Our little group has always been, and always will, until the end.

A Dose of Freedom

A few days later, in the early hours of dawn, they had encountered, once again, another problem.

"Mm... dongsaeng, this great and mighty dragon wishes to use teleportation magic!" Raon had always been extremely insistent on using his magic to do simple, everyday tasks. However, they never needed to teleport anywhere for anything, so Estelle was puzzled by Raon's exclamation.

"Hyung, what do you need to use teleportation magic for?"

"Naturally, it is to train my great magic! I'm very certain that my magic is the greatest and mightiest magic in the world, no, mm, in all of the worlds!" Since Raon was a dragon, he was born with pride greater than any other being in the world, and Estelle liked to entertain his hyung's requests.

"I think that your magic is the greatest and mightiest too, hyung! Sure, let's use teleportation magic. But, I'm pretty sure that you need coordinates, don't you?" Recently, Raon and Estelle had been learning how to read and write, and went to the library when they wanted to in order to read up on books about magic. This is why Estelle knew that teleportation required coordinates.

"Oh, yes! My dongsaeng is so smart! Mm, I think I'll just put in some random ones. We don't really know any places outside of here, do we?"

"Isn't that going to be dangerous? If hyung just puts in random coordinates, then we'll be teleported to some random place in the middle of wherever!" it was true that Estelle would do anything for his hyung, but wasn't this pushing it a bit far?

"But I really want to, dongsaeng! I promise I'll protect you, you're much, much, much weaker than I am, and I am a great and mighty dragon, after all."

Raon was a naturally curious creature, and therefore, he would go anywhere he wanted as a great and might dragon-nim. He also just secretly wanted to spend time with his little brother. His heart swelled with joy and pride whenever he saw him walking and talking, doing things that he normally wouldn't have been physically or mentally well enough to do. He thought this outing would be the start of a new, great adventure for them. He wanted to find somewhere to call home where he could live with his dongsaeng and other people he would eventually consider family. This was why he was working hard, so that he could become strong and be able to protect those he cherished.

"I suppose we can go, but promise you won't get hurt?"

Estelle, too, wanted to be with his beloved hyung. He never had a high self-esteem, and would always crumble under the gaze of that man (he never, ever wanted to go through anything like that, ever again. But now that he was free, he was able to do what he could never do in the past). Estelle wished to be happy with his hyung and have a family, just as Raon did, and he would make sure that wish would come true.

"Yes! I will not get hurt, and neither will my cute dongsaeng."

They felt safe in the arms of one another. They wanted even more people, guardians, to feel safe in the arms of. They would never feel the same hurt they used to feel, ever again, now that they were from the clutches of that monster.

The two prepared to embark as Raon prepared the magic circle, and Estelle picked up a few more magic books to take with them. Estelle could feel the warp of time underneath his feet, and Raon, who was flying, also felt vibrations in the air around them. The next thing they knew, they were in a cave, a golden cave, at that. Who in the world would ever decorate caves in gold?

'I have a weird feeling that something unexpected is going to happen. Hahhh... should I have stopped hyung?'

Estelle had a feeling in his gut that something he didn't want to get involved in was going to happen. How did they get into this kind of situation? He just wanted to live a peaceful life with his hyung and slack off for the rest of eternity. Suddenly, he felt a terrifying presence and a cold sweat wash over him. He didn't know what this presence was, but he didn't want to look up, no matter what.

"Who dares to trespass into my lair?" the intimidating voice questioned. Estelle felt like throwing himself off of the large mountain Raon teleported them onto. "Woah, who're you? You smell familiar." Estelle slightly tilted his head up, and was surprised to see what he found.

Golden hair, slitted eyes, a beautiful appearance, pointed ears, and what Estelle assumed was Dragon Fear, due to Raon saying that the man smelled familiar. Holy moly, Estelle thought. They were in a random dragon's lair!

"What? Children? A human and a dragon, no less, I never thought I would ever see this is my 1000 years of life. Wow. What in the world are you kids doing in my lair?"

Estelle only had his suspicions, but the man saying "in my 1000 years of life" basically confirmed it. The golden-haired man was staring incredulously at the two children. He was studying them for anything amiss, Estelle observed. And, strangely, the Golden Dragon did seem to notice something wrong, as he was now staring even more intensely at Estelle.

"Wow, Goldie! Are you a dragon, too? I've never met a dragon before! I am the great and mighty Raon Miru! I am a grand total of four years old. It's nice to meet you!"

Raon put his paw out in front of the Golden Dragon with the intention of shaking his hand, but the man just gave the dragon child and ever weirder look. Dragons happily greeting each other? It was more common for dragons to be fighting each other while saying they were better than whatever this was.

Wow. Unbelievable. What the hell.

"Kid, my name is Eruhaben, not Goldie." He sighed exasperatedly and shook the tiny dragon's paw. At this point, he said fuck it.

"And who is that child beside you?" the Golden Dragon, now dubbed Eruhaben, questioned.

"Oh! Goldie Gramps! This is my dongsaeng! His name is Estelle Miru. I named him, and he named me! We grew up together! Isn't he cute?" Raon started gushing on and on about is adorable, lovely little brother Estelle, while said human was trying to hide conspicuously in the back.

Eruhaben was even more confused now, but he once again sighed and turned his back on the children.

"Follow me, I'll let you stay in my lair for a while. It seems like you're lost." Eruhaben started walking back to his lair, leaving the children to follow him.  Raon was following the Golden dragon perfectly fine, but Estelle was lagging behind as he waddled forward with his stubby feet.

Eruhaben noticed this as he paused, let out another sigh, this one even louder, and turned back around. He walked to Estelle and picked him up with one hand so that Estelle's tiny head was laying on Eruhaben's firm chest. Estelle freaked out a bit, since he had never had another adult touch him, unless it was to do cruel things to him, and Eruhaben noticed this. He patted Estelle's head until he was more comfortable in the hold, and Estelle realized that it wasn't too bad. He felt comfortable, warm, and... safe. He had never felt safe in the arms of an adult, but Estelle thought that the ancient dragon's touch was warm, like a parent. He suddenly felt embarrassed, as his cheeks blushed a bright pink, emitting a soft glow onto his pale skin. He nuzzled into Eruhaben's chest as the Golden Dragon felt the corner of his lips curl up.

They walked in a comfortable silence the rest of the way into Eruhaben's home.