FLASHBACK

The rays of dusky sky danced through the leaves and gently stroked the features of three children and five men who sat across in a circle on the forest floor.

Almost a year passed since Shadow Wolves occupied the Gumiho land. It took almost twelve months for the three children to recover from their parents' loss yet they knew they would never fully recover.

There were times when they felt sleepless, anxious and terrorised. There were times when they heard agonizing screams in their dreams, and it all led them to open up, to cry and to comfort each other. They eventually became each other’s pillar of support and a true definition of a friend in need.

The children were still mourning, and so were the five men who accompanied them. The loss was too painful to forget, and so did the flames of vengeance that sparkled in their young hearts.

The air was crisp, and whispers of discontent rippled through the forest like a chilling breeze as the gumihos were displaced from their very homes.

"We can't wander around like this forever," Jeong Ho spoke, half-heartedly.

"We can't take back what we lost so easily either," Yoon Chae replied as he glanced at Jeong Ho who was sitting beside him.

"Then, should we sit like this, hands in hands?" Jeong Ho asked in a confronting tone.

"I agree. Young master, we should do something," one of the trusted men of Yoon Chae's late father, sitting across from him, spoke.

"Then we should strike where it'll hurt the most," Yoon Chae's gaze darted towards Jeong Ho before he asked, "Jeong Ho, do you know anything about their weaknesses?"

Jeong Ho's eyebrows knit in revelation as he pondered through his knowledge about these beings. Silence was the answer when Yoon Chae directed his gaze towards his father's trusted men, for a response.

"I might know one or two," a soft child-like female voice spoke from beside them, making the males around her turn their heads in her direction. The little girl in the human age of ten carried a characteristic set of narrow inclined eyes that resembled that of her brother.

"YoonAe, how are you saying that?" Yoon Chae asked while looking in his sister's direction.

"Mommy used to tell me stories about the creatures who live in the forest, apart from us," YoonAe's eyes glistened with tears as she reminisced the time spent with her mother.

Yoon Chae soon realised the change in expression on his sister's face. He quickly took her in his embrace, and the little girl curled her little fingers around her brother's back.

The memory of the agonistic bloodshed of their family was still fresh in their minds as they were the last surviving descendants who carried the royal blood of the Min tribe.

"YoonAe, tell us what your mother narrated to you," Jeong Ho asked when the siblings moved away from each other.

Wiping a tear away from the back of her hand, YoonAe spoke, "That Shadow Wolves are the scavengers of night; mid-day is their weakest hour. Just like werewolves, silver acts as a poison for their bodies. "

"Silver? We don't have any source of this metal right now," Yoon Chae's shoulders dropped when he disappointingly thought of a solution.

Silver? Jeong Ho thought, and after a few seconds, his eyes sparkled when his brain stromed through an idea.

"Maybe I know a place where silver will be found," Jeong Ho commented as the other gumihos surrounding him gazed at him curiously.

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As the sun dipped below the horizon, the forest transformed into a realm of shadows and golden hues. Jeong Ho dashed through the towering trees, his eyes filled with determination. The air was thick with the scent of eucalyptus and damp earth.

Reluctantly, he slowed his pace when he reached closer to the village where the altruistic human and his wife lived. Allowing himself to take one last exhale, he morphed into his fox form.

His paws thudded softly against the muddy pathway. The fox spirit's eyes searched for a certain house. Finally reaching Lee Hae Jun's home, he lay himself in front of the entrance as he waited for anyone to arrive.

Shortly after, with a sickle in one hand and a bunch of wooden branches in the other, Hae Jun's wife walked towards her house. Jeong Ho's foxy irises widened by the sudden rush of adrenaline as he jolted himself up in front of her, she gasped and flinched from the sudden appearance.

A smile spread across her features when the baby fox sat on its limbs.

"You're... the same one?" The wife spoke with a realising expression as she leaned down to pet the furry animal. Eyes fixed on the dangling fragile metallic lace on the neck of the human female, Jeong Ho moved closer.

He moved his mouth closer to her neck. While she thought of this as a gesture of affection from the animal, the baby fox clutched the necklace hanging around her neck with his small yet sharp fangs, and within the moment, the furred creature started rushing away.

Confused and distracted, Hae Jun's wife ran to chase after the animal, but it only led her to nowhere as Jeong Ho got lost among the forest lanes.

While reaching the hidden destination, Jeong Ho felt hints of guilt lingering in his heart, but it was all-important; he knew he'd pay them back once they took back what they owned.

After running endlessly, Jeong Ho finally reached their secret residing location. Yoon Chae abruptly came out of the small haven in anticipation. Light rays surrounded the animal and Jeong Ho stood up on his feet, with a little tarnished chain in his one hand.

"Jeong Ho, is that tainted-looking chain in your hand the one you were talking about?" Yoon Chae asked while Jeong Ho nodded in response.

"And it's silver?" Yoon Chae asked, clearly looking not convinced as his brows curled up.

"I'm not sure," Jeong Ho whispered while glancing at the chain resting on his palm before he perched his head up and spoke again, "But at least we have a metal!" He concluded in a victorious tone while raising the chain in the air.

"Kim Jeong Ho, you pea-brain! We'll lose and die if our plan doesn't work!" The older boy annoyingly exclaimed making Jeong Ho flinch and smile awkwardly.

Hearing the bickering noises from outside the small haven, Yoon Chae's men, along with YoonAe, stepped towards the duo.

Yoon Chae glanced at one of his men and snatched the delicate chain from Jeong Ho. He then proceeded to hand over the chain to his father's trusted man, "Commander Lim, I want you to check if it's silver; only then we'll proceed further. "

The commander was one of the peak skilled fighters of the Min tribe. With a muscular build and his sharp accuracy in throwing blows at his opponent, he was among those who survived and helped the tribal chief of the Min clan save his children.

If only he could save the chief and his wife. The regret still lingered in his sharp gaze when he glanced at Yoon Chae and nodded, "Yes, young master. "

The commander quickly turned on his feet, his knee-length, tattered, off-white hanbok swayed along with his steps.

"Yoon Chae, you're not understanding. Humans only fancy wearing either gold or silver. Gold looks like YoonAe, and silver looks as pale as you," Jeong Ho snickered before gaining a death glare from Yoon Chae.

"Stop blabbering shit, Jeong! And don't even try to hit on my sister!"

"Am I? Well, I'm just telling the truth. Our YoonAe is as precious as gold," the younger boy teasingly added while snaking an arm around his friend's shoulder as they walked back towards the haven's entrance and a confused YoonAe followed the two friends from behind.

END OF THE FLASHBACK

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Inside the royal court of the Kim clan

Jeong Ho gently patted Yoongi's back as he sobbed, his shoulders trembling as he clutched onto the shackles around his wrists. Each sob that escaped his lips was a quiet echo of a love that felt too vast to contain, a love that had been abruptly taken away from him.

"I had always missed him," Yoongi whispered, his voice cracking like dry leaves.

A tear rolled down Jeong Ho's cheek as he reminisced about his late friend, and his grip on Yoongi's back tightened.

He could almost hear his laughter, a sound that often echoed when Jeong Ho teased his dearest companion. But now, that laughter felt like a ghost, teasing him instead with its absence.

"Why didn't you come to me earlier?" Jeong Ho mumbled before sniffling.

With a shaky breath, Yoongi wiped his eyes and moved away from Jeong Ho's embrace, "Had it brought my father back?" He asked, his eyes now a little swollen and red.

"At least some things could've been prevented," Jeong Ho replied with a striking determination yet his gaze towards the young lad was soft, "I know I cannot and from what I've done, I do not have the right to fill the void inside your heart, but Yoongi, my child, we could've been acquaintance, to the least."

Jeong Ho was a diplomat; he knew just how to play with words and to get his deal done, but here, the words coming out of his mouth were syllables of pure emotions, which eventually made Yoongi's gaze soften.

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