Hi everyone ^___^

So this is my post for both the first November weekly challenge on the JJProject Amino and the Halloween Trick or Treat Challenge in the Im Jaebum Amino. I've been working on this basically all week but due to my jet lag I haven't been able to finish it until today. I hope you don't mind.

In anyway, this story is inspired by the wonderful novel Wolfsong by TJ Klune as well as an old English myth. I hope you'll enjoy it (even though it's not the best I've ever written).

Have a nice day and stay safe~

Narra

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It was oak wood, summer rain and old books.

For JaeBeom it's always been oak wood, summer rain and old books. In fact, those were the very first words he has ever said to me.

I was eight years old when I first met him. My parents just moved our small little family from Changwon to Goyang. It's a nice place close enough to Seoul to be urban but still far away to keep it's natural charm. Perfect for people who wanted to enjoy both the city and the nature life. Our family moved to the outskirts of the city. That meant that there was slightly more nature around you that in other places in the city. Our house itself was located close to a playing ground as well as a park. From our living room windows I was able to see the sea of trees that the parc holds. A marvellous sight. Eight year old me, however, didn't appreciate any of that back then.

For me everything was strange and weird. Not even the language was the same. Everyone was talking in that boring, monotone accent everyone uses on TV and the radio. It was so different from the way I usually spoke... from the way everyone I knew spoke. It took me a while to assimilate to the new way of speaking and the city itself. Nevertheless, I felt disconnected, alienated and lonely.

Back in Changwon I never had trouble to befriend new people. I had a rather large group of friends in my hometown. However, here everything was different. Suddenly I was the new kid that spoke funny and some even had trouble understanding me at all... which lead to them leaving me alone most of the time. That even continued when I finally got the hang of how to properly use the local accent. I continued being the weird kid in class that had no friend and no one wanted to be really seen with. Luckily, I wasn't bullied like other people but not being seen by the other people sometimes felt just as bad. This was the time I turned towards books... which didn't help my school situation at all but it made me feel better. Much better in fact.

I felt strangely connected to each and every character I read about. It was as if they were my friends and we were going through all those sometimes very dangerous adventures together.

My parents did approve and not approve of my new found hobby at the same time as they thought that children my age were supposed to play and make friends. They often said that I was in my golden years before school would turn into hell and I would have to focus on my future. I did not care. This, however, lead them to send me outside to play more often than I would have liked. Playing outside often ended in me sitting on one of the many swings to continue reading my book. That was what I was doing on the day I first met JaeBeom.

The playground was almost empty as for most kids it was already dinner time. The noises around me have calmed down a lot and I was finally able to focus on my book. I wish I'd still remember what kind of book I read back then but to this day I'm not 100% sure about this. I remember reading a very tense and adventurous scene though as I shrieked when I noticed someone sitting down on the swing next to mine. Quickly I looked up to.

Next to me sat a boy who looked like he was about my age. The soft brown eyes of the other rested on me which instantly made me avert my eyes. I tried to get back into the thrilling scene in my book but I wasn't able to do so as I still felt the eyes of the other on me. Hesitantly I peaked at the other and noticed that I was right. The boy was still staring at me. It also looked as if he's sniffing the air. A weird thing to do but on the other hand the smell of dinner lingered around the playground as well as the soft breeze led the smell of amazing food and hot spices our way.

"You smell like oak wood, summer rain and old books. Why are you smelling like oak wood, summer rain and old books?" the boy suddenly said to which I looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I asked perplexed and stared at the boy.

He was a nice looking boy. One of those boys that seemed to be very popular in school here too. The boy had two birthmarks above his left eye and his dark hair was kept short. A popular hairstyle that usually was kept neat but this boy didn't seem to care about that. His hair looked as messy as someone who just got out of bed. It gave him as certain bad boyish charm that didn't completely worked as he must have hoped for as this style still looked rather cute on him.

"You smell," the boy repeated to which I instantly got on My feet. I have heard many insults in the past couple of weeks. However, none had been related to either my looks or how I smell.

"I do not!" I retort and was about to stomp off but the other boy had sprung to his feet as well and held me back.

"It's not bad. It's nice. I really like it," the boy said and stepped a few steps closer. I on the other hand took a few steps back. The soft smile on the others face never faded. He actually seemed to smile even wider now. This boy was strange. More than strange actually.

"I'm JaeBeom. I live over there," the boy said as if nothing happened and pointed at a building close to the playground. I quickly glanced at JaeBeom and then at the house. It's one of the new blocks in the area. While I was looking the boy moved closer towards me again. This time, however, I didn't move away. A thing that the boy seemed to make very happy.

My cheeks began to heat up when I noticed the other standing so close to me. Instantly, I turned my head the other way and mumbled my own name under my breath. Once the last syllable of my name left my lips, JaeBeom tightened his tights around my wrist and started to jump up and down in excitement.

"JinYoung-ah. Let's be friends! I'd love to be your friend," the other said in a very excited tone of voice to which I simply nodded. I was too perplex to do or say anything. However, the possibility to finally have found a friend in this town made me smile slightly.

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JaeBeom went to the same school as me. We were not in the same grad through (which the teacher must have been very glad of later on due to our tendencies to pay more attention to each other than the lessons). JaeBeom and I were born in the same year but due to JaeBeom being born in January he was one grade higher than me. For some reason he was (and in all honestly still is) very happy about that. He's very strict on using the right hierarchy even with his other friends. Jackson, who was also born in the same year as JaeBeom, for example constantly had to call him 'Hyung' as well. That doesn't mean that our friend from Hong Kong didn't try to get passed that rule. However, every time he tried to do that he quickly got put into place by JaeBeom. It was much easier for me. For some reason JaeBeom didn't correct me as much as anyone else in our group. He even let it slide most of the times when I called him by his first name (which annoyed Jackson even more).

Thanks to him I've finally found friends. We were a group of four people in school. It was nice to know I belonged somewhere. It was nice to have friends. No matter how odd they sometimes were. And believe me, they have their odd phases. For example, there are days where they form some kind of circle around me and somehow stare everybody down that dares to come even close to us. When they have that kind of phase they get really touchy too. I noticed that all three of them were rather found of skinship when I first met them but on those days it feels like they putting it up to another level. I constantly feel their hands on me. Not in any weird way though. Don't get me wrong. It usually was soft touches on the arms and shoulders but still it felt strange. JaeBeom likes to get especially close during those days.

As kids we had quite many sleepovers. However, the older we grew and the harder school became for us the rarer those nights got. It was a pity really. I did enjoy Mark and Jacksons little fights about which movie to watch and the snacks we secretly bought from th