~ Kim HyunA ~

Walking through the coolness of the shade casted from the ceiling of green leaves above, Kim Hyuna enjoys the life of the forest. Many people can probably name a place or a location that they call home, but for her, home could be anywhere that had fresh air, green grass, and a society of wild life. Sometimes, for those who feel as if they don’t fit with society, all they need is a getaway. They aren’t necessarily shy, or quiet…but they feel at peace when in an environment that is. They’re introverts. This is how Hyuna thought of herself. She wasn’t one who particularly liked the loud, busy streets of the city, but she could sing along to the sounds of the forest; the babbling mouth of the creek, the whisper of the wind, the rustling of the leaves, the songs of the birds, the business of the bees. Without the criticisms, judgments, or stress that comes with society in the city, the community of nature seemed to accept you as you were.

These thoughts bring a smile to Hyuna’s face as she looks down to her feet as she walks along. Her toes tangle in the long, green grass, darkening with early summer sun. The birds hopped from branch to branch as she goes along, only taking a moment to notice her, and then returning to their own schedules. “Just live,” that is the motto of the forest. Just continue as you are and take things as they come. Hyuna likes that.

She tilts her head up and closes her eyes as a light breeze sweeps through the forest floor, pushing her hair back from her face. She takes a breath in, letting the wind fill her lungs. She can’t help but giggle at the pure happiness that she feels at being home. She then looks down to her side, realizing that her laughter has broken the regular rhythm of the wood. She covers , as if embarrassed by the squirrels that have stopped their collecting to look her way.

“Keep your voice down, BoHoJa,” Hyuna scolds as she wags a slender finger towards her companion at her side.

The dog walks briskly by her hip, his stride at pace with hers, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. To call him a dog would be an understatement; in reality, the beast at her side was a pure wolf. His shaggy brown fur would have been shedding in clumps at this time of early summer, but with a recent lack of food that the duo have run into, both of their figures are slim.

At the sound of her voice, BoHoJa closes his mouth and glances up her way, almost smirking at her remark. He even seems to roll his eyes and continue on his way, his big, padded paws softly prancing over the grass.

Hyuna smiles at the personality of her friend. “BoHo, you little stud, we need to find you a girl.”

The dog looks away toward the forest, ignoring Hyuna’s teasing.

Again she laughs quietly to herself as they continue their way through the forest. Hyuna her head to the side with the sight of more light streaming in ahead of them. “Looks like we’re coming up to a clearing,” she says just as a gust of wind barrels through the forest, as if coming from the opening ahead.

The squirrels skitter around in the wind as the birds flap their wings in order to keep their composure on the skinny branches of the trees. Hyuna blinks into the wind and grips her long, dark hair to keep it from getting too messy. BoHoJa stops and perks his ears forward to the wind, closing his mouth and concentrating on the smells that the wind brings their way. After the gust passes by, he looks up to Hyuna with wide eyes.

“What is it?” Hyuna asks quietly as she glances from BoHo to the clearing ahead.

The dog follows her gaze and lets out a low growl.

Hyuna looks behind her, watching as the gust of wind tilts the tops of the trees further down the forest, back toward the Sobaek Mountains.

“That’s strange,” Hyuna mumbles as she watches the wind continue up part of the mountain ridges until it slowly dies out, “The wind usually rolls off the mountain sides, not towards them.”

Another moan interrupts Hyuna’s thoughts and she turns her attention back to the wolf by her side. He looks up at her with his soft, brown eyes, almost seeming upset.

She gives him a reassuring smile and intertwines her finger tips in the soft spots on the dog’s head, rubbing the back of one of his great big ears.

“Keep moving forward, right?” she asks him as she looks ahead again and continues forward.

The dog sighs and quickly follows behind her, but not without quick glances around the sides of the forest, and listening to the sounds slowly die away the closer they get to the opening. Less birds and squirrels take shelter in the trees above as they near the bright clearing. After a year of traveling together, Hyuna saw BoHoJa more than just a constant companion, but rather as a faithful friend. And her only one.

Finally they break out of the canopy of trees and into the open grassland of a small meadow. They look down the rolling plains at the basking cattails that shine gold in the warm sun above. The field turns brown and die away the closer they reach the business of a city below. The gray towers rise up in the center of the area surrounded by the green mountains of the Sobaek ridge. Below, a river runs through the city, complete with long bridges stretching across, combining one part of the city with another.

Hyuna lets out her breath after taking in the landscape before her, not having realized that she had been holding it the whole time. She blinks and looks around her. It wouldn’t be too difficult to pass around the city, to avoid the society of human beings and keep to the security of the forest. But then again…Hyuna pulls the straps on her backpack, pulling higher onto her back, feeling the weight. It feels too light. She sighs as she sits down and pulls off the bag, dumping the remaining contents on the ground. In all, she has an empty water container, tooth brush, food wrappers, a black hoodie, dark shorts, a pair of jeans, a pair of tennis shoes, a black tank top, a map, an empty shampoo bottle, a lighter, some spare change, and a single pot for cooking. Counting the black t-shirt and jean shorts that she is currently wearing, she doesn’t have much left. No food or clean water, not many changes of clothes, and no cleaning supplies.

“Uhhh,” Hyuna whines as she pushes her hand to her head and closes her eyes in frustration. “We can’t afford to pass it up.” She says to BoHo, who sits beside her, watching her every move.

She quickly unrolls the map and trails her finger along the route that they had taken. “Let’s see here,” she mumbles as BoHo scoots forward to observe their travels, “We passed up Seoul and stopped at Chunchon, hiked along the ridges for a while, and went to Samchock, came south all the way to Sangju, and then southwest through the Sobaek mountains…we must be around…Chinju, now, nearing the sea by Masan.” BoHo raises his nose to the light breeze to assess her deductions. He smells for salt in the air and looks back to her, giving her a single nod. “Right, so near Masan or Chinju.” She glances back towards the city at the river that splits the town into two gray blobs, “And that must be the Nam River. We can pass through here and continue to Kwangju on the other side but to be honest…we need to resupply for the trip either way.” BoHo sighs with her words. “Yeah,” she nods in response, “I know. The plus is that the city is surrounded by mountains…both the Sobaek and the Chiri, and it also has a national park so you can stay hidden while I run in.”

The dog whines and places a warm paw on her knee. Hyuna groans and rubs at her head again, getting a headache from the stress.

“We need this,” she says quietly, “we don’t have any definite destination that we’re headed towards so who knows when we will need to restock. I mean…sure I could…shift and we would get along just fine but I just can’t deal with that so much you know? Not with how little food we have. Plus I’m running out of clothing. We have some money here that I can get a couple things from the store with. Shampoo, meat, rice. That’s all we really need. A quick in and out and we will pass this place up.” She says it in a tone to half convince her and to convince her companion.

While she and the dog stare off at the city before them and contemplate their journey this far as well as their search for an ideal location, Hyuna’s hands reach up and grip onto the wooden carving of a howling wolf that hangs as a necklace on her neck. A feather is tied on the end to give it a more natural look, making the piece the only type of jewelry she owns. The carving doubles as a whistle, which tone is so high pitched that only BoHo, with his keen senses, would be able to pick up the sound as it traveled. It was her safeguard…her reassurance as she goes into the city that her BoHoJa was out there waiting for her, waiting for that sound in case she needed him. The friend had found it one day and brought it to her to use for what seemed to be that exact purpose. In the whole world as she knew it…she only needed him by her side.

As if mirroring her very thoughts, BoHoJa places his big head in her lap and whimpers, looking up at her with his bright eyes. She smiles and his head as she looks down at him.

“This will be fast. I’ll run in and get what we need tonight in the evening, and be back out here before you know it. Then we’ll just continue on our way…just me and you…okay?”

The dog blinks and whimpers again, his whine dying out in his soft, deep voice. Hyuna forces herself to smile at him, trying again to convince him it would be alright…and trying to trick herself into believing it. 

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~ LC ~

haha editting pictures is NOT my best point! But here is a prologue, just working my way into the story. GIVE ME FEEDBACK PLEASE! i want to make my writing better. It encourages me to continue. :) so please let me know your HONEST thoughts!