“Did you find Minseok hyung, yet?” a four-year-old Jongdae asked his second brother, Joonmyeon.

The latter only shook his head as an answer, slowly growing irritated inside. They were playing hide and seek, one of their favourite games to play together. They had been trying to find their eldest brother for nearly an hour now, but he was nowhere to be found. Joonmyeon felt it was a bit unfair because their brother was gradually gaining his power as a vampire, and he never failed to use it to his advantage nowadays.

From a distance, Minseok giggled to himself as he watched his brothers struggle to locate his whereabouts. He wasn’t even hiding at a difficult place and yet, they still failed to spot him. He liked to tease them on how bad they were on the game. Honestly, he wasn’t playing fair, but it was just so fun to see their annoyed faces whenever they couldn’t find him.

After a few more minutes relishing their suffering, the boy decided to ditch the game and pay the forest a visit instead. Their parents always reminded them not to step a foot in there, but being the curious boy he was, he just couldn’t help but disobey their words. Haven’t the adults learnt that the more they tell kids not to do something, there’s more than eighty percent possibility of them not listening and do the opposite instead?

It had only been a week since Minseok first discovered the beauty of the forest. He instantly fell in love with the place. He really couldn't understand why people were so negative about it. Not only it was beautiful, the atmosphere was also very serene. He really liked it here, and since then, he kept coming back every afternoon after school, just to take a relaxing stroll around. He was lucky that their parents were too busy attending to his baby brother to notice his whereabouts.

Just like any other day the past week, he headed towards the blue stream not too deep into the forest. The view was great and the air was fresh there. It was by far his favourite part of the forest, although he hadn’t explored all of them yet. But on his way, he heard something whimpering. It sounded like it was in pain, whatever it was. Instead of going to his initial destination, he followed the direction of the sound, genuinely concerned. It wasn’t long until he found what looked like a white wolf, lying half-conscious under a big, blue oak tree.

The possibility of him being grounded by his parents didn't even cross his mind as he carried the injured animal into his arms. Carrying the wolf wasn’t such a difficult task despite his small built, much to his surprise. Poor thing, its body was as light as a feather. Where were its parents? Wolves usually moved in packs, didn’t they? Judging from its condition, it seemed like it might not have been taken care of properly. Maybe its pack was in danger.

Minseok took a look at the wolf’s face one last time and he couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. Somehow, he felt responsible to help it, to take care of it. Was this a part of the transformation? He was just a child after all; he shouldn’t be feeling this way, like an adult. Whatever it was, he had decided there and then that he would help the wolf. With a newfound determination, the boy ran back towards his house as fast as he could.

Mrs. Kim was terrified when her son came in covered in blood. For a second, she thought he was hurt badly, but thankfully, Minseok immediately cleared things up. It was Mr. Kim who reacted first, grabbing the wolf from his son’s hands and rushed towards the basement, where his laboratory was. He was a doctor, but he wasn’t an ordinary doctor. His patients were diverse, ranging from a normal human being to farm animals, and even unique creatures like the werecats and the faeries.

However, this would be his first time handling a wolf. He might have read some books about it, but he had never encountered one himself. In fact, he didn’t know that the species still existed before today. It was risky to try and treat an unfamiliar animal, but it was a risk he was willing to take. If this wolf was the last of them, they needed to help it survive. Who knew, there could be more of them out there and who knew, the nation’s wolf population could have been restored.

It took Mr. Kim almost five hours to stabilise the wolf’s condition. Not only there were a lot of open wounds, there were also several fractured bones to be treated. He was greatly surprised at how it could survive such injuries. One thing for sure, it had a strong will to remain alive. He couldn’t help but wonder why. What was its purpose? And just like his son, Mr. Kim somehow felt responsible. He wanted to help it achieve its goal, whatever it was.

Minseok couldn’t leave the wolf’s side ever since his father let him in last night. He even had his lunch and finished his homework in the basement. Whenever Mrs. Kim asked him to come out, he would protest like a spoilt brat, which was unlike him at all. “I didn’t want it to feel scared and lonely when it wakes up,” was the boy’s reason.

He was getting attached to the wolf very fast, and Mrs. Kim wasn’t so sure how to feel about it. At this point, she didn’t even know what to expect, nor could she predict what would happen. Although her husband said that it’s stable, there was still a slight chance for it to die. She really hope it wouldn’t, for both the wolf’s and her son’s sake. She couldn’t see him hurt again, not after what he’s gone through.

It wasn’t until late afternoon of the next day that the little wolf finally regained consciousness. As they had predicted, it panicked when it noticed the unfamiliar surrounding and immediately got on a defensive stance. Mr. and Mrs. Kim were ready to counterattack, in case the wolf decided to make a move on them. After all, it was still a wild animal. Their behaviour was unpredictable. However, they soon learnt that they didn’t have the need to do anything.

They didn’t exactly know what happened, but Minseok managed to coax it back to calmness merely by staring into its eyes. It was as if they were talking to each other without having to utter a single word. The couple couldn’t help but exhale a sigh of relief immediately after. A huge part of them was very proud of their eldest son. He was only six years old, but he was certainly growing up well.

The boy stayed with the wolf in the basement for the next few days, refusing to go to school. While other parents would’ve gone mad at his behaviour, the Kims were surprisingly very understandable. As long as Minseok didn’t miss a single homework, they’re completely fine with it. Besides, the wolf needed him by its side. Even after nearly two weeks, none of them could reach out to it like Minseok did. He seemed to be happier too, spending time with his new friend.

“Mom, I think she’s hungry again,” said the six-year-old boy to his mom, who was in the middle of preparing some afternoon snacks for the family in the kitchen.

“She?” the woman asked, genuinely confuse; because as far as she knew, she was the only female in the household.

“Yes, she, the white wolf!”

“Ah, so it’s a she?”

“Yes, mom, it’s a she. I can’t believe you didn’t know that,” Minseok sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Well, how would I know? I’m not a wolf expert,” his mother chuckled, shaking her head as she grabbed something from the fridge, “Here, take some of these tenderloins to your she-wolf.”

“Thanks, mom!”

“Make sure she finishes everything, those are expensive!”

“Will do!” and with that, the boy skipped his way down to the basement merrily.

By the third week, the wolf has started to warm up to the Kim family. She no longer only stayed in the basement the whole day, playing with Minseok. Every now and then, she would join the family for dinner, with her feeding on her meat by Minseok’s side on the floor. Sometimes, she would also join Minseok and his brothers play in their room. But that was about it.

She never dared to step even a foot out of the house, they wouldn’t let her. It wasn’t like she had any intentions on doing so in the first place. She was still traumatised by what happened. Somewhere out there, there were others who wanted her… dead. Just the thought of it made her whole body shiver in anxiousness.

Everything seemed to be just fine, until one day, the son of Mr. Jung, the village head, claimed that he had spotted a wolf near the beach a few weeks ago. At first, people didn’t quite believe his words. But then, more people started to come forward with similar claims as well. Some people took the news positively, but for most of them, having wild wolves roaming around only meant danger. A big threat to everyone and everything residing here.

Mr. Kim realised that it was no longer safe for them to keep the wolf in their house. Being the only doctor in the proximity, one that was well respected by the people, it’s inevitable for people to stop by their house every now and then. If they’re not careful, their secret would be found out. It’s only a matter of time. They needed to move the wolf as soon as possible. Minseok wouldn’t like the idea, but something must be done, for everyone’s safety.

After so much thoughts and a long discussion with his wife, he finally came up with a solution – the Dark Forest. The wolf would still be safer there than here, where humans had put a price on her head, dead or alive. At least in the forest, the humans couldn’t get to her. They wouldn’t dare to, as there lived many creatures feared upon by humans.

Delivering the news to Minseok was not easy. The made a chaos, throwing and breaking things around the house all day long. He refused to come out of the basement, too angry to face his parents. The boy felt betrayed. After everything he had been through at school, being alienated and bullied by his schoolmates for being the only vampire, he really thought that his parents would understand him. But apparently, they didn’t. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even dare to think of taking away his one and only friend.

The poor boy couldn’t help the tears from streaming down his face. “They’re taking you away from me! They’re breaking us apart!” Minseok cried his heart out as he lied beside the wolf.

“Shh, don’t be sad, my dear friend,” a girl’s voice suddenly whispered softly as he felt fingers his hair.

Minseok immediately jumped up in great shock. He looked around and the wolf was nowhere to be found. Weird, because he was a hundred percent sure that she was just there next to him just a minute ago. Instead, there stood a girl with long platinum blonde hair, her skin pale. At first glance, she looked just like them, like a vampire. But the only difference was that her eyes were a lighter shade of red, unlike theirs, which were light blue.

She wasn’t a vampire, he concluded, but she wasn’t a mere human, either.

Sensing his confusion, the girl in dark cloak slowly got up on her feet and flashed a big smile towards the boy. “Don’t be afraid, Seokkie,” she started softly and carefully, the smile never leaving her face.

“It’s me, Dal, your friend.”

Author's Note

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Dal is the white wolf! More about her true identity will be revealed int he next chapter so, stay tuned! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, although a bit short!

Please leave some comments below. I accept constructive criticisms, but please be polite and respectful with your words. :)

See you in the next chapter! And merry Christmas, everyone!

Love, A.

Poster and Background by: ＣＨＩＮＧ Ａ ＬＩＮＧ