Chapter 169: Farewell [R-18]

Jun-hyung led her into the drill instructors’ office without a word.

The clank of the closing door sounded unnervingly loud. Though she had only followed him in, a wave of anxiety washed over Taeyoung.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He grabbed a notebook and left, his shirt still damp with her tears.

The office contained a few scattered documents, a chart of trainee assignments on the wall, and a simple cot covered with a military blanket.

And then, silence.

Taeyoung stood rubbing one arm, her body still tense from the frantic moments in the hallway just minutes before.

“Huh, who’s this?”

The door swung open with a clatter.

Another drill instructor poked his head in, his expression indifferent.

Thinking it was Jun-hyung from the short hair, the military-issue shirt, and the sound of combat boots, Taeyoung instinctively recoiled.

His eyes widened for a second when he saw her, but he quickly broke into a knowing smile.

“Hey. He’s calling you in, even on the last day? Guy doesn’t quit.”

As he started to approach, she took a small step back, her palm landing on the cover of the cot.

“…Don’t come closer.”

“?”

His eyebrow twitched.

“What did I do?”

A different kind of fear than what she’d felt in the hallway now clogged her throat.

“…Trainee, you’re dropping the formalities?”

The door opened again.

“What’s going on?”

A voice said from the doorway.

It was Choi Jun-hyung. He strode in and tossed the notebook onto a table.

In that brief moment, the air in the room, heavy with the summer heat, turned icy.

“Hey. You’re so fucking easy for everyone, you must think we instructors are a joke.”

The instructor snorted, then grabbed Taeyoung’s chin and gave it a shake.

“How is she supposed to last anywhere acting like this? You better keep her on a tighter leash.”

“…Looks like she slipped up. My bad.”

He was only able to be with Taeyoung here because the other instructors turned a blind eye, and even helped.

“A slip-up? Man, you’re practically joined at the hip.”

Not wanting to create bad blood, the other instructor clapped Jun-hyung on the shoulder and walked out the door.

When the door closed, silence fell over the room once more.

Jun-hyung watched her in silence for a long moment before speaking.

“Nothing but trouble, Yoon Taeyoung.”

At his teasing tone, Taeyoung whipped her head away.

“…I’m leaving.”

“Where?”

“To my spot.”

As she started to get up, Jun-hyung sighed, sweeping his bangs off his forehead.

“Is it because I didn’t take your side?”

How childish.

“Since when were you ever on my side? Don’t you dare act like this is all my fault!”

“And yet you’re so obviously hurt.”

If she left, it would just be a matter of which bastard grabbed her on the way before she was passed around. Jun-hyung had no intention of letting her leave today.

“Sigh.”

Would it have been better to start a huge fight, making it impossible to keep her here? He wanted to scold her for being so shortsighted, but the girl was already in tatters.

“Come here.”

“Let— Let go…”

Jun-hyung grabbed her wrist and dragged her over. He sat down in the chair and pulled her onto his lap. The seat was worn and hard, so he used his own body as a cushion.

He held her tight, as if restraining an angry animal.

“Sit. Just stay still.”

Perched on Jun-hyung’s lap, Taeyoung stared up at the ceiling, holding her breath.

Already an emotional person, she was now filled to the brim.

Hurt, anger, lingering fear, and something else threatening to surge.

Jun-hyung swept a hand through her hair, damp with sweat.

His hand moved from her hair to her back, wrapping around her.

The palm on her back was neither hot nor cold. It was just there.

Taeyoung lowered her head onto his shoulder.

Her face, which had been desperately holding back tears, crumpled. Her lips quivered and her breathing grew ragged.

She was sure she had cried herself out earlier, but now she was about to humiliate herself again.

“…Did I… do something that wrong…?”

The emotion that had been caught in her throat finally spilled out in a small, defeated mumble.

“What did I do that was so…”

“Ah—”

Jun-hyung patted her back lightly.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“……”

“Not your miserable ass, and not me for looking after you.”

Others might have cried out for their parents at a time like this, but Taeyoung had no family to call out for in her sorrow.

There was no one here she could hope would come to her rescue.

Taeyoung buried her face in his chest again, and with a choked sob, the emotions she’d suppressed finally broke free.

And soon, this bastard would be gone, too.

Unlike her noisy sobs from before, she cried silently now, but he could feel the tremors that shook her shoulders.

Jun-hyung held her.

He felt the urge for a cigarette but resisted. Amid the creaking of the chair, only the body heat between them filled the room.

A short while later, when the trembling subsided, he asked.

“Calmed down a bit now?”

“…Hmph.”

Taeyoung wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, her tone prickly.

“Alright. Just stay a little longer.”

The fact that she could still be feisty meant she was probably fine, but his desire to keep her here was purely selfish.

Jun-hyung stared blankly at the ceiling above the door.

He should have kept his “fun” in moderation.

“……Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue.

He ran a hand up her spine. He told himself it meant nothing, but this body, one he had held so many times, felt familiar.

He liked just holding her, even without sex.

Was he going crazy? Was it pity? Or had their sexual connection deepened into something like affection? Or maybe he just had a habit of picking up strays.

He wasn’t sure. But seeing as she was the only one of the four he felt this way about, he suspected it was the latter.

Jun-hyung averted his gaze, staring at the floor for a long moment.

In the end, their last night together wasn’t filled with the violent sex that had always defined their clashes.

Taeyoung seethed in his arms like a cornered animal.

Poison still dripped from her words, and she was still putting on a show of defiance, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. But eventually, she buried her face in his chest and let her breathing even out.

The tears didn’t come, but a warmth born of a deeper relief seeped into his arms.

He spoke to her, and though she didn’t answer, the silence was its own conversation.

“Sleep well.”

With those words, he wrapped his arm around her back again.

Her hair tickled his forearm, stirred by the breeze from a fan, but he didn’t brush it away. What bothered him more was what tomorrow held for this girl.

He stared at the ceiling and let out a breath that was not quite a laugh.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

Unlike all their other nights, which had overflowed with moans and the sounds of impact, this final night seemed to be defined by the simple sound of breathing.

‘Assignment…’

He recalled it again.

He’d originally had no interest in the assignment. He figured his turn was a long way off, and until then, he could just pass the duty on to someone else.

But.

‘But there’s no telling where this girl will end up.’

That’s why he’d decided it was better for him to go.

‘She brings most of this on herself, but still—’

He always swallowed the end of the thought.

He knew he didn’t have to be the one to deal with her, but he couldn’t let her go.

He already had her in his grasp.

That was the problem.

‘Crazy bastard,’ he thought. ‘There are plenty of normal women out there.’

He figured this was just his fate now.

Maybe he’d take a vacation, see some of the normal women out in the real world, and get his head on straight. He could rethink things then.

Until then, he just hoped she would make good use of the lucky card she’d been dealt.

*

The next day was the completion ceremony.

There wasn’t even a commemorative photo.

There were no sobs, no tears, no words.

After the ceremony, the trainees whose assignments had been announced headed across the parade ground to disperse to their new units.

Taeyoung was one of them.

But when she went to the instructors’ building on a whim, she found Choi Jun-hyung looking no different than usual.

A pristine uniform, an expressionless gaze, neatly styled hair.

The perfect soldier, just as he always was.

Only she knew the thuggish temperament that lay beneath.

“Try to keep that temper of yours in check when you get there.”

That was his final farewell.

Taeyoung hesitated, expecting him to say more, but nothing followed.

His tone was simply calm and dry.

“…Or what? I’ll die?”

She shot back with a smirk, but it sounded less like a retort and more like a bitter monologue.

Jun-hyung just shrugged.

That only made him seem more hateful, and her disappointment sting even more.

Those words were the end.

He didn’t even offer his hand. After staring at it for a long moment, she finally turned her back and walked toward the parade ground.

She envied and hated his calm face as he stood there, acting as if nothing was wrong.

On one side of the parade ground, military buses were lined up.

The windows were covered by curtains, and large unit insignias were emblazoned on their sides.

“Transport for 102, 113, and 118 is ready!”

At the command of the instructor in charge, the trainees whose numbers were called formed single-file lines.

Each held a manila envelope containing their completion certificate and assignment orders, a canteen, and a duffel bag, waiting under the scorching sun.

“Number 118, Yoon Taeyoung!”

“Yes.”

Answering reflexively, Taeyoung took her envelope and stepped forward.

The trainees boarded the military bus in a single line.

An assistant instructor standing by the door glanced at her envelope and stamped it.

“Fill in the seats from the back.”

With those words, Taeyoung climbed the worn bus steps.

The creak of the metal steps, the smell of sweat, and the scent of detergent clinging to the seats mingled, creating a strange tension.

A few others were already on board, their faces a mixture of gloom and anticipation.

But Taeyoung felt nothing at all as she took an empty seat in the back.

Through a gap in the curtains, she watched the parade ground recede.

For a second, she thought she saw his silhouette at the edge of the grounds, arms crossed, watching her calmly. She pulled the curtain wider, but there was nothing there.

“……”

With a deafening roar, the bus pulled away.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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