Dance into the Fire

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Dancing in the moonlight

It’s got me in its spotlight

It’s all right, it’s all right

Dancing in the moonlight

On this long hot summer night

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Chapter Fifteen

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Every other person in the room had faded to virtual none existence in Himchan’s mind as he stared up at the man who was guiding him around the dance floor with a grace that was similar to that of an unsure baby deer but it was more due to nerves than anything else. Or maybe the fact that the man would not take his eyes off Himchan for even the merest of mere seconds, in order to look where he was going or placing his feet as they had trodden on a few pairs of toes already. Not that either one of the dancers cared of course, but from an outside perspective it was highly amusing to watch.

Especially seeing as Himchan could barely contain the blush which was constantly creeping across his face as he stared up into the dark eyes of the man who had asked him to dance. He was a little taller than Himchan, with sharp cheekbones and a defined nose which contrasted with the intensity of his eyes by making him appear almost feral with a certain trouble maker look surrounding him that was captivating and alluring. Though strangely what made Himchan’s heart beat just a little faster was the moment when the man smiled, all gums and teeth with a twinkle and his blush deepened further.

The man chuckled, though continued to smile, “I’m not tiring you am I?”

“Oh no,” Himchan said hastily, damning himself for sounding too much like a silly little school girl who was all stuttering and nervous, “Not in the slightest.”

“Do you wish to stop? Your face is getting fairly red,” there was genuine concern in the man’s tone and softly he reached up to press his fingers against the soft cheek. “I wouldn’t want to be the cause of you fainting or...” the man paused and let out a laugh, shaking his head, “Of all the corny lines. Sorry, you must be sick of hearing this sort of thing.”

“No,” Himchan all but whispered, “Why would I be sick of hearing them?”

The man blinked at him, “Surely you’ve had all the lines thrown at you by virtually everyone here?”

Himchan blinked and looked innocently confused for a few long seconds, making Yongguk just want to pinch his cheeks because this sweet, dainty and beautifully proportioned carrier looked too adorable for words. Whilst he had always been a firm believer in reality rather than the fairy tale’s ideal of falling in love at first sight, Yongguk found himself already questioning what he was doing being cheesy with this little dove. No one had caught his attention in this way for the better part of ten years and even then that had been nothing more than a passing fancy which resulted in him tasting alcohol for the first time to drown his sorrows.

Youngjae still had a heap load of blackmail material about that incident and Yongguk was glad he did not remember it.

Finally, though, he boy in his arms – as apparently neither of them had thought to stop dancing even though they were completely off kilter with the current tune which was being played – blinked rapidly and shook his head. “Oh...you mean...pick up lines?” the carrier replied, trying to sound a little like he knew what he was talking about and failing cutely, “No... not really.”

Yongguk came to a stop for the first time since he had offered Himchan a dance, “What?”

Himchan looked a little bashful, dipping his head in shyness, “You’re the first man who even talked to me tonight...”

“Are you kidding me?” Yongguk said, staring in shock towards the man who kept his head dipped low until the General carefully lifted his chin so that those wonderful eyes would lock with his own once again, “Not a single person has even talked to you?”

Himchan shook his head, “No... I guess I’m just not...”

A thumb brushed across Himchan’s bottom lip, stopping the words that he wanted to say from escaping from his mouth and startling the carrier ever so slightly. The man who had danced with him for the better part of two hours was staring at him with such an intensity that it took all of Himchan’s natural self-will to remain standing as he could practically feel his legs turning to jelly. He didn’t know what to do with this surge of emotion, could barely understand the images that were flooding through his head right at that second or the sudden need to keep this man close but the sensation was just as wonderful as it was overwhelming.

“What is your name?” the General asked, his voice low and deeply edged in a highly pleasant way.

An audible gulp came from the Bride, “Kim Himchan...”

There was a slight quirking to the corner of the General’s lip that suggested another gorgeous smile coming his way but the deep voice returned, “Well, Kim Himchan, I don’t know why the rest of these suitors are ignoring you but they’re fools to do so. If I wasn’t such a coward, then I would have come to speak to you the second that you walked into the room.”

A bright red, highly unattractive blush crossed Himchan’s face at that remark and he shook his head, “Don’t say things like that, it’s not fair.”

“Why?” the General replied with just a hint of a tease in his voice which was seductive and charming as well as playful and a touch annoying.

Himchan tried to hold back the giggle, “Because sir, I do not know your name so I can’t berate you back for making me blush.”

The man blinked in surprise, losing some of the edge that he previously had but then smiled way too brightly as if he had just been given the largest candyfloss at the fair. “Oh where are my manners. I am General Bang Yongguk but you can just call me Yongguk, Himchan. But why can’t I say that I should have walked up to you straight away?”

“Because if you did then we would have been the only one’s dancing and that would have looked to be very silly,” Himchan said, softly moving his hands back to the hold for the dance which they should technically be performing at this moment in time though he was actually more enjoying allowing his hands to skim over the very fine silks of Yongguk’s uniform and get a teasing hint of the muscles underneath. Faintly he thought back to how shy he had been to even walk down the street holding on to Jin’s hand but here he was using a dance as an excuse to virtually feel up a General in a rather bold and risqué move which would have had Key Umma howling in joyous hysterics.

Plus, Yongguk did not seem to mind in the slightest, capturing his small fingers in his large, powerful digits and bringing them softly to his lips to place a warming kiss upon them. “That is true, but I still think we should get you a drink, you’re still highly flushed and I really don’t want you to faint on me. Come on Himchan.”

Lightly he was tugged off the dance floor and if Himchan felt as though he could just melt into a very happy puddle at the moment because it seemed that, for one night at least, he had someone’s attention focused purely on himself with no hidden favours or reasons for them to even give them a moment of their time. He felt light headed, almost as if this were some kind of dream and that it was too good to be real but he knew that this was reality as there was no prancing unicorns or bubble fountains filled with white chocolate.

Himchan had very childish dreams at times but he didn’t dare to share them with anyone.

Yongguk smiled as he picked up a flute that was filled with sparkling champagne but then took a moment to take a look at Himchan and indicated to one of the waiters to bring some ice water. He smiled ruefully towards the slightly shocked looking bride, “You look like you need some water rather than anything which is liable to make you throw up. Especially if you wish to continue dancing tonight?”

The boy blinked and accepted the ice water when it arrived, taking a moment out of his cloud filled head to actually think things through before smiling and taking a sip. The water was indeed refreshing and immediately he felt the heat from his cheeks diminish just a little before he nodded, “I think you are right, Yongguk. Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” the General replied with a smile, then chuckled.

For a few long moments they lapsed into comfortable silence, watching as other couples twirled about on the dance floor or else potential suitors moved about to talk to brides who were already engaged in conversation with others. Himchan spotted that Tiffany was surrounded by a group of military men who were clearly besotted with her but her eyes kept drifting over to a chap standing by himself in an alcove where he was pretending not to watch her with longing eyes.

Himchan noted that in comparison to Yongguk, whose uniform was of emerald green and black, the man in the alcove was wearing a light ashen colour which was hemmed with black. Conspiratorially Himchan stepped closer to Yongguk, “Who is that in the alcove by himself?”

Yongguk glanced across and smiled, “That is Nickhyun, one of the Prince’s personal guard. I don’t think he’s actually here to stare like that but I suppose that Prince Kyung is not in any danger.”

At that moment in time, Prince Kyung had reputedly gone to get some fresh air but Yongguk had seen the signs of sickness which were pulling at the Prince and figured that he must have caught the same thing which Zico had.

Himchan blinked, “Is he a good man?”

“Of what I know of him, yes,” Yongguk asked, trepidation in his voice, “Why?”

Realising what he must be sounding like, Himchan giggled, “He seems to have a keen interest in my friend Tiffany and she is reflecting it but obviously can’t get away from those men. I think they have a connection you know?”

“Playing matchmaker are we?” Yongguk grinned before looking at the other bride and noting how she was getting smothered by the Captains whom were flocking around her and lightly he took hold of Himchan’s hand. “Let’s give her an excuse to walk away, though I expect a dance in return for this little extra bit of help.”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask me again,” Himchan replied, wondering why he felt so bold and daring with this man who he had literally just met but something in his gut told him that this was just as it was meant to be.

They made their way across to the group of Captains and immediately the change was instantons. What had been a group of young men trying desperately to attract the attention of the Princess they had cornered, suddenly turned into a bunch of serious, dour faced persons who wanted nothing more than to talk about work. Yongguk allowed Himchan to walk off with Tiffany so they could talk about boring things and reminded him once again of the promised dance which Himchan readily agreed to.

Tiffany was all questions, desperate to know more about what was going on but was counter-distracted when Nickhyun stepped up to the pair of them and after a few minutes of standing around like a third wheel, Himchan excused himself to go and take some fresh air on the balcony. The breeze was cooling after the heat inside and a smile wound its way onto his features as he looked up at the moon.

“Could tonight be any more perfect?” he mused aloud to the brilliantly white surface high above him before letting out a happy sigh and turning to glance back at the Ball.

Almost to jump out of his skin when he found Yongguk standing there, with a gentle smile on his face half bathed in the shadows to create a mysterious aura around his whole frame.

Placing his hand over his heart, Himchan mock-glared at Yongguk, “You frightened me.”

A gentle, alluring smile crossed Yongguk’s face as he stepped closer, fingers once again brushing against the side of Himchan’s face, “That was not my intention.” The tone he spoke with was warm, affectionate and radiated something that Himchan did not quite want to believe was actually happening though his heart rate had picked up once again.

“I know,” he whispered back, almost too afraid to even break the spell that was lingering over them when his ears picked up the gentle melody of the latest waltz and instinctively his hands moved to wrap slowly around Yongguk in a way that was probably just a little too intimate for a first meeting but seeing that Yongguk copied the movements near perfectly he didn’t think that it was a bad thing at all.

Without speaking a word to one another, they fell back into a slow, gentle, almost swaying version of a waltz in perfect timing to the music which was playing and their eyes remained only on one another. Out here there was no one to gawk at them, no one to accidentally step on and in the coolness of the night there was only Himchan and Yongguk.

For the first time Himchan felt as though this was where he belonged, safely held in the arms of this man where he felt protected more than he had ever done in his life. He barely noticed when they came to a natural stop, just remaining still as they stared at one another. Yongguk was the first to move, tilting his head ever so slightly downwards and Himchan found himself leaning up, almost on tiptoe to meet the offered lips that were mere centimetres from his own.

A sharp tap from a bamboo cane stopped them and they leapt apart, though Yongguk kept a firm hold on Himchan so that he would not fall. The Dragon was staring at them through her mask, an aura of reprimanded coming over her but she spoke politely, “No kissing tonight. This is only your first meeting and it is not proper to jump the gun.”

Yongguk bowed respectfully towards her, “Yes Ma’am.”

“Himchan, come, it is nearly time for us to depart,” the Dragon snapped her fingers and Himchan hurriedly nodded before turning and bowing towards Yongguk who reached out to tenderly touch his cheek again. The Dragon was swift to grab hold of Himchan and pull him away, berating him in a slightly playful tone before heading back across the dance floor to where the other brides were gathered as well.

Himchan could not resist glancing back over his shoulder towards the General who was lingering in the entrance of the balcony area where they had just been and he felt his heart give a lurch when a kiss was blown his way in the most gentle and romantic manner. Tiffany raised her eyebrows at him as she latched onto his arm but her eyes were twinkling just as brightly and he could see that Nickhyun was standing by the table with a rose which must have been plucked from the garden in his fingers, idly being played with between his fingers. His eyes were only on Tiffany and that made Himchan feel extra special.

They bid their goodbyes and set back off for their living quarters in a variety of rickshaws and it came as no surprise to Himchan that Yongguk stood off to the side of the rest of the suitors just so he could directly watch the rickshaw that Himchan was in until it disappeared from view so that he would be safe. His heart beat rapidly in his chest but he couldn’t speak a word to answer Tiffany’s hundreds of questions as he was just too happy with how the evening had gone to even begin forming a coherent sentence.

He hoped that this feeling never faded or was proved to be false, because he liked it far too much for it to be just a fading ember of a dying fire. 

Authors babbling:

First things first, credit for the poem section in this chapter goes to Thin Lizzy and Phil Lennot (may he rest in peace) as it's part of the lines of 'Dancing in the Moonlight' which just fit the mood of this chapter completely. If you don't know the song, youtube it cause it's one of my favourites and it's so lovely. 

Secondly this has to be the most soppy, cliche ridden and girlie scene I have ever damn written in my life in anything that I've done before but strangely I am really happy with it. I hope that I don't make you all too sick with the sugaryness of this cause I was desperately trying not to squee...even when the Dragon decided to interfere in what would have been a scene stealing kiss but we can't have it all happen at once now. -ducks the attacks as the BangHim shippers get annoyed- 

I promise there will be more and now I've gotta figure out how Zico captures Himchan too...this is going to get more complicated than I thought. 

Hope you enjoyed and catch you on the next update. 

Also sorry for the delay, there's been a few hiccups of late in life but they're getting sorted now so we're all good.