Hak x Jaeha (Akatsuki no Yona)

Part 5

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, do you agree Shin-ah?"

Muffled voices that sound oddly familiar drifted into Hak's bleary consciousness, but his brain was telling him to go back to sleep, it was too soon to get up.

"Okay then. Wakey wakey rise and shine you stupid dragon and Thunder Beast."

There was the sound of a door being flung open, then absolute, suffocating silence.

Yoon stared at the pair, it was definitely Jaeha and the Thunder Beast, but they were definitely topless, and judging from the clothes strewn around the room, they were probably naked, and currently cuddling peacefully in bed. Yoon wondered what could possibly have happened to cause this, did they get drugged?

Jaeha was the first to wake, sensing the heavy weight of eyes on him and the close presence of his dragon brothers. He removed Hak's arm from around him and sat up, coming face to face with three sets of puzzled eyes, one smiling, and one invisible.

His eyes flickered back to Yona, who of everyone, looked most stricken. Jaeha pulled his customary goofy grin to his face, squashing down any feelings of panic, putting on an almost perfect façade.

"Good morning Yona-chan." He greeted her as if there was nothing out of the ordinary going on and he wasn't naked in bed with Hak.

"Get ready, idiot dragon, we've already lost time because of your antics." Yoon cut in.

Hak was now very much awake, and absolutely paralysed to the spot. They'd been caught. The words circled in his mind, he was unable to break the cycle, suddenly stricken with grief and betrayal that Yona had seen him like this. He couldn't believe what he'd done. It had been so amazing, but he'd broken his promise to himself that he would dedicate himself to Yona over some stupid desires. His chest ached, this was hurting more than the battle wounds he'd ever acquired. Was it right? Was it wrong? He just didn't know. But he knew he hadn't wanted anyone to see, and especially not her.

"Yep, yep. It was so cold in this inn I managed to convince Hak to warm me right up, it works better without clothes you see." Jaeha explained with a casual smile, as Yona had been eying up the motionless Hak, but Jaeha could see the tautness of his body and the shallow painful breaths he was struggling to take.

Aa~aah, I've broken him haven't I? Jaeha remorsefully thought to himself. He didn't want to come to regret such a great night, but knew that he almost certainly would. They'd both strayed from their usual paths and were now lost heading in an unknown direction. Jaeha knew he could live with it, but he couldn't say the same for Hak.

"Give us a minute and we'll be right down."

"Let's go find snacks to take with us, since we're in town. Zeno is hungry!" Zeno declared in his happy manner, taking Yona by the hand and removing her from the situation, he could read the atmosphere. She simply nodded.

The door quietly banged shut, leaving behind a stale silence in it's wake. Hak sat up, his eyes unfocused.

"Come on, these guys need a moment." Yoon ordered, ushering Shin-ah and Kija out, following after them, gently shutting the door behind himself.

Hak stared unseeing, Jaeha didn't know what to do. Was there anything he could say to make it better? He was sure he was the last person Hak wanted to be comforted by, it was his fault after all. Jaeha unsteadily collected up his clothes in silence, choosing instead to give Hak some space to work it out in his own mind for now.

Jaeha heard the creak as Hak moved on the bed behind him, bare feet hitting wooden floors, then slow footfalls. Jaeha tensed, prepared to take any blow that was probably heading his way, although since it was the Thunder Beast, it might just kill him.

Jaeha flinched as there was a thud on his back, his heart quickened, Hak rest his head miserably in between Jaeha's shoulder blades.

"Hey, Droopy Eyes. Tell me.. Is what we did wrong?" Hak muttered dejectedly, his voice pleading, sounding unbelievably close to tears. Jaeha could hear Hak's heart breaking.

Jaeha turned around, letting Hak instead rest his forehead on his chest, and tightly wrapped his arms around him, as if he could somehow hold him together physically to stop him falling apart on the inside.

"Not at all, Hak." Jaeha whispered.

"Then what is this feeling?" Hak argued.

He felt so incredibly lost, but was also happy that Jaeha had embraced him. He couldn't lose everything all at once. If Jaeha had acted like it hadn't happened, that it hadn't moved him, that it hadn't meant anything at all to him, then he wasn't sure what he would have done. He didn't want to lose Yona over something that meant nothing.

Being held closely by Jaeha was calming Hak down. It was only his own feelings he had betrayed. There was no promise between him and Yona, no agreement that meant they couldn't go with other people. He just knew that if it had been the other way around, he would have been hurt. This was his answer.

"I'm sorry, Droopy Eyes."

"Don't say you're sorry." Jaeha pleaded, himself surprised by how the words came out. "I understand it would have been better if we'd restrained ourselves, but please don't say you regret it."

"Okay." Hak wasn't sure he could really do that, but he agreed nonetheless. It probably would have been better if they hadn't had that fateful encounter, but what was done was done, and Hak could only look forwards. He closed his eyes and lifted his face for Jaeha, soft warm lips briefly met his, in a melancholy farewell. Hak felt his emotions bubble, this wasn't nothing, he didn't completely betray himself.

He let go of Jaeha and retrieved his discarded clothes, throwing them on. He was about to tell Jaeha he was going on ahead, when he saw Droopy Eyes walking unsteadily. Hak sighed. He waited patiently for Jaeha to finish dressing.

"Come on." Hak motioned to his back. It was pretty clear that Jaeha wasn't in a fit state to start their journey today.

"How embarrassing." Jaeha chuckled. "If only I had two dragon legs instead of the one." He murmured jokingly.

"Hurry up or I'll carry you princess style." Hak threatened.

"Okay, okay."

Jaeha climbed on to the Thunder Beast's back, resting his head lightly on his shoulder, both acutely aware of the beating of the other's heart, enjoying this small private moment together.

Hak left the small inn room carrying Jaeha, filled with their scent and memories, and silently said goodbye to the place where he had fallen in love in a single night.

(Hope you enjoyed this! I've ended up accidentally continuing the story in Shin-ah x Hak [but naturally there's also Shin-ah x Hak in there as well as the name suggests], so if you'd like, please read it. ^_^)