this was finally finished today after I started last year and hit a writer's block.

"Thank you for bringing the rest of the flowers, Chanyeol," Yifan said, smiling and passing the two baskets full of vibrant flowers to a temple hand without looking away from the beautiful doe-eyed youth.

"It was no problem, Master Yifan! You know I love helping you out in the temple," Chanyeol smiled widely, blushing at the long-haired head priest of the Dragon temple.

Yifan gently caressed one of Chanyeol's blushing cheeks, skin soft as a rose petal, "How many times have I told you to just call me Yifan?" He stepped closer to Chanyeol, enjoying how Chanyeol almost matched him in height, "I'm barely older than you, and we've known each other for years now."

Chanyeol drew a deep breath; Yifan smelled of fire and wind, "I'm sorry, Ma—Yifan." Blushing harder, Chanyeol looked down from those intense dark red eyes.

 Carefully, Yifan drew Chanyeol's chin up with a long slender finger, "Don't be afraid, trust me," he said, his eyes burning as he looked into Chanyeol's eyes.

The younger one nodded, opening his mouth before being startled at a priest coming in. Smiling nervously and bowing to Yifan and the other priest, Chanyeol murmured a quick 'see you later' as he scurried away.

Yifan's gaze on him was heavy and burning, until he disappeared down the temple steps.

Chanyeol kept thinking of Yifan's words as he re-enters the town; he could still feel the head priest's fingers on his face, warm and loving. He smiled happily at the recent memory, nodding to himself with the assurance that he trusted Yifan with his life. And heart.

 "Chanyeol!"

 Someone calling for him took him out of his happy thoughts. He looked around and started waving enthusiastically at his sister and hurried over.

 "What took you so long?" Yura said as she threw an apron at him, nudging him around and handing some vegetables to cut up.

 Blushing, Chanyeol ducked his head to hide his smile and started to cut up the vegetables.

 "Why do I even ask? Of course, you stayed to talk to Head Priest Yifan~" Yura finished in a sing-song voice, making kissy sounds and sighing in a exaggeratedly dreamy matter.

 "Shut up, Yura!" Chanyeol yelled, throwing a small piece at her, making her laugh and stick out her tongue at him.

 "Children, please." Their mom appeared, carrying a huge bowl of dough, which Chanyeol quickly helped her carry to another section of the kitchen. "Stop playing around, we need to have everything ready for the Dragon's Wedding tomorrow."

 "Yes, mother" Both Yura and Chanyeol chorused, going back to their jobs but not without glaring at each other one last time.

 As Chanyeol chopped the fresh vegetables, he started thinking of the town's holiday. It started hundreds of years ago, when the town pleaded for the Dragon of the mountain not to destroy it. They offered to worship him, as well as a bride, in exchange of peace and protection. The Dragon agreed and gave them orders on how to construct a temple for him, as well as instructions on how to carry out their worship.

When they finished his temple, he told them that he would choose the bride himself, after midsummer, on the day of the first full moon. The appointed head priest asked him how they would know, and the Dragon told them that he would place a crystal bell, carved with his image, on his chosen bride’s bedside table. He warned them though, that he might not always choose a bride, but they should always still celebrate the day.

And thus, it came to pass, the first bell appeared to the mayor's youngest daughter. With a heavy heart, the mayor sent his daughter up to temple's inner chambers, after which a beautiful tinkling sound resonated across the village; it signified the successful wedding, and thus the village celebrated.

Afterwards, the village made replica bells and displayed them on the streets and on the front of their houses, each family hopeful to be blessed.

Like the Dragon warned, he didn’t always choose a bride. In fact, after taking the mayor's daughter as his first bride, the Dragon had only chosen one other bride, years after.

An ancestor in Chanyeol's family.

That night, Chanyeol went to sleep with a smile on his face as he kept thinking of Yifan and his soft touches.

His dreams were shrouded in a mist, strong arms around him and a deep voice telling him 'soon'.

In the morning when he woke up, he remembered nothing, but the feeling clung to his skin and when he automatically looked to his bedside table, all thought ceased to be.

There on his table, was a beautifully carved crystal bell. He knew immediately what it meant as he looked at how the green and oranges of the crystal seemed to swirl inside it as the sunlight hit it.

Gently, he picked it up to look at it closely; the dragon was beautiful, big and majestic, the eyes on its face reminded Chanyeol of Yifan's own gaze as he gently grasped it. Remembering Yifan's words from yesterday, with a gasp, he stood up just as his sister burst into the room, her usual cheerful morning greeting dying in as she saw with wide eyes the bell in Chanyeol's hands.

"Mother, come quick!" Yura yelled.

Their mother ran into the room, her eyes immediately landing on the dragon bell in Chanyeol's hands as well with a gasp. "Oh, Chanyeol!" She breathed out, her rough but still soft hands from her hard work framing her youngest’s face. "You're beautiful, and I love you so much!" She bent him down, kissing his forehead before stepping back and drying her wet eyes.

"Come, you have to go up to the temple!" She exclaimed, dragging him by the arm to the front, not letting Chanyeol get a word in as she excitedly took him to the front.

Swallowing back tears, Chanyeol forcefully stopped his mom, "Mom" his voice quivered, as he embraced her back, "I love you too, and I'm going to miss you guys, so much." He said, drawing a silent crying Yura into the hug, swaying in place as the small family of three said goodbye.

A pausing grunting tinkle alerted them that the priests were making their way down looking for the bride, breaking the group hug, both Yura and his mom fussed about his face, drying it and trying to get the redness to go away. Because of it, Yura managed to sneak her favorite red tint onto Chanyeol's lips, making Chanyeol smile indulgently at his older sister.

With a deep breath, Chanyeol stepped out of the house. He displayed the dragon bell and played it, a melodious tinkling emerging from it. It was unlike anything that had been heard before, causing the residents to look out their windows, gasping as they saw who was the chosen bride.

Chanyeol didn't know how, but instinctively, he knew exactly how to play it, knowing what to give so the bell rang out beautifully.

His head held high, Chanyeol walked the rest of the way, stopping shortly before the steps leading to the temple. He started to climb, and before he knew it, he started running, wanting to talk to Yifan first.

 Yifan smiled to himself as he heard the bell’s sound. Finally, after waiting for so long…

He turned around with a smile as the doors banged opening and Chanyeol ran in frantically, holding the translucent dragon bell in his hand.

“Yifan! Help me, I don’t want to be the Dragon’s Bride!” Chanyeol cried, throwing himself in Yifan’s arms out of desperation.

A rock dropped in Yifan’s stomach as he tried not to let it get to him and console Chanyeol while the youth kept talking.

“I want to stay here with you and not with some dragon!” Chanyeol cried against Yifan’s shoulder, murmuring a tiny ‘I love you’.

A light burst in Yifan’s chest as he hugged Chanyeol to him tightly, “I love you too, but-” Gently, he pried Chanyeol away to look at his face, smiling as he gently dried Chanyeol’s tears, “Didn’t I told you to trust me?”

Chanyeol nodded, sniffing, “Yes, but I’m so scared, Yifan…”

“Hush, you don’t have to be, Chanyeol.” Yifan put a finger on Chanyeol’s lips briefly before gently bringing up the bell that was still in Chanyeol’s hand.

Slowly, the bell started to shine and float between their hands, and a light so bright burst forward, causing Chanyeol to close his eyes momentarily.

“Open your eyes, beloved.”

Chanyeol heard the voice-- it was Yifan’s, yes, but it had a growling undertone to it. Slowly, he opened his eyes, gasping immediately at the man in front of him.

Yifan now had long, flowing silver hair, and his eyes shone an amber color. He looked otherwise the same but he had an otherworldly glow about him.

“Yifan?” Chanyeol started to asked, voice trembling as he brought his hands to the face that was looking at him so lovingly, “Are you… the dragon?”

“I am. Do you want to trust me?” Yifan replied with a smile.

Chanyeol nodded, smiling shakingly, “I’m sorry, for doubting… I was scared-” He stopped himself, taking a deep breath, “I trust you. Deep down, I always have-- I always will, Yifan.”

“There’s nothing to forgive, beloved, just answer me this,” Yifan took Chanyeol’s face in his hands, bringing it close, “Will you be my bride until the end of our days?”

Breathing in and looking into Yifan’s eyes, Chanyeol exhaled, “Yes, I’ll be your bride until the end.”

Slowly, their lips closed upon each other, and the bells started to ring a beautiful melody, letting those in the village know that it had been a successful wedding.

A rumble started to sound, and when Chanyeol looked, he gasped; the dragon altar started opening, showing a beautiful courtyard beyond, and another temple inside.

 Yifan smiled and started leading him towards it, “Come, Chanyeol, this will be our home.”

“Our home.” Chanyeol repeated, smiling at the beauty before him as he stepped inside with Yifan. The altar closed behind them, shutting them off from the village and to their own happily ever after.