• The Cursed Rebirth of Kuro • 『 various! yona of the dawn χ reader 』

⚜ C h a p t e r - f i v e ⚜

Before sleep could fully take over, [Name] felt shuffling beside her. She didn't open her eyes, but she felt the same big hand that she had been holding pat her head softly. He ran his hand through the parts of [Name]'s hair that wasn't braided. He muttered her name softly, then stood up.

Hak's soft gestures almost put her to sleep, but as [Name]'s eyes opened to see Hak wasn't laying down beside her, she sat up immediately. She gasped, stumbling as she stood up abruptly.

Running outside clumsily and tripping a couple of times, she gave up once she had looked both ways. Her legs were exhausted - she couldn't run anymore. Collapsing to a sitting position, [Name]'s body trembled as she placed a hand over her mouth to silence her sobbing.

"Stupid Hak..." Clutching her dress, she jumped when she heard footsteps and something else hit the floor. [Name] gasped, turning around to see the one she'd been looking for. "You're sitting in the dark badmouthing me? [Name], I never thought you were that kind of person."

"What's wrong? Did you have a scary dream?" Hak teased, seeing the tears pooling in her eyes. "Where were you?" The firmness in her voice shocked Hak, he knew [Name] as the sweet and innocent girl who was kind to everyone, she wasn't usually like this. "I was just getting this -"

"You should've woken me!" Wiping her tears with her sleeves, she turned around to face him. "Oh, I see. You can't sleep alone. Here," he sighed, extending his arms for her. Hak didn't think that she would actually hug him. "Idiot," she muttered into his chest. "I thought you were going to die,"

[Name] pulled away to wipe away her tears again, her voice cracking as she spoke, "You can't just leave without saying anything," sobbing, she continued to scold him, "I want you by my side."

"I want to die now."

"N- no!" [Name] objected, seeing his darkened expression. "Seeing you so vulnerable now," raising his hand to cover one eye, "I really want to die now..."

"And see how much you'd cry then." Hak placed his hand on her cheek, his face inching closer. [Name] was speechless - she didn't pull away.

Soon, she felt Hak's warm lips over hers. His other arm wrapped around [Name]'s shaking body, resting on her back and pulling her closer to him.

"H- Hak," she whimpered against his lips, unable to move away because of his firm grip. "It hurts, Hak," he pulled away slightly, letting her breathe. His grip on her tightened, releasing another weak whimper from her. Her voice shook with her clenched fists resting on his bandaged chest.

"[Name] - I'm so sorry," he apologized, finally realising she was in pain. He loosened his grip but his arms remained wrapped around her, looking directly into her teary eyes. Hak's eyes widened as he felt the moistness of her back and the small lumps. "[Name]...?"

"H- Hak, I have to go," she whispered, breaking eye contact with the tall man in front of her. Wiggling out of his grasp, [Name] ran. 

Hak looked down at his quivering hands, shocked by what he saw. The hand that he rested on [Name]'s back was now stained red. It was her blood.

~

"Huh? The priest lives here- this place?" Hak asked the redhead with his mouth full. "What a coincidence,"

"Hey! Don't eat that without asking!"

"Oh, please priest! Grant me your hospitality."

"I'm not a priest!"

Yona paid no attention to their arguing, "Where did the priest go?" She muttered to herself, leaving the bickering men behind.

'Tch. She tells me never to leave her then walks off leaving me here with this guy,' Hak thought to himself, angrily chomping on the bun. 

"Oi, Joon -" Hak started but was interrupted by a furious Yoon, "It's Yoon! And don't you know it's rude to speak with your mouth full? !"

"Alright, Yoon," Hak said, sarcasm lacing his voice, "I was going to ask if you had seen [Name]."

"[Name]... I saw her headed towards the stream this morning, probably to wash her clothes and -" Yoon replied, but was rudely cut off by Hak thanking him. Before Yoon could stop him, Hak had walked off, heading in the direction Yoon said [Name] was. He sighed, silently sending his apology to her.

The stream wasn't too close, but Hak found it eventually. The sun shone brightly, making the water sparkle. Quite convenient, to have such a large stream so close to a secluded house near the mountains. 

Inching closer to the stream, sweet humming filled Hak's ears making him halt at what he saw before him. Stopping himself from calling out her name, he didn't want her to get the wrong idea. Yoon said she'd be washing clothes or something - he didn't tell her that she was bathing!

Well, maybe he would've known if he hadn't cut him off so suddenly. 

Her body was covered from him, he could only see her back, which was covered by her raven hair. [Name] slowly rose her arms and brought her hair to the front to rinse it. 

Hak remembered the blood staining his hands from resting on [Name]'s back the previous night, and the large scars on her back explained it. Hak was mostly shocked by what poked out of those scars.

Small bone-like sticks stuck out, with a lighter shade of black leatheriness attached to the bottom of the bones. They looked like -

Wings. Not those of an angel, for there were no feathers. More like the wings of a bat or... dragon.

They were small, and it looked like most of the wings had been ripped off brutally.

Usually, perverted Hak would've paid more attention to [Name]'s feminine body, but he was distracted by the secret she had been hiding from him. Hak shuffled his feet to try and get behind a tree, not wanting [Name] to think he was a Peeping Tom.

Her humming ceased and instead, Hak heard a quiet whimper, just like the ones she had been letting out when Hak was crushing her with his strength. Guilt filled Hak, he was too busy enjoying himself that he didn't realise how much he was hurting her.

[Name] arched her back slightly, crying out in pain as the ripped wings that extruded from her back tried to move, only being able to wiggle slightly. Hak couldn't see her expression, but he could tell she was in pain. He sighed, torn between helping her out and staying hidden to avoid seeming like a pervert.

"Hak... ?" [Name] squeaked, embarrassed by the fact that he was watching her bathe and that he had seen what she hid from him and Yona for years. No, not her body, but her wings. In the condition they were in now, it would only increase their concern.

Neither of them turned around, their backs facing each other.

Until the silence was broken by one of Hak's ridiculous remarks, "You know, there isn't much of an age difference between you and Yona-hime. Yet your body is far more mature," he smirked despite not being able to see your embarrassment, he knew you were blushing.

So much for not seeming like a pervert.

[ Not edited. ]