Dear Hyungsik-ssi,

January 14, 1962

Hello. I hope this letter arrives safely to you. This is my first time sending out a handwritten letter, so I hope I'm doing this right.

You may or may not remember me because we've only met a couple of times and did not have a chance to get to know each other well...But it's Jung Eunji, Jihyun-eonnie's roommate. Um, well former roommate now I guess.

I want to personally tell you how sorry I am for your loss. I would prefer to express this in person, but seeing that it's unlikely to happen anytime soon, I can only offer my condolences through words. It's only been a month, so I'm still grieving. I probably have no right to mention this, because I know that this is even harder for you...possibly more than I can ever comprehend. Jihyun-eonnie was my friend, but she had been your special friend and you had cared a lot for her.

I know that Jihyun-eonnie had planned to write to you before the...tragedy happened. A few months ago, she asked me to fulfill a promise she made to you. She wanted, more than anything after she passed, for me to write to you in her stead after you had been enlisted. Before you left, she had already been ill in bed and you did not expect her to write to you in her condition, but she had really wanted to...and she had regretted not being able to.

You're probably staring at the words in disbelief right now, and have possibly even tossed out this letter in disgust...and I don't blame you. I'm just meant to be a replacement. I know you wish that Jihyun-eonnie was the one that had written this instead of me. Truth be told, I wish for it as well.

But a promise is a promise. Even though this isn't the letter you had hoped to receive, I will try my best and keep on writing anyways.

First of all, I guess I should ask how you are doing? I know next to nothing about about how these military trainings go...are they brutal? Do they feed you well? Where do you sleep, and for that matter, what time do you go to sleep? I'm only asking because I heard that you have to be up before dawn and that sounds really torturous to me. I don't know if Jihyun-eonnie had ever mentioned this before but it's hard for me wake up in the mornings. I like to turn in late and sleep in all the time. I'm sure she has told you about it. She liked to complain and expose of my bad habits to everyone! Oh, I do miss her very much.

Sorry if I seem like I was prying, and for rambling...It's another bad habit that I'm striving to break. My straightforwardness can be off-putting and for some, even somewhat offensive. I apologized if I had offended you in any way. I also want to apologize if you didn't like me mentioning Jihyun-eonnie all the time...thinking of her can still make me feel empty inside, and I'm sorry if I had brought up unpleasant feelings for you when I mentioned her. They say talking about these things will make you feel better, but from now on I will refrain from bringing up her name again. Oh yes, that's right. There will be more letters. You can choose not to respond, or not to read it at all but I will still continue to write you letters. At least until you complete your service and return home. It's a promise I had made to a friend, and I am intent on keeping my word.

Well, I've filled up nearly a full page now! It's surprising because I didn't think that I was capable, but then, you learn new things about yourself every day.

Until next time.

Respectfully,

Jung Eunji.

Dear Hyungsik-ssi,

February 5, 1962

Hello again. I've decided to make my letter writing a monthly thing. My friend Bomi, who writes letters to her fiance regularly, says that one letter per month isn't enough. She sends a letter almost every week. However, since we're not that familiar with each other I find that a monthly correspondance would better suit us, don't you think?

How are you? The weather is still a bit chilly, isn't it? I hope you have been staying warm, and eating well. And getting enough sleep. These days, for some reason I have trouble falling asleep. I think it's the new surroundings; I've moved into a different apartment that's closer to the university. But I think you probably know that, if you had taken a look at my address.

I had expected that you wouldn't reply to the first letter, so I'm not that bothered. Even if you're not reading this right now, and I'm just writing the words for myself...I find that I quite enjoy writing. I was never one to keep a diary; I just don't have the patience. But writing can be a fun hobby, when it doesn't involve school work, of course!

That really reminds me of the papers I still have to write that's due next week. I think I'll end my letter short this time, because things around here have been pretty uneventful, but next time I'll think of a better topic to write about!

Oh, and before I forget, Happy Valentine's Day! I know how untrustworthy our mailing system is, and this letter could take weeks or even a month to get to you. With any luck, you'll receive it by next week. As you have probably already noticed, inside this envelope I've put in a piece of chocolate. Strangers or not, I think that everyone should get something for Valentine's Day!

Farewell for now.

Respectfully,

Jung Eunji.

Dear Hyungsik-ssi,

March 11, 1962

As promised, I've thought of a topic for me to write to you about this month. And it won't be boring!...at least, I hope it wouldn't.

It's spring break in the university! And my friend that I had mentioned to you in the last letter, Bomi, invited me to her hometown in Suwon! I'm very excited! I've never been to Gyeonggi-do before, and this shall be a new experience for me. I will be leaving next week, and you can be sure that I'll tell you all about the trip in the next letter!

So, I've come to ask, what are the places that you would like to visit? I know that you planned to study abroad, after your service has been completed. My parents had encouraged me to study overseas too, but I just can't bear to leave home. Even now, I'm not completely comfortable living in Seoul. I miss the peace and calmness of the countryside. I miss Busan. Are you a Seoulite? Or did you too, came from another region to study in the capital?

Oh, I realized that I'm asking questions which I will never get answers too. It's alright, I guess that letter writing just isn't your thing? Or maybe it's just me. Yes, that's probably it, isn't it?

I'm just teasing. I realized how hard it is to express emotions properly on paper! I may have to careful of the things I write next time...

Anyways, to go back to our previous topic; I think the top five places in our country that I would love visit someday would be Busan's sister cities--Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Ulsan...

I can't seem to fill up more than half a page of this letter and the last. I know that I had previously said that I won't hold it against you for not responding, but having a onesided correspondance is really difficult! Maybe I should start treating this as a diary and just write about my day?

Well in any case, I shall have at least a few things to write about in my next letter. Yes, the trip to Suwon. If possible, I shall send you photos as well!

Respectfully,

Jung Eunji. 

Eunji-ssi,

You can stop writing if it's difficult for you. Jihyun will understand if you do. I release you from your promise; go and be free.

Thank you for the chocolate. And the wishes.

Enjoy Suwon.

-Park. H

A/N: I've read quite a few fics like these (on ff.net) and they are absolutely inspiring, and worth writing my own version of it. I made it set in the 60's so the idea of letter writing is still not weird. I don't want it to set it too far back because my historical knowledge of South Korea is practically nil. (But my knowledge of military workings is also nil.) Bear with me, people.  

I haven't had the time nor energy to get the cover done yet so about that...we shall see. 

Happy Chinese New Year! Although this is the first time I'm not feeling at all festive. ^^;