Chapter Text
“Bad idea,” Jungkook mutters. “This is a bad idea. Please just turn the car around and go home.”
Namjoon makes a snorting noise in the back of his throat, his eyes never leaving his phone as his texts violently onto the screen. When Jungkook tries to peek from behind the shotgun seat, the sphinx squirms away and gives him a mysterious glance. “It’s not that bad,” Namjoon reasons. “It’ll be like reuniting with old friends. There are too many cases where individuals who did not know each other come together like they were twins separated from birth because of their common species. You’ll be alright, Jungkook. I’m almost a hundred percent sure you’ll get along with these guys.”
Yoongi looks up from his own phone that’s currently playing one of the How to Train Your Dragon movies. Jungkook has already given up pointing out all the things the films got wrong about dragons, and he knows that Yoongi knows, but for some reason that hyung just finds the movies amusing. Yoongi turns back to his phone from beside Jungkook. “Either that or Jungkook’s emperor instinct kicks in and he slaughters the entire civilization.”
That earns him a whack on his head from Seokjin, who’s the one driving the SUV they rented. “Jungkookie will not slaughter anyone. Our son is not a savage, Yoongi.”
“I don’t even speak English!” Jungkook runs his sweaty palms against his pants in attempt to calm himself. “How am I supposed to communicate with them?”
“Don’t worry, Kookie. We can go with you if you’re really nervous.” Taehyung pats Jungkook’s head from the back seat. “I’ll have Google Translate ready.”
“We’re here!” Hoseok gives Jungkook a heart-shaped grin. Jungkook has come to love this hyung’s infinitely positive attitude and sunshine-y vibe and used to have trouble believing that Hoseok is actually a rather dark magic-user. “I really hope you’ll be on those people’s good side, Jungkook, because this place isn’t even on the Google Maps and I doubt we’ll ever leave here if anything goes wrong.”
Well, that’s reassuring. They’re in the middle of nowhere and in some magical place that’s not on any map and can’t be detected by the satellites. That’s just great. Jungkook hasn’t changed his mind about this being a bad idea.
Jungkook hurriedly pushes open the car door and finds himself in the middle of a vast glade that’s sitting between dense forests and mountains so tall they look like pillars that hold up the heavens. It’s big enough to hold probably five football fields. The lazy afternoon sun pours through the leaves perfectly, creating warm kaleidoscopic shades of light and giving off a transcendental glow. The breeze is both warm and cool with a scent of the period between summer and autumn, gentle and welcoming. Jungkook looks down to notice that the grass under his feet is short and roughly trimmed, clean enough for him to know that someone has been regularly mowing it. He simply knows from some kind of dragon instinct that beyond the trees are more beautiful landscapes—lakes with transparent waters, rocky-strewn terrains, waterfalls with mist hanging over them—and on top of the mountains is snow, and beyond the mountains are seas. This place does feel a little magical.
He’s wandered too far from the car. Despite his common sense that warns him to be careful, he is at ease. He turns around to see the rest of his friends, who are either leaning against the SUV or sitting on the roof (Taehyung), waving at him and smiling at him encouragingly.
Jungkook turns back to the glade, knowing that this is something he has to face alone.
He walks until he’s in the middle of the glade, gaze darting everywhere because he just knows that something is lurking in the shadows behind trees, under the grass he’s stepping on, hiding behind clouds in the sky. He knows something is watching him.
Jungkook stops, turning a three-sixty but sees nothing. He’s not sure what he’s waiting; a sign would be great, like maybe some floating messages or a note stuck on one of the trees. Or maybe someone will come out of the woods and greet him like old pals.
“Rawr.” Jungkook says because that’s what dragons do when they communicate according to lame dragon movies made by uneducated humans. The wind around him picks up speed at his increasing nervousness, and a quick looks towards the sky proves his suspicion right: the sunny sky is still sunny, but there are dark clouds rolling into view already. Jungkook really does not want to meet strangers when he’s drenched wet, and it’s not like he can really control the weather.
He waits a few more seconds, the wind blowing insistently through the leaves and rustling them hard enough to shake some of them off their trees. Clouds are coming closer. Not good.
Jungkook turns around to his friends, who are all looking at the sky worriedly. “Bad idea!” Jungkook shouts and hopes his voice can reach them across the glade. It does, because they’re turning towards him again, only now with identical widened eyes. Now that would be really funny if Jungkook’s suddenly got a feeling that there’s something standing right behind him.
He turns again and precedes to fall to his butt in surprise.
A giant snout covered with green leathery hide is mere centimeters away from his own face. When Jungkook falls on his ass, he realizes that he’s facing a dragon, the first dragon he’s seen in centuries but not the dragon he’s used to seeing. This one is clearly a Western kind, with its elegant bat-like wings that are ripped here and there like leaves, each wing stretching farther than a swimming pool. Its enormous rocky horns and spikes that decorate its face and line down its spine are dangerously sharp and gorgeously carved despite their lack of symmetry. The dragon’s hide has layers upon layers like complicated mazes of tree roots and mysterious patterns that remind Jungkook of tree barks, perfect for camouflage in forests like this one around the glade. Its eyes are pupil-less blinding golden brilliances and Jungkook is instantly jealous.
And very, very threatened.
As soon as Jungkook gets to his feet, he feels himself transforming into his dragon form. He’s nowhere as large as the forest dragon in front of him (that thing is like twice the size of a dinosaur) but if you count how long he is (he can reach a few hundred meters with his full size), he probably looks just as dangerous. He growls up and somewhere behind him, he hears thunder. Blood boils in his veins as he feels almost the same murderous urge when he killed his parents so many years ago, and he knows he has to stop, right fucking now, but he can’t.
The forest dragon immediately recoils and a second later, it seems to disappear. It takes a few seconds for Jungkook to realize that the dragon is now in human form and not as tall anymore.
The human-shaped dragon has blond-brown curly hair and a distinctively split eyebrow. Plain white shirt and simple jeans. Young enough for human standard to pass as a college student if not for the barely noticeable stubble of a mustache, but Jungkook knows that he’s far older than himself. Seems friendly enough, like the typical class clown kind of guy. His eyes have dulled into hazel.
“Hey, woah, woah,” The guy says, waving both hands in the air to catch Jungkook’s attention. Jungkook freezes mid-growl. “Chill, man. Sorry if I scared you. Mind if we talk, human to human?”
He speaks Korean? Jungkook squints suspiciously at the guy, whose good-natured smile is still plastered on his face. He looks pretty American.
Jungkook waits a few moments, studying the guy as the guy studies him, before deciding that he can turn back to dragon any moment and probably kick this guy’s ass if he tries hard enough. “Who are you and why do you know Korean?” Jungkook demands, his voice sounding a lot braver than he feels.
The guy raises an eyebrow. “You must be a loner if you don’t know how dragons work,” He says, in Korean. “To me, you’re actually speaking English. It’s the magic in us that kind of makes dragons from all over the world communicate effectively. But we’ve certainly never seen any Eastern dragon before.”
We. There are more of them here? Jungkook bites back his tongue. “That’s because I’m the only one left.” He hopes nothing gives the impression that the reason why he’s the only one left because he killed the rest. He’ll tell this guy someday, probably, when he thinks he’s ready. He keeps his eyes fixed in the mountains in the back to avoid eye contact.
The guy lets the topic go and looks over his shoulder to follow Jungkook’s gaze. “This is the only place dragons can live peacefully without human interference, which your friends might have noticed earlier.” Jungkook does remember not being able to find the location with his GPS. “And the only reason you guys can find this place is because you’re with them.”
“So dragons aren’t extinct at all,” Jungkook breathes, looking around him. He can now see something he didn’t see before: a lazy and spike-less tail hanging from the branches of a tree, some baby human footprints between the grass, and a faraway shadow of a dragon perching on a shorter mountain, turning directly in his direction. “You guys are all here.”
The guy grins and cranes his neck sideways casually. “Yeah. The diverse landscapes make it possible for everyone to fit in. We have aquatic environments for seaborn dragons and high mountains for those who prefer flying over walking. Forests for people like me.” He points at the giant footprint he left behind as a dragon. “Rocks for some others. Facilities like schools and houses for those who are used to living like humans. We even have Wi-Fi in case we want to contact friends out there. I'm pretty sure your people practically worshipped dragons but in the Western world, kings sent their best warriors to kill our kinds for fame and glory. My friends were murdered left and right when they were supposed to live for eternity, but that's beside the point right now. It looks like you’re not staying for much longer.”
Jungkook raises both eyebrows. Is this guy a mind reader or something? Judging from those twinkling eyes staring back at him, Jungkook doesn’t see why that’s not possible.
This really is an amazing place, Jungkook already knows. Curling his long body up in one of those mountains sounds like heaven. This guy, leader of the dragons here, seems like a good guy and Jungkook really would like to befriend him. But then he won’t be able to stay with his friends, his family. He doubts he’ll find better boba here and he really will miss hanging around Hoseok’s shoulder like a baby dragon scarf and clearing the sky of clouds so that Taehyung can finally visit the beach after a stormy week. Making Namjoon teach him English when all he does is staring at the sphinx’s face like a lovestruck teenager. Back-hugging Yoongi while the grim reaper plays the piano. Sharing earphones and singing with Jimin in his apartment until their voices go dry. Cuddling against Seokjin in the winter as the phoenix summons little fire balls to keep both of them warm. This is his heaven.
Nonetheless, he’ll miss this place despite only being here for a couple of minutes. Being torn between his blood’s desire and his recently found family feels worse than he thinks.
“No, I’m not.” Jungkook agrees, though a bit forlornly. He glances back at his friends, who stare back with some levels of confusion and sadness. Just when Jungkook’s wondering how they know he’s feeling sad, he feels a gentle drizzle against his skin. Light and feathery, like kisses from the sky.
The guy looks up at the little bits of clouds. “Is this you?” He says in pure wonder, his palm facing up to feel the light shower.
Jungkook shrugs. “Yeah. It changes when my mood changes, so I can’t completely control it.”
The guy hums thoughtfully before staring back at Jungkook, those brilliant gold eyes shining. “You know you’re welcome whenever you come back, right?”
Jungkook nods. Maybe one day, he’ll come visit and drag his friends over so they can have a nice dinner all together. He’s sure Namjoon won’t let go of this opportunity to interview some of those dragons and Jimin won’t want to miss out his chance of making new friends. Speaking of his friends . . . “Are my friends welcome too?”
The guy shrugs calmly. “Sure, as long as they’re not here to slaughter us.”
They share a formal handshake but immediately go for a hug instead. After their short goodbye, Jungkook turns around to leave, his eyes fixed solely on his friends in fear of even more attachments for this place. He really hopes he won’t be dreaming about the forest dragon and the glade tonight, or else he’s going to have a really hard time dealing with this new, weird sense of nostalgia.
“Wait!” The guy shouts when Jungkook’s almost reached the car. The guy’s voice doesn’t sound that far away, which is strange because he is supposedly still standing in the middle of the glade and Jungkook’s already a long way from there. “I never caught your name!”
Jungkook stands still for a few moments, debating whether he should just keep walking or turn around, risking his good night’s sleep for the day. “Jeon Jungkook,” he says, but he doubts the guy will even hear it from that far.
Then, impossibly, a voice appears right in his mind. Jungkook knows that feeling; it’s a trick Hoseok sometimes does with them when he’s embarrassed to say something out loud or careful around strangers in public. But since only magic-users can speak telepathically and Hoseok doesn’t use that ability often, Jungkook’s never expected it to experience it with someone else.
Nice meeting you, Jung . . . kook. Sorry if I pronounced it wrong. My name’s Charlie Puth.