Into the Horizon (1/2)

The sunlight was bright

And the air was chilly and fresh.

Sunggyu held Woohyun's hand tightly.

Woohyun's breath was loud and quick.

He was looking out his door at the world outside -

A world he had not seen for seven months.

He was stunned by the perfect beauty before him:

The colorful leaves flapping like butterflies in the calm breeze;

The light gray sky dotted with white clouds lined in silver;

The autumn flowers painted brilliant hues of red and yellow.

He had forgotten how the breeze felt on his cheeks

And the sunlight on his brow.

He was blinded at first;

He had not seen the sun for far too long.

But once his eyes readjusted to the barrage of light rays,

Woohyun saw the natural world as it was,

And he suddenly realized that he had been missing out on so much.

Sunggyu stepped down onto the concrete;

He did not let go of Woohyun's hand.

Sunggyu smiled at Woohyun

And said in a soft, encouraging voice:

"Step down.

I've got you."

Sunggyu could see the hesitation in Woohyun's eyes

And hear his warning thoughts clearly.

Woohyun looked down at the concrete

And then up at Sunggyu's face.

Sunggyu's smile was reassuring

And as beautiful as the world around him.

He made Woohyun feel warm;

He made Woohyun feel safe.

With a deep breath

And a full heart,

Woohyun stepped onto the concrete.

As he moved himself closer to Sunggyu's side,

A cold gust of wind tickled Woohyun's skin.

The air whipped against his cheeks

And turned them rosy.

Woohyun smiled.

He remembered the feeling of the cold -

He had felt it so long ago

Lying underneath the stars with Sunggyu,

Sometimes drunk and sometimes sober,

But always mesmerized by each others' words

And magnetized by each others' presence.

Woohyun looked up at the sun;

He loved how it warmed his cheeks

As the cold air sat happily atop his shoulders.

Woohyun looked at Sunggyu

And asked with a bright smile that could rival the light from the sun:

"Has the world always been this beautiful?"

Sunggyu chuckled

And pulled Woohyun into his embrace.

"It's been dull for a long time

Because it's been waiting for you -

But now that you're here,

It can finally be itself again."

And hand in hand,

The two walked down the road

And disappeared into the horizon.

Woohyun sat in a small wooden chair in front of a long wooden desk.

The lights were dim and the windows were closed.

Woohyun missed the light from the sun and it's warmth on his skin.

The air inside was warmer in temperature, but it somehow felt colder on Woohyun's cheeks.

Sunggyu waited for him in the next room over;

Woohyun folded his hands in his lap and wished for Sunggyu to be by his side.

The police chief looked at Woohyun from behind his desk,

And Woohyun looked back at him.

The two were silent for a long time;

They just looked at each other with sad expressions

As they both thought back to her face -

Only while Woohyun remembered her face when it was alive and alight with love,

The chief remembered her face when it was beaten, bloodied, and bruised,

Just before it disappeared in a fire set by the spirits

To return her to a place of peace.

Without speaking,

The chief opened the first drawer to the left in his desk.

He slowly pulled out the newspaper article

And placed it in Woohyun's hands.

The chief looked at Woohyun for a while longer

And then asked him in a smooth voice saturated with sympathy:

"How...how did you know her?"

Woohyun stared at the chief for what seemed like years.

The chief looked back without an expression on his face,

Patiently awaiting Woohyun's reply.

Woohyun answered in barely audible voice:

"She was my first love.

She was my whole life."

The chief bowed his head and apologized for Woohyun's loss.

Woohyun looked at the chief and nodded his head.

After a few more moments of silence passed them by,

Woohyun sighed and asked:

"Can I...

Tell you her story?

It's just...sad for me to think...

That nobody knows who she was...

How amazing she was...

And you,

You who found her and felt so connected to her...

You of all people should know who she was.

And if you know...

Then at least there's someone else in this world

Who can pass on her memory

And share in her long-awaited happiness."

The police chief looked up at Woohyun.

They looked at each other for a very long time.

The chief folded his hands across his desk and leaned forward.

He looked at Woohyun with twinkling eyes

And nodded his head as if he understood all of Woohyun's feelings

And read all of his thoughts -

As if he had felt them and experienced them himself.

Woohyun leaned back in his chair

And closed his eyes.

He could still see her,

Sitting on his lap

As he leaned against the wall.

Her arms were rapped around him

And she felt cold and empty,

Like her body was made of feathers.

As a long, comforting silence passed them by

And invaded the real world,

Woohyun waited to hear her speak.

He could feel her words on his quivering lip;

He waited for her words to escape.

Then they hit him,

One by one,

And he said everything she said to him

And all that he was thinking in between:

"It's amazing to think that...

The memories you forget you even have...

Always resurface. At some point in time.

Whether you realize it or not.

She said this to me...

On the last night I saw her.

She was remembering...

Parts of her past.

Bits and pieces only.

And this is what she told me - This is what I will always remember.

She had no clear beginning,

And certainly no clear end.

But she shared with me her memory...

Because she knew so much about me...

But I knew almost nothing about her.

She knew almost nothing about her, too.

So she told me what she could remember.

I was born into the world alone.

Alone and in darkness.

She could not remember anything about who she had been...

She didn't remember anything before...

The day she first saw me.

I only started to live

When I first saw your face.

She tried countless times

To remember the faces of her parents.