I am selfish, private and easily bored.                                                                                                                                          

Will this be a problem?

- Neil Gaiman

Myungsoo was a man of few words. He lived a quiet life all alone on a mountain a few miles away from a small village. He, however, rarely went down to the settlement other than to restock his necessities. The villagers didn’t appear to take special notice of him either. He himself owned a garden where he grew spices and medicinal herbs, which always saved him from taking unnecessary trips to the settlement.

It was, therefore, much of a surprise when he felt a foreign presence by his garden. Myungsoo could not help but to curiously investigate. Most of the time, only lost people wandered into his garden. And, although he really preferred  solitude and avoided conversations with strangers most of the time, he was not the type to just let lost ones be.

He found a youth, possibly only a few years younger than him, staring absentmindedly to his prized garden. The young man, who at first glance looked more like a lady, did not seem to notice him. Myungsoo himself was at first slightly taken aback by the unusually feminine charm given off by the stranger. Then he decided to make the first move, coyly clearing his throat.

“Yes. Can I help you?”

The young lad turned but did not look so surprised by Myungsoo’s presence. Myungsoo now could see him clearly head to toe. He clearly was not a local, especially since he donned a traveller hood and shoes.

“Not really,” was the response Myungsoo get shortly. “Impressive garden, though. Your plants appear to be growing well despite the harsh weather which is killing the villager’s crops.”

Myungsoo had not really expected a person of his age to appreciate much botany and geography. The youth had certainly impressed him just like his garden had to the weird visitor.

“Well, unlike tending to large fields owned by the villagers, it does not take that much time and effort to nurture a few yards of plants.”

The stranger threw him a kind, mild smile. “What do you think about the frost?”

Myungsoo usually did not enjoy unnecessary conversations. But somehow, possibly as he never got much opportunity to interact with interesting people lately, he did not mind entertaining this particularly unusual guest.

“The winter seems to be coming unusually early this year,” Myungsoo admitted. “But then again, the weather has always been slightly different here in the mountain.”

“The villagers believe it’s a witch deliberately casting misfortune on them.”

This time, the mysterious visitor had really grabbed his attention. “A witch?”

“Well I bet you’ve heard that a number of animals from the ranch were also found dead or went missing mysteriously. Then the church, the largest church in the area, was burned to ground earlier this month. There was also an incident where a six-year old boy drowned in the lake.”

Myungsoo was slightly taken aback but managed to maintain his calm composure. “How terrifying.”

The mildly feminine-looking lad smirked. Myungsoo could swear it made him believe for a second that the quirky visitor himself was a pretty witch disguising herself as a guy.

“May I know your name?” Myungsoo asked, amused by the idea that someone he just met could actually entertain him so much.

“It is rude to ask for others’ name before introducing yourself.” He replied, smiling. Apparently Myungsoo’s amusement was quite mutual.

“Being a fine gentleman, are we?” He joked “Alright, Kim Myungsoo at your service, milady.”

“Sungjong,” he murmured softly and Myungsoo had to strain his ears a bit to catch the words. Myungsoo could not really tell whether he was purposely omitting his last name. “Pleased to meet you.”

The late autumn wind blew, sweeping dead leaves all over the place. It was getting evidently darker, Sungjong wrapped his arms closer to his body before glancing towards the village afar. It had been barely visible then.

“Yah, it’s getting dark and cold. Anyway,” he said, turning his back to the owner of the garden but not starting to walk away yet. “I’m the hunter in charge of hunting down the witch. Please be sure to notify me should you spot any suspicious character.”

“Sure will,” Myungsoo answered, unconsciously returning to his usual way of replying everything briefly. Sensing that the shorter lad may have expected to hear something more, he added “Well, good luck to you, Mr. Hunter.”

When the smaller boy had vanished completely from his sight, Myungsoo closed his door and stood there as if nailed to the spot, gazing idly to his humble, warm house. Then the usually silent warlock chuckled mirthlessly.

“A hunter looking for a witch, huh?”