Chapter 13: The Victory Toast
Seo Juhwan laughed and pointed his thumb at the sergeant insignia on his sleeve.
"I'm fine. I have seniority, so it's naturally no problem."
"Pfft. I don't believe that at all. Two days ago, I put a pain patch on a final-service sergeant who rolled down a mountain."
"Ugh."
Seo Juhwan recalled that day and his face flushed. Damn, that did happen. He had completely forgotten.
He quickly tried to explain.
"Th-that was a mistake."
"Aha. Okay. Just don't make a mistake this time."
"...Yes."
"You're not upset, are you?"
"I'm not upset."
"Hmm. Okay. Hehe."
Jeong Sora laughed with a snort and moved ahead again. Seo Juhwan shook his head at her.
'Her laugh resembles a fox.'
It felt like discovering a new facet of her that he didn't know in his previous life. While her usual demeanor pursuing proper protocol reminded him of a lioness, he was starting to think a fox might suit her better.
'Anyway... I'm getting sleepy too.'
He had told Jeong Sora he was fine, but honestly, he was in quite a difficult state. And for good reason—just two days ago, he had been locked in a room, only writing. Even though his body had changed, suddenly intense training was quite tough. The only reason he was managing was that marching required more willpower than stamina.
'At times like this, indecent thoughts really work.'
Seo Juhwan decided to use the method he had taught Choi Minseong. But suddenly, the back figure of Jeong Sora walking ahead caught his eye.
'Clearly not much different from a man... yet somehow feels distinctly feminine.'
Her body, bundled up in military uniform and cold weather gear, didn't express femininity. But strangely, it was clearly distinguishable from a man. Was this instinct? Even though the bulky uniform didn't show much of her curves, just watching a woman's buttocks move in front of him left no room for boredom.
'Summer was better.'
During the summer march, he felt like he was dying from heat, but there was a certain pleasure to it. Because of the heat, Jeong Sora's clothing was thinner. Even in uniform, her curves were somewhat visible, which pleased his eyes. He was walking following Jeong Sora's buttocks when it happened.
[Powerful luck related to sex is intervening!]
Stumble.
While climbing up a steep incline, Jeong Sora lost her footing and staggered.
"Kyaaaak?!"
An exclamation unlike anything he'd heard from Jeong Sora before escaped her.
The path was a steep uphill. If she fell wrong here, she'd almost certainly be seriously injured.
Seo Juhwan reflexively dropped the flag and reached out, grabbing her military pack before she could fall. With a clunking feeling, she stopped in place.
"Are you alright, ma'am?"
"Oh, ah. Th-thanks."
Jeong Sora was stammering, apparently quite startled. But soon she became aware that all eyes were on her, and her face turned slightly red.
He could see Jeong Sora biting her lower lip.
Until now, she had performed the training well compared to other soldiers and even male officers. It was embarrassing for her to scream like that. With her strong pride, this tendency seemed even more pronounced. So Seo Juhwan intentionally shouted loudly to distract everyone's attention.
"Not much left! Just a bit more and we arrive! 4th Company, fighting!"
"4th Company, fighting!"
Naturally, the company's response followed.
Sounds of "fighting!" came from the 3rd, 2nd, 1st, and headquarters companies ahead as well. Thanks to that, the attention that had been focused on Jeong Sora dispersed.
Jeong Sora stared at Seo Juhwan with an odd expression.
---
After crossing the incline, the battalion came into view shortly after.
The battalion members lined up on the parade ground, and with the battalion commander's declaration, the march was completely over.
Lee Junghoon pointed to one side and spoke.
"Seo Snake, don't rush off to drink makgeolli."
"Hey! Let's go quick! I'm dying of thirst!"
After the extreme cold weather march, makgeolli was distributed. It was ordinary makgeolli sold at stores, but there was no makgeolli quite like it. Those who hadn't experienced the taste of makgeolli after a march wouldn't understand.
"Ugh. I want some Korean pancakes too."
"Tell me about it. Later when we meet outside, how about Korean pancakes with makgeolli?"
"Oh. Are you buying, hyung?"
"Eh? Why are you suddenly calling me hyung? I'm your junior—you should be buying, Seo Snake."
"Come on. You should start dropping formalities in front of the guys too. Thinking about my leave, I'll have less than a month left to see your faces."
"Hehe. Then maybe I will?"
"Later, let's really have some fried pancakes and makgeolli together, hyung."
"Sounds good."
Thinking of various types of pancakes while waiting, his mouth filled with saliva.
A short while later, when his turn finally came.
The mess orderly spoke with an embarrassed expression.
"Ah, the cups are all gone."
"What? Then what do we do?"
"I'm sorry. I definitely brought more than enough for everyone... Let me go to the kitchen and grab some quickly."
The mess orderly apologized. Seo Juhwan and Lee Junghoon waved their hands, saying it was fine. They knew the reason. There was no doubt some people had drunk two cups each.
At that moment, a paper cup was offered before him. The owner of the paper cup was Jeong Sora.
"Juhwan, want to use this?"
"Ah, Captain. Can I use it?"
"Yeah. Even if I used it, it's fine."
"Of course. Thank you, Captain!"
Seo Juhwan quickly accepted the cup without hesitation because he wanted to drink the makgeolli.
And the moment he poured the makgeolli and brought the cup to his mouth.
Ding!
Jeong Sora's status window appeared.
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