Yona – What's your scariest nightmare?
"Interesting! Be sure not to leave out any details, Princess," grinned Hak.
"I'll punch the living daylights out of you!" exclaimed the furious Princess.
"Was it about Hak making a move on you, Yona dear?" asked Jae Ha innocently.
"You know, Droopy Eyes, I've been wanting a life-szied bowtie for a long time," said Hak, twisting Jae Ha's arms as the Green Dragon choked.
"I yield! I yield!"
Paying no attention to the hoodlums, Kija asked Yona, "What kind of nightmare did you have, Princess?"
Even Shin Ah and Zeno had scooted closer to listen, looking concerned. Yona smiled at them.
"Well… a few years ago, back when I was still at the palace, I had a dream that Hak had died…"
Kija's expression changed at once.
"Well, such a trivial dream doesn't deserve your concern," he said brightly, patting her on the shoulder. "Just forget about it, Princess."
"White Snake…" growled Hak, releasing Jae Ha, who was on the brink of death throes.
Yona shook her head. "I know… it was only a dream after all."
Yoon cast a wary glance at Hak. It looked as though his soul had departed.
"Thunder Beast, don't leave us now," he said, prodding Hak in the shoulder.
Hak – What is the most romantically heart-throbbing moment of your life?
"It seems like this will take a while," said Jae Ha idly. "The list goes on and on… "
Yona gave a tiny snort. Everyone glanced at her in astonishment.
"Sorry," she said, giggling mildly into her palm. "It's just hard to imagine Hak experiencing a heart-throbbing moment."
Unbeknownst to the Princess, there was a tumultous struggle taking place within Hak. He couldn't see how he could worm his way out of this one.
"Is this the moment of truth?" whispered Jae Ha dramatically. "Will Hak's feelings finally reach – ?"
Hak sank his fist into the Green Dragon's face.
"I forfeit," said the Thunder Beast, sounding as though it took incredible effort to voice out the words.
"Yup," said Yoon promptly; he had been expecting this, after all. "So this makes, what, eight turns now?"
"Hold on a second!" said Yona furiously. "Why does Hak keep backing out of Truths?"
"Princess, that's for me to know and you to find out."
"Oh? So how is it that you can answer me so quickly, but not the question in question?"
"Oh… the Princess made a pun. Let's throw a feast."
"Hak…" The Princess's tone became downright mad. Hak looked pointedly away.
"Alright, fine," he sighed after a while. "You want to know the truth? In reality, all the heart-throbbing moments I've experienced were with you, Princess."
His words had struck everyone dumb.
"Quit playing around!" exclaimed Yona, grabbing the front of Hak's robes. Her face was glowing red.
"What's wrong, Princess? You look like you've swallowed the sun," enquired Hak.
"Don't change the subject! Tell me the truth already!"
"I have told you."
"If that was the truth, then you're nothing but a humungous butthead!"
"Well, that's new."
"Yona, dear, don't let this pervert get to you. His heart throbs at the sight of any woman."
Surprisingly, Yona released Hak. Her eyes were wide with realisation.
"Oh," she said thoughfully. "That's right. Back in Awa, he was visiting all those redlight districts. Yes, it makes sense now… "
Hak looked like he wanted to throttle Jae Ha.
The Green Dragon smirked, giving him a look that plainly said, You can hate me, but you can't deny I just saved your butt.
Jae Ha – Are you scared of dying? Why?
"Of course I am," said Jae Ha forlornly. "There are so many beautiful women out there whom I have yet to grace with my company. But of course, none of them surpasses you in looks, Yona dear."
"Look out, Princess. You are most likely one of the beautiful women he intends to spend time with," warned Kija.
"Now, now, Kija. Don't give Yona the wrong idea," laughed Jae Ha.
"Listen well, Princess. That is known as a Pervert's Laugh," said Hak airily.
"Aw, come on! Do you guys really think of me like that?"
"We don't think. We know."
"Yona, take a good long look. This is cruelty in its ugliest form."
"You want ugly, look at yourself in the mirror," snapped Hak, his temper rising fast.
Jae Ha gave a theatrical gasp. "You're horrible, Hak! Calling the beautiful Princess ugly… "
Hak grabbed his spear. "One more word and I'll make it so that your own face will be unrecognisable!"
"Actually, I did learn a trick way back when," remarked Zeno suddenly. "First you take a kettle and hammer it. Then you peek at your reflection in the battered metal and… ta-da! You get an unrecognisable face! Hahahahaha!"
"Zeno, please be quiet," scowled Yoon.
Yoon – Sing instead of speaking for three turns.
Yoon sighed.
"See, Yoon? You really shouldn't tell people to be quiet," said Zeno.
Yoon bonked him on the head.
Hak sighed as well. "Finally. Some peace and quiet," he muttered.
Yoon bonked him twice as hard.
"You little brat…" Hak gritted his teeth, massaging the raw spot.
"Liking the taste of your own medicine?" grinned Jae Ha devilishly.
"I'll give you a whole bottleful if you don't shut up!"
Shin Ah – If you could have anyone here in the room to be your slave, who would it be and what would you make them do?
"Slave?" questioned Shin Ah, and although they couldn't see it, the others could imagine him blinking quizzically. "I don't need a slave."
"Ah, Shin Ah! You are indeed a fine and upstanding young man!" beamed Jae Ha, clapping the Blue Dragon on the back. "It must show in your eyes, too! Give us a look!"
"No!" Shin Ah held on to his mask as Jae Ha tried his best to tug it off.
"It'll just be a quick one. You won't even have time to stop our hearts. Come on!"
"No! Stop!"
"Jae Ha, stop finding excuses to pick on poor Shin Ah!" berated Kija, jumping up to pull the Green Dragon back.
Yoon rolled his eyes, his way of saying, 'What a bother.'
"Will you guys please stop it already?" said Yona exasperatedly. "Look, even Ao is fighting back."
The usually docile squirrel was squeaking reproachfully as she tried to pin down the mask with her tiny paws.
"You know what they say, Princess – fighting your enemies is great, but watching your enemies fight is even greater," smirked Hak.
"HUH? What did you say, you uncouth fiend?!"
Letting go of Shin Ah, Jae Ha smiled and straightened his robes, which had become slightly dishevelled in the struggle. He said, "You know what's greatest in the end? Teaming up to fight a mutual enemy."
Hak's grin widened as he steadied his spear on the ground. He curled his finger invitingly.
"Bring it on!"
And the battle of the century ensued.
Fists were flying everywhere. Shin Ah edged away from the rampage, still gripping his mask as though the wind might blow it away. Zeno laughed and applauded the fight as Yona and Yoon, who were long accustomed to the warriors' antics, brought up the topic of dinner.
Kija – Take off one item of clothing.
"This is an outrage! Me, the White Dragon, stripping in broad daylight?"
"White Snake, you don't have to pretend. We know it's your number one hobby," said Hak carelessly.
"YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"
"Kija, Yoon says enough is enough. You fought to the extent that Hak's- and Jae Ha's clothes are beyond mending," said Zeno cheerfully.
Blushing furiously, Kija decided that it was safest to remove his overcoat.
"Kija, you naughty rascal," tutted Jae Ha. "First you tore our clothes, and now this? Are you implying something?"
He leapt back just as Kija's claws slashed the air where his head had been.
"Oooh, someone's being a bad boy," he chuckled, perching on a tree bough.
Kija tore at the tree in a blur of claws, as though intending to bring the Green Dragon down with it.
"Yoon says this is a pretty interesting dare," said Zeno, reading out the note that Yoon had passed to him. "Let's make this the new penalty."
"Hey, you can't be serious?" demanded Hak.
"Sounds great! Let's go for it!" came Jae Ha's shout.
"YOU BE QUIET!"
Yoon handed the Thunder Beast a note. Blankly, Hak read out, "Don't worry, Thunder Beast. Yona's dare is still unchanged. Even I know my limits."
Jae Ha leaned smugly against the tree trunk. "Hak, just admit it – you badly want to see Yona undress, don't you?"
"Eh?" Yona's mouth fell open. Next second, Hak had snatched up his spear and joined Kija in demolishing the tree.
"Guys, please don't destroy nature for the sake of settling personal scores," said Shin Ah, reading out Yoon's note slowly. Unfortunately, his voice was so quiet that none of the warriors heard him.
"Don't worry, Shin Ah! Zeno will be your voice!"
The Yellow Dragon was about to take the note from Shin Ah when Yoon passed him another one.
Zeno, your voice is annoying.
Zeno threw a baby tantrum. "Waahh! You're so mean!"
Zeno – Do a headstand for one minute.
Zeno stopped crying at once.
"Yaayy! Watch me, everyone!" he exclaimed, performing a cartwheel and landing lightly on his hands.
"Oooh! Zeno, you're amazing!" cried Yona, her eyes shining with admiration at the Yellow Dragon's marvellous feat.
With happy squeaks, Ao scampered toward Zeno and climbed all the way up to his boots. At the top, she struck a victory pose.
"Ao is taking it up a notch!" remarked Jae Ha. "Go, Ao!"
"Zeno, what you're doing is a handstand," said Yoon through Yona.
"Gotcha!"
Zeno bent his arms until his head was touching the ground. He remained like this for half a minute, his face growing more and more contorted. Pretty soon, he was wobbling dangerously.
So was Ao.
"Ao, hang in there," encouraged Yona, holding her fists in front of her and watching the squirrel determinedly.
"Ao, don't give up!" called Jae Ha motivatingly.
"I thought this was supposed to be Zeno's dare," said Hak.
At the minute mark, Zeno flopped to the ground.
"Hooray! Three cheers for Zeno and Ao!" exclaimed Yona happily.
Zeno winked and high-fived the squirrel. "We're awesome!"
Yona – Everything you say for the rest of the game has to rhyme.
Hak shook his head mournfully. "This is terrible. The Princess has never shown a shred of talent for poetry."
Yona flew at him furiously. Hak laughed as he resisted her futile punches.
"Puny fists! You have puny fists, Princess!"
"Enough flirting, you two?" said Kija puzzledly, reading out from Yoon's note.
"It's OK, Miss! I'm sure whatever you come up with will sound beautiful!" beamed Zeno, flashing Yona a thumbs-up.
Yona looked like she was thinking very hard.
"Thank you, Zeno," she said at last. "I don't think I'm that good, though."
She smiled a little embarrassedly. It made flowers bloom in everyone's vision.
"Bet that melted your heart," Jae Ha told Hak.
"Don't spoil it, Droopy Eyes," scowled Hak, bashing him on the face.
Hak – Embrace anyone as tightly as you can for thirty seconds.
"And now… on to the grand finale!" announced Jae Ha, with a grandiose sweep of his hands.
"Indeed we are," said Hak, looking mighty fearsome as he advanced on the Green Dragon. "Come here, Droopy Eyes. I want to to squeeze the life out of you."
Laughing excessively, Jae Ha darted behind Yona. "Yona dear, do me a favour and accept Hak's passionate embrace, OK?"
"What's wrong, Droopy Eyes? Feeling the love already?" asked Hak, cracking his knuckles. "Princess, please move aside. I want to show Jae Ha exactly how I feel about him."
Jae Ha was beginning to sweat. "The way you said 'exactly' was a little too extreme, don't you think?"
"Hak, you look a little scary," noted Yona nervously.
"See, Hak? You're scaring poor Yona!"
"Don't worry, Princess. The one I'm after is the rogue hiding behind your back."
Yona looked over her shoulder. "Jae Ha, why don't you step out? It's rare that Hak would actually want to give out hugs."
"Yona dear, you're throwing me to the wolves, you know?"
Hak was only a foot away now. Desperately, Jae Ha turned to Yoon.
"Yoon! Help me out!"
Yoon sighed and scribbled down a note. He passed it to Hak, who read it silently.
Thunder Beast, this opportunity may not come again.
Considering it was only a sentence long, it took Hak an awfully long time to read it.
"Hak?" enquired Yona, when he had been standing like a statue for ages.
Wordlessly, Hak looked up. He crumpled up the note, tossed it away, and then embraced Yona.
For the span of thirty seconds, Yona found herself unable to breathe. Not because Hak was squeezing her too tightly, but rather -
Before she knew it, Hak was already releasing her.
"Don't look so retarded," said Hak, flipping away so she couldn't get a look at his face. "What are you waiting for Droopy Eyes? It's your turn."
"Yona, your face is red," remarked Zeno. "Do you have a fever?"
Yona touched her cheeks. They were indeed warm.
"Eh? How strange," she said. Her chest felt rather constricted, too. "It must be from Hak's body heat."
"Hak has a fever?" said Zeno in alarm.
"Sleep talk when you're actually sleeping," said Hak irritably.
Jae Ha nudged Hak in the ribs. "Aw, Hak! You're so transparent!"
Hak swung his spear at him, but whether deliberately or not, Jae Ha crouched down at the last second to draw a slip.
"Well! Guess it's my turn!"
Jae Ha – Which player do you think will never be attached?
Jae Ha rocked back and forth lazily. "It's obvious, isn't it? At the rate he's going, Hak will be facing a life of soli – "
This time, the back of Hak's spear collided with his head.
"Oops – sorry. My hand slipped," said Hak, sounding unconcerned.
"Jae Ha, you actually enjoy this, don't you?" remarked Kija.
Yoon – Get someone to draw a moustache of their liking on your face. You have to keep it for the rest of the game.
"Let's use White Snake's blood," suggested Hak.
"Would you like a permanent moustache?" threatened Kija.
"I have some ink we can use," said Yoon, rummaging in his bag. "Now where did I put it…?"
"Yoon, you don't seem upset," observed Jae Ha. "Is it because you can finally look like a man?"
"Jae Ha, if ink wasn't a precious resource, I would empty the whole pot on you."
"Zeno will draw! Zeno will draw!" cried the Yellow Dragon, bouncing up and down enthusiastically. "Zeno wants to draw!"
"Know how to make it more exciting, Zeno?" said Jae Ha mischievously. "Do it with your eyes closed."
"Jae Ha, you can do your own cooking from now on."
"Oh, come on, Yoon! You know how much I admire your cooking."
"Flattery doesn't work on me."
"Your ears have expanded," pointed out Kija.
"Silence, you!" shouted Yoon, rounding on Kija furiously.
Armed with a brush and an inkpot, Zeno scrutinised Yoon's face for a while, trying to determine the best angle. Then he got down to work.
A few minutes passed before Zeno declared, "Mission accomplished!"
Everyone crowded closer. Yoon was sporting a fine handlebar moustache.
"How is it?" asked Yoon, turning to Hak and wrinkling his nose.
Hak stared at him impassively. "Who are you?"
The answer he got was a big smack on the head.
"Good work, Zeno! Yoon looks like a mature grown-up!" beamed Yona.
Yoon flashed a victory sign as Zeno folded his arms importantly. "I should do this for a living."
"Zeno, you should learn some modesty first," advised Kija.