A/N: Short chapter that I wanted to go ahead and get out to you guys since I have a busy two months coming up and might not update again until May. The reveal of their connection in the past is here! There is fluff ahead and more scenes with family and friends :)

Korean Words:

Omma: mother

Rang was having a nightmare, and in his nightmare, he was back in the house he'd grown up in, speaking with his mother. It was a familiar scene, one the Spirit of Darkness had thrust him into and one that he relived on occasion, remembering all the bitter words his imaginary mother had spoken to him.

You shouldn't have been born.

How come you are still alive after getting beaten up by those men?

You are a monster, my child.

This time, the conversation went a bit differently.

"Omma, there's someone I would like you to meet," he was saying to his mother, who looked terribly thin in her plain hanbok and aged before her time. She also, predictably, looked disappointed in Rang, but he knew that she would smile when she met Ga Eul. She would love Ga Eul because everyone loved Ga Eul. Rang just had to arrange a meeting, and then his mother would see that someone good and kind approved of him, so he couldn't be a monster.

"Is it that human woman?" his mother spat, her voice shaking and her arms crossed in disapproval.

"Yes." He frowned. "How do you know—"

"You're forbidden to marry her. You...are a creature that should not be with a human. Do you think another monster like you should come into this world? You shouldn't have been born yourself."

"Omma."

"Break up with her," his mother commanded sharply. "Do you want her life to be cursed like mine? You will curse her. You are a curse!"

"Omma!"

"Break up with her!" His mother gave him an angry slap on the arm, then another, then another, as she ranted, "Didn't you hear what I said? Break up with her! Break up with her, you monster! You will curse her! You will curse her!"

Rang woke with a start, his back and neck damp with sweat. When he turned his head slightly to the right, he saw that Ga Eul was asleep next to him.

A dream. It had only been a dream. Shuddering, Rang took a few breaths in and out, trying to settle himself. What an absurd dream. Why should he want to introduce Ga Eul to his mother? His mother didn't deserve to look at her.

Careful not to disturb Ga Eul, he crept out of bed and tiptoed over to the bathroom, where he splashed his face with water; placing his hands on either side of the sink, he leaned in and scowled at himself in the mirror, his body bare except for his red boxers and the scar that always taunted him. Rang set his jaw in a hard line, his chin dripping with water.

Omma, he said to his imaginary mother, you were wrong about me. I'm going to live like a normal human from now on. Just watch. I'm going to live happily just to spite you. I'm going to forget you and everything you ever said to me. That will be my revenge on you.

Rang toweled off his face. Just as he was about to go back to bed, however, his gaze landed on the open white trash can. On the glasses that were lying inside it, buried underneath a few tissues.

You will curse her. You are a curse.

Rang fished out the glasses and rubbed his thumb over their ancient frames.

You will curse her.

Rang shook his head, trying to hurl his mother's words from his mind, but he couldn't stop hearing her voice.

You will curse her. You will curse her. You are a curse.

Rang swallowed; he turned the glasses over and over in his hands.

Why was Ga Eul his soulmate? Why now? Rang had spent his whole terrible six hundred years without a soulmate, so why now?

He could probably answer that question if he looked in the glasses. He still didn't believe they would show him anything good, but if he was connected to Ga Eul in any divine sense, perhaps his nightmare mother was right, and a curse was part of it. A curse would make sense, and better a curse Rang could see than a curse he couldn't. Maybe he should look through the glasses, if only so he could keep Ga Eul safe from whatever remnants of their past might come back to haunt them. The past had a way of doing that. And he'd sworn to protect Ga Eul for her whole life now. He could only do so if he knew the full truth.

Making up his mind, Rang padded back into the bedroom, glasses in tow. Ga Eul was lying on her stomach exactly as he'd left her, her copper hair spread messily on her pillow and her arms and legs flung out at odd angles.

Rang hesitated. He didn't want to watch himself hurt her. Or, rather, he didn't want to watch her be hurt by him. He didn't want to look in the glasses and see that his mother had been right about him all along.

But no. He had to do this. She'd vowed to love him despite anything he'd done, so he owed her this much. He owed it to her to find out what had happened between them.

Rang raised the glasses to the level of his chin. He steeled himself to see some of his worst moments. To see himself, perhaps, plunging a knife into Ga Eul's chest. To see pain crumple her face. To see the life leave her eyes.

He hesitated a moment more, his gaze lingering on the version of Ga Eul that was peacefully slumbering in his black t-shirt, then set the Tiger's Brow on his nose.

Suddenly, Rang was in a forest. He'd been expecting to see Ga Eul as she looked presently, though wearing different clothes. Instead, he saw a hanbok-clad female child, maybe eight or nine if he had to guess, peeking out from a bush in the distance. His vision shifted, and he saw someone he hadn't seen in decades—Su Gyeong. She was a child in the vision, which meant...Rang had been a child.

Soon enough, the vision widened, and he saw himself, dressed in the hanbok he'd been wearing when he'd run from the burned forest. His clothing was so dirty that it was nearly unrecognizable. This was an ancient event. He'd only just started traveling with Su Gyeong.

"Did you find the other human?" Su Gyeong asked. They were in the middle of a human camp, and lying on the ground next to Su Gyeong were two dead adult humans, their throats slashed. There was blood on Su Gyeong's hanbok.

"No," Child Rang answered automatically. "Maybe they ran off."

"Then track them. That's what your nose is for, isn't it?" Su Gyeong bent over the fallen male human and rummaged through his clothing for valuables.

Child Rang appeared hesitant, and Su Gyeong looked over at him and snapped, "Well, what are you waiting for?!"

The sound of her voice made Adult Rang flinch. He hadn't thought Su Gyeong could get through to him after so many years, but seeing the two of them as children brought back too many unwelcome memories.

"Oh, and Rang...make sure to catch her. That will be your dinner," Su Gyeong added as Child Rang began walking away. Pausing, his expression unreadable, he stared at her after she'd turned her back; a moment later, he snatched up a torn piece of clothing from the dirt.

He set off heading east of where Child Ga Eul was hiding. Once he'd gotten a fair distance from the camp, he made a lap around the perimeter, tearing off pieces of the cloth and kicking them under pine straw at intervals.

Leaving a false trail, Adult Rang surmised, surprised that he'd been smart enough to do so.

Finally reaching the place where Child Ga Eul was hiding in the bush, Child Rang snuck up behind her and clamped his hand over her mouth.

Immediately, she struggled and tried to bite him, but he gave her a stern look and shushed her. Taking her by the hand, he quietly led her out of the bush, then over to a nearby rock opening that was just tall enough for the girl to slide into on her stomach. Working quickly, he covered the entrance with fallen pine branches, the green and brown needles obscuring the girl from view.

"Stay here until tomorrow morning. There's a village that way." Child Rang pointed. "Walk in a straight line until you find the river."

"Wait," Child Ga Eul whispered, latching onto his wrist. "Don't go. We can hide together."

Child Rang hesitated, looking into the girl's eyes through the veil of needles.

He glanced behind him, then at the girl again.

"Be quiet. Don't come out," he warned.

Then he turned and fled the scene.

When the vision ended, Rang removed the glasses. He stood there in stunned silence, a lump in his throat, glancing up at Ga Eul's sleeping form, then down at the glasses, then up at Ga Eul again.

He didn't remember that moment at all. Watching it had felt like entering a dream world. He had been so small then—probably, he still hadn't known how to fight properly—but for some reason, he'd had compassion on a human child. Perhaps because he'd been a child and had seen himself reflected in her. Perhaps because of Yeon's influence. He couldn't hear the thoughts of Child Rang in the vision, so it was impossible to tell why he had done what he had. He certainly wouldn't have done such a thing only a few years later.

Somehow, he'd met Ga Eul in the extremely narrow window of time when he was still capable of mercy.

Rang's breaths thickened in his chest despite his relief.

He'd saved her.

He'd saved Ga Eul.

A single tear rolled down his cheek.

He'd saved Ga Eul.

That was all? That was it? That couldn't be it. There had to be more.

Rang put the glasses back on and rewatched the scene, searching for anything he might have missed, but he only saw Child Rang lead Child Ga Eul to safety and tuck her away.

He only saw her hand reach through the pine needles and grab his wrist as she said they could hide together.

He only saw himself shake her off and hurry back to Su Gyeong.

Rang sat down on the edge of the bed, stunned anew.

He'd saved her.

That was how they were connected. He'd saved her life when they were both kids. That was what he'd been worried about for months. The thought was so absurd yet so relieving that Rang started laughing uncontrollably, waking Ga Eul up in the process.

"Rang?" she asked as she sat up, but Rang couldn't answer her. Laughing hysterically, tears streaming down his face, he collapsed onto the bed and rolled onto his stomach; still gripping the glasses, he propped himself up on his elbows so he could look at Ga Eul's face, which only made him laugh more.

"Rang?" she repeated, her voice full of concern. "What is it? What's so funny?" She noticed the glasses. "Why do you have those? I told you we should throw them away."

"Ga Eul," he managed. "You should...you need to…" He trailed off helplessly, holding the glasses out to her. Trying to get a grip on himself, he took a few deep breaths, then said, "You need to look in these. It's nothing bad, I promise. It's...just look in the mirror."

"What?" Ga Eul didn't accept the glasses from him. She didn't move, seeming utterly confused and uncertain, so Rang pulled himself up. He took her by the hand and led her into the bathroom, where he placed the glasses into her open palms, then curled her fingers around them.

"You should look," he said, cradling her fists in his palms. "Just trust me."

"But before you said you didn't want me to look."

"That's because I hadn't looked in them myself," Rang admitted, "so I didn't know what you'd see. I just assumed it was something bad. But I know now. You should look. It's okay." Rang smiled. "It's all okay. Please, look, look."

Ga Eul studied him for a moment, then cautiously lifted the glasses to her face and put them on. She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.

Rang watched the subtle shifts in her expression until suddenly she broke into a smile.

"That's you, isn't it? When you were a kid?"

"Yes."

"You're so cute. I always wanted to see what you looked like then." Her mouth moved some more, forming soundless words; eventually, she took the glasses off, and when she turned back to Rang, he saw tears in her eyes. Warmth and fondness lit her smile.

"You saw it, right?" Rang grinned. "I saved you!"

"Idiot. Of course, you saved me. I keep telling you that you're a good fox."

You're a good fox.

Yes, she did say that all the time. Perhaps this explained it. Perhaps some part of her soul remembered him saving her, even though that had happened in another lifetime.

You aren't afraid of me, not even a little bit? he'd asked her the first night he'd come up to her apartment, the night she'd found out he was a fox.

No, she'd answered without any hint of doubt, I can tell you're a good person.

"But Rang," Ga Eul continued, interrupting his musings, "who was the other girl? The one with blood all over her clothes."

"Oh..." Rang quickly sobered. "Just a fox I traveled with for a while. After I'd lived with him for two years, my brother and I got separated. Actually, I thought he was dead for some time. So I was on my own, and I traveled with that person for a few years. Her name's Su Gyeong."

"Su Gyeong," Ga Eul echoed the name experimentally.

"But let's not talk about her right now. I didn't show you that so you could see her."

"Will you tell me about her later then?"

Rang nodded.

"I promise."

"Okay. Deal." Ga Eul smiled, then gasped. "Oh! I just figured something out! You covered me with pine needles!"

Rang raised an eyebrow, unsure why that was cause for excitment.

"Yes?" he queried.

"Didn't I ever tell you?" Ga Eul rambled excitedly. "You smell like a forest to me. I know it's not your cologne since I've been staying with you. I thought it was because you're a fox, but that doesn't quite make sense. Yu Ri and Shin-joo are foxes, and they don't have that scent. But you do because you covered me with pine needles! That was how you saved me. It was in front of me the whole time, and I didn't even know it!" Ga Eul flung her arms around him. "My soulmate saved me," she noted happily. "You saved me from an attack in my last life, and you saved me from another one in this life. Isn't that so incredibly wonderful? We were really meant to be, don't you think?" She beamed as she tilted her face up at him, and Rang chuckled. He circled his arms around Ga Eul and pressed her body to his, savoring her warmth and happiness.

It was absurd—there was that word again—that she'd been the recipient of one rare good thing he'd done six hundred years ago and that he was being rewarded for it now, after all this time. Meant to be? He didn't know about that, but what other explanation was there?

What explanation was there?

"Ga Eul…"

"Hmm?"

"What did the fortune teller say to you when he gave you the charm?"

"Um…" Ga Eul lowered her eyes to Rang's chest. "He didn't say much. He told me to give him something I'd been holding onto. I think he said it was so I could embrace my true love."

"What did you give him?" Rang urged, insatiably curious.

"A bracelet I bought from a street vendor in a foreign country. I'd had it since high school. I was supposed to give it to the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, so for a long time, I planned on giving it to Yi Jeong Sunbae, but the right moment never arrived. It was one of my most prized possessions. When I handed it over...that was the moment I really gave up on him…" Ga Eul tipped her face up toward Rang's. "Why?"

Rang stayed quiet for a minute, letting her words soak in, trying to puzzle out what they meant.

"It's a trade," he finally said. "The fortune teller you saw, he's not just any fortune teller. He's the same fortune teller I got those glasses from and the tenth god of the underworld who supervises the underworld of darkness, determines fates, and decides afterlives. He changed your fate...No...You changed your fate. When you handed over the bracelet."

Ga Eul frowned.

"What do you mean? You think my original fate was to end up with Yi Jeong Sunbae?"

Rang nodded.

"Half-foxes aren't supposed to exist in this world."

"Rang," Ga Eul scolded him, as she always did when he said anything of the sort.

"No, just listen. We really were never meant to exist. There's a rule that says foxes aren't supposed to...mingle with humans. I wasn't planned by the gods. I'm not supposed to be here. And if you're not planned by the gods, the gods don't give you a soulmate. So I thought there was a mistake when I got paired with you. Or the gods were just messing with me, perhaps as a punishment. But I'm not sure that it had anything to do with me after all. I think you...got paired with me because of what I did for you in your past life, and it wasn't really my fate that was changed. It was yours. My fate was just a consequence."

A consequence. That made sense to Rang. His life was a consequence. Ga Eul had wanted a soulmate, so she'd unwittingly traded Yi Jeong for him. Karma was being kind to him, but only on accident.

"Rang," Ga Eul repeated.

"Don't worry, this is a good thing." Rang smiled. "It's better if our fate's not so tied to me. But anyway, thank you for choosing me, even if you did it on accident. I like being your soulmate."

"I told you. If I could do it again, I'd ask for you specifically."

Rang laughed.

"If you asked for me specifically, they probably wouldn't give me to you."

"Hey! Stop saying things like that." Ga Eul hugged him tighter.

Still chuckling, Rang continued, "I'm just relieved. I really thought I did something bad to you in your past life. Now we don't have to worry about that anymore. Good job, little human." He ruffled her hair. "You did well with your wish."

Pulling back from him, Ga Eul countered, "You should thank Yu Ri. She's the one who dragged me to the fortune teller. But you know, if you hadn't rescued her, she wouldn't have met me, and you wouldn't have met me either. And if you hadn't saved me way back then, there would have been no reason for us to be put together. So maybe you think this is an accident, but I still say you made a few good choices in your life. Maybe not many, but not nothing either. I think you're my soulmate as a reward."

Rang smiled, not completely agreeing but not fighting her assessment either. He was just glad them being together wasn't a curse. He was glad to know that he'd only been meant as a source of goodness in Ga Eul's life. His heart felt a hundred times lighter, even more so than it had felt when he'd realized how much Ga Eul loved him.

"Did I call being your soulmate a reward?" Rang teased nonetheless. "If I was being rewarded with a human, don't you think they would be much taller?"

He was rewarded with a slap on his arm—a kind one, a gentle one. One that said you are not a curse. You will never be a curse. Not to me.