The first time they met, it was raining all day.

Jaehwan was drenched, his uniform sticking to his body like a second skin, making him uncomfortable as he thudded down on the bottom of the trench, every single part of his body aching. He couldn't hear the sounds of the war anymore, not quite like he used to; there was screaming and yelling and the sound of shooting, a bomb going off somewhere, and all he could think about was how nice it would feel to take a bath. He couldn't even feel the hunger that caused him to black out every ten minutes.

He heard footsteps from behind, feet padding through the mud with squelching noises, but he didn't stand up. He couldn't find a reason to defend himself. He couldn't think.

"Hey," someone breathed, and Jaehwan slowly looked to the side, seeing a boy around his age. He was wearing the same uniform as him, but Jaehwan had never seen him before, or maybe he had, his memory was just lacking. He had a gentle face, the kind you didn't see in the military after so many months of fighting in the war, because it broke everyone and crushed their soul, transformed their looks until you could tell who was a soldier and who was a civilian just by looking at their face. "You okay?" the boy asked over the explosions, and Jaehwan would have made a sarcastic remark if he'd found the energy for it. No one was okay in this place.

"I'm going to die today," Jaehwan replied, but the boy couldn't hear him, so he leant closer, aligning his ear to Jaehwan's mouth. Jaehwan spotted a small drop of mud on the round shell of his ear, and smiled at it, not even trying to wonder why. "I'm going to die today," he repeated, and the boy pulled back quickly with a worried look on his beautiful face.

"Are you injured somewhere? We can— I can take you to the infirmary, it's—"

"I'm not injured," Jaehwan said. "I'm just going to die."

The boy stared at him uncomprehendingly, probably thinking Jaehwan had gone mad. He hadn't, though, he just felt like it was the last day of his life, knew it very well, because people who are dying know when exactly they are going to close their eyes forever.

"Don't be so negative," the guy said, and Jaehwan snorted at him.

"We're in the middle of a ing war. How am I supposed to stay positive?"

"Wars have been won before," the boy said simply, and then, a quick glance at Jaehwan's name tag, "Jaehwan, we're going to make it. Trust me."

"I don't even know who you are."

An explosion shook the ground under them, and the guy peeked out of the trench cautiously. When he pulled his head back, he looked into Jaehwan's eyes, and Jaehwan's heart started aching from the warmth and hopefulness he found in the boy's gaze.

"Corporal Lee Hongbin," he said. "And from now on, your personal guardian angel."

He smiled—smiled while someone cried out in pain in the background; Corporal Lee Hongbin smiled at Jaehwan, dimples digging into his cheeks and his eyes glinting beautifully.

"I'm going to die," Jaehwan said stubbornly, utterly impassionate.

"I won't let you."

A small, warm, dry palm touched the back of Jaehwan's hand, fingertips sinking into the mud as Hongbin held Jaehwan's hand. Jaehwan blinked down at their intertwined fingers, and then back up at Hongbin's face—he wanted to beg Hongbin to save him, to help him, to flee the country with him, but he couldn't speak and the tears were stinging his eyes.

All he heard was a bang, and Hongbin's eyes turned wide, the smile melting off his face as the blood started to spread all over his chest.