"YoonJin...!" Jimin called to his older brother, eager to present the recent oddity in the woods. "Can you come into the woods with me? Mother wants more water, and I need more than two pails..."

YoonJin groaned, standing and pulling on his coats. Jimin did the same, shoving his feet in boots. They both had two pails.

They trudged to the river in silence, past the sacrifice tree. Jimin felt that unbelievably cold pocket of air around it as they passed. YoonJin seemed highly unaffected. On the way back, Jimin finally spoke, putting his water buckets down.

"... YoonJin, is it... colder by the tree to you?" He asked his older brother, knowing full well it wasn't the best idea, but he was curious.

"It's Winter, Jimin, " said YoonJin, "Why wouldn't it be cold...?"

"No, no, I mean does it feel colder by the tree than it does anywhere else? And if you touch it, it feels warm..."

YoonJin huffed, putting the buckets down and placing a bare hand on the Sacrifice Tree's bark. He didn't feel a thing. It just felt like a tree. A normal, average, everyday tree. He huffed and pulled his glove back on, grabbing his buckets again. "You're not funny, Jimin..." He muttered. "It's just a tree. Now let's go."

Jimin stared at his brother in disbelief. No... For sure he felt something, right? He was sure of what he felt, what he heard. That tree was living. It had to be. Nothing can live without a heartbeat, right?

[8 PM]

YoonJin sat with their mother after dinner, after Jimin had gone up to bed for the night. 

"Mother," he said, "Jimin said something odd about the Sacrifice tree today."

His mother stopped doing the dishes for a moment. "Why were you two by the tree...?" She asked.

"He asked me to help him get more water from the river."

"Oh," she said, "And what did he say about the tree that was so odd?"

"He said that it was warm," YoonJin said, "that it was living or something..."

The sound of dishes clattering gave YoonJin a bit of a shock as he looked up at his mother.

"He knows he shouldn't talk that nonsense, " said his mother. "First thing tomorrow, you go get Preacher Jack and bring him right here okay? He'll know what Jimin is talking about."

YoonJin gave his mother a nod. "Yes, Mother..."

"Now, you go on up to bed..."

He nodded once more and stood, heading upstairs to bed, knowing he at least will get to see the sun again.