I had to meet him. I had to.

While my friends were off searching for some of the acrobats after the finale was over and they were all exiting the tent, I fled off to the side where the fire eater went.

I don’t know why, but there’s always just been this weird thing with me and fire. This weird sort of…. Fascination, you could call it.

Unlike lots of other people who are always totally traumatized by fires and the ‘dangers’ of them, I’ve always been stunned by the effects they have. If you mess with them carefully enough, they could do some amazing things. The flame is a very delicate yet pretty thing in itself.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a nerdy chemistry student and I love experimenting with the Bunsen burner whenever we have a chance to mess around in class.

I weave my way through the throngs of people in the audience, finally escaping the bright red and orange tent. Suddenly, I spot a dirty mixed blonde head heading towards the parking lot of trailer vans and I quickly pick up my pace to catch up to him.

He’s fast. He seemed kind of short when I saw him in the middle of the ring, but he can move. He just cut the corner of the trailer with pink flower stickers! I speed up and skid around the different trailer vans until I catch his dirty blonde head again.

Shoot…. I think I lost him. The parking lot’s empty. Not a single van’s light is on.

“Hello?” I call out.

“Did you want to see a special trick or something?” a snicker from behind me makes me spin on the balls of my feet to face the handsome blonde fire eater in front of me.

“Oh! Hey!” I greet him brightly. Just the sight of him makes me excited, “Yeah, I was in the audience at first. I’m a big fan of the circus. You were my favorite act.” I clear up for him in order to keep a humble presence.

After he nods I step forward, holding my hand out to him, “I’m Jaehee. Can I know your name?”

“Jonghyun, fire-eater.” He chuckles, shaking my hand, “So what brought you all the way to the back of the parking lot? Did you really want an encore that badly?”

“Oh.” I turn around and glance at the tent that seems a mile away now, “I didn’t realize. I just really wanted to meet you. I’m such a big fan.”

That gets a chuckle out of him, “Really? That’s something I don’t really hear often.” He turns around to head inside one of the trailer vans.

I don’t know if I should follow him, so I just stay out here in front of the open door, “What do you mean?” I call in after him.

He comes out with two water bottles and a small lunch bag filled with cans and bags of snacks.

“I mean, lots of people around are scared out of their wits of fire. Which is kind of ironic; why come to a show with this weird over-the-top stuff when you can’t handle it?” he shrugs to himself, handing me a water bottle.

I quietly thank him before I follow him to an emptier end of the parking lot, where there’s a small little bonfire station set up. He sits on the ground and I sit adjacent to him, so I can see his side profile.

He takes out a can and a canteen. As he starts shaking the canteen, he asks me, “You seem like a smart girl, you know how this works, right?”

“Uhm, you blow oil into the flame?” I try.

“I thought so.” He smirks lightly before turning on the torch, a blue flame erupting from the rod at the top. Then he takes a swig from the canteen and blows harshly against the torch, a mass of orange flames forming and erupting towards the previously unlit bonfire.

“Wow~” I gush, clapping amusedly.

He pulls a can out of his lunch bag, popping the lid to reveal some sausages. Then he pulls out a couple of skewers out and pokes two sausages onto each stick, handing one of them to me.

When he places it over the fire that’s burning comfortably in front of us, I follow his lead and start roasting the canned meat over the small fire.

After 5 minutes of chatting comfortably, the sausages are done and we both bite into them eagerly. “Wow. Never imagined canned food to be so yummy.” I chuckle.

He replaces my stick with two more sausages and I start roasting them over the fire again. But it’s already starting to die out a little.

Jonghyun doesn’t seem to notice and asks me another question, “So why are you so into fire?”

“….I don’t know,” I shrug, looking blissfully at the small dancing flames before me, “I’ve always had this strange infatuation with watching it. It’s pretty useful in our lives. I don’t really understand why people are so hesitant with such a pretty element.”

After a moment of silence and staring at the dying fire, I ask, “Why do you like fire?”

I mean, I’m just assuming he’d be into fire since he’s a fire eater.

“Fire’s kind of a misunderstood element. Everyone always relates it to danger, heat, anger. How people supposedly ‘burn’ with anger and hatred…” he starts.

I nod understandingly as he continues twirling his skewer over the still dying fire. “But people tend to misunderstand its power sometimes. I think of fire as something that brings life, sustains life, provides light, warmth… you’ve heard phrases like someone’s heart burns with a love as passionate as a fire or something….” I nod again, “Well those are the kinds of things that come to my mind when fire comes up.”

Turning my gaze back to dreamily watch the fire die down to its smallest embers, I sigh out, “I know what you mean.”

“Hm…” he nods, “….Do you know why I’m considered the best fire-eater in the circus?” he turns to me.

“…..why?”

“You ever heard of the phrase ‘the real deal’?”

After I nod, he continues, “Well that could be a clichéd way of looking at me. The performance without the need for the props.” He tosses the torch and canteen of oil to the side.

Turning back to face me, a smirk spreads across his face as he eyes suddenly flash into a golden color. I almost let out a gasp until he turns back to the fire and takes a breath to blow out the last embers.

Except… it’s not air or carbon dioxide that comes out of his mouth, but bright orange flames.

But the weird thing about it is that there’s this glittery yellow tint that mixes in with the flames that have come out of his mouth. No, not yellow, gold.

But when I glance back at the flames that have appeared in the bonfire, they’re the same conventional orange that anyone would ever match up with fire.

My mouth is still open and I’m surprised the skewer hasn’t fallen from my hand.

“Y-…Y-your eyes…” I breathe out, stilling staring straight into his glinting golden eyes that I swear were dark chocolate brown just 32 seconds ago.

He smirks a little before taking my skewer and stabbing a marshmallow through the tip. He glances at me quickly before turning back to spit a puff of golden tinted flames at the marshmallow.

It catches on fire for a couple of seconds, but he blows gently at it, no flames coming out of his mouth this time, “Aren’t they pretty?” he smiles as he hands it back to me. It surprises me how my hand isn’t shaking when I take it from him.

My eyes don’t move away from his gorgeous golden eyes as I let out a shaky sigh, “Wow….”

At least half an hour later, I’ve finally managed to finish the food left on my skewer, and I’m letting the silence take up the space between us. Since that one blow from his breath, he hasn’t had to reignite the fire even once. It kept going strong, unlike that fire-eater torch he played with at first. I was kind of upset I wouldn’t get to see more of the beautiful sight.

I didn’t dare ask for another demonstration. I didn’t want him to think I only saw him as a good show to watch for my own entertainment.

Our gazes met and held several times, and I noticed how his eyes slowly started to fade into a darker and darker shade until they returned to their natural brown color.

“Nothing?” he finally laughs, “No applause? Amazement? Were you not dazzled enough?’ he jokes.

“Are you…?” I ask cautiously, hoping for him to finish for me, because I sure as hell didn’t know what the answer was.

“Would you like to find out?” he asks cautiously as well, in a low voice.

“…..Yes.” I answer hesitantly but firmly.

He takes the remnants of his water bottle and tosses it over the fire, slightly extinguishing it. The rest he just stamps out with his foot. He tells me to stand in an open space in the parking lot.

Then…. He starts circling me.

Like…. A tiger, surrounding its prey before it attacks.

Each time he circles in front of me, I watch his eyes as they get brighter and brighter, back to their beautiful golden color. Each time he circles me, he changes little by little. Strange things growing out of nowhere each time he circles me.

Claws on his fingers.

Points on his ears.

Spikes on his back.

Until all of a sudden a walking man walks past me and a long slender serpent’s body crawls around me, making me hitch my breath.

But the long, strong body of the serpent grows larger until it’s expanded to the size of a large office desk. He continues to circle me until he’s completely transformed and slithers back and forth in front of me until the head and upper body of the large golden dragon is in front of me.

A pair of large tan wings that match the spikes on his back sprout majestically from behind the dragon’s shoulder blades, making me gasp and remind myself I still had to intake oxygen.

The horned head of the creature before me turns to face me, staring at me straight on. Though I should be stricken with panic, I actually feel a sense of relief wash over me because I recognize the look of those large golden eyes that are staring me down.

He gestures for me to climb on.

Reacting quickly, I pull out my gloves as I jog up to him. I’m kind of confused as to how I’m supposed to get up there, but he suddenly lowers himself down to the ground so I can step onto his clawed hand and climb higher onto his back.

I’m afraid to sit on top of the spikes on his back, so I just stand up behind his head leaning my forearms on his head in front of me. I make sure that I’m within a good distance of his horns in case I need to hold onto something.

My relief has already been washed away by my new sense of excitement. The blood is pumping through my body, my heart racing and my palms starting to sweat a little underneath my leather gloves. I’m nervous.

A sweep of wind from behind me tells me that he’s spread his wings and we’re about to leave the parking lot. I wrap my arms gently around his horns for extra security.

Then, he mounts up, lifting his head into the air, and he blows a roar of golden flames into the air. About 10 meters above us, the flames disperse to form a perfect ring of fire. But I don’t get the chance to admire it because he’s suddenly shot up and escaped into the air through the golden ring.

I look back and see not a single claw or tail touch the ring around it until we’ve fully ascended into the atmosphere. When he’s gone through, the ring evaporates and disappears.

“Wow…” I whisper to myself.

Although my grip has tightened around his head during our ascent, I feel perfectly stable in my position even though we’re climbing through the clouds in a vertical shot.

Finally, he starts to turn forward until we’re parallel to the ground and sky again. His long back doesn’t take too long to catch up, but it’s so majestic on its own. I’m left breathless when I turn forward completely to see all the stars twinkling above us.

I feel as if my feet have numbed beneath me, but I adjust my stance until I’m comfortable again. Enough to focus entirely on the sights before me.

We pass through several misty clouds, meeting the dark night sky again and again. Although the moon and stars are supposed to illuminate the sky for us, it’s still really dark in front of and around me. But it feels as though this golden glow around Jonghyun’s body seems to clear the skies before me. Just wow….

The rushing feelings I’m getting from the clouds we emerge through match up with my pulsing heartbeat. I must be getting really good circulation right now. But I’m slowly becoming more aware of how cold the night sky is and that my layers of clothing aren’t the thickest they could be.

But perfectly timed with my thoughts, a voice seems to run through my head, asking ‘Are you cold?’

I clear my throat before adjusting my standing position on his back again, “Just a little.” I whisper quietly, not nearly loud enough for any human ear to be able to hear me, even without being deafened by the wind we’re travelling through right now.

And just like that, he raises his head just a bit and blows another set of his gorgeous golden flames into the air in front of him. They form into another golden ring for us to travel through. And as we pass through it, I’m suddenly encompassed by a strong warmth that protects the entirety of my body and it seems to stick. Like some sort of invisible heater has attached itself to my very skin and allows the blood to run freely throughout my body again.

“Wow….” I say again. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said that tonight.

Continuing into the night, he starts telling me a story in my mind, and I listen intently.

‘You must be wondering why I’m in the circus, and I don’t have a real answer for that. All the others of my kind are somewhere above us, trying to fly into the rest of their lives. And many others are below us, trying to lead regular lives in order to hide from their real ones. I personally, don’t want to get into either because I want both.

 ‘The reason why some of us are forced to choose between one life and another is because there are others out there who misunderstand us and the concept of fire. There’s nothing we can do to change it, nothing we can do to stop it. Admittedly, there are several of us out there who are actually guilty of these accusations that are made towards us, but it’s difficult to differentiate between us and our true intentions.

‘These people, these slayers, they’re out to hunt when they dedicate themselves. That’s why some flee while others hide. I, for one, don’t want to do either, but if I’m to remain alive, I must.

‘Living like this, it’s freeing enough. We’re always on the move, I get to show off, and I’m free to fly in these out of sight locations we perform at. I wouldn’t want to fly for the rest of my life, nor would I want to stay human all the time and forget my abilities. This is a nice compromise, no?’

I take a moment to take in what he’s just told me, “I’m happy for you,” I whisper to him supportively.

Not nearly long enough later, we descend lower towards the ground, and I can see the city lights we had passed earlier gleaming below us. I lean forward as he starts his descent vertically down towards the ground, my chin on my crossed arms lying on his head comfortably as I just watch the ground get closer and closer at break-neck speed. This can’t possibly be safe for anyone, but I feel completely secure with him around me and taking care of me.

We begin to slow down and he swirls around onto the very parking lot we had left who-knows-how-long ago. I’m free to slide down his back and land dizzily on the ground. Surprisingly, I felt just as stable standing on his back as I did standing on the ground, but the whole high altitude thing and just adventure of it all leaves my head spinning.

He starts circling me again, making me even dizzier from the sheer excitement of it all, and his large golden body starts to shrink until his serpent’s body is the size of a human torso again. When he’s able to stand up on two feet again, his claws and horns disappearing, he stands in front of me again, his deep golden irises sending new shockwaves down my spine.

I’m not sure if it’s in my head but we seem to be getter closer. I think it’s me who’s slowly walking towards him so that our faces grow closer together until they’re just inches apart. But as I start to lean in to meet his lips with mine, he interrupts me.

“Do you know why I told you?”

I blink slowly before moving back a couple centimeters as he asks another question, “Do you know why you were so naturally able to ride up there like that?”

Now I’m left confused. I thought it was just magic. His magic that kept me safe and protected on his back. Is he saying that it was really me who did that?

“No regular human can even withstand breathing at such a high altitude in the sky. Do you know why you’re able to take in such magnificent things like this so calmly?” he asks, still puncturing my gaze with his, making my heart race faster.

I finally shake my head, not tearing my gaze from his at all.

Then, he takes me wrist and looks down at the golden bracelet with a teardrop jade charm attached to it.

I smile a little as I look down at it. It was a gift from my father. He actually used to tell me stories about it. And the memories start flooding back in about how….

….it was a dragon’s tear.

And the only way to obtain a dragon’s tear is to…..

Jonghyun notices the smile on my face drop, but the smirk on his doesn’t disappear the way the golden color fades from his eyes.

“You have the mark of a slayer.”