...Finally, Kyuhyun ducked into a secluded alleyway, hiding behind a wall, and peeking his head around the corner to try to get a good angle. Once again, he began shooting, his eyes set on enemy soldiers.

Suddenly, he heard movement in the alley behind him and spun around quickly, ready with his gun pointed directly at the source of the noise...

Sungmin pulled up short when he saw the South Korean soldier standing there, with his gun pointed straight at them. Instinctively, he quickly grabbed Mi Sun and pulled her behind him, protecting her with his body.

He stood frozen, staring at the enemy soldier, waiting for him to shoot, and trying to figure out how he was going to escape this situation alive.

Kyuhyun wasn’t sure why he didn’t shoot right away. Maybe it was the shock of seeing such a small child in the midst of all of this bloodshed. But in that moment of hesitation, he somehow made eye contact with the North Korean soldier.

When Sungmin realized that the South Korean wasn’t going to shoot right away, he took the opportunity to say quietly to Mi Sun, “Quick, run! Get out of here, I’ll be right behind you.” Thankfully, Mi Sun silently obeyed, running back down the alley to safety.

Kyuhyun saw the girl run away, and kept his gun pointed at the soldier. He knew he should just shoot now, and get it over with. This was war after all! He had to do it.

But for some reason as he stared at the other man, he couldn’t do it. He somehow felt a strange connection to this man, as if he couldn’t bear to take his life. He kept staring into the other’s eyes, unable to look away, captivated by him.

Sungmin stared back at the South Korean man, seeing a brave and strong soldier on the outside, but there was something else there too. As he looked into his eyes, Sungmin realized the man had kindness there too, and knew he didn’t want to kill him.

Gathering all of his courage, Sungmin began to take slow steps towards the other soldier. Never losing eye contact, he continued to carefully move closer to the enemy.

Kyuhyun tried to remain steady, and not back down, keeping his weapon pointed straight at the heart of the other man. But for some reason, as Sungmin moved closer, he felt more and more nervous. He was trapped by Sungmin’s eyes, unable to move a single muscle in his body.

Sungmin inched nearer and nearer to Kyuhyun, curious at this strange reaction from the man. He had never seen anything like this before. He had expected the South Koreans to be brutal and relentless. This man seemed strong, certainly, but not cruel.

As Sungmin finally reached Kyuhyun, the tip of the gun only inches from his heart, they continued to stare at each other, something developing between them that neither one could have expected.

Then Sungmin gently placed his hand on Kyuhyun’s weapon, forcing him to lower it. Kyuhyun let his arms be lowered towards the ground, obeying Sungmin’s movement without thinking. They stood staring at each other for one more moment, before Sungmin whispered, “Thank you.”

Kyuhyun was speechless, only able to stare at Sungmin as the North Korean suddenly spun around and ran down the alley. Sungmin ce and looked back at Kyuhyun, who was still frozen in the same place, before he turned the corner and ran to find Mi Sun.

Soon he found her hidden in a small crevice in the wall of a house. Grabbing her hand again, he said, “It’s okay, let’s go.” They quickly ran back towards the edge of town, this time trying a different alley. Luckily, the coast was clear this time, and they made it safely out of town.

As they left the village and headed into the trees and mountains, Mi Sun took the lead again. Sungmin soon realized that the little girl was very familiar with the countryside as she led him down hidden paths and trails.

Eventually they came to a bit of an overlook, from which they could see the town perfectly. Sungmin’s heart sunk as he saw that his troops were clearly losing the battle. He saw some of them starting to retreat back to their original camp, by orders of the officers.

He felt slightly guilty for abandoning his comrades, but then he bitterly thought of Heechul and the other selfish officers. Sungmin knew they would automatically assume he was killed in battle and never give him a second thought. Heck, they might not even notice his absence!

He looked at the small girl next to him, and knew his service would be of better use if he helped protect this girl and return her to her family.

“Mi Sun,” Sungmin said softly. “Do you know someplace where we could find shelter for the night?”

She nodded and said “This way.” They ran through the woods until they could no longer see the battle, and all they could hear was muffled bangs and shouts. They arrived at a small cave in the mountainside. Sungmin let Mi Sun drift off to sleep as he sat guard, his mind unable to wander away from the thought of the soldier to whom he owed his life.

Why didn’t he just kill him? Sungmin couldn’t figure out what that look in the South Korean’s eyes was, but he felt some sort of strange connection to the man. He sat through the night, pondering, thinking about the man’s strong looking stance, his slightly confused expression, his handsome face…

Wait, thought Sungmin. His handsome face? Well, he was rather good looking. Sungmin hadn’t had much time in his life to notice how attractive other people were. He had never dated or had any sort of romance in his strict lifestyle. But he knew enough to know that he wasn’t supposed to be attracted to men. That was something that would never be acceptable in his society.

Sungmin sighed as he saw the sky start to get lighter. The fighting had stopped a couple of hours ago, and morning was coming. Soon he would have to start to help Mi Sun return to her family. He knew he couldn’t bring her back to the village – the destruction and death there would be too much for such a small child. Most of the villagers would have evacuated to the next town over by now, so their best bet was to head in that direction and hope to find Mi Sun’s family there.

After the battle was over, the South Koreans had made camp near the village and were celebrating their first victory. Leeteuk had given an amazing victory speech, and the men were now sitting around drinking, not thinking about the dark future that still lay ahead of them. They had suffered very few losses to death and injury, so while they mourned the ones they had lost, they were also grateful to have won the battle.

Kyuhyun could hardly focus on the other men sitting around him, as he sat in a corner drinking alone. All he could think about was that North Korean man, the one who had captivated him like no other man before…

Kyuhyun had realized several years ago that he was not attracted to women at all. Although he had only told his closest friends about his ual orientation, it was a part of who he was, and he knew that. But he had never had a real love interest before.

This man, though, he knew was beautiful. He realized now that the reason he couldn’t stop staring at the man’s eyes was because of their beauty. The reason he couldn’t shoot him was because he just seemed to have this aura about him that made you like him, he was precious in a way, and—

Kyuhyun stopped himself there. He shouldn’t feel this way. That man was the enemy! He can’t feel attracted to him, it was just wrong. He sighed to himself as he though again of the man’s soft voice, as he whispered his gratitude…

“Kyuhyun? Kyuhyun?!” Ryeowook was waving his hand in front of Kyuhyun’s face, and the soldier jumped as he realized his friend was standing in front of him, trying to talk to him.

“Come on, man, join us!” Ryeowook said. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Kyuhyun said, quickly standing. But he didn’t want to join the others just yet. Instead of walking towards his comrades, he turned and headed towards the woods. “I just have to go… you know… take care of business…” He gestured towards the woods, and Ryeowook understood. “Oh, okay, then come back and drink with us!”

Kyuhyun just nodded and wandered into the forest, knowing that he needed some serious time alone with his thoughts.