Miyoung smiled when Taeyeon successfully adjusted himself on top of the horse. She was glad he was in front of her so he wouldn’t be able to see her pale cheeks get signs of blushing up.

“What do I do now?” He asked, not knowing what to do.

Miyoung moved her hands around his waist to deliver him the riding reins. “You ride him, bastard boy.”

And Taeyeon exhaled, seemingly nervous with that. The horse didn’t really move at the slightest, making the situation a little bit awkward. Miyoung chuckled at the boy’s insecurity. “Pet his neck showing you’re thanking him for letting you ride it.” She said, closer to his left ear. She ended up feeling the tips of her finger get warmer due to the proximity of their bodies.“Pull the bristle slightly to the left.” Miyoung noticed the horse moving his head to the left side when Taeyeon did what she just said. “This makes the horse understand you want him to move towards this direction.” “So when you need him to turn right...”

“I pull towards here…?” And he pulled the bristle in the opposite direction, making the horse’s head turn towards the right.

“Yes.”

“Why isn't he moving yet?”

“Before start riding a horse, you have to make sure he is willing to obey your commands. If you pull his bristles to the side, and he doesn’t move his head accordingly, this means the horse won’t act on with you. It can be quite dangerous riding a horse who won’t comply with its rider.”

“So it’s more likely that he will throw me away off to the floor?”

Miyoung smiled. “He won’t do that to you. He moved his head accordingly as you could see.”

“Isn’t that reason because you’re with me?”

“Because I’m with you?”

“He might think you’re the one riding him and not really me?”

Miyoung found that innocently cute for some reason. “He knows you're riding it.”

“Does he?”

“He knows your smell and the horse can feel the difference between riders almost instantly. The way you hold his reins or how strong or light you pull them or how you tap your heels around his hips give him all the clues he needs to recognize who is the person commanding him.”

“That’s amazing.”

“You want to make it move and start walking?”

“Yes.”

“Tap your heels on his sides. Gently.” Taeyeon followed her words. She smiled when the horse moved forward slowly, earning a grin upon Taeyeon’s face.

“I’m riding a horse!” He exclaimed happily. Miyoung chuckled, her own body getting even closer to the boy in front of her due to the horse moving around.

“Go left.” Miyoung asked, orienting Taeyeon’s lesson for that night. Taeyeon pulled the bristle to the left, making the horse turn around and walk towards the direction. And as he kept pulling it to the left, the horse kept turning around. “If you keep pulling to the left at all times, he will end up walking in a circle.” She remembered.

“Right.” Taeyeon soon loosed his grip onto the reins, making the horse go back to move forward.

“A little pull is all he needs to understand where you wanna go. If you keep pulling in the direction he is already going, he can get a little lost, making him walk in circles. In other cases, the horse can abruptly stop as he couldn’t understand what you really want it to do.”

“Right.”

“If you want it to stop, pull the reins back towards you.” She recalled. “Be careful with that though as it could be dangerous to break his run right instantly. If the horse is at its fastest gallop speed, don’t ever make it stop just out of sudden. You will probably fall over.”

“So if I stop him now, we will fall over?”

“Not really. He isn’t really galloping, is he?”

“Isn’t he?” Miyoung chuckled for the boy naivety.

“No, Taeyeon… he is just walking around.”

“How I make him gallop?”

“The force you use to pull the rains and the tapping of your heels around his hips tells him how urgently you want him to move. So if you’re in a hurry, and need to go that way…” She pointed her hand towards the far right. “Pull the bristles in that direction and-

Miyoung hadn’t even finished her sentence when Taeyeon pulled the riding rains to the far right with excessive force and quickly tapped his heels on the horse. The animal burst out cantering, making Taeyeon gasp a little nervously.

Miyoung left out some giggles when Taeyeon let go off the riding reins and put his arms around its neck, trying to make himself steady safe on top of the horse.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Please, go slower, please go slower!” Taeyeon pleas made Miyoung chuckle, unbothered by the horse’s pace. “If I make him stop now, will we fall?” He asked worriedly, still nervous for the horse’s speed.

“He is not galloping, Taeyeon...”

“Is he not??” His eyes widened out surprised. “How fast can this thing run then?”

Miyoung giggled a little louder, feeling the warmth inside her fingers running across her entire body till reaching her toes. “Do you actually want it to gallop at full speed?” She asked, amused.

“Right now, I’m not really sure.” He left out nervously, still holding his arms around the horse’s neck.

Miyoung still had a smile on her face when she caught the reins up herself and controlled the speed of the horse.

As the horse increased its pace, it started to gallop, making Miyoung’s hair blowing in the wind. The chilly wind of the desert hit her face, making her feel a little refreshed. It’s been a while since she has ridden a horse like that, freely on the lands. For a couple of seconds she was reminded of Rosegarden, where she used to ride White Prince through the fields of roses along Jeon Gohan, the horse boy from her family private servants. Now she was riding under the moonlight, in a desert land, accompanied by a bastard boy who was so scared of falling off from that horse that his entire body was clinged to the neck of the animal.

Miyoung slowed the speed of the horse down till he was just trotting, allowing Taeyeon to calm himself down and feel more at ease with the situation. As she pulled the reins back towards her swiftly, the horse calmly broke his pace, returning to just walk around.

Taeyeon’s face was so pale someone else would’ve thought he came across an evil ghost, but he wasn’t. He was just afraid of falling off that horse.

“You alright?” Miyoung asked him, her voice one pitch higher, amused.

“I feel like I ran a marathon!” He said breathless. His hands moving to fix his hair around his face. Miyoung noticed his shoulders lifting up and down at a fast pace.

“You’ve forgotten yourself to breath?” She asked, raising one of her brows.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know what I was doing back there!” He revealed, making Miyoung chuckle for that. He was quite pure in some ways Miyoung couldn’t really remember other men being like.

Perhaps it was for this reason she feels comfortable with him. Perhaps it was for this reason she feels personally closer to him than other men she met in her life. Perhaps it was for this reason she feels her body get warm when he is nearby.

“Man, that was wild.” She heard him relief, breathing out.

“Well, the lesson isn’t over yet.” She remembered.

“It isn’t?”

“We have to go back to the camp.”

It was then that Taeyeon seemed to realize they'd ended up going a bit far away from where their friends were sleeping. “Right.”

And Miyoung gave the riding reins to the bastard boy once again. “Take us back.”

He gulped. “Me?”

“Well, of course. It’s your riding lessons. Gotta practice what you’ve just learned.”

“What if he goes nuts again?”