“You and your blasted honour.” I knew how adamant he was on it. “How do you know if you got my shoe size right anyway?”
“I asked your brother,” he informed me again. “UK size 7.5.”
“Oh,” I said “Thanks then.”
“It was nothing at all, truly.” He shook his head as drove down the open road.
He was wrong. Because this waseverything. But he didn’t have to know that, not just yet.
The autumn season was in full blossom, bursting forth with various arrays of orange, red, and yellow. And as we drove down the road, the wind blew the leaves up and they entranced the car in a technicolor whirlpool. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, there was nothing quite like New York in autumn.
Soon enough, we parked in the lot beside other cars as I laced up my boots, trying my best not to put myself down before I even tried. I was a lot of things, but I was no quitter. Wynter went inside the little cabin to pay the fee to hike on the private trail, he came out already changed into a matching white workout set for the hike.
“Go easy on me, Kwon,” I asked of him, glancing up from my place on the bench.
His eyes lit up and he pressed his tongue to his cheek rather sinisterly as he turned away, then glanced back at me. “You know I would never do that,” he informed me and my stomach dropped. “Mediocrity isn’t for girls like you.”
Oh and hewasn’tjoking, because we were only halfway up the trail and he was training me like I was preparing to become aMarine. My legs were incredibly sore and my back was starting to hurt. I was out of breath but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. I bent over, trying to catch my breath.
“Yesoh,” he called back from further up, “faster.”
“Faster?” I huffed, dusting sand off my leggings.
“Don’t trail behind me, keep up,” he insisted, turning away as he began to go ahead, and I rolled my eyes, following him, trying my best to match his pace.
I realized then that my legs were made for doing pirouettes, not climbing mountains and getting caught in muddy terrain. But when I glanced at Wynter, this was a walk in the park for him—he always made everything look so easy. I got distracted and bruised my knee against the bark of a tree. There was a hole in my leggings, my boots were dusty and I was beyond exhausted.
You’re walking too slow,he said,pick up your feet,he insisted,this is what you wanted isn’t it?he questioned again and again, and I realized that he was being a total dick for no apparent reason.
Once we reached the peak, my body had worked itself to oblivion, and I took deep breaths with my hands on my knees.
“Tired yet?” he asked without breaking a sweat. Effortlessly gorgeous in the warm blue sunrise.
“I can’t stand you,” I breathed, nearly losing my balance as he reached out, but I brushed away his hand. “I know what you’re doing and you’re awful for that, screw you.”
We then trekked our way back down the trail in complete silence, which was well deserved for the little game he was playing with me. Once we arrived back at the car, I took a seat on the little wooden bench, the birds chirping away as more families pulled up to the trail for a hike. I couldn’t believe Wynter had just left me and disappeared, the jerk. Whateverlesson he was trying to teach me wasn’t working at all. I was muddy, tired, and irritable.
“Stupid Wynter and his stupid hikes and stupid expensive car and stupid—” I grumbled to myself just as he returned with a Stanley flask and first aid kit. “Oh.”
“Drink this.” He handed me the mug that crinkled with ice.
“So first you try to break my legs, and now you want to poison me, how terribly cruel can you be?” I accused, turning away from him.
“It’s only ice water, I don’t want you getting dehydrated.” He took a deep breath, his tone far more gentle than it was during the hike. It was like I went from dealing with the devil himself to one of God’s favourite angels. “Now drink.”
“Where’s the straw?” I asked, trying to be just as difficult as he was with me. He rolled his eyes and flipped the button so the straw lifted up. I reached out my hands and drank it like it was the elixir to life itself.
“Hey hey,slowly,” he encouraged in a soft tone then crouched down to take a look at my knee. “Why didn’t you tell me you got hurt?”
“It’s just a little scrape, and I wasn’t going to stop and give up so easily.” I shrugged, but his gaze remained stern.
“Admitting when you’ve reached your limit does not make you a coward, Yesoh…” he sighed, applying ointment on my rouged knee.
“I just wanted to do the brave thing…” I said, my voice merely a faint whisper.
“Sometimes knowing when to stop is the bravest thing,” he told me as he taped a bandaid over it, gently placing his hand on my knee and stroking it slowly with his thumb.
“Oh.”
