The Grave that Sits Under the Oak Tree

by kaguyaaaa

Summary:

Namjoon is visiting Gokseong, Busan to visit his late grandmother. He writes on his journal about the events he's experiencing. Whilst leaving the gravesite, he stumbles upon a headstone with two names engraved on it. He wonders why they are buried together? Burdened by his curiosity, he is helped by the small town's museum guide, Jin. Together, the unravel and decipher the stories of former soldiers: Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung.

Notes:

• Inspired by Emil and Xaver by Guillem Clua

This story was a fic I started writing back in 2018. It was inspired by the Twitter thread of @guillemclua. I give full credit to them for giving me inspiration for this fic. I first uploaded this to Wattpad back in December 2018. It was originally titled: "In the Same Grave". However, I stopped writing due to a decline in my mental health. I ended up archiving the story there due to grammatical errors and bad story buildup (I was 13 and had no writing experience beforehand). However, I will continue the story now after almost 5 years. I hope you'll all enjoy this angst fest :D The story in the present day will be narrated in Namjoon's journal entries, while Jungkook and Taehyung's stories will be told in third person. I hope you all enjoy it !!

Chapter 1

Notes:

This story was a fic I started writing back in 2018. It was inspired by the Twitter thread of @guillemclua. I give full credit to them for giving me inspiration for this fic. I first uploaded this to Wattpad back in December 2018. It was originally titled: "In the Same Grave".

However, I stopped writing due to a decline in my mental health. I ended up archiving the story there due to grammatical errors and bad story buildup (I was 13 and had no writing experience beforehand). It was also very historically inaccurate and written poorly in the context of sensitivity towards the victims of the Second World War and the Korean War.

I understand that the themes that will be presented are immensely triggering. I'm currently doing my best to write themes of war and tragedy with utmost sensitivity and empathy for victims and survivors, as well as generations who still suffer from the effects of geopolitical violence and imperialism.

Now that I've decided to scrap the old fic, I've gained much more writing experience compared to my 13-year-old self. I hope to bring justice for the alternate reality characters of Taehyung and Jungkook. Namjoon's journal entries will be written in the first-person perspective, while Taehyung and Jungkook's will be in the third-person perspective.

I hope you all enjoy this labor of love!

With care, Koya

Chapter 1: Namjoon's Journal Entries 1-2

---

November 14, 2022

Entry #1 

 

Hi. I don't really know how to start this thing. I'm here in Busan for my grandma, I haven't visited her since they buried her. My therapist told me to write on a journal, I guess I'll see if I have a knack for writing this shit. 

 

I think I'm being too rude. Let me introduce myself? I'm Kim Namjoon, friends call me Joon. 23...still don't have a car. Broke freshly graduated student. I think that sums it up. I can't believe I just introduced myself to a piece of paper. Anyways, I just arrived at the cemetery. The guy next to me on the bus kept sniffing my shoulder, I guess I smell nice? It's autumn now and the leaves are nice and golden. I've always liked this season. During this time, my grandma used to make my favorite snacks and give me new sweaters. Anyways, I'm here at her gravestone, she's buried in a memorial cemetery. She served in the army during the war, nursing wounded soldiers. I remember her vividly telling stories about being on the frontlines, seeing bloody soldiers everywhere, and having not enough rations to eat. I mean this was petrifying for a kid to hear, but I'm older now and those experiences just make me sad. Sad for what she had to go through. I remember her being the bravest woman I know, but the softest heart I've ever seen on someone. Sorry for rambling too much already, I think I just need to let off some steam. I feel guilty for not visiting her all this time. 

 

I'll go talk to her now. I really missed her.

 

 

PS: It's really strange there's a grave here with two people in it. It's the only one like that? I'm really confused.

 

 

November 15, 2022

Entry #2 

 

The scenery's so nice here. The air is breezy and cold. I forgot how beautiful Gokseong is. I spent my childhood summers here with my grandma and aunt. I remember playing with blades of grass, sweating profusely due to the insane heat, being called by my grandma to shower because I smell bad from all the sweating. It was simpler, I forget to appreciate how naive I was. She would bring me fresh fruits as well! Those were really fun memories. I also had my favorite soup for breakfast (my aunt makes it the best), and I could really go for a cup of coffee right now. 

 

 

I really had a nice time at the memorial cemetery yesterday. Did I mention the cemetery was next to a school? I wonder what the kids in there think about it. Although, I do feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. However I still have one problem...

the grave with two people in it still piques my interest.

 

It's just so bizzare to me! Every soldier has their own grave? Why not them? It's really weird. They were also buried underneath the huge oak tree. There must be something about them, and I need to figure it out. 

 

I'm currently at Gokseong's local museum. They basically show Korean War memorials and records of some soldiers. I'm at the point of my life where solving the mystery of two people buried together is "exciting"...

 

Oh! And their names. They were Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung. 

 

 

 

***

 

 

I just finished looking through the museum. Apparently, Jungkook's father was a renowned doctor in Gokseong even before the war, they were a really well-off family. Jungkook was an only child from what I saw. They had a family portrait in there. I asked the local museum guide about Kim Taehyung and he said they were friends. 

 

Kim Seokjin is the local museum guide, he toured me around the corners of each hall and corner. Actually, I was really only interested in records of the Jeon family, since they were pretty prominent in Gokseong, and I believed it'll lead me to more clues. However, the only record of Jungkook there was that he died in 1952. It still wasn't enough for me and I felt like I was reaching a dead end. So I told Seokjin that I'd continue the wild goose chase tomorrow and see if there's more clues in town. He also gave me his calling card, which I will gladly use because I really need aid from an expert.

 

Which brings me to right now, I'm starving.  I'm in a cute little local restaurant bombarded by paintings. I think each one is from the same artist? They all have pretty similar styles. Anyways, I could smell the food a mile a way and it just awakened every primal instinct I have. I need to eat, or all this Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung business will surely make me go crazy. I'll write here later once I've devoured my meal.

 

 

 

***

 

 

Holy Shit. Remember how I said the restaurant was filled with paintings?  I was pretty stuffed and decided to wander around the place when I saw a painting of a hanok (traditional Korean housing) and its window. Below it said:

 

Kim Taehyung

Jungkook's room

1948

 

I couldn't believe it! I finally thought I was getting somewhere. I asked the owners of the place if they knew who Kim Taehyung was, but they weren't really sure since the paintings were already there before they bought the restaurant from its previous owner. Which led me to another dead end. 

 

I'm really frustrated as of now. Seokjin's number is gonna come handy.