Chapter 107: Send-Off (2)
Kang Ra-Eun deeply sighed as Seo Yi-Jun mentioned his enlistment, as if she had been the one who had received the notice of enlistment. Yi-Jun had mentioned a few times before that he wanted to complete his military service quickly. He had to go sooner or later, so he decided to just get it over with because he felt like he would just waste more time if he kept pushing it back.
Yi-Jun already had a job at Ra-Eun’s company waiting for him, so it would be more effective to go to the army as soon as possible and get used to the workplace as he went to school once he came back. Ra-Eun had also concurred with the idea.
“You’ve made a difficult decision,” she expressed. She could hear Yi-Jun’s awkward laugh from the other end of the call. “What did your parents say?”
- They also agreed that I should just get it over with since there was no avoiding it. They’re hoping I’ll grow up quickly since I’m going early.
“You sure do grow up when you’re in the army.”
Except that one grew up as in, they bulked up physically rather than mentally.
“When’s your enlistment date?”
- It’s about a month away.
“What? Just one month?”
It was far too sudden.
- The date was already settled long ago, but you’ve been so busy that I’ve just been keeping it to myself.
It was Yi-Jun’s form of consideration. However, he did not need to be that considerate of Ra-Eun.
“You should’ve just told me when you were going. Even if I’m busy, I’m not busy enough for you to keep things like that from me.”
- I’m sorry, Noona.
“It’s fine. What’s done is done.”
Unless Ra-Eun was given the chance to fill out the Return Application Form again, time could no longer be rewound. Although, she had no idea whether or not such an opportunity would come.
“Eat and play as much as you want for the next month. You’ll sorely regret it for about a year if you don’t because you can’t be bothered to.”
Ra-Eun was speaking from experience. However, Yi-Jun thought she was just repeating what her male acquaintances had told her.
- I’ll enjoy the next month to my heart’s content.
That was the best possible thing a man could do before his enlistment.
***
The outdoor shoots of One of a Kind of Girl resumed after the heat wave let up. Her heat index went through the roof whenever she wore long-sleeved shirts and pants during the heat wave, but she could somewhat handle it now that the weather had gotten slightly cooler.
Ra-Eun glared at the camera in great annoyance. Her eyes reflected bloodlust that could kill.
“Hey. What did you just say to me?” she recited her line.
A bunch of high schoolers that had been bullying one person surrounded Ra-Eun.
“Why don’t you just move on along?”
“Lady, you should’ve just gone about your way while we were still being nice. Why did you have to pick a fight with us?”
“Keke, seriously.”
Ra-Eun recalled a memory as she looked at the extras playing thugs. She had experienced the same thing with Choi Hwang-Cheol and his posse back when she first became a high school girl. She could easily get immersed in the role because she had experienced something similar.
The scene ended and the staff got ready to shoot an action scene. Ra-Eun went over the moves with the thug extras before the cameras started rolling. Action scenes were Ra-Eun’s specialty; she was blazing with enthusiasm from being able to do some action after a long time.
“You just need to dodge downward when I swing my fist like this. Understood?” Ra-Eun remarked.
“Yes,” the male actor replied while nodding.
Ra-Eun strongly swung her fist like she had announced when the cameras started rolling.
“...!”
The actor hurriedly ducked as he watched Ra-Eun’s fist flying toward him in real time.
‘I would’ve been hit if I was any later!
Ra-Eun was moving with the resolve to hit her acting partners despite it being just a performance. This raised the quality of the action, but the other actors couldn’t put as much speed and weight into their punches or kicks due to their fear of actually hitting Ra-Eun.
On the other hand, Ra-Eun was confident. She had never hit anyone by mistake during action scenes, including the rehearsals. She could be fully trusted in such scenes. The actors looked at her with respect after carrying out the highly realistic action scene.
“I-I seriously thought you were gonna hit me, Miss Kang.”
Ra-Eun took the hand of the male actor on the ground and helped him up.
“Come on, there’s no way I would actually hit you.”
If this was not a performance but a real-life situation, Ra-Eun would have pummeled them for sure. The thug extras could only be grateful that they were only acting.
***
Ra-Eun had finished with yet another fruitful shoot and immediately headed home because she had nothing else to do.
“Thank you very much. Have a safe trip home,” she expressed.
Shin Yu-Bin and Ryu Ha-Yeon also praised Ra-Eun for her hard work and told her to go get some rest. It was 9 PM. She focused on the mouth-watering smell that was coming from the kitchen once she got home.
Seo Yi-Seo greeted her in an apron, “Welcome back. I was preparing a late night snack for you to enjoy. You’re just in time.”
“You made this for me?”
“Of course!”
Ra-Eun was so glad to have such a thoughtful roommate. Not just that, it was her favorite: meat.
“But I’m not sure if you can eat this,” Yi-Seo muttered to herself with a bitter smile.
Ra-Eun had been on a diet recently. Yi-Seo was feeling regretful after making it, wondering if she had been a bother to Ra-Eun’s dietary routine.
“It’s okay. It’s not like I’m gonna instantly gain fat just from eating this,” Ra-Eun reassured.
“Wouldn’t your trainer get mad?”
“It’s fine as long as I don’t get caught. I didn’t get caught last time either, so it’ll be okay.”
She had already pretended not to have overeaten once before on the day that she went to the Chinese restaurant that Lee-Si-Ahn’s family owned. She changed and took a seat at the table next to Yi-Seo.
‘This would go great with soju.’
Ra-Eun craved soju even more after tasting the meat, but she needed to keep herself away from alcohol since she herself had declared abstinence.
‘Even if I give up on my diet, I can’t give up on my abstinence.’
She had no idea what she’d do if she did.
Yi-Seo said while they were eating, “Ra-Eun. I’m gonna go to Nonsan next Tuesday.”
“By Nonsan, you mean...”
There was only one thing that came to Ra-Eun’s mind. It was something that reflexively came up to the minds of all Korean men when Nonsan was mentioned.
“The training center?” Ra-Eun asked.
“Yeah. Yi-Jun’s enlistment date is next week.”
“Is it time already?”
Ra-Eun checked the calendar app on her smartphone to check Yi-Jun’s enlistment date. It was next Tuesday on the 12th, just like Yi-Seo had said.
“Time flew by so quickly.”
There was still a month remaining when Ra-Eun had first heard it from Yi-Jun, but now there were only five days left.
‘One’s own military service passes by like a snail, but that of others fly by like a jet.’
Ra-Eun asked in addition, “Are your parents driving you guys there?”
“No. They have other important business to take care of, so I’ll probably have to send him off by myself.”
“Who’s gonna drive you, then?”
“No one. Yi-Jun and I are just gonna take the bus.”
Yi-Seo did not have her driver’s license yet, so she could not drive Yi-Jun there. However, Ra-Eun could not tolerate them having a hard time going by bus when someone like Yi-Jun, who she considered a little brother, was going off to do his military service.
“Next Tuesday, right?” Ra-Eun asked.
“Yeah.”
“That’s perfect. I happen to have a day off on that day, so I’ll give you guys a ride.”
Ra-Eun offered to take them there herself, but Yi-Seo said, “No, it’s fine. I can’t make you drive all the way to Nonsan on your precious day off when you must be exhausted.”
“I don’t mind. I’ll just consider it as going for a leisurely drive. And I should at least send Yi-Jun off when he’s helped me so much, don’t you think?”
“I guess that’s true...”
Yi-Jun always stepped up to help Ra-Eun whenever she needed it because he liked her romantically.
‘I couldn’t be there to send Sang-Woon off.’
Hence, it felt wrong to miss Yi-Jun’s send-off as well. She was planning on giving him any form of advice that she could.
“Okay. I’ll let Yi-Jun know. He’ll be so happy.”
It was completely obvious.
***
On the day of Yi-Jun’s enlistment, Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo headed by car to where he was waiting for them.
Ra-Eun asked while blinking perplexedly once she saw him, “What the hell? Why haven’t you cut your hair yet?”
“I’m thinking of just having it cut somewhere around the area there. I was planning on getting it cut yesterday, but I felt like I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I did.”
Yi-Jun already had a hard time sleeping yesterday because today was his last day in society for a long time, but he might not have been able to sleep at all if his hair had been all gone. He wanted to at least have a good night's sleep since today was his first day in the army.
Ra-Eun found it a shame since she was hoping to see Yi-Jun’s buzz cut.
“The hair salons near the training center won’t be as good as the ones around here, would they?” Yi-Seo wondered.
However, Ra-Eun answered, “It’s okay. There are people who give haircuts in the army, but they’re complete amateurs. No matter how good your hair looks when you go in, you’ll look just like the rest when your first military leave comes around, so it won’t really matter.”
“As expected of the army expert.”
Yi-Seo had recently started to call Ra-Eun an army expert. Not just her, but a few in the TV industry that she knew had called her an active-duty high school girl back when she was in her teens. They now called her an active-duty university girl, but the dignity that came with her unnatural knowledge regarding the army despite being a woman had not disappeared one bit.
Ra-Eun asked Yi-Jun before departing, “Let me know if you want anything to eat on the way there. We can stop by a service area.”
“Okay, Noona. I’ll be in your care until I enlist.”
“Yeah, leave it to me.”
The party made up of a reservist, a conscript and a civilian headed together to Nonsan Training Center.
1. Seoul and Nonsan is 154 km away.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om