Landed on Us

The Feelings

"I swear I didn't agree to this yesterday, but why do I have to haul all of these stuffs for that woman?" Pyo Chi Su loudly grumbled as he and the other 5 Company boys were pulling a cart full of fresh food and other picnic necessity.

"If only you pull as much as you swear my existence, we would've already reached the river bank, Pyo Chi Su-dongmu" Seri retorted from the back of the line where she walked side by side with Mu Hyeok. The Colonel only chuckled, but he also bellowed.

"Do you want me to haul the cart for you, Pyo Chi Su-dongmu?" he asked his subordinate, but Pyo Chi Su only shouted "I'm okay, Colonel Ri, Sir!" and pulled the cart faster.

Mu Hyeok chuckled and fell back to slower pace so he matched up with Seri. Yesterday, after Seo Dan and Jeong Hyeok took off from the house, Seri was uncharacteristically quiet. She wandered around the house in silence and she ate very little at dinner before saying that she wanted to rest early and retreated to her room. He was getting concerned when in the morning, she appeared at breakfast with big eye bags under her eyes and her eyes were a little puffy.

Therefore, he discussed with his boys if there was anything they could do to cheer her up, especially since her days in the North were counted and they wouldn't be able to see each other again after that. Ju Meok suggested something that he often saw in South Korean drama; a picnic where a group of friends gathered together and ate a lot of food around a bonfire.

Eun Dong said they had done that a couple of times at Colonel Ri's backyard, but Ju Meok said picnic was best done in the outdoor. It was Kwang Beom who said that they could go to the river bank near the village and Mu Hyeok was excited with the idea. Pyo Chi Su was the only one who was objected with the idea, thinking that having clam bulgogi in the Colonel's back yard should be enough to farewell Seri.

However, seeing Seri's lit up face in the next morning when he told her they would go on a picnic was worth all of the hassles and money he gave to his boys so they could pick up supplies from the market. They had been walking for close to one hour now, because he only had one bicycle and it wouldn't be fair for him to take Seri on the bike while the other boys walked on foot while pulling the cart full of food.

But so far Seri was back to her cheerful self as she chatted happily with Eun Dong as she walked beside him. Accidentally, his hand touched his waist and it reminded him of the gifts Seri gave just this morning before they went for their picnic.

She had gifted him a set of very fancy gold cuff links and a leather belt. He was speechless when he received it and even admonished her to pawn her watch and bought him things. But Seri said this was the only way she could give him a token of gratitude for saving her life. That watch she sold was cheap in comparison of everything that she had received from him.

"Ri Mu Hyeok-ssi, you have no idea what you've done for me," she said when she gave the gifts for him, "You have saved me, literally from death, and you risk everything to send me back to my home. If I could, I would give the world to you. But since I couldn't, I just hope these little tokens will always tell you that you are the most wonderful person that I have ever met and that I owe you my life"

He didn't say anything for a long time and only looked at the fancy trinkets he just received. After a while, Seri started to get anxious and coughed several times to get his attention. He looked up to her and stared at her with that wistful stare, the one that was not dissimilar with his little brother's.

"You don't like it?" she asked in a timid voice and Mu Hyeok looked back at her with disbelief.

Taking out the belt from the box, he unbuckled the belt that he wore and put the one from Seri's. He patted his waist and smiled at her.