CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

337 10 1

by COPKOOK

by COPKOOK

Jongin had managed to escape Kyungsoo's grasp again, after what seemed like months of experiences he never wanted to repeat (it'd actually only been about a week). This time, he meant business.

"Hey, it's a human..." Jongin glared up at the small pixie, Hoseok, flying around his head. He swatted Hoseok away, accidentally hitting him. "Yah! That wasn't very nice!"

"Get lost, pixie." Jongin said, continuing to walk past. Hoseok stuck his middle finger up at Jongin as he disappeared into the bush.

Once again, Woozi had the misfortune of being outside and alone when Jongin was walking through the forest. Woozi was sitting at the edge of the lake, staring out at it. He sighed, his ears drooping.

Taehyung was off with Jimin again, so he was left unprotected and lonely. Yoongi and Jungkook had offered to keep him company but Woozi just wanted Jeonghan. But Jeonghan had family too, and his family couldn't come into the forest with him and so he had to leave to go visit them.

Woozi heard the footsteps behind him and his ears pricked up. He looked over his shoulder right when Jongin grabbed him. He yelped in surprise as he was lifted up into the air.

"Keep it down, Gumiho, and I won't kill your parents." Woozi stared at Jongin, his ears flat against his head, but he didn't say anything. His eyes began to well up with tears, and his bottom lip quivered. He didn't want to die, because then he'd be the one leaving Jeonghan, but then he didn't want Yoongi and Jungkook to die so he couldn't call out either.

Jongin reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger covered with intricate carvings. It'd been used to kill Gumiho in his family for generations, and when it was handed down to Jongin after his parents' death, he vowed to use it to kill every Gumiho he ever encountered.

"Please don't kill me, I can't leave Jeonghan and Appa and Kookie Appa." Woozi said quietly, tears now streaming down his face. When he didn't talk, he kept his lips tightly clamped shut so he wouldn't make any noises Jongin didn't like.

"You're a Gumiho, it's better to kill you while you're young and haven't killed as much."

"But I'm changing! I'm not eating hearts so I can become a human!" Jongin laughed.

"Everyone knows that's only a myth, you'll never be human. I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill that goddam father of yours... And maybe his human." Woozi then realised the hunter wasn't going to keep his word and no matter what he did, his parents would be killed too.

"Appa! Umma! Kookie Appa!" Woozi yelled out, attempting to free himself from Jongin's grip. "Appa. Appa!!"

Woozi managed to escape, and Jongin brought the dagger down.

A loud scream filled the forest as pain filled Woozi's body and his vision went black. He heard the sound of running right before he lost consciousness.

Yoongi stared down at the small body laying on the bed, his body filled with worry. Numerous thoughts spun around his head, multiple scenarios involving Woozi's death refusing to leave his mind. Jungkook stood next to him, holding his hand.

"Even though the wound is small, he's still only a pup and he's weakened from the lack of hearts..." The man crouching next to the bed said, fixing up Woozi's bandages. "I don't know if he'll make it or not. We can only hope."

"Thanks LuHan..." LuHan nodded in response to Yoongi. "And thanks for saving him."

"It's alright, I'm just sorry the hunter got away. You're just lucky I'd changed, or I probably would have had a harder time getting him here."

LuHan was a normal human, except for the fact that he was cursed. Centuries ago, LuHan had been an average human, who was extremely obsessed with his looks. A witch, to teach him a lesson, then turned him into a deer. He was to remain a deer until he could get someone to fall in love with him, despite being what he was.
The witch wasn't completely horrible though, and once every couple of weeks, LuHan would suddenly turn into a human again. This was one of those times.

Rather than go out and flirt with random humans, LuHan was using his time as a human to care for the small boy.

"I'm going to get that hunter." Yoongi muttered, staring angrily down at Woozi. "I'm going to get him, and then I'm going to kill him."

"Hyung..." Jungkook said softly, reaching up to touch Yoongi's shoulder.

"No." Yoongi looked up at Jungkook, revealing that his eyes were slightly shiny. "No one attacks my son and gets away with it. He will pay."

And with that, Yoongi stormed out of the house, turning into a fox as he began to track Jongin's scent.

That hunter would pay.