Work Text:
When Taehyung is ten, his mother starts to teach him how the trade works.
How it works is, his mother and several others from their village will make the journey to trek up the local mountain and back down again to reach the other side, along the way gathering a wide assortment of herbs for medicinal and culinary purposes. When they've gathered as much as they can, they will journey back to the village, where they will set aside a specific portion for the village itself, and the rest is carefully sorted out and packed to be taken by another group of villagers to be traded out with other villages further out-land and towards the coast. During peak harvesting season, it's not uncommon for Taehyung's mother to make several trips out to the mountain.
So when Taehyung is ten, his mother allows him to come along with her for the first time, handing him one sack for provisions, and another, much larger sack to carry what they've gathered. She warns him before they start on their journey that he has to be careful, to always be alert and be aware of his surroundings, and to not get carried away.
Taehyung asks her what she means by getting carried away, but she just shakes her head and tells him that it's hard for her to explain without Taehyung being there to witness it. Taehyung already has several thoughts forming in his mind; perhaps his mother meant for him to not gather too much at once, or maybe she meant for Taehyung to not run off too far on his own, which he has a tendency to do. At his age, after all, is when children have ample amounts of energy, and Taehyung himself has a tendency to get too excited, always bouncing off the walls even after his mother hushes for him to quiet down.
They're maybe halfway up the mountain when Taehyung hears it for the first time; a quiet, crooning voice, a hushed whisper that travels along with the wind, imploring for him to come. It beckons for him to come closer, it pleads for him to not leave it alone; it's been waiting for a long time, it seems, for someone to visit their home. All Taehyung can do at the tender age of ten is to stop in his tracks, his eyes widening as he looks up at his mother with a questioning glance. It's the first time in his life as far as Taehyung can remember that he's felt scared before. "What is that?"
His mother's mouth is set in a grim line as she takes Taehyung's hand in hers and holds onto it tightly, as if letting go is the last thing she wants to do. "That is the spirit of the mountain," she answers him, continuing firmly down the path that they're meant to take to reach the other side. "There's many legends out there about the spirit, but they all end the same; whoever allows themselves to be carried away by that voice, will never leave the mountain ever again."
Taehyung shivers at that, drawing himself closer to be by his mother's side, holding onto her hand with almost as much force as she is using. "Do you know anyone who didn't come back?"
His mother shakes her head. "No. Our village knows that coming through here is dangerous, and we always teach our children to ignore the voice that beckons to us. We are lucky, in that sense."
Taehyung shivers again, and for the rest of the journey until they manage to reach the other side, he doesn't let go of his mother's hand again. When they make it back home, his mother praises him on a job well done before taking him by the shoulders and looking him in the eye. "You must promise me, if you do decide to follow my footsteps, to never seek out that voice."
Taehyung nods, a solemn affair. "I promise," he says, and his mother smiles at him before ruffling his hair and guiding him to her work table to teach him how to sort out the herbs next.
When Taehyung is fifteen, his mother allows him to set off on his own to gather the herbs, reminding him once again to ignore the voice at all costs. It typically takes each villager three or four days to make a full trip from the mountain, but his mother allows him five days since it's his first time going alone. After five days, is when she will set off on the journey herself to try to find her missing child.
Taehyung ignores the voice that beckons to him, even though to him it sounds more lonely than menacing. He makes it back from his trip in four and a half days, when his mother is on that cusp between thinking everything is going as normal, to starting to panic that her child has not returned. She gives him a great welcoming hug when he returns home, congratulating him and telling him he's done a good job for his first solo trip. There is pride in her eyes, and Taehyung is content.
But when Taehyung is barely nineteen, his mother passes on, and it's not because of the mountain.
Shortly after his mother passes, Taehyung's friend Jimin tentatively asks him if he would like to join their group. Taehyung's heard of the group Jimin works with, a group of villagers who not only harvest herbs from the mountains, but also have developed a trade in growing spices and creating medicines to be sold to other villages and even nearby cities. They've made somewhat of a name for the group, but they also like to keep to themselves, all five of them living in a home outside of the village. Jimin's only recently moved away and joined the group himself, but he says that the group is friendly, and he feels secure with what he's doing.
Taehyung takes a look at the now empty cottage before him and decides to pack his bags.
--
It takes a while for Taehyung to settle in, not used to sharing an abode with so many people at one time. The cottage he moves into is a lot larger than the one he lived in with his mother, but all the same, with six people sharing one home things get a lot less quiet after that.
Hoseok is the first to draw Taehyung in and out of his reverie, taking him outside to the garden where he grows his various assortment of spices and showing him how each plot is separated out. "We harvest most of these during early spring," Hoseok explains to him, urging Taehyung to take a closer look. "But some of these, we have to wait until late fall."
"You grow all of these yourself?" Taehyung asks in awe. Some of the plants look different to him, but he has a hard time truly being able to pinpoint and tell them apart. He can count seven different varieties already, but he's sure there's many more he isn't able to distinguish. He's not well versed with spices, has only worked with herbs before.
"Most of them," Hosoek says proudly. "Sometimes Jimin will help me out if he has some free time, which isn't often because he does a little bit of everything around here." He gestures back to the cottage, pointing to the window where Taehyung can see Seokjin and Namjoon in the kitchen busying themselves over a pot. "Jimin helps those two out with creating their medicines, but most of the time he travels with Yoongi to the mountains."
"I can take Jimin's place," Taehyung suggests. "When the harvesting season starts up again for the mountains, I'll take his place."
Hoseok looks at him thoughtfully. "You could, and I'm sure Jimin wouldn't mind. Or you're welcome to stay down here with me if you want to learn how to grow these yourself."
Taehyung shakes his head. "I've always been more of a wanderer."
Hoseok gives him a knowing smile at that. "I've heard."
So when harvesting season hits Taehyung travels to the mountains again, only this time it's for his group of friends and not for his mother. It's a shaky start at first, because before Taehyung joined their group Jimin and Yoongi would always make a habit to travel together to the mountain to ensure the other's safety, but Taehyung much rather prefers to operate on his own. "It'll be fine," Taehyung insists when Jimin starts to protest, as if Jimin doesn't know by now that he's been doing these trips solo for years already. "I can accompany Yoongi when he wants to go, just to be safe, but I'd like to be able to travel on my own too."
"I know you went alone before, but that's because you wanted your mother to rest," Jimin protests, tugging on his arm insistently, his eyes wide. "But now that we have so many friends with us, isn't it best if you go with someone?"
Taehyung snorts, then looks over to Yoongi. "If he can keep up."
The thing about Taehyung is, he works efficiently, and he works fast. These days, it takes him only three days for a full trip there and back, and when he packs up his bags to get ready to travel for the third time after only two days of rest, Yoongi gives him a dubious look.
"Is there really a need," Yoongi starts saying slowly from where he's lounging on his cot, reading a book, "to go again so soon?"
Taehyung takes one look at Seokjin and Namjoon, who are busying themselves in the kitchen again. Seokjin yells at Namjoon worriedly when the latter drops a jar filled with steaming hot medicine. "I'm sure those two wouldn't mind the extra harvest."
Yoongi looks over at the pair too before scoffing. "They probably wouldn't." He sighs, putting his book down and getting up from his bed.
"You don't have to come along if you don't want to," is what Taehyung ends up insisting, because he knows Yoongi is tired. The other doesn't have a habit of making as frequent trips as Taehyung's used to doing, simply because their group never relied solely on harvesting herbs to survive. When Yoongi looks skeptical, almost hesitant, Taehyung insists that he'll be fine. Yoongi ends up consulting Hoseok, who in turn consults with Seokjin, who ends up asking Namjoon, who finally sighs and pulls Jimin into the conversation to see what they should do.
Jimin, who finally relents, because he's known Taehyung for the longest and knows that Taehyung is a wanderer by nature, that there are times where Taehyung prefers to travel in solitude because that's when his thoughts thrive the most. He loves the freedom that comes with travelling alone, and when he walks alone, his imagination runs wild. "Come back in four days," Jimin advises him, watching as Taehyung packs up the rest of his provisions and hoists another empty pack over his shoulder.
"I'll come back in three," Taehyung promises him, an echo of their many previous interactions whenever he sets off on his own. And he does, time and time again, until the group's uneasiness finally starts to wane, and their anxiety starts to diminish.
What Taehyung chooses not to tell them though, is that for the past few years it's only taken him two and a half days to make his way through the mountain. The remainder of the time he spends on the mountain, listening to the voice that tries to fruitlessly draw him in, and he wonders. He wonders why the voice sounds so desolate, and what the voice could possibly want from him. He wonders how the voice can travel so far, how it can reach so many ears, and why after so many years he's never heard of anyone becoming lost before.
He wonders why, after almost a decade of travelling both alone and with others, he's the only one that can see that red flame.
--
Taehyung tests Yoongi out once when they're travelling again together, looking up and pointing at the cave where a small red fire is flickering at the edge. "Do you see that?" Taehyung asks.
Yoongi looks up too towards the direction that Taehyung is pointing to, and squints through the night, barely able to distinguish the shadows that lie in front of him. "See what?" he asks curiously, as the voice grows stronger in their ears, beckoning for them to come closer.
"You don't see anything red coming from that cave over there?" Taehyung presses on, because he has to know.
Yoongi stops squinting and turns to look at him in bewilderment. There's silence between them for a few moments. "What cave?" Yoongi says finally, and that's when Taehyung knows.
On one of his last trips of the season, when the voice that sadly croons for him to come closer ends up saying his name for the first time, he makes a decision. A nonsensical decision to most, but people rarely understand what Taehyung has in mind, or they always have difficulty following his reasoning. They'll say that Taehyung just has a penchant for trouble of some sort or that he doesn't think things through before acting, but Taehyung figures that life is too short to recklessly ignore the mysteries, the things that don't quite add up. To him, it's simple.
So when the anniversary of his mother's death arrives, Taehyung packs up enough provisions for himself to last for two weeks, and tells his new family that he'll be taking time to himself by exploring the villages nearest them. The group lets him go, because by now everyone knows that it's just the way he is, but no matter what Taehyung is like he always comes back. True to his word, he always keeps his promises.
Instead of travelling to the villages like he says he will, he turns the other way and sets off for the mountain once more, only this time his goal isn't to bring back any herbs.
Rather, it's to seek out the cave.
--
The reason why Taehyung is standing in front of the cave now, looking at the red fire going on the ground curiously, isn't because Taehyung is trying to be noble and alleviate the owner of the voice's loneliness.
It's simply because Taehyung just wants to know how the hell the spirit of the mountain knows his damn name.
"Mountain-sshi," Taehyung calls out cheerfully, cautiously peering into the cave before taking a tentative step inside, making sure he doesn't touch the flame. When he's sure that he isn't going to get attacked by any unseen force, he steps the rest of the way inside, shuffling deeper into the cave. "Mountain-sshi, I'm coming in!"
The sight that greets him surprises him, to say the least. Taehyung was expecting some sort of floating spirit after all those talks of danger and legends, like a ghost or something equally horrifying, but what he sees instead is a boy around his age with dark hair with his eyes closed, as if he's meditating. He doesn't seem to notice Taehyung's arrival. "Mountain-sshi," Taehyung says once again, brave enough to close the distance between them and poke the supposed spirit of the mountain in the arm.
The boy opens his eyes slowly at the physical contact, looks up, takes one look at Taehyung, and promptly yelps in surprise, toppling over. It takes a while for the other to regain his composure, scrambling back into a cross-legged position while Taehyung squats so he's eye-level with the guy. "Who the hell are you?" the boy manages to get out, holding one hand to his chest, and if Taehyung had any qualms about this boy being the spirit of the mountain, those doubts disappear entirely. The voice the boy has is the same one that Taehyung's heard for years now.
"I'm Taehyung," Taehyung answers, waving. For someone with such a sad voice, the other doesn't really look all that sad. "You called for me?"
Mountain-sshi looks at him blankly. "What do you mean?"
Taehyung at this point is starting to get a little impatient here. For a spirit, this guy seems to be slightly slow on the uptake. "You called me by name a few months ago," Taehyung elaborates. "While I was travelling up here."
The understanding finally dawns on the other boy's face. "Oh shit," he breathes out, eyes widening at Taehyung's revelation. "I didn't think that would actually work."
It's Taehyung's turn to look at the other blankly. "What does that mean."
The other actually has the gall to look sheepish, running a hand through his hair. "I've been calling for someone to come up here and visit me for ages, but it's never worked, so I thought I'd try throwing out names and see if that'd work better."
"What you mean to say is," Taehyung starts off slow, "is that you don't actually know who I am."
The boy shakes his head.
"You just happened to call out my name by random, and I happened to overhear you."
The boy nods.
Taehyung groans, throwing his hands up in the air. "I came all the way up here because I thought you knew me," he grumbles, and makes a move to get up. Maybe, he thinks, the villagers were right after all, and that Taehyung really doesn't think things through enough before acting.
"Wait!" The boy reaches out and pulls on his arm, effectively stopping Taehyung from leaving. For a brief moment Taehyung allows himself to panic, that maybe the legends were right and that the spirit will never let him leave now that he's here. But the way the other poses his next question somewhat relieves Taehyung of his worries. "Won't you stay, at least for an hour?" the boy implores him, his eyes pleading. "I haven't talked to anyone in ages."
It doesn't take long for Taehyung to make up his mind, sighing as he settles down onto the ground again. "Only for an hour," Taehyung warns him, because if the spirit isn't looking for him specifically, Taehyung really has no reason to be here anymore. "Do I get to ask you all the questions I want?"
The spirit settles back too, his posture relaxing. "Sure," he relents, shrugging. "I have nothing to hide."
--
Taehyung quickly learns the spirit's name is Jeongguk, and he only learns of this early on because the spirit grows tired of Taehyung constantly calling him Mountain-sshi. "It's a horrible name," Jeongguk gripes.
"It's an accurate name," Taehyung shoots back. "You're the spirit of the mountain, aren't you?"
"It wasn't my choice," Jeongguk grumbles, and that piques Taehyung's interest. Taehyung learns that Jeongguk hasn't always been stuck in this cave atop this lonely mountain, that this is Jeongguk's punishment for slighting a mightier spirit some hundreds of years ago.
"What the hell did you do?" Taehyung asks, thinking that some bad shit must have gone down in the spirit world for Jeongguk to be stuck up here for so long. He wonders if Jeongguk got into a fight with the spirit in question and wounded him, or maybe he stole something valuable.
Jeongguk winces at this. "I was accused of seducing the spirit's wife."
Taehyung can only stare at him. For some reason, Jeongguk doesn't exactly strike him as someone who seduces other people's wives for the hell of it, but perhaps looks can be deceiving. "Did you?"
Jeongguk puts his hands up in defense, looking uncomfortable. "First of all, she tried to seduce me. Marriage out in the spirit world is some pretty serious shit, so I don't fuck with that. But I guess it didn't really matter who was doing the seducing, he just wanted me out of there and away from them." He gestures to the cave around him. "So here I am."
"Are you sure you're really stuck in here?" Taehyung asks next.
Jeongguk pins him down with the most severe stare. Taehyung's half afraid Jeongguk is going to pull some mildly dangerous magic shit at this point with how annoyed he looks. He doesn't exactly know what Jeongguk's capable of after all, only that he's not human. "Don't you think I've tried getting out? Being alone in here sucks."
Taehyung supposes Jeongguk has a point there. "So what's your goal here then? You try to lure in poor, ignorant souls that are wandering around, and then what? Do you need like, a blood sacrifice or something for you to get your ass out of here?"
Jeongguk looks at him in disbelief. "Can you stop antagonizing me? I'm not trying to lure people in so I can get out here, I don't even know how to get out. No one told me." He looks at the ground now, swirling patterns in the dirt with his finger, then sighs. "I just wanted to have someone to talk to, but no one's ever come by. Well except for you, you're my first visitor."
Taehyung blinks at this. "You haven't had a single visitor ever since you got stuck in here?"
Jeongguk looks up. "Never," he says, and Taehyung supposes that maybe it's the other way around. Maybe Jeongguk's never had any visitors before, not because of what he's done in the past to humans, but because somehow the spirit world had started those legends first, as a way to further punish and isolate him.
Taehyung has one final question before he leaves. "What's up with the red flame out in front?"
Jeongguk looks surprised by this, eyes widening in shock. "You can see that?"
Taehyung nods. "What's it supposed to be?" he presses on, wondering why he's the only one that's been able to see the fire.
"That's," Jeongguk starts to say, then seems to hesitate, as if he's not sure if he should continue. "That's my heart," he explains warily. "It's the reason why I can't leave this place."
"You can't just, I don't know, pick it up and bring it with you or something?"
Jeongguk shakes his head. "It's stuck to the ground, and I can't figure out how to move it. I can only take a few steps outside of this cave before I can't move anymore; it's like I'm being pulled by a string connected to the flame, I guess?" He frowns now. "I'm surprised you can see it, actually. Humans aren't supposed to be able to see our hearts."
"Well that's just fantastic," Taehyung mutters wryly. "I'm the only one who can see it, but fat lot of good that'll do." He peers outside the cave, noticing how dark it's starting to get already outside. "Hey listen, thanks for talking with me, but I really should be heading back now."
"Oh." Jeongguk blinks, then stands up slowly. "Sure. I guess it's really been more than an hour already, huh?"
Taehyung stands up too, wiping the seat of his pants, trying to get rid of the dust. "Definitely been over an hour. But don't worry, I'll let the villagers know you're completely harmless. Hopefully you'll get more visitors after I go back."
Jeongguk watches as Taehyung picks up his packs off from the ground. "I'd appreciate that," he says.
When Taehyung turns around and waves goodbye to Jeongguk, already a few steps away from the opening of the cave, Jeongguk calls out to him. "Do you think you'll stop by again?"
Taehyung considers this for a moment before shrugging. "I'll probably stop by the next time I come up here for harvest season. It won't be for another half a year, though."
"Oh." Jeongguk seems to deflate a little, shrinking back further into the cave. "Feel free, if you want."
Taehyung nods, turning around and setting off again. He tries not to be ridiculous about this; after all, they've only known each other for a couple of hours at best.
But for some reason, Taehyung can't help but feel a little guilty for leaving Jeongguk behind. Even if he has no idea how to help him.
--
Taehyung's only halfway back down the mountain before he huffs and turns back.
Ridiculous, he thinks to himself, shaking his head. But if Taehyung himself already thinks this is ridiculous, the rest of the world probably would think he's completely gone off his rocker.
--
"Okay listen," Taehyung announces rather loudly into the cave as he marches right in, dropping the assortment of branches, sticks, and stones that he's picked up along the way rather haphazardly onto the ground. Jeongguk startles out of his daze, looking up at him in shock. "I'm not doing this because I feel bad or anything, because regardless of who seduced who first, you probably deserve your punishment. It's just too cold outside, and travelling in the cold sucks."
Jeongguk squawks indignantly at this, as Taehyung drops down onto the ground and starts sorting out his branches in preparation for starting a fire. "I said tried to seduce me, what the hell? All she did was try to sit in my lap, and then her husband went ape shit."
"Oh." Taehyung looks up and blinks at him before looking back down in concentration, realizing that he probably should've asked more questions before jumping to conclusions like that. "I would say that this all mighty spirit probably overreacted, then," he hedges.
Jeongguk snorts in response, watching over Taehyung as he tries to build his fire. "Do you need help?"
Taehyung looks up to peer at him curiously. "You have a faster way of doing this?"
Jeongguk shrugs carelessly, reaching a hand out to hover over his pile of branches and tinder. "I can't do much in the mortal realm, but this I can definitely handle." He snaps his fingers and a small flame starts to form in the middle.
"Oh wow," Taehyung says, looking at the fire forming with wide eyes. "Thanks."
"No problem," Jeongguk says, laying on his side and settling himself down in front of the fire, watching the flames flicker in front of him. He takes one look at Taehyung and says, "Are you planning on leaving tomorrow when it gets warmer?"
Taehyung nods, slowly.
"It's still pretty early," Jeongguk muses, not taking his gaze off the fire. "Do you mind telling me about your life?"
"There's not much to tell," Taehyung scoffs, because who is he kidding, his life is so much shorter compared to Jeongguk's. Nevertheless, he starts from the beginning, and instead of watching the fire now Jeongguk turns his gaze towards him instead, looking at him with interest.
They talk well into the night, and the fire's almost burned itself out before Taehyung finally dozes off, Jeongguk moving further away so that he can have some privacy. Taehyung supposes it's no big deal that he's fallen asleep so late, because he's not exactly in a hurry to get a head start in the morning anyway.
--
The next day when Taehyung wakes up, he decides to have a long, drawn out breakfast before heading out for his journey back home. He ends up trying to offer Jeongguk some of his food, because he feels rude to be eating in front of him and not sharing even though he has no idea if Jeongguk even needs to eat. Jeongguk shakes his head, pushing the bread away from him. "Spirits don't need to eat."
"Are spirits even capable of eating?" Taehyung asks, taking another bite out of his own bread, stuffing the extra slice back into his pack.
"We can," Jeongguk answers him. "But there's no need." He takes a peek outside, where the sun is almost at its peak. "It's warmer now," he notes, and Taehyung wonders if he's imagining the way Jeongguk's voice seems to grow a bit mournful.
"That it is," Taehyung agrees, finishing up the rest of his bread as he peers outside too. He gives a noncommittal shrug. "I see some clouds though."
"Some?" Jeongguk echoes, looking outside again and frowning in confusion. "I only see one."
"One too many," Taehyung insists, which is complete and utter bullshit he knows; he's traveled in far worse conditions before, just to make it back home in time before anyone starts to worry, but Jeongguk doesn't need to know about that. "Maybe I should have actually gone home and brought some books over."
"You can summarize for me," Jeongguk suggests. "I have no patience for novels anyway."
Taehyung's actually pretty shit at remembering stories off the top of his head, not necessarily because he has a bad memory, but simply because with an imagination like his sometimes he ends up making stuff up and embedding it into the story he's thinking of. In a reasonable manner, mind. "I think you remembered it wrong," Jimin will often tell him when Taehyung's trying to recount the latest novel he's read, because after all these years he knows how Taehyung's brain works. "If the book's supposed to be about vampires, how the hell did mermaids suddenly get involved?"
"Maybe the vampires suddenly became pescetarian, like, they'll only suck the blood of mermaids instead of humans," Taehyung will say, nodding his head, and Jimin will only roll his eyes at him before going back to his work.
For this very reason, Taehyung sticks to recounting fairy tales, because those are the ones that are the most well known. The spirit world Jeongguk's from doesn't seem to know what fairy tales are, so at least it's not redundant. "That's so sad," Jeongguk exclaims when Taehyung's finished telling him the story about the Little Mermaid. "Why was the prince so stupid, and why did the mermaid have to die in the end? Who the hell is that selfless?"
Taehyung squints at this, a bit anxious that Jeongguk seems so distressed by the story. "I think I remembered wrong. The prince suddenly remembered her and then they lived happily ever after?"
Jeongguk gives him a look that says he's unconvinced. "I think I liked Snow White better."
"Speaking of which," Taehyung says, reaching into his bag and taking out an apple. "Maybe if you eat this, your punishment will get lifted?"
Jeongguk just stares at him.
"It could be a magic apple for all we know."
Jeongguk looks at the fruit in his hands warily, shaking his head. "Wasn't the apple in Snow White poisoned?"
Taehyung frowns, looking down at the apple in his hands. "Right, good point." He offers it to Jeongguk again. "Pretty sure this one isn't poisoned though."
Jeongguk shakes his head again. "You should save it. If I take your food, you'll run out of food faster and then you'll have to go back home sooner."
"Oh." Taehyung supposes Jeongguk has a point there. "Wanna hear another story?"
Jeongguk shrugs, and says, "Sure."
--
It's safe to say that Jeongguk really, really doesn't like horror stories. Taehyung feels a bit bad about this, because the fact of the matter is that he'll have to leave eventually, and Jeongguk will end up being all alone in the cave he's in with no one to hold his hand when he gets scared.
Taehyung decides to lay off on the horror shit.
He also realizes that instead of recounting stories to Jeongguk all day, a better use of their time would be to actually figure out how the hell to get Jeongguk out of here. After some prodding Taehyung finds out that Jeongguk really doesn't know how to break the punishment, doesn't even have a clue of how he's supposed to get out, so Taehyung takes it upon himself to somehow make it work.
By making it work, Taehyung literally means try every single thing that he can come up with in his mind, no matter how shitty the idea seems to be.
It's not like they have anything better to do anyway.
So, Taehyung makes Jeongguk do various things, including but not limited to:
1) Jumping up and down ten times in one place.
2) Turning around ten times. Then twenty. Then fifty.
3) Praying to a pile of rocks. Respectfully. (At this point Jeongguk looks like he almost wants to hit him, but Taehyung scoffs and asks if he has anything better in mind, to which Jeongguk shakes his head.)
4) Dancing around the fire for about five minutes. Then ten.
5) Performing a handstand for as long as possible. (Which ends up being really long, Taehyung is impressed.)
6) Praying to the red flame.
None of these suggestions (and the ones thereafter) actually end up working, so Jeongguk sits back down on the ground next to Taehyung with a frustrated huff, running a hand through his hair. "Well that was a waste of time."
Taehyung blinks at this. "You're a spirit, and I'm assuming you're immortal. I don't see how you're exactly pressed for time here."
"You said you were supposed to go back home after two weeks, so yeah, I'm pressed for time here," Jeongguk retorts, crossing his arms now. "We could've, I don't know, talked more about you, or something. Or you could've told me another one of your stories."
Taehyung snorts. "I've already told you all I can about my life." Being alive for twenty years and gathering herbs the majority of the time doesn't really amount to much. "You've lived longer than me. Why don't you tell me more about the spirit world?"
Jeongguk does. At one point when he's in the middle of talking, he startles suddenly, reaching one hand to grab onto Taehyung's arm as a means of steadying himself as he gazes at the fire with wide eyes. "Oh," he says, relaxing and letting go. "I thought there was a ghost."
Taehyung looks at the smoke with amusement. "Comes from the spirit world and is afraid of ghosts," he mutters to himself wryly, to which Jeongguk gives his shoulder an indignant shove.
Jeongguk is really, really easy to tease.
--
They're about a week in when Jeongguk asks him why he ended up seeking him out in the cave, instead of heeding the warnings of the other villagers when he heard him call out Taehyung's name. "I could've been some creepy ghost for all you knew."
Taehyung groans, rolling his eyes. "Enough about the ghosts, they aren't real," he complains.
"Spirits aren't supposed to be real either," Jeongguk points out.
Taehyung supposes he has a point. "I guess I just didn't want to live my life out passively."
"Passively?"
"Yeah. I was thinking about this a lot after I lost my mother, that I could either choose the safe route like she did and live without taking any risks, and I'd just end up living my life out peacefully. But I'll just pass through this life quietly, and I'm not sure that's what I want."
"What would the other option be?"
"I can live honestly," Taehyung says. "Do what I want to do, even if it seems stupid to other people. I'll probably end up getting hurt a lot, but at least this way I'll have a chance at experiencing what I want to experience, and maybe I'll be lucky and accomplish more. Simple as that."
Jeongguk looks at him with a sort of wonder that makes Taehyung feel self conscious. "Wow."
Taehyung taps Jeongguk on the head. "Shit you have to think about when you have a short life span." He shrugs. "When I heard you call out me out by name I was curious, and then I thought the only way to get the answers I wanted was to visit you myself, otherwise I'd live the rest of my life wondering and thinking about the what ifs."
"You're so brave," Jeongguk whispers.
Taehyung chuckles a little at this. "Brave or stupid, 99% of people can't tell the difference."
"I'm not human," Jeongguk tells him. "So maybe my opinion means shit to you, but I'd definitely say you're brave."
"Thanks," is what Taehyung eventually says. "Human or not, it really means a lot."
--
When Taehyung's food supply finally runs low and he has to head back home, Jeongguk lingers by the entrance of the cave, watching as Taehyung leaves. "Will you come back?"
"I'll come back," Taehyung assures him, because if the two weeks have done anything for him, it's that his growing attachment to Jeongguk has solidified. "I promise."
Jeongguk seems to relax at this, nodding. "When the next harvest season hits?"
"Sooner," Taehyung promises, and at that Jeongguk finally gives him a small, wavering smile.
When Taehyung arrives back at the cottage, the first thing he does is drop his bags on the floor and rush into the kitchen, where Jimin is sorting out an array of herbs. He recounts his story from beginning to end in haste, and is impressed when Jimin seems to be following along mostly, if the way his hands drop to rest by his sides is any indication.
"So let me make sure I'm getting this right," Jimin starts out, eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration after Taehyung's finished telling him what happened. "Your mother specifically told you not to go looking for the spirit of the mountain, actually no, it's common knowledge that no one should follow the spirit's voice, so you decided ten years later that you would proceed to do just that." Jimin gives him a flat, borderline unimpressed look. "Just want to make sure we're on the same page."
Taehyung nods enthusiastically; he's glad Jimin's understood so quickly. He always knew he could count on his best friend to be on the same wavelength as him. "Yep," he says easily.
Jimin's next course of action is to let out a long, suffering groan and bury his face in his hands.
Taehyung takes that to mean that Jimin isn't taking the news too well. "It went fine," he reassures his friend, patting him on the shoulder. "I came out of there alive, didn't I?"
Jimin raises his head out of his hands and just gives him a long, blank stare. "When did you lose your sense of self preservation?"
Taehyung blinks at that; he's not really sure lose is the correct term here. "I'm not sure I had any to begin with."
"Of course," Jimin mutters dryly, shaking his head and beginning to sort out the herbs again. "How could I have forgotten."
There's a long silence after that. "You aren't mad, are you?" Taehyung asks eventually.
Jimin drops the herbs he's holding and gives him a severe stare. Taehyung wilts a little. "I don't know Taehyung, am I? How would you feel if I came back from a two week trip and told you I went up that mountain to visit the spirit myself? Wouldn't you be at least a little worried?"
Taehyung knows Jimin is right. "I would be worried," he agrees.
"But at the same time," Jimin huffs, "I've known you for years. I know that you didn't go up there on your own without good reason. You probably went up there because you didn't want to end up regretting not going, and who am I to say the way you live your life out is wrong?"
Taehyung is silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry."
Jimin shakes his head. "Just let us know next time, alright?"
"I'm going back up there tomorrow," Taehyung tells him, to which Jimin groans again, glaring at him. "I can't leave Jeongguk up there by himself, he's afraid of ghosts. I have to help him break his punishment somehow."
"This Jeongguk of yours must be charming as hell if he's managed to woo you in the span of two weeks," Jimin mutters.
Taehyung squawks indignantly at this. "He did not woo me."
Jimin raises an eyebrow at him.
"I've grown attached," Taehyung relents, and Jimin snorts at him.
This time around, Jimin demands that he accompany Taehyung up the mountain to see for himself if this spirit really is all that harmless. Both of them pack their bags for a two week trip, but not before letting the others know of their plans.
Namjoon and Seokjin wish them luck and ask them to be careful, while Hoseok seems to be fascinated that Taehyung's befriended a spirit of all things, and Yoongi, well.
Yoongi's only response is to grumble that he's surprised Taehyung's even alive at this point with all the shit that goes on his head. That, and, "If you two don't come home within two weeks I'm coming after both your asses."
Taehyung's response in turn is to give him a thumbs up, because as gruff as Yoongi is, he always cares.
When Jimin and Taehyung travel up the mountain, this time the air around them is quiet, no whispers trailing after them with the wind. But Taehyung can still see the red flame in front of that cave even though Jimin can't, so Taehyung is the one that guides them both.
When they arrive and make their way into the cave, the first thing Jimin does is drop his pack and hold out an apple to Jeongguk, who looks surprised that Taehyung's come back so soon, and with a friend to boot. "Eat it," Jimin insists when Jeongguk tells him that he doesn't need the food. "It's plan one out of like, seven hundred shitty ways we can think of to get your ass out of here."
Jeongguk takes a bite out of the apple and looks at the red flame warily. It stays stuck to the ground.
Taehyung shrugs at this, setting his pack down too. "One down, six hundred ninety-nine more to go."
--
Here's the list of ideas that Jimin's come up with in an incredibly short amount of time for Jeongguk to carry out, and Taehyung relents that Jimin's ideas are somewhat more reasonable than the shit Taehyung's come up with. Maybe. Sort of.
1) Throwing rosemary into the campfire.
2) Sprinkling water all over Jeongguk while he prays for forgiveness.
3) Having Jeongguk drink a mixture of chamomile tea and mint and then bowing to the campfire three times.
4) Repeat number three, only this time adding a drop of Taehyung's blood to the mix as well. (Jeongguk really tries to get out of this one but, well, blood sacrifices sort of make sense. He only takes a small sip, though.)
5) Having Jeongguk cry into a bowl and then setting it down near the red flame. (Taehyung doesn't exactly understand this one.)
6) Somehow Jimin's managed to bring a small jar of alcohol up the mountain, so he makes Jeongguk drink a sip of that.
7) Jeongguk pours a little bit of alcohol into a small cup, sort of as an offering to the other spirits.
8) And then places an orange next to that.
9) Jimin makes Jeongguk write out "I'm sorry" on a piece of paper and then throw it into the fire. (This, Taehyung thinks, is probably the most reasonable idea they've thought of yet.)
10) Taehyung tucks a small flower behind Jeongguk's ear.
11) Jeongguk punches Taehyung in the arm.
12) The flower stays.
Needless to say, none of these end up working quite as well as expected.
Jimin throws his hands up in the air with a heavy sigh, saying that he's going to call it a night, moving his pack deeper into the cave and dropping his head onto it, back turned away from them. He's out within minutes.
"Taehyung," Jeongguk whispers to him just as Taehyung is about to fall asleep too.
"Hm?"
"Thank you," Jeongguk says, and it takes Taehyung a little while longer before he's able to open one eye slowly.
"For what?"
"For coming back. You didn't have to."
Taehyung snorts. "I do what I want."
--
It's probably a combination of lack of sleep, the cold air, and travelling for too long that things end up this way.
Jimin is having Jeongguk write out a longer, more drawn out letter of apology to the spirit he slighted for trying to seduce his wife, while Taehyung tries to see if he can touch the red flame himself, pulling back when he realizes the flame is as hot as any other normal fire would be.
Then, Taehyung sneezes.
"Whoa," Jimin says, looking up at him warily. "You okay?"
"Yep," Taehyung says, sniffling a little. "Just allergies."
"What allergies," Jimin deadpans. Jeongguk looks up now too, stopping his writing. "It's winter."
"I'm allergic to your concern," Taehyung shoots back, and tries not to shiver.
--
"I'm going to address the elephant in the room, cave, whatever," Jimin whispers so only Taehyung can hear, the both of them watching Jeongguk as he tries to balance an orange on his head, "but have you ever thought of kissing him, maybe?"
Taehyung blanches at this, and then sneezes again. "What the hell, no? Why would I do that?"
Jimin throws his hands up exasperatedly. "Hello, true love's kiss?" he whispers fiercely, eyes flashing. "Isn't that like, the most obvious solution here?"
"I don't want to suggest that!" Taehyung whispers back just as fiercely before coughing a little. A cough that ends up sounding way too watery, which is definitely not a good sign. Nope. Not good at all. Taehyung's not going to think about it. "That'd be taking advantage of him."
Jimin looks unimpressed.
"I don't want him to kiss me just so he can get out of here," Taehyung explains. "If he's going to kiss me, he has to mean it."
"He's going to be stuck in here forever."
"We don't even know if that's actually going to work!"
"Taehyung," Jeongguk says, startling the both of them. He looks worried. "Maybe you should head back home."
Taehyung coughs again. "What, kicking me out already? How rude."
"I'm being serious," Jeongguk insists. "You sound like you're getting sick. It's not good for you to be up here."
"I'm fine." Taehyung stands up suddenly, putting his hands on his hips. "Besides, we're only on idea number three hundred twenty-two."
The thing is, Taehyung thinks things through relatively well for the most part, but that doesn't mean he's perfect, nor that he isn't prone to making mistakes. So when he wakes up the next morning with a fever and aches all throughout his body, he thinks he maybe is starting to regret his choice.
"I fucking knew it," Jeongguk mutters, placing a hand against his forehead and drawing it back only moments later. "Taehyung, you have to go home."
Taehyung only hums in response and closes his eyes once more, shivering and drawing closer to Jeongguk, chasing after his warmth. He doesn't realize he's fallen asleep again until he wakes up once more.
"He's getting worse," Jimin says in a hushed voice, drawing his hand back away from his forehead. "I don't think he can move on his own."
"We have to get him out of here," Jeongguk says urgently. Taehyung doesn't remember when Jeongguk's moved away from him.
"I can't carry him down on my own," Jimin says. "I'm going to have to go down and get someone to help."
"How are you going to get back up here? You can't see the flame."
"Call for us," Jimin says. "It'll take two days for us to get back up here if we run, so in two days time call for us, and we'll follow your voice."
Taehyung's eyes droop as Jeongguk nods, and when he opens his eyes again Jimin is already gone. Jeongguk is laying beside him, an arm over his shoulders. "I'm sorry," he croaks out, wincing as another cough rattles in his chest.
"No, I'm sorry," Jeongguk says brokenly. "I shouldn't have asked you to come back."
Taehyung tries to protest at this, but his eyes fall shut once again. In the haze, he can only make out bits and pieces, a cup of water pressed to his lips, and Jeongguk's incessant, quiet chant of Jimin, Jimin, please hurry. At one point Taehyung thinks that Jeongguk is gone, but then he's back, so maybe he hasn't left at all.
He thinks maybe he is in Jeongguk's arms, but there is no solid ground beneath him, the other's breath hitching a little before he's placed back down on the ground, gently. "I can't leave this place," Jeongguk whispers, and his voice has that sadness to it again. Taehyung doesn't like the way it sounds at all. "What do I do, Taehyung?"
Taehyung can't answer him, and the world goes dark once more.
--
When Taehyung wakes up again, he squints at the bright light and blinks a few times. Jeongguk is hovering over him, a hand placed on his forehead yet again. "Ow," he mumbles, coughing a little.
Jeongguk is looking at him tentatively. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel like shit," Taehyung declares, because honesty is his best friend right now. Or maybe it's just because he's still feeling a bit woozy, he can't exactly tell. "But better than yesterday."
"Yesterday," Jeongguk echoes, huffing. "You've been out for three days."
"Oh shit."
"At least your fever broke," Jeongguk grumbles, then helps Taehyung up slowly before making him drink some water. More like, gently try to force the water down his throat, but whatever. "Can you promise me something?"
"What?" Taehyung asks.
"Next time you start feeling off, can you please go home?" Jeongguk pleads. "I don't want to almost have another heart attack, and you can always come back."
Taehyung feels bad after that, because it's not like he makes it a point in his life to cause the people around him to incessantly worry over him. And Jeongguk has a point, Taehyung can always come back. "Okay," he says quietly, and Jeongguk places the cup back down before reaching over and enveloping him into a hug.
--
When Jeongguk presses a tentative kiss on the corner of his mouth, Taehyung's first thought is that it's a terrible idea, which he voices out almost immediately. His second thought is that Jeongguk's missed the mark, but that part he keeps to himself.
"I'm so sorry," Jeongguk lets out, looking stricken. "I didn't- I mean, I meant to, but. I'm sorry, I should've asked. I'm so sorry."
"No, no, that's not what I meant," Taehyung says, waving a hand impatiently. "I meant it's a horrible idea, because what if you get sick?"
"Oh." Jeongguk blinks. "Spirits, uh, spirits don't get sick."
"Oh." He learns something new everyday. Taehyung shifts closer now. "Feel free, then."
Jeongguk just stares at him.
"Make out with me," Taehyung says, pulling Jeongguk in closer. "Is that not a concept spirits know about? Let's smucker the pucker, suck face, swap spit, do some tongue wrestling-"
"Okay, okay," Jeongguk interrupts, grimacing at Taehyung's choice of euphemisms. "Demanding."
"Not demanding," Taehyung insists, and Jeongguk's aim is a little better this time. "I just know what I want."
--
Neither of them notice when the red flame starts to flicker.
--
"You little shit," Yoongi bites out as he stumbles into the cave, almost tripping over a pile of rocks, Jimin right behind him. "We couldn't hear the spirit's voice anymore and no one can see the red flame except for you. Do you realize how fucking hard it was to find you?" He stops suddenly. "Well apparently no one cares here."
Jimin stops too. "Oh shit."
Jeongguk unlatches his mouth away from Taehyung's, looks up, and then promptly squeaks, rolling off of him.
Taehyung just waves.
Yoongi insists that Taehyung go home with the both of them, since everyone else back at the cottage is worried sick about him at this point. "Seokjin's not going to let you out of his sight until he force feeds you at least three bowls of soup."
So Taehyung leaves with them, albeit reluctantly. Jeongguk gives him one last hug, telling him to wait until winter is over before he visits again. "I can wait," Jeongguk tells him. "Your health is more important."
Taehyung just tells him that he'll see, to which Jimin and Yoongi both groan from behind him.
The three of them are only maybe about five minutes away from the cave when Taehyung looks up again, and then squints. With dawning realization he stops, turns, and then starts running back up, ignoring Jimin's yelp of protest and Yoongi's cursing from behind him as they start running after him.
--
"You know," Jeongguk starts to say wryly, watching as Taehyung marches right back into the cave and grabs a hold of his arm. "You really should stop this habit of leaving and then coming back."
"For a spirit, I'd expect you to be a little more self aware," Taehyung pants out, pointing to the entrance.
Jeongguk stares at him, uncomprehending.
"Look."
"I am looking," Jeongguk gripes. "What the hell am I looking for?"
"Exactly," Taehyung says proudly, leading him closer to the opening of the cave. It takes the other a while, but when Jeongguk finally gets it he gasps.
Jimin and Yoongi watch on as Taehyung draws Jeongguk further and further away from the cave, moving slowly. It's only a little while later when Jeongguk stops, telling him that it's okay now, that it's the furthest he's ever gotten away from the cave before.
"Congratulations, you're a free man now," Taehyung announces, clapping Jeongguk on the back. "You can go wherever you want."
Jeongguk looks bewildered. "I'm not sure where I'd go."
"Back to the spirit realm?" Taehyung suggests.
Jeongguk blanches at that. "Hell no, I don't want to get punished again."
Fair enough, Taehyung thinks. "Come home with me?" Taehyung suggests next.
Jeongguk blinks, but it doesn't take very long for him to respond. "Okay."
--
Back at the cottage, Jimin groans at the both of them. Loudly. "True love's kiss, I swear to fucking god," he bemoans, looking exasperated to say the least. "We could've saved so much time. The spirit world probably thinks we're all idiots for how much stupid shit we pulled."
"I can't believe you convinced me to pray to a pile of rocks," Jeongguk mutters into his soup.
"I think it was a great building of character," Taehyung says cheerfully, ignoring Seokjin's protests of please stop talking and just eat your damn soup already. "Especially the part where we put flowers in your hair."
Jeongguk punches his arm, which earns him a smack from the end of Seokjin's spatula across his head. Taehyung kisses the top of his head afterwards though, which earns him another loud, suffering groan from Jimin.
It's been a year since Taehyung first packed up his bags and moved into this cottage with five other boys.
Now there's six others with him, and it's starting to feel more and more like home.
In a quiet sort of way, his heart starts to settle. Bit by bit.