🔥I worked really hard on this EXTREMELY long chapter, so I really hope you guys enjoy! Before you bombard with questions, stay tuned for the next chapter with the second part of it all lol. 🔥

Before the Confession

As Onew pushed, the door opened. He became dumbfounded at what he saw. Laden on shelves that lingered on the dusty walls of the room were herbs in multiple jars of various sizes and shapes. Strange looking plants that varied from orange spotted flowers to yellow stalks, sat in small pots across the floor, all aligned in a certain fashion. The chalky cream walls and weird brown wood flooring, made this area look like some sort of strange garden house, just without the light. There wasn’t a hint of it until his dad reached over the side of the door and flipped the switch that showed everything in front of them.

Scrolls basked in rolls together or were set in bins. Onew stood there, at the doorway, reframing from entering at any point. He thought the world Minho and Taemin had introduced to them was strange. This, this was a whole level of weirdness. Where did some of these plants come from anyway? How were any of these things surviving without light? What were in the scrolls? Why were there so many? But the most important question of them all, why did his father seem so content at the sight of everything?

In fact, his dad rushed into the space, digging into green and brown jars, searching for a specific herb, Onew guessed. He would help, but his feet were stuck in the doorway, his eyes were still awed by this new environment. His father went back to being quiet while he searched, but apparently found what he was looking for in a rather tall and slender yet antique-ish looking jar. He pulled these oddly shaped herbs or plants—Onew couldn’t really tell the difference in some— that had long flimsy leaves that turned a vibrant purple at the end. Their short stems were a dark, mustard yellow that held little dots. Seo-jun, his father, grabbed at least a handful and rushed back out the door.

Onew aimlessly followed, leaving the door open.

His dad, suddenly quick on his feet again, was about to rush towards his mom, when he stopped as words spilled from her lips; an overdrawn sadness leaking out . Her back was turned to her two boys, but her head was turned towards Key. 

“We were wrong,” she said in a small voice, “you are…you and your aunt are Gumihos.”

Gumihos, the word lingered in Onew’s mind. He tried to picture any kind of creature, but the word just stuck there. If it were some mystical being, then he was out of luck in terms of memory. He was never really into the whole myths and creatures genre part of school learning.

“And you are the last of your kind.” She continued.

Her breath stopped for a second. Onew watched as her back heaved up, then let go.

“And I was supposed to protect you both.”

Currently

“Protect us?” Key questioned.

His voice was as small as his aunt seemed in this moment. Shriveled and quiet. He could still feel wet spots from the blood that stained his shirt. It started from the collar and slithered down to the ends of the cotton fabric.

“What do you mean, protect us? What are you? What is Onew?”

Onew’s ears perked up in curiosity. He too wondered but had said nothing given the current situation. Seo-jun broke the awkward silence that began to brew by walking over and giving his wife the herbs.

“I think these are the right one's, honey?” His throat staggered.

She smiled uneasily when she turned around to face him and nodded her head, gently grabbing the herbs from his grasp. In that moment, for no particular reason, a fire heated inside Onew’s body. Perhaps it had been brewing since they caught vines slithering back into the ground when they found Key, or maybe it went further than that. Maybe this fire came from the first time he realized that Luna was right; there were monsters running amuck in the forest. There was no exact source, but the anger began to expand and flourish, warming his skin and creating this burning sensation deep inside his lungs.

“What’s dad then huh?!” He screamed, his arms flailing throughout the air.

The sudden jolt of noise made Key and Min-seo jump. His father turned around with raised brows, eyeing his son curiously.

“Onew, what’s gotten into-“

“I’m tired of all these secrets! What the hell is going on? Dad, are you something too? Mom, what the hell are you?! What the hell am I?! What the hell is going on! Who were you talking about when we were in the woods mom!”

“Don’t scream at your mother!”

Min-seo raised her hand in a calming motion, stopping the two men with their mouths agape. Key stared, wide-eyed. He’d never seen Onew with this much animosity before, never heard him raise his voice above something more than a calming tone. It was new and quite frightening. The glare of enmity in his pupils, how they grew in size; the strain of his muscles that swelled in the veins of his hands as he brawled them up. How would Onew react if he told him that he, as well, had been keeping something from him?

“He has a right to be upset.” His mother answered.

She turned to Key.

“And so does he. It was Kim and me who decided this secret a long time ago, it’s our fault.”

Onew rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time for this round-about of repeated words. He wanted answers. Min-seo stood up and dusted off her pants, then stepped back and looked at the two boys.

“Onew, your father is human. There’s nothing suspicious about him. He’s a good man and a loving husband. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s all.”

“Then how did he know-“

“There are secrets about me that I told him long before you were born. It was a risk I was willing to take.” Her voice stayed at a placid tone as she nodded towards her husband.  “Honey, can you go and get the scrolls from the back.  The ones with the paintings.”

His father’s mouth peeked open just a little bit as if he had something important to say, but thought against it and instead, threw her a loving smile and nodded; turning around and walking back down the hall.

“And what’s with the door?” Onew added after his dad left. “Dad said only me and you could open it.”

His mother put her palm in the air again.

“When he comes back with the scrolls.” She assured.

His mom went back to the Aunt Kim and bent down in front of her with the herbs. She ushered her hand in shooing motion so that Key could move out of the way. Then, with one free hand, pulled Aunt Kim’s shirt up a bit, revealing the bloody skin. There was nothing there, though.

“I don’t understand.” Key whispered. “She’s dying…or I think she is. Why isn’t there a wound?”

“There is,” Min-seo muttered.

She pressed the herbs against the skin of Aunt Kim’s stomach and as the purple tips of the flimsy leaves caught contact, a long trail of ripped and torn through skin started to reveal itself. It was like unraveling a deep cut that had been covered by some sort of medical tape that blended in with the skin. What they thought was her skin, peeled away. It was a deep gash that exposed peeling, blood-stained flesh. It was like a wild animal cut into her. The tissue flapped in some areas and stuck into her wound in others. It was only one long rip into the skin, but it was horrendous for Key to look at. Both he and Onew turned their heads away at the sight of it.

“Sorry boys.” She whispered.

“H-How did that happen? I mean, how did the wound appear out of nowhere?” Key asked.

“It’s an old trick that, unfortunately, those monsters know how to do.” The calmness that was her voice slowly withered away. “It probably did it when it heard you coming. Seeing as you’re a young Gumiho who has no idea what our world really is, he most likely knew you wouldn’t know how to reveal it. That way your aunt could keep dying and you wouldn’t be able to tell where the wound was or how to get to it.”

She gently pressed the herbs against the wound, never faltering her eyes away.

“This is an old, old, trick that only Kitsunes and Gumihos should know how to do. They probably took that too when they took them.”

“Mom, what are you talking about? Them? Who?” Onew pushed.

His mother turned to Key again.

“And because you’re an inexperienced Gumiho, is most likely the reason he attacked you that night.”

Key froze. They weren’t the words he wanted neither himself nor Onew to hear. His heart palpitated, his eyes shifted to Onew who now sat on the opposite chair that looked straight on to the couch where Aunt Kim laid own. Their eyes locked like frightened animals.

“Key…what is she talking about?” The words were almost inaudible.

“I-I-I-“

“So you were keeping secrets too.” His eyes lowered towards the carpet.

“Onew, it wasn’t his secret to tell. Me and Kim agreed that it was best he keeps it away from you, so his aunt told him not to say anything. We had to figure out if it was the same creatures we were dealing with come to get us again. And when we found the answer, we were going to tell both you boys everything.”

“But I guess things went a little haywire?” Onew spat.

Just as his mother was about to open , his father returned in huffing breaths with brown crumbled but rolled scrolls gathered in his arms.

“I wasn’t sure how many you wanted me to get. So I just grabbed as much as I could.”

He walked over and laid them on the coffee table that separated Onew and Min-seo.

“Honey, come and put pressure on her wound with the herbs.” She commanded.

He nodded and strode over, immediately taking her place. She stood and moved over to the scrolls, not even having to look through them before picking one up and unrolling it in a careful, steady motion. She held the fragile piece of paper open with both hands and gestured her body so the two of them could see. Most of the color from the old painting had washed away with time, but bits still held together strong. It revealed a beautiful woman with what seemed to be pale skin and long cascading frosted hair that reached the tips of her ankles. She wore what looked like an old maroon hanbok that flowed around her with adorning flowers that covered the top. Her nails were long and claw-liked, but it was the tails that bellowed from her backside that caught the boys’ attentions. At least nine, bushy white tails peaked from the flowing dress, overpowering the atmosphere around her body.

They gazed in admiration.

“Is that-“ Key started.

“This is a Gumiho.” She finished. “More or less. An old Gumiho friend of mine painted this a long time ago when she was still around that is. She fantasized the looks a bit because humans called all of us, no matter what species, monsters.” A small flicker of a smirk hit the tips of her lips.

Onew watched and could tell whatever his mother was about to tell them, would ache her heart. In fact, she sighed and placed the painting back down, then brushed her hands through the fine strands of her raven hair.

“In there somewhere is a painting of our kind Onew. When you boys have time, you can look through as much as the scrolls as you want, but I wanted to give you an idea. Right now, I have to tell you two the whole ordeal before something else happens that you aren’t ready for.”

She walked over to the second couch that connected to the one Aunt Kim was on and sat down with a huff. Even Key became comfortable in his spot, though the blood that painted his shirt still clung to him.

“Everything I tell you two is going to shock you, more so than I think everything already has. Especially you, Key.” She nodded towards him. “There’s a bigger secret from you that we’ve been keeping.”

“Of course.” He muttered.

“But bear with me.” She took a deep breath. “We weren’t going to tell you two any of this until you graduated because then you’ll start to mature and we could prepare you for the world you were going to experience. But, as you see, things happened sooner than we thought. Key, you are much older than you realize.”

Both Key and Onew raised their brows.

“Older?” He asked. “I don’t think-“

“You were born a long time ago. What I’m about to tell you two, I need you not to interrupt or freak out until I’ve finished the story. Can you at least do that for me?”
Key looked towards Onew and Onew looked towards Key. They nodded in unison.

“Okay..” she breathed. “A long time ago, there were many Gumihos that existed. Our kind too. Our names were simple. We were called the Night Children when first created into existence, or so I’ve been told. Eventually, our name migrated into Night Owl, which is where the term comes from that humans use now. Legend has it, that our kind used to be simple owls that became blessed by the gods, almost like the Gumihos. It’s said that Gumihos and other fox spirits were once regular foxes that became that way from either blessing from the gods or a great longevity of energy built up over time. The legends vary. We are simple descendants, so who’s to say what really is. Key, you and your aunt are closer to the truth than anything. But I never asked her nor your parents about if the legends were true. We were all free creatures, we didn’t dwell on things like that like the humans did.”

“You-you knew my parents?” His voice was small.

She smiled just a tiny bit.

“I…” her eyes looked down. “I was their protector. Their original protector. Before I had to migrate to your aunt. Your aunt’s protector, my brother, died in the attack. A long time ago.”

“Mom…” Onew’s voice was a whisper.

Her eyes teared up a bit, but she brushed it away with the back of her hand.

“It was a long time ago.”

“The attack? What happened to my parents and your brother?” Key asked.

“I will get to that. I have to explain the aesthetics of both our kinds so you boys understand the story.” She cleared and adjusted her sitting. “The time the attack happened, was back in the Joseon era.”

Onew furrowed his brows. But that would make his mom…

“Night owls and Gumihos were harmonious creatures. I mean, we were extremely territorial but then again, humans during those times really didn’t understand the concept of privacy. Gumihos protected the forest. It was their home and the reason for their being. For every Gumiho, a Night Owl was born to be their protector. Usually, Gumihos and Night owls grew up together from childhood. One would just find the other and connect. I was a special case. I’d connected to both Key’s mom and dad when we were all kids. We Night Owls were known for how wise we were. Any information of history or parts of the world, we naturally knew. Supernatural creatures would sometimes come to us if they needed information on something. Our night vision allowed us to watch over the forest when our Gumiho partner needed rest. Most slept during the night, but there were occasions where we had to watch over the forest during the day. As you two know, forests, woods, whatever you want to call them; they mask this entire earth. Our two species were in many parts of the world. Gumihos wanted to make sure that nature stays intact from the humans, so they would travel and station themselves in unmarked woods. There were other fox spirits who could have done the job as well. For instance, a lot of kitsunes was available, but they were more for the tricking type than protecting nature type.”

Her eyes turned to Key.

“Your family was of the highest of Gumihos known. During the time your mother became pregnant with you is when word started to get around. There were rumors that a certain group of a particular species wasn't happy with Gumihos being the high of the supernatural world. That everyone confided in them. And soon rumor became thick talk and a name started to spread about.”

“Cerberi.” Key whispered.

Min-seo looked surprised first, but shook it off and continued.

“Yes. They were wolf spirits gifted in human beings who wanted to protect their natural land from other human invaders. My brother was furious. He didn’t like this. In fact, a lot of owls had become conflicted about the gift bestowed upon these humans. The gift of wolf spirit. While they held the soul of our world, part of them still connected with the humans. And now, there were rumors that they wanted to rebel against the owls and the Gumihos. I tried to assure my brother that they were just that, rumors; but the talk was getting too much. Key’s father agreed. Wanting to keep the peace in our world, he asked my brother to request an audience with the Cerberi. Back then…there were only three maybe four small groups of them. As they were new; perhaps not to human years, but to ours.”

I can’t really remember where the grand meeting of the many species took place,” she tapped her finger against her lip, “all I really remember is that it was quite large and spacious. All the Gumihos that wanted to attend, did. Some had their protectors watch over their forest while gone, others had their protectors come in their place. Almost all of the creatures of our world were there. During the meeting, the Cerberi assured us that they had no intentions of planning anything and just wanted to live in peace among us. The other creatures who did attend believed their words but also assured them that they were safe knowing the Gumihos were protecting everyone. Plus, they assumed it was foolish for the idea to even be brought up in rumor. You see, there was something that separated us distinctly from the other creatures of our world. One of the main reasons we stayed at the top. Gumihos were immortal in aging. They could be killed, just did not age as the rest did. There were some that were surprisingly and unfortunately killed by humans, but that is another story.

Since the Gumihos did not age, neither did their protectors. We, owls, stayed around just as long as they did. If they were to die, instead of dying too, we would begin to age again unless connected to another Gumiho which was near impossible. Connection was a sacred thing. You couldn’t just hop from one Gumiho to another. Everyone knew this information, even the Cerberi.

But…there was something we weren’t prepared for. Something, not even us owls, knew was possible.

After the meeting, things died down but as years went by, something strange began to happen. Humans were discovering the Gumihos more frequently. We just didn’t know how that was possible. Gumihos were dying off. Owls were losing their partners and aging away. It was disastrous. We tried not to worry our world, so we said nothing to other creatures as no humans had discovered them. So, my brother took it upon himself to go and investigate. I told him it was a bad idea because we needed as many owls close as possible. Key was three by then. Three years in our age meant, I believe, thirty years for the humans. But, Key’s father agreed that this investigation was extremely important but assured me my brother was going to be alright because he was going with him. I stayed with your mother Key, and you. We waited for them to come back.

When they did….it was awful what we heard. They found it was a small group of Cerberi that were leading the humans into our hiding places. They would approach the humans in their human skin, making it seem as though they were one of them. And the news only became worse. My brother and Key’s father found it strange about this pack of Cerberi. They were older gentlemen, but according to my brother, it seemed as though none of them had aged since last we saw them at the meeting. Cerberi aged a little slower than humans, but they still aged faster than us. It was simply, impossible.

It wasn’t until that pack of Cerberi found our main home that we got our answer.

On the night of the attack, me, my brother, and what was left of the owls, were patrolling the woods while some of the Gumihos slept. Still, to this day, I don’t know how it happened, but out of the blue, we were attacked. My brother got attacked by an arrow in his wing while in owl form and suddenly, the humans started pouring from everywhere. The forest was surrounded by torches and human flesh. The Gumihos were panicked, but they fought back. It was like witnessing the ultimate war between nature and humans. Our home was a mess.

Key, your mother took you while me, my brother, your father, and your aunt were fighting the battle. She wanted to stow you away somewhere safe, so I told her to go while we held the humans off. I witnessed my brother get attacked by a human. Everything went by so fast. Something struck his chest. He died instantly. The death, Key, hit your aunt’s, heart. I could see it in her eyes as she fought off a human. It ripped my heart in half too. Your father, as a reaction, used all his strength to create a wall of thick vines that held these beautiful flowers. He looked at me and your aunt and told us to go find you and your mother, no questions asked. He said you two had to be safe, no matter what. So, we did what he said. And when we had gotten far enough, you aunt swore she could feel her brother’s wall go down, along with his heart.”

Key’s body leaned into the story. His eyes pleaded for more answers, but his voice was tiny as he spoke.

“Then what happened…to, my mom?”

Min-seo looked at the two boys with tearful eyes.

“We couldn’t find you two. Our species, as you two boys may know by now, are quite fast on foot. She could’ve gone anywhere. Because our will to find you two was so strong, me and your aunt made a connection. That way, I wouldn’t age and she wouldn’t be alone. We searched…for years…”

“How many years?” Onew whispered.

“Centuries.” She sighed. “But we couldn’t find either of you.”

“Centuries?” Key questioned. “None of this is making sense to me.”

Min-seo nodded.

“I knew all this information would be a lot. But there was something about the attack that night, I would never forget. When me and Key’s aunt were fleeing, I witnessed something else. Something horrifying. One of the humans I saw killing a Gumiho wasn’t a human at all. It was a Cerberi and as they did it, the soul of the Gumiho left its body and went into the Cerberi’s.”

“Wait…are you saying-“Onew started.

His mother nodded.

“It was something even unknown to us. When the Cerberi killed Gumihos, they didn’t just kill them, they took a part of their soul and in that part held their immortality. Somehow, they had discovered the potency of killing Gumihos. That sustaining a longer life is attained when they murder them. That’s why they looked the same from the last time we’d saw them. Because they’d stopped-“

“Aging…” Onew finished. His eyes lowered, his feet began to usher about one side of the coffee table. His brows furrowed.

Suddenly, he stopped, arching his head up to look at Key with wide eyes.

“Key,” he said in an exasperated tone, “who are the only Cerberi we’ve heard of that has ‘lived through every event on earth?’ Who are the only Cerberi that we’ve heard of, are ‘difficult to talk about,’ the only ones we’ve heard of that ‘don’t age?” He spat.

Key’s eyes widened with horror at the realization of his friend’s words.

He didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to think negative of Taemin or Minho since they’ve gotten closer, but he couldn’t help it now.

With a quivering lip, he opened his mouth.  

“The Elders.”