Winter Swan

In the darkest of the night, the stars and the snow shined like diamonds. The scene in front of Silje reminded her of a mystical fairy tale kingdom.

Silje took a deep breath. Every time she breathed, the icy cold wind refreshed her body. Silje hadn't realized how beautiful it was outside near her house.

The night air was so piercingly clean that it felt like it reached her heart. It reminded her that she had never been out this late. Her adoptive parents usually went to bed early, so Silje rarely left her home after midnight.

The cafeteria where she worked closed at 5 PM and reopened later as a bar. She had never seen such darkness and thanks to Kail, Silje was able to learn the beauty of the Oslo night in winter.

When Silje became speechless, Kail smiled gloomily.

"You're so funny. I can't believe how impressed you are with something so trivial like being out at night."

"Don't make fun of me," she replied to him rigidly.

Kail was still staring at Silje when he asked her, "So you really haven't been out at this time of the night?"

"It's true. When I finish work, I always return home as quickly as possible."

"And why are you afraid of your adoptive parents? Are they not nice to you?"

At his threatening tone, Silje wondered how she should reply to him. Kail seemed to be getting angrier as he asked her again.

"Are your adoptive parents abusing you?"

"It's not abuse."

After a short silence, Silje said to him firmly, "My adoptive parents have never abused me."

Even then, Kail stared at her angrily with his intense green eyes. She had to make sure he understood.

"I'm telling you the truth. I'm not lying."

Why was she telling Kail about all this?

The invigorating air felt refreshing in her lungs. After another silence, Kail asked, "Do you want me to get you out?"

Silje thought for a second that she heard him wrong. When she looked at him in confusion, Kail gave her an ugly grin and explained, "Do you want me to take you away from your miserable life? Would you like me to rescue you from those horrible people you call your parents? What do you say that?"

She flinched in shock. For a second, Silje thought he was a completely different person now, but she was wrong. Kail was still the same inside. He was still cold, sharp, and straightforward.

When Silje remained quiet, Kail crossed his arms and added, "All you have to do is say the word. I can make it happen. I can get you a villa in the Oslo city center. What do you think? You can stay there until you graduate."

"Don't. Don't say something like that. I don't want to run away. That's not what I want. I have already decided that I will become independent and leave this place on my own. I will not change my mind."

When she shook her head firmly, another silence fell. In the dark snow-covered night, the silence felt rather comfortable.

Kail glanced at her with shadowy coldness in his eyes. He looked like he could see right through her.

"Why do you think I am offering you this?" Kail asked in a low voice, and Silje didn't answer. He then smiled slowly.

"Do you think I would offer something like this to anyone? No, I would never."

"And you don't have to offer it to me either. My life is my own and I will be the one who controls it."

When Silje sounded resolute, Kail said to her, "You are my woman, Silje. If you weren't, I would never say things like this to you. Don't you understand?"

He sounded serious, which made Silje sigh.

She could see in his eyes that he meant what he said.

"Don't. Stop this… You are making this more complicated than necessary. You and I are just starting our relationship. Don't you think you have surprised me enough by showing up like this? You being here is more than enough for me, so stop offering me things like that."

Silje looked around the beautiful landscape and impulsively, she threw a snowball at him.

It hit him loudly, making Silje smile.

But her smile quickly disappeared as snowballs started to come at her. Silje screamed after getting hit multiple times by Kail, who threw them mercilessly.

"Gyaa! Kail. Stop! Stop!"

Silje ran around trying to escape, but Kail was persistent.

"I said stop, Kail! Stop!!!"

Kail's eyes brightened as he continued. Silje became covered in snow and finally, she sat down on the ground and raised her hands to surrender.

"Stop! Stop, Kail!"

Kail laughed loudly and when he stopped, Silje took the chance and threw another round of snowballs at him as a surprise attack. One of them hit Kail's crotch and instead of getting angry, he laughed even louder.

His laugh traveled through the nearby birch woods and Silje watched in shock. It was the first time she had ever seen him laugh this happily. Kail pointed at her with a big smile.

"You!"

Silje giggled as Kail continued, "You have always been so strange. I can't believe you got my manhood! I never know what you are going to do next. Your unexpectedness is so entertaining. Did you know that?"

Kail pointed at his crotch blatantly. Silje tried to look calm, but she couldn't help her face becoming red like a carrot. She didn't do it on purpose. She threw the snowballs randomly and it just so happened that one of it hit him right on the spot.

Kail chuckled and stood up.

"You need to pay for what you have done."

After a quiet murmur, he attacked her.

He got on top of her in the snow and Silje had to bite her lips so she wouldn't scream. Kail laughed softly as he looked down at her. His cold and magical eyes made her shiver.

"You are mine, right?"

Kail mumbled the words on her lips before deepening the kiss. At first, Silje tried to escape, but Kail was too heavy. When he continued to kiss her, Silje finally closed her eyes.

The cold yet hot kiss…

The kiss in the snow continued.

"…Ah, haaaa."

As his long legs and fingers caressed her, Silje felt strange. When the kiss ended and he looked at her quietly, she looked up at him in awe.

In the dark, his silky hair and magical eyes looked otherworldly.

After another kiss, Kail whispered, "It's cold out here. We're going to freeze to death."

He helped her up and cleaned all the snow off her clothes. Silje looked at him silently at his unexpected gentleness. It seemed so natural for him to take care of her like this.

They started to walk in silence again. When they returned to Silje's home, Kail said to her, "What are you doing? You should help me into the car."

Kail grabbed her hand and guided her into his car.

"Let's get warm in my car. I don't want to become a snowman."