Hannam Hill : Jikook

The Hunt

The day was bright and crisp as Jungkook sat aloft his horse, but far from peaceful as the pack of hounds, yapped and barked all around them.

The hunt was well underway and while Jungkook, rode by the side of his acquaintances, the conversation with Jimin at the ball played on his mind. His neighbour had been so absolute with his dislike for the sport, it caused Jungkook to give the event more thought.

Maybe there was a better way to rid the vermin. That notion grew at seeing his acquaintance's single minded pursuit of the fox. More blood thirsty than the hounds that tracked it. They brandished shotguns and were inclined to shoot anything that moved within the forest. Jungkook feared they may even hit the dogs at this rate.

"We nearly have him now" Mr Culshaw shouted through the woods at the bottom of Jungkook's land, referring to the poor fox.

"Just a little further" Mr Ross added firing his shot gun once again, recklessly, at the slightest movement and Jungkook looked ahead to see they were nearing Jimin's land.

"I think we need to pull back a little, we are close to trespassing" Jungkook called, remembering Jimin's threat from the previous night.

"Nonsense. Mr Park will thank us in the end. We must continue" Mr Ross added.

He nervously looked across at Mr Jackson who also seemed hesitant to continue onward, but Jungkook hurried forward, needing to somehow steer them back and away from Jimin's land.

Then he saw the man in question, in the distance, coming out of Snow cottage and running across the fields, towards them.

Jimin was shouting, but Jungkook was too far away to make out his words. On closer study they didn't seem to be angry calls of trespassing as expected, but instead just a single word, one syllable in length.

What was he shouting?

More people came running out of Snow cottage, a maid and a footman, both calling out the same mysterious word and scattering in different direction.

Then everything happened at once. Jungkook looked back towards the forest seeing something move at the edge of the tree line, and he realised exactly what Jimin had been shouting, for he instantly yelled out the same.

Tae!!!

Young Master Tae was standing in the woods, just feet away from the hunting party. The sound of yelping dogs and intermittent gunshot, pounded in Jungkook's ears as he jumped from his horse, running towards the boy.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Mr Ross the reckless man, turn, aim the shotgun towards the rustle of noise and pull the trigger in Tae's direction, even before seeing what he was shooting at.

With his heart in his mouth, Jungkook threw himself at Tae, pulling the child roughly to him and crashing to the ground as the spray of shotgun pellets found their target.

A second of relief at feeling Tae safely tucked under him, followed the sense of searing pain across his shoulder. The shock and sting combined, brought ringing to Jungkook's ears until it reached the point where it was the only thing he could hear.

He lifted his head to gaze across the field, where his handsome neighbour raced towards him, but vision proved difficult to keep and everything quickly faded away until he fell unconscious still cradling young Tae.

***

Jimin had told the boy not to go near the woods. He had such little faith that Mr Culshaw and Mr Ross would steer clear of his land that he instructed his curious nephew to stay well away.