❝  It started with a dream . . .

He woke with a startling yelp, kicking the sheets so hard they flew off of his limbs. He was panting aggressively, sitting up and grasping the area of his heart against his chest. The sweat rolled in beads off of his head as he tried to calm his breathing.

Every so often he had this dream where he was running for miles with everything he had. It felt like he ran a marathon when he finally came back to reality.

    ‘Paradise.’

It was real. It was out there.

He could feel it in his bones.

Standing up from the comfort of his bed, he approached the bathroom to clean himself up. He ran the shower and discarded his clothes, entering the stream of running water.

    ‘That makes three times this week,’ He reminded himself as the water cascaded along his skin, washing away the salty tears and sweat. ‘Perhaps now is the time something happens.’

After towel-drying his chocolate brown locks, the young man stared at himself in the mirror. His milky-white skin and tired eyes elaborated his already handsome features, but it was an entire mystery to those that saw him why he was always alone.

Cho Kyuhyun was not a people person. He preferred to keep to himself, rather than socialize. He had no family to speak of—they had all passed on when he was too young to understand things. And friends—companions, they were non-existent, but for a good reason. How could he manage friendships when he was this...thing? This beast in disguise?

He appeared human—flesh and blood, just as you and I. But his true identity was an Ōkami; a large wolf with the ability to hide his real form. It was an illusion that most could never see passed, save for his shadow that remained canine, and the animals that were terrified of his scent. The disguise was necessary to protect him from those that could not understand what he was; and those that had destroyed the ninety-percent of his kind's population. They were believed to be extinct, but it was better that way. Safer.

He grew up in this world of humans and adapted, but the lingering desire for more never left his mind. He hid who he was, but his pride as a wolf left him constantly hungry for the chase.

There were others like him—ones that hid in our society, as he did. Some of them continued to live in packs, others were loners like himself, but all were far and few between. Two hundred years ago, the humans drove the wolves into extinction. Or so they thought. The ones who survived went into hiding; disguising themselves as humans around them. Now they were revered as legends.

There was another legend—a tale of Paradise, where the wolves would escape to when the end of the world was near. They would lead humans to the lunar flowers, which were the key to opening the entryway.

But these were wolf legends—no proof of its existence any longer. All of their legends had passed down from echos of howls in the moonlight, changing as the decades rolled by.

    ‘Maybe they've all gone ahead without us,’ Kyuhyun imagined. ‘Maybe that's why all the lunar flowers withered away.’

❝  New beginnings . . .

    “Dad! Why didn't you wake me up? I'm late for school!”

The alarm was chucked overhead as she stumbled into the bathroom to get ready. If she hurried, and ran the whole way, she might make it for second period.

    “Sorry, Aya, I didn’t realize you were still home!” Her father yelled up the stairs as he heard the frantic girl running around the upstairs floor. He made his way into the kitchen to make a quick breakfast for his unpunctual daughter, sighing at such a typical morning.

    “Okay, okay! Nearly done!” She announced in encouragement to herself, rushing down the stairs and skipping two at a time.

    “I have breakfast ready, honey.” Her dad announced from the kitchen, as he slipped the bacon, egg and ham onto a lightly toasted roll. Aya skidded into the kitchen with her white socks, gave her dad a kiss on the cheek, then flew to the front door with the sandwich in hand. 

    “Thank you! Love you! Bye!” She greeted before she departed, pulling on her shoes and escaping into