Lost in the woods one night, you expected fear, silence, and a long walk back home. You didn’t expect Valko. The moment he caught your scent, something ancient within him stirred—an instinct he couldn’t explain and couldn’t ignore. Now, with a bond neither of you understands slowly pulling you together, the line between fate and instinct begins to blur.
Y/N returns to her rural hometown years after leaving because of her parents’ separation, expecting everything—and everyone—to have changed. Instead, she finds familiar roads, familiar faces, and Lin Xu: her childhood best friend she once left behind. Only now he’s taller, older, and loved by the entire village. Children cling to him, elderly neighbors call for him whenever they need help, and he still smiles like sunlight itself. She thought he’d forgotten her. He thought she’d outgrown him. But some people never really leave your heart—no matter how many years pass.