Before I fall asleep
forever
I'm trying to find feeling
within this nothingness

42// 3racha

.

27th April 1951
Border between
North and South Korea

JAEHYUN LAZILY made his way through the underground paths made with soil and water, dragging his heavy boots and sighing continuously.

His tired and bloody eyes slowly flickered to the top of the small tunnel he was walking in, as the weapons he was carrying felt heavier than ever — just like his weak heart.

«C'mon soldier, speed up!
Speed up!»

One of his fellows demanded, lightly punching his back.

Slightly glaring at the older, by looking over his shoulders, the brunette silently obeyed the order and fastened his pace.
His feet started moving on their own,
Jaehyun felt like he didn't have the complete control over his body anymore,
while running.

On top of their heads, the fighters could hear the loud sound of the bombs exploding, along the marching troops and the never ending screams and cries of terror.

The brown haired male really couldn't stand the mess surrounding him:
the war completely dried up his joy,
the war harshly killed his peace.
He really didn't know how and if he would endure the following days, weeks and probably years.

Everything just seemed to oppress him
and, to be honest, he had enough.

He was fed up with this life of his.

He was exhausted.

How he wished he could go back in time,
back to those sunny and innocent days, where he and his family would lovingly spend some time together along Reira and the others.
Back to those careless years,
where the only thoughts he had in mind were being happy and loving his dear ones as much as they loved him.

How he wished he could smile genuinely, merrily jumping around the busy and festive streets of his old and sweet town — ignorant of any kind of negativity.

Jaehyun missed being a simple man
with a simple life.

The brunette's train of thoughts was interrupted when he suddenly found his body on the ground, as one of his seniors was spitting out harsh words to him — his face covered by sticky soil

«What the hell is wrong with you, cadet?
We have a mission to complete here and your sluggishness is seriously preventing us to do so!»

«I'm so sorry...»

Jaehyun mumbled more to himself rather than to his mate, so silently that the other male didn't hesitate to kick his back repetitively, making him fall on the ground, again.

The younger coughed loudly, placing a hand on his chest and then on his aching back. He then turned around, glaring at the taller and apologizing to the team for the second time — his voice bold and clear.

After that, another fellow, Yukhei, came in, helping him stand up, as he tried to calm down the tensed up atmosphere

«Try not to mess up things, okay?
I know how you feel, but we're all going through an hard time.»

Yukhei whispered to Jaehyun, sadly smiling at him and he gently patting his shoulders.

The latter simply replied with a small nod, facing the front and resuming the activity.
Soon after, the crew reached to the end of the tunnel, as a small glimmer of light blinded the soldiers and the refreshing air made its way past them.

It was raining.

«Disappointed, but not surprised.»

Yukhei said, chuckling bitterly and getting out of the underground path, after the shorter.

While waiting for the rest of the men to exit the dark tunnel, Jaehyun started looking at his surroundings and wandering around the small area they found themselves in.

A strange silence immediately fell upon him and the others, as the senior made sure there were not hidden traps or such.

«There's something weird...»

The soldier bluntly confessed, searching for his mates confused faces, who obviously agreed with him.

Charging their rifles, the males gathered up and started approaching the very end of the border — the sound of their fast heartbeats covering the one of their heavy breaths.
In that moment, the tension felt was beyond insane: although they all moved with courage and cold blood, they actually knew that there was something waiting for them at the other side.

Something bad, to be specific.

Everyone now feared for their young lives more than ever in a certain way, well everyone except Jaehyun, who actually felt numb.
Emotionless.

He couldn't care less anyways.

The boy then stopped on his tracks, after hearing a sinister sound coming from the northern part.
Swiftly checking on his fellows, he charged his weapon once again and shouted

«Everyone, get on the ground!
On the ground, fast!»

he opened the fire, right after the opponents did.

Soon a fastidious confusion surrounded the group of guys, who tried vainly to cover up the brunette: numerous bullets flew from right to left, many of them hitting the ground.

And in that same confusion another surprising enemy appeared out of nowhere and repetitively shot Jaehyun, hitting his chest, arms and legs.

The boy cried out loud, his pain reaching the ears of his crew.
They all ran towards him, just in time to gently prevent his body to brutally fall on the ground.

Yukhei caught him and laid him on the floor, cautiously checking out his condition: the uniform of the soldier soon coloured itself with a bright red and became all wet — drips of blood creating a small pool.

The wounds were so many and severe, that the rest of the soldiers couldn't really tell if their mate would survive.
The bleeding was just overflowing and judging by the screams of the brunette, they could tell that the bullets stored deep down in his skin.

Jaehyun suddenly stopped screaming, only to start crying: he cried his heart out, while staring at the worried faces surrounding his now useless body.
He then felt an heavy weight on his chest, causing him to grab the jacket of the uniform he was wearing — nervously panting.

But don't let his actions fool you: he wasn't crying because he feared death.
The poor male cried because of the pain he was forced to feel in that moment.

Such a sad and cruel irony, since he always thought about a painless and quick death.

”Why does dying hurt so much”

This was the question that kept roaming in his mind.

Something then interrupted his spacing out, bringing him back to reality — or at least this was what he thought at first.

Jaehyun got blinded by a bright light,
while the voices of the members of the team slowly ceased. The pain felt lesser, the uniform newer, his body lighter.
A train of memories then displayed in front of him, as if they were a long and awaited trailer of a film.

He saw his whole life, again.

And then another glimmer.

The brunette's eyes now met the ones of the dark cloudy sky mercilessly looking down on him:

he was about to leave this world for good.

With a small smile, the boy tried to thank the other males for their hard work vainly — his lips seemed to be locked.
And since the only thing he could do was to stare at the scenery set on top of him, he simply just did so.

The small water drops kept hitting his dirty skin, while the wounds started hurting again.

”Is time for me to go now...”

Jaehyun thought, as a hot tear rolled down his cheeks.

Smiling for the last time, the eyes of the strong soldier slowly closed — the very last thing he heard were the others trying to revive him.

And as his eyelids decided to fall in a deep slumber, his heart did the same.

27th April 1951, the day soldier Jung Jaehyun officially decided to try again.

Hopefully.

unedited.

END OF PART ONE

Next on:

» chapter 11 : "intermedia"

» beginning of part two with
chapter 12

⏩

Author note:
Wahhh, I can finally show
you where this plot is
actually going!!

Hope you still remember
that this book is divided
in two parts and that
the real story starts in
part two~

Maybe I'll rewrite this chapter
sometime, because it kinda
suck but I was in a rush heehee