The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 160: Infiltrating the Red-Light District

Delicate wisps of sweet fragrance curled around the lavish room that held six people. Three men sat adjacent to each other, cross-legged on the smooth wooden floor next to the women that were tending to them.

A low tune hummed from somewhere outside and aside from the inconsistent shuffling from Kija and the subtle rustle of the kimonos that the ladies were wearing, nothing else stirred.

Hak groaned. He had told his sister to be careful and take care of herself but he couldn't help but wish that they swapped places. At least then she would sell the act more convincingly than he was at the moment.

How he wished to be anywhere else but here right now.

Flirtatious giggles and bold touches trailed down his arm and he fought the urge to push them away. It felt a bit vulgar and his skin crawled as they brushed their fingers over his shoulders, chest, anything they could reach.

"Mmmm..." Hak hummed to disguise his discontentment. No point in pouting about it now. He had to keep his head on straight.

"What's wrong, Hak?" Jae-ha inquired, throwing him a look out of the corner of his eye.

"That girl, Lili..." He sighed as he resigned himself to his fate, finally admitting that there was something else that had been nagging him. "She's weighing on my mind for some reason. Her two attendants, too."

"It's rare for you to pay attention to girls aside from Yona." Jae-ha teased mercilessly, hiding a smirk as Hak scowled slightly.

"It's not something for you to be amused at." Hak glared, tacking on an 'idiot' under his breath at the end in his head for good measure. The green dragon never knew when to quit, he was just as bad as his sister.

Kija's eyes narrowed and he let out a sigh. "You two, save that for later."

"Right." Jae-ha smoothly agreed, setting down his drink. "We have such beautiful ladies beside us, after all."

But he couldn't help but poke fun at the white dragon. "— Kija, your face is stiff."

"Shut up." He retorted hotly.

Jae-ha's smirk only grew wider as Kija got riled up. "You said you didn't do well with places like this, right? You're so pure, Kija."

Kija gripped his head as an onslaught of unpleasant memories bombarded his mind and all the times his granny would push girls onto him, despite him wailing over and over again that he didn't want them. "The smell of the incense is making me remember the quarrels of the marriage meetings in my village... gah... Granny, stop it..."

"Sir?" The girl beside him asked with a touch of concern as he jerked violently in place.

"Oh don't worry," Jae-ha smoothed over easily, asking the lady to pour him another drink. "He's fighting with something from his past right now."

Hak ignored both of them, taking a small sip of the alcohol that wasn't laced with nadai. And the only reason he knew it was because they had been here for over half an hour and had yet to feel any side effects of the liquor. Sitting cross-legged, he continued to drink while Jae-ha had his fun mocking a flustered Kija.

"You're so indifferent, Hak, it's boring." Jae-ha complained, veering off to the side to drop his head on his shoulder, violet eyes glimmering with mischief.

"It's too bad you won't have any material to be amused by." Hak replied flatly, unbothered by his attempts to tease him in the same manner.

Jae-ha's eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers, as though he just got a great idea. "That's right. I wanted to tell Yona all about our journey."