Flowers of Andong [COMPLETED]

14 February 1951

Jisoo POV

It's been days since Incheon was recaptured, 6 weeks since Seoul fell, and 4 months since Kiyong's last letter... I really don't want to believe anything has happened to him. From the times that I've asked the Colonol in charge at the Busan base, they haven't received any news about my Kiyong. Nobody really gave me an answer but I've yet to hear that he was declared MIA or dead and that was the last bit of hope I was holding onto.

Today, I was sitting in the town square park on my own, reminiscing my time with Kiyong. We used to go to the park together back in Andong. We used to lay together on a blanket under the big tree. He used to pick flowers nearby and ask me about them. My villager elders used to smile when they saw us together like that. They'd say, "The flowers of Andong must be in bloom." I wondered if they'd still say that now.

"Jisoo-ssi."

I was pulled out my thoughts by a man's voice and saw Haein a few feet away from me. He stuck his hand out, a cloth handing from his fingers. I blinked and realized I was crying when the hot tears followed down my cold face. I accepted the cloth and thanked him with a slight bow.

"What are you doing alone out?... in the cold ... crying."

I sniffled and wiped the tears away quickly, "Oh, I, uh, I have allergies."

"To... the cold?" he asked in confusion.

I cleared my throat and nodded. "It's possible."

He chuckled, his breath becoming a fog out of his mouth. He out on a small smile afterwards and I looked away shyly. I was playing with the cloth in my hand until I remembered it was his, so I offered to give it back but he put up a hand and declined.

"You can keep it. For your allergies," he said with another breathy laugh, then pressed the back of his hand to his lips like he was trying to hide his smile.

"You don't have to keep laughing at my allergies," I pouted and eyed him.

He tightened his lips together and kept his smile simple. "You're right. Sorry." I half smiled and looked down again. "I actually... came to give you something."

He reached into his jacket. He took out an large brown envelope and offered it to me. I hesitated to accept it and I opened it slowly. Inside was a smaller envelope. It was white but it was stained by brown dirt and wet by something red...

"I've seen you around the Busan base asking about someone, a soldier by the name of Nam Kiyong. When the mail came in a few days ago, one of the messengers presented me with this letter. It had no address but it had your name on it. I figured it could be from Kiyong."

I turned the letter over and saw my name written in black ink. I knew instantly that it was Kiyong's writing, so I hurried and ripped the envelope open. Like I noticed before, the envelope was wet but it must've dried and the letter inside was stuck. I carefully pried it out in one piece and unfolded the paper.

I read the paper and it didn't take me long. I felt the tears threatening to spill out of my eyes again as I read it over and over again. Written on the paper was only three barely readable words, as if written by a shaky hand.

I love you.

I started crying.

Why would he write something like this? Why... was the letter stained with blood? Why was there no date, no other words? Why did he write this? Why?

"Jisoo-ssi," Haein said quietly. "I caught a glimpse of a few condolence letters."

"No..."

"Many were missing in action..."

"No... Please..."

"But many more were declared dead." I let out a whimper, closing my eyes and refusing to listen. I covered my ears but Haein moved my hands away gently to continue. "Nam Kiyong was one of those who were killed in action."

I shook my head, not wanting to believe it. I refused to believe it.

"Jisoo-ssi..."

"It's not true!" I cried and struggled to get out of his grip. I wanted to run away.

"I know it's hard to accept-"

"No! It's not true!"

"He's dead, Jisoo-ssi!" Haein shouted and I became too weak to move. "He died for our country, for you."

I continued to cry, my sobs were messy and my body grew numb. I couldn't stand any longer with my knees becoming weak but Haein pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me.

"It's going to be okay," he said. "He made a sacrifice and it will be honoured when we win this war. If they find any other belongs of his, I'll be sure to let you know."

Haein let go of the hug for a second and opened his palm. I took the metal necklace from his hand and engraved into the tag included Kiyong's name. I clutched it in my hand and stepped away from Haein. I knelt on the cold frost-bitten grass and looked up to the starry sky. It didn't matter that there were so many stars already, I made a wish on every single star that I saw.

I wished that Kiyong knew how much I've loved him, I wished he knew how much I've missed him, and I wished that after everything he's seen, he could be at peace.

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Flowers of Andong

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꽃