Why Are These Guys So Nice?!
Why are these people so nice! I'm the one feeling embarrassed here!
The day of the interview dawned quiet and empty in front of the academy, nothing like the chaos of the first exam. It made sense, of course. All the failures like Hui-un had already been weeded out—now only the ones who would pass remained.
"Haaa... fuuuu...!"
I knew I wouldn't fail. My written scores were solid, and I'd already passed the practical. Plus, no interviewer in their right mind would flunk someone under the direct favor of the king and crown prince. But even knowing that, my heart still pounded.
"Hyungnim! No need to worry at all! Making it to the interview means you're basically passed!"
"Shut it, you fool! Instead of yapping, cram one more character into that head of yours!"
Familiar voices from a few days back rang out. My eyes flicked over involuntarily, landing on the mismatched brothers.
"Heh heh! How do you even read the Analects? Forgot we're taking the military exam?"
"You think the military exam means skipping the Analects? Hand it over, quick!"
The big guy with the bushy beard, built like my father-in-law—that was Jeong Hyeon-beom. The scrawny one, who didn't look the type for the military exam... I hadn't caught his name yesterday. Anyway, even if the interview was just a formality, it was still an official test. I had no desire to get tangled up with these two noisemakers right before it started. So I kept my distance as much as possible.
But then...
"You'll go in groups of three! Introduce yourselves now! First group! Kim Si-jin! Jeong Hyeon-beom! So Ji-hu!"
I ended up grouped with one of them. The very first one, no less.
Just like on the first exam day, we were gathered in the open yard before the drill hall when that thunderbolt announcement hit.
"Ha ha! Kim Si-jin, eh? What an honor!"
My face was already too well-known by now. Jeong Hyeon-beom found me without any hassle.
"Pleased to meet you! Name's Jeong Hyeon-beom! From Iksan County over there!"
"Ah, yeah. I'm Kim Si-jin. From Jeongeup County."
"Hahaha! I've heard all about you! But damn, you're shorter than I pictured."
Take off your pants and I'll show you bigger.
Whether it was his big-E MBTI energy or what, Jeong Hyeon-beom came right at me without a hint of reserve. I forced a smile and chatted with him, secretly relieved on one hand. At least I wasn't grouped with his older brother.
But where was this So Ji-hu guy?
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm So Ji-hu. From the same Iksan County as this one here."
Wait, you're So Ji-hu? Weren't you two brothers?
The guy introducing himself as So Ji-hu was none other than the skinny one Jeong Hyeon-beom had called "hyungnim."
"Uh, your younger brother called you 'hyungnim,' though."
"Oh, that? He just calls me that on his own whim. Don't mind it."
"Ahh..."
"Haha! Let's all get through this together!"
Jeong Hyeon-beom, the one who'd tricked me into misunderstanding, laughed boldly and clapped my shoulder.
"Hey, uh, there's something I should mention."
At this rate, I might end up spending three years at the academy with these two. Sure, I wouldn't be lonely, but the incidents and accidents would be nonstop. To head that off, I decided to draw a line upfront.
"I'm worried I might cause trouble for you two, being a lowborn and all."
From what I'd heard on the first exam day, they were both illegitimate sons. Even from the same concubine, it mattered whether the mother was yangban or lowborn—the depth of discrimination varied. From my own experience, they'd surely look down on me.
"Hm? You know about that?"
"Who doesn't?"
Don't look at me like I just told you something obvious, you guys!
"I-is it okay? For a lowborn like me to hang with illegitimate sons like you two."
"Why wouldn't it be? Lowborn, illegitimate, legitimate—we're all just people with red blood flowing through our veins!"
"In this world, anyone not legitimate gets the side-eye anyway. Might as well stick together, us concubine-born."
Why are these people so nice! I'm the one feeling embarrassed here!
"Y-yeah. Looking forward to working with you...!"
Fine. No helping it—the group was set. For now, play nice here, then act like strangers at the academy. Yeah. That'll work. Bide my time for the next chance while sizing up Jeong Hyeon-beom and So Ji-hu.
Jeong Hyeon-beom took after my father-in-law in build. The differences? Paler skin and even more hot-blooded. Anyone could see him becoming either a military officer or a bandit.
So Ji-hu was shockingly slender for a military exam candidate. Tall, sure, but he looked more suited to the civil service track—probably forced this way by his illegitimate status.
Their personalities matched their looks, too. Jeong Hyeon-beom wouldn't shut up, booming away nonstop, while So Ji-hu flipped through an Analects book utterly unrelated to the military exam, prepping quietly.
"Group 1! Kim Si-jin! Jeong Hyeon-beom! So Ji-hu! Enter!"
Thanks to Jeong Hyeon-beom's endless chatter, I had zero time to get nervous. In the end, I walked into the interview room utterly unprepared.
"This way. Come in and sit."
Following the academy staff, we entered the drill hall and reached a room. Across a central table sat three middle-aged men who looked like the interviewers; opposite them, three chairs lined up for us.
"Sit."
The guy on the left smiled kindly.
"Y-yes, sir."
Even the bandit-like Jeong Hyeon-beom was tense. He wiped his usual hearty grin, sat with a stiff face.
Once So Ji-hu and I were seated too, the interview began.
"Let's start with the basics."
The center guy scanned what looked like our files and asked.
"Why do you want to become military officers? You there—you. Jang... Hyeon-beom? You first."
"Yes, sir!!"
"...No deaf folks here, huh."
"S-sorry, sir."
His answer echoed through the room. He bowed, apologized, then boomed his response.
"I am strong in body and mind! I will not retreat from perilous battle! With resolve to give my all for the nation, I take this military exam!"
"Hmmm. I see."
He acted like he couldn't care less, despite asking. Then tossed the same question to the next.
"So Ji-hu. You?"
"The path of a military officer demands more than brute strength. Only those with strategy, patience, and responsibility qualify. I chose this path believing I possess those qualities."
"Hooh..."
No wonder he'd been clutching that book right up to the last minute. His crisp answer even had the other interviewers nodding.
"Good. Now, Kim Si-jin."
The interviewer, who'd nodded in satisfaction, called my name. Unlike before, his eyes sharpened as he asked.
"If rebellion breaks out again, would you make the same choice as last time?"
What the hell? Why skip my motivation and go straight for that?I was just thinking about it!
"Uh, are you referring to the Bulat Rebellion, sir?"
I stammered, flustered, but managed to ask.
"That's right."
He nodded, confirming I'd heard correctly. As the other interviewers watched, he explained the question.
"Your exploits back then were quite intriguing. You crushed the Ramu bandits to set traps, left an entrance to lure the enemy, rallied the villagers for a siege defense."
"Y-yes. That's what happened."
"Ha! It was so absurd when I heard. A kid not even of age quelling a rebellion? Not even in the old chronicles."
He glanced at the others as if to say, right? They nodded too, faces full of disbelief.
"Ah, um. Yeah."
He muttered like he'd forgotten he was an interviewer, then asked me again.
"You. If the same situation arose, would you choose the same?"
Before answering, I lowered my eyes, recalling that day. Barbarians could strike anytime, allies too few, women and elders to protect. Fight, and we all might die. Surrender, and some would be enslaved—but most would live. One slip—the official troops too late, us falling too soon—and everyone dead.
But...
"That's nonsense, sir."
"Hm?"
"We had no choice back then."
"I heard they first demanded surrender."
"They demanded people too. I heard somewhere: what’s taken can be reclaimed, but what’s given cannot. We chose the path where everyone could survive together."
"Even if it meant total annihilation?"
"But it was the only way for the whole village to live."
"Hmmm."
I couldn't read his pursed lips. But I wasn't worried. I'd answered honestly, and with the king and crown prince's backing, passing was a given anyway.