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~ Kim HyunA ~

The tops of the trees blur into pastel colors of green, red, orange, and yellow and Hyuna soars above, flying back to the town of Chinju, to her security.

Hyuna’s mind soars higher than the clouds do, as it races with the thoughts of how the evening has turned. First, the fright and terror of never finding BoHoJa had led her into the woods in search of her friend. Second, the pain of shifting out of human form had energized her body and amplified her desire to find her faithful companion. Thirdly, the shock of finding JunHyung watching her in the clearing had petrified her beyond compare. And then, amidst her desperate escape, she had been attacked by a wild leopard, something she had never seen in all of her travels through Korea.

Her eyes look below, between the trees to the forest floor, trying to find JunHyung again, to see if he found his way out of the woods. Thank god he didn’t see that cat, she thinks to herself in relief. A cat that size could have killed JunHyung if it had found her. Trying to lead the animal away from JunHyung and away from Chinju, Hyuna had run the whole way south, back to the ocean side. The leopard had managed to keep up well enough, going as far as the cliff in her pursuit.

She thinks of the look on JunHyung’s face, when he saw the black horse in the woods. He had tried to near her, and then followed her into the trees for a while before she lost him, and before the wild cat found her.

Hyuna spreads her wings and shifts her weight to the left, banking down and flying closer to the colorful tops of the trees. She then dives into the trees, going below the leaf level and weaving in and out of the trunks, finding her way back to the clearing. She easily lands on a tree and faces the clearing, turning her head in different directions to accurately see every angle of the forest. Everything seems clear, and Hyuna flights down to the shrubs where she had tossed her clothes. She takes a deep breath and spreads her wings out, closing her eyes as her cells again break apart and realign. Her bones snap and re-mend. Her hair secedes and she shifts again into human form. She collapses on the ground hidden in the bushes, panting as her heartbeat stills to a regular rhythm.

“With every shift occurrence,” she breathes to herself, “It hurts more.”

She winces as she pulls her clothes back on, thinking of how changing from human form into an animal form hurts with the first shift. After the first change, however, each times she shifts into a new form, it doesn’t hurt quite as bad as the first time. She thinks that it has something to do with her breathing or heart rate, or with something within her cells, that the more she shifts, the more they increase and the less it hurts. But when she tries to change from human to animal at first, she has a slower heart and breathing rate and perhaps also less pain tolerance.

Hyuna rises and stumbles back towards the city.

~ Yong JunHyung ~

It had taken JunHyung hours to slow his heart down when he reached the meadow again. Most of his clothes had been ruined when he shifted, as they stretched and tore and ripped with his muscles and forms changing. He had screamed out in agony as he tried to force himself to shift back into his human form, after of which, he was embarrassed to try to force his mangled clothes back on to re enter the town.

He hurries up to his apartment, pulling out paper and a pen, writing out what he saw in full detail.

“Black horse,” he mumbles to himself, “changed into a black wolf. Black wolf changed into a black cat. Black cat changed into a black bird.”

JunHyung sighs and closes his eyes, bringing his hands to his head in frustration.

“How could I have finally found someone who is like me…and not have been able to catch them? Or even know who they are?” JunHyung smashes his fists against the counter in his kitchen.

He thinks of how scared he was after his accident, and how he had been ridiculed and chased during his first year afterwards. He had never been accepted, and people had always started fights with him. Finally, finding himself in Chinju, BiRain wouldn’t allow JunHyung the pleasure of being alone, but rather, the man opened up his own home to him. He gave JunHyung rules such as no fighting any longer, and finding him his first job with the shipping factory. Then he even let JunHyung work with him in his music company. This whole time, JunHyung had thought he was alone…even with such kindness as BiRain, and the attention from Hara. He felt like a monster, an outcast…something abnormal within a normal society. But now…now he had found someone just like him…and they had run away from him.

“How did they change so fast?” he asks himself, looking at the sheet of paper in his hands.

He sighs and crumples it, tossing it to a trashcan in the corner, as he rises and marches to his bedroom. His body aches and his mind is tired. He lies in his bed and falls asleep almost instantly.

~ ~ ~

JunHyung runs through the woods, the darkness seeming to creep in on him from all sides. He chases something in the darkness, but he doesn’t know why, stopping him in the middle of a clearing. He pants as he looks to the sky, watching it change from dark to light in flashes, the moon and sun taking turns crossing over the sky, the seasons changing around him from the green of summer, to the colors of fall, and white of winter. Snow begins to float down from the sky, looking as if they’re part of the stars coming to earth. He holds his hands out as the white snow gathers in the palm of his hands.

“JunHyung,” a distant voice calls to him, and he turns to see Hyuna standing along the forest edge, watching him with a faint smile on her face. She holds out her hand to him, and he takes a step towards her.
“Hyuna?” his voice sounds quieter than he wants.
She smiles brighter and then looks to the darkness of the woods behind her. She glances back to him before turning and running away, disappearing into the night.

“Hyuna!” JunHyung calls to her, dropping the snow and running after her.

He enters the dark, but rather than it seeming less dark as he nears, the color encompasses him and he finds himself lost, not seeing anything.

“JunHyung,” Hyuna’s voice trails to him from ahead.
“Hyuna!” he replies, sprinting forward whether or not he can see.

Again, he enters a clearing of light, and looks around for Hyuna. Finally, he spots her on the other side of the clearing, waiting for him. She smiles and beckons him to come to her. JunHyung smiles and takes a step near her, but he pauses to the sound of a low growl coming from his left. He looks to see BoHoJa emerge from the blackness, baring his teeth to JunHyung. The dog stops, forming a triangle between the three of them.

“JunHyung,” Hyuna’s tone changes to something more urgent and he looks to see her worried expression. Tears swell and start to fall down her face. She breathes in a ragged breath, and then turns and walks back into the dark.

“Wait!” JunHyung cries, hurrying forward.

BoHoJa howls and runs to cut him off, standing in his path. The dog’s hair rises on his neck and he snarls through his dripping teeth. His eyes are big as they stare into him.

JunHyung scowls at the wolf and tries to walk around, but the dog growls and leaps in front of him again. JunHyung’s face twists to worry as he looks behind the dog, hearing Hyuna’s sobs from somewhere in the dark distance.

BoHo growls and JunHyung looks down to him. The dog stops and closes his mouth, standing straighter. “Let her go,” he says in a deep voice, causing JunHyung to take a step back. He glances from the dog to the darkness and back. BoHoJa takes a step towards him, “Let her go!” he thunders and JunHyung yells, closing his eyes as the blackness overtakes him.

~ ~ ~

He awakens from his dream screaming towards the ceiling, his body already pulling him upright to a sitting position, as a crackle of thunder shutters the windows to his bedroom. He looks outside to see raindrops beating against the window as the wind howls outside. He pants as he puts his face in his hands, trying to think of what is real and what isn’t. He remembers, then, chasing the shape shifter through the woods, and he grinds his teeth as he thinks of how he lost them.

“I have to find them,” he says to himself as he gets up and changes his clothes. He pauses and looks to the door, “But first, I need to find Hyuna.”

JunHyung hurries to the bakery, bursting through the door to find Hyuna saying goodbye to a customer, and YongGuk sitting at a table as he watches her. Seeing YongGuk only intensifies JunHyung’s temper at having lost the shape shifter, Hyuna running out at night, and just his plain distaste for YongGuk. He scowls as he holds the door open for the exiting customer, and YongGuk and Hyuna turn to him.

“JunHyung!” Hyuna chimes, and JunHyung remembers her voice from his dream. His eyes narrow as he marches to the counter, placing his hands down a bit louder than he meant.

Hyuna’s eyes widen as she looks up to his hard eyes, and he can hear YongGuk stand behind him.

“You went out last night didn’t you?” he asks, and her eyes show that what he has said is true.

~ Kim HyunA ~

JunHyung’s accusation stabs Hyuna in the heart, sending it into palpitations as beads of sweat form along her forehead. He saw, her heart panics with each beat.

“JunHyung, listen, I can explain-”

“Don’t,” JunHyung stops her, holding up his hand, water dripping from his drenched form. “You lied to me.”

She shakes her head, “No, I didn’t-”

“You played a trick on your words!” JunHyung scowls, pointing his finger at her.

“Wait a second, there, JunHyung,” YongGuk’s low voice comes up from behind him.

JunHyung sneers at him from over his shoulder and then looks back to Hyuna’s hurt expression. “You said you wouldn’t go out on your own, and when I came by looking for you last night, you were gone!”

Hyuna watches him in silence.

“Where were you?” he asks again.

Hyuna sighs and looks down.

“I even went into the forest to find you,” he continues, causing Hyuna to glance up to him with her eyes, “and I couldn’t even find you there. Where did you go?”

Hyuna’s eyes widen and drops, not able to force out any words. He didn’t see me? she thinks in relief. “I…I…”

“She was with me,” YongGuk states, and JunHyung looks back to him, along with Hyuna. They stare at him together, both their mouths open. YongGuk looks from JunHyung to Hyuna and then smiles. “I asked her to show me around yesterday, but all we did was spend the day here,” he looks around the shop, “and then we all went to dinner. So after I walked BiRain back, I came back and asked her to take a walk.” He shrugs, “We only looked around the town a bit.”

JunHyung stares at him in silence for a moment before turning back to her, his expression a little less angry, but still annoyed. “You shouldn’t walk around at night,” he says softer.

Hyuna sighs in aggravation, “You only said I shouldn’t go around alone, but I was with YongGuk. Completely safe.”

JunHyung sighs and looks down to his hands on the counter. He nods, “I’m sorry, I overreacted. I had…a rough night.”

Hyuna’s eyes relax and she steps forward as she remembers how he ran through the forest looking for her, and how a wild leopard had been prowling the woods not far from him. “Okay, okay,” she says calmly, earning a glance from YongGuk, “You seem tired.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” JunHyung replies, standing up and running a hand through his hair.

He turns and stops to look at YongGuk. He pushes past, his shoulder bumping into YongGuk’s arm, and then takes a seat at a table nearest the counter.

“Why not?” Hyuna asks.

“Well, I was out looking for you all night,” he replies, almost forcing a smile with gentle eyes.

“I’m sorry, I should have told you,” Hyuna says, “But I wasn’t expecting you to come by at that time. Why did you come back?”

JunHyung’s eyes widen for only a second before the look disappears. “I just needed to tell you something,” he says as he looks down to his hands.
“What?”

“It can wait.”

“It can wait now, but you went back to her place late last night and then searched the woods for her?” YongGuk interjects, pulling a chair up to the counter and taking a seat.

“It’s something I want to tell her alone,” JunHyung replies coldly.

Hyuna rolls her eyes and starts to prepare the oven for baking.

“But Hyuna,” JunHyung continues, “I saw something…strange in the woods.”

Hyuna’s eyes widen, but she tries to hide her expression by looking down to the baking supplies on the counter. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“I saw…a black horse.”

YongGuk looks to JunHyung and then back to Hyuna, his eyebrow raised.

“A horse?” Hyuna asks, feigning shock.

“Yeah, like a real horse. A big, black beautiful horse.”

“There’s no wild horses around here,” YongGuk scoffs and JunHyung rolls his eyes at him.

“I know what I saw…I think.” JunHyung looks out the window.

“I don't think there are any horses around here, JunHyung,” Hyuna forces herself to say, feeling guiltier with each lie.

JunHyung sighs and nods. “I’m going to find it.”

“What?” Hyuna shows a little too much horror at the statement.

“I’m going to look for it, and find it.” JunHyung shrugs.

Hyuna looks to YongGuk and he just raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. Hyuna turns away and purses her lips, feeling relieved that JunHyung still doesn’t know, but worried that he may find out…and soon.

“I saw something, too,” Hyuna says without thinking.
“What?” JunHyung asks, turning to her.

“I saw something different the other night too.”

YongGuk looks to Hyuna and opens his eyes as wide as he can, clearing his throat.

“What did you see?” JunHyung asks.

“I saw…a jaguar…or a leopard or something.”

JunHyung’s eyes freeze open and his mouth opens to speak but nothing comes out.

“I know, it sounds even more crazy than the horse,” Hyuna explains, “But…I really saw it. A big white cat, running through the forest!”

“Wait,” JunHyung’s eyes narrow as he stands up, pushing the chair back, “So you were in the woods last night?”

Hyuna gasps as she turns to YongGuk; he shakes his head and places it in his hands.

“I mean-”

JunHyung audibly scoffs, “So you just openly lied to me…twice?” he shouts now.

“JunHyung, wait, you have to understand!”

“Understand what? That you and this YongGuk guy are such good friends now that you two will lie for each other? That you just lied to my face?”

“I didn’t mean to-”

“No, but you did!” JunHyung thunders.

“Now, wait, JunHyung,” YongGuk says calmly as he stands up and turns to face him.

“You, shut your mouth!” JunHyung demands, jabbing a finger at Guk.

Tears fill Hyuna’s eyes as she finds herself trapped within her lies…so many lies. What can I do?

“I just wanted to see BoHoJa!” Hyuna’s voice cracks as she looks down to her feet, and YongGuk looks to her.

JunHyung shakes his head. “This is unbelievable. I just…can’t.” He turns and stomps to the door, letting it slam behind him as he disappears into the storm outside.

“JunHyung, wait!” Hyuna cries, dropping her apron and running after him, leaving YongGuk in the store alone. “JunHyung!” she cries, chasing him down the road with the rain pouring down from overhead.

She reaches him and grabs ahold of his arm, but he pulls himself free, almost yanking her off her feet. “Let me explain,” she huffs.

“Hyuna!” YongGuk yells from the bakery.

“Get out of here, Hyuna!” JunHyung spits, walking down the road without looking to her.

“Please, I’m sorry.” Hyuna tries to follow after him.

“No, I’m sorry! I’m sorry I ever asked you to stay here. We should have let you go earlier, and I could have saved myself a lot of trouble.”

Hyuna stops and watches him walk, feeling as if he has just stabbed her between the ribs. She grips her side in pain as tears trickle down her face. “I’m sorry, too,” she says just loud enough for him to hear, stopping him and turning him to face her. She sniffs back some tears and looks into his eyes, seeing that he’s realized the effect his words have had. “I’m sorry I ever came into this town. I’m sorry I ever met someone like you. And you don’t need to worry…because as soon as I can, I’m leaving!” she chokes on the feeling of closing and turns to make a run for the woods.

“Hyuna, wait!” YongGuk reaches for her as she runs past, but she dodges his hand and makes her way for the trees as a flash of lightning lights the sky, followed by a low rumble of thunder.

~ Bang YongGuk ~

YongGuk looks back to JunHyung, his lip curling in anger. This punk is not only responsible for keeping Hyuna in this horrible town, but he’s also hurt her in more ways than he could have feared. Somehow, Hyuna has fallen for this JunHyung guy, and now she has been hurt by it…something YongGuk had dreaded would happen for a long time now. Now that it has finally happened, not much is keeping YongGuk back from ripping JunHyung limb from limb.

“You just hurt a girl’s feelings, congratulations, you’re a ing ,” YongGuk growls to JunHyung.

JunHyung’s eyes narrow as he turns to face him, “This is your fault.” He says through clenched teeth.

YongGuk scoffs and shakes his head, “How is this my fault?”

“You’re the one that got her to lie!” JunHyung shouts, walking towards him, “Hyuna wouldn’t have lied to me if it weren’t for you.”

YongGuk laughs out loud, gripping his stomach to contain himself. JunHyung walks past him, following after Hyuna, and YongGuk manages to compose himself. “You don’t know anything about her,” he states, stopping JunHyung in his tracks.

JunHyung looks back over his shoulder, “And you do?”

“I know a hell of a lot more than you do.” YongGuk smirks, turning to face him.

JunHyung sneers, shaking his head and continuing to go find Hyuna. YongGuk hurries to follow him, and they make their way towards the trees as the rain creates sleets.

“Hyuna!” JunHyung calls as he nears the forest, his voice drowning in the pour of the rain.

“Let her go,” YongGuk calls after him.
JunHyung turns to him with wide eyes, “What did you just say?”

YongGuk stops and stares at him, “I said…let her go.”

JunHyung’s hands curl into fists at his sides as he turns to face YongGuk head on, creating a hostile stance. “You can’t speak for her,” he growls.

YongGuk smirks, squaring off with him, enjoying where it would lead.

~ Kim HyunA ~

Hyuna had hurried to the forest, desperate for the comfort of her home, but as she neared the trees, she wondered where home was for her. The forest seemed unfamiliar to her but she doubted that she was ever welcome in the city at all. Where’s BoHoJa? she thinks as she runs into the woods, wiping tears from her eyes as they blend with the rain. Flashes of lightning lighten the forest and then let it fall into darkness again. Running full speed, Hyuna trips over a root and crashes to the ground, her hands coming out to catch her fall as mud splatters across her face. Falling down only worsens her situation, making her cry more as she brings her knees to her chest and buries her face between them.

Now she feels as if she could run away with BoHoJa and leave the town behind, including JunHyung. His words had hurt her more than she thought, and the idea of him leaving her had only reinforced her previous fears of rejection. She wanted to move on and forget everything that had happened here. She cries harder with the thought of having to stay, not able to let Chaelin down.

Hyuna takes a breath in, trying to get a hold of herself when she hears JunHyung’s voice calling for her. She turns towards the sound of his voice and holds her breath, straining to listen for him. She can make out the sound of a low voice along with JunHyung’s…YongGuk. They both came.

Hyuna blinks and wipes her eyes as she listens for them, standing and creeping to the forest line.

She peers out to see JunHyung and YongGuk facing each other in the area between the woods and the meadow. She can’t hear what they’re saying, but it isn’t pleasant. JunHyung speaks harshly, pointing one finger at YongGuk as his other hand quivers at his side in a fist. YongGuk walks nearer to him, a smile on his face but fire in his eyes. His lips lift above his teeth as he speaks to JunHyung in fast, low-pitched words.

JunHyung takes a step closer to him, his voice rising in strength. He smirks, seeing that whatever he’s said has had his intended effect on YongGuk. Now YongGuk directs his head down and closes his eyes, as his hands ball into fists at his side…shaking.

“Can’t control yourself?” Hyuna hears JunHyung ask.

YongGuk’s lip curls up as his body begins to shake more.

“How have you managed to keep secret this whole time?” JunHyung asks, “Was it you that I chased out of town?”

Hyuna raises an eyebrow as she inches closer. JunHyung tried to chase YongGuk out of town?

“You don’t know anything!” YongGuk yells, his eyes still closed.

JunHyung scoffs and shakes his head. He looks away for a moment, and then turns back to YongGuk and says something that Hyuna can’t hear. Her attention turns to YongGuk as he clenches his teeth and stumbles back a step, bending forward as his body shakes. He yells as he suddenly crumples to the ground and then, he changes as the lightning flashes across the meadow. His body turns brown and becomes covered in hair as his form shifts. His fingers shorten and become paws with short claws, his face morphs into a snout, and a tail reaches out back as he rips out of his clothes. His yell turns into a howl as the sound of cracking disperses and he shakes out of his torn clothes to reveal a wolf with shaggy brown fur.

“BoHoJa,” Hyuna breathes out as her eyes widen.

The dog shakes himself off and turns to JunHyung, teeth baring. He howls as he runs for him, leaping through the air and landing with his front paws on JunHyung’s shoulders. Hyuna gasps as she jumps up to her feet and watches as JunHyung holds BoHoJa’s snapping teeth away from his face. She takes a step out of the woods but stops as she sees JunHyung’s body suddenly turn white as brown fur covers his body. His body lengthens and his hands turn to paws as his fingers turn to long dark claws, digging into the side of BoHoJa’s face. The dog yelps in pain as JunHyung rolls over his body, hissing and showing his white fangs.

“JunHyung’s the white leopard!” Hyuna shrieks, taking a step back.

She watches as the two roll around the grass, hissing and barking at each other as their teeth and claws rip into each other. Hyuna blinks and shakes her head, trying to clear her mind. She brings her hands to her head and closes her eyes, trying to concentrate and get a check on reality. JunHyung can’t be the leopard! YongGuk can’t be BoHoJa! I must be dreaming!

The cry of BoHoJa peels her eyes open and she sees the leopard force BoHoJa’s head into the ground, hissing in the dog’s ear.

“BoHoJa!” Hyuna screams, stepping out of the woods, the rain absorbing her voice.

The giant cat stops and looks up, the end of his tail twitching back and forth as he stares at Hyuna with his vertical eyes. BoHoJa cranes his neck to look at her, the gentleness of his eyes reaching her.

Her heart feels as if it breaks as she stares down into BoHoJa’s eyes. How she has longed to see those warm eyes for so long.

She takes a breath and her pulse changes immediately as she closes her eyes. She screams out as her body breaks apart and reassembles into the black stallion once again, the pain straining throughout her entire body, and her shrieks being drowned out by the claps of thunder. In an instant, she stands before the two animals as one and the same as them. She pants through her nostrils, staring down to the cat and BoHoJa.

She throws her head back and leaps forward, covering the distance between herself and the two in a matter of seconds. She calls out in a high-pitched yell as she stops inches away from the animals. She pushes her head down, scaring the cat off of BoHoJa. The leopard screams as he backs away towards the meadow, showing his teeth and twitching his tail. BoHoJa scrambles off the ground and snarls towards the cat. The leopard calls back, taking a step towards the dog. Hyuna shrieks and stamps her hooves in the middle of BoHoJa and the leopard, facing the giant cat. JunHyung looks up to her with wide eyes.

Hyuna’s breathing catches a rhythm as she stares down to him, time seeming to stand still as her breathing matches up with BoHoJa’s at her side. They stare down at JunHyung, and he looks up to her with clear eyes.

Hyuna stops her breath and looks down to BoHoJa at her side to see him snarling to JunHyung. Hyuna swings her head his way, scattering him back a few step as he looks up to her with confused eyes. She stands between them both, looking back and forth, and finally, she turns to JunHyung and runs towards him. The cat crouches to the ground as she leaps over his head and sprints through the meadow towards the town.

JunHyung watches her go and BoHoJa rushes past him in pursuit of Hyuna. JunHyung launches himself after them, bounding through the cattails.

Hyuna races first, clearing out of the meadow and shifting into a black wolf as she nears the town. BoHoJa races after her, but JunHyung halts at the edge of the meadow, hissing and pacing among the cattails.

Hyuna enters the town and runs through the streets, sending people scattering out of her way as BoHoJa follows not far behind. She rounds the corner of the shop and shifts immediately into a black alley cat, leaping up to the fire escape at the back. She bounds up the ladder, leaving BoHoJa barking to her from the ground. She nears the window to her bedroom and shifts into a monkey, fur as black as the night. She grunts as she forces her fingers under the windowsill and pull the window open. Because of the latch on the top, the window only slides a few inches. In return, Hyuna shifts into a mouse and squeezes under the sill and into her room. Once inside, the sound of BoHoJa’s barking fades and then stops all together. She breathes as she glances around the bedroom, and then she shifts back into her human form, collapsing and sobbing into the ground. She pulls her legs under her stomach and cries into her hands, feeling as if her entire world has fallen apart and that nothing makes sense.

JunHyung is the leopard, YongGuk is BoHoJa. She cries louder. What do I do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ LC ~

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