Chapter 6; The Trek

“You are infuriating sometimes, you know that?”

Kyungsoo smiles, “Yeah, but you need me,” he says in a rather cheeky tone. “Plus, you can’t cook.” he adds, his smile only growing. She takes the meat he had cooked and shoves it into , if she hadn’t, she probably would have said some un-lady-like things. Not that Su Min was ever lady-like to begin with. The two had been surviving on the food Kyungsoo’s grandmother had packed for them; jimseung and rice.

He looks up at the mountain that lay before them. It’s tall and steep, a bad combination. According to what some of the residents in his village had said, their destination should be halfway up that mountain. And honestly, neither of them are particularly looking forward to the trek up it. Especially because this mountain is renowned for its rugged terrain and ferocious monsters.

After finishing dinner, they clean up and put out the fire, as per usual, before going to sleep. This has become their usual routine. They don’t talk often, as Su Min is too irritable to talk to, and Kyungsoo tends to get on her nerves. Not that he wants to talk to her anyways.

- - -

“Can we take a break?”

Su Min glances back at him and rolls her eyes. “Again? God, you’re in terrible shape. And do you think we have all the time in the world? I need to find this kid!” she growls. With that, she turns back around and continues hiking up the mountain. Her boots have worn thin from the rough terrain, and the stones dig into the bottoms of her feet. It’s painful, but bearable.

After another hour of climbing, the pain has become excruciating, but Su Min has too much pride to stop now. Plus, the village lights are becoming brighter, which means the village is closer. Only a stones throw away. A young girl with hair as dark as charcoal sits by a nearby bush, picking winter berries. She glances back and stares at Su Min. “Who--Who are you?” she asks, her voice shaky and unsure.

Su Min tilts her head slightly, or at least, she thought she did. In reality, she was falling over, and before anyone could catch her, she hit the ground. “Su Min!”

- - -

Her head feels heavy and her eyes sticky, as if someone had glued them shut. Something tickles her face, causing her nose to twitch. As tired as she is, she can’t help but reach a hand up to brush it away. “Oh, she’s awake.” a tiny voice whispers. Opening her eyes at a painstakingly slow rate, she looks up at the girl leaning over her. Her skin is white like porcelain, and she looks almost like an angel. “Hi.”

“H--Hello?”

The girl tilts her head and then smiles, revealing a set of pearly white, straight teeth. “You’ve been asleep for awhile. You know, you shouldn’t have pushed your body so hard. My mother nursed you back to health, but I think your feet are still hurt.” she explains. Footsteps can be heard coming from the other side of the room, and a voice suddenly speaks up, the tone rather harsh.

“Minzy, didn’t mom tell you not to bother her?” the older boy scolds. The girl frown and moves away from the bedside, she looks back at her older brother with a pout on her face. “Well?” he asks. Su Min cracks her neck and sits up, tired of lying down. The older brother stands by his sister and looks at Su Min, the slightest bit of interest on his face. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I guess,” she says dismissively. She glances around the room, it’s rather plain, and it’s not large either. But the warm interior of the house is surely much more comfortable than any other form of shelter this place has to offer. The two siblings stare at her as she looks around. Feeling rather awkward, she stands up, with much difficulty, and bows. “Thank you, for taking care of me, tell your mother that I owe her.” she says. But much to her dismay, her attire does not belong to her, and so she looks around for her own.

The boy smiles, “Our mother is washing your clothes right now, so you’ll have to wear these for now.” he explains. Su Min nods, trying to hide her own disappointment. Hanging around here isn’t her idea of a good time. Moreover, she wants to know where her weapons are. “Oh, and your friend went to explore the town, would you like us to help you find him?”

“Agh--”

The girl hangs onto Su Min’s arm and begins to drag her out of the room and out into town. “My name is Kim Minzy, my brother’s Kim Minseok. But he doesn’t like to be called that. He prefers Xiumin.” the girl rambles. Xiumin walks some ways behind them, his hand outstretched as he catches snowflakes. They melt on contact, but the sight is breathtaking.

A familiar wide-eyed boy comes into view, and he sticks out in his brown attire, compared to the cool colors everyone else here wears. He turns around and smiles before skipping towards her. “Su Min, hey!” he says, almost as if nothing had happened. Glancing over her shoulder, she watches as Minzy retreats back to her brother, she peers out at Kyungsoo from behind her brother’s arm. “Oh, hey guys!” he says, bowing slightly.

Xiumin bows in return and Minzy dips her head. “Hey.”

Su Min nudges Kyungsoo slightly and beckons for him to lean down. “Listen, we need to hurry up and find the Force of the Frost. Maybe these guys know something.” she whispers into his ear. He nods and approaches them, acting as if they’ve known each other for life.

“Hey, guys, do you possibly know anyone who has a lot of knowledge about ice or...”

Minzy’s eyes widen a surprising amount and she smiles. “Our father. He’s an ice miner. All of the ice that is imported around the nation is managed by him.” she says, her voice tiny and cheerful. Su Min steps forward, her eyes flashing slightly.

“Then, that means that you could be--” Su Min starts. She’s roughly cut off when Xiumin steps in front of his sister, like a protective shield. His gaze remains hard, despite his less than intimidating looks, and his jaw clenches as he stares at Su Min and Kyungsoo. Su Min resists the urge to attack him, as acts of defiance have always annoyed her; despite how hypocritical it may sound.

“Our mother has nursed you back to health, and you seem to be up on your feet again,” he starts, “So, please, don’t overstay your welcome and leave us alone.” With that, he turns around and pushes his sister away. She doesn’t bother to struggle or rebel, she simply casts a disdainful look back at her. Su Min sighs and looks back at Kyungsoo, her frown deepening by the second.

Kyungsoo sighs, “Well, that didn’t turn out well.”

Her shoulders slump slightly as she looks around helplessly, realizing that her own eagerness resulted in her downfall. Had she acted more charming, less harsh, and a bit more understanding--maybe things would have changed. The world seems to be mocking her, the snow grows colder, the light dims, and the frost covered branches of the trees extend out like bony hands. “What now?” Kyungsoo asks, the last syllable extremely high-pitched.

Whipping around, she glares at him with new found ferocity. “Can’t you see that I’m not in the mood? We’ve just lost, idiot! There’s no ‘second chance’ sometimes, you know.” she screams, attracting the attention of passing residents. Scowling, he storms off, angered by Su Min’s choice to take out her anger on him. “Oh, great, now I have nothing!”

So you have quit, that familiar voice crows. A frown accompanies the reappearance of the voice, as she realizes her own failure. The look on her fathers face when she returns home, empty handed, can she withstand that? The buzz of the crowd, of the motion, the constant scream of children. The sounds echo in her ears, a tantalizing reminder of the last few moments. Shaking her head, she looks around, completely befuddled and lost. Without a purpose. No, I do have a purpose, she growls inside of her head.

“Give up? Like hell, I’ve just begun.”