장  -  Apology
 

The not-so-great Water God trudged through the garden in the middle of the palace with a heavy heart. His father already yelled at him for mistreating his new wife and Hana probably hates his guts now and he still doesn't know the reason why behind it. He was trying to remember what he had said to her last night before his sassy bride walked off but nothing seemed wrong. Jun Myeon was able to convince himself that it must've been the mean words he said to her. 

"Hopefully that's what she's mad about.." he mumbled to himself. "But why is she avoiding me now?"

Remembering her face from a while ago, she couldn't even lift her head to meet his gaze. He recalled seeing her in the drenched red wedding gown with tears in her eyes. With that scene in his mind, he also wondered where she had been to have her clothes be in such a state of dismay. There was no way she was by the water since he saw his bride clearly walk towards in the direction of the Celestial Palace...or did she not? Endless questions swarmed the Water God's mind as he tries to piece things together.

He soon found his footsteps leading him to his jeweled dock; his place of peace in the ever so chaotic Celestial Realm. Heaving out a deep sigh, Jun Myeon made his way over to the edge of the dock and sat down on one of the crystal pillars that held up the magical dock. The many koi fishes in the sea sense their master's presence and made their way over to the dock to greet the scrambled minded Water God. 

"This is driving me crazy.." he mumbled quietly to himself. 

As the Water God continued quietly mumbling to himself, he didn't take notice of his young bride who was sitting at the edge of the crystal gazebo on the other jeweled dock on the other side of the shore. Hana was now changed into a beautiful but simple pink and white dress. The skirt of the dress had the pattern of silver waves, representing that she was the Water God's bride. The silver pattern was very reflective and came to life whenever the sunlight shined on her dress. Her long black silky hair was neatly combed and draped down her shoulders with one silver pin holding her long bangs out of her face. The bride's feet kicked at the water below, disturbing the lily pads and causing little ripples in the quiet water. She watched the lily pads gentle sway in the current that she made and stopped since she felt bad that she was disturbing the plant's peace.

Hana's mind was filled with nothing but sadness — leaving her family behind, leaving her beautiful kingdom, and worst of all, being married to that horrible Water God. The young bride heaved out a sigh just as the image of Suho's face popped into her head.

"He is such a big jerk.." she mumbled with a pout. "Why did I get chosen to marry that rude God?"

The sadness that had built up inside of her soon turned into anger and her blood started boiling. Hana began cursing Suho in every curse words that she knew but soon, that anger returned into the sadness that was always in her heart ever since the day she arrived in the Celestial Realm. Heavy tears began streaming down her face as she called out for her mom for comfort knowing that she was stuck all alone in the horrible Celestial Realm. 

"Mom.." she cried out between her tears. "Mom, I miss you so much! I don't want to stay here anymore!"

The mortal's tears and cries could be heard from the other side of the shore and reached the ears of the Water God, which broke his train of jumbled thoughts that he has yet to find answers to. Jun Myeon turned around and spotted his crying bride on the crystal gazebo. His face soon became pained as he knew that he was the main cause of her tears. As much as Jun Myeon wanted to go over and comfort his bride, he knew that he was the last person that she wanted to see on the face of the earth. Eventually, Hana's crying ceased to a stop and the Water God watched as she slowly stood up from her place on the edge of the gazebo. Without hesitation, she jumped in with a loud splash! Jun Myeon stood in place on the jeweled dock in shock at what had just happened before jumping into the sea after his bride. 

Under the water, Hana watched the surface of the crystal clear water slowly getting further and further away as she sunk deeper into the sea of the deep and dark abyss. She knew that she never had a place to uphold within the Celestial Realm because she didn't have anything significant about her nor was she a goddess of something relevant — her title as the Water God's Bride was the only thing saving her. More importantly, Hana knew that she could never have a place in the horrible Water God's heart. She opened only to see her breath escaping in the form of flurry bubbles that would eventually rise to the surface. 

"The next time I open my eyes, I wish to be back with my loving family in the beautiful kingdom.." 

Those words turned into the last of the bubbles that finally escaped and her eyes finally closed and she slowly fell into a deep slumber as her body continued falling deeper into the sea. Only a few feet away from the bride, the Water God swam vigorously as he watched Hana's last breath escaping her lips. He wasn't able to use his powers to quickly get to her since his mind was in a mess and there was no way for him to focus on summoning his powers to help him. Luckily, she was an arm's length away from him and he reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her body close to his. Jun Myeon could tell that her cheeks were slightly red from her crying earlier. 

"Do I really make you this sad to the point where you never want to see me ever again, mortal?" He sadly thought.

The Water God cupped her cheek with his left hand and captured her pink lips, transferring a little bit of his Water Breath to her allowing for the mortal to breathe as well as talk underwater for a short time which should be enough since they weren't too far from the surface of the sea. Jun Myeon slowly pulled away to see Hana's brows crinkling and her long lashes began fluttering back to life.

Her eyes slowly opened revealing the beautiful brown orbs that the Water God had fallen in love with. She reached up and placed a hand on the person's cheek in hopes that it was her mom's arms that she was in. It didn't take long for her to finally realize that it was Suho in front of her. Her brows slightly furrowed and she opened to ask what he was doing in front of her but all that came out was a flurry of bubbles and she quickly covered  to realize that she was still underwater and not on land. 

The Water God watched her in surprise, not knowing that it was his own damn fault as to why the magic didn't work properly when he transferred his Water Breathe to his bride. Hana felt anger rising in her body and wanted to be out of his presence since she hasn't forgiven him yet. Hana placed her hands on his chest in an attempt to push herself away from Jun Myeon but he knew what she was trying to do and tighten his arms around her, refusing to let her go as they slowly sank deeper into the water. The mortal's eyes glared at the Water God in anger and she tried again to pry herself out of his grip to which, she was unsuccessful again. 

Feeling the last of magical air in her lungs disappearing bit by bit, Hana felt her body growing weak, and Jun Myeon knew that his Water Breath was almost up. Without hesitation, he cupped her cheek with his hand, capturing her lips in his again. The bride closed her eyes and accepted his kiss knowing that it was going to be another pointless struggle to escape his lips. She felt a sudden rush of energy entering her body — it was almost as if she took a very deep breath of fresh minty air that filled her whole lungs.

Jun Myeon, forgetting how powerful he is, transferred too much of his power through his Water Breath that when he pulled away, the mortal bride was already passed out from his powerful kiss. With a single move, he hooked his arms underneath her knees, lifting her in his arms. Jun Myeon brought her face close and couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was while asleep. Her fair skin, long eyelashes, red plump lips, and pink tinted cheeks — it was almost as if she was one of his lovely paintings that came to life! His cheeks began glowing red as soon as the great Water God realized what he was doing and quickly collected himself, luckily his sleeping bride would never know of this embarrassing moment. 

"Leviathan," Jun Myeon closed his eyes and summoned his guardian Water Dragon to him, "Come to me!"

Out of nowhere, a massive dragon, as clear as crystal water, appeared and engulfed his master inside its big and slender body of water. All the Gods and Goddesses in the Celestial Realm had their own guardian dragons that will protect them until the end of time. Although they are powerful beings, each guardian had their own personalities that matched their deities. Each guardian only answered to their masters