Kim Sunggyu couldn’t tell you how it started or who did. Was it because Sunggyu had stared at him the wrong way? Or did it all start with his comment? “I scored higher.” It wasn’t like getting a 45 on a test was much better than getting a 43, but it was still higher, still better. But how it started probably didn’t matter. Sunggyu was neck-deep in a rivalry with, perhaps, the worst person for him to be in a rivalry with, Nam Woohyun. Why was he the worst person to be in a rivalry with? Because Nam Woohyun would always take things a step too far. And soon the two of them were competing over the most trivial things. Who ate their lunch faster? Who could change into their gym clothes the fastest? How many chocolates did they receive on Valentine’s Day? Who cried first? Who could hold in their tears the best? Everything. Everything became a competition. And it would last the entire day. From the moment that they saw each other within the school’s gates, they’d stare at each other until the first one blinked. Woohyun won most often early on, but he had an unfair advantage. His eyes were bigger. However, Sunggyu had his wiles, and one time, a water gun in his pocket, and he’d make the other blink first by those means. And then at the end of the day, they’d race out of the classroom and to the bus stop, shoving aside and leaping over whomever was stupid enough to get in their way.

Their classmates were used to this behavior. Most of them just stayed away, far away from them. Woohyun and Sunggyu still had friends though, friends which luckily had stuck by their side since middle school and through this silly rivalry. The rest of their classmates just watched the rivalry unfold from a safe distance.

Even the teachers knew about this rivalry (it was hard to miss when it was literally happening in front of their faces), and so they decided to take advantage of it, encourage it. So since their first year, Woohyun and Sunggyu were assigned desks right next to each other, and as a result, their rankings shot up from near the bottom of the class up to the near the top. The rivalry could be productive.

But mostly, the rivalry was a pain in everyone’s . The worst it had ever gotten was when they campaigned against each other to be class president. They weren’t just mudslinging. They were throwing flaming fireballs at each other with their words (and completely unfounded “facts”). In the end, they both lost, to Jang Dongwoo, and they had gotten the same amount of votes: one. And they both had voted for themselves. No one else in their class wanted either of these crazy rivals to lead them.

Nam Woohyun was absolutely the worst person for Kim Sunggyu to be in a rivalry with, for more reasons than Sunggyu knew.

“You have a lot of hair.”

Sunggyu pulled his shirt over his head and looked at the other incredulously. What was this? Normally they were too preoccupied with changing for gym class as quickly as they could. They never talked, let alone measure each other up like this. “Having lots of hair is manly,” Sunggyu remarked. “I’m more manly than you.”

Woohyun grimaced. “But having too much hair is gross,” he retorted and then retched as he looked at Sunggyu again.

Sunggyu scoffed, “Look, who’s talking.” He stepped closer to the other and pointed down to Woohyun’s bare legs, well, not-so-bare because they were covered in a thick layer of hair. “What? Are those fur pants?”

Woohyun shoved the other way and pulled up his gym pants. “At least I only have hair like this on my legs,” he defended himself. “Unlike some people.” Woohyun smirked as he pulled himself up as straight and tall as he could. “Your mustache is showing again.”

Sunggyu’s hands immediately clapped over his lips. “I just shaved a minute ago,” his voice was muffled by his hands. But his breath wasn’t the only thing he could feel against his hands. He also felt smooth skin. “Oh, there’s nothing there.”

“I lied,” Woohyun confessed as he finished tying his shoes. “And I won! I got dressed first! See you outside so I can kick your some more,” he shouted to the other while running out of the locker room.

Sunggyu dropped his hands to his side and sighed. He glared at Woohyun and then his shadow as he left. How did he know Sunggyu’s weakness? His biggest insecurity? Hopefully, it had been nothing more than a lucky guess. But Sunggyu always lived in fear of someone figuring out his secret.

Yes, Sunggyu was hairy, incredibly hairy. And his hair grew quickly. If his mustache grew back in, then that meant his unibrow did too, which was more embarrassing to have. The hair on his arms was rather thick too, as well as his legs. But there was a reason for it all: Kim Sunggyu was a werewolf. Yes, Sunggyu was a werewolf, but he didn’t know why. He’d never been bitten. His family didn’t think that a curse was laid on him (although they were still figuring that out). He hadn’t been punished by the gods for being a cannibal. And he was positive that he didn’t sleep outside during the summer on a Wednesday or a Friday with the light of the full moon shining down his face. Sunggyu was just born this way, born a werewolf.
Mostly Sunggyu and his family had managed it well. His parents had trained him well since infanthood/puppyhood and were under constant guidance of fortune tellers and shamans. And Sunggyu had been vigilant about shaving and controlling his more animalistic urges. And no one else was ever the wiser, not even his best friend Dongwoo. And Dongwoo had not even mentioned Sunggyu’s hair even once. Yet, Nam Woohyun did.

But what things hadn’t they said to each other? Sunggyu shoved the whole matter towards the dark corners of his mind and slowly walked out of the locker room. He was the last of his classmates to get dressed.

He subsequently bragged about it to Nam Woohyun.

If Sunggyu thought that the incident in the locker room was treading dangerous waters, he dove headfirst into danger during gym class. And there was no way to describe it other than a freak accident. It had been cold outside, and Sunggyu’s skin was dry and fragile. And so when he and Woohyun were struggling by the goalpost during a corner kick, Sunggyu slammed his hand against the post. And the skin broke. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem. A regular student would’ve cursed, shook it off, and kept playing soccer with his classmates. But Sunggyu wasn’t a regular student. Once his hand it the post, he let out a howl. A genuine howl. And he began whimpering as he inspected the wound. Unlike humans, when Sunggyu gets a scratch he doesn’t bleed. Instead the scratch peels away at his top layer, his human layer. Now his red fur was sprouting from his knuckles through the tear in his skin. Panicked, Sunggyu quickly covered up his hand and sprinted off of the field, quickly excusing himself as he passed by the teacher. Once safely inside the locker room, Sunggyu leaned against the wall and slid down onto the floor. Panting, he uncovered his hand again. There was more fur. Sunggyu frowned for a second before the wound and wondering how he could sneak bandages from the nurse’s office. He needed to cover this up quickly before anyone could see it.

But then the door slammed open. Sunggyu yelped and hid his injured hand deep within the sleeve of his jacket. Slowly, he looked up to see who it was. Of course, it had to be Nam Woohyun.

“Show me,” Woohyun demanded as he crouched next to Sunggyu on the floor.

Sunggyu’s injured fist clenched in his sleeve. “Why?” the werewolf retorted.

Then, Woohyun lifted his fist right in front of Sunggyu’s eyes. Sunggyu flinched at the sudden move, but then slowly peeled his eyes open, one by one. Woohyun’s fist was bloody too. “I want to see whose injury is worse. I hit my hand too,” Woohyun explained. “So show me,” he urged the other to compete as he leaned over and reached for Sunggyu’s covered hand.

The werewolf leapt to his feet and bared his teeth at the other while bringing his covered fist close to his chest protectively. “Why are you so weird?” he growled at the other. Sunggyu then went to his locker, hoping that he had enough foresight to cram bandages in there months earlier. He didn’t. Sunggyu slammed the locker closed in frustration, only to see Woohyun’s grave face right next to him.

“You’re weirder,” Woohyun retorted.

“What?” Sunggyu mumbled as he tried to recover the breath he’d just lost. He looked at the other incredulously. “You’re the one who wants to compare cuts.” This was one contest that neither of them wanted to win.

Woohyun stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and his gaze flittered over to the door. “That’s only because…” his voice fell into silence. His attention now was solely focused on that door.

But now he had all of Sunggyu’s attention to deal with. “Because what?” the werewolf asked.

“Listen. I’ll ask you this only once,” Woohyun declared and faced Sunggyu again. “You better answer quickly because we don’t have much time. The rest are coming.”

And Sunggyu knew it. With his sharp ears, he could hear the others running down the hall. “You’re wasting time now. Just ask!” Sunggyu raised his voice. With the footsteps coming closer, getting louder, his heart started racing too, thumping in his ears.

“Are you evil?”

“What?” Sunggyu blubbered. Woohyun didn’t just ask him that. Sunggyu was just imagining things. The werewolf was about to ask the other to repeat the question, but their classmate burst through the doors and Woohyun turned to greet them, as he usually did. He then walked over to his friend, Myungsoo, and asked how the game ended. Dongwoo then came up to Sunggyu and asked about his hand, if he wanted to go to the nurse. Sunggyu just nodded, but his eyes drifted over to his rival, who was chatting happily about the game.

Nam Woohyun…does he know?

Sunggyu didn’t have the time to spare on such thoughts. Nam Woohyun, like always, just knew how to get under his skin. That’s all it was. And Sunggyu soon forgot about it as the day went on, lessons happened, and new competitions between the rivals took place. Who could balance their pens the best on their upper lip? Woohyun. Who could finish their Calc test the fastest (and later who got the highest score)? Sunggyu (and maybe Sunggyu again). Who reached the bus stop first at the end of the day? Sunggyu, but he really had good reason to rush home today. Tonight was an important night for him. It was a full moon, and he was ill-prepared for it. He had to go to the fortuneteller’s before the sun set.

Ever since Sunggyu was born, his family had been seeking advice from fortunetellers and shamans about his “condition.” And as long as Sunggyu could remember, he’d been going to this one fortuneteller specifically. He didn’t know her name. She said it was forbidden to be spoken by a human tongue (a werewolf’s too), that she’d lose her powers if he knew. And so Sunggyu didn’t want to know because she was the real deal. She was really magic.

As magical as she was, she couldn’t cure Sunggyu’s condition or knew why he was the way he was. There were some things that only the gods were privy to, to use her own words. So she couldn’t cure Sunggyu, but she could provide a “quick fix,” a charm that would lock the beast inside of him every full moon. And because of her, Sunggyu hadn’t traned in years. He was grateful for that. He’d be thankful to this nameless granny for the rest of his life.

Although, he was getting fed up with her today.

She wouldn’t give the charm to him outright, even though he was obviously there for the charm and she was well aware that he was short on time. She made him sit down, pushing him onto the cushion on the floor, and then she walked over to the other side of the small table and sat down.

“We only have an hour until the sun sets,” he reminded her. He tried his best not to sound irritated, but he could feel his lip curl upwards as he spoke.

The granny nodded slightly and swayed forwards and backwards, inhaling deeply and rhythmically. “The scent,” she murmured. “It was faint, but the scent surrounding you is getting stronger. Yes. Yes.” She then stopped swaying and cocked her head. “But what is it?”

“Well,” Sunggyu began nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “I am seventeen. I’m…going through some changes.”

“No,” the fortuneteller quickly rejected. “It’s not yours. It’s someone else’s.” Her eyes widened. “Samjokgu,” her voice as dark as the room, which was lit only by flickering candles.

“Huh?”

“Sam-jok-gu,” she repeated the name again slowly. She gestured over to him. “You’re clouded in his scent. Yes, he’s been tracking you for a while. I noticed the change in your scent for the last few years. But now it’s become stronger, more distinct,” she explained. “He’s getting closer to you.”

“What?!” Sunggyu sputtered, blinking rapidly. I’ve been tracked for years, and now she tells me? He bit that complaint back and instead, sputtered. “How? What is he?”

The granny closed her eyes again and turned her head towards the wall, as if she’d heard something from over there. And Sunggyu sat there patiently as she “listened” (and ignored the teen wolf). “You’ll meet with him soon,” she finally spoke.

“Soon?” Sunggyu repeated in disbelief. “But to-tonight is the full moon!” He jumped up from the cushion and his hand dug into his pocket, searching for his wallet. “Ah, I’ll definitely need the charm. It’s the same as last time, right?”

The fortuneteller opened her eyes again, her gaze falling upon the frantic boy, but she remained calm and still as stone. “No,” fell from her lips.

Sunggyu froze and his jaw dropped. “You raised prices again?!” he exclaimed.

The woman shook her head and a small smile spread across her face. “No, no charm. I’m not giving you a charm,” she announced, waving her hand in the air.

“Why not?” Sunggyu whimpered. He definitely needed the charm now if this guy was on his trail. He couldn’t change.

Slam! The fortuneteller’s hand fell against the table. “You have to meet with Samjokgu in your wolf form,” she insisted.

Sunggyu pouted. “Why?”

“Samjokgu is a dispeller of evils, imbued with divine power from the gods themselves. He can see straight through all disguises. And he was able to defeat the great gumiho Daji with a single bite,” she revealed. “If he bites you, it might chase the wolf right out of you.”

Sunggyu hung his head, thinking it over for a few seconds. Then he looked at her again out of the corner of his eye. “But…but will it hurt? What if it kills me?” he asked. No matter how he looked it, being bit by this creature didn’t sound painless. Even imaging sharp teeth sinking into his flesh…oh, that gave him shivers. He looked at the granny for answers but se only shrugged in response. “Do you not care?” he blurted out.

“Sunggyu,” the fortuneteller called to him in a chiding tone. “You asked me how to get rid of the curse. You didn’t ask me how to get rid of the curse and live.”

“Forget it. And forget Sammi-gu!” Sunggyu yelled.

“SamJOKgu!” she corrected him (as if it mattered).

“Yea, forget that thing and just give me the charm,” he begged. His wallet was in his hands and he was already pulling out the money for the charm.

“No,” the fortuneteller denied him once again.

“Why not?”

Her hand fell against the table again. And again, as if she wanted to slam this sentiment into his head. “He has caught your scent! Be it this month or next or years from now. He will hunt you down. Be brave! And confront your destiny head-on,” she tried to urge him, goad his pride.

But it didn’t work. “No thank you,” Sunggyu snapped. His eye caught a yellow slip of paper with red ink painted on it. Assuming it was his charm (who else would’ve she prepared a charm for on the night of a full moon), Sunggyu grabbed it and threw the usual payment on the table. “I’ll take this!” he announced before darting out the door.

Sunggyu would rather commit (almost) theft than to be hunted down by this Samjokgu character. Sunggyu wasn’t a beast that need to be taken down. He was just a teenager trying to live. And live he will!

In an attempt to shake Samjokgu from his trail, Sunggyu took the long way home, the obscenely long way, walking past his own house a few times before finally going in. But Sunggyu felt like he was still being followed, still being watched. But every time he turned around, no one was there, man or beast. He was alone.

When he finally came home, Sunggyu announced himself, and his mom came rushing out from the kitchen. “Did you get it? Did you get the charm?” she asked.

Sunggyu pulled the yellow paper from his pocket and handed it to her. “I think so,” he answered. “This was all I could get.”

“Hm?” Her eyes widened as she studied the script on the paper. She flipped it over to see the other side and flipped it back around. “Sunggyu, this is a love charm,” she revealed. “Why did she give you this?”

“I don’t know,” Sunggyu murmured while rubbing his temples. Of course, he picked up the wrong one. It was just his luck.

His mother handed back the charm to him. “Place it where your heart feels most at rest, and you’ll find love this year,” she instructed him.

Sunggyu scoffed as he took the charm back, cramming it carelessly into his pocket. “Doubt it,” he sneered.

“These charms have been keeping you safe. Don’t doubt them,” she warned him. She then sighed and pat him a few times on the cheek before reaching up to the top of his head. “I’ll tell your father that we’ll have our cute, little puppy again tonight.” His mother then left, probably to call his father.

Sunggyu heaved a great sigh, feeling embarrassed. He hadn’t traned in years. He couldn’t even remember what it felt like, how he managed to do it before. And worst of all, he’d be traning when there was a hunter nearby. But Samjokgu was a dispeller of evils, and Sunggyu didn’t think he was evil. He thought, but he didn’t know for sure. He didn’t now what the animal inside of him was capable of. Maybe that was why Samjokgu was after him. That guy knew something that Sunggyu didn’t. Maybe Sunggyu was evil after all.

With heavy feet he shuffled into his bedroom. Once inside, he collapsed onto the floor on top of his bed. He rolled onto his back and struggled to take out the crumpled charm from his pocket. “Well,” he mumbled to himself. “Love wouldn’t be a bad thing…especially if I’m going to die.” Sunggyu flipped onto his stomach and stuck the charm against the wall, right above his bed, where his heart felt most at rest. “Please work,” he begged of the charm. “Let me love just once before I die.”

Before the sun set, his parents lined his room with newspaper and locked his bedroom door, shutting him inside. His mom had given him dinner to eat in his room, and she promised to give him more later, in case he was “getting out of hand.” Sunggyu sighed. He’d also caught sight of the tranquilizer in his father’s back pocket. Did they really have those lying around the house because of him? This didn’t put any of Sunggyu’s growing worries to rest. His eyes flittered over to the charm above the wall, as his parents wished him good night. That charm. It was his insurance policy. He couldn’t die tonight. He wouldn’t. He hadn’t met his love yet. He was going to live.

Or that’s what he kept telling himself.

Once the door closed and locked, Sunggyu got up from his bed and walked over to his window. He opened it and stuck his head out, searching for the moon. When he’d caught sight of it a loud howl ripped through his throat.

The beast inside of him had awaken.

And the following morning, the regular, human Sunggyu woke up, and curled up on his bed. He had traned last night for certain. His torn clothes beneath the windowsill were a sure sign of it, but nothing else seemed out of place. Even the newspaper that his parents had laid down was hardly askew. Sunggyu sat up in his bed. Had he just fallen asleep last night? Did nothing else happen? Sunggyu looked at the dish that his parents left behind the night before. Did his parents drug him?

Did it even matter? Sunggyu was alive, and he was happy to be. Samjokgu, whatever he was, didn’t catch him. Sunggyu graciously tapped on the charm hanging on the wall. This love charm was really becoming a good luck charm. Sunggyu hoped to never find love if it meant staying alive.

Nothing had happened to Sunggyu last night, but something had to have happened to Woohyun last night. Dark circles were descending down to Woohyun’s cheeks and his eyes were red. And right as their gazes met for the first time that day, Woohyun immediately dropped his and turned his back towards Sunggyu. His rival wasn’t in the mood for competing today. And Sunggyu was at a loss as for what to do now. So he wavered outside for a few moments before walking inside and straight past Woohyun. If his rival wasn’t going to bother to acknowledge him, then Sunggyu was more than happy to return the sentiment.

However, they couldn’t ignore each other all day. They sat next to each other, be close to one another, be able to smell one another. And Woohyun, he smelled differently today. Sunggyu sniffed loudly once. He then leaned closer to Woohyun and sniffed again.

“What?” Woohyun finally snapped, irritated.

“Do you have a sausage in your pocket?” Sunggyu asked. It was strange. Woohyun wasn’t normally the type to have food on his person. But now, Sunggyu sniffed again. Two, definitely two. Woohyun definitely had two sausages in her pocket.

Woohyun arched an eyebrow. “Why? Do you want it?” he retorted.

Sunggyu shifted in his seat and his lips. He did, but… “No,” he lied.

Woohyun chuckled as he pulled out one of the snacks from his pocket. He showed it to the other. He then quickly moved it over to the right. Sunggyu’s eyes immediately followed it. Then the sausage flew over to the left side. Sunggyu’s head turned towards it. Right, left, right, left, Woohyun swung the snack from side to side, and Sunggyu’s eyes followed it all the while, his mouth watering. Finally it stopped. Woohyun placed the snack on Sunggyu’s desk, chuckling. “Here.”

“Thank you,” Sunggyu happily spoke as he took the sausage. He couldn’t even be mad at his rival for teasing him. That’s what rivals do. But Sunggyu had a treat, and he was happy.

And Woohyun also smiled for the first time that day.

But the smile didn’t last, and Woohyun’s condition seemed to get worse as the days wore on. He fell asleep during lessons and barely moved during gym class, even when they played soccer. Worst of all, the rivalry came to a halt.

At first, Sunggyu thought, “I finally beat him,” and that he’d won out on the rivalry overall. But after a month passed, Sunggyu didn’t feel so much like a winner anymore. He felt like he’d lost and lost something in particular. His days didn’t feel right without the banter and the constant contests and the glaring at each other from across the room. Maybe that’s why he found himself looking more and more for Woohyun, anticipating him, anticipating the old Woohyun to come back and pick up the gauntlet. Sunggyu would grow excited whenever Woohyun approached and disappointed when his (former) rival would subsequently ignore him.

Maybe it was just a force of habit for Sunggyu to always be anticipating Woohyun, or maybe because Woohyun was always carrying sausages in his pockets now. But Sunggyu was always waiting for something to happen, anything. It never did.

Did Woohyun decide to grow up and focus on his studies? They were going to be third years soon. College exams were quickly approaching. The rest of their classmates were slowly growing more serious too (the ones that hadn’t given up hope of going to a university). Maybe it was time for Sunggyu to grow up as well and say goodbye to their silly rivalry.

Also, Woohyun wasn’t the only one ignoring Sunggyu’s wishes. The fortuneteller was acting strange as well. For the next full moon, she refused to give Sunggyu a charm again, and he ended up borderline stealing one again. This time, it was a charm that prevented hair loss, and so he gave it to his father. The following month, the granny was gone. She had put up a sign on her shop saying that she went out to pray. And Sunggyu went home charm-less this time.

But charm or not, it didn’t seem to make a difference. The full moon came and went, and Sunggyu didn’t kill anything or was killed. There weren’t any reports of werewolf sightings on the internet the next day. He was okay, even if his mother did say he’d been going outside every time he traned. Samjokgu hadn’t found him yet. No one did. And Sunggyu always returned home safely and a bit tired. But he was beginning to push his luck.

Every morning and every night, Sunggyu would tap the love charm that was still hanging on the wall and say a short pray. Please don’t let me find love yet. Let me live a bit longer. Don’t let Samjokgu find me.

But time was quickly passing. The year would be up before he knew it. Soon he’d be traning for the fourth time because once again the fortuneteller would refuse to give it to him. Soon he’d find love, and then soon after that, he’d be at the mercy of Samjokgu. Soon Sunggyu was going to die.

He was wrong.

Woohyun wasn’t focusing on his studies. Their English test came back, and when Sunggyu leaned over to check out his rival’s grade, Woohyun received the lowest mark that he had all year. It was as if he didn’t study at all. What is he doing? Sunggyu thought as Woohyun noticed the other glimpsing at his paper and folded it, shoving it into his desk. Woohyun then laid his head against the desk and fell asleep. Something is wrong with him.

After class was let out for lunch and their classmates were milling about, Sunggyu put his hand on Woohyun’s shoulder, stopping him from leaving to eat with his friends. Woohyun sat back down in his seat and turned towards the other, obviously agitated. “Hey,” Sunggyu began anxiously. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Woohyun lied. He had to be lying. There were marks on his cheeks from the sleeve of his sweater which he’d been sleeping against for the past half an hour, and yet in spite of that nap, Woohyun still couldn’t keep his eyes open as he was staring at Sunggyu right now.

“You don’t look fine,” Sunggyu retorted. “You’re not acting fine. You aren’t fine.”

Woohyun scoffed. “What do you care? Are we friends or something?”

“No,” Sunggyu quickly answered. “We’re rivals.” Woohyun chuckled at that amendment. Sunggyu did too. It was the first time either of them had said that to each other, and it sounded weird to do so. But Sunggyu tried to play it off casually, “So what’s up with you lately? You’re slacking. I’m kicking your all over the place. What’s going on?”

Woohyun froze for a second. When he moved again, he faced the chalkboard, chewing on his lip. “You…” he began. His voice soon dropped afterwards, but his eyes were shooting towards every direction in the room. Woohyun didn’t want to say it, whatever it was, which only made Sunggyu more curious.

“What?” Sunggyu prodded the other. “What about me?”

Woohyun looked at the other out of the corner of his eye. “You look like a giant corgi,” he finally confessed.

“What?!” That was one of the last things he’d expected the other to say.

But the random confession must have given Woohyun confidence because he leaned in closer to Sunggyu and whispered, “I didn’t know that werewolves didn’t have tails. It makes you look like a giant corgi, especially with this.” Woohyun then reached up and played with Sunggyu’s red locks between his fingers. “Is this natural?”

Sunggyu’s jaw had been hanging wide open, rendering him unable to speak, up until this point. After Woohyun touched him, it snapped Sunggyu out of it. This is really happening. This isn’t my imagination. “You saw me? You know? You know about me?” Sunggyu sputtered quickly under his breath.

“Yea,” Woohyun answered, acting as if it was completely normal. “I’m Samjokgu.”

And that was the last thing Sunggyu had ever expected Nam Woohyun to say.

Woohyun really wasn’t the Samjokgu, but a Samjokgu. However, for the sake of ease and the legend, there was only one. In reality, there were many. Every man in Woohyun’s family tree transformed into the magical creature. Currently, there were three: Woohyun, his brother Boohyun, and their father. And the three of them were responsible for ridding all of Korea from evil spirits and creatures. It was a nearly impossible task, but the three of them still did it because this was what they were born to do. And it .

Ever since Woohyun was a child, he could see all of the scary creatures that went bump in the night. And it didn’t help his poor, little, anxious heart that his family lived at a center of spiritual energy, purposefully too. Everyone was constantly surrounded by evil spirits and monsters. The whole world swarmed with them. But Woohyun and his family were the only ones that could see them.

Eventually, Woohyun got used to them. Seeing a ghost was an everyday thing, and having a goblin as a middle school teacher wasn’t as surprising as the pop quizzes he would give. However, that all changed when he entered into high school and his powers matured. Woohyun could now finally transform into Samjokgu. And along with that new power came new responsibilities. Woohyun didn’t have to just learn how to live with these creatures, but he now had to learn how to defeat them.

And the first monster that Woohyun came across after gaining his powers was Kim Sunggyu. It took great amounts of self-control for Woohyun to swallow his impulses and not to bite the werewolf from their very first meeting. Why couldn’t Woohyun just bite him and be done with him? Growing up surrounded by spirits and other mystical beings taught him many things, and one of them was: not all magical/spiritual beings were evil. He surely wasn’t evil. His family wasn’t. The ghost that lived in his closet (Mijoo) was creepy, for sure, but not evil. So Woohyun was more than willing to give Sunggyu a benefit of a doubt (That gumiho of a school nurse, however, he had to get rid of).

Woohyun not only gave Sunggyu a benefit of a doubt, but he also gave the other a hard time. He was the one who started the rivalry between them. He wanted to rile the other up and see if he could get Sunggyu to snap and reveal his true nature. He kept pushing, goading Sunggyu but all the other would do was push him right back. An eye for an eye, fang for a fang. And soon their rivalry became genuine and not just a test (and fun too, though Woohyun wouldn’t admit it).

Even though Woohyun was pretty sure that Sunggyu was a decent person after a year of their rivalry passed, he couldn’t be certain. He had to meet the other in his werewolf form in order to truly know. Through Dongwoo, Woohyun had gotten Sunggyu’s address, acting as if he’d use it for some prank (and Dongwoo was more than willing to aid him in it, one of their only classmates who found the rivalry entertaining). Woohyun then stalked Sunggyu’s home every full moon, waiting for the werewolf to come out. But the werewolf never did. And so at the of midnight, Woohyun would go home.

But then, about four months ago, Sunggyu poked his head out of the bedroom window and his face basked in the glow of the moonlight. Red hair, fur sprouted on his cheeks, all over his face. His nose grew into a long muzzle and his ears came to a point. A howl ripped through the air, and the fully formed werewolf jumped out of the window.

Woohyun cautiously took one step closer to the beast, who was looking around and sniffing the cold night’s air. The wolf didn’t sense him. Woohyun took another step, and then another, and froze when the werewolf snapped his head and stared at Woohyun head-on. The black lips curled up, exposing his fangs, but there was no sound, nothing expect the sound of Woohyun’s heart beating rapidly in his chest.

Then the wolf took off, sprinting right at him. Woohyun shut his eyes, covering his face with his arms, bracing himself for the worst, for fangs to sink into his flesh. But it never came. All Woohyun felt was a slight prodding at his side. Woohyun lowered his arms, slowly opening his eyes, and looked at the beast, who was sitting down and staring right back at him with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“Huh?” Woohyun muttered, letting his arms fall to the side. “What do you want?”

Did Sunggyu understand him? Or was he just impatient? Because now the werewolf was nudging at Woohyun’s side with his muzzle and then barking at him. The third time Sunggyu pressed at his side, Woohyun finally got it. It was his pocket. Since he’d always stake out the house until late at night, Woohyun would buy snacks. And now he had a couple of sausages in his pocket. Woohyun smirked to himself as he pulled one of the snacks out. “Do you want this?” he asked excitedly as he flaunted it to the other. The werewolf immediately sat down, his jowls and staring intently at the snack. Woohyun laughed and broke the sausage in half. He tossed one half in the air. Sunggyu jumped up to catch it, but he missed and the snack fell to the ground. He didn’t care. He was an animal. He ate it anyways. After gobbling that half down, the werewolf sat up again, waiting patiently for Woohyun to give him the other half. Woohyun pretended to throw it a couple of times, laughing whenever Sunggyu had leaned back to pounce or went to go find it. After the third time, the werewolf barked at him, and so Woohyun decided to be nice and threw the sausage as far as he could and watched with an amused smile as Sunggyu bounded after it.

“So he’s really good after all,” Woohyun spoke to himself. He then caught something out of the corner of his eye, bright and florescent, a tennis ball. “I wonder.” He walked over to the ball and picked it up. He then turned to the werewolf. “Hey Gyu!” The red wolf looked over at him. “Do you want to play fetch?”

Like most dogs, Gyu-wolf didn’t understand the concept of fetch at first. He wanted Woohyun to throw the ball, but he didn’t want the other to take it from him either. The ball was his, and Woohyun couldn’t have it. Most of the time, Woohyun had to trick Sunggyu into dropping the ball, but eventually Sunggyu understood that it was okay for Woohyun to have the ball because he was going to give it back. But soon after learning that, Sunggyu got bored with the game and laid down in the middle of the road. Woohyun tried to goad the other into playing again, rolling the ball right past the wolf, pressing the ball against his mouth, but Sunggyu would always respond in the same way. He’d look up at Woohyun and sighed.

“Well, if you’re not going to play anymore, I’m going home,” Woohyun announced and turned to walk away. A few seconds later, Woohyun heard claws clicking against the pavement. Woohyun craned his neck to glance behind him, and sure enough Sunggyu had gotten up to follow him. He chuckled to himself and began walking around in a large circle. For the first couple of rotations, Sunggyu had followed right in his footsteps. But then he wizened up and turned around to cut off Woohyun, startling him. Woohyun clenched his heart and fell to the ground. He was shocked, yes, but not that shocked. He was playing it up, curious to see what the wolf would do. And once he had fully laid down on the ground with his eyes closed and tongue rolled out, Sunggyu began prodding at Woohyun’s cheeks with his wet nose and barking at him. Woohyun quickly “revived” and pushed the other away. “I’m okay. I’m okay,” he assured the other. Sunggyu sat down and stared at him as Woohyun sat up with him. Timidly, stopping a few times, Woohyun reached over to pet the wolf. The red hair was coarser than he’d thought it’d be and slick too. And there was a lot of it, a lot of fur. Woohyun chuckled again. No wonder why he’s so self-conscious about his hair. There’s tons. But it was pretty, for a werewolf, and it felt nice between his fingers. Woohyun’s hand traveled down the wolf’s back and he patted him heartedly a few times. “Okay, Sunggyu. It’s time for you to go home. It’s getting late,” Woohyun stated. Sunggyu cocked his head. He didn’t understand. “H-O-M-E! You know, the place over there. Go home, Sunggyu!” The wolf looked over to where Woohyun was pointing and then back to the other expectantly. Woohyun shook his head and got up. “Okay, guess I’ll have to bring you there myself.”

Woohyun walked up to Sunggyu’s house and made the wolf sit at the doorstep. After ringing the doorbell, Woohyun began to walk away, and the werewolf tried to follow him. “Stay! No! Stay, Sunggyu. Stay!” he commanded the other in a low whisper as he walked further and further away. Sunggyu was torn and wavering at his spot, until the door opened. Sunggyu ran right inside. If he had a tail, Woohyun would be sure that it would be wagging. The wolf was now happily inside, but he didn’t forget about Woohyun. Sunggyu ran to the window and pushed back the curtain so that he could look out. Once he caught sight of Woohyun, he began barking again. Woohyun saw a shadow approaching from behind the wolf, one of his parents who wanted to see what their son was barking at. Woohyun transformed himself and ran away.

So in the end of his investigation, Woohyun concluded that Sunggyu was harmless and poor at fetch. However, every full moon Woohyun found himself coming back to that house and playing with the red wolf. It was his little secret, his little retreat from hunting down other mythical creatures and biting them (and some of them tasted really bad, especially the ghosts, like rotting and dusty flesh). It was one of the few times that Woohyun was grateful for his gift because now he had, essentially, a large dog to play with and to blow off steam with. And Sunggyu seemed to like it too, although he wouldn’t remember any of it, which came as a surprise to Woohyun when the following Monday at school Sunggyu acted the same as usual. But everything wasn’t the same between them.

Woohyun didn’t know what to do with himself around the human Sunggyu. If Sunggyu had been evil, it would’ve been easier. Woohyun would’ve bit him, and Sunggyu would be gone by now. But now Woohyun knew that Sunggyu was good. He couldn’t bite him. But he wanted to tell Sunggyu about everything, about Samjokgu, about werewolves, about it all. Woohyun finally had someone outside of his family to talk about it with! However, he couldn’t find the timing. He didn’t know how to bring it up. Sunggyu was so guarded about his personal life, and they didn’t have a relationship like that to begin with. If only if Sunggyu could remember…

It didn’t help that Woohyun was also given more shifts to patrol around to hunt down creatures. A few nights a week, he stay up and eat demons. He hated it. He hated life now. And he was starting to really hate Sunggyu right now for not remembering.

Woohyun just wanted someone to talk with, about all of this. But he had no one, so he wasn’t talking very much at all, which wasn’t like himself at all.

But then, Sunggyu talked to him, asked about how he was. And Woohyun finally told him. And Sunggyu ran away screaming.

A half an hour later, Sunggyu came shuffling back into the room. Their lunch break was nearly over, and classes were about to start again. Woohyun was wondering if the other would ever come back (and how he’d act when he did). Sunggyu was walking towards his desk with his hands in his pockets, acting completely normal, up until that point. He then proceeded to take every book, notebook, and folder from out of his desk and made a barrier with them to protect him from his deskmate.

Woohyun slinked over and slid into his seat. “What? Are you scared?” he asked, craning his neck to peer over the barrier.

Sunggyu flinched at his voice. “C-can you really kill things with just one bite?” he stammered.

“Eung.”

Sunggyu glared at Woohyun as his hands wrapped around the bottom of the seat. He picked his chair up and moved to the very edge of his desk. “Stay there,” he ordered the other. “Keep this much space between us at all times.”

Woohyun scoffed. “I won’t bite you.” Sunggyu didn’t seem convinced by that promise. “You’re harmless,” Woohyun added.

“How do you know?” Sunggyu retorted. He placed a hand over his chest. “I’m a ferocious beast.”

Woohyun scoffed again. “I’ve been playing fetch with you for the last couple of months,” he revealed. “Ferocious beast my .” He then placed his own hand over his chest. “I taught you how to roll over.” He chuckled at Sunggyu’s shocked face. “Are you really a werewolf or a werepuppy?” Woohyun teased.

“Werewolf!” Sunggyu snapped back in a hushed whisper. “I could kill someone if I wanted to. I just…don’t,” his voice dropped as he went on. His eyes fell onto the desk. “I’m domesticated,” he murmured barely moving his lips.

“See. You’re harmless,” Woohyun’s voice was laced with laughter. Suggyu lifted his head to glare at him again. “People with malicious spirits turn into evil monsters. You don’t have that,” Woohyun explained.

Sunggyu’s eyes softened. “What kind of spirit do I have?” he asked.

Woohyun shrugged. “Not an evil one, and that’s good enough for me,” he responded.

“Good,” Sunggyu spoke like a sigh. He seemed relieved. Does he believe me? Woohyun thought. He began smiling at that thought. Sunggyu took down a part of the barrier. “Did I really roll over?” he whispered.

“Eung. I took a video,” Woohyun admitted as he was pulling out his phone from his pocket. He then pulled up the video and showed it to Sunggyu, while leaning over his shoulder and watching along.

Woohyun had been holding the phone, filming, and so all that was on screen was the large, red wolf, who was on his back tossing from side to side, like a turtle on its back. Then a hand appeared, helping the wolf to complete the roll. When the werewolf landed back on his feet, he looked at the camera (at Woohyun) excitedly. “Wow! Good job, Gyu! You finally got it!” the Woohyun in the phone praised. “Who’s a good boy?”

Sunggyu lunged over and grabbed at the phone. “Delete it! Delete it now!” he growled.

“No!” Woohyun fought back, trying to push the over away. “It’s my favorite.”

Sunggyu stilled. “Are there more?”

“N-no,” Woohyun stumbled through his lie.
“There are, aren’t there?” Sunggyu caught him by his tail. “Yah!” He grabbed at his collar. “Delete them all!” Woohyun then pretended to snap at him, clanking his teeth together. Sunggyu immediately let him go and scooted away, sulking. “Do whatever you want,” he grumbled.

Woohyun smirked. This was going to be fun.

This is torture, Sunggyu thought as he fell onto his bed. Samjokgu…this whole time…was he just playing with me? And how the Hell was Nam Woohyun a great dispeller of evils? The boy himself was an evil (at least he was to Sunggyu now). Will…will he really not bite me? Sunggyu sat up straight as he mulled it over. Well, it had been years since they met. Woohyun had known this whole time. Woohyun hadn’t told anybody else this whole time. And Woohyun hadn’t bit him yet. Actually, Woohyun had played with Sunggyu as a werewolf (which would explain why he was so exhausted after every full moon). Woohyun thought he was good. Maybe Woohyun is good too.

“Aish!” Sunggyu cursed as he ruffled his hair. All of this was making his head spin. When he opened his eyes again, they fell onto the bright yellow charm, still hanging right above his bed. His fingers went to grip the top of this. “Should I take this down now? He said he wouldn’t…but…” Sunggyu’s voice dropped along with his hand.

He left the charm on the wall. A little love never hurt anybody anyway.

The next day, Sunggyu went to school on his guard. He didn’t completely trust Woohyun yet. And Samjokgu only proved him right to act that way. When Sunggyu reached into his desk, he found something that only Nam Woohyun could’ve put in there. Sunggyu growled lowly and pulled it out, throwing it on top of his desk.

“What the Hell is this?” he asked his deskmate who was just sitting down. It was a dog collar, large enough for his own neck, leopard print, with tags on it. Sunggyu glanced down at the tags and growled again. One of them read “KkyuKkyu,” and the other had a phone number that he’d never seen before, which meant that it could only belong to one person.

“I was thinking, the next time you change, you should wear this,” Woohyun explained in a quiet voice. His finger looped around the collar. He picked it up and smirked while looking at it. “You know, in case you got lost or stuck in a ditch or something. I got you an animal print because you’re so ferocious...and it was on sale.”

The werewolf ignored the last comment. “But why is your phone number on it?” Sunggyu retorted, pointing at the tag.

“Who better to look after you than me?” Woohyun replied, his smile grew wider. “If you get out of hand, I can just…” He snapped his teeth together and chuckled when Sunggyu jumped in his seat. “Besides, I’ve always wanted a dog, but my parents always said no.”

“I’m not a dog! I’m a…” Sunggyu realized he was shouting. He swallowed harshly and then chewed on his lips while he averted his gaze. “A human being,” he finally finished. He then pointed to the collar. “This is demeaning, and you’re a jerk.” He got up from his seat. “I really thought you’d understand,” he grumbled as he gathered up his things. After zipping up his bookbag, he raised his gaze, glaring fiercely at the other. His glare grew sharper as he pulled himself up straight. “And next full moon, don’t you dare play with me. Don’t even come near me. I’ll bite you. I swear to god I will,” he threatened. He then he began to walk away. But after a few steps, he turned back around and stomped towards Woohyun. “And it’s an akita! I look like an akita! Corgis have short, stubby legs. Mine are nice and long,” he hissed. “See!” he shouted as he pretended to kick at the other, stopping just millimeters away from Woohyun. Samjokgu flinched. Sunggyu put his foot back down smiling smugly. “Who’s scared now?” he retorted, raising both his hands up and tilting his chin up before turning around and going to sit by Dongwoo in the back of the classroom.

Woohyun clenched his fist around the collar tightly as he watched Sunggyu sat down. It was time to show the werewolf what he was really made of.

“Mom, do you think I should get tags?” Sunggyu asked when his family was gathered at the table for dinner.

“What?” she blubbered, disbelieving her ears.

“You know, in case I get lost or stuck in a ditch or something after traning,” Sunggyu responded.

His mother cocked her head and cast a glance at his father as she concluded, “It’s…definitely something to consider.”

The next day, Sunggyu didn’t really want to go to school. His teacher had been nice yesterday, letting him sit with Dongwoo, but after class, his teacher took him aside and told him to sort out whatever issue that he had with Woohyun. He’d have to sit next to the jerk today. Sunggyu stopped walking, threw his head back, and groaned. The fortuneteller said that he wasn’t cursed, but Sunggyu was really living a cursed life. But, Sunggyu supposed it was better than the alternative, not living, which he’d been afraid of recently. And there was still the promise of love in the near future. Sunggyu just hoped that didn’t end up being a bust too.

Sunggyu let out a heavy sigh and looked back down at his feet. He was about to take another step, but he stopped again. There was a dog sitting right in front of him right now. A sapsali with long black hair hanging over its eyes and a bright red collar around his neck. “Huh? What are you doing? Who owns you?” Sunggyu asked as he knelt right in front of it. “You must know what I am. A kindred spirit,” he whispered as he pat the dog’s head. The sapsali then stood up, and it was then when Sunggyu noticed that the dog only had three legs, two hind legs and only one front. “Whoa! Are you okay?” Sunggyu asked. The dog didn’t respond. Of course it didn’t. It was just a dog. Sunggyu immediately searched for the tags, hidden in the shaggy fur. “Ah here it is,” he muttered as he found the tag. He then read it. “Samjokgu” was written on the front and directions to a temple were written on the back. Sunggyu flipped the tags back and forth a few times until the realization hit him, and it hit him hard. He fell down onto his , whimpering.

Samjokgu then loomed over him, with his front paw pinning the werewolf to the ground. The dog then began to open its mouth. “Sunggyu! It’s me! Woohyun!”

“Holy !” Sunggyu shouted, slithering out from under the other, trying to get away.

But Samjokgu kept creeping closer and closer. “Why were you running away? Am I scary?” The dog was barking but Woohyun’s voice was coming out. Sunggyu shook his head violently, trying to kept his senses back in order. But he still saw the sapsali, still heard Woohyun’s voice.

“Why are you talking?!” Sunggyu finally asked. Woohyun cocked his head, acting innocent. Sunggyu groaned and got up to walk away. He was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. That dog wasn’t Woohyun, and that dog definitely wasn’t talking.

“Why are you walking away? Are you taking me somewhere? Where are we going?” Sunggyu looked down to see the black sapsali trotting right next to his side.

“Shut up!” Sunggyu snapped at the dog. His eyes darted around. There were a few people out this early in the morning, but the ones that were had their eyes fixed on the high schooler and the three-legged dog. “People are starting to look.”

“Woof!” Woohyun mimicked a dog barking. “Woof!” But it still sounded too human

“What kind of bark is that?” Sunggyu whispered.

“Ba-bark?” Woohyun tried again, stammering through it, unsure.

“That’s even worse,” Sunggyu murmured with a shake of his head. “Follow me,” he ordered and waved at the dog. He then darted into a nearby alley. “Hurry. Change back,” Sunggyu insisted with a stamp of his foot.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Woohyun gave an embarrassed chuckle, which was strange to hear coming from a dog. It was like he was a hyena instead. “I don’t have clothes,” he admitted.

Sunggyu sighed and brought his book bag in front of him. He ped it and took out his gym clothes. He then threw them at the black dog. “I’ll turn around so you can change. Hurry up!” he said as he turned around. His back might’ve been turned towards Woohyun, but he wasn’t done talking, “Aish! Why did you do this if you didn’t have any clothes? Were you trying to scare me? Were…are you going to bite me?”

“Not if I don’t have to,” Woohyun replied. A hand then clapped onto Sunggyu’s shoulder. He jumped up. “You can turn around now.”

Sunggyu spun around and stepped away from the other. “Woohyun, what are you doing?” he asked as if the other were crazy.

“I wanted to show you that I understand,” (now human) Woohyun responded with a sad smile, sad that Sunggyu didn’t see his intentions. “I know what it’s like to be a dog,” he joked.

Sunggyu scoffed. “I’m a werewolf. You’re a dog,” he pointed out.

“Do you want me to bite you?” Woohyun retorted.

Sunggyu shook his head violently. “I’m just saying. We’re a bit different, but…” he tried to explain himself with the warmest smile that he could muster. “It’s nice to have someone who understands.” No one else Sunggyu knew could relate to him on that level. No one else knew what it was like to have a beast inside of them. Woohyun did though.

“It is!” Woohyun agreed happily.

They then smiled at each other for a few seconds, the both of them basking in the promise of a new relationship. But then Sunggyu remembered where they were supposed to be. “School!” he exclaimed. And with that the both of them darted out of the alley and headed towards the school. As they were running, something red caught his eye. “Yah yah yah! Take this off.” He stopped the both of them and hooked his finger underneath Woohyun’s collar.

“Oh right,” Woohyun muttered as he took the collar off. “Hey! Race you!” he suggested and took off before Sunggyu could agree to it. But Woohyun knew that the other would anyway.

And just like that, their rivalry was back on.

When they sat down at their desks, there was no barrier, no collar, no awkwardness between them. Everything was as it used to be. They even did their usual staring contest. Everything was as normal as it could be for a werewolf and a mystical three-legged dog.

That was until Sunggyu got a papercut. Fur was blooming in between the small split, making it wider and traveling down his finger. Sunggyu cursed under his breath as he wrapped his finger tightly with his other hand. He looked around himself nervously. Maybe he could excuse himself and go buy a band-aid or…

“Did you get a cut?” Woohyun asked.

“Yea,” Sunggyu admitted. “It’s a papercut, but it’s getting bigger.”

Woohyun looked down at Sunggyu’s covered finger and then back up at the other. “This is only going to be weird if you make it weird,” he hushed.

“What?”

“Hand,” Woohyun commanded, offering his own hand. Sunggyu just stared at the hand blankly. “Aish! Just give it to me,” Woohyun lost his patience and grabbed the other’s hand. He pried Sunggyu’s hand off of the other, freeing the furry finger, for only a second. Woohyun placed the finger in his mouth and swiped his tongue around it. Sunggyu didn’t know how to react at the sudden gesture. When he finally realized what was happening, he was going to tug it out, but Woohyun pulled the finger out of his mouth before Sunggyu could. And the finger was normal and hairless. “Good as new,” Woohyun announced proudly.

“Wow,” Sunggyu blubbered in disbelief. There was an amused smile on his face as he studied the finger. There wasn’t a hair in sight. “How did you know that was going to work?”

“I didn’t. I just guessed,” Woohyun admitted quietly. He tried to keep his face straight, but the tips of his ears were turning red. He was embarrassed, probably as embarrassed as Sunggyu felt right now too.

The smile fell away from Sunggyu’s face. He grimaced and wiped his hand on Woohyun’s blazer. “You’re weird,” Sunggyu hissed and brought his hands back in front of him.

“At least I don’t bleed fur,” Woohyun retorted and stuck out his tongue.

The two of them didn’t say a word to each other for the rest of the day. It had become awkward again. Sunggyu couldn’t even look at Woohyun, or his finger. It felt weird now, his finger, the atmosphere, all of him. But things soon changed as he was packing up his bag at the end of the day. He was stuffing worksheets into his bag and one of the edges slid across his finger, slicing it. Red fur sprouted out of the tip of his finger. Sunggyu covered his finger with his hand and spun around towards his deskmate. “Woohyunnie,” he called out to the other, smiling sheepishly.

“What?” Woohyun muttered. But after he faced the other, he noticed Sunggyu holding his finger again. “Again?” he asked with a scoff.

“Just one more time,” Sunggyu begged as he slid back into his seat. “Just one more.” He was now pressing his finger against the other’s lips.

Woohyun’s eyes widened as he pulled his head (and lips) away. “This is the last time,” however he still agreed to help the other. He then took the book in front of him and propped it up. He hid behind it, his head hovering lowly over the desk. Sunggyu lowered his head as well. He then put his injured finger into Woohyun’s open mouth.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Nothing!” Sunggyu and Woohyun immediately answered, although Woohyun’s voice was muffled. Sunggyu’s finger was still in his mouth, and the book fell away, revealing the whole scene to Myungsoo who had the misfortune to approach their desks at this time.

Myungsoo shook his head and walked away. “You guys are weird.”

They were weird, complete weirdoes, but weirdoes that understood each other. Now they not only competed against each other, but they also talked with each other. They talked to great extents about the pains of being a “mythical” creature. After speaking with Woohyun, Sunggyu’s eyes were opened more to the magical world, seeing things that he hadn’t seen before, like the owner of the stand that they visited outside of the school was a kkangcheoli and had interesting stories to tell after being alive for over 1,000 years. Sunggyu didn’t know if he was as enlightening for Woohyun, but he knew the Samjokgu enjoyed hearing about pains that they both shared (fleas were a real concern for them and also being colorblind).

But there were some pains that weren’t shared between them. “It’s not fair,” Sunggyu blurted out one day as they were sitting at the stand and eating.

“What’s not fair?” Woohyun asked with his mouth full of food.

“When you transform, you’re still…with it. You can think. You can talk. You still remember what happens afterwards. Can transform on your own free will,” Sunggyu lamented. He then sighed and his shoulders sagged. “I can’t do any of that,” he mumbled.

“Yea,” Woohyun paused to swallow. “But I have to spend my life biting evil creatures.” As if for emphasis, he tore at the piece of jokbal with his fangs.

Sunggyu nodded and took a piece for himself. “I guess not remembering isn’t too bad. I’d rather not remember than bite ghosts,” he concluded. He then nudged the other. “Hey. When did you start changing?”

“When I turned 15. It’s a family thing,” Woohyun answered. “Is it genetic for you too?”

Sunggyu pouted and shook his head. “No. No one knows why I’m like this. I’ve been like this since I was born,” he explained and then stuffed his mouth with more food.

“Really?”

“Eung,” Sunggyu hummed, his cheeks stuffed full. He chewed for a bit until he could speak. “I have the pictures to prove it. I’m a little wolf cub in a crib. I was really cute,” he bragged.

Woohyun laughed. “You have to show me sometime,” he said.

“I will,” Sunggyu promised. “Do you really live at that temple on your tags?”

“Yep,” Woohyun replied with a sharp nod.

“What’s that like?”

Woohyun heaved a large sigh and placed his utensils down. He rubbed his tired face. “As bad as you think it is,” he grumbled. “Morning prayers. The chanting. The food, all the vegetables,” he lamented. “They know I’m a dog, but they feed me like a rabbit.”

Sunggyu held in a laugh. It was no wonder why they always went to eat jokbal and why Woohyun always had sausages in his pockets now. With his patrol now, he needed to restore his strength now more than ever. And Sunggyu, well, he was always happy to have an excuse to eat more meat. Speaking of which, “Do you want to eat dinner at my place? My mom feeds me meat,” Sunggyu offered (and bragged).

Woohyun’s eyes lit up. “Can I?”

After they were finished at the cart and with studying a bit more, Sunggyu brought Woohyun to his house for dinner (and meat!). “Mom! Dad!” Sunggyu called his parents as he opened the door. They both came to the door to greet him (much like a sitcom-family in Woohyun’s opinion). Sunggyu then gestured over to Woohyun as he was slipping off his shoes. “I brought a friend over for dinner. This is Nam Woohyun. He’s a dog too!”

His mother’s face lit up. “You made a werewolf friend?” she asked excitedly and gripped at her husband’s arm. It was as if she’d been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“No, m’am. I’m a different kind of dog,” Woohyun responded with a shake of his head. He then held up three fingers proudly. “I have three legs,” he hinted.

The mother’s grip on her husband tightened, and even Sunggyu’s stone-faced dad grew more sullen. “Three?” she repeated.

Woohyun nodded. “Yes, m’am. Three.”

“Samjokgu?!” she exclaimed, taking a step back. Sunggyu’s father stepped back with her, but not until he hooked his finger around Sunggyu’s shirt collar and pulled their son back with him.

“Oh? You know him, Mom?” Sunggyu asked excitedly, not noticing the terror on both of his parent’s faces.

“Do you know?” she turned the question back around.

“Eung,” Sunggyu hummed with a sharp nodded. He then slipped out of his dad’s gripped and returned to Woohyun’s side, putting his hand on the other’s shoulder. “He already told me that he’s not going to bite me,” he tried to allay his parents’ fears, but they still looked worried.

“That’s right,” Woohyun added, defending himself. He grinned warmly at the parents and reached up to pat the werewolf on the head. “He’s a good boy so I’m not going to bite him.”

“Shut up,” Sunggyu snapped back and slapped the hand away. His hand was still on Woohyun’s shoulder and he pulled the other down the hall, past his parents, with him. “Mom, we’re going to go to my room, okay,” he announced as they made their way down.

“Oh, okay. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready,” she anxiously shouted after him. Sunggyu chuckled to himself as he reached his bedroom door. His dad was probably already going for the tranquilizer just in case Woohyun got “out of hand,” which made Sunggyu happy because he only saw it be a ward against him. It was nice to have something scarier in the house than Sunggyu for once.

This was also the first time that Sunggyu had ever had a friend over to his place. It was too risky to have strangers come over. There were dog things and old pictures of Sunggyu in his wolf form all over the house, but no actual dog. People would question it, especially after seeing Sunggyu’s room.

“So this is my room,” the werewolf announced as he opened the door. “Does your room at the temple look like this too?” he asked as he plopped down onto his bed.

Woohyun looked around incredulously. “Your parents make you sleep on a dog bed?”

Sunggyu shook his head adamantly. “It’s not a dog bed. It’s a large, circular futon!” he argued. “And it’s comfy, especially if you curl up like this.” The werewolf showed the other as he curled up into a ball. He glanced up at the other. “It’s not weird at all.”

But it was. And it was a human-sized dog bed. Sunggyu had tried out a real, human bed, but he still preferred this. There were sometimes when he left the animal in him win.

Woohyun plopped down on the floor next to him. “It is,” he teased with a smile.

Sunggyu unfurled himself and sat up. “What do you sleep on?” he tried to change the subject.

“Lately nothing,” Woohyun responded, yawning and rubbing his eyes. “I haven’t been sleeping much.” Even talking about sleep made him tired.

“Oh, I can tell,” Sunggyu blurted out, scooting over and patting the space on the bed besides him, urging Woohyun to sit down with him.

Woohyun graciously accepted, laying down in a ball next to the other. “Really?” he asked through a yawn.

“Yea,” Sunggyu muttered. “You look like you’re about to pass out some days,” he lightened up his serious words with a laugh (he didn’t want Woohyun to think he actually cared…but he did).

“I want to sometimes,” Woohyun admitted, laughing along. He then squirmed and sat up. The atmosphere must’ve been making him anxious too. Also something had caught his eye. Woohyun’s head snapped towards the wall and a sly grin spread across his face. “Why do you have a love charm?” he asked in a teasing tone.

“Why does everyone know what this is?” Sunggyu grumbled lowly, glaring at the charm. He then shifted his glare to the other as he defended himself: “I took it from the fortune teller. I thought if you were going to eat me, I might as well fall in love first.”

“Well, I’m not going to eat you, so you can take it down,” Woohyun told him and was already reaching over Sunggyu in order to take the charm down from the wall.

But the werewolf wouldn’t let him. “Ah! No, no, no!” Sunggyu yelled as he flailed, trying to catch Woohyun’s arms, and when he did, he pinned the other down onto the bed. “Just leave it there,” Sunggyu asked of the other. He then cleared his throat, face heating up, and let Woohyun go. “I can’t believe you were going to ruin my chances at love. What did I ever do to you?” the werewolf tried to joke, narrowing his eyes on the other and pretending to be mad.

“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” Woohyun apologized. His face was growing more and more sullen as he stared at the yellow charm. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it. Sunggyu looked at it too, wondering what was so fascinating about it. “So, is it actually working? Are you in love?” Woohyun asked as they were both staring at it.

“I don’t know,” Sunggyu confessed. He then let out an embarrassed chuckle. “At least I don’t think I am,” he added. To be honest, he hadn’t put much thought into the charm after he found out about Woohyun being Samjokgu, not after the first night. He’d forgotten about it. But now that he was thinking about the charm again, Sunggyu’s mind was running haywire. Was he in love? Did someone love him? Maybe. “I’m starting to think it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now I’m thinking that everyone is in love with me.”

“Like who?” Woohyun asked with a scoff.

“Hyelin, Seyoung…Dongwoo,” Sunggyu listed, adding the last one as a joke (sort of, because the more he thought about Dongwoo, the more Sunggyu saw the possibility of it).

“Dongwoo?” Woohyun repeated.

“Yea, he hugs me a lot. Like a lot a lot,” the werewolf explained. Dongwoo’s skinship with Sunggyu had increased much this year too. Was it possible?

“Eh, he does that to everybody,” Woohyun shut that possibility down. “Even me. I mean, Dongwoo likes you, but not like that.”

“Oh,” Sunggyu conceded with a short nod. He looked over at the other. “What about the others?”

Woohyun gave a small smile and shook his head. “I’m pretty sure Hyelin is seeing someone from that all boys school,” he revealed.

“Oh,” Sunggyu muttered and slumped, eyes cast down to his lap. “I guess no one loves me then.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Woohyun spoke quietly, but Sunggyu’s sharp ears caught it. His head snapped up and his gaze met Woohyun’s. Samjokgu still had that smile on his face. “Your mom loves you,” he teased.

“Shut up,” Sunggyu snapped and hit the other in the arm. Sunggyu was trying to be serious, but trust his rival to use this opportunity to make fun of him. Woohyun tried to lean away from the other, but he couldn’t avoid Sunggyu’s hits. The werewolf just leaned forward and kept on hitting (with a big smile on his face). After receiving much abuse, Woohyun finally snapped at Sunggyu, baring his teeth. And Sunggyu automatically retreated. “Sorry,” the werewolf apologized as he gingerly rubbed the spot on the arm where he was hitting the other.

When Sunggyu’s hand fell away, Woohyun started to rub his sore arm. “What about you?” he muttered, pouting at his arm.

“Huh?”

Woohyun glanced up at the other. “Is there someone that you think you might like?” he asked. His gaze dropped down to his arm again. “Or are you just going to love whoever loves you?”

“Oh, I hadn’t really thought about it like that,” Sunggyu admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. It was warm to the touch, so his hand quickly fell away and down into his lap. “I kind of just thought I’d naturally love whoever loved me,” Sunggyu began. He then cocked his head. “But that doesn’t always happen, does it?” He looked over at Woohyun panicked. “What if someone loves me but I love someone else and that someone else loves someone else who loves someone else?” he added one person into the equation after another. Sunggyu then pointed at the charm. “It only said that I’d find love this year, and not that it’d find me!” His eyes flew over to the wall. “Maybe I should take that charm down,” he concluded, his hand already moving up to take the charm down.

But then a hand covered his. Woohyun pulled Sunggyu’s hand from the wall and quickly let it go. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Samjokgu insisted. “Besides, I’m not going to eat you. You have time to love.”

“Right. Right,” Sunggyu mumbled under his breath. “Thanks for not eating me,” he was surprised that he hadn’t thanked the other for it until now.

Woohyun smiled brightly. “No problem,” he chirped back.

Sunggyu looked away, biting back his own smile from growing too large (once again, he didn’t want the other to think that he cared, or was affected). The werewolf then cleared his throat and pouted. “But if I get my heartbroken. It’s your fault,” Sunggyu told him. He then pointed at the charm. “Because you stopped me from taking it down.”

“Sure. Whatever,” Woohyun replied with a shrug. “I’ll take responsibility.”

“Huh?” Sunggyu hadn’t really expected Woohyun to agree to it.

“Boys! Dinner!” Sunggyu’s mother called out to them. And the two dogs immediately dropped any other thoughts that they had that weren’t about food (MEAT!) and ran out of the room excitedly. If they had tails, they’d surely be wagging.

During his time at Sunggyu’s place, Woohyun could see why Sunggyu ended up the way that he was, not the werewolf part but being good. Sunggyu really was domesticated. Unlike Woohyun who had been a (mostly regular) human his whole life and now was becoming a dog, Sunggyu was more like a dog trying to become human. His parents had been diligent in raising/training him (his sister too, Woohyun just learned the werewolf had a human sister). At home, Sunggyu was a bit more unrestrained, which meant he slipped up fairly often and gave into his primal instincts. His parents kept a spray bottle on the table. And whenever Sunggyu would forgo utensils and eat his food with just his mouth and tongue like a dog, his dad would call out his son’s name and just eye the spray bottle, and Sunggyu would stand up straight again, picking up his utensils. While they were strict with him, it was also obvious that Sunggyu’s parents loved him. They trained him to be human, yes, but they didn’t entirely change him. They let Sunggyu be both a human and a wolf. They didn’t try to hide him entirely. The pictures of the red wolf all over their walls were proof of that.

It was the same yet very different from the house that Woohyun grew up in. His home also embraced his true nature, but also embraced everything magical and spiritual. Woohyun’s upbringing had also been strict, but it was ceremonious. Everything that they did was accompanied by ritualistic words and actions. His parents were loving, but largely absent from his life. His father was fighting demons, and his mother was always tending to the temple and praying. It was rather lonely, whereas it seemed like Sunggyu’s family spent a lot of time together.

Woohyun was jealous. And maybe that’s why his mood noticeably soured as the night went on. Sunggyu kept asking what was wrong, and Woohyun would excuse himself, saying that he was just tired. It was a lie, but Sunggyu seemed to buy it. And after dinner, Sunggyu sent him off so that Woohyun could go home to sleep.

But before he left, Woohyun had a question that he wanted to ask: “Can I see you the next full moon?”

Sunggyu looked taken aback by the question. “When I trane?” he asked for clarification. Woohyun nodded. Apparently the werewolf had already forgotten what he had said days before (and his grudge) because he readily agreed, “Uh, sure, I guess.” He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Why?”

Woohyun shrugged. “It’s fun,” that was part of the reason.

Sunggyu accepted it, pursing his lips as he nodded. “Okay. Just don’t do anything weird,” he warned the other.

“I promise,” Woohyun replied as he slipped on his shoes. “Trust me.” And he thought that Sunggyu was really starting to too.

“Alright, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Sunggyu said as he walked the other up to the door and opened it.

Woohyun grinned and stepped outside. “See you then,” he spoke like a whisper, like it was their secret, and then left.

Woohyun came back though, the next night, when the moon was full and hanging high in the dark blue sky. He waited, leaning against the fence of Sunggyu’s house and throwing a tennis ball up in the air and catching it again. He didn’t have to wait for too long. Woohyun’s timing was getting better, only showing up a few minutes before Sunggyu traned. Soon enough, there was a howl piercing through the air. Woohyun laughed and caught the ball, stuffing it into his pocket. And soon the giant corgi (or bobtailed akita depending on how you looked at him) came bounding out of the house. After meeting several times during these nights, the wolf knew exactly where to find Woohyun and ran right up to him. Woohyun knelt down and opened his arms up to welcome the werewolf with a hug, and Sunggyu ran right into those arms. “It’s good to see you too, buddy,” Woohyun said, giving the other a tight squeeze. He then dropped his arms and fished something from out of his pocket. It was the collar that he’d gotten for Sunggyu a few weeks back. He put it around the wolf’s neck. It fit just right, like it had the time before and the time before that. Woohyun sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and studied the patient beast in front of him. “Why can’t you be like this all of the time?” Woohyun asked the werewolf. Sunggyu tilted his head to the side in response and perked his ears. But Woohyun still didn’t move. He kept looking at the red wolf, sighing again, as a myriad of thoughts darted back and forth in his head. The werewolf then stepped forward and Woohyun’s face. Woohyun wasn’t surprised. It’d happened before. But it did snap him out of his thoughts. He cupped Sunggyu’s face with both of his hands, pulling it away so that they could look at each other eye-to-eye. “Really, why can’t you be like this all the time?” he asked as he played with the wolf’s cheeks, pushing them up. “And you’re not in love with anyone? Hm?” Woohyun stopped abusing the wolf’s face and returned his hands into his pockets. “I know what you really love,” he declared as he stood back up. He took a sausage out of his pocket. Sunggyu immediately sat down with his eyes fixed on the treat. “Gyu, shake,” Woohyun commanded, holding his hand out. Sunggyu leaned back further and further, looking like he might topple over. “No, shake. What are you even doing right now?” Woohyun asked as the wolf brought both paws up to his chest and then put them back down on the ground. “Shake, Sunggyu!” Woohyun lost his patience, knelt down, and picked up one of the paws, shaking it in his hand. With his other hand, he fed the werewolf part of the sausage. “How the Hell do you get better grades than I do? Huh?” Woohyun muttered under his breath as he watched the other his jowls. Then Sunggyu leaned forward and Woohyun’s face again. “Y-yah!” the human yelled with a laugh.

That was the thing about dogs (and apparently werewolves). Those animals aren’t afraid to let their true feelings show. Unlike more “rational” creatures (humans), dogs don’t bury their feelings under heaps of pride and reason. They show that they like you because they do like you. There’s nothing fake about their feelings. It’s all genuine, all real. And so, that meant Sunggyu’s feelings for Woohyun were real too. Sunggyu liked him. But how Sunggyu liked him Woohyun didn’t know. Was it because they were friendly towards each other now? Was it because Woohyun always had treats in his pocket? Was it love?

Woohyun didn’t know. And he also didn’t know how to interpret his own feelings for the werewolf either. He’ll just kiss the top of the giant corgi’s head, trying to give it much thought. Woohyun kissed him because red wolf was being cute. Sunggyu as a wolf was cute, and that’s all it was.

Right?

Sunggyu woke up feeling tired. He wanted nothing more than just to go back asleep. Okay, there was one thing he wanted more. He wanted to remember what he did last night, what he did with Woohyun. Sunggyu’s hand went to his neck. And he wanted to know why the Hell was he wearing a dog collar right now.

Sunggyu rolled to onto his stomach, groaning. Okay, maybe he did know the reason for the last thing. “Aish, Nam Woohyun!”

Tired or not, Sunggyu’s mother still forced him to go to school. It was close to the exam period. He couldn’t afford to miss school. Also there was something that he needed to return. And luckily, Sunggyu caught Woohyun outside of the school’s gates. “This is yours,” Sunggyu mumbled lowly to the other as he shoved the leopard print dog collar at the other’s stomach.

Woohyun took a hold of the collar and looked down at it, turning it in his hands. “It’s dangerous to go around without tags on. People think you’re a stray, and you could end up at a shelter. It happened to my dad a couple of times,” he explained himself in a small voice. He then raised his head again, showing a thin smile. “Even giant corgis, I mean akitas, could get snatched up by animal control,” he joked. Woohyun offered it to the other, letting the collar dangle from the tips of his fingers. “Keep it,” he urged.

“Okay,” Sunggyu gave in and took back the collar. The collar wasn’t meant to be demeaning or to show “ownership.” It was meant to protect him, to show the whole world that Sunggyu was large but not a threat, that he was really domesticated. Sunggyu pulled his bag around and shoved the collar back inside. “Why do you like playing with me so much?” he asked as he turned the bag back around, pulling at the straps at his shoulder. “Wolf me, I mean,” he clarified.

Woohyun shrugged. “It’s fun,” he gave the same reason as a couple of nights ago.

“Can I play with you?” Sunggyu blurted out. Woohyun raised an eyebrow. “As Samjokgu. I wanna see what it’s like,” Sunggyu corrected himself, but Woohyun’s eyebrow only arched higher, and then the other brow followed. “Come on, it’s only fair,” Sunggyu whined.

“Okay, it’s only fair,” Woohyun responded reluctantly. He tucked his lips into his mouth as he thought it over, looking over at the school gates. “Let’s do it today and go to the park after school.” His gaze returned to Sunggyu. “Are you free?”

Sunggyu grinned. “Yea, yea I am.”

When Sunggyu first saw Woohyun as Samjokgu, he was jealous because his rival seemed to be “with it” more mentally. But now seeing Woohyun again as a sapsali, Sunggyu realized that Woohyun wasn’t as “with it” as he thought. In fact Woohyun lost his mind a bit when he was a dog. Case in point, right now, when they were at the dog park, Samjokgu was darting back and forth from one side of the park to the other, shouting whenever he passed by Sunggyu who was standing still.

“Look at how fast I can run!” Woohyun yelled as he went past.

“Look, I’m over here,” he shouted as he when back to the other side.

Back. “Now I’m over here!”

And forth. “Now here!”

Back. “Here!”

And forth. “Yah! Catch me!”

And back again. “You can’t! You can’t catch me! I’m too fast!”

“Are you tired now?” Sunggyu asked when Woohyun walked slowly back and plopped down in front of him, panting heavily.

“Eung,” the sapsali hummed.

Sunggyu pouted as he fished his hand into his pocket. “Then what am I supposed to do with this…ball?” he asked as he pulled out the tennis ball with a flourish.

“Ball?!” Woohyun exclaimed as he got back onto his three paws. “Throw it! You throw the ball!” he barked.

“Okay, I’ll throw it,” Sunggyu promised with a laugh. He then crouched down next to Samjokgu. “But you’ll have to be quiet,” Sunggyu whispered, bringing a finger up to his lips. “More people are coming in, and they’ll flip out if they see a talking dog. So be a good, quiet boy, and I’ll throw the ball.” Woohyun sat down and snapped his panting mouth shut. His eyes were wide and locked on the ball in Sunggyu’s hand. Samjokgu was listening as attentively as he could to the werewolf. “Good boy,” Sunggyu praised, patting his head. “Now…go fetch!” he shouted as he threw the ball as far as he could, and laughed to himself as he watched Woohyun bound after it.

Sunggyu should’ve seen this coming. If Woohyun was a nut for soccer, then Samjokgu would be a nut for fetch. Sunggyu’s arm was starting to hurt from throwing the ball so much, and Woohyun miraculously hadn’t tired yet. But it was fun for the both of them. Sunggyu was starting to see why Woohyun came to play with him every full moon. While Woohyun was chasing after the ball (a little more slowly this time), a middle-aged dog owner came up to talk with Sunggyu. “Is that your dog?” she asked, pointing to the sapsali now picking up the ball in his mouth.

“Uh, um, yes he is,” Sunggyu stammered sheepishly. Woohyun wasn’t his, not like that.

The dog owner leaned in and asked in a low voice as if the dogs could understand (only one could), “What happened to him?”

“Hm?”

“The leg,” she clarified, pointing over at Woohyun.

“Oh, right,” Sunggyu blubbered. He guessed that he’d gotten used to Woohyun like that. After all, Samjokgu wouldn’t be Samjokgu without his three legs. “Woohyunnie was born that way, but it doesn’t slow him down. Sometimes I wish it would,” he joked. The werewolf then looked for the other again, and he clicked his tongue, chidingly after he did. Woohyun had found another ball and was now trying to fit both of them into his small mouth (because what was better than Sunggyu throwing one ball over and over again was Sunggyu throwing two balls over and over again). “Woohyun-ah! What are you going? Get over here!” Sunggyu shouted at him. Surprisingly, the dog dropped both balls and ran over excitedly.

“Oh, he’s very obedient,” the dog owner was impressed. “He must be a smart dog.”

“Eh, he’s not that smart. I scored better than him on the last Calc test,” Sunggyu replied without even thinking. He didn’t realize what he had said until he noticed the confused expression on the lady’s face. “It’s a joke. A joke,” he excused himself. Luckily Woohyun had come to him just in time and saved him from this floundering conversation. Sunggyu ran his hand from the black dog’s head to his back, combing his fingers through the shaggy hair. He then patted the dog on the back a few time. “Come on, let’s go over there,” Sunggyu told him and pointed at a bench nearby. “Bye!” he waved to the lady as they left.

Sunggyu fell into the bench with a groan. He was worn out, and he wasn’t the one who’d been running the entire time. Woohyun trotted along with him and sat right at Sunggyu’s knee. “This was fun, wasn’t it?” Sunggyu muttered. His hand went to the dog’s head again and began playing with the long ears. “It’s nice just to be outside after studying all day. And it’s the same thing every day, day in and day out. It drives me crazy,” Sunggyu continued, pausing to shake his head. “I can see why it’s nice to just come outside and play like this.” His hand was now on the sapsali’s muzzle, running down it and testing the dog’s patience. And the dog lost the last shred of patience it had. It wiggled away from Sunggyu’s touch. “H-hey!” the werewolf blurted out in surprise. Samjokgu was now his hand. A smile spread across his face, but the corners of his mouth quickly downturned. He was stopping; Woohyun hadn’t stopped his hand. “O-oh,” slipped out of Sunggyu’s open mouth. “Woohyun-ah, do you like me?”

Woohyun stopped and got up onto his feet, ears alert and his body stiff. He turned away from Sunggyu as if he heard a noise come from the other side of the park. Curious, Sunggyu followed his gaze. There was nothing over there. Sunggyu sighed. “I know that you can hear me,” he told the other. “Do you like me?”

Woohyun’s head snapped back to look at the werewolf. “I…I got to go now,” he spoke with a low growl before shooting off towards the fence.

“Woohyun-ah!” Sunggyu shouted after the dog and jumped up from the bench. He ran after him. But Woohyun had been right. Sunggyu couldn’t catch him. Samjokgu built up speed and jumped over the fence. He really was a magical dog.

If Sunggyu woke up tired that day, he came back home from the park exhausted and spiritless. He came inside and didn’t even greet his parents. He just went straight into his bedroom and curled up on his bed. Sleep, Sunggyu was just going to sleep this day away and pretend like it all had been a dream. And it very well could be because it had a talking dog and everything. A talking dog that he might’ve ruined his relationship with. “Aish!” Sunggyu cursed and flipped over onto his other side. But before his drooping eyes closed, he caught sight of something bright yellow on the ground, where it shouldn’t be. The love charm had fallen off of the wall. Sunggyu shot up straight. “Did I ruin it?” Sunggyu quickly picked it up and tried to stick it back up on the wall. The charm fell down again. And so the werewolf tried again and again and again. But every time the yellow charm would flutter back down onto the ground. “I ruined it. I really did,” Sunggyu muttered barely moving his lips. He then sniffed loudly, trying to hold it all back (but was failing at that as well). I ruined my chances at love.

And so Sunggyu picked up the charm again, crumpled it up, and tossed it into the corner of the room. The darkest corner, where his love could go and die.

“Sunggyu?” Later that night, his mother knocked on the door anxiously, calling his name. Sunggyu murmured in response, and his mom took at as permission enough to enter the room. “It’s time for dinner,” she spoke softly at her son’s back. He was still curled up into a ball on his bed. He gave a low growl in response. He wasn’t hungry.

“Oh, Sunggyu-ya! The love charm fell off!” she exclaimed, stepping up next to her son.

“I know,” Sunggyu finally spoke and curled up even tighter.

“Who is it?”

Sunggyu unfurled and rolled over to look at his mother. “Huh?”

“The person that you like. Who is it?” she asked again, sitting on the ground next to her son. She then waved her hand in the air. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell your mom.”

“W-wait!” Sunggyu stammered as he bolted upright. He pointed over to the charm. “Wh-why did it fall off?”

“It’s already worked it’s magic. There’s no reason for it to hang around any more,” she explained as if it were common knowledge. Sunggyu was stunned, mouth hanging wide open and his eyes darted all over the room as if the answer was somewhere in there. His mother snorted and nudged him playfully. “Yah. Do I know who it is?”

Sunggyu didn’t hear his mother’s question. He was scrambling onto his feet. “Mom, I’m going out,” he told her as he grabbed his jacket and ran out the room. His mother followed him out.

“Oh! Where?” she asked, watching her son struggle to put on his shoes in a hurry.

“The temple!” he replied. He then waved with a great grin on his face. “Bye!”

“The temple?” His father had come out of the kitchen to see what all of the noise was about and had only caught the tail-end of the conversation. “Is that were kids hang out nowadays?” he asked his wife.

She shrugged. “Our son is a strange one,” she answered. “At least going to the temple to pray is better than drinking.”

“True,” the old man agreed. The both of them were still staring at the door. “He really is a good boy.”

Sunggyu had no idea where the temple was. Fortunately the cab driver knew where it was, but unfortunately the temple was on a mountain and the road up to it was too narrow for a car to pass safely through. Sunggyu would have to climb up the mountain on foot. It would’ve been easier if he was in his wolf-form, but he wasn't. So Sunggyu had to take several breaks as he made his way up to the temple. He did eventually make it to the temple and collapsed onto his hands and knees when he got there. He dropped down onto his back, breathing heavily. He nearly died. That hike nearly killed him. But it should be worth it. And with that thought, Sunggyu gathered up the strength (and the breath) to pick himself back up.

“Oh?” As Sunggyu got up, he finally took in his surroundings. The temple was large and impressive but Sunggyu’s eyes lingered on the bush nearby. It was rustling. As it moved, Sunggyu could see a pair of glowing eyes behind the leaves. “Woohyun?” he whispered. Sunggyu stood up and walked over to the bushes. “Woohyun-ah, come out! I want to talk to you. About earlier.” He gulped nervously and stepped closer. The eyes were now bigger and brighter. Woohyun was coming closer too. “I didn’t mean to…I didn’t want to force you…If you don’t…” Sunggyu stopped to swallow again. His throat felt tight. “Woohyun, just come out of there,” he begged with a shaking voice.

The entire began to shake violently. A sudden chill ran down his spine. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t Woohyun. Then a shriek pierced the air and the eyes glowed red. Sunggyu back peddled, trying to get away, but he tripped over his own feet and fell onto his . A ghost shot out from the bush, heading straight for the werewolf with its long, pale fingers stretched out to him. Sunggyu shut his eyes tightly. This was it. This was the end.

“Get up!” Sunggyu opened his eyes to see something dark jump between him and the ghost. In the dim light, Sunggyu could see the bright red collar around the creature’s neck. It was Woohyun. “Run!” the dog barked at the other. And Sunggyu did as he was told. He scampered away to the other side of the yard, hiding behind a small shed. Shaking with fear, panting heavily, Sunggyu peered around the side of the shed. He looked just in time to see Samjokgu sink its fangs into the ghost, and the spirit immediately burst into dust, flying away in the wind. The werewolf hid back behind the safety of his shed. His hand was over his racing heart. Was it really that easy? Was it really that easily for Samjokgu to defeat something? If that was me…

“What are you doing here?”

“AISH!” Sunggyu yelped. He looked down to see the sapsali with his head around the corner. “You surprised me,” the werewolf spoke, exasperated and slid down onto the ground.

“Sorry,” the dog apologized and walked up in front of Sunggyu. He sat down. “Why are you here?” he asked again.

“I wanted to…” Sunggyu began but he soon stopped. Did he was to apologize? No, not really. “I wanted to see you,” he finished after some moments of consideration.

“Well, I’m here,” Woohyun replied, getting up to sit next to the other’s side.

Sunggyu tried his best to be still as Samgokju sat down next to him, shoulder to shoulder. It was hard now after seeing how easily the great dispeller of evils could, well, dispel evil. But unlike the ghost, Sunggyu was good. He just needed to remind himself of that, and keep being good. “Thanks for earlier,” Sunggyu spoke again. “Was that really a ghost?”

“Yea,” Woohyun muttered. His head moved around, scanning the area while letting out a huff. “They are everywhere on this mountain.”

“And you bite them?” Sunggyu asked. The dog faced him again and nodded. “Are there anything else around here?”

Woohyun went back to scanning his surroundings. “There are things everywhere. Ghost, dokkaebi, gumihos, bulyeowoos, vampires, werewolves,” he listed. “I can see them all. It’s scary.” When he ended, he stared back at Sunggyu and whimpered.

Sunggyu’s hand went to pat the other’s head. “We’re not all that scary,” he comforted the other. “I’m not scary.” Sunggyu realized what he was doing right as Woohyun began leaning into his touch as he was scratching the dog’s ears. Sunggyu brought his hands into his lap, and his gaze fell down to them. “This is strange. I want to talk to you seriously, and it’s hard when you’re a dog. Can you go change?” he asked with a slight laugh. It was a ridiculous request but so was the situation.

Woohyun gave into it in any case. “Uh, sure, wait one second,” he barked on last time and trotted around to the front of the shed, entering into a dog door that must’ve been there. A few second later, the door of the shed opened and Woohyun, now human, came out wearing a long puffy coat and boots. A thin smile drew pulled across his face as he pulled the hood over he head and shuffled over.

“Nice. Changing room?” Sunggyu asked as the other plopped down next to him again.

“Eung.” Woohyun nodded, and the hood moved. When it moved, Sunggyu could see flashes of his red collar which was still around his neck. Sunggyu laughed. He’s really a dog. He can’t even tell that he’s wearing it. Woohyun turned to face him, arching an eyebrow and wondering what he laughing at.

Sunggyu waved his hand and moved onto a different subject, “Is this what you do every night? You patrol around and eat things?”

“Not every night,” Woohyun answered, shaking his head. “I take shifts with my brother and my dad.”

“Oh.” Sunggyu nodded along. “Still seems tiring,” he commented.

“It is,” Woohyun admitted with a yawn. The werewolf yawned along with him, even more gaping. Woohyun chuckled and nudged him. “But once a month, I tell my dad that I’m tracking a werewolf. And I get to take a break.”

“Me?” Sunggyu pointed at himself.

“Eung,” Woohyun hummed, leaning against the other.

Sunggyu scoffed. “Ah, here I thought you actually liked playing with me, but you were just using me as an excuse,” he joked and then shot a glare at the other.

“No, I like it,” Woohyun responded, tugging at his sleeve. “I like playing with you. Seriously.”

Sunggyu felt his lips pull up into a smile and he couldn’t hold his glare anymore. He tapped the other on the arm, noticing Woohyun’s eyelids growing heavy (it was late and only getting later). Woohyun looked up at him. “Am I more fun as a wolf or a human?” Sunggyu asked in a quiet voice.

Woohyun chuckled as he faced forward. “Oh, that’s tough. I really like teaching you new tricks,” he teased. He then glanced over and saw the werewolf pouting. “Both,” Woohyun answered. “Both sides of you are fun.”

Sunggyu squared up his shoulders, feeling proud. “Of course. I’m a fun guy,” he boasted. But then he soon slid back down to Woohyun’s level. It was warm, being so close to the other. And the night was cold and scary. But next to Samjokgu, Sunggyu was safe and warm.

“What about me?” Woohyun asked, tugging on Sunggyu’s sleeve again. “Is there a side of me you like better?” His smile turned more into a grimace, dipping down lowly on one side. “As Samjokgu, I’m scary, right? Weird looking?”

“No, it’s cute!” the werewolf immediately denied, staring at the other with a strong and steady gaze. “Samjokgu is cute.”

“And Nam Woohyun?”

Sunggyu scoffed. “Do you want me to say you’re cute too?”

“Yes,” Woohyun shamelessly answered. “Say I’m cute.”

“Nam Woohyun is cute too,” Sunggyu said the words like Woohyun wanted to, but he spoke them as if he were speaking to a baby. Sunggyu even scratched the other underneath the chin. Woohyun frowned and batted away the other’s hand. Sunggyu chuckled. “Both sides are cute,” he tried to make amends, but it seemed a little too late. Woohyun had already soured. Sunggyu sighed and rest his head back against the wall, raising his sights to the night sky. Last night had been the full moon and so the moon was not quite so full tonight, but it was still big and bright. Like this, on a warm but cool night, seeing it from a mountain, it was beautiful. “This is the first time that I’ve ever enjoyed the moon like this,” the werewolf remarked. His gaze dropped down to Woohyun who was staring right back up at him. “The moon. That’s the scariest thing for me. It’s not you. The moon controls my life, and it doesn’t even know it,” he sneered (jokingly) at the last comment. But his face soon warmed again as he turned to the moon again. “But, tonight, it’s pretty.”

“I hate this mountain,” Woohyun grumbled in response and wiggled a bit in his spot, moving closer. “Spirits are drawn to it. I see them everywhere.” Sunggyu dropped his gaze down to the other, and Woohyun was scanning the area much like he did when he was Samjokgu. But then Woohyun looked up at the moon. “But like this, it’s pretty,” he agreed and then smiled at the werewolf, who was now yawning and slowly sliding lower and lower down the wall. The both of them were practically laying down right now. “Do you want to stay over tonight?” Woohyun offered. “It’s late.”

Sunggyu nodded. “Sure, I’d like to stay and keep you company tonight.” Much like Woohyun had kept him company every full moon. Sunggyu was just returning the favor. He was returning the favor and snuggling in closer to Woohyun, slowly closing his eyes.

“I’d like that,” Woohyun whispered as the werewolf closed his eyes. “I’d like that a lot.”

“When did those two get so close?” Myungsoo asked as he stared at the two “rivals.” Sunggyu and Woohyun had stayed up all night, talking and chasing after ghosts (as it would turn out, Sunggyu wasn’t bad at spotting ghosts after he knew what to look for). And now the both of them were truly exhausted and out of energy, sleeping on their desks and sleeping on each other, limbs tucked underneath each other. It looked like two puppies cuddling with each other because that’s what it was essentially. Those two were just to sleeping dogs. And Myungsoo should just let them lie.

“Weren’t they always close?” Dongwoo remarked, walking up next to Myungsoo. “I thought they were best friends.”

Myungsoo screwed his face in confusion and turned towards the other. “Aren’t they rivals?” he asked.

“Isn’t that basically the same thing?” Dongwoo retorted. Myungsoo shrugged. Dongwoo shrugged right back, which made Myungsoo giggle and shrug more. And then those two left the rivals/best friends behind still shrugging (and shimming) as they made their way to their own desks.

And when they had left, Sunggyu woke up, slightly. He cracked his eyes open and checked his surroundings. He was in a daze and didn’t quite know where he was. But then he noticed that he was at school, he was at his desk, and he had been sleeping right next to (with) his rival who could kill him with a single bite. Sunggyu grinned sleepily and closed his eyes again, resting his chin on Woohyun’s warm back and falling back asleep.

Dogs can confess their feelings easily and without restraint. They’ll run up to the people that they like, wag their tails, and affectionately. Humans weren’t like that. For them, confessions took time, especially if they were two teenage boys who knew nothing about love. But they were quickly learning.