[1] She, Who listens to the howling sounds
“Why are you always listening to music in your ears?” “Just because,”
Se-Ah is just an ordinary girl. She is a junior at the most renowned art school in Seoul. Her life is just like every other high-school girls. It is only different because she had been hearing things lately. every night, when the full moon starts to rise above her head, she can hear the sound of howling wolves clearly in her ears. nobody hears the voice, only her. She could tell that the howling voices change every full moon. Sometimes, it sounds so painful, some other time it sounds inviting.
As curious as she gets, she tries not to think about that when the morning comes. That's why she always brings an earphone attached to her phone, blasting out loud pieces of music every time she has to leave the house. Se-ah wants to be normal, like the other girl of her age. That summer midnight, the full moon rises up and again, she hears the cries. this time it drew her out of the house. She walked to a deserted building, 12 storeys, and it is currently being renovated. It used to be a mall or so, they said. she takes a small tour around the building. but as soon as she got in, she keeps going round and round and round, she can't find the way out.
The howling voice keeps getting louder and clearer in her ears. Se-ah rummages through all the dust and ruins in the building, looking for the source of the howls she's heard all this time. it leads her nowhere but the same point where she started. she's stuck inside the building yet the voice became clearer as if it was crying out for help.
but wait, one was crying out for help. but there is another sound. She tries translating those different barks and howls into some kind of the other wolves are trying to find the stray one.
'He-Hwall?' she tries deciphering the howls.
They are looking for the lost cub and the cub is apparently somewhere around the building. Se-ah searches around the building corner by corner, corridor by corridor. She stops by the corner that looked like it was supposed to be used for a cafeteria or a restaurant. she could sense the distress howl came from somewhere there.
“Hwall?” She calls out softly. And with that, the whimper got much more vivid from before. she can easily locate and find the young wolf hidden under some ruins. too bad. his four little legs are covered in blood.
“Oh my god!” she gasps as she sees the wounded. “It's okay, Hwall. I'm here, I won't hurt you.”
Se-ah takes off her jacket and put it on the floor, before gently moving the said young wolf on it. then she pulls out two handkerchiefs from her bag and tied them gently over his wounded legs. “Don't worry, I'm here, with you,” she said to reassure the canine that she'd be around him when he needs her.
The sun slowly rises and the ruins and deserted building is not shabby anymore. The concrete ruin magically turned into a big and luxurious house. Se-ah got up and realised that the young wolf wasn't around her anymore when she opened her eyes. she thought someone took Hwall away.
“Hwall?! Hwall, where are you?” she abruptly searches around the house.
She's brought to another shock when a young boy came down to her in his wheelchair, from the long corridor. the young boy wore bandages on both his legs and arms, just like the young wolf she rescued last night.
“Who are you?” She looks at the young handsome boy in front of her. “Where is Hwall?”
“I am Hwall, you can call me Hyunjoon if you want,” he smiles, showing the barricade of his white pearly teeth. “Thanks for saving my life.”
“I-I rescued a wolf,” She retorts.
“It's a long story. and it's the first time a human could hear our cries, after centuries of being deserted from the mankind,” Hyunjoon explained.
“I am Song Se-ah. Why can I hear you? what are you?” She is still processing everything from scratch.
Hwall chuckled before he cleared his throat, “So, I am a werewolf from The Boyz pack. I'm one of the youngest among everyone in the pack. I went to the same school as yours,” He said.
“You know me?” Se-ah asks curiosity starts bubbling in her conscience.
“You should ask your mother why you could hear our cries. not every ordinary human can do so,” This time, a brown-haired guy, slightly older than Hyunjoon said.
“W-Who are you?” She asks, her body starts to tremble because she's a little afraid.
“I am Sangyeon, the leader of this pack. Thank you for rescuing our baby Hwall,” Sangyeon smiles and patted Se-ah's shoulder.
“Hyung, I'm not a baby, I'm Eighteen, remember?” Hwall retorts.
“How could i get home?” Se-Ah asks. “Mom must be worried of me.”
“I'll take care of you, I mean I'll escort you home,” says a fair-skinned tallboy with thick brown hair. She looks at him, more puzzled.
“I'm younghoon, third eldest of the pack,” He smiles. “I'll walk you home, go wash yourself first.”
“I'll look for some spare clothes for you to wear,” Sunwoo said.
———– to be continued.
saved: 12/05 10:05 AM Word Count: 905 Words