“Oh, did I tell you JK’s gonna come hang out with us for the next 2 weeks?” Seokjin said to Namjoon, his boyfriend, as the former was driving them from the county they normally lived in to another mountainous one, in which Namjoon had bought a few hectares of land, along with a hut, at an altitude of approximately 900 meters at the beginning of that year.

N: “You mean your cousin, Jungkook? How come?”

S: “His vacation plans got canceled when he broke up with that guy he was supposed to go together with. He got most of his money back, but he already took paid leave from work for these 2 weeks, so I told him he might as well come here. Well, I kinda insisted, since he tends to get even more reckless than usual after a bad breakup, and I wanna distract him while also keeping my eye on him.”

N: “More reckless than when we all went skiing for the first time and he suddenly switched to the advanced course?”

S: “Ah, that wasn’t even that unusual…”

N: “Well, anyway, will he also be staying with us?”

S: “No. I told him the hut consists of just 1 room and he’d have to sleep on the floor on an inflatable mattress and he said “Hell no! I’ll just drive to and from your place.”, so I suggested he’d stay at a guest house in the town center like Taehyung. You said he already arrived yesterday?”

N: “Yeah. He called me this morning asking what to do in a confrontation with a goat.” Namjoon said chuckling as he remembered the conversation with his friend.

S: “Huh?”

N: “He went to explore the town and crossed one of those wooden bridges that’s wide enough for only 1 person to get to the other side of the river. When he wanted to come back, there was a goat blocking his way at the other end of the bridge. There was only forest and the mountain behind him, he couldn’t see any bridge on the left, there was a fence in his way on the right and there was no other human in sight. So he called me asking what he should do.”

S: “Couldn’t he just cross the bridge and shoo the goat away?”

N: “You know Taehyung gets scared pretty easily. And, to be fair, goats have horns and he didn’t know if they’re aggressive or not.”

S: “So what did he do?”

N: “I told him to find a big stick and try crossing the bridge confidently. Except for the confident part, he did that and the goat just kinda went away on its own when he was about 2 meters away from it. He limited his exploring to heavily populated areas after that.”

S: “I know he gets scared easily, but I kinda get it. When that cow suddenly started chasing me, even your neighbors from a kilometer away heard me screaming.”

N: “You’re still handling a lot of stuff better than I ever thought you would.” Namjoon said to Seokjin while smiling at him and squeezing his shoulder, the latter returning the smile but keeping his eyes on the road. “Taehyung wanted to stay with us, even if it meant sleeping on the floor and doing his bathroom business outside, but when I told him we have a mice problem inside the hut and a nest of snakes just outside of it, he instantly decided to stay at a guest house in town and just hike to and from the hut.”

S: “Hike?! Is he crazy? That’s a 4 freaking kilometers, uphill and with barely any street lighting road we’re talking about. And after the asphalted road ends, there’s another kilometer of dirt road full of holes and mud. I can’t imagine anyone other than you challenging that road on foot… Well, maybe JK can and might… But it’ll be hellish for Taehyung, even in the daylight.”

N: “Well, he won’t drive there, since he’s still a noob driver and afraid to drive at night, in bad weather conditions, when traffic’s too intense and on unfamiliar roads… And I don’t drive at all… Would it be alright with you if you drove him to and from the hut on a few nights?”

S: “Yeah, sure. But I may have a better idea. I told JK about how the road is and he said he’ll rent an off road vehicle for these 2 weeks and, since he’ll be driving to and from our place almost daily, Taehyung could just tag along.”

N: “Oh, that’d be great! But won’t Jungkook mind, since they don’t know each other?”

S: “Nah. But Taehyung’s heart and nervous system might mind.”

N: “Because Jungkook’s driving is not for the faint of heart?”

S: “Well, you almost passed out when he drove us to that skiing place and you’re nowhere near being faint of heart…”

N: “Meanwhile, Taehyung is sleeping with the lights on in his room at the guest house because all that darkness and silence are making him too paranoid to sleep…”

S: “I don’t understand that part at all….”

N: “His homes have always been full of people, animals and constant movement and noise. So the transition from that to being alone in a place where you hear nearly nothing at night is pretty big. But he said he should get used to living alone, because he thinks he should move out soon, now that his 2 little sisters have gone to other cities for college.”

S: “Hang on… 2 little sisters? Didn’t he have just 1?”

N: “1 biological one. The second one came into the picture when his mom remarried around 6 years ago. He also has an older stepsister from his dad’s second marriage, and she and her daughter are staying with Taehyung’s dad and stepmother while her husband’s working in the army. There’s a dog at his mom’s place and 2 cats at his dad’s place, all females and not neutered, so every year there’s also at least 1 batch of puppies and kittens. And so, whether he lives with his mom and that side of the family or visits his dad and the other side of the family, it’s always been hectic and full of life… and apparently a minimum of 4 females… around Taehyung, and that’s why he’s feeling the change so strikingly since yesterday.”

S: “But if he’s used to things being hectic and lively around him and he likes that, why does he wanna move out?”

N: “He stuck around to help raise the 2 younger sisters till they were old enough to go to college, but now that they moved away, it’s awkward living with your mom and stepdad at 25. So he thought he should move out soon, but he’s kinda dreading living alone.”

S: “Tell him to move in with JK. They’re both in the same city and, now that JK kicked that ex of his out, he’s got a free room.”

N: “We’ll have to see if they even get along first of all, since they’re so different from each other…”

S: “So different, huh? Reminds me of another 2 people I know…” Seokjin said, referring to them and making Namjoon laugh lightly.

N: “Well, you’ve changed tremendously since we first met.”

S: “I haven’t changed. I’m adapting. I need to constantly adapt, since you’re equally as challenging as a mountain.”

N: “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or a complaint.”

S: “It’s both. But, luckily, I’ve grown to like certain challenges.” Seokjin said with a smile, taking his hand off the gear shift to briefly squeeze Namjoon’s hand before the latter gave it a quick kiss.

N: “Challenges are great for showing and building a person’s character. I fall even more in love with you as I see you taking on and overcoming various challenges.”

S: “I’m happy with your current level of love for me, so I won’t mind if the challenges came a bit more sparsely.”

N: “Says the guy who, out of the blue, decided to learn all about installing various heating systems…”

S: “In the words of Lord Eddard Stark – winter is coming. Not so long ago when we stayed at the hut, I had 5 layers of clothes on me and I was freezing at night. And it was August! When winter comes, you’ll probably finally switch to 3 layers of clothes, but I’ll be a Jin-cicle. So I had to install that electric heater.”

N: “We’re not going up there in winter. The road will be too dangerous for you to drive on, so I’m just gonna go on foot at some point and check out if the hut’s even accessible during winter.”

S: “But didn’t you say we’d take the sledge down the slope and build a 3 meter snowman up there?”

N: “We’ll see. After I determine if it’s safe or not and if you bring your skiing clothes. Before all of that, I should finish building that outdoor bathroom…”

S: “Did you finally decide on a method for turning human waste into fertilizer?”

N: “Not yet.”

S: “Then, before that, how about we decide on what to do for dinner tonight?”

N: “Since we’re gonna pick up Taehyung and take him up to the hut for the first time, how about we make outdoor BBQ?”

S: “Sure. But if that turns into our daily dinner plan again, I’m hiding all of your wood.”

N: “Where would you even hide the wood? In the forest?”

S: “…”

N: “…”

S: “Fine. Then I’m hiding your axe.”

N: “You can’t leave a man on a mountain top without his axe! How cruel can you be?”

S: “Then make sure we don’t forget to buy a lot of veggies and eggs.”

N: “Oh, speaking of food, Mr. Yang from across the valley said he can give us fresh cow milk and even sour cream if we tell him in advance. He wanted to just give it to us, but I insisted we pay for it.”

S: “You could accept it free of charge, you know, since his cows are constantly grazing on your land.”

N: “But…”

S: “Wait, scratch that. I promised I wouldn’t nag at you anymore for how overly-generous you are with people, so don’t mind what I just said. But tell Mr. Yang to give us some fresh milk this upcoming week. I wanna see JK’s face when he tries milk that’s so fresh from the cow’s udder that it’s still warm.”

N: “Nothing can beat the sour expression you had on before trying it for the first time. Though you then ended up drinking a whole liter of it.”

S: “That’s one of the reasons I’ve grown to like challenges.”

N: “And another reason is the psychedelic mushrooms we found near the valley.”

S: “Best thing you’ve ever cooked, hands down! And I’m a fan of your BBQ, even if I complain at times.”

N: “Those mushrooms should be in season around now, especially with the recent rainfalls.”

S: “If we find any, I suggest we don’t do anything with them while Taehyung and JK are here.”

N: “Why?”

S: “From what I’ve seen so far, Taehyung’s reluctant even with weed and it wouldn’t be fun for him if he were the only one left out of the trip. And with JK, I’d look like a hypocrite if I let him see me high on something other than weed.”

N: “You told him to stay away from drugs?”

S: “When he was a teenager, I told him to stay away from hard drugs… in between slapping the outta him and yelling threats…”

N: “Slapping the outta him?!”

S: “I have no patience for persuasion with that guy.”

N: “I know that, but… No offence, but I know both of you and, in a fight between you two, I’d always bet my money on Jungkook… Even if you were armed.”

S: “I would too. I saw him turn a guy’s nose inwards with a few fists. He’s damn scary when someone wrongs him. His ex’s luckier than he thinks he is by only losing a few teeth…”

N: “So how were you able to slap the outta him?”

S: “He let me. JK really hates it when someone tries to control him or order him around more for themselves than for him and his own good, so there’s only a handful of people he actually listens to. I was going outta my mind with worry after his latest reckless incident at that time, he could tell that worry was behind my outburst, so he didn’t fight back. Of course, that didn’t mean I got through to him, so I paid a few meth and heroin addicts to talk to him about the pitfalls and consequences and stuff.”

N: “And that worked?”

S: “I guess. He experimented with a bunch of crazy stuff over the years, but at least he didn’t make a habit out of anything other than normal cigarettes and beer.”

N: “Sometimes, when I hear you say stuff about him, he sounds like a loose cannon… Then I remember that this is the same guy who helped me search for my phone in a whole lake and looked like a fascinated little kid as I explained how a fishing rod works… And it’s hard to correlate these images.”

S: “You don’t have to understand, just accept. It’s much easier and better like that. If you ask him nicely, he’ll help you with finishing the outdoor toilet and tearing down that unoccupied, run down and possibly haunted hut next to ours that’s messing up my parking possibilities. Did you get authorization for that?”

N: “Yeah and I have all the necessary equipment for that, but it’ll be a lengthy process…”

S: “Well, with the rainy season, the very uneven earth and the steep slope so close to the road, I’m anticipating a lot of parking problems and even some danger when trying to turn the car around. And since we’ll be having 2 cars parked in the area near our hut during these next 2 weeks, I’m really not sure how it’s gonna work out. So I think we should make tearing down that abandoned hut or fixing up the earth levels with boulders and stuff in the area a high priority.”

N: “I’m so happy you referred to the hut we’re heading to as “our hut”.”

S: “You like me calling that hut “our hut”?”

N: “Yup.”

S: “Even though you bought it and that entire property by yourself and it’s all under your name?”

N: “Yup.”

S: “Well then, since it’s OUR hut… can we make the parking space improvements a priority?” Seokjin asked smiling cheekily at Namjoon, killing the latter’s vibe.

N: “Why can’t you let a romantic moment linger for a bit…”

S: “Someone’s gotta be down-to-earth in this relationship, Joonie. You’re the romantic one. You take my head up into the clouds… and at 934 meters altitude, my head might literally end up in a forming cloud… but I gotta stay down-to-earth and make sure we get down to valley-level earth safely under any circumstances and preferably not by rolling down the slope inside a car.”

N: “Fine. I get it. I’ll make the parking space improvements a priority.”

S: “Great! Love you, Joonie!”

N: “But first, after Jungkook also arrives tomorrow, we’re having another outdoor BBQ party and we’ll get to work the very next day.”

S: “…”

N: “Sounds good?”

S: “Oh well, I guess we can’t just dive right into work with JK and Taehyung visiting… But now I really, really hope it doesn’t rain anymore over the following few days…”

N: “It won’t.”

S: “How can you be sure of that? Mountain weather is very unpredictable.”

N: “Cause you’ll smile and make all the clouds go away.”

At that, Seokjin couldn’t help bursting into laughter and laughing for a full minute.

A.N. This is the goat that held me hostage on the bridge for 30 minutes :D