BTS:A Walk Of Thousand Miles (Rewriting)
chapter 1
A beautiful morning in lanlay
Children ran after hearing the bell's ringing. It means the ice cart must be near.
A man in his 60's came riding a cart which had lanlay's famous almond milk icecream which has been a very precious childhood memory of every person there. There was a family which has been selling these icecream for generations, it's sort of legacy passing in their family.
A man screamed when some kids bumped into them,"Hey, be careful". He didn't mind or felt angry as it used to be his childhood also.
Children got their icecream and started looking for a place to eat them.
One kid named sarang bought an extra one. She ran to a certain house of lanlay.
She ran as fast as she could, as she didn't wanted her icecream to melt down. She got money from this certain person and promised him that they will eat this together.
Lanlay was a very simple village with a simple lifestyle. People there were so humble.
In lanlay, people believe in unity and protection of their culture and tradition. They could die to protect what they've inherited from their ancestors. They value their culture alot as this land has seen many people die for it.
Lanlay was situated in the borders of the country which is why the conflict has costed many innocent lives as well and not just one time but times which couldn't be counted on fingers.
People don't earn too much here but whatever they earn, they stay satisfied. There's an option, shift to a different city and earn more but lanlenese people consider it as a shame for themselves as they cannot trade their land just for money.
They were mostly dependent on their farms and cattles for livelihood. Children also used to get education till a certain time and if the child is girl or a carrier, then they used to get married before 20. This was common for lanlenese and they had no problem with it. Well there's also a reason behind it. Because of the conflict with neighboring country, people consider it safe so get their children married early, atleast it is better than getting abducted and killed later.
Because of being situated on a hill and northern part, lanlay was usually colder than other places of the country but this wasn't a hindrance for beautiful landscapes.
Through this story,I want to introduce you to this one family, Kim family. It's a small family with two sons and parents.
Father is a farmer, mother has a small bakery shop. Elder kid Namjoon is 19 and younger is Taehyung 17. Namjoon gives tuition whereas Taehyung helps his mother in bakery.
Kim family was no different than any other lanlenese family. They also had a simple routine, work during morning time and dinner with family at evening, sleep at night and same usual routine for other day.
Thursday was little different as they used to go to the village temple for worship and prayer. Taehyung was a part of choir group and namjoon was in a team which reads scriptures. They used to stay at the temple only till afternoon.
This story starts from the day of Thursday when Taejoon had to go to the temple. They leave early in the morning for preparations and their parents join them later at 10 A.M.
As usual, tae was sitting among choir group in traditional outfit, a yellow long dress with golden embroidery. They were taking oaths and praying like how usually used to happen. Namjoon was on the different area where scripture reading and offering sacrifices was going on. Offering sacrifice means, offering god a small amount of whatever they harvested. After this, a meal will be prepared from the food items collected and people will be fed together.
Namjoon wore a white long dress which only showed his face and palms. A couple came forward to offer their sacrifices. Temple priest asked them to sit in the front of the alter, just beside Scripture reading group.
Couple did whatever priest asked them to do. At the end, priest ordered,
"Read 64th verse from 7th chapter"...
It was namjoon's turn, he started reading and the couple folded their hands. But.. their attention was on namjoon. What a lovely child. Beautiful, mannered, obedient. A scripture reader. Comes from a good family. Can do house chores. Talks gently. Knows everything about taking care of a family. Also knows old traditional cultural roots of lanlay as it is taught to all scripture readers. 19 years old. No flaws left from any side.
After the prayer ended, that certain couple smiled at each other. Namjoon's parents were not there. They sat at their respective place. The lady said,
"I have heard he is educated also and our son wanted a literate bride.. he will definitely meet Kim's boy after we tell him this"...
The husband said,
"After lunch, let's talk to the priest as well"...
Yes, I forgot to tell you this.. Parents don't directly meet to each other,they go to meet temple priest first. They communicate through temple priest first time. Marriages used to be arranged generally. Priest first examines whether they're fit for each other or not,then only he proceeds.
Namjoon's parents were worried about namjoon's marriage too as they had one more child. Namjoon's friends and cousins were already married and two of them had kids.
Just in time, Namjoon's parents also arrived. They went to the priest and register themselves. They will be called after thirteen members. Priest smiled at them and told them that namjoon is really a good son. What else a parent would want to listen. They went to find a seat and sat in one corner with their sacrifices. The couple,surname Wang smiled at each other again. They had chinese origin and later their ancestors migrated to lanlay and that's why they had a chinese surname.
They waited till their turn. Priest called them. After the sacrifice, they went to the lecture hall. Taehyung was there as well. In front, there was a big wooden podium. On the left, a group of advisors and seniors of the temple sitting, on the right side, choir group was sitting and in the middle Head priest was sitting along with his two subordinates.
Prayer started. Choir group started the chanting. Son of Wang's also arrived before the prayer and sat beside his parents.
The prayer finished and the hall started emptying slowly. Wangs didn't leave,they waited to talk to the Head Priest. Some people were already talking so they waited for their turn to come.
Upon finding that they can talk to the Head Priest now they went closer to the podium. They bowed down in front of the priest and sat in a reasonable distance.
After some little talk priest asked about the purpose of their arrival...
Mr. wang
We have a marriage proposal.. We want this certain family's older son to be our son's bride before the the arrival of spring..
Mr. wang
December is already about to end.. We want to marry our children as soon as possible...
Priest:- Who are they?How do you adress them?
Mr. wang
They are loyal to our holy motherland lanlay... People of words and pride yet simple and humble... Their sons are a part of this holy temple as they have devoted their chastity to the holy above and we adress them as Kims...
Priest:-.. Kims from South or springroot (residential adress)
Mr. wang
Kims from springroot...
People can have same surnames so adress was a good mode to distinguish.
Priest smiled at them as he knew who are they adressing. Tae was already there and got all excited after hearing the conversation. His friends started elbowing and pinching him. He dodged playfully and started giggling. Priest's subordinate gave them a side glare and they brought themselves back to still. Submission.
Priest:- Give me your son's birth chart.. I will arrange a meeting soon...
Couple exchanged a warm smile. They handed over the birth chart and left..
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