I was walking down the narrow road leading to my house. My place was far away from the city, near the mountains, so I have to catch a bus and still walk a great portion of the path on my own two feet. I put my right hand up to my forehead and noticed that I was sweating a bit, which made me deeply angry as I am the kind of person who hates the heat. But it does not matter how angry I am, it is a fact that summer is coming and there is nothing I can do about it. I simply have to accept what I cannot change.

My name is Shin DongWoo and yes, it may be odd that I have a Korean name and live in the United States. The reason for it is that my mother is Korean and my father is American, they met during my mother’s exchange trip, and a few years later I was born here. They gave me an American name, which is Jake, but I don't like this name so let’s ignore it.

- Oh, you are finally home! Come on, help me with these breads!

I hadn't even put my backpack down on the couch when my mom started yelling for me in the kitchen, which was a habit. She has a bakery in the city and always spends her free time creating new recipes at home.

After helping her, I climbed the wooden varnished stairs up to my room. On the way there, I came across my father's biggest trophies: the stuffed heads of animals he had shot down during his hunts. My dad's been a hunter ever since I can remember, and even though I think it's wrong, I've never said anything. After all this is what makes him happy. I stared at the head of a red fox and I could not help thinking that my father finds happiness in really strange things.

When I got to my room, I sat on my bed and stared over at the glass window. Our house is built on the mountains, so there's a thick forest all around us. I am saving money to rent an apartment in the city and finally live in the midst of civilization. I will not miss this place, definitely.

I was taking off my socks when I heard the sound of a gunshot. My father had chosen that house much in part to its location, where he could practice his favorite hobby. He hunts once a month, and sometimes I cannot see him for days. Today, however, he seemed to be closer to home.

I looked out the window, but there were no signs of him, just trees and trees and trees everywhere. I felt my eyes getting heavy and my head ached, which means it was time for a nap. I sunk my face into the pillow and promised myself that I would sleep for the rest of the afternoon.

 

 

 

I thought I had gone blind when I opened my eyes and couldn't see a thing. Soon, my eyes adjusted to the dark of the night and only a few minutes later I could turn on the lamp next to my bed. I looked at the clock that marked a little past than 8PM and wondered why I'd woken up so suddenly. It was only when I heard my mom's voice downstairs that I realized I'd woken up with her screams.

I stumbled down the stairs to find my parents huddled around the couch, looking over someone who was lying there. I approached them, confused, adjusting the glasses on my face, until I finally saw what it was. A boy, who was probably the same age as I am, was lying on the couch, unconscious and covered in blood. I tried not to think about what could have happened, although the answer was pretty obvious.

- Your father shot this guy! - my mom said before I could even ask.

- You make it sound like I did it on purpose - my father replied, looking as nervous as he was angry.

- Oh, this nonsense about mistaking a kid for a fox is the most absurd thing I've ever heard - she brought her hands to her head.

- Think what you want, that's the truth. I saw the fox, I took aim and shot it. When I approached it, I found this boy tossed in there.

While the two were arguing, I approached and analyzed. The boy had an extremely pale skin and his hair was of a reddish brown tone. My father had wrapped him in a sheet, because he was not wearing any clothes, and had tied a piece of cloth around his arm, where the bullet had landed, to try and stop the bleeding. But despite being on the verge of death, I had never seen anyone with such beautiful features.

- Honey, I think you need glasses, or to stop hunting at night - my mom replied - this story doesn't make the slightest bit of sense.

I was about to say that I agreed with her when the ambulance arrived. The boy was transported urgently to the hospital because he had lost too much blood. My parents and I followed him in our car.

- You know you can go to jail for that - my mom fastened her seat belt, nervous - let's pray for him.

- It wasn’t my fault, what was a boy his age doing in the woods at this time of night? Everyone knows that this is the hunting area. And how do you explain the fact that he wasn’t wearing any clothes? He must be crazy - my dad was talking mindlessly and I could feel the tension in his every word.

- Crazy or not, pray for him to survive.

I put on my headphones and looked at the night scenery through the car window. There was nothing I could say in the situation, and I agreed with my mom that my dad had made a huge mistake.

The boy underwent surgery for bullet removal, but for reasons that the doctors themselves were unable to explain, a blood transfusion was not necessary. Everyone was amazed by how fast he recovered and my mom repeated every five minutes that it could only be a miracle. I was more intrigued by the minute.

I woke up in the middle of the night with my phone vibrating in my pocket. I looked at the screen, confused, and saw that it was 5am. My parents and I had slept on a sofa in the hospital room because the doctors had not been able to contact anyone from the boy's family. I stretched, mentally cursing whoever sent me a message so early, when I looked up and almost screamed. The boy was awake, sitting up in bed, as if nothing had happened. And he was staring at me, confused.

- Where am I? - He asked, as I approached him.

- The hospital - I said, a little puzzled.

He looked even more confused by my answer, then stared at his own hands, as if he had not seen them in a long time.

- What month is it? - He asked again.

- Late April - I answered, thinking that his questions were too weird.

- It shouldn’t have happened so soon ... Maybe in two weeks... - he was still staring at his own hands as if they didn't belonged to his body.

- You don't remember what happened? - I tried to bring some sense back into the conversation.

He stared at me for a long time, I am not sure if he was analyzing me or trying to peek into my soul. His eyes were of an almond tone, too beautiful to be human. He almost did not seem real, he was too perfect for someone who had been shot. I was almost feeling uncomfortable when he finally spoke.

- I was in the forest ... And then ... - he paused, confused.

- And then my father shot you because he thought you were a fox - I rolled my eyes, trying to joke - Yes, I think my dad has poor eyesight.

- Your father shot me? - He looked at the bandage on his arm, confused.

- Yeah, but it seems that you're okay.

- I recover quickly.

- I noticed.

He became quiet for a while and I felt my eyes getting heavy. It was time to wake my parents up and go home, I could barely wait to sleep in my bed.

- You should tell your parents - I said, getting up - it's not good to be alone in the hospital.

- Ah - he made a long pause - I can't tell them... They are traveling.

- There's no one who can take care of you?

- I live alone - he said, putting an end to the subject.

It seems that I would not sleep in my own bed anytime soon.

 

 

 

After spending the night at the hospital, the boy was discharged the very next morning. Doctors were still talking about how quickly he had recovered and how surprising it was when we crossed the exit door. The boy said he would not take action against my father and acknowledged that he should not have been in the forest late at night, although he had not told us what he was doing there - and without clothes at that. When we stopped in front of a small building in the city, which he said was his home, I said goodbye, sure that I was leaving all this mess behind. My parents breathed a sigh of relief when we finally went home.

As I walked into my room and threw myself on the bed, closing my eyes, I thought that that was the end of the strange incident. But little did I know that it was just the beginning.

 

 

 

Two weeks later, I was walking home from my last day of university before summer vacations, when I decided to stop by my mom's bakery and get something to eat along the way. I went in and looked around, searching for her, when I came across a reddish head of hair and almond eyes staring at me from behind the counter. I thought I must have been in the wrong place, but I really was in my mom's bakery.

- Oh son, what are you doing here?

My mom had then left the kitchen, and smiled at me like a child who had done something wrong.

- I came to get something to eat - I did not take my eyes off the boy as I spoke to her.

- Sure, take whatever you want - she gave me a weird smile, then carried on as if it was the most natural thing in the world - Jinyoung is working with us, by the way.

She pointed at the boy and he looked at me awkwardly.

- Jinyoung? So that's his name? - I said, trying not to seem very interested.

- Yes, his parents are Korean like me - she radiated joy.

- Um, I get it - I said, still not taking my eyes off of him - I'd like the cheesecake - I told him, pointing at the glass display.

- Of course - he bent down and picked up the cheesecake - anything else?

Jinyoung's stare was so strong and powerful that just from the way he was looking at me I felt as if words were escaping from my mouth. It was not an unintentional stare.

- Just that - I said, taking the cake off his hand - For now.

 

 

 

He was always around me. My mom had hired him because she discovered that he was looking for a job and still felt guilty for my dad's mistake. But she had established ties with him so quickly, I could not understand it. He was frequently in my house learning how to bake cakes and they were always being nice and friendly to each other. That situation bothered me a lot, but I did not know why.

- You look happy.

Jinyoung was looking at a picture of me in the snow while I was playing video games.

- I like the winter - I said without taking my eyes off the television - you don't?

- No - he paused - I prefer summer.

- Wow, you just might be crazy. What's good about summer?

Jinyoung took a deep breath and smiled at me.

- Stepping barefoot on the hot ground, feeling the sun burning your skin, the cool breeze in the late afternoon... I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I paused my game and looked at him, incredulously.

- You mean, burning your foot on the hot ground, getting your skin red like a tomato and feeling the warm wind on your face? No, thank you.

- Well... - he smiled - You would understand if you could only live during the summer.

- You can't live during the winter? - I asked without the slightest interest, my eyes fixed on the television.

- I can't.

- Why?

- Because in the winter I'm something else.

- What kind of thing? - I paused the game again, starting to feel interested.

Jinyoung laughed and stood up.

 

- I'm late, we'll talk later.

I stared at him until he left through the back door. He was always like that, saying things that made no sense and walking away without answers. Since he had been found without any clothes on, in the middle of the night, deep into the woods, up until now Jinyoung's existence still made no sense to me. I could not believe that someone so young could be crazy, it was very cruel. But there was no other explanation.

Mom, you should take him to a doctor - I told her, on a Thursday afternoon.

- He's not crazy, son - my mom was focused on a new recipe.

- What do you know about him? He only talks about strange things. And where is his family that we've never seen?

- His parents are traveling.

- All this time? And how do you explain the fact that he has no scar from the shot, even though that was only a month ago?

She stopped cooking and looked at me, confused.

- What do you mean?

- It's obvious, he is either crazy or an alien - I sighed, convinced that my theory was right.

My mom laughed and patted my shoulder, returning to her cake, as if the crazy one here was me.

On the weekend, we practiced my dad's second favorite hobby: fishing. It was one of those family outings that even if you if you were 50 years old, you could not escape from. And if it was bad enough before, now it was even worse, with that crazy guy sitting next to me on the car seat. I wondered when my mom would come up with the adoption papers.

Jinyoung and my dad were talking about species of fish - who the hell knows these things? - when we got to the lake. We left our stuff in the wooden hut we were staying in, and while my mom was making lunch, we took the car to the lake where we would fish. My dad taught him some basic fishing tricks and a few hours later, he had already caught 3 times more fish than me and my dad combined. If he was not an alien, I had no idea what he was.

The two were still fishing when I got tired and decided to sit under a tree and listen to music. From time to time I saw Jinyoung raise his stick with a fish hanging from it, and my father running to celebrate with him. Apparently, we would eat fish for the next two centuries.

I do not know how much time had passed when I felt a raindrop on the tip of my nose and opened my eyes. I had fallen asleep and no one had woken me up. I looked around searching for my father but I did not see him, nor the car. I was scared because the rain had worsened and the wind was freezing cold. I ran to look for shelter and then I saw Jinyoung along the way, crouched next to a tree. Yeah, he really wasn't normal.

- What are you doing here? - I asked, trying to lift him up.

His eyes were wide and he could not stop shaking.

- Where's my father? - I asked again.

Jinyoung could not say a single word, he was in shock and I did not know why. I realized I could not get anything out of him, so I dragged him by the arm and crossed the forest. The temperature was dropping too fast, and we had nothing but t-shirts on. I felt like my arms were freezing and wondered if my deepest wishes had come true and the winter had come much earlier than expected.

I saw a small wooden house along the edge of the dirt road that crossed the forest. It was one of those little storage houses where people kept their fishing rods while having picnics in the field. It was very small, but we would fit in there. As the rain was getting heavier, I pushed him in and also stepped inside. Jinyoung was shaking so badly that I thought he was hypothermic.

- Well, at least we're safe here - I said, blowing on my hands - how can the weather get so cold suddenly? We're in the summer.

Jinyoung was pressing his knees against his body and trembling incessantly. I was starting to get worried.

- Hey, what's wrong with you? - I asked.

- I can't get cold - he said, between shudders.

Here we go, with the meaningless answers again.

- Why can't you get cold?

He could not answer because his body was shaking terribly and he started screaming as if he was in pain.

- Jinyoung, what's wrong? - I asked, desperate.

- Please... Don't let me get cold... - he said between cries of pain.

I did not have a jacket, so the only thing that occurred to me to do was to hug him. I sat next to him and hugged him as tight as I could. My friends always made fun of the fact that my body is hot, hotter than most people's, and I hated it, but now it seemed to have serve a purpose. Even though I was wet, I pressed him hard against my body and felt that his trembling began to decline, gradually.

A few minutes later, he had finally stopped screaming and was just trembling slightly. His head was propped up on my chest and he was breathing deeply. There was no need to hug him anymore, but I still did it, for reasons I did not even know.

- I am a fox - Jinyoung said, finally breaking the silence.

- You are? - I said, giggling. I was used to his cluelessness.

He turned away from me, freeing himself from my embrace.

- I am a fox, Dongwoo.

After pronouncing my name slowly, he looked me in the eyes, so tired that it seemed as though he had just walked out of a fight. There was no sign of amusement on his face, but just like all the previous times, he had never said clueless things for fun.

- How can you be a fox? - I asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.

- I am a fox during the winter and a human during the summer - he looked at me - I told you, I can't live in the winter. When it gets cold, my body transforms.

- Do you mean that if I had not warmed you up, you'd have turned into a fox now? - I asked, trying to see where this conversation was going.

- Yes. That had never happened to me in the summer, I'm afraid my body is getting more vulnerable.

I tried to not laugh, but it was too much for me.

- I want you to believe me, Dongwoo - he said, looking upset.

- Sorry, but this time you've crossed the line.

- Would you believe it if I showed you?

Jinyoung looked at me defiantly and the only thing I could do was feel was sorry for him. But after all that had happened, it would not make any difference. I was perfectly accustomed to his madness.

- Go ahead - I said, unable to hold back a yawn.

Jinyoung opened the door of the small wooden house and stood outside. It was raining heavily and getting even colder. He stood there for a while, until his body started to shake again.

- Hey, it was a joke... Get back inside. I'm not going to warm you up again - I said, while peering at him.

- This is the first time I'll show it to another human. Please don't be scared.

Jinyoung looked at me and then his face twisted into a howl of pain. His screams became strident and the scene I saw then cannot be explained in words. It was not real, it cannot be. I ran to the opposite side of the house, feeling my heart beating fast in my chest. Either my brain was making fun of me, or the world had turned upside down. In front of me, just outside the house, a beautiful red fox was looking at me warily. It tried to approach, but realized how scared I was, so it stepped back giving me one last look, and disappeared into the forest.

I could not believe it.

The rain stopped after a while, but I decided to only leave that place once I felt safe. I did not know what I had just seen, and even if I knew, I could not believe it.

The ripped clothes that Jinyoung had been wearing were outside, telling me that unfortunately it was not a nightmare.