Out of all the weirdest things I've seen in my life, the flaming hydra probably topped the list.

Or at least so far out of my life anyways. 

It was Grad Night at school, Gunpo Academy, and the entire school was at the beach. The teachers and the students were...free in nice terms. They liked partying put bluntly. 

So, it was getting closer to midnight with the things usual at my school - the bully Ahnjae insulting a girl's clothes, the teachers making out in the trees, the guys throwing each other into the ocean - while I sat near the campfire, roasting marshmallows with my friend Donghee.

He was a nervous overweight guy and my best friend at the school, an academy known in the area for its troublemaking kids. He got picked on a lot because he ate plates of food and when he got picked on, he just ate more; it was an endless cycle. But he was nice and had a good sense of humor even though he looked as though a ghost would pop up behind every corner and kill him sometimes. 

"We're graduating," I pointed out, sighing. I had a bad reputation for back-talking teachers and pretty much any person of authority and I got even the calmest of teachers to blow their top like Mrs. Kim back in third grade. Because of that, I never got to graduate a school without summer classes but this year, with Donghee's calm (and nervous) reminders by my side, I had been able to scrape by graduating, even at this bad school. 

"Yup," Donghee agreed, giving a nervous smile back. "What will you do once you graduate?"

"Spend the summer with Dad hopefully," I answered, giving a rueful grin. "If he's not too busy of course."

Donghee sighed.

"Your dad's a jerk. Don't worry about him," he comforted, holding out a box of cookies. "Want one?"

"Nah. I'm good," I declined, taking a bite out of my marshmallow instead. 

"If you say so," he stated, as if he couldn't believe I was turning down cookies. I laughed.

"Want to go play in the sand with me?" I asked, standing up and brushing off my jeans.

"Nah. I'm good," he mocked, but he stood up and followed me. We walked passed the bonfire and most of the classmates, pulling off our shoes and dipping our feet in the shallow waves. It was cold against my feet but refreshing rather than uncomfortable. We got into a splash war and by the end, we're both soaked. 

He hobbled back out of the water and I looked at his feet, confused when I saw brown hooves, but I figured they were my imagination especially since he buried them in the sand and began making sand shoes for himself. He had some kind of walking disease like a cripple, but I swear that it shouldn't fool you; you haven't seen him chase after me when I took his food as a joke. 

We grabbed random rocks off the beach and skipped them across the water, the sounds of the party still behind us. 

"Ha! Beat that!" I declared, pointing at Donghee in challenge. He snorted.

"That was only five skips!" he insulted, haughtily picking up a stone. "Watch how the master does it."

He tossed it. One. Two. Thr-

We looked at each other and back at the water where his rock had hit something slightly floating. It was round and smooth, covered in scales. It rose out of the water.

"Olympian gods," Donghee cursed, or at least I assumed he cursed. It was a large snake head that let out small puffs of smoke every time it exhaled.

"Want to tell me this is a dream?" I prayed aloud, readying the stone in my hand. I figured throwing a stone at it would protect me...for a second before it ate me.

"How about 'run' instead?" Donghee questioned, his voice nervous but also controlled. It eyed us, as if wondering who to eat first. I gulped nervously.

"That works too," I agreed, taking a deep breath. "RUN!"

I threw my stone at it, hitting it on the forehead. It looked angry and hissed. We didn't stay to be snake chow.

Donghee and I ran towards the party, praying to whatever Dear Lord God from Heaven Above to save our butts from certain doom while behind us, the snake monster chased after us, spewing flames of all things from its nose and hissing like an angry cat. Unfortunately, something like that didn't happen exactly. The party pretty much broke up, which was an understatement of course, and we all ran for our lives.

"Shark attack!" some guy yelled. I gaped, Donghee beside me as we dodged a girl tripping in her high heels and a couple ditching each other in the midst of making out.

"Shark? They see this...this snake monster as a shark?!" I questioned, looking at Donghee. I glanced at the monster and gaped. "It has six heads for crying out loud!"

"Don't ask me! Humans see weird things with the Mist," he replied, jumping over one of the logs.

"Mist?" I repeated, confused just as another voice entered our conversation. 

"Duck!" 

We ducked. 

Something flew over our heads and the snake gave a final angry hiss with a distinct sound that sounded like smacking a pot against concrete before the voice spoke again.

"Lee Sungyeol scores again! Ha!"

A hand entered my vision.

"Need a hand?" a second voice offered.

I followed it with my eyes, catching sight of a good-looking boy, most likely my age in an orange shirt with skinny jeans. His eyes were large and his features were slightly feminine but suited him well. He had a pair of ear piercings and his hair was swept into neat bangs. He had a knife tucked into his belt and he smiled amiably.

I took his hand, letting him help me to my feet. 

"Hey don't take all the credit," the first voice complained. I turned, catching sight of another boy, not the same kind of good-looking as the first but still just as, wearing the same orange shirt and a pair of loose jeans. His eyes twinkled with mischief and his lips were turned into a sly grin with elvish features that made me want to both stare at him forever but also hide my wallet.

He caught my gaze and walking over, he held out his hand.

"I'm Sungyeol, Lee Sungyeol. You?" he introduced, beaming.

"And I'm Nam Woohyun dear," the guy who still held my hand added, laughing at my confused look. "Don't worry. We'll get you to safety." 

"Where'd that thing go?" I questioned instead of answering Sungyeol.

"Thing?" Sungyeol repeated, raising an eyebrow in confusion. 

"The snake monster," I clarified, pulling my hand out of Woohyun's grip. "The one with the six heads."

"Now's not the time to talk about the hydra," Donghee pointed out, giving a panicked expression. "Come on. We have to get you back to camp."

"Camp? What camp? And that was a hydra? Isn't that the monster in Greek myths?" I asked, more questions filling my head.

"Camp is camp and yup," Woohyun answered quickly. "Now come on. Sungyeol just kicked it really hard and sent it flying into the sea. It should be back soon-"

A roar broke his sentence.

"So let's run!" he orderd, running ahead. 

"Wait what's going on?" I questioned, the confusion clouding my senses.

"We'll answer your questions later," Donghee declared, giving me a nervous but apologetic look.

"Now is so not the time for this," Sungyeol huffed, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. "We'll answer them later-"

The hydra gave another loud hiss and it crashed into one of the logs nearby, sending it tumbling towards us.

"If we live," Woohyun added, giving a sheepish grin.

"If we live," I repeated, barely able to focus on anything. 

I knew one thing for sure - Sungyeol's hand was warm.