Moving Forward

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Part two: I Love You

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Ten years after a single gunshot rang through the trees of the Hamgyong mountains, the town of Jericho had grown. Nine women and three men had joined their town since the night they lost Jisoo. Lisa had stumbled back to camp with blood on her face and coat while tears streamed down her face. 

Now, in spring, nearly four thousand days later, the town had just finished construction on a grand home that soared above the trees and had twice the room they needed for the thirty-two people inhabiting Jericho. Inside the main room sat a memorial for Jisoo that Ten hand-carved for Lisa's birthday. The tulip was carved into the wood with a sunflower and a small daisy in between them, along with Jisoo's name and the words: 

Wife

Daughter

Friend

Mother

"Kim Jisoo, get down from there right now," Lisa yelled. The nine-year-old boy sitting on the roof of the original longhouse waved to his mom as he picked an apple off the branch in front of him. After slipping the apple into a bag tied around his waist, the boy nimbly climbed down the frame of the house he was born in. He jogged over to Lisa with a smile on his face and an apple in his hand. 

"Mom, I got apples!" He held an offering out to his mother, who smiled at his antics. He's so much like her, she thought.

"Come on Jisoo, Aunt Jennie and Aunt Rosé want us to go with the little ones on their picnic."

"I can bring the apples," he said excitedly. 

"Yep. Go to the house and tell Uncle Kai and Aunt Jennie we're almost ready." Nodding, the young boy dashed off to their new palace of a house with a familiar bounce in his step.

"He's more like Jisoo every day," Kyungsoo said as he walked up behind Lisa. The two became a lot closer during the woman's pregnancy. He felt as if he failed the boy's mothers and wouldn't make the same mistake again. Really, Kyungsoo was Jisoo's father figure even though his relationship with Lisa wasn't romantic in any way.

"I know. I wish she were here to see him. She'd be so proud."

"Of course she would be." The man gave Lisa a side hug before he walked to the house just as Jennie, Kai, their daughter, Rosé, Chanyeol, their twins, and Jisoo walked out. Jisoo was four when Jennie got pregnant, and ten months later came their adorable daughter, Jijong. A couple of years later Rosé had her twins Jiyeol and Chaesoo. Each of their names honored their only lost comrade and friend in one way or another. 

Jisoo bound over to his mom with Jijong's hand in his. Jiyeol and Chaesoo waved from their parents' arms as the group set off. The most sacred place tied to the town of Jericho was the field of tulips. Nearly eleven years ago, in the rush to pack everything in the night, Rosé packed tulip seeds with their fruits and vegetables. Since there really wasn't a way to give Jisoo a proper headstone, they planted tulips as a marker instead. The woman was buried at the bottom of the picnic tree, the very place they were going that day.

Jisoo knew that's where his mom was buried and Jijong knew her aunt was there as well. Chaesoo and Jiyeol were still a little young to know, but they knew how important the place was to their aunts and uncles. 

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