1945; Love during War

Chapter 1:The Flashback

(Credits to the rightful owners of the pictures)

VOID....

This was the emotion Taehyung felt even after all these years of trying to surround himself with people. The ongoing war had taken away everything from him. His parents, sibling and most importantly, his desire to live. It had already been five years yet he could vividly see those memories as if they were happening right in front of his eyes.

"Mama, papa, I cannot leave you guys behind. We all can make it, mama". The surrounding echoed with the sounds of soldiers screaming, bullet shots and cries of families who were being tore apart in the forest. Taehyung, a 14 year old, was grabbing on to his parents as if his life depended on it. 

"Darling, you have to run and hide, please darling, they will get you". "No, mama, I am not leaving you or papa or Naeun. We all can make it across the bridge Mama. Please". Taehyung was broken in tears but he somehow felt like this was the final goodbye. "Mama, papa, I will be a good boy. I will eat on time and go to bed. I will help you with the baking and help papa with his stories too. I will even help Naeun with her pony tails. Naeun will know how much of an amazing brother I am. Please mama, please Mama. I will be a good boy, Mama, please......" He was sobbing but his parents knew they wouldn't be able to make it. His father had been shot in his leg and was unable to move further. His mother was in no position because her body had given up on her. 

"Taetae, let's play a game ok" she said cupping his face and gently rubbing her thumbs on his cheeks, "You take all these stuffs and hide across the bridge. Papa and I will look for you. If you win, you can have papa's typewriter before your birthday but if we win, you will have to tie Naeun's pony tail every day. Ok?" As absurd as it sounded, Taehyung compiled by his mother's wish to play the hide and seek game. Back in their house, the family would always resolve matters by playing hide and seek, where Taehyung would always lose and be found by his mother hiding under the bed. The little boy felt that like always, his mother would easily find him across his the bridge so, he ran off with the belongings to hide. He believed his mother would surely find him as always. As he was hiding behind a big tree, he counted "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ....". . SHOT, SHOT, SHOT. Before he could count 10, he heard constant bullet shots and deep down he knew, for the first time he won the game but lost his parents forever, with his unborn little sister Naeun.

Taehyung jolted up from his sleep and breathed heavily. His forehead was drenched in sweat and he could feel teardrops on his cheeks. He looked at the time and saw it was 2 in the morning. Everytime, he thought he was moving on in his life, he would have this recurring dream of him being separated from his family. The wounds he thought were healing would come back with greater pain. He took a glass of water and drank it as if it would take away all the misery. But deep down, he knew this pain was not going to go away anytime soon.