Chapter 16: The Trip
The door was locked – and Yi Jung lamented that it was supposed to have a keypad to enter the code in. There was no such keypad on the metal rusted door. Woo Bin had to 'break into' the door using a hair pin that one of the girls supplied. The cabin was not what they expected at all. Yi Jung had said there would be a kitchen – but their definition of a kitchen was very different than what Yi Jung's idea of a kitchen was. It was just a small table with a few plates and cups stacked in one of the cupboards. There was no sink, no fridge, no cooktop. No running water or electricity either. A thick layer of dust covered everything.
Yi Jung looked as if he was about to cry. "There has to be a mistake. There's supposed to be granite countertops! And a stocked fridge, an oven, a wood burning fireplace! We're supposed to have electricity and running water! And a chef that comes to cook us one meal a day!" He looked at the pamphlet in his hands. "And they even said they just installed a hot tub!" He whirled around in horror. "And where in the world is the bathroom?"
"Outside." Woo Bin replied, an amused smile on his lips. "The whole outside is your bathroom for the weekend."
Yi Jung's mouth dropped open.
"I think you've been had." Ji Hoo walked closer to inspect the sparse 'furniture' - which consisted of two wooden chairs, a small rectangular wooden table, and a brown shag rug that was probably older than his grandfather. "I hope you didn't pay a lot of money for this place."
"It was quite expensive." Ga Eul stated, putting a comforting hand on Yi Jung's arm.
"Are you sure you didn't accidentally pay for the entire mountain instead? Maybe this cabin was just a bonus?" Woo Bin suggested. When Yi Jung didn't reply, he let out a low whistle. "Well, you wanted authentic, all right." He looked at Hye Jin, but she seemed to be busy checking out the contents of her backpack.
They all stepped outside the cabin – it was too small for all six of them to be inside at the same time anyway.
Jan Di walked over to Yi Jung. "Why don't you call them up to clear this...misunderstanding?"
Yi Jung lowered his head. "I chose this spot because we don't get cell signal here. You know, for an authentic experience. Cut off from the world?"
"Great." Jan Di forced a smile.
"What happens if we have an emergency?" Woo Bin sounded a little worried as he glanced at Hye Jin. Hye Jin stopped what she was doing long enough to frown at him.
"Umm...hello? We have two doctors with us!" Yi Jung argued.
"While I am flattered at your display of confidence in our abilities, I'm a little concerned as well." Ji Hoo scrunched his lips at the side. "We're limited at what we can do out here in the middle of nowhere."
Jan Di gently placed her palm on top of Ji Hoo's hand. "We'll just have to make the best of it." She turned to face everyone. "Just make sure you guys don't have any major accidents!"
"Darn. And here I was, planning on bungee jumping without a rope all the way to the bottom of this mountain," Woo Bin joked.
Ga Eul started unpacking her backpack. "Well, we might as well start unpacking then. It's going to get dark in a few hours." She passed around some granola bars to stave off their hunger for the moment.
"Right," Yi Jung's face lit up as he took out his note pad and scanned his list. "We need some firewood." He pointed at Hye Jin and Ji Hoo. "You two, go gather some firewood."
Woo Bin stood up quickly. "I can go with Ji Hoo. It's probably too much for her to carry."
Hye Jin glared at him. "No, I'll do it. I can do it." She huffed as she walked towards the trees. Ji Hoo looked at her questioningly, then followed suit.
Jan Di noticed the tension between Woo Bin and Hye Jin. Was something going on between those two?
"Woo Bin – you and I are going to set up our tent." Yi Jung was still giving out instructions. "Jan Di and Ga Eul – you guys unpack our stuff and see what kind of food we have."
All of them set out doing their assigned tasks.
Ji Hoo noticed Hye Jin was mumbling incoherently to herself as she picked up some dry sticks of wood. He was hesitant to approach her, but decided it was best to ask if she was okay. He moved beside her, noticing she had found a pile of dead wood that was perfect for a campfire.
"Are you okay?" He asked, hesitantly.
Her shoulders hunched and she sighed. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
When she didn't reply, he pressed on. "Are you and Woo Bin okay?"
At this, she dropped the bundle she was holding and sat on a pile of dead wood. "Sunbae, do you think he likes me?"
Ji Hoo was taken aback by the question. "Um...I think he does. Why do you ask?"
She bit her lower lip. "I feel like he treats me like a child. He never wants me to do anything for myself, you know?" She looked about to cry. "I know I'm small, but I'm not useless or helpless."
Ji Hoo slowly nodded. He sat down beside her and thought for a few minutes on how to best explain things to her. "Woo Bin's kind of been the protector of our group. I think he's like that because he does care about you." Hye Jin remained silent. "I've never actually seen him care about someone like he does with you." He saw her crack a small smile. "He's not used to it, you know? Most of the girls he's dated – well, they're not like you – and that's a good thing, you see? Being in a serious relationship is new to him, so you'll have to be patient with him and give him time. He's just overly protective of you because he's terrified of you getting hurt." He looked at her. "But you know, you should tell him how you feel and maybe he'll back off a little? We're guys – unless you spell it out to us, we're practically clueless."
She smiled at him. "You and Jan Di seem to have no issues understanding each other."
He couldn't help but smile back at her. "Believe me, we went through a lot to get to where we are."
"You guys seem to have an amazing relationship though."
He thought of Jan Di then – of his future wife. He turned to Hye Jin, a smile still plastered on his face. "If you want a relationship that looks and feels like the most amazing thing on earth, you need to treat it like it is the most amazing thing on earth."
She dipped her head slightly in understanding. "Thanks, sunbae." She stood up and started picking up the pieces of dead wood again.
Ji Hoo started doing the same. As he picked up a huge piece of wood, something moved in the corner of his eye. He dropped the wood, and froze. His eyes widened, his pulse quickened – and sweat began to form on his forehead.
Hye Jin paused when she noticed Ji Hoo's reaction. "Are you okay?" She looked to where he was staring, his face full of terror.
A huge, brown spider, around 3 inches long, lay on the stacks of wood in front of them.
A mountain spider? Hye Jin thought, as she peered closer. She felt Ji Hoo's arm pull her back protectively.
"It's okay, it's not venomous," she assured him, but the terror on his face did not go away. She picked up the log and carefully pushed it away from them. She turned to face him. "Are you okay?"
She heard him heave a quick sigh of relief. He looked away, unable to meet her eyes.
"I... don't like spiders," he said quietly. "That's why I don't like the outdoors. I..." He scratched his head, embarrassed.
"I won't tell anyone," she promised, and he smiled at that.
They got back to the camp site holding armloads of dead wood, and they piled it in the middle to start a fire.
...
Jan Di and Ga Eul watched with great amusement as the boys set up their tent. They heard a lot of cursing and grumbling from the two boys as they stood there trying to figure out where each piece went. Jan Di glanced at Ji Hoo, who was crouched by the pile of wood intensely rubbing two pieces of rock together. She cocked her head to the side as she watched all three boys.
"What are you thinking of?" Ga Eul asked her, an eyebrow raised.
"You know, from here they almost look...normal."
"What do you mean by that?" Hye Jin sat down beside them.
"Well, they're always so elegantly dressed – you know - so prim and proper. Looking at them like this make them seem like...common folk. Like they could be our neighbors." Jan Di looked at Ji Hoo – who had his long hair tied into a small ponytail, wearing white sweat pants, a light blue t-shirt and white sneakers. And then at Woo Bin and Yi Jung – who both had bandanas tied around their heads to keep their hair off their faces – wearing almost matching navy sweats and gray hoodies.
"Until they open their mouths, that is," Ga Eul said, and all three of them broke into a grin.
"So, what's the deal with them?" Hye Jin asked, curiosity apparent on her face.
"What do you mean?" Ga Eul answered her.
"I mean, I know they're rich and all, but Woo Bin hasn't actually told me much about what they actually do, or how they got there." Hye Jin clasped her hands together in front of her. "He just said they were known as the F4 because they were rich and famous."
Jan Di thought about the first time she met them. And what Kang San had found out from the internet about them. She tried to recall as much of the details as possible. "Well, Song Woo Bin is the heir to a construction empire – I think his family owns half of Jeju island," she began, pointing at Woo Bin. Hye Jin's eyes widened at this info. Jan Di wondered if she should mention that his family also had strong ties to the mafia, but decided it best to leave that out. "So Yi Jung is a pottery prodigy who comes from a line of extremely artistic people. His masterpieces have sold for a lot of money. His grandfather also owns a famous art museum." She then turned towards Ji Hoo – her Ji Hoo, and smiled widely. "And Yoon Ji Hoo is the grandson of former President Yoon. He's a musical genius and can play almost every instrument out there. He also owns the Art Center, a European soccer team and a major league baseball team." Her face lit up as she remembered something else. "Oh, and maybe a Canadian hockey team in the future!"
Hye Jin's jaw had dropped wide open. "Wow." Was all she said.
Jan Di's face fell as she continued. "And Gu Jun Pyo..."
"I know who he is," Hye Jin interrupted, and Jan Di was for once glad at the interruption. "Everyone knows the heir of Shinhwa. I'd love to meet him one day." Hye Jin turned to Jan Di. "Is he coming to your wedding?"
Jan Di swallowed hard. She guessed Woo Bin had not told her about their 'history'. "I don't really know...he's in New York and very...busy."
"Well, Woo Bin said they were all brothers so I'm sure he'll be there! He can't possibly not show up for his own brother's wedding." Hye Jin smiled at her and Jan Di forced a smile back.
Ga Eul gently squeezed her hand.
...
"There, that wasn't so bad!" Yi Jung proudly declared. He and Woo Bin both stepped back and admired their work.
The girls all looked at each other, their expressions a mixture of confusion and amusement. The tent was up, but it was severely lopsided, leaning heavily to the right.
Woo Bin looked at the piece of paper in his hand. "How come it looks nothing like the picture?"
Yi Jung waved a hand dismissively. "They probably staged the picture there to look way better than it is – you know, as a marketing tactic?"
Or as a guide on how it's supposed to look, Jan Di thought, but she did not say it out loud.
"Ah. Makes sense." Woo Bin seemed convinced.
Jan Di bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh.
"Sunbaes?" They both turned to look at her. "How come there are a lot of extra pieces over there?" She pointed at the ground beside them.
Woo Bin gave a nonchalant shrug. "I think those are spares, you know? For when you lose or break a piece."
"Spares? On a tent?" Ga Eul whispered to Jan Di.
"I think they're called tent poles." She whispered back, and they both started laughing hysterically. The boys cast a questioning look at them.
"What I wouldn't give for a working phone to record all this right now." Jan Di wished her phone hadn't died earlier.
"Are you sure?" Ga Eul asked the boys, feigning ignorance. "It doesn't look very...stable."
Yi Jung frowned and picked up the instructions again. "It would help if the instructions weren't all in Japanese!"
"You had to buy the most expensive and most complicated one out there huh?" Woo Bin argued. "You'd think they'd have some English or Korean instructions in there!"
"This was what the store clerk recommended – it's light and easy to set up. And can fit 3 grown men with room to spare!"
Woo Bin shook his head. "I thought they made those things called pop up tents? I heard those things practically set themselves up!"
Yi Jung pointed exasperatedly at the tent. "This is supposed to be a pop-up tent!"
"For the price you paid for it, it should have come with a person to set it up for us." Woo Bin was not backing down.
"Well, it will have to do for tonight," Yi Jung decided. "I'm beat."
Jan Di saw Hye Jin approaching the tent with a confused look on her face. "That's not how..." she began, but Jan Di pulled her over to the side and shook her head.
"That will collapse on them while they sleep," Hye Jin quietly protested.
"We'll fix it when they leave," Jan Di whispered. She called out to the boys. "You guys should go get us some water, our bottled water is about to run out."
"I can't get the fire started," Ji Hoo sighed, as he walked towards them. Jan Di saw wisps of smoke coming out of the pile. She also noticed his hands had small blisters on them. "How come it looks so easy on tv?"
"Go, we'll figure it out." She pushed him towards the other two. "Don't take too long."
The boys all nodded. Yi Jung proudly took out six empty white bottles from his backpack. "Each bottle has a built-in filter – so we can fill it up wherever we want and won't have to worry about getting sick!" He looked at his map. "There should be a stream not too far from here." The boys all trudged towards the direction Yi Jung pointed.
When the boys had disappeared from sight, Jan Di stood up.
"Okay girls, let's fix this tent before they kill themselves on it tonight."
...
It took the boys around half an hour (maybe more) to find the stream that Yi Jung was talking about. They filled the bottles and walked quickly back to the campsite. Fortunately, it was still light out, and they had walked almost in a straight path, so it wasn't too bad finding the camp site again. They were almost to the site when Ji Hoo heard the girls talking about them. He signaled for the other two to stop and keep quiet. All three boys perked their ears up and listened.
"Well, isn't this quite a different date than what we're used to?" Ga Eul's voice said out loud.
They heard the other two laugh. Then Jan Di's voice: "They said camping is not a date - it's an endurance test. If you can survive camping with someone you should definitely marry them on the way home. It means you can survive anything together!" The girls giggled together.
Hye Jin's voice: "That totally makes sense. It will show how strong your relationship is. I guess we'll have to see which couples survive this trip!"
Ji Hoo looked at the faces of the other two boys. Both Woo Bin and Yi Jung were listening attentively. They all nodded in unison, their faces set with determination.
Right, Ji Hoo thought. I'm going to do anything to survive this camping trip – even if it kills me!
...