A sweet conversation
Palpitating so hard against his chest, Jea ha thought, his heart would leap out any moment….
The whole situation was very bad…Soo Won was travelling with his tongue down his earlobe. A tickling, warm sensation that threatened to overtake his senses, simultaneously a chill was running down his back…
Jea ha shivered…Soon…The last remains of his backbone would be gone…The other part deep inside of him, had started to awake…. When Jea ha was clear in his head, he considered this to be a part of the dragon s curse.
Or maybe it was just an old remainder of human instincts, usually hidden in the inner core of the being, to resurface when the mind was losing his ground?
Whatever this dark desire was, looming at the border of his consciousness, should it be a mysterious entity or an ancient scheme of nature…it was gnawing at his volition…taking away his lost clear thought.
Blond strands of Soo Won s hair were slightly stroking his cheek, glittering in the dim light of the lamps….
He couldn t bear it anymore!
Throwing his head around, he grabbed the other male s head, gazing in the eyes of the other. Into these greenish eyes, dead like green, polished marbles. The look of a lifeless doll, with a slightly open mouth.
His blonde hair had been freed out of the golden hair tie, tangling at the ends.
Their lips were so near…they barely met. Jea ha could feel his warm breath on his skin. So, he was at least still alive, even if he behaved like a puppet dancing by the will of the strings.
"Soo Won…are you listening? Are you still in there?"
His own image was reflected in the greenish iris. There was no movement. No sign, that the head of Soo Won was working now.
Suddenly, a crazy idea was interrupting his thought process.
There was a tale, where a man was able to set a woman free…with a kiss.
Should he?
"Why not?" the other told him," It s worth a try? Why not set a food on the edge of the cliff?"
The Green Dragon could feel like his last restraint vanished into the void…
Once upon a time, there was a demon that wished to marry a girl….
Rosy cheeks, with tiny teeth like pearls…
This alluring flower was very fond of her picture in the nearby well…
Gazing at her image every day….
Until the little demon dared to defy this beauty…by planting a kiss on her lips.
A spell was cast on her…
Still facing the well….
Oh, beautiful lily!
Maybe it also worked the other way around, who knew?
It was worth a try….a tiny little attempt in the name of adventure…
Carefully, he slightly brushed Soo Won s lips…the tingling sensation on his lips…making them far more sensitive to the touch…
When he approached the young male again, he daringly slipped his tongue in…just a little…greeting the others lingua …Meeting and separating…
This lifeless doll, this puppet on a string reacted, moved his tongue…A light pressure against his lips. An unintentional grating against his nose
Out of the corner of his eye, Jea ha was confronted with a far livelier Soo Won… venturing out quite alluringly…
Then the kiss became quite passionate. Jea ha pressed his lips harder on Soo Won s. The other reciprocated, driving his fingers through the other's hair…pulling on it…so hard the tie broke.
Jea ha could feel, like the strands of his hair were falling down his back.
They both held the other so tight as if they were one being, connected by a heated kiss.
A sensation down…. far below…Just for a split second.
Shocked he drew back, pushing the other away.
That was too much…
Had his facial expression been a little more like a breathing, living human being a moment before, so he had regressed back into a doll, a shell without a heart or a brain….At least that was Jea ha s impression.
That puppet on a string literally jumped to his feet and stood there, gazing at him, but without noticing him….
Shortly after, he moved, taking one step by step…outstretching his hands…For a tiny period of time, Jea ha was afraid…afraid of that person approaching him….
And he had every right to be…That man collided with him, as if he had not been there, threw himself over him, so that Jea ha lost his balance and fell flat on his back.
A few seconds, he lay there. Frozen. Shocked…Then finally life penetrated him again…
What the…Why was he so puzzled? Really!
He lifted his leg and since he had no intention of hurting that person, at least not yet, he just raised his leg higher and higher, until Soo Won was nearly standing, hanging on his leg…The Dragon s leg of course.
Somehow, that must have activated some forgotten brain cells in the abyss of Soo Won s mind, as he at once started to pull on his boot…Involuntarily Jea ha tried to get away…and the shoe fell of his food….Soo Won was landing on his back, similarly to him, just moments ago.
The expression of utter shock, that manifested itself on the face of the other…
"What?"
"Hm?"
Those eyes, this distanced expression…It seemed that the former King of Kouka was back…. Then these eyes grew bigger…crawling on his hands and feet, he came nearer, outstretching a hand…The same damn situation like a moment before…Except….
"What is this?!", he asked, his voice was all…excited? Maybe even curiosity?
"The Dragon s leg…"…Carefully, he took a hold of his foot…touching slightly with his fingers the green, shimmering scales…
"It s hard….and not quite as smooth as one may have expected…Hmmm…Just like the skin of a snake…A beautiful, green snake…," he sounded like a child, discovering a thing, that he has never seen before…
Sparkling eyes were meeting his….Jea ha was just…He felt like he didn t understand the situation, as if there was a script, he hadn t gotten before the play…What was happening now?!
"So, you are back?", was his question, directed at this nice person, that had molested him just recently, like just a moment ago…
"I have been never away," Soo Won answered with a face as if butter wouldn t melt in his mouth…
Jea ha nodded.
"Of course,I don t know, what I had been thinking…Really! Of course, you have never been out. You have never tried to kiss me…"
"What? What?!" Soo Won s face grew a little redder…
Continuing where he had been interrupted," You have never licked my ear…or you would have never thrown yourself onto me…No! Clearly, I am delusional, crazy! Seeing things that obviously have never…EVER…happened."
So, the irony didn t miss his target…
Soo Won s face illustrated now a beautiful bright red…What an alluring sight!
"I did never…," he denied without further thinking about it. How simple to contradict him here…?
"Really? Are you sure of that?"
It was interesting, that this person didn t answer.
"Do you remember, what you have done just a moment ago?"
This smile appeared on his face…This same, meaningless, wanna-be-gullible expression, trying to delude people, that he was in fact such a simple-minded, sweet person…innocent like a newborn baby.
"I have just admired that beautiful leg of yours. Such a rare sight. I would never," He raised his eyebrows, indicating that Jea ha obviously must be joking," forget such an event in my whole life."
Pay-back for the irony earlier….
It didn t strike Jea ha in the least, that he used this method to get away from the matter-at hand, just conveniently changing the topic. But wait. He had not such a relationship with him like Hak or Yona-chan…He wouldn t make the mistake to let himself led astray by this clever manipulator…
Just a moment ago, he had been a puppet on a string, without an own will…Just look! The puppeteer is pulling on the strings…
Jea ha stared at his eyes…a smile was on his face, yet not a very friendly expression at all.
Soo Won shifted…it wasn t much and just for a split second, but it had been there. The smile on his face, this sweet mask had been gotten the first little cracks…
"Just a moment ago…you…," Jea ha began, while he raised himself to his feet, but he took his time with it.
Slowly, he was encircling his prey, that still sat in seiza, with his hands on his knees. Hands, that he deliberately tried to keep still.
"Yes…what have I done a moment ago," he asked, his voice had the same usual friendly, but impersonal tone…This person surely had a lot of guts…
Right now, he couldn´ t feel very self-reliant…The whole situation with the coup…his near future was still hanging in the air.
This was precisely why, Jea ha could do the following: Casually approaching this guy, leaning in and touching just slightly, tenderly his cheeks….
But he immediately withdrew. This was precisely why, he had merely used so much pressure on this person.
Jea ha was quite accustomed to all sorts of games one could play with the mind, in fact, a couple of people had tried to play havoc with his psyche before…trying to manipulate a young child…Even Garou had restricted him, bound him to the ground…Freedom was a pivotal point of his existence and that was the reason why, he wished to not impede on the private matters of others.
But he had overstepped his own boundaries, which put quite the stress on him now.
On the other hand, his actions worked well.
Soo Won s face had considerably reddened over the course of the action and still graced the onlooker with a faint auroral hue. His mouth was opened as if he had wanted to say a word but had forgotten his text in the middle of the play.
Nevertheless…Jea ha lowered his head.
"I am sorry, I took the joke too far," he said. Was it necessary for this person to recognize what had happened before? Wasn t it his own selfish wish, that this person wouldn t forget it? In the end, what did it matter? Nothing really. Maybe it was better, if this guy remembered neither this event nor him.
That is why, the following statement was a lie. A convenient truth indeed.
"I just wanted to tease you a little, so that you might not be so stiff anymore. I know that you have your reasons for that reaction, but honestly, worrying about it, doesn t help in the least with this kind of problems. Why not just wait and see?"
His explanation earned him another rise of the eyebrow s. Obviously the former ruler of the state, was quite not adjusted to this kind of jests.
At the end the corner of his mouth twitched before he started laughing. Perplexed Jea ha observed Soo Won s expression of…. what exactly? It was not a laughter evolving from joy or mirth. It sounded as if this young person was now getting rid of a huge burden-relief of stress. Strange, he was the same age as Hak, but somehow, he seemed to be far younger in that moment. Maybe Jea ha has already become old?
It lasted for a couple of minutes, until it finally died down. This person seemed to be so tired.
"Do you wish to take a bath? It s always good for one s health and a notable way to forget all the troubles of the world."
"Am I allowed to? Since…," Soo Won faltered for one moment, but continued in the blink of an eye," Since this day, I have stayed in this room."
Reality was still hard to grasp for him.
"It will be al right," Jea ha decided without any knowledge if Hak or Yona, the new sovereign would agree with his choice. However, this guy needed dispersion. An idle washing would be the ideal solution.
Soo Won nodded. It seemed that he was grateful for this opportunity.
First, Jea ha left the room.
He was right. Shin ha was indeed behind the door, waiting for Jea ha to appear.
Apparently, he had taken some time and the Green Dragon really was appalled, when he thought of the "things" Shin ha might have heard or "seen". Their abilities have been gradually fading, but up until now, the blue Dragon has still been able to use his abilities to the fullest, while his own powers have diminished at a certainly quicker pace than Shin ha s.
So, better not ask him, what he knew…
After Shin ha had taken his leave, they both could enjoy the little adventure.
When Soo Won got a glimpse of Jea ha s body, he sighed. As if the world had put his full weight on him….
"What s up? Something s strange with my body? Or are you just so amazed about so much natural beauty?" It was half a joke and half the truth. Jea ha indeed considered his body to be splendid. Even with the Dragon s leg!
"Indeed. I am," Soo Won answered.
Astonished, Jea ha froze. He hadn t thought that he would take the joke seriously. Really. Get yourself together…
But this guy surely was frank. That was quite unusual, wasn t it?
Soo Won smiled. Somehow it emanated a certain warmth his earlier ones had failed to induce.
"You really are quite well-developed." This guy averted his eyes.
"It's not just…him,"
So, Soo Won had been reminded of Hak, the person who even now didn t wish to talk with his former friend.
That touched something in him…somehow that didn t sit well with him…That person…at the end he has been…
"Well, at least, she had been in love with you," Jea ha knew that he was snippy, but somehow it was hard…there was a little thing, stuck in his throat and he couldn t really explain where it has suddenly come from.
The silence between them, was quite unsettling. This was not supposed to happen. Why that remark?
"I am…," he began to speak without actually knowing what he should say.
"So, it is actually like this." Soo Won s annotation hit him like a lash. It was barely louder than a murmur.
"What…what did you say?"
"I said," this time his voice was much louder," that I understand…", but Soo Won didn t finsish, just let it hang in the air between them.
Warily he watched this person. What did he mean? What did he try to implicate here?
"What do you mean!" Jea ha nearly snapped.
His reaction seemed to surprise Soo Won-
"I beg your pardon, if I should have overstepped any boundaries. It just seemed to me, as if…as if you like the princess more than…."
"You're right. It's not your concern. That matter should be irrelevant to you."
Soo Won nodded. He let his small figure sink into the steaming hot bath.
"I understand. I will not pry into your business with Princess Yona, no, she is soon to be queen, doesn t she?"
"What did you mean…" that I like her more than"? Jea ha asked. Of course, he knew, but he wished to know the reason, why this person had made that remark.
He placed himself beside Soo Won in the hot pool, observing the expression of the other male beside him.
The question did seem to be a difficult puzzle Soo Won had first to get a hold of to express his thoughts correctly.
"It was merely a thought of mine. You don t have to consider it."
So, this person wished to avoid the topic.
"Now I am really interested," Jea ha leaned in, but still ensured, that there was still a certain space between them. He merely wished to show him, that he wouldn t get away with this kind of tactic.
"What made you think, that I like the Princess more than a friend? I think that is, what you wished to express?"
"Actually, that is your assumption. I merely mentioned that I thought you could be more to her than just a mere servant. If you are in love with her or not, it doesn t really matter to me."
This person commented the whole deal as if it was a subject he had no business with. As if Yona-chan had not been in love with this person in her previous life, when she had still counted on the sentiments of this cold person.
"Were you in love with her?", Jea ha suddenly asked. Something was strange. His senses were tingling. The Green Dragon might not be able to see under the water, what this massive iceberg before him hid, but he surely wouldn t stop to try.
His eyes grew bigger, his mouth opened…Obviously a question this guy hadn t expected.
"Excuse me, what did you ask?"
Jea ha very well observed that Soo Won had shifted slightly away from him.
"You did understand my question very well. So how about it? Did you?"
"I really don t understand, why I should discuss this topic with you. It doesn t concern you in the least, if I saw her as a woman or if she merely stayed a sister in my mind."
Soo Won had turned around, so that Jea ha was only graced with a mop of long blond hair.
Sighing he agreed with Soo Won. The feelings of this person weren t a matter he could just barge in and await answers. Maybe Soo Won s behaviour had stimulated that reaction of his, or did he try to conveniently search for the blame in Soo Won, when he was the one at fault?
"You are right. Maybe I was just jealous of you. She gave you her heart, but you…"
Slowly Soo won turned around and looked at him.
"I don t know if I really love her, or if it is just the bond that makes me. That manipulates my feelings…"
Suspiciously, he glanced at Jea ha. He could see it in his eyes. The whole topic was clearly not to his taste and he didn t trust Jea ha in the least.
"Why are you telling me this?"
Jea ha shrugged his shoulders, water was splashing.
"I don t know. I would say, you would not be able to tell anybody. They wouldn t believe you. Also.,"
"Also?"
Curiously Soo Won tilted his head.
"Also…I am pretty sure, that you won't tell."
"Have you ever bee such a trusting guy?" Soo Won wondered, slightly raising one eyebrow.
"You don t know me…How can you be so sure?"
A smile appeared on Jea ha s face.
"I just know…I don t know, maybe it is because of…" Jea ha realized that he wouldn t have considered such a statement even a year ago. The contact and his relationship with "them" had greatly altered his mindset.
Soo Won nodded, as if he had understood Jea ha s thoughts.
"I assumed it was like this." was all he commented to Jea ha s words. His eyes had been cast on the water, maybe reflecting on Jea ha s gullible trust.
The silence between them didn t feel as oppressing as before. Jea ha was finally able to breath…The water was warm and welcoming. His partner seemed also a little bit more relaxed them before. It was not his task to press words out of this person s mouth.
"I have tried, "Soo Won murmured.
"Excuse me?"
Perplexed Jea ha was staring at him, but soon noticed what he was about to do and looked away.
"I have tried to see her as a woman. Maybe it would have been different if that man…"
The distaste in his face was obvious…Though there was also a coolness in his voice. This person must have hated the king of two generations ago, King Il of Kouka….
Jea ha just shook his head.
"But do you like her?"
His eyes were as dark as the sea before a storm…What kind of whirlwinds were rampaging in his mind right now, battling an enemy that had died months before?
"I do like her, but most likely…Not like this. I don t really understand romance."
The last part…Jea ha doubted that.
"You are trying to say, that you have never had this completely irrational wish to see someone? There has never been a person that has made your heart nearly leap out of your chest? Never?"
Jea ha couldn t believe it.
"People are different. Maybe it is better like this," Soo Won told Jea ha, while his face showed an expression that was hard to understand. So, calm like the water on a sunny day. Yet there was a dark current in him.
"This person seems to be so tired and depressed…even though he cannot be more than 20 years old. When I remember correctly he just recently has turned 19, " Jea ha thought.
Jea ha couldn t understand why he said the following. Not even after everything was over, could he completely grasp his motivation.
There was just a strange sensation...Yes...
" And Hak? What about Hak?", asked Jea ha
