“Hello Jieun.”

Nothing but soft breathing penetrates the silence.

“Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

Silence is good, she thinks.

“Feeling a bit down today, are we?”

A small breeze enters through the window, entwining itself among the girl’s tangled locks.

“We’ll start from where we left off yesterday, so just let yourself ease into it.”

The wind feels nice today.

“You and Myungsoo— it was always just the two of you.”

It’s nicer than it was yesterday.

“What about your parents?”

The wind suddenly dies down, leaving the girl alone.

“Everyone has to have parents. You must have parents, too.”

She waits. And waits.

“What happened to your parents, Jieun?”

But the wind doesn’t come back for her.

“Jieun?”

“It was just Myungsooand I.”

The sudden contribution from the young girl startles Doctor Kim Jongin. But, then again, he really shouldn’t be.

“You told me before that you don’t recall anything about Richthofen Academy.”

Her thin fingers clutch at her dilapidated Snoopy toy, digging holes through the tattered material.

“Is this still the case? You know that this is important if you want to go back home.”

She slowly faces her visitor, her unfocused gaze aimed somewhere on his face.

“You and I both know that’s not the case, doctor.”

And with that, she shuts out her visitor’s presence and all else around her, and concentrates her gaze out the window, Snoopy doll in hand.

With a sigh, Doctor Kim excuses himself, and exits Ward B of Heisenberg Hospital, and its only patient.

It’s never been easy with Jieun.

“Doctor?”

He turns around, coming face to face with his assistant, Nurse Suzy.

“Yes?”

He watches as she stares at the door of Ward B, face etched with concern.

“She’s been saying the same thing every day. No progress has been made for six years.  She’s a lost cause, Doctor. Leave her before she drives you just as mad as she is.”

“…’The world forgetting by the world forgot,’”

“Sorry?”

“She has nothing left in this world. No family, no memory, no home.”

He pushes the door slightly open, revealing the sight of the young girl staring out her only source of fresh air, carefully that doll of hers.

“If we leave her, she might as well never have existed.”

Suzy lets out a small sigh, nodding at her mentor.

“If you say so, Doctor.”

The rhythmic thumping of two unclothed feet wakes Myungsoo up from his peaceful slumber. He squints, using one hand to support his upper body while using the other to block the sun out from his vision. He is greeted with the bright beam of his boisterous little sister as she settles down next him.

“It’s done.”

He blinks, trying to comprehend what his usually straightforward sister was trying to convey.

“What’s done?”

“My Snoopy house. What else could it be, you dummy?”

He chuckles as she pokes his nose, lying down once again to stare at the sky.

“That cloud over there looks kinda like your beloved Snoopy, doesn’t it Jiji?”

Jieun looks over at the clump of clouds her brother is pointing at, blinking a few times to try and visualise this so-called Snoopy impersonator.

“No way. Those are cirrus clouds. If Snoopy had to be somewhere up there, he’d be a cumulus cloud. Besides, clouds don’t look like anything. They just look like clouds.”

He chuckles at his her no-nonsense attitude while playing with a few strands of her tangled hair. It was hard to believe that this little girl was a ten-year-old being trained to become an air sniper. In fact, they both were. This had been their fate since their parents’ abandonment ten years ago.

Richthofen Military Academy was their home and their future.

It was their only hope.

“Hey Myung... Don’t those cirrus clouds look a bit different today?”

He is woken up from his semi-trance by the feeling of a tug at his sleeve, as he looks up at where his sister is pointing.

Those clouds do look a bit weird.

In fact, they look like…

Realisation hits him, his heart palpitating as he attempts to stay calm. He grabs Jieun's shoulders, his unwavering gaze piercing her questioning one.

“Jieun, listen to me carefully. I want you to run back to the Main Building, tell the Headmaster, ‘Code 306’. Then, run back to your Snoopy house, and stay in there. Don’t come out for anything. Do you understand?”

She nods hesitantly, suddenly confused about the change in her beloved brother’s tone.

He brings her close to him, hugging her tight. Placing a short kiss on her forehead, he lets go of her, and pats her head.

“Don’t look back, and just keep running. I’ll see you soon.”

And with that, he turns her around, and pushes her towards the direction of the Academy. He watches for a few seconds as she runs as fast as her short legs can take her. He then starts running himself, towards the direction of the air craft hangars.

As he settles himself into his air craft, he hears the faint cry of the air raid siren. He smirks, cracking his knuckles.

“Let’s get this over and done with— Jieunnie's waiting for me.”

Doctor Kim sighs as he places his reading glasses onto the oak table. Reading through Jieun's files always made him feel rather heavy and weighed down.

He flips through the documents that he’s been reading for the past six years: Academy profiles; Headmaster’s notes; newspaper reports.

The newspaper reports.

The newspaper reports that told the world of how a military academy was under a surprise air raid attack, leaving none but one alive.

One little girl, found under the remains of what seems to be a red doghouse of some sort.

One little girl who was reported to have died that same night, in the beds of Ward A, Heisenberg Hospital.

The same little girl who was discreetly transferred to a secret mental ward right next to Ward A.

The same little girl who was left behind when all other patients were transferred to the Capital’s newer, better facilities.

The same little girl who Doctor Kim could not bring himself to leave behind.

For it was only he who now knew of her existence.

And existing is a privilege that is slowly being taken away from her.

He finds himself walking back to the door of Ward B. Mentally preparing himself for what he expects to be another day with the same reluctant answers, he lets himself inside, but is surprised to see that Jieun is not in her usual spot on the wooden chair by the foot of her bed.

Instead, she’s standing by the open window.

Doctor Kim sits down and waits patiently as she silently gazes out the window, her precious Snoopy doll in hand. He lets a moment of silence pass by before deciding to penetrate it.

“Hello, Jieun.”

He notices that her head tilts slightly towards him before going back to its normal straight gaze out the window.

“Did you enjoy your breakfast?”

She stares out the window, feeling the breeze circling around her, bringing her closer to the peeling window sill.

“Are you feeling a bit better today?”

With a small smile, she closes her eyes and shuts out the droning voice of the latter in the room.

The wind feels just right today.

A young girl and her brother are lying on the hillside, and staring into the sky once again. They do this every day, yet they never grow tired of looking for something new. A light breeze blows past them, a small smile forming on the boy’s face as he feels the wind running over his body.

“I wish I could be the wind.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Wind never comes back to the same place. Be air instead.”

“Why would I want to be air?”

“So you can stay here with me forever.”

She looks at him, a matter-of-fact expression on her face.

“Ah, but Jiji, how nice would it be to be the wind. We’d be able to do whatever we want, wherever we want. We’d be free.”

He tilts is head in her direction, her bright beam being the first thing he sees.

“Then we can be wind together.”

“Jieun?”

“Do you know what the difference between wind and air is, Doctor?”

This time, Doctor Kim has a reason to be startled.

She has never mentioned anything out of the ordinary before.

“Uh, the difference between wind and air?”

She slowly turns around to him, her usually dazed look now rather focused on her doctor.

“Wind never comes back to the same place, Doctor. But that’s not true. It came for me. Myungsoo came back for me.”

With one last bright beam, she turns back round to the window.

With a satisfied sigh, she lets her body fall out of the window, to be carried away by the wind.

The wind feels just right today.

Author's Note:

Hey guys!

Wowowowowow thanks so much for reading this c:

It was a piece I wrote for my wide reading journal at school,

so if you want to know why I chose to use some quotes or why I put in something,

ask away, cos they are most likely ideas from other pieces I read over the last 3 months or so.

There's a reason behind everything c;

Almost everything.

Anyways, thank you so so much!

I hope you guys liked it. 

-aiiyuu