The New Phase

            I discovered the existence of werewolves by accident.  It was the first full moon of spring and I decided to take advantage of the moonlight and the warm weather and walked home from work, although it was late in the evening.  My apartment is only a mile and a half away from work and I cut through a park to shorten my route.  Halfway through the park, I heard some growling and howling.  Curiosity getting the better of me, I ran down the path and found a dog whimpering by the side of the path.  He was rather large—I thought he was maybe a Siberian Husky or an Alaskan Malamute—but he was shaking and bleeding from his side.  He didn’t look dangerous.  He wasn’t even fully conscious. 

            Well, I figured the poor guy would probably die if I left him there, so I lifted him up and brought him to the apartment.  Thankfully, Yesung wasn’t home or I’m sure he would have stopped me at the door and questioned my sanity.  What if the dog was aggressive?  What if it had rabies?  I hadn’t thought about any of this.  I just knew that if he didn’t get dry and warm and have his wound tended to, he might die out there.

            So, I carried him to the living room and set him down on the floor.  He weighed a ton and my back ached by the time I set him down.  He was the largest dog I’d ever seen, but then again, he wasn’t actually a dog.  I found some blankets and towels and began drying him off.  He was barely moving, but my hands a couple times.  Once he was dried off, I could see that the cut in his side wasn’t too deep, so I found some medical supplies and cleaned out the wound.  He whined as I cleared the dirt from the cut, but it had to be done.  Then I applied pressure until it finally quit bleeding.  At that point, he had wiggled around until his head was resting on my lap and I just sat there for a long time, running my hand along his soft fur.  He was absolutely beautiful.

            His head felt warm to the touch, but I wondered if that was normal for a dog—they did have a lot of fur—or if he had a fever.  If he still seemed feverish and lethargic in the morning, I figured I should take him to a vet.  At the moment, it seemed best to keep him comfortable and let him rest.

            There was no collar or tag on him and I wondered if he belonged to someone or if he was a stray.  He did not look malnourished, but some strays were better than others at feeding themselves.  Part of me was already considering adopting him, but I knew Yesung would never agree to keep such a large dog. 

            “We need to hide you in the bedroom before Yesung comes home from work.  You have to promise not to bark or howl,” I told the dog. 

            The dog slit his eyes open and looked up at me. 

            I gently removed the dog’s head from my lap and stood up.  Then I called for him to follow me, partly to see if he could walk without difficulty.  “Come here, boy!” I said, crouching down and patting my thighs as I backed up towards my room.  “Come on.”

            The dog slowly rose to his feet and followed me into the bedroom.  He seemed sluggish, but there was no limping.

            “That’s a good boy!” I told him.

            The moment the dog got into the room, he jumped up onto my bed.  Well, I hadn’t planned on sharing the bed with the dog, but I didn’t have a dog bed either and he was hurt.  It wouldn’t kill me to let the dog sleep on it for one night.  It was a big enough bed for both of us.  I jumped onto the bed with him and rubbed his head.  He cuddled up next to me. 

            “I wonder if I should find you something to eat,” I said to myself, taking mental inventory of what meat I had on hand to feed a dog, but he closed his eyes and fell asleep.  I figured he was probably too tired and weak to eat, so I just let him rest instead.  I stayed awake for a little while, playing on my phone and posting that I’d found a dog on my way home, and then fell asleep myself.  It wasn’t until morning that I realized my mistake.

            Thankfully, it was a Saturday and I didn’t have to get up early for work.  Otherwise, I’m not sure how the morning would have turned out.  As is, it was one of the most awkward and shocking moments of my life.  I woke to my phone ringing and reached over to see who was calling.  Sungmin.  I wasn’t in the mood for his chipper morning persona, so I put the phone back down and let it go to voicemail.  He probably wanted to meet up later.  I could call him back. 

            I turned around and snuggled against the warm body of my companion, sighing contentedly.  Then my waking mind reminded me that I hadn’t had a boyfriend in over six months.  Had Yesung crawled into bed with me for some reason?  Because last I remembered, I’d fallen asleep cuddled up to a dog.

            I opened my eyes.  A man was lying in bed with me that I had never seen before.  His long, body was lying face down on the bedding.  His dark brown hair fell into his dark eyes, which were slit open, peeking at me through thick lashes.  Across the side of his ribs, there was a gash, but otherwise he had a perfectly pale complexion.  His body was lean with toned muscles.  Instead of looking vulnerable , I thought he looked rather at ease.  He did not seem embarrassed.  Of course, he had nothing to be embarrassed about.  He l