Haetae.
In Korean folklore, the haetae is a scaled goat-like creature that was believed to know right from wrong, and helped pass judgement on guilty and innocent parties.
Choi Gayoung is the last known Haetae to exist in the world. Lee Yeon is...
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The drive back to Gayoung's apartment was a melancholy one. The recently joined together again couple knew that their time together was nearly up, not wanting to seperate and yet they had to. Yeon parked the car in front of the tall apartment building, glancing around the street to see if Lingxin was around yet but saw no sign of the black-haired woman around anywhere.
"Should I come in?" He asked Gayoung, turning to her in the passenger seat.
She shook her head as an answer and put a hand on his cheek. In an oversized white button up shirt and black jeans they looked like they planned to wear matching clothes.
"No. If I spend anymore time with you I'm afraid all the strength I mustered up to even go through this plan is going to go out the window." Gayoung told him, a wistful smile on her face. Yeon took the opportunity to stare at her longingly even though she was right in front of him. "If anything should happen to me--"
"Nothing will happen." Yeon said, cutting her off. Her hand moved down from his cheek to her lap as she stared at him back. He let out a breath and nodded smally. "If that's how you really feel, then go ahead."
"Don't worry." She told him, drumming her fingers against her leg. "We have more than a couple hundred years to make up for, remember? I'm not to pass away so easily while you still owe me a wedding and a life together. So if I'm not allowing myself to get scared so easily then you shouldn't either."
Yeon chuckled at that before putting his hand on top of hers that was on her lap.
"You're not scared? Even a little bit?" Yeon asked her, getting a head shake in return.
"From what I can tell, the thing only comes out when it feels threatened, when my guard is lowered, when I become fully human, and it seems to get excited when it sees blood." Gayoung told him, as he traced circles on her knee with his thumb.
"Well, now that you mention it... there was that only incident on Eohwa and then at the park the other night when you cut open your palm for the trap." Yeon said, a frown on his face as he remembered the few times that the Imoogi inside Gayoung came out.
Said lone Haetae looked over at her right side where she knew Imoogi's scales had reappeared and were refusing to go away. The more she looked at them in contrast to her own the more she thought they looked cold and ugly compared to her rainbow iridescent scales.
