That same week, she was given a uniform that fit too well and a rank that felt too heavy to carry; General Yu Jimin, the youngest in her division.
Is this the place we used to meet?
Chaos, everywhere.
Ruins.
Even the birds stopped singing.
The air was heavy, giving Jimin trouble breathing.
Or maybe it was because of her heavy heart.
She stood at the edge of what remained of her hometown, searching for anything that could make her remember.
They grew up in a quiet and rural town, where the flowers bloomed and where the scent of firewood clung to the air. A place where summer tasted like freedom, where bicycles carried them farther than their legs ever could.
They were inseparable from the start.
Jimin was considered the quiet one. She was responsible, the kind of child to hold back tears in front of everyone and who always walked Aeri home, even though she got scolded for coming back home too late.
Aeri was wild, curious, living as if nothing ever scared her. She’d talk to strangers, climb trees and approach life as if she was invincible.
Best friends, that’s what people called them.
But Jimin remembered things people didn’t see. Like the way Aeri’s fingers brushed hers under the table and lingered there, long enough to make her heart skip. The way Jimin would memorize the sound of Aeri’s laugh like it was the greatest melody.
But neither of them ever dared to name what was going on between them, both carrying a heart full of longing for each other.
One night, when they were swimming in the river and stargazing, Aeri had said. “I’m going to leave this town.” Her eyes were fixated on the sky. “I want more. Don’t you?”
“I just want you to be safe,” Jimin had replied.
But things got in the way.
The last summer before the war was hot. Down by the river, sitting under their favorite tree, they lay on a picnic blanket, legs tangled.
“Tell me something,” Aeri said, chewing on a piece of bread. “Anything that comes to mind.”
Jimin kept her gaze on the clouds. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, you choose. But you need to tell me something honest.”
After a moment, Jimin finally reopened her mouth. “I don’t want you to leave.”
Aeri laughed; she seemed quite surprised. “I haven’t even said I planned on going somewhere.”
“Yet, you always talk like you will.” Jimin sighed softly.
Aeri turned to face her. “Are you planning on staying here forever? Helping your parents? Reading the same books over and over? Don’t you ever feel like running away?”
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