“Be careful driving down the mountain this late. It’s dangerous.” Yongguk said as he hugged you and kissed the top of your head.

“You know, you keep saying that, but nothing bad has ever happened.” You responded with a grin.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He smirked before pushing you towards your car. “Now get out of here and go home so you can get some sleep.” You whined but complied and drove away from the observatory with one last wave.

As you drove, your thoughts drifted back to Yongguk. After the meteor shower last week, he had asked you to be his girlfriend and you agreed. You spent all of your free time together, usually looking up at the stars or debating philosophy or politics. Today was no exception; the two of you had spent the whole evening together. You clicked so well, in both personalities and interests. He was so sweet and thoughtful. As close to perfect as a human could be.

Suddenly there was a loud popping sound and your car started to shudder. You pulled over to the shoulder and got out to inspect the cause. Using the flashlight on your phone, you walked around your car. You sighed, running a hand through your hair as you looked at your tires, finding your front right one had been practically shredded.

“Ugh, why now?” You grumbled as you set about changing the tire. You had just finished putting the spare on and tightened the last bolt when the hair on the back of your neck stood up. It felt like someone was watching you. You looked behind you and saw nothing but pitch black forest. It was too quiet, there weren’t even any crickets chirping. Then the flashlight’s beam illuminated a pair of red eyes staring at you. A ginormous wolf stepped towards you, it’s mouth set in an angry snarl.

It lunged at you and you threw your arms up to protect yourself with a shriek. This is it. This is how I’m gonna die.. You thought as you felt nails ripping across your forearms. You screamed. Suddenly the nails were gone and you glanced up to see a man standing in front of you.

“You okay?” He asked, turning slightly to look at you. He had blonde hair and a light grey mask with a zipper across the middle covering the bottom half of his face.

“Y-yeah…” You managed to squeak as you shrunk against the side of the car.

He returned his attention to the wolf and crouched down into a fighting position. It lunged at him and the man caught it, wrestling it to the ground. You watched in awe as the two fought. The man kicked the wolf away and it whimpered. As it got to it’s feet again you saw the man pull something shiny from his hip and realized it was a small knife. The wolf came at him again, grabbing his right forearm in it’s mouth. He cried out and kicked the wolf away again. Before it could come back, the man ran to it, plunging the knife into it’s neck.

When the animal was finally still, he stood up, cleaning the knife on his jeans before putting it back in it’s sheath. He looked over at you and for a brief second, you could have sworn his irises were as white as his mask. But maybe you were just hallucinating. He blinked and they returned to normal as he approached you.

He crouched down in front of you and you scooted away from him. He noticed the fear in your eyes and suddenly sat down cross-legged in the dirt. He pulled his mask down past his chin. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He said with a small smile. He extended his left hand toward you. “I’m Daehyun.”

You eyed the hand suspiciously for a moment before shaking it and telling him your name.

He smiled again. “It’s nice to meet you. I wish it was under different circumstances, though. Are you hurt?”

You shook your head and glanced at his right arm. It was bleeding intensely and you gasped. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?! Here, wait.” You pulled your hoodie off and began to wrap it around his arm. He grimaced, but didn’t try to pull away.

Once you finished tying it, you helped him stand up. He swayed slightly and you weren’t sure what to do. Where had he even come from? Questions surged through your mind, but you pushed them aside. You could interrogate him later. “Come on, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No!” He panicked, grabbing your shoulder with his left hand tightly. “I… I have a friend that lives near here. Can you take me there instead?”

You thought for a moment before nodding and helping him into the passenger side of your car. As you got in your seat you looked at him expectantly. “Where to?”

He was leaning his head back against the seat with his eyes closed. He opened them and pointed in the direction you had come from. “Turn around and go back about a mile or so. There’s an observatory and he lives next to it.”

The observatory? He knows Yongguk?? You chose not to say anything just yet and instead followed his directions. Minutes later you parked in front of Yongguk’s house and helped your mysterious passenger get to the door as he swayed, unsteady on his feet.

You knocked on the door and waited. When it opened the light from inside momentarily blinded you. Blinking quickly, you saw a confused Yongguk looking between you and the blonde.

Then he noticed the man’s arm. “Daehyun, what the hell happened to you?” He grabbed him, pulling his friend inside. You followed, mostly because you were unsure of what else to do, though you also wanted to get some answers.

“Wolf attack.” He said as he sat on your boyfriend’s couch.

“It’s not your night to patrol, though.” Muttered the older man with a frown on his face.

“I was just out for a run when I caught the scent. I couldn’t just do nothing.” His eyes flicked to you before he closed them again. “It was after her.”

Yongguk stopped tending to Daehyun’s wound and looked up at you in confusion.

“I had a flat tire. I had just finished fixing it when the wolf showed up.” You explained as you scratched the back of your head.

He swiftly jumped up and rushed over to you. He grabbed your arm and then you suddenly remembered the scratches and looked down to see your entire arm covered in bloody claw marks. He looked into your eyes and swallowed before pulling you in for a tight hug. “I’m so sorry…”

“Sorry for what? What’s going on?” You questioned as you hugged him back.

He let go and stepped away, avoiding your eyes. “I can’t tell you. But I am so so sorry.”

“Wait, is this the girl you’ve been telling us about?? You’re right, she is cute.” The blonde on the couch had opened his eyes again and winked at you with a mischievous smile while Yongguk returned to his side to fix up his arm. “It’s already healing, hyung. I’ll be fine.”

“Shut up.” The man whispered, glancing at you. Then he stood up and grabbed his phone. “I’ll call Youngjae to come pick you up. He’s better at caring for people than I am.”

You watched them, slowly becoming angry. As he hung up the phone, you crossed your arms over your chest. “So you’re going to keep secrets from me?”

He looked at you, a sadness in his eyes, before nodding silently.

You scoffed, not believing what was happening. “Fine. I’m leaving. See you around.”

“Wait-” His voice called out to you but you had already your heel and stalked out the door.