Winter Hearts

Apology

The air was fresh and bracing. They were parked very close to the opening of the cave, which stood gaping at them like a surprised child's mouth.

Siana lead the way to the entrance, which was wide and had a shallow floor covered in fine dusty earth, that dipped towards the back of the cave. She waited for everyone to join her, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. Before long she could see the lone stalactite and stalagmite formation which had formed in the centre of what looked like a hallway. In the middle of that formation where the icy calcified columns met to form a large and wide trunk of ice, was what looked like a carved sculpture, the head of Pan.

"This is it," she said, cheerily. She knew it wasn't much, but it felt relatively awesome to know that a long time ago, people used this place to worship. She could only guess at the Bacchanalian shenanigans that might have occurred here too.

The boys trundled in, some whispering and some trying to get their phones to light up the darkness.

She watched Min Seok and Joon lead the way round to the back to view the formation from there, with Ravi, Ken and Hyuk following. N and Hongbin lingered by the wayside, looking at the walls, which were seeping water and glistening in the flashes of light from their phones.

Leo hung back, standing next to her.

She felt incredibly aware of his presence, and imagined his aura was tangible, radiating outward from his body like a buffer of warmth. She felt that if she took a step closer, she would be enveloped in it and would never be able to set herself free.

What a funny way to think of someone's proximity, she thought.

He suddenly turned towards her, making her turn to look up at him. The expression in his eyes was urgent, as if he didn't have much time left and had to say something before it was too late.

"Can we talk now? Can we go outside?" He searched her expression, looking as if he was holding his breath. She looked at the others, who were busy taking pictures and playing. They're playing, she thought, distracted.

He took her hand. "Please."

She nodded.

"We're going for a walk," Leo said loudly, turning to pull her out of the cave without waiting to hear a reply.

Her heart was beating fast as she walked out into the sun, Leo's hand gently tugging at hers to make sure she wouldn't let go. He kept walking, turning to go up the slight incline which took them across the face of the hill, and became more and more steep as they went. It curved around to the side, which took them out of view of the mouth of the cave.

After a few minutes, they reached an outcrop of rocks from which a gnarled pine tree curled and kinked its way toward the sun. They walked out until they were a few feet from the edge. They could see the road as it approached the cave, enclosed on one side by the rockface, and on the other by pine trees. Beyond that, below them, spread the wide plateau that was dotted with cabins.

There, he dropped her hand and turned to look at her. They were both out of breath from climbing the footpath, but also breathless from anticipation.

He put his hand on his hip as he looked down at her.

Her cheeks were rosy from the walk, and her mouth a cherry red, open and dewy. Her brown eyes were looking away as she tried to control her breathing.

She was so close, had been so close to being his. This time he was not going to screw up. He would lay it all out bare for her, make sure she understood that he had made a mistake, made sure that she knew what could possibly be in store for her, then ask her for a second chance.