"Things seem to be going well."

I turned around from patting Lilith's neck to see the ranch owner standing with an appreciative look on his face. He held by the halter another horse, this time stark black all over.

I nodded. "They are," I agreed, as Lilith pushed her nose into my hand.

"She's improved a lot," he said. "I think it's time to find her a rider."

"A rider?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Unless you'll be riding her yourself, we'll have to find a jockey she'll take a liking to." He paused for a moment. "Would you-"

"Nope," I cut him off. "A horse owner I may be, but I'm sure as hell not a rider. That's one line I won't cross."

Lilith shot me a sideways look, and I put my hands up. "I am not getting on you, so get that thought out of your head."

She blew air in my face through her nostrils and trotted away. The ranch owner chuckled. "I'll put out the advertisements then."

I agreed. "But why do I have to be there?"

"Because you're her owner," he simply stated. "You know what's best for her, so you'll be able to choose someone you know she'll like."

"Great..." I muttered lightly. I turned around to cast a look at Lilith, who had walked back to my side, leaning over to the other horse.

This wasn't going to be hard at all...

***

It was only a few people who answered the call.

It was understandable, since Lilith's reputation preceded her, but I would be lying if I said I didn't expect a bigger turnout. She was still a show level purebred! That had to account for something, right?

Not to mention, the past year with her had made me completely biased towards her.

Well, now everything made sense.

Out of the four people who showed up, one caught my eye.

As an owner, it was my job to spend a while talking to each of the candidates, but I will admit I extended my allotted time while speaking to him.

My every instinct screamed, it's him. I felt like I had found the perfect person for Lilith. However, rationality argued that she might feel differently.

After a talk with the ranch owner where I stated my choice (and he surprisingly agreed), we talked to the other aspiring jockeys and sent them home. The person who stayed back, a young rider in his late 20s named Jiang Gengxing, was our final choice.

We brought him over to Lilith's pasture. The equine in question came running over once we came into view, greeting me happily like she usually did.

"Jiang Gengxing, meet Lilith," I introduced the two.

His eyes were wide, if they were any bigger they'd cover his face entirely. He reminded me of Kyungsoo.

"She's beautiful," he said. "I'd seen pictures and videos, but she's a beauty in real life."

I chuckled. "Do you like her?"

He smiled a toothy grin. "Is that even a question?" he asked, moving to Lilith's other side and petting her neck. "She's the horse of my dreams."

She made a happy noise and pushed her nose into his hands. I grinned. "She seems to like you too."

The ranch owner then brought out the essential riding equipment. "Ready to give her a test run?" he asked.

Gengxing nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Over the course of the past year, I'd learned a lot about horses and horse tack. Like I'd been doing it since I was born, I went into the pasture, put Lilith's halter on and brought her to the stable, where Gengxing and the ranch owner looked over the state of the equipment.

She stood calmly as Gengxing and I fitted her out, him placing the saddle blanket plus the saddle on her back while I focused on getting the bit and bridle on correctly. Before long, Lilith stood proudly and ready to be ridden.

Gengxing easily swung himself into Lilith, and apart from an almost inaudible grunt, she seemed to be completely fine.

"How is it?" I asked him.

"She's good," he said appreciatively. "She knows how to balance the weight well. I think I may enjoy this. "

"That's good," I nodded. "Go ahead and take her for a spin, then."

He took hold on the reins and clicked his tongue. On that note, Lilith began walking and he led her towards the riding ground next to her pasture.

I watched as he walked her a little before spurring her into a trot followed by a gallop. Watching her happily being ridden and him happily riding her, I let out a deep sigh.

"It'll be okay, won't it?" I asked the ranch owner.

He nodded. "It is going to be completely fine," he said, smiling.

***

A sight I found myself coming to every time I visited was Gengxing and Lilith in the riding ground, practicing diligently.

Of course, it was a big event, as the next race would signal Lilith's return to the racecourse as well as other equestrian sports. They needed to return with a bang.

I related to that, maybe a bit too much.

But that was the sight I came to as I paid my usual visit along with Zhihao. A smile graced his lips when he spotted the familiar sight.

"They're at it again, huh?" he asked.

I nodded. "They're always at it," I said. "I don't think I've ever seen them relaxing even once."

He chuckled. "You picked a good one for Lilith," he appreciated.

I hummed in thanks as Gengxing caught sight of us. He then spurred Lilith towards the gate, getting off her and leading her to us.

"It's good to see you guys," he said. "Are you here to see Lilith?"

"Actually we're here to watch you train," Zhihao said. "It's relaxing."

Gengxing chuckled. "Maybe relaxing for you, but definitely not for me."

We laughed for a moment. "I'm really looking forward to this race," he informed us. "Lilith's made great strides. I think this might be her best yet."

"That's great!" I said. "Sadly, though, I won't be able to make it for the race."

His face dropped and he looked disheartened. "Why not?"

"I've got a movie filming in America," I explained. "The dates clash, and I won't be in the country for the race."

"Oh..." Gengxing said. "I was really hoping you'd come..."

"I really wish I could come too," I sighed. "But this just means you'll have to win for all of us."

He nodded. "I'll make sure to win." He petted Lilith with his free hand. "Both of us will make sure to make you proud."

I smiled, running a hand down Lilith's nose. "I have no doubt you will."

***

Luckily, my scenes were less on the day of the race.

It meant that while I couldn't be there physically to cheer them on, I could at least watch it from my hotel room.

However it wouldn't start for another hour at least.

As I sat, a bit bored, just flipping the channels, Zhihao burst into my room. "Guess who's here?" he announced.

I sat up to see my former members stroll in behind him. "Yifan! Zitao! What're you guys doing here?"

Yifan grinned. "I'm here on tour and Zitao's here for a collaboration. We heard you were in town filming a movie so we decided to drop in."

"Hope you didn't have any plans!" Zitao said, holding up a six pack of beer.

"Nothing at all!" I said, reaching out for the pack as they made themselves at home.

Zhihao had some business to attend to, so that just left the three of us. We joked and laughed about the old days with EXO, talked about our current activities and we shared personal stories.

It had been a while since I'd seen them, and it was only now that it began to hit me that we had really gone places once we left.

However, it was a fun occasion, so we focused on the positives of everything. Yifan shared his stories of shooting a film in Prague, Zitao talked about his songwriting endeavors and I related my tales of concerts and movie filmings.

"That's all good and well," Yifan said. "But isn't there something more you'd like to tell us? I mean, it has been over a year since we saw each other."

"Since he saw you, you mean," Zitao cut in. "I haven't seen him since last winter, which says a lot."

I laughed lightly. "Actually, something did happen over this past year..."

"Oh, something's starting!" Zitao exclaimed.

I turned my attention to the TV to see that they were beginning to cover the race. As I had previously had it in mute, I picked the remote and unmuted it to hear the announcer introducing the horses and riders.

And just my luck, they had just finished one and had moved onto introducing my team. "Next up, we have Jiang Gengxing riding Lilith. Lilith is owned by idol Lu Han. This will be her comeback race after spending a year in rehabilitation..."

"Owned by Lu Han?" Zitao repeated, turning to me with his mouth hanging open.

"Han, is there something you'd like to tell us?" Yifan asked.

"Ah ha, yeah," I awkwardly laughed. "I may have bought a horse and rehabilitated it."

"Of course, that wasn't on your list of 'most important things to tell your old friends'," Yifan sarcastically said. "But seriously, a horse? I never pegged you as that kind of guy."

"Neither did I," I admitted.

"It's starting," Zitao said, sitting up on the bed. Yifan and I also turned our attentions to the TV as the starting shot rang out and the horses began running.

My gaze fell to Lilith and Gengxing, who quickly made waves and passed the lowest ranks to climb to the fifth position. It was there that they began to put in effort, as the top tier horses wouldn't give up their positions without a fight.

Well, neither would they.

I watched as Lilith passed the fifth place to begin battling with the fourth place stallion. As she slowly climbed the ladder, an exhilarating feeling filled up in my chest.

"Come on, Lilith," I murmured. "Just a little more."

Almost as if she had heard me, she put in an extra burst of speed to pass the second place gelding to now go neck to neck for first place.

"This is gonna be close!" Zitao said.

"It can do it, right?" Yifan asked me.

I nodded. "Those two trained for months to be able to stand on this track," I said. "No way are they going down without a fight."

We watched intently as Lilith fought with all her might.

As the final lap drew to a close, I hoped with all my heart that she had the energy for the final run.

It was then that she, with a final toss of her head, put her all into her legs and passed the horse.

We all stood up in excitement.

"They won..." Yifan said, still not able to believe it.

"You won!" Zitao yelled, enveloping me in a hug. "Your horse won!"

"She won..." I said, in a state of shock. "She won." It seemed unreal the more I said it. A feeling then surged up in me. "She won!"

I stood in front and pointed at the screen. "See that? That's my horse! That's my Lilith! That's my champion racer!"

I tried back to the TV, laughing in relief. Gengxing dismounted from Lilith and held her as the camera zoomed in on them. He seemed to be partly in tears.

Lilith cast one look at the camera and reared up, throwing her legs in the air, neighing proudly. It was almost as if she knew I was watching her right now.

I did it, Lu Han, she seemed to be saying. Are you proud of me?

Yes, yes I am.

***

Zhihao and I walked up to Lilith's pasture where we found Gengxing standing at the horse's side, feeding her treats.

"Well there's the regional champion!" I announced.

"Hello, Mr. Movie Star," he joked. "I see you finally decided to join us."

I took a deep breath. "It has been way too long," I said, moving forward to pet Lilith. "I also missed my horse."

"She definitely missed you too," Gengxing said. "I take it you saw the show she put on for you?"

I nodded. "Every bit."

"Anyway, now that you've won regionals, you'll be training for Nationals, right?" Zhihao asked.

Gengxing nodded. "Lilith and I are going to go where she was meant to be, the world stage."

I smiled. "Do it," I said. "Bring my horse to the World Stage."

He nodded, face bright. Zhihao then engaged him in conversation and they walked towards the main building to get some snacks.

I turned my head and petted Lilith. "It's been a while since I've seen you," I told her. "You haven't changed a bit."

She lightly whinnied. "Yeah, yeah, I missed you too," I said, rubbing her nose.

I paused for a moment. "You've gone back to the course," I stated, smiling. "You're now going to train for a national stage."

She snorted. "Go and stand on that world stage, girl. Go make me proud just like you did."

I ran my fingers through her mane, pulling out the knots. She pawed at the ground before resuming her calm and stoic stance.

***

A/N: and so it ends! Hope you guys liked this little three shot.

I certainly enjoyed writing it well. It was fun!