"where are we?"
once upon a tale“Where am I?” Jimin sat himself as soon as he opened his eyes. Looking around, he found himself in a place that was no where near Seoul, and even Korea, he believed. Some pines and Oaks, he could tell those two trees were participating in forming a forest, just across himself. His hands for the ground, and the mist of the grasses stung him in surprise ; it was a tad bit colder than an ice water. He looked around, it was like being trapped in a football field in the middle of a forest.
“Ji— Jimin,” Jimin turned around, “Your— you hair—“ and was taken aback. “It's orange?”
“Nam— Namjoon hyung,” He didn't get what he was saying, as what he saw right there was more questionable for him, “Your— your hair is pink, cotton candy pink!”
The two of them looked around, and found a pond just some big steps away from them. They ran there, to make sure of what the opposite was saying; “Wha— what??”
Unlike Jimin who stayed on the edge of the pond questioning his hair, Namjoon walked away and went to another spot, “Bags, is that my bag? And yours?” where two big backpacks were scattered on the ground.
“Hyung! Where are we?? Jeju???” Jimin kept his hands on his ruffling, ruffling it in frustration.
“What? Have you even studied geography??” He was pissed off, not because of Jimin but because of the reality, “We’re in somewhere norther than korea—“
“NORTH KOREA?!”
“NO!” Namjoon shook his head, “No! Norther than that!! I believe we’re… somewhere in Russia??”
Jimin turned around, looking away from his reflection. “How is that even better?!”
There was something heavy on his chest, it made him hard to breath, he was then soon awaken, as he opened his eyes carefully and welcomed the sunshine. “Where— wae?!”
Hyena was sleeping soundlessly on his chest, with her face facing his chin. Was only an inch away from having their nose stumbled upon each other.
He slowly moved away, while placing his hands on her head so that she wouldn't fall onto the ground. But as soon as she slipped out of his clothes, she woke up; “Taehyung?”
“Hyena,” He said.
Both of them were sitting, facing each other with the same look of confusion, and they altered the same question; “Where are we?”
“But… I’m not really sure…” Namjoon tried moving around to find a higher ground. “Argh, it's so cold, pass me my jacket please!”
Jimin opened the front part of his Hyung’s bag and threw him a jacket. “So we’re not in Seoul?”
“Not even in Korea, Jimin” He sighed. He stood on a rock, made himself a meter taller than the ground. “We definitely aren’t… Jiminie, come here,”
He rushed to his hyung, leaving the bag and joined him on the rock. “What is that?”
Namjoon sighed, heavily. “A castle, of course”
“A castle? o— oh! no wonder it looked familiar!” Jimin nodded and everything started to make more sense. “I’ve seen one of those in… a book! You know, like the kind of book that is very expensive with a very nice illustration and—“
“You never got to finish, yes, I got it” Namjoon crouched and sat on the rock. “But that castle doesn't look like its Russian! This is crazy, just how on earth we ended up in this place? ”
“Dream," Jimin joined him. "Hyung I think we’re dreaming now”.
They looked into each other face, and grins started to spread, “Aaah, make sense,” Followed by a slap for each of their face. “Awch!”
“Hyu— hyung,” From the back of one of the trees, he appeared.
“Jungkook!” The two of them ran to him, with their fastest steps. “ya!! Jungkookie, you’re here too!”
He didn't say a word and just watched his Hyung panting.
“This dream is so weird,” Namjoon chuckled, “Oh god…”
Jungkook just smiled to himself. “Hyung what if this is not a dream,” he opened his bag, which was, of course, his school bag and gave him a bottle of water. “And I’m actually the one who made you guys standing here… with me… in this unknown place…”
“What are you saying?” Jimin snatched the bottle away from Namjoon. “What is off with you? You are so… not kookie…” Either way, he still patted the maknae’s back. “But, hey, do I look good with my new hair?”
Jungkook didn’t bother to answer, “What if I put something in that water?” and asked back. “Will you drink it?”
Both Namjoon and Jimin were lost, completely lost.
“Its because we trust you,” He opened the bottle, and raised it. “Even if you put something on this, It’s not like we’re going to die because of it” parted his lips, “ So of course, I will” and poured the water down to his throat.
Taehyung followed the girl on the front, as she continued to lead the pack of two, entering the forest. “Maybe if we get tired of this journey, we’ll be awake and everything will be over”
“Sure, that might work” Taehyung back and front was occupied with two backpacks on the same time, as it turned out that Hyena was carrying a backpack with her.
“Just when does this dream start? Namjoon told me that you guys are going on a camping and not inviting me?? I was upset, so like, I packed up some stuff and run to Jungkook’s house, catching up with you guys, but,” Hyena stopped herself from making more steps, as she needed to breath some air. “But when I arrived, I saw you guys screaming, in pain, and— and slowly fading,”
“What a weird dream,” He just nodded. “Well My dream started when I woke up with you drooling on my shirt”
“No I wasn’t!” The watery spot on Taehyung’s chest was still visible, but Hyena chose to believe that it wasn't her fault. “Anyway, we’re still heading to the north, right?”
Taehyung paused.
“Taehyung?”
And gulped, once Hyena locked her eyes on him, and his compass. “I think the compass are broken…” And it was. The needle could easily circling around depending on the movement of Taehyung’s hand. “Well… it's okay, the point of this trip is to be tired and then wake up, right?”
Hyena slammed her head into one of the tree. “Argh!! I’ll be crazy before we even got to pee!!!”
He Watched her releasing her anger to the tree for only a second before he placed his hands in front of her head. “You don't get to hurt yourself, even if its only a dream”
Her head hit his hand. “Ya, I was just looking for a shortcut,” It was warm, warmer than the air. “A very painful and ineffective shortcut, apparently” She sat down on a trunk, a small trunk that fitted her seat. “This already feels like the longest dream ever…”
Taehyung reached for his bag and got himself a water bottle, which, he immediately gave it to Hyena. “Then Don’t make this a nightmare,” He tried to find another trunk to sit on, but Hyena’s seat was the only one, so in the end, he only got to sit on the cold ground. “We should enjoy it, you know, with this kind of atmosphere, I feel like we’re going to have an adventure like those in the books that Namjoon hyung likes to read, and then we’re going to fight the dragon, or.. Unicorn! no, no, we’re not going to fight the unicorn, we’re going to ride them and claims our victory!!”
Hyena squinted her eyes, as it pricked the boy’s eyes that never got to settle in one place. “You’re crazy”
“And you, Kim Hyena, you are too much of a realist!” Taehyung fold his arms and leaned on his bag. “You’ll get wrinkles, careful— ouch!”
She just had to step on his feet the moment she felt like he need to shut up, it was her habit. “This is stupid, so we just have to play along with this dream?”
The boy nodded.
“Great, cause I don't feel like playing,” Hyena got up and pulled her friend with her, snatched back her backpack, and placed her feet on the trunk to tie the knots of her boots. “Wait,”
“What?” Said Taehyung who just finished to stretch his body.
“This…” She leaned closer to her feet, “this trunk…” to the dead tree, “was cut by an axe,” and touched it surface. Hyena chuckled. “You kidding me? If this dream has logic, then there are people aside from us who are smart enough to make a sharp tool, and cut down a tree”
“So, we’re not alone?”
“See, nothing happened,” Jimin gave the bottle to Namjoon. “Hyung, Our Maknae is currently in the state questioning himself, he’s going to be a handsome man!”
Namjoon drank from the bottle too, took some sips and gave it back to the owner. “So now that we’re all here, what should we do?”
“No… hyung… not everyone,” Jungkook was still standing with his voice choked in the throat, with a look of holding on a tear. “Tae— Taehyung hyung is supposed to be here too,” He gulped, not from the bottle but from his own froth. “And maybe your sister,”
Jimin and Namjoon didn't move an inch as they tried to digest everything. “So in this dream, you believe that Taehyung and—“
“NO! This is not a dream!!!” His voice was strong enough, to make some birds flew away from their nest. “I— I— Hyung, I’m sorry, but this is not a dream and— and I was selfish to drag you all here… I—“
“Jungkookie,” Jimin grabbed him by the should and held him in his arms. “It's okay, everything is going to be okay, no one is mad at you”
“But you guys should,” He started to drop some tears while he hid his face under jimin’s arms. “Because Taehyung and Hyena is still missing in this very dangerous place”
“Then it's great, maybe we can find the people of this world and ask them; how can we wake ourselves from this madness?!”
Taehyung looked around again, and they were still in the same pine forest. Nothing changed, and it made sense since they didn't move an inch either. “You know I always wanted to go to this kind of place,” He started to wander, leaving all his bag on Hyena and just enjoying himself. “Its— its quiet and beautiful. The air is fresh, but not cold. There's no sound of motorcycles and cars honking — well, I know that if i go to my grandmother’s house then it will be quite too… but still… can you believe it? There's no one else in here— well… so does when i went to the forest with my dad… but… but this place is different! Look, even the trees are different!”
Once Taehyung started to wander around and monologuing, There was nothing that Hyena can do, other than watching over him. Her eyes kept on rolling from left to right, following the boy’s steps.
“Its… its almost like there's something magical about this—“ Taehyung paused. “P—place…”
Hyena stood up, and soon her face was just the same as taehyung; filled with horror and frights.
Taehyung was only an inch away from a tree, a big tall tree. There was nothing special about that tree, it looked like any other tree in that forest, but there was something that made it different ; A white panther was nesting on one of its branches, setting its blue eyes on Taehyung’s, locking it.
“Sta—Stay calm…” Hyena whispered in the air, lying to herself in order to make her friend calmed down.
The panther was as big as Taehyung’s self, slightly bigger. It has a sharp blue eyes and a clean white fur. It didn't show its fang, only its paws that were set into the bark. It breathed, and that was the thing that stopped Taehyung from hugging it.
He fell onto the ground, in consciousness, but in total fright.
“Taehyung!” Hyena exclaimed, not even care about the Panther once she saw him trembled in fear. She ran to him, pulling him to her side and stared at the wild cat. “Le— Leave us alone”.
As if it understands and at the same time not-at-all-understanding what was said, the panther jumped out of the tree and stood on the same ground as them, starting to walk in a circle, surrounding the two angst children.
“Please,” She begged.
The panther tilted its head, and left.
Namjoon followed Jungkook from the back, with jimin by his side. “You know this place?”
“Not really,” But as if he was lying, Jungkook seemed to be very sure of his steps. “i’ve only been here once,”
“How did you wake—“ Namjoon stopped his own mouth from being too direct, “How did you get out of here?”
“By using the pendant,” Jungkook stopped walking, abruptly, making his two hangs almost tripped out. he started to feel his neck and found nothing. “It's missing, the pendant is missing…” For having a lost, he was rather calm and composed.
Jimin sighed. “And why are you not panicking?”
“Because even if we do have the pendant, we won't go back without taehyung hyung and Hyena” The Maknae claimed.
Both Namjoon and Jimin couldn't say a word to reply, and just continue to follow him. “So we’re going to look for Hyena and Taehyung first, then we get back home?”
“yes”
“Fair enough” Namjoon agreed. “Let's find my sister and that idiot,”
“I thought I was going to die,”
“I thought so,” Hyena backed away from taehyung, went back to her bag and get him a water to drink.
“No, you don't understand, I feel like I was really going to die! like—“
“I do understand!” Hyena yelled. “You feel like if the panther ate you would sure be dead instead of waking up from this ridiculous dream!” She made taehyung closed his mouth. “I felt the same way too”
He thought that he was the only one who is afraid, but he was wrong. In a way, he felt relieved. “We should get going,” Taehyung got up and went to pick up the bags, adjusting it to his posture. “You packed quite a lot for a dream”
“I thought I was packing for a camping, don't blame me” As Taehyung went back to her and gave her his hand, she reached for it and stood back. “Let's go to that way, it was the opposite way of the panther’s path, right?”
The boy could only nod to confirm.
“We’re out of the forest,” Jimin was the first one to be enlightened by the sunshine as he faced a green field and uphills. He turned around and watch his friend slowly leaving the forest, all in one piece after about four hours of nonstop walking. “Is this Russia?”
“We weren't too deep in that forest, luckily” Jungkook stood beside Jimin, and looked ahead to the greenery. It was like their facing an ocean of grasses, with mountains as the background. A whole different side of the deep forest that came from. “And no, this is not Russia”
“But where’s the castle?”
Jungkook looked at Namjoon in surprised. “You saw the castle? Which castle?”
“The— the one that is made from brick, I guess?” He tried to remember but it was vague already. “Well, Jungkook are we on the right track—“
“Hyung, whatever happened, don't come the castle,” In intense he warned him. “Just Don’t,”
“Okay… sure…” namjoon nodded. It was the first time for Jungkook to shake his shoulder in such manner. “So now what?”
Jimin took the initial; “Let's sleep first, the grasses are nice and warm”. He threw himself onto the ground and breathe in, slight rolling around. “It smells like spring!”
“Yes, I think I found some food on my bags, we can have lunch,” Namjoon agreed and also lowered himself and sat on the ground. “Kookie, you must be hungry,”
“It's okay, you guys just stay here,” He refused, politely. “I’m going to look around…”
“Eh, but what if you get lost???” Jimin sat himself, in an instance. “Let's go together,”
“No!” The youngest refused, this time in a higher tone.
The three of them just looked at each other, exchanging stares.
“I know,” But then Namjoon was the one to break the silence as he opened his bag, and got himself a knife and a pouch. “Make trails, use this knife to mark the bark, and you are only allowed to be out of our sight for two hours. If anything happened, light this firework, I think there's five of it on this pouch. Its pretty loud so we’ll come to you as soon as we heard the sound. If you’re not coming back in two hours, then we’re going to look for you, okay?”
Namjoon gave him the knife, and the pouch. Jimin gave him the look.
Jungkook received it all and sighed. “Hyung, thank you” He smiled at them warmly, and walked away. “This is ridiculous but, I hope that once I come back you guys would still be as nice as you guys are now”
“Don’t worry Kookie,” Jimin made sure, “We believe in you”.
“Well, she last longer than the last time,” She takes a deep breath and fix the blanket of Sara that is off by an inch. “Sleep tight, Sara—“
“I’m not yet asleep,” Sara opens her eyes, making her mother startles. “Continue, please, please, please! See, I don't even ask for what happened to them! Please mom, continue the story!”
As if he is on the same page with Sara, Mako joins the company on the bed and rests there, snuggling upon Sara’s side.
She is lost to the girl, and the dog. “Okay, fine,” She tightens her hug, and pulls her daughter closer to her.
Hyena pulled taehyung to her side, making him hiding in the same tree as her. “hsst!”
Taehyung shook his head, not knowing what was the exact thing to do. “What?” He whispered.
“There’s… there’s something—“
“Hello?”. The voice echoed. “Is there anyone out here?”.
The boy and the girl looked at each other, exchanging stares and tried to make a decision telepathically. Taehyung felt like they need to confront the person, and meanwhile Hyena felt like they need to wait until the person is gone.
But in the end, it was taehyung who won the silent argument as he appeared himself to the person. “He— Hello,” He greeted, bowing his head.
“Oh, Hello,” For a rather heavy voice, it became lighter the moment Taehyung showing himself. “Hi, what are you doing in the woods?”
Taehyung just smiled and froze. “I—“
“We were just walking around,” Due to her instinct, Hyena couldn't help but to join taehyung on the spotlight. “But we got lost, as you can see”
A guy who seemed to be slightly older than them smiled back to her. He was warm, he has a neat black hair and he was wearing some kind of a sweater. In terms of looks, in term of fashion, he was the opposite of them, but still his clothes made him aesthetically pleasing. While Hyena and Taehyung looked like they were ready to build a tent anywhere, the guy was way neater than them, as if he just came out of a very nice place.
“Oh, you both are lost? Where do you both come from?”
Again, Hyena and Taehyung could only exchanging stares in silence. “The…re…” And together, they pointed at their back, the way where the just came from.
“Hahahahaha,” The guy just smiled warmly, showing his white teeth and pink gums. “Well, my place is not really far from here, so, you both can at least stop by for dinner, staying the night and, I’ll see what i can help”
At that moment, that sounded like the best option for Hyena and Taehyung, as they just nodded nonchalantly.
“Great, nice to meet you both!” He warmly claps and approached his two new mates, “I’m Hoseok, Jung Hoseok from the East”
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