A few days after the soldiers left, Ji-hoon received some good news. A wealthy count from the village where our orphanage was located had sent a letter to the orphanage, seeking to take Ji-hoon as his concubine after seeing his handsome face.
But she's only a concubine in name, and to him, she'll be nothing more than a plaything. But it'll be much more comfortable and happier than the hell and battlefield of an orphanage...
I thought to myself countless times. If Jihoon is happy, then I'm happy... But my true feelings weren't like that. I prayed to myself countless times, wishing Jihoon would always be by my side. Please, don't leave me...
And a few days after that letter arrived, soldiers visited our orphanage again. They called out the names of the children, and my name was among them, but yours was not. And just as the soldiers were about to take the children whose names were called out, you raised your hand and said,
"I don't have to be a soldier. I'm fine with doing odd jobs. I'll do whatever I can, so please take me to the battlefield too."
I looked at you, my eyes wide with surprise at your words. Then, a soldier who seemed to be of high rank among the soldiers rubbed his chin with his hand as if he was thinking hard, and asked you a question.
"The battlefield isn't as easy as you think. But if you still want to come and work, I'll take you as a handyman or nurse. There's a shortage of nurses these days, so we need to lend a hand even if it's just a little help."
"Of course. Thank you."
You answered the soldier's question confidently. So we moved to the training camp with the soldiers. While we were moving, I asked you a question.
"Ji-hoon, why did you volunteer to come to the battlefield?"
"...I could have lived comfortably as the count's concubine. But I don't want to live like that, as someone's plaything. This is my life. No matter how hard it was, I wanted to live doing what I wanted to do. And here, I'm with you. We've never been apart, so I didn't want to be apart from you."
"still...."
"Enough now. I will never regret my choice. No matter how hard it is, I will not regret my choice today."
"okay..."
Jihoon, do you know? Honestly, I was secretly happy back then. I was happy that you said you didn't want to be separated from me, but I was also so happy that I could be with you. I knew it would be hard for you if you went to war with me, but I was still so happy and glad that I could be with you. If you went to war, you could get hurt, you could die. As a child, I was just so happy and glad that that was the case...
I was so foolish and selfish.....right? Jihoon...