Chapter Text
Hoofprints followed by small clouds of dust dotted the soil behind Jeongyeon as she eyed the fence line. The sun was high in the sky, but the breeze that made its way across her land kept her cool enough. Jeongyeon tipped her hat back and swiped the back of her hand across her forehead. Sweat quickly soaked into the worn out leather of her glove. She pulled the brim of her hat back down and tugged up on the reigns to stop her horse.
A broken piece of fence hung low along the barbed wire, the other half still crookedly stuck in the ground. Jeongyeon slid off her horse and pulled the wire cutters from her saddle. She snipped the barbed wire and chucked the broken piece of fence into the brush. It knocked against a few skinny little trees before it settled into the dust. She pulled the still standing piece of fence and threw it alongside the other piece before grabbing a new post.
Jeongyeon’s whistled melody floated along the breeze as she worked the section of fence. It was a monotonous job, but easy enough to get done. She had a neutral feeling to long and hot days like this. It reminded her of when her father would pull her along in a wagon. She’d sit and watch as he toiled under the sun’s rays until he called her to help in the little ways she could. It seemed like an endless job when she was little and she felt it was endless as she worked on it by herself.
“I reckon I could do this with my eyes closed, Honey,” Jeongyeon said to her horse as she drove the post into the ground. She wrapped a new piece of barbed wire around it, connecting the old wire as well as she twisted the metal. Honey shook her head and lowered it to sniff along the ground, uninterested in Jeongyeon’s fence. It only took her about 20 minutes, but by the time she had pocketed the wire cutters and sat back in the saddle, Honey was more than ready to move again. Jeongyeon chuckled and patted Honey’s side as they started to move again. “I know fixin’ fence ain’t your favorite thing, but I promise we’re almost finished.”
Jeongyeon’s land only spanned about a hundred or so odd acres, but it was more than enough for her. She inherited it long ago when her father passed from a bear attack when she was 9. He was cutting down a tree when he was charged. He didn’t have enough time to blink, let alone grab his gun by the time he was dead. Jeongyeon’s mother blamed the attack on a disease since the bear had no other reason to kill a man.
She was raised the rest of her life by her mother who died from cancer two years ago. She inherited her features from her mother but the ranch and her dedication to the land were all from her father. Soft hands were hardened and shaped by scratchy rope fibers, heavy tools, and endless days in the sun.
By the time Jeongyeon was done with the fence, the sun was beginning to lower in the sky. It warmed her back and threw her shadow across her path as she made her way back home. In the distance she could make out a long, dark object along the ground and a person standing beside it.
It wasn’t rare for people to find their way to Jeongyeon’s ranch, but most quickly turned around once they realized they were in the wrong place. Honey kept a trotting pace and as they inched closer to home, the unknown object turned into an expensive looking car, and the person into a beautiful woman.
“I wonder how she got lost here,” Jeongyeon mumbled to Honey as she kept her grip on the reigns. She slowed Honey to a walk until they got close enough to the woman and her car. She dismounted and adjusted her belt, her hand automatically raising to take her hat off. “Anything I can help you with, Miss?”
The woman was even more beautiful as Jeongyeon was eye level with her. She was a few inches shorter than herself and looked as though her outfit could be worth as much as the car beside her. Her well-kept appearance was the complete opposite of Jeongyeon’s sweat-drenched look. The woman cleared her throat and stuck her hand out, her beautifully manicured nails on display. “I’m Im Nayeon. I was on a trip to see my brother, but my navigation system led me… here.”
Jeongyeon smiled and firmly shook Nayeon’s hand, unsurprised by the softness of her palm. She let go and put her hat back on before she replied. “Well, I might be able to help you, depending on where you’re wantin’ to go.”
“My phone’s dead, but if you could get me to Willow Creek Run, I’d really appreciate it.” Nayeon opened the trunk of her car and pulled out an old map. Jeongyeon was sure that the thing hadn’t seen the light of day since it was manufactured and she was even more sure that Nayeon had no idea how to read it.
As Jeongyeon looked down at the map to find where her land sat, It was then that she noticed the gouges along the driver’s side door. She leaned past Nayeon and rubbed her thumb against the scratched black paint. “Looks like you ran into something, or something ran into you.”
“I was trying to fix my phone and I… well, I ran into a part of your fence,” Nayeon admitted sheepishly. She nervously picked at a loose string in her dress as Jeongyeon looked across her ranch. It didn’t take long for her to spot the large hole and the debris scattered around it. It took her even less time to spot the few cows that decided to make their way off her land.
“Son of a bitch.” Jeongyeon’s smile vanished, replaced with a deep scowl as she jumped back onto Honey. “You better not leave this spot before I’m back,” she growled as she dug her heel into Honey’s side. The last thing she needed to be dealing with were stray cows.