Chanyeol breaks through the trees and into the clearing of Minseok's home. Luhan and Jongdae are out on the porch, play-fighting by spitting fire in each other's faces, and they don't take notice of him until Chanyeol is standing close to them, but still a safe distance away.

"You're back," is all Luhan says before puffing a small cloud of fire at Jongdae. It catches in the green dragon's hair and singes the ends before the flames burn out. Jongdae, completely unthrilled, returns the favor.

"Is Minseok around?" Chanyeol asks, shouldering his satchel. It feels heavy after trekking through the woods, and Chanyeol has already broken out into a sweat.

"He's inside," Jongdae replies, focus caught on his hair. He runs his fingers through the ends, eyes crossing attempting to survey the damage. "He should be out in a second though."

Chanyeol nods and waits patiently, watching as Luhan and Jongdae continue to bicker and compete meaninglessly until Minseok steps out of the house with his arms full of a massive saddle and Zitao clinging on to his shirt.

"Oh! Chanyeol, you're here," he says, a flush starting to creep up his neck. He shifts the saddle awkwardly in his arms, trying to keep all the random strings and belts off the ground. "We were just about to head out to train a little. Do you want to join us?"

"Yes!" he blurts out before he catches the glare Jongdae shoots him. "I mean, yes, if you don't mind."

Minseok laughs, face pretty much hidden behind the saddle. Chanyeol still tries to lean over and catch any sight of Minseok's gorgeous smile before it disappears.

"Okay, just follow me. It's not too far out," Minseok says, taking the lead in front of the group. Chanyeol tries to fall in line next to him but Zitao and Jongdae have taken each of Minseok's arms and Luhan is standing just behind Minseok. So Chanyeol takes the end of the line and follows behind everyone.

They head in a different direction, following a worn path deeper into the woods. The forest becomes darker the farther they travel, the branches overhead block out the sunlight and there are no pixie homes within sight. The further they push through the forest, the closer Chanyeol sticks to Luhan. Trees morph into ferocious faces and the eyes of animals light up in the darkness.

"Are we almost there?" Chanyeol murmurs, clutching on to Luhan's shoulders as something crawls across his foot and he steps on something that doesn't feel like the ground. His heart stops beating for a moment too long.

Minseok turns around. "Scared?" he calls back. All of the dragons turn to look at him, sinister smiles gleaming in the darkness.

"N-No, not at all. I've been through lots of scarier parts of the forest."

Minseok hums. "Good," he says. "It only gets scarier from here."

Chanyeol swallows thickly. He isn't scared. Not at all. Though as soon as they are close to the end, Chanyeol can even see the light out of the forest, Jongdae grabs his shoulders from behind and growls in his ear. At least he manages to hold in the scream he's about to let out, but Jongdae snickers as soon as he freezes up.

"Baby," Jongdae murmurs before catching up to Minseok. Chanyeol can hear Luhan snicker in front of him. His heart drops because any credibility he had, or thought he had, is now gone instantly.

They break through the forest not long after. Chanyeol is blinded by the light but thankful. They enter the largest field Chanyeol's ever seen, expansive over hills and hills and surrounded by the trees. The grass is tall, up to Chanyeol's knees, and they sway with the wind that rustles through the trees.

"Ah, finally," Luhan sighs, eyes shut as he breathes in deeply. His dragon ears pop out of the top of his head. Chanyeol makes sure to take a few steps back before Luhan's whole body shivers and two, icy blue dragon wings spring out from his back. They reach out eleven feet on either side and glow iridescent as the sunlight shines through them. Jongdae follows suit, morphing enough so that his wings pop out and glimmer in the afternoon sunlight.

"Head up without me," Minseok calls out from far away. He's on his knees fidgeting away with the saddle with Zitao behind him who has only morphed as far as his ears.

Chanyeol meanders towards Minseok, keeping watch on Luhan and Jongdae. The two dragons walk out further into the field, out until there's tons of space around them and far from the trees so there's enough room for their wings, and there they begin their transformation into dragons. Chanyeol watches, mystified, as Luhan's human legs morph into the hind legs of an blue dragon and Jongdae's spine cracks and extends until it's longer than Chanyeol's own home. They grow, human features disappearing and replaced with the massive features of their dragons. As dragons, their scales glimmer in the light, reflecting brightly almost like stars. Jongdae's scales are the same emerald green of his eyes, his wings shine like the color of the summer trees and he's now the height of trees. Luhan's scales are an iridescent blue, sparkling like the ocean waters.

Chanyeol can't help the gasp that leaves his mouth as Luhan takes off into the sky. Powerful wings start beating, the trees swaying violently as Luhan gains altitude and pushes up straight through the clouds. Jongdae follows, almost knocking Chanyeol back with the strength of the wind. He pushes up through the clouds and disappears, no sight of his wings behind him.

"This is amazing," Chanyeol murmurs, jaw slack in awe. Minseok looks up at him, wiping his brow from the sweat after having finally finished fiddling with the saddle.

"I know," Minseok replies, a gentle smile on his face. He looks up into the sky, seeing Jongdae and Luhan circling above him, and his smile only gets wider.

Zitao slips away next, heading out into the field on his own without a word. He transforms into his dragon quickly, scales red like the hottest fire and the darkest ruby jewel. He beats his massive wings and takes off into the sky. His flight is a little shaky going up, but once he passes the clouds, his flight steadies out.

"Zitao is the youngest," Minseok says. He plops down in the meadow and pats the grass beside him. Chanyeol follows along and lies back in the grass, staring up at the clouds in the sky. He's hypersensitive to the hand Minseok has so close to his. "He's still learning how to take off, land, and ride with a rider."

Chanyeol watches as red, blue, and green specks dip and pop through the clouds. "He's really quite cute," he muses.

"He was the first one to stick up for you." Minseok lies back in the grass, folding his arms behind his head. He turns to look at Chanyeol. "Zitao is special to us. If he hadn't stuck up for you after you'd left, none of us would have come to trust you."

Minseok sighs, removing one hand from behind his head and picking aimlessly at the blades of grass close to Chanyeol's hand. "Zitao knows when people are kind. He has a hard time trusting anyone who isn't, anyone who could hurt him. He knows you weren't what you came off as initially."

Chanyeol turns to look at Minseok, their gazes meeting. "And what did I come off as initially?"

Minseok purses his pink, plump lips and Chanyeol imagines that kissing them would feel like a dream right now. "To the dragons," Minseok hums, "they figured you were a pretentious dragon hunter who would do anything and fake everything just to get their scales and their wings."

"And you?" Chanyeol asks. "Did you think the same?"

Minseok stays quiet for a moment, almost a moment too long that it worries Chanyeol. "Maybe," he says finally. "But at least I thought you were handsome."

Chanyeol sputters none too handsomely. His face begins to burn hot as soon as Minseok's laugh rings in his ears. What's he supposed to follow that up with? Hey I think you're really hot too, or I must be more handsome now that my shoulder is in place and my face is cleaned up?

All he manages is an exasperated huff and an even deeper flush to his face.

They sit comfortably together until Zitao lands soon after, tilting too far forward and morphing back into a human too soon that he tumbles into the ground, back skidding across the grass until he lands in a patch of flowers. Minseok is up in an instant, laughing as he pulls Zitao off the ground and combs through the dirt in his hair. Zitao growls and puffs out smoke until Minseok bops his head and continues cleaning his hair from the dirt.

Then Minseok fetches the saddle and secures it in place once Zitao has transformed again. Chanyeol watches from his spot, noting which belts go where and how Minseok suits up on Zitao's back. Minseok works fast, like this is second nature to him, and soon he's up in the sky upon Zitao's back, dotting in and out of the clouds with the blue and green specks in the sky.

Chanyeol simply watches from the ground as fire bursts through the sky, almost like a light show of fireworks through the clouds. He stays and watches until the sun is nearly set, fascinated, until all the dragons land and turn back into their human forms, drenched in sweat but sporting the biggest smiles.

"Luhan, you could still make your turns cleaner," Minseok says, helping extricate Zitao from the massive saddle. Jongdae immediately finds this as a teasing point and blows smoke in Luhan's face.

"You're not in the clear either, Jongdae." And at that, Jongdae groans, slouches, and trudges the way back towards where Chanyeol is still sitting. Luhan then has reason to spit fire in Jongdae's face and dive headfirst into the forest trees. Zitao gathers the saddle in his arms and runs after them. He- quite strangely, in Chanyeol's opinion- wraps a free arm around Minseok's shoulder and nuzzles into the crook of Minseok's neck. He then takes off after Jongdae and Luhan right after.

The sun is just beginning to set behind the hillsides. Minseok takes slow steps towards Chanyeol, hands shoved in his pockets. The evening wind is cool but still quite strong, ruffling Minseok's hair over his shining eyes as he approach. Chanyeol relishes in the pleasant flip of his stomach at that.

"Shall we head back?" Minseok asks, holding out his hand. Chanyeol smiles shyly and nods, taking Minseok's hand, the trainer hoisting him up and off the ground. Except when Chanyeol is standing his full height, Minseok still hasn't let his hand go. Instead, the grip around his hand gets tighter and Minseok starts to lead him into the forest.

It feels like being a lovesick teenager. Chanyeol's is caught tight in Minseok's clammy grip, both their cheeks are flushed red hot and their eyes can't seem to meet from the embarrassment. But holding hands like this so simply isn't uncomfortable at all. It's really... nice, for lack of a more magical term from Chanyeol's brain short-circuiting from just glancing down at their interlocked fingers. With the sun setting behind them and the pixies twinkling like bells around them, this moment feels almost a little too magical, a little too good to be true.

But Minseok smiles up at him, pink lips sloping lazily and dimples just slightly pressing into his cheeks, and suddenly everything feels just right. Chanyeol shoves thoughts of what this means- what this makes them now- under the rug and relishes in the moment of holding Minseok's hand in his, feeling the callouses of his palm and tracing the lines of his fingerprints with his fingers.

He lives in the moment and, for once, doesn't think any more of it.

Two weeks later, Jongin's wing is fully healed and he breathes out enough fire to the heavens when he can finally fold his stiff wing back and morph freely between human and dragon form. Zitao seems the more immensely happy out of everyone, clutching to Jongin's arm tight and kissing the corner of his lips when he thinks no one is watching them. Chanyeol never imagined the day when he would see someone as stubborn and hard-headed as Jongin blush as red as the scales of his dragon form.

And whatever Chanyeol and Minseok are hasn't really changed in the past week. They've never moved past holding hands, though Chanyeol considers holding hands in front of the dragons and no one burning his face off as an important accomplishment in their relationship. Again, whatever their relationship actually is.

Though, through this time, Jongin still has yet to really open up to him. Chanyeol understands, really, that things like this will take time. But he's never really been patient at all with these things.

It's another sunny day with another long trek through the forest, back to the open field. This time, Yixing and Jongin tag along and Minseok doesn't bring a saddle this time. Rather, Chanyeol has a satchel of treats he'd brought from the village- especially the chocolate chip cookies that the dragons have come to adore him for bringing.

Today, Chanyeol takes Minseok's hand in his, intertwines their fingers, and doesn't feel so embarrassed to do so. Minseok smiles up at him brilliantly, and everything within him feels so warm and content.

When they make it to the field, Minseok pulls them out toward the center and plops down in a small patch of flowers. One by one, the others morph into their dragon forms. Luhan and Jongdae disappear as sapphire and emerald dots in the sky. Zitao stays close to Jongin as he morphs, gritting his teeth tight and growling when Jongin howls out in pain as the skin of his wounds pulls tight. But the transformation is still successful- Jongin's scales are a deeper red, a wine red, compared to Zitao's- and he successfully, though very shakily, takes up to the sky. He takes out a few trees on his way up, but he makes it past the clouds and Zitao follows up soon after him. Yixing is the last to fly up, the glimmering green of his tail disappearing into the clouds in moments.

"You didn't bring your saddle out today," Chanyeol muses. One hand is shoved deep into his satchel, rummaging for the apple he'd thrown in there this morning. Once he parts through the sea of cookies in his backpack, he finds an apple at the bottom and eagerly brings it up to his mouth, satisfied by the crunch. He sinks back into the flower bed, taking another bite of the apple.

Minseok fidgets almost a little uncomfortably, lying down beside Chanyeol. "I know," he murmurs. He inches ever so closer to Chanyeol, but he still hasn't pushed past Chanyeol's personal bubble space. "It was too much to carry over here."

"Which is a complete lie." Chanyeol can tell that much. Minseok had come down from the dragons so excited and happy that he's sure not a day goes by where Minseok doesn't suit up and fly high among his dragons. Chanyeol takes another bite from his apple, huffing out a sigh.

Minseok's lips pull down into a pout. "Obvious, huh?"

Chanyeol nods. Crunch, and he takes another bite from the apple.

"Well, today I just didn't want to," he sighs, taking Chanyeol's free hand and twining their fingers together. He messes around nervously with Chanyeol's fingers- as he's come to find is Minseok's nervous habit.

"Right." Chanyeol is completely skeptical.

"Ugh, just--" and then Minseok reaches over his chest, grabs his other arm and forcefully pulls the apple towards him. Chanyeol watches, mesmerized, as Minseok wraps his lips around the apple and bites down over where he's already bitten.

It's like a kiss, his mind helpfully supplies. His chest tightens terribly.

As if enough fuel hadn't been added into a burning fire to take down three villages already, Minseok curls up against Chanyeol. He rests his head in the nook of Chanyeol's arm and sighs, once again turning back to nervously playing with Chanyeol's fingers.

"Just shut up and stay still," Minseok murmurs under his breath. Chanyeol can only imagine the flush burning up to Minseok's ears- at least if it's anything like he feels at the moment. Chanyeol feels so frozen that he can't even bring Minseok closer, but the dragon trainer seems satisfied with transforming him into a pillow- cuddling- and leaving them in silence.

The dragons continue dipping through the clouds and speeding through the sky, leaving streaks of their scales behind them. They bite at each other's tails and chase each other through the sky- like siblings playing together in the front yard. Jongdae and Luhan certainly pick on Zitao, or who Chanyeol assumes is either Zitao or Jongin, but Yixing is a brilliant mediator and draws the two troublemakers' attention elsewhere before Zitao or Jongin begin to lash out in a massive fire wave.

"How often do you ever just watch your dragons from the ground," Chanyeol muses, mostly to himself. Minseok shifts against him, messing around with his fingers again.

"Never," he says. "It's a completely different world from the sky. Once you get up there, you'll never want to touch the ground again."

Chanyeol mindlessly messes around with Minseok's fingers. A beat of silence passes, as has become normal and comfortable with their conversations sometimes, before Minseok flips around, props himself up on his elbows, and looks down at Chanyeol.

This, he thinks, is how Minseok could kiss him right now. The light shines in Minseok's eyes, twinkling in the warm brown shade. Flower petals are caught in his hair and his cheeks still carry the slightest blush. With the sunlight behind him, he looks almost angelic.

The silence, now, is heavy with something different swimming in the air between them. Chanyeol's kissed a lot of people, but he's never experienced a moment like this.

"You never really told me what you do in the village." Minseok aimlessly picks at the grass, plucking up blades and blowing them onto Chanyeol's chest. "I mean, you've seen almost everything I do out here but I still don't understand what you do."

Chanyeol purses his lips. "Okay, ask away. Whatever you're curious about, I'll answer."

Minseok presses his lips together and thinks for a moment. His jaw opens and shuts a few times before he finally comes up with a question. "How many princes and princesses have you saved?"

"Seven," Chanyeol answers easily. "Including one merman. Though he's quite a stick in the mud if you ask me."

Minseok's eyes open up incredulously. "You mean those exist?!" he exclaims.

Chanyeol smiles and nods. "The man had wanted so desperately to find true love, but he couldn't see what love was already holding his hand. The witch found his weakness and exploited it- she told him that if he wanted to search upon land for love, then he'd have to trade his gorgeous voice for legs. The prince blindly agreed, and I found him passed out along the beach." And there is where Chanyeol's breath grows short and his chest begins to ache. "I tried to help him find his true love, and in the end, I kissed him to break the curse the witch had put upon him because he understood that his childhood love back in the ocean was who he had been searching for all along."

"You mean, he didn't fall in love with you? After all you did for him?"

Chanyeol smiles sadly, vaguely feeling the whistle tucked into his pocket. "That's how my job works. I just want to help people."

Though wishing for love and ending up heartbroken is not how Chanyeol ever imagined happening, not since he saved his first prince that ran away as soon as he was free from the witch.

Minseok presses his lips into an even thinner line, the red of his lips fading out into the pale color of his skin. He ends up flopping over and curling back against Chanyeol, staying silent for longer than Chanyeol would really like. The tightness in his chest eases when Minseok begins to speak again.

"Would you like to fly up there with me? Someday at least.” Minseok is back to playing with his fingers. “I mean I'd have to train you for flight and then I'd have to match you up with a dragon close to your personality so that the flight is easier for you. Jongin might be a good match, believe it or not. Though Yixing is the most stable. And Luhan is really a good flier for speed- he's really more built for it." Minseok begins rambling on and Chanyeol really finds it quite adorable.

"I'd love to," Chanyeol replies, squeezing Minseok's hand. "Though maybe I'll finally discover I have a deathly fear of heights."

Minseok laughs, deciding to flip back over and curl back into Chanyeol's chest. Somehow, Chanyeol feels that they're closer than before and his heart is thumping wild in his chest that it may just explode like fireworks.

When the sun begins to set and the dragons finally begin landing and morphing back, Minseok pulls away and runs out to meet them. His smile is bright, as is everyone's, and they immediately pull him into their arms, whether to tell him of their exploits and accomplishments or to run knuckles through his hair or puff smoke in his face teasingly. To Chanyeol, it's like looking at a picture of a perfect family.

"Did you even see us up there!" Jongdae yells at him, tugging Chanyeol's head down and forcefully running knuckles over his head, just as he had done with Minseok.

"I bet not," and Luhan puffs smoke into his face so that it sticks in his hair. "He was too busy staring at Minseok to watch."

Chanyeol stops his foot indignantly. "I was not!" He swears everyone rolls their eyes at that. Even Jongin.

"You're worse than a lovesick princess," Yixing chides. And at that, Jongin bursts out in a surprising bought of laughter, clutching at his stomach and naturally curling back into Zitao. It's probably from the mental image of Chanyeol, with too long limbs and no coordination, being shoved into a frilly purple dress and attempting to act with poise as a princess would.

With that, Chanyeol can finally feel at ease that things are finally mending between Jongin and himself. When Jongin can finally open his eyes and wipe the tears gathering at the corners, he meets Chanyeol's gaze and actually smiles, his red eyes sweetened by the natural curve of his smile.

"Come on, quit teasing the poor guy," Minseok chimes in, taking Chanyeol's hand in his. "Let's go home."

Chanyeol loves the sound of that.

The days pass by peacefully, as Chanyeol always imagined what sleepy village days pass like for the people around him. It takes a lot of Jongin messing around with him (and many days of bringing chocolate chip cookies) before Jongin fully forgives him. He suspects that Zitao still has a hand in it, though he would never really know for sure. According to Minseok, Zitao has not spoken since he'd been found, and the scar across the back of his neck is telling of his past, but so long as the dragons understand him and he'd found a companion in Jongin, Minseok was pleased all the same.

Additionally, he's learned to balance his work in the village with visiting Minseok. He spends the morning fixing farm tools, fences, and chimney stoves, sometimes helping others on their farm or playing with the kids if they find him first. But by noon, he's with Minseok- whether that be within Minseok's home or out in the field, watching the dragon trainer take flight upon ruby wings and commanding orders above the clouds.

Today, though, he is spending a rare, quiet day in Minseok's home. After lunch, all the dragons had collapsed on the couches, limbs tangled and all sprawled across each other, caught in a state between awake and napping. For the moment, they've all fallen silent and when Chanyeol glances over his shoulder to look, all of them look as though they've been knocked unconscious.

"They're really cute- you know, when they're not threatening me about holding your hand and swearing they'll burn me to ashes if I don't remember to bring back more chocolate chip cookies."

Minseok chuckles, bumping hips with Chanyeol. He's elbow-deep in soapy water and keeps his eyes downcast upon the dishes still piled high in the sink.

"Funny," Minseok sighs, turning to look at his dragons. Jongin, who is curled up against Zitao but has his legs tossed over Yixing's body, lets out a snore as his head slips back awkwardly. "They can be cute when they want."

Chanyeol bumps Minseok's hips back, taking the wet dish from him and drying it off. "I like them joking around with me though, I have to say. I don't really find anyone like that in the village- at least not anyone above three feet tall."

Minseok smiles, swinging his hips and returning the hip bump. "Even if they don't ever and will not ever say it, they really like having you around. They're glad to have a new toy to play with and tease.”

Chanyeol scoffs, taking another dish and drying it off. "I'm more than just a toy. I'm also their personal servant when it comes to cookies."

Minseok presses his lips together for a moment, washing off the last dish. When he's processed his thoughts, and looks back to make sure the dragons are still asleep, he dries off his hands, looks up at Chanyeol, and says, "You know, they almost think of you like family now."

Chanyeol's hands still in the middle of drying the last plate off. When he meets gazes with Minseok, he can't see any fallacy with what he's said. There's not even a glimmer of doubt in his eyes.

The statement rings back in his mind and it makes Chanyeol feel insanely happy. To be considered family, to feel finally like there is a home for him, even in the most unconventional of circumstances, Chanyeol is happy. His heart flutters pleasantly in his chest as he glances back at all the dragons, and then back at Minseok who is still smiling brightly.

It's a home he'd never dreamed he'd find, but it's the most wonderful home all the same.

"Today, I'm taking you flying!"

Chanyeol's jaw drops. He'd only set foot on Minseok's porch before the door had swung open and Luhan, Jongdae, and Jongin had burst through the door and out into the clearing. Then Minseok stood in the doorway, somehow managing to carry two massive saddles over his shoulders, and proclaim that Chanyeol would actually get on a dragon's back and break through the cloud-line.

"You're... joking?" his brain hasn't quite caught up to what's happening. Zitao and Yixing easily slip between them in the midst of the conversation and quietly follow the others into the forest.

"No jokes," Minseok says. He shifts one of the saddles off his shoulders and Chanyeol reaches out to catch it. For one, the massive saddle is heavy, heavier than Chanyeol had expected with what ease Minseok had carried it with. He grunts under the weight, struggling to lift it up higher and carry it more easily.

"A few things you should know before you get up in the air," Minseok says, leading the way into the forest. Chanyeol stumbles clumsily behind, trying his best to carry the saddle. Though today, Minseok is wearing a sleeveless shirt and his arms are flexed to hold the saddle and wow, Minseok looks really nice.

Chanyeol snaps out of it as soon as he notices Minseok is staring at him. Right. They're going to fly on dragons.

"I'm hoping it's close to riding a horse."

Minseok laughs, "It's similar in the sense you could sit the same way if you like. But you'll find that when you're comfortable, you could ride any way you like."

Chanyeol feel sick just imagine doing anything remotely dangerous. Well, putting himself in more danger than necessary.

"Yixing is the calmest flier so he'll take you up," Minseok continues, pushing away a low hanging branch. "You won't have much navigating to do anyway because Yixing knows the area and he knows to follow me if needed. If you want him to slow down, just pat once on the flank and twice to stop and land."

Chanyeol breathes out shakily. He'd been imagining what this day would be like, and he didn't imagine being quite so afraid.

They break out into the large clearing in the center of the forest. The first thing Chanyeol does is drop the saddle. He can barely feel his arms- they don't even cooperate at this point. Out in the field, he can only spot a green and red dragon curled together. Minseok is already heading out for the dragons and all Chanyeol can do is hoist up the saddle again and follow behind him.

"Let's suit up. Yixing, Jongin," Minseok says. He approaches Yixing first, small against the dragon's face. He holds his palm out and Yixing pushes his emerald snout against it, and Minseok responds by running a gentle hand down the side of the dragon's face. Then he approaches Jongin, who puffs enough wind to knock Minseok back playfully. Minseok though looks incredibly happy by the tease and instead laughs as he throws his saddle over Jongin's back and starts doing up the belts.

Chanyeol tries his best to follow along, struggling firstly with even lifting the saddle up to Yixing's back. Then he gets confused with all the belts and where they go, and he really doesn't want to strangle Yixing by accident, though he's sure that's impossible.

"You've got this backwards." Minseok comes over and points out the belt Chanyeol's tying around the underside of Yixing's belly. "You've tied it up wrong- here, let me show you."

And Minseok takes Chanyeol's hands in his and guides his movements to tie the belts. Chanyeol swallows thickly, praying that Minseok doesn't feel how sweaty his hands are or doesn't look up any time soon to see the blush on his face.

Eventually Minseok ties up the ropes for him and secures him into the saddle. Minseok then gives Chanyeol a reassuring pat on the back (or as reassuring as it can be when Chanyeol is freaking the out internally) before he hops up on Jongin's back. He doesn't even bother tying up the safety belt for himself.

"Alright," he yells, patting Jongin's ruby scales. "Take us up!"

Jongin's the first to take off, large wings beating heavy until he's off the ground and taking up for the sky. Chanyeol is so mesmerized to watch it so up close that Yixing's take off startles him, almost making him topple off the dragon's back before he grabs the saddle and grips it until his knuckles turn white. Yixing's emerald wings beat around him- one, two, three pumps until Chanyeol is off the ground and Yixing is taking up for the sky. As they pass the tree line, Chanyeol shuts his eyes tight and doesn't bother looking down. He can feel the wind swirl around them and he can hear the trees bending and swaying under the gush of the wind. His heart is beating hard in his chest and he can feel them going up, up, up, until Yixing's flight evens out and Chanyeol's hands begin to ache.

"Open your eyes, Chanyeol!" Minseok yells from far away.

Chanyeol inhales, exhales, and finally gains the courage to open his eyes. All he can see is the crisp blue around him. He shivers, deciding to look down. Below him are the white clouds he'd spent so many afternoons looking up at.

"This is," he tries to talk but there's a lump in his throat that's hard to talk around. He looks around to find Minseok floating off to his right, smiling so incredibly wide that Chanyeol's heart takes off and beats like dragon wings. Like this, Minseok looks amazing.

"You'd better hold on! Yixing's going to show you just what dragons are made of!"

Chanyeol snaps out of his momentary daze and grips onto the saddle once more. Yixing speeds through the clouds, right behind Minseok upon Jongin, and when he's picked up speed he folds his wings back and takes a straight nosedive for below the clouds. Chanyeol's breath catches until they break right through the clouds. He screws his eyes shut because Yixing is diving straight for the ground and they're plummeting so fast and they're going to crash for sure. Yixing then spreads out his wings and catches them a good few feet off the ground, catching the wind and riding the current up. Chanyeol grips onto the saddle, hoping he doesn't slide off it. Yixing makes a few spins going up until he reaches high above cloud level.

There, Jongdae, Luhan, and Zitao come into view, each beating their wings to hold themselves in place. Yixing turns to glance at Chanyeol for a moment, and then he blows out a massive wall of fire that surrounds them. In turn, Luhan, Jongdae, and Zitao do the same and then burst away through the sky. Yixing chases after them, speeding until he's close and then blows out fire to catch their tails.

This, Chanyeol feels, is exhilarating. Feeling the wind blow through his hair, soaring above the clouds, feeling the rush of adrenaline as Yixing dives down for the ground or when someone blows up fire around them. He's never smiled, laughed, so much more before and his cheeks are beginning to ache with it.

Why anyone would want to take this away, take down the most fantastic mystical beings Chanyeol's ever met, boggles his mind for a moment. The thought is absurd to him, and now he sees why Minseok protects his dragons so fiercely. He'd admired Minseok so much before, but now the esteem only rises higher.

After a few more tricks, one particularly dangerous one in which Yixing thought it would be a good idea to flip and make Chanyeol hang upside down for far too long, Chanyeol pats twice on Yixing's back to land. They are the last out of the sky, everyone else on the ground has already transformed back into humans and Minseok's saddle is already tossed off to the side.

Chanyeol is still running high on adrenaline as soon as Yixing's feet touch ground. He immediately slips free from the saddle and touches ground, legs still shaky so they fold under him as soon as he'd taken a few steps forward. He can hear Jongdae's laughter, but Chanyeol's got one person in mind. He gains strength in his legs again and runs straight for Minseok.

"That was amazing! That was more than I'd ever dreamed how flying with a dragon above the clouds would be like!" He grips Minseok's shoulders, shaking him a little roughly with all his excitement. "I can't believe I actually went above the clouds. I can't believe I even did that. I'm so happy I... I--"

He looks down at Minseok, down into the dragon trainer's shining eyes and his flushed, rounded cheeks. He looks at Minseok and suddenly feels so much warmth in his chest threatening explode. His throat closes and opens, locks up as his gaze drops down to Minseok's pink lips.

And pushed by adrenaline and so much love, he pulls Minseok flush against his body and kisses him, feeling the trainer's soft lips upon his and his heart beating against his chest and his belly swooping happily as Minseok leans into him. Minseok's hands naturally reach around his waist, fitting against his hips as he tilts his head back and gives Chanyeol more access, which he takes eagerly and kisses Minseok harder until he feels his lips beginning to swell and he's losing his breath.

He pulls back reluctantly, chest heaving for air. Half of his mind is blissfully happy with what he'd done, the other half mortified that he'd kissed Minseok and that he'd done so in front of five dragons. He brings a shaky hand up to his lips, hot to the touch of his fingers. Minseok looks just as incredulous as he feels, though he looks much hotter with his windswept hair and red, swollen lips.

Minseok doesn't say a word. Instead, he locks his hands behind Chanyeol's neck and pulls him down for another kiss. Chanyeol's heart thumps wildly and untamed as Minseok's tongue pushes through his plush lips and inside Chanyeol's mouth. Chanyeol moans at the feeling, relishing in the moment and praying that this isn't a dream. His hands fall limply to Minseok's waist, dipping into the back pocket of the trainer's trousers. Minseok slots himself against him, pushes them closer, and everything feels so right.

They kiss for so long that Chanyeol loses track, at least until he can feel heat grazing his toes and he pulls away for breath to see the ground beneath him charred. He looks up and Luhan has smoke puffing from his ears and Jongdae's green eyes are alight.

"You're so gross," Luhan groans, stomping off into the forest. Chanyeol looks around and belatedly realizes Jongin, Zitao, and the saddles have already disappeared around him. Yixing has an arm wrapped around Jongdae's waist and is leading him away, but Jongdae still fights out for the last word.

"If you so much as place another hand where it shouldn't, I'm going to burn your entire ing face off!"

Minseok laughs, leaning up and Chanyeol can feel it against his lips. On his toes, Minseok leans up and pecks his lips. Suddenly everything feels hotter than fire and Chanyeol desperately wants more of Minseok again.

"I'm glad you enjoyed today," he says, taking Chanyeol's hand and intertwining their fingers. He swings their arms mindlessly as he walks. "Had I known you'd kiss me like that, I would have taken you up sooner."

Chanyeol laughs, voice hoarse in his throat. "If you want to make out more, all you have to do is ask."

Granted, Minseok doesn't ask the next time, or the time after that, or ever, and instead steals the breath away from Chanyeol's lungs with just a kiss.

For all the heartbreak Chanyeol has suffered, a love like this was worth all the pain.

"Minseok," Chanyeol whispers, gently shaking the trainer awake. It's a couple weeks later after his first flight. Now he was a more experienced flier and had learned to ride any dragon- even Jongin who'd tried to buck him off more than once. But after a day full of flying, he'd walked hand in hand with Minseok home, Minseok and Yixing had stayed in the kitchen to cook and Chanyeol had spent time with the dragons, mostly learning of some game they were quite fond of. The day had passed like many others before it, though Chanyeol had stayed later than before and the moon was already high in the sky. He figured he should head home at some point, especially if the villagers needed him in the morning.

Minseok shifts against his side, cuddling closer against him. Long eyelashes fan against his cheeks as he tries so desperately to open up his eyes to the source of the voice, but sleep has too far overtaken him and his eyes barely open a sliver before they clamp shut. Save for Yixing, everyone else had already fallen asleep- everyone sprawled out on top of each other and limbs in a crazy mess.

Chanyeol wants so much to stay, but he feels the tug in his chest telling him to go. "Minseok, I have to go home."

"No," Minseok mumbles, still completely asleep. Small hands clutched around Chanyeol's arm. "Stay."

"I can't. You know that." But oh how much Chanyeol wished Minseok could keep him there by his side and they could fall asleep together without any worries.

"Stay," Minseok pleads again, sleep still tugging on his consciousness. "Please."

Chanyeol's heart aches for these moments, when Minseok transforms from the powerful dragon trainer into the childlike version of himself. Minseok's grip on his arm tightens further and Chanyeol feels it tighten around his heart.

Yixing stands from his spot and steps over Luhan, who'd fallen asleep sprawled across the floor. He runs a gentle hand through Minseok's hair, a thumb brushing over his cheek. "Chanyeol will be back tomorrow. You know that."

But Minseok seems to have slipped back under again, no longer responsive to any voices and the grip around Chanyeol's forearm goes lax.

"Come on, I'll walk you out," Yixing sniffles, rubbing his arms over his bare shoulders with a sudden gust of the cool night breeze within the house.

Chanyeol does his best to extricate from Minseok's grip without waking the other. He removes his arm from Minseok's grip and his leg caught between Minseok's ankles. He then takes the couch pillow and ever so carefully helps Minseok to lie out across the couch and sleep more comfortably than on his shoulder. Minseok doesn't stir, doesn't awaken, but a soft smile crosses his features as he curls into the warmth left and the scent of Chanyeol left behind and falls back asleep.

Yixing leads him out the door, and Chanyeol doesn't think much more of it. They walk out silently until they reach the edge of the clearing. Chanyeol sighs, white puffing from his mouth in the sudden chillness of the night. He breaks into the forest by habit, but Yixing is still walking with him.

"You don't have to follow me home," he says. "I'll make it there fine. I'm sure everyone is going to need help getting ready for bed."

Yixing doesn't reply, but he still follows wherever Chanyeol goes. They stay this way for half of the journey, Chanyeol being unsure why Yixing is walking with him and why he hasn't replied yet. In truth, walking home with Yixing is more comforting than walking alone.

A few beats of crickets chirping passes before Yixing says anything. "Minseok is not what you think he is."

That brings Chanyeol to an effective stop, despite the eerie sway of the trees in the night. He breathes in shakily and turns around. Yixing's green eyes are harsh in the darkness.

"Minseok... he wasn't just a villager who the king expelled." Yixing wrings his hands nervously in the darkness, though his speech is still calm. "Luhan and I were his dragons long before Minseok had ever set foot into the forest. We were the first he trained, and we were his best friends when everyone shunned him for being cursed."

Chanyeol remains silent, not really sure on what is appropriate to even say.

Yixing sighs sadly. "Those days, when no one seemed to show an ounce of love for Minseok, were the hardest. I can only do so much as the guardian of a prince."

Chanyeol's mind stalls. Prince. Minseok was. Is.

"When Minseok had been cast into the forest, the queen had blessed him with one final protection spell from the witch. So long as Minseok had never found true love, the protection spell would last and the witch may never find him again. But--" Yixing's breath catches short.

"I broke the protection," Chanyeol mutters. Suddenly his chest hurts. "I've put everyone and everything you've all worked for in danger."

Yixing shakes his head, resting a reassuring hand on Chanyeol's shoulder. "Even if we'd moved to the edge of the earth and into the coldest, most barren lands, this time would have been inevitable. The witch always has her way at some point. How long we could stall it was the only point in question."

Chanyeol heaves a sigh. "Everyone else knows about this?"

Yixing nods.

"Then what can I do? I can't--" his throat closes up tight around him-- "I'll protect him. I won't let anything happen to him, nor any of you. I'm only human, but I've battled the witch before."

Yixing smiles, his hand finally dropping to his side. "That's all I needed to hear." He shoves his hands into his pockets, his green eyes piercing through the darkness. "The time will come," he says. "We are going to need your help when the day arrives."

Chanyeol nods, determination strung taught within him. "I swear I'll do everything I can. I've," and then he chokes on his words, "I've found my own true love. I won't let it slip through my fingers so easily." He clenches his fist by his sides until they ache. "I won't let the witch take this from me."

But oh how wrong he was.

The morning three days later, Chanyeol is jerked awake by Luna clawing at his face. Agitated. Anxious. She continues pacing around him, growling and hissing and pushing him to get ready faster and towards the door and out into the village where--

Everyone has collapsed in their fields. Chanyeol acts without thinking and runs first to the Jung's farm after spotting two small figures collapsed in the tall grass pastures. He hops over the fence and runs to them, lungs burning with exertion and his heart wringing tight with worry. He's down on his knees, taking Sooyeon in his arms and holding two fingers above her parted lips.

He feels it, air pushing past her lips. She's still breathing. He does the same to Soojung and finds her still breathing. Both of them are fast asleep, noted by Sooyeon snuggling against him as soon as she's comfortable in his arms.

Everyone. Everyone in the village, save for him, is asleep in their place.

As he tries to process this, he carries the two girls into their home and tucks them into bed. They shift ever so slightly in his arms as they try to cling on to him, tiny hands clutched around his neck.

"I promise, I'll fix this," he whispers, tucking the girls into bed and holding their small fingers in his palm in turn as they whine and fidget uncomfortably. "I'll be back when you wake up."

He prays he can fix this.

He takes in a deep breath and leaves the house, making a dead sprint for his own place. He swings the door open, grabbing nothing more than a few poisons and a small hunting knife and taking it out to his horse who is antsy in his reigns. It takes far too long to calm down his horse and ride out.

He bursts through the forest as fast as he can, snapping the reins of the horse after each turn. His heart is thumping, scared for what's happening. He certainly hadn't expected the witch's curse to be so dreadful- the witch had never once touched anyone other than the prince or princess she'd stolen away, the armies that had come to fight, and Chanyeol. But to put everyone into the deepest slumber, let them waste away in eternal rest when they had done nothing wrong, was terrible.

When he's close, he slows down the horse and hops off. He runs a little ways and bursts into the clearing. There, what registers in his mind is a sudden howl that rings deep, coldly in his chest. His fists are trembling by his side as he clenches them.

"Stay still! Zitao, you’re going to--" Yixing tries to hold the younger still, but Zitao's sudden movement brings the wrong press of his hand against a wound and the younger writhes in pain again. He tries to fight it, force Yixing's hands off his wounds in his panic, but Yixing is much stronger than him and holds him still. Jongin is desperately holding onto Zitao's hand, eyes flooded with worry despite his own wounds, the scratches that adorn his arms and face. Beside them, Luhan lies unconscious with his head propped up in Jongdae's lap, who is anxiously watching Zitao grow angrier, more afraid, and lashes out at them.

No one had been spared from the fight. All of them are cut up and bruised, some more severely than others, but the distress is evident in their faces. They’d fought their best, but Minseok had been snatched from their fingers.

Chanyeol is too late.