"i'm zahara, you know that name don't you?" she asked and shownu stiffened.

he knows a zahara. of course he does, everyone knows the zahara. he just couldn't be sure if she was confessing that she's the zahara that he is thinking of. it took the fire in her eyes to tell him that she is, that she's the zahara that sews the lips of everyone around him. there was nothing else she needs to say, everything about her is in her name.

there is one man who holds seoul in the palm of his hand. of course there are politicians, of course there are congressmen. but no man sits at the throne like Dragon. everyone knows who Dragon is, not all have seen him but everyone knew better than to doubt that he exists. not a lot of people knows how he looks like, he gives orders, he is king. a king never leaves the comfort of his throne. but a king also has someone took take his place comes the day.

everybody knows that Dragon's successor is zahara.

she is his prized possession. the name is known but her face had always been hidden. she was always kept secret. everybody just knew names: they know Dragon, they know zahara- but no one know either of them looked. if they do, they never tell because they'll know about consequences then.

"i cannot promise to put you above myself and the responsibilities on my shoulder," she warned, voice honest and true, "but i am sincere with what i have with you."

shownu have never seen her like this. voice poised and confident, knowing exactly who she is and what she wants. the woman in front of him holds power like her own skin and he was more than just afraid, he was willing to worship. there was something about the way her words sounds when they fall out of and wonho becomes devoted to a goddess like her. he knows he is done for. he knows there is no way in hell he was every going to go back to the kind of life being part of the triad was but if the woman he loves lives like that, he can learn to understand.

of course when she said the name zahara without discretion or fear, it did put some sense in him. here he is merely a man who has, without shame, fallen in love with a girl who is more than he ever expected her to be. of course he knew there was more to her. in the span of time in which he knew her, he knows her beauty, her immense attractiveness and how unrivalled their compatibility was. but there was nothing more personal about her that he knew. still, pining her to be zahara would be a stretch had she not confessed it herself.

"zahara."

he breathes her name. he knows that name, heard it whispered hushed by men who towered over him. he heard it before but he had never said it consciously. somehow he thought that if he did, it would put him in jeopardy. this is the first time he said her name like that. the name that he never knew her by. it felt... different to call her that. he knew it was different for her too.

the way the name curl around the lips of men who called it when summoning her, made her blood rush across her body like constellations. she had a name, of course but nobody called her zahara unless it was allowed by her. so when anyone called her that, a strange possession takes over her. she feels empowered. the name becomes a suit and she becomes god.

when shownu called her that in the middle of their silence that followed her honest confession, it felt like rain falling on her skin. it was as if she had been in drought and there was sudden fall of rain and she felt so alive. there was fire in her eyes, the fire wonho had only recognised a few minutes ago. she sat in the same place as she did for a while but the woman in her is different.

"say my name, shownu." she whispered, her lips barely parted, eyes searching eyes and her hands makes its way to his shoulders driving up his neck. and he said it, he says her name like it was prayer and like a god called upon in his shrine, she went in for him as he stood for the taking.

they kissed breathlessly, with as much passion as they never did. she refused to acknowledge it but she knows that she more than just adore wonho. there was a need to constantly have him around, to always see him be with her. that kind of attraction takes her off her feet and she crawls her way into his lap, finding home in the warmth of his chest.

"zahara."

he doesn't know how to stop. the first time the name falls out his mouth, he was so close to apologising. if not for her asking him to repeat it, he would've kissed her hand in apology. he felt as if he wasn't good enough to be able to breathe he name. now, he couldn't stop, he doesn't know how to. her name takes residence over his voice and he calls for her over and over and his hands run over and over along the soft curves of her body. her body which he had for so long craved for.

this was how he loves her: he enjoys her company and he learns her. he understands the things she enjoy and the things she doesn't. but now she is body to body with him, chest to chest and this woman is a whole other entity. she is a whole other being to the woman he had learn for a while and it feels like sin.

they would have gone more insane, entangled with each other if not for the sound of the garage opening and for the entrance of two burly big men almost 3 times her size. shownu could swear he heard her curse before she went from where she initially was to standing in front of the men. the men, broad and big as they were, stood in front of her, arms in a position of absolute respect, knees slowly falling to kneel on the ground. shownu was not sure what he was supposed to do at this point.

"we deserve to be punished." one of the men said, head hung low, their color running off their skin. if anything, wonho is sure they were scared out of their wits.

"what for, sugar?" she asked, hand reaching out to the man's chin, pulling him to look at her dead in the eye without any ounce of fear.

"we should've been vigilant. our job is to protect you." he confessed.

"so then," she started before she grabbed a chair, place it in front of them and taking a seat crossed legged, "why was it that i had to protect myself?"

the two men did not answer and only had their head down in complete reverence, sure of the punishment they would get. there was little hope or any glimmer of anything in their eye. if anything, it seemed as if they were sure of heir end in her hands.

"i like you boys, you both minded your business and left me to my vices." she confessed, "i don't want to hurt you... but don't you think zahara deserves compensation?"

it was as if her name was a magic word. at the sound of it, the men shudder as if they had even more fear than before. wonho did not know if he was allowed to move. he did not take that risk, instead he stayed in placed and watched her act in a persona he had never saw her take before.

"wonho," she hissed the name, vengeance lacing the name, "bring him to me, his blood will be on my hands."