After two rotations of the sun, Taeyeon found herself permanently staying with Sooyeon’s family. It really was the persuasion of Sooyeon’s dad that caused Taeyeon to become a permanent member of their family. When the older man came back from his business trip, he found Sooyeon playing happily with the younger girl. That was when he decided to keep Taeyeon around for the sake of his daughter’s happiness and Taeyeon did contribute around the household. Even though Sooyeon failed at teaching Taeyeon basket weaving, Taeyeon was still useful as a chef and often tended to their fields.

“Daughter can you load the wagon today with the larger baskets? I also have a special order for 3 more just the same.”

Sooyeon brought her father some rice wine, “Of course appa. Is there a date we need to obey?”

Shaking his head, “No no. I think that uncle is kind enough to let us take a while with it. He knows our family situation.”

Sooyeon nodded, “That is a relief. Is it okay if I excuse myself to pack the wagon?”

“Yes.” Her father waved her off.

Going around to the back, Sooyeon smiled when she saw Taeyeon tending to the small garden, “I don’t think anything will grow if you keep poking the soil.”

Taeyeon nearly jumped hearing another person behind her, “I am not poking it. These whose will help the water get into the soil better…”

Sooyeon nudged Taeyeon with her shoulder, “I was joking. I know how to grow these plants too. You forgot that this was my garden before you came along.”

Taeyeon smiled at the girl crouched next to her, “You will see much bigger vegetables when I finish.”

Sooyeon gave Taeyeon a harder nudge causing the smaller girl to fall into the garden, “Haha! Serves your right! I am a good gardener.”

Taeyeon stood up to wipe off the dirt from her dress, “I never said you were bad…I am just better!”

Sooyeon scrunched her noise at the other girl, “Says the girl who can’t make a basket for a mere 5 year old.”

Walking over to the wagon, Taeyeon trailed behind Sooyeon, “It isn’t my fault! I just have stubby fingers…are you making fun of my birth?”

Sooyeon opened the shed with all the baskets, “I think your height could also be something I can make fun of your birth.”

Although she knew Sooyeon was joking, Taeyeon couldn’t help feeling a bit depressed about her smaller stature.

“Taeyeon help me with the bigger ones?” Sooyeon said as she struggled with one of the larger baskets.

“Wow these are big. How long does it take for you to finish one of these?”

Sooyeon grabbed one end of the basket while Taeyeon took the other, “I am not sure. About a month if I have other work.”

Taeyeon marveled at the basket. To her, the braided work was almost like a piece of art, “you are so talented…”

Sooyeon heard Taeyeon’s little comment that made her blush, “Thank you. If only you were better so you could help me make some of the simpler parts of the basket.”

Both girls grunted as they hoisted the basket onto the wagon.

“Are you still practicing?”

Taeyeon laughed, “For a while, I thought I could practice and do it well, but I must say as the summer turned to winter, that hope was long lost. I’d rather spend my time in the garden and assist you than continue a trade I have no skill in.”

Sooyeon helped Taeyeon get the second basket on the wagon, “You never know. Maybe 5…no 10 years down the line, you will finally make your first braid!”

Sooyeon stumbled when an angry Taeyeon huffed, “Yah! I already made my first braid successfully…it is the second one that is so hard.”

Sooyeon picked up the basket and laughed loudly, “Why do you always look like a child when you pout? It is very cute.”

The pout quickly turned into a very flushed face, “J-just because you are a few years older than me, you don’t have to keep saying I am a child.”

“If you stop looking like a child, then I may change my opinion.” Sooyeon stuck her tongue out at Taeyeon causing the later to chase her.

The two girls forgot about their task at hand as they chased one another around the fields. With the sunset glowing in the background and the wheat blowing side to side, it was if the girls were just two shadows running back and forth.

“Sooyeon you can’t run forever!”

Looking back at Taeyeon huffing, “neither can you chase me forever!”

It was true, Taeyeon stopped trying to catch her breath, “H-how are y-you so fast?”

Sooyeon stopped running and jogged back to Taeyeon’s side, “I am young? Who knows. I think it is more suspicious at your age you can’t run more than a few meters.”

Taeyeon had enough and fell backwards to look up at the darkening sky, “So tired!”

Sooyeon giggled and went onto her back more gracefully than Taeyeon, “Taeyeon?”

Looking over at Sooyeon, Taeyeon smiled, “Hmm?”

“Taeyeon if we were to get married, could we still do this?”

Taeyeon had no plans for marriage and she was sure Sooyeon didn’t have any current suiters, “Why the sudden question?”

Turning her attention away from Taeyeon, Sooyeon picked a blade of grass to play with, “My father…he isn’t getting any younger. I wonder if he will soon try to find a man to take over. I can’t run the business myself…although the thought of leaving you pains my heart much more than the thought of marriage.”

Taeyeon smiled and put her hand on her heart, “You will always be here. Buried there for eternity.” Turning over to her side, Taeyeon leaned over Sooyeon and placed her hand with Sooyeon’s on Sooyeon’s heart, “Will I be here too?”

Feeling the warmth of Taeyeon’s hand over her own made her heart beat so fast that it hurt, “always.”

Taeyeon smiled gently at Sooyeon, “I don’t know what love is but what I feel for you must be it.”

Sooyeon was surprised to hear Taeyeon say such a thing to her. The girl was usually shy and playful, hardly ever so serious, but something in those deep brown eyes said everything.

Seeing Sooyeon’s shocked face Taeyeon quickly retracted her hand and was ready to roll over but a slender hand grabbed her wrist, “S-Sooyeon…”

The older girl turned to her side to face Taeyeon, “Does love make your heart ache?”

Taeyeon looked down at their fingers that naturally intertwined, “It aches but it isn’t painful…”

“Taeyeon,” Sooyeon nearly whispered, “My heart has ached for you since long ago…”

Hearing Sooyeon confess her feelings knocked the wind out Taeyeon. It was almost too much. Too many emotions were close to bubbling out that she wanted to cry. Words were not enough to tell Sooyeon that she wanted to hear those since the time they met. Friendship was not the only thing she wanted from Sooyeon, but how was she to confess that she wanted more than anything to run away together. Neither one of them would be confined to their parent’s expectations or have society shun them out. A world to themselves was a farfetched dream, but one she thought could be possible with Sooyeon.

“What do we do with these feelings?”

Taeyeon quickly leaned in to kiss Sooyeon. Their lips softly brushed against one another for a short moment, “I want to love you…will you let me?”

Sooyeon leaned in closer to feel the warmth of the other woman pressed against her, “I want to love you too.” Taking a hold of Taeyeon’s cheek, Sooyeon guided the younger woman to close the gap between their lips. With more force, their lips interlocked in a heated exchange. Subdued passions were finally released as Taeyeon finally claimed her home.

-------------------------------------------------

“Girls will you be okay on your own? Remember Uncle Kwon is down the hill.” For some reason, Sooyeon’s father looked distraught leaving the women by themselves on this trip.

Going up to husband, Sooyeon’s mother gave him a reassuring squeeze on the arm, “You just be careful on the roads.”

The older man sighed as he hauled a package over his shoulder, “Are you sure…I can postpone this one…”

Smiling to relieve the man’s worries, Sooyeon’s mother gave him a kiss on the cheek, “It is fine. I will listen around the marketplace. The girls should be fine here. We don’t have many houses around so it is safe.”

Feeling a bit better about the situation, Sooyeon’s father gave his girls a wave before heading out the door. All the girls watched the older man leave with his wagon and horse, “A month right?”

Sooyeon’s mother turned to her daughter, “Maybe sooner. We will see.”

“Umma, why was Appa reluctant to leave?”

“There is some discontent near us, but it is useless to worry. We have survived many generations on this land.”

Sooyeon sighed before looking back to Taeyeon, “Are we allowed to go play?”

Going back to doing to the laundry, Sooyeon’s mother waved the girls off, “Don’t wander too far.”

Taking Taeyeon’s hand, Sooyeon led both of them out the door, “Be back before dark like always umma!”

Taeyeon held onto Sooyeon’s fingers tightly as they ran through the fields until they were out of sight of the home, “Sooyeon...I don’t think we should go too far. You heard your mother.”

Sooyeon rolled her eyes as she looked back at the other girl, “Taeyeon there is always war. Never has the war gone past the boarders so we are fine.”

“B-but your father looked worried this time. I have never seen him cease is brow before.”

Sooyeon stopped walking backwards and took both Taeyeon’s hands into her own, “Taeyeon please trust me. We are fine.”

Taeyeon looked into the sincerity of Sooyeon’s eyes as she sighed, “Okay.”

Grabbing ahold of Taeyeon’s hand tighter, Sooyeon dragged the other girl along, “Come on. We don’t have much time and I want to show you something.”

“Show me something? Is there anything new you still haven’t shown me?”

Sooyeon smiled brightly, “I have shown you all my secret places except one. This is the secretest of the secret places I know.”

“This is a surprise. I thought you shared everything with me.”

“I am...now!” Sooyeon whined as she dragged off the smaller girl into a wooded area where the fields ended.

“I-Is it safe here?” Taeyeon looked around the woods that blocked out most of the sunlight, “I am not sure I like this place.”

“Taeyeon this is just a passage to get to the place I want to show you. “

“Oh that is good...I have had my fair share of scary wooded areas.”

The girls skipped over rocks and wound around trees while they ventured deeper into the woods. Sooyeon was confident about how to get to the location so Taeyeon never let go of the slender fingers that were her only guiding light.

“Ok just around the big rock and we are here!”

Sooyeon cleared the branches of a bush and the scenery that lay ahead took Taeyeon’s breath away, “I have never seen one before.”

There stood a large waterfall that led into a small lake on the bottom. Seeing the crisp water cascading down the ledge was more than anything Taeyeon expected, “Taeyeon...here is my – no our – escape.  No one else knows of this place and we always dreamed of escaping reality...you see here we can. Our oasis.”

Taeyeon spun around thrice to take in the natural beauty surrounding her. It was like she transported into another universe to see such a picturesque place, “Sooyeon...how did you...”

“How did I find this place? I don’t know how to explain other than a dream led me here.”

Taeyeon stopped turning around to face Sooyeon, “A dream?”

Sooyeon nodded, “Yes. You know the day before I met you, I had a dream of going to this place. It was so vivid that I had to try finding it. In fact, I believe this place helped me find you too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t normally go far from my parent’s home but after that dream, I had to find this place. I saw the rain clouds clearing from last night’s rain so I ran out in search of a place in the forest that had a waterfall. It was just as my dream told me. I followed the same path I ran in the dream and to my surprise, here it was. My dream was a reality! I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I left to tell umma but on my way back, I stumbled into a person.”

“Oh when you found me?”

“Yes. I found you and this place became forgotten to me at that moment. I got caught up taking care of a stranger that I even forgot this place was here. Until now. I know our love is forbidden and we can never freely express feelings but here we can. I could yell to the world that you mean more to me than any man and we could show our affection without judgement.” Sooyeon huffed in excitement.

Hearing the words slip from Sooyeon’s mouth gave Taeyeon the same rush of excitement, “We can be free.”

Sooyeon was smiling ear to ear as she took Taeyeon’s face into her hands, “Yes. This place is ours and here our feelings don’t need to be hidden.”

Taeyeon was already breathless but when Sooyeon put her warm lips on her own, Taeyeon became dizzy. Although the reality that this place provided was fake, Taeyeon in the promise of loving Sooyeon freely without prejudice. For a time in her life, Taeyeon felt the true power of freedom. Although this freedom did not last for more than a moment.

Taeyeon stood in front of the waterfall with Sooyeon in her embrace, “The sky is darkening. I hate to leave here.”

Sooyeon turned to hold Taeyeon by the waist, “It won’t be the last.”

Taeyeon smiled at Sooyeon and gave her a light kiss, “I know. Should we head back?”

Sooyeon pouted until she released Taeyeon, “I guess. Time to go back to basket weaving and you have your garden to tend to.”

“It seems we have other things that also need our love.”

Sooyeon giggled as she interlaced their hands together, “It seems so.”

The girls walked out of the oasis and the wooded area skipping along the beaten path to an old folk toon. Both girls felt like all the worries of the world disappeared the moment they stepped foot into their sanctuary. That is what it made it even more cruel when they watched the nearby town burning in the distance, “S-Sooyeon...”

Watching the city burn to ashes as the screaming of citizens echoed into the night shattered many newly created dreams, “Umma...”

Within seconds, Taeyeon saw Sooyeon dash off into the fields, “Sooyeon stop!”

Sooyeon didn’t stop. She needed to make sure her mother was safe. Their house was not near the city, thankfully, but there was the chance of whoever burned the city would come after the farmers.

Taeyeon tried to keep up with Sooyeon’s pace but the older girl was far too fast.  The younger girl also tried calling out to Sooyeon many times hoping she would stop. She wanted to convince Sooyeon that it wasn’t safe, that they should return to the one place they knew was hidden. Yet, there was no way to stop Sooyeon from dashing towards the home that sheltered her family. After all, family was everything.

Taeyeon stopped when she saw Sooyeon’s home on fire. Seeing the flames seethe through the windows, that was when Taeyeon new all was lost in that moment. Yet, Taeyeon saw Sooyeon continuing to approach the house, “Sooyeon stop! It isn’t safe.”

“Umma! Umma!” Sooyeon cried as she ran towards the heated flames. However the fire was too intense and Sooyeon couldn’t enter the home. Eventually Taeyeon caught up and tried pulling Sooyeon back from the flames.

“You can’t go in. I-If she got out before...she could be around here looking for us, but if inside, she wouldn’t survive. Don’t you see it is not helpful to enter?”

Sooyeon was sobbing at the thought of her mother being burned alive by barbarians, “Umma!” Soon enough, all the yelling and thrashing wore Sooyeon out and she collapsed into Taeyeon’s arms while they watched the house burn.

Tears stained both of the girl’s cheeks until no more fell. In the dark night, Taeyeon watched the house sizzle into a blacken mass. Yet the horror of the night didn’t end there.

The voices of soldiers approaching shook Taeyeon and Sooyeon out of their depressed stupor. Running around the house to hide, Taeyeon held Sooyeon close, “a-are they Chinese?”

Sooyeon listened closely, “w-what are they doing here?”

“Maybe they are invading?”

Sooyeon and Taeyeon heard the voices get farther and farther away so they relaxed thinking the danger was over. Yet, just as they were to emerge from their hiding place, Taeyeon turned around to see a solider right next to them.

“这里! 这里!”

Both girls were paralyzed with fear when the soldiers saw them hiding. They were trapped.

Sooyeon was the first to be dragged off by one of the men. Taeyeon surged forward to defend Sooyeon but was quickly thrown into the wall of the house.

“我们应该做什么?”

Taeyeon watched helpless to what the men were saying.

“命令要杀了.”

The fear turned into something even more indescribable as one soldier pulled out their knife and stabbed Sooyeon in the stomach.  Fear, rage, sadness all bubbled into adrenaline that pushed Taeyeon forward to tackle the man nearly twice her size. Both of them fell backwards and fellow soldiers reached to pull the tiny woman off their comrade. Taeyeon continued to thrash and throw her fists at the man who stabbed the only person she ever loved.

It took two men to pull Taeyeon away. The girl was crying and screaming profanities causing the soldiers to throw her to the ground. Ready to get back to fight, one of the soldiers hit her in the head with the blunt of his sword knocking her out cold.

The morning dew covered Taeyeon’s face as she came to. Her head throbbing from the impact she received the night before, but the pain was dulled with one thought, “Sooyeon!”

She frantically looked around to find Sooyeon lying in the same spot as before. Blood stained her beautiful gown as her body lay cold. Taeyeon pulled herself up to join the other woman, “Sooyeon...Sooyeon wake up. Please wake up.” Shaking the body repeatedly, Taeyeon came to one conclusion, she was dead. It was if the world stopped at that moment. Everything she ever cared about was gone.

Taeyeon then spent the next several hours crying over the dead body. She would then use a few more hours taking in the precious face of Sooyeon with thoughts of how to live without her. The girl was supposed to be the key to her happiness in the future.

The night was close meaning animals would soon smell the blood and come for food. Looking around, Taeyeon found some old baskets and cut them open to make a mat. With what little strength she had left, Taeyeon pushed Sooyeon onto the mat, “Sooyeon I will take you to somewhere you can rest happily.”

Pulling along the dead weight, Taeyeon was determined to take Sooyeon away from the burned house. Exhausted and hungry, Taeyeon kept pulling Sooyeon along not caring that her hands were turning bloody and callused. When they hit the woods, it took all of Taeyeon’s strength and weight to navigate the mat over uneven surfaces and rocks but soon enough, Taeyeon stood in front of that waterfall and smiled.

Falling to her knees, Taeyeon looked over Sooyeon, “Our oasis right?”

There was a small ditch near the edge of the waterfall and tree line so Taeyeon dragged the body further over and carefully placed it in the ditch. Every branch that covered Sooyeon’s face, caused a new tear to form and fall onto the body, “If only we had more time.”

With the last branch covering the body, Taeyeon collapsed and cried over her one and only love.

Day by Day...

Taeyeon looked around in a panic like she heard a voice, “H-hello?”

No one was around.

Day by Day...

Looking around frantically, Taeyeon new she was hearing a voice or was she just hallucinating.

Love is eternal. Love can come again.

She can’t be hallucinating. Taeyeon stood up to survey the area again, “C-come out! I know someone is hiding.” Still no one was to be seen. Taking a few more moments to look around, Taeyeon couldn’t find another person. Giving up, Taeyeon kneeled back down over the grave, “Sooyeon I am not going crazy right?”

Time will stop but when two hearts match, only then can you live again.

Just then, a huge gust of wind surrounded Taeyeon. Confused and disoriented, Taeyeon looked around frantically, but the wind blocked her vision. Round and round the wind surrounded Taeyeon in a furry. The phrases she heard repeated, Love is eternal. Love can come again. Love is eternal. Love can come again. Love is eternal. Love can come again. Disoriented and tired, Taeyeon collapsed.

Author's Note

So many emotions! 

Tell me what you readers think :)