DEB 117

“Yasha? What are you looking at?”

He must’ve noticed Huiyun’s eyes slightly unfocused, still fixed on the Heart Window. 

Huiyun should’ve said it was nothing, but the words wouldn’t leave his lips.

Marry me? 

What the hell am I supposed to do with that?

The words themselves didn’t sound particularly heavy. 

If anything, they were more like the kind of innocent declarations kindergarteners shout at adults they like, “When I grow up, I’m gonna marry you!”, but that didn’t quite work when the one saying it was Ash. 

He wasn’t a child. 

He was a full-grown adult and a well-raised dragon. 

Then again, compared to the other disciples, he did sometimes act oddly or a bit immature.

“Ash.”

“What?”

 “…Never mind.”

“What? That’s it? I just gave you what I thought was a pretty passionate confession, you know.”

There was a lot Huiyun wanted to say, but none of it would come out.

When he fumbled for a vague response, Ash nudged him to speak up. 

But there was no way he could ask, “Do you really want to marry me?” In the end, Huiyun decided to pretend he hadn’t seen the Heart Window. 

The only thing left to deal with was Ash’s spoken words.

He wants me to dominate him… God above.

Letting out a groan that was half-sigh, Huiyun admitted the truth.

“…I’ve never heard anyone say something like that to me before, so I’m not really sure how to respond.”

“Oh, I’m your first?”

Like that’s what matters right now.

Huiyun was so flustered he could barely swallow his own spit. 

Meanwhile, Ash just grinned like an idiot, which only made the blood rush to Huiyun’s head. 

He tried to rein in the biting retort that wanted to leap out and scolded Ash for latching onto the surface without seeing the bigger picture. 

When Huiyun pressed a hand to his forehead, Ash cheekily kissed it.

“So, you don’t like it?”

“…What kind of answer are you expecting from me?”

“Anything’s fine. Honestly, I didn’t even say it expecting a reply.”

Yeah, that tracks. 

Even just looking at the Heart Window, it was obvious that Ash was overflowing with emotion and didn’t know what to do with it. 

Those words probably just burst out of him.

So maybe it wasn’t as serious as I thought. 

He was just… happy. 

… Overwhelmed.

If it had been Vina or Moot, Huiyun might’ve found it suspicious, but with Ash, it made a weird kind of sense.

“I get what you meant. You don’t want me to leave your side, right?”

“If you boil it down to that, yeah.”

Relieved, Huiyun nodded with a much more relaxed face.

“Alright. I understand, so don’t tack on weird extras next time. It just makes things complicated.”

“Why not? Don’t overthink it, Yasha. I just want you to completely dominate me. That way, I can always feel you.”

Ash said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. 

Whatever Huiyun had planned to say to reassure him flew out the window. 

He clicked his tongue.

Forget it. 

This is way more serious than I thought.

There was a glint in Ash’s eyes—something intense and strangely cult-like, not unlike Verita’s fervor. 

This wasn’t just excitement bubbling over. 

He was absolutely serious. 

And that was exhausting.

While Huiyun rubbed his brow, wondering how to handle this, Ash misinterpreted the gesture as fatigue and pulled him into a comforting hug.

“You look tired, so let’s just sleep for now.”

Now that is music to my ears.

Still, even if they were about to sleep, there was something he had to say.

“Ash. You’re your own person. I can’t control or own you, nor should I. Don’t think like that, just do what you want. Follow your heart. Don’t let anyone’s orders or control sway you.”

Ash had always been the freest of his disciples. 

That freedom let him approach problems with unique ideas and perspectives. 

He shone brightest when he was laughing, flying through the sky without ceilings or chains. 

It was his essence. Huiyun spoke firmly, and Ash blinked—then smiled like a rebellious teen.

“You won’t run away even if I follow my whims?”

“Of cour—”

He stopped short. 

He was about to say of course, but realized he needed to be more careful. 

This was Ash, after all. 

He was still his disciple. 

One careless promise could lead to chaos.

“…As long as you stay within the bounds of common sense, there’s no reason I’d run.”

“Hmmm.”

“…Let’s just sleep.”

Seeing Ash smile with that “I’m up to something” look drained him. Huiyun shut his eyes.

Honestly, I wish he’d just think things like “being near you makes me happy” or “being apart is sad” and leave it at that.

But no, his disciples always had to take things to weird extremes the deeper they thought. 

He had plenty of good traits… so why were they copying the weird ones?

Tap, tap.

He gently patted Ash’s shoulder, coaxing him to sleep. 

Ash obliged, hugging him tightly and closing his eyes.

Only after Ash fell into a deep slumber did Huiyun finally relax and stare up at the ceiling, replaying the conversation in his mind.

If he had to trace the source of the problem, it probably stemmed from his absence—and his death. 

Those events had completely altered the disciples’ mental wiring, and not for the better. 

Otherwise, how could Ash, of all people, ask to be dominated?

He’d realized his mistake and apologized repeatedly, but even that hadn’t erased the scars of  thousand of years. 

And that was natural. 

A few words weren’t enough to erase millennia.

Huiyun sighed, finally accepting that the tangled thread between them was far from undone.

This twisted relationship wasn’t going to return to “normal” anytime soon.

“…Well, I guess it doesn’t have to be normal.”

When had they ever been normal?

Being the proxy of the gods, defending the world—none of it had ever been “normal.” 

Their bonds were forged from extraordinary lives. 

Trying to fit into a conventional mold might’ve been the actual strange thing.

At this point, he might as well embrace it all as part of their uniqueness.

“Sometimes, a disciple might fall for their master a little too hard.”

Even if Ash was obsessed with him, nothing would really change, as long as Huiyun stayed centered. 

There was no need to redefine their relationship. 

It just meant Ash liked him. 

A lot. 

Like really a lot.

And wanted to depend on him. 

That was all.

Hopefully…

“…I really was worrying over nothing.”

Now that the loud troublemaker was asleep and not stirring up more confusion, his thoughts settled. 

The more he mulled it over, the more he realized there wasn’t really anything to panic about. 

Relieved, Huiyun finally let sleep take him.

And in that peace, he drifted off into a restful slumber.

***

But when Huiyun woke up the next morning, something felt off. 

So off, in fact, that the thoughts he’d settled on the night before were promptly incinerated.

Nothing had changed? 

Yeah, right.

The moment he opened his eyes, he was met with his disciple kissing him with the fervor of someone trying to leave a mark on every inch of his body. 

Not just any disciple, but Ash—the one he practically raised since his hatchling days.

Stunned beyond words, Huiyun’s blue eyes widened in pure shock. 

As Ash pressed one last kiss to his elbow, he finally noticed Huiyun’s gaze.

Then, as if nothing were wrong, he looked up and smiled with the most innocent, harmless face in the world.

“Yasha, you’re awake?”

It was an alarmingly casual thing to say while lifting someone’s elbow and pressing into the soft skin beneath it, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And yet, Huiyun felt nothing but sheer dissonance. 

His head, which had calmed overnight, now throbbed with a renewed headache.

This is my fault.

He’d underestimated Ash. 

Severely.

“…Ash.”

“Yeah, Yasha?”

“…What are you doing.”

He asked in a drained voice. 

In response, Ash boldly lifted one of Huiyun’s legs and placed a kiss on the narrow ankle.

“You told me to do what I wanted… So I’m doing it?”

Huiyun stared at him wordlessly, then down at his ankle caught in Ash’s grasp. 

He didn’t even have the energy to think anymore. 

A long sigh slipped out.

“Ash.”

“Yeah?”

“Sit.”

“O-oh…!”

The moment he issued the command, Ash stumbled back, retreating from him. 

He hadn’t even used an actual command, so the effect was minimal—but it was just enough to escape Ash’s grip. 

Huiyun quickly sat up, dragging a hand over his face with a deadpan expression while Ash stared at him with clueless eyes.

“…Where’s Huigang.”

I want my brother.

Huiyun seriously considered running to him right then and there to report this madness and ask for advice. 

Without another word, he waved Ash off and reached for his clothes.

Being the master of deranged disciples was truly exhausting.