A busted knee, huh. That's going to be tough. But if you're careful and get proper treatment, over time it should more or less return to its original state. I was already thinking it was time to quit the military anyway. I'm not really sad about that. But still, it's a bit depressing since it was something I once thought I'd dedicate my whole life to.
But hold on, it's still a long way until I complete my mandatory service period. I wonder if I'll be able to discharge. And what will I do for a living if I quit? They say the job market is rough these days....Well, it'll work out somehow. I don't know.
Jeong Taeui thought as he closed his eyes.
The guy next to him, just as exhausted mentally and physically as Taeui, had stopped cursing at some point.
Having decided to quit, in some ways, he felt more at ease. At least he wouldn't have to face that bastard again. It was the end of their tiresome bad relationship.
Yeah, I'm done with those superiors who would throw out unpleasant jokes with a smirk, and those subordinates who, no matter how well I treated them, would awkwardly withdraw. I'm sick of them all.
Jeong Taeui had put in all the effort he could, and there was no more he could do. At this
moment, he was just too exhausted.
"......"
Outside, he thought he could hear a familiar voice. It was his brother's voice. He couldn't
make out the words, but with that tone and way of speaking, it could only be his brother.
They must have called the patient's family.
Whether it was the military doctor or a superior, his brother would come in once the
conversation was over. But the conversation seemed to drag on, as the voices showed no sign of stopping.
Jeong Taeui turned his head to look out the window. A branch with new buds was poking
through the window. Between the branches and leaves, a few rays of dazzlingly yellow
sunlight filtered in.
Suddenly, the gloomy feeling lifted. He thought with a different mindset than before:
whatever happens, it's all right.
There's still plenty of life ahead, and there are many things waiting for me. Things I have to do, things I can do. If I think of it as taking a different path for those things, it's not so bad.
It's okay, it's okay, he whispered quietly to himself as he gazed at the sunlight filtering
through the gently swaying young leaves, almost as if it were blessing the future.
——May a future filled with new and surprising things, beyond anything I can imagine right now, be waiting for me....And if possible, it would be nice to meet a lovely partner to go through that future together...
Jeong Taeui added another shy thought as he rubbed his lonely side. He couldn't help but smile awkwardly, feeling as if the wind was caressing him in agreement.
His spirits lifted.
***
"But they're not human. They surely can't understand human wishes with human senses."
It was Qing who declared this in a sharp, no-nonsense tone.
When I was a kid, I would make wishes to the moon every full moon, but not once did those wishes come true as I hoped, he said, his face contorted with painful memories.
"That's why, in the end, Mei Xiang only remained a 'friend'," he muttered.
Next to him, the oblivious—or maybe mischievous-Tou smirked with chopsticks in his mouth and said, "Wasn't Mei Xiang that close childhood friend who recently sent you a wedding invitation all the way from far away?" Qing smacked Tou on the back with a gloomy expression. Ow, you nearly stabbed my throat with the chopsticks, that's attempted murder! Tou yelled, but Qing ignored him.
"But there's no helping it. Whether you make a wish to the moon or the stars, people tend to wish for things that are unlikely to come true."
"That's how wishes are. Besides, Qing has a point. Whether it's the stars or the moon, or
even God or Buddha, they're all distant from humans."
Carlo shrugged. He had already finished a bowl of rice and was picking his teeth. "That's why I always wisely wished for things like, 'Please let me have braised meat for dinner tonight. Beef would be nice, but pork is okay too,' or 'For my birthday, I want a black bicycle with one more gear than Pedro next door has, the one released last June by Frederico's,' something my parents could overhear."
"How old were you, like six or seven?" he said, proudly reminiscing about his cheeky
childhood. Meanwhile, Tou, who couldn't light his cigarette in the no-smoking zone, glanced at Jeong Taeui, who had been stirring his soup with chopsticks without eating.
"What's up with him? He hasn't been eating properly."
"No idea. Said he had a bad dream last night. He's been looking gloomy since morning, and now he looks even worse."
"Hey, Taeui, what's wrong?"
Next to him, Alta was eating his second helping of rice with gusto and poked Jeong Taeui in the side. Taeui swayed weakly and muttered, "If I knew they couldn't understand human wishes with human senses, I wouldn't have made that wish..."
"What? What wish?"
"....."
Jeong Taeui melancholy.
put down his chopsticks. No, it's nothing, he muttered, his voice tinged with Yeah, maybe when I look back on it later, it won't be so bad, he thought, trying to comfort himself. But his comrades just snickered as if they found joy in his misery.
"Well, no wonder he's had a bad dream. I haven't been sleeping well either. Today's the day, after all, when that guy arrives. Let's see, the ship was supposed to dock in the afternoon, so he'll arrive around four o'clock?"
Carlo checked the time, still in the middle of lunch. Who's arriving? asked Alta, who was late to catch the gossip.
No one said anything for a moment.
In the midst of the silence, Jeong Taeui, thinking it would be better to build up his strength, picked up his spoon again and started eating vigorously. In this harsh place, physical strength was the only thing he could rely on.
"But hey...Are you still in contact with that crazy guy? There's some nasty rumors going around."
Tou mumbled as he bit down on his unlit cigarette. Jeong Taeui almost asked what rumors, but quietly continued eating. Whatever they were, they couldn't be good-probably something like living with him, having a complicated relationship with him, or being caught by him. (And whatever they were, they were probably true.)
Nothing had changed in this place. The internal system, the people—it was all the same, almost eerily so. And even in these small details, nothing had changed.
It seemed that nobody really wanted to talk about that maniac Rick. Of course, they didn't exactly have friendly faces, and some still glared sharply at him.
Some seemed to have some idea about the relationship between Jeong Taeui and Rick, while others seemed to misunderstand-they either looked at him with pity or contempt—but for whatever reason, they didn't talk about him much. It was as if merely mentioning him would cause his gloved hand to suddenly appear out of nowhere.
In this atmosphere, there was no way Taeui could defend him...Not that there was anything worth defending, anyway.
"You know, I'm surprised you're still alive. You snuck away from him, didn't you? That
maniac was going on a rampage for a while, and then he suddenly disappeared."
That's when I thought you must have been buried somewhere, Qing said nonchalantly, his
words gruesome. Looking back, I find it surprising that I'm still alive too, Jeong Taeui
thought, mumbling, "Yeah, something like that."
Now he had lost his appetite again, and he set down his spoon. Still, he had almost finished eating.
"Ah, so that's it. That maniac's coming as a temporary instructor."
Realizing what was going on, Qing snapped his fingers. Next to him, Alta furrowed his brow, sensing something off. "Who's this maniac?"
Another brief silence followed.
For a few seconds, Alta stared at Qing's lips in silence. Then, in that brief pause, he seemed to realize which maniac associated with Jeong Taeui they were talking about. His small eyes widened in shock.
"No way—Riegrow? Crazy Rick?! Ugh! That bastard's coming here?! To get Taeui?!"
"Yeah. He's coming to finish me off this time. Happy?"
Now thoroughly depressed, Jeong Taeui banged his spoon on the table.
But his comrades, who had all seen the international news of Rick's crimes-except for Alta, who was always a bit late to hear things-weren't too worried and just chatted casually.
"What's with him, getting all moody over a little joke?"
"Maybe it's because Xinlu isn't here."
"Really? Should I call Xinlu and tell him to come?"
"No! Stop it! Don't add more sources of stress!!"
As Jeong Taeui shouted, tearing at his hair, they threw puzzled looks at him. Apparently,
news about Xinlu hadn't spread yet. Well, the news didn't cover that.
Meanwhile, Alta, still catching up, anxiously glanced around and yelled, "I thought this joint training would be peaceful, so why is that maniac Rick coming?!"
"Still, it's slightly better that he's coming alone rather than with those annoying guys from the European branch."
Tou muttered to himself as he chewed on his cigarette, and Jeong Taeui raised an eyebrow slightly while rinsing his mouth with barley tea.
"Are you still not getting along with them?"
"Traditions don't change so easily, do they?"
"What kind of stupid tradition is that?"
Jeong Taeui gave a bitter laugh. Seeing that things like this still persisted, it might actually be a tradition, even the internal atmosphere.
When Jeong Taeui laughed, Tou also smirked.
"Seems like you're feeling better. You looked like death warmed over this morning."
"Ah...I had a bad dream. That's why."
Jeong Taeui sighed bitterly as he recalled the dream from the previous night. It seemed like more depressing thoughts were going to resurface.
"What kind of dream? Did Rick show up?"
"No. It was an old enemy I tangled with before I first came here."
Jeong Taeui fell silent at that point. Tou, sensing that there was nothing more to be said, nodded and muttered.
"Everyone has at least one or two enemies in their life. But why did this come up suddenly? Did you run into them recently?"
"No..."
Jeong Taeui sipped his barley tea. The tea seemed unusually bitter today. No, he hadn't run into them recently. It was years ago, even before he left Korea. So, it wouldn't be accurate to say it was recent. But he was going to run into them soon. Very soon.
"Well, should I go take a nap now? Once the humans arrive tonight, we won't be able to sleep or rest properly until the training ends."
Carlo stretched and stood up. Others muttered about what they would do, like tending to their weapons or visiting the infirmary for some tonic, and also stood up.
"Then I guess I'll go have a smoke...I probably won't have time to enjoy this luxury starting tomorrow."
Tou stood up, shivering as if he were already feeling the symptoms of withdrawal. He looked down at Jeong Taeui, who was still quietly holding his barley tea.
"And you?"
"I guess I'll finish this and take a nap..."
"Yeah, get some rest while you can. You're probably going to have the hardest time."
Tou left, patting Jeong Taeui lightly on the shoulder with an ambiguous remark that could have been either consolation or mockery. A few others, seemingly in agreement, patted Jeong Taeui's shoulder as they left. Jeong Taeui could only let out a bitter sigh.
Joint training would start tomorrow. The few comfortable days he had spent here were
coming to an end today. No, to be exact, they would end this afternoon.
Late this afternoon, close to evening, external personnel were scheduled to arrive here.
Among those who would spend the next fifteen days training and living together were Ilay and another unwelcome face.
"...."
"Kim Jeong-pil? Yeah, he's on the training roster. He was with the Korean Army, right? Let's see...He's a captain. Same age as you, Taeui."
His uncle's casual words as he scanned the list lingered in Jeong Taeui's ears.
Captain Kim Jeong-pil, who was the same age as him and served in the Korean Army.
There might not be many who matched that description, though there could be more than one. But Jeong Taeui hadn't heard of anyone else who fit those details.
"Ah-seriously, what is this?"
Jeong Taeui banged his head on the table with a thud.
As if it weren't enough to have to figure out how to protect and manage himself (and his
assigned instructor) from that crazy guy, now he had to deal with another unpleasant face. He shot a suspicious glance at his uncle, wondering if this situation was also orchestrated by him, but his uncle, asking "What?" in return, seemed unaware. Although he might have sensed something was off, he only said, "You must know this Kim Jeong-pil guy, huh?" with a subtle look.
The "future full of new and unimaginable surprises" that he had hoped for was certainly not like this. Sure, this reality was beyond what he could have imagined even in his dreams, but not in this way.
Jeong Taeui sighed deeply and stood up.
Since things had come to this, there was no point in agonizing over it anymore. The fifteen days were rapidly approaching, and, as Tou had said, it was better to get some rest while he still could. There were still a few hours left before the boat carrying the external personnel would arrive.
Recalling the regular boat schedule, Jeong Taeui left the dining room.
There was a place he had known for a long time where he could rest undisturbed, even if just for a short while.
He had checked it out again the day before yesterday, and it was still the same as it had been years ago a spot on the rooftop of the ground level, where natural sunlight bathed the area.