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“Oh, look! There’s another butterfly!”
If Yoongi had any air available in his lungs, he would reply. As it is, he leans one hand on his right knee and wills it to bend and allow him to pull himself up over the tree root in the middle of the trail. Next to him, Seokjin isn’t faring much better. Despite the cold, his sweaty hair keeps falling in front of his eyes, and Yoongi can tell he’s regretting not bringing one of his tennis headbands with him.
A few steps ahead of them, decked out in his best hiking gear, Namjoon stands with his hand reaching out. The butterfly flutters around it, and then lands, right on the tip of his index finger.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Seokjin mumbles. “It’s the fourth? Fifth time this happens?”
“Fifth if you count the frog he found at the entrance,” Yoongi wheezes out, pausing in his steps for just a moment. He didn’t think he was this out of shape. “He’s just a beacon for small critters.”
The butterfly flies away once again, small yellow wings gleaming gold in the sunlight. It matches the autumn glow of the leaves on the trees around them, the canopy above their heads celebrating fall in a triumph of deep reds and warm oranges, and they continue onward, nothing but the soft thump of their boots and the sounds of the forest around them as their background music.
If Yoongi focuses enough, he can almost hear the forest in layers, like a song—the sound of their steps, the rustle of leaves, and the steady thrum of life beneath it all, ready to settle into sleep once winter comes. There’s a slight sting in his lungs whenever he breathes in, and he’s sure his nose and cheeks are pink from the chill in the air.
It’s nice, sometimes, to walk somewhere you know you will only ever be a visitor. He doesn’t feel out of place, exactly, just like a guest in someone’s family home. It welcomes them in—but they will pass, and they’ll walk forward, and the forest will remain.
In front of him, Namjoon brushes his fingers against the bark of a tree, letting his hand trail behind him, and Seokjin gently moves a stray branch that has ventured too low away from his eyes. Yoongi wonders if the same thoughts are wandering around their brain, too. He almost asks, before he’s interrupted by a soft intake of breath.
“ Oh —that’s gorgeous,” Namjoon gasps, and walks forward, leaving them to catch up. In front of them, the trail opens up into a clearing, leaving a space like a stage ready for the main event.
Yoongi hears the water before he sees it, the rush of the stream curling around his ears like the ocean inside a seashell. When he steps forward, the view partially covered by Seokjin’s shoulders, he can see a small group of tourists that are just leaving and stepping back onto the path.
“Is this the waterfall the guide told us about?”
Yoongi doesn’t really remember. He steps closer to the waterfall without answering, until he’s side by side with Seokjin, ready and willing to drag Namjoon back if he tries to lean forward too much. With their luck, he’s going to fall in and end up drenched for the rest of their hike.
“Should be the first one on the trail,” Namjoon replies. He props up his phone on the wooden railing, taking what Yoongi can guess is approximately a hundred pictures before he’s satisfied. Next to him, Seokjin leans on the railing, too, and Yoongi takes a moment to pull out his own phone. The tips of his fingers are pink, and slightly numb from the cold, despite his thick socks and thermal shirt. He still manages to snap a picture—Seokjin and Namjoon, hunched forward, their heads close together as Seokjin peers over at Namjoon’s phone screen, the waterfall flowing a foam white behind them.
“Oh, it looks like a bubble bath,” Seokjin jokes, his laugh bubbling out of him just as bright as the stream of water. Namjoon’s chuckle joins in soon after, bracing himself on the railing as he laughs, and Yoongi tries to hide his smile under the collar of his jacket, putting his phone back in his pocket. He doesn’t think he succeeds, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that they continue forward, the sun getting higher above them as the morning passes, and they keep making their way up the rest of the trail.
They’ve only left the waterfall behind for a mere thirty minutes or so when they stop once again. Yoongi needs water, and Seokjin needs to lace up his boots (“You would leave your hyung behind? To be eaten by bears?” he complains dramatically, until they promise not to keep going while he’s kneeling down on the trail. Namjoon tries to protest that there’s no bears in the forest, and gets ignored). They end up sitting down on the side of the path, just long enough for Namjoon to pull out a granola bar as he waits for them to be done.
“What do those taste like, Namjoon-ah? Bird feed and sadness?”
Seokjin’s quip comes out a little muffled, as he’s bending down to pull the strings of his boots as tight as they’ll go. Namjoon snorts, pocketing the plastic wrap—something in an outrageous shade of green that promises no-added-sugar-organic-protein granola, but he doesn’t reply, turning around instead to watch as a small bird lands on a branch above his head. Seokjin looks up from his boots, ready to tease him again—but instead he finds Namjoon’s fingers pulled up to his lips, shushing him and Yoongi both.
He crumbles a bit of the granola bar between his fingers, and then slowly, slowly raises his hand towards the branch. Yoongi stares, incredulous, as the bird—its feathers warm brown, beak tiny, and black button eyes perfectly round—chirps twice before jumping down the branch and onto Namjoon’s extended hand.
It turns its head to the side, almost staring them down, before it starts pecking at the crumbs. It doesn’t stay long—just enough to eat a few before flying off again, small wings carrying it farther than any of them would ever be able to go. Namjoon lowers his arm with a smile once it’s clear it won’t be coming back, letting the rest of the crumbs fall on the ground next to him.
“You know, hyung,” he chuckles, pulling out the granola wrapper once again and waving it around in the air. “This is proof that snacks like these come in handy.”
Yoongi can’t help but snort. All that comes from Seokjin in response is an affronted groan.
“How? Why are you a cartoon princess?" He sputters, waving his arm around in a circle wide enough Yoongi considers ducking slightly to avoid accidentally getting hit. "One of us should have taken a picture. There’s no way anyone will believe that actually happened,” he protests, even as they start their hike once again.
“I didn’t want to scare it away,” Yoongi replies, patting his phone where it’s sitting inside his jacket. He takes it out as they walk, though. He doesn’t want to miss another chance.
Above their heads, the sun settles at its highest point in the sky. They’ve been hiking for a few hours now, and few ways to tell the time are as reliable as their grumbling stomachs.
“Do you hear that?”
Seokjin’s question almost gets drowned out by Namjoon’s laugh.
“Your tummy, hyung?”
“That too. I’m starving , Namjoon-ah, but—” Seokjin interrupts himself, stepping off the trail, gesturing for them to follow. “Can you hear it? It sounds like water.”
Yoongi follows, one hand on Namjoon’s shoulder for support as they step through the roots and rocks of the undergrowth of the forest, a thick carpet of fallen leaves under their boots that thins out more and more as they walk forward. Now that they’re well off the trail, Yoongi can hear it too—the quiet ripple of a stream into a lake. Soon enough, another clearing reveals itself between the trees.
In the middle of it is a pond, still water disturbed only by the stream falling into it from a crack in the rock of the mountain. The bottom is a vibrant green, algae growing all around the outer edge, and there’s leaves floating that have fallen in from the trees hanging over it that keep the pond in the shade from the sun.
“This would be a nice spot for lunch,” Yoongi tells them, taking in the scene. As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Seokjin drops his bag onto the forest floor with an unceremonious thump , holding on to his grumbling stomach with a groan. Namjoon follows suit, and soon enough they have a picnic blanket draped over one of the rocks as they take out their lunch. Seokjin had woken up early to make them kimbap, and they make sure to thank him profusely as he juts out his chest with pride, even as his ears get redder and redder with the praise.
It’s only when Yoongi starts eating that he realizes he’s hungrier than he thought. He finishes up his portion soon enough he’s almost disappointed there isn’t more—but Namjoon hands them some of his granola bars, and one of the plastic containers he’s brought along is full of tangerines, and they share those, too, as they sit in the shade.
Yoongi leans back against the bark, almost tempted to take a nap right then and there. Namjoon and Seokjin step closer to the pond, and he watches on as they take off their boots and socks and roll up their pants to dip their feet into the water. Namjoon excitedly points out the dragonfly that’s been buzzing around them, his eyes fluttering around the pond to look for other critters.
Soon enough, Namjoon’s bending down towards the water, cupping something between his hands, cooing and holding it out for Seokjin to see.
“Look, hyung, it’s another frog!”
Seokjin leans away from it, but still peeks at it, with a smile on his face that matches the big one currently showing how deep Namjoon’s dimples can get.
“Hey, Joon-ah, made another friend?” Yoongi calls out, and Namjoon turns around to smile at him, his hands holding the frog still held out towards Seokjin.
“Yeah— look at its little face ,” he replies, delighted, and then to Seokjin again, pretending to whisper, “Don’t you think he looks exactly like hyung, there?”
“Yoongi-chi, come here, we need to see something,” Seokjin yells, and Yoongi bites back a smile as he leans back on the tree.
“You two think you’re hilarious, don’t you,” he shoots back, raising his voice so it carries over, and closes his eyes to enjoy the sunlight dancing above the leaves over his face. The only reply is a cacophony of loud laughter, and the sounds of the forest.
They leave too soon. It takes a while to wrap up their makeshift table, all three of them lingering like they don't actually want to step away from the clearing. Namjoon waves the frogs goodbye before they put their boots back on, and make their way back to the trail to reach the highest point and finish their hike.
“You know,” Namjoon starts, as soon as they’re back on track. He’s in the front again, and all Yoongi and Seokjin can see is his shoulders and the curve of his cheeks as he smiles. “I’m happy you guys are here, even if you were planning to stay in. I’m really thankful you came with me.”
He always says these things with the utmost sincerity—not a shred of embarrassment in his voice, only the clear fondness of someone who’s just had a good day. Yoongi’s chest feels too warm now, and he wants to screech in response—and then Seokjin beats him to the punch.
“Yah! What kind of hyungs would we be if we left our dongsaeng to hike alone?” he starts, reaching out to grab Yoongi’s shoulder and shake him a little. His ears are terribly red. “Yoongi-chi, tell him we wouldn’t be that awful.”
“I’m still thankful,” Namjoon shoots back, turning around, taking a few steps backwards so he can keep facing them. The trail has gotten steeper now that they’re closer to the top, and in front of Yoongi is Seokjin and Namjoon framed by the forest, the trees curling over the trail above them as Seokjin runs up to pretend to pinch Namjoon’s cheeks.
Yoongi takes out his phone to take another picture, keeping his two friends in frame, capturing the forest and the trail and the autumn sun. It’s just better when you’re with someone else , Namjoon had said, when he’d asked them to join him on his hike. As he falls into step with them, letting their laughter fall over him like autumn leaves—he’s inclined to agree.