Author's Note: I had been sick for the past two days and am still recovering, so updating might take a little longer. However, I did post another chapter after this one (YAY!!) Thank you again for those who subscribed!

Not too long after that, Hongjoo and Misoo held a funeral for their mother and had her buried at the top of a cliff where she planted the peach blossom seed. It had already grown into a huge beautiful tree with it standing 10 feet high up and it’s branches stretching half of that. In the meantime, they lived with the ahjumma.

“Misoo ah, where’s your unnie?”

Misoo who was sitting at the steps to the door of the house, points over towards the tallest mountain in the distance as the ahjumma looks over to it. 

Under the peach blossom tree, the tired Hongjoo sat against her mother’s grave with her eyes closed as she listens closely to the breeze. 

“Mother, let’s go. I’m taking you home” Hongjoo say in a shaky voice.

“It’s useless, Hong ah. Go. Go on without me. Take Misoo and run. Hurry…”

Her hand fall from Hongjoo’s face and in a sense of shock, Hongjoo stops breathing that second as her mother lies dead in her arms. Hongjoo cries aloud as she embraced tightly onto her mother’s body that no longer move. 

Her face was wet as tears rolled down the corner of her eyes, falling onto the back of her hand. Faintly, she hears footsteps approaching and then stopping before her.

“Hongjoo ah”

Her eyes open and land on Mark who is standing in front of her with a dejected look on his face. She immediately cast her eyes away towards the horizon and opens .

“The broken one is me yet you have such sad look in your eyes?” she smiles half-hearted.

Mark steps toward her, keeping his eyes fixed on her as he comes to kneel before her. The moment his hand touches her face and wipes the tears away, she closes her eyes; unable to look at him. Mark grabs her by the shoulder and pulled her towards him as her forehead was placed against his chest. 

“I’m sorry”

Those two words that came out of his mouth made Hongjoo’s heart shred to million of pieces as she finds herself crying hard. Mark placed his chin on her head as he closes his eyes, embracing the broken Hongjoo.

After thirty minutes, Mark who is now sitting beside Hongjoo near her mother’s grave gives her the worry look as he asked her for the fifth time if she was okay. She just chuckles softly and nods her head.

“Hm. I’m really okay now, Mark. Really” she emphasizes as she turns to look at him.

He smiled bright like the sun and it made Hongjoo smile back. Their peacefulness was interrupted when an explosion suddenly went off in the distance which made them both turn over to look. 

“Run! Hurry!”

The people in the village were dragging each other as they tried to escape the explosions that went off one after another. As people are hurrying for safety, Hongjoo and Mark enters the scene and saw the mess as everyone ran pass them. Another explosion goes off which made them both took cover and it becomes quiet.

Mark releases Hongjoo as she stands up to see dead bodies lying around with houses completely destroyed and in flames. The sight of it triggers her and Mark can see this as her hand shook uncontrollably. She dropped to her knees with eyes wide open and she was unable to make a sound as she continued to watch these people lying lifeless in front of her. 

“Hongjoo ah. Lee Hongjoo, stay with me here!”

That second, Hongjoo saw Mark in front of her but his voice was out of reach. He takes her face into his hands and he saw that she had tears hanging at her eyes. 

“Lee Hongjoo. Look at me. Please look at me!” Mark plead desperately.

His voice hits her and her eyes avert to him with tears falling down her cheeks. Mark saw the tears and wipes them away quickly.

“Listen to me, alright? Take Misoo and everyone else away right now. I will take care of things here”

“Mark, I’m not leav-”

Before she can finish her sentence, he leans toward her and plants a soft kiss on her forehead. Tears fell from her eyes as she closes them and when he draws back to look at her again, she open her eyes.

“Don’t worry. As long as you promise me you will stay alive, I will find you. I definitely will” he says with a serious voice.

Her tears stopped and she c