XL

Yongsun visits Moonbyul every day, they sit on the bed and talk fondly, not about the war because they find no enjoyment in conversing about conflict. Yongsun does not explicitly mention her Theory of Life but they discuss similar ideas that surround it: pain, loss, love, survival. They sit together, it starts with them sitting across from each other but they eventuallys end up in each other’s arms.

When they are nestled so closely, Yongsun notices that Moonbyul smells of earth and herbs, maybe it is the shampoo she uses or, perhaps, some people are more earthy than others? Yongsun realises that Moonbyul, even with the steel plates on her back, is the in-between that connects the beginning and the end, is the embodiment of the past and the future, the old and the new. Yongsun finds that fascinating and tragically beautiful.

Yongsun drags her fingers up Moonbyul’s arm, resting them on Moonbyul’s shoulder. Then they dip lower to her shoulder blade, feeling the small pieces of steel beneath Moonbyul’s shirt. Moonbyul shivers but does not pull away, instead, she leans her forehead on Yongsun’s shoulder as the woman’s fingertips graze the surface of Moonbyul’s shirt, crunching the material, then flattening it.

Moonbyul is no illusion, she is real; alive, breathing and primarily human. Yongsun places her fingertips under Moonbyul’s chin, lifting her face. Their eyes lock, Yongsun places a hand over Moonbyul’s beating heart, feeling it thump wildly against her hand. Slowly, knowingly, yearningly, pulled by a force rooted inside them, their lips meet. This is the end, Yongsun whimpers into the kiss, this is the beginning, she pulls Moonbyul closer, this is the in-between, Yongsun gasps when she feels Moonbyul kissing her back, this is…