𝐀 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 38│𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔬𝔩𝔡 II ❦

At the guest hall

SeokJin and Hoseok slowly reached towards the guest hall. Their limbs were moving but their minds were blank as their lips were lined together in silence.

SeokJin opened the double door for Hoseok, and they both meandered through the chamber.

The room was an enchanting blend of tradition and contemporary elegance. Hoseok eyed the high wooden beams stretched across the ceiling. A large window frames a breathtaking view of the castle grounds, where Juniper trees sway gently in the breeze, their petals dancing like whispers of spring.

In the centre of the room, a low black metallic table beckoned Hoseok, surrounded by couches of different sizes in off-white shades.

"Your house doesn't have couches," Hoseok commented as he proceeded to take a seat.

"That's because we're not as lethargic as humans, but it's different for royals. Ambassadors of different clans sometimes go to the human world in search of discovering new things and providing more comfort to the royal bloodline," SeokJin replied as he sat alongside Hoseok.

"So that's how it works," Hoseok mumbled.

Silence hushed between the gumiho and the hybrid, but soon, an attendant's footsteps distracted the pair. He entered the room with a tray full of snacks and sweet rice cakes. He gently set them on the table and left after bowing to the guests.

"Have some," SeokJin gestured to Hoseok, and the hybrid, unable to resist the urge to taste, took a mochi in his hand before munching it in one go.

"You like Y/n, right?" Hoseok suddenly blurted while still chewing the rice cake. SeokJin's eyes darted towards him and he leaned backwards on the couch.

"I can ask the same."

"Well, yeah. Pretty much," Hoseok huffed an exhale while answering.

"Let go of your feelings. The sooner the better," SeokJin murmured as he folded his arms before heaving a long sigh.

"Looks like, you've done it already?" Hoseok grimaced.

"Kind of."

Hearing SeokJin's reply led Hoseok to hang his head low in dilemma, his eyes once again searched around the room to find a distraction from the topic shared.

Finally, his eyes landed on a showcase bookshelf lining the wall towards his left, he stood up and started walking towards the bookshelf, "When I see them together, I feel like I'm wasting my feelings, but when she's not around it feels--"

However, he couldn't complete his sentence when his eyes landed on one distinct book sitting in between. Hoseok swiftly pulled out the book from the shelf and turned around to question SeokJin.

"THE HISTORY OF SHADOW WOLVES... Who are these?"

SeokJin rolled his eyes at the change in conversation before he deadpanned, "How can you even consider yourself a half gumiho when you don't know about Shadow Wolves?"

"I'm a human-world born hybrid; how would I know what's happening here?"

"It all happened before humans shared our land, you punk!"

"Oh, is it," Hoseok scrunched his face in confusion.

"And they're our greatest rivals. Even worse than humans."

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FLASHBACK

Less than a century back, when humans were allowed to step into the land of fox spirits, the forest was shared by various entities, from majestic animals to magical creatures. Just like gumihos, this enchanted realm was also a home to Shadow Wolves. Both creatures drank side by side, sharing the forest's bounty.