Achievement

Everyday, Yun would see the woman going to the other house sometimes bringing food and other times some old clothes or anything that can be useful for them. And every time, she would only watch from afar.

Today, a week has past since they first came to the village, and Yun had slowly accepted the fact that she won't ever be close to the woman.

Yun was walking down the street from the market. She decided to take a walk that morning, to avoid seeing the woman. She was slowly trying to get her mind off her by avoiding to see her.

She noted the time the woman usually comes, around eight in the morning. So, in order for her not see her, she decided to take her walks later than her fellow soldiers which was five in the morning.

She was walking back home after spending a whole hour in the woods which she thought will her everyday routine starting today. She was just wandering around, walking to where her feet leads her without expecting anything interesting would come up. What would she expect in a forest anyway? Aside from wild animals, that is.

She continued to walk to nowhere until she found herself stopping in front of a lake. A lake with blue flowers growing from its shores. It looked magical especially when the sunlight reflects on the clear waters.

Yun was in complete awe as she watched the serene lake, butterflies flew from flower to flower and she heard the birds singing from the nearby trees. It was really magical indeed. Never in her life did she encountered something like this.

She found a spot near its shore, and settled there for a while until she finally needed to get back. She looked at the lake once again and saw the small boat on the other side. She was already leaving when she just noticed it. She wanted to see it close but thought she could do that tomorrow. Or maybe, later.

Coming back from that beautiful walk in the woods made her happy. She was smiling widely while on her way home when she heard a woman's screech. She looked around and then realized where she was. She was in front of Grandma Hong's home — the same place where that woman lives.

Thinking it could only be her imagination, she ignored it. But after taking another step, she heard the woman again, now grumping.

Curious as to what's happening and completely forgetting about avoiding the woman, she went in the residence. The wooden gate was open and she thought there was something weird happening so she just went inside.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she asked while she slowly walks around the house to the yard.

There she found the woman with a hammer in hand and was kneeling beside a wooden cart. Yun was amused to see the woman in that position. But it seems like the latter failed to notice her presence because the fine woman continued hammering something on the cart.

Yun laughed when the woman grunted in annoyance once again. It was then when she saw Yun a few meters away from her.

The woman stood up quickly, surprised to see the female soldier.

Yun cleared her throat. "I heard you screaming and the gate was open so... I came in," she explained when the other eyed her indifferently.

Her gaze went from the woman to the cart beside her.

"I can help you with that," she added.

The woman then looked down on the hammer she was holding and back to Yun's eyes. "It's okay. I can do it."

"Hm. I don't think so." Yun retorted making the woman sighed in disbelief. Yun approached the woman and held out her hand to take the hammer. She waited for the woman to give it to her but the latter didn't.

"I'll do it," Yun said and just took the hammer from her hand. She pursed her lips trying to suppress herself from smiling.

"The wheel keeps falling off and the sides need to be repaired," the woman informed Yun as she knelt down to see the problem. She chuckled lightly. The woman heard her chuckles and was slightly offended that snatched back the hammer from Yun.

"Why?" Yun asked, surprised.

"Move away. I'll do it myself." The woman said with obvious anger.

"I'll help you. Give it back—"

"No thanks. Just leave it there. I'll work on it later." The woman said and went inside the house in quick steps, leaving Yun baffled.

She was amused with the woman's attitude but found it very cute. Although she was told to leave the cart there, she still wanted to fix it for her. The woman was inside the house so she just let herself wander outside and found another hammer.

She looked at the sky and thought she still has time. Without the woman knowing, she repaired the cart.

Yun was busy replacing the sides of the cart when the woman peeked from the house. The soldier felt someone was watching her and looked up only to see the woman staring at her. She smiled at her but the latter just turned around and left again.

"Tss. Moody woman," she muttered and wiped the sweat on her forehead using the sleeves of her shirt.

The sun was already up high when she finished all the repairs. She sighed satisfyingly and started to clean up her mess when the woman went out carrying a tray.

"Here. Have some before you go," the woman said.

The woman looked shy and was only looking at the food on the tray. Yun smiled.

"Thank you," she sat down on the platform. The woman put the down beside her and was about to leave when Yun stopped her. "Aren't you gonna eat?"

"I already ate," the woman replied and Yun, since she had nothing to say anymore, let the her leave.

When she finished eating everything the woman had prepared for her, she thought she should bid goodbye to the woman first before leaving. She was about to enter the house when the person she was looking for came out.

Yun beamed at her. "The food was delicious. Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome. Thank you, too, for fixing the cart." The woman uttered rather snobbishly.

"If you need help with anything, you could ask us for help. You can ask me..."

"The others already helped out in making repairs with the house yesterday so... there isn't much anything to do here."

Yun felt embarrassed and recalled why the others were missing yesterday. So they were helping her out, huh?

"Ah, is that so? Then, good. That's good to hear..." Yun searched for words but she doesn't have anymore to say. "I'll get going now then," she smiled.

The woman bowed. "Yes. Thank you again."

With that, Yun left. Walking back, she just realized she did not ask the woman her name! It was her chance to ask her but she didn't!

She entered the premise with a frown. The others were still having their lunch when she came.

"Hey, where have you been?" Youngbae asked when he saw Yun walking to the house.

"Come on, join us. We still have a lot—"

"No, thanks. I already ate." Yun declined.

Then she thought, forgetting to ask the woman about her name wasn't that bad after all. At least, she had the food that the woman prepared for her. For her, that's an achievement.