By the time Jongho begins his trek, leaving Geoncho, he had only been in Geoncho for a single week, but with such a massive change, it felt like years.

Jongho almost forgot the existence of his phone, until yesterday, when Hongjoong asked what should happen to it. (The phone, too, entered the donation pile.)

Very quickly, Minji and Seonghwa became like family; Hongjoong, and even Mingi, close friends.

As the trio hikes farther and farther into the mountains, Jongho begins to look around. Through the trees, the sun's rays make dancing shadows across his skin and across the ground. Ahead of him, Mingi's bare feet pad across the forest floor with the precision of one who knows this path well; Jongho assumes that, behind him, Hongjoong is just as confident.

Jongho's feet are quiet now, too, with his soft shoes. The sole is a thin bamboo barrier; not much more is needed to protect against the packed dirt and occasional stone.

They stop for lunch at the peak of some smaller mountain and Jongho marvels, stunned, at the continually magnificent views around them. He looks out across the rolling land as it dives from high and rigid mountains to protected valleys below. The land is cut by rivers as they roll across the earth, providing art and life. The mountains are worn down by wind and rain as young ones are pushed up to take their place as king. And all this, all this used to be Mabeobian land. Now, just a small percentage remains theirs.

The only saving grace is that the mountains are currently too steep for development. As Hongjoong looks out across his homeland, he fears for the day technology advances, along with human greed.

But, today is not that day.

With packs once again on their backs, Hongjoong leads his dongsaengs through thinning air.

As the incline increases, Jongho's muscles strain from overuse, his back aches from the pack's added weight, and the soft skin of his feet begins to blister. Yet, he says nothing; Mingi and Hongjoong seem to be doing fine.

But as the sun begins to hang lower in the sky, Mingi notices Jongho's struggle. "Hyung!" He calls ahead, and Hongjoong turns around instantly. "Can you help Jongho?"

"No, I'm fine," Jongho protests, not wanting to be burdensome.

But Hongjoong walks back to the youngest, telling him to sit on a nearby ledge. "When one suffers, we all suffer." Hongjoong explains, "This isn't some idealized notion, we all affect one another. When you're hurting, you-understandably-slow down, but that means the rest of us have to slow down, too. So it's better to accept help."

Mingi stands to the side, quiet. He knows how difficult it can be for one to accept these new ways of thinking; to leave behind those individualistic ways advertised as comradery, and understand this true community which posseses empathy and cordiality in all sweetness.

"So will you accept help?" Hongjoong asks.

And what is Jongho going to say, no? So, of course, he accepts the help. Hongjoong pulls off the soft shoes and places a hand on each of Jongho's feet, cringing at the red blisters present. He pushes his own health into Jongho, allowing his biological systems to weave with Jongho's own. And in a moment, the pain is relieved.

"Come on," Hongjoong replaces Jongho's shoes and pulls him to his feet, "we have about an hour left."

As they venture into encroaching darkness, "an ignis would be useful right now," Mingi comments, slightly annoyed.

At least tonight is a near full moon.

When Jongho looks up into the night sky, he cannot see as many stars as the previous night, yet, still, it is far more than what he saw in the city.

Of course he was taught about stars, but for the most part, it was an unnecessary topic: along with ants, oceans, dew, mountains, caves, and the like.

Learning about this in elementary school, Jongho had agreed - it was unnecessary, a thing of the past, useless to growth. But to see how the stars twinkle, how ants form a community, how mountains rise over blue oceans, how dew sparkles on fresh grass, now that is an entirely different experience: one that may change someone's perspective.

Jongho's musings are interrupted with Mingi's shouts of relief, "Hyung!" he calls. And up ahead, Jongho sees soft light begin to overtake the darkness.

As Jongho and Hongjoong breach the horizon, Hongjoong throws his arms wide in presentation. "Welcome," he says "to Gidae."

- • -

Mingi helps his shorter friends down the mountain path into the protected valley of Gidae. Not that the city is confined to the valley floor, for when Jongho looks up, he sees light traveling from colorful hanoks up and down the mountains' sides.

When they breach the outskirts, Jongho sees a small group gathered around a fire-among them are Yunho and Minji.

From that group, two children break free and run toward them, followed by an entire herd of young cats and kittens. "Oppa!" "Hyung!" the children shout and pounce into Mingi's waiting arms.

"Hi~" Mingi laughs with them, "miss me?"

"I don't get any hugs?" Hongjoong pouts, and immediately the boy drops down from Mingi's hip and runs over to the eldest.

"Hyung, look what I learned!" He pulls Hongjoong's water satchel from around his neck, and dumps the contents into his palm, yet... the water does not run off; instead, it forms a dome on the boy's hand. Soon, droplets break free from the dome and float up to Hongjoong's mouth, which he opens, and Hongjoong eats the water. The boy claps proudly, letting the remaining water fall to the earth.

"Me next!" the girl calls, jumping down from Mingi's hold.

"Jiwoo-ya, careful," one of the surrounding mothers steps forward, but before she can be stopped, Jiwoo jumps. And when her bare feet hit the ground, well: the earth shatters up into miniature ridges for a few paces in each direction.

The kittens run off in shock; the only difference between Jongho and the kittens is that Jongho does not run.

"Jiwoo!" Yunho teases as he approaches the newly arrived, "you'll scare him."

"Why don't you introduce yourselves," Hongjoong says to the children.

"Hello, ahjussi," the two say in a scarily synchronized union. "I'm Jiwoo, a terra."

Jongho inwardly laughs at how they address him.

"Tell him what a terra is?" Yunho urges.

"Oh," Jiwoo laughs, now a little shy. It is the first time she's had to explain this, let alone to a chimmong. "It means I can talk to the earth."

"Sure," Yunho says, amused, as if that explination isn't quite accurate, but he'll roll with it. "Basically,"

"Basically," Jiwoo repeats.

"And I'm Jiyoung," the boy, now, pulls on Jongho's attention, "a fluvius. I like playing with water. Oh-" Jiyoung holds up a finger, "we're Mingi Hyung's little siblings."

"We're twins," Jiwoo runs up and throws her arms around her brother. "Mama let us stay up late to welcome you!"

The woman who had calling out to Jiwoo earlier comes up to Jongho to introduce herself. "I'm Yongsun, their mom. It's good to meet you."

Mingi hugs the woman, kissing her cheek in greeting. "Come on, kids!" he calls to the youngers. "Let's go see Eomma and let Jongho rest." So the twins and their brother follow Mama off.

Minji comes up to greet the two who remain, giving Jongho the choice to stay either with her and Hongjoong, or with Yunho tonight.

Jongho picks what he is used to: the Kim cousins, and follows them to a new hanok.

That night, he sleeps well: dreamless.

- • -

Soon, midmorning sun drifts over Jongho's sleepy figure, and, slowly, Jongho wakes to the usual sound of birds and breeze, but as he becomes more alert, he realizes the lack of usual quiet - the quiet he has become accustomed to.

That is when he remembers he is no longer at the outpost, but in the place he has been dreaming of: Gidae.

But now, a whole new set of unknowns arise. Worries for the future and regrets of the past seep into Jongho's mind: his family, himself, school, a career; perhaps he should go home; maybe a week away to reset was enough. But his overthinking mind is like a car spinning wheels in the mud: wasted energy with only negative results.

Thankfully, Jongho's attention is drawn by a soft knock at his door. "Jongho?" Hongjoong calls. "Are you hungry? Hyungsik made us breakfast."

Apparently Hyungsik is Yunho's father because when the trio - of Jongho, Hongjoong, and Minji - arrive at the hanok, Yunho and his dad are setting out trays of food before an eagerly awaiting Mingi and the twins. The sight kind of makes Jongho reminiscent for the old days with his twin.

"Jongho," Yunho says as they all sit down, "did you meet my mom at the outpost?"

Confused, Jongho looks to Hongjoong, who slaps a hand over his mouth. "I forgot," the older says.

"Yaaaa," Yunho scolds, "no one introduced them?"

"Okay, to be fair," Hongjoong defends himself, once again, "she was only there for one night."

"And we did introduce her," Mingi joins in, "just not as your mother," he teases Yunho, who tries to hide his smile with a glare.

And this, to Jongho... this is different. Only now does Jongho notice there are no cellphones in sight, no TV's in the background, not even a radio sends out its static.

"Jongho," Hyungsik says, "how are you so far? I know it can be quite an adjustment; everything is different, even the small stuff, like food, clothes, beds... etc."

"Uh," Jongho starts, still far reserved, but at least a little more comfortable. "I'm doing a lot better, with everything. Except," he motions to his face, "I've started breaking out without my usual stuff..."

Yunho rests his chin in his palm, elbow on the table, "I think it's as if your face is a night sky, complete with star constellations."

Jongho looks wide eyed to Yunho, blinking. He doesn't know whether to smile or cringe. "Um, thanks," he simply says.

"Anytime," Yunho takes his last bite of rice.

Minji asks if Jongho would like a tour of the city, but he is used to saying no, so he does. Jongho says he'd rather go to his room, and do what? he does not know: but it seems safer than venturing out into this new world, even with a guide.

Nothing bad can happen if he stays in his room... Jongho has yet to notice the slow disintegration of his mind and spirit when in isolation.

But: as Jongho sits on his new bed, he listens to the sound of children playing during their work. They mend clothing and weave baskets together as a break from their studies.

Hearing their screams and laughs, how they carelessly tackle each other to the ground, then focus, again, on their peaceful tasks, Jongho sees the enticement of children. Why wouldn't one wish to raise a new and distinct life? But, for Jongho, he thinks that parents-to-be forget that children grow up.

Jongho lays in bed, stewing in melancholy thoughts.

At what age did he start wishing he'd never been born? At what time did he believe his parents were cruel for bringing a new life? Jongho was perfectly fine before he was born, but now, he cannot unexist.

Eomma and Mama, they just seem to be alive, floating through their days, working and sleeping and eating until, at some point, the days will just stop.

And will they be happy with the lives they lived?

From his almost two decades of experience with the world, it seems, to Jongho, that humanity simply creates each other, to break each other, to heal each other, just to break each other again.

At fifteen, Woohyeon is on the cusp of growing up, and, for the last year, Jongho has seen the growing difference between her eyes versus Kyungmin's and Eunmin's. How the younger ones, they sparkled with the excitement of having every day an adventure. For Woohyeon, days were becoming a chore.

Woohyeon used to be like her dongsaengs, so did, Jongho supposes, he and Wooyoung, but what a sorry difference...

Jongho stops himself from going deeper by sitting up in bed, holding a smile for eight seconds. He feels lighter, albeit fake, but he exits his room, and forces himself to venture out of the hanok.

— • —

The first thing Jongho sees when he steps out of the hanok's courtyard is a bear.

Now Jongho has never met a bear - honestly, he didn't know Korea had any left - but if his schooling was correct, they're aggressive.

This one just stares at Jongho, and Jongho back at the bear.

"Dami!" A young woman calls as she runs up to the bear, "you scare new people." She looks up to Jongho, "sorry about her; she's friendly, though, if you want to pet her."

Jongho does not want to pet the bear, so the woman continues. "I'm Yubin, this is Dami, and you are...? If I may ask, that is."

Jongho looks over this Yubin. Usual bare feet, dirtier than Yunho's. Bobbed hair wet, slicked back; her skin, darker than Jongho's, sparkling with sweat and a fine layer of dirt in the morning sun.

"Jongho. Choi Jongho."

"You just got here last night, right?" And Jongho nods. "Would you like someone to show you around?" Yubin asks.

That would be preferable for Jongho, rather than wander aimlessly through foreign land. But now he kinda wishes he took Yunho's offer from earlier...

"Jongho!" A familiar voice runs up to them, "it's good to see you outside!"

"Yunho can take you around, if you want?" Yubin looks between the two, and Jongho nods a little sure. A new smile pulls on Yunho's cheeks.

"Come on," Yunho starts walking and motions the other to follow.

"Take him to the greenhouses!" Yubin calls out after them, laughing, but Yunho just waves her off; "I'm not taking you to the greenhouses," he whispers to Jongho.

"Let's go to the studio first."

As Jongho follows the older across the valley, he doesn't see many people out; there seemed to have been many more last night.

"How many people live here?" Jongho catches up to the older.

"People come and go all the time, but about a hundred thousand or so."

Jongho stops. Huh?

Yunho turns back to see Jongho's confused eyes. "I mean, mostly everyone is working right now."

"But where does everyone live?" Jongho had expected maybe a few hundred people - you know, a community - but an entire city hidden in the mountains?

"The valley floor— what you see— is just like the downtown part," Yunho explains as he continues walking, "but the mountains are inhabited for a while in each direction; until you get to the end of our allotted land..." Yunho sighs.

Jongho looks up to the peaks which surround him. An entire city is within that canopy of trees?

A hundred thousand is the population of Jongho's native city, and yet, it looks nothing the same. Where Jongho is used to rows of cement, here it is packed earth or laid stone. Where he is used to children and cats being shooed off, here they bring smiles. Where he would find shade in a skyscraper, here it is in mountains' peaks and pines.

"I'll take you up in the mountains sometime," Yunho says. "It's even more beautiful than here. But in the valley," he continues, "you can see how the mountains sparkle at night. Oh!" Jongho looks up to Yunho, "remember when I told you about the ocean? We can go see that view, too."

After a few minutes, they approach a hanok more ornate than most. Not only is the structure beautiful but it is adorned with woven wind chimes and hanging mosaics: vines reaching up the sides, sprawling out onto the roof above.

"Yeosang!" Yunho calls out as they approach, and a black head of hair pops out of the window.

"Hi, Hyung." He greets. "You're showing him around?"

Jongho follows Yunho inside and he can barely pay attention to the men in front of him because is mind is overwhelmed with the sheer amount of color and design before him. Half-finished portraits lay against the walls, blown glass and elegant brass on a nearby table. The glass is a new color, almost yellow, or maybe a red, but Jongho can't tell. "Is that...?" He asks, not daring to touch it.

"It's orange. This one is called salamander." Yunho picks up one of the delicate objects and holds it out to Jongho. Jongho looks up to Yunho, as if asking for confirmed permission, and Yunho nods before placing it in Jongho's hands.

The piece is so smooth under Jongho's fingertips, and, up close, he notices how yellows and reds are interwoven with the bright orange.

"I'm making those for the bedposts of one of the kids," Yeosang explains. "She's just been able to workout being an ignis."

"Is Sumin working right now?" Yunho asks after he takes the glass from Jongho, setting it back on the table.

"Yes, he's back with Yongsun and Jiyoung. Do you want to see?" Yeosang turns to Jongho for that last part.

But why would Jongho know what to say?

"Yes," Yunho answers for him. "Trust me," he whispers to Jongho, "you'll want to see."

Yeosang leads them through another room of art before he stops at rice-paper windows. Gently, Yeosang pulls back the window pane, motioning to Jongho with that universal symbol of shhh.

When Jongho looks into the room, he sees a beautiful boy, about his own age, Sumin, he assumes, because he already knows the other two as Yongsun and Jiyoung.

Jiyoung's young face is morphed into serious concentration as he stands before Sumin. The older is weaving metal in between the strands of water that Jiyoung is causing to dance in the air.

For a moment, Jongho's thoughts drift away, mesmerized by that wonderful harmony of the two elements.

So this is how the bed posts are made... He realizes.

Jongho shifts slightly and ends up bumping into Yunho's chest. They both quickly apologize as Jiyoung looks up, shocked out of his concentration.

"Hyung!" He calls out to Yunho, waving excitedly.

The water Jiyoung had been holding slips through its metal cage and splashes to the floor (not that the boy seems to mind). He runs to Yunho's side as Yongsun sweeps up the water with a wave of her hand, landing it back in the basin.

"Hi, Ji-ya," Yunho pats his back. "Remember what we talked about staying focused?"

Jiyoung is usually a docile child— serene, even— for serenity is simply the domain of water: calm, flowing, sure of itself. A quiet strength which goes unnoticed, until the water, with its diligence, has carved a canyon through solid rock.

But, as it's been said, Jiyoung is still a child. He will grow into the depth of his spirit.

"If you want me to stay focused," Jiyoung looks over to Jongho, "you and your friend can't distract me."

Yunho looks to him in a way as if to say, I suppose that's fair but I'm trying to find a way to counter.

But he doesn't.

Instead Yunho turns to Jongho, introducing him to Sumin. Sumin returns the introduction, "an aes," he says, "metalworker. Pleasure to meet you."

No one mentions the little chameleon asleep on Sumin's shoulder, and Jongho doesn't ask.

•

8-17-22 3.3k words.