Sohee POV

Ever since I was born, I was never loved.

My parents abandoned me on the outskirts of our village at birth when they discovered I had two tails. Why they were so afraid of it, I'll never truly know, but I can only assume it is because of what they represent.

To a gumiho of Busan, our tails represent our life. It is believed that the more tails we had, the longer our life would be. I guess my parents thought I wouldn't live too long since I had only two tails, so they left me before they became too attached.

This never bothered me though. When the other villagers discovered that I had been abandoned outside the village, they all pitched in to care for me until I was old enough to fend for myself. If my parents were among them, I'll never know. Nor would I want to. The villagers had come to accept me as a part of them and, to me, they all were family. Despite that, I still lived outside the village.

Truthfully, living a long life is boring. Every day you wake up and go through the same routine you did the day before. Nothing ever changes. Perhaps it is better that I was born with only two tails. I won't have to live such a boring life for very long. Why would someone want to live forever?

But things don't always go as planned. Here I am celebrating my one hundredth year of life and two of the children who I had grew up with, have already passed away. It was very surprising because both of them had many beautiful tails. Yet here I am, still alive, with only two tails. It's funny how fate works.

As I was walking back to my home, I found a young man lying unconscious in front of it.

How did he get here?

Prince Howon POV

Why my father is sending me to this prayer ceremony, I'll never understand. The Imperial Physician has already told me that my illness is very complicated and that he had never seen such a disease before. He said he would do his best to cure me, but, despite his best efforts, nothing has changed.

Today, my father is sending me to Busan for a prayer ceremony at one of their famous temples. I don't know why he thinks praying will work when medicine doesn't.

The ceremony was boring, just like they always are. Thankfully it wasn't too long. The only downside is that I have to do this every day for the next month and a half. I was so happy to get out of the palace, if I had known I would have to spend this long out here, I never would have agreed to come. 

Though I will admit that the temple is surrounded by some beautiful scenery. After the prayer ceremony, the monks told me that I could walk around and relax. Maybe it won't be so bad being here after all. At least I'll get to take a break and relax for once.

"Wait!" I heard a voice call from behind me. I turned and saw a young monk running towards me. "You probably shouldn't go that way" he said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Why? Is there something wrong?"

The young monk rubbed the back of his head. "They call that the Fox Mountain Path. You see the fox sitting at the entrance?"

I looked closer and was surprised "Yeah!" I smiled. "What is a fox doing there?"

"They say that the foxes in the mountain seduce people to their deaths. I would stay far away from there if I were you."

"Thanks" I half-smiled. I turned to walk away, but stopped and looked back at the fox sitting by the path. "Are the foxes really dangerous?" I mumbled to myself before walking away.

The first week passed by ever so slowly. Day after day of praying. It was so boring, I almost fell asleep. Thankfully after every prayer session, I was allowed to go and walk around the temple. And, even though the monk had warned me, I still would go and look at the Fox Mountain Path from a distance. One day, I actually saw another fox come out and take the other fox's place. Kind of like how the palace guards would change shifts. Maybe they were guards. But what are they guarding?

"There he is!" I heard someone shout from behind me. I turned and saw a man, dressed in black from head to toe, running toward me with a knife in hand.

An Assassin? I panicked. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran. Suddenly, I saw the fox and ran towards the path. "Please help!" I screamed and the fox perked it's head up. I ran past the fox, praying that they wouldn't follow. I just kept running, without looking back. Suddenly a fox appeared in front of me, like it was tell me to follow him. More afraid of the assassin behind me, I followed the fox.

I don't know when the fox disappeared, but I suddenly found myself alone. I looked around and realized I had run so far that I didn't even know where I was. Realizing I was still on a path, I decided to continue forward rather than heading back towards danger.

I don't know how long I had been walking, but I was getting exhausted. I had been praying all morning and hadn't even had lunch before I was attacked. I was just about to give up walking, when I saw a house in front of me. I rushed forward and weakly called out "Hello? Is anyone home?"

No answer. 

Then I felt what little energy I have drain from me as I collapsed. I tried to reach out towards the house with my last remaining strength, then everything went black.

Am I really going to die in the middle of nowhere like this?