Jaejoong watched the sky eagerly. Ever since his first ride on his father’s dragon, when he was told he would ride one on his own when he grew up, he had been waiting for this day. It had been hell having to wait another five moon cycles when he was just a few blue cycles away from being the required age to go through the ceremony.
Some good distance away, his family was watching him. However, he heard nothing inside his head. Ever since he had drunk the concoction from the other day, the voices from his sisters were slowly becoming silent. Now he could only hear them when he wanted to. He was slightly aware that Yunho was nearby and the others were scattered along the prairie. Lydia was right next to him, her presence calming and welcomed. As far as Jaejoong was concerned, life was great. He had found his Linked One and he really liked her. He had been accepted to his dream job. And now he was about to convince that spectacular purple dragon that he was the right rider. 

…

The dragons seemed to be even more excited than the eager recent adults. They would cry out, fly low and fast over the crowd spread out across the vast prairie. Sarah was a bit scared at first but she soon found herself mesmerized by the amazing colours of the dragons. One in particular caught her eye. She couldn’t make out its colour because it kept changing. The dragon must have felt her gaze. Suddenly a gush of wind swept her hair and dress all over the place. When she was finally able to see again, she found herself face to face with a huge smiling pair of friendly eyes.
From nearby, Junsu was beyond surprised. Why on Lhara was a huge dragon stopping in front of Sarah? And not just any dragon. This one was a chameleon, a rare ever changing colour dragon. In front of the Seffren girl, the dragon took on an amazing shade of pink to match the girl’s dress. Sarah seemed to have recovered from her surprise, she was even giggling at the smiling creature and held out a hand to touch its fluffy nose. Junsu felt one word pop up in his mind: cute. He really thought the two looked incredibly cute together.
“Cute.”
An echo answered him. It wasn’t his own voice or his brother’s. Junsu frowned and looked around him. Who had said that? He could swear he had heard another voice in his mind. He turned to the pink pair again and was surprised to find the dragon’s eyes on him, and then he heard that same voice again.
“Cute.”
Junsu nearly collapsed on the floor. He was hearing the dragon! But then… was that his dragon? The dragon took off, leaving behind a bewildered Junsu who stared after it. Sarah also followed it with her eyes, still amazed that the huge animal had stopped to greet her. Junsu ran past her, nearly bumping with a few people in his haste to follow the dragon. It had changed colour again to a bright orange and was twirling in the air, making it difficult for the young man on the ground to follow its path in between the few clouds. Junsu felt dizzy and elated. He knew his feet were firmly in the grass and that he was looking up. Yet, it was as if he was soaring through the clouds, feeling the wind on his face and looking down at the people below. Another word popped in his mind.
“Happy!”
Junsu screamed happily as loud as he could and jumped high in triumph. He could feel that dragon. That dragon was his dragon.

…

A small presence on the back of his mind slowly intruded again. Junsu had been aware of it earlier but had dismissed it because he recognised it. He was conscious of where Yoochun and Changmin were and of how they were feeling. That connection with his childhood friends was not new, just never this strong. And why was he only aware of Yoochun and Changmin and barely aware of Yunho and Jaejoong? Junsu looked around him a little confused. The dragon had flown higher up and he was less aware of the beautiful animal now. To his surprise, Yunho and Jaejoong were much nearer to him than the other two. 
He studied his two older friends. Something was off. It took him some time to realise what. Then it hit him. Even though Jaejoong was not too far away from Yunho, the taller guy was not watching over the older one who was, as usual, mesmerized at the dragons above him. Yunho also had his full attention on the dragons. And weirder, that beautiful girl from yesterday was standing close to Jaejoong who seemed to be aware of her presence. He even turned his face to talk to her. Junsu felt puzzled. If he were ever asked to say from between them who could become a pair it would have been Yunho and Jaejoong.
The jab in his mind got stronger. He knew exactly where Yoochun and Changmin were, even not seeing them. Junsu wondered why. It made no sense. Above him he heard a cry he identified as belonging to the chameleon dragon. Junsu tried sending a question to the huge animal.
“Do you know what is happening?”
“Choose.”
“What?”
“Choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Cute. Friends. Choose.”

…

Junsu froze on the spot. Was the dragon serious? He thought he knew what he was being told to do. He could even maybe understand why. But it made no sense to him at all, since when did he have a choice? He had never heard of that happening. The Connection was absolute. The only ones who were not ruled by it were the few whose pair had died and had no new link established as the cycles moved on. And those were very rare cases. If his strange new awareness of Yoochun and Changmin was what he suspected, how could the dragon imply he could choose? And choose between them and Sarah? But Sarah wasn’t even from Lhara. He must have misunderstood the dragon.
“Not first pair. Not first pair can choose.”
“First pair? You mean the stronger link when there’s more than two people?”
Junsu opened his mind and waited. Soon he was conscious of everything Yoochun and Changmin were feeling and doing on a level he had never experienced, not even with his brother. The two were, however, too distracted to be aware of him. 
Changmin’s entire attention was on an enormous green dragon. The taller guy was trying in vain to connect with that one dragon and not even looking at the others, refusing to entertain the possibility that might not be his dragon. 
Yoochun was torn. He knew he was supposed to be chosen by a dragon but he just didn’t felt any special pull towards the amazing animals. He liked them, didn’t fear them, however, he didn’t want to be linked to one. Yoochun was wondering what that would mean for him. In between these thoughts, he couldn’t help but stare at Changmin, More and More. He had even started to move across the field, slowly approaching the younger man.
Junsu felt aware of the pull that Yoochun was obeying and it came as no surprise. Much like Yunho with Jaejoong, Yoochun had always had a softer spot for Changmin despite all their bickering. Apparently in their case it was going to translate into The Connection and move from just friendship. Junsu felt as if he was intruding. Yoochun was so focused on Changmin that the entire world seemed to have disappeared. He closed off his mind, trying to block his two friends. 
Not first pair. Yoochun only has ever had eyes for Changmin, either laughing at him or being teased mercilessly. Always. Even before the effects of The Connection. He was friends with both of them but had been more of a spectator of their bickering. So, where does that leave me? What about me? 
Junsu looked around the field. However, he didn’t really need to. He knew exactly where Sarah was. To his surprise, she had been watching him and on being caught, immediately turned her eyes to the dragons above. He thought back to their brief talk yesterday. He had thought long and hard about how he had felt. He hadn’t wanted to but couldn’t help it. All that thinking had an unexpected secondary effect: he realised she had been flirting with him when she first arrived on Lhara. He just had never known because without the chemicals unleashed during the adulthood ceremony he was completely immune to everything and anything of the sort. All that thinking and he hadn’t reached any conclusion about why she messed with his nerves. But right now, he had no more doubts. It was as if all the clouds had parted and the two suns were shining brightly. 
Junsu smiled, his choice made up.
“She really is too cute and it’s too much fun to annoy her. What do you think, dragon?”
“Cute.”
“Yes, she is.”

…

Yunho looked up sighing deeply. There were two blue dragons that he could see among the many shades blurring across the pink sky. A vast majority of the colours crossing the sky were dark ones, almost black, since those were the more common dragons. He had always favoured the more colourful ones. Not that he was dragon crazy like Jaejoong and Changmin but he also wanted one, also wanted to fly high up, and had also dreamed of it. He sighed again. It was rather boring to just stand around the prairie looking up at the sky and waiting. 

…

Yoochun found himself a few feet away from Changmin. He had no idea why. He just felt like he needed to. He could hear the other man’s thoughts and they were all directed at a magnificent green dragon that had been hovering above for some time now.  Without thinking about what he was doing, Yoochun opened his mind to call for that same dragon. If Changmin wanted that dragon, he was going to help.
Changmin wondered why the dragon was so stubborn. He was sure that was the one for him. There was no other one who could be. Then, out of nowhere, the dragon simply landed at his feet. Changmin blinked. After recovering from his surprise, he faced the huge animal with determination. Curious eyes studied him and seemed to give a slight nod of approval. Impatient to finally fly, Changmin tried to climb but the animal shook his head meaning “no”. The young man’s mouth dropped in disbelief.
Yoochun found the interaction odd. The dragon had obviously chosen his friend, so why weren’t they flying already? He turned his entire attention, with some difficulty, to the green giant.
“Why no?”
“Not complete. Waiting.”
Yoochun stumbled, completely taken aback. He had not expected to be able to communicate with the dragon. He was sure the animal wasn’t his, such a formidable dragon could never be meant for him. How could he have heard him? The dragon seemed to chuckle, obviously amused with Yoochun’s surprised face and Changmin’s pout. The tall man still hadn’t noticed his childhood friend behind him. Changmin had his arms crossed, his face scrunched in growing annoyance and was now trying to order the dragon to abbey him and let him climb. He knew that was not exactly the way to do things but he was really starting to get pissed off. First, the stubborn dragon had taken forever to come down and now he was just laughing at him. Trying to get a bigger distance to look taller and commanding, Changmin took two steps back and felt his own body collide with another warm body. The sudden heat sent a shiver down his spine. Changmin tried to take a step forward and away but somehow couldn’t find the strength to do it.
-Are you ok, Changminie?
The second Changmin recognized Yoochun’s deep voice, he turned to look at him so fast that he almost hurt his neck. Confused by what the older guy was doing there, he turned accusing eyes to the dragon.
“Are you his?”

…

“No.”
Changmin breathed a sigh of relief. Almost immediately his irritation returned. The dragon was playing games with him and… well… before he had realised it was Yochun behind him, he had felt tempted to lean against the unexpected warmth. Which was crazy. This entire day was turning out crazy. 
-You are going to have a fun ride, Max. Your dragon has an attitude to match yours. He’s as stubborn as you are. What is he waiting for?
-Waiting?
-Huh? Yes. He said he’s waiting. Something about not complete. I didn’t understood what he was talking about. 
Changmin’s eyes almost bulged out. He couldn’t believe his ears.
-You… heard him?
-Yes. It was weird.
Changmin turned again to face the dragon. The huge animal seemed entertained curiously watching the two humans.
“So… who is your rider?”
“You.”
“Can I climb?”
“No. Not complete.”
“Is it Yoochun you are waiting for?”
“…”

…

The dragon seemed to smile as if he was hiding a secret. 
-Damn dragon! How on Lhara is it possible that you could talk to him if he’s not yours? And anway, what are you doing here? Where is your dragon?
-I… I haven’t tried finding one. I was actually trying to help convince this one down for you.
-What? That makes no sense! Why did you… I mean… 
-I don’t know. It just felt right.
Changmin studied Yoochun. He seemed different somehow but he couldn’t understand different how. The tall man decided to try and ask the dragon.
“Where is his dragon?”
“No dragon flies as high as he wants to fly.”
-Well, Yoochun, even the dragons know that you prefer spaceships. But part of the adulthood ceremonial process to become an adult is to ride one. How are you going to do that?
-I don’t know. I’m not worried about that right now. I’m… I’m just focusing on something else.
-What?
-You.

…

Changmin was suddenly hit with a wave of awareness at those words. The shock was almost too much for him. He was sensing Yoochun in a way he had never sensed anyone before. He could feel the heat from his body, how fast his heart was beating and worse, much worse, he could feel how much Yoochun was wanting to touch him.
The young man stuttered, trying to find words. He had never felt more at a loss in his entire life. If ever he had considered one of his friends as a possible partner, it might have been Junsu, never Yochun. He looked around him, hoping to see some girl that would announce she was his Linked One. The way Yoochun was looking at him felt almost intimidating He stepped back.
Yoochun’s entire body and mind rebelled when the tall guy stepped back and away from him. He just knew Changmin should be near him, preferably in touching distance, if possible. He reached for the other man who looked slightly confused and surprised. Changmin backed away all the way against the dragon’s shoulder. 
The strange compulsion to touch Changmin took over Yoochun. And another feeling, much stronger and wilder flooded him as well. One single idea popped in his head: claim. He had no idea from where, he just knew it was the right thing to do. Claim. He had to claim him. He was going to claim him. He belonged to Changmin and Changmin belong to him. It all depended on him. The fact that he could feel how the other one was getting more nervous strangely calmed him more. 
Yoochun’s hand found Changmin’s neck, he smiled a little to see and feel the shiver his touch caused. Then he slowly approached the stunned face. Changmin was frozen, completely incapable to move or even say anything. Only his eyes watched him almost in a panic. Seconds before he claimed Changmin’s lips, Yoochun sent only one word into his Linked One’s mind:
“Mine.”

…