At first, there was nothing.

Then a rush of everything hit San.

Underwater, he transformed, his body growing anew to its familiar form. He expected it to feel as natural to him as breathing to shed his human skin and return to who he was supposed to be. Yet, he never seemed to stop growing. Even after he thought it was done, his bones multiplied, his skin stretched and formed until he felt his dragon form was nearly a third bigger than he usually was. The antlers on his head sprouted, the long whiskers coiled around his face, and his scales smoothed out along his massive body. Sharp like knives, his ridge cut through the water as he coiled and grew into his new adult body. Claws the size of small horses slashed through the disturbed liquid and they were as deep blue as the depths of the ocean.

A noise bubbled in San's throat, one of energy and freedom. When he breathed it into the water, it came with a rush of cold air that sent the fishes around him scurrying. His blood throbbed and pulsed in his veins, and his two hearts beat in tandem as they soaked in their new glory.

The pond offered little space for him to move in, but part of San's brain that wasn't astounded with his new abilities knew where to find it.

When his head surfaced from the pond, a stream of water cascaded down its smooth sides. It trailed along his antlers and whiskers, caressing him with awe and welcoming him in his element.

San breathed the night air as a proper dragon for the first time. Rows upon rows of sharp teeth parted in his elongated skull as he inhaled it. Silver in the night sky, the stars reflected the golden hues on his dark blue body.

His body dipped and convoluted through the water as he looked down on himself. The deep hue of his scales was new to him, but nothing he didn't like. His ridge was still golden, as were the linings of his scales. His massive antlers had gained many new branches that glowed in the same pearly manner as before.

San looked at one of his claws, at the four digits it had now. He clenched and unclenched them, overjoyed to welcome his own thumbs.

His head swayed to the right where the crowd of humans stood and stared up at him in wonder. His body encompassed the entire pond and slid between the surface and the depths without creating much disturbance. The constant movement captivated their mortal eyes.

San wanted to see everyone, wanted to greet their terror and their respect.

His claws hooked on the balcony of the pavilion as he slithered up its side. He wrapped around the building once, twice, before his head surfaced above its roof and towered above the crowd. From up here, the court looked much tinier than it had felt for a human body. Like ants, the humans peered at him, unmoving. Only that the actual ants in the earth celebrated the birth of a new dragon like any other animal.

San's tongue flicked out to taste the air. The humans feared him, but their reverence sustained their hope.

Enormous golden eyes searched the bridge. Words sprung at him, words written in their language.

"Welcome, dragon king," it read.

Something like humour passed San as he took it in. The stab of sarcasm disrupted the enthusiastic delight that had him wanting to surge through the skies and inform the land of his presence. Nature, the skies, even the very air filled with the spiritual energy of hundreds of creatures celebrated him. In their midst, San glowed in their praise.

San searched for the human he was bound to. His eyes passed the man with pink hair who was beautiful even in his shock, passed the letters written on the bridge. He found his human kneeling on the hard wood, his body strained and shaky as he forced himself to keep his head low, though shivers wracked his body. He was scared.

San brought his head closer. Upon his movement, the spell of petrification in the audience dispersed, and they fell to their knees one after the other. As they bowed to the dragon, San had his burning golden eyes only on the one seated right at the coil of his winding body.

When San's thin tongue flicked out to taste the fear of the king's exposed nape, the man jerked. San's chuckle reverberated in his chest and sent a wave of ripples through the water.

"Kim Hongjoong," San addressed him. His voice wasn't physical, but it bore into the minds of everyone present as if he had spoken. Trembling, they clutched at the earth under their feet while San lolled in their delicious fear.

"Raise your head."

Hongjoong did, but he stayed on his knees. When his eyes found the massive skull of the dragon towering above him, his face went white as a sheet. San chuckled, amused by the authority he had over the human now.

No words came over Hongjoong's lips as he gawked speechlessly at San's coiling whiskers that dangled down from the height of the pavilion. San's claws held the wood harmlessly, but their threat was unmistakable.

"I'll give you my blessing," San purred.

Relief brightened Hongjoong's face. Instantly, he fell into another bow. He whispered something that was too quiet for even San to hear, but San presumed it was a thanks.

The heavens rumbled as if from thunder, but no lightning flashed. In the next moment, the clouds split open. The humans flinched, huddling closer towards each other to share warmth and security.

From the skies descended a dragon. Its golden scales glimmered under the pale light of the moon, more vibrant than the sun. In a straight line, the long body climbed to earth as if on an invisible ladder. Its brilliant green eyes bore into San's with the intensity of a creature even older and more knowledgeable than San.

San watched it come closer with shining eyes, fascinated by its grace. Upon the last spread, he surged to meet it. As their bodies intertwined, San felt the age of this dragon. It had another few centuries on him and its eyes had seen things San couldn't fathom.

Smoothly, their bodies clicked together. In a fantastic display of gold and blue, the royal dragons wound around each other. They exchanged knowledge and the wisdom of centuries upon a single touch, and San cherished the proximity to one of his kind who had greeted him so unexpectedly.

The night enveloped them in its cool darkness. As the humans sat in astonishment over the rare view, San let himself bloom under his companion's presence.

His name was Yongguk. He had watched over this country for the past five hundred years and watched eras and kingdoms rise and fall. The bonds he had for the humans were deep, some were positive, some spoke of the dreadful dark colours humans could assume when in hate. All of them conveyed to San as if he were watching the dragon's memories through his inner eye.

Emotions rushed through San with the visions. They were the emotions of both the dragon and the humans, impressions collected over the centuries. There was joy, there was pain. There were entire oceans that San couldn't follow and that were as deep as the depths of the sea he remembered from home. San soaked them up like a sponge and filed them away for later use, all while the snakes created a thick band of glorious colours.

When the euphoria of their union ended, they hovered in the air together. San thanked the older dragon for his deeds and asked him where he would go now that he was relieved of his duties of watching over the humans.

"Far away," Yongguk said. "I will go where no human will ever go and I will dwell on the memories I made here. Our spirits are linked. Come to me if you ever need my advice."

San thanked him again. His heart was full of kindness for the other dragon. He wished Yongguk a peaceful time as he would become an item of memories, his traces left only in the history books of the humans.

The dragon blessed him with patience before he left for the skies.

When San glanced down, he found a shining white pearl that balanced on the tip of the pavilion's roof. It glowed like the moon in the night and attracted the attention of the dumbfounded humans.

San hovered next to it, his body winding through the air as if gravity didn't concern him. And it didn't. This world cradled him as one of its most precious creations and carried him on its invisible hands wherever he wanted to go.

San's claws extended to the bead. It fit inside of his now thumbed hands perfectly and a surge of power wracked his body upon touch. Aeons of wisdom filled his senses, soothed his past worries and dawned him in blissful tranquillity. He felt older, enlightened with its guidance, as it reminded him of his worth and how nature hailed him.

The bead melted into his skin and became one with him. The heat it brought settled in his chest to beat in tandem with his hearts and warmed his snake body from inside out.

By the time San lowered himself to hover around the pavilion again, Hongjoong had risen to his feet. The rest of the folk still rested on their weak knees and San knew Hanyang down the hill was bathed in just as much overwhelmed demureness.

San's claws scratched over the wooden building as he tugged himself closer and regarded the king with his intelligent eyes. No longer, Hongjoong doubted his abilities. Never again he would dare make baseless assumptions about San.

When the human extended his hand, San breathed a puff of air that reminded of a laugh. That tiny, fragile hand. It would break with but a whistle from San's jaw. It cradled the red ribbon, the signal of their ties.

"Come, San. Let us celebrate you." His expression was genuine, his gratitude overflowing. As far as San's dragon persona was involved, Hongjoong appreciated him with all his measly might.

When San plunged his long head, Hongjoong grinned at him. Tiny, careful fingers tied the ribbon around a lower branch of San's antlers where it wouldn't slip off. The coldness of the dragon so close had Hongjoong shiver, but he finished dutifully. Then he held the flap to the entrance open wide and beckoned San inside.

The dragon fell into a splash of water once more. San's spirit fell right onto the doorstep and rustled underneath the clothes he had left. As he rose again, they reattached themselves to his body as if they never had been gone.

Gone were his antlers, his claws, his tail. San looked at the hands of a broad-shouldered young man with a slender frame accentuated by muscles. The shape of an adult.

When San stepped outside, Hongjoong marvelled at him. None of the humans could wrap their heads around the spectacle of the dragon being associated with this human male, but all of them found him beautiful, welcomed him as one who looked like their own.

San's hair was black as a raven's feathers, but his dark eyes still held their golden glow that deceived those who wanted to abuse him.

When Hongjoong offered San his hand, it still shook. San grasped it in amusement and joined their warm human hands. He pulled the stumbling human along as he returned to the people. His eyes ignored their astounded features, their open mouths. He ignored the animals of the forest applauding him, his friends the heron and the nightjar in the nearby tree as they whistled compliments at him.

He found the entrance to the stables empty.

Concerned, his brows drew together. He dropped Hongjoong's hand to let him stand next to Seonghwa as the other humans rose to their feet. Their heads looked up to him despite some being taller than San's new human shape.

Where was he? Had he left? Had the performance disturbed him?

San's heart clenched in his chest as dread overwhelmed his delirious euphoria. He whirled around, ready to demand Hongjoong to search for his lover, when a movement to his left caught his attention.

Wooyoung elbowed his way through the crowd, uncaring of the displeased sneers that met him. As soon as he broke through, he raced in San's direction.

San opened his arms, and they fell into each other. They clicked like San had clicked with Yongguk and Wooyoung buried his face in San's shoulder as he squeezed him tightly.

"I wasn't scared of you, even for a second. You were so stunning. So gorgeous." When Wooyoung lifted his head, tears shimmered in his eyes. San wiped them, finally not apprehensive anymore about touching his sweet lover.

Wooyoung had to laugh, radiant in the night. He spilt more tears, but they were happy as they held each other close and never cared about the surrounding crowd.