Jooyong smashed the alarm clock the second it rang. She sat on her bed, her foot shaking from the anxiety, with her uniform already on. The fear of being held accused for the murder of Wu’fannie’ kept her awake, the guilt that plastered her field of emotions kept her awake, the mere fact that she couldn’t find the courage to tell anyone kept her awake. Clearly, the teenager found trouble sleeping last night, and had the dark circles to prove it.

 Yesterday was not at all what she expects her first day at the new school would be like. Witnessing the death of her new classmate was never the plan. Replaying the scene in her head, she couldn’t remember anything that could have triggered Wufan’s sudden relapse. *Was it because I slapped him?* the thought was merely impossible. A crimson cheek is the worst you can get from a small hit to the face. Could it be a sudden virus outbreak which would turn the citizens of Korea into mindless zombies?  That would explain all the screaming and grunting, not to mention the sudden face mutation. No, that would never happen. Ludacris.

The only way of finding out, and appeasing her distraught mind, is by paying Fannie a visit. He would be absent today, for sure. And by the time the teacher called for attendance, she was positive that the empty chair behind her meant that:

1. Wufan is horribly ill
2. Wufan is dead
3. Wufan is being buried right now

*That’s just being overly exaggerated. He’s alive. He couldn’t have died.* she shook her head, hoping that the thought would just disappear from her head.

Clutching the blonde boy’s phone tightly on her lap, Jooyong tried to occupy herself by actually paying attention to class.

“Are you alright, girl?” Sohae whispered, shaking her hand in front of Jooyong’s face whose mind was wandering off in the middle of nowhere. “The bell just rang. Let’s go eat, you look kinda pale.”

The city girl forced out a smile “It’s alright, I’m not very hungry.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah…-oh! Do you know where Wufan lives?” Jooyong asked, making Sohae tweak her left eyebrow up as far as it could go. “He left his phone in class after duties yesterday.”

“Oh… his house is pretty far up the hills. It’s not so far from mine, though. I’ll show you after school. Hmmm… wonder why he’s sick today.”

“So from here, just go straight up this pathway. Be careful, it’s a little slippery, ok!” Sohae squeaked, waving as she paddled her bicycle out of sight.

*Straight up this pathway? That should be easy enough.* she stared at the fork on the road, one leading to a flat road down to Sohae’s house, while the other lead to a steep walkway covered with trees up to the Wu’s residence.

Jooyong trotted along the pebbly walkway, her breath hitching after merely 10 minutes of walking up the hill-like terrain. “Where is it?!” she screamed, grabbing her hair as she continued to sludge her weakened knees towards her destination. She took a mental note, reminding herself to beg her father for a bicycle when she gets home. *Dad!*Jooyong widened her eyes in alarm. She had forgotten to inform her parents that she was going to be coming home late. She grabbed her phone, only to be disappointed by the lack of signal the bad reception had provided.

She couldn’t turn back now. Jooyong won’t make it in time before dinner anyway. The best that she could hope for now is to borrow the Wu’s landline. They’re bound to have a home phone, right?

The exhausted teenager finally spotted the small cottage just as the sun began to set. Hopeful that someone was home, Jooyong pressed the white door bell, surprised with the mere fact that they had a doorbell.

“Yes?” an old lady greeted Jooyong with a solemn expression.

“Hello, I’m Gyo Jooyong, I came here to return Wufan’s phone.”

“Gyo? As in, Gyo InNa?” the old woman asked

“Oh-“ Jooyong gasped, surprised, “Yes, I am here granddaughter.”

With that, the old lady burst into a soft grin. “I was a friend of you grandmother. I’m sorry for your loss, she was a great woman.” She said with a hint of sadness. “Well- come in, come in. I just made dinner.” She continued, opening the door to her house wider for Jooyong to enter.

Unable to refuse, Jooyong bowed before stepping inside the house, leaving her shoes out the door. The girl gaped at the interior of the large cabin. Even if the façade seemed humble and quite average, much like other the houses in the surrounding area, the interior showed no doubt that the Wu’s were one of the wealthiest people this town had homed.

A loud banging suddenly resonated throughout the house, followed with a loud grunt, shocking Jooyong.

“That’s Wufan, he’s not finished his forming yet. The poor boy, it must be painful. He’ll be fine tomorrow  though”

“F-forming? Is that what happened to him y-yesterday?”

The old lady beamed at Jooyong. “You were the one who called yesterday?” she grinned, placing both her hands on her cheeks. “PERFECT! Come sit here, my darling.” She said, tapping onto the space on the couch next to where she was sitting.

Jooyong obediently followed, slipping into the spot where the old lady had patted.

“Where to begin…” she muttered, her face happy and bright.

 “Well, let’s just say that I’ve been waiting for you. You see, your grandmother and I were very, very close.” She paused; looking into Jooyong’s confused eyes before continuing.

“I promised on her deathbed that I would guide you when the time comes.”

“Guide me?”

“-Yes, you see, being the daughter of the two most powerful dragon families in Korea is bound to be tough. Your mother was the first of the Yong’s to marry a Gyo. Your grandmother knew that their first born would be talented, and she is never wrong!”  Grandma Wu smiled, her eyes saddening as she remembered her deceased friend.

“Well-“she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks “I guess you have just awakened Yifan’s inner dragon. Surprising actually, since that has nothing to do with your family’s power. The two of you must have a special connection.” She chuckled.

“That’s enough for today, let’s eat. I’ll call your father and tell him that you’ll be staying over.” She said, walking over to the landline hanging on the wall across from where they were sitting.

None of that could have been real, none of it. Jooyong gaped at the old woman as she gleefully chatted with your father, nodding her head several times before clapping her hands together and saying, “I’ll prepare the bed for you!”

"I'm sorry, but that is just absurd!" Jooyong stood up, pounding her right foot on the floor like an impatient child. 

"I know it's hard to accept. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to...for now." Grandma Wu smirked a strikingly similar smirk to the one which Wufan was renowned for. 

At the dinner table, Jooyong decided to play along, asking Grandma Wu questions about this so called 'dragon family'

"What did you mean by 'waking yifan's inner dragon'?" The teenager managed to say after inhaling a plate full of fu yung hai. 

"Well, since we've been pressured into hiding, our family's dragon abilities has been dormant for a long time now. Actually, my great grandfather was the last dragon before Wufan. I'm so glad that you've helped him find his inner self."

"You...you mean...w-what i saw at school, was Wufan turning into a dragon? Wufan is a dragon?" 

The old lady only chuckled. 

"Am i going to turn into one too?" Jooyong stopped eating, feeling all the information finally sink in. 

"By the love of all that is spicy, of course not! girls don't have the physical capability of handling a dragon transformation. The last one who tried actually burst into flames." 

"I can see that you're already opening your mind to this. That's good enough, I never expected anything from you. So this is a pretty good start, don't you think?" she said with a wink

"Now, let's get you to bed. You and Wufan will have to wake up early tomorrow morning, we can't forget about school. now...Where is that boy?" she stood up from her chair, walking to where the soft grunting could be heard. 

***

A/n:

Muhuhuahahhahaah =.= i rewrote this chapter like twice already and it still sounds rushed. Sorry guys. 

OMG OMG IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY LIKE A WEEK AGO AND I THOUGHT MY FRIEND FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT, BUT HE LIKE CAME THROUGH THE CLASSROOM DOOR TODAY SCREAMING " happy belated birthday. Here's your present!" AND IT WAS AN OFFICIAL EXOM POSTER FROM KOREA OMG OMG I SWEAR I WAS LIKE SCREAMING MY LUNGS OUT HAHAHHAHAHA.

kay, i'm calm now ^^ thanks for reading