ark [woosan]

fourteen: stars

san

I wake up to the sweet scent of stew. I walk outside, met with the sun rising and woo sitting with the breeze running through his hair.

"what's with all this?"

he turns to me in a dazed manner.

"if it's okay, I wanted to take you on a date today"

damn, I'm done for. I turn to try to hide my smile, shaking my head softly.

"do you even have to ask?"
"I knew you'd say that"
"oh shut it, you should be grateful I even consider you"
"just admit it, darling. you're smitten"
"hmmmm....no. I might reconsider that date now that I'm thinking about it"
"well if it's gonna be like that I guess I'll eat this all by myself", he pouts staring into the bubbling soup.
my mouth waters.

"you know what, a date sounds great today"

the pout leaves his face with a sly smirk.

after we eat the surprisingly amazing stew, woo hops up from the ground, offering a hand to me, "shall we head out now?"
"so early? it's probably around 9 am right now"
"well the date just so happens to be at the only restaurant here, I hear they're a five star michelin"
"oh? and where is that?"
"why, on top of the mountain of course"
"excuse me, what?"

I look to the side of our humble home, seeing the towering mountain that made a cold shadow loom over us. Not only did it host as a home for many assortments of dinosaurs, but it had an almost vertical incline at the top. I pale.

"we're going up there?"
"well yeah, it might seem horrible and idiotic, but I've gone up there quite a few times. it's actually fairly barren at the top and during the night there's hardly a dangerous thing to be seen"
"I'm not sure, woo"
"trust me, we'll be fine. I have a path we can take and I'll take a spear with us just in case"
"okay, I trust you"

we pack up everything, and I see woo grab a large basket. I tilt my head.

"what's that?"
"wouldn't you like to know, weather boy"
"...did you just quote a vine?"
"yes"
"...I hate how I knew that"

my question lingers in the air with no answer as we begin our journey to the top. the forest on the way is full of sounds, bugs scuttling and buzzing through the air and my shrieks accompanying them. woo's laughter is also a given, since he's just a jerk who apparently has no fear of insects.

"woo my feet hurt"
"yeah so do mine"
"ok"
"yeah, so?"
"carry me"
"how about no"

our conversations on the way were short and very curt, but I somehow felt so loved and comfortable even in such an unknown area. the trees had light shining through their canopies, opening up so the sun could say hello to us. inside that brightness there were little particles floating around, covering the area in a mysterious glow. small monkeys ran around everywhere, making strange noises as we walked by before running away. I must've been so into appreciating the foreign beauty that I forgot how my feet hurt and how long I'd been walking. eventually the trees started to decrease along with the pretty lights and at that point I started to notice the ache in the arches of my feet and the sting of where I was injured beforehand.

"woo, how much longer? I'm not sure if I can hold up"

he turns around, eyes reflecting the sunset, engulfing my hand in the warmth of his. the night continued to flow into the world, cold sweeping over with it, but I hardly noticed because of the heat he provided. he pulled me along with him, taking some of the burden off of me and placing it on himself.

at the top of the mountain it was a dangerous temperature. so cold that my bones felt raw, tender even. my eyes watered in the chilly air. yet woo once again had me covered. this time he pulled out a large blanket, placing it on a more flat area before bringing out another smaller one to wrap around me.

he lit a small fire just to the side of us, finally revealing the items in the basket.

"wow..."
"I hope you like it, I used to cook a lot back at home but the ingredients here are a little different"

seaweed soup, cheesy potatoes, galbitang, sweet vegetable cake, and some type of curry filled my senses. wooyoung dishes up some on a makeshift wood plate and I dig in.

"how is it?"
"ih hugging hood", I say through my mouthful.
"I'm taking that as it's really good with some none friendly words in between"

I give him a brief thumbs up.

"man you weren't lying about this being a 5 star place"
"not just any star, michelin"
"yeah yeah, take the compliment"
"that'll be $2,000"
"what?"
"this is a five star michelin restaurant, did you think it'd be cheap? I ain't paying for the abyss of your stomach"
"well aren't you just the cutest?"
"yeah I really am, now the money?"

I laugh, grabbing something random on the ground near me and plopping it into his hand. our eyes widen at what I gave him. wooyoung jumps up from his spot, almost tripping off the mountain.

"what the f-money is little fabric pieces not a giant spider"

he puts a hand to his chest, puffing in and out stressfully. I burst out in giggles. in my fit, I don't notice woo becoming quiet while looking at me with awe in his eyes, but when I do I meet them in the same way.

"what is it?"
"you're breath taking"
"uh...I'm literally an old man with turkey leg arms"
"I wasn't talking about your looks, silly"
"...oh", a small blush goes up my ears.

"anyway, it's time for the main event"
"and what can be better than food exactly?"
"this"

he puts out the fire with some dirt next to him and some water. right as our last remaining source of light disappeared my eyes opened to something even more amazing. the sky lit up with an endless amount of stars. more stars than I'd seen in my whole entire lifetime, and to add to that the dull crystals that were next to us lit up with their soft white light, it was just stunning. I lay back on the blanket, pulling wooyoung down to lay with me.

"what do you think?"
"I think it's magnificent"
"better than food?"
"I wouldn't pass that line if I were you"

as we looked at each other our eyes shined with stars. that night we talked aimlessly, small kisses not forgotten.