Chapter Text
“All I want for Christmas is…”
“Don’t!”
“YOUUUUUUUUUU!” Hoseok belts out and Namjoon groans, slamming his forehead against the wheel and accidentally honking.
Several other cars that are stuck in the same jam as them honk back and he can almost sense the passive aggressiveness in their otherwise identical sound.
“Change the goddamn station…” a deep growl comes from the backseat where Taehyung lays, his fancy suit getting wrinklier by the minute.
“You guys suck. What’s wrong with a little Christmas cheer?” Hoseok turns in his seat so he can address both of his disgruntled partners.
“There’s no cheer in being stuck in traffic and there will be no Christmas bonus for us either if we miss that plane.” Namjoon explains, rubbing his forehead in a last ditch attempt at staving off a headache.
“There’s no way the flight won’t get delayed in this snowstorm. Boss lady will understand, it’s out of our hands.” Hoseok counters and tries reaching for the car’s radio only to have his hand swatted away. “Let’s call and ask.”
“There’s no signal…” Taehyung drawls, looking at his phone as if it had murdered his entire family. He plays with the roller resting on his forehead and diligently keeping his curl in place while uselessly restarting his device, hoping against hope.
Somebody from the cars behind them honks and startles the three young businessmen. Namjoon sighs and drives for 15 seconds before the line comes to a halt once more.
“Yay, progress!” Hoseok tries.
“Wake me up when spring arrives.” Taehyung covers his eyes with a fancy handkerchief that was needlessly decorating his coat’s pocket until now.
“Little bear’s out.” the eldest laughs. “Say, Joon, had any Christmas plans?”
“You know I don’t celebrate it.”
“Yeah but I figured maybe this year …”
“Nope, not this year either.”
“I see… So you shipped your parents off again this year?”
“I didn’t ship them off.”
“Oh, so you didn’t gift them their annual winter holiday abroad?”
“That’s different.”
“How far away are they this year?”
“Maldives…”
“You shipped them off.” Taehyung mumbles from the back.
“I thought you were sleeping.” Namjoon turns to him to complain about joining in on the teasing but another obnoxious honk interrupts him. He drives for another 20 seconds until they halt again.
“It’s not like you guys were gonna go see your folks anyway.”
“I got banned last year.” Hoseok sinks into his seat.
“Did you show up drunk?”
“Nah, that was two years ago. Last year I brought my own date so that mom would stop setting me up with church girls.”
“Was your date a man?”
“A drag queen.”
“So a man.”
“You could hardly tell!”
Taehyung snickers from the back seat.
“And your excuse?” Hoseok points at him without turning.
“I’m running out of cousins.”
“What?”
“My 3rd cousin on my dad’s side and my 5th on my mom’s got engaged this year. They’re gonna catch on soon that I’m the gay one.”
“Wait, so that’s why you volunteered to come on this business trip?”
“And the bonus.”
“Need more cash to fuel your shitty paintings addiction.”
“Silence, heathen.”
The radio station begins crackling out static and noise and Namjoon fiddles with the buttons. Outside, the snowstorm is getting worse and the road patrol turns on the light signals.
“Great, we’re gonna be trapped here until rescuers come with the plow.” Hoseok grumbles and even Taehyung gets up to look outside the car’s window. He curses under his breath.
Namjoon sits with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the radio, deep in thought.
“Hey, earth to big Kim, are you still with us?” Hoseok shakes his hand in front of the other’s eyes.
Suddenly a soothing voice comes over the radio.
“Alright, little souls of Geullen-ri, we have a snowstorm warning coming in so I suggest you all bundle up, make some hot cocoa and get ready for a long day and night here in the valley. Don’t forget we have 3 days left until Christmas, let’s all stay safe so that we can enjoy the season of giving together.”
“People live around here?” Taehyung wonders aloud.
“Yeah...yeah, they do.” Namjoon barely answers. A few moments pass while sweet carols flood the car like a warm wave and then Namjoon speaks again.
“Buckle up.”
“What?”
He pulls his seatbelt back on and the other two reluctantly follow suit.
Namjoon signals and then carefully breaks free of the traffic jam, slowly driving off of the main road and down an alternative route no other car has taken so far. The road is narrow and tall, snow covered trees bracket it almost forming a foresty tunnel.
“Where are we going?”
“Isn’t this road a dead end?”
“This road takes us to Geullen-ri and yeah, it’s a dead end but wouldn’t you rather spend the snowstorm comfortably at an inn than in the car? We can call the boss from there or write an email to let her know we have to reschedule the meeting.”
“How do you know this road will take us there?”
The car bumps and they all jump with it, startled. Taehyung’s roller comes undone from his hair. It’s getting dark outside and the snow is coming down like a white curtain. Namjoon turns on the lights and the road glitters and shimmers.
“I’m from Geullen-ri. It’s my hometown.” he says, voice void of joy.
For a few tense moments Hoseok and Taehyung thought that they were lost and that Namjoon had driven them into the middle of the forest during a snowstorm, however, after a seemingly long silence, the car is filled with sighs of relief and exclamations of awe.
Like its name, Geullen-ri appears before them between white fluffy hills, a happy little glen with wooden houses peeking up from under the snow like luminous mushrooms.
Namjoon drives them into the small village and it looks like something out of a postcard: decorations everywhere, from oversized gingerbread men and candy canes to sparkly, colorful globes and tinsel hanging from every available plant, Christmas tree or otherwise. There are snowmen of all sizes along the streets, their stick hands pointing up as if to say hello. And the lights! So many lights hanging from every house, every storefront and from roof to roof over the street, driving down the main street is like entering a tunnel of glitter and joy.
“Is this Santa’s village? Holy shit!”
“They take holidays very seriously here.” Namjoon explains.
He struggles to remember where the only inn was and then struggles once more to park. A helpful man comes from inside the inn with a snow shovel and makes way for them to park and enter. Taehyung moves to pull out his wallet but the man laughs at him and turns down the tip.
Unsurprisingly, the inn is all vacant so they get to choose the rooms that they want.
Everything is cozy, woolen hand woven carpets on the floor, small fireplaces with logs ready for the fire on the side, hot water bottles under the heavy cloud soft blankets on the huge beds and, of course, a Christmas tree and an elf on the shelf for each room.
“This place is very hygge in a maximalist sorta way.” Taehyung mentions after throwing his bag on the floor in his room and meeting up with the others in the hallway.
“What?!”
“Don’t mind him, he’s speaking in aesthetics again.” Hoseok waves him off. “Does this place have a bar?”
“Do you really wanna walk out in a blizzard to get booze?” Taehyung swats the back of his head.
“It’s not as bad as on the highway, just like… heavy snow fall? Like we’re in one of those shaky globe thingies.”
“The surrounding hills protect the area. The advantages of being isolated I guess.” Namjoon explains as they go down the stairs and into the lobby.
“Did you actually grow up here?”
“Yeah… Left as soon as I could. Went to a boarding highschool in the city and only came back one summer to pack my bags for good.”
“And look at you now, big city hot shot from small remote village! That’s a movie right there!” Hoseok laughs and pats his back but Namjoon doesn’t smile at the idea.
The man at the inn insists that they let him lend them actual boots and coats before they go outside and once again laughs at Taeyung’s attempt at paying him for his service.
They bundle up and look a lot less business casual than before in padded jackets and heavy furry boots with hats and scarves covering most of their features. Properly equipped they venture out into the winter in search for booze.
Nighttime comes quickly but it doesn’t startle nor deter them in any way. Much like Hoseok said, they seem to be in a snowglobe. Everything is festive and well lit and there’s an unspoken joy in the air. There is also the smell of sweets and mulled wine in the air and they just follow it like starved dogs. Speaking of which, Taehyung is famished and he says so quite loudly.
“Maybe the dude at the inn will also feed us for free. I’d be surprised if he even lets us pay for the rooms.”
“Are you actually complaining that he didn’t take your money?” Hoseok’s voice comes from under a scarf.
“People here are nice to a fault. He won’t take your money for something he considers to just be the neighbourly thing to do.” Namjoon says and it sounds like an accusation.
Just like there is but one inn in the village, there is also just one pub. Right off the main street, its frozen large windows only give away the fact that inside there is light and warmth and the faint sounds of music and laughter is all the invitation they need. Namjoon stops for a few moments and just looks up at the illuminated sign. The Moon. He swallows angstily, a creeping feeling in his gut making his heart rate spike but he walks in nonetheless.
Namjoon suddenly remembers the place. The layout, the wooden panels, the off green color of the walls, the creaky floorboards, this used to be the old fishing supplies store. Yet now, with tables and booths and a large, obviously restored antique bar, the place looks like an old timey pub, probably exactly as intended. There’s even a small stage though nobody is singing nor playing the dingy old piano, in stead the music is coming from a jukebox, an actual jukebox towards which Taehyung immediately beelines.
Hoseok laughs at the younger’s passion for antiques and drags Namjoon towards the bar, promptly and happily hopping on one of the round stools.
“This place is unreal, it’s like we’ve gone back in time.”
“Yeah, if you like that sorta thing …” Namjoon mumbles as they both wrestle with the coats and scarves and hats until they can finally sit comfortably and move their limbs freely.
Taehyung returns with a twinkle in his eye and announces that there is also a huge fireplace and a Christmas tree in the back part of the pub.
“This place is Pinterest perfect western style holiday retreat material.”
“So… good?”
“Yes, you uncultured swine, it’s great. It reminds me of Tianducheng.”
“I wouldn’t take it that far…” Namjoon begins talking but is interrupted by the sound of a cheerful voice.
“Hello, strangers, welcome to The Moon. What can I get y’all weary travelers during this fine blizzard?”
Namjoon knows that voice like crystal bells and turning to see the beautiful facethat matches it only serves to confirm his fear.
“I’m Jin, I’m the bartender, chef and DJ so everything you need, just let me know.” he chirps on and Namjoon’s heart is squeezed to the size of a pea.
Jin has gotten taller, broader, far handsomer than legal, plushy pillowy lips and sparkly mischievous eyes, there is little left of the lanky teen Namjoon had once known. He’s changed, not enough that his beauty would make him unrecognizable, more like he’s grown into his features and polished them like one would a diamond until blinding perfection.
“Awesome, so you’re also the owner?” Hoseok quickly engages.
“That I am. What can I get you? And don’t think I don’t know how to make anything fancy just because I don’t come from a fancy city like y’all obviously do.”
“Can you fix me a Cardinal?” Taehyung challenges, leaning on the bar like a cat ready to pounce.
“That’s just a Kir with red wine instead of white. Was this your best shot?” Jin laughs and starts pulling out glasses and bottles of spirits.
“Damn, you should work in the city. You have no idea how many times I had that order mixed up.”
“Lemme guess, they made you a Kir Royale instead.”
“Yes!Finally someone that understands!”
“Excuse my friend, he’s a pretentious ass.” Hoseok chimes in. “I’ll just have some mulled wine and …”
“A beer is fine.” Namjoon mumbles as he continues staring at the shiny surface of the bar’s countertop, desperately trying to shrink himself into invisibility.
“Coming right up. How about some grub as well? You two look like kindlings.”
“Oh, I’m starving! Is there a menu?”
Jin laughs once more while slicing an orange and letting it plop into the hot, spicy hot wine. It smells divine.
“We got rabbit stew and chicken soup today. And all the apple pie and gingerbread you can handle.”
“Oh…” Taehyung is a bit taken aback but not deterred. He communicates through his eyes with Hoseok and they settle on having both the soup and the stew.
“What about you, Nam…”
“I’m good, I’ll eat later.”
“You feeling alright?” Hoseok leans in, trying to get a better look at him. “Your face’s all red.”
Jin pushes a large pint of cold beer his way and only smiles, fox-like and mischievous.
“Why don’t you gents grab a booth over there and I’ll have Jimin bring you your food in a jiffy?”
They do just that, Namjoon being the first to take his drink and retreat towards the far end of the booth, almost trying to merge himself with the wall. The other two follow suit.
“So...what gives? You know him or something?” Hoseok is quick to interrogate.
“Or something. Long story, old history.”
“Oh, an old flame of yours?”
“I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“He is damn pretty, that’s for sure. Think there are any other fine men around here? Some rough country boys that could treat this ass with utmost disrespect?” Hoseok snickers.
“We’re snowed in and you want to get laid?”
“For once I agree with Hobi hyung. This is a perfect scenario to blow your load and hit the road.”
“You guys are pigs.”
Their conversation gets interrupted by the waiter that saunters over, arms full of steaming, delicious looking plates of food. The three businessmen’s jaws drop to the floor at the vision of the man that ever so carefully bends over to set the table, twinkle in his moon crescent eyes and mischief on his plump, shiny lips. Taehyung can’t help noticing the perfectly round swell of his behind as he leans towards him on the far end of the table and graciously places a spoon by his plate. He all too soon stands up straight again, running a small, ringed hand over his apron to smooth it down and tells them to enjoy their meal and just
“Holler for me if you need anything.” then leaves, an almost inaudible giggle following his footsteps.
“Oh, I’d holler for him all night …” Taehyung thinks aloud.
“Ah, good, so you saw him too. I thought I was hallucinating from the hunger. What the fuck is up with your hometown, Nams? Is everyone here hot as fuck?”
Namjoon shrugs and pours half of his pint down his throat in one swing, earning an impressed whistle from Hoseok.
“Well, I’mma call dibs on the hot waiter.” Taehyung announces.
“Yeah, good luck.” the oldest snickers. “Damn this stew is good, yum!”
Taehyung eats fast, more a means to an end, then downs his drink and as soon as he finishes, he checks his hair on the back of the spoon he licked clean, picks up his plates and glass and dallies towards the bar.
“Oh, you didn’t have to bring them yourself.” Jin comments and grabs the dishes to take in the back.
“Yeah, it’s what I’m being paid to do.” Jimin emerges from the same room. “Or are you trying to steal my job?” he leans over the bar, resting his pretty face on the palm of his hand.
“It’s not your job I’m trying to steal.” Taehyung doesn’t back down, leaning against the bar as well until their faces are so close he can see the way the fairy lights illuminate each strand of his blond hair.
“I saw the way you were looking at me.”
“Good, then you know what I want.”
“Of course. All men want dessert.”
“You’re Jimin, right?”
“Right. And you are?”
“Taehyung. Kim Taehyung.”
“Hot shot business boy from the city?”
“Exactly that.” Taehyung notices how beautifully Jimin’s back arches as he’s leaning on the shiny surface of the bar and wonders just how flexible he is.
“Think you can handle me, Taehyungie? Us country boys like it rough.”
“I can handle it, don’t worry.”
Jimin only smiles, a challenging curve of lips.
“Jin hyung, when’s my shift over?” he shouts over his shoulder.
“Whenever Kookie comes to pick you up.” comes the answer from the kitchen.
“Aight!” Jimin gets off the bar counter and winks at Taehyung. “You heard him, as soon as my man comes to pick me up you can come join us. Or not. It’s up to you. If it’s too much to handle you can just return to the inn, no harm, no foul. ‘Scuse me now, I got some dishes to tend to.” and with that he vanishes behind the back doors, leaving Taehyung very flustered and very excited.
He returns to the table dazed and with a dopey smile on his face.
“Wha? He turned you down? Is he a church boy?” Hoseok inquires quickly.
“On the contrary, I got invited to a threesome.”
“What?! Damn, this village’s wild. Why did you ever leave, Namjoon?”
“The novelty wears off. Before you know it you’re trapped in a routine dictated by the change of the seasons and community’s expectations and it’s like spinning on a hamster wheel.”
“Damn.”
“Well, we won’t be here long enough to get bored. I’ll make sure to come back to the inn by noon so we can leave in time to catch the next flight.”
“Shit’s unfair, you just walked over to the waiter and got invited to a threesome and I’m just sitting here trying to get more than 3 words outta Namjoon who’s fallen ill with the holiday blues.” Hoseok complains loudly, crossing his arms.
“Last order!” Jin shouts from the bar and just then the doors open and close quickly yet not quick enough to prevent the rush of cold air from coming in, sending chills up everyone’s spines.
The newcomer is a short man with jet black hair and cat-like eyes and spends long minutes just taking off layers and layers of scarves, mittens, hat, jackets, vest… All to reveal in the end a pretty little thing, a doll built man that immediately catches Hoseok’s eyes.
“This village is the gift that keeps on giving, isn’t it?” he whispers to his partners.
“Yoongs, last order, you’re just in time.” Jin greets him.
“Gimme the usual. Think the road to mine’s is blocked already?” the voice doesn’t match the person Hoseok figures while listening to the low baritone.
“You can ask Koo when he gets here. If it is you can crash at mine’s.”
“Thanks, Jinnie.”
“That’s a beautiful specimen.”
“Don’t be gross, Hoseok.” Namjoon chastises him.
“This is premium twink material.” he continues nonetheless. “Imma shoot my shot.”
“Try not to get punched in the face.”
Hoseok walks full of confidence and slides on to the stool next to the person that caught his eye. He puts on his winning smile and makes sure to undo the first few buttons of his shirt. The other looks at him with a puzzled look.
“You’re not from around here.”
“Nope. Name’s Jung Hoseok, I’m from Seoul.”
“Ah. Got caught by the blizzard?”
“Yes, so I’m looking to spend my time here as nicely as possible.”
“There’s not much to do around here unless you’re into hiking.”
“Not the kind of activity I had in mind.”
“They’re looking to get laid, Yoongi hyung.” Jimin chimes in, placing a big slice of apple pie in front of him. “I already scored the pretty one from the booth.”
“Does the pretty one from the booth know what they signed up for?”
“Kinda?”
“Poor soul.” Yoongi deadpans and then digs into his pie.
Hoseok doesn’t really know how to recover from Jimin’s intervention but he carries on undeterred.
“So…”
“So?” Yoongi turns to him, one cheek puffing out adorably as he chews. “If the road to my place ain’t blocked by the snow you can come and warm my bed. No funny business tho, ok? Make me feel good and I won’t kick you out to freeze to death. Deal?”
“Yeah, of course… Um…”
“Anything else?”
“No, it’s just … Seems too easy. What’s the catch?”
“The catch is that I know everybody in this village and sleeping with any of them feels awkward and wrong so I’m not about to pass on the opportunity to finally get some action. Especially from someone that is going to leave in the morning.”
“Oh, well...That does make sense.”
“Name’s Yoongi, not that you’d remember it anyway. Now lemme finish my pie. We’ll go as soon as I know about the road.”
“Oh, yeah, sure… Don’t mind me.”
Hoseok returns to the booth semi victorious.
“That was weird but hey, sex is sex. Namjoon, now’s your chance to talk to the bartender. They’re closing soon.”
“I’m good. I just wanna sleep.”
“You sure? He’s been looking your way all night.” Taehyung insists.
“I’m sure. You guys have fun and make sure you return to the inn tomorrow before noon.”
Not long after the doors of The Moon swing open once again, letting even more snow and frozen air in as a massive figure comes in. This person is wearing camo and a reflective vest and snow clings to him in clumps. He too struggles out of his clothes and as soon as he does Taehyung watches Jimin jump into the man’s arms. He’s a handsome man, young, younger than all of them, with huge eyes and toothy smile and he easily picks Jimin up like he weighs nothing, his arms bulging out from under his sweater.
“I think that’s your other partner for the evening.” Hoseok whispers and snickers towards Taehyung.
Jimin gets gently placed on the bar counter and he starts whispering in the stronger one’s ear while not so discreetly pointing at the out of towners’ booth. The younger’s eyes grow even bigger but soon enough his smiling and nodding and peppering kisses all over Jimin’s face.
“Say, Jungkookie, how’s the road to mine’s?” Yoongi asks as he finishes the last of his pie.
“You should head out as soon as possible, it’s close to being unmanageable. We’ll have the plows coming in the morning.”
“Well, that settles it then. Thanks, kiddo.”
Yoongi pays for the dessert and begins coiling his long scarf around his pale neck.
“You coming, city boy?” he says over his shoulder and Hoseok jumps from his seat barely managing a bye to his friends.
“We’re gonna go too now, Jin hyung, s’that okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, go have fun! Thanks for today, Jiminie!”
“You’re welcome.” Jimin whistles short and loudly and signals for Taehyung to come. “Let’s go, business boy!”
As soon as the door closes and the jukebox finishes playing the last song, it’s just Namjoon and Jin and it’s all so eerily quiet in The Moon.