“Don’t get lost!” said the old man, while waving goodbye to his niece. The little girl waved back enthusiastically while running towards the village in front of her. She was happy that she was old enough to go explore the place on her own, she was already 10 years old after all! She has been coming to see his uncle every year, pretty much since she was born.

It was a small village on the south of the Korean Peninsula, where summer was especially beautiful. It was so different to the busy city life in Seoul, and it was very relaxing but at the same time exiting to get away from it for these few weeks. She was running towards the small houses she was seeing down the hill, while looking around and admiring the flowers and plants growing around the area. The air there was so clear and nice to breathe in, that even this 10 years old girl was happy to be away from all of the city buzz.

She has been growing up in the times where telephones and internet are something you cannot live without, yet she wasn’t interested in all of that. She would rather go and explore the cool woods that were around, she would rather have a picnic date with her mum, she would rather take her friends and go and sit next to a river while talking about people at their school. She was only 10 years old, but somehow she was already mentally ahead by years compared to her peers.

The warm air was gently caressing her face as she stopped in front of the village gate, trying to catch a breath from all of this running. She looked up and read the name above her head. She liked the sound of it, it fit very well with the atmosphere around her. She already knew the roads well since she has been coming here so often, so she decided to go for something more... adventurous.  

She made few turns, here and there and after about 15 minutes she ended up standing next to stone staircase leading into a forest. She knew very well what it was. It was the forest she was told not to go into, the forest which was meant to be a home for many spirits and Gods which could harm her. She was young, and since she was brought up with faith surrounding her, she believed her family. She believed that there could be things which could harm her. But that would not be enough to stop her. She was curious if she could see any herself. She wanted to know for sure!

She lifted her small legs and made her way up the staircase which was inviting her into the mysterious kingdom of the unknown.

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She has been walking only for a couple of minutes, but she already knew she was lost. She couldn't recognise which way did she come from, she couldn't remember if she saw any of these trees and bushes before. Even though she was so good with directions all of the damn time, she knew she wasn't going to get out of this forest easily.

She felt... defeated and upset. She knew she should have listened to her uncle and stay in the areas she was used to. He warned her that if she goes into these woods - she won't be able to walk out. The little girl sat down under one of the trees surrounding her, brought her knees up to her chin and burst in tears. She was scared, afraid of what was going to happen to her.

She heard the bushes next to her shuffle, and instantly turned her head to look at the source of the noise. She saw a little boy, he looked about 5. He was looking at her with huge, black, terrifying eyes, which kept increasing in size with every second. She couldn't move. The boys neck began extending and turning to a side at an awfully slow pace.

That was when someone walked in front of her, which caused the boy to disappear with the blow of wind. She slowly lifted her head to see a back of another human-like creature standing in front of her. It was definiately a boy, or more like a man? He was older than her, from his posture she would assume he was in his 20s, someone she would normally refer to as 'oppa' is they were close.

He turned around, and that's when she noticed the mask he had on his face. She was shocked once again, but it didn't seem like his purpose was to harm her. He slowly lowered himself to be similiar height as the little girl. She was shaking from all of these emotions she was feeling from the weird and scary encounter, but began feeling a little bit more secure thanks to the stranger.

"A-Are you a spirit as well?" She asked. In a reply, she got a soft, warm giggle.

"Yes. And you seem lost. Why did such a small human child come into this dangerous place? I'm sure your family must have warned you."

"They did, but I wanted to see it for myself! I wanted to know if what they said was true! But I got lost, and then this spirit appeared and I got scared..." The girl confessed as she burst into tears once again. The friendly spirit reached out with his hand towards the girls head, he wanted to ruffle her hair and comfort her, but he took his arm back and stood back up.

"Come on, I'll show you the way out. It's going to get dark soon, and it will only get more dangerous."

Even though she couldn't see his face, it seemed like he just smiled. She wiped her own tears and stood up, straightening out her little floral dress. She was about to run up to the boy who was already walking, she wanted to grab his hand, but before she could - he moved away.

"If a human touches me, I'll disappear."

There was a silence. A silence which allowed the little girl to understand what was going on.

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"I haven't asked you yet." The spirit said as he stood at the edge of the last step leading to the forest. "What's your name?"

The little girl smiled widely, and replied happily. "Hyojin! Song Hyojin!". She bowed down to him and then asked - "How about you?"

There was a pause before the boy spoke. He let out a small sigh, and finally said, "Minhyuk".

"Minhyuk-oppa, do you always wear this mask?" She asked curiously.

Yet again, the boy didn't speak straight away. "It's getting late, you should get going. Your family must be worried about you, go on.". He rushed her with a hand gesture. Hyojin bowed again, and enthusiastically stated - "I will comeback tomorrow!" and run down the path she finally recognised.

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That summer, she ended up going to the forest every single day. Minhyuk was waiting at the stairs every time she came running up the hill. She was always waving to him as soon as she saw him. But this was the last day. In the evening she was taking the train back to Seoul, she was going back to school and the fun days with Minhyuk would come to an end. She was sad that she won't be able to see him for a year.. She didn't even know if he would be there the next year!

They spent the days walking around the woods, playing with the animals which Minhyuk befriended during his years in the forest or sitting next to the river which cut through the forest. This day was no different. The two of them were laying down on the grass, next to the water stream which was flowing peacefully, creating a pleasant to listen to sound. It was very relaxing and Hyojin nearly did fall asleep while thinking about this summer with her eyes closed. She then sat back up and looked at the older boy. She learnt that he was actually very old. A lot older than her and every person that she knew. He was a spirit after all, so he of course had to be special! She was very fascinated and wanted to know more, but she felt bad for asking all of these questions, so she decided not to ask about much for now.

"You remember that I won't be able to come after today, right?"

There was no response.

"Right?"

Was he asleep? He must be. She looked at the mask which was placed on the boys face. She still doesn't know how he looks like. Was there nothing underneath? Was that his face? Was it stuck to it? Can you take it off? What will happen if she tries to take it off? It wouldn't harm him if she touches his mask, right? She moved a little bit closer to the boy. She carefully placed her hands on the mask and gently pulled it up, revealing a really handsome face. She was 10, yes, but she knew what a good-looking person looked like! He had a gentle expression which somewhat fit in with his hair. He had a small smile on his face. His eyes slowly began to open and Hyojin, in shock, slammed the mask back onto his face. Minhyuk let out a surprised gasp and took off his mask, while gently caressing his cheek.

"What was that for?" He laughed.

"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to! It jus-"

"It's okay, silly." He sent her a warm smile.

For the past few weeks, she felt like she finally had the older, protective brother that she was envious of her friends for. They all had these cool, handsome brothers who would take care of them, when she was the only child who would have to take care of herself. It was nice to have someone like that.

⇒ ⇒ ⇒

"I promise I will be back next summer! Promise me you will be here as well!"

"I promise." Minhyuk said as he waved at the girl who was slowly walking back to the village.

The summer break came to an end. It was all going to become silent again, boring, lonely. He was happy to have such a cheerful company for a while, it was so different to the quiet days he was used to. He grew up in these woods, full of spirits. His mother has abandoned him after he was born, in the forest where one of the Gods found him and gave him a chance to live as a spirit, under the condition of not being ever able to touch a human. To the God it seemed like a perfect deal, it was almost expected of Minhyuk to hold a grudge agains them after what his mother did, but he did not hate them at all. With the years passing, he learnt more and more about the human world. Through the gifts the villagers kept bringing to the woods, it was almost like as the world kept developing, so did he. He even had chances to experience the technologies of the day, due to the things he was able to find on his walks throughout the woods.

After all of these years of not looking forward to anything, just waiting for the time to pass by, he finally found a purpose. He was going to wait for that little girl who became like a little sister to him, to come back the next summer.