Acceptance

"Lieutenant Zhan..!"

"Retreat!"

"....Boom!!!...."

Echo of bang. Cloudy sky. Ashes in the air. A young man feels his head spinning and his gaze turn blurry. He shook his head vigorously to clear the dizziness. Blood. There was blood on his uniform. Particularly on the right hypochondriac region and many other regions that he doesn't have the energy or will to check on. And his body felt heavy and full of pain. The man forced himself to stay conscious, but he felt strangely calm.

"I guess…this is the end.."

Memories of his entire life set forth in his mind and fleeting fast as his breath was coming to the end. The memory of his school years, with his best friend.. And the most recent one. The promise to be back in one piece. He even has the nerve to smile seeing the memory of how begrudgingly his best friend was being before he was sent on this battlefield.

"I'm sorry, Zhili.. Not that you don't know the risk of our job.."

He chuckled. And his mind turned blank… no more sound can be heard. No more sight can be seen. He knows he accepts his death. Despite this, his treacherous mind still supplied,

"I don't wanna die. Please."

And he let out his last breath. The last one that represents his end in this life.

Echo of sniffles from his platoon can be heard with bang sound in the background. Not a while ago, his wounded body had been dragged to take shelter when he was disoriented for a short time. Despite their effort, what remained was only a lifeless body.

The platoon retreated to take shelter and regroup back before making any advance later after devising various routes and tactics to take.

🍀

On the other side of the battlefield, Song Zhili fought bravely and smoothly against the enemies. Many enemies dropped dead from his attack. He's a fearsome fellow as a Lieutenant in the military after all. None of his adversaries can be on par with his tactical and methodical move.

Once the opposing party pulled back, his subordinate came to report the situation on the other side of the battle. Lieutenant Song was focusing on the map lining the progress of the battle. Trying to figure out any other route to be taken. Multitasking on his task while hearing the report.

".. Our forces in the West needed to retreat as the enemies proved to outnumber us. We have several casualties. Including…"

The cadet hesitated knowing the news would be devastating to Lieutenant Song.

"Including…?" Lieutenant Song spoke sternly with raised eyebrow.

"Including Lieutenant Zhan Xian Xing. His body has been taken back."

Lieutenant Song halted his movement before resuming it like nothing ever happened. And said with a clipped tone. "Okay. Thank you cadet."

As soon as the cadet exited the tent, Lieutenant Zhili put down his head on his propped hand while trying to compartmentalise. He knew it was normal. And he knew nothing can be changed. Nothing. None. Pulling as much will as he can, he put away the grief and sadness for later. He has work to do. "I'll mourn for you later, Xing."

🍀

After resolving the skirmish and finally getting back home, Song Zhili now has all the time to mourn for his friend. But not without seeing his corpse first.

He knew there's lots of procedures to be taken for the dead. But, he knew he can't really claim Xian Xing's dead body as his friend still has one relative, Zhan Xiyue, who is his friend's little sister that was still in university.

After a long and arduous procedure, Zhili was led into the morgue. Xiyue still hasn't gotten the news of her brother's death yet, as he asked to be the one who divulges it.

His face remained blank until the tray was brought out. Traces of surprise can be seen if one looks properly. The corpses stay intact with minimal wounds except in his left side. However the shock didn't come from his friend's dead face, but from how the skin looked alive without any pallor.

He took a few deep breaths and hesitantly moved his shaking hand to confirm Xian Xing's death. One. Two.

None.

The heartbeat was nonexistent.

Xian Xing really died. Despite his contradictory appearance. Zhili sighed and accepted it. There's nothing he can do anyway.

The officer in charge of the morgue froze seeing the condition of Xian Xing's corpse. "This….is impossible…No corpse looks like this.. Looks alive and looks like sleeping. If we ignore the wound."

Zhili turned his gaze sharply to the officer in charge. "Stop saying things that aren't supposed to be true."

The officer did not really hear what Zhili was saying and came closer to the corpse and touched the corpse…while mumbling, "What is the difference in this corpse..?"

🍀

Xiyue walks slowly home while having a discorcenting feeling. Her brother's last call would be last week, saying about how he was in another battle for the next few days.

"there wasn't any problem with my brother…,right?"

She shook her head and nodded in determination. "No. Brother Xian Xing is strong enough."

Ring! Her smartphone rang startling her in a jolt. "sheesh…who's calling?" Xiyue glanced at her smartphone, 'Zhilin-ge' appeared on the screen. "Brother Zhilin..?"

"Hello, Brother Zhilin."

"Just getting back from my last class. Has your work finished already? My brother hasn't called me yet."

"..." Xiyue halted.

"B—brother Zhilin.. You are joking, ..right?" Her voice waver but full of hope. Her eyes felt moist. Throat felt constricted. And she bit her lower lips.

With a watery voice, she asked, "Did he die peacefully..?" She smiled forcefully with tears streaming down her face. People glanced at her but she didn't care. What she cared about was her dead brother.

'Of course. He looks like sleeping', came the response from the other side.