Howon/Hoya POV

I didn't want to leave Sohee, but I knew that there were some things that she had to take care of alone. I also knew that I should go and see the guys so they could stop worrying about me.

I walked around the corner to the main pavilion and immediately saw them.

"Hey guys!" I called out to them.

They looked over, saw me and screamed "Hoya!" Then they got up and rushed over to check me out.

"Where have you been?" Sunggyu asked.

"Are you okay? Are you injured?" Dongwoo kept circling me while checking for injuries.

"I'm fine" I chuckled. "I just got a little lost."

They all breathed a sigh of relief. "But where have you been?" Sunggyu asked angrily. "You've been up there for a week!"

"Actually" I rubbed the back of my head. "I happened to meet someone who lives up there and she let me stay with her until the rain stopped." I blushed.

"A girl!" Woohyun inched closer. "What is she like?"

I couldn't help but blush more.

Suddenly, we heard some girls scream. "What was that?" Myungsoo asked.

"Should we go and see?" Sungyeol chimed in.

We all looked at Sunggyu, but he just shrugged his shoulders and sighed "Why not."

We walked back the way we came and saw that a large group of people were just standing and watching what was happening. We started to inch our way closer, but were stopped by the monk Donghyun. 

"You should probably go and wait inside the temple" he suggested.

"Why? What is going on?" Sunggyu asked.

"I'll explain as we go" he said as he began to usher us away from the scene.

As we started to walk away, I looked back to see if I could see Sohee with the fox on duty, but she wasn't there. Then I glanced at the crowd and caught a glimpse of her lying on the ground. "No!" I screamed as I ran back to where the crowd was. I pushed my way through them until I was beside her. Then I collapsed to my knees and cried out in pain "You promised we would be together!"

Monk Jangjun POV

When Hoya screamed, I knew that things were only going to get more complicated. The other members of his group slowly made their way through the crowd with Donghyun.

I looked at him and said "Go and get Head Monk Seungmin. Quickly!"

The members of his group looked at me and could tell that the situation wasn't good.

Sunggyu crouched next to him and urgently whispered in his ear "Hoya, I don't think it is a good idea to be here right now. We should go."

He carefully reached forward to grab him by the arm and raise him to his feet, but Hoya pulled away from him and screamed "No! I'm not going to leave her!" he began to cry.

I knew that things were going to get out of hand quickly, so I quickly thought of a solution and approached the distraught young man. I crouched down next to him a gently placed my hand on his shoulder. "Hoya" I spoke soothingly.

"What?" he glared at me.

Despite being under the scrutinizing eyes of all the spectators, I continued to remain calm. "We should bring her inside the temple. Could you help me with that?"

The anger in his glare disappeared and he nodded. He gently wrapped his arms around her lifeless body and lifted her effortlessly.

Thankfully, by this time, Donghyun had returned with Head Monk Seungmin and a few others. 

I bowed to the Head Monk and said "I will lead them back to their quarters."

The monks, immediately understanding the situation, gathered around and cleared a path for us, so we could leave the area. Hoya walked next to me and the other members of the group followed closely behind. 

"What happened?" Sunggyu asked. "Who is she?"

Not knowing what to say, I could only remain quiet. However, Hoya spoke up and caught us all off guard when he said "She is the woman I love."

Howon/Hoya POV

When we got back to our quarters, I gently laid Sohee down on my bed.

"What did you mean when you said that she is the one you love?" Jangjun asked.

"Just that. I love her" I replied.

Jangjun nearly fell over in shock, but Sunggyu happened to be standing nearby and help him regain his balance. Based on his reaction, I could tell that the monks here knew more than they would say.

"You know who she is, don't you?" I knowingly pressed him to answer. I could tell that he didn't want to answer in front of everyone, but I didn't care. "You know that she is a Gumiho" I stared at him.

"What?" the guys screamed in shock.

"What do you mean?" Sunggyu asked. "She...she's a... a Gumiho?" he stuttered.

"Relax, Sunggyu" I rolled my eyes.

"How do you expect us to relax when you say something like that?" Woohyun screamed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dongwoo asked as he stepped forward and began looking at me with concern. "You sure you didn't hit your head or anything like that?"

I could see Jangjun trying not to laugh at their reaction. Even I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Your friend is fine" Head Monk Seungmin smiled as he entered the room. "It seems as though she has revealed herself to you" he said as he approached me.

"Yes" I nodded.

"Head Monk" Jangjun stepped forward nervously.

"It's okay" Head Monk Seungmin smiled as he dismissively waved his concern aside. Then he turned to me and asked "Can you tell us what happened on the mountain?"

"I don't know how or when, but I got separated from the group I was with and got lost. I continued to follow the path I was on, when suddenly it started to rain. Thankfully, I happened to come across Sohee's house just before I passed out from exhaustion."

"I see" he smiled. "She took care of you, I assume?"

"Yes" I replied. "She gave me a change of clothes and told me I could stay with her until the rain stopped. She explained that the rain would make trying to descend the mountain dangerous."

"The mountain is very dangerous during prolonged rain storms" he commented. "There was a landslide."

"Yes" I acknowledged the incident.

"How did she react?" he asked.

"She said that she had to go and assess the situation."

"Is that when you found out?" he asked. "About her identity?"

"No" I replied. "I found out about it on the day I got lost." 

I could see he was surprised. "Really? And yet you stayed with her? Despite knowing she was a Gumiho?"

"Yes" I replied.

"Why?"

"Because I realized that she wasn't any different than you... or me. She was easy to talk to. Kind... Funny... Caring..." My face brightened and I could tell I was blushing, but I didn't care. "I fell in love with her. Not because she seduced me like how those stupid stories say Gumihos do, but because I truly fell in love with the woman she is."