*Contains some graphic depictions.
Seungcheol couldn't believe what was unfolding before him. There was a bloodstain at his feet. Next to her lay a woman, face down, wailing. She seemed to be his mother. People, their eyes reddening, carried away the pregnant woman's body. Yes, this was Gwangju. Seungcheol shook his head in despair. His gray hair blew helplessly in the wind. He had seen too many horrific things on the way here. Dying citizens. Seungcheol busily searched for Subin among them.
“Please go back!”
The policeman shouted. Judging by his young face, he seemed to be a newcomer to the force. The officer was practically crying as he shouted.
“If you protest, you’ll be hunted down by the airborne troops. Please go back!”
Despite the police's pleas, the people refused to leave. The officer now clung to the citizens, weeping. He displayed a desperation that could not be ignored. Seungcheol suddenly thought of Soobin. Grasping his heart, he felt a sudden surge of emotion and approached the officer. But just as Seungcheol was about to lift the young officer, who had collapsed on his knees, he was about to raise him up.
“This worm!”
Seungcheol's hands were helplessly dragged from the police into the hands of airborne soldiers. In the young man, Seungcheol saw Subin's face. The soldiers pounded him with their guns, kicked him with their spiked shoes, and swore at him. "Oh my, what can I do?" people groaned. The protesters, who had been marching, stopped, and citizens busily passing by turned their heads. Just as the young man was nearly beaten to death, a loud noise was heard from the other side.
“"Abolish martial law! President Chun Doo-hwan must step down!"
A young man, seemingly the same age as the policeman, ran down the street, draped in the Taegeukgi. It was a faint white dot, but Seungcheol struggled to erase Subin's face, which he could still see there. The footsteps toward the police stopped. The martial law soldiers were all staring at the young man draped in the Taegeukgi. The sound of a gun being loaded was heard. Only then did several people begin to carry the policeman sprawled on the street and run toward the hospital. Seungcheol chuckled. How could these soldiers of this country point their guns at their own citizens and beat the police like dogs? The blood of the young policeman lay beneath Seungcheol's trembling feet. Seungcheol closed his eyes. With a gunshot, the body of the young man draped in the Taegeukgi collapsed. Seungcheol quickly got into the taxi, started the engine, and approached the young man. Judging by the faint rise and fall of his chest, he seemed to be breathing. Seungcheol put his arm under the young man's armpit and helped him into the taxi.
“What the hell are you, you little shit!”
A martial law soldier shouted at Seungcheol. The force of the voice made Seungcheol's mouth fall silent. Then, he remembered the young man in the passenger seat of his taxi. He opened his trembling mouth and began to speak in a hushed voice.
“Oh, no, someone got hurt. Shouldn’t we take them to the hospital?”
“What? A hospital? Don’t you know this kid is a communist?!”
"Hey, if you're a communist, why are you wearing the Taegeukgi? And even if you're a communist, you shouldn't kill people!"
“You’re in league with that communist, right? That’s why you brought a taxi.”
“I am not a communist, I am a citizen of the Republic of Korea!”
"Shut up!" the soldier shouted, his voice resonating through the streets. All eyes were focused on him.
"what."
Another soldier approached. The one who had been arguing with Seungcheol saluted and continued to speak loudly.
“I caught that red bastard! I was trying to take the red bastard away in my car while he was running away!”
As soon as the soldier finished speaking, the soldier approached, drew a longsword from his belt, and without a moment's hesitation, plunged the chilling blade into Seungcheol's abdomen. The crowd gasped in shock. The only reason he managed to regain consciousness amidst the skin-rending agony was because of the voice he'd been searching for.
"dad!!"
Seungcheol struggled to turn his head. The moment an image formed in his blurry vision, another soldier approached and stabbed him with a sword. As if they were a dummy, three or four soldiers repeatedly plunged long swords into Seungcheol's body and pulled them out. Soobin couldn't believe what was happening before her. She ran to her father, but a man stopped her.
“No!! Let go of it!! No!! Dad!! Dad…!!”
Wake up, you punk! You'll die if you go over there now! The man's words were muffled. Finally, Seungcheol's body fell to the floor. Soobin finally howled like an animal. The words she loved so much, the words she cherished so much. The words she couldn't say until the very end. Soobin sobbed, clutched in the man's strong grip.
“I still love you, I’m thankful, I’m sorry…! I haven’t said a word yet…!”
That day in Gwangju, on that spring day when the sun was high in the sky, a desperate cry was heard.