based on Yuki Midorikawa's anime short story Hotarubi no Mori e

That one hot summer day.

I found myself lost in the forest, telling myself that I should have listened to Uncle and not have wandered off into the dark evergreen shadows.

I was six.

I didn't care one bit to what adults had told me then, but at that moment I started regretting my childish judgement. I tried so hard trying to find my way out of the forest, but I eventually had gotten tired and found myself sitting in the middle of the forest, crying.

I had become frightened, not knowing whether I'll be able to see my Uncle or the outside world ever again. I was beginning to be more afraid of what could be inside the forest itself. Uncle had told me that spirits and demons lived in these woods and that I shouldn't involve myself with them. There were rumors that spread around that once you entered the forest, you'll never escape it.

I cried an cried, scared for what might happen to me next when all of a sudden

"Hey, kid!"

I looked up and searched my surroundings for it might be that called me out.

I saw a shadow by the corner of my eye and saw a figure near a tree, hiding.

"Why are you crying?" The dark figured had said.

I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better vision of the voice.

I could only make out of what seems to be a boy, a bit tall and slightly skinny. Although he seemed to have a fit upper torso, his milky skin's color had sent chills down my spine. He looked like a dead corpse that's been dead a couple of days.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see his face. He wore a strange black mask with a face of a cat, that had red squiggly line desigsn on its' cheeks and odd-looking eyes.

"A-a person...?! Waaaaaaah!!" I ran towards him, filled with relief. I had somewhat felt a bit more closure than I had before, knowing that there was someone else and I wasn't alone.

Just before I almost tackled him, he quickly moved to the side with me falling flat on my face.

"S-sorry."

I got up, groaning. Luckily, my skin wasn't scratched or wounded anywhere. 

"What's wrong with you?!" I surprised by his strange behaviour.

He cleared his throat before speaking again. "I cannot touch humans. If I do, I'll disappear."

"Whaddya mean??" I was young so therefore, there were things I couldn't really understand. He didn't reply after staying silent for a whole minute, so I had started chasing him. But he was swift as he evaded quickly from me.

When I had finally gotten close enough to catch him, he had picked up a wooden stick and hit me directly on the head.

"Oww! ... You are right! You're not human! No human would ever hit a child like that!"

"Only that just proves I'm not human?" he said with a soft chuckle.

Once I got up on my feet and dusted off my dress, I stood up straight with my hands on hips. "S-so... you're one of the spirits here?!"

He waited a while to reply then, "I am something... that lives in this forest."

I tried to understand what he had said, but I took it as a yes and shrugged it off. 

"Alright!" I exclaimed with a giggle. "So hey, why do you wear a mask? Is it 'cause you look like a monster and you don't want to scare me?" 

"Isn't it a bit nosy of you to be asking such personal questions? We've barely met!"

"Oh, sorry." I pouted, then I remembered I needed to get out of the forest, ".... um, could you help me get out of this forest?"

He took the wooden stick again and held it towards me.

I looked at him with a confused expression.

"I'll lead you out the forest. Hold on it."

I willingy took it and followed him.

We walked passed dark shadows and the sun had almost touched the horizon when we finally reached the path that led towards back into town.

"Here."

I let go of the stick and slowly walked towards the path, but I turned around and faced him. "I'll comeback tomorrow with a thank-you gift, alright?"

He nodded.

"Oh, yeah. What's your name? I'm..." I had told him my name.

He only looked at me, or at least that's how it seemed to look like. 

I was slightly frightened by the eerie silence that formed between us and I slowly stepped back, turned around and ready to run. 

Before I picked up my speed, the wind wooshed pass me and he said: "It's Hyuksoo."

And that was how we met. Ever since then, I always come to Uncle's house every summer to see Hyuksoo again and play. We often played, fished or just chased each other around the forest. One time I had asked him about his mask again.

"Hyuksoo..?"

I see him peacefully lying down on the bed of flowers, asleep. He must've fallen asleep while I was picking out some flowers. 

I had gotten curious about how he looked like behind the mask he's been wearing so I thought about taking a small peek.

It's safe to only touch his mask, right?

I touched his mask with the tip of my finger and lightly lifted it up to see his face. As I finally got a sight of his face, I see that he had such sharp structures. His nose was slightly long, but it fit so well with his detailed and magnifique face that it didn't matter how it looked. His lips were rosy pink, almost kissable. My eyes had sparkled just by the sight of his beautiful face, yet he hides it all behind a wooden mask.

His eyes had begun to twitch, slightly opening. He was awake. A small grimace had form on his lips.

I was taken aback so I dropped the mask onto his face.

"Ouch!"

Oops. I moved back a bit.

"Sneaking up an assault on someone who's sleeping. You're a scary little girl, aren't you?"

I pouted. "You were pretending to be asleep, werent you?"

"I don't know, you tell me." He smirked.

I grew red hot with anger. I was slightly mad that he played with me. I hated it when other people played tricks on me as a child. 

"Ha, don't worry.  I really was asleep. No need to be upset." 

To be continued....