Yona kicked a pebble on the road and sighed. They had been walking for at least half a day. The good-byes of the pirates and villagers still rang in her ears. Gi-gan had even gifted her the senjosou she had picked. The pirates cried and asked Yona to come back some day. Sen was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Jae-ha. Yu-ri the romantic expressed her view on the situation, saying that the two probably eloped. Gi-gan snorted at that remark, but Yona found it highly possible.
"Y-Yona, there's no need to be sad," Yun sniffled. His eyes were still teary. "We'll go see them again soon."
"Yun, you are crying too, do not reprimand the p-princess!" Ki-ja bawled.
"The one crying the most is you, white snake," Hak said with a completely uninterested expression. Yona nodded vaguely. She was still lost in her thoughts when Hak shouted, "Hey! What are you doing here?"
Following where he was pointing with their gazes, the group saw, to their surprise, a familiar figure standing by the road. Yona's eyes lit up as she rushed forward to hug her.
"Sen!"
"Hello," Sen said, patting her head affectionately. "I was worried I had missed you."
"Missed us, my foot," Hak grumbled. "Why are you even here?"
"Jae-ha told me you'd pass by here," she replied, slightly surprised. "He told me he'd ask your opinion on me joining first."
"Well, he didn't," Hak said. "We don't want you, so get lost."
"Jae-ha isn't here, Sen," Yona added. "But I'm truly glad you're here."
"He is," Shin-ah said quietly. They all turned to look at him in surprise.
"What?"
"He's here," he said, pointing at a nearby tree. Yona glanced up at the thick foliage.
"Are you sure?" she asked, squinting. Without a word, Shin-ah walked to the tree and slashed its trunk until it fell. Among the fallen branches was a messy and slightly perplexed Jae-ha.
"You really shouldn't have," he muttered, glancing at Shin-ah. Hak's eyes lit up.
"Oh, so Droopy Eyes can't bear to part with us," he snickered. Jae-ha smoothed his hair and sighed tragically.
"What a coincidence that we meet on the way—"
"But you've been following us ever since we left Awa," Ki-ja pointed out.
"What a stalker. Yona, don't look it in the eyes and it might go away," Yun said irritably. Yona ignored all comments and hurried over to Jae-ha with a bright, honest smile on her lips.
"I'm so glad you decided to join us!" she exclaimed.
"I couldn't resist the thought of going on a journey together," Jae-ha explained. He looked annoyingly perfect even after falling from a tree. "Also, you looked like you would cry your eyes out if I didn't come along, and I don't want such pretty gray eyes to be ruined because of me. I became agitated—but I missed the chance to call out to you."
"Just as perverted as ever." Hak shivered. Yun looked at him thoughtfully.
"Somehow, he resembles you a lot."
"But Jae-ha, I thought you hated the Four Dragons," Yona said.
"It has nothing to do with draconic mythology and blood," Jae-ha explained. "I'm just doing what I always have; following the path I choose to. Nothing is violating my principles of beauty."
He reached out and took Yona's tiny hand in his own.
"Right now... this is what I deem correct. I just can't leave you alone. Take me and I'll—"
Hak immediately threw himself between the two, glaring at Jae-ha ferociously.
"Your excuses are worse than Sen's poems," he said. "Yona's not the only one traveling with you. I'd rather be torn limb from limb than let that happen."
"That's right," Yun agreed, slightly offended. "We're here, too."
Jae-ha sighed. He felt his beautiful dream shatter.
"Well, long as I have Yona by my side and Yun's food, I can put up with my fellow Dragons and the depressed bodyguard."
Yun beamed. Ki-ja had the satisfying feeling of being acknowledged as Jae-ha's "fellow Dragon", whatever it meant. Hak scowled. Jae-ha's eyes curved with amusement as he glanced at the silent figure furthest from him.
"Sen, darling Sen, have you come to make my misery more bearable?"
"I was going to," she said, "but it appears I am unwanted."
"Unwanted?" Jae-ha gasped. "Why, if I had to live a day without your presence, I might die."
"You'll have to," Hak said. "She isn't coming."
"Yes, she is," Yona said, looking at him sternly. "Don't listen to him, Sen. He likes to speak nonsense."
"It's fine," Sen replied. "He's just jealous that I have the attention of the girl he l—"
"Hmm? What's that? I can't hear it," Hak said with a hand clamping Sen's mouth shut. "Speak more clearly."
"Hak would sacrifice both his eyes for a date with—" Sen began before being shut off by Hak's hand again.
"You two sure get along well," Yona said with a smile. Hak, absolutely horrified, leaped away from Sen.
"Are you blind?" he asked. Sen grinned. She caught his arm and pulled him closer.
"How accurate, princess," she cooed, "you could discern our mutual affection by just a glance..."
"I dare you to repeat that," Hak threatened. Sen leaned against his shoulder and sighed wistfully.
"What for, darling? You heard it very well the first time. I know this won't last long, but—"
"Enough of that," Yun said. "That's enough reunion and friendly banter for today. Now that we're all here, I'd like to ask - what's our plan?"
"Our what?" Hak asked. Ignoring him, Yun added, "I'd like to visit Ik-su, first of all. Are there any other requests?"
"As long as we're helping my people, I don't care where we go," Yona said. Everyone else nodded. If that's what she chose.
"I agree with Her Highness, but who may Ik-su be?" Ki-ja asked.
"He's a priest who pretty much adopted me and taught me all I know," Yun explained. "He also is the one who consulted the gods and advised Yona to go on this journey and collect the Four Dragons."
"Collect? Yun, I don't like your choice of words..." Jae-ha muttered.
"This person you speak of must be a wise and glorious person, favored by the gods if he was allowed to speak to them. That is a gift not even bestowed onto us, the Dragon Warriors!" Ki-ja exclaimed.
Yun went red. Yona giggled when she thought of the priest with a beggar-like appearance and completely lacking grace and personal pride.
"He is a good man," she said.
"He forgets to eat every now and then, so I'm worried about him." Yun explained. "Now, you magical lot, go get me a deer, firewood and water. Those who don't have anything better to do will set up the tent. The motto is, "no work, no food"."
"Yes, mom!" they chorused.
"I don't remember giving birth to any of you! If you say that again, there's no supper! Now shoo, shoo!"
The group scattered and in half an hour, the originally grassy spot had a tent, a fireplace with a fire, a cauldron full of water and a dead deer on it.
"Ki-ja, did you meet any people while fetching us water?" Hak asked as he began to skin the deer. Ki-ja innocently said no, and had no idea where the conversation was going.
"So you didn't meet a girl who's never heard of the Yellow Dragon before, is fleeing from a village and is deeply in love with you?"
Ki-ja went red and shook his head. Sen appeared slightly embarrassed as well. Jae-ha, on the other hand, perked up.
"Oh? What's this?"
"You haven't heard?" Hak asked in disbelief. "Sen said that to our gullible white snake in order to protect you."
Jae-ha snickered. Ki-ja blushed even deeper and covered his face.
"You're fabricating events, General," Sen said, fanning her face. "I just like to mess with suspicious travelers."
"You break my heart," Jae-ha sighed. "I thought you messed with me and only me. To think you'd describe someone else as suspicious…"
"It's hard to stick with only one dragon, you know?" Sen replied. "But you'll always be the most suspicious of them all."
"Oh, my dearest-"
"If you have nothing better to do, go set up the tent," Yun shouted from near the fire. "No work, no food!"
Given that reminder, the group scattered once more in an attempt to make themselves useful. Before she left to help Yun, Jae-ha whispered to Sen, "Let's talk once everyone's asleep." She nodded quickly before hurrying away.
...
Staying up proved to be harder than Jae-ha had thought. Having slept little to none in the past days and having to walk so much in a single day made him wish he had just ignored Sen altogether. But all his tiredness vanished when he saw her silhouette emerge from the darkness into the light of the fire.
"You came," he whispered.
"I don't make false promises," she replied, sitting down by his side. "What do you want?"
Although her tone was far more business-like than he would have liked, he didn't let it faze him and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Guess," he murmured before pressing his lips against hers. He felt her body relax in his arms as she kissed him back, her hands pressed against his chest.
"You don't know how I missed doing this," he said softly in her ear before kissing her again. He found her lips weren't enough and moved to kiss her slender neck next. "It's only been a day, but I keep thinking about it. Every second felt like a thousand years..."
"Lies," Sen whispered, her hand moving to the back of his head, pressing him closer to her skin. "We know each other well enough - forget these empty pleasantries."
"You have no idea how worried I was you'd never show up," he went on, ignoring her words entirely and biting into her shoulder. "The thought of never seeing you again burned like a thousand flames-"
"Who are you trying to impress?" Sen laughed. Jae-ha looked deeply into her eyes and kissed her on the lips again.
"You, dear. Always you."
Sen gently pushed him away and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. The movement, although subconscious on her part, shook Jae-ha to the core. She hates me. I disgust her. What did I do?
"Don't do that, please," Sen said. "It's only funny as a joke. What did you want to talk about, anyways?"
"It doesn't matter," Jae-ha muttered, heart sinking. How did one act serious again? "I just... I wondered what you want from me."
"Nothing," Sen replied without a moment's hesitation. Jae-ha's heart squeezed painfully. Although she didn't raise her voice in the slightest, her words were louder than thunder to him. "You're a good friend to me and I-"
"You kissed me as a friend?"
Jae-ha wondered if that question sounded as hollow as he felt. What a joke.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I like you."
"As a friend, I'm sure."
"I want you."
"In a friendly way."
"What's your problem?" Sen asked irritably. "I am attracted to you, Jae-ha. What else do you want me to say? I don't want anything from you. The fact that I want you doesn't mean anything."
It means a lot to me.
Jae-ha sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I don't get you."
"The feeling is mutual," Sen told him. "What do you want, anyways?"
A long silence ensued. Jae-ha hung his head, deep in thought. Indeed, it was easier to ask such a question than to answer it.
"You, I suppose," he eventually said. Sen rolled her eyes.
"How is that any different from what I said?"
"I mean it."
The moment Jae-ha uttered those words, he knew he had made a mistake. Sen's face, which had only showed mild annoyance before, flashed with anger. Regret welled in his heart. Would she scream at him the way she did at Vanishing Cape? He braced himself for the repercussions, but they never came. What left Sen's lips wasn't a string of insults, but a gentle laugh.
"You're tired," she said. The anger in her expression that had been there moments before was nowhere to be found. She gestured towards her lap. "Lie down."
Jae-ha did, although grudgingly. Yet she was right - lying down did feel good.
"I have to guard..." he muttered. Sen undid the ribbon holding his ponytail together and ran her fingers through his hair in a soft, soothing motion.
"I'll stay up," she said. "I know you've worked hard... Let me do this. I can't sleep anyway."
Only half-aware of her words, Jae-ha nodded. Normally, he would have insisted she sleep, but this position was far too comfortable. There was only one thought keeping him awake.
"So things stay the way they are?"
Sen's fingers paused briefly before she went back to playing with his hair.
"Sounds good to me."