Senior Slayer's Daily Grind: Training Mishaps and Teasing Shaves
Right now I was training alongside Kim Heejin.
Honestly, calling it actual training felt off—more like watching myself put in overtime on a solo performance. I could sense my body moving better, but it was hard to feel the difference. Every time I got stronger, Kim Heejin raised her own gear to match.
“Cough!”
I dodged Kim Heejin’s attack in one fluid motion.
Speed Boost
She was holding back, but the raw power in that punch still slammed through the air, echoing with a brutal thud along the fist’s path.
“I’m going to die! If I get hit, I’m really dead!”
“I told you to come at me ready to die.”
“Even so, I can’t bring myself to actually want to die!”
“What are you talking about? Why would you want to die? Just dodge!”
“Laying it on thick is cowardly!”
“Am I supposed to call you cowardly to your senior? Come on, hit me like before—bury yourself right in!”
Kim Heejin had to drop a hint since she couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted me to go all in.
Yes! My weapon was speed! Speed was the power to dive straight into my opponent’s blind spots! That was exactly what would make them overconfident and hand me the perfect angle!
But… didn’t it fail last time? All I could remember was burying my face in Kim Heejin’s chest, the faint scent of milk powder still clinging to my memory.
“Not coming? Fine, I’ll come to you then?”
“Hyit!”
I surged forward on pure instinct. No matter how fast I was, there was no way Kim Heejin wouldn’t see that straight-line path coming.
The future flashed before me—light block, then counterattack—but the resistance coming back felt strangely faint.
Soft. Warm. Marshmallow-soft.
That maternal warmth in her body, the kind that didn’t suit her sharp frame. Somehow it felt familiar.
I forced my eyes open. Kim Heejin was right in front of me.
Smooth, spotless skin with not a single blemish. The faint glint of shark teeth. The faintest upward curl at the corner of her mouth. Her flushed cheeks from the heat she’d worked up, her body still radiating warmth.
All of it proved my attack had landed!
“You really are fast.”
“Did it work? Me?”
“You can see for yourself, right? Hoo…”
“Huh? Did I get a bit stronger?”
“But if you keep diving in and staying still, you’re just leaving openings. You’re giving me chances.”
Advice from a battle-hardened veteran, straight to the point. Kim Heejin’s words drilled into my ears.
Of course, she didn’t stop there. Instead of words, she pulled me into a hug.
“Waaah!”
“Wow, you really are light. Why is your waist so thin?”
She mumbled it under her breath, but every word carried. With us this close, there was no way I wouldn’t hear.
“Hoo…”
A sigh. The warmth pressing against me felt like she was disappointed in me for not properly countering.
Just as I was about to apologize for being an inadequate junior, Kim Heejin slowly pulled my body closer to hers.
Bear hug!? This is dangerous!!
While I struggled to find an escape, she set me down gently, like handling fragile porcelain.
“Huh? You’re just letting me go?”
“Why? You want me to break you?”
“No! I mean… I figured you wanted to see how I’d escape in this kind of situation.”
“You noticed too? Why not just relax and end it here? Come on, bump hips?”
“Mmm…”
“Hip-bump me!”
If it were the old me, I’d have frozen up with a “hyiiick.” But not now.
I knew exactly why she was yelling—it was out of embarrassment. I couldn’t meet her eyes, my cheeks were burning. Ninety-nine percent certain.
Actually, maybe the blush was just from the workout.
“No way!”
“Then it’s fine. I’m heading out first?”
“Thank you, Senior!”
“Thank you.”
With Jeong Seung-ah watching, I gave her the military salute. Kim Heejin returned it with a crisp hand gesture. Damn, she’s cool. I’ll have to repay her when I’m a senior too.
Kim Heejin left with a brisk stride, but not toward our living quarters—something else entirely. I was a little curious, but everyone had their own reasons, right?
“Harang-ah!”
“Superhuman Seo Harang?”
“I’ll check your status! You better not be hurt anywhere, okay?”
“Status? You don’t have to. There’s nothing injured.”
“No! You can’t! What if it turns out like last time and your leg gets hurt again!”
“I was already adjusting the power myself…”
“Still, it’s better to be safe…”
Jeong Seung-ah looked down at me.
I was weak to that gaze. It was the exact same one my sister used whenever she wanted something from me.
I’d only asked for something small—like extra spicy ramyeon—but it had left a deep imprint right in my heart. If I could do it for my sister, I’d do anything!
“You’re sweating a lot, but you’re okay, right?”
“Of course! Even more—!”
“…Even more?”
“Even more, you look wonderful. I could never hate sweat on someone who works hard.”
“Jeong Seung-ah Hero-nim…!”
“So… is it fine?”
“If that’s what you think, then please do it!”
“I’m so glad… Thank you for understanding.”
Jeong Seung-ah smiled, soft and gentle, stepping closer. Then she carefully placed her hands on my body.
Her delicate fingers brushing over me still felt strangely unfamiliar no matter how many times. I’d wiped it with a sports towel, but it was even more embarrassing now that I’d been sweating.
Was this intimate touching normal between women who lived together? I didn’t have any memories of being a woman.
It was a little ticklish, but that was probably just because it was filled with care.
“No injuries at all!”
“Thank you, Senior.”
“No, Harang suffered more.”
“No! You’re the healer, so you suffered just by giving me personal time.”
I brushed the stray bangs out of my face. My hair really had grown a lot longer. Time to get a trim, I guess.
They say you don’t cut off the tail with a blunt knife—time to find a good barber.
After training, I left the gym and headed toward the living quarters.
Kim Heejin was gone. No towel basket, so she must’ve already gone to shower. If she’d waited, that would’ve been even stranger.
With Jeong Seung-ah, we went to the changing room and started undressing.
The stares hit immediately, making me feel uneasy.
“Jeong Seung-ah Hero-nim?”
“Ah! Y-yeah! Sorry! I’ll get undressed right away!”
“Huh? You’re here?”
“Kim Heejin Hero-nim? Were you showering?”
I hurried inside. In the innermost stall, I saw Kim Heejin washing herself.
“Shampoo and body wash?”
“Not yet.”
“Yahoo! Showering together?”
“What? Already trying to coax your senior?”
Her usual tone, but somehow it carried a relaxed, veteran’s confidence.
“Can I shower next to you?”
“Go ahead.”
We both took our spots. Jeong Seung-ah sat right beside me too. Training every day with just the two of us had never felt like this, but now it was our trio.
I started washing my hair, remembering the first time we all bathed together. My hair really had grown longer— I could feel it.
“Um…”
“Hmm?”
“Is there something you wanted to ask?”
“About my hair. I want to cut it, but is there a good place nearby?”
“Cut it? Your hair? Why?”
“…Is it wasteful? It’s so silky and nice.”
Both of them reacted strongly. They seemed ready to cut it right then and there.
“I just want to trim it. The bangs have gotten too long and annoying…”
“Oh, that makes sense. Harang, your bangs really did grow long.”
“Really?”
Kim Heejin gently touched the foam in my hair. Compared to her usual rough handling, it felt careful. But she still touched it, and more often than before.
Since she knew I couldn’t touch it myself, she was doing it for me? Damn it… life as a junior is tough.
“It’s long. We have a free haircut in the base, but…”
“Right here?”
“There’s a duty roster. It’s not professional, but— no, forget that. Better to go to a salon.”
“Aww! But how do I resist the free offer?”
I’d seen it once, but women’s cuts cost more than men’s.
“Now that you’re making money, don’t be stingy or people will call you cheap?”
“I know, but… when I can afford it, I do. Of course, I don’t know who’s cutting here…”
“Han Jihye the Hero?”
“Ooh.”
I couldn’t believe it. There was another Han Jihye in our unit?
“Just to be sure, there’s only one person named Han Jihye in our base.”
“Really? The actual Hero Han Jihye?”
Jeong Seung-ah nodded firmly. It was unbelievable, but apparently true.
“Yes, really. No one’s been asking to get their hair cut lately.”
I didn’t need to ask why. I could feel the sorrow of the unit members who got cut by Han Jihye’s scissors back then.
“Still, there’s no guarantee she’ll accept.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t refuse because she can’t cut— she refuses because she’s busy. That’s why no one asks anymore.”
“…Aren’t you supposed to get rewarded for cutting hair? If you keep turning people down like that…”
“No reward. It was a volunteer thing. I don’t even have to, and the scissors I use are just the old army ones from when this base was built.”
Really? This woman was impossible to figure out. I never thought she’d do it for free.
Still, if I couldn’t cut it myself, it was better to try once. I told her I’d ask sometime, but her response was lukewarm. She probably thought I’d get turned down. Honestly, that was exactly how I felt too.
“…What? What, sit down.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“I never expected you’d actually do it, so I was surprised.”
“I’m not that heartless, am I? Our living-quarter kids can get their hair cut.”
Han Jihye reached out and gently lifted my bangs, like she was checking the price.
“Yeah, it is a bit long. Want me to just chop it off?”
I thought it was fine, but Jeong Seung-ah and Kim Heejin both looked like they hated short cuts, so I decided to keep the long hair—at least for my senior’s image.
Honestly, my bangs had started to feel familiar.
Han Jihye asked for a chair, so I quickly brought one and sat down.
The worried glances from Jeong Seung-ah and Kim Heejin mixed with the sharp snip-snip of the scissors.
Was this how a criminal about to be beheaded felt? My heart pounded.
“Cutting?”
“Please do.”
My trust rose with her confident scissors approach.
I closed my eyes as the bangs entered my vision.
“Eh! I’m doomed!”
“Nooo!”
“I’m joking. Trust me, sis.”
“Ah… thank goodness. Then I’ll—”
“Ah! I’m really doomed!”
“Noooo!”
“Hehe… your reactions are hilarious.”
She kept talking while snipping perfectly. The result in the mirror looked satisfying.
“How is it? Nice, right? Hero Han Jihye’s skills?”
“I was shocked.”
“Then pay for the cut?”
“Nooo!”
…Han Jihye kept the jokes going, and I kept playing along.