Just when he had settled down on his bed with a book he had wanted to read for a while, his door burst open and Taekwoon and Wonsik strolled in.

Hongbin jumped. "Geez, don't scare me like that!" he complained.

"Happy birthday, Hongbin!" Taekwoon shouted out.

"Hyung, Happy birthday!" Wonsik yelled out behind him.

"Did you two even hear what I said?" Hongbin asked.

The two ignored him completely once again, instead choosing to head over to his bed and make themselves at home in his room. Taekwoon shoved Hongbin so that he could place the two large bags he was carrying, one given to him by Wonsik after coming in. 

Hongbin looked suspiciously at the bags before raising his eyes to Taekwoon.

"We didn't poison them," Taekwoon said.

"How can I be absolutely sure?" Hongbin asked.

"Just take a look at them!" Wonsik urged, nearly jumping with excitement.

Hongbin reached out and pulled the bags closer to him. He dug his hand into one of them to bring out a book that just so happened to be the sequel to the one he was about to read. 

He turned to Taekwoon. "I haven't even finished the first one yet," he told him, trying to stop his smile.

"Now you can just start reading the second one once you're done," Taekwoon simply said, as if that explained everything.

The smile tugging at Hongbin's lips made him look away for a moment before opening the second bag and looking inside. Digging inside, he brought out two games.

"'Borderlands 2' and 'Tales of Zestiria'," he read out the names. He then looked up at Wonsik. "How did you get these?" he asked.

Wonsik grinned widely. "Ordered them online," he said. "I had these planned for weeks!"

Hongbin put the book and games behind him before turning back to them. "Thanks so much, guys," he said. "You really know the best gifts!"

Taekwoon, a small smile on his face, leaned over and ruffled Hongbin's hair. "You're eighteen now," he said. "Enjoy it."

Hongbin nodded. "I will. I'll enjoy it very much."

"Can you bring out your PlayStation?" Wonsik asked. "We'll play the games to pass the time."

It was a couple of hours later that Hongbin's mom's voice calling them down was heard over the loud game. Well, Hongbin and Taekwoon heard it, and Wonsik got the message from their actions.

The three came down to find the house decorated modestly yet cheerfully. Hongbin's parents and Taekwoon's mother and sister were in the living room, seated around a coffee table with a cake on it. At the arrival of the three kids, the guests stood up, applauding and yelling out "Happy Birthday, Hongbin-ah!" 

Taekwoon's sister came up to them with a small gift in her hand. Hongbin stifled an amused laugh as Taekwoon picked her up.

"What's this, Pup?" Hongbin asked.

"Taejin's been wanting to give you her present for two weeks," Taekwoon chuckled. "She just barely managed to keep it a secret because she wanted it to be a surprise."

The young girl held out a small and thin rectangular box covered with red gift wrapping paper and tied with a pretty green bow. "Please accept it," she said.

Hongbin's smile was wide enough to tear his face off. "I'll gladly accept it," he told her, taking the gift from her. "Thanks so much, Taejin-ah."

His mother then moved over to him. "Come," she told him. "We have a cake prepared."

She led him over to the table where the cake was, and he bent down to see it better. His father already had a camera prepared, his friends were urging him to make a wish or they'd do it for him, Taejin was standing cutely next to him, prompting him to ask her whether she wanted to cut the cake with him, Taekwoon's mother and his mother were exchanging sentimental whispers of "They grow up so fast..."

He blew out the candles to the sound of clapping and cheering, and he took the knife placed next to the cake, cutting out a piece and giving it first to Taejin and then being forced to give it to Wonsik who was feeling left out (since he was still apparently a baby.)

He cut out more pieces of the cake while the mothers retreated to the kitchen for a moment to bring out snacks and plates. Pieces of cake were placed alongside chips and other munchies and the pack sat around, with the elders taking the couches and the kids preferring to sit on the floor. 

They laughed and talked, the elders recalling tales from their times. The younger folk also told stories from their school. They talked about the new trends, exams, competitions, old times...

The living room was filled with laughter and cheer.

Hongbin smiled. Just the way he liked it.

Hongbin opened the fridge with Taekwoon standing beside him, an empty glass in his hand. Finding no juice, Hongbin closed the door and turned around.

"Mom!" he called out. "I think the juice is over. Taekwoon and I are going down to the store to get some more!"

"Alright!" his mother called out.

As the two made their way to the front door after Hongbin grabbed his wallet, Wonsik stood up. "Hey, I'll come with you guys too!" he called.

The three boys walked out of the door and began making their way down the dark street to the convenience store a little ways away from the house. In the chilly autumn night, the three were at peace; nothing was going to ruin this day for them. 

However, a quick sound made Hongbin whip around. Trying to focus his ears, he searched for the source of the sound.

"What's wrong?" Taekwoon asked him.

Hongbin ignored him, pushing past him and Wonsik to go to the edge of the woods, placing his hand on a tree and looking around. 

"Hyung, is something wrong?" Wonsik asked when they caught up with him.

"Could've sworn I heard something..." Hongbin muttered, but then his eyes caught something.

Inside the dense forest, between the trees, Hongbin saw a figure. It was an animal's figure, and as he squinted a little more, he recognized it to be a deer, a stag, with it's fur white as snow. It's entire body glowed with the color of moonlight.

And then, just as he managed to pinpoint it's shape and location, it turned around and bounded away.

"Hey, wait!" Hongbin yelled out.

Without paying heed to his friends, he quickly shifted to his wolf form, bounding after the white stag.

He needed to know what it was, what it was doing here.

He needed to know why looking at it made his gut churn like he was about to vomit and his heart fill with dread. 

He managed to spot the stag leaping once or twice, but every time he shifted his course to follow it, it seemed to disappear again.

The foliage thinned out after a while and he found himself near a cliff-side. Slowing down to a walk, he moved to the nearest edge to him and looked down at the dark waters churning below him. 

Taekwoon finally made it to him, panting and heaving. "Next time you decide to go a little expedition again, give us a warning."

Hongbin said nothing, just looking down. As he stared into the murky depths of the sea, he saw the stag. The stag with the white fur, the glowing fur. He saw its form well in front of him, and as it became clearer, the form seemed to burn into his mind. 

Wonsik then burst through the trees, bending over to pant. "Is...there...no...love...for those...of...us...who...aren't...wolves?" he asked, heaving between words and then coughing.

Wonsik straightened up when Hongbin didn't respond, looking over at Taekwoon. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know," Taekwoon said. "He hasn't spoken a word at all."

"What happened anyway?" Wonsik inquired.

"I'm as lost as you are," Taekwoon told him.

It was then that another person burst through the trees, prompting the one person and two wolves to turn and look at him.

"Han Sanghyuk?" Wonsik asked, surprised at the unexpected visitor.

"Kim Wonsik?" Sanghyuk asked, clearly just as surprised. Then his eyes slowly moved over the two wolves staring at him. "Wolves?"

"Who are you?" Taekwoon asked.

"Shifters?" Sanghyuk altered his question. He turned to look at Wonsik. "What are you doing here? What's going on? Why are there two wolves here?"

"What are you doing here in the first place?" Wonsik asked. "You told me you had to study!"

"I did!" Sanghyuk said, keeping his eyes on the two wolves. "But I was chasing something."

"What did you see?" Wonsik asked.

"I saw...I don't know," Sanghyuk said. "I think it looked like a white stag."

"A white stag?" Hongbin's ears perked up. He moved towards Sanghyuk, shifting back to his human form despite Taekwoon's silent protests. "Where did you see it?"

Sanghyuk's eyes widened when he recognized Hongbin. "Is that...Are you...?"

Taekwoon sighed and turned back as well, with Wonsik rubbing his head. Hongbin however, ignored everything, keeping his gaze firmly planted on the younger. "The stag," he said, 'where did you see it?"

"Uh...it was outside my house," Sanghyuk said, his voice changing as he had a mental breakdown. 

"Where did it go?" Hongbin interrogated.

"I don't know!" Sanghyuk said. "I followed it here!"

In the meantime, Wonsik and Taekwoon shared a silent conversation. However, when Wonsik raised his eyes up, he staggered. "Uh...Hyung..." he said, patting Hongbin's arm to get his attention.

"What?" Hongbin asked, turning forcefully to him.

Wonsik simply pointed behind him, to the point of the cliff. 

The others also saw it, and their eyes widened.

Standing on the edge of the cliff, with the moon shining behind, was a massive creature. It resembled some sort of canine, and it's fur was completely black. It also had what seemed to be black smoke coming off in small waves off it, like a dark aura.

It then turned its head to show glowing red eyes standing out against the black body.

Its red eyes then locked with Hongbin.