The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 98: Unexpected Guests

Yona nodded understandingly, turning to the other beside her. "What do you think, Yoon?"

He wasn't called the pretty boy genius for nothing. If he thought Calista's idea was the best to go along with, then that's what they would do.

"It's unsettling that the border's defense is that loose." He muttered more to himself than to her. "Shall we watch them for a little longer?"

An hour later, they decided this was getting nowhere.

They had to split up. They weren't going to find out any more if they spied on the soldiers with the entire group, so Jae-ha offered to gather some more intel. Yona insisted on going with, and while Hak wasn't too keen on her leaving his side, she reassured him they wouldn't go far.

As Calista firmly instructed the younger two to be careful as they accompanied him, Jae-ha relayed something to Hak in a low voice, a smug smirk curling on the edge of his lips.

Hak's head suddenly shot up with enough force to snap his neck as his brain caught up with his ears.

"Bat-Ears, did you tell the villagers yesterday that the Princess and I are engaged?!"

Kija spat out the water he had been drinking and a laugh erupted from the green dragon beside him. Zeno was too busy playing at his feet with the woodland animals who had come to keep him company to pay any attention to what was going on. Yona flushed bright red, ducking her head so that no one saw her embarrassment. 

Calista shrugged noncommittally, blinking innocently at him. "Yeah, because you are."

Her silver eyes gleamed with mischief at the baffled expression painting his face. "Don't you remember when we were kids? With Kan Tae-jun?"

Hak scowled as it finally dawned on him, groaning at the questions being thrown left and right at his sister, and refused to answer Jae-ha's prodding. 

Clearing her throat dramatically, Calista rubbed her hands together theatrically, a crafty grin playing on the corner of her lips.

"It all started when Yona was being harassed by the rich boy when she was younger. Dear Hak here saw and intervened when the idiot had the nerve to touch her, claiming that they were engaged in order to get him away from her. It worked a little too well..." Calista wiggled her eyebrows hysterically and Hak slapped a hand against his forehead, rolling his eyes at the insistence he was receiving from the dragons as a result of her spinning the tale.

"And ever since then, they have been the ultimate ship." She declared.

"Ship?" Kija asked, confused.

"When two people have chemistry, Kija." Jae-ha explained, sliding over to him. "Like this."

The flirty green dragon raised his chin, staring into his eyes. They twinkled with charm and the corner of his mouth lifted with the slightest bit of seductiveness that only he could pull off. But it didn't work as the white dragon's expression didn't change at his proximity, remaining unaffected and oblivious.

"Not so fast, Bat-Ears." Hak caught Calista by the hood of her cloak as she tried to sneak past him. "You're staying here."

"But—"

"Your ankle, you idiot!!" Yoon berated, smacking her upside the head. 

She cried out, cradling it even though it didn't actually hurt. "But—"

"Calista." A quiet voice broke through. 

She froze and turned around to come face to face with a deadly serious Shin-ah. Holding her hands up in surrender, she breathed a sigh of relief as his shoulders relaxed, signaling the end of that disagreement. 

Cocking her head to the side in confusion when she saw the stunned looks on everybody's faces, she pressed, "What?"

"... You all heard that too, right?" Jae-ha drew out, ignoring her question. "I couldn't have been the only one."

"Of course we saw it." Yoon snapped, fed up with standing around, although Calista could've sworn the tips of his ears were pink. "We all heard it."

"Heard what?!" She shouted, waving her hands to make herself known to her friends who were clearly treating her as if she were invisible. "Ugh, never mind. I give up."

"Great!!" Yona clapped her hands together. "Now, let's go!!"

"Wait a minute, Yona!! You could hear me this entire time?!" Calista shrieked after her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!!" The princess yelled over her shoulder as she ran away, Jae-ha chasing after her in order to fulfill his promise to Hak. 

Shaking her head, the raven-haired girl hung back with her brother, Shin-ah and Zeno as the rest of them left to put the first wheel in motion.