Camellia – destiny

                A smile tugged on Yongguk’s lips as he watched Daehyun from behind. The young man was talking to Heeyeon, probably about the flowers around them. Daehyun could never hide his excitement towards flowers, and Yongguk loves that about him.

                “Can’t stop looking at Heeyeon?”

                Yongguk turned to the man who had come to stand beside him. Their figures mirrored each other. “Why would I be looking at your mate, hyung?”

                “What are you talking about? Heeyeon is your mate. Mine is Daehyun.”

                Yongguk frowned. “What?”

                Yongnam snorted a laugh while shaking his head. He began stepping forward, making his way towards Daehyun.

                Yongguk saw how Daehyun turned to look at Yongnam, how beautiful Daehyun’s smile when their eyes met each other, how Daehyun’s eyes were full of love when he gazed at Yongnam. Oh, how Yongguk wished it was him instead of his brother.

                Yongnam held out his hand and Daehyun gladly took it. When both of them started to walk away, Yongguk found his voice again and shouted, “Wait!”

                They stopped walking, but only Yongnam looked behind.

                “Hyung, this is not right. Daehyun is my mate,” Yongguk told him.

                “Really? I don’t see any mark on him.”

                Yongguk nodded his head vigorously. “Yes, really. He’s mine.”

                “Then you have to bond with him.”

                Again, Yongguk nodded like he was trying to get his head off his body. “I will. I will, hyung. Just don’t take him from me. I love him,” he pleaded desperately.

                “You already know what your heart wants.” Yongnam smiled. “Just remember that you’re not only making a decision for our clan, but also for yourself. A decision for the person who would be with you for the rest of your life.”

                Yongguk jolted awake with his eyes wide open. There was a knock on his door and the scent told him that it was his father. But before anything else, he turned to look at the side, only to find the spot empty. He didn’t need to worry though, since Daehyun’s scent promised him that he was around in the house.

                Daehyun had probably let him sleep in since it was weekend. It didn’t make him feel any better though, because he wanted to have Daehyun in his arms and shower him with kisses more than anything right now after having the strange dream.

                When the knocks dragged out, Yongguk was finally getting off the bed. His father was straight-faced after he opened the door.

                “I need to talk to you,” Dongwan said.

                Eunbyul was on her way to the backyard when she ran into Youngjae in the hallway. The young man was standing still while facing the wall. The wall where they hang some of their clan members’ pictures. She knew exactly what Youngjae was staring at, and she was right when she went to stand beside him.

                It was a picture of him and Dabin. Just the two of them smiling broadly while looking at the camera with their arms around each other.

                “How do you move on, mom?” Youngjae asked without tearing his eyes off the picture.

                Eunbyul shrugged her shoulders, also having her eyes fixed on her late son. “I just keep on living.” She sighed. “Sometimes I thought about him the whole day, sometimes I don’t. But that doesn’t mean that I’m forgetting him. He’ll always be in my heart,” she finished with a smile.

                Youngjae shook his head. “The more I tried to move on, the more I wish he’s here with me.”

                Eunbyul turned to look at Youngjae. “Maybe you tried to move on, but have you ever tried to let him go?”

                Youngjae casted his gaze down, but never saying anything in return.

                Eunbyul sighed, reaching out to Youngjae’s shoulder. “You have to stop blaming yourself over his death.”

                Again, Youngjae shook his head. “But it is my fault that he died,” he muttered.

                “It isn’t,” Eunbyul argued. “It was your clan who killed him.”

                “Yeah, they beat him up just because he’s a guy.” Youngjae turned his head, finally looking at the woman who he had been treating like his own mother.

                “They beat up both of you,” Eunbyul asserted.

                “He was protecting me!” Youngaje blurted out with tears welling up in his eyes. “That was why he couldn’t make it!”

                “Youngjae.” Eunbyul held onto the man’s arms, making them face each other. “He protected you because you’re his mate. You didn’t ask him to do so, but he did it because he loves you. He didn’t want you to get hurt. He wanted you to live.”

                Youngjae stared at the woman as the tears dropped lightly onto his face. “How can I live without him?”

                “Of course you can,” Eunbyul assured him. “There’s a reason you’re still living right now. You can live your life. You can be happy again.”

                Youngaje’s eyebrows furrowed together. “A reason?"

                Eunbyul nodded, slowly carving a smile on her face. “I think you’ve found the reason.”

                It took Youngjae a moment as he gazed at the woman’s expression until he could finally catch the point behind her meaningful look. “No…” he shook his head while wiping the tears off. “I can’t choose him over Dabin hyung.”

                “You don’t have to choose.” Eunbyul slid her hands down to hold onto Youngjae’s. “You can have both of them, but you can only be with one of them.”

                Youngjae breathed out, feeling confused. “I don’t understand… How could you, of all people, tell me to be with someone else when I was supposed to be with your son instead?”

                “You had been together with my son, but now, he’s gone,” Eunbyul said. “And I didn’t say this on a whim. It’s because you seemed happier lately. That is all I wanted for you. To be happy. And I’m sure Dabin would want the same.”

                Youngjae was at loss for words. He had not realized the change in himself, not until Eunbyul pointed it out. He had not realized it because he didn’t think he would ever get to be happy again.

                Eunbyul pulled a thin smile when he saw the tears started forming in Youngjae’s eyes again. So she took the man into her arms. “Jongup is a great boy. Give him a chance,” she said before pulling herself apart and cupping Youngjae’s cheeks. “Give yourself a chance.”

                “So, I’ve found some information from an ancient book,” Dongwan said when he was alone with his son in the library. He finally succeeded after days of digging through the huge hall.

                Yongguk was sitting down across the table as his father opened the old, large, thick book. “Info about what?”

                “Well, you and your mates, of course.” Dongwan fixed his reading glasses when Yongguk’s eyes slightly widened, showing some interest after all.

                “Your situation is very common amongst twins,” Dongwan began, skimming through the words just to take out the important points he had read before. “They often get confused about their mates. Their mates will have almost the same scent. Their mates too, would get confused on who is their true mates between the twins since their scents are also almost similar to each other. But once one of the twins bonded with their mate, the attraction to and from the others who are not their mate will be gone.”

                Yongguk’s brows knitted together and lips pressed into a thin line by the time his father finished explaining. He leaned forward, placing his arms on the table with finger laced together. “So, how should the twins know who is their true mate?”

                “It’s the same as any other weredragons, I guess.” Dongwan took off his glasses before closing the book. “You’ll know it when you found them.”

                Yongguk shrugged his shoulders. “Then, it’s Daehyun for me.”

                Dongwan nodded. “Only you would know.” He leaned back against the chair, rubbing his chin. “Because is it applicable when the one you found is not a weredragon? That’s the question here.”

                Yongguk shut his eyes hearing that, flopping back into the chair with a sigh.

                “Listen,” Dongwan spoke up and Yongguk opened his eyes to stare at him. “I’m not siding with anyone, nor do I want to argue with you. I just wanted to discuss about this matter and look for the answers as much as you do,” he insisted, causing Yongguk to soften his gaze. “You were the one who found Daehyun. You can’t say the same when it’s the other way around. And for Heeyeon, didn’t both of you found each other at the same time like any other weredragon mates?”

                Yongguk shook his head. He got up and started to pace around with arms crossed against his chest. “She must be Yongnam hyung’s mate. She’s an alpha herself, her dragon form must be powerful. They’re destined to be with each other.”

                “Are you saying that she suits to be the alpha leader’s mate?” Dongwan asked.

                Yongguk halted his steps and looked at his father. “Yeah, she does.”

                “Yongguk.” Dongwan stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets as he made his way to the latter. Standing before each other, he said, “You are the future leader of the clan now.”

                Yongguk just stared at his old man as the meaning behind those words quickly hit him. “I know,” he breathed out. “But it was supposed to be Yongnam hyung. I already took his place as the next leader. I’m not taking his mate too.”

                Dongwan gave a pat on Yongguk’s shoulder. “You didn’t take his place, son. You deserve it as much as he does.”

                Yongguk took a moment to look into his father’s eyes to know that the man really meant what he said. He was somehow overwhelmed by it, making him feel like hugging his father and thanking him for believing in him, but that could be saved for the later.

                “But I still won’t take Heeyeon as my mate,” he muttered before looking up to the wall behind the table. Yongnam was standing next to him behind their parents in the family portrait hanging there. “Because my heart belongs to someone else.”

                “I’ve never tried to make a flower bouquet before,” Daehyun uttered. He was sitting with Minjee at a small round table in the backyard porch.

                “Really?” Minjee asked. “That sounds unlikely since the amount of flowers you have could make plenty.”

                “Yeah… I always thought it’s cruel to cut the flowers.” Daehyun smiled wryly.

                Minjee chuckled. “Wouldn’t that make a florist’s job quite cruel?”

                “Doesn’t it?” Daehyun questioned back. “The only reason I go to florists is to get flower seeds.”

                “Well, next time when you go there, try to ask to ask them the reason why they are being so cruel to the flowers.”

                “Is there any other reason besides making money?”

                “That is one. But they won’t make any money if the flowers aren’t good. So they have to take very good care of them. And when they need to cut the flowers and make a bouquet out of them, they have to make sure it is pretty. Or else people won’t buy it too. Why? Because they want to give the flowers to someone they love and care, or to those in needs. It’s enough to convey their thoughts and feelings through the flowers’ beauty.”

                Daehyun who was listening quietly before could only manage to pull a small smile. “So, only beautiful flowers matter after all. No wonder I could hardly understand the purpose of flower bouquets.”

                Minjee could hear the little hurt in Daehyun’s voice. She really didn’t intend to do so in the first place. Reaching for Daehyun’s hand on his lap, she sighed. “I never said the flowers’ beauty is all about how they look. Remember when Uncle Dongwan sent you a bouquet once? Tell me how you did you feel when you received it.”

                How did he feel? Well, first off, he was not the slightest bit angry or sad at how the flowers were snipped off. He was completely immersed in the heavenly scents. The scents he could smell when he was in the garden of the clan’s mansion. The mansion where the clan members live together and one of them is someone he had grown to love.

                “I… didn’t really know what I felt… but, I could only think of this place and… Yongguk hyung,” Daehyun muttered. “The flowers smelled wonderful even if I couldn’t see them… and it made me realize… Yongguk hyung would always be as wonderful as the person I loved before I got to know that he’s actually a weredragon. I realized that I could actually love him no matter how he looks.”

                A broad smile etched on Minjee’s lips. “Weren’t they beautiful?”

                Daehyun was finally grasping what Minjee had been trying to tell him. “They were indeed beautiful.” He snorted with small laughter before his nose caught a whiff of pleasant scents.

                It turned out to be Minsu who had returned from picking the flowers, placing the full basket on the table. “Are these enough?” the boy was ready to go back to the garden again if it is not.

                “More than enough,” Minjee said. “Now, shall we arrange them beautifully?” she asked, particularly to Daehyun.

                “Sure, I’ll give it a try.” Daehyun sounded defeated, but anybody would know he was only joking.

                “Trust me, it will feel even better to be the one giving a bouquet of flowers.” Minjee gave an assuring pat on Daehyun’s back.

                “I’ll take your word for it.”

                Minsu helped Daehyun to put on a pair of gloves so that he wouldn’t accidently cut his hands. Nobody would want to see Yongguk going berserk again.

                When Daehyun was finally holding the scissors with a flower stem in between them, he hesitated to proceed. Minjee noticed it and asked, “What’s wrong?”

                “I can’t believe I’m about to do this,” Daehyun breathed out.

                Minsu, who was busy making his own bouquet, stopped and decided to give Daehyun some encouraging words. “It’s okay hyung. The flower’s dead anyway.”

                Daehyun’s jaw dropped. “Do you really think that’d be of any help?” he snarled.

                Minsu just slowly backed away and carried on with composing the flowers. Minjee shook her head at the boys as a small laugh escaped her lips. “Don’t think too much about it, Daehyun,” she said. “Just do it quick and clean and move on to the next one.”

                Daehyun heaved a deep breath. “Alright…” He readied himself to cut the flower stem again, his face already contorted in a grimace. “I’m sorry!”

                It was a high-pitched apology towards the flower as he cut it. Then he quickly put it aside and felt around the other side of the table for another one. He did exactly as what Minjee told him, creating a good momentum out of it. He needed to keep it up if he didn’t want the guilt to keep haunting him.

                After there were enough flowers with trimmed stem, Minjee started to teach Daehyun how to arrange them into a bouquet. Daehyun once asked her about the colours, shapes and all, but she just told him to follow his gut feelings. And so, Daehyun decided to make a bouquet only out of his heart and nice scents.

                The three of them eventually became engrossed in composing the flower bouquets, but unlike Daehyun, Minjee and Minsu could notice the presence of other clan members who had just arrived at the mansion.

                As they had guessed, Narae came to the backyard porch with Hyosung, Himchan and Haneul in his arm. Their footsteps seemed to catch Daehyun’s attention as he stopped what he was doing. So Minjee let him know about it right away.

                “Good morning!” All of them greeted while approaching the ones sitting at the table and received the same in return.

                Narae went to have a seat at the same table and Hyosung sat in between her and Minjee, whereas Himchan just stood behind them, rocking his son in his arm who was still grumpy after having to wake up from a nice sleep in the car.

                “You’re all smiley today,” Minjee remarked, eyes narrowing at each of them.

                “There’s a reason behind that.” Narae smiled even wider before sending a look to her daughter-in-law.

                “And that reason is…?” Minjee urged with raised brows.

                Smiling from ear to ear, Hyosung took a hold of Minjee’s hand and said, “I’m pregnant!”

                Minjee gasped loudly. “What?! Really?!”

                Hyosung nodded vigorously. Himchan chuckled. “I guess it’s about time to have another one.”

                “Oh, wow. Congrats, noona, hyung.” Minsu got up and went to Himchan to give him a bro hug.

                “I’m so happy for you!” Minjee squealed before throwing her arms around Hyosung, taking her in a bone crushing hug.

                More questions about the baby came from Minjee one after another after that. Daehyun quietly listened to their conversation while trying his best to keep a smile on his face. Of course he was happy for Himchan and his wife, but this is the first time he got to hear Minjee sounding so excited. She truly seemed to be really happy to have a new addition to the family. Then, he realized that as Yongguk’s mate, he could make Minjee happier by carrying her own grandchild, but there was no way it would happen.

                She must have been hoping to have her own grandchild, moreover when she only has Yongguk as her son now. But with Yongguk having a man as a mate, she would never experience the feeling of becoming a grandmother to the child of her own son. She must feel so disappointed even if she didn’t say anything about it. Daehyun feel absolutely terrible about that.

                Slowly, he removed the gloves and stood up, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I’m…going to the bathroom…” he muttered.

                Daehyun began to walk away from there, but after a few steps, he stopped and turned around. “Oh, I almost forgot. Congrats, Himchan hyung, Hyosung noona,” he said with the sweetest smile.

                “Thank you, Daehyun,” Hyosung replied happily.

                “Excuse me.” Daehyun turned back around and continued heading in the right direction towards the back door. He just followed the memorized map in his head with his hands stretched out to feel for anything around him.

                “Aren’t you bringing your cane?” Minjee almost shouted as she only remembered to ask when Daehyun was already halfway there.

                Daehyun tried not to show it, but he was in a rush to get away from there. He could feel the tears threatening to fall and he was afraid he couldn’t hold them if he goes back there just to take his forgotten cane.

                “I’ll be fine,” he answered without even turning his head.

                On his way in the mansion, Daehyun seriously hoped that he wouldn’t bumped into anyone else. He just wanted to go to the bathroom, cry his heart out as much as he could and go back to the backyard as soon as possible.

                However, his ears caught voices as he was about to pass the living room. He would have just ignored it if he didn’t overheard his name. He moved quietly to the end of the wall and stood still behind it.

                “Don’t you think Heeyeon-ssi looks a little bit like Daehyun hyung?” Sungjoon pointed out to Junhong.

                Both of them had woken up not long ago, sitting at each end of the long couch with the TV on, even though they were playing with their phones the whole time.

                Junhong lifted his head and thought about it for a moment. “Now that you said it, I guess so.” He turned to look at Sungjoon, shrugging his shoulders. “Their face kind of resembles each other.”

                “And their scents too,” Sungjoon added, glancing at the younger boy. “The only difference is that Heeyeon-ssi smells more like a weredragon.”

                Junhong dropped his jaw in a silent gasp. “Wow, you’re right.” He was surprised he had not thought about it until now. “Speaking of that,” he muttered, sitting up and leaning towards the latter. “Don’t you smell it? Daehyun hyung’s scent?”

                Daehyun’s heart skipped a beat at that. He was ready to turn his heels around and get away from there, but not after Sungjoon spoke up.

                “Well, yeah, we’re all living in the same place, remember?” Sungjoon remarked, finally putting down his phone. “Besides, I didn’t hear his cane.”

                Thinking that Sungjoon kind of made sense, Junhong just brushed off the matter. “It’s just like how similar Yongnam hyung and Yongguk hyung’s scents with each other,” he said.

                “Then don’t you think Heeyeon-ssi could possibly be Yongguk hyung’s mate too?” Sungjoon arched his brows at the latter.

                “That’s absurd. Weredragons will only have one mate for the rest of their lives,” Junhong argued.

                “That’s true, but look at Youngjae. He has gotten closer to Jongup these days,” Sungjoon reasoned.

                “That’s because his mate died,” Junhong stated evidently. “And does Jongup hyung can really be considered as his mate?”

                Sungjoon frowned. “What do you mean?”

                “Jongup hyung is not a weredragon.”

                “Hmm…” Sungjoon hummed as he gave it a thought. “Daehyun hyung is not a weredragon too,” he uttered. “Is it because of that? Is it because he is a human? So he doesn’t really count as Yongguk hyung’s mate?”

                “It’s only getting more and more confusing.” Junhong sighed, leaning back against the couch.

                “But if you think about it carefully, Heeyeon-ssi is a weredragon, an alpha and a woman. Don’t you think she’s the one who deserves to be the Luna?” Sungjoon reckoned.

                That was when Daehyun felt like he had had enough. He couldn’t bear to hear it anymore. His tears started falling like a broken dam and he tried so hard not to let any sound escaped through his mouth. He turned around and left in haste with a hand dragging along the walls to ground himself.

                Daehyun knew the mansion pretty well by now, but everything he remembered about the place was all jumbled up in his mind. He bumped into everything along the way, tripping countless times on the stairs. Still, he was at least relieved nothing breaks because of that. Of course it hurt real bad, but not so much as the pain in his heart.

                “But has no filter,” Junhong said.

                “Yeah, that’s one thing foul about her,” Sungjoon totally agreed. “I’m already scared of our future leader. I might be mental if she were to be our future Luna.”

                “Yeah, I think I prefer Daehyun hyung more,” Junhong voiced. “He’s kind and caring. And he seems like he has some kind of calming effect on Yongguk hyung.”

                “Like that’s the best thing, right? We can just run to him whenever Yongguk hyung’s about to slaughter us,” Sungjoon smiled at his own thought.

                Junhong nodded. “Yeah, but not when he’s teaching piano, though.”

                Yongguk was in a deep thought after the talk with his father. He got out of the library before slowly walking down the hallway.

                There was only one solution to get out of the mess. He needed to mate with Daehyun, so Heeyeon’s attraction towards him would be gone. But ever since he got together with Daehyun, they never had a talk about the mating. That’s why it should be the first thing he needed to do to see whether Daehyun is ready for it or not.

                The closer he got to his room, the stronger Daehyun’s scent gets. It meant that Daehyun could probably be in there or in his own room.

                When he reached there, he was sure that Daehyun is in the guest room. So he went straight to the room next to his and gave the door a few knocks.

                After a moment of waiting without getting any answer, Yongguk decided to let himself in like he always did. But the sight that greeted him was never seen before.

                Daehyun’s room was a wreck. The bed was unmade and the closet door was ajar. Each drawer was pulled open and everything on the bedside table had toppled over that some of them were scattered on the floor.

                While he was looking over the heaps in the room, Yongguk spotted a mop of black hair at the other side of the bed. Closing the door behind, he rushed to get there while avoiding the clutters.

                He found Daehyun, but totally not expecting the younger man to be crying so hard. Daehyun sat on the floor, leaning his back against the side of the bed with his knees pulled up to his chest. His hands were busy wiping off the stream of tears on his face. It seemed like he was holding himself from making any sound that his whole body shook so hard with every sob.

                Yongguk’s heart shattered at the sight. “Hey…” He carefully approached his mate before kneeling right in front of him. He then gently held Daehyun’s arms with small . “You all right?” he asked, full of concern. “What’s going on? What happened?”

                Daehyun was pressing his palms against his eyes now since wiping off the tears was useless. “Just where did you put the eye drop?” he croaked between heavy sniffles.

                Yongguk’s brow furrowed. “Don’t tell me this mess is just because of that?” he asked because he knew there was more to it than just finding the eye drop. Daehyun could have just asked him about it rather than turning his room upside down.

                “Well, yeah, because I can’t ing see where you put it!” Daehyun threw his hands in the air, baring his feeling of distress.

                Yongguk was absolutely taken aback by the outburst. “Daehyun, you need to calm down.” He cupped the wet face before wiping off the tears with his thumbs. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

                The warmth of Yongguk’s touch suddenly made Daehyun feel even weaker. He became a sobbing mess again. He felt Yongguk slid beside him before his body was taken into a tight embrace. And he cried his eyes out into Yongguk’s chest.

                Yongguk’s heart squeezed in pain at Daehyun’s whimpers. He seriously wanted to know what actually caused his mate to break down like this. And if it was a ‘who’, he would make sure they receive a worthy lesson.

                “My eyes aren’t healing fast enough,” Daehyun rasped after quite a while. “I could at least be able to… to be… not blind! I could at least be able to see…”

                Yongguk’s frown deepened. “Daehyun, I don’t understand…”

                Daehyun pulled himself apart from the older man, sniffling and rubbing his eyes. “Heeyeon deserves to be your mate more than me,” he muttered.

                Yongguk couldn’t believe what he just heard. “What makes you say that?” He asked, half angry half scared. “If she deserves it, so do you.”

                “Think about your clan, hyung.” Daehyun refused to let Yongguk’s words get into his mind. “I’m not fit to be their Luna. I’m a human, a man. I’m blind and I can’t give birth to your child,” he asserted. “She’s a weredragon, she’s an alpha, she’s a woman, she’s beautiful, she’s perfect.”

                “And so do you,” Yongguk uttered before Daehyun could blurt out any more nonsense. “You are perfect for me, Daehyun. You’re the most beautiful person I could ever ask for a mate.”

                Hearing that, more tears fell down onto Daehyun’s cheeks. “No, hyung…” He sobbed, covering his eyes with the back of his hand. “You and I both know that I’m not enough for you…”

                Yongguk’s breath hitched in his throat. His eyes stung with freshly formed tears. “Is that really what you think? Not enough?” he managed to ask with a crack in his voice. Letting out a sigh, he looked up to hold his tears from falling, but it was all in vain.

                His gaze fell onto Daehyun’s face again. Slowly, he took Daehyun’s hand off his eyes and held them tight. “You are everything to me, Daehyun. I don’t know how else to tell you,” he said it as if he was pouring out all of his heart and Daehyun was stirred into a turmoil of feelings.

                “I’ve almost lost you before and I don’t think I’d be able to go through that pain again.” Yongguk sniffed, crying almost as hard as his mate now. “I just… I can’t live without you. I love you. I love you so much, with all my heart.”

                It was those words that made Daehyun feel so selfish. He wished Yongguk could say those words to someone who deserves to be his mate, but then he wanted more than anything else to be the only one to hear those words from Yongguk. He pitied Yongguk for falling in love with someone like him. So, he just kept on crying. “I love you too, hyung,” he whispered. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

                Yongguk shook his head, pulling his mate into a hug. “No, don’t say that. There’s nothing you should be sorry about,” he told Daehyun before planting a long kiss on his head.