---

Jeon Jungkook made himself ready. He checked his hair, tie, suit in the shining side of the news van. After he was satisfied he did a quick soundcheck. As the technician gave a thumbs up, Jungkook and his camera crew waited until they would be on air. This was a big chance for him, to report live on tv. On a real incident, which could even be a crime! He couldn’t wait until he could interview the police captain, who was also on stand-by, near him.

There was the signal!

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. For YTN news this is reporter Jeon Jungkook.

I’m standing here at the cemetery in Beommul-dong, in the south of Daegu. In recent years there has been an addition to this cemetery. As you can see, it’s not in the traditional style, but more influenced by the West-European style. Graves are surrounded by high hedges, giving off the feeling of large grassy rooms in the open air. The graves themselves are covered with large slabs of marble or granite.

It’s near this hedge ..”, Jungkook pointed towards a grassy place near a hedge, “... where yesterday, Sunday early in the afternoon, an incident took place. Two pupils of the nearby Mujigae Yuchiwon, the Rainbow Kindergarten, found the bodies of 2 men here, after which they successfully alerted emergency services.”

Jungkook walked nearer to the uniformed police officer. “We have here with us, captain Kim Namjoon, detective of the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, of which the main office, at 227 Muhak-ro, Jisan Il-dong, is very near this cemetery. Captain Kim…”

Captain Kim Namjoon saluted, took off his hat and smiled slightly, showing off his dimples, while Jungkook gave a bow to him.

Jungkook continued: “... could you tell us what exactly happened here? The two men who were found, are they alright, or not? And those kindergarten pupils how come they found them here?”

“Well, “ captain Kim Namjoon started, “the two men, who were found, are recovering in the hospital. The two kindergarten pupils were naturally extremely upset, as they had thought they had found two dead people. In spite of that, they were able to alert emergency services. Paramedics who arrived, determined that the two men were alive, although they both seemed to suffer severe heart problems. 

I’ve been told by the hospital staff that it seemed, that both had somehow suffered from a momentary cardiac arrest, and arrhythmia afterwards, severe enough for both of them to become unconscious. I´m glad that I can report that both are recovering, and hospital staff was instrumental in helping out with the kids, by telling them, in the presence of their mothers, that they had probably saved the lives of the two men, by alerting emergency services.”

“If it’s just a heart problem, excuse me for saying so,” Jungkook asked the detective, “how come the police are involved with this. Is this maybe the result of a crime?”

“A police patrol who arrived here to offer assistance, reported this to dispatch,” Kim Namjoon explained. “They found the circumstances extremely suspicious and reported the whole situation as detailed as possible. Dispatch agreed with their suspicions, therefore they also alerted the fire department, and health services, in case this wasn’t the result of a crime, but of an environmental hazard.”

“So what has it been?” Jungkook asked. “Was it a crime? Or an environmental hazard?”

“Neither,” the captain answered. “It was just … err… how should I say this… “ Detective Kim seemed to think deeply, before he continued: “Mmm… ah, well, let’s call it ‘an unlucky coincidence’.”
“An unlucky coincidence? That put two men in hospital?” Jungkook asked incredulous.
“Yes, an unlucky coincidence.” Namjoon reaffirmed.

“So what happened then?” Jungkook was now very curious.
“Well… we investigated this case with the highest priority, even pulled some teams from other cases,” Namjoon continued, “and we found out that everything started last Friday afternoon, when…”
“Last Friday?” Jungkook exclaimed, as he couldn’t contain himself.
“Yes,” Namjoon confirmed, “you see, what happened, was…”

 

---

 

“... so you all know what to do, do you?”
“Yes, teacher Kim Seokjin!” the kindergarten pupils sang out in unison. It was Friday, and soon it would be weekend. But the kindergarteners had been given an assignment by their teacher. And they would all do their best, to do their homework well.

They all liked their teacher. Very much. So did the pupils Kim Taehyung and Park Jimin, who wanted to do the assignment together. It wasn’t just that somehow all the kids had concluded that their teacher was a beautiful man. They also liked how he taught them. Teacher Kim rarely scolded the kids, but if he did, everyone knew that the culprit had somehow really, totally and utterly messed up.

Somehow all kids, also from other grades, thought that teacher Kim Seokjin had scolded their parents too. They came to this conclusion because the single moms of, for example, Amber and Crystal now always came on time to pick up their kids. Before they were always late, or sent an older brother or sister or other relative. But now…
Even the single dads of Mark and Jackson now came on time. Before teacher Kim Seokjin began to work at the kindergarten, they had always send a nanny or babysitter.

However, the kindergarten kids didn’t notice, that when teacher Kim Seokjin appeared outside to wave at the kids, the moms, especially the single moms, suddenly checked their hair and makeup to make sure they looked good and even the single dads of Mark and Jackson somehow preened a bit more than usual...

But that’s all beside the point.

Taehyung and Jimin wanted to do their assignment well. As did all the other kids in their class.

“So,” teacher Kim began, “who wants to repeat to me, what your homework assignment is?”
A forest of little fingers rose up in the air. Kim Seokjin pointed: “Taehyung-ah, what is the assignment for all the pupils in this class?”

Taehyung began: “We have to go to a forest, with mum or dad, and there we have to collect many nuts, like chestnuts, acorns, beechnuts and so on, teacher Kim Seokjin.”
“Excellent, Taehyung-ah. And what shouldn’t you touch at all in the forest? Fingers!”
Again little fingers rose up, and Seokjin pointed: “Jisoo-ah…”

“Mushrooms! We should not touch mushrooms. Even when they look cute, we should not touch them, because they can make you very very very sick!”
“Excellent, Jisoo-ah! Okay, it looks like you all know what to do. The nuts that you collect in the weekend, will be used on Monday. For a little surprise!”
This sent a wave of excitement through the kids.

“Good,“ Kim Seokjin continued, “I have here a letter for your parents, that explains in more detail the homework assignment, that I have given to you. Don’t forget to give it to your mom or dad, understood? ”
“Yes, teacher Kim Seokjin!”

 

Jimin and Taehyung wanted to go together, with their moms if possible. They asked at home, but Saturday their moms would be busy. The moms phoned each other and they could make it on Sunday in the morning. Also they would prepare a little picnic basket. When Jimin and Taehyung heard that, they were already full of excitement. This was going to be fun!

When Sunday arrived Taehyung and Jimin were excited. They all met up and went to the forested area of Beommul-dong. Their moms found a spot where they could sit down and spread out a few picnic blankets. There the two of them could catch up on the latest gossip concerning the neighbourhood, their families, their husbands etc. etc. etc while their kids were busy collecting nuts in the forest. 
“Don’t go too far in, do you hear!” they said to Taehyung and Jimin. “And if something happens, come back immediately!”
“Will do, mum!” they both yelled, before disappearing between the trees. Scouring the ground between the trees with their eyes, they began hunting for nuts, that would be collected in the bags they had taken with them.

After a while, Jimin and Taehyung had filled one bag to capacity and were already past halfway the second one, when Jimin suddenly said: “Oh, I think we’ve been a bit stupid.”
“Why d’you say that, Chim?” Taehyung looked up.
“Well… how are we going to divide the nuts between us?” Jimin said. “I can count to five, and you’re smart Taetae, you can even count to twenty! But I think we’ve got more than twenty nuts in the bags, don’t you think?”
Taehyung eyed the bags: “Yeah… more than twenty…mmm…. let’s get out of the woods first. There’s more space and light there too, to see this and maybe find a way...”

As they came out of the woods, Taehyung and Jimin saw something they had never seen before in their town or in South-Korea for that matter. High hedges dividing a large area in compartments, paths between the compartments, and every compartment containing a number of large stone rectangles on the ground, some of them higher, some of them lower, with on one end, and upright standing stone with writings on it.

 

“It looks… like..,” Taehyung started hesitantly, “ .. an open air restaurant?”
“An open air restaurant?” Jimin was flabbergasted.
“Yeah… look… it’s like rooms… the hedges are the walls, there’s no roof, and those large stone tables… there’s writings beside the tables… have your mum and dad ever taken you to a restaurant?”
“Yes…” Jimin answered, not exactly knowing where Taehyung was getting at.
“Do you remember, that your dad or your mum phoned the restaurant before you were going?” Taehyung asked.
“Now you mention it…yeah…”
“And when you arrived, they immediately brought you to a table, didn’t they? As if they already knew, where you were going to sit!”
“Yep..”
“Well, maybe that’s the writings on those stones. So the restaurant workers know who is going to sit at those stone tables!”
“Ah! Yes, you must be right, Taetae!” Jimin praised his friend.
At this Taehyung lighted up with a big boxy smile.

“Come on, Chim, I think I know a way to divide the nuts. I don’t see any people yet, so the restaurant must still be closed. Maybe we can use one of their tables to divide the nuts.” They both walked towards one of the large granite slabs and shook out their bags. All the nuts were falling on the granite, but…

 

---

 

“Wait a minute, captain Kim!” reporter Jeon Jungkook interrupted the detective, “Are you saying that those kindergarten pupils really thought, that this all…” Jungkook indicated the cemetery, with a sweep of his free hand, “ … was an open air restaurant? And the graves were restaurant tables?”

“That’s what I said,” detective Kim Namjoon answered. “Those kids had never seen a cemetery like this before. Built in West-European style.”
“And nobody has told them, that they had been using a grave as a table?” Jungkook asked.
“No,” Namjoon said. Suddenly he seemed to be straightening his back and glared at Jungkook: “The kindergarten pupils were already very upset. We were absolutely not going to make them even more upset!”
“Ah, yes…” Jungkook said, “Could you please continue, captain Kim?”

 

---

 

… and shook out their bags. All the nuts were falling on the granite, but there were so many, that quite a few fell on the ground and several even rolled underneath the hedge to the other side. Taehyung and Jimin picked up the fallen ones, and reached underneath the hedge, collecting as many as possible. But a few were just too far away for their short kindergarten arms to reach.

Jimin looked left and right, trying to figure out the distance they had to walk around the hedge to get those nuts. “Taetae,” Jimin started, “those are just a few nuts, while we have a whole bunch of them here. Maybe we can get them later?”
Taehyung looked left and right too, and agreed with Jimin: “You’re right Chim. Let’s just divide these nuts first.”
He clambered up the stone rectangle and pointed to a spot at the opposite side: “You sit there Chim. I don’t know how long this will take…” Jimin clambered up, sat down and looked expectantly at his best friend. 

Taehyung took a nut from the pile and pushed it towards Jimin: “One for you....”
He took another nut and pulled it towards himself: “One for me…” 
And as Taehyung looked up to Jimin, he saw that Jimin was smiling his eye smile, understanding how they were going to divide the nuts. So Taehyung continued:

“One for you… one for me… one for you… one for me…”

 

Meanwhile at the other side of the hedge…

 

Jung Hoseok had chosen this sunny Sunday to visit the grave of a good friend of his. They had met in Gwangju, where Hoseok had grown up. And for their studies moved to an academy in Daegu. Unfortunately an illness had taken Hoseok’s friend much too early from this life. That’s why Hoseok regularly visited this cemetery. Usually on a Sunday, late in the morning or early in the afternoon, when it was quiet.

But this time it wasn’t entirely quiet. Hoseok heard a soft voice. From the other side of the hedge where he walked by. Carefully he came nearer, trying to make out the words. Maybe there were other people visiting a deceased loved one. If that was the case, Hoseok would go away, not wanting to eavesdrop on whatever they were saying.

But then he could make out the words that were spoken softly behind the hedge:

“One for you… one for me… one for you… one for me…”

Jung Hoseok had not expected to hear those words. What could they mean? It was a bit … unsettling to hear those words.

“One for you… one for me… one for you… one for me…”

Suddenly a thought flashed through Hoseok’s mind. A thought that woke up immense fear inside of Hoseok. A thought that made him terrified. He would have cried out, if he had not slapped his hand on his mouth to keep the sounds in. The soft whimper that escaped Hoseok, went unnoticed, because the words from the other side of the hedge continued:

“One for you… one for me… one for you… one for me…”

Quietly and carefully Hoseok retreated from that spot until he no longer could hear the soft voice. That’s when he broke out in a run. He ran faster than ever before.

When Jung Hoseok reached his destination, he began banging on the door, pressing on the door bell, yelling, kicking and screaming: “Reverend Min! Reverend Min Yoongi! Please! Help! Come out, please!” The ruckus Hoseok caused did not went unnoticed for after a while the door opened.

Well… it was thrown open. With a bang! And there was the reverend Min Yoongi. Mint green hair. Frowning. Eyes wide. Blazing pink cheeks. O… he was angry alright. Very very angry. 
For Jung Hoseok had unwittingly broken the Eleventh Commandment: 

‘Thou shalt not wake up a napping Min Yoongi, for he will rain down his wrath upon you.’

And the reverend Min Yoongi gave the word: “WHAT!!!”

Considering his anger, this was a very restrained reaction. Especially if you compare that to the time when he really became foul mouthed, blurting out blistering expletives, as he caught the convenience store owner cheating on his wife with… wait, that’s not the point.

Yoongi saw the terrified mess, that was Jung Hoseok, and he refrained from other hurtful words. He took a deep breath, tried to reign in his temper and finally, in a more quiet way could say:

“What do you want?”

“You have to come, reverend Min,” Hoseok said. “Pleasepleaseplease come with me… to the cemetery… it’s … it’s …”
“Why should I come with you to the cemetery?” Yoongi was a bit intrigued.
“Because… because…” Hoseok began. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, realizing he had to sound a bit more convincing, if he wanted to get reverend Min Yoongi to come along. Thinking about it, he would sound absolutely bonkers, if he would just said out loud, what he thought what was going on at the cemetery.

Hoseok opened his eyes again, and looked at reverend Min. He steeled himself and said to Yoongi: 

“God and the Devil are dividing the souls between themselves at the graveyard, right now!”

 

Yoongi looked back at Hoseok and his eyes were wide open. He opened his mouth, closed it again, opened it again and blurted out: “Come again?!?”
“I said,” Hoseok answered, “that God and the Devil are busy dividing the souls between themselves at the graveyard, at this very moment!”

 

Okay. Yoongi had listened to his share of people with … mental problems. Or as he would bluntly say ‘lunatics’. But this statement took the cake. With a cherry on top. He would have dismissed Hoseok’s statement as complete hogwash, if he hadn’t seen how terrified Hoseok was. Whatever it was at the cemetery, that had frightened Hoseok, Yoongi didn’t dismiss it just like that. And if it was a prank, whoo boy… the Lord’s wrath would be kiddy stuff, compared with what Yoongi would unleash.
 

People who had known Min Yoongi longer than just a few days, could see past his foul mouth, his angry outbursts, his hair dye. All these things were reasons for confrontations between Yoongi and other colleagues or even superiors. Yoongi was a bit of a rebellious priest, but one who cared deeply for those for whom he was responsible. And those who saw past the prickly exterior of Yoongi, noticed the softer inside of his thoughts and care. Quite some women, and even a few men, thought it made him look kinda cute. But don’t tell him that. He would explode at you for saying that.

 

Anyway, he thought he should help Hoseok out. How it could be done, he didn’t know, but at least he could give it a try. So he stretched his arm, pointed towards the cemetery, and said: “Okay, okay. Let’s go then. Maybe we can…”

Yoongi didn’t finish his sentence, for Hoseok didn’t waste any second. He grabbed the outstretched arm and dragged Yoongi along towards the cemetery.

As they neared the place where Hoseok had heard the voice, he implored Yoongi to be as quiet as possible. Yoongi agreed and carefully, quietly, they neared the hedge. If you took into account, that Hoseok was scared, Yoongi thought that it was kind of brave that Hoseok returned to this place. But what was that?  Yoongi heard a soft voice from the other side:

“One for you… one for me… one for you… one for me…”

‘What the ffff...I mean… O my god!’ Yoongi thought. Could it be that Hoseok was right? He looked at Hoseok, who looked back with terror in his eyes. Yoongi couldn’t suppress an uncomfortable feeling that was rising from his stomach. Could it be, that Hoseok was actually right? For why else would they hear::

“One for you… one for me… one for you… one for me…”

Yoongi noticed that he had held his breath for a while and carefully let it out, before taking a breath again.

“One for you… one for me… one for… oh… I think we’re ready…”

A wave of relief spread to Yoongi. And as he looked to his side, he saw that Hoseok wasn’t as terrified as before anymore. Apparently he too felt relief, as he heard the voice say that they were ready. That feeling of relief, however, was shattered an instant later when another voice piped up:

“Wait! We’re not ready yet. Those nuts on the other side of the hedge. We have to divide them between us too!”

“You’re right!” the first voice answered. “I almost forgot. Let’s go get ‘m!”

Yoongi heard a soft thud. He looked and saw that Hoseok was sprawled on the grass, his eyes turned up so far, that only the whites of his eyes were visible. And Yoongi himself… he was feeling… he should’ve been more … he should’ve been less ... he should have… he…

And all went black.

 

---

 

“...and that’s when the kindergarten pupils found the two men,” detective Kim Namjoon finished. 

“Ah yeah,” reporter Jeon said. He didn’t know whether he had to cry, because there was no crime or environmental disaster to report on, or whether he had to laugh out loud, because of how ridiculous this incident turned out to be. O darn… he was silent a bit too long. While live on air…

“Uhm… cap.. captain Kim,” and Jungkook began to stutter too. On air! Darn! He coughed.
“Captain Kim, did anyone tell the pupils what their role has been, apart from alerting emergency services? I mean, that it was their words that put those men in this situation.”

“What?!?” Kim Namjoon glared at reporter Jeon. “As I’ve said before, those kids were already very upset. We wouldn’t want them to become even more upset, would we? Why… I think their mums would skin you alive, if you told those kids. Darn… I would skin you alive. And their kindergarten teacher…” 

That’s when captain Kim stopped. He shivered visibly. Jeon Jungkook could see it. His camera crew could see it. Heck, everybody watching this on television could see it.
“Let’s just say, that he would become very unpleasant,” captain Kim finished.

“Ah… err… well… thank you captain Kim Namjoon, detective of the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, for telling us about this incident. Thank you,” Jeon Jungkook said.
“You’re welcome,” detective Kim answered, while putting on his hat.

“Reporting from Beommul-dong, Daegu, for YTN News, this was reporter Jeon Jungkook.”

 

As the signal was given, that they were off the air, Jungkook’s shoulders sagged. He knew that the camera was still recording, just in case there were new developments, but Jungkook didn’t care anymore. He had messed up, live… on air… As he walked towards the crew, he stepped on something hard. It almost made him lose his balance, but he regained it, without even spraining his ankle. 

Jungkook looked down. A chestnut.

“Awww… Ffffff…” luckily he remembered that the camera was still recording, so he could refrain from cursing too harshly:

“...NUTS!!!”