The day had seem a bit too long for the rabbit, staring out the window that held a scenery all too familiar. In all honest, Junho found it morbid that his hospital room had a view of the church, wondering if building a hospital so close to one was someone's idea of a prank. Brown eyes gazed at the stone building, moving over to the frosty grass that looked almost like snow, fantasing for only a moment how it would feel to jump through that. This entire day was going to feel somewhat melancholy for the rabbit, he hadn't met all of the zodiacs after disobeying the gods, and for a good reason too. What would they think when the rabbit, the one who jumped his way to fourth place, arrived in a wheelchair? Another sigh escaped him, pushing the steam from the tea cup away, before he took a quick sip. Chai tea, it was nice and hot and it did wonders for Junho's decreasing health, especially during the winter. Even if he was a snowshoe rabbit, where his fur would change color to match the snow, unfortunately his health was always bad during the colder seasons. He was wrapped in a blanket and had a thick sweater on, and still he felt a little bit cold.
Eyes shifted over to glance at the letter, sighing as he knew he needed to go even if he didn't want to. Hopefully, the reactions wouldn't be strong, and their eyes wouldn't be laced with pity the moment it got revealed to them. A rabbit who can't jump, the mere sound of it was so pitiful. "At the very least, it won't be so bad after the race began. Perhaps then, everyone will go their separate ways to try and win. I'd love to win, but. . . If I'm this selfish, I probably already have negative points," he chuckled a little bit before the door to his room opened. In the door frame stood a white-clothed young woman, smiling at him and giving him a polite bow which Junho returned.
"Your cab is here Junho, would you like some help to get into your wheelchair? And please, dress well. It is freezing outside. The doctor and I aren't sure if you should be out this late, but since you said it is important, there is no helping it. Don't get sick, okay?" She was a sweet nurse. A very young and caring individual, she liked her job and had some genuine care for her patients. Junho felt a bit bad for making her worry about him, but there was no helping the meeting being today and at night no less.
"I'll be fine," Junho smiled, in an attempt to ease her concerns, before finishing his cup of tea and then easing himself into the wheelchair. At the very least his arms got a little bit stronger, though not by much since he still needed a lot of help. "I'm surrounded by friends too, so I doubt that if anything goes wrong, I won't get help," Junho added before pushing himself forwards with the wheelchair, grabbing a jacket and a scarf on the way out of his room to add even more protection against the cold. If only he could go out like a rabbit, his fur coat did wonders, but with the added rain, maybe not. Water was deadly for rabbits after all, since if his fur coat got wet, then the heat isolation wouldn't work, freezing him to death. Another sigh escaped him, whether it be his ill health as human or bad luck as a rabbit, it seemed like this day was out to get him.
The nurse escorted him down to the lobby, kind enough to hold the umbrella for him, as the cab driver help lift Junho into the vehicle before loading up his wheelchair along with him. The human wouldn't see the place Junho was going to, but at the very least he could drive to a building nearby, and then Junho would make his way from there.
"Take care Junho, return safely," the nurse wished him with a smile before closing the door and handing the umbrella to the cab driver with, more than likely, information about Junho's ill health.
The cold, the rain, the overall world, today didn't feel like a good day. Junho took a quick glance at his wristwatch, sighing to see that the cab arrived a little late. It was no surprise, they always did, but today he didn't want to be late. "Oh well, hopefully, I will not be late or the last to arrive," Junho sighed as the driver got into the cab and gave him a smile before driving. The nurse probably told him where to go, especially since Junho had to tell her first. It was annoying to ask for permission to go out when he was nineteen, or in their eyes he was, and that the doctor also needed to approve of it.
Junho stared out of the window for most of the car ride, watching as the harsh droplets smashed themselves against the thick glass, listening to the methodical sound it made, which almost made him drowsy. They stopped at a nearby crossroad, waiting for the light to turn green when suddenly--
“JUNHO! IT’S ME! IT’S DAE-JYUNG!”
His entire body jumped as he must have closed his eyes for some mere seconds, but the first sight that met him was a giant looming shadow and a face that was presumably Dae-Jyung's, but it was so deformed, with the way that the older was pressing his face against the glass. "Dae-Jyung!" He called out in return, vary to open up the car window due to the poor puppy getting drenched in the rain. He must have been wandering around for a while, and to no one's surprise, he must have gotten lost, because this was nowhere near the Lotus Tea House. "Heol, are you lost again?" He asked, but didn't need a reply as he peeked over to look at the cab driver. "He's a friend, and he's going to the same place. Would it be alright if he joined us?" Junho politely asked, and the cab driver gave him the okay to do so, thankfully, since he doubted Dae-Jyung would make it to the meeting in time, or this year, on his own. "The cab driver says we can give you a lift, get inside so maybe we'll make it on time," Junho invited the puppy with a smile, watching as he bounced happily around to step into the warmth of the cab.
Now that Dae-Jyung was inside of the cab, it was easier to see that he must have had a rough adventure on his way to the tea house. He was covered in scratches, dirt a little bit of blood and water. Junho apologized to the cab driver for the state his seats were in, but he didn't seem to mind too much, as Dae-Jyung pounced into the cab to give Junho a big bear hug before they continued on their way.
Dae-Jyung didn't waste a second to start talking about his great "adventure" with the black cat that had stolen seven years of his luck. In other words, he got distracted on his way to the tea house. Apparently, he had also heard of tall tales of catching the cat would bring his luck back, so the foolish puppy had begun chasing after the poor feline until he had cornered it, only to be ambushed by its more significant friend. Junho had tried to hold his laughter in, but there was no way around it. That was, perhaps, one of Dae-Jyung's biggest talents, wherever he went there would always be laughter and smile. It was the main reason why their friendship was so strong, because the clumsy puppy's company was always a welcomed wave of positivity, especially on such a day. Junho didn't even mind the fact that Dae-Jyung was dripping all over his side, making him a bit wet and cold in the process, though the laughter warmed him up nicely from the inside.
"I'm glad you didn't get hurt too much, try not to chase cats too much, okay?" Junho chuckled as he rummaged around in the cab a bit to find the first aid kit and began tending to Dae-Jyung's "battle scars" and to remove the dirt. "Be good and stay still, it's going to sting a tiny bit," Junho warned as he continued to cleanse the scratches and bite marks that the cat had left, which earned him loud whines from Dae-Jyung until his attention seemed to be caught by something else.
"BAEK!"
Junho turned around as well, seeing the white male that stuck out from everyone else like a sore thumb. Baek Ho was a fan of wearing his old clothes as if he was a character from a historical drama, and it didn't help that the man had an affinity for wearing white. "Baekkie!" Junho called out as he opened the window, now that he was wet there was no helping it and smiled as he gestured the man over to the vehicle.
"Why are you both sopping wet?" The look of surprise on his face was, close to, priceless, especially since it should be no surprise when Dae-Jyung was in the cab with him. "Were you so excited about today you were out dancing in the rain? That isn't usually my type of activity, but I agree with your excitement."
"Not exactly, Dae-Jyung got lost on the way, and I ended up finding him like this. He'll tell you all about his "adventure" in great detail, so please, come and join us. It is better than walking in the rain," Junho smiled as the tiger made his way around the car and ended up joining the two drenched zodiacs, though only after pushing his robes away so they wouldn't get sullied by the somewhat still dirty puppy in the middle.
"Thank you for the ride. I would not have liked walking all the way there."
"Don't mention it. We're all going to the same place anyway," Junho smiled as he proudly showed off his earrings to the tiger, the very silver ones that the tiger had given him. "I felt it was a special day, so I wore them," he smiled before letting out a few coughs and then closing the car window.
The rest of the car ride was mostly filled with a repeat of Dae-Jyung's story, though the second time was almost better than the first, as Junho ended up laughing at the puppy's easily distracted nature. It even drew a small chuckle out of Baek Ho, who shook his head and pointed out how dog-like it was of Dae-Jyung, which made Junho laugh a bit louder.
Junho didn't think they had been in the cab for so long, but with the sudden stop, it seemed that they had arrived. The rabbit could see the building and so could the other two zodiacs, but the human must think they were going to the building next to it. "Thank you for driving us," Junho bowed from his seat as the cab driver smiled and shook his head, giving him a quick "no problem" before going out to take the wheelchair out of the back. Dae-Jyung was kind enough to grab the umbrella and hold it over him and Baek Ho, as the tiger lifted Junho out of his car seat and into the wheelchair. It was cold stepping into the air, colder now that he was also wet, but he tried his best to ignore it along with the few coughs that managed to escape the sickly rabbit as the cab driver left and the trio entered the tea house, barely on time.
"We somehow made it," Junho sighed with light relief as they stepped into the warm tea house, relishing in the warmth from the room a little bit, though still cold and shivering slightly from being wet. Junho tried his best to hide it, but he was unsure how successful he was with his persisting cough. He took off his jacket and scarf, which didn't make matters better, before entering the tea shop with help from the tiger pushing his wheelchair. Moon Bong and Hwan, the Phoenix and the pig, were facing he was familiar with so he gave them a smile and a bow to greet them politely before turning over to Iseul. "I see you brought Ppo Ppo; I hope she stays warm. It's cold outside, and with the rain, it's dangerous," he said, though he knew that Iseul took well care of her, he couldn't help it, but to state it as a fellow rabbit was always lovely to see, and Ppo Ppo since they shared some fun conversations.
Next, Junho turned to the unfamiliar face, though he felt as if he should know, he didn't. "Ah, you must be the cat?" Junho asked and then bowed formally to her. "I'm Park Junho, I'm the rabbit. It's a pleasure to meet you," Junho introduced himself with a smile. A lot of the zodiacs were still missing, so it did make him feel a bit better about their late arrival. However, right now he just wanted to get the entire meeting done with and then enjoy a cup of hot tea, warm himself up a little bit, and then start the race.