“Uh… so why am I here again?” Chen asked as he tried not to quiver.  His eyes darted about, searching for ways to get out of the the slight predicament of accompanying Hui Qi.  

Deadpanning, she icily responded, “Because you’re a and I’ve decided that you owe me coffee after what you said yesterday.”  The two were sitting in a corner booth at Hot Shots Bistro, a small but fairly popular cafe that Hui Qi had discovered when she and Baekhyun were looking for their new home.  They arrived just before the lunch rush so the place was practically empty except for the two of them and the barista behind the counter.  Hui Qi’s eye caught the barista making Chen’s iced coffee and was shocked what she just witnessed.

“Woah did you see that?” Hui Qi gasped as she smacked Chen awake.  

“Huh?  Wh-What did I miss?”  Despite the fact that Chen used to be a typical 9am-5pm office worker before Hui Qi tricked asked him to join the guild, he still was not, and would never be, a morning person.  Hui Qi’s sudden question and hit to the arm jolted him awake from his slumber and he quickly wiped the drool off his face before anyone would notice.

“That barista over there is an Elucian, and used his powers to make your coffee iced.  Which by the way is disgusting.  What’s the point of drinking coffee if it isn’t hot, I mean, come on.”  Frost powers were not very rare among Elucians however Hui Qi was more interested in the fact that the man was comfortable using his powers in public even if her and Chen were the only ones there.  There was still a stigma associated with having powers even though almost 200 years had passed since the first Elucian was created so most Elucians never used their powers in front of others unless they were certified as a guild member.

“What kind of person draws a map this ty…” grumbled Kris as he flew over Utros.  He’d been flying for hours trying to find an old statue of some important ship captain Kris had never even heard of just so that he could pinpoint the location of the wild animal that he had to tame.  The request on the flyer stated: “Get my lizard out of a tree” to match the vague map.  Feeling hungry, Kris muttered, “ it.  I’m taking a break.”  He landed down in the streets of Utros and entered a sandwich shop for lunch.

Once he finished placing his order, Kris slumped down in his chair.  While sipping some iced tea, Kris reviewed the map again.  “It’s almost as if a child drew it…” Kris trailed off, his eyes capturing the arrow at the bottom of the page.  Following the arrow, he flipped over the paper, noticing the extra text.  

“I have school so I’ll meet you at the tree after 3:30 PM for my lizard.  Reward: I guess I can give you my favorite pencil?“ he read aloud.  Staring incredulously at the paper, Kris didn’t even notice when the waiter set his food down in front of him.   I have deal with a kid and his wild lizard?! I bet Hui Qi knew how bull this job would be and that’s why she wanted to give it to me.  Tossing down the flyer, he picked up his sandwich and angrily bit into it, devouring his sandwich with a couple of bites.

After paying for his meal, Kris took to the skies again; this time he was well-fed, even grumpier, and struggling to fly against the now brisk winds and while deciphering the map at the same time.  

For hours and hours, Kris flew, no luck in finding a single clue that would indicate the special tree and wild lizard.  Suddenly, a particularly strong gust of wind brought about a burning smell to Kris’s nose.  With nothing better to do (was he even going in the right direction to find this wild lizard?) and his curiosity piqued, Kris decided to fly towards the source of the mysterious smell.

When he arrived, he quickly noticed that “…nothing’s burning?”  However, upon re-examination, among the leaves of the tree was a baby dragon.  The green beast was nestled in quite comfortably and it seemed to be burning leaves on by one until its ashes floated away into the wind.  

Kris, not ready to continue searching for statue just yet, decided relax on a nearby while watching the dragon burn the leaves of the tree.  Surveying his surroundings, he noted a sign labeling the park as “Gladstone Park”.  On a hunch, he pulled out the flyer once more and confirmed that he had indeed located the tree of whatever “wild lizard” the kid wanted to tame.

Wait… this “lizard” equals that mini dragon up there, doesn’t it?  Upon getting to that realization, Kris threw up his arms in annoyance.  He just had to saunter into Hui Qi’s cleverly laid out trap and do this difficult job for her.

After a good minute of wallowing in regret and frustration (once again), Kris shoved the request back into his pocket and tried to figure out how to get the dragon down within the hour before the kid’s class ended.  The dragon had little to no spikes on its back, therefore holding it in captivity would be relatively easy.  Unfortunately, as Kris tried flying close with his hand outstretched to the dragon, the dragon decided to fend itself by directing its fire towards the approaching foe.  Not expecting the attack, Kris barely dodged out of the way, allowing the dragon’s fire to singe the tips of his hair.

Determined to prove Hui Qi wrong and impress Joonmyeon, Kris kept trying different methods of approaching the dragon to capture it.  Every single attempt was met with fire and failure, two F’s that were hindering his progress.

After a particularly tough string of dodging, Kris sunk back down into Gladstone Park’s only bench.  Closing his eyes and splaying his long limbs across the bench, he could hear the giggling of little children as they no doubt watched his futile attempts to get the dragon down from the tree.  ing hell…  am I ever going to complete this request?

“Hey Mister!  Are you from a guild?” came a particularly high pitched voice right next to Kris’s ear, startling him and causing him to fall down from the bench.  Nursing his head, which took the brunt of the fall, he sat up to see an elementary school student, still wearing her backpack, staring at him with unfazed excitement.

Raising his eyebrows, Kris inquired, “Yeah.  What of it, squirt?”  Beaming even wider, and consequently ignoring his question, the child squealed, “Yay!  I’ll be getting my pet lizard back soon!  Thanks so much, Mister!”

A/N:

Hello! I guess I don't really have much to say for this chapter except be excited for a new character that I'm sure everyone can guess haha.

Hey guys. I hope you enjoyed that cute dragon bc ur gonna see more of it next chapter XD