Puffs of air slipped through his lips as he tried to be mindful of his steps upon the white path, the once healthy green trees were now stripped , bare against the icy wind. As the trail of footsteps behind him began to grow longer he thankfully found the designated place among the snow, there stood a row of stone lanterns guiding towards the large stone torii gate, picking up the pace hyunseung quickly made his way pass the gate onwards to the shrine.

The shrine grew larger with every step making him almost miss something large in front, something that was large and breathing on the ground not affected by the cold at all. He stood still unsure if he should wake it up or not. Right as hyunseung gathered up enough courage to awaken it, the unknown thing that was asleep unravelled itself, wide strong wings stretched out along with a tail curling up to the sky as it stretched its legs out.

Hyunseung could feel his knees begging to give out beneath him, it was a dragon, more specifically a dragon god.

The light reflected upon the dragons scales was almost as white as snow but at certain angles a sheen of blue gave off when moved, the moment the dragons deep eyes made contact with hyunseung he swore his heart gave up.

“are you an offering?” it spoke with a deep rumble.

Hyunseung bowed his head, white fingers digging into his clothes “yes, my lord.”

“return.”

“p-pardon, my lord?” he was startled by the answer

“do not make me repeat myself. You are not a woman, go back.”

“I cannot g-go back, there aren't many women left in the village very few of them aren't well enough or are workers.”

the dragon puffs out white long wisps of smoke through his nose, “then why are you being sacrificed in their place?”

“I'm the one who...accompanies the men in the village.”

silence fell around them, hyunseung could feel cold eyes scanning him up and down. It's true what hyunseung had said, majority of the women in the village were either not well or more occupied as workers, the only reason why hyunseung was chosen in the first place was because of his features that were close enough to resemble a girl.

“I accept.”

his stiff shoulders fell in relief, “does this mean I will be eaten?”

“what?”

“a-aren't you going to eat me, my lord?”

the ends of the dragons lip curled as he boasts out a loud laugh, sharp white teeth gleaming in the light the laughter was loud enough to scare off a few birds fleeing into the sky. He grinned at hyunseung sitting up straight, blocking the sun out of his way for a shadow to cast over the human in front.

“get inside the shrine, you're probably freezing by now in this cold.”

however hyunseung stayed rooted in place, the dragon god wasn't going to eat him and devour his soul? But Isn't that what all gods do and in return the village would be showered in great fortune and health. The dragon huffs when hyunseung refused to move an inch, a long tail whips out to wrap around the human lifting him up only to place him inside the shrine behind them.

Startled by the sudden action hyunseung yelps thinking he was going to be shoved down the dragons throat, the wooden structure was larger than it appeared from the outside either way it was better than standing any longer outside. The dragon settled himself in front of the shrine watching hyunseung squirm slightly under his stare.

“I won't eat you, don't worry. I'd rather you just keep me company instead, now tell me, how long has it been snowing?”


                                                                                                                     ----


The dragon god stayed true to his word he didn't lay a hand (more like claw) on him at all. Hyunseung lived at the dragon gods shrine until the snow melted and flowers bloomed up on every surface. The duo quickly fell into a normal everyday routine, hyunseung would wake up early in the morning to catch fish by the lake and gather berries he'd find to eat for the day. The dragon god would occasionally assist on helping him with the daily chores like keeping the shrine tidy, and for a dragon god hyunseung thought that he was surprisingly very keen on things being neat and in order a lot.

Most of the times they would just sit around the makeshift burning fire at the peak of night talking to each other about all sorts of things that come across their minds, personally those kind of nights are what hyunseung looked forward to everyday. At some point the dragon god insisted him on being called junhyung instead, so hyunseung didn't have to refer to him as 'my lord' all the time, he'd overheard the name from the south-west village during his travelling and came to like it a lot.

It was the start of summer that junhyung decided to show hyunseung a secret spot located just behind the hill of where they lived, the secret spot was revealed to be a waterfall. The place looked exactly like those landscapes in pretty paintings that he'd adored from afar except this time he was lucky enough to see it up close, the sun rays filtered through the trees fresh green leaves letting the clear water shimmer with every splash and ripple. Hyunseung felt a slight nudge from his side breaking him out of his daze, junhyung motioned him to take a dip into the untainted water and when he did sink his legs in hyunseung was in pure bliss.

“this is one of the very few places that haven't been known to anyone yet except from you and me.”

junhyung settled himself down curling around hyunseungs back, his long white tail sinking into the water swaying every once in a while at the bottom. “this place is truly a hidden gem, it's almost too good be true.” he leaned back on his arms taking in as much of he suns warmth as he can, the dragon god laid its head next to hyunseungs thigh gradually letting his heavy eyes flutter close.

Hyunseung laughed at how the fearful almighty dragon seemed more like a domestic house cat sleeping under the sun, without hesitation he let his hands smooth over the shiny scales they were surprisingly softer than he'd expected. And when his hand accidentally scratched a spot behind the ear he heard junhyung purr in content, shocked by the reaction hyunseung couldn't help but burst into laughter the dragon god immediately realised what he'd done and withdraw his head away.

“n-no wait, junhyung! Don't go it wasn't /that/ bad really...it's actually cute that you purred.”

junhyung looked away huffing in embarrassment trying to look cool but the pink blush had given it away, hyunseung didn't know that even wandering gods could feel embarrassed “I didn't /purr/, that was just my stomach. I didn't eat much for lunch.”

“okay it was your stomach then, please come back your head was keeping my legs warm.” he returned to his original position though his face was still tinted pink, with his eyes closed once again he took in the gentle caressing from hyunseung as he mindlessly stared across him.

Junhyung opened up one of his eyes seeing the human briefly watching. Hyunseung looked almost ethereal to junhyung, bright doe eyes that could rival the waters shimmer, soft plush lips that were naturally tinted pink, short black hair that stunningly contrasted from the milky white skin. If junhyung hadn't known any better he would've thought that hyunseung was actually a girl, no wonder he was chosen as sacrifice in their place.

Apart from his appearance junhyung had grown to like him a lot, from the way he would babble on about whatever sparked his curiosity ('junhyung do you think that there's a universe exactly like this except the sky is where the sea is and the sea is where the sky is?') and the way he would always make sure that junhyung finished all of his food (he didn't necessarily had to eat to survive like hyunseung but he couldn't turn down hyunseungs handwork to waste) those were only a few things on the ever growing list on why he liked him.


And it was starting to scare him, that a wandering god like himself was becoming attached to a human, a human called hyunseung.


“I've been really enjoying myself lately, I hope everyone else is just as happy as I am.”

his tail playfully came up the water splashing a bit onto hyunseung who squealed right before swatting junhyung, he didn't even feel the slap at all but he grinned showing off his sharp teeth nosing the humans elbow slightly wanting to be caressed again. Junhyung ignored hyunseung complaints he knew well that he wasn't that mad anyway with the soft smile returning to his face, “back in your village didn't you have any relatives or friends?”

“I've never met my parents at all, I grew up in an orphanage. And as for friends...I did have a couple of them but they all soon moved out of the village and I've never seen or heard from them again.”

“and now you have me.”

hyunseung smiled “yeah, I have you.”
 

there are many advantages of being a wandering god, one of the many was having an exceedingly good eyesight compared to a humans or even owls. Hyunseung left the shrine earlier to gather up more wood to burn in the fire, junhyung wanted to assist but denied help claiming that it wouldn't take that long. Accepting hyunseungs decision he stayed put yet watched hyunseung from his spot, there was no harm on being safe than sorry, while gathering firewood junhyung spotted two villagers approaching him.

He'd thought nothing of it when he watched the three talk for a while (he purposely didn't eavesdrop) however it wasn't until when one of the villagers began getting desperate clinging onto hyunseung the other mimicking too.

And it definitely wasn't okay when they manhandled his hyunseung to the ground, as hyunseung tried to free himself from their hold.

His blood boiled as the villager had the audacity to strip hyunseung, a switch went off in his head then junhyung appeared in front of them in a snap, the ground and trees shook upon the sudden weight from his appearance. His heart running a mile an hour as his chest puffed intimidating the villagers beneath with the way the grey smoke steamed down from his flared nostrils.

The two villagers shell shocked by junhyungs presence scrambled back as he approached with heavy steps stopping right in front of hyunseung.

“your actions will not be forgiven”

the ends of his lips slipped into a curl revealing the sharp white teeth again “how dare you touch hyunseung, you despicable humans I will-”

“m-my lord, please. I beg you, do not harm t-them.”

junhyung's shoulders hunched up as threw his head up to the sky ripping out a ferocious roar that shook their surroundings. “do make me laugh hyunseung. You wish these - humans to be forgiven, the people who were from your village. Who almost  you?!”

hyunseung trembled beneath kneeling on the ground, his clothes still disarranged white fingers clawing into the grass. “y-yes. please forgive them.”

he took another step forward a vicious snarl escaping his mouth, puffs of smoke seeping in the air, Hyunseung nervously looked up from the ground tiny hands clutching onto his large claws.

And hyunseung. Cute, precious, hyunseung was flushed pink eyes blurred with tears ready to spill over.

'my sweet hyunseung, what am I going to do with you.'

the dragon inhaled deeply struggling to bring back his calm demeanour, his tail protectively whipped forward tugging his robe over his exposed shoulder before acting as a wall between hyunseung and the villagers.

“explain yourselves or I'll devour you.”

“u-up in the north, the large hill b-between the two tall mountains lies a lord within a castle.”

the second villager spoke up “he is the reason why there aren't many women left in the village, he takes them away to their castle only sending back women's bodies – who aren't well enough any more.”

junhyung scoffed, “I see...however if I see you near hyunseung again, our meeting will not end well. Now leave.”

gently lifting hyunseung up on his back, he felt small arms clutch the back of his neck it didn't take long before he heard small sniffles pouring out. The dragon god walked back to their shrine with a heavy heart wanting nothing more than to just keep the weeping human safe in his arms



“so that lord is the reason for the current state of your village?”

“yes, many of the village men have tried to retrieved the but they only returned empty handed with their right eyes burned as a warning to all.”

'no wander they both had eye patches'

“you humans are really tiring sometimes.” hyunseung laughed at the statement before flopping himself next to the lying dragon.

“you shouldn't fall asleep outside, go back inside the den its much warmer there.”

he turned over to his side facing away “too late, I'm much more comfortable out here now.”

“hyunseung.”

receiving no reply, he took a deep breathe letting a small smile settle on his lips. Hyunseung was tired and the grass beneath him seemed really comfortable right now especially the way he could feel soft fingers comb through his hair it–

soft fingers?

Hyunseung's eyes snapped open, leaving him breathless.

Instead of meeting a big white dragon god, he was face to face with another person. /Another human being/, another human just like him after months of being isolated with a dragon god.

His eyes widened in disbelief it took him a few seconds to realise that it wasn't actually just another human. It was junhyung, not in his dragon form as he usual but human form his guess fell in place when he saw the exact copy and paste smirk that junhyung always did to mock him.

“j-junhyung?”

he said nothing as he continued combing hyunseungs hair, “hyunseung?” junhyung mimicked.

“y-you're – how are you even? But-” stumbling over his own words in shock, junhyung looked captivating. And being up close had his face flushed pink his hair was almost as silvery white, dark slanted eyes that completely drew him in and not to forget his heart shaped lips. The dragon god was dressed in a blue robe that had silver out-linings with gold detailed koi fishes that were decorated from the bottom of the robe to the top.

“oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I also have a human form. I just rarely ever change into this form.”

“you could change into a human, all this time? How come you didn't tell me?!”

junhyung shrugged “well you never asked.”

hyunseung scoffed getting ready to move his head off of the dragon gods lap, “I'm gonna go get some-”

“wait there's something on your face.”

he turned around to face junhyung, “huh? What is it?” scooting over junhyung cupped his face, inching even closer until their noses barely brushed against each other his thumb smoothing over the high cheekbones, he held hyunseung until the human jerked away swatting him at his chest.

“you're really annoying you know that.”

junhyung laughed watching hyunseung storm away, nonetheless he got up following him closely behind. How could he deny a flustered hyunseung.


                                                                                                                   ----


late at night when hyunseung had fallen asleep finally junhyung carefully got up tugging the blanket up to hyunseungs chin. He watched how hyunseung snored softly while the moonlight danced off his raven hair highlighting his pale skin, he left their den stepping out into the open cold air.

He faced towards the north where a large hill could barely be seen between two tall mountains, spreading out his wings he stretched them wide before flapping them creating a whirlwind behind tearing off some of the leaves as they flew away and just like the leaves he set himself off flying north.


hyunseung dragged his heavy feet up the hill while carrying a bucket of fresh water, it was almost noon and for once he didn't wake up early as he usually did. While he was thinking of what he should do for today he overhead loud chattering which was really unusual, curious about the loud commotion he headed up the hill quicker.

Reaching the top of the hill he overlooked past the trees to find the village of where he used to live. And what he saw almost sent him tumbling down the hill, the women were back. Many of the villagers were overjoyed with reuniting with their mothers, sister, daughters and friends. He walked around the hill trying to get closer to his village just to make sure that he's eyes weren't deceiving him overhearing the loud laughter and happy chatter.

Gripping the bucket against his chest hyunseung made his way back to the shrine with a wide grin plastered on his face, his village was back to normal.

“junhyung!”

alerted by the cry the dragon god sat up straight amused by the sight of hyunseung doing his best to not trip over his own feet with the bucket of water clutched in his arms. “m-my village, the women are back! Isn't that great news?!”

junhyung smiled generously “that is fantastic new indeed.”

he set the bucket to the side wiping his hands on his clothes “I overhead from one of the villagers, that the lord of the castle from the north died overnight.”

“well...what comes around goes around I see.”

hyunseung smiled until something hit him, with the women back in the village he wouldn't be needed any more. As stated by tradition the wandering god should be offered a woman not man, meaning that hyunseung should return back to his village. Junhyung noticed hyunseungs smile fade into a frown, “is there something wrong hyunseung?.”

“I'm no longer needed here.”

his brows furrowed at the statement, “what do you mean by that.”

“I should return back to my village, since the women are back. And by tradition you should be offered a woman not a man.”

“hyunseung– ”

“t-thank you for letting me stay with you for the mean time, hopefully we'll cross paths again.” long black bangs overshadowed his wet eyes. Hyunseung sincerely did enjoy staying with the dragon god, the past months were positively the best times of his life and he would never forget that, bowing at a ninety degree angle he stood up straight ready to return back to his village. Junhyung was left feeling scandalised, hyunseung couldn't just leave just like that how could he shamelessly just cut him off as if everything that happened together was nothing, meaningless.

He was drowning in his own sorrows, he needed to face reality and head back to his real home in the village. Hyunseung kept walking on trying his best to not look behind him he was completely occupied in his own world until he collided face first into something firm. Then there were arms enveloping his waist drawing him into the scent of lavender and the smell of the sea.

“I won't let you return to the village.”

hyunseung broke off from his daze trying to push the dragon god away only for him to be locked in place, “b-but I'm not supposed to–”

“I don't care. I don't care that you're not a woman, I'm not letting you return back to the village.” he moved away as he brought his hand up to to cradle hyunseungs face his thumb brushing away a tear that fell from his wide doe eyes “stay here with me, in fact, come with me we'll travel away together anywhere and everywhere.” hyunseung looked away not being able to take in all of the sincerity of wishes and dreams being offered his head fell against the shoulder in front of him.

“didn't I say you that you have me.”

junhyung hugged him again before kissing the dip of hyunseungs neck as he felt the human return his hug hands grasping onto his robe feeling the silk under his fingertips, “w-will we really travel together?”

“we'll travel far and wide together, that's if you want to stay with me.”

hyunseung pulled back rubbing away his tears, “I'll – I don't care where we are. Just as long you're with me.” ecstatic with the answer junhyung leaned forward pressing a kiss against hyunseungs soft lips.

“it's a promise.”


 

look @ this overdue fic asdfgvcdfgse I'm late as always anyway I hope everyone had a good valentines and/or week so far! ( ◜◒◝ )♡