Onew couldn’t believe this. Jonghyun had just dragged them to their ruin.

Before them stood Miho with the widest grin they had ever seen on someone, motioning for the pair to get on the large SUV that the man was sure would eat their wallet alive.

Taking a hold of Jonghyun’s ear, he pulled the other along to have a private conversation with him.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Jinki that hurts!” Jonghyun whined trying to free his ear.

“Do you even realize what you just did?” Onew hissed releasing the other with a glare. Jonghyun blinked at his friend confused.

“I… got us a guide?” Jonghyun asked tilting his head to the side unsurely. Onew sighed loudly massaging the bridge of his nose.

“No, you just promised this guy we would pay for his gas and lunches, the dude looks like a mountain that probably eats eight times a day, and has a car that will eat up our money every time we have to fill the tank Jonghyun” Onew told the other, looking at Jonghyun to see if he understood. Jonghyun sighed and nodded.

“I know Jinki, I know what I did and I know you didn’t want to come along to this job… but please, I just want something interesting, I promise you can choose any future article in the future, every job that comes our way, but please, just this once bear with me” Jonghyun pleaded, trying his best puppy eyes when he looked at the elder. Jinki looked at the other before huffing and nodding.

“Fine, but if you ever decline a good vacation for this, I will kick you so hard, that your ancestors and future children will feel it, Got it” Onew said, pointing a warning finger at Jonghyun.

 Jonghyun nodded furiously before running to the car with a wide grin.

“Hey guys, I thought you wouldn’t come” Minho said with a chuckle, looking for some good music on the radio. Jonghyun chuckled and buckled his seat belt on the back seat, Jinki getting on the seat besides his friend.

“Yeah well, I hope you do know the way kid, you got quite a deal on us and we had to discuss that this wasn’t a bad idea” Onew said taking his camera and checking it to make sure it was top conditions.

“Don’t worry guys, it’s not the first time I work as a tour guide, so you said you wanted to go to Neukdae village?” Minho told the pair, starting the car and driving off.

“Yeag, Neukdae village, a place called the Kim manor actually” Jonghyun said, propping himself against the passenger seat in front of him and showing the paper that had the location of their interview.  Minho hummed and looked at the paper when they reached a red light.

“Oh, yeah, I know the place, don’t think you’ll find anything there tho, I think that mansion has been abandoned for decades, but, I am only here to serve so, next stop, Kim Manor” Minho chirped with a nod as he drove ahead.

The boys started a nice chat after that, Onew actually getting used to everything and deciding to ease up. Even if he wasn’t chilling by the sea on a nice beach, he was glad to have some free time away from the lame articles they did. Minho was also a very mellow person, easy going and interesting to talk with. By the time their landscapes changed signaling their arrival to the mysterious town, they could all say they had become friends. Might as well get along if they were going to be together most of the time.

As they arrived to the small town, Jonghyun noticed something that he just had to take note of. The village looked as if it had been stuck in time, small houses and green almost everywhere. There was a river that crossed the town, ferries crossed it from one side to the other with the townsfolk. The tall buildings and skyscrapers where settled along the river, the smaller houses being on the outskirts. Another thing Jonghyun noticed where the wolf statues almost at every doorstep of every building some of stone, others of metal or silver.

“What’s with the wolves?” Onew asked after noticing the same thing Jonghyun had noticed.

“Those old statues, it’s just an old belief of the town, to do tributes and protection, you know, those kinds of stuff, the townsfolk are really superstitious” Minho said with a chuckle.

“Exactly how superstitious? To the point of carrying a wolf with you guys everywhere?” Jonghyun questioned, pointing at the small wolf figurine made of silver that was hanging from the rearview mirror. Minho glanced at it and chuckled again shaking his head.

“Yeah more or less, the car was from my father before he passed it down to me, that was his, but that’s enough to give an idea of the level of superstition in this town. There are many legends around here, like for example, it is said that these little amulets and the statues protect you from the curse of the wolves, they will also protect you from the beast when it comes for you, there are a lot more, I could tell you guys some of them later” Minho told them, glancing at them as he drove down a road.

Onew was about to ask something else when his stomach growled loudly. He gulped looking down bashfully and sighed a little. Admitting defeat he took a deep breath before talking.

“Minho, do you think we could stop somewhere to eat, we didn’t have the best breakfast this morning and I’m kind of hungry since we haven’t ate anything else for the whole day.”  Onew said, glaring at Jonghyun and elbowing him when the younger snickered at him.

“Sure, I know a good place, they serve good food and also have rooms for tourists to stay, you could get a room there as well, it also grants you a view of the place you are looking for”  Minho said, taking a turn and parking the car in front of a nice looking building. It was a three story high building, with the lower floor being a nice dinner/café.

“Wow, this looks neat” Jonghyun grinned heading in with Minho. Onew looked around and smiled, taking a picture of the place. He rushed in after the other two and took a seat next to Jonghyun, the pair having chosen a booth by the window.

“Well, there you have it guys, that’s the Kim manor” Minho said at the gaping pair as he took the menu that had been placed on the table and starting to eye it.

Jonghyun and Onew didn’t know what to say or how to react at what they were seeing. Out the window they could clearly see the mansion they were going to investigate. It was imposing and slightly isolated from the rest of the villages. A pair of huge stone wolves sat at both sides of the main gate, guarding it from intruders. After the rusty looking gates, lines of trees extended at both sides of the road. Upon nearing the imposing mansion, the road split, rounding a large fountain that adorned the entrance of the house. The mansion’s double doors, tall and imposing looked as if they had never been opened, protecting the insides of the mysterious house that seemed to be three to four stories high.

“Amazing right, that mansion has been there since the town was founded, the first to see the famous ‘beast’ up front” Minho said, waving his fingers at it to emphasize that it was supposed to be spooky. Chuckling the man kept eyeing the menu.

The trio settled for small talk, everyone ordering their drinks and food when the waiter came. Jonghyun kept staring at the manor mesmerized, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. Onew took a sip of his drink when it was brought to him, clearing his throat before directing himself at Minho.

“Say Minho, you have already mention this twice, and I couldn’t help but feel curious. What is this ‘beast’ you speak about?” Onew asked looking at the youngest of their group. Minho looked up, munching on the chips the waiter had left for them to eat while their food arrived. The man clapped his hands clean and swallowed, drinking some of his soda before looking at Onew.

“You mean the moon beast, or werewolf how it’s commonly known worldwide” Minho said grinning. Onew suddenly looked at the younger man as if he was telling a bad joke.

“A werewolf? You’re ting me right?” Onew asked raising a skeptic eyebrow. Jonghyun glanced at them before looking back outside, drawn by the mysterious building.

“No buddy, I’m not ting, there are many legends in this town, but most of them are about the werewolf, in fact they revolve around the Kim manor as well not that I think about it” Minho said looking at Onew with a grin while taking another chip.

“Come on Minho, and here I thought you were being serious” Jinki huffed, slumping back on his chair with his arms crossed.

“I am serious, ok here, this is one of our most known legends, they say that at the beginning of times when this village was made, a wealthy family that won its fortune in trades and mining arrived to the town along with the first settlers, and they were the Kims. The Kims came with a few other families, like the Chois, Parks and Lees. Everyone got along well and decided on relying on the others, but the Kims wanted more. Onew night they sole the best products of the other towns men and ran off, with it they made a fortune by selling the fish, silk, fruits and the metals they got from mining. With those riches they bought most of the town leaving the other townsfolk with very few lands to settle in. They settled in the best spot of the village, building their imposing mansion there, the well-known Kim manor. Some of the other houses were mad at the Kims for what they did, but they didn’t knew what they could do, except for the Chois, who had a plan. Rumor had it that they worked with the dark arts, and that they used it to lift a curse upon the Kim household. They cursed the family and all its bloodline, and all the descendants to come. The cursed damned them to be the slaves of the moon, breaking havoc when the rays of the full moon reached them, not even their loved ones being safe once they were blinded by the curse. As time went by, less and less babies came to the world from that household. The fear for their sons and daughters to be enslaved by the curse of the werewolf lead the household to extinction, leaving the house alone forever. Some say the Kims and the Lees united the houses and the cursed took upon a new form but then again those are all legends. In the personal matter I have never seen the beast” Minho chuckled thanking the waiter when he brought their meals.

“Damn Minho, you really had me at that one, I even almost believe you” Jinki chuckled, taking his eating utensils and starting to eat, humming in delight at the taste. Minho chuckled and nodded, engaging in yet another conversation with Onew.

Jonghyun on the other hand, was still immersed in staring at the mansion. He had imagined the whole story Minho had narrated. He imagined how everything happened, the families when they arrived. Somehow he even imagined the handsome man from the picture he saw before, he imagined in that manor, along with all his family, if he had any. Suddenly something odd brought him out of his day dreaming.

The gates of the manor opened, the figure of a man walking through the gates seen under the light of the sunset.

“Minho, I thought you said the manor was abandoned” Jonghyun said, taking his plate and starting to eat, constantly glancing at the manor and the figure between bites.

“Well , I thought it was, that’s a new sight for me” Minho said, them watching as the figure reached the main doors and was welcomed by another man before they disappeared inside the house.

“Well then looks like we have a mystery in our hands after all Jonghyun” Onew said looking at the manor before focusing on his food.

“Told you it would be interesting” Jonghyun said smiling, the trio joking around once again. After their meal, Onew and Jonghyun got a place to stay with Minho’s help and decided to turn in. All along Jonghyun’s mind just wondered to their current job, a million questions surrounding his head.

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