His heart was racing.
He was going to see Moyeon now. After so long. After a very long time, he'll be seeing her again. He used to think that such wishes belonged in dreams... but finally...!
"Sir. We're here."
The pilot was calling him again. Sijin turned the radio on again as he glanced out through the window. There was the desert, and he thought he could see the clearing that Laura told him before, where Moyeon was likely to be heading to. The place the locals called the stone garden. The place was called a 'garden'. Despite the fact, the place was surrounded by nothing but sand.
He thought he could see someone standing alone at the 'garden'.
"Drop me off somewhere nearby. I'll take it from there," he said, as he kept eyeing the place.
"Yes, sir!" replied the pilot at the helicopter made a swerve towards a clearing not far from the spot.
xxx
Sijin grabbed the radio, as he adjusted the receiver setting.
"Dr. Kang should have her walkie-talkie with her at all times. It's on Channel 3."
It's been a while, he sighed. Somehow now... he felt nervous. How would she react, when she saw him?
Sijin turned his attention towards the two soldiers in the cockpit.
"You guys can take your leave. If I needed your help again, I'll make a call to the base. Thank you for taking me here."
Both of the men gave him a salute.
"Yes, sir! It's an honour to be of service. Sir!"
He nodded, before closing the helicopter door. Stepping back, he took a moment to stare at the faces of the soldiers that helped him out before turning around. Finally, he sighed. The moment of truth.
xxx
The radio suddenly hissed.
"This is headquarters! Beauty! Please come in!"
"Please bring some lidocaine on your way back."
Sijin stared down at his radio. Beauty... was that her callsign now? But then he shrugged. Well, Beauty sounded better in English compared to Pretty Girl. Suppose that would be the reasoning.
"This is Beauty."
His heart gave another skip as he heard the voice loud and clear. It's really her. It really was her!
"Be there soon. Over."
His legs suddenly felt like jelly. He's finally going to reunite with his one and only sun. Sijin stared at his radio transceiver again. Would she believe it, if he called out to her now?
His heart started beating faster. She was really not far now but yet...
She has waited for him for far too long. He should put a stop to her agony. He should run to her, show her that he was still alive. He could do this. This should be nothing. Sijin took a long breath as he held the radio close to his mouth.
"This is Big Boss."
xxx
He walked a bit further, even when his arm started to ache again as he held it up for too long.
"This is Big Boss," he repeated again.
Tears started to well in his eyes as he tried to shake it off. He shouldn't break down now. Not at this moment. He heard the sound of the helicopter from afar as he saw the chopper making another round towards his direction. He suddenly had the urge to laugh as he tried to will them to fly away. Go away! Don't spy on me!, he desperately wanted to shout at them. Not that they could hear him.
The trail started to go downhill as he could see the clearing from afar. There was definitely a young lady there, looking at around her in confusion. It was definitely her. There was no mistake in that figure standing over there, by herself. He lifted the radio again.
"Beauty! Please turn around. Over."
She finally turned around. The winds started blowing hard as sand kept flying to his face. He kept walking. Moyeon seemed to finally notice him as she also started to walk towards him. He took another long breath.
Sijin could feel his whole body shaking as he kept moving. But as their distance got closer, his heart started pounding harder. Moyeon stumbled on her feet as he ran towards her.
xxx
"It's been forever."
It really was. It felt as if they've been apart for too long.
"Were you... Were you alive?"
Long lost conversations came up into mind as Sijin recalled how many times he kept accomplishing his task, despite how many times he doubted that he could come out alive.
"I pull off such difficult tasks all the time."
Tears started to obscure his view as he wrapped her arms around her.
He missed her so much!