It was quiet. Silent almost. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of forks hitting plates and food being chewed. Their meals together weren’t ever really this quiet but this dinner was different. It was the last dinner Taemin would have with his family before he went off to war. He was only 16 but Korea was desperate for soldiers. One man from each family must be drafted and Taemin’s dad was too old to. They were basically fighting their own country. He was too young to understand and definitely too young to fight in the army. Taemin’s anxiety and his utmost amount of fear obstructed him from eating. Everyone was scared for him; especially his mom.

“Taemin, you need to eat.” she said softly.

“...I can’t.”

No one looked at him because they knew that looking at the face of a young, scared, innocent boy would instantly make them cry. He was too young to fight but his family couldn’t do anything about it. He had just turned 16 a few months ago and North Korea just declared war. Technically, you have to be between the ages of 18 and 40 to fight but desperate times cause for desperate measures.

All was quiet again. Taemin’s older brother Taesun sat at the other end. He looked a bit like Taemin but his hair was a bit longer and his skin was a bit lighter. But there was something else about him. He had COPD. He sat in a small, shiny wheelchair; pimped up by Taemin to make him feel better about his chair. His name was written on the side of it in a flame-like design and on the other side said ‘Taemin + Taesun; Brothers forever!!!’ Taesun thought it was a bit embarrassing at first but he grew into it, knowing that his little brother loved and admired him so much no matter what he was going through.

Taesun broke the silence with his loud and firm voice. “Mom, just let me do it!”

“No Taesun! We’ve already discussed this!”

“But mom, I can do it! I just-”

“No!!” she said adamantly. “Now please, try to be amenable. It’s your brothers last night home before he leaves tomorrow morning." Thinking about it made her tear up a bit. It was already bad enough she had to let Taemin, her youngest son, go of into war but she was definitely not letting Taesun go. He couldn’t anyways because the government wouldn’t let him. Of course he fit the age requirement, being 19, but he couldn’t walk and it was hard for him to breathe sometimes. There was no way he could fight.

After dinner, Taemin went up to his room and looked around. It was almost completely empty. He had backed all his stuff about a week before and was now ready. His mom, his dad, and his brother were all watching him by his doorway.

His mom broke out and tears and rushed inside to hug him long and tightly.

“Mom mom, it’s ok. I’ll be fine.” he said with a fake smile.

“But I don’t want my baby to get hurt.”

“I won’t mom. I’m a man, I can do it.”

“That’s my boy.” his dad said, walking in and patting Taemin on the back. “Now you go on to bed. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.” Taemin’s dad didn’t exactly like the whole idea of him going off to war, but he did like how it was making him more of man and less of a child. He tried his best just to think about it that way to make himself feel better.

Taemin gave his family big hugs and went off to bed.

The next day, Taemin and his family arrived at the dock. Yep, that’s right, Taemin’s gonna be a marine. How hot? He looked around and saw other guys that were gonna be on the boat with him. Lots of them were crying, especially this one very tall guy, Chanyeol. Taemin tried to figure out why they were all crying and he wasn’t. Am I a bad person? Do I not love my family as much as I thought I did? He also saw another tall guy, about the same size as Chanyeol. But instead of crying, his dad was making him do push-ups and salute to him.

Taemin’s mom was crying her eyes out. She pulled him close to her. “Taemin, promise me you’ll be safe!”

“I will mom.”

“And promise me you’ll take care of yourself!”

“I will mom.”

Silence filled the air. They realized they were the only ones still on the dock and the ship was about to board off. Taemin’s mom showered him with a million kisses and let him say his last goodbyes to the rest of his family. After about 20 family members, he ended with his brother.

“...Will you be ok without me?” Taemin asked softly.

Taesun smiled, trying to enlighten the mood. “Yeah I th