January 1951. He saved her life in a city torn apart by war during the Korean War.
December 1953. The soldier is reunited with the governor's daughter- souls scarred and bodies battered, seeking the second chance that Fate has dealt.
The incident from the previous night was never brought up by Seri, for dawn had been accompanied by greater problems out on the streets of Seoul.
She didn't know if Jeong Hyeok had realized her presence by his side during his nightmare.
Even if he did, he wasn't showing any signs of being aware.
As Joo Meok had accurately conveyed earlier, the student protests against the ruling regime continued spreading, with demonstrators marching to the Blue House the following day.
Jeong Hyeok and Seri had taken a simple breakfast of rice gruel in the morning, before attempting and finally succeeding in getting a signal on the radio.
From the news, it seemed their worst fears had come true; the president had declared martial law seeing that the situation was escalating out of control. The violent suppression of the protests turned the initially peaceful demonstrations into an unrestrained, barbarous fight.
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The governor's daughter stood by the window in the Captain's apartment, gripping the iron grille in shock as she witnessed Seoul's hard-earned peace crumble into nothingness.
Worries were piling up in her mind, she didn't know if her father was going to be targeted, or already had been targeted.
Her mother had always distanced herself from the intricate webs of the political scene; such situations were bound to scare her, and Seri wished she could be home by her side.
"The situation is getting worse." She said plainly, her eyes glistening with a thin film of tears as Jeong Hyeok came to her side to assess the situation.
It was a ghastly sight to behold from afar. There were cars on fire, violence everywhere and people rioting and protesting over something they had no control over.
Like a burning fuse, the rioting spread down the length of the street, showing no signs of ceasing even as it came close in proximity to where Jeong Hyeok and Seri were.
The students, many of whom holding up bloodied banners, pushed and tussled with armed policemen, shouting, screaming for justice and democracy.
Glass bottles and bricks were hurled at the riot police, along with abusive language and accusations of blindly siding with the ruling government. The law enforcers suffered their fair share of damage, Seri could see bloodied faces in the sea of uniformed men.
The intensifying violence only served to exacerbate the situation; the police came down even harder on the demonstrators— tear gas and batons were exchanged for rifles.
For a moment, everything unfolded in slow motion. There was an unearthly silence that dominated the atmosphere; everything was blanketed by tension.
The sunlight bounced off the twin barrels of the rifle in a police officer's hands, ominously vibrant.
"No...don't do it..." Seri whispered in growing dread. "...stop!"
