The damp moss and sodden leaves are cool under the arches of Hyungwon’s feet. He wriggles his toes, sinking them deeper into the cool earth. Light droplets of rain fall steadily through the canopy of leaves above and he turns his face upward to meet them. The spray is refreshing against his cheeks, cleansing away the fog that hovers heavy over this memory. But, despite his best efforts, it remains, hugging low to the ground to obscure what he should not remember. 

Hyungwon in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the sweet, clean air of the woods. It nudges against something in his mind, gently attempting to shake loose the cloudy veil. Another breath and the petrichor of wet soil swirls in warm coils in his chest. The locked memory rattles, shivering more violently than before, desperate to be set free.

He drops his gaze back down, sweeping slowly over the endless expanse of trees before him. This place is familiar to him–at least that is what it feels like. A comforting weight of fondness settles deep behind his ribs, and only one word floats to the surface that fits this forgotten feeling.

Home.

A small smile caresses the corners of his mouth. So this was where he spent his human life? He wonders, with whom, did he share it with. His smile falls; that information remains unwilling to come forth. 

No matter, he thinks, it will come back when the time is right.

Hyungwon sinks his heels into the undergrowth, happy to have found at least this part of his past. With hundreds of years of dark memories, this verdant place was a respite in the consuming abyss of eternity. 

He lets his eyes slide closed, opening his arms wide before inhaling. Instantly, he notices something is off. There is a sharp, metallic scent permeating the rapidly cooling air. A scent that he is uncomfortably accustomed to.

His eyes snap open as he seeks out the source. What happened in this memory? Remember, remember! He shouts to himself. 

The crack of a branch has him spinning around just as a pained, gut-wrenching scream pierces the air. 

————

Hyungwon opens his eyes to the twinkling lights of the city. The rain drizzles over hunched pedestrians and cars putter by in the thinning traffic; He stands tall amid it all, his mind still reeling from the flashback. He allows his senses to come back to him one by one–the splashing of running feet through accumulating puddles, the enticing aroma coming from the coffee shop across the street, the bite of the winter wind against his fingers. He lets himself be grounded by this noisy, modern age. 

He has a passing thought that he should return home now, no longer hungry for a decent hunt. But, a voice calls out to him–imbued with a warmth and gentleness that was ill-suited for an abomination like him–and he looks up to see a woman walking towards him, sloshing through the puddles in shockingly bright yellow rain boots.

The woman he escorted back to her office a fortnight ago. His dead heart flutters with unwonted emotion and he urgently tries to shove it back before she reaches him. 

“Mr. Chae!,” she says, stepping nearly toe-to-toe with him and shielding him under the safety of her umbrella. “It’s so good to see you again!”

, he thinks as that annoying emotion cheekily evades his pursuit, sprouting and surging over the surface of his heart. I’m doomed.