After she and the wolf faded away inside the forest, the seven little men exchanged confused glances.

“Such a peculiar human girl…” The man with the glasses said. “She was able to tame that wild creature effortlessly, has she no fear at all?” His companions nodded in agreement. The three pigs that were hiding inside the brick house finally went out.

“Have you heard the news?” The first pig oinked. “She has come! Our savior has come!”

“What savior are ya oinkin’ ‘bout, pig?” The grumpy man asked, annoyance still present in his tone. It seems that he wanted so bad to teach that girl a lesson for doing that to him. He couldn’t even admit to himself that her intense glares made him… Frightened.

“The wind has told us about her coming just a few days ago, and it will not be long until the Black Queen finds out as well. She is sure to kill our savior! Now we’ve seen that it’s true that she possesses great courage and captivating beauty, the Black Queen will surely burn with envy!”

The grumpy man scowled and spitted again. “Ha! That bigmouth?! Our savior? Captivating beauty? Ha-ha! Who ya kiddin’, darn it?!”

“No, no.” The man in the glasses gently pushed the grumpy man’s chest, ordering him to back down. “IU… Now I remember! The human girl who came here before Miss Ji Eun, wasn’t her name Lee Seo Dae? What is the relationship between those two?” The seven little men wondered and scratched their grey beards all at the same time. The three pigs became nonchalant, so they continued reconstructing their houses. Meanwhile on the other side of the forest, Ji Eun was watching over the wounded wolf. As she gently the creature’s neck, it cringed, jerked its ears and Ji Eun’s hand. She painfully smiled.

“Poor guy, you were almost beaten by those dumb dwarfs. They don’t even know what really happened! Luckily I was there!” She said in a rather angry tone. The wolf briskly stood up and dabbed the sensitive part on its back. It cringed again from the pain but continued it. “Ah!” she quickly went to the wolf’s wounded spot. “You got scratched! Oh my, it’s deep! Damn, that stupid wolf will pay!” She patted the creature’s head once more. She felt a bit bad for being unable to help it. She didn’t carry around a first-aid kit like her grandmother after all, and she wished she did. “You poor thing… Do you always get blamed for things you haven’t done? I know you’re a good doggy,” she smiled. The wolf nodded in reply. “Wow, you really do understand what I’m saying don’t ya? I wonder who trained you... Oh! You had an owner right? Wait; let me see your collar.”

Ji Eun fondled the wolf’s long, thick brown fur on its neck and searched for its collar. She examined the simple-looking collar. It was made out of leather, preferably from an animal’s skin. She noticed something off about it though. It had this single, pointy spike at the middle, and when she tried to touch it, the wolf shrugged in order for her not to lay her fingers on it.

“Okay, okay. I won’t touch it,” she looked at the collar once more. Behind the collar she found a printed name. “Taeyang,” she read it. “Is this your real name, big guy?” she asked. The wolf nodded its head. She laughed and scratched its neck with both hands. “Taeyang! It suits you!”

After a while, Ji Eun stood up and fixed her clothes. “I better get going now, it’s getting late,” she said. She walked towards the forest and watched her step; she didn’t want to trip again and kiss the floor again. Grabbing the trees’ old vines, she found it easy to pass through without falling down. There was just this slight problem. She didn’t remember the way out. “Great. Now how am I supposed to get home? Grandma’s probably getting worried now,” she whined to herself. When she took another step, she saw Taeyang beside her. Confused that the creature didn’t leave her yet, she grinned at the wolf. It ran ahead of her, tilting its head to a certain direction. “You want me to follow you?” She asked. The wolf nodded its head and raised its front leg, its paw pointing at the same direction. “Um… Alright, I think? Then lead the way!” Ji Eun said. She didn’t understand why she trusted the wolf, she just did. And she also didn’t perceive the thought that after everything that just happened, she felt fearless and somehow… Happy.

Maybe it was just herself being stubborn and standing up to her beliefs, but she highly doubted that. Everything seemed too familiar. A blurry memory fleeted inside her head but couldn’t comprehend what it was, so she shrugged it away. She followed the wolf’s tracks and on their way out the forest, she stepped on something soft. She picked it up, examined it closely and even sniffed it. “Why, a piece of bread! What’s it doing here though? Looks kind of fresh.” Finally, when she saw rays of light ahead of her, she quickly pushed the curtain of vines aside and found herself back in her grandma’s yard. “Thank you Taeyang!” She embraced the wolf, and it her face lovingly. It somehow took a liking towards her. “I wonder what grandma’s doing right now. Ah! Should I tell her about today’s little unbelievable incident? Maybe she’ll believe me, since she loves fairy tales and all. Wait. Come inside Tae—”

When she turned to her side, the wolf had already gone. She shrugged her shoulders and happily jogged to her grandmother’s house. She wondered why the weather still looked early. It was maybe an hour or two when she left earlier this morning. Was time playing with her head?

“I’m back!” she said as she entered the main door. She found Seo Dae sleeping inarticulately on her couch, holding an old book under her arms. She must have fallen asleep while reading. Ji Eun gently kissed her grandma’s forehead and tiptoed upstairs, went directly to her room and collapsed on her bed. “What a hell of a day,” she mumbled to herself.