I'll be waiting for you | Nomin

Chapter 6

It had been four days since the feast. Him and Donghyuck kept on having fun together. It was nice that Donghyuck was a lot more here for him now, but Jaemin knew it was because he was scared Jaemin would run off again.

He and Donghyuck walked home together after Jaemin had fetched him after school and grabbed a small snack from the cupboard after they got home. Jaemin munched on his hazelnuts and grabbed a glass and took some water from the tap.

He and Donghyuck hung out together on the couch a couple minutes before Donghyuck decided it was time to get back to his schoolwork, leaving Jaemin all alone in the living room. The boy was tired from the walk they had, he genuinely wanted to take a quick nap, but his head thought otherwise.

His thoughts wandered off to the dragons once again, at the feast the only thing clouding his mind were the many dance steps he had to remember in order to not screw the whole partner dance up. The thought of dragons didn't cross Jaemin's mind once that day.

He left the jute bag of nuts on the salon table in front of him, no bothering to reclose it properly. He walked to the hallway and grabbed his coat and slipped up his boots.

Over the bridge, turn left at the third oak tree, turn right at the weathered stone wall, go straight until you face the arched trees, turn left at the cottage.

Soon enough Jaemin arrived at the pond once again, it was now daylight and the ambiance was now more magical. The light peered through the trees, brightly shining down on the green earth, highlighting the beautiful forest otherwise unseen in the dark. Jaemin spotted the red dragon again, and now the sun shone on his crystal like scales, reflecting beautifully back into Jaemin's eye.

Jaemin gathered all the courage he had inside of him and took a step forward, then another one, and so on until he was face to face with the creature.

The monster looked at him, moving his head around to get a better few of who was disturbing his peace. Jaemin was standing as still as a statue, he and Donghyuck encountered many creatures when they used to sneak into the forest at night, and there was one thing he learned from Donghyuck back then.

Don't make any sudden movements.

The dragon kept studying his face and body, then suddenly he blew hot steam out through his nose and stumbled back. Jaemin was confused, Donghyuck had told him humans were able to approach creatures of any kind. Why was the dragon trying to get away from him?

Jaemin tried to comfort the dragon by lifting his arms, like he had seen Jeno do. He tried to mimic the weird gestures and movements, which resulted in Jaemin not knowing which hand was his left and which was his right anymore. The dragon stood still and tilted his head the slightest bit, intrigued by Jaemin's hands, but as soon as Jaemin dropped his hands, the dragon walked back away from the male again.

"You know you can't really touch the dragons?" Jaemin whipped his entire body around in surprise. He looked behind and saw the same boy from the other night. Jaemin didn't want to be in trouble again. He tried to stand with his back straight, acting innocent with his hands hidden behind him.

He then recognized who it was. It was the prince. He started to put all the pieces together.

"The guy from last time was you?" Jaemin asked with his eyebrows furrowed. Jeno nodded. Jaemin's eyes widened, so the guy from last time was in fact the king's son. He smiled awkwardly and placed his hand on his nape, bowing.

"I didn't realize," Jaemin said awkwardly. He felt like a bad citizen since he didn't even recognize his prince. Jeno chuckled at the other boy's awkwardness and Jaemin almost melted at the sight. His eyes were crescents and his smile was so bright. It made Jaemin have a tug on his lips himself.