Every day after school, she would walk along the same dirt road until she reached her home. Now, it wasn't the place she lived, no, that was in the city. This is where her soul lived, where her heart lived. This was where Chaeyoung lived.
Dahyun was a simple girl, a good girl. She always listened to her parents, always went to church, always did well in school, always performed at her best, never disobeyed government direction. But there was a part that wasn't so simple, wasn't so good.
That part of her carried her up the dirt road and through the fields. A single tree stood at the end of the field, right where it stopped being farmland and became open land leading out to the wild forest, only disrupted by the electric fence that split the open area in two.
Dahyun rolls up the ends of her school dress and enters the field from the spot she knows you can't see from the farm house. She pushes through the crops, treading carefully to not step on any of them or knock one over.
Thanks to her short stature, she can sneak under the cover of the taller plants without fear of any farmhands catching her. This part of the land is less managed than the others because more wild animals are on the outskirts. Meaning this is a perfect spot for Dahyun to slip through the field into the open land at the end.
The tree stands there, its silhouette against the warm colors of the setting sun. Under the tree sat a little box, hidden beneath the tall grass and fallen leaves of the tree.
Dahyun walks toward the tree slowly, sure to stay out of the sights of government cameras she knows lined the fence out in the open land before her. On the shaded side of the tree, where the little box stood, Dahyun dust off dirt from the roots and sat on her leather school bag.
Dahyun inhales the familiar smell, fresh crops and the smog from the nearby city. Dahyun releases a soft sigh and reaches for the box. She brushes her fingers over the carved letters and paint on the box. The words "To My Angel" carved into the box on the lid with the painting of decorative flowers around the edges. Sunflowers, specifically.
It's the only flowers Dahyun's ever seen. They don't have flowers in her home's zone. Only the Agricultural zones have them, and no one's allowed to visit other zones or else.
Dahyun just happened to be in a Cultural zone next to an Agricultural one.
One day, while playing around at the edge of the city, she saw a little girl in the field. She had been drawing into the dirt with a stick. Dahyun had thought it was kind of funny, since Agricultural zones didn't have art. She ventured off towards the girl, knowing it wasn't right. You're never supposed to leave your zone. But you weren't supposed to act outside of the norms and expectations of your zone either, and the girl was already breaking that rule.
So Dahyun went, breaking a rule for the first time in her 8 years of life. She walked towards the knee-high fence in the dirt road that was used as a marker between zone territories and hopped over it, sneaking towards the short-haired girl.
The girl hid into the crops, afraid of the Culture girl who was most likely there to report her for drawing. But Dahyun explained her interest and offered the girl something they didn't have in this Agricultural zone, chocolate.
The girl came out slowly, and from then on, the two met every day after school. Well, for Dahyun. Agricultural kids didn't get schooling, but Dahyun always shared her experiences and education with Chaeyoung.
Dahyun falls out of her memories and opens the small box. She pulls out the small journal she had given Chaeyoung long ago. She shouldn't have, it was against the rules, but the girl needed a place to save her drawings.
They were beyond amazing, the farm girl had a natural talent. It was a shame that society would never experience it. Dahyun held the journal close to her chest, closing her eyes.
She could almost feel Chaeyoung in her arms.
Dahyun feels a tear roll down her cheek. She wiped it away, upset that she even let it go in the first place. Future women of The State should not cry. Especially over those who got what they..
No.
Dahyun allows herself to cry this time. This is the last time she would ever be able to come here. But she would not even dare to take the box from this tree, their tree.
Dahyun lets soft tears stream down her face as she opens the worn-out journal to the last few pages. She reads the old writing.
Dahyun. I'm sorry. I'm sorry my selfishness has broken us. It was wrong from the start, at least in the eyes of The State. But our time together, all those years, they were the best. I never would have changed any of this for the world. To have met you at all make this all worth it.
Don't be sad, don't blame yourself. Blame The State. Like those long conversations we had, it doesn't always have to be like this. You will change this world.
I was never meant to be more than a farmer from one of the unimportant Agricultural zones. You made me special. You taught me to read, write, you gave me gifts of chocolate and art supplies. You let me experience a real love that neither one of us would have gotten in our zones.
You were real, Dahyun. You weren't another robot from a Cultural zone. You were different. You are different. You're Dahyun.
I love you, and I'm sorry that our world doesn't allow us to be together.
In another life, in another world, I know we're together.
Today, The State comes for me. I knew the risk, I knew the only consequence. But I knew why I took the risk. I know they saw me. I just had to see you in your element. I'm sorry I never got to really say goodbye.
But I haven't left you yet, my Dahyun. I'm with you, every step of the rest of your life. I'm here, Dahyun. Believe this, for even if The State can take me from you in the physical world, they can never take my love for you.
My love for you is eternal.
Forever, my Angel.
With love (and hope)
-Chaeyoung, Your Artist.
Chaeyoung didn't deserve this.
Dahyun can barely see through her tears. She hugs the journal to her chest again, wishing it was Cheayoung now more than ever.
They had talked about this day for years. But after The State took Chaeyoung..
Dahyun didn't want to be like those people, the ones who stick to all the rules and policies, the ones who take innocent lives like the one of Chaeyoung.
Dahyun told Chaeyoung to not cross over, but she did so anyway.
Chaeyoung had always been in awe of the idea of classical music and music in general, something only Cultural zones can experience. Dahyun's zone has classical music, and Dahyun was on the piano. She had a performance that night, a huge one.
Chaeyoung wanted to go see her. And so she did. She didn't know that State Officials were there, Dahyun didn't even know. They had come to scout for her, and wanted her to join the Art District of The State.
Dahyun had been wishing and praying for a chance to get into The State, wanting to change things from the inside. But Chaeyoung was at her performance, right near the Officials.
They spotted her almost immediately, she stuck out in her rugged and dirty farm clothes. She probably would have slipped through had she worn fancier clothes. She had a beauty greater than most of those in the city, but there was a roughness to her style. Both of which Dahyun loved.
She got to watch Dahyun's performance, since her solo was the opening act of the show. But shortly after, the place was put on lockdown due to an outsider getting in. Chaeyoung and Dahyun found each other and made sure to escape.
"Chaeng! Why did you come!? You know you can't be here!" Dahyun said, pulling Chaeyoung by the wrist out the secret backdoors of the building.
"I wanted to see you play. This is your big show, I wanted to be here for you," Chaeyoung explained, shivering at the shock of cold air outside.
"They're going to kill you when they find you!" Dahyun yelled, pushing the girl against the wall by her shoulders.
When. Not if. When.
Chaeyoung looked down and nodded softly. "I know, I'm sorry."
Dahyun sighed and pulled Chaeyoung into a tight, tight hug. She whispered, "You're so stupid."
That had struck Chaeyoung a little. All Agricultural kids were stupid, since they lacked schooling, but Dahyun never thought that about Chaeyoung. For her to say it at all, it- it hurt. But Chaeyoung knew where it came from.
"I didn't think this through." Chaeyoung admitted, her own arms wrapping around Dahyun waist.
"I know, I know. Come on," Dahyun said, lacing their fingers together and guiding them through the city streets.
Dahyun put her coat over Chaeyoung to conceal her clothes. The concert hall was near her school and Dahyun knew this city like the back of her hand, so slipping out to Chaeyoung's zone was simple. Risky, but simple.
They reach the division in the land in silence, both out of breath from the running. Chaeyoung hops over to her side, but holds onto both of Dahyun's hands.
"I can slow them down now and from home, but they will find you," Dahyun tells her. She hops over the small fence and embraces Chaeyoung again.
"Dahyun, I love you," Chaeyoung mumbled into Dahyun's neck.
"I love you, too, Chaeyoung," Dahyun said into Chaeyoung's hair.
Chaeyoung pulled back first, and looked out at the city behind them. Her voice cracked as she said the words, "Forever, my angel."
Dahyun choked back her sobs, realizing this will be the last time she ever heard those words. "Forever, my artist."
Dahyun and Chaeyoung kissed one more time. Then looked into each other's tearful eyes for the last time. Chaeyoung ran off in the same direction Dahyun has gone to time and time again. Chaeyoung ran off to their special tree for that last time.
Yet Dahyun continued to walk that route the next day after school. Chaeyoung wasn't there. All there was on that day was this box and a single small sunflower. (Chaeyoung always told Dahyun that they reminded her of her smile. Big, bright and warm like the actual sun.)
Dahyun didn't know how to care for a flower, it's not something you learn in Cultural zones, but Chaeyoung showed her a trick that allows you to keep them forever. She said if you flattened it between something, it'll dry and stay that way. It would be fragile and you'd have to be careful with it, but it will last. So Dahyun did just that.
She used a book of Shakespearean plays and placed the flower in the final act of Romeo and Juliet. It was intentional, for at that time she considered Romeo's decision for herself. But then she read what Chaeyoung wrote to her. To blame The State, that she would change this world.
That's when Dahyun decided to continue to work for her place in The State.
She would get inside and get justice.
For Chaeyoung.
For the friends, for the lovers, for the lost, for everyone.
For herself.
Dahyun looks through all the other little things Chaeyoung left in the box. All small things with great significance to them.
But the sun was about to set completely, meaning she must get going before the night guards go out. Dahyun tore out one of Chaeyoung's drawings, this first one in the journal, and placed everything back in the box and buried it in a shallow hole with a shovel Chaeyoung left at the tree.
Dahyun had learned some things from Chaeyoung, but mostly information on plants, food, and crops. Not much about the physical aspect of the Agricultural zone, but she did learn how to make use of the land (this box wasn't the only thing they have needed to hide).
Once the ground looked normal and undisturbed, Dahyun headed off to her zone, the drawing safely tucked away with the flower.
Tomorrow, she will be leaving to The Capital. She will begin her training as a new member of the Art District. They had a part in every art section in all districts that were granted with it, which included music. Meaning Dahyun would be able to go across zones, visiting around the world.
She could build her resistance from there. She and Chaeyoung couldn't have been the only ones wishing for another life.
Dahyun's been planning this since they took Chaeyoung four years ago. And now at 21 years old, she can finally begin to make things right.