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Chapter Text

Go in and find the grandma. If you find her, she’ll walk you back here and tell you not to come back. All you have to do is find the old lady. Just be careful not to let the beast find you.

It was a stupid dare, but her life hung in the balance.

Hae Soo gulped as she clutched the vibrant red picnic blanket over her work shirt. Her hands trembled and her knees grew weak as she stared into the darkness that was the forest before her. They weren’t allowed to play near it as children, yet there they stood, a group of teenagers breaking their town’s rules...

“I don’t want to go,” Soo said, turning to face the others around her. Her fingers turned white against the red silk that covered her dress to mask her scent. “Can’t we just do something else? I’ll jump off the brid-”

“If you don’t go, I’ll kill you and make sure your parents find your body,” Yeon Hwa snapped at her, flicking a bug from her silk dress. The pink silk shimmered like nothing Soo had seen before, and for a moment, she caught herself staring at the rich girl's clothing. “Or how about this? You can go free and let this one die instead.”

It was three to one. Soo knew she could not outrun the bullies she had confronted in an attempt to get her friend back. Won held a badly bleeding Eun down while Yo held a knife to his throat. Yeon Hwa stood before Soo, a wide grin on her face as she pointed to the forest.

Eun had been caught stealing food from the three aristocrats' picnic, and they had beaten him until Soo had run over when she caught sight of them while fetching water. She had managed to get the boys to stop hitting Eun, but they had kept her from taking him, declaring that one of them would die for his crime. Soo knew her friend would never steal anything – no matter how hungry he was.

“It’s simple, Hae Soo,” she declared. “Find the grandma, come back with her. If you do that, we won’t mess with Eun, and we won’t mess with you. If you don’t, then we’ll let your little rat friend free and you’ll be dead anyways. Fair and square.”

The wind never blew through the dense woods. It was too silent within, and no light penetrated the foliage. Animal noises bled from the black abyss, where only two beings resided comfortably. One was an old woman who had only been seen once. The other was a savage beast that she controlled. No one had ever seen the beast and lived.

Soo clutched at red blanket over her shoulders and her back to the fence that protected the town from the beast within.

She gulped and looked at Eun with worried eyes. Her friend’s right eye was swollen shut, his open mouth dripping blood from where he was missing a tooth. The only way Soo could even tell if he was alive was from the strained huffs of air that blew from his mouth. Held up only by the strength of Won’s arms, Eun moaned as his head lolled from side to side.

“You have to take him to a heal-”

“Won will do that while Yo and I stay and make sure you don’t cheat,” Yeon Hwa interjected. “C’mon, Hae Soo, the beast needs feeding… but you’re a fast runner, so I’m sure you’ll survive. Maybe it only likes virgins, though… too bad you slept with my brother, right?”

Soo gaped at the girl before her and shook her head, uncomprehending. “You want me to die because I had a relationship with your brother?” she asked. “But we're over! We’re- We never really cared for each-”

“So much talking,” Yo said with a groan, glaring at both Yeon Hwa and Soo. “You, big-eyes,” he pointed the knife in his hand at Soo, “make your choice now or I cut your friend’s ears and nose off.”

In the silence that followed, only Eun moved to wheeze and drool another gob of blood onto himself. Crimson seeped into his clothes, dirtying the rough silk that covered his battered his body.

When Soo spoke, her voice came out in the faintest of whispers. “Fine,” she uttered. “Just take him to a healer… please.”

Her legs wobbled as she inched away from the three that leered at her, their wolfish smiles making her stomach ache with fear. Icy dread washed over her body and set her nerves tingling with the urge to run in the other direction. But there was no other direction. Behind her were Yo and Won and Yeon Hwa, and they would mutilate Eun and kill her if she turned back around, while in front of her was the slimmest chance of escape.

Soo took a deep breath of the fresh air that emanated from the town. She could still hear the shouts of men in the quarry, women calling out for the egg vendor to come over, and children running and screaming.

Her parents would not miss her; they already had six other mouths to feed and she was eighteen and unmarried. Her refusal to marry the blacksmith twenty years her senior had forever burned her in her parents' eyes. She heard their abuses every day, and every day, they demanded why she had not thrown her pride away and just married the man that would feed her well and dress her like the girl that currently held her hostage.

Soo looked back as Yo told Won to take Eun to the town healer and put the bill on his name. “Since big-eyes is too poor and pretty-boy is half dead, I might as well cover it,” Yo said with a chuckle. “It’s not like I’ll miss a few gold coins anyways.”

Soo’s knees almost buckled at the mention of a few gold coins being tossed around as if they were nothing. One gold coin was enough to feed her family for a month... but it seemed a few were enough to save a man's life.

"Hurry up and go!" Yeon Hwa screeched. "Go so I can tell my brother you were suicidal and stupid enough to save a slave boy's life by going into the forest! Isn't it enough we gave you a blanket to mask your scent?"

Before Soo could speak, something rammed into her back and she fell through the gaps of the wooden spikes that lined the ground to prevent the beast from leaving the woods.

"Ah!" She shouted as she fell, her hands releasing the red blanket to muffle her fall. Soo stared at the damp, black dirt that she fell into before turning and staring into the unflinching eyes of the girl and boy that sneered at her.

"Go on, Hae Soo! Come back with the old lady or don't come back at all!"

Soo scrambled off the ground and wiped her hands onto her apron, glancing around for any movement. She whimpered when a crow squawked past her, and her hands immediately found purchase in the red blanket she kept firmly over her shoulders. The blanket would mask her scent and she would survive. She was going to be alright.

One foot stepped forward into the grass that seemed to grow a dull green from the poison that seeped out of the black forest. There was a whole world of danger within, and Soo was going in to save Eun's life.

A final look backwards, at the sunlit glade where a picnic basket lay overturned, lovely foods like stewed chicken and vegetables in sweet honey sauces scattered over the grass, and Soo said her final prayers. She became the last leaf on a tree in the middle of a winter storm, shivering and holding on for dear life.

Another step forward, and the cold, damp air from within filled her lungs, leeching whatever courage she had left. The trees were too still, covered with long sheets of moss that looked like the torn dresses of ghosts from the stories her mother had told her, they fluttered with a breeze before growing still once more.

She just had to go to the center and find the lady that would control the beast and keep him from killing her. The old lady would tie her monster down, and Soo would be able to go back home.

Chewing on her bottom lip, she endeavored into almost certain death, taking each step at a time. Her feet dipped into loosely packed earth, and a single misstep revealed legions of earthworms and bugs that wriggled just a fine layer of earth beneath her. The ground was rich, but that was the last thing on Soo's mind.

Her skin crawled with each tiny noise, and Soo's eyes rapidly shifted from the ground to her surroundings, her nails scraping into the unyielding cloth. Her breathing deepened, and she heard a rushing in her ears, her chest rising and falling in strangely paced huffs. Her stomach clenched, and her spine tingled, the hairs on the back of her neck standing.


Someone was watching her.


Soo could feel eyes on her as if the entire forest had gathered to watch the beast's prey fumble through dense foliage and keep her hands away from thick, red moss that looked like the massive tree trunks were bleeding onto the ground.


Snap.


She swiveled towards the noise with a terrified squeak, her voice disappearing into oblivion.

There was nothing – just trees and moss. No one was around.  

Tears welled in her eyes and Soo knew better than to look up. A million pairs of eyes stared down at her from the treetops where critters of all breed ran about, squawking, shouting, and announcing the arrival of the beast's prey. The woods around were silent, but the canopy above rustled with the frenzied activity of the beast's many minions.

"Please, please don’t eat me," Soo whimpered, pulling the red blanket closer. Tears slipped down her face with a will of their own. There was no one in sight to hear her desperate plea, but Soo's skin prickled as she felt two searing holes in her back.

White eyes the size of the moon followed her, and shining teeth smiled with glee, a red mouth salivating in anticipation. Soo's shoulders curled inward and she slouched into herself, trying to become smaller.



It was watching her.



"Please, I just wanted to help my friend. I didn't mean to come into your land. I'm sorry. I just wanted to help my friend. I just wanted to help him," she jabbered, her voice a shaking whisper, and her terror causing her to lose herself in her emotions. She walked on, begging her blanket to protect her.

Her nose dribbled and her eyes rained tears as she continued forward. Too occupied with trying to evade the eyes that constantly burned her, she forgot to keep her mind on marking her path back home. Her memorization of familiar trees ended abruptly when she looked up from the forest floor and realized she was completely and utterly lost.

All around her was forest for miles, and the critters above laughed. There was no sunlight aside from the slivers of brightness that appeared and disappeared instantly as the animals above danced, summoning their master with louder and louder screeches.

"No, no, please, please," Soo uttered, swiveling to regain a sense of direction. "Please, let me go. I only tried to help someone. I don't want to hurt you or take anything – I'm just trying to go home."

A deep, rumbling panting filled her ears, and Soo's feet froze, unwilling to take another step forward.



Heh heh heh heh



It was laughing. It was watching her and laughing. She was its plaything. It was toying with her mind, freezing her in place so she would be an easy target. Her legs trembled, unable to move. Centipedes slithered over her boots, hundreds of tiny claws raking into her shoes and tying her to the forest floor.

Soo gulped as the sounds grew softer before growing louder and louder, little pants and and huffs drawing closer and closer. She could feel its hot breath against her back and its claws reached out to rake into her until –  

She screamed as something darted past her before slapping her own hand over her mouth when a rabbit ran into its den beneath the tangled roots that created a maze of walkways.

Crouching low, Soo pulled her blanket over her head and hid beneath the red warmth that protected her from the demon that trailed in her wake, shadowing her every move and occasionally making noises to force her guard higher than it was before.

"I don't want to die," she prayed, wiping her nose and eyes onto her apron and wishing she was back inside the town's communal bathhouse, scrubbing the various pools and private rooms that one could access based on the size of their coin purse.

If she tried hard enough, the bugs that crawled over her shoes were just drops of water that lapped at her toes, and the cold air that filled the blanket that covered her was just a chilly breeze that flew through the open windows of the private bathing rooms.

But when she opened her eyes, Soo saw the red tent she had made using the picnic blanket Yeon Hwa and Yo had tossed onto her shoulders with the express declaration that it would be the only thing protecting her from the beast.

Soo stood once more, wiping her eyes on her dirty hands and pulling the blanket as tightly as she possibly could around her body.

"You haven't eaten me yet," she whispered, shocked at how strong her voice sounded. Soo had no idea where her words came from, or how her logic added up, but she stared into the abyss and swallowed thickly, trying to speak to the silent, wordless monster that had stalked her from the very moment she had fallen into its domain.

"You haven't eaten me yet, so I'm going to walk forward. I know you're here. I know... I know you're watching." Her eyes moved even though her body did not, searching for the slightest movement.

She saw nothing but trees that bled moss and plants that seemed to turn away from her.

"Please, just let me find the old woman. They said she could help me leave. Please have mercy," Soo said into the darkness. She had no idea how many minutes or hours she had been in the forest, but her feet ached and her entire body shivered from the cold that only increased as sunlight dwindled above.

Her breath formed in soft clouds, and hands that shook from fear rattled from the chill that overtook her.


She took a step forward, and the forest screamed, causing her to instantly lose any courage she had built up in a split second. Fear replaced tiredness, and she walked to survive. There was no end to the forest, and there was no end to the chittering animals that mocked her for being stupid enough to beseech a monster to not eat her.


Silence reigned as night fell, and when Soo heard a twig snap, she immediately veered away from the noise, unwilling to face the monster so soon. Her feet grew sluggish and tired, her hands unravelling around her cloak.

Sunlight no longer drifted in and out of sight, and in the pitch dark, Soo had no choice but to hold a hand out from the safety of her blanket to keep from crashing into a tree, and to shuffle her feet to keep from tripping on the gnarled roots that cut through the soft dirt.

The hours grew long, and Soo wandered aimlessly, her tummy grumbling with an ache for the raspberries and blackberries that dangled oh so tantalizingly on taut, emerald vines. There were breeds of mushroom she recognized, and herbs grew from the rich earth.

But Soo could not stop to eat. Stopping meant letting the monster get closer, and she would never be able to eat with the beast anywhere near her.

So, she walked, dry of tears and dry of sweat. There was no water for miles, and her tongue and lips were void of moisture, her throat scratchily undulating in order to swallow the last dregs of saliva she could muster.


The sound of a creak made her feet stop their incessant kicking, and when Soo looked up, she saw a light in the distance, her nose immediately picking up the scent of something cooking.

Meat. Food.

Her feet were already leaping before she knew it, sending her towards the light without any thought as to what or who it might be. Her lungs burned with the fire of a thousand suns, and her feet screamed as they pounded over uneven ground.


A little cottage appeared and Soo moaned in relief, summoning the last reserves of her energy to run past the barrier meant to keep beasts out, before falling to her knees before the front door.

She hit the door with her palm once before collapsing into a pile of red blanket and shivers. Her legs were numb from the walking and running she had gone through, and she could not feel her fingers.

Yet, when the door opened and Soo gazed into the warm eyes of a woman that immediately crouched to cradle her head and ask how she arrived, Soo smiled and closed her eyes.


When she woke, she sat up in a soft bed with fur blankets. The smell of warm food lit her stomach ablaze, and when Soo opened her eyes, she saw the interior of a bedroom with pretty but old décor.

"I'm alive," she whispered, pressing a hand to her face. Soo felt her features and breathed in relief, overwhelmed with emotion as she realized she had survived a night in the forest, and had evaded the beast for hours until...

"Where am I?"

She looked at the shut door that slid open when a woman with black and white hair stepped in carrying a small table.

Soo stared, unabashed at how obvious she was. Her eyes never strayed from the woman in the clean but old dress made from blue and green silk. The woman wore her hair up in a simple knot, and everything about her reminded Soo about her own mother. Warm, sweet, and caring.

"Good morning, little miss," the woman said, her voice soft. She set the table on the floor beside the futon Soo sat up in and motioned for her to come closer. "I made you rice porridge and fried some pond loaches."

Crawling forward, Soo sat with the kind woman and smiled along with her.

The table was loaded with two bowls of porridge, one shared pot of bean-paste stew, a plate of fried pond loaches, and two small bowls of glazed mushrooms.

Soo's hand reached for her spoon before she could even think to address the woman before her.

Shoveling rice porridge into her mouth, Soo swallowed the nourishment, groaning as the soft foods hit her bare stomach and filled it with warm nourishment.

The pond loaches melted in her mouth, and after crunching through the fat-fried crust that covered the little fish, the meat fell apart on her tongue, and her teeth munched into soft bones. Soo grabbed two with her hands and immediately rammed them into her mouth, unwilling to lose time when eating.

"Have some water, my girl, you must be parched," the woman said with a smile.

Soo accepted a tin cup of cool, sweet water and emptied it in a single gulp, handing it back to the woman that slowly ate her food with the grace of a queen.

Pausing, Soo eyes the woman as she ate, scraping the bottom of her bowl with her spoon and gasping when she stared at the table before them. "I'm so sorry, I didn't leave any fish for you!" she exclaimed, an embarrassed blush spreading over her cheeks. Soo internally berated herself for being so self-absorbed that she had stolen food from an older woman.

The woman only laughed as she set her spoon down into her bowl. "That's quite alright, little lady. I made them for you. I don't enjoy pond loach."

This woman is the one I was looking for, Soo thought, unbelieving of how lucky she was. This is the woman that will take me home.

Her lips pulled into a giddy grin and Soo finally let herself relax as she realized she was in the only place in the forest where the beast could not reach her. This was its master's lair, and she was finally safe to indulge in good food and speak to the old lady that added mushrooms to her spoon before scooping some porridge on top and eating them together.

"Are you the one that can take me home?" Soo asked softly, setting her spoon down into her now-empty bowl. "Can you... can you take me back to me town?"

The woman ceased eating and Soo felt her heart flutter with hope when she smiled. "Of course, my dear, my name is Yoo Shin Myung. I'd be happy to take you back, but first, may I ask you to stay just a bit? It is terribly lonely for me living alone here, and... and I've never been visited by a girl before."

Her proposition was strange, and Soo's thoughts immediately drifted to Eun and her parents, but she doubted Eun was conscious yet. Her heart ached when she realized her parents were probably rejoicing that there was one less mouth to feed.

She had nothing to lose in the safest part of the forest, and Shin Myung had just fed and quartered her. She owed her that much. "Did you carry me to the bed?" Soo asked noting the distance between the locked front doors and the single bedroom. She did not notice any other bedding aside from the one she had slept on. "Where did you sleep?"

"I have already folded my bedding," Shin Myung said as she finished her breakfast. Her metal spoon scraped against her bowl before she scooped the last of her porridge into her mouth. "I gave you my bed since you seemed two seconds from freezing to death. I laid my blankets out right outside your door and slept there."


Soo stayed in the quiet tranquility of the woman's cottage for two days, helping to do the laundry, pick mushrooms, and clean. She shared stories of the outside world, wondering why the woman stayed in seclusion instead of coming out to buy the things she either made or grew.

Her eyes darted about whenever she left the house, but night or day, there was no sign of the beast, and Soo finally realized the power of the old woman. Shin Myung never left to feed the beast or ever contacted it, but there was no fear in her tired eyes.

It was strange to live in the heart of the very forest Soo had been told as a child would devour her soul and spit her bones out. But there was a certain charm living beneath the protection of the lady that owned the monstrous place.

The streams trickled clear and sweet, providing a bounty of fish and crustaceans for stews. Mushrooms grew on trees for miles, and edible flowers bloomed from the ground. Birds sang in trees that grew nuts, and the once terrifying forest became a thing of beauty.

Soo tended to the garden that grew in a patch of sunlight. It was strange to her how there were no trees around the cottage, but she was happy to put herself to use and pull weeds and harvest radishes for the older woman.

They ate their meals together and worked together. And it was during one of their dinners that Soo asked why Shin Myung lived in the forest instead of returning to the town. "I'm sure you'd be welcome back."

Shin Myung set her chopsticks down to stare at Soo, and suddenly, something regal and haughty appeared in her eyes.

"My girl, I used to live in that town. I was the beloved daughter of the house of Yoo," she stated with a kind smile. Soo's eyebrows rose as the woman spoke. "I wish I could go back to a life of riches and servants and food that I don't have to prepare, but... but I can't. It won't let me."

"It?" Soo asked. Suddenly, the room felt cold, and she watched the woman hang her head. Soo's head spun with thoughts and stories, and she gasped when the name Yoo Shin Myung finally clicked in her mind.

Yoo Shin Myung was the name of the beast's first victim. She and her young son and gone walking by the forest, and all that had been found of them was the boy's torn and bloodied clothes, and Shin Myung's gold bracelets and leather slippers.

"Is the beast holding you captive?" Soo whispered. A gust of wind rattled the doors around the house, and Soo set her spoon down as quietly as she could, suddenly unable to eat. Her stomach churned as if she was on a boat, and her head felt woozy. "Are you not the person that can help me leave?"

Shin Myung, however, took another piece of grilled squash and sighed before eating it. "I've been here for ten years, my girl. That monster killed my son and keeps me here alone. Once in a while, I get to have visitors, and they're always men who want to kill the beast. I let them stay, dress their wounds, feed them... Sometimes there are people that just got lost while picking berries in the forest. They leave after a day or two and I can escort them to the edge of the forest without a problem. But the hunters... the beast returns their heads to me."

Soo's hand flew to her throat. She gulped and coughed as her own body betrayed her want to be silent. "Leave with me," she immediately blurted, reaching over the table to hold Shin Myung's hand.

Grasping the older woman's veined fist in her palms, Soo stared into the tired eyes that had not seen civilization for ten years. "Please, come with me. You can't live like this. We can leave together. We can run. We can escape."

There was hope in those tired eyes, and Soo nodded her head at Shin Myung, willing her to run with her. "You can take me back to the edge of the forest, right? When we get there, we can run. We can run and leave this place. I'll help you. Your family will want you back, I'm sure of it."

A moment passed and Shin Myung finally nodded. "Yes," she whispered. "I'll leave with you. There must be a reason you're the first girl to come to me. You can save me."



They packed lightly at dawn. Berries, nuts, some rice cakes, and dried pieces of fish went into a satchel along with a knife and two pieces of metal to start a fire. They wore only the clothes on their backs and took nothing else from the house.

"What does it look like? The beast," Soo asked as she tied the berries in a cloth pouch.

"Big. It used to be small, but it grew. I was its owner in the beginning, but I hit it once and then it ate my son. It’s the largest wolf. It moves in the shadows and eats men alive. I doubt there's a force on earth that can control it – not when the gods have cursed it."

Soo's blood ran cold at the description of the beast that had followed her on her first day in the forest. So, she had not imagined the white eyes and sharp teeth that snarled a her, waiting to eat her.

"A wolf," she whispered. "I didn't know it was a wolf."

"It's a monster. Wolves fear fire and hunt in packs, but this... it fears nothing and only eats. The only animals that are safe are the birds in the trees. Nothing else can survive in the forest. It killed them all."

Soo thought about the rabbit she had seen earlier and wondered if it was still alive – if the little critter had also fallen to the clutches of the great monster that lurked in the shadows.

They left within the hour, shouldering packs and holding hands as they walked past the sharpened stakes that protected the house from the monster.

Soo looked back when they entered the forest.

The quaint little house with its tiled roof and doors that were sorely in need of new paint looked so sad in the single grove of sunlight that glimmered in the forest. It was a gem amidst darkness, and they were leaving its safety.

They walked together, stopping only to fill their water pouches at the stream.

The forest was still daunting, and each tiny noise made Soo flinch, but Shin Myung walked forward with a determined look on her face. She held onto her walking stick with a fierce grip, never looking around, and never letting go of Soo's hand.

True to the woman's word, when Soo looked around, there were no little animals that hopped about – only centipedes and worms in the dirt. The birds above shouted for their master, and the louder they screeched, the faster Soo walked, following Shin Myung's lead through trees that looked identical.

Her skin began crawling a few miles into their journey, and Soo gulped when she felt her spine tingling again. The white eyes that leered at her from afar gave her the dirtiest of looks – as if she was committing a crime by leaving its territory.

The feeling never left her even hours into their trek, and Soo never dared to look behind herself. If she looked back, she feared she would look Death in is massive, white eyes.

Soo gasped when she saw the beginnings of sunlight creep past the massive trunks that blocked their path. They were so close.

Hope flooded into Soo's body, finally warming her for once. She sped up and tugged on Shin Myung's hand, gasping in delight and relief as she made for freedom. She was alive, and she was home.



There was nothing stopping Soo from running for the safety of the sun's rays when Shin Myung tugged her hand back. Soo stopped instantly, her smile never fading as she turned to see if the older woman was alright.

Shin Myung's face was white with fear, and Soo's body locked in ice as she saw the massive shadow of black fur and sharp teeth that stood behind the older woman.

The beast's eyes were white and dead. The teeth in its snout were dry, yellow, and cracked, and from the folds of a black fur cloak, a pale, veined hand clenched down on Shin Myung's shoulder.

"I was clear," a deep voice rumbled, thundering the birds into silence and making even sunlight feel like ice against Soo's back. "That you were not allowed to leave, Mother."

The hand released Shin Myung, and Soo's body filled with dread as the older woman released her hand. "No," Soo squeaked.

"Goodbye, girl," Shin Myung said, her voice hard. "I fear I don't need you if you've failed your task." She held no remorse in her eyes, and Soo shook her head as the woman turned around to leave.

"No, no please!" Soo shouted, still unable to move. She looked between the beast and the woman that had thrown her to it – him?

A broad hand clamped over her throat, parching the air from her lungs. Soo scratched at the hand that held her, but her eyes only focused on the green skirt that walked away from her.

"I don't want to die, I'm sorry," she uttered.

Soo looked to her right and saw a pair of warm brown eyes.

Then, her sight faded to black.

Chapter Text

Soo gasped awake and immediately bent over, coughing and holding her throat as she wheezed, unable to rid herself of the scratchy dryness that burned her voice into raspy hisses. Her throat screamed for water, but when she looked around, she forgot her torment.

Alive?

Soo blinked at the bed she lay on. This was not Shin Myung's cottage. The bed was harder than Shin Myung's. The gray silk that covered it was frayed from overuse and feathers poked out from some parts of the lumpy mattress. A blanket made of rabbit fur – the softest she had ever touched – covered her body, and Soo gaped as she stared around her unfamiliar surroundings.

The room was illuminated by a small jug of fat with a lit wick, and stacks of clothes sat in the corners of the room. There were books in a pile at the head of the bed, and a cup and water satchel sat beside her left hand.

Soo reached for the satchel and, ignoring the cup, drank straight from the bag, filling her mouth with icy water and gulping the fresh, cooling substance that immediately soothed her ravaged throat.

Wiping her mouth with her hands, she frowned at the sight of the red picnic blanket she had worn on her first day in the forest.

"I left that at..." She wondered why Shin Myung had not told her to wear it. She remembered the events from before she had fallen unconscious, and nothing made sense. If the beast could smell her out and the blanket...

"The beast is a man," she whispered, clutching a shaking hand over her mouth.

Soo stared around the innocuous bedroom, suddenly terrified that she would find a corpse or a skeleton lying around. She worried the man had slept in the same room as her, or if he had used her.

A check beneath the blankets informed Soo that her clothes were still intact.

"Why didn't he kill me?"

"If you're awake, come out and eat," a deep voice called from outside.

Soo yelped and flew backwards, hiding under the fur blankets that covered her thighs. She covered her had with her hands and curled into a ball, her stomach knotting as she made herself small. It was a futile mission—trying to hide in plain sight—but Soo closed her eyes and pretended to be invisible, shivering as she begged not to be found.

Her trembling made the blankets shake, and she waited for the monster to come and tear her limb from limb, devouring her organs and shattering her bones to suck the marrow out—as her parents had described him to her.

“I’m not going to eat you,” came the same, deep voice.

Soo’s eyes slammed open and she gasped before pressing a hand to her mouth. It occurred to her that the man was able to read her mind, but those thoughts quickly dissipated into a terrified curiosity. A million questions flew through her mind, along with a million conflicting thoughts.

“Come on, Hae Soo,” she whispered, biting the tip of her thumb until it hurt too much to continue. Soo gulped and took a deep breath, gasping when her stomach roared at the scent of something spicy.

The power of food was too much for her to resist.

Creeping out from beneath her fur cover, Soo took another long inhale before calming her shaking hands and silently setting the blanket aside. Her heart beat without rhythm, pounding out the erratic thrum of her fears.

“Just eat one meal. Then you can… you can die,” Soo said to herself. She could barely hear her own voice over the roaring in her ears and the ache in her stomach that told her something was wrong.

It took every bit of remaining strength she had to grasp the sliding door that kept her separated from the one they called ‘beast’. With equal parts anticipation and dread, Soo bit at her bottom lip and made peace with those around her.

To her parents, she hoped they lived long and prosperous lives. Her siblings were too young to miss her, and the ones that did would only care that she was not there to take food from the table.

The door made a soft grinding noise as she pushed it aside. Immediately, sunlight rained onto her face, and Soo blinked away from the glaring beams that left splotches of white dotting her vision even after she pressed a hand to her face to shield it.

Sun… this was another grove where there were no trees.

When she opened her eyes, Soo stared out at fields of lush green grass. Summer flowers grew around a field of crops on black soil, and just beyond the crops was a small shack.

A glance to her right and Soo’s body locked. Then, it unfroze as she deciphered what she was seeing.

Beside the tiny house she stepped out from, a large tree cast its shade, and from one of the branches hung… the beast.

The beast was a cloak made of coarse black fur that shone in the fierce sunlight. A hood made from the wolf’s head and skull stared at her, and Soo realized with wonder that her imagination had gotten the best of her.

The massive white eyes that had bored into her very being were just two cloudy, milk-colored circles encased in fur. They were no bigger than coins. The animal was a wolf, and its teeth were broken and yellow.

“Are you alright?”

A chill ran down her spine, and Soo hastily swivelled on one foot to address the voice that had spoken to her since she had awoken. Her hands began to shake again, yet when her eyes found the source of the voice, she stopped and stared.

He was tall.

Soo blinked at a man whose height made her seem miniscule in comparison. He wore a simple brown shirt and pants, his feet bare against the grass, and his muscular arms crossed. His black hair was shaggy and short, tied back to reveal an angular jaw and sharp features.

Soo stared into warm brown eyes that narrowed into a perpetual grimace. This was the person that had stalked her, strangled her… and his handsome face was marked with jagged slashes that sent red scars streaking over his features.

He took a step towards her and Soo instinctively took a step back, her chest rising and falling with long breaths as her legs tensed and prepared to run. Soo immediately noticed her feet were also bare, her socks and shoes neatly set beneath the dais the house stood on.

“Hey, don’t… don’t be afraid,” the man said, uncrossing his arms. Soo watched his every movement, her hands clutching the door in terror. Her body trembled with anticipation, and every fiber of her being screamed for her to run.

He was faster than her—she could tell that much from his muscled body. She would never be able to outrun him, but she could try. There was always that hope.

But, instead of running towards her or trying to attack, the man slowly turned away from her, his bare feet flattening the grass beneath, and his hands falling to his sides. Soo stayed put as he walked away from her and towards a blazing fire pit where an iron pot bubbled.

“I’m going to take a walk,” the man called over his shoulder. Soo listened to every word he said as he strolled away from her. He pointed to a small table sitting on a mat of long, woven grass. Soo noticed a bowl on it and flinched when her stomach rumbled. “Your food is right there. You can have as much as you want. Try not to take any unscheduled walks unless you know your way out of the forest… It’s easy to get lost.”

Barefoot, he strolled away from shining grass and bright sunlight, and into the shadows that encased the woods that surrounded the area. Soo stayed put even when he ceased speaking. She did not move until well after his silhouette disappeared into the wilderness.

Only when he was out of sight did Soo allow herself to let go of the doorframe and creep towards the steaming bowl that sent the most delicious scents her way. Her hunger drove her forward, and though she did not know if he was still watching her, she could not care over the ache in her belly.

She sat before the small table on her knees, unwilling to offend her host if he was still watching. The mat crushed the grass beneath her legs, providing a cushy seat and giving her the smallest of comforts.

Picking up the wooden spoon beside her wooden bowl, she dipped it into the white stew and uncovered hunks of radish, sliced green onions, and even a large fish head.

“He gave me the best part,” she whispered softly, marvelling at the silver and white skin that lightly peeled over the cooked flesh.

Pulling the carved bowl to her lips, Soo drank the hot soup and sighed as the broth coated her bare stomach in warmth, giving her the strength to chuckle at the bland flavor. The ingredients were fresh and tasty, yet the broth was almost water and salt.

Soo picked the fish head up with her hands, using the back of her spoon to dig out the eyes and pop them into her mouth. She had never been allowed to have the eyes at home—the head and belly went to her father and brothers, leaving the fins and whatever meat was left on the bones for the girls.

She almost cried at the soft, succulent taste of the eyes in her mouth. The gooey texture and soft popping skin left her speechless, and she wondered how only her father and brothers had hoarded this to themselves. When she spat out the tiniest of gems from each eye, she forgot her fear to marvel at the little ball no larger than a pinhead.

Once she finished the eyes, Soo lifted a hunk of soft radish with her spoon and bit into the familiar vegetable, remembering how she only ate the radish and broth in stews. A single bite and she was done, unwilling to eat more radishes when a fish head was all hers to savor.

She cleared the first bowl in an instant, and crept over to the pot for seconds—a luxury she had never been able to afford. “If I’m going to die, I might as well do it with lots of food in me,” she reasoned. She decided to eat the belly of the fish next, scooping the fattiest portion of the body into her bowl with a flutter in her heart.

She ate until there was no more room left in her belly. Her full stomach helped to ease the fright, and when she gazed around her new surroundings again, they seemed less daunting and more quaint and pretty

When she returned to the small house she had woken up in, Soo’s mouth opened as her eyes fell on the man that had prepared her food as he worked in his garden.

He wore a cloth over his head to keep the sun from his eyes as he used a knife to cut green onion shoots and toss them into the basket by his thigh. Soo had no idea when he had arrived, but he seemed to have no interest in her. She could not see his eyes because they were covered by the cloth, but his sole focus seemed to be on the green onions before him.

Questions from all parts of her mind crossed her as she sat on the raised dais connected to the house and waited. What she was waiting for she had no idea. Whether it was death or conversation, she just waited, twiddling her thumbs in dulled anticipation as she watched the man pull weeds from the ground and toss them onto an ever-growing pile.

Hours seemed to pass in the warm sunlight, and Soo closed her eyes as a gentle breeze ruffled her undone hair. She leaned against one of the wooden columns holding the roof up, sighing as she closed her eyes. Beside her, swaying on a tree branch, was the man’s wolf cloak, yet it did not scare her anymore—not when its owner was currently pulling radishes from his garden.

When Soo woke once more, the man was sitting beneath the wolf cloak, his back against the tree and his legs crossed before him. He held a book in his hand and his eyes flitted up and down over the words inside. “You’re good at sleeping, aren’t you?” he said, not looking up at her.

Soo blinked at how close he was to her, rubbing her eyes to make sure he was not about to attack her. The man seemed more interested in his book than her, and Soo hugged the column she leaned against, wondering what he was reading. Her nails lightly scratched the strong wood and she mustered just enough courage to address him.

“Why haven’t you... killed me yet?” she asked, her voice starting strong but ending in a whisper when he turned his head to face her. He was clean from the dirt that had coated his knees while he worked in the garden, and he wore a black shirt and green pants to read in the shade.

The man set his book down onto his lap and set his hands down by his side. He did not look offended or angry, so Soo let just the slightest bit of her anxiety go.

“Do you have any intention to kill me?” he asked, his deep voice reverberating as he picked his book up again. Soo frowned and wondered if this was a joke.

“No.”

“Then I don’t have any intention of killing you.”

She digested his words slowly, pondering why he had brought her to his lovely little home if he had no intention of killing her. She was nothing to him. He was the wolf that ate travelers and spit their bones out. “Then why did you bring me here?” she asked.

He turned the page and shrugged his shoulders, softly chuckling. “Knock you unconscious and then leave you to be eaten by the wolves or bring you here so you can recover in safety,” he said. “Easy choice.”

This time, he set his book away for good, pulling his knees to his chest and raising his eyebrows at her. Soo flinched as she wondered how someone so scary could be so handsome. She could not stop the words she blurted next.

“But Shin Myung said you killed all the wolves and animals in the forest.”

Soo’s eyes widened at her own words and she clasped a hand over her mouth in worry. “I’m sorr-”

“Is that what she says about me?” the man asked with a scoff. He sighed and shook his head with an annoyed laugh, his hair swinging with his movements. “Well, my mother told you wrong. I don’t kill things for fun.”

They met eyes and Soo stared into the warm brown irises that had looked into her the last day she had seen Shin Myung. His eyes were kind and sad, a combination that made Soo wonder how he had wound up in solitude.

“Mother…” she whispered. She remembered the man addressing Shin Myung as his mother, but she also recalled Shin Myung calling the man a beast—the one that had eaten her son. But all Soo could see was that the beast was a somewhat docile man who read and gardened alone, a far cry from the monstrous demon Shin Myung had described to have eaten her child.

“But I didn’t see any animals in the forest and… and I never heard any wolves,” Soo protested, her eyes never leaving the man’s. “How are there no animals in the forest.”

The man gave her a confused look, the corners of his eyes folding and a crease forming between his brows. “You saw a rabbit on your way here, didn’t you? There are still animals here, it’s just hard for them to survive without much to eat. The trees block the sun, so plants can’t grow well. There are more animals on the eastern side of the forest. The wolves are there too, since there are few things to eat over here.”

They stared at each other and Soo shook her head. “So you were following me.” She released the column she leaned against and blinked as the man nodded his head. Internally breathing a sigh of relief, Soo realized that though she had imagined the massive white eyes that were tracing her every move, she had not imagined the being that had followed her from the beginning.

The man nodded. “I saw the boy kick you into the forest because you saved your friend. If I hadn’t tailed you, the wild dog that was following you would have eaten you for dinner.”

Silence followed, and Soo rubbed her eyes before gazing around at the pretty grove that shone in the dimming sunlight. She had not realized other animals had also been following her, and she chewed on her bottom lip before laying her hands in her lap. “Are you also a captive of this forest?” she asked. “Is there a monster keeping you locked here?”

“The only monster in this forest is my mother. You’re safe with me,” the man replied. Soo twitched when he moved to stand. He stared at her with an unreadable expression and Soo gulped, wondering what was going on in his mind. “What would you like for dinner?” he asked.

Soo blinked at his request, uncomprehending.

“What?”

He motioned towards the cooking pit and Soo nodded, slowly bringing herself to understand that this man wanted to feed her… and that he was letting her choose their meal. It still boggled her mind as to how the fearsome, man-eating monster in the forest was just a young man that lived alone. “Um… I don’t know.”

“I shot a rabbit while you had lunch. I can roast that if you want.”

Soo immediately nodded and stood with a grin. “Do you have herbs or spices? I’m good at making rabbit,” she immediately said.

The man raised an eyebrow at her before slowly nodding and offering her a little smirk. “You’re not afraid of me anymore?” he asked. “A few minutes ago you looked ready to take your chances in the woods.”

Soo paused as she stared at the tall man that stood just four paces away from her. He gazed at her with something akin to relief and Soo nodded her head. “I think you’re lonely and need someone to talk to—you’re not a monster. You’re a man.”

He stared at her, and his eyes reflected the setting sun. Soo saw beauty in the eyes that reflected so much emotion. The bright purple, pink, and orange sunset cast a warm glow over his face, and he chuckled before shaking his head. “It’s quite strange how different men and women are. You’re the first girl that’s ever come into this forest, you know that?”

“I’ve been told,” Soo replied, keeping her distance as she followed the man towards the firepit.

“The men… they look at me as if I’m deranged. I suppose the cloak doesn’t help, but once they meet my mother and she feeds them her lies, some come deeper into the forest and try to hunt me. Others leave as quickly as they can. But you… you tried to help my mother out of the forest and you’re not high-tailing even after you’ve seen my face. Why?”

Soo paused where she stood, halfway between the cooking pit and the cottage where she had woken up. She watched the man sit beside the pit and place blocks of wood where he meant to start a fire.

“I…” she began. She wondered why the man was keeping Shin Myung hostage. Her mind raced, and fear began clawing up her spine, sending shivers throughout her body. “She’s a prisoner.”

Am I a prisoner too?

She stood unmoving as the man lit a small fire and stood from where he crouched over the fire, his pants swishing as he made for wherever he kept his food supply. Soo followed him with her eyes, wondering what he would do if she tried to leave. Night was falling, and she would not make it out of the forest alive, but she dreaded being kept against her will.

“I have these herbs and the rabbit is already skinned,” the man said as he returned, carrying a small satchel in one hand and a raw rabbit in the other.

He approached to hand the box to her but Soo took an immediate step back to avoid him. He paused at her defensive actions before smiling softly and setting the box down between where they stood. “You can choose what you’d like to make it with,” he said.

Soo wondered how naive she was to have fallen for the man’s charms because of a bowl of soup and the promise of rabbit meat. She internally berated herself for being so trusting.

Her limbs moved stiffly as she stooped to pick the herb box up and open it to see what the man had to offer.

Her nose picked up many familiar scents, and the man seemed not to care that she sat as far away from him as possible. The flames flickered with ghastly shadows over his friendly face, and Soo pinched the herbs between her fingers to test the freshness before looking up and staring when the man produced a knife.

The metal glinted in the fire, and Soo shivered as she wondered if this was the end… but he merely began cutting the rabbit into pieces and putting them in a bowl. “You can season them the way you like,” she heard him say as the knife glided through the red flesh.

She accepted the bowl from him almost mechanically, sniffing her favorite herbs out and tossing them into the bowl along with some bean paste, and sliced peppers. When she handed the bowl back to the man, he smiled and began cooking the meat in the same pot that had held their first meal. The pot sizzled and smoked, sending wafts of delicious-smelling steam around them.

“W-When can I leave?” Soo asked softly, her voice barely carrying over the sound of the fire pit. She looked across the flames at the man that sliced radishes with the same knife he had used to dissemble the rabbit. She did not want to anger her captor, but she also did not want to be his prisoner.

The man hesitated and his knife stilled for a moment. It was in that moment that Soo realized she did not see a monster or a person that would keep others captive. Instead, she saw a lonely man with no one to speak to. “Whenever you’d like,” the man said, continue to cut vegetables. Soo frowned at how easily he was sending her off, wondering how she was so afraid, yet so reassured of her safety at the same time. “Though, I’d like it if you stayed a bit. I’ve never had company before and… and it gets lonely out here.”

Soo thought about what she had outside the forst. Her family was there, Eun was there, and society was outside the dark woods that held an old woman and her son. Soo was not sure who was evil in this story, but she knew she did not want to stay.

She chose the herbs she wanted to use on the rabbit and passed them over to the man.

“I’m sorry,” she said tentatively, hoping not to incite the volatile anger Shin Myung had described the man to have. There was little for her outside of the forest, but Soo knew there was nothing for her inside it. “I’m sorry, but I’d… I’d like to leave tomorrow.”

There was no way to avoid seeing the man’s dejected expression, and Soo paused, reconsidering her decision at the way he averted his eyes and began seasoning their food. She stayed quiet and pulled her knees to her chest, suddenly overcome by the thick silence that coated their conversation. The air around them grew stale and awkward, heavily laced with the scent of their dinner.

The man passed her a flat plate made of wood, and Soo waited for him to take the best pieces of the rabbit for himself before she could take what was left, but she blinked in confusion when, through the smoke, his scarred hand passed the ladle to her first. “Take what you want,” he said.

“What?” Soo wondered if she had heard correctly, and peered at the scarred face that gave her an equally confused look. “Can I… Can I eat first?”

The man raised an eyebrow before slowly nodding. Soo wondered why he looked perplexed. “You look skinny,” he said as if it was an explanation for his behavior. “Are you not allowed to eat before others?”

“No,” Soo said as she reached for the spoon and dug out a leg and half the ribs from the pot, a giddy smile on her face as she stared at the large portion of meat she never would have been able to eat at home. “My father and brothers always take the meat in our food before me or my sisters can have any… I’ve never had this much to myself before.”

When she looked up at the man to hand him the ladle, she saw sadness in his eyes. He only scooped vegetables onto his plate and placed the ladle back into the pot. “Have the whole thing,” he said. “I can have meat any day, but you’re going back, so might as well eat as much as you can.”

Soo instantly found herself shaking her head. “No! You should eat as well! I can’t finish this myself anyways. Please eat some.” She gave him a reassuring nod and motioned towards the pot where their food sizzled.

The man’s expressions left her puzzled and Soo watched as he used the thick pieces of wood to protect his hands from the hot metal and took the pot off the flames. “You have a long way to travel tomorrow. I’ll pack the rest for you to have.”

She almost wanted to tell him she would not leave.

Once they finished a marvelous dinner, Soo sighed and held her full belly as she stared up at the stars. The dark sky was littered with an endless number of bright, sparkling lights that cheerfully lit the endless dark with sprinkled brightness.

The man returned from packing the remnants of their dinner, and Soo hardly flinched when he sat across from her. She continued to watch the stars.

“Do you have a name?” he asked.

Soo breathed her answer, a small smile appearing on her lips when a streak of white appeared in the sky, a star deciding to change where it wanted its place in the world to be. “I’m Hae Soo…” she turned to look at the man, whose piercing gaze rested against her. She did not feel so intimidated by him, even though the light from the fire licked ghostly shadows up the scars on his face. “What’s your name?” she asked, extending the same courtesy.

The man paused, his mouth opening before closing again. Soo waited until he coughed and spoke. “I’m So. My name is Wang So.”

Soo smiled and nodded her head.

He allowed her to sleep in the house alone, and for that she was grateful. Soo undressed until she wore her underskirt and undershirt, neatly folding her outer clothes and laying them beside the futon. She stared at the shadow that walked around outside. So’s silhouette glided over the paper door, and the sounds of him cleaning around the area reached Soo’s ears. She hid beneath the covers as she had that very morning, but the door never slid open, and So did not speak for the rest of the evening.

When she opened her eyes, Soo flinched awake and shouted at the sudden crash and smattering sounds that immediately drove her upwards.

A massive storm wailed around them, and Soo immediately dressed, wondering if So had slept outside in the rain.

She hastened to tie her belt around her waist and shoved the door open to be met with a gust of wind that blew her untied hair all about her face, a spray of mist sending a cold jolt all over her body.

“Sit down,” So said.

Soo looked to her right and stared at So. He sat on the covered deck, his socked ankles crossed, and his back against the side of the house. He wore his wolf cloak, and peered at her from beneath the beast’s maw, a little grin on his face. “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

Soo sank to her knees and closed the door behind her, sitting a few paces away from So. “I did,” she said, raising her voice to be heard over the howling wind. “Did you sleep well? It must have been cold!”

Soo stared out at the torrents of rain that fell and blew in all directions. The trees around them swayed, and lightning crackled around them, swiftly followed by the rumble and crash of thunder. She looked back at So in worry, wondering if he had spent the night in the rain.

“Don’t worry,” he said back, his hand patting the wolf that blanketed him to his crossed ankles. “It started raining in the middle of the night, so I moved here and slept in my cloak. Were you uncomfortable?”

Shaking her head, Soo noticed the baskets that So had brought in to protect from the rain. She reached for one and pulled the woven lid off of it, noticing hastily tossed piles of dried herbs. “You must have rushed to bring these all in,” she said, looking up at him. “You could have woken me. I would have helped.”

So chuckled and shook his head. “It’s fine.”

He took his cloak off and laid it onto his lap. The fur covered half of the deck and Soo scooted closer to So when he reached for one of the baskets and opened the lid to sort its contents out. “I can take you back to your hometown if you’d like,” he said as he opened another basket and selected herbs to properly organize them. “You can wear my cloak.”

Soo moved until her legs were beside the edge of the wolf pelt. She reached for another basket and began sifting through its contents, picking out herbs and passing them over to So where she assumed he kept those kinds.

“It’s raining. What if we get sick? I won’t risk your health or mine. Plus, you have all these herbs to sort!” she declared, focusing on her work. “I can leave when the rain stops.”

So chuckled and Soo continued sorting. So left a bowl outside of the deck, so the rain could fill it. He handed the bowl to her and Soo took three refreshing gulps of water before handing the bowl back to So for him to drink the rest. He set the bowl out again, and when it was full, he handed it to her so she could wash her hands and face.

“How old are you?” Soo asked as they sorted herbs. Soo tossed a dried weed away from the edible plants and glanced up at So who was busy working on his basket. Meticulously dried plants that crunched when grasped too tightly found their homes in different baskets, guided by expert fingers.

“I don’t know,” he replied. Soo frowned and So merely shrugged his shoulders. Around them, the storm raged on, but they sat in the cool gusts of wind, picking through herbs and doing whatever chores they could. “I came here when I was ten. I don’t know how many years have passed.”

“Shin Myung said you were in the forest for ten years,” Soo replied, remembering what the woman had said. So’s face contorted at the mention of his mother’s name and Soo wondered how their stories intertwined.

“Then I must be twenty,” he muttered.

“I’m eighteen,” Soo said, offering the gloomy man a smile. So frowned at her before chuckling and smirking. “So, can I ask… what’s your story? How did you come to live here?”

Lightning cracked like a slaver’s whip and Soo flinched, shivering as thunder quickly followed the burst of light. She blinked when So moved forward, grasping the wolf pelt and tossing it onto her lap.

Immediately warmed, Soo thanked him with a smile.

“Did my mother not tell you some story about me eating her son alive?” So asked. He threw a weed out into the rain and Soo tipped her head to the side. She remembered what Shin Myung had told her, but wanted to hear from So. There had to be a reason why the kind old lady despised the equally sweet man that played host to Soo.

“I was born into a rich family,” So began, his deep voice rumbling lower than the thunder around them. He maintained a low tone, but Soo heard every word he said, and her skin prickled as she leaned forward, pulling the wolf just a bit closer over her lap so she could give his story her full attention.

“I can’t remember most of it, but I do remember my mother. She kept me inside the house because she said the sun would kill dark things like me. I was supposed to be something to her—I can't remember what—but as a child, I had an accident and this happened.”

Soo’s eyes widened as So tapped his cheek, motioning to one of the pink streaks of lightning that slashed over his features.

“She hated me because my deformity made me ineligible for something. I don’t know what it was. She said I was no longer Air—whatever that m–”

“You were the heir to the Wang house?” Soo asked suddenly, remembering the story of the Wang child and Yoo woman that had been the beast’s first victims. The two had disappeared, leaving only the bloody traces of their violent ends. She pressed a hand to her mouth and So blinked.

“Heir…” he said softly. “What is that word?”

Soo cleared her throat and shrugged. “I mean, um… I’m not sure either, but they use it to call the special sons in a rich family. The ones that will get the most things when the father dies.”

She stared at So as he paused to collect himself, his face growing more and more downcast. His hands grew still as he ceased working, looking down at the black void of fur that covered his crossed thighs.

“I see,” he finally stated. “She hit me and screamed at me for every day of my childhood because… because I was not her special child.”

Soo remained quiet as So scoffed and continued working, his sadness disappearing beneath a glare. His hands trembled and he bit his lip as he grasped herbs between his fingers. They snapped and crumbled before they could reach the baskets, and So groaned as he failed task after task. Soo knew he was hurting inside, and she knew that it was her fault.

Unable to watch the internal turmoil that crashed in So’s mind, she rushed forward without thought and held his hands, kneeling on top of the cloak and gazing into his wide, fear-stricken eyes. They were so close that their knees touched through the cloak, and Soo lightly opened So’s shaking palms and held them until the trembling ceased. His hands were warm, his calloused fingers lightly holding her back. “Let me do the rest,” she said softly. “You can rest now.”

So nodded and Soo sat back, dragging So’s baskets closer to hers so she could continued working. She gave So a reassuring smile and breezed through the menial task at hand.

He was an injured person, and Soo felt bad for ever thinking this man was a beast that would slay her and eat her corpse.

So sat with his back against the small house he lived in alone, his knees pulled to his chest and his face tucked into the elbows he curled around his legs. He was so small, curled into himself, remembering the years of pain. Soo wanted to learn more about him, but he seemed too distraught, so she did not ask him to continue. Her heart ached for the man whose oblivious life had been interrupted by her.

Soo did not know when she began singing, but when she glanced back at So, he was staring at her with tears in his eyes, his cheek pressed against his hand as he listened in silence. She swallowed deeply, her song cutting short at the sad intensity of his gaze.

“Is there a song you’d like me to sing?” she asked, hoping that would make his tears go away. She wanted him to smile even though she had known him for all of one day. Soo wanted to make him smile.

“I only know the songs the maids sang when I was a boy,” he said, his voice just louder than a whisper.

“Well I’m poor, so if you sing, then I’ll know them,” Soo replied. She let her lips pull into a smile and encouraged So to begin a song so she could sing for him.

He mumbled through a familiar key, forming words that sometimes muddled and sometimes did not sound right, but Soo knew what song he asked of her, and she quickly followed, adding her high voice to his low, and gently guiding him through the parts he did not remember before concluding together.

“You have a beautiful voice,” Soo said as she continued sorting the herbs. Her fingers smelled like all sorts of concoctions and she began growing a bit woozy from the smell, but nothing could overwhelm her as much as the grin that overtook So’s face, erasing his sadness for the briefest of moments.

“I love your voice,” he said back, his smile fading again. Soo missed the happiness she had seen on his face, but decided she would try to bring it back.

They ate their first meal of the day between breakfast and lunchtime, tucking into the nuts and berries So had picked just days before. Soo sat closer to So so she could reach into the bag and collect handfuls for herself, popping deliriously sweet berries and crunchy nuts into her mouth, enjoying the gloomy weather.

Quiet enveloped their conversation and though Soo felt freed out in the open, the lack of conversation constrained her and pulled at the back of her neck.

“I was eleven when my first marriage proposal came,” Soo said to break their silence. She did not look at So, but she knew he was looking at her. “At the time my father made enough money to deny the boy… he was my friend, Eun. I loved him, but he was too young, and my father thought he was too poor.”

She wistfully sighed and remembered when the nine-year-old had marched up to her father and asked for her hand. Her father had laughed before kicking Eun out of their house.

“He and I are good friends, but neither of us want to marry each other anymore. He has a girl… a slave that works in the same house as him.” Soo ate more berries, popping the taut skin with her teeth and humming as sweet and sour juices filled her mouth. Her teeth would be black and red, but she did not care.

So said nothing, but Soo decided he was just listening.

“I was thirteen when my father’s medicine stand was torn apart by a storm and then ransacked by people who wanted to steal his wares. We had no money and had to resort to farming to keep ourselves alive. I… I received a marriage offer from another man when I was fifteen. He was a blacksmith… twenty years older than me,” she said with a scoff.

“Did you marry him?” So asked. Soo raised her eyebrows when he spoke but chuckled and shook her head. “Why not? You were poor and blacksmiths… don’t they make lots of money?”

The rain seemed to gradually decrease, and the lightning ceased to strike. Light drizzles of rain punctuated by the distant rumble of thunder masked their silence, and embarrassment filled Soo’s chest, oozing over her like honey and painfully fisting into her hair the way her mother had done to shout at her. Her breaths grew slow, and her hands held her thighs to keep from clenching into fists.

“I… I didn’t want to be some old man’s third wife,” she uttered, her voice filled with shame. “I could have eaten meat every day, worn pretty dresses, and lived in comfort if I’d just given that man a baby or two, but… but I hate the idea of just being some… some thing.” She huffed at her own arrogance but also fell prey to the sadness that seemed to want to overtake them both. There was no monster in the forest, but they held their own shadows within.

“My parents never let me go a day without knowing what I had given up. They were angry they still had to feed me.” Soo shook her head as her eyes prickled, her chest clenching as the unruly vines of anger and melancholy tickled up her throat, trying to make her sob. Her eyes itched, but her hand immediately siped forward to erase any traces of tears. “I’m sorry, my problems must bore you,” Soo said. More embarrassment pulled at the very roots of her hair as she vented the grievances that piled on her shoulders to a stranger.

Soo did not flinch but froze in place when So’s hand fell onto her shoulder, gently patting it before disappearing without a trace of evidence as to if it was there or not.

“You value freedom,” he said quietly. “I do too.”

Soo nodded her head and leaned back against the house, letting the back of her head thunk against the wooden paneling.

The rain drizzled around them without pause, trapping them in places it could not reach. Soo heaved a sigh and pulled the wolf pelt over her legs once more, letting the animal warm her.

“I was ten when my mother took me out of the house for the first time,” So said. Soo turned to look at him, tracing his long nose and sharp chin as he looked out at the rain. He was handsome, and he chuckled softly. “I know why you didn’t want to be trapped in that blacksmith’s house as his pretty little wife… It’s the same reason why I always wanted to see what was past the high walls around our home.

“I can’t recall all of it, but those tall, tall walls… the gray stones that built them up, the white plaster that held them down, and the black tiles that made them impossible to climb without slipping... They trapped me inside the house, and no one ever let me leave. My mother said I was too ugly for the world to see.”

Soo knew which walls he was referring to. The Wang Estate’s eastern wing was built like a fortress with barriers so tall, two men had to stand on each other’s shoulders to clean the tiles on them. She remembered wondering what mysteries laid behind those tall walls, wondering if a princess resided inside the mysterious area like they did in the stories.

But now, she could see that there was no princess; just a poor, abused soul.

“One day, there was going to be a party. My grandfather invited many people and the whole house was preparing for something very very special…” So trailed off as he threw berries into his mouth and chewed before sighing. “My mother said that she was forced to bring me to the party, but I was so ugly that she would be forever shamed if anyone saw me, so she let me leave the house with her. She spoke softly and gently held my hand as she led me through town, and I was so scared, but I loved seeing and hearing all of the amazing things I’d never experienced before. It was truly spectacular.”

His voice was something else in that moment, and when Soo closed her eyes, she could hear carts creaking over dirt roads, peddlers shouting for ladies dressed in vibrant colors to come look at their wares, and people from other towns shouting their news for lords to tut over, their beautiful, painted fans making the funniest noises as they popped open and shone like the feathers on a bird. There were warm smells all around, and food vendors sold everything from rice cakes drowned in honey and sweet barley powder to raw crabs marinated in red sauce that left the eater clamoring for water. Just around the corner from the food were women in sheer silks who peeked from outside the gibangs, enticing men into their open arms for shining coins.

“The marketplace,” Soo said as she listened to So’s description of the most wondrous time in his life. “I loved playing there.”

They met eyes and So gave her a sad look that she could not read. “She led me past the marketplace. I held a stick of grilled quail and I followed her, too stupid to see that she was taking me away from people.”

Soo closed her eyes as she realized this was where So’s life in the forest would begin. She yearned to comfort him, to make the utter degradation in his voice disappear, but she held back.

“She brought me to the edge of the forest and said I was too ugly to be seen with her,” So continued, his voice weak. Soo pushed her doubts aside and sat closer to So, touching a hand against his shoulder and letting it stay there. His muscles visibly tensed before relaxing at her touch, and he sighed. “She said she wanted me to see the outside world before I died because that was her kindness as a mother. She tried to kill me.”

Soo did not react except to rub So’s back as he wiped his eyes and coughed. The rough silk of his old shirt was worn and fraying, but it was because it was so thin that she could feel his warmth on her palm and reassure him as best as she could. “I… I fought her off and took the knife, but she cut my face, and I felt so angry that… I think I attacked her.

“I was stronger than her even at ten, and I pushed her down and dragged her into the forest. I took my chances and decided that she would feel how I felt. I wanted her to be as trapped and angry as I was.”

When he stopped speaking, Soo nodded her head and blinked out at the sunlight that had quietly replaced the rains as So had told her his story.

The herbs were all sorted, the deck organized, and the baskets stacked to the side. The berries in the bag dwindled, and only a handful of nuts remained as the storm passed, and light shone all around, making the puddles of water that remained glitter like gems.

“You can leave now,” So said, his voice flat and tired. Devoid of much emotion, he looked at her and Soo gazed into the lovely eyes marked by his mother’s hatred. Soo wished she could touch his scars and ease the pain that must have accumulated over his two decades of living. “If we leave now, I can get you to your town by nightfall.”

Soo thought back to the home that awaited her. She wished she could see how Eun was faring, but she did not want to return to her parents’ home and disappoint them any further. She still feared being stepped on by those that lived above her in rank.

However, all those problems seemed insignificant when she gazed into the stark loneliness that echoed in So’s warm brown eyes. He wore no expression on his face, but his eyes told her he would never have company again if she left him. No person cared enough about him to ever look for him, and no one ever came into the forest with the purpose of comforting the beast.

“I’m going to stay another day,” Soo said, removing her hand from So to place against the wall and help herself stand. “The ground is too wet, so if I slip and fall, I might hurt myself. I’ll leave when the ground is dry.”

Soo swore she glimpsed the barest of smiles on So’s relieved face.

They ate another small meal together, and Soo walked around the fence that kept animals out of So’s land, dragging her hand over the wood and wondering how a boy that had entered the woods at ten knew how to do things like cook, clean, build, and hunt. When she glanced over at So, the axe in his hands glinted as he chopped dry wood to use to boil water for tea.

The muscles of his bare back rolled as he cleaved through wood as if it was nothing. There were countless remnants of injuries on his body, and Soo knew how her society treated those with marred faces and bodies. She wondered if exile had been the more prudent choice for So’s life and sanity.

She rejoined him with a little smile, picking his shirt off of the ground and folding it, noticing how frayed it was in some areas, and how shoddy stitching had kept it together long past its retirement.

Soo peered over at So as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned towards her with a grin. “I can’t light a fire yet because the ground is still wet… would you be alright with finishing the rabbit we had yesterday cold?”

His question was sincere, and Soo nodded her head. “I don’t mind cold food,” she said, stepping close to him.

They ate while sitting on the deck, their legs hanging off the sides—well, Soo’s legs hung off the sides, So was tall enough to plant his feet onto the ground—and their eyes gazing up at the cloudless sky.

“It’s so peaceful here,” Soo murmured as she sucked on a bone to collect every last bit of food from it. She ate good food with nice company and a lovely view, which led to her spirits soaring. “Do you ever want to go back?”

So tossed his bare bones into the small bucket they used for food scraps. “I alternate visiting the five towns and villages around the forest,” he explained. Soo frowned at his statement and wondered if she had ever seen him in her town before deciding that was impossible. She would have remembered a face as handsome as his.

“You go to the towns?” she asked.

“I don’t grow rice, beans, or fruits, and the fish you had yesterday was from the ocean,” So said with a laugh. “Do you see the ocean here?”

“But… money,” Soo said, uncomprehending of how So had never been caught as the one who dwelled in the forest. She scooted closer to the man who shrugged his shoulders.

“The men that come to kill me usually have heavy purses. I have money and I can trade whatever I grow for whatever I need. The best berries are always in the forest. Those get me the things I need.”

A comfortable silence rested over them and Soo nodded her head as a light breeze ruffled her hair. “The rain will bring cold winds,” Soo said, holding her hand out to feel the cold air that blew past them in the dimming light. “You shouldn’t sleep outside.”

“My cloak will keep me warm,” So said. “I’ll sleep on the deck. The ground is still wet.”

Guilt gnawed at Soo’s chest. There she was, the stranger that had appeared in So’s life and taken his food and his home without so much as contributing an ounce of work.

“Or you can sleep inside the house with me,” she suggested. Soo looked over at So who nodded. “I noticed there were lots of blankets, so we can sleep separately and both stay warm.”

There was a pause and Soo pressed a hand to her mouth, surprised at her own audacity. “I mean! Only if– I meant to say– um, this isn’t in a sexual manner or–”

“I understood that,” So said, giving her a confused frown. “Why would I want to have sex with you?”

“What?” Soo’s mouth fell open and her hand dropped away from it, her expression pulling into an even more confused look than the one So wore. “I mean, I’m not completely, um—you know what? It’s fine.”

“Hae Soo, we’re not having a child together, why would we sleep together?”

Soo stared with a new version of surprise written all over her face. In response, So stared at her with a frown. They paused, neither able to move from the deep and sticky awkwardness that pulled them into silence.

Does he think… Does he really believe sex is only for making children?

She realized that having left society and human contact at ten, there was only so much So would know, and his innocence brought a smile to her lips. “You’re right,” she said with a sure nod, “we’re not having a child together. We can just sleep in the house, right?”

They stepped into the house together, and Soo accepted one of So’s shirts and a pair of his pants. He handed her his underclothes and a pair of socks. “You’ve been in the same clothes for a week now,” he explained.

Soo nodded mutely, realizing it had already been a week since she had entered the forest. She accepted the clothing from So as he laid their blankets out, making sure there was a space between the two futons. Soo noticed how he laid more padding onto her bed, giving her the fur blanket and soft pillow. “Why give me your nice bedding?” she asked, still clutching his clothes to her chest.

So patted the beds and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t remember much from my childhood, but I remember someone telling me women should be treated… treated with care. I think it was a maid.”

He left the cottage when Soo asked him to. While So whistled outside, Soo stripped down to her skin, stretching her arms out and wishing she could wash. She folded her old clothes into a neat pile and dressed in So’s much too large clothing.

The shirtsleeves fell past her fingertips, so she folded them to her wrists. The pants wrinkled around her feet, so she tied and folded the waist until her socked feet were visible.

“You can come it!” she called once dressed. Soo glanced at the door as it opened, noting So had also changed out of his clothes and into softer materials. He paused in the doorway and Soo raised her eyebrows at him. His eyes scanned over her as if she was an anomaly, and Soo felt herself frowning until So choked on his snort and barked a laugh.

“What?” she whined, suddenly self conscious at the young man’s response to her new attire.

“You’re so tiny!” said Wang So as he fell onto his futon, guffawing. “I’ve never met a person as small as you!”

Soo’s bottom lip immediately jutted out into a pout and she huffed as she sat onto her bed, crossing her arms as So laid on his side to smirk at her. “You’ve only seen the bad men that come to find you,” Soo said, defending herself as So asked if he could see her wrist.

Letting her fist shoot out and bump So’s hard shoulder, Soo held her arm out and allowed So’s rough hands to touch her skin. She paused at how warm his hands were, blinking at how gently he held her fist and compared his wrist to hers. Calloused fingertips brushed over her equally hardened palms, but for how menacing the scarred hands looked, they were surprisingly light.

“Three of your wrists could fit in mine,” he muttered. “But your hands look like you labor for a living.” He looked up at her and released her when Soo pulled her fist back. She nodded her head, unashamed of the menial work she did to bring a few copper pieces into her family’s dusty bankbox.

“I scrubbed the bathhouse in town,” she said, laying on her futon and pulling the massive fur blanket over her shoulder to cover her from toe to neck. The fluffy rabbit fur hugged her the way her mother had when she was a child, and Soo exhaled a relaxed sigh for the first time in years. Laying in the same room as a strange man in a strange situation, surrounded by strange woods, she felt safe and comfortable. “I made a little bit of money working and sometimes sold the herbs I picked behind our home. But I usually helped my parents garden.”

She spoke of her parents, yet Soo’s heart did not miss them, nor did she want to miss them. Her choice to remain unmarried and their resulting abuses had only left a dull ache in her chest. She did not want to hear their vile words ever again… it disheartened her to know she would be returning the next morning.

“I like you,” So said. Soo turned her head to frown at him but the man laid with his head cradled in his hands and his eyes facing the ceiling. “You’re loud and funny… and I still remember seeing you that first day, you were wrapped in that red cloth and crying. I thought you would give up but you didn’t. So I decided I wanted to try to speak to you, because I thought you’d make a good friend.”

Her heart warmed, and a little tingle of happiness moved from her fingertips to her palms. Soo pulled the blanket over her nose as So sighed and closed his eyes.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Lord Wolf,” Soo replied, pulling the fur away from her face. So snorted and she smirked.

I want to stay, Soo thought as she closed her eyes against her pillow.

The next morning, Soo stepped out of the cottage still wearing So’s clothes. The young man waved at her from where he packed a satchel for their journey. He wore his wolfskin and thick, black clothes that only bared his face and hands. Beside his feet were two swords in their scabbards, awaiting their owner’s commands. So frowned at her appearance in his clothing.

“Good morning,” he said, leaving the leather bag on the grass and approaching her. His boots left marks in the lush greenery, and Soo smiled, taking his hand as he offered to help her down from the dais. Their fingertips met for the briefest of moments, and Soo inhaled the fresh morning air with happy little hums, taking in hints of grass, dew, and the rich scent of the earth around them. “Do you want to leave once you’ve eaten or would you like to eat along the way?” So asked.

Sighing, Soo shook her head. “I can’t leave today. I have to wash my clothes and some of your clothes are filthy too. Ask me again tomorrow.”

So gave her the softest of smiles, the scar on his face moving to accommodate an expression he seemed not to be adept at making. Soo returned the expression with her own warm grin.

“Then let me lead you to the river, my lady,” So said.

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“I have to pick more herbs for you! I’ve eaten them all, so I can’t possibly leave you with nothing to season your food with.”

“Then I’ll take you to the place with the best herbs in the entire forest.”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“My body is filthy. I want to bathe and rest. I want to swim and catch fish.”

“Then let me take you to where the river is deep enough to swim.”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“We caught too many fish yesterday, so I have to help you dry them out. This food can’t go to waste!”

“Then I’ll get you rope and salt so we can tie the fish.”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“I want to hear a story before I go. A long one that lasts hours and hours.”

“Bring me the red book with leather on it. I’ll read you a story.”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“I loved the story you told me, but now I’m jealous. I don’t know how to read. Teach me, please?”

“Bring me the book with black leather covering it and meet me beneath the big tree.”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“We sat outside for too long and I feel a chill coming over me. I’m too dizzy to leave bed today.”

“Sit against the cushions, here is some soup. Ah…”

Soo stood from where she sat in the garden, pulling weeds that hoped to steal nutrients from the rich dirt that fed her radishes and carrots. Her hands moved deftly, easily spotting which plants belonged and which needed to go. Dirt caked her fingernails and sweat rolled down her forehead in waves. Her shoddily tied hair fell from its knot atop her head in wisps, and her knees ached from working while sitting all day.

A scream rang out from the forest, silencing the birds and reverberating over the tops of the majestic pines that filled So’s property. The first of many abnormal noises left Soo speechless, and she stopped working to look up in terror, her hands stilling as yet another deep-throated shout called for another man.

“Kill it! Kill it! It has my arm!”

Soo stared in the direction of the wretched noise, the weeds around her forgotten, and her hardships erased in fear. The hunters. The men that dared to come into So’s land and try to kill him had arrived for the first time since she had arrived, and Soo trembled at the prospect of them being so close to the cottage that she could hear them.

There were shouts, crashes, and shouts bled into gurgles as Wang So protected his home and existence. Soo could not despise him for killing those that sought to hurt him. She could not hate that he wanted to survive.

The wind rustled the metallic stench of blood through the tall grass that grew along the fence that hid the lovely little garden from the eyes in the forest that watched and waited, searching for weakness in the monster that owned the woods.

There was nothing Soo could do to help So, so she closed her eyes to the sun that glowered at her, and clasped her hands together. Kneeling in the dirt on her soiled apron, she ignored her aching knees and prayed he would be safe. She begged the gods to let him survive and to let him come back safely.

Her prayers were met with the shouts and screams of men that dared to cross the monster in the forest.

Soo forced herself to move through the gruelling hours that So was away. She stopped pulling weeds and instead washed her hands in the bucket of water they kept for that purpose. She started a small fire and put water in the pot, letting it boil as she added hunks of meat and vegetables, moving without thought as she threw in herbs and other ingredients to make a hearty stew.

She made rice afterwards, but throughout her entire cooking process, she could not give her attention to anything but the sounds that came of did not come from the forest. Nowhere was she able to discern So’s voice. Nowhere was she able to hear if he was alright.

Silence fell upon the forest and the clearing, and so the end of the day approached as the sun began its descent from the sky. Soo sat beside her pot of stew, waiting with a trembling heart for So to return and put her fears to rest. She begged the gods to bring him back alive. They were heartless if they deemed it just to hurt a man that had lived alone for half of his life. They were cruel if they hurt the person who had opened his home to her.

The sun set against the melancholy heavens, and as hues of red and purple stained the sky, Soo stood and gasped at the sight of a familiar wolf with white eyes. A black shadow appeared from the forest as the birds sang their fanfare, declaring a victor.

He hobbled into the clearing, his cloak covering his body. His heavy steps brought him closer and closer, and Soo ran to meet him halfway, pushing the wolf off of his shoulders as tears of complete and utter relief blurred her vision.

“Hae Soo,” he murmured, his red hands touching her cheeks. Soo grimaced at the stench of blood that lingered around his wet clothes, and when she pulled her hand away from his shirt, her palm was dyed with blood. It was sickening, but her prayers had been answered, and a relieved sob bubbled up from her chest, exiting her lips without much resistance.

Wang So stared at her with hollow eyes and gaunt cheeks, his exhaustion only too prominent in the dark circles that encased his eyes. He did not take his eyes off of her, and Soo touched his face, holding his cheek to bring him back to reality. Her heart stammered with joy as So gave her a faint smile, warmth returning to the brown eyes that bore into her.

“You’re safe now,” he said softly, his trembling hand meet hers and grasping it with a terrible gentleness that made Soo smile.

“Wash up,” she whispered. “I have dinner ready. You can rest now.”

She followed him to the bucket where icy water from the well stayed cool in the shade. Soo helped So out of his clothing until he stood before her in only his trousers, half caked in blood and half dripping it.

He sat on a tree stump and Soo picked up a rag to wet it and clean the blood from his bruised body. Her fingers grew numb as she wiped him clean, holding his hands and meticulously ridding his nails of grime. “What do you usually do after… after you’ve defended your home?” she asked as she stood to dab at the spatters on So’s face. She wiped along his scars and leaned close to the dazed man before her.

“Collapsed under the tree… slept…” he mumbled.

Her chest ached at the thought of So returning home to loneliness, too tired to move or eat. She could see him falling against the tree and just sleeping, covered by the wolf cloak that accompanied him on his rounds in the woods. Soo did not have to imagine much until her breathing hitched and her hands grew still.

“Sit here,” she said, setting the rag aside to run over to the pot and ladle a large helping of rice and stew into the largest bowl she could find. Soo chose the fattiest parts of the meat for So and ran the bowl back over with a spoon stabbed into the rice. She stood before the dazed man and passed the warm bowl over to him. “I don’t want you going to sleep without eating anything.”

So accepted the bowl from her without a word. Soo sat with him and watched as he dug into the food, scooping the rice and stew into his mouth and swallowing in his haste to fill his stomach. He only chewed the meat, inhaling the rice and stew as if it was porridge.

“This can’t be the first time you’ve done this,” she said, her eyes tracing over the faded scars all over his torso. “Are you always so affected?”

So paused his eating to look at her, and Soo reached a hand out to wipe his bottom lip with her thumb, cleaning his chin and idly sucking the soup from her finger. She sighed as she imagined a much younger So having to defend himself from men that did not understand.

“I never had to protect someone,” So whispered. He stared at her with an expression almost akin to surprise, and Soo felt a shiver run down her spine at its intensity. “I always thought that it didn’t matter if I died, but today… I knew that if I died, I’d leave you alone. And being alone is the worst punishment.”

Soo bit her bottom lip and nodded, flicking a bug off of her skirt. She kept her attention on the tired man and took the bowl when he was finished. “You thought of me?” she asked, walking over to the well and using the water to rinse his bowl and spoon out. There was little to wash; he had scraped it clean.

So joined her beside the well, and Soo stepped back to allow him to pull a bucket for himself and pour the cold water over his head.

Rivulets of clear, reddened water fell down his chest, and Soo knew she would have to wash his clothes before they dried. “Put your clothes in a pile and I’ll take them to the river to wash,” she said as So scrubbed his hair and nodded.

“Stay with me tonight,” he murmured, tossing the bucket back into their water. “Burn the clothes and just stay. I don’t want you in the forest alone.”

She wanted to say that she knew her way around. Though she did not exactly know her way out of the forest, she did know where the river was, where herbs grew the best, and where the berries were most bountiful. But there was something in So’s voice that caught her, and she nodded her head.

She yelped when So pulled her close, and her hands immediately pressed against his belly as he laid his forehead against her shoulder and hugged her. His chest was cold from the water, but Soo smiled and moved her hands to his hips as he breathed a deep, prolonged sigh of relief. “I’m glad you’re back,” Soo said, lightly patting So’s bare skin. “I would have been sad if you didn’t return.”

“That’s why I came back,” he murmured. Soo’s heart grew warm and she smiled, shaking her head and guiding So towards the cottage.

“Time for bed, you,” she decided. “You’ve had a big enough day. You need rest.”

She let him change into a new, dry set of clothes and accepted the bloodied rags he had previously worn, burning them as he had directed.

When Soo glanced into the open door of their cottage, she pressed a hand to her lips and giggled at the sight of Wang So sprawled over the bed, a blanket over his stomach, and his mouth open in a loud snore.

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“There’s a method for building a loom in one of your books. Build me a loom so I can make you new clothes to replace the ones I burned before I go.”

“Read the instructions aloud while I sharpen my ax, please.”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“Your hair is so shaggy… I can’t possibly leave knowing your hair looks like that. Let me cut your hair.”

“Here are some shears. Try not to cut me, hm?”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“Your bed is frayed and needs fixing. Kill me some birds so I can stuff your bed and mend it. For now, you can use my bed.”

“Then let me catch as many as you want and we can feast tonight.”

“Are you ready to leave today?”

“I’m sad that I’m leaving you. Talk to me, please?”

“Come here.”

Soo sat beside So on the raised dais and let him hold her by the hip. He pulled her close and she followed willingly, laying her head against him as his wolf cloak fell over both their shoulders, and his arms encased her in the sweetest of embraces as his cheek pressed against her hair.

The painted sun set over the over the trees in a in a warming blaze that announced the day’s finale. Soo rested her forehead against So and exhaled a calm, happy breath, warm against his chest. Her fingers tangled in the material of his new shirt, pulling him just a bit closer.

“Don’t leave,” So said as they watched the painted sun bid them farewell for Soo’s hundredth day in the forest. “Stay with me. Be with me. Don’t leave today or tomorrow or ever. Be mine.”

Soo closed her eyes in content as his lips touched her forehead and his arms tightened their hold on her. She smiled softly, nodding her head. “Why would I leave my home?” she asked softly, pulling the wolf closer around their shoulders.

Looking up at So, Soo reached upward to touch the scars that laced his skin. She did not move as So leaned forward, his nose brushing against hers. “Is this your home now?” he asked, his voice low. A smile tugged at his lips and Soo merely giggled.

Closing her eyes, she leaned in and gently kissed So, touching his cheek and smiling when he held the small of her back and kissed her back.

Safe in each other’s embrace, they did not notice the eyes that watched them from afar.

Chapter Text

Soo wrinkled her nose as she woke, annoyed that her happy dream ended abruptly. But as soon as her sleep-addled memories faded, a new day began and she slowly opened her eyes, scooting just a bit closer to So and smiling when his arms subconsciously wrapped around her, protecting her from the cold that surrounded them.

Her breasts pressed against his bare torso, and Soo sighed in content, closing her eyes as the rabbit blanket that covered their bodies tickled her skin. There was little to do in the winter, so they slept in.

Soo looked up at her sleeping lover and traced his scars with her eyes. A short beard made itself known on So’s face, and even though it was the dead of winter, he shaved every morning to maintain a well-groomed appearance. Soo thought he looked handsome with or without the beard but quietly preferred his clean-shaven face. It was nicer to kiss.

“Spying on me while I’m sleeping… how rude of you.” So muttered. Soo giggled when his hand moved into her hair, pulling her head closer to his chest. Her nose bumped his skin, and she pressed a kiss to his torso. Sleep filled his voice, and his eyes remained closed.

“I just like looking at your handsome face because I know that it’s mine now.”

“You sound like you’re planning on stealing my face.” So leaned back to stare at her through bleary eyes, giving Soo cause to shake her head at him. “Am I sleeping with a changeling?”

Soo made an offended noise in the back of her throat but shrieked with laughter when So pulled her on top of him, her arms and legs falling on either side of his body. Their skin met, creating friction and warmth to ward away the cold winter outside their covers, and Soo looked down at her tired lover with kind eyes.

“That was mean,” she murmured, kissing the tip of his nose. She traced butterfly kisses against the scars on his face and easily complied when he pulled her down for a kiss… and another… and another.

“Will you miss me while I’m away?” asked So. His hands lightly drifted beneath the blankets and Soo whined when his large palms caressed her skin.

“I always do,” Soo replied. She laid her head against So’s shoulder, her own hands slipping into the warm covers to touch her lover’s body.

With cold weather came slow mornings, but neither complained—not when they had each other to devote their plentiful hours.

Soo shivered and stirred the pot, frowning at the steaming soup that released the most delicious scent into the open air. There were few ingredients she had left to work with other than dried herbs, dried fish, and the occasional fox or wolf. Few things lived in the winter, and even fewer were edible.

Around her, white snow covered everything in a soft pillow of fluff. Aside from the areas around their house that she and So walked about to get their chores done, the snow remained untouched. From the fence that surrounded their land to the bare vegetable patch, everything now sported a new layer of frost that glimmered in the radiant sunlight.

Sighing, Soo brought the wooden ladle up to her lips and blew on the boiling broth before taking a tentative sip. The hot liquid immediately warmed her and as the wind rustled the tall trees that protected their home, Soo felt safe even without So present.

A quick look at the sun, and Soo decided So would return soon. The need for him to go into one of the surrounding towns for supplies increased as winter dragged on, so Soo picked the berries he traded for the goods they needed, and So came back to her as quickly as he could.

Birds no longer cawed in the forest; they had all flown off for warmer districts, and Soo missed them at times. She giggled whenever she thought of her naivete just months prior, when she had first stepped foot into the forest she now called home.

“I’ll have to pick more berries,” she mused into the open air. So had taken every last berry they had, and because Soo knew he would buy rice cakes as a small treat for them both, she wanted to surprise him with mashed winterberries they could put on their snacks.

Soo took the pot off the fire and covered the flames with dirt from the bucket beside her. She carried the pot to the snow and dug a spot for it, hissing at how numb the frost made her fingers. Once the pot was secure inside the snow, Soo dusted herself off and briskly walked to the small shack near her garden. She unlatched the bolt on the door and slid it open to collect one of the baskets they kept locked inside to avoid clutter.

Already in the cloak she had sewn from the young wolf So had shot for her, Soo carried the basket beneath her arm and pushed her weight against the door, grunting as she shut it.

Her new leather boots made her trek through the snow somewhat easy. Singing to herself, Soo looked around the lush trees with a smile, knowing there were no wolves around when the only thing to eat was winterberries.

When Soo arrived at the best patch of winterberries in the whole forest, she crouched close to the snow, squatting in front of dark green bushes that poked from the blanket of white that left even the red moss looking festive and pretty.

She rolled the berries between her fingertips, careful not to crush the delicate fruit. Soo picked the berries while singing to herself, enjoying the brisk evening air and keeping an eye on the sun to be sure to get home by the time So returned with his purchases.

Song after song, berry after berry. In no time, Soo carried a basket that almost overflowed with fruit, and she wondered for a moment if she had picked too many.

“You sing beautifully, my dear,” said a sweet voice that Soo ached to remember.

She swung around immediately, spilling part of her harvest in her haste to see where the voice had come from. Soo stood her ground as Shin Myung appeared from behind a tree, carrying her own basket under her arm.

“Hello, my dear.”

“You,” Soo whispered. Sudden memories of terror swept over Soo’s body as she remembered So’s stories about his mother’s cruelty and how Shin Myung had left her for dead all those months ago.

“I apologize for leaving you, child,” the old woman said. She used a hand to swipe her long, graying hair away from her bony cheeks before turning away and kneeling in the snow to collect her own harvest. “But you must forgive me… after all, I fed and cared for you with my own stores and supplies. I gave you my belongings and allowed you to rest in my home.”

Wrinkled hands reached into the bushes and fished out plump, juicy berries, uncaring of the young woman that stared. Soo could not understand what the older woman was going at, but she refused to lower her guard. Soo had trusted Shin Myung once, and the woman had left her to So with the intent of killing her. Soo would not trust Shin Myung again.

“We’re alike, you and I.” So’s mother continued, her voice clear and strong in the silence of the forest. Soo believed none of her words, closing herself off from the old woman’s snakelike whispers.

“I’m nothing like you.”

“No? Well you may not believe it, but seeing as how you’ve opened your legs to that monster to stay alive, I beg to differ. You're a survivor… just like me.” Shin Myung’s smile looked almost… proud. Soo’s stomach lurched. “You harnessed the Beast’s more carnal side. I commend you. It never occurred to me that you’d open your legs for that monster, but here you are; alive and free.

“Darling, you know what this means?” Shin Myung’s eyes lit up and Soo took a step back in horror when the old woman produced a long knife from her sleeve. Soo’s heart stopped beating, but Shin Myung offered the knife by the hilt, her fingers holding the silver blade that reflected her murderous intent.

How did she get that? Soo thought instantly, her eyes locking on the shining weapon. So scoured Shin Myung’s home every other week for any weapon other than the knife she used to cook with, but this seemed to have evaded his search, and now Shin Myung offered it to her.

“When you see him tonight, let him have your body… and when he’s tired himself out and fallen asleep, kill him and come to me. Then we can both be free.”

“You are a monster,” Soo spat back, anger burning into her palms at the way Shin Myung referred to So. “So isn’t a beast, you are. How could you ask me to kill your son? How could you be so heartless as to hurt him or wish any injury upon his body?”

Shin Myung’s eyes widened in surprise before she began to glower at Soo, but Soo stood her ground, unwilling to move even as her lover’s sadistic mother walked towards her, her once welcoming demeanor turning outright terrifying. The frosty winter air around them seemed to drop in temperature, and Shin Myung approached on steady feet, her cloak dragging along in the snow.

“You love him.” Shin Mung’s voice reflected her absolute disgust, but Soo did not flinch, even as the anger in her stomach became fear. Shin Myung turned the knife around in her hand so that the serrated blade and needle-like tip faced Soo. “Idiot. Foolish, stupid, idiot girl. Do you think he’s capable of love? Of emotion? He’s a beast. All he does is kill and bring misfortune.”

“You’re the one that makes him do it,” Soo uttered, her voice losing confidence. She forced herself not to shiver even as Shin Myung’s claw-like nail reached to touch her cheek, the yellowed spike oh so gently tracing the curve of Soo’s cheek before moving to pat her belly. The knife followed, and Soo took a step back into a tree as the sharp blade tore the smallest of seams from her winter dress.

The icy bark pressed more chills down her spine and Soo stared, unmoving. “You,” she hissed, mustering any courage she could to defend So, “are the one that sends men to kill him. You could lead them away, but whenever men enter the forest, you house them and lead them to our home. You’re the reason he has to kill!”

“I wonder why he hasn’t killed you yet,” said Shin Myung. Soo hated how the woman ignored her outburst and instead looked over her as if she was a cow at the market. “Perhaps you’ve proved your worth to him? I’m just looking out for the both of us… so how about I help you?”

Soo shook her head and looked around for anything she could use as a weapon, sweat falling from her brow as the knife popped another seam from her dress. Shin Myung’s eyes grew wide, and the hairs on the back of Soo’s neck stood straight up when she saw the madness behind them. A cruel, cold sickness festered behind the lonely eyes of a woman locked in prison for ten years.

“If I make it so you can’t have children… So that you don’t have to carry his whelp. You’ll be his little toy forever, but you’ll be alive.”

Soo whimpered, feeling the blade’s gentle push against her abdomen. “Please,” she whispered, dread pooling in her gut as Shin Myung’s knife let a single, fluffy piece of spun fur fall from Soo’s belt. “So would never hurt me. Stop, please.”

“He’ll keep you locked up here the same way he—”

“Hae Soo!”

An echo bounced off of the trees and Shin Myung pulled back with a panicked yelp, retracting the knife back into her sleeve. Soo leaned back against the tree as a reverberation of So’s voice made his mother panic and scramble. Shin Myung picked her berry basket up and bolted for thicker woods.

Soo did not follow her, instead falling against the trunk and holding her stomach, gasping in relief as her heart stammered from the terror that suddenly exited her body. Unable to believe her luck, she could only wait, all strength leaving her body.

When So arrived, he knelt beside her and asked why she was sitting in the snow. Soo looked up at his radiant smile. His scarred face gazed at her with the kindest expression and his large hands gently helped her off of the snow, brushing her bottom off before wrapping her into his wolf cloak and against his chest. Warmth surrounded Soo’s tired body, and she held onto So with all of her remaining strength.

“Darling, I bought you your… are you alright?”

The comfort of safety washed over Soo, and she clutched So’s arms, exhaling sharply as she buried her face into his chest and shivered. Too distraught, she could only think to remind herself that So would protect her. His mother was wrong to ever assume he was a monster.

“What’s the matter, Soo?” So asked, his palm caressing her cheek. Worry coated each of his words and he pressed her for answers when she did not initially reply. “Why are you so scared? Did you see a wolf?”

“I saw your mother.” Soo spoke with tremors in her voice, pressing one hand to her belly and shuddering at the thought of Shin Myung’s knife pressed against it. So’s body tensed, and Soo winced when he held her at arm’s length, his eyes worriedly scanning her for injury.

“Did she hurt you? Did she speak to you? Is she still—” He stopped and glared around, his menacing gaze scanning their immediate area.

“She asked me to kill you,” Soo said, looking up at So’s lovely features. His expression morphed into something unreadable, but Soo continued even as he grasped her arms. “She saw us… she knows that we’re together… so she asked me to kill you in your sleep, but when I refused, she said she was going to keep me alive by…” Soo took a breath and So narrowed his eyes. “I think she was going to try to prevent me from having children,” Soo stated, holding So’s wrist and averting her gaze. She opted to not meet So’s furious expression, instead choosing to look at the torn seams on her dress. They were mishaps easily fixed, but Soo could not shake the fear of having motherhood torn from her.

“What do you want me to do?” So asked. “Tell me what to do and I’ll take care of it. I won’t have my mother jeopardize your safety or health. You know I’d never hurt you, right?” His voice reflected the turmoil within and Soo looked up to match his gaze. She nodded her head.

“I trust you, So. I know you’d never hurt me. You’re a good man… but So, she had a knife – and not the one she uses to cook with.”

“That’s impossible. I check her home for weapons every other week. You know that.”

The look in her eyes must have convinced him, for So nodded his head and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’ll check again,” he murmured against her skin. “It’s cold, Soo. Being out here isn’t good for either of us, so let’s go home. We can sort the things I’ve bought and then rest, alright?”

So released her from his embrace, and Soo watched with loving eyes as he turned away to pick the basket of berries off of the snow before walking to her side.

They took a short route home, and Soo never strayed from So’s side, too shaken up to do her usual exploring while under his protection. She walked beside him, close enough that their cloaks brushed and overlapped, agitating the snow.

But even as they walked together, Soo could not shake the sordid and ugly feeling of having a pair of eyes on her back once more. Her spine tingled and her scalp prickled as her instinctive need to run suddenly kicked in the way it had when she had first entered the forest she now called home. When Soo looked back, she saw no one in the bright forest, yet the fear in her body remained, multiplying and spreading. Someone was watching her, and Soo knew who it was.

“Let’s hurry home,” Soo murmured to So, holding his arm. He gave her a small frown before nodding and placing an arm around her shoulders. “We’re safe there.”

“Alright.” So rubbed her arm as they walked and Soo finally felt herself smile when they she caught sight of their home. “I bought that tea you asked for. The one that prevents you from getting pregnant. And I got us rice cakes. All kinds. We can toast them on sticks and eat them with the berries.”

He always knew how to make her feel better, and the idea of sitting next to a warm fire and burning their fingers on sticky rice cakes, Soo finally smiled.

They walked past the large barrier that So made to prevent animals from entering their home, and Soo nudged her forehead against So’s arm before thanking him. She could already see the large packs he had brought using a carrier that he wore on his back.

“You bought so much,” Soo said as she counted the parcels he had brought. Their short trek through the once pristine snow led them to their front doorstep, where various packages, some wrapped in pink and gold silk, and others tied with thick, brown leather, sat around.

“Of course I did.” So set the basket of berries down onto the dais on their home. Soo pursed her lips when he reached for her hands and pulled her close. She gave a soft laugh as his lips pressed against hers, making her fears fly away in an instant. “Our first winter together… I want you to be as warm and comfortable as possible. The berries sold for quite a lot, and I have the leftover sums, so we can save to buy something more useful someday… maybe a cow or a horse.”

Nodding her head, Soo closed her eyes and let herself indulge in one more kiss. She loved her new life with him, and could no longer imagine home being anywhere without him.

One spring morning, Soo sat on the red blanket she had first worn into the forest. She laughed whenever she thought of the stupid rumors and superstitions meant to keep So away. Wearing red had only brought him closer to her, and after having lost a footrace against him, Soo knew that she would never be able to outrun her lover.

Breathing in the fresh air and finally able to wear thinner clothes again, Soo sorted through the spring herbs she and So had collected just hours before. Too tired to do much but sit around and do housework, Soo wove through the piles of plants organizing them into the sacks she kept around her. She had initially blamed her bouts of lethargy on the recent warm weather, but her body begged to differ, and Soo gave her still-flat belly a discreet pat.

She looked up when So approached her and flopped down behind her, laying out onto the blanket and reaching out to hold an arm around her waist. Soo frowned when she noticed he wore no shirt, but decided from his wet hair that he had come back from bathing.

“Were you at the lake?” she asked, tossing a bunch of perilla leaves into their designated sack.

“I pushed some men in my mother’s direction. Four men in black clothes.” So’s voice hummed against her side and Soo paused her work to shift towards him and lay beside him, using his bare arm as a pillow and gazing up at the scarred face she loved. “And yes, I did bathe.”

Warm sunlight coated them and when Soo smiled up at her tired lover, he leaned down to kiss her. “Hae Soo, I’ve been thinking,” So said, his arms going around her. Soo laughed when he pulled her closer and looked at her with a glimmer in his eyes. Her heart fluttered at his expression, and Soo gave the smallest of gasps when his hand met her abdomen, slowly sliding down her front. “Let’s a have a baby.”

“What?” Soo immediately snapped out of her lovestruck reverie, rapidly blinking as So’s earnest smile remained. “A baby?”

“You and I are of age to be parents, we’re in love, and I don’t think we’re going to ever leave each other… so why not?”

Why not? Soo mulled over his question as she sat up, slowly blinking. So was right when he said they loved each other. Soo adored So, and he was also right when he said they were never going to leave each other, yet Soo could not tell So she was already pregnant because of the very reason they lived in the forest. Constant threats to their livelihood kept her from revealing her condition when she had first missed her cycle and when she had missed her second one the following month.

She did want children, and she wanted them with him, yet something kept her from sharing his joy. Soo refrained from touching her stomach even as So’s knuckles drifted over where she already held their child inside her.

“I don’t… I don’t know.” Soo’s voice quivered, and though she hated keeping secrets from So, she knew she had to come to terms with her own fears before telling him of her condition. Her battle was only a matter of time.

“Think on it, won’t you?” So asked, also sitting up and lifting his knees so he could rest his elbows against them. His caring grin never disappeared and he reached out to hold her hand. Soo let her fingers clasp his calloused ones and she nodded her head. “I love you, Hae Soo.”

“I love you,” Soo echoed, turning to return to sorting her herbs. She changed the subject before they could continue any talks of children. “Will you be going out into the woods again?”

“I have to, don’t I?” So said with a yawn. “My mother will inevitably lead the party I took to her towards our home. Can you pack me something to eat? I don’t plan on returning home until these men are gone, and I want to scout the area and see where the snow left mud.”

Nodding her head, Soo brushed her hands off and tossed the remaining herbs on her blanket into their bags before tying each one off and standing. “I can make you rice balls and maybe find some dried meat too.”

She picked the herb bags up to carry home as So folded the blanket and tucked it beneath his arm. “That sounds good. I’ll get dressed, then. How have you been feeling? Still tired? You don’t look very well.”

So’s hand pressed to her forehead and Soo closed her eyes as he felt her for a fever. If Soo was grateful for one thing it was that So did not know of any symptoms involving pregnancy. His education came from the books he read and none of them had any details about the female body, leading Soo to teach So most of what she knew.

After storing their herbs in their usual jars, Soo went about preparing So’s food, sitting as much as she could and remembering what her mother had done while carrying her siblings.

Soo made rice balls and wrapped a dried fish, dates, and a few leftover chestnuts into a cloth, tying everything into a handy package that she passed to So as he donned his wolf cloak. The top of the massive beast’s skull fit over his head like a cap, creating the illusion that So’s head was an actual wolf’s head, and the long fur that cascaded from the hood covered him from chin to toe. Soo sighed at the idea of a thirteen-year-old boy taking on the largest predator in the forest to secure his place within its territory as the alpha wolf.

“Feel better please,” he murmured as he leaned down to kiss her. The wolf’s head descended upon her as if it wanted to devour her, but Soo smiled and pursed her lips as So kissed her. “Rest while I’m away. Don’t do anything strenuous. Just… try to feel better.”

“Be safe, So. Come home soon.”

They parted ways and Soo heaved a sigh as the black shadow of So’s cloak slunk past the wooden barrier around their home and back into the forest.

Two days passed and Soo kept a keen eye out for So’s cloak or for any sound that might signal his proximity, but she was only met with silence.

Keeping herself busy helped to dull her fears, but she shuddered at the idea of being alone when Shin Myung lurked about, whispering in men's ears and leading them to where Soo and So lived. Soo had endured with So because she knew that together, they could face his mother and whatever dangers sent their way.

However, with a baby inside her, Soo abhorred the idea of her child being exposed to someone like So’s mother. Soo might be able to keep their baby close, but children rebelled and loved their freedom. She would never be able to live with herself if her baby got lost in the woods. So might be able to find their child if he was quick, but the very thought of Shin Myung’s gnarled hands coming anywhere near So’s child left a sour taste in the mother-to-be’s mouth.

Soo heaved a sigh and let her fingertips glide over the smooth wood of her loom. Through the taut curtain of soft strands she wove into silk to make a new shirt for their baby, Soo looked out at the sunlight forest, wondering what death and havoc might be occurring beyond earshot. She had no use for details, but her heart ached every time So left her to protect their home.

Continuing to work on the soft material that would clothe the child in her womb, Soo put all her concentration into making sure the cloth came out as pretty as possible, singing under her breath and gently picking out errors when they appeared. There was no need to worry when she was safe at home. So always led searches and hunting parties far away from them and disposed of bodies away from where they lived so she would not ever see them.

“You must be her.”

Soo screamed at the sudden voice and immediately stood, her body locking in fear as the stool she sat on spun and collided with the loom, knocking it over with a deafening crash.

“Who are you?” she demanded as her arms instinctively wrapped around her middle.

A large man dressed in red approached, his expression triumphant. Soo stared in terror as a stranger approached her, trampling over any notion of safety she had. The sun shone behind him, causing his dark shadow to cast over her as she trembled. “You’re the witch, the monster’s bride.”

“What?” Her voice was a mere squeak and Soo took a slow step backwards, her eyes resting on the sword at the man’s hip. He seemed not to be looking for So, and his red attire vastly contrasted the usually dark colors worn by people that searched the forest. “Why are you here?”

The man paused his walk towards her to look her over. His narrow eyes scanned her with contempt and Soo swallowed the nausea and anxiety that threatened to make her sick. “I’ve heard the stories, sorceress. You’re the owner of the great beast that eats men… your blood can save my wife.”

Ice ran down Soo’s spine and her breathing slowed at the man’s suddenly hopeful gaze. She knew exactly what laid behind her, but Soo doubted her ability to run and find So. She needed to save herself and her baby, yet her roads of escape were limited and her ability to fight was nonexistent. “The old lady in the cottage said she’d lure the beast away long enough for me to kill you. If I kill you my wife will live.” He drew his sword and Soo held her middle tighter as the shining metal flashed in her eyes. At lon last, Shin Myung had sent someone to kill her… and it was all based on a lie.

“Please,” she begged, “please, I’m with child. Please.” Tears filled her eyes and Soo shouted when her foot caught on her fallen loom, forcing her unto her knees. Holding her stomach, Soo prayed that So would live happily even if she was gone. She sobbed in terror, too dizzy and nauseous to run or hide.

“My wife is with child,” the man ground out, stalking towards her with determination in his eyes. “I’m willing to sacrifice you for their lives.”

“Soo!” Tears dripped from her eyes and Soo looked up as the rushing in her ears masked the sound of another sword meeting the man’s as it swung down onto her.

Black fur flew as So threw his cloak off and roared, savagely swinging his sword and pushing the man away. Soo shouted in relief, but her happiness was short lived. The two were unequally matched, and even to her novice eyes, Soo could see So easily fending the man off.

She screamed when the man’s sword hand fell to the ground, cut off in a single swipe of the steel claw that moved as an extension of So’s arm. A river of blood flowed from the open wound, but before the man could react to being maimed, a flash of black whirled past him.

Soo could not utter a sound when So stabbed his sword into the man’s neck and pulled downward, ripping him open from neck to navel. Not even his red clothing could mask the gush of blood and organs that soiled So’s boots. A corpse collapsed to the green grass, spattering everything around with drops of shining red.

At the scent of raw meat and blood, Soo’s once manageable nausea became too much for her to handle. Fear, relief, disgust, and utter confusion all melded together as she fell onto her hands and knees and emptied her stomach onto the blood-soaked grass.

She did not recall So picking her up and taking her to their home. All she remembered was how gentle his hands were as he rinsed her face and hands with a cold rag, and how his clothes reeked of blood.

Soo woke in her bed, her eyes opening as So’s hand gently cupped her face. His worried face appeared in her line of sight, and Soo stared, lying still as exhaustion made her delirious. So sat beside her, yet Soo could not feel him through the blanket that covered her to her shoulders.

“Are you alright?” she heard him say. Soo numbly blinked up at So and exhaled when his lips touched her forehead. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re with child?” So asked softly, his thumb caressing her chin. His voice was filled with adoration, yet Soo could not share his happy sentiments. Her stomach roiled as she replayed the day’s earlier events in her mind, unable to erase the sheer terror she had felt as well as the utter disgust that had filled her as she watched the man she loved tear a man open.

Her answer was all too clear, and Soo pressed a hand to her eyes as her nose itched and her throat closed. Her other hand covered her mouth a she sobbed, tears trickling into her unbound hair. Soo berated herself for the melancholy that forced its way out.

“I want to leave,” she uttered through her tears. “I can’t stay here any longer. I can’t raise our child here.”

When she opened her eyes, Soo wanted to close them again at the sight of So’s anguished expression. The scars on his face contorted into an agony Soo had not seen since she had first asked him of his childhood, and even more shame piled onto her. “You don’t mean that. Hae Soo, you’ve stayed for a year now… you can’t leave me because you’re with child. Please.”

She slowly sat up, gazing down at her belly as So’s hand caressed it. He scooted closer to her, sitting so that their thighs touched and their eyes were level. The love Soo felt when So’s warmly touched her womb made Soo wish, yet she knew he would not agree.

“Leave with me. Come with me. Leave your mother behind and follow me out,” she pleaded, holding his sleeves and begging. “You’ve punished her enough, haven’t you? Free your soul of her… come with me. Raise our baby with me.”

He stared at her as if she spoke a different language, uncomprehending. So reached and grasped her arm as if he wanted to hug her, yet he held her at arm’s length and blinked in his search for answers.

“Darling, I have to stay.” His voice was soft and kind, his eyes pleading for her to stay. Soo frantically shook her head at his gentle words, trying to convey her frustration and fear. “I damned myself and my mother to these woods ten years ago. I will not return. You know how villagers will treat people with a face like mine.”

“I almost died today,” Soo immediately replied, desperation clouding her voice and making it crack. “Our baby almost died today.”

So’s eyes flashed and Soo released his sleeves when his hand rose to pull her grip away. He never raised his voice at her, yet Soo could see the anger behind his eyes. She could feel the turbulence in his heart, and it hurt to see him so conflicted.

“I protected you. I protected our child.” So’s deep voice reverberated around the wooden beams of their cottage and Soo looked down as his hand never left her stomach. “I was here to save y–”

“But what if you aren’t?” Soo demanded. Tears welled in her eyes and she moved forward, tossing blankets off of herself in her haste to be nearer to the man she loved. “What if you aren’t? I thought nothing could hurt me if I stayed home and if I stayed quiet, but your mother sent that man to kill me. He came with the sole intention of hurting me, and if you hadn’t been near enough to hear me scream, I would have died.”

They stared at each other and Soo wondered if it was selfish of her to ask So to leave all he had ever known behind for her and their baby. Would the existence of their child be enough to pull So away from his life of solitude?

Soo stayed in bed as So brought her a bowl of rice porridge with finely chopped vegetables in it. She seemed to be able to eat the porridge, but she gagged at even the slightest mention of anything remotely fishy. Soo attributed her newfound hatred of fish to her pregnancy, but every time she thought of the baby inside her, she worried for its future.

She felt safe and protected when So was with her, but Soo knew So was not always with her. He left often to scout the terrain, he travelled into towns and villages to buy and sell goods, and when Soo wanted something from the forest, So always left to retrieve it for her. Soo knew how often she was alone at the house, and she knew that though So always knew where his mother was, Soo did not, and she would never truly understand the mind of the woman that had birthed her lover.

Their day moved on without much conversation. Whenever Soo tried to bring up leaving, So shot her down and told her in the kindest, most desperate voice that he would protect her and their family with everything he had. He claimed he would die for them, but that was what scared Soo the most. She also would not mind dying if it meant forever freeing So and her child from Shin Myung’s schemes, but Soo knew she would never be able to live with herself if So or her child were injured because of her own negligence and inability to protect them.

Soo rested as much as she could, only leaving the house after So had carried the dead man’s corpse away and used a bit of their water to rinse his blood and organs off of the lush grass that bloomed with the spring. Once that was done, So washed by the well, and Soo left their home to sit with him in the sun, holding his hand and breathing in the calm air as they waited for night to arrive.

Soo assumed So had been coming home from disposing of the men sent to kill him when he had heard her first scream. Knowing that So was also shaken up by the incident only made Soo wish that there had been measures in place so that it had never happened at all. But they had already done everything they could to keep their home safe and shrouded from the eyes of unwanted visitors, both animal and human alike.

So’s hand cupped against her stomach and his thumb rubbed a circle into her dress. The silent evening brought peace and serenity around them, and Soo ached at the thought of what she had to do in order to protect her baby.

She reached her decision as they sat on the red blanket she had worn when first meeting So. Leaning closer to the man she loved, Soo nudged her cheek against his shoulder and reached to caress his cheek and pull his lips against hers. Soo kissed him for as long as she could, savoring each kiss and tasting him as if it would be their last time together. All the while, So’s hand never left her belly, and Soo silently thanked him for becoming her family and helping her create a new person to join them together.

They had supper beneath the stars and Soo stayed close to So, sitting flush against him and spending as much time in his warm embrace as she could. The amount of pure and utter adoration she had for him was outmatched only by the love she had for their babe.

After picking through an already meager portion of dinner and fighting nausea the entire time, Soo accepted a kiss from So as he told her to rest while he cleaned up. Soo refused to let him do all the work and washed their bowls while So wiped and stacked them. They spoke quietly or not at all, and once they completed their evening chores and washing with water warmed with the last embers of their fire, Soo held an arm around So’s waist and let him lead her home.

Soo took her slippers off and held So’s hand as she stepped onto the dais of their home. She opened the door to their small cottage as So also stepped to her level, and they entered together, quickly shutting the door so bugs would remain outside.

Warm, orange walls of dried clay greeted them along with the white and gray bed Soo had not folded after waking up. They stepped around the blankets and Soo closed her eyes when So held her from behind. His chin dipped against her shoulder and Soo leaned away to bare her neck as his lips trailed soft kisses up it and his hands moved to her belly once more.

“Thank you, Hae Soo,” he murmured, giving her a kiss on her lips. Soo’s eyes sprang open at the pain that stabbed into her heart. “For giving me a family I can be proud of. For staying. I love you.”

No, don’t thank me. Don’t. Please don’t. Don’t make it hurt more.

Turning in So’s arms, Soo gazed up at his scarred, beautiful face and reached upwards to pull at the back of his neck, slowly kissing him before untying his hair and taking a step back. So’s eyes showed his confusion, but Soo let herself smile behind the gut-wrenching agony of her choice.

Untying her belt, she let it fall, easily slipping out of her coat and shirt. Her skirts were the next to go, and while Soo undid all her clothing and slowly bared herself to So, she never took her eyes off of him, wanting to memorize him and forever keep him in her heart. Finally, she stood before the love of her life in nothing. There was need in his eyes, and Soo could not deny the slowly rising want that rose from her core.

“You’re acting differently.” So stepped closer to her and Soo tipped her head back as his fingers slid through her hair and his lips hungrily captured hers. His voice was a hoarse growl as his hands glided up her skin. “Should I be worried?”

“I want you,” Soo breathlessly replied between their kisses. Her body was still changing to accommodate even the idea of being pregnant, and when the rough material of So’s outer clothing scratched against her sensitive breasts, she pulled back with a hiss.

He noticed her discomfort and slowly fell to his knees before her.  Tears welled in Soo’s eyes as he nudged his forehead against her belly, pressing the gentlest kisses onto her skin.

Soo held the back of So’s head as he slowly removed his own clothing while kissing her body. She quickly closed her eyes before he could see the desperation and pain behind them.

Soo wriggled out of So’s embrace, pulling their blanket over his naked body as she crept away from their bed in the dead of night. Her head ached with the clamor of a million drums at the lack of sleep and the fatigue that their copulation had left on her, but Soo only moved forward.

She pressed her bare feet to the cool floor with care, making sure not to let a single creak past her. Each tiny step brought her just a bit closer to the small stack of clothes she had prepared. Soo easily found the stack in the dark, but she held her breath and moved slowly as she lightly shook out each article of clothing, never taking her eyes off of So’s sleeping form.

She slipped her feet into a pair of socks and then pulled her underclothes on, following those with soft trousers to cover her legs. Her skirts came next, and Soo cringed as the shift of fabric created what felt like the loudest rustles she had ever heard.

Keeping her eyes on her sleeping lover, Soo bit her bottom lip to keep any noise from leaving her. Her eyes filled with tears as she gleaned the silhouette of his back. She wanted to lay back down beside him. Her heart pined for the man whose embrace she sought out for love and comfort, but her fingertips fluttered over the baby in her womb and she found a new energy to suppress her urges.

This was to protect their baby. Nothing else.

Soo tied her belt around her waist and walked on the tips of her socked toes, holding one hand in front of her to prevent herself from crashing into any of their meager furniture. Her breathing came in short, soft pants and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up with every tiny shift or shuffle that reached her ears.

Just a bit closer to the door and she could slip out. Just a bit. They would never be safe living in the forest. No matter how hard So tried, he would not be able to protect them both.

Soo froze when the blankets shifted, her fingertips just barely brushing against the door. Her nail grazed the pine frame, and when she turned to look back, she shrieked at the eyes that stared at her.

“Where are you going?” So asked tiredly, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. Soo’s heart pounded and sweat pooled in her palms and fell down her forehead as she tried to come up with some reason as to why she was dressed and leaving their home.

“I… I’m just…” she flailed beneath So’s sleepy gaze, feeling herself pull away from the door to be with the man she loved.

She stopped in her tracks before she could even take a step back towards So. “I’m going to get some air. A bit of water, maybe.”

She held her belly as she lied, holding their little one in an attempt to give her voice strength. Soo begged So not to stand. “G-Go back to sleep. I’ll be back soon.”

“Do you…” He paused to yawn, his mouth opening to reveal pale teeth that almost shined in the dark. “Do you want me to go with you? I can… sit with you.”

Soo found herself smiling. Tears welled in her eyes and Soo looked down at her feet before swallowing her emotional response to So’s love. “It’s fine,” she choked out. “I’ll be back soon, my love.”

The lies singed her very soul, leaving it screaming at the prospect of further hurting one that had already endured too much. Soo gave So a smile as he nodded his head and remained sitting up.

“Go back to sleep, So.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

When Soo closed her eyes, the tears that had welled fell. Her hands trembled at the pace her heart thrummed. So gave another yawn and his head lolled as he dozed off, righting himself before he fell onto the blanket.

“Thank you.” She whispered the words, knowing full well that if she spoke them any louder, she would lose herself and cry. “I love you.”

“Be careful, love. Run home if you see anything.”

Soo opened the door before her and shut it behind her. Exiting the safety of their home, Soo lifted her chin to the cool air that could have made the summer evening enjoyable. Stars sprinked the dark blue–almost black–sky and the full moon gleamed. Cicadas sang and the tops of the pine trees that surrounded their home greeted her like an old friend, yet Soo could not brush off the looming sense of danger that forced her away from her home and into the forest she had once entered in terror.

Her slippers brushed over soft grass as she briskly walked towards the fence that kept predators away from their home. So would be asleep and he would wake to find her note left to him explaining why she was leaving him. Everything he had done for her, she was grateful for, and every new milestone they had passed together, she held closely in her heart. Yet, in that very heart, Soo knew that enduring her parents’ abuses and raising her baby in the safety of society was infinitely safer than taking her chances in a place where men actively tried to murder her child’s father… and by default, her child.

Just before she passed the fence, Soo looked back at her home. For the past year, she had known nothing but happiness, and though danger had always been present, Soo could not imagine a life better than when she could sit in So’s arms and enjoy the sun.

“For you,” she whispered, touching her belly.

Soo closed her eyes when she turned back towards the bleak forest, absorbing the lack of the sounds that had first terrified her when she had been forced into the woods.

One step.

Another.

Another.

The birds slept in their nests and only cicadas hummed their summer anthem. The red moss on the trees looked like fluffy pillows in the dark, and though she could barely discern the shapes of the trees Soo knew each one by heart. An hour of walking would lead her to the edge of the forest, where Yeon Hwa and Yo had kicked her into what she had thought was eternal damnation.

Now, Soo left with her own two feet, knowing that in the dead of night, no one would be prowling the forest while she fled.

Soo marched on, expertly stepping past roots that had once tripped her and caused So So to laugh before helping her up with gentle hands. Soo’s eyes prickled with tears as she remembered the happiness So had given her. Everything they had done together in the past year had been filled with light.

The adventures they’d had together now culminated into their most beautiful creation, and, holding her belly, Soo looked back one last time to where she could just barely see the leaf-covered fencing around their home.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered before turning to face the trees and continuing towards the outside world.

Chapter Text

Holding one hand over her belly and reaching the other out in case anything new on the forest floor caused her to trip, Soo walked with purpose. Her eyes adjusted to the black of night and she barely registered the soft fluff of moss beneath her hand as she touched each familiar tree to guide her way back. All she knew was her desperation to get out.

“Just a bit further, darling. Mama will get you to safety,” Soo whispered, stepping over a gnarled root and letting her slipper dip against the softly packed dirt. The scent of wet earth and the chirping bugs made her head buzz, but Soo kept her head on straight and remembered the route So had showed her out during her first few weeks in the forest.

“This is the way out. If you go that way for two hundred paces, your town will appear. Do you want to leave today?”

“Now that I know the way out, I can leave when I want to. But today, I don’t think the weather is right enough for me to go back. Let’s return to your home so I can finish my sewing.”

Lightning bugs illuminated her way and Soo breathed deeply, pausing to catch her breath. She remembered the way her mother had tired easily when pregnant, and feeling the same exhaustion for the first time, Soo paused to gather herself. She leaned against a tree and sighed, holding her chest and wiping the sweat from her brow.

Trepidation flowed into her as she thought about her old family, the one she’d lived with before she had found her place beside So. Whenever So went into her old town, he brought news of how they were faring and often informed her of little things he knew she would care about. Her younger sister had married, her younger brother also taking a wife. The family had scrounged up enough to build a new fence.

Giving her belly a gentle rub through her rough dress, Soo thought of the verbal abuse she would endure once she returned. Gone for a year and then back with a baby in her belly. Her own parents would call her a whore and a beggar, but anything was better than losing her child to the cruel mind that lurked within the forest.

“We should get going. It’ll be dawn soon, and Papa will search for us when the sun rises.”

As she stood from the tree, she heard a soft but unmistakable rustle. Purposeful, but masked thuds lightly hammered into the dirt around her, alerting her to a new, foreign presence.

No animal could replicate the sound of boots pressing into dirt, the quiet march of someone unwelcome in the forest trekking towards her.

Eyes opened all around her, white and gleaming in the dark. Their soft breaths curled into the air, clawing fear into Soo’s heart as she clutched her belly and looked for any way to run. They were close to the edge of the forest, and if she could gather enough stamina to sprint to the edge…

No, these were men. Men that held gleaming weapons in their massive hands. Their teeth shone, blunt and smiling, their eyes betraying their bloodlust. Shades of black and gray masked them into the dark, leaving only their pale faces and hands for Soo to discern.

Her heart stopped beating, her hands clawing into her dress to protect her belly. Sweat dripped from her forehead and dread pooled in her belly, locking her in place as four men crept towards her, cutting off all exits.

“I’m not a threat to you!” Soo cried out, pleading to the four men that entrapped her. Their hoarse chuckles echoed off the tree trunks and faded into the void.

Heh heh heh heh heh

There was no humor in their voices, just pure, sadistic cruelty. Soo’s entire body quaked as prickles of sheer terror lanced over her body, locking her in place and forcing her to clutch her belly tightly.

She panted softly, air suddenly hard to come by. Even at peak condition, Soo had trouble keeping up with So’s running pace, and she knew that in the dead of night, and pregnant, she would never make it far from the men that surrounded her.

“Try not to hurt her yet…” crooned a familiar voice. Soo looked up with ice sliding down her spine and fire igniting in her belly. “She needs to be alive if you want even the slightest bit of weakness from the Beast.”

“You,” she uttered, pure malice tingeing her voice as her hands curled into her dress.

Shin Myung stepped around one of the men, the sound of her shifting dress muffled over the soft dirt. “Did you really think I would let you leave before I did?”

“He’s your son!” Soo shrieked, tears building up in her eyes. This woman and the mythology of the Beast were the reasons why she would never be able to raise her child in the forest. “You want them to murder your son!”

Soo expected a sharp rebuke or even a look of anguish, but it seemed all humanity had left the wizened woman. Crazed eyes flitted about the tree-filled area, darting between each one in search of something. Shin Myung merely shook her head. “No son would condemn his own mother. How would you feel if that whelp in your belly was born so hideous you could never show its face? If it dragged you into the forest and chained you to it for all eternity?! He was never a child! He was never my son! The gods damned me with him!”

Remaining silent, Soo glared at So’s mother, refusing to believe the madness the horrible woman spewed. The men around her kept her locked in place against the tree, and Soo knew any false movement might result in her own injury, so she stayed put, glowering and hoping to all the gods that So would not search for her, and that she would be able to escape.

As the men drew forward, further pinning her to the tree her back pressed against, Soo realized what had occurred. So had heard her scream during his pursuit of these men, and he had left them in order to find and protect her. And then he had stayed to protect her.

Tears dripped down Soo’s cheeks as each man gave her sordid glances, their piggish eyes gleaming and their blades pointed menacingly towards her. “The old woman says we can have you once the Beast is dead…”

Soo whimpered when the gentle and horrible touch of a knife lightly grazed over the hand she covered her belly with. “When he comes, you’re going to watch us tear him apart.”

“Or he’ll tear you apart,” Soo challenged, anger rushing from her mouth in a wave of regrettable words. “I’ve seen him fight! He cut a man in half to protect me. What makes you think he won’t do the same to you?!”

Her voice wavered and Soo hardly felt better, but knowing So would protect her kept her from losing her wits completely. He had taken on fiercer opponents before.

“Well, I look forward to proving you wrong.”

“I’m bored, make her scream. That’ll attract the Beast. He may be a monster but even monsters protect their young. He’ll come for her.”

Soo clamped her mouth shut as one of the men approached her, leering at her he crouched. Shaggy black hair tied back with a leather tie draped over his armored shoulders and his rank breath blew over her face, forcing Soo to fight the urge to vomit. Her hands curled into her belly as his knife touched her knuckles.

“I’m not calling for help. You can all burn in he-ah!” Soo muffled her shriek when the man grasped her wrist and tore it away from her belly, holding it until her bones felt like they would shatter under his gloved hand. Soo whimpered at the crushing pain, keeping her mouth shut even as her eyes bled tears.

“No sounds yet? Well.”

She could not stop the scream that burst from her lips when fire lanced over her wrist, a sudden dribble of blood washing over the slice the man left on her forearm. The sharp pain left her crying out before she remembered to keep her mouth shut, but the damage was done. Soo knew she had failed in preventing So from arriving, and she clamped a hand over her bloody wrist to stop the flow that slowly trickled into her sleeve. It was not a deep cut, judging by how little she bled, which meant killing her had not been the motive.

“He’ll come,” Shin Myung said with glee. “I will finally watch the Beast vanquished in his very home. What a splendid night this is. You, move away, I want to be the one holding his whelp hostage.”

Soo hardly heard what came next, but she groaned at the throbbing pain that emanated from her skin. The man standing over her slid to the right, making room for the woman that crouched beside her and pressed a hand to her belly.

Soo stopped breathing, fury engulfing her veins at the sight of the wrinkled hand that gently stroked the place where Wang So’s child resided. Her hands quaked, having forgotten the wound on her wrist. Instead, all of her focus went to the vile woman before her.

“Take your hand off of me.” Soo’s voice grew still and calm, a resolve appearing where there had once been none. “Don’t touch me.”

She met eyes with Shin Myung, who slipped her hand away before swiftly pressing a knife blade to Soo’s throat. Soo gasped at the sudden cold that appeared against her skin, her head leaning backwards to meet the tree she leaned against. The knife remained unmoved, but the threat was clear.

Soo begged So to come. He could protect their child even if she could not. She regretted her actions. Leaving So had been a mistake and now there was no way for her to protect herself or her baby. She had left safety and had made herself vulnerable.

They waited in the dark, the sound of muffled breathing and hissing laughter the only noises around them. Even the animals had gone silent.

“Where is it? Where is the Beast?”

“Make her scream again and he’ll come.”

Eyes wide, Soo pulled her knees to her chest and clutched her hands close, trying her best to be as small and hide any places that were easily accessible for injury.

“Curling up and being a baby won’t save you, pretty girl,” said one of the men. Soo ignored him and pressed her face into her knees, unwilling to listen. Their lewd words and greedy eyes did not exist when she closed her eyes and ears to them.

“I think I’ll make her my wife after we kill the beast. She’s young, pretty, and I can train the her whelp to guard my house when it’s born-”

A loud shout rang out from the men as something toppled to the ground. Soo flinched as the still night filled with violence, and when she glanced upward, she glimpsed the black shadow of a man.

“Hae Soo, keep your eyes closed.” So shouted at her, but Soo could not comply.

He was too fast for her to comprehend, and in the darkness of the forest at night, there was little her tired eyes could truly make out. But, Soo could feel So. She could hear his voice as he fought, and she finally saw why they had given him the epithet of Beast.

It was fitting… and it was heartwarming.

The very ground shook with So’s footsteps, the clang of his sword against others followed by sparks of light flashing from the force behind his strikes. Wang So was the greatest fighter to inhabit the forest, and Soo saw with her very eyes the promise he had made to her.

I can protect you both.

Her fears melted away, and though So told her to avert her eyes, Soo did not. Instead, she kept her eyes on the father of her child. Soft rays of dawn peeked through the dense foliage above, bathing moments of horror in warm light. So’s eyes shone gold in the sun.

And then, the forest grew still once more. The only sounds that accompanied the quiet was the sound of Wang So’s harried breathing, and his foot kicking one of the corpses that littered the ground.

Soo held her skirt to her nose to keep from inhaling the metallic stench that emanated from the shredded men that had kept her captive. She kept her gaze away from the ground and instead focused on her lover. So’s clothes were spattered with gore, his hair loose around his shoulders, and his mouth open in rasping pants.

“Where are you, Mother?!” demanded So. He swiped his sword once, flicking blood off the soiled blade. “Come out and see me! I have a proposition!”

With her her back to the tree, Soo waited and watched. She was safe with So by her side, and Soo already felt relief making her legs weak. Seeing So again made her heart stammer an urgent message of regret. Soo wished for nothing more than to stay by his side forever.

Too lost in thought, Soo did not anticipate the hand that snaked around her throat and pulled her upward. Too caught in her own relief, Soo could not even scream as she was forced up and held close. Soo lost hold of her skirt, opening her to the full effects of the battle scene before her.

Her whimper brought So’s attention to her just as Shin Myung placed the blade of her knife to Soo’s throat. “Let me go or I’ll kill her.” Shin Myung’s voice was ice and steel, and Soo quailed. Death was out of the question; she could not leave So without hope.

The smell of raw meat made her head spin and the sight of the dead men and their disemboweled corpses made her fight to stay upright. Averting her gaze from the bodies and moving back to So, Soo exhaled in worry at the murderous expression on his face. There was nothing in his eyes but pure malice, and he refused to look at her. Instead, his gaze remained fixated on his mother.

Soo’s throat prickled as the knife in Shin Myung’s hand ever-so-slightly grazed her skin. A fresh wave of fear emanated from where the knife made itself known, and Soo shivered.

“Fine,” So ground out without a moment’s hesitation, “I’ll let you leave. Get out of my sight, you horrid bitch.”

Shin Myung made an offended noise in the back of her throat and Soo gulped, worried that So’s mother would retaliate against So for his description of her. “I’m glad you came to your senses. I guess since I have your permission, I’ll go… but I don’t trust you not to hunt me down like you did those idiots.” She motioned to the corpses with her knife, but Soo did not follow with her eyes. Instead, she remained still, holding her gaze on So and no one else. So did not let his sight move away from his mother. “So I think I’ll give you something to do while I flee. I think it’s only right for a grandmother to deliver her grandchild, isn’t it?”

Soo’s eyes widened and So moved forward as the knife shifted. Her body jolted in sheer terror as the knife descended to where Soo held her belly.

“What are you doing?!” roared So, his sword already pulled back in preparation for a lethal thrust.

“Stop!” Soo shrieked at him, already calculating that even with his accuracy, if she moved, he would kill her as well. So flinched for a moment, and that was enough.

Suddenly, everything moved slowly, and Soo’s mind went blank, her eyes dropping to register nothing but the sound of her pulse as it melded with her baby’s… and the weapon that sought to end the gentle pattering that harmonized with her heartbeat. Reaching forward, she grasped the blade that made to cut her belly open. Solid metal cleaved through rough flesh as the knife tore into her fingers and ground against her bones. Rivulets of dark red scorched across her dress and Soo felt each grinding motion that fought to free the knife from her bones. But she held fast, unable to register the pain, and only focused on protecting Wang So’s baby.

Using her grip on the knife to pull Shin Myung in, Soo twisted herself and extricated herself from the woman’s grasp.

Numb even as the blade left her hands soaked in blood, she looked Shin Myung dead in the eye, registering the shock and sudden fear that emanated from the woman before her. Soo wondered why the monster had anything to fear.

“Don’t touch my baby,” she heard herself utter as her arms shot forward. Stumbling with the momentum from her action, Soo collapsed onto Shin Myung as the knife split the woman’s throat. Shin Myung screeched at first, her hands clawing at the knife in her throat and her hatred-filled eyes gleaming with fury at Soo.

“You!” So’s mother uttered, her agonized howl ceasing long enough for her to accuse Soo. Before Soo could act, she flew in the air, a pair of strong arms pulling her by the waist and letting her collide into a strong chest. Too dizzy to fight back, Soo let her head loll, her eyes shifting at unheard of speeds from the woman she had just stabbed to her hands that rained blood.

Soo stared numbly, suddenly safe and comfortable in So’s embrace. But then, he moved and she longed for his touch once more. He silently wrapped cloth around her palms, using a stick to twist and twist and twist the cloth until her hands stopped bleeding and her fingers turned purple.

The bloody rain that dotted the grass in red stopped, and Soo stood still as So wrapped her fingers in torn pieces of his clothing, his hands gentle. Soo pined to see her lover’s face and to look into his lovely eyes, yet he never looked at her. He never spoke. Instead, all Soo receives was the heavy breathing that left his shoulders rising and falling over and over again.

Her hands were wrapped in gray silk, but So did not release the tourniquets.

“Mother, you are immobilized. Stay still and do not remove the knife or you will die. I will return to tend to you.” So’s voice was metal grating on stone. The harshness in his tone was nothing Soo had ever heard, and her own heart trembled in fear as she wondered if he was speaking to her. Her mouth was too parched for her to ask, and her head spun in a million circles much too quickly for her to comprehend whatever he said next.

All she could feel was the weightlessness that followed as So lifted her into his arms as easily as she had once carried a stuffed doll around. Soo looked up at the tree-covered ceiling, leaning her head against So and slowly blinking back tears as the canopy opened up every few steps to let her glimpse a star or two.

Soo regained consciousness in excruciating pain. Her arms felt locked by her side, her hands almost numb with the pain that emanated from them. Her legs throbbed, her stomach lurched with every movement, and each breath she inhaled made her head pound.

Her first thought was to reach for her belly and protect the baby she carried - if she was even pregnant anymore. Terror clutched at her heart as she wondered if her baby was alive, if So’s baby was still inside her.

Writhing as her hands and body quaked with never ending waves of torture, Soo fought to open her eyes and gain her bearings. She needed to know.

“Lay still.” A harsh voice commanded her, but a gentle hand pressed against her forehead, peeling away the compress that covered her eyes. Soo followed So’s orders, laying back even though her body protested. “I’ll give you medicine… just… lay still.”

She fell against soft pillows, and felt as So pulled their rabbit blanket higher over her shoulders. The soft fur tickled beneath her chin and Soo finally let her eyes open. Immediately, she was greeted with a blurry haze of mixed shades and bright light. Blinking slowly, she waited for her vision to clear.

When she could finally see, Soo absorbed her surroundings with ease. Familiar clay walls surrounded her and the wooden beams of her home that she and So had once spent a day repainting in red and black to ward away spirits greeted her warmly.

Unfortunately, her lover did not.

So’s expression was hard as he crouched by her side. His eyebrows knitted together and his mouth pressed into a thin line as he measured out an amount of water into a fine powder that must have come from their medicine stores. In silence, Soo wallowed in pain as So mixed her medicine. He never acknowledged her, and Soo knew that if she opened her mouth to speak, she might scream.

His hands were gentle and kind when he held her head up and touched the bowl of murky anesthetic to her lips. Soo drank the bitter substance without complaint, closing her eyes as the medicine slid down her throat and threatened to upset her already aching stomach even further.

When she finished drinking, So laid her head back onto the pillows, his glare never retreating as he set the bowl aside. He sat by her side, stoic and still. Crossing his legs, So pressed his palms to his knees in a position taken by nobles and lords. His narrow eyes never left her, and Soo refused to look away from him.

“Ba… by,” she whispered, unwilling to wait for the medicine to begin working its magic. “Our baby…”

So averted his gaze and Soo’s heart sank. Her eyes prickled with tears as So reached a shaking hand forward and touched her belly over the blanket. His wide, callused palm lovingly caressed her stomach and Soo begged with her eyes.

“You’re still pregnant.” His reply was curt, but Soo could hear the relief and adoration that bled through his anger. Audibly gasping in relief, she attempted to move her hands to hold her belly or to hold So’s hand, but her wrists were weighed down, and So shook his head. “I told you not to move. I had to cauterize your fingers.”

Fingers. Soo suddenly recalled why So had to burn her hands, and her eyes widened as she shifted in bed as best as she could to go against So’s orders and hold his hand. Her hand was so thickly wrapped in bandages and medicine that when she did free it from her blanket, Soo could only bump against him.

So jerked his hand away, pushing his chin toward the door and turning his shoulder to her. Soo started in surprise, her heart beginning to ache as her injuries faded to the back of her mind. Once again, Soo found herself lying in wait, looking up at So as she convalesced. But this time, he was angry. A palpable tension emanated from his very body and Soo fought to allow him his own time.

She understood that this was all her fault. She had put their baby at risk when she left, and that was bound to anger So.

His shoulders shook as her turned back to her, his glare fierce and his rage mounting. He never shouted at her, never touched her unkindly. This time was no different. So asked in a barely controlled voice if she wanted water and Soo declined.

“Then rest. I’ll be outside.”

“Stay,” Soo pleaded. She could not reach out to hold her lover, but she begged with everything she could. Finally finding her voice, she attempted to call out to him, but So turned a deaf ear to her. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

Standing, So trudged away from her, his footsteps pounding like thunder. “You seemed to have no trouble leaving me alone the other day.” His voice was soft, cracking as he uttered words that stabbed like needles.

Laying back in defeat, Soo let his words leave wounds in her heart. The door shut behind So as he left, and Soo stared up at the ceiling, blinking back tears as they burned their way down her face and lost their way in her unbound hair. She wept as the sheer loneliness swept in, wrapping itself around her throat and choking her.

As the pain in her body faded, the ache in her heart doubled. Soo called So’s name but he did not respond. Instead, she watched his shadow fade from the door. She required nothing but him by her side.

Exhaustion seeped into her body and Soo closed her eyes, whispering So’s name as she fell to her weakness and allowed sleep to overcome her.

Soo dreamt of screams and the glint of a knife in the moonlight. So many sounds and so many lights blinded and deafened her to the point that she craved darkness and silence in order to think. She walked toward the tiniest, sweetest baby. The infant was swaddled in the soft blanket she had worked so hard on and its eyes were closed in a deep, safe slumber. And with her own hands, Soo stabbed the child in its sleep.

She woke with a start, jolting upward and panting heavily. Her chest rose and fell with labored breaths as sweat made her hair and clothes cling to her body. Her throat burned and her stomach lurched as she lunged forward and attempted to crawl away from the bed. She wheezed and gagged, sounding like a struck animal as she hurried. Soft blankets hardly masked the excruciating pain that emanated from her unbandaged hands, but Soo made it to the floor before she heard a scrape and So slid a pot beneath her chin.

In the dark, he held her hair as she vomited and sobbed. She did not remember rinsing her mouth or chewing on the mint leaf So had procured out of thin air.

Once she was done, he set the pot outside and Soo collapsed against So as he shut the door to their home. Soo had not realized he was sleeping beside her, but his presence made her fears float away. She could not hold him the way she wanted to, but she could lean against him. His heart beat through where she pressed her head to his chest.

Soo whimpered and tried to muffle her anguish as So wiped the tears from her eyes, his free arm wrapping around her waist. “Our baby,” she uttered. So’s heart sped up and his hands tightened around her. “I dreamt… I dreamt I killed it. I had a knife… My own hands… our baby.”

The blankets shifted as So’s grip tightened. Soo finally felt safe as he pulled her into his lap and nuzzled his face into the crook of her shoulder. Soo curled into a ball against her lover as he cradled her in his arms. “I’m sorry,” Soo whispered. “I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I… I left you alone. We should always be together… I’m sorry.”

So did not move and Soo bit her bottom lip, suddenly worried about her words of apology when So gently laid her back onto their bed. Her head rested against a pillow and her body lay flat as So joined her beneath the covers.

Even in her tired state, a million questions arose in Soo’s mind and she cursed her inability to touch anything without feeling the pain of her actions in her hands. So laid with his back to her, and Soo inched as close to him as she could, wishing he would speak to her.

Swallowing back her pain, Soo placed her hand against So’s spine, feeling his bare back and whimpering as she pressed her forehead to his shoulder blade. She remained awake with So, neither willing to fall asleep first. Keeping herself as close to her lover as possible, Soo found comfort in the warmth of his body and the even breaths that made his shoulders shift in a rhythmic pattern.

Eventually, Soo slept first. Her eyes closed to exhaustion and her hand fell away from So’s back as she succumbed.

When Soo woke, she did so in So’s arms. Their blanket was wrapped securely around her body, and instead of a pillow, she laid her head against So’s arm, cradled in his embrace and safely nestled against his chest.

She remained still and silent, closing her eyes and nuzzling just a bit closer to the man she loved. In sleep, So no longer glared at her or look at her in pain. Instead, he rested peacefully, his expression neutral, and his embrace on her sweet.

Soo knew immediately when So woke.

His arms stiffened and the chin he pressed into the crown of her head pulled away as he regarded their proximity with narrowed eyes and a cross look on his face. He tried to move away but Soo rushed closer, unable to hold him with her hands.

“Please,” she desperately whispered. “Please stay. Please. ”

So froze in place and Soo relished the seconds when he merely laid beside her, his bare chest providing shelter for her to creep beside and lean against. So’s hand cradled the back of her head and Soo inhaled a shuddering breath when his lips touched her forehead. The gesture was sweet and Soo immediately took comfort in the gentle caress that sedated the worries in her heart.

Soo closed her eyes when So kissed her. Their lips met and though Soo felt like her body had been beaten, she still reciprocated through the intense exhaustion. Happiness overcame her as So finally returned to her.

“So, I’m… I don’t…” Soo flinched when he yanked the ribbon on her shirt open, his mouth dragging wet kisses down her chin and throat. Loose silk fell away and Soo winced in pain as So grasped her hip the way he did when he wanted to lay above her when they made love. “That hurts…”

Her bare chest met the cold air and Soo shivered as So groped her sensitive body, his tongue dragging lazy swirls over her skin. Suddenly, happiness and love became worry and panic, and Soo forced her hands to touch So’s stubbled face as he took her all too sensitive nipple in his mouth.

“Stop!” Soo cried out. She jerked her hands away from the needles that stabbed into her wounds.

He pulled back instantly, his eyes injured and his hands falling away from her skin. Soo panted and stared at her lover with the same, betrayed expression he wore. “Why did you do that?” she demanded, her voice a harried whisper.

So did not move from his position above her. He stared down at her from atop with an agonized expression that Soo could not place. “I don’t… know.” Finally, she heard his voice again, but Soo was too hurt to feel anything but sadness. “I’m sorry. My heart… hurts. I’m sorry. I don’t understand why when I look at you I feel so angry. I love you, but why does my chest hurt when I look at you?”

He shifted backwards to sit up and Soo gulped, her eyes welling with tears. She hated how much she cried while pregnant, but So’s words stabbed into her heart and straight through. His hand lightly flattened against her belly, his touch so much gentler than before. So touched her womb as Soo tried to understand why he was acting so strangely.

“I love you so much… and you’re the- the mother of my child…”

“So, what happened while I was unconscious?” Sitting up, Soo closed the front of her shirt around So’s hand, letting him continue to caress the tiny bump in her belly. So’s breathing hitched and his expression darkened. On her knees, Soo tried to lean forward, attempting to understand why So was acting so strangely.

“I shouldn’t have forced you… you’re injured and you told me to stop. I’m sorry.” His words were clipped, his actions stiff. He tried to shift away from her, but Soo shook her head, using her wrists to hold the hand he tried to pull away from her stomach.

“So, wait.”

“I’ll let you rest. I’m sorry.”

“Please tell me why you’re angry with me.” The question felt stupid. Soo knew why he was angry with her - and he had every right to be cross. She had left in the dead of night, jeopardized the future of their relationship, put herself at risk. But worst of all, she had taken So’s child away from him. She had taken the only blood-relative that would never look at him like he was a monster.

“It’s not you.” So’s voice was curt, and suddenly, he looked so much older - so much more tired. His shoulders carried a new weight. Blinking in confusion, Soo remained silent to will more words out of her lover. “I returned to my mother after tending to your wounds. I went to her and… and I wanted to help her. She’s my mother… but I thought of our baby. I thought of you. If she stayed, she’d… she’d jeopardize both your safety.”

Soo’s heart sank as she realized what So meant. Her hands clenched into the blankets and she exhaled softly as So’s eyes welled with tears. A clear film overtook his usually bright, brown eyes, and Soo opened her arms to her lover. So leaned into her embrace and he wept softly, burying his face into her shoulder. His hands lightly draped over her hips and Soo held the love of her life as close as she could, using her forearms to pull at So’s bare back.

“She hated me. I hated her. We kept each other captive and… and I shouldn’t cry!” His voice broke and So fisted her shirt as he wet it with his tears. His body shuddered as it racked with pent sobs.

“You can cry,” Soo replied. Her voice was soft and she nudged her cheek against So’s head, stroking his back and kissing his ear. “You can cry. She was your mother. You knew her your entire life. You can blame me. I was the one that first… first stabbed her.”

The words stung in her mouth as she spoke, but Soo tried anything she could to placate her despondent lover. So shook his head. His broken sobs subsided as he breathed deeply and rested his head against Soo’s shoulder.

“She was alive when I reached her. I could have saved her, but… but I thought about why you’d left. Why you wanted to leave.”

Soo blinked with uncertainty as So leaned back and addressed her with red-rimmed eyes. His hands gripped her shoulders as he bowed his head. His long hair fell to cover his face, and Soo wished she could touch him, brush his hair aside. But the white and pink scar tissue that had yet to even completely cover her fingers said otherwise.

“I’m sorry for leaving.” Soo’s voice was little and thin. “We… we belong together. We can stay here. She’s gone now, so we can be safe here, right?”

So wiped his eyes on the back of his hand, the scar on his eye shifting and pulling as he did. “Even if my mother is dead, we won’t be absolutely safe here. They’ll still send men in to flush me out, and I can’t lose you or my child.”

When he lifted his gaze again, Soo saw resolution in his eyes, and her heart clenched. Tears welled in Soo’s eyes and she sniffled as So blinked back his remaining tears. She regretted leaving even more. To think that she had once thought that leaving would have solved their problems made her want to go back and shout at herself.

“Let’s leave,” continued So. “Let’s go. We’ll go to town, buy a house. We can- can start over. Just us. Our family. We’re free now.”

“But you’ll be shunned. You’ll be uncomfortable.” Soo inched closer to So until their knees touched and she could gently lay her hands on his thighs. “I don’t want you to endure misery just because of me and the baby.”

They peered at each other in silence, trying to come up with the right words to say in a situation that felt so wrong.

So’s arms reached around her body and Soo leaned in as he pulled her into his chest. She shifted easily, turning and sitting in his lap as he adjusted their positions until she sat across him.

He laid a hand on her belly as she laid her head against his shoulder.

“You won’t deliver for a long time. We can go at it slowly. I know that some places see me as less of an aberration, so we can both go and find a house. We can have our baby and start again.”

The offer was enticing. It was everything she wanted. To make her own home, to start her own family, to do it all with the person she chose. But Soo ached when So called himself an aberration. She wished for a world where he would not be judged by the way his face looked, but that was wishful thinking on her part.

“We can stay, So. We can…”

“You don’t have to lie.” He gave her a sad smile and Soo bit her bottom lip as So patted her head. “And I know that I have to leave now. Eleven years in this forest has been enough for me. I’ve endured too much in this forest. It’s time to start anew. Be free.”

Moving her hands to hold So’s on her belly, Soo nodded her head, relief overcoming her emotions.

Free. Free to be with So. Free to raise their baby. Free to leave.

The worries and agonies she had lost so much sleep over and left her only family over suddenly disappeared. Now, they were the only ones in the forest. There was no monster to watch them, no horrid presence that would have torn them apart.

So’s warm hand rubbed her stomach as Soo used what little strength she had in her hand to tilt his chin down. Her wrist met his stubbled face and she slowly blinked up at the man that had captured her heart in less than a year and given her unimaginable happiness and sorrow at once.

Finally, they had nothing to worry about. After a year of making the forest their home, they would leave and begin another, scary adventure into the unknown. Soo thought of how terrified she had been entering the forest, fearing for her life and begging to be let out. Her family had shunned her and her life had been in shambles, leaving her with little recourse. She almost fondly thought back to that day, never wanting to wonder what would have happened if she had just run away.

Now, she would leave the place she called home to search for a new one; this time with her own family. She had met the man she loved and with each passing day, their baby grew more and more.

With so much to look forward to, Soo could not hide the smile that overcame her sadness and sorrow. She held her lover’s cheek and kissed him as the sun drifted in through the cracks in the tiny home that would no longer fit them anymore.

They left the forest five months later. Loading all of their belongings onto a cart pulled by their new horse, they took everything to a town that welcomed So as the traveler that had arrived to settle down. Though their possessions were meager, the funds So had stored bought them a nice cottage on the outskirts of town as well as the horse they used to carry all of their belongings as well as travel to collect all their necessities.

A garden wrapped around the new house, where So planted berry bushes and herbs from the forest in their garden. They kept part of the harvest for themselves while selling the rest for a tidy profit. Their home was happy, and Soo thanked the gods every day for the bliss she had found.

And it was in that happy home, in the middle of winter, that Soo birthed her and So’s first child. The process was long and arduous, but after two days of pain, their firstborn arrived, her loud voice screaming to the heavens.

A year later, they named her after the clear blue sky she was born beneath., and Wang So and Hae Soo added Wang Seol as the third name on their new family tree.

And they lived happily ever after.