Wonsik narrowed his eyes as the teacher walked into the class followed closely by a boy wearing his school's uniform. However, he'd never seen him before, so he surmised that he must be a transfer.

Odd, though, because transfers into their town were very uncommon, as people usually tried to head over to Seoul. The last transfer into this town and school? That was Wonsik himself.

"We have a new student today, he's just transferred from Seoul," the teacher announced. 

Wonsik's radar began going off. A transfer from Seoul, the place with the most opportunities and the best education to this small town where opportunities were limited and the education wasn't even on par with major cities?

Something was definitely off about this new kid.

"Please introduce yourself," the teacher told him.

"Yes, thank you," the kid said, turning to the classroom. "Hello, My name is Han Sanghyuk. I hope we can get along well."

There was interest shown from all the students, because it wasn't often that they'd get new faces around here.

Wonsik, however, knew something was wrong, and he intended to find out what.

"We got a new kid in my class today," he told Taekwoon and Hongbin at lunch.

While Hongbin raised an eyebrow, barely giving a reaction, Taekwoon looked up. "A transfer?" he asked, his voice holding the same suspicion that Wonsik previously had.

"From Seoul," Wonsik related.

This seemed to get Hongbin's attention, who stopped munching his licorice mid-way. "That's not suspicious at all," he sarcastically said. 

"I know," Taekwoon told him, before turning back to Wonsik. "What do you think is his deal?"

"I'm not sure, but I think he might have something to do with us," Wonsik said.

"Who is this kid anyway?" Hongbin asked. 

Wonsik scanned the cafeteria, hoping that the new kid decided to come out instead of eat in the classroom. He then spotted him going over to a bunch of other guys. "There he is," he pointed him out to the other two. "That's Han Sanghyuk."

At that moment, Han Sanghyuk looked up to see the three of them having their eyes on him. His smile faltered for a moment but he soon regained it and turned back to his new found friends. Hongbin, however, kept his brown gaze on him.

"Think he's something?" Taekwoon wondered.

"He's human," Hongbin said. "I can confirm that from his energy signature. It's just like Wonsik's."

"So do we need to worry about him?" Wonsik asked.

"I'm not sure," Hongbin said. "His arrival at this time of year is not a coincidence. There's definitely something up with him. But as long as he doesn't interfere with us, we shouldn't try to worry about him. We do have other things that matter."

The other two nodded, agreeing with his decision. 

Han Sanghyuk (whatever his name was) turned over to look at their table once more, and locked eyes with Hongbin for one simple long lasting moment.

***

"It's going be an entire week and a half and you're making plans right now?" Hongbin asked with disbelief.

Taekwoon ignored him, trotting towards the house. Hongbin gave a little growl before running after him. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

As Hongbin came up to him, Taekwoon picked up speed, and soon enough broke into a run. The two wolves sped through the forest, weaving through the trees, the grey one calling out to the beige. 

Eventually, the two ran out of energy, plopping down before they reached the house. Wonsik stood in front of the two knocked out wolves, shaking his head.

"I seriously don't know what to do with you two," he said.

Taekwoon lifted his head. "Shouldn't that be what we say to you?"

Wonsik turned around, imitating Taekwoon's dismissive hand wave. "Whatever you say, Leo."

Taekwoon shifted back to his human form, pulling himself up to his feet. "Will everyone stop calling me 'Leo'? I don't know why everyone calls me that!"

Hongbin, also back as a human, got up, holding his chest. "Show me another orange wolf and we'll stop calling you 'Leo'," he said.

Wonsik chuckled. "Yeah, you look like a lion," he said.

Taekwoon glowered at him, just when he got a call and had to take it. Hongbin came over and guided him towards the house.

Wonsik stormed towards them, glaring at his phone. "Seriously?" he growled at the phone. "They want to play this now? Like seriously, now?"

"What's wrong?" Hongbin asked.

"It's my dad," Wonsik said, putting the phone away. "He's apparently got a new girlfriend and he's going to stay on in London a little longer."

"Again?" both wolves said in unison.

"Yeah, again," Wonsik said, turning around and stomping up the few stairs to Hongbin's house. "And get this, he told me 'it's just a little more time with Grandpa, what's the big deal?' As if him just going off and dumping me with Grandpa wasn't enough, now he has to delay his return?" He kicked a pebble that bounced off the wooden surface of the stairs before swinging open the door. 

"Yeah, he doesn't have to travel an hour and a half just to get to school, he doesn't have to worry about falling behind on his druid studies because of it, he doesn't have to worry because apparently he's put it all behind him, to go 'find' himself in a foreign country because leaving Mom was so hard on him," he ranted, seething.

The other two stayed silent. Taekwoon simply walked over to the fridge, taking out a bottle of cold water and handing it to Wonsik. Hongbin, on the other hand, stood quietly with his hands in his pockets.

"He's really gone out of his mind," Taekwoon commented. "It hasn't even been a year since the divorce."

"Nothing's different," Wonsik said, taking a swig from the bottle. "Nothing's different at all."

"Look, I understand what you're going through," Taekwoon tried to reassure him. "Our situations aren't that different, are they?"

"But you have a mother with dignity and a sister. All I have left is a crusty old man who looks at me like a liability."

"No one said it was going to be easy."

"But it didn't have to be this hard!"

The two then turned to the remaining boy, leaning against the wall with his lips sealed. "Well?" Taekwoon asked. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Hongbin shrugged. "What do I have to say?" he asked. "I can't understand what the two of you are going through, remember?"

Wonsik threw Taekwoon a look. "Is he still salty about that?"

"I thought he'd gotten over it."

Hongbin straightened up. "Don't mind me," he said. "I'll be up in my room. Right now, the two of you can do better without me."

He began to head up the stairs to his room. He paused on the stairs. "Taekwoon-ah, stay with Wonsik for now," he told the other wolf before leaving them.

It wasn't about him right now. Wonsik was the main character at this moment. And he knew his friends, they were always ready to defer to him, make him the main lead once more. 

He wasn't stupid. He'd learned his limits the hard way. One thing would always stand out; he'd never be able to understand them completely, not because he couldn't try, but because he didn't know how it felt. Of course, he was the only one who had both parents living happily together.