Chapter Text
"Have a safe journey, brother!"
Renjun turned his head one last time to his family and waved to his younger brother with a forced smile curled on his lips. The whole village had assembled before their house and cheered for him. He looked at his family, his neighbours and the faces that owned every small market he visited for his errands. He averted his eyes and shouldered his belongings which were safely stored in the little pouch his mother had tied tight. "We don't want you to die of hunger after all," she had said with a sad smile and pulled at the fabric for a test. "Everyone depends on you." It had always been like that. "I can't believe my son is all grown up now."
Renjun adjusted his sun hat and looked up ahead of him. The heat burnt down on him and he felt his tanned skin develop a layer of sweat already. It would take him approximately three days to reach the temple and he had food for maybe two. There were some coins in his pouch and if they would end up not being enough he would have to improvise somehow.
He knew where to go on the first day. He had been there before, after all. Until his uncle died last year, the old man had lived in a small house in the city of pines and Renjun's family had visited him quite frequently. He had been well off and had paid for the carriage though, while today, Renjun had to walk all the way there.
His thin soles brought him over the dry and rocky roads and his bag was sticking to his back but Renjun knew his journey had just started. He would have to endure. With a sigh he nodded to himself after observing the height of the sun. It would set in a few hours and cool him down.
“If you really exist,” he prayed to the Harvest God,”Please make this journey worthwhile.”
The Harvest God was the reason for the journey. Renjun’s village feared they may have done something to upset him so they sent him to reconcile with the God. He had expected them to choose him for that important task, like they always did, but he did not feel prepared for it in the slightest.
Renjun, while having the curse of having the skinniest legs and arms of the village, was no stranger to requests. He was the one to run errands with his scrawny figure, he was the one to fix a broken roof if one called for help and he even assisted in childbirth once (though he had problems falling asleep for weeks after).
However this request was not like any other. This time he was sent to reconcile with a God who he didn't really believe in. If anything went wrong, it would be his fault, Renjun thought. It would be because he didn't believe strongly enough. He was carrying the hopes of his village on his small shoulders all the way through cities and villages and he would fail them all just because he felt like he needed to be rational about everything.
So Renjun tried his best to believe in Him on his journey to the city of pines.
The sun was setting when Renjun reached a little wooden sign with a pine tree carved onto the surface. The sign had endured a lot of attempts of being brought down by mother nature herself but the pine tree was still clearly visible, as if proud of how far it had come. Renjun cracked a tired smile. His limbs were heavy and although the chilly weather helped him come back to himself a little, he was in dire need of sleep. He collected the last strength he had and followed the path that was becoming more like a road as time passed. A sign of civilization.
"Thank You," he said out loud. Renjun hoped He would hear him. Maybe the sun turnt him delirious.
With every step he took, he saw less and less trees and more and more houses until he was deep into the city. Passing him were carriages, screaming children, men talking loudly to each other and Renjun thought he had heard one or two curses too many. He held onto his bag tightly, aware of the pickpockets in the bigger cities, and hurried to where his memory led him. When he was younger, the house of his uncle was a white colour with a slight blue tint and he remembered the smell of the garden roses reaching all the way to the guest room on the second floor. However when he finally got there, the white resembled more of a grey and the garden had lost all colour with the season. The drought had even gotten rid of the poor roses, Renjun frowned and tore his eyes away from the sad thing that used to be a garden. He knocked on the door and a small older woman opened the door. “Hello?” she asked, holding a candle in her hand as she tried to make out who was standing on her doorstep. Renjun waved at her shyly.
“Renjun, is that you?” she exclaimed excitedly, put the candle on the table next to the door before pulling the skinny man into her embrace. “Where is your mother? Is your brother well?” Renjun freed himself from her arms and smiled at her warmly when he realised he had safely made it to his first destination.
Thank You, he whispered.
–
Renjun’s aunt was a widow. Her children had already married which had left her alone in the house until she started to rent her rooms for travellers and people with little money. She liked the company, she explained while pouring warm soup into a bowl for Renjun. “You poor thing must be hungry from the long journey,” she cooed before turning around and getting several side dishes out as well. “Eat up, there are a lot of leftovers from tonight’s dinner.” Renjun thanked her with a nod before serving himself. His aunt sat down across from him and brushed her grey hair away from her face.
“You’re leaving tomorrow?” A nod.
“Do you have to?” Another nod, but less convinced.
“My family is waiting for me,” he explained before slurping on the soup,”The others as well. I don’t want to worry them.” Although she tried to hide it, he could see the disappointment written on her face and he realised just how lonely his aunt must be in that house without her spouse and children. He hesitated.
“I could leave tomorrow night if that's better. We could cook lunch and dinner together if you’d like.”
She gave him a thankful smile. “Thank you. We can get meat from the market tomorrow since you and another tenant are leaving tomorrow. You’ll need a lot of strength.”
“Who else is leaving?”
Renjun’s aunt got up from the table and checked what else needed to be bought tomorrow. Maybe some cabbage. “He might be your age, even. I think he’s a religious little fellow and he’s on his way to the bronze temple.”
She turned around with raised brows. “Wait, that is where you’re headed as well!” Renjun nodded into his soup silently, praying he wouldn’t have to cross ways with the believer.
“He might accompany us to the market tomorrow. Maybe you could travel together. That’d be a lot safer too for someone as skinny as you.”
A weak nod before he continued slurping on his soup.
The familiar guest room on the second floor was already given to someone else and Renjun could hear the tired snores through the wooden door. He was given the one next to it. The bed was pushed to the window and next to it was a little desk with a lighted candle on it. Opposite the bed was a rather small wardrobe filled with spare pillows and blankets and overall, Renjun thought the room was cosier than he remembered a few years back. He changed into more comfortable clothes his cousin had left with Renjun’s aunt, though his cousin must have grown a lot in the meantime because the sleeves went way past where they were supposed to be.
He took his socks off, crawled under the soft covers before blowing the candle out.
The next morning Renjun was woken up by the door of the other room opening and closing. He blinked himself awake and let out a small yawn before stretching his limbs. The sun was shining into his room and he could see his aunt outside in her garden getting rid of the dead roses. Renjun changed back into his clothes after dusting them off and then made his way downstairs. In the living room were another two people. An older woman and a man about his age were sitting at the table and were serving themselves breakfast.
A muffled good mornin’ came from Renjun before he sat down on a free chair that gave a slight creak when he adjusted. The older woman smiled warmly at him and pushed the bowls closer to him. “Good morning. Eat up.”
“You both live here?,” he asked with a mouth full of rice and a head shake from the woman and a nod from the other person. “I’m your aunt’s friend. Just waiting to drink some tea with her.”
“Yes, but I’m leaving tonight though,” the stranger with the curious eyes replied, his arms crossed as if examining him. “I’m Jaemin.”
Renjun raised his brow. “You’re named after the Harvest God?”
“Long story,” Jaemin replied with a small chuckle before pursing his lips and leaning forward,”You know about the Harvest God?”
“That’s also a long story.”
The house door opened and closed shut. Three heads turned to Renjun’s aunt and the dead flowers in her hand. She tossed them away and then gave her friend an apologetic look. “I don’t think I’m up for tea today. I promised my nephew to go to the market today.” Jaemin shook his head and stood up.
“Auntie, please share some tea with your friend today. Your nephew and I will go to the market ourselves,” he offered and looked into Renjun’s eyes like he searched for his approval in them. And all Renjun could do was nod weakly.
Yesterday, when his aunt described Jaemin as a religious fellow, he had tried hard to hide his frown. But from what he’d seen so far the man seemed tolerable. He didn’t know if he was a best friend candidate or anything remotely similar but he thought he wouldn’t mind going on a two day trip with him. Renjun was holding his aunt’s woven basket and Jaemin had stored the money safely in his inner pocket when they were strolling down the market. Fishers were screaming from one corner and the farmers from another. Today’s cabbage was especially cheap apparently but Renjun wasn’t sure because someone else was yelling in his ear about fresh oysters. “This is such a big market,” he muttered, holding closely onto his basket and Jaemin nodded.
“Was impressed too at first.” He inspected the meat from the stand on their left before he shook his head and continued their grocery stroll. Renjun eyed the grains a few stands ahead and frowned. “The harvest doesn’t even look good in larger cities. The drought shows no mercy to anyone, huh?”
Jaemin let out a short sigh and nodded. The tomatoes were ridiculously small yet that was all the farmers were able to offer. No matter how measly the harvest was, they had to provide for the family somehow. “This is so depressing,” he muttered with a shaking head before approaching a stand and negotiated a cheap price for the chicken. He put the bought ingredient into the basket with a satisfied look on his face.
“So I heard from Auntie you’re also going to the bronze temple,” Jaemin started, looking at him with a grin,”You a believer?”
Renjun sighed and kicked a pebble. “I was sent by my village. The drought is causing us serious famine. We are starving. Most food that they could gather was given to me on the journey.” Jaemin nodded and Renjun thought he could see that the man held himself back from saying something.
Renjun cleared his throat. "So, why are you going to the bronze temple?"
"Oh, I live there," Jaemin smiled and turned around to give a farmer a coin for some onions. "I'm going back home."
"Why'd you leave?"
A shrug. "I had some things to do."
"I don't think you're not telling me everything."
"Am I supposed to?," Jaemin pursed his lips before nudging Renjun's side,"We will have plenty of time together the next two or three days. You might find out one thing or another about me."
Renjun huffed but he couldn't help but be intrigued by the weird man next to him. The more he found out about him the less sense he made.
"Maybe I don't want to know more about you," he shrugged his shoulders and elicited an airy laugh from Jaemin. "Sure."
-
With the bought ingredients, Renjun's aunt went ahead and prepared dinner. For lunch they had leftovers since his aunt wanted them to have the biggest meal before they left. Renjun felt bad about how much time and money he cost her during his one day stay, but Jaemin hit his side with his elbow every time Renjun wanted to apologise. "Don't ruin her good mood," he muttered under his breath,"She's happy enough to see you."
Renjun sighed but complied reluctantly. The man was right after all. His aunt was humming happily while cooking up a meal for the household and he didn't want to bring the mood down.
"Where's our next destination? The bronze temple is two days away after all," Renjun asked and he found he quite liked how our destination sounded. It rolled over his tongue like it had always been the two of them together. He felt less lonely.
"Well, to be honest I have no idea. And I don't think we will get another nice accommodation like this anymore," Jaemin smiled at Renjun's aunt while her nephew frowned at his words. He was sure adults loved Jaemin with the way his aunt looked at him like he was the answer to all her worries. Renjun cringed.
"I think you have to go east," his aunt said,"But a shorter way would be if you follow the river stream.”
Jaemin raised his brow. “Are you suggesting we go by boat?” He turned to Renjun who stared at him with confusion.
“How the hell are we going to get a boat now?”
Renjun’s aunt wiped her wet hands on her apron and motioned the boys to follow her. Her short legs carried her to a door where Renjun had not been in yet. She opened the door and lit the candle next to it. He suspected it to be a storage room of sorts. Soon enough Renjun was able to make out a silhouette of a small wooden rowing boat that was leaning against wooden shelves filled with containers of fermented vegetables. His aunt grabbed the bow of the boat and inspected it. “I think it’ll do,” she muttered,”Your uncle used to use it. I think he’d love you to take it with you.
Now help me carry it outside so I can continue to prepare dinner.”
Jaemin and Renjun hurried to the old woman, one grabbed the bow and one the stern, and carried the boat out the dark to the living room. The old woman wiped her hands on her apron once again before going back to the kitchen. “Don’t bother me until I’m done.” Jaemin crossed his arms and changed his gaze from Renjun to the boat then back to Renjun before he let out a small sigh. “Dude.”
“What?”
“I’m scared of water.”
“You’re fucking with me.”
“I wish.”