When Ji Chang Wook thought 'vacation', he envisioned drinks by the beach, lazy rides in the sun or perhaps a swim in the pool. He had never, ever pictured himself sweating and out of breath while climbing his thousandth step. He thought he was in pretty decent shape, but even so he was having a hard time keeping up with the petite girl in front of him. 

"Ji Chang Wook-shi, should we take a quick break?" she pauses in front of him

"Nope. I'm good. I mean, look at that view," and indeed the view is spectacular. They had left that morning and headed towards Hallasan National Park. Even before they had gotten there he had a feeling he knew what they were getting into. His landlady had told him they were going for a hike and to wear sturdy shoes; but as the tall mountain got steadily closer, he was willing to bet his little islander was about to hand out some major punishment.

They had pulled into the parking lot and because it wasn't peak season, not many other hikers were around.

"Ready to climb to the top?" she had asked, a sparkle in her eye. Chang Wook had felt like sweating bullets. After all, the climb to the top would reportedly take 6 hours. And then you'd have to climb back down after. He was definitely going to die from exhaustion.

She had probably seen the look in his eyes because she had laughed and gave him a pat on the back.

"I'm just kidding. We're only doing the short trail today. It's still a great view and the climb is not so bad. We should get to the end of the trail in about an hour."

Chang Wook had almost sighed with relief but here they were almost two hours later and still not there. To be fair they had stopped often for water breaks and also some quick ramyun at the half-way point shelter. Chang Wook had also not been able to resist taking lots of pictures of the view. He had managed to sneak in a few photos of her looking over the cliffs and even a couple selfie while she was standing next to him. She had looked up in surprise but had not complained so he did not feel guilty about keeping it.

The trails up Mount Halla were a popular tourist attraction but Chang Wook and his friends had never attempted them before. It would have seemed like too much hard work for a vacation trip. He was amazed, however, at how good it felt to be up here enjoying the cooler air and the vastness of the mountainside. Perhaps he would make the big climb one day. All the way to the top of the old volcano to see the crater lakes.

There was one thing he knew for sure; if he did do it, he wanted to do it with her.
 

----

Not much later they make it to the end of the trail and a beautiful meadow with stretches of evergreens awaits them as a reward for their hard climb.  The solid height of Hallasan's peak looms nearby, framed perfectly by blue skies and the occasional cloud. Nam Ji Hyun leans against one of the trail fences and looks up at the ancient volcano.

There were many names for this old mountain. It's most famous name Hallasan referenced the belief that the mountain was tall enough to hold up the universe. According to old legend, if one climbed the mountain and made a wish at the stars near the top, they could live a longer life.  When she was younger, she had made that climb and shouted out her wish but she wasn't so certain it would work the way she wanted it to.

Another legend called it Yeongjusan believing that in ancient times, those who had the powers of magic were immortal due to a special plant that grew on the mountain. As a child JiHyun had heard these stories as well but she knew now, there was no such thing as immortality.  Some things were uncurable. 

Her favorite name however was Jinan, the protector; for the Mountain did watch over it's people and prevented the strong winds from destroying the villages. She recounts some of these stories with her guest and he listens intently.

"Next time, will you come all the way to the top of the mountain with me?"  he asks solemnly.

A tiny part of her can't help noticing his mention of a 'next time'. She turns to look at her companion noticing his intent gaze.
 

"Ji Chang Wook-shi, if you come back and hire me as your tour guide, I will climb with you to the very top. Going all the way will cost extra