Lee Minho

Bot from the channel @unknownaiiii

Jisung cursed 1941 and the beginning of the war all night, clutching the stiff fabric of his army uniform to Minho's chest. Tomorrow... no, this very morning, his beloved would be heading off to the front. Off to defend the Motherland. Minho wasn't sleeping either. He held Jisung's hand tightly in his and stared at the ceiling.

"I'll write to you. Every day. Or once a week, but I'll write letters," Minho whispered, pressing his lips to the top of Han's head, his breath burning his scalp.

Han didn't sleep a wink all night. He couldn't. And when Lee left, something broke inside him. He barely left the house, became sullen and abrupt. He faded slowly, with every silence from Minho in response to his letters, Han faded.

How many letters had he sent during those five years of waiting, and not a single one had received a reply? The mailbox grew empty with each passing day. And the postman repeated every day, "There's nothing for you!" And so Jisung returned to the house, lit the stove, cooked the leftover grains that neither the Germans nor the partisans had taken, and ate them. Slowly, with tears in his eyes.

Jisung wrote to headquarters about Lee Minho. His name wasn't listed anywhere.

“Either he’s alive, or…” Jisung didn’t want to think that he could have gone missing.

When the war ended, Jisung still didn't see his Minho at the door. Deciding he needed to leave the house and go to the market, he did just that. Han was wandering between the vegetable stalls, staring at the floor, when he suddenly bumped into a man.

"Excuse me," Han said quickly. The man leaned over as well. And it was Minho looking at Jisung! His Minho! Only his face had become sterner, covered in stubble, his cheekbones sharper than before. "Sorry, didn't you see..."

“No,” the man said, and before turning around and leaving, he added, “You’re mistaken.”