No Way, It Couldn't Be

No way. That couldn't be right.

"PD Han, have you seen this?"

"Already did."

"Wow, look at the view count..."

"It's Yoon Jay, after all."

It's Yoon Jay, after all had practically become a proper noun among the Soldiers K production staff. The man had pulled off an absurd 30-against-1 setup with breezy confidence—and to top it off, he hadn't even used the revival pass or any of the other perks they'd prepared just for him.

"The ad deals came flooding in too. The network director's been grinning from ear to ear all week."

People were saying the response was good enough that a full-fledged regular program could get greenlit, but PD Han Kook-young had no intention of accepting the offers.

You have to keep the flavor of MyTube variety intact.

It wasn't that he lacked ambition for broadcasting, but all this attention had come courtesy of Yoon Jay in the first place. The fixed-cast offer he'd floated, hoping to at least get a conversation going, had been turned down flat, as expected.

A shame, but what could he do if the man was set on focusing on his real career? Better to simply enjoy the attention while it lasted.

He'd shown acting that utterly overwhelmed Moon Changmin in The Garden of Evil, then picked up unexpected traction on Cookietok. He'd ridden the buzz from Crown, and now came this massive hype drop, one right after another.

"Is the editing all done?"

"Finished. Honestly, when this airs, all hell might break loose."

This was a blockbuster variety show with a production budget of a cool one billion won. The network, giddy with excitement, had started dropping teasers before the broadcast—and there was no way they'd let a teaser deliberately hinting at Yoon Jay slip past.

The second teaser had hidden the guest behind a mosaic; the third finally revealed Yoon Jay's identity. His former unit—until now only a matter of speculation, never confirmed from his own lips—was disclosed as well, along with the level test he'd taken before filming.

(Whoa, that's the all-time record.)

(Is it?)

(Yes. Even Seungwoo-ssi, our current number one, never hit numbers like that.)

Beyond that, the footage of him casually assembling hyper-realistic replica firearms and aiming into empty air, and of him bracing a hand against a wall mid-game and vaulting lightly up to the rooftop to level a sniper rifle, generated an endless flood of screencaps.

Meanwhile, Ji Yeon-woo of Buster, who happened to be watching the teaser, couldn't tear his eyes away from Yoon Jay on the screen.

"That's insane."

His suspicion was long gone; the man had become an object of pure awe.

"Hyung, so all of that is real?"

At Yoon Do-jun's voice drifting in from somewhere, Ji Yeon-woo sprang up and pounced on him.

"Is that Jay hyung?"

"Ah! I'm on a call, what is wrong with you!"

"Close the door if you're gonna take calls. It was so loud I heard everything. Hyung! Hello!"

Ji Yeon-woo forcibly wedged himself into the seat next to Yoon Do-jun. On the screen, Yoon Jay laughed at the sight of the two bickering. However they looked on the surface, the closest of them all were Yoon Do-jun and Ji Yeon-woo.

(Hello, Yeon-woo. Been doing well?)

"What is that voice? Is that Jay hyung?"

Yoo Jihyuk, the leader, drifted in at the commotion and took the remaining seat. Before anyone knew it, every member of Buster had clustered around the screen, faces pressed in.

"Ji Yeon-woo, scoot over."

"Do-jun, you have to stretch your arm out more or none of us will fit in frame."

"Ah, move iiiit!"

Yoon Do-jun whined, but was cheerfully ignored.

"Hyung! We watched the teaser!"

"So did you really beat 30 people? Who won?"

It was like listening to a brood of chicks chirping, and laughter lingered in Yoon Jay's voice as he answered.

(You'll have to check the broadcast for that.)

"Ah! Come on, you can't tell just us?"

(Where's the fun in that?)

"Hyung, we're in a break period—let's meet up sometime!"

(Hmm... once filming starts soon, I won't have much time.)

"Ah, I said move it!"

Yoon Do-jun bellowed through the middle of it all.

I come here a lot too, apparently.

Yoon Jay smiled faintly at the sight of Wings Company's usual after-work restaurant.

"Hyung-nim, you made it!"

"...Or am I late?"

"We just got here early."

Jeong Seung-woo greeted him first, and the two men already seated rose awkwardly, sizing Yoon Jay up.

"It's been a while."

"Is it really you, Instructor?"

"Sorry, it's just... this is so unexpected..."

Ha Eun-sung, Team 2's leader on Soldiers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠K, and Lee Min-gyu, Team 6's leader, still wore strangely tentative expressions, as if Yoon Jay before them hadn't quite registered. Even after filming wrapped, there had been too many watching eyes to meet openly, hence the separate gathering.

"You're not my instructor anymore, so speak comfortably."

"Wow, come to think of it, you're actually our junior, aren't you?"

"I am. Call me whatever's easy."

Told to relax, the two men nevertheless remained scrupulously polite. The Yoon Jay of their instructor days was still vivid in their minds.

At the time they'd scoffed—it had sounded far too easy—but not one of them had ever managed it. They'd found out he was Korean-American, but they'd never imagined such a face was hidden behind that mask.

"I trust you'll keep the secret."

"Of course. If we expose you, we'd get dragged off to the American embassy anyway, right?"

"That sounds a bit too much like a conspiracy theory."

Look who's talking. Yoon Jay snorted and took a sip of water. The TV in front of them was locked to JBTC.

"Weren't you debuting only recently, though?"

"Just about a year ago now."

"Wow... it feels like at least three years."

Even the commercials Yoon Jay had appeared in were playing. He'd reached the point of advertising white appliances—the true yardstick of popularity. In between, they caught up on each other's lives.

"Anyway, once that show airs, your phone's going to blow up."

"Are you happy about that? It means our getting wrecked gets preserved for posterity."

MyTube was something you had to seek out yourself, but being broadcast on television for everyone to see was another matter entirely. And after a long stretch of commercials, Soldiers K: Assemble finally began.

PD Han Kook-young had wrapped the existing cast—the ones about to be annihilated—in as flattering a light as possible.

"Aren't we being hyped up too much? It's just going to be embarrassing later."

"Seungwoo, what are you doing?"

"Checking the internet reaction."

"What's it say?"

"They're demanding we hurry up and show them Yoon Jay."

"HAHAHA!"

In truth, most of the reactions were about the sheer scale of the production. The realistic weapon props and the twist that failing to defuse a bomb meant it would actually detonate gave the show a tangible realism that pulled viewers in for whole stretches at a time.

And then, at last, Yoon Jay appeared on screen. The camera lingered, slow and deliberate, over the sight of him bound to a chair, blindfolded.

And then, hands and feet freed, Yoon Jay moved through the darkness without a shred of hesitation.

(What the—!)

(Nobody move! Stay put!)

Jeong Seung-woo, Ha Eun-sung, and Lee Min-gyu clamped their mouths shut and stared at the screen. On the infrared feed, Yoon Jay sprang lightly up to the ceiling and simply watched the chaos unfold from above.

Then, through cunningly chosen positions, he maneuvered the teams into shooting at each other. Having wiped out an entire squad in minutes, Yoon Jay strolled along at his leisure.

"He did that on purpose, right? That's genuinely broken."

"And you said it's been ages since you were discharged?"

What followed was an unabashed, lovingly shot highlight reel of Yoon Jay's rampage. He charged at a cast member out of ammunition and took him down with a flying tackle. Perhaps he was immersed in the set built to mirror actual combat—his eyes as he gripped the gun were razor-sharp.

"Khh, hyung-nim's psychological warfare was badass."

"You're the one who got wrecked, and you're enjoying this?"

"I survived to the very end and secured the most screen time, didn't I? Oh—hyung-nim, your phone's ringing."

At Jeong Seung-woo's words, Yoon Jay picked up the phone lying on the table. A call from someone unknown. Normally he'd hang up on the spot, but strangely, his eyes kept drifting back to it.

"Excuse me a moment..."

Could it be that person? He stepped outside to answer, and sure enough, it was John Doe.

"John. It's been a while. Keeping up with variety shows now, are we...? You must have time on your hands."

(I do, actually. These days.)

"...So that operation is over, then?"

(I'm still not in a position to say.)

Yoon Jay gave a small nod. He was a civilian now; there was no need to tell him anything. All he could do was hope an old friend came through it safely.

(You went on a military variety show to check on something, I take it? I noticed the building looked familiar.)

"I was trying to overcome it."

(Shock therapy?)

"Yes."

Yoon Jay let out a long sigh. At that sigh, John asked, almost casually:

(I'd hoped it might yield some results, but I take it that's not the case?)

"Weren't you the one who swore off me?"

(A talent that brilliant deserves the word, I suppose. Honestly, it still pains me even now—but if I push any further, I suspect you'll stop taking my calls, so I'll drop it.)

John reminded Yoon Jay that he'd said to come to him anytime he needed help, and pressed him gently.

"I don't need the help. It's homework I'll probably have to work out through acting."

(Acting... something to do with the old past, I'd guess?)

"More or less."

John murmured, "Hm. Acting. I see," and then shared some welcome news with Yoon Jay.

(Consider it a gift. Good news may be coming your way soon. Keep an eye on the news for a while.)

Good news... Something to do with that ridiculous operation name, no doubt? Had it succeeded? Or simply gotten close?

The fact that such an operation name got approved at all—no one over there is in their right mind.

Then it occurred to Yoon Jay—John's warning, that if the operation succeeded, his own existence might come to light.

No way. That couldn't be.

He chuckled lightly and walked back into the restaurant.

After Soldiers K: Assemble aired, both the online communities and the real world erupted.

"Did you watch Soldiers over the weekend?"

"The scale was unbelievable."

Setting Yoon Jay's appearance aside entirely, the sheer billion-won budget had people everywhere raving—that it felt like watching a military film, that they'd brought video-game spectacle into the real world.

After the broadcast, conversation about Yoon Jay once again swept every community site.

Naturally, they couldn't sidestep the controversy entirely.

But it was the fans, above all, who were delighted, calling it a historic reveal.

There was a reason so little about Yoon Jay had ever come to light. Delta was a unit shrouded in secrets to begin with, so nothing was known—but as for the comrades whose paths had crossed with his during his Navy SEAL days, nearly all of them were dead.

Some had fallen in the line of duty. Others, it was said, had been ravaged by post-traumatic stress after discharge and taken their own lives.

That could easily ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have been my future.

Yoon Jay gazed at his reflection in the elevator doors. For an instant, he saw his old self in uniform—then it was gone.

Sensing someone approach beside him, he switched off his phone screen and offered the actor now standing next to him a habitual greeting.

"Hello."

"Hello. It's been a while."

It was Baek Da-eun, whom he'd crossed paths with on Big Company People. Yoon Jay pressed his lips shut, his expression turning complicated as the past surfaced. An awkward tension wound itself around the two of them.

Could it be... no, surely not.

Baek Da-eun stole a glance at Yoon Jay's profile, then turned her gaze forward again. He didn't match the person in her memory, and yet, strangely, she couldn't stop suspecting.

"Nervous, maybe? There are so many senior actors here, after all..."

"Yes, that's true."

The two of them were cast in Permafrost, the much-anticipated production with a budget exceeding thirty billion won. Alongside them were a lineup of formidable veteran actors—a blockbuster disaster epic.

"Um... there's something I've been meaning to ask. Are you still in touch with Min-jae these days?"

"Even you couldn't reach him? He wouldn't answer my calls either."

"Really?"

What's going on?