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You are my heaven on earth

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Autumn is Jeongguk's favourite season. There are so many things to see and experience; crisp fresh mornings with beautiful sunrises and sunsets, long walks, bonfires and fireworks and not forgetting Halloween. Although he feels personally too old to go around the houses trick or treating, he loves decorating his apartment in Halloween decor. Given that he's an interior designer it makes everything easier but, also difficult if he's not satisfied with something. It's fun nonetheless.

Halloween is not the only thing about autumn that Jeongguk loves. The leaves decorate the pavements in a colourful mixture of reds, oranges and yellows, that leave astonished impressions on people's faces. While driving, Jeongguk remembers walking down a path towards his aunties house when he was a kid. The memory brought nothing but a pleasant feeling. Playing on the swings in her garden and baking sweet cinnamon and pumpkin pies. Jeongguk then thinks, 'One of the days I'll be at my destination, I'll bake a pie.

For this is his absolute favourite season, he loves renting a vacation house further outside of town for a few weeks once a year. It can become scary at night, but being the only person in the area for a few kilometres, Jeongguk isn't really bothered about it. He prefers peace and quiet over the busy city.

The first time he saw the vacation hut on the internet, he was quite sceptical, it looked just too perfect to be true but Jeongguk fell in love with it right away. The interior decor was beautifully placed and made the hut feel like home. He loves spending his time in the hut with a laptop and creating new ideas for the current book he's writing. He did his best writing in an evening in front of the open fire. The sounds of wood cracking here and popping there, made him feel relaxed. Gosh, he missed this place.

He parks his car in the nearest supermarket car park. As he gets out the door, he's greeted with the crisp fresh air that sends goosebumps down his spine. He continues to fasten his thick padded jacket as he starts to walk over the crispy leaves to the doors of the shop.

He is buying all the necessary things he'd need for the next few days. Jeongguk likes to buy and plan ahead so that he doesn't need to drive to a supermarket again for the rest of the week, preferring to stay in his hut or spend his time taking a walk outside. Just like now where he's about to go on one.

Jeongguk can't wait to get some fresh air. He has been sitting in front of his laptop for hours, trying to get something on the page but words just wouldn't flow. No matter how much motivation the fans who are reading his books are giving. He enjoys spending time reading over the book reviews people leave online. It always puts a smile on his face, even if they don't know who's behind writing these books since Jeongguk publishes them under a pen name J.J. People seem to not be bothered at all, more like the opposite: people find it mysterious and exciting.

"I better take a small break, this writer's block at the moment it's a nightmare." He groans and throws his head back. So Jeongguk stands up, puts his laptop to the side and throws on his black coat, slips into his boots and makes his way to the front door, not forgetting to put on a beanie to protect his ears from the cold wind. I hate my ears being cold, I'm glad I brought this with me. Usually, he dresses like this when he isn't working as an interior designer and has to follow a more formal dress code; oversized hoodies, and cargo pants with fancy accessories.

The chilly breeze sweeps along his neck, giving him goosebumps, as is typical for this time of year. His gaze wanders in awe over the various trees, their leaves bursting with colour, many of which are later blown up by the wind. Greedy, he breathes in the fresh air and relaxes his shoulders, believing that the tranquillity is beneficial to him and that he can just let his thoughts run wild.

With the wind picking up, he tucks his hands into the warm side pockets of his coat, grateful that he chose to wear his sweater with a turtleneck. The forest trail is close to mushrooms that grow near trees and appear to be good to eat. Jeongguk, however, knows better than to consume them.

Twigs snap beneath his black boots in the silent forest, startling a few animals he sees along the way, such as the one reddish squirrel chewing contentedly on a pinecone. A small smile forms on his lips as he stops for a moment, curiosity gleaming in his eyes as he watches it climb the one tree nearby until it's no longer visible from below where Jeongguk is standing.

He wanders deeper into the forest, running through piles of leaves with his boots like he used to do as a kid, feeling a spark of excitement burn in his chest. Jeongguk chuckles and turns in a circle, his gaze aloft and his hands in his pockets, lost in happy thoughts. He walks towards what appears to be a meadow. Maybe he could write a similar moment like this in his book...

The main character runs into the forest after fleeing from a crime scene and is unable to find his way out of the forest. The sunset causes the main character to become increasingly worried as he searches for an exit from this maze, tripping over a root and perhaps spraining his hand. A worrying thought comes into the character's mind, I need to stay there for the night when he suddenly catches a light in the distance and-

Yelp.

His thoughts come to a sheer halt and Jeongguk looks around, surprised, towards the direction he thought he heard something. But he is once again surrounded by nothing but the chirping of birds. It perplexes him to a certain extent. Was it all in his head?

No sooner has he shrugged his shoulders and chosen not to think about it any further when the same sound occurs again, except a little louder this time. He freezes in his tracks and promptly turns in that direction, his brows pulled together in confusion. His gaze darts around in search of an answer to his unspoken question. What was that? His senses are heightened. Jeongguk is almost certain he didn't just imagine that high-pitched tone.

Another yelp helps him decide whether to keep walking or investigate the source of those strange noises. He knows that if he leaves now, the guilt would eat him up from the inside out. Jeongguk couldn't bear the thought of leaving an animal, which maybe is even injured, alone. In the worst-case scenario, he even finds it dead, by the next time he strolls along this way and that definitely would break his heart..

For this reason, he makes the decision to get to the bottom of the noises. The heart in his chest beats faster with anticipation and he bites the inside of his cheek. Hopefully, he doesn't encounter anything bad. His mouth presses into a thin line in concentration as he deftly avoids the twigs and leaves ahead of him, so as not to startle whatever the cause for the yelps is.

Within a few feet, he has bypassed one of the larger trees and is about to approach a shallow-rooted tree with buttress roots, which he must climb because there is no other way around. A low growl frightens him so terribly that he slips with his boots on one of the roots.

His left hand barely manages to hold on to the bark of the tree; otherwise, he would have tumbled forward and gotten a massive laceration from the tree and the roots below. Startled and with a racing heart, he grabs his chest with one hand and blinks a few times. The shock lasts for a few seconds until he recovers.

Jeongguk straightens himself and exhales deeply, his palm still on his chest, clawing into the fabric of his clothes as soon as his eyes meet a set of light brown eyes. His muscles tense immediately, and a bewildered expression flashes across his face, swallowing excessively. If it were not for the fact that those eyes gaze back menacingly, Jeongguk may have considered looking into those round, intriguing and captivating eyes for a little longer.

However he is facing a small foxโ€”most likely a cubโ€”with a unique coat of white with black and brown spots and ears with orange and brown spots. Jeongguk gasps when he realises he has never seen such a beautiful fox before. So mesmerising and unique. But his eyes hold threat. It makes sense to Jeongguk, the cub doesn't know him. He's a stranger to him. A stranger who might have stepped into the fox's territory.

The cub growls again and takes a threatening step towards him, causing Jeongguk to cautiously take a step back to show him that he is aware of the defending aura and intends no harm towards the animal. At this point, he is unaware that the cub is growling, not because Jeongguk is approaching, but because the little cub is protecting something or someone.

Jeongguk is torn and doesn't quite know what to do. Even if those yelps were from the little cub earlier, it doesn't appear to be missing anything. He chews his lip thoughtfully, pondering what he will do next. The sun hangs directly above them, indicating it's mid-afternoon to early evening. Should he just go back? An unfamiliar and unsettling feeling forms in his chest at these thoughts. What if the cub is by itself?

Another deeper growl snaps him out of his reverie. Jeongguk presumes it's the cub even if the growl was a few octaves lower than before. He turns around to face the fox. To his surprise, the cub has not moved his stance, unchanged. When Jeongguk hears a bark from somewhere nearby, he realises there must be another fox. It makes him wonder if the smaller one is too intimidated by his appearance to have the courage to come closer.

Jeongguk raises his hands as a sign that he does not want to hurt the small cub while taking a step forward to peer into a hollow between the thick roots. Jeongguk's eyes widen as he sees another fox with a coat identical to the cub's. The crimson-red spot on the fox's white coat, causes him to take a sharp inhale. It resembles blood. He takes a step forward, prompting the cub to move and stand directly in front of their parent, as Jeongguk assumes. Now he understands the imitating stares and growls.

The adult fox bares his teeth at the sight of Jeongguk and holds a defensive position, refusing to let the human get too close. Jeongguk can't just stand there doing nothing or return home without having done anything. He knows helping the fox become well again is risky. Yet he can't go without trying to save them, to the best of his abilities. Cautiously and slowly, he approaches both foxes with his hands up near his shoulders. Speaking calmly to them, has them making less defensive sounds, nonetheless they never relinquish their posture.

His gaze softens when he notices the adult fox resting on its side, crushed against a large root, with the cub snarling at Jeongguk and baring its teeth. He understands it's a defence mechanism, and he knows trust is difficult to come by. Jeongguk refuses to imagine whatever they must have been through.

"I know I don't look like someone you can easily trust right now with all the black clothes I'm wearing, but I guarantee I don't want to harm you both in any way." Jeongguk swallows anxiously and tries not to make eye contact with any of them as he crouches down and approaches them sideways. Instead, he attempts to keep an eye on them out of the corner of his eye and mask his uneasiness as best he can. When Jeongguk is halfway there, the adult fox presses itself harder into the roots, as if it's trying to hide.

"Please don't be afraid," Jeongguk says in a soothing voice. "I probably look ridiculous right now and you don't understand me, I know. I only want to help you. Get you well again so you can be with your cub." Jeongguk notices how the defensive posture of both the adult fox and the little one weakens. Jeongguk thinks that the adult fox must have given up trying to escape from this situation and therefore starts to whimper when Jeongguk takes off his coat.

Muscles bulge through his skin-tight turtleneck sweater. Fortunately, the little cub does not attack him, for which Jeongguk is grateful. Every now and then he continues to bark and watch Jeongguk closely every step of the way. The small fox would not hesitate to attack, if Jeongguk were to do something the little cub doesn't approve of. Again and again, he tries to reassure both of them with gentle words and emphasises that he wants nothing bad to happen to them, that's when he finally gets to the adult fox, which whimpers in pain.

He tries to be careful when he wraps his coat around the adult fox and picks him up, paws and legs caked in thick mud. His fingers draw patterns through the coat, causing the fox's whimpers to become weaker and its eyes closing from time to time until they fully close. Jeongguk's gaze shifts then to the little one which looks at him with fear in its eyes. His lips form a smile and he shakes his head. "I'd carry you too but I'm afraid with your parent in my arms... I can't carry you. You can follow me. The house I rented shouldn't be too far off from here."

Only when Jeongguk looks at the sleeping fox does he realise that he doesn't even know whether it's a male or a female fox. At that moment, however, it didn't matter. He just has to get it to his hut in time and in one piece. With the cub close on his heels, they make their way back through the forest to the hut. The way back is quiet, neither makes a sound, except for the footsteps in the crunchy leaves. Which makes Jeongguk wonder why the cub follows him without any complaints.

When they get to the hut, he pushes the door open with his shoulder and lays the injured fox on the table in the living room. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the little fox anxiously following him into the hut and looking around. Jeongguk makes the decision to see what kind of injury the other fox has in the meantime. Slowly, he exposes his shoulder injury and then briefly looks up on the internet to make sure he has it correctly in mind what he learned from one of his friends who is a vet.

Jeongguk is now glad his friend taught him some things and he even watched a few times as his friend cleaned a wound. Jeongguk's stomach turns as he looks closely at the fox's wound. He feels sick at the thought that someone had the heart to shoot this rare and wonderful creature. "You're lucky nothing worse happened than this graze wound."

Jeongguk gets the materials he needs from a first aid kit and tries to improvise a little since he doesn't have any professional materials with him. With deliberate hand movements, he cleans the wound and wraps a bandage around it. With the last cut of the bandage, his gaze falls on the dirty paws and then on those of the little fox. The fur over the paws is caked with mud and has dried, ruining their beautiful fur.

Surely they must both be hungry... He will give them both a nice bath, clean the mud off their sticky legs and then give them something to eat. Innerly, he hopes that he has the right food there to prepare a good meal for them. Jeongguk turns from the still sleeping fox (which he now knows is male) to the little one and tilts his head.

"How about a nice and warm bath, hm? So we can remove the dirt off your and -well rather, just your fur for the time being... Follow me, little one." Jeongguk does his best not to make it sound like a command, which would just make the fox panic or be in a defensive stance. Confident that the said fox will follow him again, he walks into the bathroom and lets water into the bathtub. He would have preferred not to have dirty paw prints on the parquet floor, but Jeongguk doubts that the fox would have allowed him to be lifted for more than two seconds. Nonetheless, he'd have to try now.

"Buddy, can I lift you up to put you in the tub? We have to get your paws somehow clean..."

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