The hot sun blazed as Jiyong glanced at the sprawled horizon before him. He and his troops were passing along an obscure part of the country where only small villages were littered here and there. Jiyong's gaze was fierce as he grew irritated each step. The ground was made of dirt scattered with harsh jagged pebbles that easily penetrated through his worn soldier's boots. He and his troops had to go on foot due to a lack of horses for them all. Usually Jiyong didn't mind, but a certain memory was nagging at him

"Ouch!" a small yelp rang out.

"Chaerin! You have to be more careful!' Jiyong had said

Jiyong remembered bandaging her slim ankle. Chaerin had been running ahead of him in a rush to show him a small bushel that sprouted strawberries when she tripped and scratched her ankle on one of the many sharp pebbles.

"I was." Chaerin murmured in an indignant tone.

"Yeah right." Jiyong had chuckled after he finished wrapping her new bandages.

"I don't know why you get so upset over the smallest accidents Jiyong. It's not like I'll die that easily."

Jiyong sighed as he gently put her ankle to rest on his lap.

"You don't get it. I've seen death plenty of times, and I wouldn't want to wish it on you." he said solemnly while starring deep into her eyes

"Jiyong..."

"You really don't understand what you do to me Chaerin. I've never given someone my heart and now that I have- that.. I've given it to you I can't help but worrying. So please be more careful." He pleaded while his eyes grew slightly misty.

Chaerin leaned over to him and closed the gap between them by placing a light, sweet feather soft kiss on his lips. Jiyong reached out his hands to hold the side of her face and couldn't help smiling brightly at her.

"Don't worry Jiyong. We won't be broken apart that easily." Chaerin had said. Those words rattled uneasily in his mind as he contemplated his real mission for being here. Instead of telling her right then and there he had reached out and embraced her. His hands closed in around her waist and softly caressed her back in small soothing up and down motions.

"No we won't." He had managed to utter as his face was nuzzled on the nape of her neck.

The stones he currently trudged upon made him curious if he were somewhere near her. He knew there were many other places with stones just as similar, but he hoped silently that just maybe he could see a glimpse of her.

"Look at that men! I think the heat is getting to Kwon look at that scowl on his face!" A voice called out in a mocking tone

"Looks like a few months away from the battlefield and he can't even walk a dirt road." the voice continued laughing.

Jiyong turned over his shoulder to meet the face of one of his more bold soldiers.

"Funny, Jun." Jiyong began slowly with a small forming smirk "I happen to remember you weeping over a small lash to your arm in your first battle. Who was it you called out for? Your mom? No, no I believe it was your Mommy, right?"

Chuckles and booming laughs erupted from the group of soldiers at Jiyong's final word. The young soldier suddenly had no more to comment on.

"Anyway men. There's reported to be a small village in a few miles that we can rest at. Try to hold in a little longer." Jiyong reminded them.

The men collectively released a shout of triumph at the news , eager to rest and quickly make their destination to a battlefield that needed extra support.

Jiyong however had grown tired of it all. The life of a solider...

He was brought up in such a life at a young age. His father had been a great general for the Joseon Dynasty who led various successful military campagins.He even had a record for never losing a battle. Well that was if you asked everyone else, but Jiyong. To Jiyong there was one task the great Kwon Deuk couldn't conquer and that was being a father. He had never been present for Jiyong's younger years and when he was , he was always cold and distant. He used to beat Jiyong just to 'prepare' him for the life of a soldier ahead. Jiyong remembered one particular incident that had closed his heart against any form of care.

"Get up!" his father had shouted after pouring a bucket of ice cold water on the small 7 year old child

"But appa why?" A now trembling child had responded

"No questions!" Suddenly the child was now trying to dodge a barrage of hits from his father's bayonet. "I'm trying to teach you the harsh reality of the life of a soldier! I will not tolerate weakness. I see how that of a mother babies you. Enough!" His father bellowed as he continued to lash out.

A young Jiyong could only cower and cry out for the very person his father had belittled

"Mother!" he whimpered

 "She is no longer here. From now on its you and me. And I will make you into a man. Even if I have to break you to do it."

And so he did. Jiyong's father had beat him long into the night in order to prepare him for the life ahead. Training to be a soldier in Jiyong's area of the country began at age 9. Jiyong's father saw it fit to begin earlier so Jiyong was ahead of his peers. That night Jiyong also discovered his mother had ran off finally snapping after years of ire from Jiyong's father. She never even looked back for the son she left behind. Jiyong held that bitterness for years until it slowly added to many other incidents that made his heart ice cold.

Though the methods were a bit unorthodox it was extremely effective as Jiyong developed into a top soldier. At age 16 Jiyong was already leading successful military campaigns. They were constant and mercilessly executed. Many thought it was due to ambition that Jiyong undertook so many stays away from his homeland. But it was out of the desire to get away from his father that Jiyong was always eager to take on long expeditions away from home. That is why 3 years later at the age of 19 Jiyong didn't balk at the mundanee task of resting in a small, obscure village to gather information about a growing rebel force. His duty was to stay for a few months and return ready for more glorious battles. But thats not exactly how things happened. Jiyong never expected to meet her. He never expected to care for someone and want to give up everything for her. He never expected either that as soon as he found his happiness he'd have to leave it.

"Or I'll pay your woman a visit." the words the commander had said that night. Jiyong knew how serious a threat like that from Commander Kang was. He was a notorious brute who was somehow lauded for his and pillage of various places. He wouldn't put it over the bastard to touch his Chaerin. So thats why he had to leave her. It was time for him to stop acting like he could ever escape the path forged for him as a soldier. His duties were to his country and once that was set what else he wanted in life simply didn't matter. He always boasted about how brave he was, but it wasn't until then that he realized how much of a coward he was. And how awful he really was for leaving her behind with false hope. He knew he'd never be able to meet her again yet he had told her, he had promised her...

"Kwon I think this is the village!" A younger soldier called hours later as the troop tried to adjust to the darkness around them. They had arrived in a shabby looking town made up of nothing more than a few shacks here and there.

"Why the hell are we going to stay in this dump?" Jiyong voiced out.

Almost instantly a large older woman appeared seemingly out of the darkness.

"Welcome soldiers. Do you need a place to rest?" The woman addressed them. As another soldier took care of the details and told her of their situation, Jiyong absent-mindedly looked up to meet the woman's face.

Madame Dong. The same woman he remembered had been so cruel to Chaerin. There she was in the flesh.

That meant... Jiyong looked wildly around him, quickly whipping his head from side to side looking for signs of familiarity. The village was much poorer than the last time Jiyong had been there which is why he didn't instantly recognize it. But then Jiyong caught a glimpse of that cliff. The cliff where he would meet her..

Jiyong wanted nothing more than to desert his men there and go and seek her. But he wasn't sure if she'd even still be waiting there for him, so he followed his soldiers  quietly into the inn.

Once his men had relaxed and unpacked they all quickly fell victim to the fatigue that had plagued them throughout their journey. Except one. Jiyong lay awake in his bed glancing at the blaring moonlight outside the window in his small room. He knew he should have just stayed put and not ruin anything, but he couldn't control himself. Silently Jiyong slipped out of his bed and out of the window in his closet of a room. He didn't exactly know where his feet were taking him. He just knew he needed to see her.

Jiyong found his feet slipping as he let himself fall over the edge of the cliff. He slid down roughly right in front of the small crevice that led to the spring. With weak knees and shaky legs Jiyong stepped into the small crevice and looked into the small cave. He saw the spring just as he had remembered it. But most importantly he saw a woman.

She was in the middle of undressing as she let her white robe cascade down her shoulders, her back, and then finally to the ground of the cave. Jiyong held back a gasp as he observed the new scars that ran across her once slender milky white back. Harsh whip marks covered most of her skin as well as deep purple bruises. The woman slowly removed her long hair from her back and tied it up in a neat bun. She then turned to step into the pool. Jiyong noted the curvature of her round supple s as well as the pure white color of them. His eyes traveled down to the rest of her body left exposed without her robe.

he knew he should have left right there. He should have saved himself the heartache and granted himself this one last memory of her. But foolishly instead he stepped farther into the cave and called out her name.

"Chaerin."