Protea – courage

                A modern pop song, generated by the grand piano in the parlor, filled the quiet air in the mansion. Daehyun would always go there when he got nothing else to do while waiting for his lover to come home. He just played any song that crossed his mind and pressed the keys according to his memory. The sound of music never stopped until he got a whiff of a familiar scent.

                “Yongguk hyung?” Daehyun wondered out loud right before a pair of sturdy arms went around his neck from behind, engulfing him in a tight hug.

                “That ability of yours never ceases to amaze me,” Yongguk chuckled, bestowing a kiss on Daehyun’s temple.

                Daehyun looked up to the side and smiled. “You know me,” he said and got another kiss on the lips.

                “Where’s Junhong and the kids?” Yongguk asked as he stepped over the bench and sat down beside his mate.

                “Junhong has cram school today. The kids are having a bath,” Daehyun answered. “How’s your day at the company?”

                “Urgh,” Yongguk simply replied, but it was enough to make Daehyun laugh at him. He had started to mindlessly pressing the piano keys, just making a tune without any particular song in mind.

                On the other hand, Daehyun was pondering over something. He had been ever since a few days ago and finally made up his mind at the moment. “Hyung…?” he began and Yongguk hummed in acknowledgement. “I’ve been thinking that… I should probably go to work again.”

                The piano tune ended abruptly. Yongguk turned to look at his mate, finding the man biting his lower lip in anticipation. Heaving a deep breath, he folded his arms. “I don’t know, Daehyun.”

                “But why?” Daehyun whined. “The Massifs haven’t been around for a while now. Don’t you think they might have left already?”

                “We’re still not sure about that. That’s why we’re still staying on the lookout at night. We’re not going to stop until we’re sure that they’re gone,” Yongguk explained.

                “It’ll be okay, hyung. You can give their pictures to the studio and they’ll be banned from entering that place,” Daehyun tried to reason with the latter.

                “And what makes you think the Massifs will follow the rules?”

                Daehyun sighed before trying again. “I’ll lock the door to my class from now on.”

                “They can easily break it,” Yongguk argued.

                “But hyung,” Daehyun was back to whining, this time holding onto Yongguk’s arm. “I miss going to the studio, I miss my students and I miss teaching them.”

                Yongguk got nothing to say for a moment. He was caught up in staring at Daehyun’s pouty lips. Wouldn’t it be funny if his stance could change just because of that? Nonetheless, it was actually happening right now.

                 “Please… let me go to work again. I’ll ask my boss to tighten the security,” Daehyun begged again when the older man only kept quiet.

                Yongguk sighed heavily. He might have thought that he was weak to Daehyun’s cute pout, but no. He was in fact weak to Daehyun entirely. “Alright. I can do that,” he gave in, but before Daehyun could squeal in joy, he added. “But only if you do what I say.”

                “What is it?” Daehyun asked dubiously.

                Yongguk just took Daehyun’s hand and stood up. “Come with me.”

                They were going to a part of the mansion where Daehyun had never set his foot on, so he instinctively tried to memorize the path. When their steps finally halted, he realized that they were standing in front of a locked room as Yongguk had to press a passcode to open the door.

                “What’s with the passcode?” Daehyun asked, following Yongguk into the room.

                “Because we can’t allow everybody to come in here.”

                “Why not?”

                “This is where we keep all kinds of guns and weapons,” Yongguk answered nonchalantly while looking around the small four walled room.

                “What? You even have a room for those?” Daehyun uttered his amazement.

                Yongguk didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he brought his mate to a certain spot before taking something from the wall and put it in Daehyun’s palm.

                “You have to bring this with you if you’re going to work again,” he said.

                “Is this a gun?” Daehyun made a guess from its basic shape. He was familiar with it since he had been playing with Jongup using toy guns when they were still kids. The only difference was that the one currently in his hand was much bigger and heavier.

                “It’s a pistol to be exact,” Yongguk casually specified it.

                “No way!”  Daehyun shoved it back to Yongguk’s chest and the older man was glad that the gun wasn’t loaded with bullets. “I don’t want to bring a gun with me!”

                Yongguk grasped Daehyun’s wrist to push the gun towards the said man again. “But it’s for your own safety. You can just shoot them if they attack you.”

                “How can I shoot when I can’t even see?” Daehyun opposed with logic.

                “Just shoot when they grab you.”

                “No, I don’t even know how to use it.”

                “I can teach you,” Yongguk insisted.

                “No, no. Don’t we need a license to have a gun? What if I got caught? What if I shoot the wrong person? What if I kill that person??”

                Yongguk stared at the horror etched on his mate’s face. “So you don’t want to bring a gun with you?”

                Daehyun sighed in irritation. “Why do you still have to ask?”

                “Okay.” Yongguk shrugged, taking the gun before putting it back to its original place. “Then… how about a knife?”

                Daehyun’s face contorted in dismay. “I might kill a person with that too,” he said. “Don’t you have something non-lethal? That doesn’t involve blood and life?”

                “Hmm…” Yongguk gave it a thought while looking around the room again. “I think we do.”

                Daehyun heard the sound of Yongguk’s feet moving to somewhere else, so he turned his body towards it. Then, another thing was placed in his hand. It was something he was unfamiliar of and when he felt around it, he noted that it had a bar shape.

                “How about a stun gun?” Yongguk asked.

                “What’s that?” Daehyun honestly had no idea of what it is.

                “It’s something that sends electric shock to your attacker. All you have to do is to touch that guy with the contacts at its end and fire the gun,” Yongguk explained before guiding Daehyun’s finger to touch the top button on the side of the weapon. “This is the on-off switch. The button below is the trigger,” he told his mate. “Do you want to try it?”

                “Is it safe to do that here?” Daehyun asked warily.

                “Of course. As long as you don’t touch me or yourself with it.

                “Alright.” Daehyun took a deep breath as he the device and straightaway pressed the trigger after that. It produced a loud crackling sound which startled himself. So, he stopped firing at once. “That surprised me!”

                “It will surprise your attacker even more,” Yongguk replied. “So, are you taking it with you or not?”

                Daehyun was quiet for a moment as he pondered over it. “It won’t kill the guy, right?”

                “It will only immobilize that guy for at least five seconds. The effect will be greater the longer you stun that guy,” Yongguk affirmed.

                “I think this is perfect for me,” Daehyun finally made his choice.

                “Good.” Yongguk stepped closer to his mate, slipping his arm around the younger man’s waist. “We can go keep it in your room and then go out for a walk in the woods,” he said before capturing Daehyun’s lips in a kiss.

                “Okay.” Daehyun smiled after Yongguk’s mouth parted with his. “Thank you, hyung.” He brought up his free hand to the nape of Yongguk’s neck and pulled him for another kiss, not realizing that the stun gun was in contact with Yongguk’s stomach until he accidently fired it.

                “Arghhh!!!” Yongguk jolted away only after a second of being stunned.

                Daehyun gasped loudly. “Oh my god! I’m sorry I forgot to turn if off! Are you okay?!” He reached out for the latter, but found nothing.

                “You’re lucky I love you.” Yongguk panted while side eyeing his mate. He was rubbing the sore spot on his belly with a hand pressed against the wall.

                Daehyun was relieved to know that nothing serious happened to the older man. “I love you too, hyung,” he started playing around. “And thanks to you I got to know how effective this thing is.” He wiggled the stun gun with a broad grin on his face. Yongguk could only groan in defeat.

                A walk in the woods, as in going to Yongguk’s favourite spot; the cliff. They would go there every time Yongguk got home before the sun set and whenever they had the chance to do so, Daehyun would ask the older man to shift into his dragon form.

                He winced the sound of bones cracking, even though he had went through Yongguk’s shifting process for a few times before. But compared to the first time, he was less nervous now. Maybe because since then, he had eventually set his mind that dragon is just another form of the person he loves and it is not that scary or bizarre the more he got to touch that form.

                Yongguk lowered his dragon body to the ground, tucking his forelegs under his chest before leaning his head towards his mate’s outstretched hands. Sitting with his legs folded on the ground, Daehyun began feeling around as soon his hands landed on Yongguk’s snout. He moved upwards first, to the top of Yongguk’s head where there were small spikes that lined up in the middle of it.

                Daehyun felt Yongguk’s smooth curved horns, pointy ears and the little spikes below. He always thought those spikes were similar to a human’s sideburns. He then moved his fingers inwards, running them over Yongguk’s closed eyelids which were definitely bigger than his human form’s. It put a smile on his face with how at ease Yongguk was being from his touch.

                His fingers moved downwards to the mouth. Yongguk’s fangs were long and sharp. After that, he caressed both sides of Yongguk’s face, the scales were dry and rough underneath his fingertips.

                The picture of Yongguk’s dragon form would become clearer in his mind each time he got to feel it. It was always as flawless as Yongguk’s human form. And so, he finished it with a kiss in between Yongguk’s eyes.

                Yongguk purred in content before Daehyun’s cheek in return, making the man giggled and jerked away at the tickling touch of his tongue. He got up after that to change back into his human form.

                “Hyung,” Daehyun spoke up while waiting for Yongguk to put on his clothes. “Could I fly with you?”

                Yongguk was frozen for a second. His heart started thumping with anxiousness. “You’re suggesting that I should carry you while I’m flying? That’s dangerous,” he tried to sound like his usual self while talking back to his mate.

                “Because I’m blind?” Daehyun retorted. “It doesn’t have anything to do with flying.”

                “It doesn’t.” Yongguk sighed, placing his hands on his hips after he was fully clothed again. “It’s dangerous even if you’re not blind.”

                Daehyun pouted. “Come on, hyung. You know it’s my dream to have wings like you and fly in the sky.”

                Yongguk’s heart squeezed at Daehyun’s words. How he wished he could fulfill that dream of his one and only mate. “I’d give you my wings if I could,” he muttered, full of disappointment in himself.

                “But you can’t,” Daehyun stated the obvious. “Please, let me have one flight, hyung,” he begged desperately.

                “I’ll ask someone else from the clan to do it,” Yongguk suggested.

                “Why not you?” Daehyun asked with a frown etched on his face. He thought that it was weird for Yongguk to entrust his own mate to someone else.

                Yongguk lowered his gaze to the ground. “I can’t.”

                “What are you talking about? How can you let someone else take me on a flight? It should be you. You’re my mate. We can fly-”

                “I can’t fly,” Yongguk uttered, cutting off Daehyun’s words.

                Daehyun thought he had heard it wrong. “…What?”

                “I’m not as perfect as you think. I’m a sky dragon but I can’t even fly.” Yongguk pressed his lips into a thin smile. Maybe it was the right time to tell Daehyun about it. Daehyun had the right to know as his mate.

                “But…why?” Daehyun asked hesitantly, afraid if it was something Yongguk didn’t want to talk about.

                Letting out a heavy sigh, Yongguk went to sit before his mate. While Daehyun was facing him, he was facing the beautiful view beyond the cliff. The day started to dim as the sun got lower and lower towards the horizon. The sky was a hue of rosy pinks and sandy yellows, just like that time he regrets the most. “Because the last day I flew, was the last day of my brother’s life.”

                “Your brother?” Daehyun asked in surprise.

                Yongguk nodded. “Yeah, I once had a twin brother.”

                “What happened?”

                Everything began flashing back in Yongguk’s mind. He just needed to decide where to start and took a deep breath before telling them all to his mate. “That time, the Massifs came to the town, looking for their next victims as always. But my clan managed to fail most of their plans. So they despised us,” he began and Daehyun listened closely to him.

                “Then, that one day, I asked my brother to go for a flight. We had been doing that all the time. Both of us love flying. We would always find some time to fly every day.”

                “We flew and flew, without stopping. Going around the mountain, from an end to another, from one side to another.”

                “I was the one who got tired first. You know, like how our feet feel like they are on fire when we run for a long time. That was how my wings felt like after hours of flying. We were at the other side of the mountain when I asked my brother to take a rest… It became the biggest regret in my life.”

                “Hyung, can we take a rest for a while?” Yongguk asked through the link. It sounded calm when he was actually out of breath.

                Yongnam turned to look at his brother as they were flying side to side in the sky. He was amused to see the younger man so tired while he was still in a decent condition. “Sure, let’s find a spot for landing,” he agreed.

                They began to fly down to find an opening to land. The trees below them were close-packed and tall. They flew lower and lower until their feet were brushing the top of the trees. A clear space was nowhere to be seen, but they suddenly smelled a clan of weredragons nearby.

                “I think it’s the Massifs,” Yongnam said.

                They tried looking for them around the woods below, but they couldn’t really see them among the trees. They thought there was nothing to be worried about, so they kept flying. However, the other weredragons’ scent was still there. That was when they realized that they might be in danger.

                “Are they following us?” Yongguk voiced his doubt.

                “I think so,” Yongnam admitted. “They might think they’re at an advantage because they outnumber us.”

                “What should we do?” Yongguk asked.

                “Let’s fly higher and head to our clan’s house.”

                “Alright…” Yongguk said, but if truth be told, he didn’t think he would be able to stay in the air throughout the distance, which was quite far from there. His speed was dropping rapidly and his wings literally felt like they were going to be ripped off if he kept flying.

                However, just when they were about to fly upwards, the Massifs started firing at them from the gaps among the trees.

                Both of them swerved away to dodge the attack. Yongnam was fast to regain his composure and flew higher to avoid getting fired again. He looked down in search for his brother. Yongguk was struggling to keep his balance, moreover when the gravity was pulling him downwards. He flapped his wings as quickly as he could, but it couldn’t bring himself to elevate. He ended up getting fired again and this time, he failed to evade it. It caused him to lose control of his flight.

                “Yongguk!” Yongnam shouted when his brother crashed into a huge tall tree before falling into the woods.

                Yongguk groaned loudly after his body slammed into the ground. A sharp pain shot up through his right wing, giving him a thought that it might be broken. Everything around him was quiet at first, until there were suddenly racing footsteps approaching him. He looked up to where the sound was coming from and saw a clan of weredragons charging at him.

                Gathering all the strength left, he forced himself to stand up on his feet. It was impossible for him to fly with a broken wing, as well as to fight the whole clan on his own. Maybe that might be the end for him. Still, he sent a telepathy to his clan, asking for their help because an alpha shouldn’t give up so easily.

                Yongguk tilted his head towards the sky to observe the direction of the sun. From there, he knew which way his clan’s house is. Even if the Massifs would definitely catch him because of their bigger size and faster speed on the ground, it was worth trying to make a run for it. But he had to hold that plan when his brother landed out of nowhere in front of him.

                “Hyung! What are you doing here?! You should’ve stayed up there!”

                “Are you hurt anywhere?” Yongnam ignored his brother’s dismay. Before anything could be said in return, he noticed that Yongguk’s wing was bleeding.

                “Quick! Shift into your human form! I’ll carry you out-”

                Yongnam couldn’t finish his sentence when both of them were tackled to the ground by the Massifs. He resisted before pushing the rogue weredragon off of him. Yongguk was still fighting with the other one who kept trying to bite his neck. Yongnam quickly lunged at the rogue, breaking off their brawl.

                It only lasted for a second though, because then, all of the Massifs launched at them. They began sinking their fangs into each other, they breathed fire as much air as their lungs could keep. Both Yongnam and Yongguk were on their own as each of them battled with at least five of the Massifs.

                Even though they were alphas, they would still tire out eventually, unlike the rogues who would get even more thrilled the more they hurt their enemies. The twins attacked less as the fight dragged on and protected themselves more.

                At some point, Yongguk couldn’t feel anything anymore. Everything sounded so distant and black spots were growing in his vision. Just when he was about to give up and close his eyes, the attack suddenly stopped.

                He saw his clan members. He saw his dad beating up the Massifs with utmost rage. But that was not the only thing. He also saw his brother, lying on the ground just like him. But Yongnam had blood pooling under him as his neck was clenched in Jiho’s jaw.

                Jiho ran away before any of the Empyreans could corner him. The remaining of the Massifs who was not killed by the Empyreans followed him right after he left.

                Yongguk saw how Yongnam slowly turned into his human form, limp and unmoving. It was like a dream. They were just having fun before. Talking, joking and laughing. They could still do that if only they chose to stay home, if only he wasn’t so tired to fly, if only his wing wasn’t broken.

                Yongguk wanted to apologize to his brother for being so weak. Yongguk wanted to thank him for coming down to help him. Yongguk wanted to say how much he respects him, adores him and loves him. Yongguk closed his eyes, wishing that he could say everything he wanted when he woke up later, but unfortunately, his brother didn’t.

                “I’m so sorry to hear that,” Daehyun said.

                “I can’t fly after that, even though my wing was totally healed.” Yongguk exhaled a bitter sigh. “I did have a few attempts to fly again, but my head would be spinning, my heart would feel like it was going to burst, I couldn’t breathe and I’d forgot how to flap my wings. I’m too traumatized by that incident till today.”

                Daehyun reached out to find Yongguk’s back to give it a comforting rub. “How long has it been?”

                Yongguk was quiet for a moment as he thought about it. “Three years?”

                Daehyun’s free hand searched for Yongguk’s and held it tight. “It’s okay even if you can’t fly right now. You can take as much time as you need to fly again. I believe you’ll still do a great job in leading your clan.”

                Yongguk nodded his head. “I’m trying my best.” He turned and smiled at his mate even if the man couldn’t see it, just because he was feeling thankful at the consoling gesture. “So you know, I’m not as perfect as you think.”

                Daehyun chuckled, as if Yongguk just said something ridiculous. He brought up Yongguk’s hand to his face, leaning his cheek against the back of it. “You’re already perfect just the way you are.”

                Yongguk snorted, shaking his head. “I’m not, Daehyun. You know it too. I have wings but I can’t fly.”

                “I told you that’s okay with me because I’m not perfect either,” Daehyun conceded. “I have eyes but I can’t see.”

                Yongguk’s smile was fading for a moment, but it quickly grew brighter and wider again. “Guess we have that in common.” He brought down their clasped hand from Daehyun’s cheek, replacing them with his free hand. “But for me, you’re as perfect as you can be,” he said, caressing that soft skin with his thumb while gazing into his mate’s beautiful eyes.

                “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Daehyun insisted with pouty lips.

                It succeeded in making Yongguk laugh at last. He inched closer to his mate before pressing their lips together in a sweet kiss.