Chapter 471: First Leave
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 471: First Leave
One week.
Exactly one week had passed.
“Woo-jin, clean this up.”
“Private Kim Woo-jin!”
“If anyone’s got hands free, come help me lift this.”
“Private Kim Woo-jin!”
“You any good at soccer? Want to go play?”
“Private Kim Woo-jin!”
Military life was not smooth sailing in many ways.
I must have made a decent impression because I was being called from all over, but at least I wasn't being bullied.
However, there were moments when things got subtly shitty, usually when they were making me do something.
“Woo-jin, you heading to the PX?”
I wasn't.
I had no intention of going.
But right now, this was a subtle nudge telling me to go.
“Yes, I was just about to go.”
The moment I sprang up to answer, another Corporal nearby stiffened and snapped back.
“The PX? A Private? Are you fucking kidding me? You’ve already gone soft, haven't you?”
Ah, shit.
It was a curveball. Those bastards.
“No, sir!”
“What do you mean, ‘no’? You just said you were going. Are you lying to me now?”
“No, sir!”
It was a strange way to live.
How could they be so brazen?
It was as if playing with Privates like this was a conditioned habit.
My seniors seemed to find it endlessly entertaining, poking and prodding at me whenever they were bored.
Well, it was still better than the training center.
At least here I could watch TV, which was better than just sitting in silence like I had to back then.
Since the military allows Neutube on TV these days, I even got to watch that occasionally.
Inside the container barracks.
We were all watching TV in our combat uniforms.
Surprisingly, the time was 2:00 PM.
Even though it was the middle of the workday, our Combat Support Platoon was just sitting around watching TV.
After spending a week here, I was certain of one thing.
This place is a total jackpot.
The person who led us—the so-called "combat" force—was the First Sergeant.
But conversely, if the First Sergeant didn't give us a specific task, we did absolutely nothing.
Since the platoon was full of troublemakers, the First Sergeant managed us personally, but if he didn't have an assignment for us, we just sat tight.
The important thing was that the First Sergeant was an incredibly busy man.
Busy with things outside the base, that is.
Rumors were rampant, but I heard he owned three family businesses outside: a restaurant, a motel, and a PC bang.
Since they all targeted soldiers, whenever the unit had a department gathering, it was at the First Sergeant’s restaurant.
When soldiers went on overnight leave, they went to the First Sergeant’s motel.
When they went out for a few hours, they went to the First Sergeant’s PC bang.
It was a crazy monopoly, but on the flip side, it meant he had no time to worry about the Combat Support Platoon.
So, there were days when we truly did nothing all day long.
We’d eat breakfast, start binge-watching a drama, eat dinner, and finish the final episode.
Because it was so easy, I realized a strange kind of absurdity started to develop.
Today followed the same routine.
We ate dinner, watched some variety shows, and when it was time to get our phones, I collected all the seniors' phones and handed them out.
I was about to head outside to call the girls when one of the seniors followed me out.
Private First Class Jeong Su-min, the one who had shown me around the base before, approached and asked.
“Woo-jin, did you happen to write a Heart's Letter?”
“I didn't. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, it’s just that the Administrative Team seems a bit noisy.”
Hm?
“Is it about me?”
“I don’t know if it’s you. It just seems like there’s some talk about our platoon in the office. The Company Commander is involved, too.”
“...I wouldn't know anything about that.”
“Right? Okay, never mind.”
Private First Class Jeong Su-min was very kind to me.
I heard he had been transferred here after writing a Heart's Letter about the abuse he suffered at a GOP post.
It seemed like he was being extra nice to me because of that experience.
He wanted to be a different person from those who had bullied him.
That’s a good mindset.
Personally, I liked it.
I hummed a tune as I placed a call.
Once I started, I’d end up talking to one person for too long, so I just set up a group call.
It was a bit hard to communicate this way, but it was better than leaving someone out.
As soon as I called from outside, someone picked up immediately.
“Hello?”
— Yes! Hubby!
The one who answered right away was Seo Ye-rin.
I let out a hollow laugh as we talked, and one by one, the others joined the group chat as we continued our conversation.
*
“What was that kid’s name again?”
Sergeant Kim, who had about two months left until discharge, asked.
For the record, he originally had one month left, but after serving two full guardhouse penalties (15 days each), his discharge date had been pushed back by two months.
“It’s Woo-jin. Kim Woo-jin. It’s been a week, isn't it about time you memorized it?”
Corporal Choi, sitting next to Sergeant Kim, answered with a playful smirk. Corporal Choi had previously spent ten days in the brig for verbal abuse.
“I heard they’re transferring him somewhere else?”
“Huh? Why would they do that?”
“Dunno. Apparently, the higher-ups think he’s got potential, so they’re planning to pull him into the headquarters as an administrative soldier.”
“Wow, that’s ridiculous. He’s a pure-blood recruit for our platoon, so we already had everything ready to make him a squad leader!”
Another Sergeant, who had been listening quietly, thought to himself.
Ready, my ass.
They had been picking on him and messing with him on purpose.
Look at them trying to frame it as "helping him adjust to the military."
It was absurd.
Click.
Private First Class Jeong Su-min, who had been talking to Kim Woo-jin outside, walked back in.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, he slunk back to his spot and got on his phone.
“Hey, that new guy is talking to his girlfriend, right?”
The Sergeant and Corporal immediately swarmed him with questions.
“Uh, I’m not really sure.”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to start your sentences with ‘Uh’?”
“I’m sorry!”
“That punk definitely has a girlfriend. He’s been outside on the phone every single day for a week.”
At the Corporal’s words, the Sergeant nodded.
Sergeant Kim, who had recently been dumped because he couldn't stay in touch while in the brig, felt a surge of jealousy.
God, this sucks.
Sergeant Kim marched straight to Kim Woo-jin’s locker. He yanked it open and started rummaging through it.
“Sergeant Kim?”
“Hey, what are you doing?”
When the other Sergeant asked in annoyance, Sergeant Kim huffed.
“It pisses me off that the new recruit is hiding his girlfriend from us. What, did we ask for an introduction? Does he think he’s some world-class star?”
“It hasn't even been two weeks for him yet. Don't you know he’s in his protection period?”
“So what?”
As he was noisily tossing the locker, an administrative soldier from the Headquarters Company knocked and entered.
“Oh, are you guys busy?”
The look on his face suggested he was dying to share some juicy gossip.
“What is it? Why? Ugh, why does this kid have so many letters?”
Sergeant Kim grumbled as he sifted through the mail.
The administrative soldier scanned the container with a grin, confirming Kim Woo-jin wasn't there.
“You know that new recruit who just came in? Did you know he’s a chaebol?”
“Huh?”
The atmosphere inside the container barracks shifted instantly.
“He has a buddy who went to the neighboring company. I heard that a famous Neutuber and an actress are his friends. So I looked him up on Neutube, and—”
The administrative soldier had followed the exact same path the training center instructors and officers had taken.
Naturally, he found Kim Woo-jin on Yoo Ah-rin’s Neutube channel and read the comments about his identity.
“It turns out he’s—!”
“So what if he’s rich? A Private is a Private. What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Don't you know rank is everything in the military?”
Despite saying that, Sergeant Kim continued rummaging, but the administrative soldier sighed and shook his head.
“Would I be making such a fuss if he was just any rich kid? He’s the youngest son of Uju Group!”
Thud.
At that moment, the door opened and Kim Woo-jin walked in.
“Hm?”
He had cut his call short and returned to the barracks because Choi I-seo told him not to spend all his time on the phone and to mingle with his unit.
He looked bewildered to see the administrative soldier there and his locker contents strewn about.
However, the people who were truly flustered were the seniors inside the container.
“Ahem, ahem! Well, I’ll be going now!”
The administrative soldier who had delivered the news bolted out the opposite door.
“Let’s be friends!”
He even patted Kim Woo-jin on the shoulder as he left.
“...”
In an instant, Kim Woo-jin’s brow furrowed.
The letters the girls had sent were scattered on the floor.
He had kept the photos tucked away safely, so those were fine, but this alone was enough to make him feel disgusted.
“...”
“...”
The Sergeant and Corporal stood there like statues, not knowing how to excuse themselves.
They awkwardly tried to pick up the letters to tidy them, but Kim Woo-jin quickly took them.
“I’ll do it.”
“Ah, uh, right. Okay.”
“...”
The two men shuffled back to their spots.
In the midst of that, the Corporal, feeling uneasy, cautiously asked Kim Woo-jin.
“Y-you aren't going to go around talking about this outside, right?”
He was asking out of fear that he might have just made an enemy of Uju Group, a titan of South Korea.
“Oh, I don't write things like Heart's Letters.”
Kim Woo-jin assumed he was talking about internal military reports and brushed it off with a smile.
“You guys need to get discharged soon, after all.”
“...!”
It was the first time either of them had found the words "get discharged" so terrifying.
*
Two months after enlisting, I was promoted to Private First Class.
Whether it was because the rumors had finally spread or because my seniors were walking on eggshells, they didn't mess with me, allowing me to have a comfortable military life.
As expected, money is king in this world.
Anyway.
Today was April 1st.
April Fool’s Day.
And the day of my first leave.
“Damn...”
It was hard to suppress the surge of emotion.
I had been up since dawn to scrub myself clean. The combat boots I had polished so hard last night were gleaming, and my uniform had razor-sharp creases.
At this very moment, was there any soldier more dashing than me?
Probably not.
With the seniors seeing me off and telling me to have a good time, I passed through the checkpoint.
Standing right there, as if waiting for me, was a woman with her hair tied back.
Sunglasses, a leather jacket, and a motorcycle behind her to boot.
The sentries at the checkpoint were stealing glances at none other than Senior Ju-hee.