Chapter 15 – Dragons

After training and the hellish of an exam the players took, most of them took their dinners. Some packs ate together at the bright field of theirs, red-clad and bright. At night time, the field looked especially loud. There are lots of food stalls, and most of them are Dragon Food mixed in to fit the other Unnatural’s taste. For example is Spicy Fairy Chicken. Yuna had her mom cooking those back in the past and the only one who liked it are her mom and Seonho. Her Dad and Lucy were disgusted. Speaking of her family, Yuna saw Seonho, Lucy and their friends eat at one stall while she saw her parents on a date together. Either way, she’s also, technically, in a date. Since the new lovebirds decided to go on a first date – at the stalls, cheap of Mingyu, by the way, and the two other single kids, Dawon and Yugyeom, went to the chengpai store to claim their clothes. She and Seokmin are now left together for dinner, and the two decided to go to one of the stalls. They’re not lovers and it’s not like someone’s treating. It’s just an ordinary dinner for the both of them, well, hopefully, Yuna prayed for it not to be eventful. She wants it to be the typical dinner between friends, and that nothing bad happens tonight. She noticed it, it’s as if all mishaps chase her. Her partner almost lost all his blood the last time she chased a heart.

Tonight was a bit different, though. She and Seokmin went out for the first time after a tiring day. She and her partner would usually go out with the pack, but since everyone’s out for today, they’re left with no choice. Seokmin went ahead to buy her food. Since the things she likes in this festivity is most likely Spiced Fairy Cow Skewers. The only non-vegan food she likes. Grilled cow sparkled with fairy dust. As Yuna was waiting for Seokmin, she noticed Byullie, the Strzyga Med major who helped them out with Seokmin’s wounds. She was with her husband-slash-soulmate and a three-year-old looking girl. Yuna noted that the small girl was wearing an all-black dress and pearls. The husband is tall and good-looking. He has small eyes, which looked a lot like the little girl’s.

“Hey, something caught your eye?” Seokmin finally arrived with their orders.

“Thank you.” Yuna took her order from the tray and Seokmin did the same before chanting a few words of prayer. After this, she began munching off her food. “Yeah, a cute couple with their baby.”

He nodded as he opened the wrapping of his own food. “Chandong-hyung and his wife?” He asked before taking a bite and she nodded.

“They are such a cute couple.”

“True.” He began picking out the vegetables from his spicy chicken burger. “But you know, I once heard a rumour that the little girl, Minnie, is not Chandong-hyung’s child.”

Yuna raised a brow. “But the kid’s face is definitely the father’s.”

He shrugged. “A rumour won’t come out unless a part of it is true, right?”

She nodded at his opinion that’s somehow correct. “Well, you have a point there.” She watched him eat, piquing up her curiosity. “So, what else do I need to know about you that I don’t know yet and I wouldn’t probably know unless we talk now?”

He asked, “What do you want to know?”

“Chaeyeon.” She began, and she noticed that he began to smile bitterly, a smile she hasn’t seen in him. “How did you two manage to date? From what I heard, your family’s a conservative one, and you’re an heir, too?”

It took him a bit before he could process. “We were a Sojung-Seungcheol. My family found out, and I almost got stripped out of my royal status.”

Yuna stopped eating, suddenly feeling guilty. From what she heard from her mother, royal dragons, like Seokmin, play an important role in a dragon clan. And from what she heard, it’s a mortal sin to marry a fairy – there’s only a few dragon clans left, and it’s not like they can be dragons. Draconians and Fairies, after all, according to science, would have a fairy child automatically. There hasn’t been anyone who’s proven that science wrong. “Sorry I asked that.”

“Now it’s my turn to ask.” He began smiling back to his usual smile, Yuna’s favourite smile. “So, do you like anyone in school?” Yuna suddenly felt her strings on her hands tugging. The red one. As said, she can see others’ strings, but not hers. She can see the beginning, in her hands, but not the end, on her soulmate’s hands.

Thinking the thought off, she returned to Seokmin’s question. She has seen lots of good-looking people in school. Choi Seungcheol, in her eyes, is good-looking. Mingyu and Seokmin, too. Soonyoung, her hellhound friend in the first week who’s joining the games (actually, she saw him a while ago), Yugyeom, and maybe Hwang Minhyun, too. But she doesn’t like anyone yet. Maybe because of her standards or something, but she doesn’t see herself dating anyone soon. “No one yet.” She answered honestly. “I’d actually love to have a crush or two, so that I won’t bury myself in books and spells.”

“Do you have someone you have your eyes on?” Yuna rolled her eyes and was about to say something until Seokmin stood up with eyes wide open.

“What’s going on?”

“Someone—“ He stopped for a bit. “A dragon is in trouble.” He sniffed around and looked at his arm. His scales are out because of danger, and it’s not good. “Someone’s fighting, I have to check it out.”

Yuna sighed and mentally complained about her bad luck. “You’re my partner. We can’t legit ditch each other, right?”

He smiled a bit before pulling her up of her chair and to the forest. And Seokmin was right. As they entered the forest, Yuna had her wings up for defense. They walked to the forest carefully and Seokmin smelled the scent – or rather, the dragon fire. Dragon fire is a magic draconians use as their signal if someone is in danger, and Seokmin is right. In the middle of the forest was a familiar trio, all on their other forms. Eunbi, Chanwoo and Moonbin. Seokmin immediately realized the type of monster the three are facing. “It’s a Madevaux.”

“Madevaux is a monster made with fairy blood and Strigoi blood.” Yuna added. “I’ll dismantle them.” She flapped her wings out and flew up to meet the monster on her own.

“Yah, Choi Yuna!” He flapped out his dragon wings as well and followed her up. “You can’t do it on your own! Madevaux monsters are powerful.”

“Against dragons.” She fought back before diving in to help the three kids. She went in front of them and stood firmly. She has to think of a spell that can dismantle and temporarily paralyze the monster. To her misfortune, she doesn’t know any other offensive fairy spell, so she has to use fairy dust – the favoured attack for a fairy-based monster. “Seokmin!” She called out her partner. “Do me a favour and make sure the kids get out of this alive.”

Seokmin unsure what to do, just did as she instructed and pulled Eunbi and Moonbin out first. “Hey! Stop it, we’re not leaving without Chanwoo!”

“We’re not leaving without him, either!” Seokmin rebutted.”And Chanwoo is a freaking royal dragon, he can handle himself!”

“Not with fairy magic!” Eunbi reasoned as she tried to pull her arm away from Seokmin but Seokmin is much more stronger than expected. “Let me go! I’m not going to leave my partner!”

“We’re not! We’re just leaving first!” Seokmin’s arms turned to his dragon claws and he forced the other two to retreat with him first. “Yuna, can you do Chanwoo?”

“Alrighty then!” Yuna flew up to Chanwoo and went on his back, the usual defence stance. “When I say run, you goddamnit better be a descendant of the Flash.”

“Uh, we’ll see about that.”

“One,”

“Two,”

“Run!” The moment Yuna said that, Chanwoo ran as fast as he could, Yuna tried to dispel the monster as fast as she could, but the moment Chanwoo dashed out, the monster ran to follow Chanwoo before Yuna can spray fairy dust unto it. “