Winter nights || Seongjoong short story ✓

0,99 | When your veins fill with ice

His boots had gathered lumps of snow under the soles when he reached the noble stable. Thudding the white mass off, he opened the heavy door he rarely did by himself. A hefty smell of stable enveloped him as he stepped into the enormous building, even though no creatures were in here. All the stalls were emptied for horses, and Seonghwa started wondering how it even was possible he hadn't noticed anything sooner.

Proceeding further down the empty stable, he imagined how chaotic it must have been, concluded from the way harnesses were thrown just as much across the ground as the papers in sir Harvey's workroom. Horses kicking around with shrill whinnies while servants tossed orders everywhere to keep up with the time interval their master had given them. The young male suddenly heard the strike of something hitting boards somewhere in the building and his head immediately turned in the sound's direction, fearing what he might find. Silently, he formed a plea with his lips, when he neared the continuingly hammering sound.

There, a coal-black colt stood, flickering with his head to the sides while aggressively pulling at the ropes that held him back from fleeing the empty stable. Foam and sweat covered the majestic creature's coat as he stepped to the side while turning his head surprised at the human and let out a lonely whinny. Something in the pitch of tone made a recognizing twist in the pit of his guts and he swallowed difficulty. Then a powerful leg was brought up and scrambled against the wooden plank, making a flush of realization go through the young Harvey heir. Not only had he been left alone in the house, but he had been given a furious stallion as well to do something with. Cold settled even deeper in his bones. He could leave the horse here and proceed his travel on pure leg strength, but morale was against that decision, and Seonghwa left the stall to find suitable harnesses for the trip.

He should have feared for his life at the moment he approached the horse, but when the saddle and tack were fastened in less than a couple of minutes, it was already too late to do so. Seonghwa gently stroked the stallion across its warm neck in a matter of praise and led the pacing animal out in the cold, having buckled his satchel with supplying onto the saddle. Seonghwa forgot everything about panic when the winter winds caught up with his form again. The horse chewed tensively at the biddle while the young man did his best to steer the dancing horse close to a stool that allowed him to ascend the horse. Foam dripped from the stallion's muzzle when his hard work finally paid off and he mounted the horse's back. He doubted his father had done any better than this.

Not a second later, the stallion jumped forward, and Seonghwa was coerced to follow the movement. The horse tossed throughout the snow quicker than he had presumed the drift to go. Panic rose in his chest when he figured the reins were to no use seeing as the furious animal didn't listen to his signals. What did it even matter now, that he already bolted away from the mansion, what was never meant to be his home, in a brave gallop across the lands of his father's property. The Harvey heir had decided never to turn around again. This one time in his life, he didn't listen to anyone's orders anymore. He would finally breathe on his own.

And he jumped the fence before wavering out in the huge, white world. His fealty was to find the colors he had lost a long time ago. The frozen wind tore in Seonghwa's dark hair, winding its way beneath his dark blue gentleman's cape, reminding him of how fragile he actually was to the world's harsh lick. It was just about time the waves would be strong enough to crash against him.

After fighting their way through a snowdrift, they crossed a deserted village, not a single human was to be seen. Seonghwa took his time and dismounted the stallion before shaking off the snow in his clothes. His face was burning red from the cold, and he had to squint his eyelids in order to keep his eyes from freezing to ice. The coolness from the temperature stung in his fingers and feet, but as soon as he stood on the ground again, he could feel the blood rush in his legs again. Seonghwa searched for any sources with fluid water, even though he knew the chances were low. His horse was scraping in the ground with a front leg, showing its dissatisfaction about the situation. Empty buckets were piled up along the frozen well, and he knew it was to no use of trying to break the surface; the world had already made that decision. So Seonghwa returned to his impatient horse, running a calming gloved hand across its frosty fur while he softly mumbled small praisings in its ear.

The man glanced around the petite, close crooked, and compact constructions where no sign of life was to be seen. All windows and doors were closed, empty and dark and an unwelcoming aura seeped from the whole village, chasing unwanted outcomers away. He never came to these outskirts villages of the huge towns city laying near, and yet it somehow didn't happen to disappoint his imaginations. Seonghwa led the stallion to the well and found his way up in the saddle again before the horse would run away without its rider.

With no gain from the visit, they disappeared to a place out in the unknown world. The young man surveyed the surroundings for every step his horse took, trying to keep up with the route covered in layers of snow, but the further away from the small village they proceeded, the harder it came to see what was trails and what wasn't. His hopes faltered the moment the stallion stumbled across what was hiding under the white and out of surprise pranced forward, kicking its legs higher than Seonghwa ever had had a chance to keep his balance from falling deeper than he ever had believed himself to do. Out of control, his body tumbled down into scenarios of tailing nightmares while his heart stopped working for a long time, his head hitting a hard surface and his limbs landing wrong. The man lost all breath as the ground swayed under him just alike the pain soothing his mind in a state of panic.

He watched his horse disappear in a frantic gallop in the distance, his black color soon vanishing into the limitless white coating what else was to be seen.

The feeling of vanquishing hit him harder than the ground just had done, and no one was here to ever find his corpse that ere long would be buried in snow.

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