Yesteryear

Fool's Love

TW: War descriptions? Nothing too explicit but proceed with caution if sensitive

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Wooyoung didn't waste any time to start his very theory-based rescue mission. When he had barged into Seungyoun's office to collect his uniform, the man had been bewildered but provided Wooyoung right away. Equipped with determination and his uniform, Wooyoung sped over to the travel room. He changed his clothes in record time and haphazardly closed his belt. While he tapped his foot impatiently in decontamination, he straightened his jacket and tied his shoelaces, too.

San had already been dead on the 16th of January, so Wooyoung tried the 15th. He prayed he wouldn't meet Hongjoong again since yet another meeting in the past before their actual one would only heighten both of their confusion.

Wooyoung stepped out onto the same field as last time. That day, the mist shrouded it in a mystery that made it hard to spy on the enemy on the other line. Wooyoung was ready to fight his way through the bullet fire that would soon hail down on them to kill all the men he had seen the day after. His determination distracted him from the horrible reality that was about to crash down on him.

Or so he thought. But the afternoon Wooyoung arrived, blood had already bathed the soil red. The bodies were still out on the field, nobody daring to collect them yet since the enemy still had their eyes on them.

In shock, Wooyoung stared at the still area. From time to time, heads or arms poked out of the trenches to drag one of the nearby bodies over before they got spotted. When a shot banged once, Wooyoung startled, but the soldiers hidden in the trenches had ducked fast enough.

The sight was horrendous, but Wooyoung had no time to dawdle. He raced off, leaving that horrible field behind as he searched for the tower Hongjoong had pointed out to him upon his last visit. He found it again and behind it was the tent where the same doctor as last time was currently hunched over a patient. The wounded soldier had gritted his teeth around a piece of wood as the doctor cut a bullet out of his arm. The bloodied mess had Wooyoung's knees weak, but he averted his eyes quickly.

"Where is Louis?" He called down into the pit. Without looking up, the doctor jerked his head towards the field.

"Went out a while ago to help the wounded on the field, don't disturb me!"

Wooyoung muttered an apology under his breath before he took off. The trenches started at a wall of boxes and bags that protected the entrance to the maze from any shooters. Wooyoung hastened down the stairs made of wooden stakes clinging to the muddy earth. Surrounded by the tall walls that were stabilised with simple boards and poles of the same material, Wooyoung felt claustrophobic and safe at the same time. If somebody appeared up there to shoot down on him, he would have nowhere to run. He was trapped between the narrow walls like a mouse in a hole.

Boxes with ammunition and weapons passed Wooyoung. They were dirty from the boots and blood of soldiers sitting on them. The rain had washed some stains off, but most had blended into the wood permanently.

He passed two soldiers that dragged each other over the muddy ground to escape the trenches. They had patched each other up as much as possible, but their pale faces still didn't look so good as they hauled their battered bodies to the medic tent. Wooyoung glanced after them worriedly, unsure if they were faces he had seen among the dead.

He wished them all the luck.

It took Wooyoung several wrong turns that led him into confusing sloped dead-ends before he got anywhere. By the time he had figured out the right trail to the part of the maze closer to the enemy, he also found more people. Soldiers rested their heavy limbs on the crates, dragged dead comrades from the field and patched up the worst wounds. From time to time, singular shots still fell, some from their direction; signalling that the French Army also still shot at the German trenches trying to preserve their own wounded. Each time, Wooyoung's heard jumped in terror and he ducked his head further between his shoulders.