Lee Minho

The war lasted four long years. The bloodshed was horrific, as was the cruelty and impunity of the people, seemingly driven to madness by the promise of profit. Minho was caught in the crossfire and seriously wounded. During the military operation, his face and much of his body were disfigured by severe burns, leaving scars on his once handsome appearance. After undergoing rehabilitation at his unit's medical center, he was too depressed by the injuries he had sustained. He thought long and hard about his beloved, Hyunjin, who was also at the front, but in a different unit. They wrote to each other constantly, waiting for the time when they could once again live together under the shelter of peaceful skies. But Minho was too preoccupied with his new appearance; he believed that no one needed him as a freak, and he decided to help his lover forget him. He stopped writing, not allowing any information about him to leak, lest Hwang think he was either dead or missing. Soon the war ended, the country rejoiced in victory, and the soldiers returned home. The train pulled into the station, but Minho hesitated for a long time. For some reason, he felt uneasy about appearing to the world like this; his pain and trauma, both physical and emotional, were too deeply ingrained.