He held her in his arms. She lay motionless, blood trickling down the side of her face. He knew this would happen, he knew, and yet he could stop the sobs that tore past his lips. Caressing the side of her face he held her close against his chest. The ray of happiness which had shone through the clouded sky had faded and he couldn’t think of any other chance to ever have a glimpse at it again. Her skin was cold against his fingers, her scent dying out, he pressed a shaky kiss to her forehead.

“Hyeji…” was all he could say, helplessly calling to her dying spirit unaware of the battle being waged. The one that had caused his suffering had taken away everything precious to him. His family, his humanity, and now the one person he had grown to love.

The sky overhead seemed to darken further as he held her close. Her parents would find that she was missing. They would come to investigate. They would come and find him with her body in his hands and they would kill him. What a perfect ending. Almost poetic. He couldn’t find any more tears to even shed as he gazed at her face, smoothing the long hair back.

She gasped, eyes flying open. Taekwoon nearly dropped her in shock as she caught hold of his shoulders to prevent herself from falling. Taking deep breaths of air, she looked at him and smiled, placing a hand on his cheek.

“I couldn’t leave you alone.”

“H-how…” he stammered, hands wandering to grip at her, just to make sure she was right there. Not a figment of his imagination.

“I gave back his fang. He was incomplete without it. Now his spirit is no longer attached to the earth.” she tried to explain to the best of her ability. Taekwoon could only frown in confusion as Hyeji pulled herself together.

“How do I explain this? The spirit of the wolf your ancestor had killed lingered on the earth because they buried him incomplete. Which was why the curse gripped your family. Because the fang of the wolf was given to my ancestor. My spirit ended the wolf’s with the same fang.” Taekwoon’s eyes searched her neck for the same fang which had been there. The string had snapped and fallen on the ground, right on the mound. “The curse is lifted, Taekwoon… or so I hope.” she whispered, eyes shining with hope.

“I don’t care about the curse.” Taekwoon said, hands reaching to hold hers “right now. In this moment. You’re back. You’re alright. That’s all that matters to me.”

He saw her eyes softening “Taekwoon…” he cupped her cheek.

“You’re too important for me to let go. Right now, we’ll take things one step at a time. I’m not going to run away.Curse or no curse, I love you and I want to be with you. If you’ll have me. ” He said, looking hopefully into her eyes as tears sprung in her’s.

“I love you too Taekwoon. We’ll figure this out together. I know we can.” And thus Hyeji fell into his embrace yet again. He pressed soft kisses all over her face, so glad that the ray of happiness he thought he had lost was shining right on him. When their lips finally met, he felt like he could conquer any curse as long as it meant keeping Hyeji by his side. This kiss wasn’t about passion, no, this was a promise. Sealed with a kiss.

Taekwoon was right about one thing. The search parties did come and found the two of the huddled by the tree, safe and sound. There was relief and a little confusion at their appearance. No one understood what had happened there, but all they knew was that the two were safe and sound. They smiled at each other as they were escorted back to the town’s hospital. Hyeji’s parents fussing over them as the group headed there. Hyeji’s little finger hooked with Taekwoon’s and he gazed at her.

Everything would be alright as long as he had his Red

Hey! I have been procrastinating writing this chapter. But somewhere along the way I lost my motivation. This is the last chapter of Red, my experiment with messing around with Little Red Riding Hood. Thank you for staying with me for so long. I appreciate all the subscribers and the comments. I will have an epilogue that goes up after this.

Thank you so much!

- Ryukai