But I guess it just made things easier for me. Wherever the guards were, was where Hongki was. 

"Unnie-yah, I don't want to go to the temple..." 

Unnie looked at me in surprise. "Why is that, Haru? We have to, don't be silly. Everyone has to go to pray for the safety of the whole village from these wolf attacks."

"But unnie..."

"Haru, Haneul, get into your carriages! We'll be late!" Eomeoni scolded.

I followed a group of guards marching down a deserted path. The path was lit by dim lanterns and the moon.

I had never been in this section of the temple before. In the distance, I could make out two locked doors. The guards murmured something incoherent to each other. I quickly walked past them towards the door.

The door was opened though, to my luck, by a monk who was on the other side. He looked around, suspiciously, “Who’s there?”

One of the guards cleared their throat and said, “It’s only us. It’s almost time for the crucifixion.”

I took the chance to go in and quickly ran down the dark corridor. I didn’t have the time to listen to what they were saying to each other. “Where are you, Hongki-ah?” I mumbled underneath my breath.

Suddenly, I heard a quiet rumble of echoes. Following the sound, I reached a circular room where some monks sat in a circle. In the centre of the circle was a cage of silver, and inside that cage was my brown wolf.

It was lying in the middle of the cage, its face showing agony. “Hongki…”

He seemed to hear my voice, or feel my presence, for he looked up and around the room. It seemed that all he saw were the monks rambling desultorily. He closed his eyes and I shouted out, “Hongki! Gwenchanayo? Don’t close your eyes!”

I ran towards the cage and knelt beside it. I reached out and patted his head. He opened his eyes, surprised, but I knew he couldn’t see me.

“It’s time.” The monk who opened the door for me said, as he entered the room. The other monks, sitting in the circle, continued to mumble their hymns, but they heard him.

Tears trickled down my cheek when I saw how much pain Hongki was in, “Don’t worry, Hongki-yah… I’ll get you out. I promise… Sa…saranghaeyo.”

I finally said it, ‘saranghaeyo.’ It was something I told myself I couldn’t say to him, because I was afraid that, if I ever said it, he’d never come back to me.

He once told me, “We, werewolves, cannot love. Because, in the end, we end up hurting the ones we love in our fury.” Hongki’s eyes glistened, as if he had heard me.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but I felt a magnetic force pulling me away from him. My body felt like it was being pulled in half.