One Hundred Years of Solitude

- two -

Longing and desire could sometimes make one careless, even a fox-girl who has lived for fifty years.

One morning, Chae Young lingered for too long in the pool that she did not notice how high the sun was in the sky. It wasn't until the crunching of boots on twigs and leaves were so near that she realized- albeit a bit too late- that she had stayed for too long.

Her mortal stood before her, his nineteen-year-old face and body frozen with surprise. She looked into his eyes and they widened, his eyebrows disappearing into his sun-streaked fringes. As familiarity registered on his face, he dropped to his knees.

Chae Young knew she was caught; she was finally caught.

Perhaps, it was time after all.

She stood up from the water and as his eyes roved over her unclothed body, a deep red tinged his face and neck. Chae Young had forgotten how vulnerable the naked body was for mortals. She could never understand it- the unclothed body was as natural as breathing.

Jung Kook looked down, unable to keep his dignity in the presence of such beauty.

She feigned modesty for his sake and pulled her long red tress down the front of her body as she approached him.

"Forgive me, Oh goddess," he blurted with his eyes still on the ground. "I did not know- "

She found herself chuckling at being addressed as a goddess. His head shot up in surprise but immediately lowered them again.

"I'm no goddess," she told him gently. "In the forest, they call me fox-girl."

His head shot up again but this time, he did not lower them. Instead, he looked into her face.

His eyes were searching and questioning. 

Yes, it's me, she communicated to him. I am the one you saved.

Are you also the one who has protected me all this time? He returned.

Yes, it is I who watches you with ember eyes and comes to you in dreams.

The embarrassment and fear disappeared from his face, and was instead replaced by surprise and happiness.

A small smile lifted the corner of his lips and it made her heart quiver.

He got up off his knees and then putting his hands together, he dropped to a deep bow.

"I am indebted to you," he told her.

Chae Young reached out to make him stand up but pulled away quickly when her fingers touched his warm body. He was so alive with hot blood flowing under his skin, and his heart beating wildly beneath his chest.

She had never touched a mortal before and she had never known how urgently alive their bodies were.

Slowly, she reached out again and touched his shoulder, this time, letting the warmth seep into her hands.

A curious sensation passed through her like little sparks of lightning were being shot through her veins. Rather than making him stand up, she also dropped to her knees before him.

He lifted his face and she looked into it up-close for the first time.

His lips were slightly parted in wonder and she saw the saliva glistening beneath it, the fluid of his urgently-alive-body.

Curiously, she lifted a finger and touched his lips. His body shuddered. She wanted to taste it... would it scorch her? She wouldn't mind.

She tilted her face and put her lips against his, her fingers wrapping around his warm neck. His hands curled around her waist, burning her skin there.

He tasted like the early rays of the sun after the winter, like warm honey fresh from the comb and like all her fifty years worth of living had not been living at all.

Chae Young had never been loved before. She was too in love with running around exploring foreign terrains to stop for the love of a man. She had nothing to compare Jung Kook's touches with, but as his warmth entered her, filled her, she thought the sky had split open and rained a million red roses on them. A mortal's life span was short and everything they did was short-lived, but Jung Kook loved her slowly as though time had stopped.

Later, when they lied on the green grass, their bodies still entwined, he asked her, "What shall I call you, fox-girl?"

When she was created by the Mother goddess, she was named Chae Young. But now, as Jung Kook's warm breath tickled her neck, she said, "Call me Chaeng."

"Chaeng," he whispered, his breath tickling her neck. Her name from his lips made her heart clench like she was a mere mortal. Lifting a finger, she traced the shadow of a rose on his shoulder. Beneath her fingers, the petals and stem of a rose burned like a brown birthmark, like marking him for herself. 

You are so beautiful, she communicated to him and his eyes shone brighter than the Sun God.