20 years later

Chul-soo POV

        It's been twenty years since our first visit to our mother's family and we've continued to visit them every year since. I learned so much about history from them that my friends and teachers were shocked. My teachers begged me to tell them how I knew so much, but all I would say is that we go to the Incheon Archives every year to visit my mother's family.

        I have to admit, the first time we visited them I was scared. I mean, who wouldn't be scared to see foxes everywhere? Then to have your parents say that the foxes are really Gumiho, which everyone says are evil creatures? Areum was scared for a little while too, but a few of the foxes came over to her and they immediately became friends and started playing together.

        My sister and I really liked visiting our mother's family every year after that first visit and I think they liked having us around as well. In fact, that is where I'm headed right now.

        "Yeobo, where are we going?" my wife asked from the passenger's seat.

        I forgot to mention, I got married last year and this is my wife's first visit to the Incheon Archives. I think she is going to be a little surprised to meet the family.

        Where is my sister and parents? O_O

        My sister has been studying abroad in America and she recently said that she met a guy that she really likes. I think she is planning to stay there. I'm happy for her, but I'll miss seeing her all the time.

        My father passed away a few years ago and my mother followed him last year, a couple of weeks after I got married. Areum had come home to visit for the summer, but it turned out to be a sad time for us. My wife was surprised, because my mother always looked so young and healthy. I guess all those years had finally caught up to her.

        "Yeobo!"

        "Sorry" I replied.

        "What were you thinking about?"

        "My mother."

        "Oh" she mournfully said. "What about her?"

        "I remembered the first time she brought me to visit the family in Incheon" I smiled.

        "Is that where we are going? To visit family?"

        "Yes" I smiled. "They are going to be surprised to meet you, but I'm sure they are going to love you."

        "I hope so" she blushed. "What are they like?"

        "That is a surprise" I smirked.

        "Oh, come on! Just give me a hint, please?"

        I thought for a minute and then said "They are like my mother."

        "Your mother? How?"

        "They are old, but they are the most beautiful people in the world."

        "Why do you have to be so cryptic?"

        "Hey, you asked!" I chuckled. "Besides, I thought you liked the fact that I was mysterious and cryptic."

        She blushed and smiled "I do." Then she gave me a peck on the cheek.

        We arrived at the Incheon Archives and my wife was a little surprised by the sudden mob of people around our car. "Hey guys!" I happily greeted my cousins as I got out of the car.

        My wife nervously got out of the car and weakly said "Yeobo?"

        My cousins turned to face her and froze. "Who is she, Chul-soo?"

        I walked over to her and smiled as I said "This is my wife, Mi-rae."

        After introducing my wife, my cousins all ran back inside the house. My guess is that they went to warn the others.

        "Did I do something wrong?" my wife asked me.

        "No,darling. You didn't do anything wrong."

        "Then why did they run away like that?"

        "They probably went to tell everyone that you were here" I smiled. "Come on, let's go inside." I escorted her inside and was immediately greeted by my uncle.

        He walked over to me, shook my hand and gave me a hug. "It's so good to see you!" Then he turned to my wife. "This must be the wife my cubs told me about."

        My wife blushed again "It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Mi-rae."

        My uncle's eyes widened and then he started to chuckle. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Welcome to the family." As he shook my wife's hand he looked at me, smirked and winked.

        I didn't fully understand why he did that until it was too late. He transformed into a fox and  jumped up into her arms.

        "OMO!" she screamed as she dropped him. Thankfully, Gumihos are very agile and he landed on his feet. Then she tried to hide behind me and grabbed my arm. "What just happened?" she nervously asked.

        "You know how you always wondered why I was so mysterious and cryptic?"

        "Yeah" she nodded.

        "Well," as I started to explain, the rest of the foxes came out to greet her "my mother's family is very unique."

        She looked around at all the foxes and fainted. I lifted her up and carried her to one of my mother's favorite rooms. When she came to, she grabbed onto my shirt. "Foxes!"

        "Calm down, darling. It is alright."

        "But there were foxes everywhere!"

        "I'm sorry about that" my grandmother said as she walked into the room. "It seems like everyone was excited to meet the newest member of our family."

        "Yeobo" my wife whispered to me. "Who is this?"

        I smiled and said "This is my Grandmother."

        O_O "Grandmother?!? But she looks so young!"

        "Yes dear, and I see that I will have a great grandchild in the near future" she smiled.

        "What do you mean?" my wife asked nervously.

        I turned to my grandmother shocked and then back to my wife "You're pregnant?"

        "What? No! I mean, I don't think so." She was obviously confused.

        "Calm down my dear" my grandmother spoke soothingly. "I'm sorry if I surprised you, but you are pregnant. Probably about two months along."

        "I did miss my cycle last month, but that happens occasionally. I couldn't be......"

        I gave her a hug "If my Grandmother says your pregnant, I'd believe her. Foxes have better senses than we do."

        "Foxes?" my wife questioned as though she wasn't sure she heard me right.

        "Yes dear" my Grandmother took a seat beside her. "We are the last remaining family of Gumihos in Korea" she said and then she transformed into a fox. "We have been living here in Incheon for over a thousand years. My daughter was the one who built the Archives here and our family has been taking care of it since."

        "If your mother was a Gumiho, then how come she died last year?"

        "My mother was a human" I replied. "She became a human because she loved my father so much that she wanted to spend her life with him." I stood up and held out my hand "Come with me. There is something I want to show you."

        She took my hand and I led her to the Archives Vault. "What is this place?" she asked.

        "This is where the truth remains hidden."

        "The Truth?"

        "Wait here" I said as I walked into the stacks. When I returned, I was carrying a chest.

        "What is that?"

        I opened the chest and started to take out the documents one by one. "This was my mother's chest. It contains all of her diaries, journals, and it also has her Will."

        Mi-rae picked up one of the older journals and began flipping through the pages. Then she picked up one of the newer diaries and did the same. Finally, she started to compare the handwriting in both documents. "OMO! They are the same! But, this is impossible! This journal is over a thousand years old and this diary is maybe twenty years old. How?" she looked at me.

        Leave it to me to marry an expert on historical documents and handwriting analysis. I picked up my mother's will and handed it to her. "This was my mother's Will."

        She looked at the document and collapsed into one of the chairs. "Your mother owned the Archives?"

        "Yes" I replied.

        Her jaw dropped and I knew that she finally understood why I was telling her all this now. "She left everything to you?"

        "Yes" I knelt in front of her and took her hands. "My mother left everything to me. The Archives and the land it sits on, all the buildings and homes here; everything." My wife raised her hands to her mouth to cover her shock. "Do you want to know why she left it to me?" She looked down at me and nodded. "Because she knew that I would protect the Archives."

        My wife became confused O_o "Protect?" she asked.

        "Yes" I replied. "The Archives were built by my mother as a safe place for all the Gumihos to live in. She left it to me because she knew I would protect our family."

        My wife looked at me and her expression quickly changed to a thoughtful one. Then she chuckled a little and mumbled "So that's why you mother asked me that."

        "What are you talking about? What did my mother ask you?"

        "It was after we had been dating for some time. You had already told me that your mother had experience handling and preserving old documents. I remember that you had never gone into details about it either" she eyed me. "I was given an old document on Gumihos to restore and preserve, so I asked your mother for some help. She came to visit me at work and showed me a few techniques to help with the project. As she was looking at the document, she asked me what I thought about Gumihos."

        I smiled at her. "What did you say?"

        "I told her that I wasn't sure if they really existed, but if they did, I hoped that they all weren't as bad as the books made them out to be. I also said that it would be nice if there were nice ones like in the dramas nowadays" she chuckled some more.

        "What did my mother say to that?"

        "She said that she was glad that her son had chosen me as his mate" she smiled brightly. "I always thought it was strange that she used the term mate, but I let it go because I thought your mother was very sweet."

        "So now that you know that Gumihos really do exist and they aren't all evil, what do you think? Can you accept it all and keep it a secret while helping me to protect them?"

        She leaned over and gave me a kiss "Of course I'll protect our family." She smiled and gave a little giggle.

        I jumped up and lifted my wife into the air "I love you Mi-rae!"