Sasaeng Sister [In big roles: Sunghoon, Lee Know, skz, Ateez, Jungkook]

Chapter 63

Bears were mainly vegetarian, but they could attack when feeling threatened. I focused on the vegetarian part. Imagining the beast gnawing at roots and picking berries helped me remain still and demonstrate that we didn't pose a danger.

The animal protruded its head, observing our every move.

Yunho stood closest to the creature. He retreated slightly, taking a tiny, barely noticeable step back. Yet, the bear rose on its hind legs, roaring.

Yunho instinctively dodged backward. Minho flinched and moved the branding iron between himself and the bear. I grasped Sunghoon's hand, squeezing his fingers.

The bear glared at us, most interested in Minho and his weapon. Its jaws snapped as it charged forward, stopping just before Minho, who fell on his butt.

The bear huffed and turned away, snorting at our patheticness. It wasn't interested anymore.

My heart pounded as the bulky figure receded into the shadows.

"A moon bear," Sunghoon whispered after the bear disappeared and the bushes no longer rustled.

Yunho resumed walking but more hesitantly. He kept an eye out for dangerous animals, pacing slower and placing his feet more quietly on the forest floor.

"Ooh... My heart is still racing. I never imagined they are so big," he said, keeping up the conversation to release tension.

My hand was still in Sunghoon's, and I didn't plan on letting go. With a gentle squeeze, he adjusted the way our fingers intertwined.

"Have you heard the story of Ungnyeo?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"No."

Minho butted in.

"A bear wants to be a human and becomes one. It's pretty boring."

"You forgot the competition. There was a tiger and a bear. Both wanted to become human," Sunghoon said.

The cold weather made him sound huskier than usual. Listening to his story diverted my attention from aches and pains. I guess that was his intention all along.

"They had to survive with only ten cloves of garlic—"

"Twenty," Minho corrected. "And it wasn't a competition."

Sunghoon paused to think.

"I thought it was only ten. Whatever. They had to survive with only twenty cloves of garlic and some plants—"

"Mugwort," Minho said.

Sunghoon accepted the addition of detail.

"Yeah, that. They could eat only those two things for a hundred days. And they had to stay out of sunlight."

Considering Minho's dislike for the 'boring' tale, he was pretty eager to steal the show from Sunghoon.

"Of course, the tiger couldn't do it, and only the bear became human," Minho said, taking a shortcut to the end.

Only it wasn't the end. Sunghoon continued, "The bear became a woman. She married King Hwanung and gave birth to the man who founded the nation of Korea. That's why we are so strong and persistent."

"Maybe some of you are," I said teasingly.

"But not me?" Sunghoon asked, raising his eyebrows and the pitch of his voice.

"Not Minho," I said.

"Ha ha," Minho muttered. "Very funny. I haven't gotten any food, not even garlic cloves lately, yet I'm hiking barefoot in a forest."