Scarred(A Jikook x OC Werewolf AU)

Chapter 14

It was the crack of dawn, most of  the sky still dark and littered with stars that weren't ready to say farewell just yet. There was a stillness in the trees, only the sound of their boots trekking across the snow for now—the bustling forest not yet awakened. A scene like this could be unnerving for some, but to Jeongguk and Mi-Cha, nothing was more peaceful.

They walked alongside each other in comfortable silence, both still in the process of waking up completely as well as admiring their surroundings. Having listened to her adamance of not wanting some huge apology gesture, JK figured a nice hike and watching the sunrise together would suffice. He'd woken up early that morning to make them a nice breakfast of tteoguk(Rice cake soup). He packed it in 2 thermals along with some snacks and water in his insulated backpack he bought specifically for his hiking trips.

Ever since he was a child, he'd enjoyed hiking. Even after he'd shifted, he hadn't lost his passion for hiking in human form. There was just something so peaceful and refreshing about being immersed in nature. He could walk the same path over and over and every time there would be something different. Nature was ever changing and evolving, something he strangely envied. Imagine a life where all life forms changed and evolved so quickly. The world would most certainly be much different.

The snapping of branches on their left pull both mates out of their pleasant reveries, only to see it was just a few elk a few feet away probably trying to find their morning meals.

"Are those elk?" MiMi asks and JK nods.

"Yup, we have a lot of them around here," he resolves.

"They're much bigger than the ones on the Cho pack territory," she observes as they trek along.

"Really? Maybe they were overhunting. A lot of packs that want to join our territory do because they've depleted their population of animals. Smaller packs, especially ones that didn't have good leaders, knew nothing about abundance and scarcity when it came to livestock. They just see an animal and kill it without a second thought," he says.

"I think I overheard something similar once—an alpha that had just joined out pack trying to explain that to my dad. Of course he didn't listen, but it made a lot of sense to me. How are they expected to be able to reproduce and make more if you just thoughtlessly kill them all regardless of age and gender?" she adds, rolling her eyes at the end.

JK chuckles at the sassy gesture and tone she used. He just knew that once she was fully comfortable and out of her shell that she'd be a real force to be reckoned with. He could already tell by her logic driven mindset and the matter of fact tone in which she delivered her words that she'd be a real firecracker, similar to Jimin. Now that he's thinking about it, she's a mix of both himself and Jimin's personality types—shy in nature, logic driven, laid back, and likely to overthink like himself—emotional, sassy, and soft natured like Jimin.

He grabs her hand to help her over a fallen tree trunk, reveling in the sound of her giggles as she jumped off with his assistance.

"Safe to say you don't mind heights?" he asks and she shakes her head.

"I've always loved jumping off things," she grins, making him laugh.

"Really?" he asks, surprised.

He couldn't imagine her being like he was when he was a kid, wild and adventurous and also a fan of jumping off things just because he could.

"Yes, the higher the better. My brother and I would climb trees just to jump out. We'd go a branch higher every time until one of us got hurt or was too scared to jump," she says, a smile on her face as she relived the memories.

"That sounds...incredibly dangerous. My friends and I used to do something similar, but on the playground. Who would've known you were like that as a kid," he grins, making her nudge him.