아주 옛날에는 어린 왕자가 바람을 쐬려고 궁전 근처에 있는 숲을 혼자 걸어다녔다. 이 숲에 몇 번 가 봤는데 이번에는 길을 잃어버렸다. 

“승현이, 괜찮다. 다 괜찮을 거다.” 왕자가 자기한테 말했다. 사실은, 좀 무서워했다. 나타날 때부터 항상 지키는 사람이 왕자의 주변에 있어서 아주 귀찮다고 생각했다. 그거 때문에 숲에 잠깐만 도망가기를 시작했다. 매번 어머니한테 혼났는데 재미있고 스트레스를 푸는 좋은 방법이어서 아무리 어머니한테 혼났어도 계속했다. 왕자에게 굉장한 자유의 느낌을 줬다. 그런데 길을 잃어버리고 보니까 숲이 진짜 무섭고 위험했다. 승현 왕자가 집에 가고 싶어했는데 어떻게 해야 하는지 잘 몰랐다. 

날이 저물었다. 밤이 되기 전에 길을 찾지 않으면 뭘 하기 좋은지 생각해 봤는데 아무것도 모르니 가까운 둥치에 앉았다. “어머님, 죄송합니다.” 승현이 속삭였다. 한 줄기 눈물이 볼을 타고 흘러내렸다. 너무 외로워했다. 집에 정말 가고 싶어했다. 그 느낌을 처음으로 느끼고 있었다. 

추웠다. “시간이 얼마나 지났을까?” 자기한테 물어봤다. 대답이 없었다. 다양한 동물 소리가 들렸다. 어떤 동물인지 생각하고 몸이 떨렸다. 여기서 죽고 싶어하지 않았다. “그럼, 여기서 죽지 않으려면 길을 찾아야겠지, 가자!” 크게 말했다. 캄캄했어도 게속 걸었다. 지쳤어도 게속 걸었다. “조금만 더, 조금만..” 자기한테 애원했다. 

드디어 더 걷지 못했다. 집이 말고 길 끝을 찾았으니까. 눈 앞에 아주 큰 산이 있었다. 이 산을 본 적 없었다. 집에서도 보이지 않았다. 정말 이상했다. 다시 보고 산에 동굴이 있는 걸 알아차렸다. 어두워서 잘 보이지 않았다. 무서워하기는 하지만 너무 피곤해서 잠깐 쉬어야 하고 동굴 안에 뭐가 있는지 궁금하기도 했다. 

가벼운 발걸음으로 아주 조심스럽게 동굴로 들어갔다. 희미한 소리를 감지했다. 숨을 멈추고 귀를 기울이면서 열까지 셌다. 

하나. 

둘. 

아무 소리를 듣지 않았다. 

셋. 

넷.

다섯. 

조용하게 더 멀리 걸었다. 

여섯. 

일곱. 

그 자리에 얼어붙은 듯이 꼼짝 못했다. 어둠 속에서 노란 눈을 볼 수 있었다. 

Translation

 Once upon a time there was a young prince that went for a walk, alone in the forest, to get some air. He had visited the forest a few times before, but this time he lost his way.

“It's okay, Seunghyun. Everything is going to be okay.” the prince said to himself. To be honest, he was a little afraid. Ever since he was born he had always had someone around him to protect him, which he had thought was annoying. That was the reason he started running away to the forest, if only for a short while. Every time his mother would scold him, but since it was fun and a good way to relief stress, no matter how much his mother yelled at him he kept going. It gave the prince a big sense of freedom. But now that he had gotten lost, he realized that the forest was really scary and dangerous. Prince Seunghyun wanted to go home, but he had no idea how.

It was getting dark. He tried thinking about what would be good to do if he couldn't find the way back before nightfall, but with no clue, he sat down on a nearby tree stump. “I'm sorry, mother.” Seunghyun whispered. A stream of tears ran down his cheeks. He was so lonely. He really wanted to go home. Those were feelings he was experiencing for the first time.

It was cold. “How much time has passed?” he asked himself. There was no answer. He heard the sounds of various animals. While thinking about what kind of animals it could be, he got shivers down his spine. He didn't want to die here. “So, if I'm not planning on dying here, I should look for a way out, let's go!” he said loudly. Even though it was pitch black, he kept on walking. Even though he was exhausted, he kept on walking. “Just a little bit further, just a little bit..” he begged himself.

In the end he couldn't walk any further. He hadn't found his house, but the end of the road. There was a huge mountain right in front of his nose. He had never seen this mountain before. It wasn't visible from his house either. At further inspection he noticed that there was a cave in the mountain. It was so dark that he couldn't see it clearly. He was scared, but he was also so tired that he had to rest for a bit and he was curious about what was inside the cave.

He took light steps as he carefully entered the cave. He noticed a vague sound. He stopped, while he leaned in and listened, he counted to ten.

One.

Two.

He couldn't hear a single sound.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Quietly, he walked further.

Six.

Seven.

He froze in his tracks, not able to move an inch. In the darkness, he could see yellow eyes.