It was a quiet and beautiful day in the Polissian forest. The forest was covered with groves of pine trees and the pine trees stood tall and mighty with their grey arms and leafy fingers reaching for the clouds. The forest floor was covered with green, luscious mose; giant, brown mushrooms; and thin, vibrant ferns. Rushing rivers and marshy swamps pass through the Polissian wilderness and each body of water carries the necessaries that support the life of the forest. The only sounds that could be heard in this majestic forest were the singing of the chirping birds and the ripples of the rushing river. Clearly nothing could disturb such a quiet and beautiful day.

“Are we there yet?!”

“Not yet..”

“Are we there yet?”

“Not yet…”

“Are we there yet?”

“I said we’ll get there in five minutes so stop asking.”

“BUT YOU SAID THAT TEN MINUTES AGO!!!”

Well, it seems that the forest’s quietness has been disturbed by a duo of hikers: German hikers: a fox and a bird. Specifically, the pair were a blue and white fox and a sandy brown and white bird who were both clothed with cotton jackets, heavy backpacks, hiking boots, and walking sticks. Currently, the bird was looking down and holding a map in his right hand (wing?) and the fox was trailing behind him, tired and hungry as he had been hiking for five whole kilometers without any sort of break. The fox doesn’t know how he was able to hike so much without stopping; the only force that the fox could think of that kept him going was the bird in front of him with his handsome beak, his strong muscles, his beautiful feathers, and his long and fat-

“Hey Hako!”

The crested lark’s shout caused the blue fox to remove himself from his daydream and he turned around to see what the bird was looking at. The bird was pointing at and standing right infront of a sign that was written in a language that the blue fox couldn’t make out. Thankfully, the bird, due to being half Ukrainian, was able to read what the sign had to say.

“Gori, what does it say?” Hako asked.

“It says that hunting is prohibited here,” the bird said with a grin on his beak. Gori then shifted his attention away from the green sign and he walked over to a thicker and darker tree that was just a few meters away from the sign. He then pointed up and there was a yellow triangle sign that stood on a branch and in the middle of the sign were three black, round trapezoids that surrounded a small, black dot.

“Does that sign mean we made it-”

“Yes, it means we made it to the Exclusion Zone! Pripyat is only 3 kilometers away! We’ll be there in no time!”

A mental wave of “UGGGGGGHHHHHHH” went through the blue fox’s head as he loathed that he had more hiking to do. Why did he agree to go hiking? He didn’t even like hiking so why did he agree to go on 20km+ hike to one of the most radioactive places in the world? It didn’t take Hako much reflection to find an answer for why he agreed to do this as he stared at the bird who was hiking in front of him. He was doing this for him. For him.

Hako had known Gori for quite some time now; in fact the two have been roommates for about two years now. Hako first met Gori in university four years ago when the two were part of the same chemistry class. God, Hako hated everything about that class, well everything except for Gori. Soon Hako and Gori became friends over the course of the class and after university, they decided that it would be for the best if the two of them lived together so it could be easier to pay rent. Hako and Gori had done multiple stuff together: they went to many concerts together, they had watched shitty horror films together, they had tried out hundreds of different restaurants and bars together, and they even went on a trip to the UK together. Even though they did many things together, they had only done it as “friends.”

With this hiking trip to Chernobyl, Hako was hoping that the two could become more than just friends. Hako never told anyone this but ever since he laid his eyes on the bird in front of him, the blue fox had a crush on Gori. Some could say that this was “love at first sight.” Hako always wanted to ask Gori to be his but there were two things that held the fox back. The first thing was trying to find the perfect opportunity to ask him out: Hako didn’t want to casually ask Gori out, he wanted to make it special, romantic, and memorable. The second thing that held Hako back was his fear of rejection: what if Gori didn’t feel the same way about him? What if Gori was straight? So when Gori asked Hako if he wanted to go on a hiking trip with him to Chernobyl, the blue fox thought the trip would be the perfect moment to ask the bird out. Also how could Hako say no to a smile like that?

This hiking trip was a trip that Gori had six months in the making. Unlike Hako, Gori loved to hike and he hiked pretty much all of Europe. The Scottish Highlands? He hiked there. The Amalfi Coast? He hiked there. The Swiss Alps? He definitely hiked there. He wanted to do one last hike in Europe before he hikes somewhere in Asia or Africa; he wanted to hike in Chernobyl and see the ruins of Pripyat for himself. The trip began with a one and an half day drive to Ukraine and once inside Ukraine, they spent the night in Kiev at Gori’s g̶r̶a̶n̶d̶m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ babusya’s apartment. As soon as morning arrived, they left Gori’s babusya’s apartment and drove to a small village that was 80 kilometers away from Kiev. They then parked inside an abandoned parking lot and started their hike to Chernobyl.

They had been hiking for about five hours and Hako’s legs looked like they were about to give up and collapse. However, Gori was still hiking with no sweat as if he could hike forever. Thankfully for Hako, the sun was setting and it was dangerous to hike in the woods while it’s dark so Gori decided it was time to set up camp. Their camping site was nothing grand or anything: it was only composed of two sleeping bags (the blue one was for Hako and the red one was for Gori) that surrounded a campfire that was constructed by Hako. The campfire had a circle of rocks that Hako found nearby which prevented the fire from spreading into the rest of the forest. Imagine how fuck they would be if they started a forest fire right inside Chernobyl: the forest fire would have been all over the world news. Gori was currently laying down on his sleeping bag, looking up to the stars above.

“The stars are beautiful, aren’t they Hako?” Gori asked as he moved his eyes away from the burning balls of gas millions and millions of miles away to his foxy friend who was sitting criss-cross applesauce inside his sleeping bag while roasting a sausage above the fire. Drool escaped from the fox’s mouth as he watched the sausage slowly cook above the fire. He really REALLY wants to have that long, tasty sausage deep in his mouth right now.

“Hako, did you listen to what I just asked?” Gori said as he was a little annoyed from the lack of response from his furry friend. He twisted his head to get a better look at Hako and he immediately saw the fox stuffing his face off with the sausage. “Foxes and their appetite,” the bird remarked as he smirked and shook his head. Hako finally noticed that Gori was looking at him and his cheeks grew red as he realized that the man he wanted to ask out just saw him doing that. Idiot, why did you do that right in front of him! Now he’s going to think you’re some weirdo now, Hako thought to himself as he tried to cover his face away from the crested lark. All that only caused a laugh to escape from the bird’s beak.

“Hako, I hope you never change.”

After an hour of friendly banter between the two friends, it was finally time for the two of them to hit the hay and they both fell asleep comfortably in their sleeping bags. After a couple of hours, the sun rose up to the sky and the bird and fox were shortly awakened from their sleep. The two ate a quick breakfast and then started their hike towards Pripyat. During their hike, they passed through docks filled with abandoned boats, crumpled rural houses, piles of wooden and stone debris, and decaying stone walls that were now covered with vines and trees. After three hours of hiking, the duo finally made it to Pripyat and the ruined city looked like a place forgotten by time. Tall, white, decaying buildings made up the lost city’s skyline and trees covered the city's roads and fields. Each building was filled with broken glass, wood, and cardboard and the buildings themselves looked like they're about to collapse at any moment. On the other side of Pripyat was a destroyed amusement park that contained an abandoned metal ferris wheel that was covered with rust and the cars that hung off the ferris wheel were still just as yellow as they were before the meltdown. After hiking almost everywhere in Pripyat, there was one last place Gori wanted to see before heading back home. He wanted to see and go inside the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant; he wanted to see the reactor.

The nuclear power plant was what caused all of this to happen; thirty five years ago, reactor 4 of this power plant was destroyed by a sudden surge of power and lack of stable architecture. Due to the reactor’s failure, radiation leaked from the power plant and spread throughout Chernobyl and Europe. In recent times, the Ukrainian government has constructed a giant, white, arching tent which covers the reactor and no one is allowed to be inside. However, a tent and Ukrainian security isn’t going to stop a determined Gori from sneaking inside. Once it became dusk, Gori found a little hole in the tent and the brown bird and the blue fox sneaked inside. The inside of reactor 4 was truly a sight to behold.

The inside of reactor 4 was brittle and gritty. The walls of the reactor looked all bent up and broken as if they were being pulled away. The floors of the damaged reactor were covered with dirt and destroyed machinery. It truly looked like a nuclear bomb exploded there.

“Woah this is incredible,” Gori whispered as he was in awe of the rubble surrounding him. He saw many pictures and many videos online about the inside of reactor 4 but those things were nothing compared to seeing it all in person. The bird then shifted his attention to the blue fox standing beside him. “Hako, isn’t seeing this in person amazing?”

“It sure is, Gori,” the blue fox responded, “it sure is.” Truthfully, Hako found none of this to be any of his interest; he never really cared for urban exploration, but seeing Gori happy was making him happy. Since the two are now completely isolated from the rest of the world, Hako thought this was the best moment to finally pop the question that has been looming inside him ever since the first day he met Gori. “Hey Gori, I’ve been thinking-”

“Hey Hako, would it be fine if I go take some pictures of this place?” Gori quickly asked.

“Sure.”

“Thanks!” The crested lark quickly pulled a small camera out from his backpack and started to walk around and take pictures.

“Alright, to go back to what I was saying,” Hako started again, with his head looking down, his eyes closed, and his paws holding onto one another, “I’ve been thinking and, um, you and I know each other for quite a while now. I think four years now? So, um, I believe it is now, um, time that I need to come out and say it… *sign* Gori, I’m in love with you and I think we’ll make a perfect couple together!” Hako looked up and opened his eyes to see Gori’s reaction to what he just blurred out. His red cheeks contrasted against his blue and white furry face and he was worried if Gori didn’t feel the same way about him. If he doesn’t, then their friendship is going to become a little more complicated, maybe even destroyed. However, Gori was not in sight and anxiety went through Hako’s head. Where did he go?! Where is he!?

“GORI!!!” Hako shouted as fear started to cloud his mind, “GORI WHERE ARE YOU!?!” Many questions started to swirl inside Hako’s mind. Was Gori lost inside this nuclear reactor? Was Gori kidnapped? Did Gori abandon him?

“Hako I’m right here,” Gori’s voice answered. Hako looked around to see that Gori was just five meters away from him. Damn, it was almost impossible to see in here due to how dark this abandoned reactor is. Thankfully, due to being a fox, Hako had some sort of night vision which enabled him to still see his feathered crush. As Hako looked at Gori, he could see that Gori was still taking pictures with his little camera. However, Gori was right beside a pit of liquid uranium that somehow still exists inside the reactor and the bird was unknowingly walking straight into it!

I got to save him, Hako thought as he looked around for options. He knew he couldn’t let Gori walk into a pit of uranium: the uranium would easily kill a bird of Gori’s importance. The first important thing about Gori is that he’s part of the endangered species program in Germany and if he dies under Hako’s snout, Hako could be charged with the manslaughter of an endangered animal! Number two, Gori meant the world to him and Hako couldn’t let the man he loves die. Hako looked to see if there’s any button he could press to close the pit of leaked liquid uranium but there was no dice. That leaves only one thing to do.

“GORI STOPPED!!!” Hako shouted as he started to run in front of the bird.

“Hako what do you-”

Before Gori could finish what he could say, the bird tripped and he was about to land right inside the pit. This caused more adrenaline to be pumped into the blue fox and his speed increased by tenfold. Before Gori could fall inside, the fox pushed him away and the bird landed safely on the ground. However, that only means that it was now Hako who was falling inside the pit of radioactive acid.

“SPLASH!”

Hako’s body was fully submerged into the pit of uranium and a feeling of intense pain started to spread throughout his body. Unknownst to Hako, his entire DNA sequence was changing due to the uranium pit’s deadly radiation. Before Hako could stay too long inside the uranium, a mysterious force pulled him out of the pit and dropped him onto the non uranium floor. The fox could hear the concerned voice of a familiar person starting to get louder and louder.

“hako… Hako… HAKO!!!”

Hako’s eyes opened up and he could see the bird he loved standing right above him. Tears were in his eyes and a smile on his beak as he saw his friend waking up.

“Hako, you’re alive!” Gori cried, “Thank God! I was so worried!”

“Gori, what happened?” Hako whispered as he started to pick himself off the floor. The first thing that Hako noticed was that the fur of his hands were no longer the distinct blue color that he was proud of: his hands were now pink! Then he looked at his arms and legs and noticed that they also turned pink as well. He then pulled out his phone (which thankfully didn’t break as his phone was waterproof) and saw that all of the blue hair on his face became pink and his yellow green eyes had become red. “Gori, what happened?”

“You fell into that pit as you were trying to save me.” As soon as those words escaped from the crested lark’s beak, the memories of what just happened started to replay in Hako’s head. He ran towards Gori, who was about to fall into the pit, and he pushed Gori away. And then he, himself, fell into the pit. But then the question was, who took Hako out of the pit?

“Gori, did you pick me up from the pit?”

“Yes, I did. Your body was floating on the surface and I used my talons to pick you. I’m so sorry Hako, I didn’t mean for you to fall down. We shouldn’t have come here; I really fucked up. I’m so sorry Hako, I’m-”

“There’s no need to say sorry,” Hako interrupted.

“But I caused you to fall into the-”

“No, you didn’t cause me to fall. It was my own choice to push you away from that pit, because… because… because I love you.” Once those words left Hako’s mouth, the now pink fox felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest. The feelings that he has harbored for four whole years were finally released with three simple words, “I love you.”

“Hako…”

“Gori, I love you. I have started loving you since the moment our eyes first met. Even since that first day of chemistry, I always loved you. Everyday that I spend by your side has made me the happiest fox to ever live. You mean the world to me, Gori and if I have to jump into a hundred pits full of uranium for you, I would. I love you Gori and I want you to be mine.” After Hako finished speaking, there was a minute of silence that stood between the bird and the pink fox.

“Hako,” the bird said, “Hako, I… I love you too. I thought you were straight and I didn’t want to make things awkward…”

“Dude, I’m neither gay or straight: I’m bi,” Hako answered. This caused both the fox and the bird to laugh and the two then started to embrace one another. In their moment of love, Hako brought his snout toward’s Gori’s beak and the two started to kiss. Neither one knew how long they kissed each other but to them, this kiss felt like forever. Neither one wanted this kiss to ever end but sadly, all good things must come to an end and their lips departed from one another.

“Hey, I think it’s time we head back home,” the sandy brown bird said.

“I think you’re right,” the pink fox replied. The two turned around and turned to walk towards where they came from.

“I think this is the best hiking trip ever.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Within a couple of days, they safely returned to their apartment in Cologne. Once inside their apartment, a new chapter sparked in each other’s life as they’re no longer roommate and roommate but boyfriend and boyfriend. When friends ask them how they became a couple or how Hako’s fur magically became pink, the first thing that either of them say is, “it’s a long story.”
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Hey guys, it's Pics here! This story was written as a gift my friend Hakogori on Instagram. This story started with a conversation between me and Hako where we were talking about his favorite colors and he mentioned how pink on his sona would make him look like he was dropped into a tube of uranium. I couldn't give up the opportunity to write a story about that XD

Hako belongs to Hakogori
Gori belongs to both me and Hakogori

I hope you guys enjoy :)