The Chemical Engineering Major Fears His Younger Sister
Time had passed, and before I knew it I had become a corporal.
The three stripes on my rank insignia felt natural now, and it no longer seemed strange when the new recruits called me "Corporal."
The barracks that had once felt so alien when I first arrived now felt as comfortable as home.
I knew exactly where my bed was, I had my own system for organizing my locker, and even the musty smell unique to the living quarters no longer bothered me. If anything, it had started to feel oddly comforting. Human adaptability really is terrifying.
Today, like every other day, I played Auto Battler after duty ended.
Lying on my bed with my phone in hand, I played round after round. I was so absorbed that I completely lost track of time until the duty roster rotation came around.
After returning my phone, finishing my assigned cleaning area, and completing evening roll call, the clock already read 21:40.
Normally I would have gone to bed at 22:00 when lights-out was called.
But tonight, sleep was out of the question.
With a heavy sigh, I got up from my bed. I opened my locker, took out my neatly folded uniform, and began changing.
I put on the combat top and bottom in order, then laced up my combat boots last. Just as I finished tucking the laces neatly under the rubber bands, a familiar voice called out from in front of me.
"Reporting. Corporal Seo Chaewon, is this the first watch?"
When I looked up, Private Baeseojin was standing there with a half-hearted salute.
He had joined six months after me. He had a laid-back personality and was fun to be around, so pulling duty with him was always easy.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Were you assigned to the first watch too?"
"Private Jihun asked to switch, so I swapped with him."
Seojin grinned.
"I mean, first watch is basically a free pass, so I took the deal before he could change his mind."
The first watch usually ran from 22:00 to 24:00. Because it ended early, you could get a full night's sleep afterward, which made it popular. In contrast, the third and fourth watches required waking up in the middle of the night, so everyone tried to avoid them.
"Right. Let's go quickly."
I finished adjusting my boot laces and stood up.
"The duty officer today is the operations officer, so if we're late we'll get chewed out."
The operations officer had a reputation for being strict. Even being one minute late would bring down a storm of criticism.
Seojin nodded, clearly aware of the rumors, and picked up the pace.
We headed to the administrative office on the same floor.
After receiving a half-hearted briefing from the duty officer, signing the firearm log, and receiving my K2 rifle, we left the office.
The familiar weight settled into my hands. The first time I had held a rifle it had felt awkward, but now it felt like a natural extension of my body.
Knock, knock.
"Headquarters Company, Corporal Seo Chaewon. I'm here on official business at the command center."
"Come in."
When I opened the door to the command center, the first thing I saw was the operations officer sitting alone at the far end of a large oval table that could easily seat a dozen people. Instead of watching the situation board, he was casually scrolling through fighting videos on his phone.
In the corner, a single communications soldier sat in front of the CCTV monitors with a radio strapped to his chest. He was pretending to watch the screens, but his unfocused eyes made it obvious his mind was elsewhere.
I walked straight up to the duty officer, raised my right hand to my eyebrow, and gave my report.
"Reporting! First-watch personnel, Corporal Seo Chaewon and Private Baeseojin, reporting for gate duty."
"Got it. You know the password?"
"Disk Tiger."
"Alright. Close the door gently on your way out."
Leaving the operations officer's curt reply behind, we exited the command center and walked side by side toward the guard post.
The night air was cold. Even though it was already April, the nights in Pocheon were still chilly.
Our breath came out in white puffs.
I had heard that medics used to be exempt from guard duty. According to the seniors, back in the day, specialists like medics, cooks, and ambulance drivers were excused from overnight watches and perimeter duty because they had their own specialized tasks.
But those days were long gone.
With the number of soldiers decreasing, almost every branch except the cooks now had to rotate through guard and duty shifts. Whether you were a medic or not, everyone carried a rifle and stood watch or manned the gate and ammunition depot.
Times really had changed.
While we walked toward the guard post, Seojin spoke up.
"By the way, Corporal, aren't you going on leave?"
"Huh?"
The sudden question made my steps slow slightly.
"Ah, not really."
I brushed it off vaguely.
"The barracks are cozy enough, so there's no need to go home."
That wasn't true.
The first time I went on leave as a new recruit, my little sister had tormented me the entire time. She had even shown up at the airport holding a picket sign like she was picking someone up. The moment we got home she clung to me and wouldn't let go. She even snuck into my room at night in her underwear, insisting we sleep together.
Those four nights and five days had completely drained me.
After returning to base, I made a decision. From then on, I would just stay in the unit during leave. It was better for my mental health.
But I couldn't tell that story to a junior.
"Ehh, still, Corporal."
Seojin tilted his head.
"Isn't it fun to meet up with friends and hang out? You're so good-looking, I'm sure you have tons of friends."
"Good-looking."
The word left a bitter taste in my mouth.
He probably meant to say I looked pretty rather than handsome, but had softened it out of consideration for my feelings.
"Mm, drinking isn't really my thing."
I deflected again.
In truth, I had decided not to mention that I didn't have a single friend.
I had been alone in high school, alone while retaking the entrance exams, alone while retaking them again, and even after entering university I never really belonged to any group.
Going on leave wouldn't change the fact that there was no one to meet.
My only family consisted of my parents, who were away on a business trip in Singapore, and my little sister waiting at home with her brother complex.
What other options did I have?
"You're really something else, Corporal."
Seojin spoke with admiration.
"I live my whole life waiting for leave."
"Well, everyone is different. You're the ultimate social butterfly with over a hundred friends, after all."
"Hahaha, that's a misunderstanding. A total misunderstanding."
The conversation died down, and before long the guard post came into view.
The lights of the guard post shone brightly against the darkness.
Two soldiers from the second company who had been on duty before us were waiting, their faces exhausted.
"Good work."
We went through the handover procedure: signing the duty log with the guard officer, confirming nothing unusual had occurred, and checking the equipment.
Once the familiar routine was complete, the previous watch returned to the barracks.
Now we had two hours.
Seojin and I stood silently side by side in front of the guard post.
The cold night wind brushed against my cheeks. In the distance, I could hear an owl hooting.
The sky was filled with so many stars it looked like they might spill over. It was a night sky you could never see in Seoul.
It was quiet.
And I didn't mind that quiet.
We had been enjoying the silence for about twenty minutes when Private Baeseojin, who had been standing across from me, suddenly moved.
He had been holding his K2 rifle casually when he suddenly switched to a ready position and spoke to me in a startled voice.
"Corporal! Corporal!"
"What?"
I turned my head. Seojin's face had gone pale.
"Why are you making such a fuss all of a sudden?"
"Can't you see the ghost over there?"
"……What?"
"The ghost girl with the ponytail!"
A sigh escaped me.
"Stop watching those horror movies."
"No, I'm serious! It's real!"
"You were watching gore films on your phone the other day. So you're a gore fan after all."
"With all due respect, thrillers and occult stuff are completely different genres."
Seojin protested indignantly.
"More importantly, can't you really see it? The silhouette is literally a ghost."
At his words, I focused on the direction he was pointing.
A long two-lane road stretched out in front of the guard post.
The asphalt was cracked in places, and a faded yellow center line stretched dimly beneath the faint glow of the streetlights.
At this hour, it was a deserted road with no cars passing.
Occasionally, when the wind blew, fallen leaves would rustle and roll across the pavement, deepening the silence.
A green metal fence ran along the edge of the road. It was an old fence with peeling paint and patches of rust.
Weeds poked through the gaps, and an abandoned Milkis can lay rolling beneath it.
Beyond the fence rose a steep mountain slope.
Densely packed trees blocked out the sky like black shadows, and whenever the wind blew, the branches creaked as they knocked against each other.
It already looked gloomy during the day, but at night it felt even more desolate and eerie.
Yet.
When I focused, there was definitely something there.
By the roadside, right in front of the fence.
A black female silhouette holding something with both hands.
It was clearly visible.
"Hah. It really is there?"
"Ahem. See?"
For some reason, Private Baeseojin wore a smug, triumphant expression.
Ignoring him, I quickly headed inside the guard post. I knocked three times and opened the door.
It was warm inside. The heater was humming, and there was a faint scent of Maxim coffee in the air.
The guard officer on duty today, Staff Sergeant Heo Woojin from the Information and Communications unit, had pushed two chairs together and was fast asleep with his feet propped up on them. He was in full deep-sleep mode.
Next to the snoring guard officer, a sergeant from another company was so absorbed in solving a Nonogram puzzle from a book that he didn't even glance my way.
"Guard officer, sir."
"……"
"Sergeant, please wake up."
"Mmm……"
A drowsy groan reached my ears.
Staff Sergeant Heo Woojin finally opened his eyes and looked up at me with clear annoyance.
"There's a suspicious person near the guard post."
"What? Are you sure?"
His voice was thick with sleep.
"I'm certain. Someone is standing right in front of the guard post."
"……Go check it out and come back."
"M-Me, sir?"
"I don't care if Baeseojin goes or you go. Just have someone go. Quickly. And if it's nothing, don't bother coming back to report."
With that, Staff Sergeant Heo closed his eyes again, clearly refusing any further conversation.
"Yes, sir. Understood. Reporting out."
The moment I stepped out of the guard post, I walked over to Seojin.
"Seojin, you go check."
"Check what, exactly?"
"The guard officer wants someone to confirm who that is."
Seojin's expression hardened. He repeated exactly what I had said inside the guard post.
"M-Me, sir?"
"Yeah."
"……"
A brief silence fell. Then Seojin spoke with a serious face.
"How about rock-paper-scissors?"
"What?"
"If you don't play, you lose~ Rock-paper-scissors!"
"Wait a second!"
My hand shot out instinctively.
Baeseojin: Rock.
Me: Scissors.
"……"
"Haha!"
Seojin flashed a victorious smile.
"Everyone in the unit knows you always throw scissors first, Corporal."
"……"
"You're so bad at rock-paper-scissors that your locker is stuffed with over ten packs of instant ramen from lost bets, aren't you?"
I couldn't argue. It was true that my locker was piled high with the ramen I had received as betting losses.
I had kept putting off eating them, and now their expiration dates were dangerously close.
"Hey……"
My legs were shaking. I had to go confirm that black silhouette alone?
"Let's just go together."
"Corporal, are you scared?"
"Ah, hurry up!"
"One of us has to stay and guard the gate."
"Ugh……"
Technically, he was right. Two guards couldn't leave their post at the same time.
Seojin played his trump card.
"If you go and come back, I'll take care of all the ramen in your locker."
"……Really?"
"I promise."
My eyes lit up. He would handle over ten packs of ramen for me?
"You… you promised!"
Left with no choice, I started walking. My legs trembled as I crossed the road.
I gripped my rifle tightly. The cold metal of the K2 pressed against my palm. It's fine. I have a gun. Though I wasn't sure if bullets worked on ghosts.
Just then, I heard snickering from behind me.
"Ah, Chaewon hyung, your face is cute and your personality is ridiculously cute too."
……What?
"I want to make you my girlfriend~"
He had clearly said it loud enough for me to hear on purpose. My ears burned.
That bastard. Once I got back from dealing with the ghost, I was going to straighten out the military discipline around here.
Late at night, I crossed the asphalt road.
The sound of my combat boots echoed crisply through the quiet night air.
The streetlights were spaced far apart, their glow occasionally revealing insects trapped inside the bulbs, but between them lay pitch-black darkness. My heart pounded violently.
I finally reached the shoulder of the road.
Up close, it was clear the figure wasn't a ghost but a person.
Her hair, tied in a side ponytail, swayed gently in the wind, and she was holding something square in her hands.
But that didn't make me feel any safer.
No normal woman would be standing alone in a place like this at this hour. Without realizing it, I gripped my rifle even tighter.
"E-Excuse me, who are you?"
My voice trembled.
An eerie aura seemed to rise from the ghost's body and coil around me, shaking the air.
"Are you with the military by any chance?"
I spoke cautiously.
At that moment, the ghost moved. It began walking quickly toward me.
Every hair on my body stood on end.