After the evening chores were done, Jinki bid Taemin a good night and went to saddle his own horse, a tan gelding named Sangchu.  The horse was his pride and joy. Jinki had gotten Sangchu when he was little more than a colt and spent the better part of a year training the animal on the palace grounds during the early morning before his chores started.  He had worked with patience until the beast not only accepted a rider, but also was as gentle as one of the barn cats that the milkmaids loved to dote on.  

     Sangchu was nothing special in terms of breed or pedigree, but he was smart as a whip and as loyal as any dumb beast could be.  He was Jinki’s everything here in the city and Jinki looked forward to the day he could take Sangchu home with him. Fantasies of taking his siblings for rides across the meadow danced through his head as he prepared to ride back to his lonesome abode.

     Despite the loneliness, Jinki was quite fond of his home here in the city.  It was just a humble cottage by the river, but it was quaint and Jinki felt relieved to get away from the constant tittering of palace life.  In his younger days he had lived in the servants’ quarters and had found it exhausting to be around so many people all the time. He enjoyed his solitude and space but he couldn’t deny that he missed living with his family.  He missed waking up to the sound of children’s laughter and the smell of breakfast wafting past his nose as well as the simple pleasure of coming home to a house already alight with fire and a welcoming smile. More than anything, he missed the comfort and warmth that came from knowing a loved one was waiting for him, worrying for him.  The palace had all the noise and none of the warmth. It had always felt rather stifling. 

     Jinki had been pestering his mother for years to move to the city with him.  He couldn’t move back as he knew it would be impossible to make enough money in their small village to support his family, but his mother refused to even consider leaving until the youngest of his siblings were out on their own.  She hinted none too gently that Jinki himself should try settling down with a wife. He was well into marriageable age and, according to his mother, flirting with perpetual bachelorhood. However, it wasn’t a thought Jinki gave much time too.  His focus was on supporting his family back home. He didn’t have the shillings to spare to take on a wife or family for himself. However, after his family was settled into their own lives, he quite liked the idea of finding someone to share his bed.  He had always fancied the idea of marriage. It sounded nice, having someone to come home to every night, a hot meal waiting for him and some little ones to remind him of his younger days. He didn’t expect much really, just someone sweet and gentle to spend his years with.

     It was easy enough for Jinki as he had yet to meet anyone in the city that struck his fancy.  His countryside manners made him more conservative than many of his fellow palace workers. He could never ease his conscience long enough to join the men at the local taverns.  He seldom drank and couldn’t lower himself to partake in the more questionable activities. His upbringing was far too honest for something like that. Consequently, he had few opportunities to meet eligible women and even fewer stable hands he could call friends.

     More often than not Jinki found himself in the company of the older workers, family men not unlike himself whose gentle smiles told more of their lives than their worn hands and wrinkles ever could.  None of them had the time or shillings to spend on such things when they had little ones to feed. While Jinki still kept up pleasant relations with the younger workers, he kept more to himself rather than trying to socialize.  It was because of this that Jinki had found friendship with Joonha, the head stable hand. He was rather advanced in years, known for being stern but fair with the staff he was charged with commanding. Joonha had always had a reputation for always keeping to himself, never getting too close with any of the workers.  Because of this, they were an unlikely pair.  

     The elder had been patient and kind with Jinki when he first began, conscious of his weak muscles and determination to please due to utter desperation.  He made sure that Jinki ate his meals and he even took the time to bandage the broken skin of Jinki's hands after the blisters from an honest days work began to crop up.  They weren’t the most pleasant of memories but Jinki still looked back on those times with a fond smile and a light heart. His life then had been difficult but necessary. He was like a fragile sprout first peeking out of the ground; Joonha had provided the tender care and protection necessary to help him grow strong rather than getting trampled before his roots had a chance to set.  He was forever grateful towards the older man and held a deep sense of respect for him. Their years of working together had developed into an easy relationship of mutual respect and understanding. 

~~~

     The week that followed was full of activity for Jinki.  One of the horses was due to foal soon and he was in charge of checking on her regularly and keeping Joonha on standby for when she dropped the baby.  He was a bit worried for the mare as she seemed uncomfortable and he was afraid she might come down with colic and further complicate her pregnancy. On top of that, he had just started training a yearling on the lead.  A fiery mare that was bred from the king’s stallion and he didn’t want to compromise her progress by disrupting her routine.  

     She had all the makings for a fine warhorse however, as of yet, no one had managed to get a saddle on her back.  Under normal circumstances Jinki wouldn’t have even been considered for such a task. The horse was far too fine and he far too low of station, but Joonha had suggested his name after the first few trainers had all but given up on the beast.  Jinki was both proud and nervous that Joonha would think so well of him and he promised to try his best with the animal. Jinki liked to think he had a talent when it came to horses; he felt calm around them and had a way of easing even the most skittish of animals.  So he started, like he always did, with the basics of getting familiar with the beast and letting her get comfortable in his presence.  

     In only a few short weeks she went from kicking the stall door in agitation to greeting him with a happy nicker and a playful bump of her nose every time he walked by.  Soon he was able to enter her stall without fear. He spent hours with her, whispering soothing words as he brushed her coat to a glossy shine and getting her used to being handled by human hands.  He had progressed to taking her out daily into the practice field to work her on the lead and familiarize her with different commands. Many people looked at his methods with disdain, judging and criticizing the time and effort it took him to just now reach such an early stage of training.  However, Jinki felt otherwise. It had taken him months to reach this point, but that in no way meant he had wasted time. Even after only a few days the mare had fared far better under his hand than any of the trainers before him because he hadn’t rushed the process. She was minding his commands without too much of a fuss and he had seen none of the aggression she had shown the other trainers.  He had been right all along, she just needed patience and a gentle hand to build trust and help her settle down. She would be a fine horse someday, carrying a general into battle or, if they were lucky, wasting away her training eating hay in the stables due to an extended bout of peace.  

     Jinki was in the middle of her exercises, focused on the task at hand when he heard Taemin’s voice calling out to him, bleeding into his mind and breaking his concentration.  He yelled out a command for the mare to halt. He looked around to find the young boy running towards the pen, making the horse paw nervously in the dirt. She was still skittish around anyone but Jinki and Taemin’s pace and erratic waving of his arms only further startled her. 

     “Hyung!”

     “What is it Taemin?” Jinki asked, trying to veil his annoyance at being interrupted.

     “Sorry to bother you, but that noble lady is back and she’s asking for you,” Taemin’s words tumbling like water out of his mouth as he gasped for breath.  

     “What?  Again?” Jinki questioned, brows knitted in confusion.

     “I don’t know, hyung. She said you were the only one allowed to touch her horse,” Taemin responded with a shrug.

     “Oh gods above,” Jinki cursed, ruffling his hair in frustration, “Okay, I’m on my way.”

     Jinki cut his training session short, letting Taemin get a little ahead of him before bringing the animal out of the pen and leading her back towards the stables.  He put the mare in her stall, planning to come back and wash her down properly later. First he had to take care of this temperamental noblewoman who was for some reason set on making his life difficult.

     He tried to hide his agitation as he rounded the corner to find her tapping her foot in impatience.  “Sorry to keep you waiting, m’lady,” his words polite but lacking in emotion. He was used to nobles being rude and demanded but Miss Gwiboon was taking it farther than most and Jinki had so much he had to get done.

     “What could have possibly taken so long?  I’ve been waiting near an hour! I told them to go find you and these imbeciles looked at me as if I was daft!  What could possibly be so confusing? I know the education is lacking for a mere stable hand, but are they all dumb?” She snapped. 

     “I’m sorry you were kept waiting, m’lady.  However, I assure you, all the stable hands are more than capable of attending to your horse.  It is not necessary to request me personally,” Jinki patience wearing thin as he strove to keep his words even and polite despite his emotions.  

     “And I say it is.  How embarrassing would it be to fall from my horse because some simple-minded stable boy doesn’t know how to cinch a saddle strap?  For shame! I could never show my face again,” she shot back, showing no hint of acknowledgement that her waiting was her own fault.

     Jinki bit back a smile at her dramatics, “Whatever you wish, m’lady.”  He set to work preparing the horse. He gave the beast a quick once-over, running a light, gentle hand down each leg to check for any bumps or scrapes that might indicate an injury and picking up each foot in turn, checking the horses hooves for stones.  When he was finished, he began to saddle the animal. He made quick work of the whole process but he mind was elsewhere. This set back, while minor, was still going to add onto his workload for the day.

     “He’s ready, m’lady.  Shall I lead him to the mounting block?” Jinki asked dutifully.  

     “Of course,” came her sharp reply.

     Jinki nodded, ignoring her tone and silently lead the horse around the corner, holding the animal steady so she could swing into the saddle, setting off without a word.  He watched her ride off, hands steady and shoulders squared. He couldn’t help but smile despite his annoyance at her whole attitude. What kind of hot-blooded woman would raise such a ruckus over which stable hand prepared her horse for her?  She was an odd one indeed. As she rode further away, Jinki snapped out of his thoughts, scurrying back to his yearling that needed attending to but he made sure to stay around the barns in order to be there when the noble woman came back from her ride.  He didn’t want any more trouble with her today.

~~~

     Jinki felt a bit proud to see a hint of a smile on her pretty face when she rode back up to the stables to find her desired stable hand ready and waiting to take her horse.  That was, until he realized that her smile had nothing to do with himself and was in fact reserved for the man walking up behind him.

     “Gwiboon my dear, what are you doing out all by your lonesome?” the man asked, a self-satisfied smirk on his handsome face.

     “Lord Jonghyun,” she all but purred in response, her face alight with warmth, eyes sparkling, “I was just out enjoying this fair weather before the cold sets in.”

     “All alone?  You must tell me next time you fancy a ride, I would love to accompany you,” came Lord Jonghyun’s smooth reply.

     Her giggle in response made Jinki’s skin prickle.  The fakeness of their interaction was nauseating. He knew of Lord Jonghyun.  A seemingly average noble who began rising up the gossip ladder in recent days.  He was labeled a scoundrel, and Jinki had no trouble seeing why. Lord Jonghyun was handsome on a dangerous level.  His clothes always pristine and fit his stocky frame well, hair a rich chocolate brown with large eyes in a matching shade.  His strong features and personality seemed to form a deadly combination and it made him popular among the women who were unlucky enough to cross his path.  

     Jinki had met many a maids in the palace who swooned at the man’s name alone.  It seemed every week there was a different girl holding a handwritten poem or a lone rose as if it were as precious as water in the desert.  It was inevitable that the same girl would be found huddled in the cellar wrecked with tears soon after. Lord Jonghyun was a collector of hearts and seemed to derive pleasure from shattering the emotions of vulnerable women.  The man was bad news and Jinki didn’t often deal with negative emotions like hatred but that was the only way to adequately describe his feelings towards Lord Jonghyun.  

     To Jinki, Lord Jonghyun was the epitome of everything bad in the world.  Jinki was raised in a tight-knit family and being the eldest he was often in charge of taking care of the young ones.  He was raised to have a strong sense of respect for everyone but above all, elders and women. Jinki couldn’t help but see a bit of his sisters in each of the women Lord Jonghyun would use and toss away so easily.  When he saw the innocence vanish from their eyes he couldn’t help but think of his baby sister, Sojeong. She was only five years old when he left, now a young woman of six and ten but he hoped she still retained that innocent nature.  Whenever he saw one of Jonghyun’s victims crying from their broken hearts and broken dreams built on empty promises he couldn’t help but think of his sister, Sojin. She was only a hair younger than himself and he remembered the first tears she shed over a boy.  He also remembered his bruised knuckles after he dealt with said boy.  

     He still felt that brotherly instinct inside himself every time he was in close proximity of Lord Jonghyun.  However, he was no longer the hot-headed teenager and Lord Jonghyun was no street trash that he could teach a lesson with only a slap on the wrist as punishment.  No, the harsh reality was that Lord Jonghyun could do as he pleased for the simple reason that his status dictated as such. It was the world they lived in and Jinki had learned to accept it many years ago.    

     Jinki stood tall and stoic, holding the horse steady as Lord Jonghyun offered a hand to help Gwiboon dismount.  Jinki bit back a scoff as she purposefully stumbled so that she fell right into his chest with an embarrassed giggled.  On instinct, Jonghyun’s arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her in place to help steady her legs.

     “My apologies,” She cooed, no remorse in her tone and a flirtatious quirk to her lips.  Jonghyun’s arrogant, predatory sneer was hard to misconstrue.

     Jinki was left alone, holding the horse as Lord Jonghyun lead a very willing Gwiboon down the long row of stalls, filling her heart and her ears with promises of a picnic along the river, just the two of them.

     “Hyung?” Taemin called, startling Jinki.

     “Oh, Taemin-ah,” Jinki responded, the young boy pulling him from deep within his own thoughts.  

     “Who was that?” He asked, curious eyes following the pair.

     “That is someone you should try your best to avoid,” Jinki muttered.  Taemin raised his eyebrows in question. “Lord Kim Jonghyun. He has a reputation for being… less than chivalrous.  Seems he has his eyes set on Miss Gwiboon. Nothing like the scent of fresh meat to rouse the wolves out of their cave,” Jinki muttered.

     “Well, that’s what she wants, isn’t it?  Some rich noble to fall for her?” Taemin questioned.

     Jinki shrugged, “I don’t know.  I try not to get involved with the affairs of nobles however, Lord Jonghyun isn’t someone to be trifled with.  He’ll sooner slander her name beyond repair than make her Lady Kim. He’s not what she’s looking for, she just doesn’t know it yet,” Jinki responded. Taemin nodded in understanding.  “Well, come on. Let’s get this horse cleaned up,” Jinki said, pulling himself out of his blackened thoughts and back to the task at hand. His only job was to take care of the horses after all, not naive noble women.