Chapter Text
Yoo Jonghyuk was a lonely crown prince. His parents didn't care for him nor did the nobles. They all used him for themselves. He only used short replies and hardly talked. He was was tall and had muscles, so all the ladies loved him.
One day while he was out wandering the woods like he usually does to get away from the royal family, he stumbled upon something interesting. In an overgrown part of the woods there was a huge weeping willow. And on that tree hidden behind the leaves and catkin flowers, there was a hut.
It was mostly open with white curtains billowing out in the wind. There were some metal wind chimes that sang in the wind. Yoo Jonghyuk could see bookshelves filled to the brim with books. He looked around trying to find the owner. He slowly started inching towards the ladder that led upwards.
"Hello?" the prince questioned. No response. He carefully climbed up the ladder. The ladder wasn't all that big for 15 yr old Yoo Jonghyuk who was around 180cm(5'11ft) tall; he made do of it though, after all it wasn't his hut.
When he reached the top he realized it was way higher up than he thought. He wondered how someone in the middle of nowhere got such long, white, silk curtains. They were roughly 457cm(15ft)? Anyways, he walked in and the whole place smelt of vanilla and flowers.
The trunk of the tree jut out of the base of the hut in the middle of it. The trunk was lined with bookshelves; the shelves were filled to the brim with various books that a historian would kill to have and some fantasy books.
Some books were sitting on top of the shelves and on the floor in piles. In the corner to his right there was a large bed. It was white silk, just like the curtains. The bed was circular and had enough room to fit two or three people. The pillows were strewn around the bed along with the covers.
"Damn, this place isn't tidy at all..." Yoo Jonghyuk mumbled to himself.
"And why should you be commenting on my house when you're the one who trespassed?" a soft albeit a bit cocky voice asked him. He quickly turned around to see a woman-- no a man standing in the entry way.
First, he was shocked at how beautiful he was. He looked ethereal and washed of almost all color. His skin was pale and milky, and his figure was slender and elegant. He had eye bags but that didn't make him any less stunning. His lips were tinted a light shade of red and his eyes were a deep color and full of mischief; you could see the stars in them. And his hair was short and a dark black, as dark as an endless abyss.
The second thing that shocked him was that he was wearing an all white (and probably silk *eye roll*) hanbok... A FEMALE hanbok... And the third thing shocked him the most.
He wasn't just any random human, he was a gumiho. His ears were white with black tips; as if they were dipped in ink. His nine tails were the same and they were long. His fur looked so soft he was tempted to touch it but he restrained himself.
You Jonghyuk wasn't necessarily surprised because he wasn't human, nonhuman entities existed everywhere. It was mostly because gumihos didn't really exist anymore. Yoo Jonghyuk quickly pulled out his sword and pointed it at the gumiho's throat.
"Who the hell are you?" the prince demanded. The gumiho simply raised an eyebrow while looking down at the sword, a mischievous grin plastered on his face. He pushed the sword away lightly with his finger and walked past Yoo Jonghyuk.
He plopped down on the bed and lay on his stomach. He gave an exaggerated stretch, stretching his arms and legs out as far as they could go and yawned.
"I don't think you have the right to ask questions right now," he said drowsily. For some reason Yoo Jonghuk wasn't on that high of a guard. When around others he usually had it up 24/7.
Before he could ask any other questions the gumiho pointed towards the entry way before resting his arm underneath his cheek. His face was turned away from the prince so he couldn't see whether or not he was actually asleep.
He glared at him for a moment before going over to his shelf, picking up a worn book, and sitting down on the floor. He started reading the book, genuinely intrigued because the book seemed very old but he, the crown prince, had never heard of it. The gumiho looked over at him and scoffed.
"Are you seriously not leaving my house?" he asked, incredously. The only response the prince gave him was a grunt. The gumiho rolled his eyes and sighed. He got up and and started searching the one shelf that didn't have books. Yoo Jonghyuk watched him from the corner of his eye.
The fox started humming a soft tune. This caused him to feel a pang of unknown emotion in his heart. He felt as if he knew the song from somewhere. The shelf he was searching had a lot of random things on it.
Tiny sacks full of whatever, a kris dagger rusted with blood(a dagger with a squiggly blade btw), some jewelry and cosmetics, and a portrait of someone inside of a picture frame. He tried to see who it was but the glare of the sun on the glass prevented him.
The gumiho apparently found what he was looking for and picked up a little sack. His long tails dragged on the floor behind him as he walked out the entry way. Yoo Jonghyuk heard the creak of the ladder as he climbed down it. He sat there for a minute, trying to focus but his efforts were in vain. He closed the book, put it back on the shelf, and walked on to the veranda.
He peered over the railing and watched the fox's tails sway in the wind. He appeared to be planting flowers; spider lilies. He carefully climbed down the ladder and stood at the bottom, watching the fox plant the seeds. His heart felt as if it was being stabbed.
When looking at those flowers his thoughts all say, "Those flowers are familiar, I remember buying those sometime ago!" when he had held no interest in flowers before. It's as if someone else was in his mind, planting memories.
He didn't realize how long he had been gone until he saw the sun start to lower. He cursed internally, as he didn't want to leave. He was intrigued by this mysterious gumiho. The fox gracefully walked over, not even making a sound when he stepped.
He looked over at the prince and simply stared climbing the ladder, as if he were simply a bug that needed to not be regarded at all. Her thought for a moment before speaking up to the fox.
"I'll be back tomorrow." Yoo Jonghyuk firmly stated. The fox paused and looked down with eyes full of regret.
"Don't," the gumiho said softly and continued up the ladder. "You'll regret it." And that was that. The wind softly picked up and the white curtains obstructed his view of the fox as he went up.
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As he trudged through the forest he saw the lights of the castle in view. Luckily, he wasn't late to dinner or he might've been questioned as to where he went. Deep in his heart, he didn't want anyone else to know about his wonderful discovery.
Once dinner was over he dragged himself to his room. He stared out of his window at the forest. From here, he couldn't even see a weeping willow tree. 'Just how far out did I go?' he thought to himself. He looked hard for the white curtains that would contrast against the dark night sky. Alas, he couldn't see anything.
He washed up and got into his robes and laid down. He stared at the ceiling, remembering his encounter with the gumiho. 'I didn't even get his name,' he thought briefly. He rolled over on his right and faced the door. As he drifted off to sleep he could've sworn he heard someone humming a familiar but long forgotten tune.