1 Become a human

"I know that I'm a killer. A cold blooded murderer," Augus thought to himself while lying down on blood stained dirt, silently bearing the excruciating pain.

"But, I wonder... If I am given a chance to live even after all these, will I ever be able to atone for what I've done?"

Bombs were being blown around him. At that point, he didn't even care. At the rate he was bleeding,  he didn't dare hope anymore that he'd be able to make it. So many soldiers were passing by him.  Whether they were the enemy troup, he couldn't tell anymore.

"For victory!!!" He heard a faint cheer amidst the loud cracks.

"It was supposed to be a winning war... How did we end up like this, I wonder..."

Soon enough, he started to lose his vision and eventually, lost consciousness.

He had dreamed such a sweet and mellow dream...a dream which was very common amongst all of humanity– a peaceful home to return to. Anyone would wonder...was it ever too much to ask for?

Apparently, humanity itself made it so complicated that it became the sole reason of war... War, which would shatter the morals of humanity. War, which would only destroy. War, which would make that certain soldier, who only wanted to see his family smile, kill innocent women and children.

It's needless to say, war brings about countless desires of vengeance. And, vengeance can lead an angel to deal with the devil.

Augus wasn't able to sleep anymore. Somehow, his bleeding had stopped. During his days at the military school, he was always famous for having a really strong body. But, this seemed way too extreme. Perhaps the compression he used after he had been shot worked.

Soon afterwards, he realized that the battlefield was utterly silent. Perhaps, the war had ended. Then, he saw vultures flying in circles. He knew what it meant. Steadily, he dragged himself up. What he saw after that shouldn't have been a surprise. It was a cursed war, after all. Sea of lifeless corpses of both sides had surrounded him.

"For now, I should head to the secret base in the forest." He thought to himself.

He covered his wounds once again and started to move like a snail.

After hours, he had finally reached the secret base. By the looks of it, it didn't seem that anyone had survived. He found his allies murdered by stab wounds. He suspected that it might've been the work of a trained assassin. He looked around to see if there was anything he could use to tend to his wounds. Luckily, he found some materials used for first aid. He waited no longer and treated himself so that he didn't get an infection. All on a sudden, he noticed a small kid lying unconscious at one corner. He seemed to be still bleeding.

Sending children to war wasn't so uncommon. He checked if he was still breathing. He was. Now, would he shoot him? It was quite obvious that the kid was the one who had assassinated his allies. So, would he take his revenge and continue this never ending war?

He took out his gun and pointed at him. He stayed like that for a while. Perhaps he was thinking about his motherland and his family, using it as an excuse to murder a helpless child just like he always had. But, he couldn't pull the trigger. He shed a few uneventful tears and lowered his gun. He started to disinfect his wounds and stopped his bleeding.

"Boy, we just might be birds of a feather."

The boy was having a nightmare. Though he had been sent to war, it always felt horrifying to kill. He was writing in pain in his sleep. "Mom!" He blurted out. Augus was there right beside him. He started to pity both the boy and himself.

He lent his hand to his enemy and held him tight so that his nightmare would go away.

It was just after evening. He couldn't sleep anymore. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Just for a short moment he had hallucinated his mother looking after him. But, he soon realized that it was an unknown man. Judging by his looks, he assumed that he was from the enemy troup. He tried to move away from the enemy who had saved his life. But, he couldn't. He felt pain surging through his body.

"Boy, don't move! You'll bleed again!" Augus said.

The boy got puzzled. What kind of situation was that, he wondered. Quickly he rummaged his pockets to bring out a knife. Fortunately, there wasn't any. With a face heavy with despair, he looked at that unknown man.

"It's okay, boy. I won't kill you. Just keep lying down. You're badly injured." He reassured him.

"Why are you helping me?!" He shouted, "What are you planning?!"

Augus took a long puff from his cigarette and breathed out the harmful smoke as if he had been sighing.

"Who know? I certainly don't."

"Whatever you're planning, it won't work!!! I'll never betray my motherland even if it kills me!!!" The boy shouted and tried to get up. But, before he could do so, his wound opened up again.

"You see?! I told you not to move!" Augus panicked and said, "Don't move anymore! I'll change your bandage."

However, the boy wasn't being cooperative despite what he said.

"Don't touch me, you filthy animal!!!" He blurted out.

Augus, on the other hand, didn't mind him. Perhaps he agreed with him to some extent.

"Let's call a truce for now, boy," he said, "Both you and I are badly injured. Let's focus on recovering first."

The boy remained silent. But, his expression on his face was too obvious. He didn't like his suggestion at all.

"What's your name, boy?" Augus asked while bringing him a bowl of soup he made for dinner.

"Why do I have to tell you my name? You're my enemy!"

"Hmm, true enough. Then, just tell me what I should call you. By the looks of it, we might have to stay here for a while till we recover. And, whether you like it or not, we'll have to communicate with each other." Augus gave a straight out answer, to which the boy had no room for arguing.

"Ingan." The boy said while looking away.

"Hmm... Ingan, huh? That quite a nice name you picked. I've made dinner. Let me feed you. You'll need your energy," said he and gave a small pause.

"Ingan."

Just as the boy, who called himself Ingan, heard that name from Augus's mouth, he felt helplessly nostalgic. It had been a while since anyone had called him by that name.

"Shut up! I don't need help from you!!!" He shouted. But, just as he did, both of them heard a peculiar sound which was very familiar.

Ingan felt so embarrassed. He couldn't say anything anymore.

"Come on now."

Right after dinner, Ingan fell asleep. But, Augus, though he was very tired, decided to stay awake and guard him. He had no way of knowing what happened to the war. The communication devices weren't working. However, he didn't care anymore. It was only hours after he had awaken from a sea of corpses. But, it felt like an event long long time ago. It was as if he had turned into a wise old man, after looking at the innocent face of the sleeping boy beside him. He had forgotten all about war. He couldn't care less about his motherland. All he thought about at that moment was that boy, Ingan.

"Perhaps God has given me a chance to start over?" He thought to himself.

That night passed rather peacefully. Somewhere in the middle, he had dozed off.

At dawn, he woke up as per his habit. The boy, Ingan wasn't beside him. He was sitting at a corner, pointing a gun at him. It was Augus's gun. He was giving him a fierce glare. Augus looked back at him and said nothing.

"Stay where you are! Don't move a muscle!!!" Ingan finally said. Augus kept on being silent.

"You are just one of those beasts who live only to kill! My family was killed by your kind! You destroyed our happiness!!!" Said he and silently shed tears.

"I won't deny anything you've just said," Augus finally said, "But, how many of our people do you think you guys have killed?"

Ingan was startled as Those words pierced his mind. He couldn't reply Augus's question. He slowly put the gun down. After that, both of them had a moment of silence. "Was it because we came to a mutual understanding for that brief moment?" Ingan would often wonder.

"I'll go collect some more herbs now. Wait for me here." Augus finally broke the silence.

"Hey..."

He looked back.

"What do I call you?"

He was surprised. He had never expected that from the boy. He was overwhelmed with happiness for some reason.

"I guess I never got the chance to tell you. Call me Augus."

And then, he departed.

Augus would collect herbs available in the forest around the hideout. They worked as both medicine and food. Ingan's wounds were steadily healing thanks to those. However, Augus's wounds were pretty deep. He was becoming weaker everyday. But, he always put up a brave front. Ingan grew closer to him as days went by. Augus had gradually became like a father figure to him. He would always wonder why he easily abandoned his motherland because of the few words from his enemy. But, he never got a clear answer back then.

Three weeks had gone by. Ingan's wounds had almost completely healed. They were supposed to leave that hideout soon because one way or the other, soldiers would eventually go there for investigation. However, they never expected them to come so soon.

Augus was out, hunting. Suddenly, he spotted a couple of soldiers. They were from his side. But, rather than being relieved, he got worried. If they found the boy, they'd kill him. He rushed back to the hideout.

"Ingan!!! We have to get away from here, now!"

He agreed and helped him with packing some necessities. Augus had him wear a new piece of cloth he had made especially for him. It was supposed to work as a disguise.

"Take these with you and run away from here as fast as you can!"

"What about you?"

"I'll meet up with you. Don't worry." His heart felt a bit heavy just as he reassured him for the last time.

"Now, go!"

As per his instructions, Ingan escaped using the back door and ran. After reaching a distance, he looked back for one final moment. At that hideout where his course of life had changed.

Augus wore the clothes Ingan had been wearing the first time they had met. He covered his face, too. Then, he started running towards the soldiers. They spotted him just as planned.

"That's the one who killed our allies!!!"

"After him!!!"

He managed to lure them out of the forest. One of the soldiers, unfortunately, was skilled enough at using his gun. He aimed and shot at last.

Augus collapsed. But, he didn't feel pain.

"Ah...I wonder...Was Ingan able to escape? It would be great if he did..."

Few days had passed by after that. Ingan was still wandering here and there, hoping to see Augus again. But, deep down, he knew...he was no longer in this cruel world.

Returning to his motherland was supposed to be the obvious choice. But, he couldn't. Something within him had changed. He felt as if he had truly become 'Ingan'.

"Mom, I think I finally figured it out. Thank you for giving me such a beautiful name."