Dark, it was dark around him. He reached around but felt nothing. He ran around aimlessly as he couldn't see anything. He dropped to his knees. Panic began to crept up on him when something like a little white dot appeared from afar. Seungcheol didn't waste anytime and ran for it. Struggling hard to caught his breath, he was still running. The light source was getting near but it changed to another form, a figure he could tell.

It has its back at him. Seungcheol finally came to a stop and observed the figure more. Wearing white dress with brown locks laid on its back. The figure turned its head a little, seungcheol could saw soft features completed with fair skin. He was so sure that the figure in front of him was a girl if not for the broad shoulders and toned body. Seungcheol unconsciously reached out but the appearance in front of him changed drastically. The hair slowly turned silver, the skin turned even paler, what shocked Seungcheol the most was his eyes, it was blood red. Lost in the sight, Seungcheol didn't realise his footing lost balance, the ground fell down bringing him along.

Seungcheol suddenly shot up from his sleep with loud gasp escaping his mouth. His breathing was uneven, sweats covered his forehead and dampen his shirt. He looked around him a little disoriented from the unfamiliar surroundings. Wiping his forehead, het got out of the bed and strode downstairs.

"Ma?" He called out as he was half way down the stairs. 

"AAH!!" Suddenly a loud shriek was heard and he knew it came from his mother.

"MA?!" He rushed to the voice's source which happened to be at the back of the house. His mother ran and hugged him as soon as she took glimpse of him.

"What happened?" Seungcheol said as he rubbed his mother's back. 

"S-Snake!" She pointed to the ground still in trembling state. He secured her behind his back and moved forward. There laid a black snake about one and a half feet, slowly moving on the ground. He picked a wooden stick that happened to be around, pressed it to the back of its head then carefully lifted it up.

"Can you bring me a sack or something to put this?" Seungcheol turned around to saw his mother were a few meters away, hiding behind the door. He stifled a laugh as his mother immediately went inside. She came back holding a sack in her trembling hand. She walked a few steps and threw the sack to her son.

"Okay, i'll go somewhere to get rid of this."

"You're not going to the woods, are you?" His mother half yelled from the distance.

"I am."

°°°

It was not really that much walk till Seungcheol reached the outline of the woos. He stopped there for a while contemplating to went deeper into it or not. Somehow the memory of last night and the words from the mayor flashed his mind. He was aware that there must be something behind the caution. But curiousity got the best of him, with careful steps he strode towards the woods. After a few more steps, he crutch down to place the sack he was holding to the woods floor. 

"Off you go, buddy." He said as the snake went away.

Seungcheol looked up to the green roof above him as rays of sunlight shone through small gaps between. Leaving somewhat mysterious yet calming atmosphere around. It was beautiful. 

"Maybe i could survive living here." He thought. He closed his eyes for a brief seconds and sighed with content, inhaling fresh air as much as he could.

Ever so slowly he opened his eyes again and darted his sight to a standing figure under the clear sun rays a few meters away from him. There was something familiar about the figure but he just couldn't recall. Then for a second he caught the figure streched a small smile towards him. 

"Its the figure in my dream." He finaly realised.

The sun rays made the figure looks glowing with his brown locks and fair skin. But in a blink of an eye the figure was gone as fast as it appears.

"Thanks." Seungcheol heard a distant whisper that loud enough for him to hear as a smooth breeze hit him. Strangely he felt like someone just whispered beside his left ear. He immediately turned to his left in reflect, but sees no one.

Face to face.