Chapter 472: Super New Kim Woo-jin
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 472: Super New Kim Woo-jin
“Honey!”
“Pfft?!”
I was showing my leave pass to the guards at the guardhouse when Senior Ju-hee suddenly waved and laughed.
She was wearing sunglasses, so I couldn't see her eyes clearly, but I knew there was a mischievous crescent-eyed smile behind them.
“H-Honey?”
The guys at the guardhouse looked back and forth between me and Senior Ju-hee.
Naturally, their gazes were filled with intense envy.
Going on leave was already enough to make them jealous, but having a cool and beautiful girlfriend come to pick me up was the icing on the cake.
I was flustered, though; I hadn't expected Senior Ju-hee to call out to me so blatantly and boldly.
“Honey, let’s go. Hurry.”
She called out to me again with a beaming, teasing smile. Only then did I realize what she was up to and let out a sigh.
“Senior, you’re just teasing me because it’s April Fool’s Day, aren’t you?”
“Was it that obvious?”
“People are going to get the wrong idea.”
Today was April 1st, April Fool’s Day.
It seemed she was intentionally messing with me because of the date.
“Alright, you’re cleared.”
The guardhouse personnel, pretending they hadn't heard a thing, handed my leave pass back to me.
As the barrier rose and I stepped outside, I could still feel their narrow-eyed glares piercing my back.
Sigh, at least they aren't my seniors.
The Headquarters Company doesn't pull guardhouse duty, so none of my direct superiors were there.
That was a relief, if you could call it that.
The rumors wouldn't spread.
Probably.
“Are you really going to be like this?”
“Hurry up and hop on the back.”
Smiling, she handed me a motorcycle helmet instead of my beret.
As I was about to get on, she glanced toward the guardhouse and asked, “I guess I shouldn't hug you right now, huh?”
“...Let’s do that later. When we get there.”
“It’s a promise.”
Seeing her after a while, I felt... something.
Physically, she definitely looked much more mature than before, but her tone felt strangely desperate, as if she were parched.
When I sat on the back of the bike and wrapped my arms around her waist, she froze for a moment.
“Senior?”
I wondered what was wrong, but she just glanced back at me and nodded.
“You’ve been working out a lot.”
“Oh... I guess?”
I did exercise, but the work in the Combat Support Platoon was basically manual labor.
Moving crates, digging holes, moving more crates, and digging more holes.
I mean, I wondered if there really was that much stuff to move.
Or if there were really that many reasons to dig holes.
Often, we weren't even doing our own work; we were helping out other companies.
We were literally a 'Support' platoon.
Thanks to the First Sergeant, who had been cooped up at the base lately due to a cold war with his wife (Samo-nim), we were going all over the place to help out.
Still, compared to other platoons, we were basically slacking off.
“Your arms feel thicker.”
“Really? I hadn't noticed.”
“No, they’re definitely thicker.”
I couldn't see well because of the helmet.
But I felt Senior Ju-hee lean back slightly against my arms.
“Hold on tighter. You’ll fall.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Squeeze.
“Ngh... yeah.”
“....”
What was that?
I looked at her with a bewildered expression, but she didn't seem to notice my gaze and immediately started the bike.
Vrooooom!
* * *
Usually, they tell you to eat breakfast before you go on leave, but I skipped it this morning.
As a mere Private First Class, I had no right to complain about skipping a meal.
But I didn't want to waste a single opportunity to eat outside food.
So, the place we went to was a nearby pork cutlet restaurant.
Having ordered a cheese pork cutlet with an extra side of udon, my heart was pounding with excitement.
Watching me, Senior Ju-hee let out a small laugh.
“You should have told me earlier. I would have looked for a really famous pork cutlet place.”
“Hey, it’s fine. Even the stuff from a place nearby will taste better than what they serve in there.”
It’s food people pay for; how could it possibly taste worse than the pork cutlets fried in the military?
Besides, it was a cheese pork cutlet.
A menu item you couldn't even dream of inside the base.
Even though I usually prefer Korean food, right now, I wanted to fill my stomach to the brim with the greasiness of oil and cheese.
“What about the others?”
“Jin-ah couldn't make it because she has practice with the orchestra. I heard they have a nationwide tour scheduled.”
“Ah, I saw that. I saw an ad featuring Choi Jin-ah on TV.”
They say people don't watch TV much these days, but the military is different.
Since we spend all day flipping through channels, we know exactly what’s playing where, and we see commercials so often we memorize them.
“And Yun-ji... it seems a broadcaster under her company is having a hard time because of some controversy.”
“A controversy?”
“It’s not that Yun-ji’s person did anything wrong. Apparently, they were called out, but Yun-ji says it’s all nonsense. She’s busy preparing a rebuttal and a lawsuit.”
“Heh, things are the same as ever over there.”
I nodded and took a sip of water.
It went without saying, but the world was turning just fine without me.
“Well, the other three aren't coming because they made a promise to us.”
“Haha, do you have any idea how much the girls were swearing about that yesterday?”
The three who had come on the day of the completion ceremony had decided to meet me a day later on purpose.
Apparently, that was the agreement, and I had a hard time listening to Yoo Ah-rin and Seo Ye-rin grumble about it all day yesterday.
“Ha, the completion ceremony...”
I muttered with an involuntary sigh.
At the time, it felt like everything was over.
But now that I was a Private First Class, the memory of the completion ceremony felt like a distant past.
It was funny to think back on how happy I was just to become a Private Second Class, but it also showed how desperate I had been back then.
“Aren't you busy, Senior?”
“Me? Well...”
She was a senior in college now.
I wondered if she had a lot of schoolwork since it was her final year, but she scratched her cheek sheepishly.
"I'm actually quite free. I've already gotten all the certifications I need, and I've finished most of my required credits."
I suppose this was the reward for the three years she spent studying and working so fiercely.
Unlike before, when she was constantly chased by money and grades, it was good to see her looking so much more relaxed.
“And as for employment, a certain someone has already called dibs on me.”
“It’s because you’re talented, Senior.”
“Hurry up and get discharged. That way I can start working properly.”
Senior Ju-hee, who was to become my personal bodyguard.
We were chatting and laughing when she glanced at me and asked, “Can you roll up your sleeve for a second?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“...Huh?”
“Ah, no. It’s just a habit. What? My arm?”
I had answered in military speech without thinking. Senior Ju-hee laughed at my reaction but proceeded to roll up the sleeve I held out.
“Oh.”
Then, she began to feel and stroke my arm with both hands. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing.
“You really did work out hard. Wow, it feels different.”
“R-Really? I think it was more from the hard work than actual exercise, though.”
I made an excuse out of embarrassment, but she suddenly looked alarmed.
“Work? Is it that hard?”
“Well, yeah. We do all sorts of things...”
Even as she listened, her hands kept wandering over my arm. It was as if she were addicted to the feeling.
“You’ve become so reliable. Do I even need to protect you anymore?”
“Of course. If I fought you, I’d be knocked out in one hit.”
I was certain of that.
She said I looked reliable.
But honestly, I was more afraid of her.
Ever since I joined the military, I’d been getting reports from all over that she was working out like a maniac.
Some of those reports were actually distress calls, asking to be saved because they didn't know why she was making them join her.
“Wow...”
Senior Ju-hee continued to absentmindedly stroke my arm.
Then, seeing the pork cutlet arrive, she snapped out of it.
“Oh my, look at you two. So close.”
“Ahem.”
The auntie laughed as she set the pork cutlet down and left.
“L-Let’s eat.”
“Yes, enjoy your meal, ma'am.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, habit.”
The atmosphere had been strange just a moment ago, but once the cheese pork cutlet and udon were in front of me, I lost my mind and started inhaling the food.
Has it always been this delicious?
Or was this place just a hidden gem?
Or was my tongue, which had been normalized to military food, finally rediscovering the truth?
Whatever it was.
It was so delicious that I kept eating, while Senior Ju-hee sat across from me, blushing and stealing glances at me.
I felt her gaze, but I decided to pretend not to notice for her sake.
“That was a great meal. It was delicious.”
“Come again!”
We finished paying and stepped outside.
Until a moment ago, hunger had been my primary drive.
But now that my stomach was full, another desire began to crawl up.
I shouldn't be like this.
As a soldier, haven't I learned restraint and become the 'New Kim Woo-jin'?
The 'New Kim Woo-jin' doesn't speak recklessly, nor is he a beast that acts solely on instinct.
Now that I’ve become the New Kim Woo-jin, let’s live differently.
“Well, shall we go?”
Having caught the cold breeze, Senior Ju-hee seemed to have calmed down.
She asked with a smile, and now I noticed things I hadn't seen before.
The way her jeans perfectly traced the line of her hips, and how her distinct physique was visible even through her leather jacket.
Finally, a sense of conquest—the urge to conquer a strong woman—welled up inside me.
No, New Kim Woo-jin. What are you doing?
I vowed to myself.
I couldn't do this.
“Senior, should we maybe take a rest before we go?”
“A rest? Why? Do you feel sick because you ate too much?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
A man who doesn't evolve is as good as dead.
The New Kim Woo-jin is dead.
I am now the 'Super New Kim Woo-jin.'
The 'Super New Kim Woo-jin' lives even more faithfully to his instincts.
Because that is what happiness is.
Seeing my expression, Senior Ju-hee took a step back, looking uneasy.
“Y-Young Master?”
Her way of speaking had naturally shifted.
* * *
Vibrate! Vibrate! Vibrate!
“H-Hello?!”
— Where the hell are you?
I answered the phone without even checking who it was, but I could immediately identify the owner of that sharp, stinging voice.
“Y-Yun-ji! I’m... on my way. I’m coming.”
— It’s 7 PM. It’s pitch black outside, so where are you? You Tok-ed me this morning when you left the guardhouse.
“....”
— Sigh, where are you? Tell me now. Everyone is here, you know.
Ah, I’m screwed.
I hesitated for a moment before answering in a small voice.
I don't know why I spoke so quietly.
Maybe I thought she wouldn't hear me if I did.
“A-At a motel...”
— Ha, that’s an April Fool’s joke, right? Seriously, where are you?
“....”
— Get your ass over here right now! You absolute animal!
As her voice pierced through my eardrum, I glanced over at Senior Ju-hee.
“S-Senior, do you think you can move?”
Senior Ju-hee was collapsed on the bed, naked, with her back turned to me.
Judging by the sound of her soft, steady breathing, it didn't look like she’d be moving anytime soon.
“Um, Senior brought her bike... but I don't think she can drive right now.”
— You absolute animal! Then you drive it here!
“...I don't have a license.”
Amidst the scolding and criticism from the others over the phone, the first day of my leave came to an end.
For the record, this place was only a ten-minute drive from the base.