Wonsik had barely gotten out of bed when his phone began to ring. Thinking it to be Taekwoon, he drowsily went over and picked it up. "Taekwoon-hyung, you don't need to worry. I'm up."

"I'm not Taekwoon," the slightly offended voice of his lab partner spoke over the phone.

His eyes widened. "Oh, sorry Jonghyun-ah, I didn't see the caller."

"That's fine," Jonghyun said. "But get this, I got scouted!"

"Huh?" Wonsik asked.

"I got scouted! By an agent! Of an Entertainment company!" Jonghyun's voice raised with every sentence, betraying his excitement. "I'm going to Seoul!"

"Wait, what? You're going where?" Wonsik struggled to make himself heard.

"Sorry, Wonsik-ah, I can't be your partner, I guess. But you'll be fine, I know you will. Anyways, I need to go. See you later!"

"Hey, HEY! Lee Jonghyun! Wait a moment!"

A long beep was the only thing heard on the other line. Cursing under his breath, he threw his phone angrily at the bed, where it bounced for a moment and then settled on the cotton sheets. 

Wonsik fumed all through the school day, and as he sat in the Biology lab, one could swear that they could see red heat waves flowing off him.

Taekwoon and Hongbin had attempted just once to try and find out what was wrong with him, but were shot down with a passive aggressive "I don't want to talk about it." After that, they'd let their friend wallow in his pit of fury.

Wonsik found himself without a partner. How on earth am I supposed to do the project? he thought. 

At that moment, the teacher came into the room, followed by the new kid. What was his name again? He'd just seen him in class thirty minutes ago. 

"Before we start class," the teacher said, "Han Sanghyuk needs a lab partner." He looked around the room and his eyes landed on Wonsik. "Ah there, I think Lee Jonghyun got scouted and left for Seoul, so Kim Wonsik needs a new partner for the assignment. You can partner with him."

Oh God, Wonsik thought. Oh God, please, no. Not now. Not him!

The newcomer made his way through the desks and stood next to the empty place once occupied by Wonsik's partner. 

"Can I sit here?" he asked politely.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Wonsik wearily replied.

Sanghyuk slid into the seat beside the boy holding his head. "Are you okay, Wonsik-shi?" he asked.

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine," Wonsik muttered. "I'm doing just great."

Sanghyuk shrugged it off and removed his textbook, turning and listening to the teacher explaining the rest of the assignment. 

Removing his hands from his face, Wonsik took a deep breath and cast a quick look at the person who was going to be his partner for the rest of the year. 

He had to admit, the guy wasn't the best in the looks department, that would always be Hongbin. Sanghyuk, on the other hand, would be ranked above average by Wonsik, with his small eyes and big nose and dark hair that swept over his forehead. He sort of resembled BigBang's Seungri now that he thought about it.

And of course, the guy never failed to make his gut twist.

Halfway into the class, Sanghyuk turned to him. "I found out from some guys that you were the last transfer here," he said.

Wonsik moved his eyes to look at him before turning them away. "Uh, yeah, that's right."

"How long have you been here?" Sanghyuk asked.

"Er...five years."

"That's pretty long," Sanghyuk said. "So you probably know this place well then."

"I guess."

Sanghyuk quietened down for a while as the lecture droned on, and all Wonsik wanted was to get out of this room.

"You know," Sanghyuk began again, "there's this weird rumor going around school that there's something in the woods."

"Is there, now?" Wonsik's figurative ears perked, even though he appeared uninterested in the conversation.

"I thought you'd be familiar with those girls saying that they saw a wolf in that forest," Sanghyuk said.

Wonsik gave a light laugh. "They were delusional," he said. "It was late and they were scared. They were desperate to find something to fear."

"What if they weren't?" 

Wonsik finally turned his head to the other. "What are you talking about?" he asked, his voice taking on a slightly different tone.

"Why did you move here?" Sanghyuk asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why move to a small remote town on the edge of the woods when you could have gone to Seoul? You clearly have a lot of talent and would do better there."

Wonsik shrugged. "My mom's father lives here," he said. "My parents came here to get away from the hectic city life and also to see her father more. But they divorced and now  my father is off in another country and my mom fell off the face of the earth, and I'm left with my grandfather."

Sanghyuk nodded his head after Wonsik told his story. "What about you?" Wonsik asked him.

"Huh?"

"You said it yourself, why did you transfer in the middle of the school year to a remote town, from Seoul too, nonetheless?"

Sanghyuk swallowed before opening his mouth again. "My parents had a change of heart," he said. "They wanted to go somewhere they couldn't be disturbed, and they brought me along. I'm just along for the ride."

Wonsik nodded slightly. "So you want to leave?"

Sanghyuk shook his head. "This town might just have caught my attention. I think I'll stay for a while."

The two then turned back to the teacher who continued on, not even noticing that his students were engaged in conversation. 

Wonsik turned his head slightly so that he could see the newcomer better. 

Han Sanghyuk, everything you said was an excuse. We both know that, don't we?

"So you're partnered with the creepy new kid?" Taekwoon asked.

"Gee, thanks for putting it that way," Wonsik shot back.

Taekwoon put his hands up in defense. "I'm just saying what I think."

"That's the problem, isn't it?" Wonsik asked. 

"Forget about all that for a moment," Hongbin cut in. "Let's get back to the matter at hand."

Wonsik nodded. "He told me he transferred because his parents had 'a change of heart'," he said, using air quotations. "That's utter bull crap, but I'm not sure what to do from here on out." He sighed, putting his face in his hands again. "This is all way too much of a coincidence. I feel like I'm in a novel."

Hongbin turned his head slightly. "What do you want to do?" he asked him.

"Ideally, I want to find out more about that Sanghyuk," Wonsik said. "I want to find out whether he's a threat or just nobody to worry about. I want to either verify my suspicions or destroy them."

After he paused, Taekwoon looked towards Hongbin. "What should we do?" he asked.

Hongbin thought about it for a minute. "Wonsik-ah," he said, "follow that hunch of yours. Try to get close to that kid." He took in a small breath. "Let's hope that he isn't someone we should worry about."

"And if he does turn out to be somebody we need to worry about?" Taekwoon asked.

Hongbin shrugged. "Then we'll worry about him."