The Little Red Dragon
I'm not sure where this came from, honestly. Probably some sort of frustration on my part, considering.
The Little Red Dragon
Boyfriend; YoungMin-centric
No pairs, no triggers (I don't think)
boyfriend_love prompt: 19 - find your way, JungMin, YoungMin
Not mine, not true
YoungMin woke slowly, trying to bat the sunlight out of his eyes. Then he sat straight up and glared around him. Empty beds, all mocking him. How he managed to sleep through everything in the morning, he didn't understand. Especially when every little movement kept him up at night. He understood that, some, though. He didn't like having more than one roommate.
Okay, so it was more than that, he decided as he climbed out of bed, changed into clothes, and headed down the stairs. He didn't like it that he didn't room with his twin any more. It felt… wrong. They'd shared a room for years, done everything together because everything got decided by age, except this. This…. He sighed and sank down at the table, filling his plate with leftovers.
"You didn't sleep well," DongHyun said more than asked, handing over one of YoungMin's favorite breakfast breads. Lately he hadn't gotten up early enough to get any.
YoungMin shook his head. "Thanks," he said, taking it.
No one really understood, because he didn't know any other sets of twins. At least now, he thought bitterly, following the others as they left the dining hall, no one had a problem telling them apart. It didn't really help him feel any better. At least, right now, he actually got to see his twin, his best friend, and people just didn't get that, either. He'd stopped trying to describe it a long time ago. And, he had to admit, leaning against the fence with the rest of the boys, he was jealous. YoungMin was older, even if only by six minutes, and the dragons had been his dream. And yet, out in the field, he could see KwangMin feeding his pale green dragon, who couldn't seem to sit still. Not that any of them would, but YoungMin could admit that he didn't really look at the others. He had to get over it, he knew it, but being caught in what felt like limbo strained everything. No one else seemed to care. He figured he simply wasn't normal, and maybe that's why the dragons had passed over him last hatching.
Something tugged on his pants leg and he moved it out of the way, not sure what he could have gotten it caught on. KwangMin looked over and grinned at him, looking so perfectly content that YoungMin had to smile back, a real smile he rarely felt on his face. He had to change that. He wouldn't allow the disappointment and jealousy to make him bitter. He just needed to do… something. Find something he could do.
He felt another tug on his leg and stepped further along the fence away from everyone else, watching for some clue, some idea of what to do if he got his own dragon. He rarely got to talk to KwangMin anymore, even if KwangMin had snuck him into the stables a few times to let him pet his dragon. It just… wasn't the same, but it was better than nothing, and he took every chance he got to be near a dragon.
This time, the tug included scratches, and he stifled a curse as he looked down. His eyes widened in disbelief at the small dark red dragon with it's claws embedded in his pants. Abandoning thoughts of his twin and KwangMin's dragon, YoungMin knelt down and extracted the claws. "What are you doing out here?" he asked softly, running a finger over its crest.
It - he - purred, and then scampered up YoungMin's arm to settle across his shoulders. YoungMin could feel the rumble from the dragon's continued purr, rattling his shoulders and easing the tension in them. Slowly, he stood up, barely aware that the teacher had joined them and spoke of something. "You shouldn't be here," he whispered to the dragon, which merely purred harder, his tail looped loosely around YoungMin's neck.
"Jo YoungMin," the teacher snapped, and YoungMin looked up, startled. "You're not paying…." He stopped and stared at YoungMin's shoulders.
"I don't know where he came from," YoungMin said when the man's eyes narrowed in anger.
"I don't know if I can trust you," the teacher said flatly. "You spend more time with your brother than is officially allowed, and I don't know what he's told you."
YoungMin stared at him, trying not to lose his temper. "He wouldn't tell me anything, and I know better than to ask," he protested.
"I don't know if I can trust you," the teacher repeated. "Follow me."
Seething at the injustice, feeling like that accusation added insult to injury, YoungMin walked after the teacher. The little dragon's purr eased when YoungMin started moving, and YoungMin reached up to pet his crest again. The little dragon tightened his tail around YoungMin's neck, without choking him thankfully, but didn't purr anymore at all.
The teacher opened the door to the stable and YoungMin followed him inside. "Shut the door," someone snapped, and startled, YoungMin did so.
"What happened?" his teacher asked as YoungMin turned back around.
A line of boys stretched across the open space, moving a step at a time, looking for something. The one who'd spoken looked angry, and maybe… scared? "We lost a dragon," he said. "I hope you didn't let it out."
"We didn't," the teacher said. "We may have brought it back in."
The line of boys stopped dead. "Brought it back in?"
The teacher reached behind him and pulled YoungMin forward. "Is this your missing dragon?" he asked, gesturing at the red clinging to YoungMin's shoulders.
The boy stepped closer, and sighed. "Yes. Where did you find it?"
"Out by…."
"I don't know how long this boy has had it," the teacher said, interrupting YoungMin. "I saw it only this morning."
"Him," YoungMin said flatly. "He's male."
The teacher scowled at him. "Be quiet," he snapped, and turned back to the boy in charge, who sent the others back to their tasks. "I know this boy sneaks in here with his brother to visit his brother's dragon. I don't know what he might have done…."
"I didn't do anything," YoungMin protested. "He tugged on me, tried to get my attention just a few minutes ago. And when I responded to him, he crawled up here and seems like he doesn't want to leave."
"Here," the boy said, and slid his hands easily under the dragon's front legs and hind legs, carefully pulled his claws out of YoungMin's shirt, and lifted him free. The dragon squeaked and scrabbled a little, his tail tightening again around YoungMin's neck, but then the teacher gently pulled it free and the boy carried the little red off down the corridor. YoungMin could hear the dragon protesting, at least until the teacher pulled him back out of the stable back to the class.
Great, YoungMin thought. Now they'll all think I'm a complete loon.
"You can't be serious," he said later that night to Minwoo, who stood next to YoungMin as they washed up.
"I am," Minwoo said with rare gravity. "They think you snuck in and somehow stole the dragon."
"Why would I… Okay, dumb question," YoungMin said at Minwoo's look. "How… same thing. Where would I keep a dragon that no one would know I had him?" he asked finally. "Have they thought this through?"
Minwoo snorted. "I think some of them are jealous that you succeeded where they didn't."
YoungMin stared at him. "But I didn't," he said. "I wanted a dragon, yes, but I wouldn't do that. I don't want some sort of scandal or whatever around it that I would… I mean, I want it to be fair and square or not at all."
Minwoo stared at him. "You're kidding."
"Why?" YoungMin asked. "You want to spend your life with people convinced you'd gotten a dragon outside of the rules? No one would ever trust me again." He slumped against the counter and sighed. "I bet they never let me near the dragons again, and no matter what I say, no one will ever believe me."
Minwoo patted his shoulder. "Would it be that bad?"
YoungMin shrugged, too miserable to even put his thoughts into words. It wasn't just the death of his dream - to have, raise, hunt with a dragon - but the loss of his best friend. People just didn't hang around those with dragons because they didn't understand. And more than that, he'd lost his best and oldest friend, with nothing to replace him. KwangMin at least had his dragon. "I'm going to bed," YoungMin said, and left the small wash room. He climbed the stairs without hearing the whispers that he knew followed him. Tonight, for the first time in weeks, he fell right to sleep.
It meant he woke up before the others, too, and got down to breakfast before the others had done much more than stir. DongHyun joined him first, one eyebrow raised. "What happened?"
"Happened?" YoungMin asked.
"You fell asleep really fast last night," DongHyun said. "It surprised me. And Minwoo. And KwangMin. He came to talk to you."
YoungMin shrugged. "I just… had enough of yesterday," he said. "I wanted it over more than I didn't want today to come."
DongHyun nodded. "What happened?"
YoungMin scowled. "I'm sure you heard," he said.
"Yes," DongHyun said. "But I want to hear from you. Rumors rarely hold all of the truth, and reveal more about those who spread them - and alter them - than anything else."
YoungMin shrugged again, and recounted what had happened, leaving out his thoughts and uncomfortable discoveries about himself. "It doesn't matter, now, I guess," he said after a moment of silence. He could hear the others coming downstairs. "I'll just have to figure something else out. I'm sure other people have had to as well. I can't be the first to lose a dream."
"No," DongHyun said, although he hadn't said anything at all though YoungMin's narrative, and YoungMin couldn't tell if DongHyun believed him or not. It didn't matter.
YoungMin stood up. "I'll see you outside," he said, and escaped before the others could see him and start their horrible whispering again. Or so he wouldn't have to hear it.
He didn't go toward the field where he could hear the others with their dragons, instead heading just around the dorm to keep out of sight. He figured the less anyone saw of him the better, until he could get his disappointment under control. He sat against the wall and closed his eyes, listening for the others to come out so he wouldn't miss the beginning of his class.
Something crawled up his arm - didn't even hesitate - and settled across his shoulders, purring like his mother's cat used to when she was happy. YoungMin started upright, too late to stop it, and looked in disbelief at the small - not so small - red dragon draped over his shoulders. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. The little dragon just tightened his tail around YoungMin's neck, sounding even more content. "You can't do this," he said, and got to his feet. He glanced around to make sure no one had come out yet, and then got to his feet and strode off for the stables.
Inside, he found the same situation as he had the day before; a line of people searching through the stable. "I've got him here," he said wearily.
They all looked at him in disbelief. "Where'd you find it this time?"
"He found me," YoungMin said, turning so that the same guy from the day before to take the dragon again. This time he pulled the tail away from his own neck. "I don't know…."
The boy shook his head. "They'll be looking for you. If your teacher gets after you, tell him you were talking with me."
YoungMin nodded. "Um," he said when the boy started to walk off. "Who are you?"
He smiled. "HyunSung. Sorry. And thanks for bringing it back."
"Him," YoungMin said. "You're welcome."
He reached the rest of his class just before the teacher started to talk, so he had no time or need to explain where he was. A quick glimpse at KwangMin eased his mind there, too. KwangMin hadn't noticed his arrival.
YoungMin knew he acted like a spoiled child, and he tried to fix that so he didn't. He didn't know how, so he straightened up and paid strict attention to the teacher.
Until an hour later he felt claws pricking the skin on his leg and a weight on his pants, and looked down to see the dragon crawling up his leg. "Hey," he protested, and everyone turned to look at him.
"What is it," the teacher asked, eyes narrowed.
"I already took him back once," YoungMin stated, helping the dragon up to his shoulders again. "Permission to take him home?"
The teacher regarded him for a moment. "Maybe you'd better talk to someone else," he said, his voice soft and cold. "They will be able to tell what you did to that dragon to make it-"
"Him," YoungMin interrupted.
The teacher glared, and YoungMin shrank back. "Make it follow you like this." He gave the directions in an even colder tone, and YoungMin slunk off without looking back.
The directions lead him to a small, comfortable looking house behind the stable. YoungMin took a deep breath, reached up, and knocked. He waited, as directed, not sure when anyone would answer.
Finally, the door opened, and YoungMin stared in disbelief and DongHyun, one of the older students - he'd thought - who helped around the place. "He got out again, did he?" DongHyun asked, amused. "Come on in."
"What?" YoungMin asked, but DongHyun stepped out of his way, gesturing him in. Within a few minutes he sat perched on a stool, watching DongHyun put together a lunch that made his mouth water. "So… you knew about this?"
"Not really, not until you told me this morning," DongHyun said. "But I had the feeling something like this would happen."
"Something like what?"
DongHyun set the finished food down in front of YoungMin, and then gave him a bowl full of what looked like scraps. "Put that on the floor, he'll climb down and eat it if he's hungry." He leaned on the counter and met YoungMin's gaze. "Something like a dragon deciding he didn't want to follow these rules."
"They have rules?"
"No," DongHyun said. "They don't. We do. And we enforce them. I have my concerns about how the process works, and he just gave me a reason to look into it. For one," he added, watching as the little red slid down the YoungMin's arm and jumped to the floor, "they seemed to think they could control who he'd choose. He's obviously having none of it."
YoungMin frowned. "You mean, some of those boys shouldn't have dragons?"
DongHyun shook his head. "No. Everyone who has one deserves their dragon. I think that one was being saved for someone in specific." He leaned over far enough to look down at the dragon. "Has he told you his name?"
YoungMin shook his head. "No. But they insist on calling him an it, and I think it irritates him."
DongHyun snorted. "I wouldn't want to be called it, either," he said, and straightened. "Well, I don't care who they think they've earmarked him for, he wants you."
"How can you tell?" YoungMin asked.
"Because he's snuck out three times to find you," DongHyun said easily. "It's not easy to get out of those stables, not for little hatchlings like he is. And he's done it thrice in two days. I suspect, if you took him back now, he'd find you again before dinner. And you'd probably wake up with him on your face in the morning." He nodded. "Finish eating, and we'll get this taken care of."
YoungMin looked down at his food, and picked at it a little more, even more nervous than he had been.
DongHyun touched his wrist. "You don't look so happy about it," he said.
YoungMin shrugged. "I don't know if I can do this," he said. "I mean, they already talk, what will they say after this happens?"
"They will always talk," DongHyun said softly. "You can't stop that. Small minds do that. They can't see outside of the box they're living in. As soon as your dragon tells you his name, no one can take him away from you."
YoungMin frowned. "Why hasn't he?" he asked.
"Because you don't want him to?" DongHyun asked.
YoungMin stared at him. "I don't… why wouldn't I?"
"There are a lot of reasons," DongHyun said. "Fear. Doubt. Anger. And probably more than I can think of now. They're all valid. When you figure out which is your reason, face it and he will tell you."
"Do you know it?"
DongHyun smiled. "No, because I haven't asked."
"How does he know it?"
"I think they're born with their names." DongHyun nudged the plate closer. "Eat, or say you're done."
YoungMin straightened. "I'm done," he said. "Sorry. It's probably really good, but my stomach is in knots right now." He flinched in surprise when the little red - seriously, was he bigger just from lunch? - crawled up his clothes to settle across his shoulders.
"Then lets go get this taken care of."
DongHyun cleared the food away and led the way out of his cabin and into the stable, not exactly where YoungMin had expected. DongHyun knocked at a door YoungMin had never seen, and then stepped in, gesturing YoungMin after him. YoungMin followed, not at all sure about any of this.
He came face to face with the biggest dragon he'd ever seen. Biggest and oldest, and… He blinked, trying to take everything in, but he couldn't quite get his eyes to focus. "Welcome," a voice rumbled, and he realized it must have come from the Dragon.
YoungMin gulped. "Thank you," he said.
The little red swarmed back down YoungMin's clothes and darted across the floor to the Dragon. It perched on the larger Dragon's nose and… chirped at him. YoungMin glanced at DongHyun. "Is that… normal?" he asked.
DongHyun shrugged. "I've never seen it," he said. "But that just means I've never seen it."
The little red climbed down again, and the Dragon fixed its large eyes on YoungMin. YoungMin shivered. "He says you wish to accept him, but will not," the Dragon said.
YoungMin tried to open his mouth, only to find all his words jambed in his throat and wouldn't come out. The Dragon blinked, slow and deliberate, and then nodded, as if he'd gotten all the words YoungMin couldn't speak. "I see," he said, and stretched his neck out to poke YoungMin in the belly. "They do not matter," he said in a low voice, deep and infinitely wise. "All that matters is you and him. Let them think you "cheated" (YoungMin could hear the quotes in the Dragon's voice). They're wrong, and they will find out or they will not."
"Will they try to separate us? I don't want him hurt, if they-"
"Don't think on them," the Dragon said. "They - whoever they are - do not matter. You don't even have to stay here to learn what he will teach you. This… they… have determined that you must, but they have lost touch with everything. Do what you know is right, no matter what anyone else says. You will find your way. You will not hurt anyone unless they try to hurt you first."
It helped. Sort of. "I… will try," YoungMin said, catching the little red as he crawled up YoungMin's clothes again. "I'm going to have to get something that will keep you from ripping my clothes, though."
"Yes," the Dragon said, but YoungMin barely heard him through the barrage of chirps the little red sent his direction, both vocally and mentally. Neither made a lot of sense, but that would come.
"Are you hungry now?" DongHyun asked, pulling YoungMin back through the door they'd gone in.
YoungMin looked at him, bewildered, and smiled. "I don't know," he said, "but JungMin here says I need to eat."
DongHyun laughed and tugged him into movement. "Never argue with your dragon," he said as they left the stable. "You'll always lose."
"I'll keep that in mind," YoungMin said.
"What happened?" KwangMin demanded later that evening, when YoungMin had moved into his new quarters (because no one could deny that JungMin was his anymore).
YoungMin looked up at him and shrugged. "I don't actually really know," he admitted. "It all happened so fast."
KwangMin frowned at him. "That sounds like Minwoo more than you," he said.
YoungMin laughed. "Yeah, it does, huh. But still." He looked back down at the red dragon curled in his lap, and smiled. "I thought it had to go the way it went for you, that this was somehow… illegal, or wrong." He scratched JungMin's crest, and the little red purred at him. "I didn't want to hurt him, to have him somehow yanked away from me - or have me yanked away from him, whichever - so I didn't… I don't know, try to really make a connection? I guess?"
KwangMin leaned back against the wall, his own pale green dragon in his lap, sounding like a deeper version of JungMin - if only because the green had nearly reached his full size. JungMin still had a while to go. "I have no idea how we're related," he said easily.
"I don't know either. Why mom thought you were a good idea after she had me, I'll never understand."
KwangMin scowled at him. "She had no choice."
"No, you always have been impatient," YoungMin jabbed back at him.
KwangMin huffed in frustration. "You're not funny."
"You're the only one who thinks that," YoungMin pointed out. "The dragons are laughing."
KwangMin rolled his eyes. "What made you change your mind?"
YoungMin's amusement faded. "I had a talk with… a very wise being," he said, choosing his words carefully. "He said nothing really matters but him and me." He nodded at JungMin. "And I decided that maybe he was right. No one can take him away from me, no one can take me away from him, and that's all I need." He shifted, looking at his twin. "Are you mad?"
KwangMin stared at him. "Mad about what?"
"That I… seem to have cheated-"
"You didn't cheat," KwangMin said flatly. "You can't. If you say he came to you, he did. Just because you didn't find him the same way I found mine doesn't make yours invalid. No matter what anyone else says."
"So they are talking."
"The hunters are worse gossips than the women at home," KwangMin said. "Of course they're talking."
YoungMin gaped at him. "Do they know you compare them to grandmama's friends?" he asked.
"Nope," KwangMin said. "You'll see."
"I hope so," YoungMin said wistfully. "Have you learned anything important?"
KwangMin sat up. "What do you mean, important?"
YoungMin shrugged, scratching JungMin's crest. JungMin purred even more lustily. "I don't know. Anything that you couldn't figure out on your own?"
KwangMin frowned at him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
YoungMin laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'm not," he admitted. "At least… I'm okay, but not as content."
"Questioning everything," KwangMin said quietly. Then he looked up and grinned at YoungMin. "I can't WAIT for you to meet everyone," he said. "You'll turn then on their ears. It'll be good for them."
"Yes, but will it be good for me?" YoungMin asked.
"If it's not, I'm with you."
"What if they're right?"
KwangMin regarded him quietly. "Do you think they will be?"
"I don't know," YoungMin said. "Maybe the question won't come up."
JungMin stopped his purring and looked at YoungMin, and he knew it would only get harder from here. Well, he had his dragon, and he had his twin, as long as KwangMin followed him. He didn't need anything more than that.
The Little Red Dragon
Boyfriend; YoungMin-centric
No pairs, no triggers (I don't think)
boyfriend_love prompt: 19 - find your way, JungMin, YoungMin
Not mine, not true
YoungMin woke slowly, trying to bat the sunlight out of his eyes. Then he sat straight up and glared around him. Empty beds, all mocking him. How he managed to sleep through everything in the morning, he didn't understand. Especially when every little movement kept him up at night. He understood that, some, though. He didn't like having more than one roommate.
Okay, so it was more than that, he decided as he climbed out of bed, changed into clothes, and headed down the stairs. He didn't like it that he didn't room with his twin any more. It felt… wrong. They'd shared a room for years, done everything together because everything got decided by age, except this. This…. He sighed and sank down at the table, filling his plate with leftovers.
"You didn't sleep well," DongHyun said more than asked, handing over one of YoungMin's favorite breakfast breads. Lately he hadn't gotten up early enough to get any.
YoungMin shook his head. "Thanks," he said, taking it.
No one really understood, because he didn't know any other sets of twins. At least now, he thought bitterly, following the others as they left the dining hall, no one had a problem telling them apart. It didn't really help him feel any better. At least, right now, he actually got to see his twin, his best friend, and people just didn't get that, either. He'd stopped trying to describe it a long time ago. And, he had to admit, leaning against the fence with the rest of the boys, he was jealous. YoungMin was older, even if only by six minutes, and the dragons had been his dream. And yet, out in the field, he could see KwangMin feeding his pale green dragon, who couldn't seem to sit still. Not that any of them would, but YoungMin could admit that he didn't really look at the others. He had to get over it, he knew it, but being caught in what felt like limbo strained everything. No one else seemed to care. He figured he simply wasn't normal, and maybe that's why the dragons had passed over him last hatching.
Something tugged on his pants leg and he moved it out of the way, not sure what he could have gotten it caught on. KwangMin looked over and grinned at him, looking so perfectly content that YoungMin had to smile back, a real smile he rarely felt on his face. He had to change that. He wouldn't allow the disappointment and jealousy to make him bitter. He just needed to do… something. Find something he could do.
He felt another tug on his leg and stepped further along the fence away from everyone else, watching for some clue, some idea of what to do if he got his own dragon. He rarely got to talk to KwangMin anymore, even if KwangMin had snuck him into the stables a few times to let him pet his dragon. It just… wasn't the same, but it was better than nothing, and he took every chance he got to be near a dragon.
This time, the tug included scratches, and he stifled a curse as he looked down. His eyes widened in disbelief at the small dark red dragon with it's claws embedded in his pants. Abandoning thoughts of his twin and KwangMin's dragon, YoungMin knelt down and extracted the claws. "What are you doing out here?" he asked softly, running a finger over its crest.
It - he - purred, and then scampered up YoungMin's arm to settle across his shoulders. YoungMin could feel the rumble from the dragon's continued purr, rattling his shoulders and easing the tension in them. Slowly, he stood up, barely aware that the teacher had joined them and spoke of something. "You shouldn't be here," he whispered to the dragon, which merely purred harder, his tail looped loosely around YoungMin's neck.
"Jo YoungMin," the teacher snapped, and YoungMin looked up, startled. "You're not paying…." He stopped and stared at YoungMin's shoulders.
"I don't know where he came from," YoungMin said when the man's eyes narrowed in anger.
"I don't know if I can trust you," the teacher said flatly. "You spend more time with your brother than is officially allowed, and I don't know what he's told you."
YoungMin stared at him, trying not to lose his temper. "He wouldn't tell me anything, and I know better than to ask," he protested.
"I don't know if I can trust you," the teacher repeated. "Follow me."
Seething at the injustice, feeling like that accusation added insult to injury, YoungMin walked after the teacher. The little dragon's purr eased when YoungMin started moving, and YoungMin reached up to pet his crest again. The little dragon tightened his tail around YoungMin's neck, without choking him thankfully, but didn't purr anymore at all.
The teacher opened the door to the stable and YoungMin followed him inside. "Shut the door," someone snapped, and startled, YoungMin did so.
"What happened?" his teacher asked as YoungMin turned back around.
A line of boys stretched across the open space, moving a step at a time, looking for something. The one who'd spoken looked angry, and maybe… scared? "We lost a dragon," he said. "I hope you didn't let it out."
"We didn't," the teacher said. "We may have brought it back in."
The line of boys stopped dead. "Brought it back in?"
The teacher reached behind him and pulled YoungMin forward. "Is this your missing dragon?" he asked, gesturing at the red clinging to YoungMin's shoulders.
The boy stepped closer, and sighed. "Yes. Where did you find it?"
"Out by…."
"I don't know how long this boy has had it," the teacher said, interrupting YoungMin. "I saw it only this morning."
"Him," YoungMin said flatly. "He's male."
The teacher scowled at him. "Be quiet," he snapped, and turned back to the boy in charge, who sent the others back to their tasks. "I know this boy sneaks in here with his brother to visit his brother's dragon. I don't know what he might have done…."
"I didn't do anything," YoungMin protested. "He tugged on me, tried to get my attention just a few minutes ago. And when I responded to him, he crawled up here and seems like he doesn't want to leave."
"Here," the boy said, and slid his hands easily under the dragon's front legs and hind legs, carefully pulled his claws out of YoungMin's shirt, and lifted him free. The dragon squeaked and scrabbled a little, his tail tightening again around YoungMin's neck, but then the teacher gently pulled it free and the boy carried the little red off down the corridor. YoungMin could hear the dragon protesting, at least until the teacher pulled him back out of the stable back to the class.
Great, YoungMin thought. Now they'll all think I'm a complete loon.
"You can't be serious," he said later that night to Minwoo, who stood next to YoungMin as they washed up.
"I am," Minwoo said with rare gravity. "They think you snuck in and somehow stole the dragon."
"Why would I… Okay, dumb question," YoungMin said at Minwoo's look. "How… same thing. Where would I keep a dragon that no one would know I had him?" he asked finally. "Have they thought this through?"
Minwoo snorted. "I think some of them are jealous that you succeeded where they didn't."
YoungMin stared at him. "But I didn't," he said. "I wanted a dragon, yes, but I wouldn't do that. I don't want some sort of scandal or whatever around it that I would… I mean, I want it to be fair and square or not at all."
Minwoo stared at him. "You're kidding."
"Why?" YoungMin asked. "You want to spend your life with people convinced you'd gotten a dragon outside of the rules? No one would ever trust me again." He slumped against the counter and sighed. "I bet they never let me near the dragons again, and no matter what I say, no one will ever believe me."
Minwoo patted his shoulder. "Would it be that bad?"
YoungMin shrugged, too miserable to even put his thoughts into words. It wasn't just the death of his dream - to have, raise, hunt with a dragon - but the loss of his best friend. People just didn't hang around those with dragons because they didn't understand. And more than that, he'd lost his best and oldest friend, with nothing to replace him. KwangMin at least had his dragon. "I'm going to bed," YoungMin said, and left the small wash room. He climbed the stairs without hearing the whispers that he knew followed him. Tonight, for the first time in weeks, he fell right to sleep.
It meant he woke up before the others, too, and got down to breakfast before the others had done much more than stir. DongHyun joined him first, one eyebrow raised. "What happened?"
"Happened?" YoungMin asked.
"You fell asleep really fast last night," DongHyun said. "It surprised me. And Minwoo. And KwangMin. He came to talk to you."
YoungMin shrugged. "I just… had enough of yesterday," he said. "I wanted it over more than I didn't want today to come."
DongHyun nodded. "What happened?"
YoungMin scowled. "I'm sure you heard," he said.
"Yes," DongHyun said. "But I want to hear from you. Rumors rarely hold all of the truth, and reveal more about those who spread them - and alter them - than anything else."
YoungMin shrugged again, and recounted what had happened, leaving out his thoughts and uncomfortable discoveries about himself. "It doesn't matter, now, I guess," he said after a moment of silence. He could hear the others coming downstairs. "I'll just have to figure something else out. I'm sure other people have had to as well. I can't be the first to lose a dream."
"No," DongHyun said, although he hadn't said anything at all though YoungMin's narrative, and YoungMin couldn't tell if DongHyun believed him or not. It didn't matter.
YoungMin stood up. "I'll see you outside," he said, and escaped before the others could see him and start their horrible whispering again. Or so he wouldn't have to hear it.
He didn't go toward the field where he could hear the others with their dragons, instead heading just around the dorm to keep out of sight. He figured the less anyone saw of him the better, until he could get his disappointment under control. He sat against the wall and closed his eyes, listening for the others to come out so he wouldn't miss the beginning of his class.
Something crawled up his arm - didn't even hesitate - and settled across his shoulders, purring like his mother's cat used to when she was happy. YoungMin started upright, too late to stop it, and looked in disbelief at the small - not so small - red dragon draped over his shoulders. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. The little dragon just tightened his tail around YoungMin's neck, sounding even more content. "You can't do this," he said, and got to his feet. He glanced around to make sure no one had come out yet, and then got to his feet and strode off for the stables.
Inside, he found the same situation as he had the day before; a line of people searching through the stable. "I've got him here," he said wearily.
They all looked at him in disbelief. "Where'd you find it this time?"
"He found me," YoungMin said, turning so that the same guy from the day before to take the dragon again. This time he pulled the tail away from his own neck. "I don't know…."
The boy shook his head. "They'll be looking for you. If your teacher gets after you, tell him you were talking with me."
YoungMin nodded. "Um," he said when the boy started to walk off. "Who are you?"
He smiled. "HyunSung. Sorry. And thanks for bringing it back."
"Him," YoungMin said. "You're welcome."
He reached the rest of his class just before the teacher started to talk, so he had no time or need to explain where he was. A quick glimpse at KwangMin eased his mind there, too. KwangMin hadn't noticed his arrival.
YoungMin knew he acted like a spoiled child, and he tried to fix that so he didn't. He didn't know how, so he straightened up and paid strict attention to the teacher.
Until an hour later he felt claws pricking the skin on his leg and a weight on his pants, and looked down to see the dragon crawling up his leg. "Hey," he protested, and everyone turned to look at him.
"What is it," the teacher asked, eyes narrowed.
"I already took him back once," YoungMin stated, helping the dragon up to his shoulders again. "Permission to take him home?"
The teacher regarded him for a moment. "Maybe you'd better talk to someone else," he said, his voice soft and cold. "They will be able to tell what you did to that dragon to make it-"
"Him," YoungMin interrupted.
The teacher glared, and YoungMin shrank back. "Make it follow you like this." He gave the directions in an even colder tone, and YoungMin slunk off without looking back.
The directions lead him to a small, comfortable looking house behind the stable. YoungMin took a deep breath, reached up, and knocked. He waited, as directed, not sure when anyone would answer.
Finally, the door opened, and YoungMin stared in disbelief and DongHyun, one of the older students - he'd thought - who helped around the place. "He got out again, did he?" DongHyun asked, amused. "Come on in."
"What?" YoungMin asked, but DongHyun stepped out of his way, gesturing him in. Within a few minutes he sat perched on a stool, watching DongHyun put together a lunch that made his mouth water. "So… you knew about this?"
"Not really, not until you told me this morning," DongHyun said. "But I had the feeling something like this would happen."
"Something like what?"
DongHyun set the finished food down in front of YoungMin, and then gave him a bowl full of what looked like scraps. "Put that on the floor, he'll climb down and eat it if he's hungry." He leaned on the counter and met YoungMin's gaze. "Something like a dragon deciding he didn't want to follow these rules."
"They have rules?"
"No," DongHyun said. "They don't. We do. And we enforce them. I have my concerns about how the process works, and he just gave me a reason to look into it. For one," he added, watching as the little red slid down the YoungMin's arm and jumped to the floor, "they seemed to think they could control who he'd choose. He's obviously having none of it."
YoungMin frowned. "You mean, some of those boys shouldn't have dragons?"
DongHyun shook his head. "No. Everyone who has one deserves their dragon. I think that one was being saved for someone in specific." He leaned over far enough to look down at the dragon. "Has he told you his name?"
YoungMin shook his head. "No. But they insist on calling him an it, and I think it irritates him."
DongHyun snorted. "I wouldn't want to be called it, either," he said, and straightened. "Well, I don't care who they think they've earmarked him for, he wants you."
"How can you tell?" YoungMin asked.
"Because he's snuck out three times to find you," DongHyun said easily. "It's not easy to get out of those stables, not for little hatchlings like he is. And he's done it thrice in two days. I suspect, if you took him back now, he'd find you again before dinner. And you'd probably wake up with him on your face in the morning." He nodded. "Finish eating, and we'll get this taken care of."
YoungMin looked down at his food, and picked at it a little more, even more nervous than he had been.
DongHyun touched his wrist. "You don't look so happy about it," he said.
YoungMin shrugged. "I don't know if I can do this," he said. "I mean, they already talk, what will they say after this happens?"
"They will always talk," DongHyun said softly. "You can't stop that. Small minds do that. They can't see outside of the box they're living in. As soon as your dragon tells you his name, no one can take him away from you."
YoungMin frowned. "Why hasn't he?" he asked.
"Because you don't want him to?" DongHyun asked.
YoungMin stared at him. "I don't… why wouldn't I?"
"There are a lot of reasons," DongHyun said. "Fear. Doubt. Anger. And probably more than I can think of now. They're all valid. When you figure out which is your reason, face it and he will tell you."
"Do you know it?"
DongHyun smiled. "No, because I haven't asked."
"How does he know it?"
"I think they're born with their names." DongHyun nudged the plate closer. "Eat, or say you're done."
YoungMin straightened. "I'm done," he said. "Sorry. It's probably really good, but my stomach is in knots right now." He flinched in surprise when the little red - seriously, was he bigger just from lunch? - crawled up his clothes to settle across his shoulders.
"Then lets go get this taken care of."
DongHyun cleared the food away and led the way out of his cabin and into the stable, not exactly where YoungMin had expected. DongHyun knocked at a door YoungMin had never seen, and then stepped in, gesturing YoungMin after him. YoungMin followed, not at all sure about any of this.
He came face to face with the biggest dragon he'd ever seen. Biggest and oldest, and… He blinked, trying to take everything in, but he couldn't quite get his eyes to focus. "Welcome," a voice rumbled, and he realized it must have come from the Dragon.
YoungMin gulped. "Thank you," he said.
The little red swarmed back down YoungMin's clothes and darted across the floor to the Dragon. It perched on the larger Dragon's nose and… chirped at him. YoungMin glanced at DongHyun. "Is that… normal?" he asked.
DongHyun shrugged. "I've never seen it," he said. "But that just means I've never seen it."
The little red climbed down again, and the Dragon fixed its large eyes on YoungMin. YoungMin shivered. "He says you wish to accept him, but will not," the Dragon said.
YoungMin tried to open his mouth, only to find all his words jambed in his throat and wouldn't come out. The Dragon blinked, slow and deliberate, and then nodded, as if he'd gotten all the words YoungMin couldn't speak. "I see," he said, and stretched his neck out to poke YoungMin in the belly. "They do not matter," he said in a low voice, deep and infinitely wise. "All that matters is you and him. Let them think you "cheated" (YoungMin could hear the quotes in the Dragon's voice). They're wrong, and they will find out or they will not."
"Will they try to separate us? I don't want him hurt, if they-"
"Don't think on them," the Dragon said. "They - whoever they are - do not matter. You don't even have to stay here to learn what he will teach you. This… they… have determined that you must, but they have lost touch with everything. Do what you know is right, no matter what anyone else says. You will find your way. You will not hurt anyone unless they try to hurt you first."
It helped. Sort of. "I… will try," YoungMin said, catching the little red as he crawled up YoungMin's clothes again. "I'm going to have to get something that will keep you from ripping my clothes, though."
"Yes," the Dragon said, but YoungMin barely heard him through the barrage of chirps the little red sent his direction, both vocally and mentally. Neither made a lot of sense, but that would come.
"Are you hungry now?" DongHyun asked, pulling YoungMin back through the door they'd gone in.
YoungMin looked at him, bewildered, and smiled. "I don't know," he said, "but JungMin here says I need to eat."
DongHyun laughed and tugged him into movement. "Never argue with your dragon," he said as they left the stable. "You'll always lose."
"I'll keep that in mind," YoungMin said.
"What happened?" KwangMin demanded later that evening, when YoungMin had moved into his new quarters (because no one could deny that JungMin was his anymore).
YoungMin looked up at him and shrugged. "I don't actually really know," he admitted. "It all happened so fast."
KwangMin frowned at him. "That sounds like Minwoo more than you," he said.
YoungMin laughed. "Yeah, it does, huh. But still." He looked back down at the red dragon curled in his lap, and smiled. "I thought it had to go the way it went for you, that this was somehow… illegal, or wrong." He scratched JungMin's crest, and the little red purred at him. "I didn't want to hurt him, to have him somehow yanked away from me - or have me yanked away from him, whichever - so I didn't… I don't know, try to really make a connection? I guess?"
KwangMin leaned back against the wall, his own pale green dragon in his lap, sounding like a deeper version of JungMin - if only because the green had nearly reached his full size. JungMin still had a while to go. "I have no idea how we're related," he said easily.
"I don't know either. Why mom thought you were a good idea after she had me, I'll never understand."
KwangMin scowled at him. "She had no choice."
"No, you always have been impatient," YoungMin jabbed back at him.
KwangMin huffed in frustration. "You're not funny."
"You're the only one who thinks that," YoungMin pointed out. "The dragons are laughing."
KwangMin rolled his eyes. "What made you change your mind?"
YoungMin's amusement faded. "I had a talk with… a very wise being," he said, choosing his words carefully. "He said nothing really matters but him and me." He nodded at JungMin. "And I decided that maybe he was right. No one can take him away from me, no one can take me away from him, and that's all I need." He shifted, looking at his twin. "Are you mad?"
KwangMin stared at him. "Mad about what?"
"That I… seem to have cheated-"
"You didn't cheat," KwangMin said flatly. "You can't. If you say he came to you, he did. Just because you didn't find him the same way I found mine doesn't make yours invalid. No matter what anyone else says."
"So they are talking."
"The hunters are worse gossips than the women at home," KwangMin said. "Of course they're talking."
YoungMin gaped at him. "Do they know you compare them to grandmama's friends?" he asked.
"Nope," KwangMin said. "You'll see."
"I hope so," YoungMin said wistfully. "Have you learned anything important?"
KwangMin sat up. "What do you mean, important?"
YoungMin shrugged, scratching JungMin's crest. JungMin purred even more lustily. "I don't know. Anything that you couldn't figure out on your own?"
KwangMin frowned at him. "Are you sure you're okay?"
YoungMin laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'm not," he admitted. "At least… I'm okay, but not as content."
"Questioning everything," KwangMin said quietly. Then he looked up and grinned at YoungMin. "I can't WAIT for you to meet everyone," he said. "You'll turn then on their ears. It'll be good for them."
"Yes, but will it be good for me?" YoungMin asked.
"If it's not, I'm with you."
"What if they're right?"
KwangMin regarded him quietly. "Do you think they will be?"
"I don't know," YoungMin said. "Maybe the question won't come up."
JungMin stopped his purring and looked at YoungMin, and he knew it would only get harder from here. Well, he had his dragon, and he had his twin, as long as KwangMin followed him. He didn't need anything more than that.