At the guest hall

SeokJin and Hoseok slowly reached towards the guest hall. Their limbs were moving but their minds were blank as their lips were lined together in silence.

SeokJin opened the double door for Hoseok, and they both meandered through the chamber.

The room was an enchanting blend of tradition and contemporary elegance. Hoseok eyed the high wooden beams stretched across the ceiling. A large window frames a breathtaking view of the castle grounds, where Juniper trees sway gently in the breeze, their petals dancing like whispers of spring.

In the centre of the room, a low black metallic table beckoned Hoseok, surrounded by couches of different sizes in off-white shades.

"Your house doesn't have couches," Hoseok commented as he proceeded to take a seat.

"That's because we're not as lethargic as humans, but it's different for royals. Ambassadors of different clans sometimes go to the human world in search of discovering new things and providing more comfort to the royal bloodline," SeokJin replied as he sat alongside Hoseok.

"So that's how it works," Hoseok mumbled.

Silence hushed between the gumiho and the hybrid, but soon, an attendant's footsteps distracted the pair. He entered the room with a tray full of snacks and sweet rice cakes. He gently set them on the table and left after bowing to the guests.

"Have some," SeokJin gestured to Hoseok, and the hybrid, unable to resist the urge to taste, took a mochi in his hand before munching it in one go.

"You like Y/n, right?" Hoseok suddenly blurted while still chewing the rice cake. SeokJin's eyes darted towards him and he leaned backwards on the couch.

"I can ask the same."

"Well, yeah. Pretty much," Hoseok huffed an exhale while answering.

"Let go of your feelings. The sooner the better," SeokJin murmured as he folded his arms before heaving a long sigh.

"Looks like, you've done it already?" Hoseok grimaced.

"Kind of."

Hearing SeokJin's reply led Hoseok to hang his head low in dilemma, his eyes once again searched around the room to find a distraction from the topic shared.

Finally, his eyes landed on a showcase bookshelf lining the wall towards his left, he stood up and started walking towards the bookshelf, "When I see them together, I feel like I'm wasting my feelings, but when she's not around it feels--"

However, he couldn't complete his sentence when his eyes landed on one distinct book sitting in between. Hoseok swiftly pulled out the book from the shelf and turned around to question SeokJin.

"THE HISTORY OF SHADOW WOLVES... Who are these?"

SeokJin rolled his eyes at the change in conversation before he deadpanned, "How can you even consider yourself a half gumiho when you don't know about Shadow Wolves?"

"I'm a human-world born hybrid; how would I know what's happening here?"

"It all happened before humans shared our land, you punk!"

"Oh, is it," Hoseok scrunched his face in confusion.

"And they're our greatest rivals. Even worse than humans."

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FLASHBACK

Less than a century back, when humans were allowed to step into the land of fox spirits, the forest was shared by various entities, from majestic animals to magical creatures. Just like gumihos, this enchanted realm was also a home to Shadow Wolves. Both creatures drank side by side, sharing the forest's bounty.

Shadow Wolves were mystical forms that embodied darkness, stealth and strength. Just like werewolves, they were associated with the night, possessing abilities to blend into shadows or even manipulate dark energy.

The Gumihos lived in small tribes, while the Shadow Wolves held themselves together in huge packs. Together, they made woods a sanctuary where differences were embraced rather than feared.

But one fateful day, a fierce drought gripped the forest, drying up the streams and wilting the once-vibrant flora. As resources dwindled, tension began to rise.

Amidst this turmoil, a misunderstanding ignited a spark of conflict when a pack of Shadow Wolves secretly witnessed Gumihos having wild berries and nuts, which they were desperately in search of. As small and less the berries or nuts could be, seemed to be a feast in the eyes of Shadow Wolves.

Shadow Wolves started holding grudges against Gumihos for hiding the limited resources and nurturing their young ones in secrecy. A long subdued jealousy of having lesser spiritual powers got awakened inside the thumping hearts of the leaders of the packs of Shadow Wolves.

Promptly after, what seemed to be a competition for common resources drastically became a rivalry for pride and survival.

It all started with a minor attack on the smallest tribe among gumihos. The tribe was led by Kim Jeong Ho's father, believing they were hiding eatables. The scuffle escalated quickly, and in the middle of the chaos, a defenceless infant gumiho lost its life. It further infuriated Gumihos and others joined in, each side believing they were defending their own.

What started as a skirmish soon erupted into chaos. The once harmonious songs of the forest turned into growls and yelps as both mystical species clashed under the canopy of ancient drying trees.

Even with possessing more magical capabilities, Gumihos were exceedingly outnumbered by Shadow Wolves. Fox spirits' ignorance towards their abilities gave Shadow Wolves the power to gain victory over them. Bedlam spread across the tribes, and its waves rippled and impacted the other surviving fauna on the scorching land.

Many gumihos succeeded in running away, while some became the victims of the brutality. The hunger for power rose among the two brothers who led the diverse pack of Shadow Wolves.

They succeeded in easily bringing the tribal chiefs of existing tribes to their knees. Either they bowed down or they were executed in front of their people.

Moonlight filtered through the window framed with lace curtains and gently touched the tribal chief of the Kim tribe's wounded features. He layed sprawled on the cold, unforgiving muddy ground of his hut as crimson gashed out of his lips.

His body was a canvas of agony; the skin that wasn't covered by the brown hanbok he was wearing had deep gashes that told a story of violence and despair. Blood pooled around him, dark and glistening. His one eye was swollen shut in a shade of purple and black, while the other stared vacantly at his wife and their child.

Soaked in the blood of her husband, the wife wept, the sound was soft yet piercing, a melody of sorrow that filled the room. While the son witnessed everything in despair and disbelief, his eyes welled with tears as he shakingly watched his father in the pool of blood.

The tribal chief was a brave man as he willingly wanted to get martyred for his people, for his land, but the thought of his wife and child brought him to knees, and when he realised that he could not face any more of his opponents, he limped forward towards them as his humanoid form took over.

The door of the once-cozy hut banged with a thud. The dying man's eyebrows twitched, and with every ounce of will that was left in his body, he whispered, "Go Jeong Ho!"

A painful groan escaped from his bleeding lips as he struggled to complete his sentence. The wife quickly figured out his intentions and wiped her tears with the back of her hand, but they continued to flow, an unstoppable tide of emotion, "Jeong Ho, my love, run away from here. Reach the human habitats they will not come for you there."

The mother ordered, but the crying Jeong Ho shook his head, "No, mommy! T-take me with you... t-two. I swear I will n-not make you angry."

The banging sounds intensified and became more frequent, Kim Jeong Ho's mother embraced her sobbing son for the last time as she cried restlessly.

"Son, you have to save our race in future, and for that, you should live. Always remember that your existence is precious. Take down these ruthless beings, no matter how many years it takes to build back the tribes. "

"No, m-mom! P-please..."

The boy, in the human age of eleven, cried repeatedly, but his desperate mother grabbed his hand and hesitantly pushed him out from the back door. Tears streamed down his cheeks when he witnessed his mother shutting the door after mouthing an 'I love you.'

Jeong Ho ran between the gnarled roots and ferns, his small frame ultimately transitioned to the animal form to escape through the forest more hurriedly.

Its eyes were blurry and overflown with tears as it ran through the woods. Almost stumbling on tree branches and avoiding the sharpning stings of the leaves he finally reached the area where humans used to ramble freely.

It paused for a moment, panting heavily. Its bright eyes, wide with a mix of terror and grief, searched for any kind of danger. After all the running and pain of leaving his parents behind, Jeong Ho fell on the forest ground, and his eyelids became heavy with exhaustion and grief.

A human emerged from the thicket, his presence still and alarmed by spotting a small creature lying on the ground.

The man went closer with quiet steps and saw scratches and marks of branches and roots all over the baby fox's body. The human male then proceeded to carefully approach the animal without disturbing him from his slumber.

"You look so wounded, little one. Let's treat you."

Jeong Ho's eyes got wide when he found himself in a human embrace; the baby animal struggled to get out of his grip, but neither did he had enough will nor did his small body had enough strength.

While reaching the home that was situated near the woods, baby Jeong Ho again fell asleep in the man's arms. The man named Lee Hae Jun smiled while he carefully carried the small being.

The drought affected the humans living in a village near the forest. Hae Jun's wife's expression dropped when she saw a wounded animal instead of an eatables.

Soon, three days passed, and Jeong Ho was healing physically, but his heart was still aching for his parent's loss.

"Oh, you're awake?" Hae Jun's wife's cooed and petted the baby animal while Jeong Ho reluctantly accepted her pets. She then proceeded to take it in her embrace which made Jeong Ho flustered and anxious. He struggled to get out of her hold, and in the middle, the baby fox's paw got strangled with the silver necklace the lady was wearing.

While the lady got distracted in de-tangling her necklace from its paw, Jeong Ho successfully jumped out of her grasp, his eyes landed on the open door of the two room house. He wasted no further moments and fled out of the house.

Shortly after, he reached in the heart of the woods, the tribal land which was his home seemed to be occupied by the enemy. Transitioning back to his humanoid form, his sharp eyes glowed with a shade of dark crimson as anger coursed through his veins.

"You! Come here! It's dangerous being this close."

Jeong Ho's eyes darted backwards as he turned around, "Who you might be?"

"I'm Min Yoon Chae," a boy in the human age of fifteen said.

END OF THE FLASHBACK

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

In the royal court of Kim clan

"You're the reason why my father isn't here anymore," Yoongi commented as he took two steps further towards the man sitting on the throne.

"I accept that I have a share which led to your father's death, but he was also to blame," Kim Jeong Ho replied as he stood up from his throne and stepped forward.

"What?! You still have the audacity to say that about your dead friend?!?" Yoongi called out as his eyes welled up with tears.

Jeong Ho now stood in front of the young man in shackles, he placed his one hand on the younger man's shoulder, "Yoongi--"

The older man was interrupted when Yoongi abruptly moved his shoulder backwards, "Don't even try! These tricks don't work on me."

The King of the Kim clan disappointingly folded his hands across his back and huffed a long exhale before he shifted his body towards his left and spoke.

"Your father and I met in the most sustaining situations, when our race was on the verge of extinction. Since then, we shared our traumatic childhood together. Your father carried a distinct personality, sometimes eccentric. He was a very straight forward man to the point he usually offended the people around him."

"Again! With the bullsh--"

"But I was his only companion who chosed to stay beside him no matter how many times we fought on the smallest things," Jeong Ho paused for a moment before peering towards the younger male, his strong stare gave Yoongi a hint of dominion.

"He was dearest to me, even when our friendship broke, spending years in loneliness didn't ended well when my will to talk to him came back. It was late, too late to apologise," Jeong Ho paused, his gaze drifting towards Yoongi as he glanced over his shoulder.

"He was gone," Jeong Ho's eyes glistened with the sheen of unshed tears as his voice cracked, and he swallowed hard, the weight of regret settling heavily on his chest.

The room grew still as he fell into silence, the only sound that was heard was soft sobs coming out of Yoongi's mouth. His head hung low as the memories of his father flooded inside his mind.

Looking at Yoongi breaking down like this shattered Jeong Ho's heart, he moved forward towards the younger male and took him in his embrace. Jeong Ho always wanted Yoon Chae's son to get along with Taehyung but unfortunately things went downhill.

He gently patted Yoongi's back and continued to reminisce about his late friend as a tear rolled down his cheek.

✧