Winter Hearts

While Siana Plays

Leo awoke with a start when he felt the coach lurch to a stop.

He heard bells, and looked out onto the road before them. Outside, a herd of goats trotted by, their bells clanking merrily whilst they took their time to walk ahead of the coach. 

The odd goat would look at him, its weird eyes making it look like it had the face of a demon. 

Leo felt a chill run through his body, and he sat up to look around. He looked outside and saw that they were high up on a mountain, looking down on the valley below. 

In the distance he saw a body of water, still, like a huge lake, looking like a pink mirror under the setting sun.

It was magnificent. He gazed out at it while his playlist changed songs and Kim Kwang Seok's "Love that is Too Painful is Not Love". Although he had seen many beautiful places, he had never seen anything quite like this before, with the sun just at the right moment making magic. 

The sad strains of the music and the lonely voice of the artist gave the scene a poignant tone, and he suddenly felt homesick, not for a place, not for a person, but for a feeling.

He turned to wake N, but found him already peering over his shoulder at the beautiful view. N's eyes were sombre, almost sad. Their eyes met, and for a moment Leo acknowledged that, in spirit, he and N were true friends from the beginning.

He heard Hyuk and Ken's exclamations as they noticed the view too, and soon, everyone was awake and taking pictures, and the quiet sentimentality of the trip took on a carnivalesque vibe. Leo felt a little overstimulated and turned towards the window, watching the various scenes unfold as the bus edged its way down the face of the mountain.