Author's note: I tried to write an action scene. It seems so seamless in my head, but putting it into words are not exactly easy.

School vacation always leaves the school empty and quiet. Except, Chanwoo seems to be getting restless these days.

“What’s wrong with you?”, Junhoe asked.

Chanwoo doesn’t reply; he rarely does anymore. He is acting more and more careful around Junhoe nowadays; unintentionally creating an invisible barrier between them. But that is not the reason of his restlessness.

He keeps checking the barn door again and again as if he is hiding something there.

“Look, I’m sorry.”, Junhoe blurted out of the blue.

Chanwoo, who was pacing back and forth, stops in his track and stares at Junhoe. “Eh…?”

“What did I do wrong?”, Junhoe asked.

“I don’t know, what did you do wrong?”, Chanwoo asked back.

Junhoe sighs. “Seriously, why are you so restless these days?”

“Thief.”, Chanwoo responded.

“Thief?”

“Do you know how many rare beasts are housed in the barn? And there are poachers everywhere.”, Chanwoo explained. “I haven’t seen any poaching for a while now. But, if the sky is still blue, then I’m sure they’ll return anytime soon.”

“Ah, I see…”; as a beastmaster himself, Junhoe is somewhat familiar with poachers. They are surprisingly common. After all, some beasts worth a fortune on the black market.

“And I always have a bad feeling. Like they’re gonna come when I’m least prepared.”, he said while heading outside; Junhoe silently following him.

Chanwoo walks to the barn gate, touches it and starts a spell. It’s a spell that allows him to check what’s inside. He then gasps. “There’s someone inside!”, he shouted; dashing inside the barn without waiting for Junhoe’s response.

“Hey, wait…!”, Junhoe tried to stop him, to no avail. He trails Chanwoo’s track, trying to catch up with him.

Chanwoo stops in the middle of the wilderness; watching and listening for any sign of the poachers. When Junhoe is finally catching up with him, he asks, “Do you know where they are?”.

“No. But they must be aiming for something valuable.”, Chanwoo said. He closes his eyes and focuses on his other sense. Then a realization hits him. “It’s the Phoenix!”, he yelled, dashing off again.

“What…!?”, Junhoe asked; not even able to catch his breath but is now forced to run again.

“She just laid an egg. They’re after the egg!”, Chanwoo briefly explained while running.

Phoenix egg, huh?

There is a rumor that Phoenix egg mixed with certain other ingredients can grant immortality. No such recipe was found, but that doesn’t stop people from trying anyway. Plus, the fact that finding a Phoenix’s lair is extremely difficult, and stealing her egg is thrice more difficult, makes a single Phoenix egg worth a few bags of gold.

As they approach the Phoenix’s lair, they can see that the entrance to the lair is guarded by two strange looking men. They’re in group? Of course they’re in group!

There is an advantage of being a beastmaster: you’re rarely alone. Junhoe starts whistling a particular whistle that he knows will summon one of the beasts, while Chanwoo already starts blasting the poachers with thunderbolts. With any luck, their friendly beast will arrive soon.

“I suggest not using thunder-based spells. Griffins don’t like it.”, Junhoe said.

“You called a Gryphon?”, Chanwoo asked, pleasantly surprised.

“I’m a beastmaster, right? That’s just my fighting style.”, Junhoe explained as he casts a spell at the ground, looking to call another beast.

Soon enough, the ground start shaking, much to the poachers’ dismay. And just in time, the screech of a Gryphon can be heard approaching.

“Time to go up!”, Junhoe declared as he grabs Chanwoo back and holds up his arm. Immediately, the Gryphon descends toward them and slows down, allowing Junhoe to ride it and puts Chanwoo on the backseat.

Not to miss the action, a giant lizard-like creature jumps up from within the ground, swiftly swallowing one of the poachers before re-entering the ground. That’s a Bullete, also known as land shark, which is exactly what it sounds like, a shark that lives on land. Inside land, to be precise.

“One down! Good job, boy!”, Junhoe joyfully exclaimed, praising the Bullete.

Seeing the sudden loss, the other poacher panics and enters the Phoenix’s lair. Junhoe and Chanwoo, still on a Gryphon, quickly follow him. Once they’re inside, they see another extra two poachers, one of them clearly the leader.

On the sight of Junhoe and Chanwoo, the poachers’ leader immediately casts a spell and shoot a stream of flame from his hand. Junhoe narrowly avoids the flame, but Chanwoo gets hit right in the head, flinging him down from the Gryphon.

“Chanwoo!”, Junhoe yelled. “Go catch him!”, Junhoe ordered his Gryphon while he jumps down to face the poachers. Wait, where is the Phoenix?

Junhoe engages in a duel with two of the poachers, while constantly on the look for the third guy. Then suddenly, the third guy appears from behind him… holding Chanwoo captive! It seems that he managed to hurt the Gryphon and captured Chanwoo; Chanwoo is injured and barely conscious, there is no way he can escape by himself.

“If you do anything silly, I’ll kill him!”, the poacher threatened.

Junhoe needs to think quick. He needs to think somehow of a way to rescue Chanwoo while at the same time stops the poachers.

But luck is on his side. The Phoenix suddenly descends from above, quickly burning the poacher that holds Chanwoo captive to ashes. The two other poachers freaked out from the sudden reinforcement. Junhoe immediately uses this chance to cast a spell, while the Phoenix swoops in to attack them.

But alas, the two poachers cast a teleportation spell and escape just in time… with the egg!

Junhoe stares in disbelief as the poachers disappear. The Phoenix lands on her nest, looking around for her egg; when she cannot find it, she wails and flies away, heart filled with sadness.

Junhoe sighs. The egg is stolen; the Gryphon is injured; poachers never bring good things. And of course, Chanwoo!

Junhoe looks around to locate Chanwoo; he is kneeling in pain on the ground.

“C’mon, get up!”, Junhoe said as he tries to support Chanwoo. “Let’s go back.”

Chanwoo doesn’t say anything, not that he can say anything, he looks like he’s about to pass out anytime soon! Junhoe quietly props him and walks to the outhouse. Surprisingly, Chanwoo manages to stay awake until they reach the outhouse.

Once they’re inside, Junhoe puts Chanwoo down on a chair and starts casting a healing spell. However, the spell barely works! Of course it doesn’t; this spell was made for human!

“Hey, Chanwoo. I need to heal you, and to do that, I need to know what you are.”, Junhoe said, hand supporting Chanwoo’s head, trying to keep him awake.

“Can you please just tell me… No time for secret.”, Junhoe pleaded.

Unfortunately, Chanwoo can only stare fuzzily at Junhoe, before finally passing out.

“Hey, hey, Chanwoo! Wake up!”, Junhoe shouted in frustration.

He then sighs. He runs toward his room and takes all the book about beasts that he has. He usually doesn’t handle his books roughly; after all, more than half of them are alive. But, this is an emergency. He frantically flips the pages, trying to match Chanwoo’s physical characteristics with anything that he can find in the books.

But he cannot find anything; If it’s that easy, he would have figured Chanwoo out from a long time ago.

He pushes the book away and groans in desperation. “There ought to be a way.”, he told himself as he searches his brain for a solution.

Chanwoo slowly wakes up. What happened?

Then he starts recalling everything. Oh, right… Poachers.

He looks around, before realizing that, surprisingly, he doesn’t feel any pain. Did Junhoe heal me?

“So, a Kitsune, eh?”, Junhoe asked. Chanwoo jolts from surprise. He then looks at his own body; long gone the human’s hands, replaced by fox’s furry paws. And he can feel all nine tails of his behind him. He has been transformed back.

Sensing Chanwoo’s terror, Junhoe tries to comfort him. “Now, now. I won’t spill to anyone, remember?”, he said as he Chanwoo’s back.

Junhoe continues, “You know, I never believed in male Kitsune before.”.

“I’ve heard that they’re very rare, but when one is born, he will be much more powerful than normal Kitsunes. Well, that explain why you’re so good at being human.”, Junhoe explained.

“You cannot speak while in this form, huh?”, he asked rhetorically, in which Chanwoo only stares at him as a response. “Well, you can listen to me talking, then.”, Junhoe concluded.

Chanwoo puts his paw on Junhoe’s chest as if trying to say something, and Junhoe understands. “No, don’t transform back just yet. You’ll heal faster in your original form.”, he said, hand still Chanwoo’s back.

He falls silent for a while, before continuing, “Why are you hiding?”.

“Well, actually, I can think why.”, Junhoe answered his own question. “Kitsune’s pelt and tails are already very expensive; I’m sure a male Kitsune’s ones will be even more expensive. And I know that you have a lot of experience with poachers…”

He then looks at Chanwoo, “Are you afraid?”.

Chanwoo stares at Junhoe, before looking down. “That’s understandable.”, Junhoe said.

“Well, we can talk about this tomorrow.”, he tried to shift the topic. “I know you just woke up, but you need to rest more.”, he continued as he lifts Chanwoo up and brings him upstairs. Chanwoo gives Junhoe a confused look, “You’re sleeping with me tonight.”, Junhoe declared.

The next morning, Junhoe wakes up as per usual, only to notice that Chanwoo is no longer next to him. He jolts up, looking around for Chanwoo, before hearing some sounds from downstairs.

He goes down and sees that Chanwoo is already up and running in his human form, making breakfast. Junhoe takes a seat in the dining room, waiting for Chanwoo. Soon enough, Chanwoo brings him his meal.

“Eat up.”, Chanwoo said.

“Sit down first. Let’s talk.”, Junhoe said with a smirk.

Chanwoo sighs. “Thank you for yesterday… We lose the Phoenix egg, but it could be worse.”

“Well, there’s that. But let’s talk about the more interesting stuff.”, Junhoe said as he leans forward.

Chanwoo sighs again, somehow knowing what Junhoe is referring to. “Do I have to talk about it?”, he asked.

Junhoe’s expression turns into a concerned one, “Not really. I won’t force you.”.

Chanwoo stares at Junhoe’s eyes, before deciding that it might be better to tell him. “You were right; I am trying to hide.”, Chanwoo started explaining.

“As you said, male Kitsune is rare. And I’ve been hunted almost all my life.”, Chanwoo said.

Junhoe opens his mouth, trying to comfort Chanwoo, but he realizes it’s better not to say anything.

“You know, I was very happy when I got this job. I think that I finally can hide from those debauched poachers. Not to mention, I can protect other beasts from them.”

He pauses and sighs. “But every time the barn gets poached, it only serves to remain me that the same fate may happen to me.”, he said, looking down.

But then, he can feel a warm sensation on his fingers; Junhoe is holding his hand. He looks up, and Junhoe’s gaze meet him right in the eyes. “I know it sounds cheesy, but… I won’t let them hurt you.”, Junhoe said in an uncharacteristically bashful tone. And Chanwoo cannot help but to let out a thin blush.

“I… Ok… I…”, Chanwoo struggled to reply. He then looks down in shyness, “Thank you… I appreciate it.”

Junhoe smiles seeing Chanwoo regains his mood. He cheerily says, “As they said, to be a beastmaster is not to be a master, but to be a companion.”

However, that seems to be a wrong choice of quote, as Chanwoo’s ears flick at the word ‘companion’. Did he just friendzone me?

“Umm… ‘Companion’?”, Chanwoo asked. “So we are just… ‘companion’. I see… I guess I’m expecting too much.”, Chanwoo sighs, snatching his hand back from Junhoe.

Junhoe gives Chanwoo a weird look before his eyes widen upon realizing what Chanwoo is implying. He then starts blushing himself, and this time, he’s the one that struggles to reply, “Eh… No… I didn’t… I meant…”

Chanwoo laughs at Junhoe’s newfound nervousness. “Ah… Ok, let’s eat. The food’s getting cold.”

When they are eating, Chanwoo suddenly remembers something. “Oh, right! You said we are more similar than I thought. Are you…?”

“Nope, I’m not a Kitsune.”, Junhoe bluntly responded.

“Then what are you?”

Junhoe smirks, “Why don’t you figure that out?”.

“Eh…!? That’s not fair. You already know what I am!”, Chanwoo protested.

“Yes, but I needed to figure it out myself. So, it’s only fair if you figure me out yourself.”, Junhoe insisted.

Chanwoo’s eyes narrow at Junhoe’s statement. “Hmph! Fine, I’ll figure you out!”