The room was clean and white, crisp in the early morning sunlight that penetrated through the windows.  He stood there, motionless, gazing at the many corners and areas of the room that were filled with memories.  His heart ached a bit with each slow step he took, gazing at the worn wood.  It was at the center of the room where his mother sang to him at night.  At the far corner, he would spend hours reading in front of the bookshelf his father built for him.

His throat tightened at the thought of his father.  He had been missing for three years.  No word came from him, though he and his family had a feeling he was alive and well.  He shook his head.  There can be no presumptions for an unpredictable man like his father.

“Jungkook-ah?”

He turned and saw his mother standing in the doorway.  She was a pretty woman, whose hair was long and neatly wavy down her shoulders.  Her complexion hinted signs of upcoming age, especially when she frowned.

“Oh, do you need something?” he asked.

She smiled a bit and shook her head.  “No,” she replied softly.  “I just wanted to see what you were doing.”

“Well, I’m all packed,” he said, sighing with relief.  “It took me long enough to try to get my pillows and bed sheets in there, but I think it should do.”

His mother laughed as she hugged him with tears streaming down her cheeks.  She held him tightly, and he hugged her back, his shoulders shaking.  “You don’t have to go, do you?” she whispered.  “You can just stay here.  If I lose you too, I don’t know what I’ll do…what dear little Jung-ah will do…”

He pulled back and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.  “Mom,” he said, the word unfamiliar and heavy to his tongue.  He smiled sadly.  “Dad’s not dead.  I can still find him.”

“Is that why you’re going?” she asked.  She shook her head.  “Oh, Jungkook, you can’t --”

“Mom, you can’t believe what they say,” Jungkook said.  “Don’t you have that feeling that he’s still alive too?”

His mother said nothing.  She only looked into his eyes with tears of despair and sadness.  Her son had grown so much over the years, exceeding expectations of maturity all around.  To her, he looked just like his father, with the same jet-black hair and defined facial features.  She touched his face and said nothing, her expression pouring out her feelings.  

“I’ve given up,” she admitted softly.  “It’s been seven years since he left.  I don’t think there’s hope anymore…”  She frowned.  “It’s the kind of love that…when you love each other so much, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re together or apart, because no matter what, you can still feel their feelings.”

Jungkook hugged his mother again.  He shivered, afraid of letting his own tears fall.

They walked out of their small home at the edge of the city.  The dirt road was empty.  He would have to walk at least four miles out in order to make it to the small group of soldiers stationed at the heart of the city.  From there, he would be transferred.

Or at least that’s what he hoped.

He gave one last hug to his mother, who was holding the petite, six-year-old Jung, who grasped onto his rough t-shirt with her tiny fingers, unwilling to let him go.  He kissed her soft cheek and told her sweet nothings of coming back again, though he wasn’t entirely sure of that either.

With that, he turned his back and walked away.  

“Don’t look back,” he told himself.  “Don’t look back, Jungkook.”

He could hear his mother’s stifled sobs and her sister calling out to him, though he kept walking.  Tears welled in his own eyes with each step.

He couldn’t turn back.

Because if he did, he would run straight into his mother’s arms and never leave again.

Love is like a rose

It sways as a gentle breeze blows

Its faith is strong, and pretty as a bird’s song

Its beauty lasts forever, all year long

“Name.”

Jungkook opened his mouth, and closed it again, unable to answer.  He could still turn back.

“Come on, son, we don’t have all day!” the old commander barked, standing up from his seat.  His hard eyes glared into Jungkook’s.  “Are you coming, or not?”

“Jeon Jungkook!” Jungkook squeaked.  “The name’s Jeon Jungkook, sir!”

The commander sat down, grunting as she looked down at his papers.  Without looking up, he pointed behind him.  “Trucks loading up.  Go.”

“Yes, sir,” Jungkook said, his voice strong, though he had not an ounce of confidence left.

His steps were shaky as he walked past the makeshift table set up and walked around to the many trucks parked out in the alley way behind the small store that stood.  He tightened his fists around his small bag as he walked.  He could make out strong figures as he got closer.  They were laughing, having fun messing with each other.  He felt his body tense as they finally noticed him walking over.

A man nodded in his direction.  “Hey, you!”

Jungkook blinked before looking behind him.  There was no one, and he realized that the man was talking to him.  He turned back around to see the man smiling, amused.

“Yeah, you, kid,” the man said.  He jumped down from the top of the truck and walked over casually.  

He had dark eyes you could easily get lost in, coated with a mysterious reality about the world Jungkook had yet to know.  He was tall and muscular, obviously a trained soldier in combat, though his skin could beg to differ, its smoothness and tan color showing from underneath his cap.  

He held out his hand.  “The name’s Taehyung.  Kim Taehyung.”

“J-Jeon Jungkook,” Jungkook stammered, gently grasping Taehyung’s firm grip.

“Ha, you’re a farm boy, aren’t you?” the man laughed a bit.  “You’ve got the handshake of a little kid.”  He smacked Jungkook’s shoulder playfully.  “You have to learn to toughen up around here.  If you were in my squad --”

“Kim, you forget you don’t have a squad,” another man said as he walked over.  “I’m in charge.”

Taehyung scoffed, his arms crossed.  Jungkook let out a soft laugh.  The man was grown up, but for some reason, he seemed to have the mentality of a child still.

“I’m Captain Kim Namjoon,” the second man said.  “You don’t have to call me Captain.  Just Namjoon is okay.”

“Jeon Jungkook,” Jungkook said with a purse of his lips.  He shook Namjoon’s hand, finding it a bit more comforting than Taehyung’s.  

Namjoon nodded.

“Okay, puppies!” the commander shouted as he walke