Date 17: Bugaksan Mountain

"Sukjeongmun gate,” Dara murmured as Jiyong pulled into a cramped parking spot a few meters from three trailheads. It was a sight to see, really. Only ten minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul towered huge mountains with divine hiking trails, beautiful underbrush, and lovely sweeping views of the entire city.

Her stomach clenched at the memory of the first time Jiyong took her to his spot above Seoul. Somehow, he managed to find a place even more secluded than Bugaksan and the little town of Buam-dong that nestled in its valley nearby.

“Ready?” He asked as the engine died down.

“As I’ll ever be,” she smiled and rubbed her stomach slightly. The cramps. They’d begun.

“You sure you want to do this? We could raincheck it for another day.”

“No, no. We’ve got a tight schedule, mister.”

“What do you mean?” Jiyong stopped halfway out the door.

“I… nothing…” She stuttered as she struggled to get her door open. “Just get out of the car!” She snapped, making him chuckle.

He grabbed his backpack from the backseat, filled to the brim with snacks and water to keep Dara’s voracious appetite at bay and energy up, as she adjusted her new fanny pack.

“Ready?” He asked again with a smile, taking in Dara’s odd hiking look – expensive Chanel running shoes, ahjumma visor, and athletic wear. She looked adorable.

“As I’ll ever be,” she muttered again as she took the lead toward the trails.



It was beautiful - green trees with hanging branches sweeping above them, the brown steps leading up the mountain seeming endless. The air was crisp, the world quiet, life simpler as they made their way up, hand in hand. They uttered hardly a word as they took in the new world around them, stunned at the beauty that they often forgot mother nature held.

Luckily, they’d picked a day where most mountaingoers were still locked up in their office-work. They could have the day on the mountain to themselves.

Though, after about half an hour of hiking, Jiyong was happy for the lack of company for a different reason.

“Okay… who’s idea was this?!” Dara snapped, taking a rough seat on one of the steps, her breathing heavy.

“Another break?” Jiyong asked as he took out another water bottle for her.

“This was your idea, wasn’t it? I would never put hike up a mountain into the bowl…” She took the water from him and chugged it down.

“It wasn’t me,” he shrugged and laughed as he took out two energy bars for them, though he didn’t really need it.

“Stop lying.”

“It wasn’t me, I swear!”

She gave him the side-eye as she took a bite out of hers.

“Let me ask you something, Ji. Do I look like an outdoorsy girl to you?” She pointed the bar at him in an almost accusatory way.

“What?”

“You seem like the outdoorsy type – with the hiking and the fishing and the walking around,” she said each one like they belonged on the same level as the plague.

“What are you saying right now, Jagi?” He laughed at the increasingly incoherent babble that she was now spouting.

“I’m just saying, hiking up a mountain isn’t my favorite thing in the world. It’s… how do you say… -ish.”

“Is it the cramps?” He said quietly, memory of their awkward encounter in the bathroom stinging him again.

She eyed him dangerously. “Yes,” she said after a few moments of death glaring that would put anyone on edge. “That and the fact that I am neither outdoorsy nor athletic.” She stuffed the rest of the bar in with a huff.

“You seem every athletic to me… in b-“ He stopped abruptly as the empty chocolate bar wrapper came barreling his way and made its home right on his forehead – courtesy of Dara’s ninja hands.

He peeled it off with a laugh and threw it into his bag.

“We can head down, get some coffee instead or something,” he reached his hand out for her with that all too familiar, all too understanding smile and Dara cursed herself for being such a hothead.

“No. Way. You think I’d give up half-way up a mountain? What kind of girl do you think I am?” She said triumphantly and practically skipped up ahead of him like a little girl scout.

Jiyong watched with a smile as she bounced up the steps, eyes searching the green world around them, fluttering around like a child. He hardly saw this side of her – goddess, CEO extraordinaire, a bottomless pit of hunger – he’d seen those all more times than he could count, but seeing her look so innocent and so unabashedly amazed and happy… it seemed rare. It seemed like something only Mother Nature could do.

He laughed as her energy drained out after another 14 minutes and she took a seat on one of the steps again. Luckily, they only had about a fourth of the mountain left.

He unfoiled a roll of kimbap and handed it to her, knowing all too well that it would be gone by the time he could get another bottle of water in her hands.

“You still good?” He asked as he took a chug from his own.

“I’m kind of dying… but yeah. I’m good.”

“It’s pretty though, isn’t it?” He slid his arms over her shoulder and pulled her close as they took in the spiraling trail below them and the seemingly endless ocean of effervescent green.

“Yes. It’s stunning.”

“So you don’t regret doing this?”

“I don’t regret anything I do with you, Ji.” She chuckled and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “As long as you’re here, everything’s fine.”

“Good,” he nodded against her lips. “Cause we still have like 20 minutes to the top.”

“Ughhhh.” She grabbed her stomach and pouted at him.

“C’mon Dara, a fourth up or three-fourths down with the knowledge that you could have gotten to the top but you chickened out. What will it be?” He stood and tilted his head at her, scolding playfully.

“Of course I’m not going to give up,” she stood too and placed her hands on her hips. “But…”

She gave him that look and he groaned. The same look she gave him at Lotte World.

“Ji.” She approached him slowly and he winced at her, recognizing her tone. “Do you know what it feels like to cramp up?” She poked his stomach harshly.

“Sometimes if I’ve eaten dokbokki that’s too spicy-“

“No!” She laughed slightly before she regained her composure. “Just one-fourth more, Ji. Just twenty minutes.” She shrugged and gave him a tight lipped smile.

He groaned slightly before he shrugged off his backpack and handed it over to her, then turned around and offered up his back. She nearly squealed as she put the bag on and jumped on him for a piggyback.

“AH GO GO!!”

And they were off.

After another 15 minutes, another fourth way up the mountain, another energy bar stuffed in his mouth despite his protests, another bottle of water spilled over his head to “cool him down” – they finally reached the top.

Jiyong fell to his knees as Dara ran off toward the edge of the wide expanse to take in the entire view.

“Ji! You have to see this! It’s amazing!”

“Yeah… I’m kind of… dying…” He huffed as he tried to push himself up, his legs feeling like jelly. She looked back at and laughed before she headed over and turned around just as he had, offering up her back.

“Seriously?”

“Just get on.” She pushed farther into him until he had no choice.

Without even a single grunt or complaint, she took his full weight on and practically ran over to a spot overlooking a gorgeous view of Seoul. The NamSam tower view paled in comparison.

“Wow,” Jiyong breathed as he slid off her back.

“It’s amazing, right?”

“Breathtaking… why haven’t we been here before?”

“Been kind of busy, haven’t we?” She chuckled as she grabbed the backpack from him and pulled out two sandwiches. They took up spots on the sturdy wooden fence and began eating their lunch above the city.

A break. It’s was a wonderful break. A break from the confines of his apartment, a break from the chaos of the city, a break from the seemingly endless crowds of people that surrounded them everywhere they went. Here, they were alone. Here, it seemed like they had the world to themselves.

“This reminds me of the spot you showed me. Do you remember?” She asked with a smile, eyes still on the view below.

“Of course.”

“Have you been there since?”

“Not since I showed you, no. Why?”

“I went there a lot,” she said quietly. “After I found out that you and Jason were related. I went straight there. When… when I left you, I would spend hours there just thinking.”

“It’s been a long time since then,” he almost whispered.

“I think that’s where I realized it,” her eyes looked faraway, as if recalling a memory.

“What?”

“That…. That I was in love with you.” She turned to him and smiled. “When you showed it to me… I was so lost back then. But there, with you, I felt so safe. For the first time after waking up from that coma… I felt like I was… home.”

She looked away again, eyes fixed somewhere he couldn’t imagine and his stomach pulled. For the first time in a long time, the memories of what happened hit him square in the chest and he realized again that she’d gone through pain he probably could never even imagine.

“Thank you,” she whispered. A small smile pulled at her lips.

“For what?”

She only smiled. “Should we head back down?”

He nodded, watching silently as she loaded their things back into the pack and threw it over her shoulder.

“Which way?” She asked as they reached two diverging paths.

“That one,” Jiyong pointed at the trail opposite of the one they’d taken up. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Buam-dong is a really beautiful village. I heard they have wonderful little coffee shops,” he smirked at her.

“So you were the one that put this in the bowl!”

“Well of course, Ms. Park. If it wasn’t you then it had to be me, right?” He stuck his tongue out at her before bounding down the trail with a laugh.



Buam-dong was indeed a beautiful village. It was quaint and quirky, splashes of color on red and blue walls filled tiny alleyways next to quaint shops and small buildings. Life seemed to go much slower than in the city and everyone seemed so relaxed, happily in place in the groove and flow of their everyday lives.

Jiyong led them down to small enclave that looked something like a house instead of a business.

“Hello?” He knocked on the door and as it opened, they were greeted by a boisterous ahjussi with curly hair down to his shoulders.

“Jiyong-ah!! So nice to have you here again,” he smiled brightly and gave a rumbling laugh as he took him in for a hug.

“Ahjussi, this is my girlfriend. Sandara Park.”

“Please call me Dara,” she bowed as she said it, only to be surprised and taken into a hug as tight and familiar as the one he gave Jiyong.

“And you can call me Ahjussi. Everyone does anyway,” he winked at her as they parted. “Come in! Come in! We got plenty of space for you.”

He ushered them in to a small, but incredibly inviting little café.

“This place is called The Yellow House,” Jiyong explained as they took in seats against the wall and Dara gaped at the array of pictures decorating the walls – all aged and going yellow, but all of Ahjussi in his younger years. There were ones of him fishing, eating, with awards, and what looked like at a dance competition.

“How do you know Ahjussi?”

“He’s friends with my dad. When he had time, my dad would take us here and we’d spend the day in Buam-dong. It almost feels like home.”

“It’s beautiful here,” she smiled at him as Ahjussi approached their table. He laid out two mugs full of steaming, deliciously fresh, deep black coffee and a huge wooden plate filled to the brim with fried chicken and potatoes.

“But we haven’t ordered yet, Ahjussi?” She said as she took in the mouth-watering spread.

“I’ll take good care of you. No need to worry! Now eat and enjoy!” He said as he placed the sugar and creamer down onto their table. He took hold of Jiyong’s shoulder and squeezed hard, before he bent down to whisper something in his ear. Jiyong’s eyes immediately flew to Dara before he grinned and nodded.

Ahjussi nodded at her, something twinkling in his eyes, before he gave her a soft pat on the shoulder and headed off toward the kitchen.

“What was that about?” She asked as she took a huge bite out of the succulent fried chicken, probably the best she’d ever had.

“He said okay.”

“Okay? For what?”

“We made a promise when I was younger.” He said slowly as he poured creamer into his coffee. “He said I was like the son he never had, so he made me promise that if I ever found a girl I would marry… I would take her to him and only marry her if he agreed.”

Her eyes widened and the chicken fell hard onto the wooden plate. He avoided her eyes, smiling to himself as he emptied two teaspoons of sugar into his coffee cup.

Her mind whirred… was he going to propose. Here? Now?

“No,” he said, as if reading her mind, almost laughing at her wide-eyed expression. “We have our whole lives ahead of us, D. But I don’t know what else lies ahead for the next 73 days. Where we’ll go, who we’ll see, what we’ll do… so since we’re here, you migh as well meet him now, right?”

She gaped at him.

So he really was in it for the long run. He really did see her as his forever.

“Now eat,” He chuckled as he poured creamer into her coffee. “I know you’re starving.”


After a hearty meal and two cups of delicious coffee, the two set out on the paved streets of the quaint little village again. Ahjussi had waved and winked as they left, leaving them with only a few words.

“Be happy. Just as you are now.”


Jiyong pulled her close as a chill ran through the valley and they wandered along the streets, taking in the colorful shops on the more modern side of town.

Dara spotted a cupcake shop and nearly skipped over, dragging Jiyong along with her.

“Hello! Welcome to Buam-dong Cupcakes! How can I help you?” The cheerful teenage girl greeted from the counter.

The couple took in the wide array of choices – strawberry, banana, coconut, red velvelt, deep chocolate – it smelled divine and looked delicious.

“Hi, can I get… a strawberry cupcake. And do you guys do icing designs?” Jiyong asked.

“We sure do, sir. What would you like on yours?”

“A sumo wrestler,” Dara immediately straightened up as she overhead him, trying hard to not bust out in laughter.

“A sumo wrestler, sir?” The confusion coloring her tone made it even more difficult for both of them to keep a straight face.

“Yeah. Can you do that?

“Sure…” She eyed him slightly. “What would you like, ma’am?”

“Red velvet please.” She smiled, mouth watering again at just the thought of it.

“Would you like an icing design too?”

“Yes, please.”

“What would you like?”

“A blue tie, please.” She slid her arm around Jiyong as she said it, feeling him stiffen and smiled. “Two blue ties, actually.”

“Um… sure,” the girl nodded and headed into the back, shaking her head slightly to herself.

“A tie, Ms. Park?” His voice grew dark, the memory of their Jeju island adventures pulled deep in his jeans.

“It brings back good memories,” she smirked at him, pushing his mouth away slightly. “But calm down, Mr. Kwon. You know we’re on a scheduled break right now.”

He heaved a breath before he smiled, the dark look in his eyes ebbing away.

“Don’t tempt me, D. I don’t know if I can control myself.”

“You asked for it,” she chuckled as they took in the rest of bakery, laughing at the designs of the birthday cake display.


After two cupcakes and one declaration of having the best cupcake she’d ever tasted, the two headed back to the parking spot, taking a way along the edge of the mountain familiar to Jiyong from his many visits.

“This was amazing, Jiyong. Thank you for putting it in the bowl.”

“I'm glad you liked it.”





At home, Dara placed the two extra cupcakes they’d ordered – one with a jar of honey as the icing decoration and the other a bathtub – into the fridge and headed into the room.

Jiyong handed her the green bowl and waited for her to read the card aloud, the familiar feel of anticipation building in him again.

“Shinsegae Department Store,” she said with a grin.
 

---Written by dolcevittaa----