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Step 1: Differentiate Between a Stray Werewolf and a Feral Werewolf

Chan is 9 and Minho is 8 when they first meet.

Chan and his family had moved in with his grandmother after his grandfather had died. It was during his summer holiday so it would be a fun holiday for all of them. He was a little afraid of going out so far away in a remote place but he was the older brother, and he has to show his baby brother that he was brave and dependable to set a good example.

His mother grew up here and so she explains to them about the different buildings and houses they drive past.

Chan thinks it will be quite fun- an adventure all the way out here near the mountains.

The first week is very busy, reorganizing, cleaning, and helping his parents and grandmother with a bunch of different tasks. There’s even an old-fashion well in the backyard and Chan is only a little afraid of it. But grandma’s backyard was really big and didn’t really have a fence, but instead the woods acted like a border, as well as some seasonal bushes. Grandma told him you could find wild strawberries if you were lucky but to make sure to wash them thoroughly before cleaning because all sorts of animals went around here.

His parents warn him about rats and mice and even snakes that could bite him so Chan doesn’t venture too deep into the woods.

In the evenings his mother takes him and Yongbok around the village and sometimes even to some areas of the woods where people liked to take walks with nice stony paths.

Once they’ve settled properly in the house and also performed the proper post-funeral rituals and ceremonies, there’s nothing much to do for Chan. His grandma had an old TV and it didn’t have the channels Chan liked to watch. His father tells him that he’ll set up an antenna in a couple of weeks so there’s not much Chan can do other than explore the woods. Sometimes Yongbok joins him but his baby brother was only 6 so he got tired quickly. Besides, he loved staying with grandma so Chan usually explored the woods on his own.

There was a shed in the backyard and after it was cleaned out of the old tools and random junk piled inside his father told him he could use it as his own personal shed for himself after they install a new net door. There were shelves lined up on the wall so Chan decides he needs things to decorate his playroom.

He finds some nice pebbles and cool looking mossy stones near the small stream down the woods.

Each day he goes a little further out- not too far because he doesn’t want to get lost and cause his family to get worried- he normally stuck to the stream like his mother told him to. So as long as he could hear it, he was okay.

He’s looking for some ferns when he hears rustling from the bushes.

The other day he had seen some pretty large mice and he wonders if it’s mice again so he pauses, listening intently. He doesn’t think mice attacked people, but just in case he was near a nest or baby mice, he doesn’t want to make the mother mouse angry at him.

But it’s not a mouse.

It’s- it’s a puppy?

Chan stares at the puppy.

That was a puppy.

Right?

Chan has seen many puppies before. His aunt once took him to an adoption center and there were all sorts of puppies there. But this puppy was different.

It sniffs him from the distance, head tilting curiously.

It’s an interesting colour- almost grey, almost brown- some fur around the paws and ears were lighter.

‘Hi puppy,’ Chan says softly. He was always told to talk to animals in a gentle tone so that they wouldn’t get scared.

The puppy doesn’t wag its tail, instead continues to look at him.

‘Um, I won’t hurt you,’ Chan tells him, ‘I was looking for some ferns-.’

Chan freezes.

What if there was a mama dog somewhere? Would she think Chan was trying to take her puppy away? Or was this a coyote? His grandma said that sometimes you can hear coyotes howl and to be careful at night.

Is that why this puppy looked different? A coyote puppy?

‘Um- I hope your mum doesn’t think I’m going to hurt you,’ Chan tells the puppy, ‘I’ll uh, I’ll go now.’

Slowly standing and making sure not to scare the pup Chan takes a few steps back until he reaches a tree.

‘It was nice meeting you puppy,’ Chan tells him. ‘I hope you grow up to be a strong um, coyote?’

The puppy makes a small sound, like a growl, and makes its way towards Chan.

Chan immediately falls back against the tree, trying to make himself small.

If the mama coyote appeared would he be able to scream loud enough for his parents to hear?

The puppy doesn’t come any, still just looking at Chan curiously.

Then it sits down too.

‘Are you-…are you friendly?’ Chan asks hesitantly and then he thinks of something sad, ‘Oh no, are you alone? Are you lost?’

The puppy obviously doesn’t reply.

What if this was a lost puppy? It got separated from its family maybe- would it be able to survive in the wild? Chan doesn’t have any food on him otherwise he would have given the pup something to eat.

He relaxes a little, mostly worried about this puppy now, all alone in the wild. He holds a hand out for the puppy to sniff but he’s too far. Moving slowly he sits up a bit and gets on his hands and knees and carefully moves forward.

The puppy watches him for a moment before also getting up and taking some steps back.

‘You don’t want to come closer?’ Chan asks, ‘Okay. Um. I’ll stay here.’

He sits on the leaf strewn forest floor.

‘Do you want to come home with me? I can give you something to eat if you’re hungry,’ Chan asks the puppy. ‘But I don’t know if grandma will like you.’

The puppy looks around as though bored before making its way towards the ferns Chan had spotted and sniffs it a little.

‘I’m collecting cool plants and stones,’ Chan tells the puppy, ‘I have a shed, and I wanna keep cool things in it.’

The puppy looks at him while he talks.

Chan doesn’t know if coyotes were smarter than normal dogs- because this puppy seemed quite smart.

‘Well, um, I’m just gonna get some stuff and look around some more.’ Chan tells him, slowly standing up again so as to not startle the puppy and holds his hands out, wiggling his fingers in an inviting motion. ‘If you want you can come with me?’

The puppy never comes too close, maintaining about 2-3 meters distance with Chan but it follows him around as Chan looks for stones and other plants. He had carefully pulled out some ferns with their funny bulbs and put them in his pocket.

The puppy still follows him around even though Chan is just looking around and digging around for an hour. He starts showing him the different things he finds, like cool stones, funny plants, or even some insects which weren’t too creepy to touch.

‘Well, I should get going home now puppy,’ Chan tells the puppy once he’s happy with what he’s found. ‘Do you want to come with me?’

The puppy just looks at him for a while before turning around and walking away.

‘Bye!’ Chan calls after the puppy.

He hopes he’ll see the puppy again even though he doesn’t think it’s likely. Maybe the puppy wasn’t a coyote, but an actual dog- there were farming dogs around here, and grandma said they were very smart and brave. Maybe that was a farm dog puppy, which would explain why it seemed so smart.

Maybe he can ask his grandma about it when he gets home.

Step 2: Take Safety Precautions

The next time he goes to the woods he doesn’t meet the puppy again. He’s a bit disappointed but he’s not too surprised. The woods and all of these hills were pretty large and Chan was only in a small area.

When he told his parents and grandma they were all curious but also worried about a possible feral animal. But Chan doesn’t think the puppy was feral- it looked much too smart and also didn’t want to come too close to him. They tell him to be careful and to not get too close just in case it had fleas or rabies. Grandma says she’ll ask nearby farms if they had puppies recently to see if any had run out of their property so Chan feels better knowing that if the puppy was lost, they would be looking for it.

Yongbok wants to see the puppy so Chan takes him the next time he goes out but they don’t meet the puppy.

‘Maybe next time,’ Chan tells his baby brother who looks sad.

‘Wanna see puppy.’

‘Me too.’

Chan goes out the third time after meeting the puppy to look for some bark to grow moss on when he meets the puppy again.

‘Oh, hi puppy,’ Chan smiles, ‘Oh! I have snacks today!’

He’s not sure if the puppy will like shrimp crackers but he hopes he does. Chan leaves it on a clean space on the floor- well, as clean as it can get, without any loose dirt or leaves.

‘It’s tasty, if you want to try.’ He tells the puppy and shows him by eating a piece too. He had brought snacks with him ever since he met the puppy just in case. Back in the city one of his neighbours had a small dog who loved shrimp snacks. So maybe the puppy would like it too?

Chan takes a few steps back to give the puppy some more space to smell the snack in peace. But the puppy doesn’t approach the snack, still looking just looking at him.

‘It’s tasty,’ Chan reassures him, ‘I know you’ll like it. And it’s not the spicy version!’

Still, the puppy doesn’t move to investigate.

Maybe it wasn’t hungry?

‘I wonder if you live close by,’ Chan ruminates out loud, munching on the snack slowly. ‘Or you like to explore too, like me.’

Of course he doesn’t get any responses.

‘Do you have fleas?’ Chan asks. ‘I hope you don’t- even mosquito bites are so itchy- Yongbok, my younger brother, is allergic to mosquito bites, so he gets fever if it’s really bad. I think a flea bite would be really bad for him.’

The puppy makes a small growling noise, tailing wagging to and fro a bit.

‘But you look clean,’ Chan tells him, ‘I like your fur colour. It’s very unique.’

A few seconds after that the puppy gets up and sniffs around the snack. Chan pauses, just watching. Then the pup looks up, as though suspicious again.

Chan promptly eats another piece, trying to show it was okay.

The puppy still stares at him.

‘I’ll turn around?’ Chan asks slowly before shuffling a little to turn around.

After a few seconds he hears small crunching sounds and Chan smiles to himself.

Yes! He fed the puppy.

‘I’m going to turn around again okay?’ Chan says slowly and turns around even more slowly.

The puppy has moved back again, the snacks gone.

‘Was it good?’ Chan grins, ‘I told you! Here, I’ll give you some more.’

He tries to hold it out for the puppy but it doesn’t move. So Chan carefully and slowly walks up to the previous spot and places some more on the ground, and then walks backwards to his spot again.

Once he’s maintained distance the puppy moves forward again.

And Chan turns around again.

He does this 2 more times until he doesn’t have anymore snacks.

‘That’s the last of it,’ he tells the puppy. ‘But next time I’ll bring it again! Maybe you’ll also like some cheese corn chips?’

The puppy just tilts his head in response.

‘I know it’s not healthy for a lot of animals to have chocolate, so I’ll make sure to bring non-chocolate snacks,’ Chan reassures the puppy. ‘I don’t want you to get sick.’

Chan tries once more to get the puppy to come closer, extending his hand out to sniff like he’s seen people do so many times. But the puppy doesn’t budge. So he goes around foraging as usual, and the puppy follows him, keeping distance as usual.

When he gets home his grandmother had just gotten back from her walk and she gestures to him to join her to cool down in the raised deck at the back of the house.

‘I think Chan-ah,’ she tells him with a fond smile, ‘You came across a wolf-pup.’

‘A wolf-pup? There are wolves here?’ Chan gasps.

Wolves were dangerous- more dangerous than coyotes for sure.

‘There’s no need to be scared of wolves here,’ his grandma tells him with a reassuring smile, ‘They’re a bit rare, but we do see them sometimes in the valley. The last time I heard about wolves being here was when I was your mother’s age!’

‘Wow.’ Chan breathes out.

‘Just be kind okay? They’re very shy,’ his grandma tells him.

‘It won’t hurt me?’ Chan frowns. Wolves could attack and eat humans. They were predatory animals- he knows this because he watched about it on TV.

‘Very unlikely- only if you try to hurt it first.’ His grandma tells him seriously.

Chan would never hurt the puppy.

‘This valley is special,’ his grandma tells him as she looks out into the scenery, ‘Your grandfather always said that- he also said he had a good friend who was a wolf when he was a young boy.’

‘What?!’ Chan gasps out in awe. ‘That’s so cool! I’m like grandpa then?’

Grandma smiles and nods.

‘I wish he was here, and he could tell me,’ Chan says, feeling sad.

‘Me too,’ grandma agrees, combing through his slightly sweaty hair. ‘Let’s go inside before the mosquitoes get us.’

Chan doesn’t go the next day because it rained a lot suddenly and there was a lot of lightning and thunder. He stayed close to Yongbok, pretending he wasn’t spooked by how loud the thunder got sometimes. The power went out a few times and grandma told them funny spooky stories while his parents laughed.

The next day however the sky is clear and the sun was out. It’s almost as though the rain washed everything super clean and everything is even more green and healthy looking. The paths are a little muddy so Chan wore his rain-boots even though it made walking a bit more difficult than his slippers or sneakers.

He had applied a lot of anti-mosquito spray on himself before coming out because he didn’t want to get itchy. The stream was a little bigger than the last time he was here and Chan guesses it’s because of the rain.

He walks up to where he normally finds the puppy and it’s already there before him!

‘Puppy!’ Chan waves happily, ‘I got you snacks!’

The puppy doesn’t wag his tail or anything, just tilts his head a little.

Chan shows him the two kinds of snacks he brought- the shrimp chips of course, and some cheesy corn chips.

He places the shrimp chip down on the driest patch of ground he can find. When he looks up he notes how the puppy was twitching its nose, ears flicking.

‘Do I smell weird?’ Chan says apologetically, ‘I sprayed myself with anti-mosquito spray, remember I told you about my baby brother? Well, the mosquitoes here are quite big! And I don’t want to become sick, so I sprayed myself. I’m sorry if it smells bad to you.’

Chan knows that animals had better smelling senses than humans, so this smell was probably very gross to the puppy. But he had to be careful!

‘But I didn’t spray the snacks! You can eat them!’

He turns around and waits a while before turning back around again. The puppy has eaten the shrimps, tongue licking around his mouth.

‘I hope you like these too,’ Chan tells him, approaching the same spot, ‘I don’t know if the flavour might be too strong for you though.’

He goes back to his spot and turns around before continuing his talk.

‘Are you a wolf?’ Chan asks as he also eats the snacks, ‘That’s so cool! I looked up photos of wolves yesterday, they’re really cool. I hope you don’t grow too big, or I’ll get scared.’

When he looks back around the puppy is gone.

‘Puppy?’ he calls out worriedly.

The snacks are half-eaten on the spot.

Maybe it didn’t like those?

‘I’m sorry if you don’t like these ones,’ Chan says sincerely, ‘I’ll bring only shrimp from now on!’

He goes to clean up the snacks and places the rest of the shrimp chips down there instead.

‘I hope you’ll enjoy these!’

Feeling a little down, Chan turns around and heads back home.

Step 3: Check to See if the Werewolf has Wereparents

With his mother following behind him, holding Yongbok’s hand they carefully make their way to what Chan now refers to as his spot by the stream. He had explained how he was worried for the pup, as it kept appearing and didn’t seem to really have a pack (if it was a wolf) (and he doesn’t tell his mother he thinks the puppy is a wolf because he knows she’ll tell him not to seek it out anymore) and maybe it was a stray.

‘Well, if it’s a stray, we should get him to the vet,’ his mother explains, ‘Just to make sure he’s healthy.’

So there they were, walking into the woods.

But the puppy doesn’t show up.

They stay a while and Chan shows his mother and baby brother his favourite places around the area before ultimately heading back.

Chan eagerly returns the next day, a little late because his dad brought their TV and satellite connection! He watched some of his favourites shows before realizing the time and hurrying out. He’s hoping to find the puppy when instead of a wolf-pup, Chan finds a young boy, maybe his age, sitting where the pup normally waited for him.

‘Hi,’ Chan says after a pause. He didn’t know there were other boys his age living close by.

‘You’re late,’ the unknown boy says.

‘…are you talking to me?’

The unknown boy nods.

His eyes look familiar to Chan but he can’t quite explain how or why.

‘I don’t want to go to the doctor,’ the boy tells him.

‘Are you sick?’ Chan asks, walking over slowly.

‘No. That’s why I don’t want to go,’ the boy explains, taking a step back. Chan notes he’s barefoot.

‘Well. That makes sense,’ Chan agrees, coming to a pause.

‘Did you bring those shrimp chips today?’ the boy asks.

Chan frowns.

‘How do you know about my chips? Who are you?’

‘My name is Minho. Lee Minho,’ he introduces himself before repeating, ‘Don’t take me to the doctor okay?’

‘But why would I take you?’ Chan asks. He’s so confused.

‘You brought your mother here,’ Minho explains, ‘And she said you should take me to the doctor.’

‘What?’ Chan frowns, ‘I don’t know you! I’ve never met you before!’

Minho stares at him for a moment before he breathes out like how his mother does sometimes and walks back into the trees.

‘Wait!’ Chan calls after him. ‘Wait- Minho, come back!’

But the boy just vanishes behind the trees.

Confused and a bit worried, Chan decides he should head back home and tell his parents about the boy when he hears rustling and to his delight, coming out of the bushes is his wolf-pup.

‘Puppy!’ Chan cheers, ‘You made it!’

The puppy makes a whining sound and growls a little at him. Taken aback Chan sort of shuffles where he stands a bit.

‘I’m sorry about the corn chips,’ he tells the puppy. ‘I’ll only bring shrimp chips-?’

The puppy darts back and there’s a lot of rustling and that boy, Minho, flops out from the bushes, quite naked.

Chan gasps in worry, hurrying over.

‘Are you hurt!?’ he asks.

‘Stop-!’ Minho orders him, ‘Don’t come closer!’

‘Are you hurt?’ Chan asks worriedly again, ‘Oh no, did that puppy scare you? Where are your clothes-?’

Minho frowns at him, pushing himself up to stand and walking back again to the bushes.

‘Wait! Don’t go!’ Chan calls out.

‘I’m still here!’ Minho yells back, ‘I’m just wearing my clothes!’

Chan sort of paces worriedly. He looks around in hopes of spotting the puppy again but he doesn’t see it. Did the puppy and this boy crash into each other and now the puppy got scared? Or maybe even hurt?

The boy appears in his clothes, smoothing down his shirt a little as though to make himself look smart.

‘Well,’ Minho says, ‘Where are the shrimp chips?’

Chan is very confused.

‘Why should I give you my shrimp snacks? And what did you do to that puppy?’ he demands.

Minho glares at him a little.

‘I’m the puppy,’ he declares, pointing at himself.

Chan just stares at the boy for a moment.

‘But you can’t be the puppy.’ He says slowly.

‘Also I’m not actually a puppy,’ Minho scowls, ‘I’m a werewolf.’

‘That’s just a made-up story, like vampires and ghosts,’ Chan frowns but he’s starting to feel a bit scared again. But also very interested.

‘Vampires are made-up,’ Minho nods in agreement, ‘But dad says there are ghosts everywhere.’

Chan shivers.

‘I don’t believe you,’ Chan tells him, ‘I’ve never seen a werewolf before- no one talks about werewolves.’

‘Because it’s a secret,’ Minho explains.

‘If it’s a secret why are you telling me?’ Chan asks back, ‘You just want to fool me.’

‘No!’ Minho declares, stomping his foot, ‘I’m telling you because you’re my friend.’

‘I am?’

Minho suddenly looks sad, looking down.

‘Fine,’ he huffs out, ‘Whatever, bye-!’

‘No no-!’ Chan says hurriedly, ‘Minho, we can be friends-!’

Minho keeps walking ahead though he looks back to glare at him a little.

‘I’m really confused!’ Chan argues, ‘You’re telling me you’re a werewolf! How do I know you’re not just making it up!’

‘I know about your shrimp snacks,’ Minho huffs out, coming to a pause and crossing his arms, ‘And I know about your mosquito spray- it smells really bad.’

He wrinkles his nose at that.

‘And your baby brother Yongbok- he gets sick if he gets bitten,’ Minho continues, ‘You’re also looking for cool stones and pebbles for your shed. I can show you cooler ones if you want.’

Now Chan is tempted. But he’s still confused.

Minho knew a lot about him.

Minho just frowns again, huffing out before he takes his shirt off.

‘What are you doing?!’ Chan demands.

‘I’m going to show you!’ Minho declares, throwing down the shirt and then shimmying off his shorts.

Chan doesn’t know if he should scream or cry but Minho transforms fully into the puppy.

What he does is instead he falls down on his butt because before him is the puppy. His puppy.

Chan doesn’t know what to do or what to say.

The puppy, Minho, seems to find this annoying or something because he growls a little before turning around and running off, ears flat on his head.

‘Y-your clothes-!’ Chan tries but his voice sort of fades away.

Once he’s recovered a bit he goes and picks up Minho’s clothes from the leaf strewn floor.

He folds them as best as he can, and places it down on top of a rock jutting out near one of the trees. Then he takes out the packet of shrimp chips he had in his bag and puts it on top of the clothes.

He hopes Minho will come back and find it.

Wow.

Wow.

Werewolves were real.

And maybe he was actually friends with one!

Step 4: Let Them Get Used to You

Chan is a little unsure if Minho would come back.

Today he brought shrimp chips and apple juice as well. He thought of bringing some ice-cream with him, just vanilla of course, but he wasn’t sure if they’d survive the weather. It was hotter than normal and he was told to be careful and stay in the shade. Wolves had a lot of fur, did that mean they’d feel hotter during summer? Would it be uncomfortable for Minho?

He keeps thinking about how Minho transformed and he was shocked, intrigued, and absolutely blown away.

Magic was real. Because this had to be magic right?

Minho told him it was a secret- so Chan kept it a secret. He doesn’t tell anyone, not even Yongbok. And if Minho trusted him, then he would maintain that trust. It would be his secret too.

His worry about whether or not Minho would show up isn’t for too long because the boy shows up a little after Chan has reached his spot.

Their spot.

‘Minho!’ Chan waves, walking over to the boy.

‘No,’ Minho shakes his head and holds his hands up, ‘Stay there.’

‘Oh-.’ Chan stops. ‘Um. Okay.’

Minho puts his hands down but he doesn’t look angry or upset.

‘Why?’ Chan asks.

‘Why what,’ Minho repeats.

‘Why do you want me to stay so far away?’ Chan asks curiously.

‘Because I don’t know you fully yet,’ Minho explains. ‘I’m suspicious.’

‘I won’t hurt you,’ Chan says at once. 'I'm your friend aren't I?'

Minho doesn’t respond to that. Instead he asks, ‘Did you bring the shrimp chips?’

‘Yes!’ Chan nods, ‘I’ll bring it! I brought two packets so you can have one. Do you want apple juice? Is that okay for you to drink?’

Minho nods.

Chan takes out the packet of shrimp chips and apple juice box and walks over to where he normally kept the chips for Minho as a puppy before walking back. He sits down on the rock he usually sat on and takes out his chips and juice too.

Minho slowly walks over to the snacks and picks it up.

‘Do you want me to turn around?’ Chan asks.

Minho pauses a little before he nods.

Chan turns around and eats his snack, waving off an annoying fly first.

‘It’s really hot today,’ Chan says, ‘Do you feel very hot when you’re a wolf?’

He hears the sound of the snack bag opening, footsteps leading away a little.

‘Not that bad,’ Minho replies, ‘It’s nicer in winter. I like staying as a wolf in winter, but dad says I should learn to adjust.’

‘Oh- is your dad a werewolf too?’

‘No. Mum is,’ Minho replies, sounding like he had a bunch of snacks in his mouth.

‘Wow, that’s so cool.’

Minho makes a non-committal sound.

‘Where do you live?’ Chan asks.

‘In the farm past the hill behind the lake,’ Minho tells him.

‘Oh, that’s so far away,’ Chan remembers the lake. His parents said they would go swimming soon. ‘Do you swim in the lake?’

‘Sometimes,’ Minho replies, ‘Mostly at night, with my dad.’

‘Does your mum also swim with you?’

‘Mum’s gone out, it’s just me and dad right now,’ Minho explains.

‘Oh I see,’ Chan hums.

‘You live with that grandma right?’ Minho asks in turn.

‘Yeah!’

‘My mum said her dad used to have a friend there,’ Minho explains.

‘Oh!’ Chan exclaims, ‘Grandma told me that grandpa had a wolf friend! This is really cool Minho!’

Minho makes another non-committal sound.

‘So are you moving in?’ Minho asks.

‘Just for summer break,’ Chan explains, ‘We’re going to stay with grandma during our longer breaks I think, but we have to go to school back in the city.’

Chan is suddenly curious.

‘Do you go to school?’

Minho makes a scoffing sound.

‘Of course I do- I go to school here.’

‘Are there other werewolves?’

‘No,’ Minho replies, sounding a bit quiet.

‘Does anyone else know you’re a werewolf?’

‘No,’ Minho sounds even more quiet.

‘I won’t tell anyone!’ Chan tells him sincerely, ‘Don’t worry Minho! I’m your friend, and I will protect your secret okay?’

Minho doesn’t reply.

Chan continues to eat his snack for a while before he asks, ‘What other snacks do you like Minho? I can bring some other ones next time.’

There’s no response.

Unsure, Chan doesn’t turn around until he’s finished his snacks.

Where Minho was is empty. Or at least Chan thinks it’s empty. On the smooth large stone that Minho liked to sit on or stand in front of is a really sparkly looking stone.

Hurriedly crushing the empty snack bag into his pocket and brushing his hands free of crumbs Chan makes his way over to the spot. He picks up the stone- it’s very pretty and on the surface it almost looks like bits of glass all over.

It was clean, Minho probably washed it in the stream, and it fit nicely in his hand.

Minho got him a gift!

Chan beams to himself before pocketing the stone in his most secure pocket on his cargo shorts.

It rains for a couple of days nonstop so Chan can’t go out to meet Minho. But he does ask grandma about the farm behind the hill behind the lake.

‘Oh yes,’ his grandma nods, ‘There are scattered farms all around- you must be talking about the Lee farm. They’re one of the oldest residents in the region.’

So Minho’s family lived here for a long time then.

It stops raining and Chan finally gets to go out.

The stream is rushing around and there’s lots of pretty pebbles scattered all around. But Chan only has one thing in mind.

And waiting for him by his stone is Minho but today he’s a puppy.

‘Hi Minho,’ Chan keeps the distance as usual- he wants to respect Minho’s choice. ‘It rained a lot! I thought it would never stop.’

Minho just tilts his head around as though in response.

‘Thank you for your gift last time! I put it on my shelf, it looks so pretty!’

Minho’s ear twitch a little, and he looks away.

Chan beams, slapping his bag, ‘I brought shrimp snacks! Should I open it for you or will you change?’

Minho doesn’t move.

Chan takes that as Minho wanting to stay as a puppy.

‘I’ll use the bag like a plate so it won’t get dirty,’ Chan explains, ‘I didn’t bring any juice today though.’

He’s stepping towards where he normally put the snacks, ready to open the snack bag when Minho makes a sound at him.

‘Hm?’

Minho barks- it’s more like a yip, and then he makes a small jumping motion before taking a few steps.

He does this a few times before Chan realizes what he’s telling him.

‘You want me to follow you?’

Minho wags his tail.

So Chan puts the snacks back in his bag and follows Minho into the woods.

They walk for maybe 15 minutes when they reach a pool.

It’s very pretty, with wide flat stones, lots of pebbles, and a tree that’s bent over, the leaves brushing into the water.

‘Woah!’ Chan exclaims.

To one side Chan spots clothes folded neatly and a pair of sandals. Minho goes towards it and with one look at him starts shifting. Chan watches again because he still can’t believe it. If he had to describe it, he wouldn’t even know how to. It was so smooth and also odd at the same time. He wonders again if it hurt Minho when he shifted.

Chan finds a spot where he can sit that’s at a distance from where Minho was now pulling on his shorts; he doesn’t bother with his shirt which Chan understands. He was only wearing a vest today because of how warm it was even though the rain had made things feel nicer.

‘This is my pond,’ Minho tells him, sounding proud.

‘I really like it!’ Chan tells him enthusiastically. ‘Thank you for showing me, is this where you found that shiny stone?’

Minho nods, looking pleased. ‘You can find more – there’s also more inside the water.’

‘Is it deep?’ Chan asks.

Minho shakes his head, ‘Only till here.’

He indicates close to his chest.

‘Is this your pond?’ Chan asks looking around.

‘I guess so,’ Minho shrugs, ‘The woods near my farm doesn’t have the stream- I like the way it sounds. And I found this place when I was younger with mum, so I like to come here.’

‘When will your mum come back?’ Chan asks.

‘I don’t know,’ Minho sighs out.

‘Oh,’ Chan blinks, ‘Is it for work?’

‘Kinda, I guess,’ Minho shrugs before saying, ‘I’m hungry.’

Chan takes out the snacks and tosses the shrimp chips to Minho across the pond. They’re across the pond from each other but the distance is less than Chan’s spot in the woods.

‘Can I come here sometime?’ Chan asks as he shifts to give Minho privacy.

‘Only you,’ Minho tells him.

‘Yeah of course!’ Chan says quickly. ‘I wouldn’t bring anyone else here.’

‘Not even your mum?’

‘I won’t bring anyone,’ Chan says firmly, ‘I’m sorry about last time, I thought that maybe you were a puppy- a dog puppy, and mum said it would be good to take you to the vet just in case you were sick.’

‘Oh,’ Minho hums out, ‘I see.’

‘Yeah, so um, don’t worry, I won’t take you to the vet- and I won’t tell anyone about you okay? It’s our secret now.’

Minho stares long and hard at him for a few seconds. Chan doesn’t even want to blink- he wants Minho to know how much he meant what he said.

And then Minho nods, and Chan hopes he can feel his sincerity.

‘Can I ask you some questions?’ Chan asks after a while, ‘You’re the first werewolf I know about that isn’t from movies and cartoons.’

‘Those are mostly wrong,’ Minho declares before asking: ‘What do you want to know?’

Well, Chan has a lot of questions.

The first one is the most pressing one, at least to Chan.

‘Does it hurt when you change?’

‘Not really, it’s just a bit uncomfortable- you feel uncomfortable for a while, but it goes away.’

And then another one which confused him a little.

‘It’s not only during the full moon?’

‘No.’

And also:

‘Can you shift only certain parts of your body? Like can you have a tail now?’

‘No.’

As well as:

‘If you bite me, will I become a werewolf?’

‘No, I don’t think so. I’m a werewolf because my mum is a werewolf.’

‘So your mum has to be a werewolf for you to be a werewolf?’

‘I don’t know actually.’

And of course:

‘Can you eat chocolate?’

‘I’m not a dog, I can eat chocolate.’

Chan asks every question he can possibly think of and Minho answers them all, feet in the pond. Chan does the same and it feels really nice. He always has a bunch of questions for Minho whenever they meet. Sometimes they come to the pond, sometimes they stay in Chan’s spot- and Chan brings with him all sorts of snacks knowing that Minho could eat even the chocolate ones.

He brought ice-cream once and it was only just a little mushy but still delicious and refreshing.

They wash their sticky face and hands in the pond water before trying to splash each other across the pond.

And that becomes the day Chan hears Minho laugh for the first time.

Step 5: Prove That You Can Take Care of the Stray Werewolf

Minho becomes less tense slowly. The physical distance between the two of them lessening.

Minho even started eating his food while facing Chan. He had explained that it was a safety thing- at least to him it made sense and Chan doesn’t fully understand, but if this meant that Minho was starting to feel safer with him, then he was happy.

He learns all of Minho’s favourite snacks- the boy doesn’t tell him, but Chan observes his behavior with each snack he brought. He definitely liked the shrimp chips, but he also seemed to like the spicier snacks which was difficult for Chan to eat. Minho often laughed at how red Chan would get if he ate a spicy chip. So sometimes Chan ate spicier chips on purpose to make Minho laugh and he always did.

Minho also brought him cool looking stones or even small succulents he found.

Chan wishes he could show Minho his shed because it was starting to look really cool. Yongbok thought it was really cool too and they sometimes stayed there on the cushions his mum stacked for them on the floor and played on their Gameboy or read comics.

He asked Minho if he liked comics and Minho had nodded but said he didn’t have that many.

Chan had a lot.

So one day he brought a few of his comics for Minho to read and they spent nearly an hour at the pond reading comics and eating snacks.

On days Minho preferred staying in his shifted form he would show Chan cool places around the woods- the furthest they went out was to the crest of one of the closer hills. Chan would be a little worried about going so far from the woods but he trusts Minho and his ability to find their way back. After all, Minho told him he’s been around a lot in the woods and that there weren’t actually any dangerous animals around.

‘Mum made sure that no coyotes would ever come in this valley,’ Minho tells him proudly. ‘So it’s quite safe.’

Chan also finds out he’s a year older than Minho and his protectiveness for Minho flares up even more even though he’s sure Minho could take very good care of himself.

On a day after the rain Minho had slipped on some mud and scraped his knee. Chan was unsure what to do; Minho didn’t like it when he came too close, but it’s obvious Minho was in pain.

‘Can I come and help you clean it?’ Chan asks worriedly, ‘I don’t want it to be infected.’

Minho’s face wrinkles with pain before he nods once.

Still approaching him slowly and trying to make himself small he kneels next to Minho and looks at his knee. It was bleeding and the skin was definitely quite broken. He didn’t have any first-aid on himself but he did have an empty bottle of Cider so he goes and fills it with stream water and returns to wash any dirt from the wound first. His mum always said to clean any wound first because you didn’t want infections.

‘Will you wait for a few minutes?’ Chan asks Minho worriedly, ‘I’ll go bring a band-aid and the cream my mum uses on my cuts- it won’t hurt.’

‘Just you,’ Minho tells him firmly.

‘Yeah! Of course,’ Chan nods firmly.

Then Minho nods.

Chan runs as fast as he can back home.

‘-Chan-!’ his grandmother gasps when he bursts through the door. ‘Don’t do that-!’

‘Sorry!’ Chan gasps out, ‘Grandma where- where’s the band-aids?’

‘Did you hurt yourself?’ his grandmother asks at once worriedly.

‘Uh- no, just thought um, it would be good to have in advance,’ Chan manages.

His grandmother looks at him for a moment before she says, ‘Well, for emergencies it depends if it’s a small or big cut.’

‘It’s- it’s not big, but it’s not small either,’ Chan says.

‘I see,’ Grandma nods, making her way to the fridge on top of which there were a few tins and other tupperware. ‘Well, just in case for bleeding, you will need some wipes right?’

Chan nods vigourously.

‘And of course the band-aids, in several sizes, just in case,’ his grandma says as she takes some things out, ‘And to make sure everything is clean, some iodine, a small bottle will be good to keep with you I think.’

Chan nods again, shuffling from foot to foot.

His grandma puts it all into a small bag and gives him 2 packets of choco-pie as well before Chan is bolting out of the house again.

He’s worried that Minho has left but his friend is still there by his spot near the stream, carefully pouring more water from the bottle Chan left behind.

‘I-I’m back!’ Chan gasps out, ‘I got the things!’

They clean the wound some more, as much as Chan thinks is good enough without hurting Minho more. Then he uses some of the anti-septic wipes that stings a little judging from Minho’s expression.

‘It’s okay if you want to cry,’ Chan tells him, ‘I won’t tell anymore.’

But Minho just shakes his head, eyes glassy with unshed tears.

Then he drops some iodine which thankfully doesn’t hurt. Chan blows on it like how his mother does for him before he’s satisfied and as neatly as possible, puts a band-aid over the cut.

‘Can you stand?’ Chan asks Minho, ‘We can go sit over there?’

Minho nods.

‘How will you go home?’ Chan asks him once he stands up and tests to see if his knee hurt. Judging from how uncomfortable Minho looked it probably did hurt.

‘It’ll be fine after a while,’ Minho tells him roughly.

‘I can walk you home,’ Chan tells him.

‘It’s far,’ Minho shakes his head, ‘And you don’t know how to get back.’

‘You said the stream takes you to the lake right? Then I can follow the stream,’ Chan argues, ‘It’s okay, I know I’ll be able to find my way back.’

Minho shakes his head again.

But Chan can’t let his friend walk back without any help.

‘Please let me help you,’ Chan tells him, ‘I swear I won’t get lost. I don’t want you to get more hurt Minho.’

Minho looks at his knee for a while before he slowly nods.

‘Do you want to hold my hand?’ Chan asks.

Minho shakes his head.

‘If we go now, we can walk slowly,’ Chan tells him, ‘It’ll be okay.’

They walk for around 15 minutes, slowly, following the stream when Minho calls his name.

‘Hyung.’

Chan stops, turning to look at the other boy.

Minho looks at him for a moment before he looks down again. Then he holds his hand out.

‘Oh-.’

‘-in case you get lost,’ Minho says, still looking down.

Chan laughs.

‘Okay,’ he smiles, taking Minho’s hand. ‘Thank you Minho-yah.’

Minho nods, still looking down.

It takes nearly 2 hours of careful walking and some breaks before they reach the lake. They eat the choco-pie his grandma had given him and Chan is grateful she gave him two so they both had one.

‘You can go home now hyung,’ Minho tells him, ‘I don’t live too far from here, I can go alone.’

Chan frowns, not letting for of Minho’s hand.

‘My dad should be near the lake right now, I’ll go to him.’ Minho explains, pointing towards the other side of the lake where Chan knows there were fishing boats. He and his family had gone last week and they were planning on going again for a picnic.

‘He’s fishing right now,’ Minho explains, squinting a little, ‘He should still be there.’

‘Oh, okay,’ Chan nods, feeling a bit better. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t come out tomorrow? You should rest.’

Minho makes a face.

‘Don’t hurt yourself more okay?’ Chan tells him.

Minho nods and begins walking forward again.

‘Don’t come tomorrow!’ Chan calls after him, ‘I’m serious Minho-yah!’

Minho just waves a hand, not looking back.

‘I’ll be mad if you come tomorrow!’

Minho doesn’t bother looking back.

Chan is both happy and a bit sad that Minho really doesn’t show up the next day. Then he’s worried when Minho doesn’t show up again after that. And then again.

Then it rains for 3 days and it almost becomes a week since Chan sees Minho and he’s even more worried. He should ask Minho for his phone number next time so he can contact him!

Finally on the 6^th day he rushes to the woods and to his relief Minho is there, as a boy. His knee isn’t covered or bandaged and he looked healthy.

‘Minho!’ Chan cheers and he can’t help himself when he goes and hugs his friend.

Minho sort of freezes up but he doesn’t push Chan away or struggle.

‘You’re okay!’ Chan beams, taking a step back.

Minho nods, cheeks red.

‘Yay!’

‘Here,’ Minho says as he walks over to his stone where Chan notices a small bag. He takes out some shiny plums.

‘They’re the first batch,’ Minho explains, ‘Dad and I picked it after the rain, they’re very clean. I checked all of them and they don’t have any worms.’

‘Wow!’ Chan exclaims, ‘Thank you Minho-yah.’

The plums are a bit sour but they’re mostly sweet and refreshing. After they’re done they bury the seeds in random places.

‘Plum blossoms are very pretty,’ Minho tells him. ‘Maybe they’ll grow in the future.’

‘Maybe we can eat the fruit that grows from them when we get older,’ Chan says hopefully.

‘Will we still be friends then?’ Minho asks him worriedly.

‘Of course,’ Chan says with a frown, ‘We’ll always be friends Minho-yah.’

‘Okay.’

Step 6: Associate Good Food and Safety with Your Presence

Chan’s grandma and parents put on a really big special dinner for grandpa’s birthday. They have all sorts of tasty food and lots of tasty meat.

‘Chan-ah, do you think your puppy will want some of these bones?’ his father had asked him.

‘I don’t think the puppy would be able to eat the bigger bones,’ his mother says worriedly, ‘Maybe you can take him some smaller pieces?’

Chan nods at once.

Just in case, his father puts out the knobbly bits of bone that weren’t very hard into a tupperware for him including some other pieces. Chan takes it from the fridge the next day and rushes out to the woods with his special treat.

Minho is waiting for him as usual, today in his puppy form.

‘Minho-yah! I brought special treat!’ Chan tells him happily, ‘We had lots of meat yesterday and-.’

Minho must smell it the moment he takes out the tupperware from his bag because he jumps over and closes their distance significantly. Minho’s ears are perked up, tail wagging as he sniffs aggressively.

‘We weren’t sure if you’d be able to eat the bigger bones,’ Chan explains as he opens the tupperware, ‘I don’t know if you’ll like these, but maybe-?’

Chan places the tupperware down neatly. Just because Minho was a werewolf didn’t mean he’d eat bone-

Minho chomps on it delightedly, holding the knobbly piece between his paws, back legs straight, butt and tail wagging all over.

‘Oh,’ Chan grins, ‘Okay.’

Sometimes when Chan eats more than he does he gets sleepy- and that’s what happens to Minho.

His belly is round and full and really cute and he just sort of slumps down on the floor, eyes drooping.

Chan thinks he’s so cute, he wishes he could pet his head and belly but he’s not sure if Minho will like that. So he sits a little closer than usual and eats his own sandwich. He asks Minho if he wants a bit but Minho is too full to be tempted by some ham and cheese.

Now that he knew Minho could very well eat any food just like he could, Chan sometimes brought freshly cooked food. Minho also brought some things with him, mostly fruits that he said were in his garden.

And with each meal or food they shared, Minho sits closer and closer. Chan no longer has to turn around anymore and they talk (if Minho isn’t shifted) about any and everything.

Minho tells him more about his parents- he hasn’t seen his mother in over 3 years now, but he’s not really expecting her to show up much because of her work. Minho isn’t sure what his mother really did, but he knows it has to do with rocks and stones and she had to travel a lot for that. His dad wasn’t actually from this region but moved here after Minho was born to take care of the family farm and property. They had a lot of fruit trees mostly, as well as a lot of chickens for eggs.

‘I hope your mum comes back soon,’ Chan tells Minho.

But Minho just shrugs in response.

‘You don’t miss her?’ Chan asks curiously. Once his mother had to go to Busan for a seminar for a week and he missed her a lot. Yongbok actually cried a few times.

‘Not really,’ Minho shrugs again before he changes the subject.

Sometimes they swim a little in the pond- it wasn’t the best for swimming, but just floating around and playing in it. But Minho saw a leech and they both avoided getting too close to the water for a while.

When dragonflies start to dart around they try to catch some (and of course let it go) without hurting them but they were very fast.

One time Chan brings boiled eggs but Minho has shifted and clearly didn’t feel like shifting back so he nudges the egg back towards Chan with his nose.

‘Do you want it now?’ Chan asks, ‘I’ll peel it for you don’t worry.’

Minho waits patiently as Chan cleanly peels the egg for him. He sometimes brought an extra plate with him or used a tupperware cover for Minho to eat out of so that he didn’t accidently eat dirt though Chan doesn’t think Minho minded much especially in his shifted form.

‘Do you know how to cook?’ Minho asks him one day.

‘Um, well, I can help mum and dad when they cook,’ Chan tells him, ‘But I can fry eggs.’

‘Me too!’ Minho smiles, sitting closer to Chan than last week. There’s maybe just 2 feet of distance between them. ‘I can also cook rice, and make ramyeon.’

‘I can make ramyeon too!’ Chan informs him happily.

‘I want to learn how to cook, so I can help dad more,’ Minho tells him. ‘He doesn’t usually get a lot of help, especially inside the house, because I have to be a secret.’

‘Oh,’ Chan hadn’t thought about that.

‘Dad wants me to know that I can stay in whatever form I want at home without being worried, so it’s only him and me,’ Minho explains. ‘But when he’s tired it’s difficult I know. So I want to cook so he doesn’t have to think about food after working so hard.’

‘I wish I could help you,’ Chan tells Minho.

‘It’s okay,’ Minho says seriously. ‘I will learn slowly. Hot oil doesn’t scare me too much now. I tried making kimchi fried rice yesterday but my arms got tired from mixing.’

Chan nods in understanding. You had to be strong to cook.

‘You’re still too small now,’ Chan tells him, ‘Once you get bigger, you can do more.’

‘I want to grow up quickly,’ Minho says, looking sad. ‘And I can help dad out more.’

Chan later asks his grandma for some easy recipes. She even shows him how to make some, as well as the actions for stirring while making a simple stir fry. His mum also helps him out with some other recipes and Chan writes it down in his best handwriting. He also learns how to make many recipes in the process.

He proudly hands Minho the stack of papers he accumulated over the past week, and the younger boy clutches the papers to his chest, beaming at Chan.

Chan wishes again that he could hug Minho.

Step 7: Show the Werewolf Careful and Gentle Affection

And well, maybe Chan couldn’t hug Minho as a boy, but Minho in his shifted form was now much more relaxed around him.

Minho in his shifted form would come sit right next to him sometimes when they ate, and he would even nudge Chan with his nose or paw if he wanted attention.

After some time Chan carefully places his hand on top of Minho’s head. Minho’s ears flatten at once, eyes wrinkling shut but he doesn’t move away. Grinning, Chan gently pets Minho’s soft furry head.

‘I really like your fur colour,’ Chan tells him, ‘It’s so pretty.’

Minho seems very pleased, making a sort of purring sound before getting down to the floor, enjoying the head pats.

When Minho wasn’t shifted he was always a bit awkward and Chan doesn’t want him to feel uncomfortable, but as a wolf he was much more open to getting pets and Chan fully takes advantage of it. And Minho clearly enjoys it, ears flat and turning his head here and there for Chan to get different angles. And Minho was always clean so he really liked brushing his hands through his fur too.

One day they plan on walking to the lake- Chan, with Minho’s guidance, was walking out much more further around the woods. He wouldn’t dare go himself, but with Minho he had no problem stepping into unknown areas of the woods. Minho points out cool mushrooms and lots of flowers that make both of them sneeze sometimes. They once came across a wasps nest in their excursions and they sprint away as quickly as they can.

Chan had packed a sort of picnic for them, Minho too had brought some food including a blanket they could sit. It was really fun and Chan felt very much like a grown up sitting on the old blanket and looking out into the lake.

Minho tells him about fishing and that he could teach him one day if he wanted. He then points out different spots around the surroundings, the different farms, and places with the best flowers and a spot at the lake that had lots and lots of lilies and frogs.

They sit side by side now, sometimes sharing a single bag of snacks between them with Chan holding the bag. Minho also smiled and laughed a lot more now but he still had his same serious personality- but Chan thinks it’s cool; Minho might be younger but he sometimes behaved like he was much older- not that he was bossy, but he said and did things that felt like he could be older.

Chan finds himself learning a lot from Minho and he hopes that he can teach Minho new things too.

Their meetings are unfortunately cut short for nearly a week due to heavy summer storms- it was not only unsafe but Chan had also gotten sick, catching a cold due to the weird weather.

Nose heavily blocked and throat feeling really itchy and painful, Chan sadly looks out of the window as he eats a bit of soup. The storm had finished 2 days ago but he was still very sick and tired. Yongbok and his mother had gone out for a walk and Chan wishes he could go with them. They bring him back flowers and a pretty stone and it makes Chan a little happier.

When his grandma returns from her morning walk around the town she returns with some fruits- mainly plums.

‘These are for Chan-ah,’ she tells them as she takes the fruits out, ‘I got them specifically from the Lee farm.’

Chan’s ears perk up at that.

‘Chan-ah, eat these hm?’ his grandma hands him a couple, ‘Lots of vitamins in these.’

Feeling warm from the inside Chan relishes in the soft sweet fruit, saving the seeds from each plum he ate.

The moment Chan feels better and his parents allow him to go back outside with lots of warnings to be careful Chan all but runs to the woods.

Minho is not at their spot though, but undeterred he makes his way to the pond.

Probably due to the storm the pond got bigger and possible deeper. But it’s empty- no Minho.

He probably didn’t expect Chan to show up today. How could he tell Minho that he was healthy and could play again?

Chan decides to head back to his original spot- for some reason if Minho wasn’t here at the pond, Chan felt like he was intruding in his personal space. But before he can leave he hears rustling and darting out of the bushes in great speed is Minho and-!

Chan is knocked back on the floor and he hears happy yips and a wet nose and tongue licking his face, paws coming all over his chest before there’s aggressive sniffing and then more licks and Minho is burrowing his head up against the side of Chan’s head and neck.

‘Minho-!’ Chan laughs delightedly.

He manages to actually put his arms around the puppy who almost looked like he was smiling at him, tongue poking out, panting a little. And then abruptly he shifts.

Chan has never experienced the shift this close but one thing he notices amidst the chaos is that Minho’s eyes never actually change.

‘-hyung!’ Minho exclaims, ‘You’re better!’

‘I am!’ Chan cheers, still very much on the floor.

‘I was really worried, did you get the plums?!’

‘I did,’ Chan nods, pushing himself up as Minho scrambles away, ‘Thank you Minho-yah, I feel like they made me better.’

Minho smiles happily at that.

Minho hadn’t brought any extra clothes so Chan takes off his shorts for Minho to wear as he was wearing underwear. Minho could now sit more comfortably on the forest floor and Chan tells him all about how he got sick and how much he hated it. He also finally remembers to ask for Minho’s phone number and promises to give him his grandmothers next time.

‘I missed you,’ Chan tells Minho.

Minho turns shy at that, looking at his hands.

‘I missed you too hyung.’

Minho is clearly worried about his health for a while, because he more frequently brought him fruits and other vegetables as though hoping that would help him. One day he brings with him what is clearly a freshly dug up carrot from a farm to him.

Minho carefully places a half-bitten carrot down before him.

‘Is this for me?’ Chan beams.

Minho scratches the back of his ear with his leg and shakes himself, clearly very pleased with himself.

‘Thank you Minho!’

He washes it in the stream and munches on the carrot. It’s surprisingly refreshing and Chan offers Minho a piece but the werewolf puppy just shakes his head, panting a little. It was very hot that day – his dad had said it was due to the humidity and Chan decides that’s something he really doesn’t like.

It was the kind of hot that made Yongbok cranky and sleepy and honestly Chan does feel a bit sleepy too. Minho also seemed a bit low on energy and Chan suggests to his best-friend that they nap a bit. Minho offers no protests.

So Chan lays back on the old mat he sometimes brought with him, especially if he was going to bring comics as he liked to lay on his belly and read. It’s not so big that Minho can fit with him, but they could both sit on it. Be he still makes some space as best as he can and pats the space next to him for Minho before closing his eyes.

After a while Minho pads up to him and flops down. Then after about a minute he yawns and lays on his side, furry body pressed up to his side.

Carefully and slowly so as to not alarm him, Chan pats Minho’s head first, marveling at how nice his fur felt. It would be so nice to cuddle with Minho in winter like how he did with Yongbok sometimes. It’s definitely too warm now but this was nice too. Chan falls asleep as he strokes through Minho’s fur.

Minho wakes him up by nudging his face with his nose and licks his face a few times.

‘I’m up-,’ Chan yawns, ‘Hi Minho.’

He reaches up to squish Minho’s face and Minho squirms out and shakes all over.

Chan giggles.

Then he notices the way the lighting had changed, and how it felt cooler too.

‘Oh, it must be late,’ Chan exclaims, ‘Minho-yah, you should go home or you’ll be late.’

Minho grumbles in his throat.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Chan tells him.

Minho pads over and pushes his head up against Chan’s, making him giggle again.

Was this Minho’s way of saying bye?

Chan pets his head again and Minho turns around and runs off.

Step 8: If All of the Above Works Successfully, You Now Have a Werewolf Best-Friend!

It’s the end of his summer break.

A week before they have to leave Chan tells Minho.

‘Oh,’ Minho pauses.

They had been building a mini-town around the pond with stones and twigs and bark. They actually had a nice layout and Minho had also brought some string so that they could swing things from the trees.

Minho knew he would leave eventually, he did say he was only here for the summer. But Chan doesn’t want to leave.

And he thinks that Minho doesn’t want him to leave either.

Minho is quiet for the rest of the day as they arrange their little town around the clearing near the pond. Chan doesn’t know what to say, he wishes he could stay but he has school, and his parents also have to go back to work as their special permission for work would also stop.

After that day, for the rest of the week leading up to a few days before Chan has to leave, Minho is always in his shifted form. And he mostly takes Chan around rather than sit and play or talk. Minho would then just leave him as they got closer to the stream without saying goodbye or allowing Chan to pat his head.

It makes Chan sad.

‘Do you think we can come back for winter,’ Chan asks his parents later that night as they ate dinner.

‘You want to come back?’ his mum asks, a bit surprised.

‘I think Chan-ah has made a great friend,’ grandma chimes in.

Chan nods.

‘Well, we’d have to see,’ his dad replies, ‘We can’t know for sure okay Channie?’

Chan nods again, feeling even sadder.

‘You can come any time and stay with grandma, no worries from my part okay?’ his grandma tells them all.

‘We can play in the snow,’ Yongbok says eagerly, grinning brightly and showing his 2 missing front teeth.

Chan would love to play in the snow with Minho actually- it would be so fun.

‘We will have to see, but if grandma doesn’t mind, then I think it should be fine,’ his dad agrees.

Chan feels significantly better.

The next day he goes to the woods, eager to tell Minho the news that he would come back for the winter break. His parents had told him they’d have to see, but Chan was going to be the best well behaved boy ever so that he could come here for holiday. Grandma said he was welcome anytime, so he was going to do everything perfectly- do all of his homework, clean up after himself, work hard in school, be an even better brother to Yongbok and help his parents around the house!

He would come back to meet Minho.

But Minho doesn’t show up.

Chan walks around the woods a little, calling for his best-friend. But his friend, puppy or boy, doesn’t show up.

And it’s the same the next day.

Did he get sick?

He tries to call Minho’s number. His grandma helped him figure out the old-fashion phone but no one picked up.

‘He could be helping his dad,’ his grandma explained, ‘They’re probably cleaning out the orchards right now for the last of the summer fruits.’

Chan hopes so.

But the next couple of days before Chan leaves Minho never shows up. The town they built was still left as it was and instead Chan collects more building material so that if Minho wanted he could continue. He also leaves snacks but they’re always left exactly where he put them the next day. 

Chan spends some time in his shed where he's made neat arrangements of all the things he's gathered. His grandma promised to look after his plants- he had even joined grandma and Yongbok in potting some of the bigger plants into nice pots to ensure they would grow nicely. All of his rocks were arranged according to size. The shiny yellow stone Minho had given him, which his dad said was probably something called a Tiger's Eye, was packed safely into his bag already back inside. He would always have that with him.

It’s the day before he has to leave and Chan stays nearly till sunset and Minho still doesn’t show up.

He won’t tell anyone but he does cry a little.

He washes his face in the stream before returning so that no one would notice. He’s in a low mood and thankfully his parents don’t say anything though Yongbok comes to give him many hugs and kisses.

The day they have to leave Chan just stays in the dining room as his mother packs them some snacks for the road playing on his Gameboy. The adults seem to think they should leave him alone and Chan is a bit grateful for that.

He really wanted to meet Minho one last time before going and now he couldn’t.

There’s knocking on the door and his dad who was doing last checks to see if they forgot anything goes to the door. He hears his grandma talking as well and Yongbok shyly greeting whoever was at the door.

After a while his dad comes to the kitchen door and calls him.

‘Chan-ah,’ his dad smiles, ‘Your friend Minho is at the door.’

Chan nearly drops his Gameboy.

He rushes out of the kitchen into the small hallway and to the living room where his grandma, and hiding behind her, Yongbok were standing by the open net door talking to Minho.

It’s actually really Minho at the door.

His grandma is talking to him and Minho looks shy, head down and ears red. Grandma was holding a bag of some fruits that Minho clearly brought with him and Yongbok was looking at eagerly.

‘-these are amazing plums, thank you so much,’ his grandmother chuckles, ‘It’s nice to meet you Minho-yah, do come by any time okay?’

Minho nods before he notices Chan and breaks out into a smile.

Chan smiles back just as hard, rushing over but stopping himself some feet from the boy.

‘Minho! You’re here?’

Honestly, Chan didn’t think he’d see Minho again, maybe hopefully during the winter break but he didn’t think he’d see Minho again.

And he even came to his house!

Minho glances around a bit before saying, ‘Uh, just um, thought maybe you’d want a snack?’

Chan needs a couple of seconds before he nods.

‘Yeah! Yeah I could, um, yeah- I want a snack!’

Minho nods and before bowing to his grandma and small smile towards Yongbok once more walks out and then jogs out to the garden.

‘Dad,’ Chan rushes to turn around, ‘Uh, I’ll be back quick!’

Both his parents are standing there, looking quite excited for some reason. His dad chuckles and nods, ‘Don’t be late for lunch okay? We’re going after that.’

‘Okay!’

Chan runs out and spots Minho near the edge of the woods to the side. He runs over to the boy who shuffles backwards into the woods, watching him.

When Chan is just some feet from him he stops.

‘Hyung,’ Minho states before Chan can say anything.

‘Yeah?’

‘Here,’ Minho holds something in his fisted hand. ‘Present as you’re leaving.’

‘Oh,’ Chan holds out both hands, walking over slowly.

Minho drops a stone the size of his thumbnail into his palms. It’s smooth- and Chan immediately knows this wasn’t some common pretty stone- this was probably something else.

‘It’s so pretty!’ Chan exclaims, looking closely at the deep yellow stone with gold to brown stripes all over it.

‘Mum finds these stones and brings them sometimes,’ Minho explains, ‘This one is my prettiest piece.’

‘If your mum gave it to you then I can’t take it,’ Chan exclaims, ‘And it’s your best piece.’

Minho shakes his head, ‘That’s why I’m giving it to you.’

‘Oh,’ Chan grips the stone in his hand, ‘I will always keep this safe with me.’

Minho smiles, looking shy.

Again, Chan wishes he could hug Minho but he knows Minho doesn’t like to be touched much, especially when he was not in his shifted form. So he puts his hands into his pockets, shifting his weight around a little.

He wanted to ask why Minho didn’t show up for so long- but honestly now that he was here Chan doesn’t really care to ask. He’s just so happy Minho was here.

‘When will you come back?’ Minho asks finally.

‘I’ll come back for the winter break,’ Chan tells him at once, extending out his pinky finger, ‘It’s a promise.’

Minho looks at his pinky for a moment before linking his own, shaking their hands a little and surprising Chan when he comes to hug him.

Chan immediately hugs him back. He hugs him hard- he has a lot of hugs he’s held back so he wants to get it all out if possible.

Minho squirms a little and then he giggles and it makes Chan giggle too. Minho then lightly butts their heads together like how he did when he shifted.

‘Okay,’ Minho nods, taking a step back, looking awkward and shy. ‘I’ll see you in the winter, Chan-hyung.’

Chan beams, holding Minho’s hand firmly.

‘I’ll see you soon Minho.’