the sliver of moonlight from his window distracts kyungsoo from his dissertation, typing fingers freezing over keys in sheer contemplation. oftentimes he finds himself mulling over how monotonous his life has become lately, despite the paperwork piling up under his nose and keeping him busy. his thesis defense was just around the corner, he recalls, and slacking off and procrastinating are completely out of the question.

but after a moment’s contemplation, despite himself, he lays comfortably atop his couch with a bowl of cheese nachos on his lap and a glassful of sprite on the coffee table. he figures he needed to unwind, anyway, and tonight, much to his utter delight, star wars: episode iv was on.

an hour into the movie, just as obi-wan kenobi trains luke skywalker in the art of swordsmanship, the screen falls into a static mess. ‘what the hell?’ frustrated, he walks over to the monitor and gives it a solid whack from the top, only to have it respond with distorted images—han solo’s cocky remarks had been drowned by the static, much to his dismay.

he hears a faint thud on his ceiling—it could be one of those cable thieves again—and immediately grabs his baseball bat behind the television set, and climbs gingerly to the roof through the window.



 

what kyungsoo sees is no thief, however.

he stands frozen as his eyes land on a pair of wings attached to the expanse of someone’s—or something’s—back, scales faintly glistening under the dim glow of the moon as it arches and turns towards his direction. he is met with furrowed brows and ocher orbs, and kyungsoos’s initial reaction had been to raise his bat.

‘DON’T—’ the thing raises its arms, attempting to calm now a more frightened kyungsoo from swinging in fear. ‘—SCREAM.’ he pales and drops the bat, eyes wide as saucers as he suppresses a scream that could’ve potentially alerted an armory. ‘w-who—why—w-what are you?!’

‘i’m a dragonian—half human, half dragon,’ it gives a low chuckle, one that could pass as a low grumble between the lips, and nods towards his direction. a shiver runs down kyungsoo’s spine. ‘what’s your name, kid?’

‘k-kyungsoo,’ he gulps, looking up from its wings caught between the cable antenna. ah. that explains it. ‘and, uhmm, yours? d-do you have one?’

‘yifan. but for you, human, it’s kris.’

‘kris,’ kyungsoo repeats, somewhat liking, to his surprise, how the name rolls off his tongue in barely accented english. ‘kris. how do i know you won’t kill me?’

kris tilts his head to the side, smile wide and crooked, and kyungsoo thinks it’s sort of beautiful and creepy. ‘i don’t kill humans.’

kyungsoo’s shoulders drop, as if breathing right for the first time in relief, yet he doesn’t know why he trusts kris enough to let his guard down. ‘uhmm—’

‘hey, do you mind?’ kris pleads, his wings scuffling about in an attempt to break free. ‘it sort of messes up with my head.’

sensing no danger at all, kyungsoo snaps out of his daze, steadying himself as he crawls over on all fours to help kris from the tangled wires. ‘stay still,’ he starts, ‘this could hurt.’

they fall into a lapse of silence, kris flinching at the slightest tugs. ‘what the —keeping up with the kardashians? really, kyungsoo, you have awful taste.’

‘what—’ kyungsoo stares at him in disbelief. ‘i wasn’t even—ugh, what did you expect me to watch, merlin?’

‘what? geez, no, what’s wrong with you? though a little the lord of the rings wouldn’t hurt, or game of thrones.’

‘ha-ha, you’re so funny, ha.’ his sarcasm makes kris snigger. ‘for your information, i was watching the fourth star wars episode ‘til you so rudely interrupted the movie!’

‘i got a little clumsy,’ kris scratches his head, shy and apologetic, and kyungsoo thinks he almost looks so human. at the mention of star wars, the dragonian wrinkles his nose in disgust, to which kyungsoo reacts with a ‘what? george lucas is a genius, okay. everyone knows that.’

‘no movie could ever be epic without slaying dragons, kyungsoo.’

‘you’re quite conceited for a dragon,’ and quite lovely, too, now that kyungsoo thinks about it, but his somewhat brash attitude leaves him disappointed. ‘i expected dragons to be—’

‘ferocious?’ kris’ grin is smug, confident.

kyungsoo stops to look at him stoically, mirth dying from his eyes. ‘—cute.’

kris chokes. ‘excuse me? (‘you are excused,’ kyungsoo deadpans) what the—’

kyungsoo catches what seems like a string of profanities, and dammit, disney, you’ve done it again.

‘yah, YAH. you do not talk about walt disney like that! and how to train your dragon is from dreamworks, arsehole.’

kris folds, hands raised in surrender. ‘whatever.’

‘it’s done, but your wings are scarred.’ kyungsoo hesitates for a moment. ‘you might want to come inside, i have a first aid kit.’

kris gives him that low chuckle again. ‘i won’t fit down your chimney, dork.’

kyungsoo rolls his eyes, and it is only when he climbs back out of his window again, first aid kit in hand, that he realizes that he didn’t even have a chimney in the first place.



 

‘do antiseptics work on you, though?’ kyungsoo asks skeptically. seoul is quiet at two in the morning, and what he’s doing at an ungodly hour remedying a creature of the night when he should be working on his thesis, is beyond him.

‘i don’t see why they won’t,’ kris shrugs. ‘i am part human, after all.’

what comes next isn’t much of a conversation, with kris animatedly narrating his origins to kyungsoo, how his fire-breathing skills must still be honed. kyungsoo manages a reply at appropriate times, but he doesn’t question what a lone dragonian was doing flying over this part of town in the dead of night, keeping his curiosity to himself, even as he finishes bandaging kris’ scars and giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. ‘you’re good to go.’ kris gives him a grateful nod before standing up to leave.

‘kris,’ kyungsoo trails behind kris somewhat dolefully. ‘will i ever see you again?’

kris manages a sly grin as he perches himself atop the roof ledge. ‘would you want to?’

‘maybe.’

this time, kris laughs rather loudly that it startles kyungsoo. his gums, kyungsoo notices, occupied half of his face. when kris’ laugh dies down to mellow sniggers, he pulls something off his finger and makes a motion to hold kyungsoo’s hand. in it, he places a silver ring embellished with a consistent pattern of something akin to scales. kyungsoo throws him a questioning look.

‘a token of gratitude,’ kris’ smile is slow and content, and kyungsoo still thinks it’s beautiful, despite his oddity. ‘thank you for everything, kyungsoo, you are good company. you will not be forgotten.’

now it’s kyungsoo’s turn to smile, clutching the item so preciously between his palm. ‘ditto.’

his thesis defense results to a 4.0 success, and kyungsoo feels as if the weight of the world is lifted off his shoulders. chanyeol insists on celebrating over cheap beer and kimchi spaghetti, and even if his best friend is brash and is making a mess out of his kitchen, he is happy.

in his finger, he traces the patterns of the ring, twirling it as he did so. he recalls his fateful encounter with a dragonian a month back, and smiles to himself. though it had been brief, the rarity had been the very reason he had kept it a secret all this time.

‘yah, you’re smiling to yourself,’ chanyeol says through mouthfuls of pasta. kyungsoo looks at chanyeol, all childlike and curious with spaghetti sauce framing his still chewing mouth, and beams at him, instead. ‘it’s nothing,’ kyungsoo replies. ‘i’m happy you’re here.’ and it had been the truth. in a heartbeat, he would’ve told chanyeol of kris, but then again, he thinks, some secrets are just worth keeping.