Sunggyu, Dongwoo, Woohyun, Sungyeol, and Sungjong sat against the opposite wall of the funeral home. All dressed in black, their expressions were pensive. 

All of them leaned against each other, with Sunggyu holding onto Dongwoo's bandaged hand gently, Woohyun leaning against Dongwoo's shoulder, and Sungyeol and Sungjong hooking their arms with each other. It had been a rough day for all of them. The pain of losing one friend was too much to bear.

The pain of losing two friends. That was a different story.

The war ended shortly after their encounter at the control room. After the grief over Myungsoo's death, Sunggyu was able to make a quick message to contact the Pyongyang Military Base and Iwakuni Military Base of an impending attack to their country. The area was able to catch the plane as it overed over Korea, shooting the plane in the air and landing it in the ocean before it could do a thing. With President Ranu Sojang's death as well as a stop to the air fleet, Sotena is slowly turning back to Chinese occupation. The six of them stayed in the control room until Lieutenant Sanghee and several other troops found them in the control tower. It would be a long journey back, a journey of healing till they reached their home.

"Sungyeol," Sunggyu cleared his throat.

Sungyeol turned his head. "Yeah?"

"Are you going to give the thing to Myungsoo's mom?"

Sungyeol thought for a second whether it would be a good idea to give it, hesitating to do the deed. Sungjong shook Sungyeol's arm and motioned for him to go. "Myungsoo and his family deserves it. You will be doing the right thing."

It took some courage to fully dedicate himself to this moment, but Sungyeol finally got himself off the floor with the help of Woohyun pushing him up. Sungyeol dug his hands in his pockets, playing with the thing in question. He stood in front of the doors of the room and took one deep breath. Closing his eyes, he took a step in.

It was Myungsoo's memorial service, held by the Kim family. His mom, dad, brother, extended family, other friends from high school, joined to pay their respects for the fallen soldier. In the front of the room was a framed picture of Kim Myungsoo, taken about a year ago before being enlisted.

Sungyeol remembered that picture, specifically because Myungsoo almost cried to him for being bald and losing his hair. Myungsoo was so upset, he lost his appetite for two days. Myungsoo, you were ridiculous. Forcing a smile, he walked over to the first row of the service to where Myungsoo's mom sat alone. With her husband on her left and son on her right, the three of them were silent as the room was drowned with cries. Sungyeol could not stand the tears of everyone around him and bit his tongue, hoping he would not do the same.

Mrs. Kim heard the footsteps of someone walking by and turned her head to catch Sungyeol walking to him. "Sungyeol."

"Mrs. Kim." Sungyeol bowed in front his family. "Mr. Kim. Moonsoo."

"You lost a lot of weight," Mrs. Kim commented.

Sungyeol blushed. "I never ate too much out there."

"Thank you for coming here today," Mr. Kim bowed. "We really appreciate you and everyone's presence. And we are very sorry to hear about Hoya as well."

"The war is tough but..." Sungyeol could sense a downpour of tears falling down his cheeks and stopped talking. His lips quivered, unable to continue much longer as the image of Myungsoo stuck in his face and his whole family reminded him of the person he loved the most. Gone. "I have something to give you three." Reaching deep into his pocket, he retrieved a folded up envelope with the words "Kim Family" written on the front. With two hands, he passed the gift to Myungsoo's mom. 

Myungsoo's mom took the gift and stared at Sungyeol with a confused look.

"Please open the envelope," Sungyeol nodded.

Without anymore hesitation, Mrs. Kim tore the envelope open to look at its contents. Inside were two items:

A golden locket and a folded up letter.

The locket glimmered in a time of darkness, light reflecting on the frame of Myungsoo right in front of them. She her lips and unfolded the letter, a handwritten letter for her to read.

Dear Mrs. Kim,

It's day 20 on this journey to Yundo, and as the clock strikes 23:59 on this rough day many things have happened.

By the time you read this, it will be sometime after the war had ended. I know that your heart may be filled with hate and sorrow, the loss of a son is something a mother never wants to feel. Losing a friend is something no one ever wants to feel. Except Myungsoo was more than a friend to me.

Kim Myungsoo is the reason I am alive today.

When I saw Myungsoo write his letter yesterday, little did I know that would be his last. There is a point in our lives where we take people for granted, looking into the future without realizing that in less than a second they can disappear from your life forever. That was what it was like on that battlefield. That was what it felt like when he died in my arms.

(((())))

Sunggyu took a deep breath as he stood by the door of a restaurant, contemplating whether he would enter or not.

"Sunggyu, are you going?"

Sunggyu turned his head to Sungjong standing behind him, holding onto a bulletproof vest. The two of them stood together in uniform, making sure their looks and outfits were neat for presentation. It was a cloudy day on their journey back to Korea, the war finally ending and now it was for the troops to return. Sotenan land turned back to Chinese occupation and territory, at least unofficially until they could get their bearings.

Sunggyu knew what he had to do, placing his hand on the handle and turning it to open the door.

Slowly creeping in, Sunggyu and Sungjong stepped in to find the owner and mother of Jongin sitting down at the center table, handling a large bowl of lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, and radish with her bare hands. The lady turned her head at the sound of a customer, staring at the silhouette of Sunggyu and Sungjong in the door frame. She tilted her head as she recognized a familiar face. "I remember you," she mentioned, rising from her position to stand at eye level.

Sunggyu crossed his arms in respect and bowed, Sungjong joining him as he gripped onto Jongin's vest. "We found your son, Jongin," Sunggyu explained. "Jongin... Jongin was a good man."

(((())))

I wanted to explain to you the type of person Myungsoo was from an outside perspective. Myungsoo is the most heartfelt and caring person I know about, contemplating every little detail and how it would affect him and his friends. He was always concerned with his friendships, his family, and more than anything he had a war with himself fighting to stay the same person he was when he entered the war. Kim Myungsoo is someone who will go the distance for the people he loves. It was an honor for me to fight with a brave and courageous person like him, a best friend, the person who knows everything about me. Kim Myungsoo has a special place in my heart. 20 days we've gone through hell and back. I will never forget everything we went through together. I love that guy more than anyone will ever know.

I wanted to apologize to you in Myungsoo fashion that it is partially my fault that he is dead. He stuck up for me, and in the process an unknown soldier shot him. I live with the burden for the rest of my life that he died because of me, because he wanted to save me, because he wanted me to stay the same Lee Sungyeol I was before the war started. I will forever be in debt to you and your family for everything you and your son have done for me.

(((())))

"Come on, hurry up," Dongwoo called out.

"Hold on," Sunggyu groaned, lifting a heavy backpack to carry. "You don't even have anything!"

Dongwoo chuckled, scratching the back of his head and realizing he left the rest of his friends to carry the stuff. As well as the fact that their destination was on top of a hill, no one was having it as they sweated their way up to the top.

"Next time, you get to help us out," Woohyun complained as he carried two bouquets of flowers that blocked his vision.

"Almost there," Dongwoo side smirked.

The five friends made their way to the top of the hill, an exhausting journey and the most difficult walk they had ever taken since arriving back to Korea. Of course after everything they had gone through in the war, this was a piece of cake and nothing to rant about.

"Alright, what are we doing this time? And what kind of food did we bring?" Sungyeol wondered, passing a picture frame to Dongwoo.

Dongwoo grabbed the picture and unfolded it, placing it perfectly on the ground between two stones. The alignment had to be perfect for him. This whole moment had to be perfect.

"Come on, I'm starving," Sungjong frowned, balancing three different jars in his arms.

"You guys are the most impatient people I know. Give me the jars," Dongwoo demanded, handling the jars and placing them in front of the two stones as well as the picture frame. Dongwoo got up from the grass and brushed his knees, crossing his arms and staring at his work. "There. It's pefect."

A scene at the cemetery, the five friends stood in front of the grave of their special friend Lee Howon, buried respectfully next to his father Lee Ho Jun. Propped up in the middle of their tombstones was a framed picture of their other friend Kim Myungsoo, taken as his graduation photo from high school. The jars of vanilla scented candles were placed neatly in front of each person to light. In remembrance of the three of them in honor of Hoya's birthday, two years after the war, they met together to commemorate their own heroes. 

"Ok, give us the food," Sungjong ordered, helping Sunggyu take the backpack off and ping it for bento boxes of meals to pass to everyone.

"I haven't even put the flowers yet!" Dongwoo snatched the box out of Sungjong's hands, shaking his finger at Sungjong not to eat. "And we need to sing Happy Birthday."

"Hoya, you old man," Sungyeol sighed with a smile. "You would be 25-years-old now. Old, but probably still shorter than me."

"You're taller than all of us," Woohyun rolled his eyes when suddenly he sneezed from holding the flowers, blowing some petals right off the stem. The flowers were ruined.

"What the hell are you doing!" Dongwoo flailed his arms in the air. "This is the worst birthday Hoya has ever had."

"Well, it can't beat last year when the sprinklers went off," Sungyeol chimed as he skimmed through his phone to get to his camera. He brought his phone forward and shifted the lens towards him and the rest of his friends, putting out a peace sign for the picture. "Smile for Hoya's birthday!"

The five friends gathered together trying to find their face on Sungyeol's camera; Sungjong squeezing his head in between Sungyeol's arms, Dongwoo resting his head on Sungyeol's shoulder with a bright smile, and Woohyun piggybacking Sunggyu as they jumped in the air to catch their short selves in the picture. It was the perfect picture of all of them.

Of course, Sungyeol left room for the rest of his friends to stay in the picture. Caught in the corner of his screen was Hoya and his father's tombstone at rest, following by Myungsoo's picture frame shown to catch the seven friends.

The infinite friends.

(((())))

Before I end this letter, I wanted to tell you that everything Myungsoo wanted to accomplish in this war, he did. Since the beginning, his only goals were to protect Korea and find Sungjong. All of this was finished in the end, and with Sungjong back on our side it is a blessing to know he is here. How far will Myungsoo go for the ones he loves, you ask? He went the farthest distance ever known to man. 

I am sad, but more than anything I want to tell you to not to cry. Because Myungsoo is not dead. Hoya is not dead. These people will never die in our hearts, and with their memories we will live on. That's all that matters, I believe. All that matters is cherishing Myungsoo till the ends of the world. 

People may think we are five.

But in our hearts...

We will always be seven.

Lee Sungyeol.

And there we have it everyone... and that ends The Distance.

I sincerely hope all of you enjoyed this. And as I finish this epilogue, I am actually crying writing it ;_; For everyone who was able to deal with the feelings and read this, I love all of you and I just want to thank you reader for everything. I hope you enjoyed this fanfic, cause I sure as hell enjoyed writing it! Without further ado, please enyjo these couple facts about my fanfic:

1. This was the hardest story I have ever written so far. I had my outlines and everything, but there were always things I didn't specifically note just to let my creative juices flowing while writing. There were moments where I had to think, I can do this but what if it went in this direction? This story could have gone in many different ways, but this was the path chosen. I hope all of you enjoyed this!

2. Myungsoo and Hoya's deaths were both premeditated, and starting this fanfic and first outlining it I knew this was their fate. This was not written out of the moment. Everything that happened with these two characters, is how it happened.

3. I questioned whether to add another couple in the mix, 2woo after Hoya died. I decided not to do this and focus on the friendship aspect of 2woo.

4. Writing a war fanfic is a lot harder than anyone will ever imagine! I thought I would be ok because my dad is in the military, but it served me difficult when I started exaggerating and dramatizing the crazy events, and then I had to think for a while how am I going to get them out of this?

5. The spies in the end were General Kang and Captain Peo, but in my original outline the spies were going to be Captain Peo and Sunggyu. But, I couldn't get my heart to do such a thing. Plus, I think everything ended better this way no? OT7 forever

6. Woohyun was going to be the original character captured, but I chose Sungjong because I have not written a fanfic yet where he was almost a main character. 

This is all over and it hurts a little, especially with the amount of thinking I had to put into writing this story. I hope all of you have thoroughly enjoyed this. I tend to find myself a comedic/angst but turns happy writer, but I'm very satisfied with the way this ended and that I challenged myself. 

THANK YOU ALL ONCE AGAIN FOR STICKING WITH THIS. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!