"I want to know why you do it."
"Why I do what." he asked, stripping off his overcoat.
He flung it over the back of the couch without much thought as he began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Why you always save me. Every time I'm in trouble you always come...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It was my first time getting to see Merene outside of the castle and with the normally dense fog having dissipated enough to allow scattered sun rays to reach the ground, the forests around us came alive. It was a sight I hadn't gotten to appreciate in a long time and so I halted my bath long enough to watch the young doe and her fawn prance through the weeping willows surrounding the lake I was in, popping in and out of sight as if to check if I was still here. After riding all afternoon, the nine of us had decided to take a break and while I expected everyone to take one together, it wasn't until Wooyoung suggested Yeosang should show me around the kingdom while he had the chance that the rest of them jumped on the idea of giving Yeosang and I some time alone.
Thus, the break I was expecting turned into another hour of me riding Yeosang as he flew over his city beyond the castle. The town below us bustled with activity, as it seemed everyone was outside to enjoy the rare warmth of the sun. Past the large city, he flew further north towards the border where the lush pine forests fizzled into rough rock and mountainous terrain of the volcanoes I'd heard littered the northernmost parts of Merene. Its beauty dissolved into black and dead landscape, tell signs that something had happened here to mar the life that once thrived on it. It was a sad sight, one I soaked in as I made a mental note to ask Yeosang about it as he coasted along the edge of one of the volcanoes. He flew around the large mass of rock, the dead trees and barren grounds flourishing once again as he approached a massive body of water. He landed in a clearing a few yards from it, allowing me to dismount. I had taken in the willow trees in awe, the branches thick, the tree spread overlapping one another. The limbs wrap around each other as if they were holding hands, their foliage hanging gracefully, nearly touching the ground and dense enough to obscure the sight of the lake completely from the outside. Yeosang had nudged me towards it with a nose to my back, giving me the push to get moving.
I pushed my way through the weeping willows until they opened up to the bank, the water glittered invitingly, small streams of steam floated off of it and I realized that the lake was like the natural hot spring Yeosang had in his own bathroom. The promise of another relaxing bath was too enticing to pass up, which was how I found myself neck deep in it now, watching the wildlife around me. The rustling of the willows behind me startled the two deer enough to dart back through the weeping branches, scared off for good this time. I turned to see the looming black figure of Yeosang, in his dragon form, poking his head through the trees. He released a heavy breath, settling onto his stomach under the trees as his dragon was much too big to fit between them. I swam in his direction, finding him cute despite knowing that his dragon most likely existed to be the complete opposite.
"Will you join me, Yeo?"
He lifted his head, meeting my gaze before giving it a quick shake and laying it back down.
"If you're worried about me being shy or salvaging my decency, don't be. As mates, I belong to you just as much as I do myself now."
He looked to be contemplating my words, his form not moving for a few seconds before he slinked back into the trees. It became eerily quiet around me, the gentle lapping of water the only thing to be heard, until the willow branches where Yeosang had disappeared began swaying again as someone waded through them. I expected him to be nude, and he was, but I didn't expect just how unbelievably beautiful he was. The sun painted him as its muse, light haloing him as if he were what it had revealed itself for in the first place. His skin pale and flawless and I found my eyes drawn to the mark on his chest, the black a startling contrast to his milky skin, but no less beautiful as my eyes traced its pattern. He gave me a heart-stopping smile before plunging into the water, submerging himself all at once for only a second before popping back up, flinging water everywhere as he shook his head.
