Chapter Text
The thick fog had creeped up on him. He could have sworn it was not there 3 minutes ago when he had decided to walk away and look for help. His car had broken down and was not showing any signs of life, no lights were turning on, the motor was not roaring, it was like a life sized toy with the batteries missing.
So Yuchan decided to walk.
He decided to go look for someone. There were some villages nearby and besides, it’s not like he believed those menacing old wives tales anyway.
But now, 3 minutes later, he was surrounded by thick fog, the type that seeps through your clothes in a matter of seconds and makes the cold creep up into your bones. He’s convinced the sun was still slowly setting, giving away the last rays of the golden hour when his car broke down, but suddenly it was as if he was propelled into another dimension. everything seemed… off. The greenery was different, no longer bright green camellias and camphor trees, he was now somehow surrounded by dark oak and birches, but still he could not stop walking.
The wind had picked up and the early autumn evening that he was enjoying just minutes ago seemed like a long lost memory. The stories of dokkaebi and tigers that he’d laughed about just hours earlier were starting to pollute his usually rational thinking, and he was now jumping at every sound.
But he was still walking. Why? He didn't know, nor was he aware how much time had passed since he left his car, but he strayed away from the path a long time ago.
The trees were now slowly shifting into pine and he knew that meant he was deep within the forest. The fog had started to clear, but the icy wind was still blowing relentlessly and he could have sworn he could hear it singing. Some enchanting, sultry melody was drawing him forward, and he no longer cared about the menacing crow cawing at him, or the owls whose eyes were not leaving him. He just kept walking.
***
The small clearing in front of him was unnaturally calm, and he could see the sky above it. It did not look like the sunset he left, nor did it look like the darkness of the forest. It was as if the sky was stuck at that grayish blue of a stormy dawn. Stepping into the clearing, the icy wind was suddenly gone, now just a passing breeze, the fog long forgotten, and it was once again comfortably warm, but the enchanting melody was still ever present. Not coming from one particular side, but echoing all around him.
He looked around tentatively, scanning the clearing slowly and on the far left he could see something that didn’t quite look like it belonged. Still as if in a trance, pulled in by the captivating melody, Yuchan decided to walk towards it and soon realized it was a figure laying down on the grass.
“Finally someone” he muttered to himself as he picked up his pace with a spring in his step and called out “Hey!” Suddenly the melody stopped and the figure slowly sat up. Icy silver hair shined and billowed in the breeze. The man raised his eyebrows slowly, the slightest smile pulling up the corners of his mouth.
“My car suddenly broke down back there and there is no signal around here. Do you think you could give me a hand?”
He was now looking at the face of the most ethereal man he had ever seen, his skin glowing even though the sun was not hitting it and his soft downturned eyes were giving off a sense of security and calmness. He had never seen this man before but he felt safer than ever.
“Oh you poor thing” the man’s warm voice echoed, and it sounded so familiar, but Yuchan knew he would remember meeting him, there was no way to forget this type of beauty.
“You look so cold, and your clothes are completely soaked” only now had Yuchan felt the cold of his wet clothes again, the thick fog from earlier seeped into it and the uncomfortable cold had soaked through.
“Oh… uh the weirdest, thickest fog suddenly appeared as I was walking… guess I didn’t notice just how bad it was” Yuchan said laughing awkwardly, still not able to look away from the silver haired man in front of him.
“I’m Yuchan by the way” he smiled sheepishly and extended a hand.
“I guess you can call me Donghun, that’s probably a name that would fit right now” the man answered, smiling warmly, and if Yuchan was not completely entranced by him, he might have noticed the slight smirk tugging at the corner of Donghuns mouth.
For a second, Yuchan was confused with what Donghun had just said, “a name that would fit” sounded like such a silly thing to add while introducing yourself, but the thought quickly left his mind as Donghun slowly got up from the grass.
“Uh so… I’m not quite sure what happened, my memory is suddenly kind of hazy”
Donghun reached out his hand and slowly caressed Yuchan’s cheek, whipping away the water dripping from his hair.
“Oh dear, just a pretty little lamb lost in the forest of Stribog.”