011 — the beauty of forest.
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''Why don't we go for a walk?'' Jiwon suggested when we finished eating lunch. Jungmi disappeared somewhere with Jake, and each of the members found something to do. So without more hesitancy I nodded to her enthusiastically, and we walked out of the house, going deeper into the forest.
Everything around was green, smelled pleasantly, and was just perfect. We were walking along some previously trodden path, from which I had a beautiful view of the nearby hill. I was curious what the view was like, so I asked Jiwon if we could go up there.
From the very top you could see the girl's house, Heeseung's house, and a bit more behind it. As usual, white smoke was rising from his chimney, indicating that Chae was at home. However, my attention was drawn to four houses standing quite a bit in the opposite direction.
I looked questioningly at the girl, "The rest of our clan live in those houses," she explained with a smile, "If we were to live all together, we would never fit in, so there are five large houses, and one for Heeseung and Chae. Six people live in each large house." she explained.
"I didn't know that the clan is so numerous." I chuckled, and the girl shrugged while taking us to another localisation.
We passed various hills, rocks, clearings, and finally we reached the river. The girl smiled widely as she immediately ran closer, dipping her hand in the water to check the temperature.
"Aren't you afraid to be here, alone?" I asked curiously, sitting down on a big stone nearby the river.
I was aware that the girl wasn't an ordinary person, but she looked quite delicate, and there were various creatures in the forest.
"I don't think so," she laughed, "Forest is like my second home, so how could I be afraid of it?" the girl smiled, while playing with her hand in the water.
"I don't know," I shrugged, "And are you not afraid, that you will get lost or something like that?" I asked one more time.
"My vampire senses will not let me get lost, and besides, I know every little bit of this forest. It's big, but that's what I love about it. You can be alone for a while." she looked ahead as if plunged into thought.
I saw a slight smile on her lips, thanks to which I saw that this place really made the girl happy. And I wasn't surprised by her sudden act. There was something about the forest that attracted me, and made me want to be a part of it.
"Forest has some specific magic in it." I whispered to myself, "Would you like to dip your feet in the river?" Jiwon asked, and I looked at her surprised, unable to believe what she was doing.
As if nothing had happened, she took off her black combat boots, and walked up to her knees in the river. She started laughing loudly while seeing my confused face, and then she started spinning around like a little child having the best fun in life.
"Are you crazy?!'' I shouted, chuckling at the end, "The water is freezing!"
"Don't overdo it. It's very nice." she shrugged, and started walking along the shore. I stepped closer, and plunged my hand into the water, feeling my fingers oscillate with the cold. It felt as if someone were sticking millions of little needles into my skin.
"Vampires are weird." I muttered, stretching out my hand trying to warm her up somehow.
"Oh, Jiwon! I have a question." I said, gaining the girl's attention, "And what's that?" she asked.
"From what I know, vampires can't be outside when the sun is shining. Then how can you all do it?" I asked.
Jiwon smirked, "That's a really good question, Jaeunnie." she said, and continued, "Right after our birth, our parents put a spell on us to protect us from the sun, and other difficulties. Humanity is also a part of us, as we're half vampires half humans. If we didn't have that spell on us, we would be forced to stay at house everytime, and that's not really what we want." she shrugged, while slowly turning around in the water.
Impressed by what I just heard, I sat on the stone again. A beautiful scent was floating around, so after a while I just plunged into my own thoughts, not paying attention to anything as I was trying to sort everything in my brain.
I was thinking about vampires. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be able to change your form. If it was painful, what would it feel like when fur appears all over your body in such a short time? I was also curious to see what it looks like, because it was definitely an interesting sight.
And about the securing spell. What if parents didn't put it on their child, what would happen to them?
I still didn't quite understand that everything was really happening. It felt a bit like a strange dream or my that imagination playing tricks on me.
After some time, a deer with a young one came out on the other side of the quiet river. For the first time in my life I was so close to a forest animal so I looked at it in disbelief. It was an amazing sight as they bent down to drink some water. At one point, I even had the impression that the deer looked straight into my eyes, and not knowing what to do, I just smiled. Yes, idiot. Smile at the wild animal.
After a while, out of the corner of my eye I saw Jiwon walking towards me. I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't notice that she had gone somewhere. Her face was completely pale, her eyes seemed to be absent. She scared me.
"Has something happened?" I asked, rushing over to her. She shook her head, immediately putting on her shoes, which were still on the shore. The girl whispered something incomprehensible under her nose, and then I decided that it was time to go home.
The way back home passed us much faster. Maybe because the girl was moving her legs at a dizzying pace, and I could barely follow after her, which ended up in my great breathlessness.
"Jiwon wait!" I yelled when the girl was at least twenty steps ahead of me.
Of course I had to be completely clumsy, and at one point my leg twisted, and I staggered dangerously. And if I hadn't been caught by someone else's hands, I would have hit the ground painfully, and the cones would have stuck where they shouldn't be.
"Oh my God, I don't believe it," said a male voice behind me. I jumped right away straightening my hoodie while turning to my savior, "No way.. it's you!" he shouted, and I froze.
In front of me, there was a boy with white hair. He was wearing black jeans and a sweatshirt, but I recognized him immediately.
It was the barista from my favorite coffee shop.
"W-what are you doing here?" I asked, not believing that in such a large forest I just ran into him.
There was a big smile on his face, and I stood there with my mouth open, not knowing what to do. "I live here." he laughed, pointing his hand at one of the clan's houses.
"You.. you what?" I could barely say something, and the boy seeing how surprised I was decided to speak, "My name is Park Sunghoon," he extended his hand towards me, which I automatically shook, "But you can call me Hoonie."
"Woah, nice to meet you. I'm Ja-" I started, but the boy immediately cut me off, "I know. You are quite famous here." he laughed again, "The first human soul.. Incredible. And Jungwon can't appreciate it.." Sunghoon sighed.
"Hoonie!" Jiwon suddenly appeared. I think she realized, that I wasn't following her, and finally stopped thinking about what had consumed her so much. "What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way to Heeseung to talk about our bonfire," he said happily, "I heard your friend will be celebrating with us." the boy looked at me, and sent me a cute grin.
"You know Jaeun?" Jiwon asked him, confused.
"We met in a cafe," I explained, "But I had no idea that he is one of you.."
"From today you will get coffee for free." he said, sending me a wink, and then he set off to Heeseung's house, leaving me with Jiwon alone.
"Oh gosh.. I got to know the vampire much earlier, and I was completly clueless!" I exclaimed, and the smiled seeing me happy.
"You know.. our 'otherness' is not so noticeable. That's why we also have that spell on us." she laughed, pulling me towards the house.
It was getting slowly dark and cold. There was hot cocoa waiting for us at home, and a huge pile of films prepared by Sunoo. All-night horror marathon.. great.
Nightmares, here I come.
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