Description: For more skilled maneuvers, dragon shifters need a rider to help them out. After rejecting multiple riders, Hyunjin, a traumatized and handicapped shifter, is assigned to you. To add a cherry on top, you’re deaf, so how are you supposed to cast spells to free him from his limitation, let alone the anger in his heart?
Warning: none
Word Count: 2k
Pairing: fem!reader x dragon!Hyunjin
Pt: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5
“Hi half-tailed lizard.” “Careful, he’s a Twilight Terror.” “Oooh, scary!”
Hyunjin keeps his head down and continues on his way. Win a war with a handicap and you’re an inspiration. Lose one, and you’re a laughing stock for even trying. Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother him as much as it did before. He meant what he said to the boys at the clinic. The tail is special to you, and it is special to him, broken or otherwise.
Still, it isn’t right for them to say such things. “Hey! You three over there! Name, age, which dorm you live in, now. I’m citing you for bullying.”
Hyunjin doesn’t have to turn around to know that the prefect is hollering at the group of gossipy dragons. He’s seen Chan pop up a few times to defend him now. When he is finished taking down their information, Hyunjin walks up to him.
“You know you don’t have to keep doing that for me. I can take care of myself.”
Chan gives him a brotherly pat on the shoulder, saying “Of course I do! It’s my job to look out for everyone” then walking away with his golden prefect armband swaying with every step.
Ugh, how much more perfect can he get? No matter now; you had asked Hyunjin to meet you today, and he isn’t about to keep you waiting.
You look excited as you stand on the field waiting for him. Well, you look excited every time you see him, and Hyunjin is starting to feel the same when he sees you.
He tilts his head to the side, asking why you called him out today. He closes his eyes when you gesture for him to do so and feels you fiddling with his necklace. When you tap him on his shoulder, he opens his eyes and looks down to see a frame made of white gold clasped snuggly against his pendant.
‘Turn dragon, but add an eee sound to the end of the spell.’
He does as told again and watches the usual purple swirls envelop and transform him. When he is done, however, he feels a new weight on his extremity. He turns around to see a white prosthetic fin attached to his tail.
He huffs a puff of smoke at you in amazement. You beam back at him and hold up your notepad.
‘I thought about how to do this while stuck at the clinic, but it took a while to figure out even after my discharge. I hope this helps you fly with your dragon friends again.’
Hyunjin returns to human form to write. ‘Aren’t you scared that I’ll never let you on again if I can fly by myself?’ he teases.
‘You don’t get appai berries when you fly solo,’ you shoot back.
Hyunjin performs a dramatic display of misery that makes you chuckle silently. Rolling your eyes, you indicate toward a metal can that you have also brought.
‘Transform again so I can paint it purple for you.’
Your companion shakes his head. ‘I like it white.’
‘But it doesn’t look natural,’ you object.
He raises his previous message again for you to read.
You shrug, nudging the paint away with your foot. ‘Want to test it out still?’
Within seconds, Hyunjin is in the air with a discoloured tail following him. After six years of imbalance, he almost fell from the new fix, but you are there on the ground to straighten him up every time. He recalls this feeling, being able to glide to the side and move his tail however he wanted to. He used to do this with his buddies in the forest before he met-- No, Hyunjin told himself that he isn’t going to dwell on the past anymore, not when you’re here in the present right now, and he can’t bear to drop you from the sky again. It’s still a work in progress, but you promised him a shoulder whenever he’s struggling with it.
Still, there’s no crime in relishing the feeling of weightlessness in the air. As enjoyable as it is however, Hyunjin knows there’s something missing.
‘How is it?’ you ask once he’s landed.
‘Something’s not quite right…’
You furrow your brows, wondering where you could have made a mistake, but before you can come to a conclusion, Hyunjin chants his transformation spell again. He then knocks you off your feet and sweeps you onto his back.
Hyunjin lets out a roar towards the advanced obstacle course to which you laugh and lean forward in preparation. Before you can even blink, the two of you are cutting through the air, going faster with each stroke of the Terror’s powerful wings.
Much better.
Hyunjin cherishes these practices the most when there’s no one watching and nothing on the line. It’s just you and him. It’s nice, and he wishes he could keep it like this forever, but with the way your eyes twinkle with laughter and the way your hair blows in the evening breeze after he lands and you roll off of him onto the grass, he can’t help but wonder if he can have something more.
What? you ask with a motion of your head, referring to his staring.
He shakes his head. Nothing.
You nudge at his shoulder, and he gives in, turning to sit facing you. He reaches over to cover your eyes, making your breath hitch, so that you can’t read his lips.
“I know I’m not charming like Chan or reliable like Changbin, but I like you, Y/N,” he confesses. “I like you a lot.”
With that, he draws back his hands to reveal a confused expression on your face which quickly turns into a pout. He laughs and knocks your forehead back with two fingers.
‘What did you say?’ you interrogate.
‘I said ‘Take me to the Race!’’ He pumps his fist into the air.
You smile widely and imitate his action. He laughs and bumps his fist to yours. He’s going to compete. After all these years, he’s finally going to compete.
After coming to terms with his feelings and with the annual winter ball around the corner, Hyunjin knows what to do. The winter ball’s sole purpose is to celebrate the past year and the upcoming race, so Hyunjin never really had a reason to go until now. He’s feeling a little nervous about even attending the ball itself and is why he waited so long to purchase a bouquet of gold-tipped, cream coloured flowers mixed with a few pastel pinks and purples for accent.
He knows you are in the library, so that’s where he went, but he almost doubted his location for a second. Since when was the dusty, ancient place so crowded? He peers past the mob and sees you in the center of it.
But you aren’t alone.
Chan had set up a whole ambiance for you complete with twinkling fire fairies and petals on the ground. He places your hand on his acoustic guitar for you to feel the vibrations as he plays a sweet song and one of his friends nearby signs for you the words he is singing. When he is done, he takes your hand and gifts you a dozen scarlet roses.
‘Go to the dance with me?’ he signs.
No sensible human would turn down something like that. Hyunjin suddenly feels like he can’t breathe when you nod with a shy smile and Chan pulls you into a relieved hug. He slips out of the cheering crowd, unable to bear it any longer.
As he storms down the hall, he hears a familiar voice call out to him. “Hyunjin? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about me, Hye Ji.”
“I, um, have something to ask of you,” the girl admits. Why does she look nervous?
“Go for it,” Hyunjin nods.
“Will you go to the winter ball with me?” she squeaks.
Hyunjin looks at the bouquet of flowers in his hands with a sigh. Slowly, he lifts his eyes back up to face her. “Sorry, Hye Ji. I don’t think I’ll be going this year. I’m sorry.”
“It’s Miss L/N, isn’t it?” she calls as he tries to leave.
Hyunjin turns around, surprised. Hye Ji is looking at her boots with her hair covering her face.
“I’m sorry,” Hyunjin repeats.
“I-it’s fine,” she chokes. “Y/N’s really great and all. I would choose her too if I were you.”
“Hye Ji--”
“I said it’s fine!” she yells and runs away.
Three nights later and Hyunjin is moping alone in his dorm room, picking at his recipient-less bouquet. The prefects’ opening dance should have ended by now. He imagines you in your rose gold gown and silver heels looking like you stepped straight out of a fairy tale. He imagines you swaying gently with Bang Chan as the prefect leads you to the beat of the music.
There’s no crying over spilled milk now, he decides with a sigh. What’s someone as talented and sweet as you going to do with someone as broken and angsty like him anyway? Someone who’s charismatic and top of his class, someone like Chan, looks a lot better next to you.
There’s a sound at his door to which his ears perk up excitedly. He had ordered two portions of lamb rib stew to hopefully eat himself into a coma.
“Coming!” he calls, pulling out a bottle of cider.
Once he opens the door, he almost slams it back shut in shock.
Instead of a delivery man, you stand in front of him in all of your perfect hair, perfect eyes, perfect nose, perfect lips, perfect everything glory. Not to mention you are complete with a bag of lamb rib stew in your hand.
‘I met the delivery mister on the way. Can I come in?’
Hyunjin swallows with difficulty and steps to the side for you, nearly passing out when the tulle of your dress brushes against his leg as you walk by.
‘What are you doing here?’
You shrug your pearly shoulders. ‘Chan got called away for some duties after the opening dance. Apparently there’s something wrong with the course for the Race. It doesn’t seem like he’ll be back before the ball ends, so I left after telling Changbin. I’m not intruding or anything, am I? It looks like you bought two servings of lamb. Were you expecting someone?’
‘I must have ordered it wrong,’ he lies, rubbing the back of his head. ‘Have you eaten?’
You shake your head and he immediately offers you a takeout before getting two glasses for the cider. You thank him, and the two of you begin eating. After dinner, he excuses himself to toss out the trash, and you notice the cream bouquet by his bed.
‘Were you going to ask someone to the dance?’ you ask when he returns.
What was he supposed to say? That he randomly sports flowers in his dorm?
‘Something like that. Someone else asked first though.’
‘Hye Ji came alone today though.’
‘It’s not Hye Ji!’ he writes a little too quickly. ‘They… they can be yours if you’d offer me a dance. You know, since it’ll be a waste of such a pretty dress if you only do one waltz in it.’
You giggle, and he can’t tell if it is because of his words or how red he must be right now.
‘Sure. They’re gorgeous. Thank you.’
You place your right hand in his left, and he takes you to the center of the room. You put your other hand confidently on his shoulder, and he timorously finds your waist. After a few awkward steps, you begin singing to ease his tension. As expected, he moves elegantly with your tune as if you’re on the training grounds, flying. It’s a lovely sound, he thinks, and even more so when you’re singing it just for him in the air or like right now.
‘You’re staring again,’ you trace into his back, the motion sending shivers down his spine.
He doesn’t know where the courage came from, but Hyunjin decides to give you a proper explanation this time. He points at you, taps his cheek, then draws a semi circle around his face.
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