the end: XXXIII
The Theory of Life
XXXIII
Some time after the war, never mind how long, the new buildings are tall, touching the sky, the streets are spotless, the city is buzzing, the citizens are satisfied with their new life. Yongsun looks up at the pristine white walls being raised by a crane and glass being put into empty frames.
Yongsun has achieved the greatness that her teachers and professors had predicted for her. It is the capital she helped rebuild; the walls, cement, glass. However, Yongsun despises the capital with every fibre in her body because when she draws a thread between the war and this city she comes to a terrifying conclusion.
Steel, metal, ticking hearts, glass-lens-eyes (Yongsun hears it is a new fashion trend), fluttering screen windows and the impeccably blank sky above the capital remind Yongsun of the frontier, it gives her the same feeling of being surrounded by mechanics: of all that is cold and inhumane.
Her co-workers call Yongsun old and stubborn for not embracing the future, but when she thinks about the future and looks out of the large window in her office with its panoramic view of the city, shivers run down her spine. She sees nothing but steel, the remnants of war, and realises that if she has already achieved her ‘greatness’ then why remain here when her work is done? The capital is flourishing, Yongsun feels herself withering.
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