XVIII

«Your name, nurse,» the blonde doctor asks, arms crossed. «Ahn Hyejin,» the young nurse answers without looking up. The blonde doctor berates her for not heeding Yongsun’s request and ends by saying: if it happens again, you might as well go home.

The doctor turns on her heels, exiting the tent, the flaps flying behind her. Yongsun watches her go then shifts her gaze to the nurse who is still looking solemnly at the ground. «I didn’t know it was this bad,» the nurse whispers, kicking away some small pebbles.

Yongsun frowns, wondering how someone could be so naive as to think that this war, or any war, could be anything but gruesome. «Why did the government request your presence at the frontier, then?» Yongsun asks through gritted teeth.

«I volunteered,» the nurse replies quietly. Yongsun immediately drops her gaze to her lap, taking in her own blood-soaked uniform. She begins to shake, clawing desperately at the blood stuck to her hands and underneath her nails. «Leave!» She shouts, and the young nurse scrambles out of the tent.