Tao

Jongdae was more than surprised when he saw Tao in the morning. He shot up from his sleep, winced at his injury, and fell back into his pillow.

"Don't move so suddenly. You won't get better," Tao said.

"What're you doing here? I thought you would have..." he stopped as he glanced at Yoseob wrapping their sleeping things in a bundle. He took the pillow and blanket out from Jongdae, letting his head thump to the floor.

"I already know that he's not suppose to be here, but that won't make such a difference to the food rations," Yoseob said.

"You told him?"

"He found out," Tao said. "Let me change your bandages."

He pulled his shirt up and undid the gauze, scraping off the mashed leaves. The purple ring was already starting to shrink, and it wasn't as dark as before. Tao spread on the fresh paste he chewed that morning and wrapped new gauze, also doing the same for his foot.

"Wow. If you're not careful, you could lose your pants next," Yoseob said as he watched Tao work.

"Are you sure you didn't injure your legs?" Tao asked again.

"Yes. I am sure." Jongdae glared at Yoseob, but he didn't look particularly angry. "Hurry and pack the stuff. Morning call is always an hour after dawn. And if we miss it, we don't get breakfast. After that, we start walking again."

His inner clock read fifty-three minutes into the hour. They insisted that Tao stand outside and wait, since they were certain that Tao had no experience in tent handling. They were right, but at the rate the two were moving to dismantle the tent--Yoseob messily folding and refolding things and Jongdae on the ground complaining at his unfit folds--they would need an hour to pack everything.

Tao set the pot next to Jongdae, centered the sleeping stuff in the center, and folded the tarp out around it, tossing Yoseob his shoes as he hopped around on the bare ground.

"Hey," he said. "I thought you had no experience with tents."

Tying a knot, he did the same with the pot and tent cloth until there were two bundles on the ground.

"I don't," Tao said. "We have three minutes left before morning call, and you need to eat."

"Well, thanks to Tao, I can go help the cook three minutes earlier. See you guys later."

Jongdae waved as he left and turned to Tao. "You told him your name?"

"He said I didn't look like a Lu Han, but I need you to still call me that while we're with others."

"No problem. Help me up so we can get breakfast."

Tao hoisted him up as gently as he could and supported him through the campgrounds. Jongdae guided him to the 'kitchen' tent, pointing at the soldiers huddled around in huge groups.

"We have group leaders that account for our presence for breakfast and dinner, and then they report if we're here to the lieutenants."

"Which group do you belong to?"

"We," he laughed. "You're a part of our group now."

Tao couldn't stop himself from smiling. He had always had his unit in the military, but in this infantry camp he wasn't suppose to be in, it felt nice to belong somewhere with regular people. Then he remembered the 'account for presence' part.

"Won't the others notice that I wasn't here before?"

Jongdae shrugged. "They'll definitely notice you now after yesterday's fight." He pointed to a mass of people walking up to them.

"Hey, Talean! You were awesome yesterday."

"Lu Han, right? You totally beat Grut at his own game, bruh."

"How come I never noticed yer little black mess of hair befer'?

Tao could barely process all the comments being thrown at him. He nodded and bowed and thanked them, trying to shuffle out of the circle they had formed around him. He was unused to the attention; it was the very opposite of his existence. He felt awkward.

"Okay, guys," Jongdae said. "Give my friend some space. We want to eat as much as you. Where's Grut?"

Friends. They were friends. Tao was actually capable of befriending people outside of his unit. He could be normal.

Tao almost didn't realize he was being nudged forward by Jongdae, the crowd parting for them.

"Tao," he whispered. "Be careful of Grut. He is in charge of whether or not we get food."

Grut was hunched over on a log, downing a bowl of water. He had another bowl sitting next to his feet. As they approached, he tossed the bowl he was holding at them and stood. Tao caught it with his free hand.

"Grut, we're here. Where's our bowls?" Jongdae said.

He swiped the back of his hand across his mouth and smirked, kicking the bowl on the ground up to Jongdae's face. Tao also caught it.

"Already eaten." He started walking away.

"Grut, if you have problems with me, face me directly. Don't bring others into this," Tao said.

He looked over his shoulder, glaring at him, before sauntering away. Jongdae sighed and nudged Tao.

"Forget it, Lu Han. We're not getting breakfast now. Let's at least return the bowls to the cook."

Tao nodded and helped him to the kitchen tent. The air was warm and smelled of burning logs. He spotted Yoseob standing behind a table lined with pots, ladling the water into people's bowls. A round man bounced between multiple fires and refilled the pots behind him. Tao guessed that he was the cook.

They waited until the last person had their bowl filled before walking to the table.

"Hyung," Jongdae said.

"Jongdae, Lu Han, ready to eat?" Yoseob said.

"They've already had their share," the cook behind them said. "Grut signed them off."

He frowned. "Is that true?"

"Yup." Jongdae handed him his empty bowl, and Tao did the same. "I'm sorry, Lu Han. I think I brought this upon you. Grut never did catch on to my charm."

Yosoeb laughed and picked up another bowl. "Here. Take mine and share."

"But what about you?" Tao asked.

The cook came up and put another bowl on the table. "Looks like there's enough leftovers for two extra servings. Knock yourselves out."

Yoseob thanked the cook and filled the two bowls.

"I'll be done in a moment," he said, stacking up the empty pots.

Jongdae waved and nudged Tao out of the tent. They sat at an empty campfire, sipping at their food. Tao tried not to drink so much to secretly give to Jongdae and looked around at the camp instead. People were pulling their tents down and packing them into folded squares. Others had already finished and were at the campfire spots, stacking the logs together. The soldiers were smiling and making jokes with each other, as if the shadow of upcoming battle wasn't near.

He wondered why they were so cheery. Just yesterday a tenseness held the camp. Tao did notice the pleasant breeze of the morning, and the mountain air staved off much of the summer heat, but that by itself couldn't put all the soldiers in a good mood. What happened between the time that Tao entered the camp and this morning?

"This is a kind of peace too," Jongdae said.

Tao jumped out of his thoughts. "What do you mean?"

"Just setting and maintaining things together, talking with a few neighbors, and maybe someone new. There's a peace in doing normal things, even when something scary is happening."

"Is the scary thing the war?"

He nodded. "Other people might say that we're just fooling ourselves, but I think it's more of a last appreciation. Who knows when that little conversation about how green the grass is will be someone's last?"

Tao hadn't really thought about the war being scary. He had never known the 'normal' Jongdae knew, so he guessed that the war brought the opposite of it. He had only known what war was, so he was used to it.

But he could see that dying was scary. For someone who had a comfortable place to return to, being pulled into the war would be terrifying. He had thought about how he wanted to die, but he didn't think about how it would be like to lie on the ground while the life seeped out of him, leaving all the people important to him behind. And now that he was dropped into a labyrinth and trials without any memory of his death, Tao didn't want to imagine the scene.

"Tao? Are you okay? Your face went all dark."

He avoided the question with a sip of water, waving at Yoseob as he spotted him. He waved back and sat next to them on the log.

"We're almost there, guys. Cook says we'll be at Sugome by tonight. Then next morning, we'll be fighting."

Jongdae turned to Tao. "You don't have to fight. Me and Yoseob hyung will keep Grut off your tail when he's counting heads."

"I don't have a tail," he said, earning the laughter of the two. "But you won't have to keep Grut off of anything. I will fight with you."

"We'll be moving away from the mountain though. What about your friend?"

Tao hadn't really thought about how to get back to the mountain after the battle. He also hadn't thought about coming up with an excuse to disappear from the camp afterward. Faking his death was an option, but then Jongdae and Yoseob wouldn't be able to explain the missing body. He would have to come up with something later.

"It'll be okay. I'll come back after we fight."

A horn sounded throughout the camp, and the soldiers started to move. They pulled their tents and items over their backs and started walking. Yoseob swallowed the last of his water.

"I'll see you guys," he said, collecting their bowls and moving back to the cook.

"We should get going too," Jongdae said.

Tao stood and helped him up, weaving through the soldiers starting to march out of the campgrounds and down the mountain. Tao slung their two bundles over his shoulder and let Jongdae lean on him.

"I'm sorry for making you carry everything, including me."

"Don't apologize," Tao said. "It's fine. I had to carry heavier things when I was training for the military."

"I remember doing that. The weights they use