“Grief is the rope burns left behind when what we have held to most dearly is pulled out of reach, beyond our grasp.”

Stephen Levine

            I did not like it when Kyungsoo asked that.

            ‘Which is worse? I forget about you or you forget about me?’

            It was bittersweet when he kissed me for the second time. As if his untold words were all being unraveled through his folding lips against mine. As if, it’s goodbye. Then, I heard the shrieking sounds. The windows were broken; I knew what it was. They were coming, they were here, as how I dreaded but predicted. I did not recognize the one that showed up at the door, but he knew me.

            “So this is the kitty.” I gulped at his words. He must be one of them that fought with Kyungsoo. They are not dead.

            “But never thought of you to stay in this house, I mean it’s filled with the delicious smell of a hunter…Could it be…” His eyes flicked to meet my gaze and my hair raised seeing upon his bright red eyes. Kyungsoo’s grip tightened on me and before I comprehend to what the guy had said. I was already being dragged by Kyungsoo towards the window. I was in his embrace when we crashed through the windows. Then, we fell.

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            Which was more bewildering? Seeing Kyungsoo up close in his…inhuman form or we were on the run from the dangerous guy in the house? If he’s here, that means the others are in the house too. My fist balled even tighter when Kyungsoo leaped in the air, jumping over a big tree trunk.

            Jieun! Lean down!

            With Kyungsoo’s voice that rang in my head, it gave me a prior warning of the upcoming danger. I dove down without a second thought, just in time to see the sudden appearance of a gigantic wolf that vaulted right above me. Its baring teeth missed me by inches. I heard Kyungsoo’s growl and felt the movement of his shoulder as he paddled in a fast speed. I could feel the tension of his muscles on the back and his panting was louder than before; he was moving even faster but it was tiring him out.

            From my peripheral vision, there was another moving figure that was catching up to us at the right. Kyungsoo’s speed obviously decreased while my heart beat increased. I knew the other wolf was very close when I heard the walloping sounds of footsteps against the ground. I in a breath in surprise when Kyungsoo take a sharp turn to the right. After that he immediately charged forward in fast motion, even though a large tree trunk was in that direction. My eyes were shut tightly and I clenched my teeth, prepared for anything that would happen. Then, I felt the jolt that travelled up through my body before a momentarily of stillness.

            I took a peek below, the wolf from earlier was unable to change its direction in time and still running towards the direction that was opposite ours. We landed on the ground in a graceful manner and Kyungsoo sped up again. This time, losing the trail of those who were following us. He must have used the tree trunk as a spring to change our direction in the fastest way. Soon, we were going downhill and there was a streaming sound. We came to a stop and I felt a nudge from Kyungsoo, asking me to come down. He pushed me forward with his damp snout on my lower back, I followed his instructions wordlessly. I walked though the dense leaves and the sound of water was getting clearer. Sure enough, a river came into my view. It flowed down from the east, but where it was going to, I was not sure. The dark forest was simply a maze for me.

            I thought Kyungsoo was just right behind me, but when I turned back in surprise once hearing the horrifying familiar paddling sound of footsteps; he was not there. They catch up to us? I was about to call out his name until his face was shown as he came out through the dense bushes. He was back to human.

            “Don’t worry. It’s not their footsteps you heard. I made some decoy to buy us time.” Kyungsoo’s voice was steady but tight and awfully quiet. I was not sure about the decoy he mentioned, but I did hope it would help us to escape.

            “What do we do now? Should- should we call for help?” I whispered back and clenched my hands together, just in case they were trembling. However, my hands dropped the instant with his reply.

            “We can’t escape together. We must separate.”

            “What-what are you saying?” I think I heard a whine escape from my shaky tone, but I could care less. I did not want to hear such words from him, yet again, I knew this was coming. He did not have to tell. I already knew I was a burden from the chase earlier. Kyungsoo might have escaped from them if he did not have to carry me. My safety distracted him and I was sure distraction at this time was nothing good.

            He said nothing when he came forward to pick me up in his arms. For a moment, I thought he changed his mind and I remained quiet as he stepped into the glittering water. Kyungsoo lowered both of us down into the water. The cooling liquid that glided across my skin made me breathe out in relief. However, I was puzzled when Kyungsso started to wash my face and wet my face.

            “This will wash off my scent from you as well as hiding your presence. Listen to me Jieun.” After realizing the situation, I struggled to break free from him and he hugged me instead. His mouth beside my ears, speaking urgently.

            “Be careful as you make your way uphill to the river. Then, hide in the cave behind the waterfall. I will lure them as far as I can away from here. You just have to wait until it’s safe enough to come out , only then you follow the river that will lead you to a neighbourhood.”

            The river was not deep, the water reached only to my waist, but with a slip of my feet on the slippery rock underneath, both of us immersed in the river. I squeezed my eyes tight at the fall, but once in the water, I opened them again. There, his eyes, as beautiful as I remember in their soft glow of golden. They stood out even more underneath the dark water. I was pulled out of my trance as I gasped for breath after he hauled me out from the water. Then, he simply turned around, but I grasped onto his hand. “I just have to wait in one of the houses there for you right?”

            I could not stop myself from saying it when Kyungsoo refused to speak. “Or I will just com-”

            “No! Don’t you even think about coming with me.” I flinched at his sudden rise of voice while he just sighed and frowned, unwilling to look at my face.

            “Just go now, Jieun. They will be here soon, I need to leave now.” He’s going to leave you and there’s a good chance where you are not going to see him again... My eyes blurred as fluid filled the rims of my eyes, I let go of his hand and looked at everywhere except the one in front.

             “…Stay safe, Jieun...” With that, he walked away and a breeze came, my hair lifted up to my face and fell back, the golden fur of his shimmered under the moonlight and soon disappeared. Goodbye The breeze whispered into my ears, delivering his last words. Determined not to spill out any salty fluid, I kept my head high and walked towards the waterfall.

            As the cooling droplets hit my face, drenching me in liquid again. My chest trembled and I broke into a messy sob while crawling my way into the dark small hole. Aside from the splashing water sound, I heard myself choking with tears also the howling sounds that seemed so far away.

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            The vibration from the ground somehow brought me back to senses as I lifted my head up from my knees. I felt the shaking again, but this time stronger, even causing dust falling from the low rock ceiling. Realizing what was going to happen, I quickly scrambled out of the cave. I slipped on the way out, falling into the cold pool of water that jerked me awake. My mind could not be clearer when my head broke the water surface and immediately I swam out of the river.

            I did not notice the howling sounds until I was out of the water. I looked towards the direction where he had disappeared to and just in time to see enough a tall tree tumbling down with a loud snap. Then another wave of shaking was felt again, causing rocks rolling down from the hill, some splashing into the river. Kyungsoo… I wiped my face to recollect myself. Enough of the crying, there’s must be something I can do…

‘I made decoy to buy us some time.’ Kyungsoo’s voice echoed in my head and I knew what should I do. I could act as the bait. With my new found determination, I made my way towards the mass of green, although I clearly knew I was walking into a wolves’ lair.

            The humid and hot air in the woods had quickly dried my clothes, making my movements easier and faster, but I figured I was still too slow. However, I couldn’t risk to run, what if when I was out of breath, another wolf was out to chase me, I would have died even before the chasing game started. My eyes that were not used to the dark surrounding made me miss a step and I tumbled down to a slope. I did not move after the fall, laying there to wait for any pain that might come from broken bones or sprained limbs. Fortunately, I felt none of those except for soreness. When I was about to get up, a rustle was heard and I quickly dropped back to the ground that was covered with dried leaves, hoping that they could help me to hide my presence.

            I tried my best to relax to calm down my heart, but the deep rumbling sound that was definitely from a wolf made it impossible. So I counted to five and ran as fast as my legs could. A loud and clear howling was heard and the paddling sounds from a trotting wolf followed shortly. Oh shi-  I bit back my curse when I spotted another moving figure that was ahead of me, I supposed I was lucky to trip at this time, coincidentally prevented myself being seen and rolled under the bush.

            At first I could not see a thing, but as my eyes slowly adjusted themselves to the dark, I was able to make out four furry paws pacing around a few feet away. Later on, the paws shifted into hands and legs, back to a human again. Right after the transformation, another pair of normal legs came into my view too. “I thought you saw the human girl?” The deep voice growled and another more feminine but still boyish voice responded back. “I saw and she went to your direction, but you lost her…Figured much, considering that your tracking skill is not the best among us.”

            Judging from the snappy response,  I knew the deep voiced was not going to be nice, but a sudden intrusion interrupted their ‘session’ and I hitched my breath once I saw the familiar golden brown coated paws. Even without having the sensitive wolf smelling, the copper smell of blood invaded into my nostrils and I knew he was the one injured seeing he was the one closest to my hiding place. In no time, I could see there were six pairs of legs coming into the scene. I clearly remember there are seven of them..

            “Give up and come with us, master has been waiting for too long.” This time another different voice spoke up and I guess it came from the one standing in the middle that walked a few steps forward where he backed away and snarled in warning. For a moment, I thought I saw the four limbs went still before going back to normal again but this thought of mine disappeared as quickly; my attention turned to a pair of glimmering eyes on a tree that was next to him.

 “No!” My body reacted even faster than my conscious when I was already out of my hiding place, startling the only wolf which caused it to jump to another side. Good, he moved. I wanted to smile at my thought, but something grazed my back and the next moment I was on the ground. It seemed like it was not simply a graze on my back when I started to feel the burning pain. Strangely, I felt light headed and I fought to keep my eyes open. How I wanted to scream at the wolf that only stared at me with its brown topaz eyes when the others darted towards him in slow motion. Finally, I gave into my heavy eyelids and the darkness welcomed me.

            The sounds of jaws snapping, growling and yelping started to drain out and I felt a surge of loneliness when at last I heard no more, not even my own breathing. My heart too, seemed to be as tired as my eyes and gradually rested after eighteen years of working non-stop. Kyungsoo…

-A/N-

:D so...how is it? So happy that my view went over 200 and subscribers reached 50! Love you all so much! 

As Jieun let go of Kyungsoo's hand.... XD

Such a cuite :))

This is so funny.. the way Chen dropped his head...haha