Kyungsoo and Kai were fishing in a small, sparkling lake they had stumbled across. It was the first relatively large body of water they had encountered during their travels, so they had spent the first few hours just splashing and playing around in the refreshing water. It wasn’t cold enough yet for the lake to freeze over. Although Kai had been a bit apprehensive at first, citing that he wasn’t particularly fond of water in general, Kyungsoo’s wheedling soon had the tall male swimming in the lake as he chased around the traveler underwater.

Once they had tired of swimming, Kyungsoo had hauled out two large fishing poles and a box filled with lures. He had then poked around the moist dirt ground at the bank of the lake for wriggling worms and collected them in a small glass jar. Once he had finished setting up, the traveler handed a pole to Kai and grinned widely. “Ready?”

Kai nodded and the two of them wound up their fishing lines before tossing them as far as they could into the middle of the lake. They lounged around on the grassy bank, conversing as they usually did to pass the time while they waited for the fish to bite. There were numerous false catches as Kai reeled in several wads of debris at the beginning. But soon, they were landing fish after fish, causing Kyungsoo to jump and shout with glee after each successful catch.

The traveler also took this chance to admire the flexing muscles in Kai’s well-developed arms and legs, since the long-limbed male was currently wearing a black tank top and a pair of tan-colored shorts he had borrowed from Kyungsoo. Because they had been bundled up in layers for most of their trip together, the small male hadn’t had a chance until now to really feast his eyes on Kai’s athletic physique since he had found him passed out that first day. With the scars all healed now, his sun-kissed skin was perfectly smooth and shone brightly against the amber sunlight.

Kyungsoo had long stopped trying to deny to himself that he was attracted to Kai. However, he kept silent about his feelings because he didn’t want to scare away the other man. The traveler didn’t want to make things awkward by vocalizing his thoughts about the extremely attractive male who was currently cleaning the batch of fish they had caught earlier. Kyungsoo was quite content with how their relationship was panning out at the moment; they were close friends who happened to enjoy cuddling with each other at night. So he didn’t try to push for anything more lest he lose a great friend whom he had come to deeply enjoy the company of, especially since Kyungsoo usually traveled alone.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a midnight black creature stepping up to the lake’s edge on the other side. His curiosity piqued, Kyungsoo turned to face that side of the lake and squinted his eyes to get a better look. The sun was slowly starting to set, so vibrant reds, oranges, yellows, purples, and pinks were painting the sky and the lake water. The black creature was slightly blending in with the shadows that were forming, but Kyungsoo was able to discern a horse with strange humps on its back dipping its head towards the water for a drink.

But then, after one , the horse suspiciously sniffed the surface of the lake. Wispy black clouds began gathering around it and Kyungsoo’s jaw reflexively dropped when large jagged wings unfurled from the humps on its back. “Uh, Kai, what’s that?” the traveler asked, pointing to the dark winged horse that had begun clopping its way around the lake as it sniffed the water every few steps.

The taller male’s head had been pounding with an unsettling sensation earlier, but he had attributed that to paranoia. However, once Kyungsoo spoke, Kai snapped his head up from the fish he was laying out to dry and immediately began sweeping their belongings into the smaller male’s enormous backpack. “We need to hide now!” he hissed as he speedily swung the backpack onto his shoulders and grabbed Kyungsoo’s hand.

“But—”

“Don’t speak. Just follow me!”

So Kyungsoo let himself be pulled back towards the forest and cast a few glances behind him to see the horse-like creature pick up its pace, transitioning from a measured walk into a brisk trot. His head spun with bewilderment as questions about the dark winged horse raced through his mind while his short legs tried to keep up with Kai’s long ones as they ran up the bank. What exactly was that horse? Why was Kai so afraid of it? What was even happening right now?

As soon as they reentered the forest, Kai’s eyes speedily darted around as he looked for a place for them to hide. But none of the trees were hollow enough to fit two grown men and he grew increasingly agitated when the presence of the dark creature grew stronger with every passing second. The evil energy was beginning to blanket over him and he could feel his throat constrict with fear. “Meliae, please dear sisters, I need you to hide the two of us now,” he uttered in a breathless voice, channeling all of his willpower into summoning the forest’s dryads.

The oppressive force grew closer and closer, making Kai panic even more as he ran for his life with a perplexed Kyungsoo in tow. Oh gods, why had he ignored the warning signs earlier? What a stupid, stupid, stupid decision and now, his carelessness might cost them their lives. He shouldn’t have been so complacent and lowered his guard after living so freely these past few weeks. He was such an idiot. If anything happened to Kyungsoo, he would never be able to forgive himself.

“Dear brother, pause in your escape.”

“We are here to aid you and your companion.”

“Trust us and stand still.”

Numerous lyrical female voices whirled around Kai, who instantly obeyed the welcomed instructions and pulled Kyungsoo to a halt. Before the smaller male could say anything, Kai pressed a finger to those remarkably full heart-shaped lips. He flipped Kyungsoo around so that the traveler’s back was pushed against the taller male’s firm chest and kept his finger against Kyungsoo’s lips while wrapping his arms around the smaller man.

Kyungsoo was even more confused when Kai suddenly stopped where they stood, and he almost choked on his saliva when he felt those well-defined pectoral muscles against his back and when the equally muscular biceps locked him in place. But before he could dwell for long on the fact that Kai’s very nice chest and arms were all over his body, Kyungsoo witnessed a cloud of shimmering green mist float around them and then a large ash tree encased the two males out of nowhere.

They huddled inside the magical tree in absolute silence and listened with bated breaths as the clip-clopping of the dark winged horse became increasingly louder. Kyungsoo was shocked by everything that was suddenly happening and screwed his eyes shut while his heart pounded wildly against his chest. He could also feel Kai’s heart beating just as quickly.

The hoof noises soon stopped by the ash tree they were hiding within and the two men could hear a low whinnying from the other side. After a few seconds of listening to the horse-like creature neigh wildly and stamp loudly around the base of the wide tree, the clopping gradually began to fade away until there was only the sound of birds chirping as they flew around and pecked at the mysterious ash tree.

“What…what was that?” Kyungsoo gasped out once they were released from the tree illusion, his heartbeat accelerating like there was no tomorrow. Partly due to the adrenaline filling his system after seeing the tragically beautiful dark winged horse earlier and partly due to being enveloped in Kai’s strong, toned arms just now. Although he had touched the other male’s muscles when he had first found him all those weeks ago, it was a completely different experience altogether being trapped between his muscular arms and feeling the outline of Kai’s chest behind the thin tank top.

Several seconds passed before Kai finally whispered in an anguished tone, “That was Bellerophon’s Pegasus. I would be able to recognize it anywhere.”

“You mean the one from Ancient Greek mythology?” Kyungsoo asked in confusion. “The same Bellerophon and Pegasus who were able to slay the deadly chimera?”

Kai’s face instantly darkened as he responded indignantly, “My mother wasn’t deadly.” And then, having realized his slip of tongue, he immediately released the startled Kyungsoo and jumped back, a panic-stricken expression decorating his features. “I-it’s not what you t-think,” he stammered hastily, wildly waving his hands in front of him as if he were warding away evil spirits.

“You’re…a chimera?” The traveler couldn’t believe his ears. This handsome man he was attracted to was a mythological creature from the times of Ancient Greece? Not to mention, one that was notoriously dangerous and depicted as one of the most vicious creatures of its time? “But…how?”

Seeing Kyungsoo look so lost and confused caused a tidal wave of shame to wash over Kai. The tall male’s head hung low as he looked away out of disgrace now instead of fear. But he knew he owed the truth to the traveler for having saved his life. He couldn’t hide his origin story any longer. “I was born over three thousand years ago in Lycia,” Kai began, his voice slightly shaking with nervousness. “Chimeras are immortal, so we won’t die unless killed. I was living out most of my life at the base of Mount Olympus until Pegasus found me one day and forced me into fleeing. Something happened to him after Bellerophon’s fall and he gradually transformed into the evil creature we saw earlier.”

“Why is he chasing you?” Kyungsoo was trying to wrap his head around this ludicrous tale. Even though he believed in the supernatural, seeing as he was currently searching for a magical gemstone, it was still so surreal to realize that he was speaking to a fantastic beast guised as a human. And a very good-looking human at that.

“For some reason, Pegasus thinks that killing me will bring back Bellerophon, even though that vile human should have been dead for ages now,” Kai answered bitterly, thinking of his poor deceased mother who had been unfairly killed all those millennia ago. “I managed to avoid him up until the day you found me. Pegasus happened to catch me off-guard and attacked, which is how I got those scars,” the taller male finally revealed.

Kyungsoo felt his heart sink when he heard the other male’s sorrowfully deep tone. “Oh, Kai…”

“I just barely managed to escape, but I would’ve died if you hadn’t rescued me.” Kai looked to be fighting tears now, so the traveler wordlessly handed a tissue to the distressed man. After noisily blowing his nose and dabbing away the tears from his eyes, Kai let out a deep breath and said apologetically, “I didn’t mean to keep this a secret from you, Kyungsoo. I swear it. It’s just that I’ve always grown up believing that humans are bad news and once Pegasus started following me, I’ve been afraid of virtually everything.”

“You don’t have to apologize for trying to stay alive,” Kyungsoo answered soothingly, grasping Kai’s big strong hands in his own slender ones. The taller male’s hands were ice-cold, which was very uncharacteristic of the normally warm man, so Kyungsoo began rubbing their hands together to heat them up.

“You don’t hate me, right?” Kai whispered, his eyes growing large and fearful as thoughts of Kyungsoo abandoning him ran through his mind. He didn’t think he could bear it if the one human he had grown to trust decided to up and leave him after this startling revelation. He’d much rather die.

The traveler moved one of his hands to Kai’s thin cheek and gently it, saying in a soft voice, “Of course not. We all have our reasons for hiding things. And I can understand why you kept this a secret.”

Kai sighed in relief, letting himself relax under Kyungsoo’s calming touch. He then drew the smaller male close to him in a tight hug and mouthed, “Thank you,” against the traveler’s smooth neck.

Kyungsoo’s face instantaneously flamed up at the close contact, much to Kai’s amusement.

♈♈♈