And if I see you can't do what the others because of your arm, I'll send you home... Leave this camp today if you feel it will be too much for you.

He heard these sentences in his dream continuously. They were haunting him as the strict, deep voice whispered them in to his ear. Taemin woke up, shouting; sweat was sparkling on his forehead, his chest was rising faster then it should have, and when he tried to change his position he kicked a stick, what was in the ground, accidentally, so the white tent fell on to him and buried the boy.

In the previous day, after they had finished the cleaning in the camp, everybody had to make their own tent. Because the soldiers were busy with theirs Taemin had to fight with the white cloth alone, and although nobody was near to him, he did not want to take a risk to anyone see him as he used both of his arms. Especially after he noticed the councilor and the captain were watching him all day; like they were waiting for him to make any mistake.

"What happened here?"

He put his left arm next to his body as he heard the voice, and tried to get rid of the tent's thin material. A hand grabbed him from outside, and it saved Taemin from under the tent.

The fresh, morning air was a real gift for the boy, while he was clinging to his savior. He was lucky he visited the camp doctor after dinner, and he refused the man's help, though, the doctor gave him bandage gladly, and told Taemin to search him if he needed anything. Taemin did not need anything but bandage to cover his left arm from his shoulder to his wrist. If he did not think about it yesterday, he would have been in a big trouble now.

"Lee Taehoon, is everything okay?"

Taemin looked up, squinting, at the man next to him, and quickly organized the thoughts in his head after he heard his brother's name. Of course, now he was Lee Taehoon. He nodded, quickly, and leaned away from the man, so he could not touch his arm.

As he saw there was a bowl of porridge in the grass with a spoon. The man seemed familiar, and when he noticed Taemin's gaze he laughed awkwardly.

"Breakfast has just started, but I didn't see you there, so I brought you some food. Eat it, and I'll make your tent."

He was the young man, who tried to calm Jonghyun down, not succesfully of course, but at least he was trying.

"Thank you for the breakfast, the help with the tent, and... thank you for yesterday." Taemin added quietly, and pulled the porridge closer, so he could eat it with the spoon.

"Maybe Jonghyun is a little bit hot-headed, but if you know him better you'll realize he isn't a bad person at all."

"So you know him well?"

"We can say we're kind of family" he fought with a rope, but finally he stepped back to take a look at his work. "Here, from now on maybe your tent won't try to kill you while you're sleeping. By the way" he wiped his hands in to his pants, and reached for Taemin's ", Lee Jinki. It's nice to finally meet you. I heard a lot about you."

"Oh." So this Jinki heard a lot about his brother; it made Taemin even more nervous.

"But don't worry, from what I heard I'm sure you won't have any problem in the camp. Don't listen to the Captain" he took the empty bowl from him, and helped him to stand up. "Change your clothes quickly, and let's go. I don't want to be late from the first training day."

When they arrived at the training place the councilor was walking through the soldiers, reading a name list to make sure everybody was there in the officially first day of the training. Jinki waved to someone, and nodded to Taemin to follow him.

"Lee Jinki?"

"I am here, ser." The man signed, when he stopped next to his friend.

"Lee Taehoon?"

"I am here!" Taemin raised his right arm, what made Daemok frown, but he had to make a little sign next to the boy's name on the list.

"Oh, so our friend, Taehoon, has some problem with waking up early?"

Taemin started to grind his teeth, when he heard the voice. He was tired, his heart was beating in his throat because of the nervousness, and now he had to deal with someone, who wanted him to go through hell.

"It's enough, gentlemen! It's not a pub!" Daemok shouted, when he got tired of the loud, morning talks.

"Then is it a restaurant?" Someone asked, laughing.

"Oh, I would like chicken!" Jinki said immediately, like a habit, with a smile on his face.

Jonghyun and Taemin looked at him with weird faces, what the eldest did not understand, so he looked back at his friend with a questioning look, but he just shrugged his shoulders and stomped with his feet, while he was waiting for anything to happen to them.

"I was looking for you everywhere! Look, I thought all night there is a bear in the camp, but when I followed the sound I found out it was just Daemok's snore... Oh, is it your bad arm?" Kibum pulled away from Taemin.

He was standing between Jinki and Taemin, hugging their shoulder. Kibum was resting his hand on Taemin's right shoulder, though, he pulled the boy closer, and when he realized it, he touched the boy's "injured" arm. Taemin knew his brother's injury well, so he smiled and looked at Kibum.

"Actually, it will be good if I'll feel anything. The flames had some effects on the nerves in my arm, and... this is why I don't always feel anything if someone touches me."

"Really?" Jonghyun clenched his fingers, Jinki rolled his eyes, and Kibum pulled Taemin closer to himself again.

"Wasn't it enough what you got yesterday? I thought you met my fist enough time for now." Kibum barked.

"What if I want to meet it again?"

"Soldiers!"

The hands fell off Jinki's and Taemin's shoulders. Everybody was in silence because of the voice, and they made a straight line in front of their captain. Suddenly Taemin forgot how to breathe, and when the rising sun was covered by a shadow he looked up.

Choi Minho was walking in front of the soldiers, but he stopped by the boy, just to make sure it was him, and he did not give up. Taemin clenched his right fist, what Minho could see too, and when he looked at the boy's eyes again he saw something in them. It was vocation and the desire of prove. He saw himself in the young man. Signing he understood Minho nodded and continued his way to the end of the line.

"As I said I want to see what you're capable of. But for real I am curious about your tenacity too. You can be a good fighter in the battle field, but if you can't make it till the really end, it means nothing. You have to fight until your heart beats, and until you can breathe" he removed his upper clothes, showing his muscular body, and started to searching for an arrow. "If this intrepidity is not in you, then..."

Taemin wished their captain would not find him always with his eyes. He could not look away, he had to stand the brown eyes' test.

"Then you won't survive it, but if you will, your family won't be proud of you, and neither the kingdom. And now" he looked through the soldiers, for Taemin's biggest relief "the first task. It's just my curiosity. You will try to do it, when you want to from now on, but the winner won't get any special thing, although it will be enough to me if I can see your tenacity."

He pulled the bow's string strongly, and targeted at the sky. The soldiers did not understand what his target was, then when they followed the arrow's way they saw a tall column from wood, and there was the red arrow on the top of it. Minho looked at his work with satisfaction, put the bow back to its place, and walked to the column.

"Lee Taehoon."

He knew it was going to happen. He felt it in his bones. The captain decided it yesterday that he had no place among the soldiers, and it seemed he wanted to do everything to not fight together against the Japanese when the time would come.

The young boy took a deep breath between his teeth, feeling his mates' look on himself. He looked up carefully at Jinki and Kibum, who were standing next to him, gulping, and when the younger among them nodded and pushed Taemin ahead gently, the boy walked to their captain.

"I brought what you asked, Captain." Daemok did not use any kind of respect in his tone.

Taemin and the other soldiers were looking at the two golden pucks, what had red ribbons. As they could see Councilor Daemok could barely hold them.

"Maybe, have you changed your mind?" The gloating smile was on the old man's face, but Minho pulled himself together, and took one of the golden pucks.

With a deep breath he tied the ribbon on to Taemin's right wrist, and when he let it go the golden puck's weight almost pulled the boy on to the ground. Some men were laughing quietly in the line, but Jonghyun kicked them on their ankles. He did not like the boy, but those things seemed heavy. He was curious how the laughing men would hold them.

Taemin tried to lift the puck, but he failed. Minho tried to hide his feelings on his face, when he reached for the other gold, and went back to the boy. He could not tie it on to his injured arm.

"It was your idea to climb the column with these on their wrists, wasn't it?" Daemok noticed the hesitation.

"I can do this." Taemin said so quietly, only the man in front of him could hear it.

He looked in to the boy's eyes, what were still sparkling with boldness, so Minho slowly touched his left wrist, feeling the cloth of the bandage, and tied the ribbon on to it strongly.

"Captain! I want to try it first!"

Everybody looked at the volunteer. Kibum and Jonghyun looked at each other after the man between them had left the line. He bowed to their captain, and stepped next to Taemin.

"Lee Jinki! Go back to your place. As you can see, it's Lee Taehoon's turn." Daemok showed the way back to the line. 

While Minho was thinking about the offer Taemin walked away from them, and before Jinki could have stopped him he was at the column. He knew he could not do it even with two arms, but now he had no chance. He thought about his childhood, when his brother taught him how to climb the tree, but he always fell down, and he never reached the top of it. He had to cling strongly with his legs during the climbing. Yes, it was the only way, and he had to pay attention to not to move his left arm.

Taking a big booth he jumped and as he lifted his right arm the ribbon wrapped around the column, but when he wanted to jump again to cling with his legs, the ribbon went weak, and Taemin fell on to the ground. The heavy pucks landed centimeters from his leg.

The soldiers hissed, now nobody had the mood to laugh at him. They knew well they would end up like him. Jinki ran to the boy, and looked at him from his head to his toe.

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine" he watched as Jinki removed the ribbon from his wrist, and tied it on to his own. "But why are you helping me?"

"I owe you." Jinki said with a smile on his face, and took the other puck too.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you, but I guess now I have to try to climb this column" he stood up from the ground, crouched his neck, and stepped to the column.

Taemin stood up too, wiped the dust from his clothes, and went back to the line with a little limp, next to Kibum, who looked at him questioningly, but the boy just nodded with a weak smile, and watched as Jinki was climbing. He had a technique to climb the column slowly, but his foot slipped, and he could not pull himself back.

Neither of the trainees could get the arrow, so Minho thought mayhe they should do easier things first. Most of them had still pains because of the fall, but their trainer did not care. He gave long sticks to them, and organized them in to lines. He showed them how to hold the stick, what Taemin had to do with only one hand, of course. After he showed them the movements, he broke two vases in the air with his stick, earning the men's admiration.

The stick fell out of Taemin's hand during almost every second move, and because there was a line before him too, sometimes he hit the man before him, Kim Jonghyun. Taemin knew it wouldn't be his day either.

And it just became worse, when Jonghyun found a scorpion in the grass during thinking about his revenge. Nobody paid attention to him, so he took the little animal with two fingers, and when Taemin showed his back to him, he just dropped the scorpion in to his upper clothes.

The mess was immediately noticed by their captain, who stepped to Taemin, but the boy tried to stop the itching feeling on his back so he was hitting even the air with his stick, almost reaching Minho's head with it, but he could lean away just in time.

"You should have beaten your pair down, not the whole army." The man grabbed Taemin by his clothes' collar.

"I am sorry... I didn't want to... I had a little problem, and..." The itching feeling disappeared, and Taemin saw as the scorpion was running away in the grass.

"Go back to your place, and after dinner you are going to help with the dishes."

Taemin let the air in his lungs out, when the captain let him go and went back to his place, where he could see everybody.

The trainees were really tired by the end of the day. Every soldier's body was covered by purple and green patches, because they practiced the fighting without weapons too, and who was not good enough he had to fight with Choi Minho, so everybody tried to do their best to avoid that situation.

After dinner Taemin bowed to the cook, who led him to a pot, what was filled with warm water, next to it there were plates. He had no idea how he would do the dishes with one hand, but after he sat down in the dark and looked around, he realized no one was near to him. The cook was cleaning the tables, and the soldiers were in their tents or they were having a bath in the lake near to the camp place. Taemin pulled himself together, and put a plate in to the water with his left hand, while he started to wipe it with a rag in his other hand.

He did not know how much time he would have been needed if he did it with only one hand, but this way he could do it faster, because he always helped in the kitchen at home, not only with the cooking, but with the dishes too.

Suddenly he heard steps' sound, and Taemin dropped a plate, what he was holding in his "injured" hand, because he got scared. His face went white as he looked at the way of the sound, and he did not even know he should be happy or not, when he saw Jinki's tired smile.

"I thought I should help you, but as I see you could do it alone."

He did not know what he sould say to that, but he had to figure something out, so he cleared his throat, and watched as Jinki sat down in front of him.

"I found a way, so I could do it really quickly."

"It must have been very tiring. Let me do the rest of them."

"The captain..."

"He chose you, didn't he?" he sent a smirk to the boy, while he dipped the dirty plate in to the water.

"Maybe my introduction wasn't the best. Oh. You said Jonghyun is kind of family to you. What did you mean?"

Jinki put the last plate to its place, then wiped his hands in to a rag, what he gave to Taemin, who wiped his unmoving hand too with the right one.

"Jonghyun's sister is my wife. Actually we grew up together, our families had great relationship."

"Your wife?" Taemin got curious. "How long have you been married?"

"I was twenty one when I proposed her, and I was twenty two, when we got married, so it was five years ago. And what about you? Do you have a wife?"

He saw the terrible afternoon again, when he went to Han Nari's house, and he talked to the girl, but it did not end well.

"No, but I think it would be too early."

"Why? How old are you?" Jinki was surprised by the boy's words.

Taemin scolded himself in his thoughts because of this, and he wiped a dark lock away from his forehead, while he was thinking about his brother's age.

"Twenty three."

"And haven't you found the perfect girl, yet?"

Actually Taemin had never thought about it. It was true, not everybody finds the One before his twenties, but he did not even meet anybody who could at least beat his heart a little bit. He shook his head, and Jinki sighed.

"If the war is over, you have to meet someone. I heard Kibum has a cousin, Jinri. As he said she is nice and beautiful."

"Oh." Taemin only could say this.

One of the reasons behind his decision to join the army was avoiding the marriage, and even here he had to talk about this.

"Is something wrong? Or... don't you want to get married? My grandfather was thirty, when he got married, so... you don't have to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid, just..."

One of the tents, what was the councilor's, opened, and their captain stepped out of it not really in a good mood. Taemin felt a little bit guilt because he caused so many problems to the new captain even in these two days. Minho walked by the dining tent, and for a moment as the two men appeared in his sight, he looked at them. Jinki did not notice him, because he was waiting for Taemin to finish his sentence, but the young boy's gaze connected with the other's. There were must be so many responsibilities on his shoulders now, because his father gave the title, captain, for him only yesterday, if the gossips were true.

"Just?"

"Hm?"

When he heard Jinki's voice Minho walked away in to his tent. Taemin could finally go back to their coversation, but to be honest, he did not want to talk about marriage, so he quickly changed the topic.

"You said you owe me. What did you mean by that?"

"You couldn't know it was me, but I remember. There was a war a few years ago, and you were there too."

Oh. Taemin was not ready for this. He did not know he would meet his brother's mates here. He thought there would be only trainees.

"I'm with the trainees because of my arm." It was the only thing what came in to Taemin's mind. "So what happened to you?"

"That was my first time in a war. Before that always my older brothers or my father went, but when they were ill or injured I went instead of them. I thought it would be better if I get my training again now. So... my wounds were really bad, I could have died that day, but somebody took me to the doctor from the mountain. When I woke up I was alone, but the doctor told me the man's name who saved my life" he looked deeply in to the boy's eyes, who was afraid of the end of the story. "Lee Taehoon. I swore if I meet you, I will do anything to pay it back."

It was his brother, who saved Jinki's life. Taemin had never done anything like that, and unfortunately, he doubted he could ever do that in his life.