Wheein slowly opened her eyes, but a bright light caused her to squint. She tried to lift a hand to block the rays but her body felt heavy and absolutely drained. When her vision finally focused she looked down and saw the hospital gown on her body, the needles in her arm, and the bandages around her waist. The blonde’s mind was running but she couldn’t really grasp a single thought. 

“Wheein?” A voice got her attention and she looked over slowly. There was her mother sitting in a chair next to her. Her expression looked relieved but there was so much worry and sadness behind those eyes. “Wheein stay still while I get the nurses.” 

The soldier just watched with confused eyes, her voice not able to ask what was going on. Eventually, a nurse and doctor came in, with a familiar grey-haired woman following behind. The nurse and doctor checked her eyes and vitals to make sure nothing was wrong. 

“Wheein, how are you feeling?” The doctor asked and the blonde opened to speak.

“Th-thirsty,” her raspy voice caused the nurse to go grab a cup of water while the doctor hid a small smile. When the nurse returned, Wheein hastily drank the water. and throat felt like a desert receiving its first rain. When she finished the cup she caught her breathe a bit before looking over everyone in the room. “What… what happened?” 

The doctor gave an apologetic look before looking back at the grey-haired woman. He gave a nod and then left the room with the nurse. Byulyi waited for the two to leave before sitting on a stool next to the bed. Her face was serious, and her eyes resembled Wheein’s mother.

“Wheein, what’s the last thing you remember?” Byulyi calmly asked. Wheein thought for a moment before memories started flashing through her mind. The bombardment of thoughts caused the woman to wince and hold her head a bit. The doctor next to her took her hand on her head and held it tightly. “Hey, don’t think too hard. Just take your time.”

The soldier nodded before finally sorting out her thoughts. She remembered being at Hyejin’s father’s grave and then talking to her father. She remembered her fight with her mother and how she stormed out of the house. Finally, the memories of her drinking on the dock came in and the dark clouds, the pain of her hips when her body fell into the glass caused her to wince some more. When she came back to her senses she could feel the burning pain in her hips and she began to panic. The heart monitor’s beeping started to increase in rhythm and Byulyi squeezed the woman’s hand to get her to look at her.

“Whee, you need to calm down. Your body has been through too much.” Wheein closed her eyes a bit to try and calm down, eventually hearing her heart rate slow down.

“Unnie, what happened to me?” The doctor gave a sad look and took a deep breath before explaining.

“Your scars opened up when you fell on the dock, which caused the glass to enter inside your wound. Eventually, you passed out due to the loss of blood. When your-” Byulyi stopped a bit and coughed. “When we finally found you and brought you to the hospital, they did surgery right away to remove the glass shards. Apparently, there were some old shards still in your hip from your previous injury that they failed to find, that’s why you always had so much pain. They were lucky they found those old ones because if they had stayed there, it would have caused some major internal bleeding and could have killed you. Fortunately, they got all the shards out, and you’re gonna be okay, but you’ll be immobile for a little bit in order to keep the stitches intact.” 

When the doctor finished explaining what happened the blonde just stared in the distance, trying to process the information more and more. She couldn’t believe she was so close to death. “If you didn’t find me in time, would I have died?” The question caused Byulyi to frown.

“You could have, yes. Actually, I wasn’t the one who found you, it was-” before the woman could continue, Hyejin barged into the room with Wheein’s mother following her. Wheein was startled a bit and she looked over at her friend who had an angry expression. She knew right away why the brunette was mad.

“Hyejin, I’m sorry-” A tight hug stopped the soldier’s sentence and she could feel tears trailing down her neck.

“You promised me! You promised you wouldn’t leave, Wheein! How many times are you going to break your promises,” the woman sobbed into her best friend’s shoulder while hitting her arm with weak punches. The blonde could feel her heart ache from her friend’s words. She felt terrible knowing she broke another promise and put her friend through such worry. 

“I’m really sorry, Hyejin-ah. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry.” The two held each other tighter as they both let out their tears. The doctor next to them looked at the two trying not to cry as well. Even though they had their issues, she knew the best friends would continue to love and care for each other. 

When the two eventually calmed down, Hyejin pulled away from the blonde and held her hand. Her tear-soaked face sniffled a bit more and Wheein looked at her with guilty and apologetic eyes. “I really am sorry. I said I was done running but I did it again and hurt you. I don’t deserve to call you my friend, not after what I’ve done to you,” the soldier began crying more and Hyejin just shook her head. 

“Stop it. I might be mad, but don’t think you don’t deserve me. However, you have to stop running away. From me, your mom, from anyone. If you do it again, then I can’t forgive you. I mean it, Wheein-ah. I love you but you have to stop.” Wheein repeatedly nodded her head.

“I’ll stop,” the blonde choked out and held her friend’s hand up, giving it a kiss and holding it to her heart.

Wheein continued to hold her friend before a nurse came in to give the soldier’s medicine. After she did she could feel her body succumbing to the effects of the medicine. She could feel her body start to relax more and more and her eyes slowly shut, the image of her two best friends and mother slipping away.

The day was absolutely perfect. It wasn’t too hot or too cold and the wind was blowing with the right amount of intensity. There were only a couple of clouds in sight and the sun was shining brighter than ever. 

A family strolled around the edge of the Han River before stopping by a nearby park. A father, mother, and the little girl began settling in the grass. The mother who’s holding a big bag reaches in and starts laying down a big picnic basket while the father starts setting up a kite. The little girl jumps around her father with excitement, trying to reach for the kite.

“Wheein-ah, you have to be patient,” the father cooed and the little girl pouted at her father. The father looked over at the pouting face and gave a quick kiss to her dimpled cheek and it caused the little girl to giggle.

After a little bit, the father presents the kite to his daughter and she frantically grabs it. He guides his daughter through the process, letting her slowly release the string. A perfect breeze finally picks up the kite more and more and with each increased height they let out an excited cheer. Eventually, the kite soared in the air like a bird without a destination.

As the two continued to look up, the little girl looked over at her smiling father and hugged his waist. Although he was startled, he reached down and picked up the little girl who was still holding the kite line.

“Dad, I wanna be just like that kite,” the little girl squeaked out and her father gave her a puzzled look.

“What do you mean, sweetheart?” 

“I wanna fly in the sky,” the girl simply said. The father gave a soft smile and looked up again.

“What if you fly too far away and never return?” His tone was almost sad but the daughter giggled and hugged her dad tighter.

“I won’t fly away, dad. You’ll be holding on to me,” the girl lifted the kite handle to emphasize her point and her dad let out a hearty laugh.

“Of course I will.” Although the girl laughed a bit she suddenly pouted again, startling her father. 

“Dad, you won’t let go of me, will you?” The man frowned a bit before embracing his daughter more. 

“I’ll never let go, Wheein. I’ll never let go.” 

The blonde woke up with a small gasp, the dream in her head still fresh in her mind. She started to remember that day when she flew her kite with her dad and the utter joy she felt. It was one of her favorite memories of her childhood, but it was something she chose to forget after her dad left. She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn’t notice her mother staring at her with curious eyes.

“Wheein? Are you okay?” The soldier jumped and let out a small yelp in surprise before cringing at the slight pain in her hip. Her mother got up quickly to help her child.

“I’m sorry for scaring you Wheein.” 

“No, it’s okay, I was just distracted.” Her mother gave her a worried look and Wheein looked down a bit guilty. “I- I had a dream about dad.” The older woman looked shocked. “It was when we went