Did I Hear That Wrong? (2)

In the end…

“Always remember that the military is about group life and collective responsibility.”

We changed into our training uniforms and received harsh disciplinary training together. Groans filled the interior of the living quarters.

Only after sweat ran down our spines did the hellish time end.

“At ease.”

At Kang Dahee’s words, we collapsed onto our bunks as if crumbling.

I turned my head and looked at Cha Jaehee sitting on my right.

Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she stared blankly into space.

…Is this a lie?

If it’s not a lie, how did she memorize her lines all this time?

I wanted to grab her shoulders and ask once.

Surely the Cha Jaehee I knew didn’t have this image.

An actress who excels in everything, is capable in everything, and is neat in everything.

A perfect actress who solidified her position as a child actor from a young age and never had the common “poor acting skills” label attached to her.

…Although there was a controversy about her rude remarks during interviews.

Still, I didn’t know the goddess of the red carpet had such an awkward side.

Wait. Could this be acting too?

Ah, is it not?

Is it acting?

…Is it not?

What is this, really?

“Candidate Han Yujin, why are you staring blankly at Candidate Cha Jaehee like that?”

“S-sorry!”

Cha Jaehee’s troublemaking behavior didn’t stop there.

Rather, as if gaining momentum, her troublemaking ability improved by leaps and bounds.

“If you open the drawer, you’ll find needles and thread, and a name tag with your name and student number. From now on, you’ll attach the name tags to the two sets of combat uniforms and outer jackets issued to each candidate.”

Kang Dahee held up a combat uniform and pointed to where the name tag should be attached.

“On the left pocket, diagonally. Everyone understand?”

Kang Dahee looked at her wristwatch and said:

“The platoon leader will give you exactly ten minutes. Start attaching the name tags quickly from now, begin!”

“B-begin!”

…Ten minutes?

This is just blatantly setting us up to fail.

As if fire had fallen on my feet, I threaded the needle and started hand-sewing like mad.

Like an Italian master craftsman, stitch by stitch, as fast as possible.

Lilme looked at me and exclaimed in admiration:

“Look at how nimble her fingers are. Are you Jamsil’s Shin Saimdang? Your mother-in-law will love you when you get married.”

“…If you don’t want to get in trouble, hurry up and attach your name tag.”

“Yes, yes.”

After quickly finishing, I looked to the side and saw Choi Haru struggling. She seemed to be having trouble even threading the needle.

Our eyes met. She clearly looked like a whimpering puppy asking for help.

I smiled and said, speaking casually to Choi Haru:

“If you wet the end of the thread with saliva, it goes in easier.”

“…Wow.”

Choi Haru rejoiced as if she had made the discovery of the century.

…Well, a girl who’s only been an idol trainee since childhood wouldn’t have learned sewing.

I should help her.

“Want me to help a bit?”

“…Okay.”

Choi Haru looked up at me and smiled brightly.

…Ugh, she really is cute.

I can see why men fall head over heels for her.

After quickly helping Choi Haru with her name tag, I looked around.

Surprisingly, Lilme was keeping up well.

The only one left was Cha Jaehee…

I looked at Cha Jaehee.

Huh? She’s doing better than I thought?

Lilme, who was in the corner, stared at Cha Jaehee’s combat uniform and said:

“Wait a minute. Didn’t you just sew it on the right side?”

“Oh my, you’re right.”

…I take back what I said about her doing well! Take it back!

I really feel like I’m going to die from stress!

At this rate, Kang Dahee’s lungs will flip again and she’ll make us suffer…

I picked up Cha Jaehee’s combat uniform. The others picked up one each too.

“I’ll help you.”

“Thank you all. This must be what comradeship is.”

It’s not comradeship, it’s survival instinct.

Three minutes left.

In my haste to help Cha Jaehee, I ended up pricking my finger with the needle.

“…Ouch.”

Seeing that, Lilme covered her mouth and raised her eyebrows.

“That finger is worth how much! It’s the hand of the messiah who will save the perpetual runner-up ELF!”

“…Stop making such a fuss.”

A round drop of blood formed on the tip of my finger.

“Oh my, you’re bleeding.”

“It’s fine.”

“At times like this…”

Cha Jaehee picked up my finger and brought it to her mouth.

Then she opened her mouth,

And was about to suck my bleeding finger…

…No!

I hurriedly pulled my hand away.

“W-what are you doing? You’re not a vampire!”

“Why? Do you have AIDS or something?”

“That’s not the point!”

“My mom said sucking it stops the bleeding. If you don’t like it, forget it.”

I roughly wiped the bleeding finger and continued sewing.

Just then,

Cha Jaehee, who had momentarily stopped, suddenly asked:

“But why are you working so hard? The PD…”

“I have to work hard. I don’t want to get hate comments.”

“But still, the PD…”

…That damned PD this, PD that.

At this rate, there might as well be a PD above God and Buddha.

I tied off the thread and said firmly:

“What does that matter? It’s not like we have a script or anything.”

“…”

Cha Jaehee tilted her head with an expression of not understanding.

Only then was I certain.

This woman,

She’s acting.

Just like Han Yujin acting as HaYoo on personal broadcasts, she’s become Cha Jaehee acting as a troublemaker on “I Am a Soldier.”

And three minutes later.

Kang Dahee entered the living quarters.

“What? You all finished?”

“Y-yes…”

I answered, completely exhausted.

The corners of Kang Dahee’s mouth, which hadn’t moved all day, rose slightly.

“…Well done.”

The Flame Witch smiled!

“Thank you!”

By the way…

Choi Haru is on my left.

Cha Jaehee is on my right.

This is a moment any man would dream of.

Honestly, I thought it was heaven too…

Heaven my ass. It’s hell, hell.

They’re not top idols and actresses, but small and large torturers. I’ve become a shrimp caught between F-class whales.

Choi Haru and Cha Jaehee gently grabbed my collar from both sides and said simultaneously:

“…Thank you.”

“Thanks to you, I survived.”

I smiled seeing that. Only on the outside.

Inside, tears were flowing. Endlessly.

If it were Han Sejun, I might have hit him on the head, but these are other people’s precious daughters so I can’t even get angry.

…What can I do?

I’ll have to lead them and do my best somehow.

I raised my hand and asked Kang Dahee:

“May I know what today’s schedule is?”

“…Today?”

Kang Dahee smiled coldly.

“In the morning we’ll do drill training and physical fitness tests, and in the afternoon we’ll receive firearms and do disassembly and assembly.”

This time Lilme raised her hand and asked:

“When will we do CBRN…”

“Oh. We’ll do that tomorrow.”

At those words, the cast members’ faces turned pale white. Trembling breaths hit my eardrums.

Already, the gas chamber practice situation is forming in my mind.

Stamping feet, a chaotic room filled only with screams.

…I’d like to avoid that if possible.

This is getting worse and worse, really.

---

“How many times did the squad leader say to step out with your left foot in time with the command?”

The drill instructor with the Sergeant First Class insignia licked his dry lips as if frustrated.

Every time the cast members showed clumsy behavior, PD Park Jungseung smiled with satisfaction.

‘Good, drill instructor! The more frustrated you are, keep scolding them!’

The Sergeant First Class drill instructor looked at Han Yujin and said:

“Candidate Han Yujin seems to have understood properly, so step out separately and rest.”

“Yes, understood!”

Seeing that, Park Jungseung grumbled:

“…That Han Yujin keeps standing out alone? It’s troublesome if she does this even when we give her direction.”

“Leave her be. From her expression during the meeting, she clearly showed she didn’t want to be on a leash.”

Boyish short hair.

A loose yellow padded jacket.

Kwon Minju, called the “King Writer” among the production staff, walked over.

Kwon Minju clapped dryly and said as if in admiration:

“Wow, shit. Looking at them like this, they’re all just loose screws.”

“…Loose screws?”

Kwon Minju gestured with her chin and opened her mouth:

“Lilme is like a sunfish that gives up quickly on everything because she’s lived too freely.”

“What about Cha Jaehee?”

“An adult child who can’t do anything without direction. It’s somewhat admirable how faithfully she acts as a troublemaker according to our orders.”

“And Choi Haru?”

“A nightingale trapped in a cage that’s forgotten how to use its voice. I still doubt if she’s really a genius idol.”

“Then… what about Han Yujin?”

To Park Jungseung’s question, writer Kwon Minju answered naively:

“That one’s just crazy.”

“Hmm…”

Park Jungseung scratched his neck and suddenly asked:

“By the way, where have you been?”

“I was talking with the training center commander and the policy promotion officer.”

“There wasn’t any special talk, right?”

“There was.”

“What?!”

Park Jungseung’s eyes widened.

Kwon Minju put her hands in her padded jacket pockets and sighed.

“They expressed concern that with recent death incidents, public perception of the military is getting worse day by day. They said we shouldn’t be too harsh.”

Hearing that, Park Jungseung threw his head back and grabbed the back of his neck.

“So what do they want?”

“They want us to set a tone that’s moving and harmonious, to promote and improve perception.”

Park Jungseung’s face turned red and blue.

“Harmonious? Ugh, shit! My face is heating up. How are we supposed to do that all of a sudden? If the concept falls apart from the start, there’s no hope.”

Park Jungseung, looking dejected, grabbed Kwon Minju’s clothes.

“Hey, what do we do now?”

After thinking for quite a while, Kwon Minju slowly opened her mouth.

“…Let’s try to save Han Yujin.”

“What? You’re not just pushing your own pick, are you?”

“There’s no other way.”

“Hey, Han Yujin can’t get all the applause alone. If that happens, will Choi Haru and Cha Jaehee’s agencies work with us in the future?”

Then Kwon Minju raised one corner of her mouth and said:

“Don’t you know Han Yujin’s personality yet?”

“What about it?”

“What else, she’s human maternal love. She’s the type who never abandons her people if she can help it.”

“…”

“We can set the direction by focusing on Han Yujin and helping the other cast members grow mentally.”

Park Jungseung asked again:

“Okay. Then what about the ending?”

Kwon Minju looked around. Then she stared blankly at the sky.

“…Parachuting wouldn’t work, right?”

At those words, Park Jungseung held his stomach and cackled.

“Puhah! Are you talking about airborne now? Get out of here. That requires at least 3 weeks of training.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. These days they even do skydiving on variety shows. And they did parachuting on that terrestrial military variety show before.”

“Haha, this is crazy. Kwon Minju, even your jokes have venom, it’s scary sometimes.”

At their conversation,

Silence suddenly fell.

Park Jungseung asked carefully:

“…You’re not serious, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“…Think about it again.”

“Shit. I can’t think of anything else.”

“…”

“…”

Taking a deep breath, Park Jungseung said:

“Find out the phone number for the Special Warfare School.”