“Hyung! Hurry!”

They were just a few steps away from the truck but a bomb went off just then. By now, their ears were no longer registering how loud everything was. But that click sounded clear amidst the chaos.

Although there was fear in her eyes, she calmly withdrew her hand from his. “Go.”

“Come hyung, we’ve got to go!” Jiyong screamed as he saw the enemy trucks nearing. With tears in his eyes, he grabbed his friend with all his strength even as the older man struggled to return to the girl’s side.

Their truck pulled away and the last thing Jiyong saw was her lifting her foot off the land mine.

Breathing heavily, Jiyong sat up weeping in his bed. He had been having the same dream again and again, night after night. Each time, he had woken with guilt weighing heavily in his heart. He didn’t know who she was and what could have been brushed off easily as nightmare was turning out to be more complicated.

How was it that Seunghyun was having the same dreams?

Kana woke up with a great gasp and coughed as though she had been holding her breath for too long. There were goose bumps on her and her hands were shaking.

I died. I really died there. I let him go and I died alone on the battlefield.

She stared at her reflection, not recognizing herself with that expression of agony. I loved someone enough to save him and die alone.

“You were in my dream,” Seunghyun said as he sat down from across his friend. “You saved me but the girl died.”

Seunghyun stared at his food and while he had been hungry earlier, he had lost his appetite now that he had recalled the dream. His heart had been beating so fast and his chest had hurt so much that he wondered if he was waking up to a heart attack.

He looked up when he realized that Jiyong had not answered his question. Seunghyun wasn’t prepared to see the look of fear on the leader’s face.

“I’m going to the studio first.”

Seunghyun watched his friend's retreating back and wondered what was wrong. That was just a fleeting moment as flashbacks from his dream came back. His chest felt heavy with unexplanable guilt. It was the same girl in both dreams. And in both dreams, she had been thinking of him. Had they been lovers?

Jiyong had reached the studio by now but he was covered in cold sweat. He knew he had to talk to someone about it before he drove himself crazy with weird theories.

"Past lives?" Jiyong repeated. Dami stared at her mother incredulously. Mrs. Kwon nodded and sipped from her glass of red wine. "You could be dreaming about your past lives. Wouldn't that be romantic? You and Seunghyun's fate intertwined decades ago! And here you are again, as friends!"

"None of what he shared sounds romantic,omma. Seunghyun seems to die in the older dream in some foreign land and the mystery girl dies in the war," Dami says matter-of-factly as she stretched out her legs. Jiyong was quiet, deep in thought, wondering whether his mother's words made any sense.

"There's the internet where you can check up anything very quickly. Why don't you try there or go visit the library? I always think books are more reliable than the internet," Mr. Kwon said as he joined his family in the living room. He turned to Jiyong and whispered in a low voice. "Come to the study later."

As the two men were finally left alone, they retreated to the study. Jiyong watched patiently as his father dug around in the closet and rushed to help the older man when he struggled with a box. It was a simple mover's box but the contents were nothing ordinary.

"These were your granduncle's but he died shortly after the war. It all went to my Appa but was given to me to look after."

Jiyong watched fascinatedly as his father brought out a worn soldier's uniform. He traced his finger over a mended stitch. After a while, his father handed him a small leather-bound notebook. "This was his diary and I used to read it when I was a school boy and learning about our history."

The book's leather cover was smooth from age and Jiyong felt a chill as he held the book in his hand. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go through a dead person's possession - even if that person had been a relative. He entered his room, still staring at the diary and when he finally decided to read the first page, Jiyong had no idea that he will not be able to stop until he was done with the whole book.

"Jiyong. Seunghyun."

Kana's eyes fluttered open as she mumbled the names from her dream. It was getting clearer each night - they were Korean men but Kana was sure she was still a Japanese girl in all her dreams. Her dreams were getting longer and while it had been painful and scary at first, Kana no longer resented her nightmares. She had loved them and wanted to know more.

"Ah! My shamisen!" Kana hopped off her bed and seized her beloved. She fumbled clumsily as her hands tried to locate the charm that hung from the instrument's cover. As the little bell gave a gentle tinkle, she smiled.