Chapter Text
The forest was chattering with the sound of cicadas and birds tweeting from the trees as Wooyoung and Yeosang made their way through. Wooyoung was leading since he was the only one out of their friend group who spent the majority of time inside the forest and was the least likely to get lost. The air was warm with the taste of summer on their fingertips and the breeze of freedom carding through their hair as they walked. Wooyoung talked while walking, adding to the noisiness of the forest as he chattered away about his day. It was a Friday afternoon, and both had gotten an early release from school.
Finals had just about passed, and everyone was just waiting for the last days of school to finish up so they could get the summer vacation they all so desperately wanted.
Wooyoung led them through a canopy of brush, taking care to make sure Yeosang walked through before he let the fixture drop. On the other side, Yeosang was already moving towards the lake that resided. The area was hidden; essentially a pocket in the otherwise dense forest. With flatland covered with lush grass and tiny blue flowers scattered about, the forest pocket was beautiful with the small lake inserted in. The two got settled on the lake's rim, pulling their shoes off and dipping their feet into the ice-blue water.
"... He was acting brand new. I don't know. Like, if you're gonna try and assign homework, don't make the homework stupid as hell. What do I look like trying to explain the differences in Hamlet's soliloquies based on how he delivers them? I can barely even understand what the man is saying to begin with." Wooyoung ranted, brows furrowed as he gestured grandly.
From beside him, on his phone, Yeosang hummed thoughtfully. "I think it was tonal," he said offhandedly. Wooyoung reached over and swatted his arm, and Yeosang made a noise of pain.
"You're supposed to support me, not agree with the teacher," Wooyoung said with a frown.
At this, Yeosang finally glanced up from his phone to shoot his friend a blank look. "... Well," he began, "I guess it's your grade, not mine."
Wooyoung stuck his tongue out and the two jeered at each other for a few moments before Wooyoung fell back against the grass, exhaling loudly. They settled in peaceful silence for a while and eventually Wooyoung broke it as he pulled out his phone to begin playing BTS Superstar loudly. Yeosang groaned and kicked him in the knee with his wet foot.
"Dude, you're so loud."
With a cheeky grin, Wooyoung promptly ignored his friend, instead focusing on trying to beat his current record in Mic Drop. Yeosang sighed exasperatedly and turned back to his own phone, scrolling mindlessly through Twitter. A decent amount of time passed and eventually, Yeosang set his phone down before flopping back, sliding his hands behind his head.
"Gonna take a nap?" Wooyoung asked distractedly and Yeosang hummed in reply. Wooyoung pursed his lips and nodded, "That kind of sounds like a good idea. Bet I won't too," he announced as he abruptly locked his phone and set it beside himself as well and lying back.
Due to all the time that passed, it was already nearing evening by the time they decided to take their nap. Roughly an hour and a half had to have passed before one of them woke up, and by then, the sky was touched in orange and reds as the sun began setting. Yeosang stretched out his limbs with a groan, then blindly reached over to swat at Wooyoung. "Woo, get up."
Wooyoung mumbled something and adjusted himself, but didn't wake up. Yeosang rolled over to stare at him and reached over again to nudge him again when there was a loud noise that washed over the forest. It was like an explosion or a gunshot; loud and sudden. Beneath them, the ground vibrated from the aftershocks. Both boys flinched at the sound, Wooyoung abruptly waking up. "What the fuck was that?" He asked as he sat up, quickly rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his fist.
"I dunno," Yeosang replied, already moving to pull his shoes on. Seeing this, Wooyoung rushed to follow. "I also don't know if we should be staying here any longer with whatever it was."
"You don't wanna investigate?" Wooyoung asked as he hurried behind his friend, both ducking underneath the canopy.
"Absolutely not." Yeosang denied immediately with a shake of his head.
Wooyoung reached over and grabbed Yeosang's shoulder, jerking him back. "But I wanna," he said. Yeosang paused and stared at him for a few moments, then pinched the bridge of his nose with a loud exhale. Already seeing he was winning the battle, Wooyoung grinned.
"I hate you. Let's go before I change my mind."
They began heading in the direction that the sound came from; a brief walk from their hideout. It was when they heard an odd-sounding roar that the two abruptly stopped walking and exchanged glances.
"... You wanted to investigate, you go first," Yeosang said.
"I mean..." Wooyoung shifted his weight nervously. "You heard that, right?"
"Yeah, but you wanted to look, so get to stepping," Yeosang replied and shoved him, causing Wooyoung to stumble, but continued moving forward. Eventually, between the trees, it was revealed.
"... You've got to be fucking kidding me," Yeosang said in disbelief, looking at the huge, real dragon that stood before them. With wide eyes, Wooyoung frantically hit Yeosang's arm. He couldn't even say anything in his surprise.
Standing in front of the dragon was a girl. She was rather small in comparison to the dragon, and yet she stood strong, waving her hands with purpose. She had deep copper hair that fell around her face in thick curls and dark eyes.
"Oh my god, she's gonna die." Wooyoung finally managed to get out. "Should we do something or...?"
Yeosang shot him an incredulous look. "Do you wanna get up close and personal with a damn dragon? Be my guest, dude."
The girl stepped up to the dragon, breathing heavily. Suddenly, there was a glow that surrounded her, and the air began turning cold. Their breaths began fogging in the air, and as Yeosang looked closer he noticed frost slowly creeping over the girl's skin, paling the flesh and causing goosebumps. From the glow was a bright light, and it surrounded her hands and forearms. With a burst of cool air, she thrust her hands forward, and the light enveloped the dragon, and Wooyoung and Yeosang watched in continuous disbelief as the dragon began to freeze, eventually turning into what looked like an ice sculpture.
There was a silence that fell over the three, only broken by Wooyoung, who muttered out a "hey..." when the girl suddenly stumbled, causing her to whip her head around only to zero in on the two boys now that she wasn't focused on the dragon. Her eyes narrowed, and as she clenched her fist and took a step forward the dragon behind her cracked; spiderweb lines spreading throughout before it simply exploded in a rain of snow.
"Who are you?" She asked as color spread around her fists again; a mix of reds and purples. The boys shifted nervously as they watched her. She took another step again only to wobble, and as she lifted a hand to rub her forehead the boys noticed the flush on her cheeks and the glassiness in her eyes. Whatever she had done to the dragon had obviously taken a lot out of her.
"Uhh, do you need help?" Yeosang finally asked, wincing when the girl snapped out an angry denial.
"I asked you a question first," she said as she closed her eyes and stopped moving. The colors around her fists dissipated. And before their eyes, the boys watched as she collapsed into a dead faint.
A silence befell the two for a moment. Yeosang finally stepped up and cautiously made his way over to the girl's immobile figure. "Yeosang!" Wooyoung hissed out as he reached to bring him back.
"What? She passed out so she's probably injured. Shouldn't we bring her to the hospital or something?"
"Hospital? Are you crazy? Why would we bring her to the hospital?? What would we even say when we take her to the hospital, anyway? This girl was fighting a dragon with magic and then she passed out? Nope, they're going to think we're on drugs. If my brother thinks I'm on drugs, then he'll kill me." Wooyoung said immediately in response, shaking his head.
Yeosang turned to fully face him, gesturing to the girl behind them. "Are we just supposed to leave her then? You're gonna tell me you, in good conscience, want to leave a defenseless and passed out girl in the woods?" He demanded back with a raised eyebrow. They looked at each other before Wooyoung groaned and dragged his hands through his hair with stress.
"Fine. But I really don't think we should bring her to the hospital. There's not much we can explain without people thinking we're crazy. Maybe our houses? But my brother is home right now, and if we bring some knocked-out girl home, he'll definitely snitch." Wooyoung eventually said, pacing as he tried to think up a valid idea to deal with the situation.
"Bro, my parents aren't home," Yeosang said suddenly, pointing at Wooyoung for emphasis. "They're on that trip, remember? It'll be at least two more weeks until they come back. I'm sure we'll figure this out before then, so why not just bring her to my house?"
Wooyoung was already nodding after the first statement and clapped as if that settled everything, "oh, that's perfect. Okay, let's just do that."
Now in agreement, the boys came closer to the girl's prone figure, and Wooyoung stood with his hands on his hips as they examined her. "So, how the hell are we getting her to your house without looking suspicious?"