He was hungry again.

He didn't know how far he had traveled, but it had been days since the last village. Their chicken had been most satisfying and he had gotten by without incident. No one had noticed him again, and while it meant survival for another day, it also disappointed him, frustrated him. He had no concept of the time that had passed or the time it could take until he got what he wished. Could he live his life in the shadows forever? Was forever a reality or a nightmare?

He saw a rabbit just ahead, quiet, unsuspecting. He salivated. Moving without a sound, he crouched, waited. When he leaped, it was with precision. His teeth ruptured through skin, savoring the flesh and the blood. It was a scrap meal, he knew it, but it meant living for a little longer. He ate as much as he could in a quick succession of bites, thinking about the forest, how much he loved it, how much he hated it. It accepted him, gave him shelter and solace, and it alienated him.

One more day.

His ears captured the sound of human voices and he lifted his head from the remains of the wild rabbit. The wolf was black fur capturing the sunlight, blood dripping from fangs, but the man was listening, questioning, wondering. Humans did not live in the woods, humans lived together in towns and villages, together they were stronger, together they were a force. He had lived for a long time, unable to count the years, but he had lived and seen and this was truth. No human lived in the woods by themselves.

He started moving towards the sounds, curious, vigilant. Was this for better or worse, truth or lie, life or death?

Hope or despair?

Still the wolf moved towards the women of the woods.

"You must be careful, Hae Soo."

"Yes, mother."

"Tread carefully through the woods but try being as quick as you can. Lady Oh is waiting."

"Yes, mother, I'll be careful."

"Don't take the cloak off. It's your protection."

"Yes, mother. I'll be going now."

The younger woman covered her head with a lilac hood and left. The wolf watched with interested eyes and followed, behind bushes, behind trees. The woman's dress caressed the grass, her sound clear, easy to pinpoint. She held a basket that she passed from one arm to the other and its contents were a mystery to him, no matter how hard he tried to distinguish the smell. It was sweet, foreign. It was best to stay away from it.

However, the woman was alone in the forest and the wolf was still hungry. She wasn't big in any proportion but still she could be a satisfying meal for a little while. The wolf's blood boiled in its veins at the very thought, primal, repulsed. He thought and thought and without a conclusion he just kept on following her.

The woman tripped on a tree root and fell forward ungracefully. The wolf halted.

"Ow, ow... Now you've done it, Hae Soo."

She looked around for her basket. The wolf, caught by surprise, tried moving away from her wandering eyes and in doing so was caught.

"Who's there?" Asked the woman, reaching for the basket she had found, cowering, trembling. The wolf, sick of hiding, decided that curiosity had won. Hope had won. And so he approached the woman.

"You..." Her hood had fallen down and he could see her then, the fair skin, the long black hair framing her face, and the look of innocence in her eyes. "You're not a wolf."

The wolf halted, dumbfounded. The first impression of the young woman died quickly, crashing down like downpour. He walked towards her in cautious steps until he disappeared behind the tree that had tripped her. Upon emerging from the other side, it was no wolf that stared at her but a man, eyes sharp and focused, blood still dripping from mouth. His robes were dark as the night and his hair covered half his face, giving him a countenance that resembled no sane man's. The wolf, man, circled the woman, tall, magical, menacing.

"How did you know that?" He asked, a voice nothing like a wolf's. "How can you see me?"

"A wolf wouldn't attack me."

"Why?"

"There are no wolves in this forest." She still sat there on the ground, disobeying her mother's orders and looking straight at him, unveiled, unprotected. "There are many threats here but I know them all. I saw a wolf once and he looked nothing like you. The eyes," she pointed at her own, "are nothing like yours. You're under a spell, aren't you?"

"How can you see me?!" He roared and in seconds was next to her, and the wolf's growls could be heard, although she looked at a man's eyes. "You're one of them, aren't you? You're a spellcaster."

She wanted to back away from him but moving felt more dangerous than not. Looking into his eyes she asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

The man with the eyes of wolf studied her, trying to calm his desperate heart. He had waited so long for someone who could see him, someone who knew about spells. He hated himself for wanting to kill her and eat her flesh, hated the animal instincts, the needs. She was so young. Man and wolf battled inside of him and on the outside his snarl faltered, his breaths were irregular and nervous.

"I'll make a deal with you."

The man tilted his head to the side, confused by the woman's words.

"A deal?"

"If you stay with me until I reach my destination, I'll get rid of the spell for you."

He bared his teeth menacingly and she cried out, "I promise!"

The man backed off and she sighed in relief. He took a couple more steps back and stood in wait. She got up slowly, dusting her dress and cloak, checking her knees for any possible injury from the fall. After she had composed herself, she picked up her basket and started walking, the man with the spirit of a wolf close behind.

"So, what happened to you?"

Silence.

"What kind of spell was cast upon you?"

"What kind of spellcaster are you?"

She looked back at him and rolled her eyes.

"Do you have a name, at least?"

It was the first time in a long time that he was asked that. When she looked back at him, her eyes in the right height, as if he was just an ordinary man, he thought about the name he had almost forgotten. But it was there, right at the tip of his tongue, and for some reason he was eager to say it.

"Wang So," he spoke and the lady stopped. "My name is Wang So."

The woman smiled, not a broad smile, but a smile nonetheless. So many firsts, so many at once.

"I'm Hae Soo."

I know.

The woman called Hae Soo continued her journey through the woods, the wolf close behind.

"Do you know where you're going?"

Hae Soo moved swiftly, fearlessly, for hours and hours, yet her basket contained no provisions for a long trip and she already started showing signs of fatigue. When he spoke, she looked at him a little taken back, perhaps even a bit offended, but her mouth moved and no words came out. The image of the man walking with her crossed his arms and anyone else who saw them would see a wolf with tilted head and a swishing tail. Well, do you?

"I'm... headed for the village."

Wolf and man scoffed.

"Have you been to the village before?"

"...No. My mother makes all the trips to the village. I haven't been there in years."

"You..." Hae Soo bowed her head, ready to be scolded, but Wang So just sighed. "You're going the wrong way. Follow me." He turned the opposite way of where they were going and Hae Soo brightened, following close behind.

"How do you know?"

"I can smell people."

"Oh. It sounds obvious once you've said it..."

Wang So narrowed his eyes and questioned himself if that was a good idea, a worthwhile deal. The spellcaster girl was not intimidated by the forest yet her knowledge of everything else seemed slim. She seemed frail and much too young. Would she be able to dispel the curse set upon him? Would he kill her if she couldn't?

"Wait... wait!"

Distracted by his own thoughts, Wang So didn't notice Hae Soo had fallen behind. He looked exasperated when she rushed towards him panting and almost tripping over her own feet.

"Can we take a break? I'm sure that we'll be able to reach the village soon now that we know where we're going."

"The village is still many miles away. We may not reach it before nightfall."

"Oh..." Hae Soo sat down on a fallen trunk nonetheless, giving a sheepish smile. "I suppose we could have gotten there in time if I hadn't been walking in the wrong direction."

"A right supposition."

"I'm sorry." Wang So observed as she reached for something inside her basket and pulled out two loaves of bread. He thought it was weird that he couldn't smell it before, his senses distracted by something else in the basket. "Here. You must be hungry."

"This kind of thing would not satisfy my appetite."

"It's better than nothing, right?" She smiled and he didn't know why. He couldn't begin to comprehend this woman who would so willingly stay in his presence. "And it's the least I can do for your trouble."

He accepted it and sat down on the ground, eating unceremoniously while Hae Soo plucked small pieces at a time.

"If you keep the end of our bargain then that's more than enough for me," Wang So spoke after he had finished, Hae Soo still eating, a distant look in her face after his words.

"Yes... Yes, I suppose it would."

You seem to do that a lot, Hae Soo. What would you suppose about me?

"How long have you been under the spell?"

A bird sings nearby and the wind brushes the leaves and plants around them. The sounds of the forest were his home, and sitting there after being fed, finally having someone to treat him like a person, Wang So decided to talk.

"I don't know. I was a child and..."

His mother pushed him and he fell to the ground. It was dark, so dark, night of new moon, and whenever he got up she pushed him again. "Go!" She yelled, pointing towards the dark woods. "You need to go!" She wasn't even crying, she just looked angry. "There's no place for you here! Go!"

He chuckled.

"I've been on the run from Lady Death for so long that the earliest thing I can remember is narrowly evading her chilling, all-encompassing embrace."

Hae Soo looked at him with an emotion he couldn't comprehend. He had forgotten most of them. Her eyes were fixated on him and she listened, quiet, hugging her knees.

"I was supposed to die that night. I was the fourth son and there was no place for a fourth son in the family, I was a bad omen. So she waited for the right moment, waited and cast the spell on me... The wolf was supposed to have eaten me but it didn't. I became a wolf instead, struggling in the woods, exchanging animal lives for my own."

"Have you ever taken a human life?"

Hae Soo's voice was low but she hadn't moved from her spot next to him, hadn't cowered in fear. Weird.

"...No."

She smiled again, further confusing him.

"Then it should be okay."

She got up and brushed the crumbs and dirt from herself. Wang So looked at her from his spot on the ground. She seemed taller then, reflecting the sunlight.

"Let's move on. I'll do my best so that we can get as close to the village as possible!"

She moved then, a spring to her step, and Wang So watched her a little bit, trying to memorize all the little details of her expressions so he could figure them out later. He had seen so many people in his life but from afar, never being able to notice the dimples on their cheeks as they smiled, or the twinkle in their eyes. The memory of his mother was nothing but a shadow, so he tried to remember her, understand her. This woman who would direct all her attention to him without fear.

"You're going the wrong way again."

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

Hae Soo's pretensions fell short soon after when it started to rain. The wolf instructed her to shelter herself in the shadow of a big tree as he looked for a better place to wait and rest. Hae Soo may have been comfortable in the woods but it was dark then. The dark woods carried something else, sinister things, poisonous things. He found a good spot, a small, natural cave that seemed safe enough so they could hide and rest. He ran back and guided Hae Soo there, then started searching for dry twigs that could be used for a small fire. He was drenched by the time he was finished, but it was okay with him. As a man turned wolf, he had never gotten sick.

"Do you know any fire-based spells?"

"...No."

Usually the look he gave her would make humans cower but she just crossed her arms defensively.

"Fine. You're going to have to do this the hard way."

The hard way took a long time but eventually they both sat by a small fire. Hae Soo seemed rather pleased with herself but, in Wang So's opinion, she would have been much more astonishing if she knew fire-based spells. At that moment, he didn't know what spells she knew at all.

"Nature provides if you let it," she said, and he wasn't sure if she was speaking to him or to herself. She looked outside to the night sky, finally clear of rain, where one could see the full moon. "You know, my mother and I pray to the moon goddess."

"The moon goddess?"

She nodded. "The moon goddess watches over us and she helps us if we look after her children."

"Her children?"

Hae Soo raised her arm and gestured around the cave and out to the woods. "Everything you see is her child. The trees, the animals, the small lives in the rivers, and even us."

"She must not like me very much, I think."

Hae Soo smiled a different smile, a smile that turned her eyes smaller and gave a glimpse of her teeth.

"Are you sure?"

He didn't know if he was being mocked or played with.

"I was put under this spell under the new moon and she turned me into a wolf as she showed her face again. I killed animals to survive."

"But you survived, didn't you? All these years, you survived."

Alone.

Wang So knew she was right but he didn't know if he should feel blessed by the moon goddess or if surviving was worse than death. Had he died on that night, he wouldn't have to wander for so long, wouldn't have to struggle to keep his humanity.

Wouldn't have met her.

"There's a cycle in this world, and we're part of it too... A new life begins where one ends. Our part is to make sure none of her children are made to suffer or die without reason. But, if the cycle is kept, then everything can start anew. A new day always begins."

Hae Soo went silent and looked at her hands on her lap. He still looked at her, at the light of the fire that cast color on her face, wondering if she would get sick like this. She couldn't get sick, she had to reach her destination and then she could heal him, this small woman who dared talking about new beginnings, who dared giving him hope. He looked at her as she twiddled with her fingers and was still looking at her when she looked back at him.

"Did you... meet people?"

"What?"

"In your journey. Did you meet people?"

"Meet them? No, I couldn't meet them or they'd try to hurt me."

"But you traveled through many places, right? You saw them? You saw what they were like?"

He nodded and she moved slightly closer to him.

"Can you tell me? What the people you saw were like. What the villages were like."

Wang So closed his eyes and started to remember. The children who played together, who jumped and ran and squealed. The men who worked in mines and walked home covered in dirt but laughing and talking to each other. The women who knitted sweaters and scarves for their loved ones. The young men who courted young women and gave them flowers. The singing in pubs, and oh, the musical instruments. The dancing and the drinking and the fun they had. He tried remembering the details he had archived deep in his memory, all the details he had never wanted to miss, all the things he wished he could do one day. He told her everything.

Hae Soo fell against him. She moved her arms around him unconsciously and drifted to sleep. He should have jumped off, should have left her to sleep on her own, but he didn't. He stayed where he was, trying not to move. Had he been a man she would have slept against his shoulder or would have more comfortably lied her head on his lap, but he was no man, not to the rest of the world. The moon shed her light upon them and he was just a wolf with lustrous black fur, being used as a pillow by a small human woman. The woman was light, thankfully, and she had her face buried against him. The wolf adjusted his position as best as he could and closed his eyes as well, thinking to himself before falling asleep.

Why did you live your life in the woods, like me?

and

Why do you long for people too?

and

Is that why the two of us met?

But the girl couldn't answer unspoken questions and neither could the moon so the two of them slept, until the fire was out, until their hearts calmed each other.

Hungry and dirty from sleeping in the woods, the woman and her wolf arrived at the village.

Hae Soo was unusually quiet. She looked down at herself and she seemed self-conscious of her own condition. She then looked at So and smiled, not one of her best smiles, but a smile darkened by her hood, a smile that didn't show the dimples on her cheeks.

"My aunt lives on the north side of the village. You should try your best not to be seen, you should know that well by now. I just need to give her the medicine my mother sent her and then we leave." Her stomach grumbled loudly, and she seemed to blush. "Maybe after I eat something. I'll make sure to get something for you, too."

Wang So watched her inhale deeply before stepping into the village, keeping her head down and taking every step carefully.

What are you so afraid of? Is that why you asked me to come along?

She tried her best not to bump into anyone. Wang So followed, hiding behind houses, behind carts, moving too quickly for the people to see. Sometimes Soo would raise her head and look around; he'd move past her and then, only then, when she caught a glimpse of him, she started moving again, making her way to a big house. Her lilac cloak blended in with the ones the other girls in the village used, but dirtier, stained from the rain. When she climbed the front steps and knocked on the front door of her aunt's house, a woman came to greet her. Hae Soo removed her hood and smiled at her but the woman, who looked sick and tired, widened her eyes and quickly brought the girl inside.

"Why did you come?" So, who had come the closest to the house, could hear her question Hae Soo.

"My mother wasn't feeling well... I'm sorry, Lady Oh." Hae Soo's voice was barely audible. He wondered if it was this Lady Oh, her supposed aunt, that she was afraid of. He heard a long sigh.

"It's okay, child... Come, I'll give you food."

"Thank you, ah... Can I open the window, please?"

"Yes, but don't stand next to it."

He heard the window opening close to where he was and quickly jumped inside. The woman called Lady Oh gasped and almost dropped the plates she was holding.

"It's okay! He's my friend."

"You befriended a wolf?" Lady Oh seemed a bit puzzled but not entirely surprised, setting up the table for Hae Soo. Soo gave her a shy smile then placed a plate full of meat on the floor.

"You can eat my portion," she said, but So didn't start eating. "It's okay, I still have plenty more food."

Soo took three bottles from her basket, setting them on the table before she started eating.

"Here are the tonics," she said, looking anxious as Lady Oh took one of the bottles and poured herself some in a small cup. When she seemed pleased, Soo breathed a sigh of relief.

"You've gotten better, Soo-yah." The lady said, and Soo hid her smile behind a spoon. "Thank you for bringing these to me..." The woman touched Soo's hair, petting her, and Soo looked like a cat. Lady Oh's expression, however, was sad. "I'm sorry, but you need to go soon."

"Yes, Lady Oh."

At that moment the front door burst open and a man rushed inside. With his wolf senses, So could hear Soo's heart beating faster, desperate, and she chewed her food fast.

"Soo-yah," the man said, rushing to her and grabbing her arm. "You must go quickly, some villagers have recognized you. If you don't leave now they might block you from leaving."

"Lord Wook..."

So growled from his spot on the floor and the man called Wook let go of Soo. Still she stood up and, after putting her cloak back on and hiding her face under her hood, ran for the door. She threw one last look at the wolf and, inhaling deeply, stepped outside.

"It's the witch! It's really the witch!"

Hae Soo trembled but she didn't look at the people who came to her, yelled at her, spat on the ground before her.

"You were told to never come back here!"

"Are you trying to poison our leader?!"

"How dare you show your face!"

She bit her lip but still she tried to move forward, ignoring their hatred, the dirt they threw on her, and then pushing, the pulling on her clothes and hair.

"Listen to me, So-yah."

"So-yah?"

"You must never bite a person, you hear me? You mustn't taste human blood or the moon goddess might take it as an offense and might not heal you, and if she cannot heal you, then I can't. So... I want you to stay next to me at the village, that should be enough."

"Enough for what?"

"Just... enough. But remember, okay? Promise me."

"I've already made a promise with you, Hae Soo, I cannot make another."

"... All right. Just... consider this as our first promise. You must stay with me until I reach my destination, and my destination is my home, not the village. Okay?"

The wolf jumped from the door, almost flying. He fell far from the front steps, in the middle of the street. When he howled, every head turned towards him, and the ones who had just been watching, enjoying the show, scattered, screaming. The wolf ran to the witch's side and people backed off, but many of them didn't leave. It hadn't been enough. For those, the wolf had only increased their hatred.

"The witch has brought a wolf to slaughter us!"

Hae Soo's eyes widened.

To everyone around, it was just a bark, but Hae Soo heard it, loud and clear.

"Run!"

And she ran. She ran, hearing the growling and the barking, but also the cries and the beating. She cried and tried to have faith. If you believed, the moon goddess would provide. If you brought back, she'd provide. If you protected, she'd provide. Hae Soo ran and prayed, trusting the wolf who had lived through many lands, the strong wolf who had survived, hoping she wouldn't be his downfall. Hoping that their meeting was meant to be one of creation and not destruction.

Please. Please...

She reached the outskirts of the village and she ran and ran and ran until she reached the cave they had spent the night and there she hid, panting, her throat hurting. Everything hurt. There she prayed until she heard the rustling of leaves and the wolf showed up.

Only, to her, it was no wolf. It was a man bleeding from mouth and nose, tumbling from one side to the other, barely on his feet, barely on this side of life. Hae Soo stood up quickly and ran to him before he fell, carrying him inside to the best of her abilities, crying, shaking.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

It's all my fault but I can fix it. I can fix it for you.

"I..."

His voice, which was usually so beautiful, so taunting and deep, was weak and it tore her heart into pieces.

"Promise..."

Hae Soo held his tattered body and closed her eyes. She breathed in and out slowly, burying her face on the wolf's fur, the man's skin. Magic came out of her for the first time and he couldn't see it, he had already collapsed, but soon it would be nothing but a deep slumber. Her magic enveloped him, even weak as it was, and it closed wounds, healing, not entirely, but enough.

When she was done she was tired but she watched over him. She wanted to thank him, wanted to apologize, but he was sleeping and the only thing she could do was watch over him. Night came again and she was glad Lady Oh had placed food in her basket, was glad she didn't forget to take it with her, but she wasn't that hungry, not at that moment. She watched over the wolf until her eyes couldn't stay open and then she stayed there, back against rock, a sleeping wolf with his head on her lap, the moon shining upon both.

"I can't lift the spell on you."

They both walked through the woods, the woman close to the wolf, the man in her eyes, still worried he might fall. But he was alive and moving. And silent.

"My mother... My mother should know, there should be a way. I'm sure that you'll be back to normal by tonight!"

He moved ahead, still weak, still remembering how warm it had felt when he slept, instead of the cold embrace of death. Still remembered the red in her eyes when he awoke, and the tears that she still shed for him then. Remembered the promise he kept, and kept only because he believed her. The wolf wasn't angry. The man carried on.

"I'll... I'll find a way! Even if I have to exchange my life for yours."

He halted. When he looked at her, that frightening look in his eyes, she did cower. He didn't like it.

"That was not the deal."

"Huh?"

"Your life for mine. That was not the deal."

He kept on walking, closer to her home.

"You'll find a way."

His voice had its life back and it made her smile. The true smile, which reached her eyes.

"Mother! I'm home!"

Hae Soo rushed inside and found her mother in bed. So stayed outside, feeling like an intruder.

"Mother, are you okay? Are you feeling any better?"

"Don't worry about it... How did it go? They didn't discover it was you, right? You were safe?"

Her mother touched her face sweetly, and Soo didn't have the heart to tell her that it all went wrong.

"I'm okay, mother... But I need your help with something."

Soo led So inside and he expected her mother to see him. She only looked puzzled.

"A wolf?"

She doesn't have the gift, he concluded.

"He's a man, mother. He's under a spell. It can be lifted, right? What should I do to help?"

Her mother looked between the two of them, seeming to have many questions. She opened her mouth but Soo held her clasped hands before her chest and waited anxiously and Lady Hae, who knew of her daughter's good heart better than anything else in this world, just sighed and started thinking.

"A transfiguration spell... We're in the full moon right now."

"Yes."

"Do you know what the moon was like when he was turned?"

"New moon."

"New?" Lady Hae looked confused.

"He said his mother cast a spell on him to get him killed by a wolf but he became a wolf instead."

"Of course... If she brought forth the spirit of a wolf, it would have killed him if it had been a blue moon. The new moon brings forth new life, so the wolf lived inside him."

Soo looked at So who wasn't looking at any of them, lost in thought.

"Could she have been mistaken?" Hae Soo asked.

"No. Anyone who wields the power of the moon knows about her phases."

Soo and So had the same thought. Could she not have wanted to kill him at all?

"If that was how it happened, and he wasn't bitten by any cursed wolf, then it should be a simpler spell. The river... It should be reflecting the moon and encompassing her powers." Her mother, her sick, bedridden mother, still looked her strongest when she looked into her eyes. "Do you truly want to help this man, Soo-yah?"

"Yes, mother."

"Then you're going to have to use your powers."

The full, bright moon was high in the sky when Hae Soo bathed in the river. She had her eyes closed and tried to focus her best to release her powers, from every pore in her body, from her fingertips. Wang So, the wolf, did his best to look to the side, even if Hae Soo looked beautiful then, showered by moonlight. Her mother watched her with a fond look.

"My daughter... She looks young but she has already more than enough years in her to see the world."

So listened closely, feeling this was a conversation, one he couldn't reply to, so he listened.

"I won't be here for long. I don't know why she decided to help you, and I have the feeling something happened in the village. I have a horrible feeling everything will change tonight.

"Whatever happens, the only thing I want in this world is for her happiness. She spent most of her life isolated because of her powers, and even the people who loved her couldn't help her then, but there world is big. There should be a place for her somewhere. And her gift... My daughter is a healer. She shouldn't have to be treated like a murderer."

Lady Hae looked at him then, while her daughter submerged.

"I'll trust you, like she trusts you. She must survive tonight. That's all I ask."

She took a few steps forward, closer to the water.

"That's enough, Soo-yah! You can come out now."

Hae Soo emerged and waved at them, smiling. The wolf turned his back when she walked out of water, her mother wrapping her in a white towel.

"You must go in now, wolf."

"Wang So."

Hae Soo smiled at him and, in his eyes, she seemed to glow. Maybe she did, then.

"His name is Wang So."

The wolf stepped into the water, nervous, anxious. The moon seemed to be close, closer than he had ever noticed before, shining upon him. He got to the spot where Hae Soo had been, right under the reflection of the moon, his wolf paws keeping him floating on the surface, and then he submerged.

The water didn't glow with anything but the already present moonlight. There was no special sound, only the sound of Hae Soo's breath, impatient. She held her mother's hand and prayed. She had never used her powers so much in her life, having opted to make healing tonics like any other normal person could but, on that night, she felt powerful. She felt her powers truly had a meaning and it wasn't to cause any misfortune. On that night, she believed in herself, and if you believed, the moon provided. The moon provided to those who gave back. The cycle.

When he emerged, it was no wolf who gasped for breath, but man. Hae Soo held her mother's hand tighter when the man pushed his hair away from his eyes and looked at the moon, at himself.

"You can see him too, right? Right, mother?"

"Yes, Soo-yah. I can see him."

Lady Hae took a step forward like she did her daughter, holding another towel. It was only when his naked torso was visible above the water that Hae Soo quickly looked away, going from mesmerized to embarrassed. Wang So was beautiful and entrancing and she had almost forgotten her manners.

"Welcome back, Wang So," she heard her mother say and in her heart, she thanked the moon.

Lady Hae gave him some of Hae Soo's late father's clothes and fed him. During dinner, out the corner of her eye, she could see Soo staring at him, hiding a smile behind her hand, and she also noticed the glint on Wang So's eyes when her daughter passed him food and their fingers brushed accidentally. Lady Hae knew the signs and she thought of their meeting under the full moon.

A meeting of creation.

When Wang So got on his knees and bowed to them, both women were taken back.

"There are no words to thank you. You saved my life and I am forever indebted to you."

"So-yah!" Soo exclaimed, and her mother pointedly looked at her. "Please get up, it's all right, it's just what we had agreed to."

"Agreed?" Her mother echoed and Soo seemed even more embarrassed, reaching out and grabbing So's arm.

"Let's take a stroll, it'll be good before bed, be back soon, mother!" Her sentences were almost run-on, without pause, and Lady Hae chuckled to herself.

"Shouldn't you explain everything to your mother?" Wang So asked once they were outside, away from the house and in the path towards the river.

"She's going to lecture me about trusting anyone I meet and, worse, making deals with them."

"That's exactly what you did."

She had the grace to blush all the way down to her neck.

"I was... scared."

Wang So walked shoulder to shoulder with her, keeping his hands behind his back, enjoying the feeling of his limbs, enjoying his height and the way he could look down and see Hae Soo's eyelashes, so much closer now.

"I was scared of going to the village alone and I thought..."

"You thought I could protect you."

She looked down at her feet.

"I'm really sorry... I thought just you being there would make them go away but they hurt you and..."

She started sniffing and he moved in front of her, holding her shoulders and making her look up at him.

"Soo-yah," he said, and her eyes, shiny with tears, seemed to grow bigger. "It's okay."

"Still, I'm sorry for using you." Her voice didn't sound child-like anymore, at the brink of tears. She was then a woman, having grown to know regret and fear. And another unnamed feeling, one neither of them knew yet, both so knowledgeable of nature and her blessings but so blind to the wonders of the heart.

"You know, it was the first time I ever protected anyone so... Thank you." She lit up so quickly he had to laugh, dropping his hands from her shoulders and crossing his arms to keep himself from hugging her. He didn't know how he would follow up to that, not yet.

"What are you going to do now? There are so many things you can see!" She ran over to the river and sat down, patting the spot next to her. "Now you don't have to hide from people anymore, so you can make friends, eat a variety of food... Even drink wine!"

He sat down next to her and looked at the still waters of the river, almost a mirror on which everything was reflected. A scenery he wouldn't be forced to look upon his whole life anymore, the forest from which he could finally escape.

"I want to see my hometown again," he said. Hae Soo hugged her knees and looked at the water with him.

"What about your mother? What if she tries to hurt you again?"

He smiled and discovered why she did it so often. It felt good to smile, especially when your emotions could be reflected on the other person's eyes. So soft were hers then.

"I mean it, So. You're not a wolf anymore."

"Are you worried about me?"

Hae Soo looked confused, breaking eye-contact, holding a hand to her chest.

"Yes."

"Soo-yah..."

Their conversation was cut short by the noise of breaking glass. It reverberated through the quiet night, and the color of flames soon spread through the woods.

"Mother?"

Hae Soo jumped to her feet and ran towards her house, Wang So closely behind. He was the first to notice the presence of other people and he reached out for Soo's hand, pulling her back and to the side, hiding behind a tree. They watched as Hae Soo's house burned, as men stood outside, making sure no one walked out. Soo opened her mouth to scream but So covered it with his hand. She fought back, she tried to break free, but he wouldn't let her, he wouldn't let her hurt herself.

She must survive tonight.

She was crying and all he could do was hold her against his chest. He could feel her back trembling and he discovered loss was one of the worst feelings to learn.

That's all I ask.

The rain came without warning and it stayed after everything was gone.

So didn't let her walk back home after the fire had died down and she resented him for a little while. Neither of them had slept and they were both worn out, emotionally, physically. Hae Soo wandered through the woods and nothing made her smile anymore, not the birds she loved nor the flowers she revered. After hours, she collapsed to the ground and So halted behind her. The woman and her wolf, lost in the woods that had been their home.

"What do I do now, So-yah? Where am I supposed to go?"

So knew there were coins in his pockets, he had felt them the moment he had put the clothes on. He didn't know how much they were worth, but knew that it was a start. He thought about Lady Hae, how he thought she didn't have a gift and that maybe he had been wrong. Maybe she had had the gift of foresight.

There should be a place for her somewhere.

Wang So looked at the broken girl on the ground and made his decision. He knelt before her and brushed her bangs away from her face, wiped away her tears with the back of his hand.

"Soo-yah," he started and she looked at him, not angry anymore, just sad. "Have you reached your destination?"

"Huh?"

"I promised to be with you until you reached your destination."

She looked in the direction of her home, her broken home, and he got up, offering his hand.

My destination is home.

She took his hand and he brought her to her feet, leading her out of the woods and away from the village that hated her.

She cried the first days when they were still alone, still lost on the road. When a merchant gave them a ride to the nearest village and they got to ride in a cart full of herbs, she brightened up a bit. She seemed very interested in all the different herbs the man carried, recognizing most of them but surprised to see some that she didn't. So bought her a bit of everything and she smiled for the first time in a while, happy to be useful somehow, happy that she could make her tonics again. She thought about Lady Oh and got sad again, hoping she would still be able to live a long life. They stayed in the village for a few days but it was still so close to the one that shunned her that neither were comfortable, so Soo made only a couple of bottles of tonic to sell and they left again, buying only some supplies.

There was a festival in the next village and Hae Soo's eyes shone with wonder. So used a bit more of his money to buy him some new clothes and a dress that she almost didn't accept. She did accept, in the end, and on that night, they learned how to dance. So had gist of it before she did and it was okay because she laughed every time she took the wrong step, falling into his arms every time. They slept in separate beds with a smile on their lips and woke up together, smiling again. So told her she looked beautiful with her hair down and that's how she started to wear it from then on.

With the money they got from selling her tonics they bought horses. So had learned how to horseback ride when he was still a child, before the spell, so it was only a matter of remembering. Soo was scared until So rode with her, and teaching her how to communicate with the horse was the easiest thing. She always connected so easily with animals that it was a surprise that she had been scared at all. Once he rode with her, her back against his chest and his laugh close to her ear, she was more at ease.

One village didn't have a room with two beds and they had to share one. When she lied down next to him, he could smell roses in her hair and kept his back turned to her, trying to will himself to sleep, trying to forget she was so close. She was suddenly there, no distance between them, an arm reaching across his chest, a whisper of his name to his back. He turned to her and she looked beautiful in the candle light, uncertain and flushed. It felt natural when their lips brushed together, her skin seemed to burn against his and he didn't know if it was because she held magic within her or because he loved her. She had told him that if it happened she could lose her magic, she could lose everything, and still she gave it all to him. He tried to make sure she felt nothing but his love, he was no wolf but man, and her name was sweet in his lips. It was a new moon on that night. The next morning Soo could bring a wilted flower back to her prime and she was delighted, calling him, So-yah, So-yah, and he was glad for her, glad that he brought something even greater to her life. Creation, not destruction.

When they finally got to his town, he found his old home abandoned and destroyed. He found his parents' graves in the cemetery, and no brother to be accounted for. Soo was surprised to know that his family had been the wealthiest family in town and still it had been brought down to ashes. She was even more surprised when everyone knew his mother could wield magic but still had done nothing against her. It was both fear and respect.

Wang So was at a loss but everywhere she looked, Hae Soo saw things she could do, people she could help. She thought of not only her tonics but her magic and how she could finally use them again and maybe bring good to that town. The town Wang So had been born in and to where he had returned. She told him she wanted to settle in and he told her he didn't know if the place could bring her happiness.

"The moon provides for those that give back, So-yah."

He had come back to ask his mother so many questions, if she had truly loved him, why she had abandoned him, if it had been worth it, but all those questions, all those feelings he had known his whole life were buried underground with her. When Hae Soo kissed him and held him and shared her happiness with him, the happiness he had grown back in her heart, he knew that he didn't need those feelings anymore. The cycle had moved on.

Falling asleep in each other's arms that night, the crescent moon smiled upon them.