House Dragon

Chapter 1 | The Bracelet

A red dragon snaps its teeth and roars as it chases a frail boy, leaving behind a trail of fire. Its scales are aflame and its dagger-like teeth jut out from the jaws that snap at the boy's legs.

The boy runs down the rocky path, searching for anywhere to hide, but there seems to be no escape.

The dragon snarls, and out from its mouth shoots a line of flame. The kid ducks and narrowly avoids the fire, which bursts onto a wall.

He runs to a large light post, scrambling behind it to hide from the beast.  Finally, he takes a moment to catch his breath.. He seems to be safe.

Suddenly a huge blast of flame hits the other side of the post, shooting hot plasma on either side of him. He gasps, covering his face for protection.

Once the flames end, his heart is racing. He peeks around the side of the burning wood protecting him, but the dragon is nowhere to be seen.

Behind him, it creeps up silently, snarling its horrible teeth and opening its jaws and—

"You've really never seen this movie?" A boy asks.

The boy, who was short and pale-skinned, and a little bit chubby, sat a stiffly on a couch in a cozy living room. Beside him was the girl he was sharing the apartment with; Juliana.
She was a thin girl, only a little taller than him. She had dark brown skin that she adorned with gold jewelry, and small, loose curls in her hair.

"I just don't get what's so special about it." She shrugged. She was more relaxed on the couch than he was. "Is it not one of those overrated movies?"

"Overrated— Jewel, are you crazy?! This is one of the best movies ever made!" The boy, exclaimed. Though he got shy again when Juliana looked at him. "And you love dragons. This is THE dragon movie."

Juliana just smiles and rolls her eyes. "Okay, Dane. I believe you. And I told you not to call me that. It's cheesy."
Something buzzed in her pocket. "Hold on, Micah's calling."

Their friend Micah was a strange girl. She was shorter than both of them and had long, straight black hair. Almost always she was wearing colorful makeup. She was always excited about something and always calling to tell Juliana or Dane to tell them about it.

Juliana put the call on speaker while Dane paused the movie. He peeked over her shoulder at the screen, even though it was just a call screen.

"JULIANA!!" Micah shouted into the microphone before they could speak. "They just released Enhypen merch at that store down by Severn Street! We should go! Please? We have to go!"
She was so excited she spoke fast and had to stop only to catch her breath. She always got pumped like this about K-pop stuff— and Enhypen happened to be her favorite.

"... You mean that store that doesn't even have a sign? That's like the sketchiest place around." Dane said.
Juliana agreed, "I'm pretty sure most of it is just knock-offs. That's what I heard, anyway."

"Oh, hey Dane! I didn't know you two were together right now." You could hear Micah's cheeky smile through the phone. "Am I interrupting something?"

Dane grinned awkwardly, and Juliana's face got a little pinker. She quickly tried to deny anything, "No, you're not. It's not like that.."
"Really? Because you two would be so cute!" She playfully argued. "Just say you like each other!"

"—Micah," Dane interrupted, embarrassed, "Can we please get back to the conversation?"

"Right! Yeah, it's a little sketchy. BUT! There's also all kinds of fantasy stuff, like you guys are into!" Micah replied, back on track.
"You should totally come too, Dane! It'll be fuunnn~!"