HEART OF GOLD {KNJ}

| 15 |

Human

Sweat drips down the side of his face as he trains. He can hear everything in the forest. The wind blowing, the birds chirping, the soft crunch of leaves as someone approaches. It is all too loud and clear for him to hear.

"She hasn't slept in days, and neither have you by the looks of it." Doryu points out as soon as he sees him in the morning.

"Why did you leave her like that?"

"I had to."

Doryu only hums in response, sitting in his usual spot in the cave.

"Whatever reasons you have for that, trust me boy, it's better to tell her the truth."

"I can't."

"I know that you are trying to keep her safe, but this is not the way to go about it."

"She is safer with me out of the way." He says.

When Doryu doesn't argue farther, Namjoon lets out a defeated sigh.

"Is there something you would like to say?"

"That depends. Do you want some advice or would you rather just let things be?"

"I don't know." The boy confesses. "Was it hard for you as well? Did you two have disagreements like this?"

"We did my boy. Everyone has disagreements, but at the same time everyone is different. Our circumstances weren't the same as yours, but we did have struggles along the way."

"How did she react when you told her?"

"She took it well much to my surprise." He says, a slight smile on his face as reminisces the moment he first told his beloved that he was a dragon shifter. "I'm sure you know dragon shifters are uncommon, but contrary to what people believe, there are several dragon shifters out there. Not a lot, and we are all different, but there are a few."

"Were people ever afraid of you?"

"At first some were, but mostly because they did not understand the type of dragon I am."

"And that is?"

"A hydrophius Asian dragon, a water dragon. Once people realized that, they let me be."

"You are a vesperaldus or western dragon, the strongest there is and the one people are most familiar with. Tales are told about the vesperaldus and they are often associated with destruction and fire."

"Yeah? Well clearly they haven't taken the time to do their research and get to know me better."

"I know you have a lot on your place boy, but pushing her away is not the answer to your problems. You can't run away from this."

"I'm not running away. I just need time to think and figure things out. I know that everyone sees me as an invincible dragon but I'm not, okay? I'm still human!" Namjoon exclaims, letting out a sigh through his nose as he runs his hands through his hair in exasperation. "I can only do so much."

"Every time I look at EunAe, I can't help but wanting to try harder. I know that she believes in me, but I don't want to disappoint her. I don't want to disappoint us both."