Minseok doesn’t remember his parents and perhaps that’s what makes him waver between ambivalent feelings of bitterly sad and numbness. His younger days are a blur of meager meals at the orphanage and children that he can’t quite call friends or family. Perhaps it’s the feeling of being abandoned that’s so deeply ingrained in his bones that makes him so strictly unable to give his heart to anyone or anything. Unlike the other children who desperately cling on to parental figures and christen even the most inanimate object with loving names, Minseok lets things just pass him by.

Ironically, Minseok’s monochrome and cold world suddenly turns a little brighter on a day where the rain blurs everything in the physical world to shades of gray. It’s not too cold outside despite the rain and the stifling interior of the orphanage has never been Minseok’s favorite place. So, Minseok ventures out without too much thought. He steps out to the edge of the orphanage grounds where there’s a field of weeds and a real forest beyond that. The land where the orphanage stands is on the outskirts of town -- the cheapest plot of land that the city could put a price on without conservation laws to restrict them.

Minseok steps out into the weeds, peering beyond, into the real forest. He wonders why it feels as if the forest is teeming with more life than the orphanage full of children. He supposes that it is him that is the most lifeless and if so, shouldn’t it be better for the world to be rid of him? And then, just as thoughts that are too depressing and jaded for a child of eight weigh down on him, Minseok sees him.



***



Minseok supposes that he should have had a better look before carrying something so tight in his arms and into the shed. But as he wipes the rain from his eyes and peers down at the animal, Minseok realizes that this is no ordinary stray cat.

The small living thing is still breathing. Minseok takes off his thin jacket and squeezes off the excess water. He shivers with the wetness, but then again, he’s used to the cold and slightly damp interior of his orphanage room. He takes his drier shirt off and wraps the small cat in it. The animal gives a little sigh.

The animal looks more like a wild beast than anything domestic and Minseok feels a deep, dark fear creeping into the pit of his belly. But Minseok swallows hard, tightens his fists. This tiny beast needs him now. And with each rise and fall of the beast’s chest, Minseok’s face loosens and eventually breaks out into a tiny, tiny smile.

Minseok puts his wet jacket back on without a shirt to prevent the involuntary shivers. And though the moisture should give him a chill, the warmth of the smaller body in his arms makes him forget about the rain, about the cold, and even about the thoughts that had crept over him at the edge of the forest.


***


[SIX YEARS LATER]

Running bare foot in the forest is nothing to Minseok now. The soles of his feet have hardened and he no longer gets cuts, scrapes, or blisters that pain his feet as he struggles to catch up with Kai.

It had been a surprise when, several days after looking after the sick beast, Minseok had found a naked child of his age in the beast’s stead. However, now, six years later, Kai was the best friend and the closest thing to family Minseok had.

As Minseok runs between the trees, he can spot glimpses of the sleek and shiny black coat of the jaguar. Of course, that’s what Kai had been … a jaguar. Thinking back on it now, Minseok is slightly appalled that he had the gall to even nurse a juvenile jaguar back to health. But when there’s a change of step and when Minseok can see the bronze skin of a Kai changed to human form, Minseok doesn’t regret his decision.

At a clearing, Minseok stops running. His feet don’t hurt, but his lungs do. He bends over, clutching his knees and catching his breath. There’s a rustle to his north and Kai steps out near silently into the clearing as well. Kai, in his human form, is a tall fourteen year old boy. And though they’re the same age, Minseok is a bit smaller. Minseok doesn’t really mind; as Kai’s jaguar form is a rather large and lithe beast, Minseok supposes it makes sense. However, when Minseok remembers Kai on the first day they met, and how Kai as a beast had fit into Minseok’s arms… Minseok can’t help but be amazed and a bit miffed.

“Slowpoke” Kai teases.

Minseok, still unable to properly speak, scrunches up his face and sticks his tongue out at him.

This makes Kai throw back his black locks and laugh. His eyes are squeezed shut and he’s clutching his belly. Minseok can almost see Kai’s uvula and Minseok eventually breaks out into a wide smile as well. This is the kind of laugh that only Minseok sees … the kind of laugh that Kai only laughs when they are alone in the woods.

When Kai’s laughter has died down, they meet eyes. Kai sees the wide grin on Minseok’s face -- the kind that makes his mouth look like a little cave with treasures of tiny teeth inside. This is the grin that Kai likes the most and it shows, as Kai reciprocates with a fond grin of his own.



***



It’s been four years now since Minseok has left the orphanage to live in the forest with Kai. When he was eight, Minseok had thought that the forest held more life than the orphanage and this had turned out to be true -- at least, for Minseok it had.

Lying with Kai in a small but cozy cave at night, Minseok felt that he had gained the world. He now had family and a home. He no longer spoke many words, but he didn’t have to. Kai and Minseok could read each other so well that even the tiniest dilation of their pupils could speak tomes, and the slightest changes in pressures of their held palms could mean the world.


It turned out that neither of them knew where they were from. They had smiled bittersweetly when they both ended the stories of their past with … “Before I knew it I was alone.”

But they were no longer alone. They had their cave. They had their Tree of Plenty that provided leaves for their bedding and fruits and nuts for their meals. Time to time, they had tons of fun fishing at the winding stream. And though they were small fish, they ate plenty and were full enough to fall happily asleep with satisfied smiles on their faces. Most importantly, they had each other. And each night when Minseok pressed his cheek into Kai’s soft fur or broader chest, a silent vow would connect them.

“Together for always…”


***



There aren’t many things that one can count on in the world, but the greed of humans is one thing that persists. Though the greed that had coveted the land beyond the orphanage had been quelled for six years, it’s on the seventh that greed finally wins.

Developers and builders encroach onto the forest and it isn’t long before Minseok is found. The one thing that Minseok still has is his clothing from the orphanage -- the ones that have his name sewn onto the lapel (for each orphan only gets one set).

'Kim Minseok'


The men that find him mistake him for a young wild beast at first. Minseok keeps growling until a man with a curled smile slowly comes up to him and asks, “Are you hungry?”


That morning, Kai had gone fishing and Minseok had been in charge of changing out their bedding. And though the thought of fish had been appealing to Minseok then, at the sight of the food that the men offer him, Minseok momentarily forgets about the fish, forgets about Kai.

Minseok follows the men into their car, taking an apple, then a banana, then a sandwich which is dissected for the sliced meat. The men laugh wondrously and ask, “Where are you from?”

But it is a question that Minseok had been asking himself since he was young; it was a question Minseok had stopped asking after meeting Kai. And while Minseok is busy eating the sandwich meat, the car sets off and the forest gets smaller and smaller behind them.



***



Minseok doesn’t know it, but the next day, all of the town’s newspapers hold a photo of him.

'WILD ORPHAN BOY FOUND IN FOREST', the headlines say.

The clothing, having been analyzed and discarded, were finally found to be from the orphanage. The one that had been on the outskirts of town. The one that had shut down four years ago for selling children illegally. Needless to say, it’s a huge scandal. Not only are the townsfolk reminded that the orphanage had been found to be in the human trafficking business, but a boy -- a child -- had escaped and had been found living “amongst the wolves”.

Of course to the non-discerning eye, Minseok looked very much the part of being raised by wolves. Not only did he growl and hiss at every strange and frightening thing, he devoured his food like an animal. But after Minseok’s hunger was sated and after he was given clean clothes to wear, a social worker assigned to Minseok was surprised to find that Kim Minseok the wolf boy could, in fact, speak.





Kim Joonmyeon hadn’t been at his position long; therefore, he still hadn’t given up his dream of saving orphaned children all over the world. He believed there was a happy ending for everyone and perhaps this is why, out of all the social workers, Joonmyeon is assigned to The Wild Boy.

He ignores the whispers and snickers of getting the “hardest kid to adopt out since the double murder incident”. And when Joonmyeon hears Minseok speak for the first time since his recovery from the forest, Joonmyeon is elated. However, it is the content of Minseok’s speech that troubles him.



“I want to go home.”



The warm bath and warm clothes had been lovely at first. But now, Minseok misses the genuine comfort of Kai’s body and the reassurance of Kai’s deep brown eyes.

And Minseok, hot tears filling his eyes, looks up at the kind looking man. His eyes search Joonmyeon's and Minseok hopes that this man can find a way to bring Minseok back to Kai, to find a way to bring Minseok back home.