Chapter Text
As beautiful as the snowy mountains of Nevicata were, Wonpil longed for something else. The vista’s were amazing, the snow was fun most of the time, but the cold. The cold was unmanageable at times.
His parents ran a reindeer sled company paired with a bed and breakfast up in the mountains to entertain the many tourists that passed through Nevicata each winter. And of course, as the dutiful son, he is asked to help do the heavy lifting with his father and uncles. Despite Wonpil not being build to withstand the cold weather, and much rather being inside with his sister taking care of guests.
Wonpil has always been much better at taking care of people rather than heavy lifting. His grandparents can attest to that. But it’s what his parents had planned out for him, so he does what is asked of him. He drags pine trees across snowy fields so they can be picked up and put up for sale. He helps herd the reindeer to their stables when night falls and drags around their heavy feeding bags every morning.
Wonpil doesn’t like it, his padded coat always too thin to keep the cold at bay. At least the stables were sheltering him from the merciless wind that swept across the fields.
Wonpil knew that his parents would retire soon, probably within the next year. And he knew that it was expected of him and his sister Yeeun to take over.
He didn’t want to.
Wonpil wanted to go see the world, but he knew realistically that it wasn’t in the cards for him. His parents had his and his sisters life planned out for them and they had no say in what they wanted.
He made his peace with it years ago when he tried to defy their ways by applying for university in Fresiya. He got in, of course. Wonpil was a bright young man but his parents wouldn’t allow him to go. He had a duty to fulfil within the family business.
The day Wonpil dreaded came sooner than he thought, three months before his 28th birthday his parents sat him and his sister down.
“We’re retiring after this season of tourism is over. Allowing you two to transition into ownership.” Their mother starts, Wonpil feels dread build in his stomach, does he tell them he doesn’t want to?
With a deep sigh and a nod Wonpil speaks up. “Well—“
“Wonpil and I will discuss this amongst ourselves later. No need to worry about us.” Yeeun cuts him off, giving their parents a reassuring smile.
Later that same night as their parents were celebrating their pre-retirement with the rest of the family and staff, Yeeun dragged him into the back office.
“We’ll take the business over.” His sister leads, referring to her and her husband. “I know you don’t want to, and I’d be more than happy to take over from you.”
“I don’t have anything planned for my future.” Wonpil replies quietly as he stares ahead of himself. “Yeeun I tried—“
“I know Piri.” She tells him quietly, sitting down next to him on the small office couch. “You want to travel right?” Wonpil nods solemnly. “The business makes more than enough money. I’ll fund your travels, mom and dad don’t have to know.”
“Yeeun-ie, that’s too much—“ Wonpil mutters as tears sting in his eyes. “I didn’t even work that hard.”
Yeeun laughs quietly as she pulls her little brother into a tight hug. “You worked plenty hard and gave up your dreams for the company. You deserve to chase after them.”
So that’s what Wonpil did. As soon as the ownership transition of the business was complete, Yeeun put Wonpil personally on a boat to the next nation over with a well packed backpack and a promise to write.
Setting foot in a new nation felt odd. Fresiya wasn’t snowy at all and their mountains were big hills at best.
The fields along the path to the capital city was just that. Fields. Wonpil had to do his best at squinting if he wanted to see mountains in the far distance.
Fresiya city was nice. It was small but welcoming. The people were kind enough to give him some directions and tips and Wonpil found himself a room at one of the many inns soon enough so he could go out and explore.
Wonpil thinks he would’ve liked studying in Fresiya as he finds himself in the local library one evening. The kind librarian who brought him tea is now telling him about how she learned swordsmanship herself and thought she was pretty decent at it up until her girlfriend managed to floor her in two seconds flat as a way of friendly introduction.
The moral of her story ended up with Wonpil facing the cavalry captain of the nation of Fresiya and being taught how to use a sword. He spend six weeks longer in Fresiya than he originally intended to but he came away with a nice hefty sword and above average sword fighting skills to aid on his adventures.
Tempestad was next in his list and incredibly difficult to get to, there were sand storms everywhere Wonpil went and he had to pay a guide a handsome fee to escort him in.
It was worth it however. The city of Tempestad was gorgeous and the locals were over the moon to see a tourist considering they don’t get many. Wonpil had a place to sleep and a meal filling his belly, free of charge, every night.
The old ladies doted on him and gave him lots of snacks to bring along on his future travels. One even knit a poncho for him because Wonpil told them he was visiting Rivière next.
Rivière wasn’t necessarily cold. The climate was, as Wonpil would describe it, just right. Not too hot, not too cold. He could comfortably walk around in his leisure pants and casual dress shirt.
Rivière was the First Nation Wonpil visited that had their respective god still alive and among them. But for how long? Rumours across all nations were spreading that the era of the gods was running out. The god that once ruled over Nevicata was long gone even before his grandparents were born.
Rivière was one of the more expensive nations to travel around too. Their government made good use of being only one of two nations left with a god. Hotels were pricy and getting food as an outsider always turned into haggling.
Wonpil could see through that small annoyance because the nation was beautiful with marble buildings everywhere, tall mountains and long flowing rivers as far as the eye could see.
On Wonpil’s first evening in the capital city he finds a dive bar in the downtown area where his hotel is located to see what the nightlife of Rivière is like.
There aren’t many people at the bar but for a Monday evening it’s decently packed with people who just want to have a drink and play some games after a long day.
A person who’s trying way, way too hard at hiding in plain sight is sitting right next to Wonpil. They stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Mate, you look like you’re going to stab me the minute I step outside.” Wonpil tells the stranger after a while before taking a sip from his beer.
“I do?” The person asks, sitting up straight to face Wonpil.
Wonpil scoffs out a laugh at their surprise. “You’re wearing sunglasses inside, a facemask and you’re drowning in your hoodie. Trying to hide?”
The stranger nods. “Just don’t want to be recognised, is all.” They shrug. “I’m also not going to stab you!” They add quickly with a nervous laugh.
Wonpil tilts his head slightly as he studies the stranger. “You’re not helping your case.”
“I’ve never seen you in Rivière before. Are you a traveller?” The stranger asks.
“I am. I’ve always wanted to travel and now finally got the chance. This is my first evening here.” Wonpil grins enthusiastically.
“Welcome to Rivière, traveller.” The stranger greets.
Wonpil chuckles quietly in amusement. “The name is Wonpil.”
“Well Wonpil, you may call me Younghyun.” The stranger smiles and holds his hand out for Wonpil to shake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Wonpil replies as he shakes Younghyun’s hand. “Younghyun is a pretty name.”
“Not as pretty as you.” Younghyun chuckles.
Wonpil snorts. “Gosh do you ever go outside? You’re a terrible flirt.”
“But is it working?” Younghyun asks, confidence radiating off of him.
Wonpil avoids his gaze to his beer in front of him with a bashful smile before looking back at Younghyun. “No.” He deadpans.
That was a lie, Wonpil was a little charmed by it but knew that he was being joked around with.
“You caught me. I don’t interact much with— other humans.” Younghyun confesses, the way he said it strikes Wonpil as odd but not odd enough to speak up about.
“Are you a celebrity?” Wonpil asks after a moment of studying Younghyun who flinched when someone leant too close over the bar behind him.
“Uhm—“ Younghyun starts, visibly panicking a little. “Yeah! Sort of!”
Wonpil tries his best not to scoff out a laugh. “You’re way too obvious mate.” He murmurs before taking another sip from his beer. “Do you drink?” He asks as he flags the bartender down.
“Yes?” Younghyun replies, seemingly confused. “What does that have to do with me being obvious though?”
“Two beers and four shots of the strongest alcohol you have, please.” Wonpil smiles at the bartender who just arrived, handing over his credit card before turning back around to Younghyun. “You’re too paranoid about being discovered so you need to loosen up a little before I get to teach you about how to hide in plain sight.”
Younghyun scoffs as he looks Wonpil up and down. “And what would you know about hiding in plain sight?”
Wonpil hums in amusement as he thinks about how good he used to be at avoiding his parents whenever he didn’t want to do a particular task at the resort back in Nevicata. “You’d be surprised.” He grins as he thanks the bartender approaching them with their shots. “Bottoms up or something, right?”
“What do you mean, ‘or something’?!” Younghyun asks in mild panic.
Wonpil laughs nervously. “Never been to college, my only party experience is drowning myself in wine at family reunions.” He says before downing both shots one after another, almost retching at the bitter taste. “Oh god that’s awful, I regret that.”
Younghyun starts to laugh, finding the face Wonpil is making at the alcohol hilarious as he’s chasing his shots with his beer. Younghyun pulls down the facemask he’s wearing and downs the shots with a straight face.
“Keep that off.” Wonpil orders as Younghyun moves to put his facemask back on. Wonpil reaches out to take Younghyun’s sunglasses off too. “And these are too obvious.”
Younghyun swiftly catches Wonpil’s wrist before he could even barely touch the frame of Younghyun’s sunglasses. “Don’t.” He orders sternly.
Wonpil harshly pulls his wrist out of Younghyun’s grasp and gives him a frown. “What are you so afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of—” Younghyun shuts up at the unimpressed look on Wonpil’s face. “Fine. I don’t want anyone to recognise me, no matter what. If I seem unapproachable smaller the chance they will, right?”
“That doesn’t answer my question.” Wonpil states. “What are you so afraid of, what is the worst that could happen?”
Younghyun pouts a little in thought, moving to put his facemask back on. “I can’t tell you without revealing my identity.” He sighs as he gets up from his seat to pull a few bills out of his pocket to throw on the bar besides Wonpil’s beer. “Thanks for the drinks but I really should go right now.”
“I am really just a traveller you know?” Wonpil asks calmly as he looks at his beer.
“Yeah, that’s what they all say.” Younghyun replies grimly before leaving the bar entirely.
What a peculiar human being Wonpil thought to himself.