1.1 | louder than bombs

- 21 -

Phoenix giggled as Dohyun blew raspberries on her stomach, wiggling in an attempt to get out of his strong arms. Dohyun straightened up, gazing at his girl's flushed face as she struggled to catch her breath, combing away her dark strands out of her face with his fingers.

"Fire," Dohyun mumbled, his thumb grazing her red cheeks, the soft flesh warm under his palm.

"What?" Phoenix breathed out, finally relaxing in his hold after she once again rested her head in his lap.

"Bul, it means 'fire' in Korean."

"Oh. Why call me fire?" she looked up with curiosity swirling in her dark orbs.

Dohyun smiled as he traced imaginary lines on Phoenix's olive skin with the other hand.

"Well, you are one fiery woman, aren't you?" he asked, Phoenix snapped her teeth in return jokingly before giving him a toothy smile. "Moreover, your name is Phoenix. The mythical bird of flames that rises from ashes. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman, I must say."

"You sure do have a way with words, Mister."

Dohyun shrugged in a way that said what-can-I-do?

They sat amongst the field of white flowers that resembled the shape of only a half-flower, making it look like the other half of the flower was torn away.

Naupakas.

"Do you know the story of Naupakas, Bul?" Dohyun asked after a few beats, his gazing locking on Phoenix's dark eyes that looked up at him.

"Nope," she said, "What is it?"

"Legend says that there was once a princess called Nanau who was so beautiful that her own sister, Pele, was jealous of her," Dohyun started, trying to rack his brain for the story he once heard from his father.

"When Nanau went for a walk by the beach, she came across this young fisherman, Kapaka. Their eyes met and it was love at first sight. After spending days together in laughter and bliss, Nanau decided to tell Pele about her lover," he paused, struggling to remember what happens next.

"Then what?" Phoenix asked with wide eyes, heavily invested in the story told by her boyfriend though he barely got past the introduction. Phoenix was invested in anything Dohyun had to say.

"Pele asked her sister to tell Kapaka to meet her the next morning by the beach, which Nanau did. When Pele saw him, she wanted him for herself," Phoenix huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"There always should be someone to ruin it, huh?"

Dohyun just ran his fingers through her brown locks as he continued. "She asked Kapaka to marry her and he turned her down immediately."

"As he should."

Dohyun chuckled softly. "Pele, of course, was furious and so she went back to the palace and told Nanau that she was not be seen with Kapaka anymore. Nanau was heartbroken but she didn't show it. Instead, she sneaked out of her room that night to meet Kapaka."

"Yes! Go girl!"

Dohyun's eyes twinkled in amusement as he looked at a pumped-up Phoenix in his lap, finding it absolutely adorable that his girlfriend responded as if the legendary lovers were sitting right across her.

"They thought of crossing the sea and go somewhere far away when Pele, who was following Nanau all this time, demanded that they stop what they were doing and forced Nanau to go home with her-"

"That bitch."

"-but they refused, determined to stay true to their love and started running. When Kapaka noticed a cave on a cliff above the shore and made sure that Pele was nowhere to be seen, he asked Nanau to stay hidden till he comes back. After convincing his lover, he ran up the mountain to distract Pele who was now dangerously close to the cave."