By Zephyria 
His vision went dark with rage. In the end, Azure Dragon’s goal had been only one thing: to retrieve the divine artifact from Young-pa and revive the human king they had once cherished.
“This should be enough. But why were you so curious about something that happened long before you were born?”
“Just a light curiosity. After all, I briefly touched a heavenly divine artifact myself.”
Young-pa glossed over it smoothly, but a fire surged within him.
He had spent sweet days lost in a delusion. He had hoped that Biryoo’s whispers and affectionate gestures were the fruits of romantic love. He had thought that he could become their partner and sleep by their side for the rest of his life. It was a foolish fantasy.
‘What was I hoping for, given my station?’
Did he really think he could live as their spouse in the heavenly realm? Did he believe that just because they shared a bed, this secretive man had become his? As Jeolgon had said, Young-pa had been trapped in a naive delusion.
How precious must that ring be, for that man had even sucked out poison that threatened his life. Compared to that, enduring food that didn’t suit his palate or embracing a man who had no interest in him must have been a simple task.
“You didn’t come all the way here just to hear old stories. There must be something you want from me.”
Young-pa nodded with a blank expression.
‘Even if it was done in a lowly human body, a promise is a promise. Call me when you need my power.’
When Young-pa had liberated the Vermilion Bird from the treasure vault of the pacheondang using the changjingyeong, they had agreed to grant one request in the future. On his way here, Young-pa had intended to obtain one of their feathers. However, after learning the full story of what happened a thousand years ago, he changed his mind.
“I have a request, Great Vermilion Bird.”
Yeon Mu-geum crossed their arms and narrowed their eyes. With a wary expression, they spoke rapidly.
“I’ve only recently regained my power, so I cannot grant unreasonable requests. Furthermore, I cannot manipulate others’ emotions or revive the dead. Don’t even think about asking me to take revenge on Black Tortoise. It is an unspoken rule that divine beasts do not fight each other. We can’t have the world destroyed, after all.”
“It is none of those things.”
“Ha! I’m afraid to hear it, but go ahead and tell me.”
Young-pa looked up at the girl radiating heat in the dense forest.
“My wish is…”
As he calmly finished his sentence, the Vermilion Bird’s eyes widened. Yeon Mu-geum remained silent with a serious face for a moment before speaking softly.
“Well… it’s not that it’s impossible, but…”
“Please remember me. When you are suffering…”
“I know, I know. Don’t even bring up stories from that era.”
Yeon Mu-geum shook their head as if disgusted and continued.
“You know this isn’t an easy task, right? For now, I’ll think about it.”
Young-pa was disappointed not to receive a definitive answer, but he had no choice but to withdraw. As he bowed deeply in gratitude, Yeon Mu-geum pouted.
“That human surprises me every time we meet!”
The Vermilion Bird turned around abruptly without a greeting. Just as they were about to vanish into the flames they had summoned in the air, Young-pa shouted.
“Wait, Vermilion Bird!”
Yeon Mu-geum frowned and descended again. As Young-pa approached, the youthful face was clouded with curiosity. Young-pa reached out and quickly tugged at the end of the red hair.
“Ow! How dare you!”
“My apologies. There was something stuck to it, so I tried to remove it…”
“It’s none of your business what I have stuck to me!”
Yeon Mu-geum flew into a rage and stepped into the flames. Soon, they were nowhere to be seen.
Young-pa carefully gathered the single strand of hair he had plucked from the Vermilion Bird’s head and held it in his hand. After a moment, the red hair transformed into a feather of the same color. Young-pa tucked the Vermilion Bird’s feather into his robes and left the illusion nest.
Yeon Mu-geum watched Young-pa recede while perched on the treetop of the highest phoenix tree. They took a bite of a bamboo fruit and muttered.
“That human is quite extraordinary. To think he’d pick out something this delicious!”
The Vermilion Bird happily munched on the fruit for a while. Then, they let out a sigh.
“Come to think of it, there’s something I didn’t tell him about Azure Dragon. It’s been so long that I forgot.”
The seriousness that had clouded their face soon brightened again.
“It’s not important, so it shouldn’t matter.”
After the sound of human footsteps had vanished, only the crunching sound of fruit eating echoed through the ethereal and quiet illusion nest.
≋ ≋ ≋
Charcoal-colored clouds covered the sky. It looked as though raindrops would fall at any moment, yet rain did not fall, as if something were blocking it.
Biryoo wished for rain in their heart, but knew it was beyond their control. They had more or less adapted to the state of having lost their divine beast powers.
‘Azure Dragon, what weather do you prefer? A sunny day, or a rainy day?’
Biryoo preferred rain over a sunny sky. However, there was another reason they wanted it to rain now. The entire asadal mountain was submerged in a thick water mist, making it difficult to see ahead. Only when the heavy rain clouds poured down a downpour would the vision clear again.
Until the weather turned, Biryoo had watched everything that happened overnight from a high vantage point. They saw Young-pa scouring the valley where he had sought them, heading toward Jeolgon’s dwelling with slumped shoulders, entering Jeolgon’s hut and emerging after about fifteen minutes, and then Seo-o carrying him and flying south.
‘Azure Dragon, what does the end of the world look like?’
‘Where is the highest mountain?’
‘Is the dragon’s dual organs also between the legs?’
A human with a thousand questions. The well of curiosity within Young-pa seemed never to run dry, no matter how much was drawn from it.
Biryoo had kindly answered even the most trivial questions. That the end of the world does not exist, and the highest mountain has no name. And that the dragon’s dual organs are located higher than those of a human.
However, they did not answer every question.
‘Were you exceptionally beautiful since you were young?’
‘I am the first man you’ve been with, aren’t I? Right?’
‘Then, do you feel boredom? Is there anything you fear?’
‘Do you love me?’
Biryoo felt the first question was not worth answering. Did they really need to explain that they were born as a handsome dragon and grew up to be one? The second question was self-evident, so they did not answer. If they hadn’t become entangled with a bold person like Young-pa, where would they have found the chance to spend a night with a man?
They did not want to answer the third question. Aside from boredom, what Biryoo feared most was losing their heart to a human. Despite such fear, they had been seized by romantic love, so they could not answer the fourth question either.
‘If you don’t love me, then why… why did you shake me up like this?’
Did Young-pa know that when he wore that wounded look in his eyes, Biryoo’s heart didn’t just ache, but felt as if it were collapsing? Did he know the impulse to cast aside all boundaries and throw themselves into him?
The reason Biryoo did not embrace Young-pa and whisper that they would never abandon him was simple. Biryoo did not trust that human.
‘A maiden’s heart belongs only to you, Azure Dragon.’
Biryoo had learned long ago, through bitter experience, that human hearts cannot be trusted. What meaning is there in the meager promises of those who are evil because they are weak, and weak because they are evil? Humans were beings that corrupted over time anyway. Therefore, something like Young-pa’s heart was not Biryoo’s concern.
Dragons knew long ago that the more they gave, the more power they transferred to the other party. That is why they do not even carelessly teach others how to call their name. Biryoo was a dragon through and through. They were not so foolish as to be intoxicated by sweet emotions and reveal that a human possessed the power to dominate them.
Swoosh—
Heavy raindrops began to fall, and then a downpour poured. Biryoo sought refuge under a tree and leaned their back against it. As they slid down and closed their eyes, the fresh scent of vegetation and the roar of heavenly thunder heavily filled their senses.
Just as clouds pour rain when they become heavy, things that must happen will happen. If Biryoo’s guess was correct, Young-pa must have visited Yeon Mu-geum with Seo-o. It meant he would bring the final ingredient for the medicine, and the wish-fulfilling jewel would soon be restored.
After that, once the somyeonghwan was recovered, everything would change. The thing they had longed for for thousands of years was now within reach.
Millennia of time flashed through their mind. Loss and pain, longing. Unfilled desires, and endless time. A slow-flowing, colorless, and incomprehensible age. Biryoo had given up in the face of that boredom, tedium, futility, and uselessness.
If they brushed aside the boredom that had piled up like thick dust, they were still seized by age-old longing and resentment. It was finally time to end it.
Listening to the soft sound of the rain, Biryoo pondered what they would say once they revived that person. It was a thought they had rehearsed thousands of times.
‘Azure Dragon, I need your power.’
A woman’s voice that pierced like a dagger. A tone that was gentle yet firm. Biryoo clenched their rain-soaked fist. And they let the swirling emotions flow like the rainwater.
The heavy rain continued for two shijin. The world swept clean by the rain became clear as a mirror. The ink clouds lost the power to hide the western moon, and the thick mist was dragged down by the downpour. Even though they had been sitting under a large tree, Biryoo’s robes were drenched.
‘I wonder where the wind is that will dry these clothes.’
They looked toward the eastern dawn brightening from beyond the mountains. They wondered if Young-pa had also been drenched in the rain. They also wanted to know what he was thinking and what expression he was wearing.
Was he still angry? Was he intending to try and make things right again? Or was he pouring out curses, saying he would never even look at the likes of Azure Dragon once he handed over the feather?
While thinking that none of it mattered, Biryoo had no choice but to admit they missed Young-pa terribly. That human’s bright smile and silly jokes, his serious expression and face flushed with pleasure, and his sleeping figure. His low voice, agile movements, and even his sweet skin. They missed everything desperately.
Just then, Biryoo saw a shadow crossing the sky. Flying toward the mountains and rivers with the rising sun at its back was their black-capped bird.
Biryoo stood up. Their body moved faster than their thoughts. Their complicated mind had become as clear as the sky after the rain.
As they descended from the mountain ridge and approached the cave, they heard the voices of two people.
“Still, thanks to you, it was resolved well. Thanks for the help.”
“Hmph! Don’t mistake it for me helping because I like you. I, I just…”
“Just?”
“Since I’m only about five hundred years old, I don’t fully know the Master… but this is the first time I’ve seen them cherish someone this much.”
Biryoo, who was about to leave the forest, had no choice but to stop.
“I wonder why it had to be you, but I’m sure there’s a reason. Anyway, I helped for the sake of the Master, so you don’t need to be grateful.”
“Visiting the Vermilion Bird was to help your master anyway. It’s not like I did anything wrong.”
“Then what about meeting Jeolgon?”
“That…”
Young-pa paused for a moment before continuing.
“It’s not that we had an argument as you suspect, but it’s probably better to keep it hidden. Since Azure Dragon cherishes me so much… they might get jealous.”
“Right. Let’s act as if that never happened.”
“You must be tired too, so go and rest.”
“I should find a good branch and get some shut-eye.”
As Young-pa disappeared into the cave, the sound of Cheongsim barking echoed. The dog was shouting, asking why he had only just arrived, where he had been, and that it had missed him terribly. There were times when Biryoo felt envious of the dog, who revealed its heart without hesitation.
Biryoo waited for Seo-o to fly over their head before calling him. The blue bird circled widely in the air and flew toward Biryoo. He transformed into human form and knelt.
“Did you call for me, Master.”
“Where have you been without telling me?”
Seo-o looked up. His round eyes were filled with fear.
“Please forgive me. I intended to ask the Master, but the human said it was urgent… and since it was obvious he would go using Cheongsimi even if I refused, I followed him to keep watch.”
“I asked where you went.”
“I visited the illusion nest.”
It was exactly as Biryoo had guessed.
“Did that human boldly request a feather from the Vermilion Bird?”
“I did not hear the conversation as I was waiting in the bamboo forest.”
“Anything else?”
A look of hesitation appeared on Seo-o’s face. He closed his eyes tightly and answered.
“Actually… before that, the human visited Jeolgon’s dwelling.”
“Jeolgon’s dwelling?”
“Yes. He came out again shortly after, and seeing as Jeolgon was so angry that he tore up the surrounding forest, it seemed he had been quite troubled. From what I saw… it didn’t seem like he had committed any infidelity.”
Biryoo was inwardly pleased that Seo-o hid nothing from them, but they replied coldly.
“You are overstepping. Your job is simply to report what you saw and heard to me.”
“M-my apologies, Master.”
Seo-o bowed his head guiltily. Just as Biryoo was about to pass by, he spoke up.
“Ah! And… the human asked me about Yeon-hwa.”
Biryoo’s face, which had been masking a smooth indifference, distorted.
“Yeon-hwa?”
“Yes. He was very excited and shouted at me, but when I told him nothing, he soon gave up. After that happened, he asked to be taken to the illusion nest.”
It must have been Jeolgon. He must have planted nonsense about Yeon-hwa in Young-pa’s head.
Biryoo felt a surge of irritation but took a breath to regain their composure.
“You worked hard. You may go.”
Only then did Seo-o’s tense expression relax, and a small smile appeared. He bowed deeply and flew away, turning back into a blue bird.
Left alone, Biryoo looked up at the cave. They wanted to run toward the person they missed. At the same time, they wanted to fly away to another place to avoid the messy conflict. After a brief struggle, Biryoo headed toward the cave.
Young-pa was lying on Cheongsim’s back with his eyes closed. Having eaten nothing since the day before, his cheeks had become gaunt. When Biryoo made their presence known, the two eyes buried in curly fur snapped open.
As Biryoo sat down without a word, Young-pa unnaturally avoided their gaze. He took a red feather from his robes and offered it with both hands.
“I have brought the light feather.”
It was the perfect attitude and tone of a servant. Biryoo, acting as the master, took the feather and told him he had worked hard.
An awkward silence hung in the air. Young-pa even muttered while staring at the cave floor.
“What happens to us now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You will regain your divine power, and you will seize the divine artifact from me. I was asking what happens after that.”
A rebellious gaze remained stubbornly fixed on the cave wall.
“Look at my eyes.”
Young-pa ignored the words and glared at the ceiling. Biryoo sighed.
“Is it because you don’t want to give up the divine artifact?”
Young-pa’s pupils wavered. When he turned his head to look directly at Biryoo, his eyes were full of venom and distrust.
“Are you keeping the remains of someone named Yeon-hwa in the heavenly realm?”
Young-pa was a human who did not know how to beat around the bush. If Biryoo had not been tipped off by Seo-o, they would have been quite flustered.
“It is true.”
However, Biryoo also had nothing to hide. They were by nature a personality that disliked deception, and there was no reason to lie.
“Do you… do you intend to revive them with the divine artifact?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It is something you do not need to know.”
Moisture quickly filled the corners of Young-pa’s eyes. Wounded eyes returned to scratch at Biryoo.
“When I asked if you loved me, you avoided the answer.”
It was a question they were afraid to answer. It was also a question that should not be answered. Young-pa must not know what he held in his hand. Even if he wore such a wounded face, it was better to let him misunderstand.
When Biryoo chose silence once again, tears streamed down Young-pa’s cheeks. Biryoo asked, suppressing the urge to embrace him.
“What is it that you want?”
“I…”
As Young-pa closed his eyes tightly, tears flowed in several streams like a bursting dam. He opened his eyes again and looked at Biryoo with a gaze that seemed to have given up on everything.
“I do not want to be a servant or a toy. I wish to be your partner. I wish to live as your spouse, receiving your affection!”
The sentence, which had begun in a quiet tone, ended in a shout. Cheongsim, who had been pressed against Young-pa, let out a whimper and fled the cave.
Young-pa stood up and shouted harshly.
“I hope you do not revive that woman. Instead, I want you to make a marriage vow with me as you did with her, and swear that you will do anything for me, just as you did for her!”
A vow to do anything. At those words, Biryoo felt as if their blood were scorching.
Memories of the past surged, clouding Biryoo’s vision. How many times had they vowed that such a thing would never happen again?
“The trickster… is not me, but you! You fraud, you liar… you wretched dragon!”
Biryoo gave a bitter smile, seeing that Young-pa did not trust them in the slightest. The feeling was mutual. Since Biryoo also did not trust Young-pa at all, there was no point in offering any explanation.
While Young-pa wiped his eyes with his sleeve, Biryoo remained silent.
“What… am I to you, Azure Dragon?”
“In time, you will naturally come to know.”
Despite his efforts to wipe them away, new tears dripped steadily onto the ground. Young-pa struggled to stifle his sobs, but while his chin trembled, the tears would not stop.
Biryoo’s breathing grew heavy as they watched him. Even as their heart froze cold from the disappointing conversation, their lust did not dissipate; instead, it only grew stronger. From the moment Young-pa stepped down from Seo-o’s back, Biryoo had been suppressing the urge to take him.
When Biryoo brushed the wet cheek with the back of their hand, Young-pa did not reject the touch. It was a relief. Had he resisted, Biryoo would have taken him by force regardless.
“Do not forget that for now, you are my servant.”
Biryoo wrapped one arm around Young-pa’s waist and buried their lips against his chest, which was heaving with sobs. Savoring the skin they had longed for, they fumbled between his thighs.
Biryoo had never forgotten the sight of Young-pa crying for the first time at the pacheondang hall. How wretched it was that one person’s pain and sorrow became another’s pleasure. Yet, Biryoo could hardly endure the urge to thrust their phallus between Young-pa’s legs right then and there.
The ties were loosened, and the upper garment was stripped away. The trousers and undergarments followed. Biryoo looked down at Young-pa’s naked body.
Young-pa had his eyes closed as if in resignation. His distorted lips and moist eyelashes ignited a fire of lust.
The word ‘beautiful’ rose to the back of Biryoo’s throat, but they swallowed it.
There was nothing to be gained by letting Young-pa know how harmonious and delicate his form appeared to them, or how desperately their body craved him. Not yet.
Until everything was set right, he had to remain a servant and a plaything.
Young-pa turned his back and knelt on all fours. When Biryoo pushed him back down onto his back, bewilderment filled Young-pa’s expression.
“I will stay on all fours.”
Instead of answering, Biryoo held him and forcibly pried his legs apart. The penis, brought out by pulling down the trousers slightly, was heavy from long endurance. Pressing Young-pa’s struggling upper body down, Biryoo searched for the gokdo.
“No, I said no, ah, ah-ugh…”
Young-pa twisted his body convulsively and wrenched his head away. Biryoo had no room to be considerate as they usually were, and so their phallus tore through the tight passage. A scream mixed with sobbing shook the cave.
“Haa, haa, fuck…”
The storm swirling within those black pupils held fear, resentment, and an inescapable affection and spring-lust. Pressing down on the man whose skin was flushed like a fireball, Biryoo met his rebellious gaze.
“Is there a plaything that dares defy its master?”
“I am… not your plaything.”
Biryoo lowered their upper body and pushed the genital in to the very end. As Young-pa struggled and turned his head, Biryoo refused to lose, gripping his chin and forcing him to look at them.
“No, I don’t want to look…”
Young-pa murmured those words like a spell, his voice trembling.
One day he had said it didn’t matter if he were a servant or a plaything, yet now he had the audacity to insist on becoming the divine beast’s spouse—what an insolent human. Biryoo had never made any such promise, yet the problem was his attitude, acting as if something had been entrusted to him.
Biryoo knew well that this was the nature of humans. They were unreliable beasts who changed their words overnight. Long ago, Biryoo had realized painfully that they were beings not worth equal treatment.
“Ugh! Heugh, ugh, please…”
As Biryoo rubbed against the lower dantian, the two ribbons he had tied himself shook mercilessly. While desperately wanting the man drowned in lust, Biryoo also wanted to cut him off more than ever. They wanted to thoroughly violate him and then discard him for all to see.
‘Just as he did with him, I wish for him to make a marriage vow with me, and to swear that he will do anything for me, just as he did for him!’
It was said that human greed has no end. The human who had been ecstatic over a single kiss had leaped over the line Biryoo had drawn and pretended to be a concubine of their own accord.
The desire to become a spouse could not be the end. He would likely wish to bind the Azure Dragon to achieve a private revenge, use that power to command the world, and eventually find even that insufficient.
Biryoo ground their teeth tightly.
“No, no…”
The pale thighs of the human who did not know his place trembled weakly. No, no, no, Young-pa screamed, yin water streaming from his phallus. He was weeping as if in sorrow and grievance.
Ridiculously, at that moment, Biryoo thought of another human who was not like him at all. The culprit who had bound Biryoo and driven Young-pa into a whirlwind of jealousy.
Since it takes two hands clapping to make a sound, was all of this Young-pa’s fault?
‘No. It is my fault for failing to hate you.’
It was their own mistake to be curious about and watch with interest the wicked one from the underground. It was the result of the mistake of saving him, going all the way to the underground to rescue him, and sucking the poison from his shoulder; it was the product of the sin of raping him and keeping him close like a favorite concubine.
Biryoo buried their forehead in the nape of Young-pa’s neck and ejaculated in a long surge. A blinding sensuality poured forth like a violent waterfall. Drenched in the torrential rain of sexual pleasure, Biryoo embraced Young-pa.
Young-pa was gasping, caught between anxiety and pleasure with his teeth clenched. As Biryoo began to move again, tension filled his pitiful body.
Even while forcibly taking Young-pa, Biryoo was not satisfied. They wanted him and wanted him again. It wasn’t simply that they wanted to pour yin fluid into his body. They wanted him to look at them, to smile brightly toward them, to chatter away to them, and to embrace them without hesitation.
Even knowing that such a heart would soon change. Behind the impulse to discard the contemptible human lurked this dangerous feeling.
“Whose are you?”
Biryoo spread Young-pa’s thighs wide and drove in strongly. Even while screaming, Young-pa stubbornly avoided answering. Biryoo carved the words into his ear so he could not dwell on useless thoughts.
“You are mine.”
“Ugh, aa, ah! No, no…”
A strange emotion called possessiveness. A dizzying impulse to have this man no matter what spread from the heart through the veins to the entire body. Biryoo pressed down on Young-pa and drove him fiercely.
It was no use trying to deny it. Young-pa had swept them into trivial emotions. When Biryoo came to their senses, they were gasping in the midst of anxiety, possessiveness, and jealousy—emotions of a commoner, unfit for a deity.
Even at the moment their phallus, filled with seed, struck Young-pa’s internals, Biryoo was consumed by a fiery jealousy. Jealous of Jeolgon, who had been alone with Young-pa in the hut; the anacondas that had raped him; Ji Seo-gu, who had held him in his grasp for three hundred years. Going back in time, even Yeogo, who had been close to Young-pa like a brother, and Seolji, whom he had loved with all his heart. Biryoo hated them all.
“Ah! It hurts, heugh. Ah… hurts!”
Biryoo stopped their hip movements and caught their breath. Because the act had become too rough, Young-pa was suffering. His gokdo was narrow, so it was easy to cause injury if one did not make an effort to be considerate. Biryoo felt pathetic for being unable to handle Young-pa carelessly despite wanting to possess him.
As Biryoo brushed back the hair tangled in sweat, Young-pa burst into tears. He suddenly wailed as if he might lose his breath, leaving Biryoo bewildered. They silently watched the scene, which was simultaneously pitiful and arousing.
Thinking that even raping was not an easy task, Biryoo withdrew from Young-pa’s body. However, Young-pa grabbed their arm.
“Do not… stop.”
It wasn’t just words. Young-pa moved himself to push Biryoo’s genital back into his body. His lips trembled as he endured the pain.
“It, it was a lie. Saying I hated it…”
As Young-pa wrapped his arms around Biryoo’s neck while sobbing, Biryoo’s mind went blank before returning. He whispered incomprehensible words into their ear. Biryoo breathed heavily and drove their phallus in to the root.
They moved their hips like a beast. Their mind was hazy. Though it wasn’t the first or second time they had joined bodies with Young-pa, they felt an impatient urgency. Everything else faded away except for the impulse that they must have this person.
“Ugh, heuuugh, ah! Ah!”
As Biryoo rubbed against him with short, sharp thrusts, Young-pa let out small breaths, his waist trembling. Biryoo gripped his weakly shaking wrist and sank deeper.
They obsessively pursued the tingling sensation vibrating from the point of junction. The moans drawn from Young-pa’s depths crashed against Biryoo’s ear. It was a voice both satisfying and painful.
“Heu, heugh, ugh! Please, remember… me.”
Young-pa whispered into Biryoo’s ear.
“That I… ugh… truly… loved you.”
Instead of answering, Biryoo rubbed their lips against Young-pa’s.
They had known it from the start. The gaze that followed them like a clingy shadow wherever they went, the face that turned red like a strawberry, the smile shimmering with joy. Even without words, it was as clear as day, leaving no room for confusion.
Then, what of the opposite? While it was a relief that Young-pa knew nothing, Biryoo found it quite difficult to understand.
Why did he insist on confirmation through words? Where in the world was there a man who could act so affectionately toward someone who did not return the feeling? Why did that foolish man not realize he already held the thing he craved in his hands?
Young-pa put strength into his hazy, unfocused eyes and met Biryoo’s gaze until the end. Tears flowed incessantly like a springing fountain. When he reached a climax for the nth time, Young-pa squeezed his eyes shut. Then he went limp and did not open them again.
His face, exhausted from crying, was unbelievably pure, making one forget the fact that he was receiving a man’s phallus between his legs. Biryoo ended up ejaculating while kissing the dried tear stains on his cheek.
This was the final act of lust performed as a being that was neither deity nor dragon. Now, everything would change; from tomorrow, Young-pa would be embraced by the divine beast in the heavenly palace.
‘Even if I am a servant or a plaything, please take me to the heavenly realm.’
A few days ago, Young-pa had mentioned wanting to live in the heavenly realm. Since Biryoo had no intention of asking for the party’s opinion on the matter, they had not paid much attention. Even if he refused, locking a single human in the palace for eternity was not a difficult task, so Young-pa’s heart or thoughts were not considerations.
‘If that person is first, what rank am I?’
Embracing Young-pa’s bare shoulder, Biryoo recalled the question they had once failed to answer properly.
‘There is no one in the world as beautiful as you.’
As Biryoo carefully withdrew the penis from Young-pa’s body, yin water flowed down his pale thighs. Even though the smell of semen clung to the sweat-drenched body, instead of disgust, Biryoo felt the impulse to lick up every last drop.
Biryoo carried Young-pa to the water’s edge and washed him. Even in his sleep, he murmured “Biryoo, Biryoo” in a delirious haze.
After dressing Young-pa in clean clothes and laying him down inside the cave, Biryoo called Seo-o. The blue bird, who must have been circling nearby, flew over quickly.
“Did you call, Master?”
“I intend to fall into a deep sleep. You must prevent the human from doing anything foolish until I wake.”
“Foolish things… is there anything in particular you have in mind?”
Biryoo frowned, lost in thought.
‘Please remember me. I truly loved you.’
If anything, the last words Young-pa had spoken bothered them. However, the unpleasant premonition that seized them was as insubstantial as water mist.
“Such as trying to go too far, or seeking out Jeolgon… would preventing those things be enough?”
“That should suffice.”
Once Seo-o departed, Biryoo entered the cave. They took out a bowl kept in the corner and opened the lid. Inside the bowl, the gathered materials—water, beads, and blood—were clumped together.
As Biryoo dropped a phoenix feather, the contents swirled and mixed, transforming into a small sea. Biryoo took a cloth pouch containing fragments of the wish-fulfilling orb from their robe and shook them into the waves.
The blue fragments began to tremble, emitting a brilliant light. They absorbed the medicinal ingredients, merging and slowly regaining their shape.
The one and only wish-fulfilling jewel of the Azure Dragon. The bluish bead floated in the air, emitting a powerful radiance. The brilliant light passed by the dark cave and the cheek of the sleeping Young-pa, rushing straight into Biryoo’s heart.
The power of nature and vitality, the heavenly divine power that makes plants grow and calls the rain clouds, poured into their body. A faint light began to emanate from their fingertips, and their hair turned blue, undulating like clouds.
Dizziness struck as their entire body was enveloped in a bright, radiant glow. Their weakened physical body could not handle such vast power. Biryoo collapsed onto the spot next to where Young-pa lay. Lying side by side like a couple, just as Young-pa had wished, Biryoo fell into a deep sleep.
≋ ≋ ≋
The eastern azure dragon opened their eyes the following morning, after a full day had passed. The world was still bright, but Biryoo was a completely different being than the day before.
As soon as they woke, they could sense the smells and sounds of the surroundings as vividly as if they had been painted. Even with eyes closed, they could perceive how the belt-clouds of the blue sky moved, how the Pure Wind shook the old trees by the lakeside, and how willow fluff floated in the air.
Biryoo realized that Young-pa had disappeared. He wasn’t just missing from around the lake. He did not exist anywhere within the range of Biryoo’s perception.
When Biryoo stepped outside the cave, Cheongsim ran up and circled around them. It was not a dance of welcome. Hearing the barking, Biryoo’s complexion turned pale.
“Seo-o!”
At the shout imbued with divine power, the blue bird flew in. Biryoo knew from the bird’s expression alone that something serious had happened. After listening quietly to the chirping, Biryoo transformed into their original form and soared upward before the bird had even finished speaking.
As the Azure Dragon drew closer to the sun, their blue scales glistened. From a great height, they surveyed asadal mountain. Then, tearing through the clouds, they flew with the speed of lightning.
Extra: Yeon-hwa
The place where Yeon-hwa first met him was a remote valley in Mokmyeok Mountain. It was a time when the moon was waning and yin energy was overflowing, a season when monsters ran rampant, so the King had strictly forbidden his kin from going out. However, since surveillance did not reach every corner, it was not difficult for the youngest princess to swap clothes with a servant and slip out of the palace.
“Phew, it’s so stifling just staying inside.”
Yeon-hwa murmured, dipping their feet into the valley stream.
Recently, the atmosphere in wirye fortress had been like walking on thin ice. One brother had been poisoned to death, and the remaining three were fighting fiercely over the throne. The five older sisters were in a position where they could only read the room, and their mother spent her days in tears.
“Why are the princes of such a tiny kingdom so stupid and greedy? If they left it to me, I could do it well.”
Yeon-hwa was not particularly pretty, lacked manual dexterity, and was even slow in movement. However, they were very intelligent and born with a bold nature. It would have been better if their succession rank weren’t eighteenth. They only had a chance of becoming King after their father and brothers all died, the male nephews disappeared, and the older sisters were massacred.
“Hu… man?”
Yeon-hwa’s body stiffened at the sound of a chilling voice nearby.
“Hehehe, that looks… deli… cious.”
A shadow fell over their head. Looking up, they saw an anaconda dripping saliva. Although it was a mountain, it was near the palace and thus a safe area. They didn’t know how a monster had managed to enter this place.
Though Yeon-hwa was trembling violently, they spoke calmly.
“Hello?”
The anaconda tilted its large head with a bewildered expression.
“By any chance, do you need someone to clean your house? Or perhaps a kitchen hand?”
Yeon-hwa did not miss the moment the anaconda was confused. They picked up a stone and threw it with all their might at the anaconda’s eye. Although it missed, Yeon-hwa stood up and ran while the anaconda hesitated.
“Kyahhhhh!”
“Aaaaaah!”