Chapter Text
It all starts during a full moon. Jongho is out there roaming the forest, the wind blowing through his fur as he runs at full speed, the moonlight providing him with the energy to leap forwards in excited bounds. A month, a whole month since his last transformation. He has longed for this.
Since he started to be able to control the change and not just let the power of the cycle take over, he’s felt a whole lot better about being a werewolf. At first the change ravaged him to the point of it being too much, too painful. The change is always painful, but when the transformation is complete there is a euphoria unparalleled to any other feeling he’s ever felt. In the beginning he was constantly worn and ravenous and desperate for control. But now he’s learned to master the change, and he feels fuller and freer during his time as a werewolf than when just living his everyday life as a human.
On such nights as these he meets up with other werewolves and goes on werewolf runs, bounding through the forest together, chasing rabbits and squirrels and howling at the moon. Tonight he’s doing just that, he’s alone but on his way to see his werewolf pack. They’re waiting for him at a clearing deep into the forest. He’s running excitedly, can’t wait to meet up with his friends, winding through the trees. Jongho barely hears it, there’s the click of something mechanical and a sharp pain shoots through his entire paw and up his leg. Jongho whines and stumbles and falls as something prevents him from running further. He’s stuck. He looks down at the thing that is shooting incredible pain from his paw, up his leg. It’s a bear trap. Jongho hadn’t been looking where he was going and now he’s stuck in a bear trap. Far away from where he’s supposed to meet his pack. Jongho whines in pain. Blood is trickling from the wound, he tries reaching back to where his hind leg is stuck to lick at the wound, but every movement is painful. He whines pitifully at his rotten luck and miserable situation and howls up at the moon. Hoping maybe the howls will alert his pack to where he is. If he keeps howling maybe they’ll find him? He howls a couple of more times, but he doesn’t hear an answering howl. They must be too far away. Or maybe they haven’t even transformed or left their houses yet? Jongho whines again worrying about how long he will be stuck like this while pain is wreaking havoc on his body. He lays down on the cold ground head on his front paws, he’s whining pitifully for what feels like hours until suddenly he hears the snap of a branch.
His head jerks up looking around and a figure appears from behind a tree.
“See? I told you I heard something.” Someone says. And another figure appears by the first one’s side. Humans? They stop abruptly when they see Jongho lying on the ground.
“Shit. Yeosang, we have to go. It’s a werewolf.” One of the humans say.
Jongho sniffs the air, listens for their breaths, heartbeats. He can’t find them. Vampires. His kind’s natural enemy. Jongho growls as one of them come closer.
“Yeosang! Don’t!”
The fearless vampire called Yeosang keeps coming closer despite his friend’s caution. Jongho growls again, attempting to scare the vampire away and in his desperate attempt to make the vampire back off he tries standing up which only makes excruciating pain shoot up his hind leg, shoot through his entire body. And Jongho whines at the pain, rears back and goes back to his lying position on the ground again.
“Oh no” the vampire says “Look, Seonghwa. It’s hurt.” He says in such a pitying tone it startles Jongho into silence. He stops his alternate growls and whines to look at the vampire in confusion, tilting his head to the side. For some reason it makes the vampire chuckle. Through the pain and fear this vampire’s delighted chuckle is effectively perplexing him. He eyes Jongho’s body where he’s pinned to a trap in the ground.
“You’re stuck aren’t you?” he says and crouches down, just far enough away so Jongho can’t reach him.
“Yeosang, be careful.” His vampire companion prompts but stays far away, literally shaking by the trees. Jongho didn’t know vampires fear werewolves this much. In the meantime, the vampire named Yeosang looks at him with sad eyes.
“Aaaw. Poor thing. Hi, I’m Yeosang. And if I help you out of this bear trap, will you promise not to attack me or my friend?” he asks.
Jongho huffs, it sounds almost like a sneeze. But he lays his head down on the ground in a show of faith. If this vampire is willing to help him out, then Jongho isn’t really in a position to decline his offer. What Jongho is not expecting is for the vampire to pat his head a couple of times and say “good boy”.
It makes Jongho growl again. The vampire backs up and laughs nervously.
“Okay okay. I won’t do that again. Let’s get you free, okay?” he says in such a sweet, lighthearted tone it’s throwing Jongho off. This is not how he’d imagined vampires to be.
The vampire forces the bear trap open and once his leg is free it feels like such a relief, even if it still smarts. But it’s more like a sting than the searing pain of before, so Jongho can bare it. He stands up and wobbles a little bit, limping on his hurt leg and the vampire backs away from him. Gives him a wide berth and migrates over to where his friend is lingering by a copse of trees.
“Better?” the vampire asks. His eyes are almost glowing. His smile is sweet, almost angelic. Who is this vampire?
Jongho barks once in thanks, it makes both vampires startle, but the vampire Yeosang smiles, even if his friend does not and then Jongho limps off to head home. His night has been effectively ruined and all he wants to do now is turn back to human form, curl up on the sofa and lick his wounds, figuratively speaking. He doesn’t lick anywhere on his body as a human. Nor lets anyone else lick him either for that matter.
He sets off to pick up his clothes where he left them at the edge of the forest and then changes back into his human form, puts his clothes on and limps all the way to the subway.
When he comes home, he can’t help but ruminate over that strange vampire. All his life he’s been told that vampires are cold, callous and ruthless. But this vampire wasn’t any of those things. He showed empathy and compassion. Seeing as werewolves and vampires are natural enemies, he could have just left him there to die, but he didn’t. The vampire helped him. With a smile on his face. It perplexes Jongho to no end.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙