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.
It was only when he heard the distance sound of dogs, had he realised that he hadn't seen his nephew for a good few hours and he called through the house to locate him.
When no answer returned, he feared the worse and ran out of the house looking for him.
Eventually he saw Tae, so far away in the distance and could only watch the horror of that man turn with shotgun in hand.
He heard the maid scream behind him when the shot rang through the air, and somehow, although his brain had stilled in time, his legs continued to run until he fell to his knees by the side of Jungkook and his nephew.
"Tae!, Mr Jeon!" he cried and managed to hear his nephew whine from being crushed under Jungkook. It took a few moments to assess the damage, but it was clear as Jimin lifted his nephew into his arms that the boy was injured but not from the gunshot, but maybe a dislocated shoulder from the fall.
Jungkook however, was not moving and blood seeped through his coat on to the ground. After thoroughly checking Tae for any other injuries, Jimin carefully handed over his nephew into the arms of the capable house maid.
"Take him to the cottage, call the surgeon and get word to Miss Jeon" he urged the maid.
Then with the help of one of his servants, they lifted Jungkook from the ground and began to carry him to the house between them.
"Mr Park, let me help carry him" Mr Jackson suddenly said, who had up to that point had been stunned into silence at what had happened.
Jimin clung on to Jungkook a little tighter, not about to let anyone else near him.
"Mr Jackson, I fear if my hands were not engaged right now, I may do some harm to one of those gentlemen" he stated, and Mr Jackson noticed a shake to his voice as he spoke.
"Your services would be much better employed keeping them far away from me and Mr Jeon" he added, then the continued with the task in hand and headed swiftly to snow cottage.
Hope soon arrived, accompanied by Isabelle Chambers, and were ushered straight to where the surgeon was with Jungkook. She did not see Jimin, who was still with his nephew.
The surgeon worked quickly and confidently, battling against the fading daylight, and once finished, he declared that all the shotgun fragments had been successfully removed. The main concern looking forward was to minimise the risk of infection.
Hope asked Isabelle to stay with Jungkook, who was laying on his stomach in a small cosy guest room, still unconscious from the ordeal, while she went to seek out Jimin.
She didn't have to look far, as he was sat right outside the bedroom, looking a fright. He was obviously exhausted from the way his head bowed low, his hands seemingly the only things holding it up. She could also see dried blood splatters on his shirt from carrying Jungkook to the house.
As she door clicked closed behind her, Jimin was on his feet.
"Miss Jeon, what's the verdict?, how is he?" Jimin almost begged.
"Everything went as well as it can" she began but could see that Jimin was shaking with the trauma of it all. She took hold of his shivering hand trying to calm her neighbour and forced him to sit back down.
"Mr Park, please do not worry. The surgeon will be out shortly, my brother is very strong and will be better in no time" she said reassuringly, seeing just how much he was agonising over his wellbeing.
"I can't bear to think what might have happened had you not been there. I believe your quick actions, bringing him to Snow cottage has saved his life" Hope said squeezing his hand a little more firmly.
"I should take no praise, but should be giving it. Mr Jeon, saved my nephew. I don't think I can ever find enough ways to repay him" Jimin said, deeply grateful for his neighbours actions.
"How is Tae?" Hope quickly enquired, feeling a little guilty at not remembering to ask earlier.
"He is well. A dislocated shoulder, now back in place. With a little coddling he will be right as rain" Jimin assured her.
"What on earth was that child doing in the woods anyway" Isabelle butted in, appearing from nowhere, to interrupt the moment.
Jimin screwed his eyes closed, for even the sound of her voice was enough to put him back on edge and he swore for the briefest of moments he even saw Hope roll her eyes.
"I'm mean you knew there was a hunt on, you really should have taken better..."
Hope felt the change in Jimin. A tense of his shoulders. Another word spoken would cause him to explode, so she swiftly interrupted her friend.
"I wondering if we can take advantage of your hospitality a little longer Mr Park" she quickly interjected, bringing his focus back to her and away from Miss Chambers.
"It seems prudent to keep Jungkook where he is at the moment. Any re-location may hinder his recovery" she stated to which Jimin without hesitation agreed to.
"Of course, of course" Jimin repeated bringing his anger back under control.
And thankfully the surgeon came out of the room before Isabelle was able to continue her jibes.
"I have given him some quite strong pain relief, so he may appear a little drowsy for a while" he advised then reaffirmed the position of keeping him at Snow Cottage to minimise infection and aide recovery.
With no more to do at the point, Hope and Isabelle could only retreat back to Hannam and prey Jungkook recovered well.
A short time later Jimin carried a bowl of boiled water and some clean cloths into the guest room were Jungkook lay.
Night had arrived, leaving only candlelight and the dancing flames from the fireplace to illuminate the room. He pulled up a stool to the bedside, sat down and looked at his neighbour deeply sleeping.
Jungkook looked peaceful, while laid on his stomach, head turned towards Jimin, softly exhaling. Across his shoulders, sat a large bandage and although the surgeon had cleaned the wound, there was still some dried blood along his back.
Dipping the cloth in to the warm water, Jimin, gently began to cleanse the area around the wound, remembering the surgeon's instruction that avoiding infection was the key to his recovery. He was determined to get the man back on his feet.
A few stray drops of water, trickled down Jungkook's back, causing him to faintly react. A fidget and a mumble, something indistinguishable. Jimin quickly removed the cloth, in fear it caused distress, only to be met with Jungkook gazing up at him.
"Mmm Jimin!" the man croakily uttered through hooded eyes and Jimin instantly forgot how to breath.
They had never called each other by their given name. It has always been quite formal. Hearing it then, was all it took for Jimin to cease to function.
"Was nice!" Jungkook added, a lazy smile growing with his words.
"W-what was?..." Jimin managed to ask, but then realised he meant the cleansing cloth.
Dipping it back into the warm water, Jimin went back to lightly passing it across his neighbour's skin, hearing another hum of approval escape the Jungkook's lips.
A comfortable quiet filled the room after that, as Jungkook peacefully fell back asleep, no doubt from the concoction of pain relief the surgeon had administered.
Jimin finished up with the cloth, lastly bringing it across the man's forehead only to notice Jungkook once more staring up at him, with that gaze that made his stomach flip.
"Smile at me, Jimin!" Jungkook breathed out softly "Smile at me!"
"What do you mean?" Jimin giggled in embarrassment of the bizarre request, and in doing so, gave Jungkook exactly what he asked for. A bright, perfect smile came from that nervous laugh.
"Best remedy" Jungkook whispered, managing a satisfied grin of his own, before passing out once again.
Jimin sat holding his breath, processing the moment that felt a little intimate.
"Don't worry, he keeps waking up and saying strange things like that" a voice rose from the shadows, causing Jimin to almost hit the ceiling from shock.
"Tae? Is that you? What are doing in here?" Jimin finally managed to say once his heart beat had slowed down.
"Protecting him" the child replied proudly, whilst curled up in the armchair by the window.
"Mr Jeon protected me, so I will make sure that I do the same" he added sleepily.
Jimin stepped over to his nephew, his heart still thumping wildly, partly from shock and partly at realising there was a spectator to his little moment with Jungkook.
"Tae you should be resting, your shoulder must ache"
"I can rest here quite well Uncle" Tae insisted and Jimin tried to argue back, but heard Jungkook mumble again in his sleep "Guardian Angel!"
"See even Mr Jeon wants me to stay"
Feeling it was too late for an argument and not wanting to disturb Jungkook any longer. Jimin pulled a large blanket from the wardrobe and wrapped it around his nephew.
"Just be careful of your shoulder and don't stay here all night" he instructed warmly.
Tae just nodded but was already falling asleep as Jimin tucked the cover further around him.
Then with a final look around at his two favourite men, Jimin sighed tenderly and left them both to rest peacefully.