“I don’t think I can do this.” Chanyeol let out a shaky breath, holding his head in his hands.

“We’ll be fine, Yeol.” Seulgi reassured with a squeeze to his shoulder, although they both knew she was just saying that to make them feel better.

Jongin looked from his teammates to the four caged beasts in front of them from behind the bushes. Four dragons snapped at each other and the caretakers through the bars of their cages.

He watched as Kwangsoo yelled orders at the handlers frantically trying to calm the beasts. The Game Keeper headed toward the hiding trio, once he was sure the dragons were under control.

“Chanyeol, you made it.” Kwangsoo smiled.

Chanyeol nodded his head, absolute fear etched on his face.

“I thought you'd like to see the dragons." He wrapped an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulder, walking him closer to the cages, Jongin and Seulgi following with caution.

The three students tensed up when one of the dragons turned in their direction.

The beast’s fiery eyes watched the three closely, following them as they walked by slowly.

Its overall appearance was much like a bird. Dark, scarlet scales covered the body, a row of golden spikes down the dragon’s back to the tip of the tail, and a fringe of the same spikes came off the back of its head. The dragon let out what seemed like a sigh, small flames coming from its beak-like snout.

Kwangsoo noticed Chanyeol looking over at the dragon. “That there is the Chinese Fireball, twenty-five feet long and very aggressive." Almost instantly after Kwangsoo got the words out his mouth, the Fireball snapped at one of the closer dragons.

"That over there is the Mizuchi, a water dragon from Japan, it doesn't breathe fire, like the Fireball, but it is much faster." He informed pointing towards a serpent like dragon with smooth pale blue scales, its short legs not touching the floor of the cage. It stared down the people moving around its cage, Chanyeol nearly whimpered when the creature made eye contact with him.

“What’s that one over there?” Seulgi asked, breaking Chanyeol’s attention from the serpent, pointing towards a much smaller dragon.

A white dragon, its scales shining silver in the light of the torches around them. This dragon looked much different from the other two they had seen, soft fur covering its dog-like face and small patches flowed from the joints of its legs, at the end of its serpent body the tip of its tail was cloud like. There seemed to be a mist shrouding the dragon, making its features seem soft and elegant. The three students almost relaxed at the sight of this beast, it was much calmer than the other three.

“That beauty is the Hanuel Yong, it's a very rare dragon. It can only be found here in Korea, up in the mountains."

A loud roar and shouting from handlers tore their attention away from the white dragon to a cage with a larger black dragon, sharp horns adorn its head. The beast’s bright, red eyes lit up as it spewed fire at the caretakers.  The three Haetaes jumped back when the fire neared them.

“That nasty thing is the Chilong, the Westerners call it the Demon Dragon. Probably the worst there is,” Kwangsoo said as he led the students away from the beasts. More shouts rose from behind them, coming from the Chinese Fireball’s cage, the Game Keeper excused himself before taking off, leaving the trio in their thoughts.

“This is crazy.” Jongin stated as he stared at the dragons. “This is completely mad.” His voice edged with hysteria.

“Hey, it’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.” Seulgi reassured calmly, though it didn’t really help once they saw how the color had drained from her face.

Jongin covered his face with his hands, inhaled then exhaled, and then started to laugh. Seulgi and Chanyeol looked on at their friend in concern. It was actually scaring Chanyeol just a little.

“Oh yeah, we’ll be fine alright.” Jongin chuckled. “it’s not like we’re going up against ing dragons!” His voice rose as he pointed back towards the cages. Jongin turned around and started to walk away.

“Hey, where are you going?” Chanyeol shouted, as he and Seulgi tried to catch up with him, quite the distance had been made between them.

“I need to lie down. Maybe write a letter to my parents? Tell them I won’t be coming home for Christmas and while I’m at it maybe write my will too,” Jongin said throwing his hands in the air, as he stumbled through the forest, his teammates finally having caught up with him.

“Come on, Jongin, we can do this, especially since we know what kind of dragons were going up against.” Seulgi stated, the color having finally come back to her face.

“Yeah, Seul’s right,” Chanyeol spoke up with a new gained confidence. “We can do this, just as long as we don’t get stuck with that Chilong.” He laughed, wrapping his arms around his teammate’s shoulders as they walked back to the school.

“Hey Jongin,” Luhan said softly to get the boy’s attention. “You’ve barely touched your lunch and you seemed zoned out in charms earlier today.” Jongin looked at him with an apologetic smile. “Sorry Han, the tournament’s really getting to me.” Jongin lets out a scoff. “We haven’t even started the first task.”

Jongin ran his hand through his hair, letting out a sigh of frustration.

Luhan moved to sit next to Jongin, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You know you can talk to me about it.”

Jongin looked over at him, and he was presented with a sweet smile.  A smile of his own pulled at Jongin’s lips.

“Yeah, I just.” He let out a sigh and looked out in front of them. “I’m scared?”

Luhan nodded in understanding. “Well, you are going up against a dragon.” He squeezed Jongin's shoulder. “But you have a team of amazing friends who won’t let you die.” Jongin’s smile reached his eyes as the one on his lips grew wider.

“And I’ll be in the crowd, so if I see you’re about to die. I’ll get you out of there.” Luhan’s face went serious, before it relaxed. “I promise.” Jongin let out a laugh, bringing his arm around Luhan’s waist, pulling him closer into a hug.

“Thank you,” he murmured against Luhan’s shoulders.

Baekhyun was currently staring daggers into his boyfriends’ face, while the other read and moved around his homework papers.

Chanyeol thought he didn’t know what the first task was, but Baekhyun knew, and he was worried.

And pissed, that Chanyeol won’t talk him to about the task that was in 24 hours. He knew Chanyeol was probably freaking out on the inside, and was dying to talk to him about it.

But Chanyeol still thought Baekhyun was mad at him.

He wasn't.

Baekhyun was worried sick about the other.

Dragons were dangerous.

Chanyeol could die.

That meant Baekhyun would die.

A life without the giant dork in front of him, was a life Baekhyun would rather not live at all.

So Baekhyun waited, while they study, and waited during dinner, and waited when they took the long way back to the common room.

Chanyeol never brought up the task.

When Baekhyun finished getting ready for bed, he climbed onto his bed and waited for Chanyeol again. Baekhyun started to twist and pull at the bottom of his shirt as he sat there. Chanyeol walked in, fresh out of the shower, his dark red hair covered with a towel as he dried it.

Baekhyun waited.

Chanyeol threw his towel in the direction of the hamper, but missed, drawing a curse from Chanyeol’s mouth and a smile from Baekhyun’s. After making sure the towel was in the hamper, Chanyeol looked up into Baekhyun’s eyes.

A smile tugged at Chanyeol's lips, Baekhyun started to wiggle a little on his spot on the bed.

Was this it? Was Chanyeol going to talk to him?

But Chanyeol just turned to get in his bed, pulling the covers over himself.

Baekhyun snapped.

“Damnit Chanyeol!” he yelled throwing a pillow at the other. There was the sound of impact, before a “What the hell Baekhyun!” Chanyeol sat up in bed, holding the pillow he had thrown.

Jongin opened the bedroom door only to shut it immediately after looking at a fuming Baekhyun.

He would just sleep in the common room tonight.

“Baek what’s wrong? You do remember the first task is tomorrow?” Chanyeol shouted.

“What’s wrong? Chanyeol you are going up against a ing dragon! You could die tomorrow! And you didn’t even bother to tell me! You were just going to wait for me to watch you get burnt to a crisp and that’d be the end of it!” Baekhyun exploded.

Any anger that was on Chanyeol's face vanished “How did you find out?”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Jongdae,” he spat. “I can’t believe you, Chanyeol. You figured it out weeks ago and you didn’t tell me. I waited all day for you to come talk to me, but you didn’t.”

Chanyeol opened his mouth to speak, but Baekhyun didn’t let him. “You know I can’t stay mad at you forever, and this is more serious than you yelling at me.” His voice loud and filled with anger had dissolved into something soft, barely audible.

“Chanyeol,” he whispered. “We’ve been together for five years now, I would like to hope that we’ve never kept secrets from each other, and something this big.” He rubbed at his eyes, sleep finally getting to him, and let out a sigh before continuing. “Why wouldn’t you tell me? It’s not like Headmaster Lee made you sign a contract saying everything had to be kept secret? I know you probably won’t die, but what if you did?”  He didn’t even try to hide the crack in his voice.

Baekhyun looked up from fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. “You wouldn’t talk to me because you thought I was mad. Yeol, I can never stay mad at you for more than a day, especially over something so small. I thought you knew me better than that. If anything, I was just trying to see how long you could go without me.”

He chuckled lightly, before his smile turned to a frown and he met Chanyeol’s eyes. “I’m scared for you Yeol.”

Chanyeol looked away from his boyfriend’s eyes that were filling fast with tears.

“Baekhyun,” he sighed, before throwing the covers off. “I didn’t realize you felt that way, and I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve told you, all the champions are telling their friends about the tournament, and I-” He paused when he reached the other's bed, Baekhyun looked up at him. “I love you so much, Baek. I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry, I’m a horrible boyfriend, I just-” He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun sniffled and smiled, before getting on his knees and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders. “It’s ok.”

Chanyeol pressed their foreheads together. 

“Just keep me updated on what’s going on, ok? No more secrets?” Baekhyun eyebrows raised in question.

Chanyeol nodded. “No more secrets.”

Baekhyun’s smile widen, before he gave Chanyeol a quick kiss. “I love you.” He sighed against his boyfriend’s lips. Chanyeol gave him a lopsided grin before dragging his boyfriend down onto the bed, kissing him senseless.

“Dragons, that’s what we’re going up against.” Soojung deadpanned, looking at the sheet of paper in front of her, she’d only had the paper in her hands for at least 5 minutes.

Each of her teammates had taken turns trying to solve this riddle, for the past few weeks after Junmyeon led them in the right direction.

“Why couldn’t I see that before?” she asked aloud, finally understanding why Juhyun was able to figure it out so quickly. She stopped and looked out the bedroom door, where a string of laughter and rowdy chatter could be heard. A certain voice could be heard over all of the noise.

‘Oh right, Juhyun didn’t have him on her team.’

“Stupid.”

She rolled her eyes, before dragging herself out of bed. Walking down the stairs, Soojung saw that a bunch of boys were crowded in the common room, finding Sehun in the center of it all and Kris off to the side.

“Kris. Sehun.” She called out motioning for them to follow her, before she disappeared back up the stairs.

Shutting the door behind them Kris began. “What is–”

“Dragons.” Both boys looked at her in confusion.

“Dragons. That’s the first task.”

“Are you serious?” Sehun asked.

Soojung nodded her head. “I was finally able to focus on the riddle long enough.” She glared at him. “And it clicked.”

Kris nodded, “That’s why my dad said he was coming here.”

Her glare was now directed at Kris. “What?” she hissed.

Kris’ eyes widen. “Did I not tell you?”

Soojung fumed “No, Kris, you didn’t tell us.” She growled through clenched teeth.

Kris looked down in confusion. “I thought. . .” he said aloud, and then looked back up. “I told Junmyeon. I’m so sorry Soojung, I thought I had told you guys.”

She closed her eyes, inhaled then exhaled.

“It’s ok. You just forgot.” Soojung nodded her head before continuing. “You forgot to tell your teammates that we are going up against a dragon tomorrow!” she blew up, smacking Kris on the chest. “We are going into that arena tomorrow without a plan!” She continued to smack him. “Every other team has a strategy, you realize dragons kill right?”

Soojung stopped her assault at Kris' nod. “Yes, Soojung. I’m sorry, I should’ve told you guys the moment my dad contacted me. I thought I told you. I’m sorry”

She raised an eyebrow. “How long have you known?”

Kris froze.

“Oh my god!” she cried out, before running over to her bed and screaming into a pillow.

Sehun walked over to her and rubbed her back. “It’s ok, Soo. If Kris is familiar with dragons, then he should know what we can do to survive this,” he said reassuringly. Soojung dropped her pillow and looked at him. “Right?” he asked, she sighed nodding her head.

“So we need to come up with a plan now.” Her face turned serious. “I don’t know much about dragons, but you obviously do. What are we going up against?” she asked Kris.

“All four of them are dangerous,”

“Obviously.” Sehun cutted in.

“And because we don’t know which dragon we are going to be dealing with, we are going to need a plan for all four.”

With that, the Mireu champions stayed up late into the night coming up with a strategy to stay alive.

“You ready to do this?” Chanyeol asked his teammates and the other surrounding teams in the large tent. They all looked nervous, but nodded a ‘yes’ anyways.

Who wouldn’t be nervous before going up against a dragon?

Each house team was currently moving about and talking amongst themselves.

The Bulsajo champions were huddled together going over their plan for the hundredth time that day. While the Kumiho team was goofing off and making jokes, trying to ease the tension that had gathered in the tent. Everyone seemed to be calmed by the laughter and friendly banter.

Jongin had finally stopped pacing and moved to talk to Jongdae. Kris was off in the corner, eyes fixed on the ground as he thought, while his teammates argued over a plan. Soojung finally fed up with Sehun, left her teammates for Amber and Sunyoung’s company.  

Chanyeol was by the entrance of the tent rocking back and forth, trying to think of a plan. The Haetae’s were probably the only team going into the first task without an idea on how to make it out alive. The hundreds of footsteps and excited chatter outside the tent began to quiet down, which meant the first task would be starting soon.

“Psst!” 

Chanyeol jumped at the sound. Turning around, he leaned towards the entrance. “Hello?” he whispered to whoever was on the outside.

“Chanyeol?” the voice asked. “Is that you?”

“Luhan?” He raised an eyebrow in confusion when he recognized the voice. What was Luhan doing here? He heard hurried whispers and shuffling, before the flap was flung open with Baekhyun throwing himself into his arms.

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol looked down at his boyfriend, hugging him back.

“What are you two doing here?” He heard Sehun ask.

“Baekhyun was getting nervous, he wanted to see Chanyeol before the challenge began.”

“Wow, thanks Baekhyun.” Sehun directed his frown towards the other, who was still embracing his boyfriend. Sehun heard some of the female champions let out a chorus of ‘aw’ and whispers of ‘how cute they were’. Gross.

“Junmyeon didn’t come?” Kris asked as he walked over to the boys, a frown on his face when Luhan shook his head. “No, but he and everyone else wish you all the best of luck.” He smiled, Kris huffed.

Luhan turned to ask if Baekhyun was ready to go, only to find that he and his boyfriend were now lip locked. Sehun and Jongin groaned at the couple. Luhan felt a hand on his shoulder, turning around he was met with a smirking Jongdae and Minseok.

“What?” Luhan raised his eyebrows at the two.

“What made you tag along with Baek, hmm?” Jongdae wiggled his eyebrows at him, and Minseok’s smirk grew bigger, before he started to laugh when Luhan avoided eye contact with them.

“It wouldn’t happen to be.” Minseok came to his side. “Because of a certain someone would it?” He threw his arm around Luhan’s shoulder. Jongdae cackled at the color of Luhan's face.

“You guys are stupid,” he mumbled, shoving his friends away, moving to go collect Baekhyun and get out of here. Sehun stopped him before he could get to the other.

“Are you not going to wish me good luck, Lulu?” Sehun pouted at him, making him laugh. “Of course, I am.” He hugged Sehun. “Good luck, Sehunnie. I’ll jump in and save your if I have too.” Sehun squeezed him a little tighter than usual, before stepping back and ruffling his hair. “Thanks Lulu.” 

He huffed as he fixed his now disheveled hair, and noticed Jongin approaching from the corner of his eye. Luhan turned to the other as he came to stop in front of him.

“Forgetting someone?” Jongin smiled, Luhan felt his heart skip a beat. Before he could say anything, Jongin pulled him into a hug. “I’m glad that you came with Baekhyun.” Luhan heard him mumble, he could feel his face heating up again. He heard Jongdae and Minseok snickering off to the side. s.

Jongin let him go and smiled again, Luhan shyly smiled back, muttering a small ‘good luck’ before finally making his way towards Baekhyun.

“Come on Baek, let’s go.” Luhan insisted, grabbing Baekhyun to pull him away from his boyfriend.

Baekhyun gave Chanyeol one more kiss, murmuring an ‘I love you’ against his lips, finally drawing himself away. Luhan joined their arms together, making sure Baekhyun didn’t try running back to his boyfriend.

Before they could exit the tent, the Headmaster, and the Head of the Houses entered, drawing everyone into a crowd, causing the two to be squished between the Haetae champions and the Headmaster.

“Good morning, champions!” Headmaster Lee greeted warmly. “This is the moment you have all been waiting for, I know you are anxious to get out there!” He clapped happily, not picking up on the tense atmosphere. Headmaster Lee looked around the group, stopping on the two non-champions. “What are you two doing here?”

“Oh…um…sorry.” Luhan stumbled over his apology. “W-we’ll just … um… go.” He smiled apologetically, leading Baekhyun away. The two waved quick goodbyes to their friends, finally exiting the tent.

The Headmaster gave a small shrug, before pulling out a small, purple, silk pouch. Looking over the champions, he offered the bag to the Bulsajo champions. “I’ll let the Bulsajo go first.”

The three stared at the pouch, before looking back up at the Headmaster, he gave them a reassuring smile and shook the bag a little. Minseok looked between Juhyun and Sunyoung, the two gave him quick nods, he put his hand in the bag pulling out a little dragon, the Mizuchi, with a tag on it that read ‘1’.

Headmaster Lee smiled at them, before moving onto the next team.

With a determined look on his face, Kris stepped forward, doing the same as Minseok. He relaxed when he pulled out a tiny Haneul with a number three. Hyoyeon was shoved forward by her teammates, she turned to glare at them as she reached into the pouch. A Chinese Fireball with a 2 on it was pulled out.

The remaining team paled at the sight of the dragon.

Chanyeol heard Jongin curse beside him as he slowly stepped forward and put his hand in the bag, he pulled out the last dragon, the Chilong. The little beast’s bright red eyes glared up at Chanyeol before turning to look at his teammates. The three jumped when it bared its tiny sharp teeth, snapping at them.

“Well then, there you are,” said Headmaster Lee. “You have each pulled out the dragon you will face for this task. The numbers refer to the order in which you are to go out.” He looked to each student, before continuing. “Now, these dragons are protecting a pearl, it will have the hint for the next challenge. It is vital that you get the pearl!” The champions nodded their heads. “Good luck then!” The Headmaster smiled, leaving them.

All of the champions turned their attention to their professors.

“How the hell are we supposed to get a tiny pearl?” Sehun exclaimed.

Professor Taeyeon sighed. “Watch your language Oh, or I will have to take points off.” She warned. “And the pearl is not a regular sized pearl, it is about the same size as a golf ball, maybe bigger.”

Professor Yunho cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Now like Headmaster Lee said, the numbers on the dragons refer to when you will go out into the arena.” He turned to look at Minseok. “So the Bulsajo champions will go first.”

He motioned for them to move to the other side of the tent where the entrance to the arena was. “At the sound of the gong the three of you will enter and begin your challenge, good luck.” After that, the other professors wished their students good luck before exiting the tent, leaving the twelve alone again.

Juhyun turned to her teammates. “Remember the plan.” They nodded their heads.

The students all jumped when the gong rang out loudly above them. The Bulsajo team looked back at the remaining teams before entering the arena.

Chanyeol looked to his teammates then back to the small dragon in his hand. Seulgi let out a shaky breath, and Jongin mumbling beside him.

“We’re ed.” 

Well there's chapter five! I was going to post this earlier in the morning but I was so tired (it was like 5am) and I needed my sister to proofread it and help edit, so that's what I did today. Along with editing, I spent the rest of the day writing chapter six, so expect that coming soon!! Chapter six will be the champions facing the dragons (obviously), will they make it out alive? (Don't worry they do)

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