Safe With You | Yoonmin

Chapter 3: Winter's Eve

| Jimin |

SEVERAL DAYS LATER, it became clear that winter was here to stay. Already a foot of snow covered the ground. The village's farmers had been forced to abandon their fields only half ripe and half harvested, the dead and wilting grain stalks poking up through the fluffy white snow. It seemed as though everyone was setting their regular work aside to prepare for an early winter.

Jimin and Taehyung were almost done with winter preparations at the workshop. Shelves of pottery in various stages of completion had been moved back against the walls to make way for Jimin's new 'living quarters.'

They had spent the previous day weaving enough straw matting to cover the floor in the corner where the sleeping cot was placed, so that Jimin wouldn't be walking on the cold stone.

True to his word, Taehyung had brought a chest of quilts and furs. And Hobi had even brought by several sealed jars of dried and fermented foods.

This morning the two apprentices were making small repairs to the walls and roof, stuffing a mixture of clay and straw into any gaps they could find, anything that might allow freezing air to get in.

Taehyung rose to his tip toes on a wooden stool, cramming clay into the last few gaps up near the roof, while Jimin stood below with a bowl of the sticky mixture, holding it up each time the beta reached for a new handful.

As they worked, Taehyung shared news of his family, telling Jimin how his two older brothers Seokjin and Namjoon has been sent out on a hunt this morning.

"Isn't that dangerous this time of year?" Jimin asked in a worried tone. "A snowstorm could blow in at any time."

Taehyung glanced down at Jimin with a grin. "There's no need to worry about those two. They're some of the best hunters in the pack," he said proudly.

The Kim brothers had something of a reputation in the Black Mountain pack. Seokjin, Namjoon, and Taehyung were the three sons of Kim Ryun, the pack Beta. Their mother was a sweet female omega, one of the few in the pack. With such parentage, it had been almost inevitable that Jin and Namjoon would grow into handsome and strong young alphas, assisting their father and becoming leaders in their own right. And Taehyung, though he could not match an alpha's strength, the entire pack knew him to be equally as fierce and intelligent as his brothers.

"Still, your father must be quite concerned if he would send them out just before storm season," Jimin mused.

Taehyung nodded in agreement, "He is. There's still no sign of the convoy, and everyone is talking about how difficult this winter will be if the Mins never arrive. Our family won't starve of course, but not everyone is so well off... That's why father sent Jin and Namjoon out, to hunt and gather whatever they can to give to those too elderly to hunt."

Jimin thought that was typical of the Kim family. They were noble wolves, always ready to lend a hand to any member of the pack. And although Jimin had only crossed paths with Taehyung's alpha brothers a handful of times, he remembered clearly how respectful they had both been toward him. How alarmingly different their demeanor was compared to the rest of their peers.

Not for the first time, Jimin wished somewhat wistfully that he could have been taken in by Kim Ryun's family, rather than the pack Alpha.

"Well," said Taehyung, stepping down from the stool, "What do you think. Will you be warm enough?"

Jimin surveyed the transformed workshop with a hum. The cold stone walls and straw mats were a far cry from his clean, warm room in the palace. There was a small clay stove in the corner which he could light on cold nights, but he would have to use the wood sparingly, as the early arrival of winter had prevented them from properly restocking the woodpile.