‘I don’t have to explain myself to you.’

‘Just because I got a little hurt--’ you begin to write.

‘It’s not that,’ he interjects with a scowl.

‘Then what?’

Hyunjin huffs in annoyance. He knows you won’t give up until he tells you, so he writes, ‘Fine, you want to know why? It’s because I can’t fly. Not by myself, and not even with a rider as skilled as you. What is a Twilight Terror that can’t fly? Even a hatchling can do that!’

Your frown deepens. ‘Sure you can. We were doing fine after the nest.’

‘And then I dropped us.’

‘That was my fault! I’m not used to your tail, but we can get it with more training.’

The memories that returned that day flash back into Hyunjin’s mind. ‘It wasn’t you. I just can’t be helped.’

‘I’ve never once met a dragon who could not be helped,’ you pen stubbornly.

Hyunjin eyes your pure white pendant with suspicion but doesn’t dwell on the thought. ‘Well congratulations, you’ve met your first. Shouldn’t you be happy anyway? You’ll be assigned to a regular, functioning dragon after I’m gone and can graduate this academy without any problems.’

You scoff silently after reading his message and point to your ear. ‘Do you think I want a regular dragon?’

He bites his lip.

‘Hwang Hyunjin. Stay at Sheng at least until the New Year’s Race and I’ll be out of your scales for good. If you don’t, I’ll quit too and follow you until you come back.’

You’ve been stern with him before-- it was a tactic that you tried in order to get him to listen to you in training-- but never like this. If he were to be honest, it frightens him a little.

He pushes your notepad away begrudgingly and you know you have won. He can put up with this for three more months, he decides. Or, better yet, he can make you quit before then, and Changbin cannot say anything about it this time; he had already given you a chance to save yourself.

‘And Hyunjin? I’d be very sad if you left :(‘

He hates the way you curl the letters of his name so cutely. 

It’s much easier to get Hyunjin to allow you on his back now either because you were already there before or because he’s given up on controlling his dragon form altogether. Still, he only agrees to it when the two of you are alone and out of sight from the other dragons. You get yourself and him excused from regular class-time training with the other dragons and instead move your practice time to after dusk when you and him can be alone.

With the extra hours in the day, Hyunjin begins studying fields he hopes to go into after he rescinds from Sheng Academy. Sometimes, when he walks to the canteen for a quick nibble, he finds you in a vacant classroom with a tail made of old dragon scales that’s shaped to represent his own.

Not having a fin at all and constricting one of Changbin’s is similar, yet very different. Hyunjin doesn’t understand why you are trying so hard for this when he can’t fly with his past haunting him even if you did figure out the kinetics. It’s pathetically futile and not at all heartwarming, Hyunjin tells himself.

Today is one of those days where he’s out for a snack. He spots you through the regular window, although today you aren’t alone.

What’s Chan doing here? He quickly skidaddles to a hiding spot.

The male has his hand just above his sternum like you usually do. Around the pseudo tail swirls blue magic rather than white. 

Why are you teaching him how to spellcast like you, Y/N? Hyunjin curses. You’re supposed to be helping me fly again!

The tail suddenly jerks itself across the room, and Chan gives you a lopsided guilty grin. You wave it off and place your hand on his chest and motion for him to try again. Hyunjin swears he’s flexing the muscles in the area as you do so.

‘Good,’ you sign when he gets the tail to flick as intended. You try to step back, but Chan pulls on your wrist to get you to keep monitoring him. However, he pulls a little too hard, and you crash into his arms.

Chan’s Adam's apple bob up and down at your close proximity. Your lips part as a gasp escapes. The male’s eyes shift down to them and he lifts your head closer, his eyes threatening to flutter shut.

Transforming into a dragon in the hallways is strictly forbidden, but Hyunjin figures he has enough time before getting caught to set Chan’s pants on fire. 

‘Our dueling assignment is in two days,’ you remind him.

Hyunjin isn’t paying attention; he’s too busy grinning at the little burn mark on the tail of your coat. He seems to be ruining your pristine clothes little by little.

You motion for him to lower his head for you to climb on, and to your surprise, he cooperates without a word today. 

Did something good happen? you wonder, stroking him a few times.

The two of you have been making pretty good progress. Like with Changbin, you can get through the easy course in an acceptable amount of time, but it isn’t enough. With the assignment coming up, you want to push him a little further. 

His chest rumbles as he lets out a noise of concern when he feels your increase of energy and sees you leading him towards intermediate course. You ignore him and push on. 

Over the first beam, dodge the log projectiles, slant thirty degrees counterclockwise through the triangular hoop, and fly vertically up the twenty story wall. 

You get through a few more obstacles with only a few hiccups, but none great enough to stop you on your track.

Clear your head, Hyunjin tells himself. Don’t mess this up. Just focus on the course!

Finally, you make it to the last challenge: a rotating hollowed out rectangular prism. The slit cut into it is barely enough to fit the Terror’s wingspan. A dragon would have to rotate perfectly in sync with it for thirty meters to fly through. 

You pat him twice as encouragement and lean forward to brace yourself.

Breath…

Hyunjin enters the tube with his eyes trained on the exit, leaving the rotation up to you. The spin is against the natural direction of the way Hyunjin’s tail tilts, so you amp up your magic to a level according to your best judgement, hoping the leeway space is enough for any fine tuning. 

Thirty meters. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten… Seven… Five, three, two, one!

You pump your fists into the air when Hyunjin’s tail clears the last of the intermediate course, and the male jerks up his head to let out a celebratory roar. The motions combined with you forgetting to turn back down your powers tosses you off his back, and the two of you tumble onto the sand below, laughing and cheering.

“Oh my claws, I can’t believe we did it!” Hyunjin laughs carelessly, unaware that he’s transformed and rolled on top of you with his body held up by his forearms. 

Maybe not all riders are so awful. Maybe.

His smile warms your heart; it’s a sight you don’t see often, but one you can get used to. Has his cheeks always been so fluffy? You reach up to cup them to see if they are an illusion.

Hyunjin blinks in surprise at your touch. It is only then that he realizes how close you are and his brain malfunctions. 

‘Pretty,’ you form the word soundlessly with your lips. 

It was a mistake for him to look down at your lips, he realizes with a huge blush. He quickly pushes himself off of you and scratches into the sand, ‘Sorry.’

You shake your head and begin brushing off your clothes, hoping that the stains won’t be too obvious. That’s two marks on your uniform that he has attached fond memories to, Hyunjin realizes. He wonders how many more he can get on you.