Daffodil – new beginnings

                “Okay, who made him mad again?” Himchan asked after gathering all the workers at the corner of the gym.

                “Not guilty,” Minsu defended himself.

                “Not me.” Sungjoon shook his head.

                “I’m innocent,” Youngjae’s tone was seriously deep despite his cute face.

                Himchan clicked his tongue. “Then why is he like that?” He cocked his head towards the manager room. “Being all ‘I hate this world’ in there from morning ‘till now.” He rolled his eyes while making the quoting gestures with his fingers.

                “You’re his cousin, hyung. Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Sungjoon suggested.

                Himchan frowned. “Minsu, here, is his cousin too.” He gestured to his younger brother standing next to him.

                “But you’re his assistant. And you’re closer to him,” Minsu quickly gave a better reason.

                Himchan was annoyed. Everything they said about him and Yongguk was true, but when that guy was in a bad mood, even he couldn’t stand less than a meter away from him. Yongguk was already scary when he was not in a bad mood, so he would never try his luck when that guy had dark clouds lingering above his head.

                “Well, since we have nothing to do with this, can we go home now?” Youngjae asked.

                “Are you crazy? Going home before he does? With him being in this kind of mood?” Himchan scolded and the other three cowered in their spots. He thought it was because they were scared of him but he changed his mind after a cold chill suddenly whooshed by.

                “I’m outta here,” Yongguk uttered in his baritone voice.

                Himchan and the others were stoned. They were so intimidated they could not even say a single word in reply to their manager. Everyone was silent until Yongguk finally left the place. Youngjae was the first one to be able to speak.

                “So… can we leave now…?”

                Yongguk was in a huge freaking mess. He couldn’t get Daehyun out of his mind since he met that boy. He couldn’t even sleep last night, making theories about his attraction towards the boy. He had never felt something like he did with the boy before. He had never found anyone as beautiful as Daehyun. He had never known someone’s smell could be that intoxicating.

                His parents said that when he would find his mate, he would know it. Mates would be attracted to each other like a bee to a flower. But how could he know it? How could he approach his mate? Sooyoung told him that when she met her husband, they went straight to hug each other. And then there was Himchan who had kissed his mate the first time they saw each other.

                Maybe Daehyun was not his mate? But if not, why did he have all the symptoms? Was it because the boy was blind? So the boy didn’t know Yongguk was his mate. But on a second thought, it didn’t make sense since he could still smell Daehyun’s scent before actually seeing him. Was his scent not strong enough that Daehyun could smell him? Or maybe Daehyun knew he was his mate but didn’t want to rush things? Do mates do that?

                Yongguk sighed as he stepped into the elevator to go down the building. It frustrated him when he couldn’t find an answer to all of his questions. Should he ask Daehyun about himself? Like what type of dragon is he, which clan is he from, can he shift into a dragon if he’s blind or… Is he even a weredragon?

                The bulb in Yongguk’s head lighted up along with the ding of the elevator. He slowly took a step out, his mind still figuring if his guess was right; Daehyun was not a weredragon. That was a very logic theory since the boy didn’t even smell like a dragon in the first place. How could he just notice that only now? But if Daehyun was not a weredragon then what was he? Did that make his mate some other creature rather than a weredragon?

                Yongguk huffed. His frustration was building up instead of reducing. He had begun his watch around his clan’s territory again and because of his messed up situation, he didn’t realize that almost two hours had passed.

                He was in charge of another area tonight. His previous one was taken by another member of the clan. They kept changing them to prevent getting bored. Yongguk initially planned to meet Daehyun again after his turn was finished. But that could take until two in the morning and of course Daehyun would have already gone to sleep by that time.

                However, as he was walking along the pavement, he smelled something familiar and he swore he had never been this excited in his life. Yongguk quickened his steps, following the trail of his favourite scent until he saw the one he had been thinking about all day.

                Strangely, Daehyun was sitting on the sidewalk alone. He was wearing dark shades in the middle of the night. Anybody who didn’t know that he was blind would think of him as a weird guy. Yongguk was not anybody, but what weirded him out was the fact that Daehyun was just sitting on the cold ground alone, at night.

                “An-Anybody there?” Daehyun’s voice trembled as he turned his head towards the sound of someone’s footsteps.

                The sight of a frightened Daehyun made his heart clench. “It’s me,” he quickly said before he could even get to Daehyun’s side. “Remember? From last night?” he asked, crouching down next to the boy.

                Daehyun’s mouth was rounded as he rewound the time in his head. “Oh yeah, I remember you.” His blank face broke with a smile. “But I forgot your name,” he admitted sheepishly.

                Yongguk let out a small laugh. “It’s Yongguk. And didn’t I tell you to stay inside? What are you doing out here alone?”

                Daehyun pouted. He was quiet for a second because he was contemplating to tell the other man or not. He knew he would get embarrassed but what other choice did he have? “I’m lost,” he finally spoke up with a sigh. “I’m new around here and I wanted to explore my new surroundings but ended up tripping and losing my cane. I have no idea how to go home and nobody walks by here at this time.”

                As soon as he heard Daehyun’s words, Yongguk started searching for the walking stick. He figured it must have been somewhere near, so he started going around the place.

                Daehyun was puzzled when he heard Yongguk shuffle away without a word. “Yongguk-ssi?” he called.

                “I’m picking up your cane!” Yongguk shouted from a distance before running back to the boy. He squatted down in front of Daehyun and took the smaller’s hand. The act only made both of them gasp in surprise, their hands jerking away from each other’s.

                “What was that?” Daehyun asked after he felt something like an electric shock at the back of his hand.

                “I- I’m sorry…” Yongguk too didn’t really know what the hell that was. Maybe it could be an effect of the mate thing but of course he wouldn’t tell that to Daehyun when he was not exactly sure what kind of creature the boy was. “It must be the static shocks,” he threw a wild guess.

                Daehyun didn’t say anything. His other hand kept rubbing the stinging spot. Yongguk wondered if it would be like this every time they would touch each other. It would be painful if they were really mates. So he braved himself for another try, gulping before carefully reaching for Daehyun’s hand again.

                He felt like crying when his skin brushed with Daehyun’s soft one. There were no more shocks but there was definitely something else. Something about Daehyun’s skin that was alluring him, making him want to run his hand along the thin arm. No, he wanted to run his hands all over Daehyun’s gloriously curved body.

                “Oh, no more statics!” Daehyun exclaimed, pulling the other man out of his wishful thinking.

                Yongguk hastily put the walking stick into Daehyun’s hold and let go of the smaller hand reluctantly. “What about your family? Do they know where you are?” he asked after clearing his throat.

                “I’ve called my brother but I don’t exactly know where am I so I bet he’s searching the whole town for me,” Daehyun explained.

                Yongguk nodded, forgetting that Daehyun couldn’t see him. “Yeah, you’ve gone quite far from your home. Maybe I can help you get back?”

                “Really?!” Daehyun beamed. “Great! Help me up!” He reached out both of his hands towards the other guy.

                Yongguk took a deep breath to prepare himself. He stood up and clasped Daehyun’s hands, praising himself when his mind didn’t drift away this time. He pulled the smaller figure up on his feet and let the boy fix his own clothes.

                “Wait, I should tell my brother that I’m going home with you,” Daehyun said and took out his phone.

                After the short but loud phone call, Daehyun finally readied himself to go home. He stood there, twirling his walking stick on the ground as he waited for any prompt from Yongguk, but that man just kept quiet.

                What Daehyun didn’t know was that Yongguk was getting kind of awkward in this sort of situation. He had never dealt with a blind person before so he was thinking of the best way to lead the boy. He initially wanted to say ‘follow me’ but realized it was not really an efficient way.

                Daehyun thought this was getting nowhere. He would be going home the day after if he didn’t say anything now. “Is it okay if I hold onto your arm?” he asked.

                Yongguk perked up at the suggestion. “Yeah…?” He shook his head. “I mean, yeah! Sure! No problem.”

                Daehyun stuck out his hand to where he thought Yongguk’s arm would be. But then he felt Yongguk’s grip on his wrist, bringing his hand to a different angle where Yongguk’s arm was actually at. He ran his palm along the clothed arm, squeezing and kneading the flesh, taking a chance to have some sort of a view of what the other man would look like. He felt that Yongguk’s arm was quite buffed, just like Jongup’s, but Yongguk’s was slightly thinner.

                Yongguk frowned at Daehyun’s act but he didn’t say anything since it could be something a blind person would do and he didn’t want to hurt the boy’s feelings. “Should we start walking now?” He asked when Daehyun had a firm hold of his arm at last.

                Yongguk’s voice had shaken the thought off Daehyun’s head. “Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I’m sorry if I was feeling you too much. It’s just a habit of mine.” He bit his lip shyly, being frank with the other man. He knew that it was very weird to randomly touch another person like that, moreover when they were just getting to know each other.

                “Nah, it’s okay,” Yongguk replied briefly, admiring the way Daehyun’s cheeks turned rosy as the younger nibbled his bottom lip. “Besides, I kinda like it.” The following sentence was safely kept in his mind instead.

                “What should I call you?” Daehyun asked.

                “Well, how old do you think I am?” Yongguk questioned back, trying his best to walk in a decent pace while looking out for any obstacles in Daehyun’s path even though Daehyun had his cane tapping in front of him.

                “I don’t know. I don’t have that kind of sixth sense like in those crappy fictions,” Daehyun joked.

                Yongguk chuckled. “I’m twenty five.”

                “You’re three years older than me.” Daehyun sounded bemused.

                “Really? I thought you’re a lot younger than that. You can call me hyung then.” Seriously, Yongguk thought Daehyun was still in high school. But with the real age known, the theory about Daehyun having no idea Yongguk was his mate because he was not an adult yet was off the list.

                “You said you’re new around this place. How long has it been?” Yongguk continued their conversation.

                “Should be almost three months now,” Daehyun answered.

                “I see…” Yongguk nodded and regretted not finding his mate earlier. “Why did you move here?”

                “My dad died two years ago leaving me and my brother,” Daehyun began, causing Yongguk to stare at him in disbelief. “That time I was already legal to be my brother’s guardian but my income could barely feed both of us. We really couldn’t afford living in a big city so we agreed to move to a smaller town.”

                “Um… forgive me if my question is inappropriate,” Yongguk spoke up hesitantly.“But what about your mother?”

                “It’s okay.” Daehyun smiled. “She died after giving birth to my brother.”

                Yongguk was even more surprised. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” he apologized sincerely because he knew how much it hurt to lose a family member.

                Daehyun let out a breathy laugh. “I told you it’s okay,” he said before yawning. “What time is it?”

                Yongguk took a look at his watch. “Fifteen past twelve.”

                “It’s fifteen minutes past my bedtime. I’m sleepy,” Daehyun whined and let out a yawn again.

                Yongguk thought Daehyun was cute. “Promise me you’ll stay inside starting from tomorrow night,” he said.

                “What if I don’t?” Daehyun slightly turned his face to the older man, tilting his head in wonder.

                “Something bad could happen to you.”

                Yongguk’s reason left Daehyun frowning. “What do you mean?”

                "Just... the night is not as safe as the day," Yongguk replied in short.

                Daehyun thought that Yongguk had a point. Maybe he should stop asking further about it since the older man didn't seem like he wanted to talk about that matter.

                “Yongguk hyung...?”

                “Yeah?”

                Daehyun took a moment to draw a deep breath before he could speak up. “Will I ever meet you again?”

                Yongguk slowly turned towards Daehyun, still trying to believe what he just heard. “You… want to meet me again?” His voice was low while he asked the blind man who was keeping his head down.

                Daehyun’s face flushed as he muttered a yes. Yongguk felt butterflies in his stomach. Whatever being his mate was, it was still good that he showed a sign that he was interested with him too.

                “Okay, I’ll work on that.”

                As they were nearing their destination, Yongguk pondered whether he should delay it again. It was the third time he reached the corner to Daehyun’s house. He just had to round that corner and return Daehyun to his brother. But instead of doing that, he had done two rounds of the neighbourhood just because he wanted to spend more time with the beautiful creature.

                “I guess I really strayed quite far from my house,” Daehyun laughed.

                Now Yongguk felt guilty for making a fool out of a blind person. He cleared his throat. “We’re almost there actually.”

                “Thank god. My legs are starting to feel like jelly since we left the town,” Daehyun whined.

                “Why didn’t you say so? I can carry you on my back,” Yongguk said casually.

                Caught off guard by Yongguk’s statement, Daehyun couldn’t help but blush. He didn’t know why, but just thinking of getting a piggyback from the man with a solid figure made his face all hot. He had no idea how to respond to it so he just let out an awkward laugh. “N-No, thank you…”

                “Hyung!” Jongup’s worried voice was heard by both of them, plus Jongup’s worried expression when he saw Yongguk after the two had rounded the corner at last.

                Daehyun felt a grip on his arm and he knew it belonged to his brother.

                “Why the hell did you wander around this late?” Jongup asked in concern.

                “I’m bored,” Daehyun grinned innocently.

                Yongguk studied Daehyun’s adorable face full of interest. He definitely wouldn’t be mad at the cutie if he was his brother. And he was right when Daehyun’s brother only let out a sigh.

                Jongup really couldn’t say anything to his brother. He could still control his rage since nothing bad happened to Daehyun or else he would turn from a smiling angel to a scowling devil. He would usually give his brother a lecture at times like these but not when there was a stranger watching them.

                “Uh...” Jongup sent a questioning look to the stranger.

                “Bang Yongguk,” the man introduced himself.

                Jongup nodded, holding out his palm to the other. Yongguk gladly took it in a handshake.

                “Jung Jongup. Thank you for sending my troublesome brother back.”

                “Welcome,” Yongguk smiled, noting the brothers’ surname at the same time.

                Jongup then took Daehyun’s cane off his grip to clasp their hands together. “Now let’s get inside and get some sleep.”

                Daehyun who still had his other hand wrapped around Yongguk’s arm forced himself to detach it. He turned to face Yongguk and smiled. “Thanks for your help, Yongguk hyung.”

                Yongguk was growing very fond of him. “You’re very much welcome,” Yongguk replied and watched how Jongup guided him into the house.

                “What does he look like?” Daehyun immediately threw his question after they got in.

                “He looks like a normal person,” Jongup answered nonchalantly while proceeding to take his brother to the bedroom.

                “No…” Daehyun whined. “Tell me, is he handsome?”

                “Whaaat?” Jongup scoffed. “You know nobody’s more handsome than me, right?”

                Daehyun’s lips pouted in annoyance. “No, you’re not. Suwoong told me I look better than you do.”

                Jongup sneered. “You really trust that guy? Gosh...”

                “Whatever,” Daehyun huffed, pulling Jongup’s hand to make the boy stop walking. “Now tell me what Bang Yongguk looks like.”

                Jongup rolled his eyes though he knew Daehyun wouldn’t see it. “He’s hideous. He has like five long big scars on his face. His teeth are sharp, his eyes are red, his nostrils are large.” He enthusiastically described to his brother.

                Daehyun gasped, his unseeing eyes wide under his dark glasses. “Really?!”

                “Yeah… so horrid,” Jongup made a shivering disgusted sound. When Daehyun seemed somewhat speechless, he continued to pull the older boy towards the bedroom.

                “Well, it doesn’t matter how he looks like since I can’t even see,” Daehyun spoke again after a moment. He knew he was already in his room based on the familiar scent.

                “And you keep insisting about it,” Jongup countered sarcastically as he released Daehyun’s hand to fold the cane.

                “But I think he’s a good guy.”

                “You can’t be really sure about that.” Jongup removed Daehyun’s sunglasses and pointlessly glared at those brown orbs. “You just met him,” he stressed while going to place Daehyun’s items on the nightstand.

                Knowing that Jongup would always leave him by the bed, Daehyun carefully moved a little bit forward until his knee touched the bed and felt the sheets with his hand to confirm it. “Actually I met him last night. In our backyard.” He took off his jacket and dropped it on the bed, unaware of how Jongup was left frozen at his statement.

                “Really?” Jongup asked warily.

                “Really,” Daehyun verified, slowly making his way to his wardrobe to take his towel from the rail attached to it.

                Now Jongup was getting suspicious of Yongguk because who would be meeting a stranger for two times in a row without a solid reason? Unless that stranger really wanted something from his brother.

                “You should be more careful, hyung,” he uttered, watching his brother feeling the wall towards the bathroom. “And please, don’t go wandering outside on your own.”

                Daehyun stopped when he found the doorframe of the bathroom. “Sure,” he said with a hint of irritation in his tone.

CHARACTER OVERVIEW

Gym’s staffs (clan members): Yongguk, Himchan, Youngjae, Minsu, Sungjoon

Cousins: Yongguk, Himchan, Minsu, Sooyoung

Suwoong – Jongup’s friend

Proofread by Sempiternalis

A/N:

maybe some of you are becoming curious but I assure you everything will be revealed slowly through the upcoming chapters :)

thanks to upvoters, subscribers, readers and commenters! XOXO