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❄ -12- ❄
A bunch of lights in the sky: A Minjoon Christmas story
Park Jimin loved his job as a tourist guide.
He had traveled to a lot of places he hadn’t even imagined existed. From guiding safaris to the Savanna, to hiking expeditions to Japan’s mountains and scuba diving in the Coral barrier. Jimin had seen it all and he was proud of it.
So whenever he had a new job assigned, he started doing the research several months before, taking notes of what places to visit, the points of interest and overall, what could possibly impress the visitors.
That week –one before Christmas Eve- he was packing his things into a suitcase ready to go to the airport. He was guiding a group of scientists that were seeking for the geological and volcanic activity of a determined atmospheric condition. The place they had chosen was Reykjavík, Iceland.
He had received their itinerary a few weeks ago; they needed an experienced guide who could work together with a local guide to help them through their investigation. Jimin had sat several nights to study geography, weather conditions and other important factors he might need in his vocabulary as the Korean guide in charge.
Jimin’s interest had increased after finding out his next destination right away.
He had memorized interesting facts of Iceland for their dull traveling hours that would make Buzzfeed jealous.
-Iceland's capital, Reykjavík, is the northernmost city of any sovereign state in the world.
-Iceland had the first democratically elected female and openly gay Prime Ministers.
-Iceland does not have an army, navy or air force.
-Mosquitoes do not exist in Iceland.
You go, Iceland!
And those were just a few. He had an entire encyclopedia inside his head.
Jimin arrived at the European country a few hours before the group he was guiding. The accommodations were nice and he even had the chance to enjoy a meal by himself, taking a shower and looking fresh to receive the others. The weather was nice and the sun was shining, nothing could go wrong.
Or that was what he thought.
The said group was compound of half dozen of stiff and cranky scientists who as soon as they arrived, started complaining about everything. Jimin went to pick them from the airport with two vans to transport them and the expensive equipment they needed for their investigations. His boss had told him they were professionals but they were definitely not in a mere vacation.
After they had a quick lunch, they practically enslaved the boy who had to arrange their schedules and transportation from one place to other. Besides that, Jimin was disposable.
They were investigating Iceland’s volcanic and geological activity, he knew that but as he was the one called by them and the responsibility for their planning, they could at least have the decency of telling him what they had in mind… a.k.a. using Jimin as their personalize messenger boy.
They didn’t even want him to go with them, the group of scientists had rented tents –and sent Jimin to buy groceries- for a three days stay, and the boy returned to the hotel feeling downer and useless than ever.
He sighed and returned to the hotel crestfallen. All the activities and expeditions he had planned –especially for a group of science people- and the even specific details and things he thought they could consider interesting, in the trash. Why they even bothered in hiring a guide?
“Could you call them again? It’s important.” There was a guy sitting in the lobby of the hotel with a concerned look on his eyes. He kept moving energetically his feet.
At least Jimin wasn’t the only one having a bad day.
The guy sighed and hung the phone, then he repaired on Jimin’s presence.
“Bad day?” Jimin asked while sitting next to him with a cup of tea.
“I… Yes. I lost a flight this morning and my investigation group is in a place that can’t be tracked or something apparently.” He looked at his phone once again but it was blank.
“Wait… do you come with the group of Korea?”
He nodded in response.
“I’m your guide or at least I was supposed to be. They left this morning with a few locals to install their things somewhere they didn’t want me to know.”
The man face-palmed himself. Jimin just stared.
“Do you know how long they’ll be out?”
“About three days or that’s what the woman… Hyoyeon said.”
“Ah, this is just great. I’ll be stuck here for the following three days until they come back and I can do with my own part of the work. My boss is going to be furious.” He buried his face on his hands.
Jimin didn’t know if the stranger was talking to himself or to him, but suddenly he had an idea.
“You’re free the next three days?”
He nodded again.
Well, the guide had already been paid for his job in advance and that scientist was kind of cute.
“Good evening sir, my name is Park Jimin and I’ll be your guide along the three days of your stay in Iceland, which a Nordic island country of Europe located in the North Atlantic Ocean.”
“Ah… what?”
“Listen, don’t get me wrong but your colleagues are jerks and they didn’t even let me go with them when I’m their guide and since they left you too… you and I are going to do the tour but skipping the boring parts. Just the fun.”
It took him a millisecond to process the information.
“Okay, sure.” He shrugged and then stood up from the couch he was sitting on and Jimin wanted to scream because of the height difference. “Kim Namjoon, scientist.”
He reclined the head to look at him. “Nice to meet you, Namjoon.” Jimin shook his hand.
Namjoon followed Jimin to the first place of his written and re-written itinerary. Visiting the Kerid Crater. Since the tall guy and his science buddies were interested in rocks and lava, Jimin thought a trip to the crater was an obligated place for them. Besides, it was part of the Golden Circle, one of the most popular tourist routes of the country.
The guide had planned to visit the national park Thingvellir, Gullfoss –or Golden falls- and the valley of Haukadalur, that were the most recurrent on his searching and seemed to be perfect for their sceneries and taking some photos for his collection.
Namjoon listened carefully to every word Jimin said, even though when he mentioned things he already knew by heart, like the formation of the crater and even the red volcanic rock that was common in all the country. But he didn’t have the heart to tell the younger he already had even presented dissertations about the climatic conditions of the country.
The crater was one of the most memorable landscapes Jimin saw in his life and he was used seeing a lot of them every work day. It was breathtaking. He had the wish of jumping into those blue waters, it made him feel small and powerful at the same time.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like this before…” Namjoon said by his side. He took a picture with the camera he had brought among his things in the suitcase and one of the only things he could grab before Jimin dragged him outside.
After a couple more snaps, they continued with their travel, they had still plenty to see and they had to use the sunlight they had.
Thingvellir as the other places they had visited so far left the guide astonished. There was a mystic aura itself covering the island like a veil, but that place looked as if it was the inspiration for all the landscape paintings Jimin had seen during his life. He even forgot he was supposed to be the one leading but instead he found himself following Namjoon’s steps.
“You know you can even scuba dive in the Silfra canyon?” Namjoon said while reading some of Jimin’s magazines. “Well, when it’s not covered in snow like now.”
Both of them were wrapped in thick inflatable coats with fur bordered hoods. They walked at a slow pace, the air of that place, unlike the city they were used to was fresh and cool.
The younger wished to return in a warmer season right away, he could imagine what a picnic in that place would be like just by looking at it.
Later, they visited Haukadalur to admire the geysers. Jimin ended up screaming when one of them surprised him, Namjoon laughed of him until another one erupted, scaring the elder too. This time, both of them laughed until their tummies hurt.
The final destination of that day was Gullfoss, a place taken of some Lord of the Rings book, the cascades were surrounded by fog that incremented the magical sensation the whole place detached.
When they returned to the hotel, they were exhausted.
Namjoon asked Jimin if he’d like to have dinner with him. The younger would’ve refused because he was actually very tired but since the boy had tagged along with his crazy idea, he agreed.
They went to a local restaurant not so far from the hotel –since none of them wanted to walk more than the needed- Jimin ordered fish and Namjoon had some lamb soup, they shared a Scandinavian beer and multiple laughs before going to bed.
The following day, Jimin had prepared something much… softer.
“Do they seriously have dog sledding here?”
“Yes! I know!”
Namjoon was excited as a little kid when he announced the next activity.
While they were driving to the place he kept talking about it.
“And since that movie… I can’t remember its name.”
“Oh! I know! The one with the dogs that get stuck too close to the ice and the owner has to leave them but then he returns for them? What was the name…? Eight Below!”
“That one!”
“Oh God, I cried so much with that movie.”
“Me too, same with Marley and Me and Hachiko…”
“Don’t even go there.” Jimin felt his eyes watery already with the simple mention of the dog’s movies.
He liked to learn how the scientist Namjoon had also a sensitive side and he didn’t even try to hide it.
After forty minutes, they arrived at the place and it was even worse then…
No one had told Jimin they were going to have puppies there. Because he, a serious tour guide, needed mental preparation to confront a bunch of puppies waiting to play with him.
He simply melted when he saw those Husky fluff balls and ran directly to grab one... or five.
“Namjoon…” He whispered. “I think at least five fits under your coat and other three under mine.”
The elder burst into laughter but there was a puppy already sleeping on his sleeve and he was having a hard time to leave it on the cold ground again. He might even start considering Jimin’s idea.
Shortly after a long good-bye, they finally climbed to the sled that had several dogs ready to pull –the owners had assured they were all comfortable, well care and in perfect conditions to run; and most importantly, they didn’t use any sort of whip.- As they positioned, Jimin realized how close he was of Namjoon, they were squeezed with some other people but he was hoping his blush wasn’t noticed.
The riding was enjoyable but Jimin couldn’t decide whether his heart was beating faster because of the adrenaline caused by the sled or because every time they turned he ended up even tighter next to Namjoon.
That evening they shared a hot chocolate with a ton of whipped cream and tiny marshmallows the younger adored.
Namjoon told him more about his work as a scientist and the recent discoverings they had done back in Korea and about his renewed interest in a desolated place like Iceland. Jimin, on the other hand, also talked about his job as a tourist guide and, even that traveling which hasn’t started with the right feet, things were much better than what he had planned.
The third day, the guide decided it was enough emotion and they deserved a therapeutic spa day. Thus, they visited one of the most visited places in the country: the Blue Lagoon. It was a geothermal spa –nothing related to the movie- but Jimin was actually surprised to discover with his own eyes the water full of minerals that dyed if of an opaque cyan color.
The younger used the opportunity to show off his body in a swimsuit, this time he did notice the non-discrete glances coming from his companion. He secretly smirked.
At first, the height difference had burdened the younger a little but after two days together, he had got used to the elder’s presence, including his almost two meters.
The water of the lagoon was steamy, the difference of the temperature was violent at first but their skin suddenly felt relief after placing the first step in. The sight was incredible as well, the blue color of the water made them feel like they were bathing in a mirror made of sapphires but the clouds of mist that flood over the place definitely transported them to heaven.
It was their last day off since Namjoon had to return to work the following day when his colleagues arrived. They were probably going to be mad at him for the delay but the elder preferred not to think about it, at least not yet.
Not when it was his last wonderful day with Jimin. Even if the younger irrupted like a geyser on his life, after months of investigation, it was definitely nice to have someone to chat and have fun. Not to mention how hot the boy was…
Yeah, Namjoon knew he shouldn’t keep staring, but he couldn’t.
He was radiant like morning’s clarity.
Namjoon’s group return the following morning and they were everything but happy to see him. The oldest member of the crew kept scolding him for his irresponsibility and he sent him to do all the transfer work with the notes of his colleagues –which he hated- but after that, the mood was calmed.
The scientists were as exhausted as he and Jimin were the first day after their endless walk, so they decided to rest one day before route back to duty.
This gave the boy an idea of a perfect closing since Jimin was flying back to Korea the day after.
He even had time to think about that while re-writing the piles of papers on his tiny desk with the room’s terrible illumination.
He knocked twice before getting an answer.
“Hey! I thought you were grounded until a new announcement.” Jimin rubbed his eyes, he was probably sleeping already because he was wearing his pajamas.
Namjoon shrugged. “I did serve the sentence.”
“Did you?” Jimin beamed. “What are you doing here? It’s late.”
“Dress up, there’s one more thing we need to see before you leave.”
The younger seemed surprised but he nodded and fifteen minutes later, they met in the lobby of the hotel.
“Okay, now what?”
“Now, come with me.” Namjoon grabbed Jimin’s gloved hand and dragged him outside making the younger giggle all the way.
“Whoa.” Was all he could say. “Whoa. This is…”
The night was dark as ebony and surprisingly clear, no clouds to be seen.
Their steps into the icy ground with the special shoes were the only thing that could be heard.
The more he looked, the more he was bewitched by those colors.
It was the perfect time and place to see the Northern Lights or as Namjoon carelessly had said: “We’re just to sight a bunch of lights.”
Those weren’t just lights in the sky. That was the prove Jimin needed to confirm, magic did exist in that place.
The sky was tinted of colors, he could distinguish the green overall but there were parts that were as blue as the blue lagoon and others were it looked more like purple or even red. The unshaped figures kept moving, radiating light everywhere as if they were trying to go somewhere, maybe going back home or who knows.
Jimin couldn’t stop looking at them; in his face, the colors looked even more beautiful, like a reflection of the sky down to earth.
Seeing him smile like that made Namjoon flustered but still, he took some courage to speak up.
“I wanted to say thank you… for what you did… I haven’t had so much fun in a while, sometimes I lost myself in our projects and I forget to enjoy moments like this, the moments' life is made of. Thank you, Jimin, you reminded what’s truly important.”
Jimin smiled widely. He couldn’t contain so much happiness inside his body.
He looked even cuter wearing the big coat with all the fur surrounding his face and his cheeks popping red like a pair of juicy apples.
“Thank you too, for coming with me to this… Odyssey… And, don’t take it in the wrong way but I still think your colleagues are a bit obnoxious but I’m glad you can go back to do what you also enjoy.”
“At least I’m having a few days off for the holidays.”
“Is that so?” Jimin asked. The green light sparkled on his eyes. “Do you have any plan for Christmas week?”
“I didn’t…” Namjoon smiled and his dimples appeared. “Until now.”
Right then, Jimin grabbed a heap of snow on the floor and smashed it against Namjoon’s face.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
Jimin started laughing at loud without sing of stopping.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist it.” He smiled mischievously.
The elder rolled his eyes but he didn’t stay behind as he collected some more snow and compacted into a snowball.
“No! Wait! Mercy!”
Jimin started running while Namjoon chased him.
Up in the sky, the lights that looked made of neon still shone as if they came from an imaginary beacon.