Hyunjin's seven pet wolves (SKZ werewolf AU)- OT8

Hyunjin dosn't get mauled by a wolf

Over the next few days, Hyunjin realized that despite the so-called 'dangers' the old woman had spoken to him about, the forest surrounding the town was truly beautiful. He spent more time outside, following the paved road until it took him off of the path and twisting through the forest until he was forced to go back to his very broken apartment because it had gotten too dark outside.

His favorite spot, he learned, was in the Northern part of the forest. He traversed the southern part on one of his free days, but there was something so oppressing about the darkness that surrounded it that it felt like he couldn't breathe, so he called off his hike early to go find ingredients from the market because kimchi stew sounded really nice.

The North was much different, like a breath of fresh air. The trees were thicker and more widespread, casting a canopy above his head that blocked most of the trickling rain from falling onto his head. While the South was completely silent with no signs of life, the North always had some sort of noise, from the chirping of birds to the buzzing of afternoon cicadas.

Serine, is the word Hyunjin would use to describe it.

So on the day before classes officially were to start, Hyunjin packed a canvas and some paints into his backpack before leaving his apartment (unlocked, because the landlord never responded to his text questioning maintenance) to take a lunchtime hike.

There was a stream that trickled through the forest about a mile in, slightly off of the path already paved. Hyunjin brushed past the undergrowth of the forest to get to the spot he discovered the previous day, and when he did, he wasn't disappointed. Even with the depressing atmosphere, it was the kind of landscape portrait that Hyunjin had always wanted to paint.

So he settled himself down onto an outcropping of rock that stretched slightly over the river, preparing his sketchpad for a rough draft. He doubted he could do an entire painting in one day, but one could try. At least he could have something to show off at practicum the first day of art lecture, if he had the kind of professor that was a deviant and wanted them all to suffer.

It was art, so probably.

He passed his time by delicately sketching lines onto the pages, the rigidness of the looming trees and the fluidity of the water below, small minnows swimming around accompanied by the occasional raindrop that broke past the dense foliage of the trees above.

Once about ten pine needles fell on top of Hyunjin's head and got tangled in his hair and he completed his outline sketch along with about half of his base coat, he figured it was time to go back home. He couldn't see the sun from the forest, and even if he wasn't in the coverage, it was too cloudy to tell, but he was sure it hung pretty low in the sky right about now.

And while he broke his promise to the nice old lady about entering the forest alone, he wouldn't break the promise of staying at night. He knew nocturnal creatures could be dangerous, maybe not as dangerous as the men in the city who held him at gunpoint for his pocket change, but a different kind of dangerous.

He quickly packed up his canvas once he let it dry for a few minutes (because before he left, he splurged on the fast drying coating) and scaled his way down the ledge of the rock he had been sitting criss-cross on for the past four hours.

His legs hurt and his body ached from staying in the same position for too long, but he felt gratified and accomplished with what he had done.

Plus, the promise of his leftover Kimchi stew renewed his energy enough to get him moving back towards the paved walkway.

At least, until a small noise interrupted his hike and his humming to fill the relative sounds of the forest halted. Hyunjin froze, his hand clinging to the bark of one of the trees to help heft him back to the flatter land. He nearly passed the sound as just his mind playing tricks on him until he heard it once again, coming from somewhere behind the trees he had just passed.