Ch.364364. I’m Exempt from Military Service.

“……What? You got exempted from military service?”

“Yeah, I got exempted. Why?”

“No… Siwoo, you don’t have any health issues, do you? Or do you have some chronic illness I don’t know about?”

“I don’t have any health issues or chronic illnesses.”

“Really? Then how on earth…?”

Park Sehyun swallows his words and looks at me. Though he doesn’t say anything specific, his pupils dart back and forth as if asking, ‘Could it be that your family is rich and you got exempted through some connection?’

My friend who was the vice class president seems to notice this inner thought and alternately glances at me and Park Sehyun, looking like he shouldn’t hastily bring it up. Thinking they’d both misunderstand if I left it at that, I put my arm around Hwa Nabi’s shoulder beside me.

“Oh my…”

“Sehyun. I didn’t get exempted for what you’re thinking. I got exempted thanks to our Nabi.”

“Exempted thanks to Nabi…?”

Park Sehyun repeated my words with a blank expression. Judging by his look, he didn’t seem to understand, so I added an explanation for him.

“You know that law they implemented a few years ago as a countermeasure for low birth rates? The one where young men with two or more children get military exemption without any questions asked. People went crazy over it, don’t you remember?”

“Ah, of course I remember that. How could I not? Our university’s online community was on fire for half a year because of it.”

“Right. What did people say again? That it was an ineffective law? Most people serve in the military in their early twenties, and they questioned how someone could suddenly have two children before establishing themselves, wondering what would happen later.”

“Yeah, hearing Hansol talk about it, I remember too. My friends said something similar.”

Lim Hansol, who had been quietly listening, spoke up, and Jin Hee next to him agreed. I took a sip of my cocktail while looking at them.

Indeed, as expected of a topic that heated up South Korea for a while, everyone seems to know about it. But why didn’t they understand? Is it because Hwa Nabi and I don’t go around bragging about having two children?

Making a mental note to brag about it at least once a week so they’d never forget, I started to explain.

“What’s this, you all know about it well? That’s why I got exempted.”

“Huh…? Ah, that’s right. Siwoo, you have two children, right?”

Finally seeming to realize the truth, Park Sehyun clapped his hands once loudly and looked at me. I nodded casually.

“Yes. The first one is four years old, and the second is two.”

“So that’s why you said you got exempted thanks to Nabi. Ah, now I understand…”

“Then, Siwoo, you don’t have to go to the military now?”

My friend who was the vice class president suddenly became curious and asked me with inquisitive eyes. I tapped Hwa Nabi’s shoulder with my finger as I replied.

“Yeah, complete exemption. I just need to attend civil defense training. I think this is my… second year of it?”

“Wow… I’m jealous. I have to go right after graduating college this year.”

“Sehyun, you haven’t gone yet?”

“……Next April. I decided to enlist together with this guy.”

“Ah, enlisting together.”

They call it enlisting together, but in reality, it’s the main culprit for destroying friendships… Well, although Park Sehyun is a bit quirky, he’s a decent person, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Well… hang in there. Sehyun, you’re sociable, so you’ll do well wherever you go.”

“Hey, is that supposed to be comforting…?”

“Well, I can’t say you won’t adapt.”

“Seriously, this guy.”

“Sehyun, don’t worry. When I was in the military, I had a junior exactly like you. His personality was very similar, and he did well in military life, even becoming a squad leader before I was discharged.”

“Squad leader? What’s that, the highest position in the military?”

For a moment I felt the urge to speak but barely held back. If someone who hasn’t served in the military talks about it in front of an actual veteran, they’re bound to get schooled.

Well, given Lim Hansol’s personality, he’s not the type to embarrass someone openly, but still. I kept my mouth shut and watched how things would unfold.

“No, that’s the commander. A squad leader is the head of a squad… Usually, the aces who’ve done well in military life take that role. It’s like a middle management position, so there are a lot of annoying tasks, but in return, you get more vacation days, so it’s doable.”

“Then Hansol, did you ever become a squad leader?”

“I didn’t plan to, but I did end up doing it.”

“Really? Why? You said you get more vacation days, so it’s good.”

“In exchange for vacation days, you get more miscellaneous tasks. If my leisure time decreases, the time to talk with Jin Hee also decreases, right? So I was hoping another senior would do it, but the juniors all gathered and begged me to take the squad leader position, so I reluctantly accepted.”

“……The seniors must have all been difficult people?”

I couldn’t help but interject. Lim Hansol seemed to recall past events for a moment, then chuckled.

“Yeah. Since it’s all in the past, I’ll be honest—there weren’t many people with good personalities. Some of them made me wonder how they even got into the military.”

“Hansol, when you called me a few years ago, didn’t you say they were all decent people?”

“How could I speak honestly when you were listening to everything while pretending not to? If I had, my military life would have been completely ruined.”

I deeply empathized with Lim Hansol’s words as he said them with a smile.

Yes, that’s right. That’s how it is. Despite all the talk about how the military has changed these days, it’s still a closed group of people living together. Whether you like it or not, you have to face each other for a year and a half, and being overly honest can actually be harmful.

“Ah, so that’s why they asked you to be the squad leader? Because the seniors were strange people?”

“Not all of them, just some. Some of them.”

If that were really the case, they wouldn’t have begged Lim Hansol to be the squad leader.

When I stared at him with eyes demanding the truth, Lim Hansol shook his head as if he couldn’t resist.

“……Okay, you’re right. There were a lot of strange people. Even I thought the senior who came four months before me was problematic… so I became the squad leader. If I hadn’t, that person would have become the squad leader by seniority.”

“Did the guys like it when you took over?”

“I’m not sure if they liked it, but I was certainly celebrated when I was discharged. The guys made an incredibly fancy discharge cap for me.”

While designing elaborate discharge caps for well-liked seniors is common in any unit, his statement made me curious.

What exactly did they do to make him say that? Out of curiosity, I asked, and Lim Hansol took out his phone, tapped on it a few times, and showed me something.

“Here, this is my discharge cap.”

“……What is this, a deer? What are these antlers?”

“The guys cut up leftover cardboard and attached it, then painted it with lacquer. Thanks to that, it smelled terrible, and I had a hard time.”

With fancy decorations and deer-like antlers hanging on both sides of the discharge cap, it looked less like a cap and more like some ancient crown. You know, like those Silla crowns. The ones called gold crowns.

If the lacquer had been gold-colored, I would have believed it was a gold crown excavated from a hidden royal tomb. Surprised by this type of discharge cap I’d never seen before, I tapped the screen and asked.

“Doesn’t the supervising officer say anything about this? Oh, is it because of Jin Hee that it doesn’t matter?”

“Yeah, they just let it slide. The day before my discharge, the officer even bought beer and chicken for us to enjoy while wearing that cap.”

Even setting aside the fact that Jin Hee’s uncle is a four-star general, if the supervising officer personally took care of him until his discharge day, it means he was beyond an A-grade soldier—more like S-grade.

It might be impossible for most people, but it seems possible for Lim Hansol.

No matter what anyone says, he’s the nicest guy among all the men I know. If he showed even half the kindness in the military that he shows us, it would have been enough to receive such treatment.

“You must have done really well in the military…?”

“Nah, I just did what everyone else did.”

A true S-grade soldier doesn’t unnecessarily brag about himself… he’s the perfect image of an S-grade. Such talent should be working at our company.

“Hey, Hansol. Have you decided where to work yet?”

“Work? No, I’m still looking around. Since I have a child, I’ll probably decide as soon as possible. But why do you ask?”

“If you haven’t decided yet, would you like to join our company? I’ll talk to my father and try to arrange a position for you.”

“……Huh?”

At my sudden proposal, everyone except me and Hwa Nabi looked at me in surprise. Their eyes widened, showing they were all shocked by my offer.

Among them, Lim Hansol, who seemed the most surprised, didn’t answer right away and fumbled with his lips. While doing so, he kept glancing at me, suggesting that he wasn’t uninterested but found it difficult to accept readily.

“Your company… that’s Han Wi Construction, right? The one that’s been in the news for building new cities overseas.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Because of that, many people have been sent abroad on assignments. And there will probably be more in the future.”

“Yes, and…?”

“If we’re sending many people on assignments, we need that many skilled employees, right? So, I heard we’re planning to hire a lot of people from the second half of this year….”

Right, skilled employees. After saying that much, I glanced at Lim Hansol.

My grandfather, father, and brother all said that the highest virtue of a business leader is the ability to recognize talent. The next virtue is never letting go of that talent once recognized. And the third is the social skills to make that talent your ally….

Anyway, in my eyes, that talent seems to be Lim Hansol. Of course, my judgment could be wrong, but looking at Lim Hansol like this gives me a strange confidence.

A confidence that this person will do something significant for me later…

“What do you think?”

After finishing my words, I extended my right hand forward. And I looked at Lim Hansol with eyes promising that if he took my hand, I would ensure he never regretted it.

Lim Hansol stared back at me for a moment… then slowly reached out and took my hand.

“……I’ll be in your care.”

Our gazes met in mid-air. As we exchanged intense looks between men.

“What are you two doing, filming a noir movie…?”

At Jin Hee’s words from the side, we all burst into laughter.