He was half way across the plains when night dawned. He dragged his tired legs step by step towards the direction where Jongin had gone to. The blue sky disappeared as it grew darker and darker until it became the darkest blue Kyungsoo had ever seen. Stars and constellations were no exception as they came and decorated the night sky right on time. Kyungsoo was admiring the night view when he suddenly caught sight of the full moon. And his face changed.

            He saw the dark clouds dispersed away from the bright moon. And almost at the same time, he heard a scream in the distance.

            Jongin? He thought.

            Then, he heard it. The eerie howl that echoed through the plain and into the night. Kyungsoo wanted to turn and run the other way. But part of him wanted to continue searching for Jongin, which probably meant sending himself as a dinner to him. Just when he wanted to make a decision, he felt the ground shaking underneath his feet. The soft rumble of the earth sounded like thunder in the quiet night.

            “What on earth-”

            The rumbling became louder and louder like thunder roaring in the sky. At first, all he could see was a deer standing at the top of the hill. But then, something felt wrong when three more deer came, and then by the dozens. Their hooves slammed against the hard ground as they stampeded downhill towards where Kyungsoo was standing. Kyungsoo stared at them wide-eyed, unable to move.

            The deer’s eyes glinted in the faint moonlight. And their antlers looked like they could kill. Even harmless creatures looked like demons to Kyungsoo now. Something evil had descended upon this forest. He tried his best to move his numb legs. He took little steps back. But it was too slow. Kyungsoo watched, terrified as the herd of deer came towards him. Suddenly, he felt something behind his legs and he fell backwards onto the soft grass. He realized he had been tripped by a large log. Sitting up quickly, he scampered under the log for shelter.

He reached it just in time as the deer reached where he was just a moment earlier. Their hooves thundered mercilessly onto the grass. He could hear their hard hooves knocking against the wood of the log. If it wasn’t for this huge chunk of log, he would have been dead by now. The stampede went on until Kyungsoo felt his legs had gone numb again after crouching under the log for such a long time.

Finally, the last deer cantered away after it jumped over the log, not knowing Kyungsoo was right under it. After making sure that there weren’t any more deer, Kyungsoo crawled out of from under the log. He was so afraid that he realized that he had forgotten to breath. He collapsed onto the grass out of exhaustion. He fought for his consciousness.

He must not find me here, he thought.

But eventually, fatigue took over. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier by the second. And soon, his world turn dark and he lost consciousness.

~    ~    ~

Jongin came into his dream that night. He looked like an angel. He had white wings behind him. And his whole body seemed to be glowing. He seemed to be more at p