Chapter 5

"Come on," he tells me, casting me a look before he slams the door closed.
I look out the front windshield and see

Rebel's Pebbles

etched in gold on the black Victorian-style sign.
He brought us back to the candy shop.
Keeping my small travel purse hooked across my chest, I climb out of the car and follow him up onto the sidewalk. He opens the door, the tinkle of a little bell ringing, and ushers me inside before he follows me.
The heady scent of chocolate and caramel hits me, and I immediately start salivating. I haven't eaten since the handful of blueberries I forced down this morning before my flight.

"Yo, Yoongi Hyung !" Jungkook shouts.
I hear the clutter of a pan from somewhere in the back, and
something-like an oven door-falls closed.
"Jeon Jungkook !" a man strolls out from behind a glass wall, wiping his hands as he heads toward us. "How the hell are you?"
Mr Gasper ? I dart my eyes up to Jungkook
He grins down at me. "Ignore him," he says. "I never smoked. I mean, I don't smoke anymore. That's old shit." He smiles at the other guy. "The old me. The evil me."

They both laugh and shake hands, and I gaze at the man who just came out. Looks about a little older than as Jungkook although a few inches shorter, and dressed in a black and white
flannel shirt with unkempt brown hair.
"Hyung , this is my niece, Yn ," Jungkook tells him.
Mr. Yoongi turns his eyes on me, finishes wiping off his hand, and holds it out to me. "Niece, huh?" His gaze is curious. "Yn That's a pretty name. How are you?"

I nod once, taking his hand.
"Let her have whatever she wants," Jungkook tells him.
"No, that's okay." I shake my head.
But Jungkook cocks an eyebrow, warning me, "If you don't fill up a bag, he'll fill it up for you, and it'll be black licorice and peppermint sticks."
I scrunch up my nose on reflex. The other man snorts. Black licorice can go to hell.

Jungkook walks off, grabbing a plastic bag, and proceeds to start filling it with taffy as I stand there, my pride keeping me planted in place. It's always the heaviest chip on my shoulder.
I don't like giving people what they want.
But then I smell the sugar and the salt, and the warm chocolate scent from the stoves hits the back of my throat and goes straight to my head. I love the taste.

뭘 기다리고 있는 거야' 미스 파크
miseu pakeu
mwol gidaligo issneun geoya miseu pakeu'
\ what are you waiting for Mis Park ]

I hear my uncle call out.
I blink.
He caps the taffy jar and moves to the gummy worms as he tosses a look over at me. I stare back. Calling me by my last name seems like it should feel playful. With him, it's...
brusque.
I let out a breath and moved toward the bags, taking one for myself. "I'll pay for it," I inform him. He didn't look at me but replied "Whatever you want."

Opening the bag, I instinctively pass the chocolates and veer toward the less caloric gummy candies, loading in some peach rings, watermelon wedges, and blue sharks. I toss in some jelly beans and Sour Patch Kids, knowing I won't eat
any of this.

Absently drifting to the next canister, I dig in the scoop and pull out a little pile of red.
Swedish Fish are filled with corn syrup, food dyes, and additives, my mother once said. I looked down at the candy, once loving the way they felt between my teeth but hadn't tasted since I was thirteen. Back when I started being willing to give
up anything to make her value me. Maybe if I ate like her, wore my make-up like her, bought Prada and Chanel purses like her, and wore any garish monstrosity Versace designed, she'd... But I shake my head, not finishing the thought. I load in two heaping scoops of the candy into my bag. Jake appears next to me, digging his hand right into the jar.

"These are my favorite, too," he says and pops two into his mouth.

"Yo, dirtbag!" I hear Mr Yoongi shout.
But Jungkook just laughs. I look back down, recapping the jar and twisting my bag shut.
"The bag is seven-ninety-five no matter what, so fill it up," Jungkook tells me and moves around me, down the line of candy containers.
Seven ninety-five. Almost as expensive as the bottles of Swiss water my mother bathed in. How did he end up so different from them?
I trailed down the two aisles, passing the chocolate
confection case and my mouth watering a little at how good I knew everything tasted.
"Ready?" Jungkook walks past me.
I follow him to the register, and I toss my bag on the counter, afraid he'll try to go first and pay for me. I immediately take out my money, and the man, Yoongi, seems to understand, because he rings me up with no more than a moment's hesitation.

I pay and back away, making room for Jake.
He rings Jake up but looks at me. "Staying up... on the peak long?" he asks, sounding hesitant all of a sudden.
The peak?

But Jungkook answers for me. "Yeah, possibly until next summer."

The man's eyes instantly flash to Jungkook, a look of apprehension crossing his face.
"Don't worry." Jungkook laughs, handing the guy cash. "We'll protect her from the big, bad elements." "When have you ever been able to control Felix ?" Yoongi shoots back, snatching the money from Jungkook .

Felix . One of his sons. I look at Jungkook, but he just meets my eyes and shakes his head, brushing it off.
Jungkook takes his change and his candy, and we start to leave.
"Thank you," I said to Mr Yoongi .
He just nods and watches us as we leave, making me feel more unnerved than when I came in.
We climb back into the car , and my uncle pulls out, heading back in the direction we were originally going.

The petals of the pink petunias flutter in the wind against the blue sky as they hang in their pots, and young men in sleeveless tees haul sacks of something off the loading dock of the feed store and into their pickup. I'll bet everyone knows
each other's names here.

"It's not like California ," Jungkook offers, "but it's as big of a town as I ever want to see again."
I agree. At least for a while.

We head past the last of the businesses, over some tracks, and start to wind up a paved road dense with evergreen trees, slowly climbing in elevation.
The highway narrows, and I look through the windshield, seeing the trees getting taller and cutting off more and more of the late afternoon light as we travel deeper, leaving the town
behind. A few gravel and dirt roads sprout off the main lane, and I try to peer down the dark paths, but I can't see anything.

Do they lead to other properties? Homes?
We climb for a while, the engine whirring as Jake weaves and curves around every bend and I can no longer see anything of the town below. Rays of sun glimmer through the branches, and I blink my eyes against it, feeling the truck pull off the
paved highway and onto a dirt road as I sway in my seat with the bumps. I hold the dash with one hand, watching the lane ahead lined with firs. We climb for another twenty minutes.

"It's quite a drive," he tells me as the sky grows more dim, "so if you want to go to town, make sure me or one of my sons are with you, okay?"
I nod.

"I don't want you to get caught on this road after dark by yourself," he adds. Yeah, me neither. He wasn't kidding when he said 'secluded'. You better have what you need, because it's not a quick trip to the store if you need milk, sugar, or cough syrup.

He turns right and pulls up a steep gravel driveway, the rocks crunching under the tires as I start to see structures coming into view again. Lights shine through the trees, easy to
see, since it's just about dark.

"All of that road we just traveled gets buried in winter," he informs me, and I see him looking over at me, "and with some terrain steep and icy, it makes it impossible to make it to town
for months with the roads closed.

We'll take you to the candy store to load up before the snow starts." I ignore the joke and peer out the window, trying to see the buildings we're approaching through the last remnants of sunlight, but with the trees everywhere, I can't see much.

Something that looks like a stable, a couple of sheds, a few other smaller structures buried in the thick, and then, He pulls the truck up onto even land finally and parks right in front of a house with massive windows and a few lights on
inside. I shoot my eyes left, right, up, and down, taking in the huge place, and even though I can't make out any details in the dark, it's big, and there's three floors, as well as upper and
lower sprawling decks..

A twinge of relief hits me. When he said cabin, I
immediately registered "doomsday prepper with the barest essentials to survive," thinking more of the solitude and space away from L.A., than the potential hovel I might've just agreed to live in. It wasn't until I got here that I started
worrying about my rash decision and what I had actually signed up for. I didn't need the Internet, but I was hoping for at least indoor plumbing.
And-I gaze at the house, still sitting as he climbs out of the car -I think we're in luck.

I only hesitate another moment before I open my door and slide out taking my backpack with me. Maybe I overreacted. Maybe there wasn't much to be nervous about. It's quiet like I hoped, and I inhale the air, the fresh scent of water and rock sending chills down my arms. I love that smell.
It reminds me of hiking Vernal Fall at Yosemite with my summer camp years ago.

He carries my two suitcases, and even though it's a little chilly, I keep my pullover tied around my waist and follow him up the wooden steps.

As I stepped into the cottage, the chill of the night air clung to my skin for a moment before the warmth inside wrapped around me. The windows were large, but they only reflected the darkness outside-no ocean view, no landscape, just the pitch-black sky pressing against the glass. It was unnerving, like the world outside had disappeared, leaving only this space. His space.

The first thing I noticed was how quiet it was. No sound of the ocean, no wind, just... stillness. The faint light from the lamps cast long shadows across the dark oak floors, the grain of the wood almost shimmering as I stepped further inside. I felt Jungkook behind me, silent as ever, his presence thick in the air.

My eyes wandered to the stone fireplace on one side of the room. It looked cold, unused, but there was something inviting about it, like it was waiting to be lit. Above it, the mantle was lined with little ornaments-seashells and trinkets, a reminder that we were on an island, even though the world outside was invisible now. Everything inside felt curated, yet untouched, like no one really lived here.

My eyes drifted toward the grand piano tucked in the corner. Its glossy surface caught the faint light, and for a moment, I wondered if it ever made music. If anyone had ever sat there and played, or if it was just another prop in this carefully crafted scene. I felt the urge to run my fingers across the keys, to hear something, anything, break the silence, but I stayed rooted where I was. The room felt too fragile, like I'd break something if I disturbed it.

The paintings on the walls were strange, abstract swirls of deep blues and grays-waves, maybe. Or storms. I couldn't tell in this dim light, and part of me didn't want to know. They felt like a reflection of this place, calm on the surface but hiding something darker beneath.

The staircase on the far side of the room spiraled upward, disappearing into the shadows. I could only imagine what lay above, but I wasn't sure I wanted to find out. There was something unsettling about this place, about the way it held its secrets so tightly.

Everything felt cold, distant. Even though the house was beautiful, there was an emptiness here. No warmth, no life. Just me and Jungkook, and the heavy silence that stretched between us.

I should've felt safe, away from everything, but instead, I felt trapped but my thoughts came to an halt when Jungkook spoke

"Hello!" Jungkook calls out, entering the house and setting my suitcases down. "Yeojun !"
Suddenly Two dogs rush up, a red and tan doberman and another one is a Brown Toy Poodle with glassy black eyes. Jungkook leans over, giving them both a good petting as he looks around the house.

"Anyone here?" he yells again.

"Yeah, I'm here!" a man's voice calls out.
A young guy walks out of the kitchen fisting two beer bottles and shakes his head at Jake. "Jesus Christ. Fuckin'
Shawnee got out again," he says.
He strolls up to us, looking like he's about to hand Jake one of the beers, but then he looks at me and stops.
His dark blond hair is slicked back under a backward baseball cap, and he doesn't look much older than me, maybe twenty or twenty-one. His body, though... His strong arms are
tanned dark under his green T-shirt, and he's broad. His crystal clear blue eyes widen, and his mouth hooks in a half-smile.

"This is Yeojun ," Jungkook introduces us. "My youngest."
It takes me a moment, but I raise my hand to shake his. Instead of taking it, though, he just puts one of the bottles in it and says, "Learn to like it. We drink a lot here."

The sweat from the bottle coats my palm, and I shoot Jungkook a look. He takes it from me and looks to his son. "Your brother?"
"Still in," Yeojun replies, but he doesn't take his eyes off me.

"Right."
In? I start to wonder what that means but shake it off, wiping my wet hand on my jeans, still feeling his eyes on me.
Why is he staring?
I meet his eyes again, and he has a real smile. Should I say something? Or should he say something? I guess this is weird. We're essentially cousins. Am I supposed to hug him or
something? Is it rude not to?
Whatever.
"How long did you look for the horse before you gave up?" Jungkook asks him, a sigh that he won't let out thickening his voice.

Yeojun smiles brightly and shrugs. "My logic is that if we don't find her then she won't ever run away again." Jungkook cocks an eyebrow as he glances down at me and explains, "We have a young mare who always seems to find some way out of her stall." And then he eyes his son again as
if this is a tired subject. "But horses are expensive, so she needs to be found."

The kid holds up his beer and backs away. "Just came back for fuel." And then he locks eyes with me as he walks toward the back of the house. "If you shower, save me some hot water," he tells me.
I watch him walk past the large stone fireplace, down a long hallway, and eventually I hear a screen door slam shut somewhere at the back of the house. He's going to find a horse
tonight?

"It's dark so I'll show you around the property in the morning," Jungkook says, walking off to the right, "but here's the kitchen."
He trails around the island in the large space, but I stay back.

"Of course, help yourself to anything," he explains, meeting my eyes. "We'll be making plenty of runs to town before the weather starts in the next couple of months, so we can stock the pantry with any food you like. We'll be doing
some canning, too." He closes the fridge door I'm guessing his son left open and informs me, "We try to grow, catch, and kill as much of our own food as possible."

It makes sense why I thought I saw a barn and a
greenhouse among the other structures. With it getting snow . For such long periods of time, it's smart to rely on grocery stores and the town as little as possible.

All of a sudden, Jungkook is standing next to me I back away from , You're not a vegetarian, are
you?" But before I could speak He's gone before I had a chance to answer Jungkook's hand wrapped firmly around my wrist as he led me through the hall, his touch gentle but unyielding. The silence between us was thick, heavy, and I couldn't tell if it was because of him, the house, or both. My heart raced with every step, the dark wooden floors creaking beneath our feet as we moved deeper into the cottage.

I barely had time to process the details of the place, the eerie beauty of it fading as I focused on the fact that I was being taken somewhere. Somewhere that wasn't my choice. He stopped in front of a door at the far end of the hallway, it's simple white frame standing out against the dim light.

Jungkook opens my door and carries my cases in, and I follow,hearing the click of a lamp and see the glow of the bulb suddenly filling the room.
My chest instantly warms, and I almost smile.

It's nice.

Not that I expected much, but it's cozy and uncluttered, and I even have my own fireplace. There are double doors across the room, a bed, a dresser, and a cushioned chair, everything done in woodsy colors leaving plenty of room to pace and spread out on the floor if I want to sit like I often do.

A yawn pulls at my mouth, and my eyes water a little. "Towels are here," he pointed towards the small cupboard ,

"Let me know if you need anything."
He steps back into the room, filling up the doorway, and I stand in the middle of the space.

"Is it okay?" he asks me.
I nod, murmuring,

"It's nice."

Jungkook stood by the doorway, his gaze never leaving me, like he was waiting for something. For me to say something, or maybe for me to accept this.

But I couldn't. Then something struck back and I said "You have another...son," I said to him. "Did I take his bedroom?"

There are more doors. I wasn't infringing on their space, right?

But he just turns his head and said no

"Felix 's room is on the third floor," he explains. "It's the only room up there, so no need for a tour. It's got a great view, though. Lots of air and space. He likes space." He sighs, but his words are weighted with frustration .

"Do you want the WiFi?" Jungkook asks me.
The reminder that I can stay connected here makes me pause for a moment.

But if I refuse it, he'll wonder why.

"Sure," I answered.

"It's under Cobra Kai."
I shoot a look up at him. Cute.
Searching the available networks, I find Cobra Kai is the only one that pops up .

"Password?"

He's quiet for a moment and then says, "A man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves..." I stop myself before I can shake my head and type in ,

"No Mercy."

It connects within seconds.

Jungkook comes close to and stands in front and glances down. When he sees I got the password correct, he nods, impressed. "You can stay."

He stands close, and I draw in a breath and take a step away, looking around the room for what's next. But he stays rooted in place, watching me, and something crosses his eyes that he doesn't say. Like me, he's probably wondering what
the hell I'm doing here and what he's going to do with me for a week, or a year, until I leave.

"Are you hungry?" he asks.
"Tired."

He nods to himself as if just remembering my parents died two days ago, and I'd traveled across four states today. "Of course."
But I'm not thinking about that at all. I just need to be alone now.

My room is just opposite yours . Then it's "Bathroom, Noah's room, and that room is mine. He pointed at the door just opposite to mine. He again went towards the door and took my luggage and dropped it on the bed and was about to go outside but he stopped
"
"Keep that in mind"

When you meet him and don't take anything personally." I pause a moment, curious what he means, but people say the same thing about me. I glance at his door again, guessing there were stairs behind it, since Jungkook said his room is on the
third floor. Is Felix up there? His brother said he was "in.

I feel him watch me, and my muscles tighten. "You don't talk much, do you?"
I glance up at him.
He quirks a smile. "We'll change that."
Good luck.
Jungkook grabs the door handle and starts to pull it closed.

"You hated my father." I turn my eyes on him, stopping him.

"Didn't you?"
He straightens and stares at me.
"Won't it be uncomfortable for you to have me here...
Uncle Jeon ?"

If he hated my dad, wouldn't I remind him of him? But his eyes on me turn piercing, and he says in an even tone,

"I don't see your father when I look at you, Yn."

I still, not sure what that means or if it should make me feel better. You look like your mother. He'd said at the airport that I looked like my mother. Did he see her when he looked at me,
then?

Was that what he meant?
His eyes darken, and I watch as he rubs his thumb across the inside of his hand before he balls it into a fist.

I'm rooted, my stomach falling a little.
"And you don't have to call me uncle," he says. "I'm not really anyway, right?"
But before I can answer, he clicks his tongue to call the dogs, they follow him out, and he pulls the door closed, leaving me alone.
I stand there, still, but the nerves under my skin fire. One phone call, a coach seat, and four states later, it finally occurred to me... I don't know these people.

To be continued ..