Forks, Horton's Valley

Minjeong knew she was crazy. 

Crazy enough for her to stick her head inside a hole and wack herself silly, then she would stand straight back up and declare to the entire valley that she was fine and dandy. No loose gears inside her noggin' or anything. 

She sighed.

Forks was just a speck on the map of the entire valley, not a lot of folks had taken the time to ride down to their small town. They didn’t have many people visiting, not enough to consider themselves a bustling place to be in compared to Palomino Springs or even Fortnight. But even then, bridle gossip could even reach Forks. And even they knew who Tiger and Rattlesnake were. 

Minjeong already heard stories about them when she was still a young lady, when her mother and father were still alive. They never allowed her to venture out of the town on her own and always gave her an earful about it. Even if she had company with her, she still wasn’t allowed to go anywhere outside of Forks. No one could be trusted. 

Her kind heart might be the death of her, as what her father always said. Which made sense. 

The stories were everywhere. Everyone in Forks was always talking about it. 

Tiger was known to be a brute with a whip and a gun, despite their small stature. Willing to rob and kill whenever they pleased. From most of the cases, the people of Forks knew that coming across Tiger was like meeting the Grim Reaper and kissing their sorry life goodbye. 

Rattlesnake, on the other hand, was known to charm and strike when their victims were at their most vulnerable state. But over the years, the one thing Minjeong would always hear about Rattlesnake was that they were the type to bed a beautiful lady. May she be young or old, as long as it was within the Rattlesnake’s favor, they would sleep with them. After that, Tiger would come in and then do the rest of the dirty work. 

Steal, rob, and kill.

But if one would put Rattlesnake in a gunfight, a cowboy wouldn’t even have the time to think before they realize they were already pierced with a bullet. Swift shots from a revolver and swift enough to leave a woman broken hearted. 

Minjeong understood why the two outlaws kept their faces hidden. They were criminals, of course they had to keep their identities a secret. Those who probably had seen them were lying six feet under because of the outlaws. 

So, the innkeeper was left wondering, why was her heart softened by a sudden request for help and a sincere thank you? And from an outlaw at that?

Sure, she didn’t expect the Rattlesnake to be in her small town of Forks, inside her inn, breathing heavily, bleeding behind her counter and asking to save her like Minjeong had her life in her hands. 

Maybe this was what her late father had warned her about. Cursed her soft heart. 

But Minjeong wasn’t a fool. With the imbalanced ratio of men and women in Forks, she had to remind herself that she couldn’t rely on anyone to defend her. She wasn’t scared when the rangers from Fortnight were inside her inn, spoke to her so rudely and pointed a shotgun at her. 

None of that scared her at all. Her mother had taught her to be strong, fearless, and tactful. Because she knew what to do when trouble had come over and started something to disturb the peace and safety of their inn. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened. 

But even at gunpoint, she wasn’t feeling like that at all. What scared her the most was if the outlaw was going to die on the floor of her inn and she wouldn’t know what to do with the body. How could she explain to the people that the infamous Rattlesnake was found dead inside her own building and in her town?

Eventually, the things that were stirring in her mind simply changed when she was met with the bare face of a beautiful woman, with mysterious, tired eyes, a lazy smile and a beauty mark at the bottom of plump lips, just staring at her. 

“Yu Jimin, a local from up north.”  

Minjeong remembered the way Jimin said it, the way that smile still haunted her memories. And Minjeong would be lying if she said she wasn’t enchanted by Jimin’s beauty. 

The rumors about her must have been true. It would be no surprise if the outlaw had multiple women wrapped around her finger. 

Especially since the same outlaw decided to turn a new leaf and start a new life, it was quite a challenge for Minjeong to ignore how normal the Rattlesnake could be. 

Maybe it was because Jimin abandoned the infamous black Stetson and the dark blue bandana, or because she wasn’t in a thick coat with boots that had the loudest spurs. 

On that lazy afternoon, as she watched guiltily through the window of her small kitchen, Minjeong was quietly watching Jimin in a bright red flannel, wearing washed out jeans and regular cowboy boots with no spurs behind the heel. Her hair was tied up and her sleeves were folded to her elbows. Arms flexing each time she raised the wood axe and threw it down to split the block of timber in half. 

Minjeong unconsciously bit her lower lip each time the axe landed and Jimin would wipe her forehead with the back of her arm. Much more when Jimin grabbed her belt and lifted up her jeans, not knowing that it was showing the form of a nicely shaped cock, probably still flaccid but it was enough to make Minjeong’s imagination run wild with so many thoughts. 

“I think you’ve gone crazy,” a voice came from behind her and Minjeong almost dropped the plate that she was absentmindedly wiping with a washcloth. 

Minjeong caught the plate and threw her free hand over her chest and huffed when it was just Aeri who was leaning on the doorway. “Didn’t I tell you not to do that? I thought you’re a doctor, you shouldn’t be giving me heart attacks.” 

The doctor shrugged but then she walked over beside Minjeong and took a glance outside as well. “I can’t believe you allowed an outlaw to live with you.” 

She sighed, this may be the fourth or fifth day that Aeri had reminded her of the truth. Minjeong lost count, if she was being honest. And by now, the doctor should be tired of saying the same thing over and over again. 

“For the hundredth time, Doc—” Minjeong finally tucked the plate away and faced her friend, giving her a look that she hoped Aeri would understand that she, too, was tired of talking about. “Jimin promised that she’s done being an outlaw and insists on returning the favor of us saving her.” 

“You know that the only reason why I helped was because you begged me,” Aeri said monotonously, then she smirked. "Should've made you kneel in front of me. That'd be a sight for sore eyes."

Minjeong rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I don't beg like that, excuse you," she said pointedly then walked away from Aeri to go back to the stove. She was making stew again that day. Yizhuo was able to help Minjeong get some supplies from Taeyong's delivery the other day; told them that the produce was coming from the big city of Algonquin. 

Everyone knew that anything from that city was like they struck gold. So for Minjeong to score fresh beef and duck was a god sent. Minjeong had to work fast in order to feed her current tenants with something nice and that wasn't chicken. Again.

“Aeri, it’s been a week since she recovered. Jimin has been very helpful and very obedient,” she added as she stirred the pot then glanced at Aeri, hoping that her softened expression could finally convince the doctor. 

Instead Aeri sighed and shook her head. “Well, it's not like I can do anything about it since I promised to keep it a secret, the sheriff basically adores her and everyone else here is amazed by your friend from nowhere that can do everything.” 

“I think everything is a bit too much, Doctor,” Jimin suddenly said, standing by the doorway with a pile of newly chopped wood in her arms and wearing the bright brown Stetson Minjeong picked for her when they were at Lily's shop. 

If there was a higher being out there that was willing to show her mercy, now was the best time because the scent of sweat and the sight of Jimin in the flannel, with the cowboy hat and flexed forearms were doing things underneath Minjeong’s petticoat. 

The cowboy smiled at her, raising the chopped wood slightly. “Do I put these at the fireplace, Miss Kim?” 

Minjeong sighed, she let go of the ladle she was holding, marched up to Jimin’s tall stature and flicked her hard on the forehead, making Jimin hiss in pain. “Do you really like getting hurt by me? I told you not to call me that!” 

Jimin shifted the weight of the pieces of wood in her arms so she could use a free hand to rub her forehead. “My apologies, force of habit," she said sheepishly with a crooked smile.

Minjeong wanted to be flustered by it. Since seeing the outlaw make silly faces was odd yet endearing to her. But she let out a sigh instead. “Anyway, yes, you can put it by the fireplace.” Minjeong went back to her stew and then glanced at Jimin again. “Light it up once the sun goes down, okay?” 

Jimin tipped her hat before walking inside the lodge. “Yes, Minjeong.” 

Once the former outlaw left the kitchen area, Minjeong paused when she felt someone staring intently at her. She turned to look at Aeri. Her small eyes were wider than usual. 

“What?” 

Aeri then pointed at her forehead and then to the door towards the lodge. “You—you just—“ 

“Made a dangerous outlaw my bitch?” She pondered at her own hypothetical question and then shrugged, stirring the soup again. “Guess so. I told you she’s been obedient.” 

Hopefully that was enough to convince the doctor that Jimin was telling the truth and that she was going to change her life and that she did mean it when she promised to be of service to Minjeong for as long as she lived. 

Minjeong didn’t need to tell her friend about her undeniable attraction to Jimin and that was making her feel crazy.

The small town of Forks had been nothing but a treasure. Jimin had traveled most parts of Horton’s Valley, but she believed that nothing could compare to the expanse of the trees, the flowers and the valley that were hidden inside of Forks.