An odd breeze passed through the woman's tangled hair, lifting it slightly up to brush across her white cheeks. Her eyes, wide and bright, glanced at the clock for every few seconds, watching it tick. Time passed by slowly, not rushing for any surprising events to happen. The young lady, who seemed to be around her early 20's, stood up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen. On the table, there laid several mugs of coffee, cold and tasteless from the winter's chilly air. Nevertheless, she picked up a small cup and walked into a specific room where clocks hung themselves among the yellow walls. Across from the entrance of the room stood a window, which led to the balcony. Whens she opened the window pain, she took a seat on the rocking chair, tilting the chair back and forth, staring down at the long height. Then, with cautious effort, she placed the glass against her pink lips.

Once the clock struck six o'clock at night, the room echoed with alarms. The noise was so loud, it would cause any child to be deaf within seconds. However, to Jieun, the sounds did not effect her hearing nor did it bug her. Instead, the loud ringing seemed to make her anxious and excited, for she looked out and watched with curious eyes who was to come and who was not.

"He's coming," she whispered breathlessly. "He's coming!"

She stood up from her seat and ran out of the balcony and into the clock room. "Mr. Kim! Mr. Kim! Please, hurry! Hold up all banners and clean up the house! He's coming!"

When she looked out, her butler was not present. She frowned, and crept out of the room towards the kitchen, where she heard the sink running. Her tracks stopped, and her brown eyes enlarged as she rushed to the kitchen. As she feared, there was her butler, dumping the cold coffee and washing them as quickly and cleanly as he could. Jieun screamed, and dashed besides Mr. Kim and pushed him away.

"Stop, stop!" Jieun shouted. Her weak arms shook widely and her teeth chattered when she realized that her butler would not budge from his spot. "Mr. Kim, what are you doing?"

The butler flinched at his name, but continued to wash. "Jieun, I'm cleaning the coffee mugs…"

"No, no!" Jieun scolded him. "We can't! We can't! Myungsoo loves coffee! I told him that I would have coffee ready for him when he comes back! Stop cleaning them, Mr. Kim! If he saw that there was no coffee waiting for him, then he could be awfully upset!"

"He would be more upset to see how you've become!" Mr. Kim yelled, giving Jieun his hardest and coldest glare. "After I finished washing the cups, we're going to the hospital."

The maiden's eyes widened with horror. "Hospital? Honestly, Mr. Kim, what has gotten into you?"

"Nothing." His statement was so firm and bold, it almost shook the room. "Nothing happened, Lee Jieun."

Jieun stiffened when her eyes bore through his hardened expression. Her eyes locked with his annoyed gaze, and the way he said her name echoed in her ears. Shadows seemed to shrink and move directions, while the hour hands turned counter-clockwise. 

Then, she remembered that certain faithful day, which happened three years ago.

"I hate the war."

"I have to serve our country. I promise to come back safe, Jieun."

"But Myungsoo, what if you die out there? What if you get shot and can't come back? Do you have to go? Can't you just run away with me to somewhere else?"

The tall boy laughed lightly as he rested his hand on her shoulder. Jieun, who was at the age of 15, stared worriedly at her boyfriend. There he was, about to get on the train to fight a bloody battle on the field, laughing as much as he would and could. He stopped laughing when he saw her dreaded expression. The look said it all. She didn't want him to leave.