Gapyeong County

Before we start, make sure you've read D.O's chapter from Histories ^^ It'll help you to understand some of the things that happen in this chapter.

You woke up to the sound of the vacuum cleaner whirring away. Frowning when you saw the time, you quietly hopped out of bed taking care not to step on Huiling, and peered around your door. D.O had his back to you but from his sweatpants, you could tell who it was.

It's 7am and he's already awake... We only went to sleep at 3.

'Oppa?'

He couldn't hear you over the noise so you pulled the plug out from the socket. He spun around, looking confused and his eyes followed the cable until they trailed up to your worried face.

'H-Haneul... How long have you been standing there? Did I wake you up? I'm so sorry. I just-'

'What are you doing?' You said, sitting down on the couch, 'Its only been 4 hours since we went to sleep. How are you awake?'

'I couldn't sleep. I just kept thinking about things'

'Can I ask what things?'

'Things like... Like last year. How stupid I was. How I didn't believe Baekhyun even though he's like a brother to me. How I just took the side of a girl I barely knew'

You glanced at D.O's sad eyes.

'At least you weren't kept in the dark. They didn't even tell me she was bad'

D.O stared straight forwards.

'No more lies, eh? That was your wish.'

You nodded. 'I'm sick to death with them. No more secrets. No more hiding things from me'

D.O looked at his hands.

No more secrets.

No more hiding.

He felt the weight of your head rest on his shoulder and he carefully guided it down to his lap where you could sleep more comfortably.

'Are you tired?' He asked

You nodded and attempted to get up, feeling guilty for trapping him. D.O however pushed you back down and rested his hand on your arm.

'It's alright, go to sleep. We've got a long day ahead.'

At 11 o'clock, you boarded a train going out into the countryside. It was relatively sunny so you were dressed in white shorts and a floral blouse. Your hair was out and you wore some simple white plimsolls. D.O was dressed in a pair of navy shorts too and a white polo top. He was wearing some simple deck shoes that he had borrowed from Kai's wardrobe.

When the train arrived, you had been in a daze not really paying any attention to what was going on. It was the first time going to an actual train station, not the underground service.

'Haneul! Hey! Haneul!'

You didn't turn around. Far too busy observing the map of South Korea and the train services that connected all of its cities.

D.O ran to you and grabbed your hand tightly, pulling you towards the carriage.

'Already? The trains here?!' You asked

'Yes, you dope! Come on, let's get on it.'

Once on board, D.O held your hand as you walked down the carriages to find seats. Most of the seats were taken up by groups of school children or tourists. There was no one that looked your age. A couple of little school girls giggled upon seeing you and D.O holding hands. It made you suddenly aware but you couldn't just let go because some snooty kids were staring. Instead, you focused on not tripping over all of their bags that had littered the carriage floor.

'Oh, this one looks good' said D.O, opening the door to the next carriage and letting you go through first.

It was quiet and only a few ahjummas were seated there.

'I think it's a quiet carriage' you whispered

'Is that alright?' D.O whispered back, guiding you down to the table seats by the window.

You sat down facing each other and it was now that you studied your train ticket.

ITX Cheongchun line to Gapyeong station.... Where is Gapyeong?...

D.O chuckled as he saw you carefully observing the map above the window to find Gapyeong. He stood up and pointed to it.

'We're going north-east to Gyeonggi-do.'

'Gyeonggi-do? Like Paju? And Panmunjeom? As in DMZ?'

DMZ stood for Demilitarized Zone- the area which separated North and South Korea. Though there were no troops in the DMZ itself, just outside it on both the North and South sides was the Militarized Zone, known for being the most heavily armed area in the world. Just the thought of going there brought a shiver to your spine.

'Don't worry, it's not that part of Gyeonggi-do. Gapyeong is in Gapyeong-gun. It's a small county bordering Gangwon-do. It was where the Battle of Kapyong took place in 1951. It's rather beautiful though. You wouldn't think that a battle had taken place there.'

'And we're going there?'

D.O nodded, 'then we're going to get a ferry to Nami Island.'

'Nami Island?'

'If you think Gapyeong is beautiful, wait till you see Nami Island- tall trees, lots of animals like peacocks and ostriches and grassy areas. It's so beautiful.'

'And Nami Island is where you want to show me?'

'Well... I want to show you both Gapyeong and Nami Island. We'll go to Nami Island first then on our way home, I'll take you to the place in Gapyeong. Are you in the mood for a walk?'

'A walk?'

'Well... A hike.'

'A hike?!'

'It's not so bad. We can go as we are, no need for changing shoes or anything. Do you want to?'

You nodded, 'I want to see everything I can today.'

Upon arriving in Gapyeong about an hour and a half later, the sun was blazing hot. Fanning yourself with a ferry leaflet, you began to make your way towards Nami Island. It was a short boat ride, no more than 5 minutes, but the heat was making you feel more than a little queasy. That and you hadn't eaten in a while.

'Hey, are you okay?' D.O asked, holding your hair back as you leant over the rails.

You really thought you were going to be sick.

How attractive am I?

Once off and back on stable ground, D.O asked you again.

'Are you alright? We should go to the cafe and get something to eat. It's not good to be out when the sun's at it's highest point.'

Reaching his hand out to yours, you grabbed it and the two of you began walking down what seemed like a never ending road. The path was lined with towering trees that seemed like they reached the heavens. Beyond them were open grassy areas, greens and flowers sprouting everywhere. You could see a few ducks here and there, a few peacocks here and there and occasionally a rabbit too.

'It's... It's... Beautiful...' you said, looking up at the leafy canopy sheltering you and everyone else walking on the path.

D.O nodded. 'It is, isn't it?'

At a clearing, there was a small chalet and the smell of food sent your stomach rumbling like you had been starving it for years. The waitress sat you and D.O down and handed you the menus. As you puzzled over it, D.O kept looking around and gulping.

'I really have no idea what to get...' you said

'Shall I choose what's good?'

'Be my guest'

The waitress returned with a pot of jasmine tea and a notepad and pen.

'Yes?'

'Two barbeque chicken legs and chips please'

'Sure. It'll be here in about 5 minutes'

Once she had left, you blinked in awe.

'5 minutes for food? That's so quick!'

'It's the speciality here so they've sort of perfected how to cook it quickly.'

'You seem to have come here a lot.'

'Once a year, every year since I was 4.'

After lunch was over, D.O led you towards the path that went around the island. On one side were trees and plants, the other was blue, sparkling water. When you came to a bench that overlooked a stretch of the Han River, D.O sat down.

'I should tell you why this place is important to me'

You kept quiet, taking in the view.

'My mom and dad met here... They were both in different high schools but met whilst their schools were on trips. I suppose you could say they were like childhood sweethearts. They ended up staying in contact, met again after university and got married.'

He smiled a little.

'And when my mom died, my grandparents would bring me here every year of her death anniversary. I've always come. It's a habit of mine now. I just miss her so much.'

You rested your head on his shoulder again.

'I miss my mom too.'

You stayed on that bench for the next half an hour, talking about your mothers.

'I used to pray she'd be watching me' D.O said, 'and I believe she is. Just like your family must be watching over you.'

'Was your mother very beautiful?' you asked

'The most beautiful woman in the world.'

At around 3PM, you had made your way back to Gapyeong but not until D.O had picked up some flowers from a tiny shop on Nami Island.

'Are you ready for the hike?' he asked

You nodded, trying to ignore the bouquet he had just purchased. You had your thoughts on what it was for but you couldn't exactly ask directly about it. The hike wasn't too tiring but at some points, you had to stop and sit down- muscles burning and on fire. To make it easier, D.O took out one of the peonies from the bouquet and placed it behind your ear. He then placed one behind his and smiled, holding his hand out.

'Let's get through this together, okay?'

Holding his hand the rest of the way, you carried on walking through the valley of luscious trees until you finally reached the destination. In the clearing were a small number of people, seemingly topless or shoeless.

'We're almost there' D.O said, gesturing you to yet another path. 'Just a little further up the stream'

You began walking along the stream, the air being much cooler due to the water. It was tempting to jump right into the stream and start swimming around. After a few minutes of walking, D.O stopped and you looked up. In front of you was a waterfall with white water gushing down from the cliff creating a sort of dreamy mist.

'They say that the water mist looks like an angry dragon thrashing about' D.O said, taking off both his shoes and his shirt, 'but whatever, let's go and say hi to the angry dragon'

You slipped your own shoes and bag off and left them beside his things, walking in and shivering as your feet came into contact with the cold and smooth stones that had been worn away by years of weathering. You noticed that D.O was still holding the bouquet under his arm and he appeared to be shivering under his loose, white singlet.

'Oppa, you're really cold. Maybe you should put your shirt back on.'

D.O shook his head, 'we need to get closer to the dragon. Oh but don't worry. I've brought a towel and some spare warm clothes for you.'

Holding your hand, you both began making your way to the rapid water and you couldn't understand for the life of you what was going on. Once at the other side of the stream, D.O moved his hand to your wrist and held it tightly.

'If you go down, don't be scared. I won't let you go.'

Suddenly, he disappeared behind the water, still holding your wrist. He tugged at it, signalling you to come through aswell. You took a deep breath and tried to ignore the constant supply of cold water tipping onto you. You stepped forwards slowly, lost your footing and plundered down under the water. Had there not been 10 tonnes of water pouring down on top of you, you would have been able to get up instantly. You belonged in the water half your life. But this was different. You could feel your lungs squeezing as you rapidly kicked your legs until you felt D.O haul you out by your underarms. Coughing and spluttering, he thumped you on the back to help you get all the water out. You hit his chest and he laughed at your drenched appearance.

Feeling bitter, you chucked a handful of water at him so he was just a little bit more soaked.

'You're obviously a pro at walking behind waterfalls.'

'I've been doing it since I was 4, I should be a pro. Although I was on my dad's shoulders for the first few years... My first real go was when I was 8, that was when my grandparents were granted sole custody of me. I nearly drowned to say the least but my grandad hauled me out.'

There was a sort of cave, or rather more like a hole in the cliff face and D.O helped you up to lean against it. His thin vest clung to him and his hair looked the way it did after he had just taken a shower. It made you feel breathless in a silly sort of girly way. Your own blouse stuck to you like lycra, highlighting your curves. You tugged at it to stop clinging to you and it only made it stick somewhere else. The water was up to your waist here and D.O lightly put his hand on your side to make sure you wouldn't fall anytime soon.

'Haneul...?' he said quietly

It was rather dark behind the waterfall, despite there not being a cloud in sight on this sunny day.

'Yes?'

'Will you say a prayer with me?'

'A prayer?'

He nodded, biting his lip. He unwrapped the plastic that bound the bouquet together and put it in his pocket. Letting the flowers fall loose, he laid them out on the rock ledge.

'We scattered my mom's ashes down the waterfall when she died. She didn't want to be held down to the ground. She wanted to travel the world and visit the places she didn't get to whilst she was alive' he said quietly, 'This place is called Yongchu Falls and it's where my mom was laid to rest. It's the one place I can come to talk to her properly.'

You placed a hand on D.O's.

'Whenever I was little and I had something to tell my mum, like if I had won an award or gotten a good mark on a test at school, I'd go to the Han River since it's more convenient to see her there but this is where she really is. I've never brought anyone else to this place because I wanted to keep it between just me and my mom but you... You're worth showing her.'

You had managed to lose the flower behind your ear and so D.O picked up another and replaced it.

'Shall we say the prayer?' he asked

You nodded, putting your palms together and closing your eyes. You began to recite the 'Our Father'.

'Our father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil-'

You were cut off right at the end of your recital as D.O leant forwards and stole a swift kiss from your lips. He had been waiting for the right moment and seeing you standing in front of him with your eyes shut was more than inviting.

Action speak louder than words, Kyungsoo. Do it or lose the chance forever.

You immediately opened your eyes, blinking rapidly at D.O who was staring at you with big, earnest eyes.

'Amen...'

You brought your hands up to your lips and D.O grabbed them. It seemed like he was developing a habit of grabbing them now. He leant forwards and kissed you again as you stood still, not moving, not thinking, not processing.

'You said no more secrets... No more hiding... So I'm not going to hide it anymore. I- I like you.'