Chương 30: I expected a palm-sized dragon

"Cluck!"

(Fuck!)

The phone is broken. She has tapped too hard. Her songs are also gone!

Someone knocks on the bathroom stall.

Chang Seol becomes still, horrified. What if it's a human? No, she's also a human. What if it's a normal human?

"Chang Seol." The voice is husky and unfamiliar. "Open the door."

Who is it? Did Mister send someone already? No way! She glances at the phone.

"You reek of pheromones." The voice is rather urgent. "Do you want all the shapeshifters to attack you here?"

Shape-what?

"I don't mean you harm." The man sighs. "You know me. I am No Shi Won."

What is he doing here? This is a female restroom.

"Would you open the door?" He knocks again. "This is your first transformation. It won't go away anytime soon. We need to get you out of here before humans barge in."

Does he know what's going on with her? Chang Seol reaches for the bathroom stall lock. Sharp tips of her leathery wing knock on the lock, slicing it into halves.

Nonetheless, the door is opened.

No Shi Won, dressed in everything branded from the head to toe, is standing before her. She has seen his pictures many times on SNS*. The ivory-skinned boy in his early twenties has his eyes hidden behind black sunglasses, wearing a longline brown fur overcoat hugging his slender body, black nicely fitted trousers, red sneakers, and a black v-necked t-shirt.

(A\N*: Social networking sites)

He lets out a heavy sigh. "You have been married to him for nearly a month. How come you didn't have sex with him?"

"..." Chang Seol is speechless. Well, she can't speak anyway. But this is too weird.

"Full transformation at your first time." He stares into her eyes. Though he's tall, she's only two inches shorter than him, and she's sitting at the moment. "I guess that you are petrified since you don't know what's happening to you."

***

There's no one in the restroom. It's locked from inside. Outside, two men in black uniform are guarding the door, preventing anyone from coming in.

"Come out now." He steps away from the stall. "It must be crampy there."

When Chang Seol stands up, the crown of her head bumps against the ceiling. She lets out a low cry. The boy puts his hands in his pockets and keeps stepping backwards as she struggles to get out of the bathroom stall. The door frame cracks as she pushes herself forward and manages to get out of the crampy place.

The gargantuan chicken -- or whatever she is -- is standing in the midst of the woman restroom. She has to lower her head to not brush her black crown against the ceiling. Her beak is completely black and glistening.

Black furry feathers originate from the top of her, thickening around her neck, turning into small black furs, barely coating the obsidian spikes on her back, the scales on her chest, leaving her long dragon tail and leathery wings completely bare.

No Shi Won watches her quietly. His face is placid, not revealing any thoughts. "So we do have a problem now. You are bigger than I expected you to be."

"Cluck-Cluuuk-CluCluCluk?"

(What do you mean by big?)

"I will explain everything later." He runs his fingers through his hair. "How do I get you out? I expected a palm-sized dragon. You turned out to be… quite different."

"Cluck?"

(Huh?)

He looks toward the door. The station is crowded and it's day time. She certainly can't spend all day here. No Shi-Won takes his phone out and makes a call.

"We will leave through the tunnels."

[Should we start a distraction here?]

"Yes." No Shi Won looks up at the chicken… cockatrice with a complicated look on his face. "Bring a truck."

[Are you sure?]

"Yes."

He places the phone inside his pocket and then he takes off his overcoat. "We are going to break the wall."

Chang Seol blinks her eyes. "Cluck?"

"Yes, there's no other way." He pulls over his t-shirt and tosses it on the floor. "Pick up your things and follow my lead."

When he starts unzipping his pants, Chang Seol spins around in a hurry.

"You will get used to the nakedness." No Shi Won chuckles, glancing at her tail. "Tch! Why would you marry a regular human?"

The dragon tail trembles once.

No Shi Won's back curves backwards, arching his chest high as his brown eyes turn bright yellow. His skin turns as black as the coal in a blink, Sacramento green scales cover every inch of him, arms and legs joining together, morphing into an enormous serpent with white canines.

***

She hasn't heard a sound for a while. Turning her head, she looks at the person who is no longer a person. It's a giant serpent with a red crown on its head.

"..." Chang Seol turns her head toward the wall. What is that snake?

"Let's go." It hisses as it slides in her direction. "We need to break the wall."

"No Shi Won?" She looks at him, unable to believe what she's saying. "What are you?"

"I am a Basilisk." The yellow-eyed serpent blinks his eyes slowly. "And how long are you going to stare at me? At least, I am a full serpent. You have a chicken's head, you Cockatrice!"

"..." It's not something that they need to compete for.

The Basilisk, a basically foul-smelling serpent, lowers his head and slams against the back wall of the restroom. Chang Seol watches him, cocking her head a little.

"Would you just watch?" The Basilisk looks back and hisses at her. "I am doing this for you. Help me break it down."

Break it down? It's a public property though. Chang Seol has mixed feelings about this but it's not like there's another way. She can't waltz out of the door as if she's not a dragon with the head of a chicken.

Taking a deep breath, Chang Seol runs straight into the wall, smashing through, only to lose her momentum and fall on her face.

It's dark. The smell of sulfur, ammonia, and rotten things infiltrate her nose. She raises her wings to cover her nose, turning her head to look at No Shi Won. He's watching her in a daze.

"Ah… Good job!" No Shi Won coughs and looks ahead in the sewer tunnel. "Let's go. They are waiting for us."

***

"Fire?" Sin Jeong-Hyuk frowns when he hears the announcement. People are rushing toward the exit. Where is Chicken? He can't leave without her.

He has been searching for her in the whole station. There's no sign of her. Piercing through the crowd, he reaches the other exit of the subway station. There should be another restroom here.

The door of the female restroom is closed. There should be no woman inside. Sin Jeong-Hyuk knocks before he enters this time.

What…

There's a wide hole in the wall, leading to the underground tunnels.

"Did we have an earthquake?" He mumbles to himself as he looks around for a sign of chicken.

There is a black feather on the floor.

He picks up a black feather. "Did a crow get in here?"

The long and black feather has a bluish tint. Still holding it in his hand, he goes to the last stall. The door frame is cracked at joints. She's not here either.

Sin Jeong-Hyuk is about to turn around when he notices a bag lying in the corner. He lifts it up and opens the bag to see the content. Her wallet is still inside the bag. She's been here.

What the hell happened here? He walks into the tunnel. Did she…

He wouldn't know unless he looks for her. Carrying her bag and the feather, he starts running through the tunnel.