MOONBYUL

Byul started to work the next day, static to have that opportunity. The man who talked with her in the stable turned out to be the director of the facility, Kim Do Hoon, a renowned jockey that had to retire several years ago because, during a jumping competition, his horse injured himself so badly that had to be put down. After that he didn’t feel like he could do it with any other horse, so he decided to start this business so other people could have the same opportunity to have that special connection with the animal. Yes, she had googled him up.

She might have spent most of her time daydreaming about being with horses, but none of that could’ve prepared her to tiresome hours cleaning stables, washing blankets, and polishing equipment. 

Moonbyul spent months like that, feeling tired all the time and her muscles aching but she wouldn’t just give up like that, and the director noticed.

One day, when she was brushing cleaning the last saddle he came in “I have one more task for you”

“Sure” she said, trying not to sound tired

They walked side by side to the ring, where people learned how to control the horse. “This horse needs someone to ride him” he pointed out the animal that was pacing alone inside 

“So, do I need to look for his owner?” she asked confused

“No” he sized her up “This is your first class”

She felt like all her tiredness disappeared and the epinephrine started rushing in. “I am ready”

“I’ll be the judge of that” he answered seriously, but she could see a glint of playfulness in his glance. “Okay, you have to…..okay” he stopped talking when she mounted easily and looked at her astonished

“I have been observing the other riders” she responded shyly

“Okay, then show me what you can do” he stepped back 

Breath in….Breath out… Don’t be nervous. She clicked her tongue and the horse started walking, and she felt like her smile would split her face into two. Okay, let’s try.. she changed her position in the saddle but the horse didn’t change his pace… Huh?

“It looks easy but just changing your position is not enough. Let’s start from there” he said approaching the horse

She fell down several times and was pushed around much more. She made sure to have every enclosure clean and every horse brushed before her classes. Do-Hoon let her ride one of the oldest horses because he was so tame, but also pig-headed. The perfect match I guess.

Her teacher/boss was ruthless, each mistake was pointed out, no matter how small it was, and she had to repeat every move until perfection.

When she got home every night, she couldn’t even remember her own name. Not that she needed it anymore since people at the facilities called her “girl”. They treated her as ‘the lower class should be treated’. This attitude changed with the years when they saw her ride and working her off. I guess you could call it respect.

A thing she didn’t expect when she started working was that horses have really different personalities. She now could differentiate each on only by a neigh. One of her favorites was Demon, a black Percheron that was taller than her and very muscular, those that you won’t even dare to get close to because they are so impressive; he actually was the sweetest of them all, always begging for more attention and love.

On the other hand, Princess was the meanest one in the bunch. He nipped at the other horses if they were getting more attention than him. And if you were to give him some love, he had to approve it first, because if he wasn’t feeling it, you can bet he would go as far as he could so you wouldn’t be able to touch him.

Anyways, she knows how to handle each of them, and most owners appreciated her skill when she was taking care of them.

She began to gain a wage at the end of the first year, that increased each year. Now she had a decently good pay and had the privilege to use the oldest horses to train and have fun when she didn’t have any work to do.

She was a happy 21-year-old who couldn’t wait to wake up the next day to go back to work…… Well, I guess not anymore.

A/N: This one was shorter, but I wanted to do an update. I also wanna thank you all for reading this, and taking your time to leave some encouraging coments. See you in the next chapter

-SMoon