The figure took a step towards us.

"Jaemi! Leave! Get out of here! Run!" Hoya shouted through his suffering.

"No! I can't just leave you!"

The figure was closer. And we had yet to decide anything. Hoya struggled, squirming on the ground, and Namu and I fussed over him, trying to get him to stand up, trying to pull the arrow out of him. Trying to do anything we could to save him, though in the situation, we were unable to save even ourselves.

"Minji! You don't understand. I don't matter. But you do!"

"Shut up, Hoya! We can figure this out together!"

Then, the figure was not twenty paces from where we were. We all froze, staring at him. And he stared back.

Then, from his belt, he pulled a small concealed object. A pistol of sorts. Which he raised straight at us.

"MINJI!!"

An ominous blast echoed around us. And at once, I saw Hoya's entire body grow limp and lay still.

"HOYA!!"

Suddenly, Namu shoved me really hard to one side. I fell to the earth, looking up at him in confusion.

"JAEMI!! WOULD YOU JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE--"

Another reverberating blast. And suddenly, Namu's expression went blank and he collapsed onto his knees.

"NO!!!"

I turned to the figure, who took a couple paces forward. He stared back at me, a thin wisp of smoke lilting upward out of his still-loaded weapon. Tears ran down my face, threatening to cloud my vision. But I maintained my focus, numb with terror.

And then, he raised his weapon and pointed it straight at me.

"Sunggyu," I choked out, hardly a whisper. His stance didn't change. "Sunggyu-oppa. It's me. Minji. Chebal. Remember. It's just me."

The figure seemed to hesitate, relaxing his stance just enough to stare at me over his weapon. I whimpered, terrified, but I didn't know what else to do.

Behind him, soldiers began appearing, no doubt drawn to the sound of gunshot. I stared at Sunggyu, and he stared back.

Then, suddenly, another shot fired, and my entire world went blank.

*******

My favorite memory with Sunggyu is very unextraordinary. So normal that I can't even describe why it was my favorite.

We had just finished a picnic in the park and lay in the shade of a tree, enjoying the beautiful day. I leaned against his chest, and he had one arm wrapped around my shoulders. Our free hands were clasped, his thumb tracing up and down mine. I smiled as I listened to the steady beat of his heart.

Then, out of nowhere... "Minji. I love you."

I chuckled. It wasn't the first time he had ever said it, but every time still made me shiver. "How can you tell?"

"Yah. Aren't you supposed to say, 'Sunggyu. I love you too'?" he said playfully.

I whapped him on the chest and he gave a deep chuckle.

"Oh, Minji. What I am going to do with you? Okay, let me think..." I snuggled in, waiting for him.

"I know I love you because, whenever I see your smile, I feel invincible. Like I can do anything, because I will always have you and you will always have me and we will always be happy."

I smiled up at him, and he smiled back, running his hand up and down my arm. Then, he settled back, tucking his arm under his head.

"I know I love you because, when I think about you with other guys, I want to take out my butterfly knife and rip out their throats."

"Yah. Kim Sunggyu."

"Fine, fine. Too violent... How about this? I know I love you because, whenever I think of you getting hurt, I think to myself that I want to be the one getting hurt. I always want to be the one taking the pain in your stead.

That's why, Minji. I know relationships are hard. And there will be ups and downs. But... no matter what happens, I love you. And even when I hurt you unintentionally... please know. I never mean it. If anything, I want to be the one that hurts for you."

I didn't even realize it, but I had started crying. My tears splashed onto his chest, wetting his shirt. But I couldn't stop. No one in my life had ever offered to be there for me like this. No one ever helped me, let alone hurt for me. It was overwhelming to think that this person... he would really be there. Really.

He kissed my forehead and lifted my chin, pulling me towards him so that he could wipe my tears. Then, he leaned forward and kissed my lips.

And I remember thinking that day that I was the luckiest girl alive. To have found a love like ours.

A love that lasts.

***

My head was spinning. Something gut and primal within me told me to get up, but I was just so dizzy and exhausted. I lolled my head back and forth, trying to get a firmer sense of consciousness. But it was so difficult.

Eventually, I forced my eyes open. And blinked up towards a dingy stone ceiling.

What? Where am I...

I pushed myself to sit up, feeling at once nauseous. I clamped my eyes shut, rubbing my temple and trying to steady myself. Then, after a few moments, I tried to look about once again.

And almost instantly regretted it.

I was on some sort of cot cut straight out of the stone wall. Shackles on my wrists and ankles secured me to the wall. And there, beside me and lying face down on the ground, were the bodies of Hoya and Namu.

I couldn't help it. I turned my head to the side and retched violently. And then, I began to cry. Namu and Hoya were dead. And I was all alone.

I couldn't believe they were gone, and that made me want to keep looking at them. But looking at them made my heart tighten up with panic and disbelief and excruciating sadness, so I forced myself to turn away from them, laying on my side and facing the stone wall as I cried unlike I had ever cried before.

Then, suddenly, the door to my prison cell unlocked with a heavy clang. Through my sobs, I listened as it creaked open and two pairs of shoes entered. One pair stayed standing by the door.

The other, though, stepped all the way into the room. Stopping just at the foot of my stone cot.

I chanced a glance up. It was none other than Kim Sunggyu. Seeing him made my breath catch in my throat, but I could not make any words. His sabre caught the only light in the dim cell, glinting a bit as he stood before me.

I should have been more afraid. But my two travel companions, perhaps the only two 'friends' I had in this stupid world, were killed. By his hands.

And then I remembered that this wasn’t the Kim Sunggyu of my past. This was a stranger. And because of that, I didn't care anymore. I didn't care if this person killed me or if he didn't. I didn't even care about being afraid. So, with nothing left to do but mourn the death of Hoya, Namu, and my Kim Sunggyu of before, I lay my head back down and stared once more at the stone wall, the tears falling slowly down my face and landing with a pat on the stone cot.

We stayed like that for a long, long while. I, staring at the stone wall, a crushing sadness on my chest as I cried. He, standing there at the foot of my cot, watching. My jagged sobs were the only sound to break our silence, the moment unnaturally still but also inexplicably comfortable.

Finally, he spoke.

"Yah," he quietly called. Even his voice was just like the Kim Sunggyu of my past life. And that made me feel even more miserable.

I sighed, trying to steady myself. Then, I listened.

"Do... you know who I am?" he said.

I frowned. Of course, I thought. But then a myriad of clashing memories sprang into the forefront of my mind. Sunggyu and I, laughing and eating ice cream on a park bench. Sunggyu and I, staring at each other past the scope of his pistol. The light from his fireplace as we sat on the couch, wrapped in each other's arms. The awful smell of smoke, as an entire city went up in flames.

Of course I didn't know him. I still didn't even know who I was.

When I didn't respond, he cleared his throat and shifted his weight. "Are you hurting anywhere?"

I mentally checked myself. Now that I thought about it, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Did he really shoot me, or did I imagine it?

"How did you know to come to Pockery?"

I realized that I didn't know. Jjang simply ordered us and we followed. I dismissed it as yet another thing that I wouldn't understand in this awful world.

"You... you really need to be more careful. It'll only bring you trouble if you find yourself in die-hard Rebel company." He then toed Hoya's boot. "Especially with this one--"

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!!" I suddenly screamed out, sitting up so abruptly that my shackles clanked in complaint. The outburst surprised both of us, but I couldn't help it. How dare he insult Hoya, the man who gave his life protecting me?! The man that he just killed!

Sunggyu stared at my tear-stained face, taken aback. And I stared right back. "Don't... don't you dare touch him," I said again in a low tone. Then, I noticed that Sunggyu's eyes had drawn to my shoulder.

In my sudden movement, the top of my tunic shifted just enough that the shiny burn of my mysterious tattoo peeked out. I watched as, slowly, Sunggyu stepped up to me, peering down at me from where I sat on the stone cot. Then, he took a light grip on my sleeve, pulling it down to expose the irritated skin completely.

He stared at it for a long time and then finally met my eye once more. I couldn't read his expression, and I also couldn't help but shiver under his gaze. His eyes were just as arresting as before, and I had to tell myself that this was no longer the man I loved.

"You... you really don't remember... do you?"

I slowly shook my head, suddenly terrified and intoxicated by his closeness to me. His grip tightened on the cloth of my tunic, and I fought the hungry desire to fall into his strong embrace. And then...

"I'm sorry," I could have sworn I heard him whisper. But in the next moment, he was gone, striding right out of my cell, the guard following him out and deadbolting the door.

And I remember panting in disbelief, trying to calm the erratic beat of my heart, wondering if he had really spoken those words or if my pathetic mind simply imagined it...

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