Chapter 276.2: I Should Trust Them (1)
After about thirty minutes since assistant manager Kim called him, Kang Dae-Kyung entered Kang Chan’s room.
Happy to finally see each other again, the awkwardness between them quickly disappeared like the wind. Being in each other’s presence made them feel strangely reassured.
“Father,” Kang Chan greeted with a bow.
Kang Dae-Kyung found it hard to look at him properly.
“Have a seat. I bought sushi,” Kang Dae-Kyung said.
He put the paper bag on the table and quickly took out their takeout.
“Father,” Kang Chan called again.
“You must be hungry. Let’s eat,” Kang Dae-Kyung barely managed to utter. He turned his head away from Kang Chan.
Is he crying because it’s been a while since we last saw each other?
After a moment of silence, Kang Dae-Kyung reached out for their takeout sushi again.
“Father?”
“I’m fine now that I’m sure you’re okay,” he said.
Sniffling, he rubbed his face with the palms of his hands.
“I keep catching myself acting like your mom. I heard that the amount of female sex hormones increases with age for men. That’s probably why I’m crying.”
Kang Chan leaned forward and looked up at Kang Dae-Kyung.
“What are you doing?” Kang Dae-Kyung asked.
“You haven’t been looking at me.”
Only then did Kang Dae-Kyung look at Kang Chan, his eyes still red from crying.
“I can’t get used to this no matter how hard I try. My heart breaks whenever I hear on the news that someone died. Even just knowing that people have been wounded makes it hard for me to breathe.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for? I’m just thankful that you came back alive. I can’t help but get emotional too when I think about the families of the fallen soldiers coping with all of this, though.”
Click.
When Kang Dae-Kyung started taking off the lid of the container with the doenjang broth, Kang Chan quickly opened another container.
Kang Dae-Kyung glanced at Kang Chan’s hand. A moment later, Kang Chan heard him sniffling again.
Kang Chan wasn’t expecting this to happen. Throughout his entire two-day stay in the hospital with Seok Kang-Ho, never once did he imagine that seeing his wounds would make Kang Dae-Kyung sad.
His hands had cuts and scars all over.
Kang Chan sincerely felt bad for having thick scabs on his hands.
“We should eat,” Kang Dae-Kyung said.
“Alright.”
Kang Dae-Kyung pulled his wooden chopsticks apart, then picked up a delicious-looking sushi made with clam meat. He dipped it in soy sauce before eating it.
“Try this first,” Kang Dae-Kyung told Kang Chan.
Kang Chan felt embarrassed. He could never get used to things like this.
Still, how could he refuse?
Kang Chan opened his mouth and ate the piece of sushi that Kang Dae-Kyung had picked up for him.
“Assistant manager Kim has given sushi to the people outside,” Kang Dae-Kyung said.
“You should eat as well.”
“Alright.”
Looking like Kang Dae-Kyung had finally calmed down, he picked up a piece of sushi and ate it.
“What’s mother doing?” Kang Chan asked.
“I heard that she’s having lunch with the employees of the foundation, but she’s really looking forward to your return home. She even said that she’s going to the supermarket on the day you arrive, so you better be ready for all that before you go home.”
Have I ever seen a middle-aged man eating sushi with eyes red from crying? What does a child mean to their parents anyway?
Kang Chan was thankful for being reincarnated.
He shoved a piece of sushi into his mouth the same way Seok Kang-Ho would.
“You’ll upset your stomach if you eat like that. Slow down,” Kang Dae-Kyung suggested.
“It just tastes so good.”
Kang Chan noticed two more takeout boxes in the paper bag. Their food right now was not just some delicious sushi. It was Kang Dae-Kyung’s love and affection for him as a father.
Kang Chan continued to eat the sushi because he was thankful, and because he didn’t have anything else to do in return right now, other than eating.
“Cough!” Kang Chan choked.
“Jeez! Here, have some of this.”
Smiling, Kang Dae-Kyung offered the doenjang-guk.
Kang Chan got a lump in his throat for experiencing a father’s affection. He couldn’t help but find it funny.
He drank some of the doenjang broth, pushing down the sushi in his throat and the emotions he felt.
***
The First and Third Airborne Forces and the soldiers from the 606 stood at attention, clearly at a loss for words.
They all had ten soldiers each, reaching a total of thirty. Cha Dong-Gyun led only ten men against them, yet they were completely decimated in the mock battle. They couldn’t even take one enemy down. However, what they found most humiliating was that Cha Dong-Gyun and his men needed less than an hour to do it.
“Do you know how incapable you are now?” Cha Dong-Gyun asked.
Fuck! How can he ask that when we conducted the mock battle in a base that they’re familiar with?
None of the thirty soldiers answered.
Cha Dong-Gyun turned his head to Kwak Cheol-Ho. “Bring the bulletproof vests, helmets, and live ammo!”
“Yes, sir!”
Bring what and what now?
“Where are the medics?” Cha Dong-Gyu asked.
“They should be here in ten minutes.”
He’s doing an amazing job at setting a scary atmosphere!
The newcomers looked at Cha Dong-Gyun and his men with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Let’s see what you guys can do!’
Clank! Clank!
The soldiers first brought over a box of live ammo, then the helmets and bulletproof vests.
“We’re going to use live ammo for the next session! Remember, you are only allowed to aim for the vests and helmets! Hitting others anywhere else will result in immediate disqualification! The same goes for failing to take out even just one enemy!” Cha Dong-Gyun explained with a low and husky voice.
The soldiers behind him skillfully held up the bulletproof vests, then the helmets.
“If someone is wounded, the one who shot them will take the responsibility of getting them out of the battlefield! Any questions?!”
Click! Click!
None of the thirty soldiers moved. They just kept watching the special forces soldiers putting on helmets and buckling them up, then putting live ammunition into their magazines.
Cha Dong-Gyun smirked in response.
“Are you seriously going to train us with live ammo?” the commander of the 606 gruffly asked.
“If you don’t want to participate, you are more than welcome to back out! Just ring the bell over there, head into the barracks, and have a nice cup of coffee! No one is forcing any of you to join this training!”
“Have you ever done this kind of training before?” Han Jae-Guk, the second lieutenant from the First Airborne Forces, asked.
Cha Dong-Gyun turned toward him. The thirty soldiers blatantly showed their defiance. They even seemed to be working together as one.
“I understand how you all feel. We also felt that way at first. By the time we were done, we already had quite a lot of wounded in our hands. However, let me make one thing clear! The bullets you’ll be shooting can kill or wound anyone, even myself and every single man in my team!” Cha Dong-Gyun explained.
That’s true.
A moment of silence passed.
“Why would I or my do something like this?” Cha Dong-Gyun asked. “Han Jae-Guk!”
“Second Lieutenant Han Jae-Guk!”
Han Jae-Guk didn’t mean to yell out his official rank and name, but seeing the look in Cha Dong-Gyun’s eyes made him instinctively feel like he had to.
Cha Dong-Gyun’s expression right now was so terrifying that it made the soldiers wonder if he was still the same person they had been looking at all this time.
Cha Dong-Gyun continued, “Earlier, I told you all that we lost eleven of our men in Africa. Since then, I always see their faces whenever I lie down to sleep. I keep telling myself that if I had been just a little stronger—just a little sharper—they would still be here with me!”
What’s going on?
Kwak Cheol-Ho and the other soldiers behind Cha Dong-Gyun now had the same glare as Cha Dong-Gyun. Their eyes were glinting, seemingly telling all of the newcomers that they would shoot them down if they ever tried to do or say anything funny.
“If any of you are satisfied with the training you’ve already done before coming here, then you may return to your respective bases right now! I need soldiers who will return alive no matter the situation we dive into! I need soldiers who can pass on all the pitiful and unfortunate experiences that I’ve accumulated to our juniors!” Cha Dong-Gyun added.
Silence enveloped the area as the atmosphere turned even colder, seemingly freezing everyone in place.
Cha Dong-Gyun paused for a moment. He then turned his head toward Kwak Cheol-Ho.
“We’ll do the training between ourselves! Kwak Cheol-Ho! You’re deploying first! Take five men with you!”
“Underst—”
Someone walked forward, interrupting Kwak Cheol-Ho. Han Jae-Guk looked straight at Cha Dong-Gyun as he picked up a bulletproof vest and helmet.
“First Lieutenant Han Jae-Guk, volunteering for live ammo training!”
The white steam coming from his mouth seemed to be conveying how touched he felt.
Soon after, a soldier from the First Airborne Forces walked forward.
“Sergeant Lee Jae-Ho, volunteering for live ammo training!”
“The entire 606 volunteers for live ammo training, sir!”
As if signaled to finally move, the soldiers stepped forward one after another, picking up their own set of helmets and bulletproof vests.
Cha Dong-Gyun wanted to show this to Choi Seong-Geon, Park Chul-Su, and Kang Chan.
“First Lieutenant! May we yell our chant, sir?!” Han Jae-Guk requested after picking up live ammo.
They always yelled their chant during their training.
When Cha Dong-Gyun nodded, Han Jae-Guk turned toward the thirty soldiers.
“I am Second Lieutenant Han Jae-Guk of the First Airborne Forces! Do whatever it takes to win! We’re the First and Third Airborne Forces and the 606! We might be lacking in skills, but we won’t lose in spirit! Everyone! What’s our chant?!”
“If I can!” the soldiers yelled deep inside the quiet mountain. The barracks’ windows shook as the seemingly startled mountain echoed their chant.
Rumble!
“Protect the country with my blood!”
Rumble!
“I am!”
‘General! Do you see this?!’ Cha Dong-Gyun wondered.
“Happy!”
Rumble!
The echo rang out in the distance, bringing their lingering emotions with it.
Tightly gritting his teeth, Cha Dong-Gyun looked at the soldiers.
Vroom!
At that moment, the medical team’s vehicle urgently rushed toward them.
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