~ Kim HyunA ~

Hyuna gets ready the next morning more slowly than the day before. Yesterday she had worked the whole day with CL in the shop, but neither JunHyung nor BiRain stopped by the rest of the day. The feeling that Hyuna had after she helped close up the store felt as if she was…lacking something. She felt oddly disappointed.

Chaelin had been chatty the whole day, talking about the store, about improvements she wanted to make, about trips she wanted to take, and about BiRain and the music company. She asked Hyuna for her opinion on a lot of different topics, and Hyuna had started to open up more and offer longer sentences than just, “I don’t know” or “Whatever you think.” In fact, Hyuna actually felt comfortable around CL. They worked side by side, often laughing and sharing with each other. Hyuna didn’t offer much of her own while in conversations, but she listened and commented where she found that she should.

She did find, though, that she was looking forward to going to work this morning. This was something that BoHoJa clearly couldn’t understand. He his head to the side as she prepares as usual, being more careful to look presentable. She even tries smiling at her reflection in the water beside the river. BoHoJa looks down to his own reflection and snorts at the water when his nose gets too close.

Hyuna laughs and ruffles his fur, pulling him into her side. She loves the warmth that the dog radiates; it brings her comfort. She leans her head against his giant body and listens to the sound of his steady breathing and the rhythm of his heart. He sighs and she smiles.

She stands and brushes off the grass and his fur. He looks up to her with eyes that know that she’s about to leave him. She frowns and pats his head.

“You’ve been eating, right, BoHo?” she asks him, “I’ve gone out to eat a bit and eaten things at the shop with CL unnie…but have you been taking care of yourself?” she crouches down by him again and looks into his eyes. “I haven’t been paying enough attention to you have I?” she purses her lips as she rubs both sides of his shoulders, feeling a noticeable difference in his size.

The dog opens his mouth and pants in her face, leaning forward and lightly tagging the side of her face with his tongue, something that he actually didn’t do often. Hyuna giggles and wipes the wet off of her face before placing a kiss of her own right between the wolf’s eyes. She smiles at him and then rises again, this time turning towards the city. BoHoJa walks with her to the end of the meadow.

“This is my third day,” Hyuna states as she stares at the town, “Almost through.” She says this to herself just as much as it’s meant for him, yet, she can’t understand her feelings about it.

She says her goodbyes to her friend and makes her way into the city. As she nears the shop, she tucks the wolf whistle into her shirt and out of view of the public, getting annoyed suddenly with how it bounces as she walks. She doesn’t realize until she’s at the store that she had thought only of CL, JunHyung, and BiRain the whole walk, and not about what other people were possibly thinking about her. This realization makes her smile as she opens the door and enters the store to see CL at the counter and BiRain and JunHyung sitting at a table. Everyone turns her way upon her entrance and smiles in greeting.

“Hyuna!” BiRain raises a glass of ice tea towards her, “Good to see you’re still alive.”

Hyuna pauses and tilts her head a bit. Interesting remark, she thinks to herself before shaking her head and smiling as she looks down.

She walks past them to the back of the counter, nodding to CL as she goes, leaving JunHyung as the only one that she didn’t personally greet. When she returns to the front in the appropriate apparel, JunHyung and BiRain have risen to leave for their jobs.

“Hyuna,” JunHyung smiles as she enters the room, sending a strange sensation in her stomach, “We were just saying that we would go out for drinks tonight, do you want to join?”

“Um,” Hyuna thinks for a moment, realizing that this is the first time she’s received an actual invitation. She had the choice to accept or turn it down, but she couldn’t decide which one to do.

“Allow me,” BiRain holds up his hand to stop JunHyung, “Hyuna…what is your family name?”

“What?” Hyuna suddenly feels nervous with the question.

“Your family name, I just realized I have no idea how to properly address you.”

The group awaits her answer, and finally she gives in. “It’s…Kim.”

“Kim.” BiRain nods, “Well, then…Kim Hyuna, you will be joining JunHyung, Chaelin, and I for drinks this evening. We will pick you ladies up after work. Done.” He claps his hands together and walks towards the door as if he had just made a royal decree.

Hyuna scoffs but then cant control the smile that spreads over her face. For some reason, she likes the idea of being included with them. Of them actually wanting her company.

JunHyung rises to follow BiRain out of the shop, but he glances back to her and smiles, shaking his head at BiRain and slapping him on the back as they exit.

CL laughs and then returns to cleaning the countertops as Hyuna goes to decorate the remaining baked goods. The sound of the shop bells ringing alert the girls to new customers, and they look up to see five girls enter the shop. Each laughs and talks with loud voices as they pile in wearing designer clothes and handbags. Each wears at least five inch heals and plenty of makeup. The girls giggle as they approach the counter, one leading the way.

“Chaelin, dear, it’s been awhile,” the first one says with a big, white smile that spreads across her face.

CL smiles back, but it doesn’t seem to quite reach her eyes, making it look a bit uncomfortable. “Hara, sweetie, what can I help you with?”

The who’s name must have been Hara, laughs and glances back to her friends before addressing Chaelin again, “Always getting right down to business, I like that about you!” she says full of animation.

CL blinks a tad longer than normal and glances down. She looks back up and turns to Hara’s friends. “Is there anything that I can get any of you?”

Hara turns to her friends and invites them forward. The girls look a bit shocked at the fact that Chaelin addressed them personally, but they get over it with a flick of their hair and step up next to Hara.

“Umm,” Hara looks at the menu at the back wall, “We will have…five green tea ice creams please. In cups.” She smiles without showing her teeth and tilts her head to the side, placing a credit card on the counter.

CL stifles a laugh and nods, taking the card and running it through the machine, “Hyuna, dear, could you get a start on those for me?”

“Sure,” Hyuna forces a smile like CL had and starts to scoop ice cream into the bowls.

After handing the card back to Hara, Chaelin joins Hyuna in preparing the ice creams, glancing to her and making a face with her eyes alone. Hyuna smiles back and hands a couple of the girls their ice creams.

Hara takes hers and watches Hyuna work, stepping closer and resting her arms on top of the ice cream case. Hyuna stands up and catches her breath in with the sight of Hara staring at her with big, clear eyes. The girl smiles and sticks the spoon into her ice cream with force, “Are you new here?” she asks in a sweet voice.

“Um,” Hyuna glances to CL, who makes another face as she scoops the ice cream out, and then looks back to Hara, “I guess you could say that.” Hyuna answers with a nervous chuckle at the end.

Hara smiles again without her teeth and tilts her head to the other side. “Where are you from?”

“North.” Hyuna answers again, the same as she had when talking with JunHyung and BiRain.

CL snorts a quiet laughter and then coughs to compose herself as she stays in the ice cream freezer longer than needed.

“Right…” Hara draws out the word with a couple quick blink of her long, dark eyelashes. “And where are you headed?” she asks as she looks down to her ice cream and swirls it in her cup.

“Uhm,” Hyuna laughs nervously again searching for an answer, “I guess you could say that I’m backpacking South.”

“Oh, interesting!” Hara’s eyes brighten and she glances up, pausing her ice cream movement. “That must be fun!”

“It is fun. And it is interesting.” Hyuna answers, keeping hold of Hara’s stare.

The two find themselves looking at each other for a while without anything to say until CL pops up with the final ice cream. “Here you go,” she smiles as she slides it to the counter.

Hara’s eyes flicker over to CL and she pushes back from the counter. “Thank you,” she her head to the side and turns on her heels, throwing her hair over her shoulders. “Well, it was nice to meet you!” she calls as they all head back outside.

“Likewise!” Hyuna calls back, earning another glance from Hara as they exit.

After a moment, CL starts to laugh and slaps Hyuna on the back. “Well, what do you think?”

“Umm,” Hyuna turns to wash the ice cream scoops in the sink and shakes her head in confusion, “I…I don’t like them.” She says quietly.

“Right!” CL bursts into laughter. “I can’t believe I finally got an honest opinion out of you! And it was about Hara of all people, I should have known!”

Hyuna smiles at Chaelin’s response. “Who was she?”

“Oh, she’s the daughter of the police chief in town. Thinks she’s a big shot because her daddy has a ‘government’ job.” CL rolls her eyes and places the word in quotes in the air as she speaks. “But she’s mostly known by the boys in town. She’s quite the catch apparently. I haven’t seen her around here since JunHyung’s thing.”

“JunHyung?” Hyuna asks under her breath.

“Yeah, yeah, the two dated for like…I don't know a month, a year ago. But it didn’t end well. I’m pretty sure they hate each other but you never really can tell with either of them.” CL shrugs and gets back to work, but Hyuna feels as if someone has jabbed her ribs again.

JunHyung dated her? Hyuna scowls and shakes the thought out of her head.

“Well I will say this,” CL continues, “It seems as if she just loves you!” and she starts to laugh again, finding the situation hilarious. “But I was surprised at how well you handled her! I think miss Goo Hara has met her match!” CL makes a fighting fist and then laughs to herself again, but Hyuna can only smile, knowing that it doesn’t reach her eyes either.

~ ~ ~

As promised, the guys return to CL’s bakery at the end of their workday. What surprises both of them, however, is that they show up in suits. JunHyung wearing a black tux with black rimmed glasses, and BiRain in a class suit with his hair geled back.

“What is this?” Chaelin laughs at their sight.

“We’re the blue’s brothers,” BiRain states as he dramatically stares off into a random point in the ceiling.

JunHyung does a spin and lands with his back up against Rain and a finger gun at his lips. This earns the boys a good deal of laughter from both Hyuna and CL. The guys laugh along and tell them that the boys had decided to go out for wine in town, since they were sick of beer but still wanted to stay out. Chaelin agrees to close up the shop early and they all go out as the evening sky starts to turn from blue to a pinkish purple.

“And we’re supposed to go dressed like this?” CL asks as she looks at her work pants and t-shirt and Hyuna’s jeans and black top.

“Yeah,” BiRain states as if it’s obvious, “What’s the problem?”

“We look terrible!”

“Noona,” JunHyung smiles as he pulls his glasses off with emphasis, “While you ladies are out with us, everyone will still look at you beautiful girls and assume that we are the ones that are in error here.”

Everyone laughs with him and agree to go along with it. They all take a bus to the center of town where they get out to a busy street full of lights and people. Hyuna looks around, suddenly feeling incredibly small. She holds her hand to her stomach, pressing the whistle to her body and wishing desperately that she had never come along. People shove past her, knocking her around on the road. She closes her eyes and thinks about jumping back onto the bus, as her body feels warm and her heart picks up pace.

She feels the warmth of someone’s arm wrap around her shoulders, and she opens her eyes and looks up to JunHyung as he pulls her into his side just as a large group of people rush by. “Careful,” he warns, looking around the street and then glancing down.

Hyuna stares up at him with wide eyes, and his widen in return. He clears his throat and drops his arm from her shoulder.

“This way!” BiRain calls as he and CL head across the street.

JunHyung places his hand lightly on Hyuna’s back and leads her across the street.

Their group enters a small restaurant on a busy street and go to a booth at the back. The girls slide in on one side as the guys take the other. They order a couple of bottles of wine and start to talk about their days. Chaelin mentions Hara coming to the shop, and Hyuna watches as JunHyung’s attention is dragged to CL and his face twists to annoyance. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he looks away at the end of Chaelin’s story. He doesn't say anything about Hara or about her friends, their history, his feelings, or anything, but rather, he changes the subject.

The night continues and Hyuna starts to feel more comfortable with the small conversations and the private booth. She watches as people come and go from the restaurant, and looks outside as the night grows darker and the lights on the buildings get brighter. Hyuna begins to laugh along with the jokes and playfully push Chaelin back. She catches JunHyung’s glances and becomes able to hold them longer than before. BiRain smiles more genuinely at her and she starts to catch onto his sense of humor. She sits back and looks at the people at her table, and how happy they seem, and then she looks at other tables, at couples that don’t talk to each other, parties that shout over each other, and people that rush in and out, busy with their own lives. She feels a sense of comfort being here with…her friends. She smiles as she looks down to her hands in her lap, feeling incredibly happy at being able to actually call someone her friend, and to understand the feeling a little better.

When she looks up, she catches JunHyung already looking to her and smiling. His eyes look gentle, and his smile is sweet. This time, he looks down first, but only a moment passes before he glances up to her again. She laughs and turns away from him to CL in order to distract herself from confusing feelings that have risen in her stomach.

Chaelin laughs and shakes her head at something that BiRain has said. She holds her fingers to her forehead and then looks out the window. Her eyes seem a little glazed, and her face looks flushed.

“CL, dear,” BiRain smiles, “I think you’ve had enough to drink for tonight.”

Chaelin nods and pushes her glass away. “I agree, sir.”

“Alright, I think it’s time to bring this crazy party to an end.” BiRain looks to JunHyung and he smiles back. “Is that okay with you, Hyuna Kim?” Rain asks her.

Hyuna smiles back and nods, “Of course.”

The group gets up from the table and heads down the stairs and outside to the crowded nightlife of the city. They board the first bus that leads closest to their homes and step out to the quieter life of the edge of town. CL stumbles off the bus to be caught in BiRain’s arms. When she starts to giggle and tilt, Rain holds onto her arm with concern in his eyes.
“I think I’ll see Chaelin back to the shop.” He says.

“The shop?” Hyuna asks.

“Chaelin’s apartment is right above the store,” JunHyung answers as he puts his hands in his pockets. “Your apartment is near mine, right?”

“Um, I’m not sure. I'm fine, though, I can walk and see straight.” Hyuna attempts to make a joke as to break away from the group alone.

“I’ll walk with you.” JunHyung says as he steps to her side. He looks back to Rain and CL and waves goodbye. “See you tomorrow, hyung. Night, noona.”

“Bye!” Chaelin giggles before staggering backwards.

Rain rolls his eyes and his lips part in a crooked smile. “Goodnight, Hyuna.”

“Goodnight.” Hyuna replies quietly, feeling nervous about having to walk with JunHyung alone.

What do I say? What do I do? How can I get rid of him before I return to BoHoJa?

“This way?” JunHyung asks as he points down the road.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” She nods and walks by his side, noticing how unusually slow his pace is.

After a minute or so of silence, JunHyung smiles to himself. “You talk too much,” he states, looking at her without turning his head.

“What?” Hyuna glances at him with worry.

“Uh, kidding.” He smirks and shakes his head.

“Oh.”

Another moment passes and the atmosphere feels awkward.

“Well,” JunHyung breaks the silence, “Tell me something about you then.”

“Uh…”

“It doesn’t have to be something incredibly personal…just something. I feel like we should know something about each other.”

“Then why don’t you say something?”

JunHyung presses his lips together and nods as he stares ahead. “Fair enough. Let’s see here…I work at the shipping factory during the day. I don’t know if you knew that.” He glances down to her and then back ahead, “But, yeah, I have to move people’s heavy stuff for them. And then I work with BiRain at his beginning music company too. I like to play around with some rap lyrics and help in the music production.”

“You and BiRain are close.” Hyuna says, avoiding the conversation turning back to her.

“Yeah, he’s kind of like a mentor to me. He helped me when…no one else would. I stayed with him for almost a year. He took me in. I’ve just recently moved out to my own place. What about you? Are we near your hotel yet?” he looks around the street at a few groups of people still making their way home from being out.

“Almost,” Hyuna lies. Depends on your perspective, she reasons.

“Okay. Then, what brings you to Chinju?” he looks to her again, and she glances away from him.

“I’m backpacking through Korea. Heading south.”

“Oh, really?” JunHyung smiles to himself, “That’s really cool. Where are you heading?”

“I’m…not really sure. To the ocean.”

“Why?”

“Why? Um…because it’s really open. And free. I don't know, I just like the sea.”

“Why didn’t you just go east from wherever you’re from?”

“I don’t know,” Hyuna sighs as she looks down to her feet, “I just wanted to go south. I wanted to see the mountains. See the country for myself.”

JunHyung nods. “I can respect that. I did some traveling like that too, but I stopped at all the major cities. Seoul. Busan.”

“I avoided those.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t like large crowds.”

“Can’t blame you.” JunHyung comes to a stop and turns towards her, hands in his pocket. She stares up at him, her heart fluttering in her chest and feeling sick to her stomach. He looks down the road and then back to her. “Is your place further down?” he asks, “This is my place here.” He nods to the apartment complex behind her. She turns and looks at the old brick building. Some of the windows have been broken and re-patched with wood boards or plastic wrap and duct tape.

“Oh,” Hyuna tries to show interest.

“It’s not much, I know, but it’s good enough for me.” He shrugs and walks around her. “I can take you to your place though, I don’t mind.”

“No!” Hyuna’s eyes widen, “I mean, no thank you. I can get there, it’s just down the road.”

“Really?” he looks past her at the emptying street. “Why don’t you let me walk you? There’s mostly old bars and clubs down that way, I don't think you should go alone.”

“No, really, it’s okay. I like to be alone.” Hyuna says as she steps away from him.

JunHyung holds her gaze but doesn’t make a move towards her. He looks up to his apartment complex and sighs. “Alright, fine.” He looks to her and forces a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

Hyuna smiles and nods as she walks backwards.

“Goodnight, Kim Hyuna.” JunHyung says softly.

“Goodnight.” She replies, and slowly turns and continues on her way down the road.

She doesn’t look back, but she can feel his eyes on the back of her head. She wishes that he would go inside so she could run the rest of the way. JunHyung was right, the rest of the way out of town was the worst at night. Guys call out to her in their drunken stupors and girls laughed at her as they stumble past. She mainly keeps her head down and ignores them, but tonight seems more crowded than usual.

Guys stare at her from the alley and doorways, causing her to pick up her pace.

“Where are you headed, sweetheart?” a guy calls out ahead as he takes a step onto the sidewalk from a bar.

Hyuna pauses slightly and then looks across the street and quickly crosses over.

“It’s a little late to be walking by yourself, don’t you think?” he calls as he steps into the street. A couple guys stumble out of the bar behind him and join his side as they watch her walk past.

They talk to each other a bit and then pick up pace after her, crossing the street and walking behind her.

“Why don’t you let us you home?” one calls.

Hyuna listens as they start to laugh at each other, and she can hear the sound of their shoes get faster and closer to her.

“I’m fine!” she calls.

Her response only makes the guys talk louder and move faster. Hyuna soon finds herself running down the street, the guys in chase. Her scream gets caught in just as she reaches for her whistle around her neck, realizing that she had placed it under her shirt. A firm arm wraps around her shoulders from behind and yanks her to the side of the street. She tries to yell out but the hand covers and drags her back into an alley. The other guys laugh and stand in front of her to keep her hidden. They push and pull her further into the dark alleyway, as she fights and claws at their arms.

“Let go!” she shrieks when she pulls free from one’s hand.

Someone shoves her back, pushing her face away from the opening of the alley. She can’t understand the voices but the men are talking and laughing at her. The hand recovers and part of her nose on accident, making her feel as if she’ll suffocate. Her body panics as her heart pounds faster than ever before and her lungs feel like burning fire. Her entire body feels encompassed in heat as she fights against the men, but they feel more solid and larger than her by a wide margin.

“Help!” she shrieks whenever she manages to rip their hands away from her face.

Tears blur her vision as she cries out for help and tries to reach her whistle with one hand and pull the hand away from her face with the other as her legs kicks and stumble as she’s dragged down the alley.

Suddenly, Hyuna’s vision starts to go black as her pupils dilate and her pulse quickens, sending extra blood to every muscle in her body, supplying her with more adrenaline in order to help her situation. Her hearing starts to ring inside of her ears, and everything becomes confusing.

All of a sudden, one of the men in front of her falls to the ground in pain, and the second turns around only to be spun back, holding his jaw and clenching his eyes in pain. Hyuna is tossed to the ground where she tries to gather her senses and make herself stand. Her searching hands feel for the wall to help her get to her feet. She glances back to see a fourth person in the alley, kicking one of the men on the ground. The second man grabs him from the back but the guy flips him over and sends him to the ground with a big thud.

“Hyuna, are you all right?” she can hear a distant voice, and she watches as a figure rushes to her but it seems as if it’s in slow motion. “Can you stand?” they ask her.

“JunHyung?” Hyuna hears herself ask, recognizing the voice before his face comes into view.

He looks down at her with worry in his eyes before one of the men grabs him from behind. He grunts and fights against the clearly larger man, twisting around and placing a solid hit to the man’s jaw, hearing it crack with the force. A second man jumps onto his back and he stumbles down.

“Hyuna, run! Get out!” he calls as they drag him down.

Hyuna manages to blink her eyes partly clear and she pulls herself up to her feet. She feels the wall and starts to move her feet toward the street, sneaking past the three men jumping on JunHyung. Hyuna can hear her own breath echo from somewhere inside her. She makes it to the street and start to run towards the forest trees looming over the buildings from afar, but she can hear the sound of heavy feet thudding behind her. She glances back just as the first man grabs her hair and pulls her into the side of a building. Hyuna shrieks and falls to the ground, vision going dark and ears ringing. She fears that her heart may actually explode from inside of her and she’ll die there on the street. Her body feels unnaturally hot for any situation, and she reaches under shirt and pulls her whistle up to . She wraps her lips around the opening and fills her lungs with a breath of air, releasing it all into the small wooden object at her lips. A small and faint sound emits from the whistle for a second before the man grabs Hyuna by the collar of her shirt and pulls her up to her feet.

She cries out as she feels pain release from everywhere in her body. She closes her eyes and waits for the expected blow from the man to her head, but it doesn’t come. Rather, she hears the terrible snarl of a beast and feels the body of the man slam against her, pinning her to the wall. The man cries out in pain and pushes away from her as she falls to the ground. She opens her eyes but still only sees black splotches. She tries to blink them clear and catches sight of BoHoJa with his teeth sunken into the man’s shoulder blade. The dog growls and snarls as he yanks the man back and forth with pure force. He releases him only for a moment in order to get a better grip on the man’s arm as he tries to push the wolf off of him. The dog bears into him, trying to tear him limb from limb as the man punches the wolf in the side with his free hand. BoHoJa cries out in a yelp with one firmly planted fist to his rib cage.

“BoHoJa!” Hyuna screams louder than she’s ever heard her own voice.

And then it’s gone. Everything is gone. The black around her vision quickly encroaches the rest of her sight as her pupils fully dilate with the extra blood being supplied by her heart, and it begins. She starts to shift.

First it begins in the tips of her fingers, as sheer pain creeps up her arms and overtakes her entire body down to her toes. Her bones crack and snap as each one breaks individually and shatters into hundreds of pieces. The sound echoes through the city just as a clap of thunder rolls across an open plain. She can even feel the cells in her body reproducing at an alarming rate, and her skin stretches and expands as her hair follicles grow with long, wiry, black hairs poking out from every pore in her body. Her screams are cut off as she clenches her eyes shut when her skull starts to shatter and her body takes on an unnatural shape. Her body molds and moves in a heat that could only compare to the sun, as nothing else on earth would feel quite as hot without killing the victim.

And then her bones start to reform and fuse back together, her muscles mend and replace themselves, her skin tightens across her body, her hair grows longer and coarser, her joins straighten. The pain that she felt had become so severe that her body turned numb to it all. Her body lengthens and her clothes rip and shred with as the process finishes, the entire ordeal only lasting a few seconds although it felt longer to her.

And then she opens her eyes to take in the sight. She first hears the short, quick breaths escaping her nose and the sound of her heart echoing inside of her body. Her skin twitches as it gets used to the coolness of the night. She stands up to find herself comfortable on her hands and feet, which have burst and molded from long, slender fingers to something more solid and hard. Her body now towers over BoHoJa who stands over the man the street. The dog continues to bite and fight with the man as he turns to his stomach to hide from the wolf’s fangs.

Hyuna’s ears twitch to the sounds of more men and thudding down the road and she remembers JunHyung fighting off two others. Her eyes widen and she tosses her head back and she stumbles back a few steps. Her head starts to clear and she shakes it to regain her thought process, feeling her hair drape down along her long neck.

Hyuna turns and looks at the road leading to the woods and then back to BoHoJa, who jumps off of the man and glances towards her. He stares at her eyes, his breathing and heart ragged. Hyuna stares back at him for a moment and then turns on her legs and runs for the shelter of the trees.

BoHoJa howls and runs after her, joining her side as they run through the meadow and into the trees. Hyuna’s new muscles and tendons pull and strain but she feels free and unstoppable. When shifted, she almost doubted as if she were ever human at all, as she felt completely at ease in her new form.

Her black hair covers her body and shines in the light of the moon as she gallops swiftly between the trees. Her lungs fill with each breath and comes out in a rush with each exhale. Her eyes watch as the colors of the forest blend like pastels as she rushes by. She feels so free, like a free spirit. Finally, how she feels on the inside is illustrated on the outside for the world to see. A free spirit, a black stallion, standing strong and proud. That’s what shifting uncontrollably does to her. It turns her from a tiny, timid girl, to a strong, fearless stallion. She doesn’t understand it, she only knows that it was different and that it was the true reason that she could never blend with society.

She runs through the trees of the woods, BoHoJa at her side. Although her body feels free, her mind feels trapped. She comes to a stop along the mountains as she thinks back to JunHyung and to Chaelin and BiRain. She paws at the ground in frustration as she looks down the ridge to the glowing city. JunHyung was down there, and he was possibly hurt…because of her. She had to go back, but she couldn’t let him see her like this…like a beast.

BoHoJa looks up to her with confusion in his wild eyes. He wants to keep going, to run back through the mountains and disappear forever, but she can’t. She feels as if an invisible anchor is tied on her back, and the end of it is stuck in that town.

She blinks at the wolf and he whines in impatience, taking a step towards the mountain. Hyuna whinnies and shakes her mane, stepping back towards the town. BoHoJa growls and faces her, bearing his teeth, the hair on the back of his neck raising, talking to her through his actions, telling her to leave them behind and move on. That was the motto of the woods. But Hyuna suddenly feels as if she didn’t belong just to the forest anymore, but part of her also belonged to the city, to her friends that waited for her there. For once, she felt as if her heart was torn in two.

BoHoJa screams at her with a fierce sound as she turns and runs back down towards the town, feeling apart of the wind of the mountainside as it rolls down toward civilization. BoHoJa’s howl chases her as she leaves him on the mountain. 

She gallops through the trees, weaving in and out in swift rhythm. Coming up on the clearing and meadow, with the tops of the buildings in sight, she pulls up to a stop. Her breath comes out loudly through now, her heart beating in the added adrenaline with the thought of JunHyung lying in a dark alley somewhere. But she can't go down like this, she can't let anyone see her. But the fear of the pain that would come along with making another shift keeps her from changing. She feels torn as she paces the treeline, desperately wanting to help her friend but not being able to find the will power to shift again. 

In the end she decides that it's hopeless tonight to get into the city. She would risk too much to shift and be seen by him. Instead, she lies down in the bushes, her eyes focused on the lights of the city, the bright windows in the buildings acting as the town's stars. She sighs as her eyes close. Once she falls into a deep sleep, her body's chemicals would naturally paralyze her body, which kept people from moving about in their dreams. After this, her breathing and heart beat would slow to their natural pace and her cells would slowly break up and realign back into her human form, as some cells reproduce to replace the dying, and others gobble up and dispose of the old. Her body would naturally chemically restrain, keeping her brain from communicating the pain in the process of changing back. To force herself to shift voluntarily would require doing so with incorrect amounts of this chemical in preperation, causing her more pain, even if it only lasted for a few seconds per shift. 

The worry for JunHyung stays within her mind as she tries to relax each muscle in her body individually. In the end, she forces herself to concentrate on the color black behind her eyelids, so stop her thinking process. But the slow, sorrowful sound of BoHoJa's howl on the mountainside drifts down to the valley and haunts her mind. 

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

~ LC ~

Chapter Four is up~! What do you think? It's different right? Does it feel weird? 
You'll get used to it ;)