EBCGM 07

Chapter 7

What Money Can Do, and What Money Cannot Do – (1)

The first combat sports session I had done since being assigned to my unit.

After finishing it and returning to the barracks… I saw a senior soldier who was about to be discharged sleeping soundly in dreamland.

Seeing that, I tried to change my clothes as quietly as possible.

While I was doing that—

“Fuck. You’re all dead today.”

“I’m sor—”

“Now? You’re saying sorry now? You fucking idiot?”

“I’ll do my best next time—”

It was the opposing team, which had been thoroughly defeated by our team.

Perhaps he was so bitter about it that… even after returning to the barracks, Cheon Gyeong-tae continued to curse at his juniors.

At the time, Sergeant Cha had briefly left after being called by the supply officer.

“Hey, hey!”

“Private First Class Han Tae-pyeong?”

“Your voice sounds fucking peaceful. You’re just a damn new recruit, aren’t you?”

Cheon Gyeong-tae started picking a fight with me irritably.

Because of that, I had no choice but to stop changing my clothes for a moment.

“You think you’re some kind of basketball player?”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say—”

“I didn’t like you from the first day. You’re completely clueless, aren’t you?”

“So what exactly did I—”

“Fuck! You think you’re so great? Huh? Why don’t you show that arrogant face you had earlier here, too?!”

So this was how much his shoulders rose just because Sergeant Cha was not around.

“I simply participated actively in the match.”

“Look at this bastard talking back again… You never say you’re sorry.”

There was nothing for me to apologize for.

Still, why was someone who had been in the military longer than me acting so petty?

The more he acted like this, the more miserable he would make himself look.

“Sergeant Cha is protecting you! You even became a junior in the Supply Department! You think you can just do whatever you want! Don’t get the wrong idea, idiot. You’re still just a fucking private first class! You’re going to spend more time in the military than me.”

“Why are you treating me like this—”

“What?!”

“Did you get hurt somewhere during the basketball game? If so, I can—”

“You’re a bastard I can’t understand even when I try. Are you putting on airs because you came to the military at an older age?”

“No. I’ve never done that, and I have no intention of doing so—”

“Anyway, keep acting like that. Huh? You can think about how you’re going to deal with the consequences later. You, the great fucking genius, can figure that out yourself. Fuck, this is ridiculous.”

What exactly had I done wrong?

Who was the one who had approached me threateningly from the very first day?

It was just when Cheon Gyeong-tae had finished taking out his anger on me.

I quietly sighed inwardly and was about to continue changing my clothes.

“…Hey.”

The senior soldier who had been sleeping with even an eye patch on suddenly raised his body and spoke.

“You’re not answering?”

Judging from the situation… it seemed he had heard everything Cheon Gyeong-tae had said to me.

“Hey, you fucking bastard.”

“…?!”

“Haa… Dong-tae, you’ve grown a lot, haven’t you?”

Dong-tae?

“You’re going to be leaving soon anyway. Why are you acting like that?”

“What?”

“If you only have a few days left until discharge, stop worrying about other people. Just stay quiet and—”

“Looks like this bastard forgot what kind of person I am.”

Ah, so he was calling Cheon Gyeong-tae Dong-tae.

“Seems like you’re mistaken about something. I haven’t been discharged yet. I’m still an active-duty soldier.”

“So what the hell do you want—!”

“Hey.”

“Why do you keep calling me!”

“Where’s your rank and name? A senior is calling you.”

“…Ha. Why is someone who’s about to become a civilian acting like this?”

Even the senior soldier about to be discharged was officially a member of the Supply Department.

Even though he would be discharged after not seeing me for more than a few days, that did not change anything.

He suddenly stood up at Cheon Gyeong-tae’s reaction.

“Ha… This is why you can’t let things slide. Hey, fuck… Forget everything else. Everyone under me, get down.”

“What did you just say—!”

“I said get down, you bastards! Do you have walnuts stuck in your ears?!”

The senior soldier.

At his words, the people in the barracks looked at each other for a moment.

Then one or two of them began getting down into the push-up position.

Even then, Cheon Gyeong-tae only looked at the ceiling and sighed.

“Look at this bastard. There’s only one reason this whole mess happened.”

While the senior soldier and Cheon Gyeong-tae were having a standoff—

Sergeant Cha, who had gone to see the supply officer, also returned to the barracks.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone like this? And what’s with this atmosphere?”

“I was planning to stay quiet for a few days and leave. But I don’t think I can anymore.”

“What happened while I was gone—”

“Who do you think it was? You can see one bastard standing there refusing to cooperate.”

“Ha… You again? Cheon Gyeong-tae?”

“I need to properly show you what being a troublesome senior soldier on the verge of discharge is like before I leave. You don’t even need to get down. Just come here.”

Seeing me also lying in the push-up position, Sergeant Cha helped me back to my feet.

Meanwhile, Cheon Gyeong-tae slowly walked toward the senior soldier with a deeply annoyed expression.

“You just became a sergeant. Why are you acting up and making such a fuss?”

“No, that’s—!”

“I remember the old days, Dong-tae. Huh?”

“…!”

“It feels like only yesterday when you used to get beaten by me while snot was running from your nose and you had that stupid look in your eyes.”

“You’re saying that in front of the others right now—!”

“Attention! Attention, you bastard!”

It was a situation that could explode at any moment.

In the end, Cheon Gyeong-tae had no choice.

When he took the attention position…

The senior soldier grabbed the steel helmet sitting on top of the locker.

He was once said to have been the devil of the company.

This was the moment when I learned that what Sergeant Cha had told me about him was true.

“Hey, stop. Stop.”

“…Let go of me.”

“You could end up having your discharge delayed if you keep this up.”

“Ah, but this bastard said something earlier. You’re clearly his senior, but he kept calling you Sergeant Cha, Sergeant Cha. He was saying things like you were protecting this new recruit and treating you like some junior?”

“What did I just hear—”

“Discharge? I can leave a little later. So let go of me.”

The senior soldier had actually been listening to everything from the beginning.

After hearing what had happened, Sergeant Cha’s face also became as hard as stone.

When Cheon Gyeong-tae stood in front of the senior soldier again—

Thud.

“Put your head against the floor.”

“…!”

“Are you not going to?”

The senior soldier glared at him as if he were about to devour Cheon Gyeong-tae.

“…I’m sor—”

“I’ll give you three seconds. One, two—”

Since Sergeant Cha had heard what the senior soldier had told him, he had long since lost interest in stopping him.

He also glared at Cheon Gyeong-tae as if he wanted to kill him.

Perhaps he decided that it would be better not to look at that bastard’s face anymore.

“Let’s go.”

Sergeant Cha took only me and left the barracks.

Before we properly began our morning duties.

Early in the morning, Sergeant Cha and I were walking toward the guard post, following someone.

“You had a hard time because of me, didn’t you?”

“No, well, it wasn’t really hard—”

“You’ve only got a few months left, so hang in there a little longer too, hyung.”

“It feels strange seeing you leave like this after you used to be so scary.”

The senior soldier had not left Cheon Gyeong-tae alone until the day before his discharge.

Fortunately, or unfortunately.

He was discharged on his scheduled date.

“Even though we’ve only known each other for a few days.”

“Private First Class Han Tae-pyeong. Yes.”

“Why are you giving your rank and name? Anyway, you worked hard too, hyung. Come to think of it, I’m actually the youngest here. The new recruit hyung is the oldest.”

“Even though we did not spend much time together, thank you for all your hard work.”

“Cheon Gyeong-tae, that bastard, won’t be able to mess with you easily anymore. Even after I leave, you have hyung here. I also told the other guys to keep an eye on things.”

After completing all the procedures for his discharge, he stepped outside through the slowly opening guard post gate.

“Attention.”

“Hey, don’t do that.”

“Salute to the senior soldier being discharged.”

Sergeant Cha and I stood straight and gave the senior soldier his final salute.

He then took off his discharge cap, waved it several times so that we could see it, and soon disappeared completely from our sight.

“Is this what they mean when they say you feel relieved and sad at the same time? It’s a strange feeling. Still, he was pretty good to me because I was his direct junior in the Supply Department…”

“Honestly, I—”

“Huh?”

“Every time he did that to Sergeant Cheon Gyeong-tae, I thought he wouldn’t be able to get discharged on the scheduled date…”

“I don’t know about someone else, but Cheon Gyeong-tae has done so many things that he can’t report anyone. He’s also completely blacklisted by the officers, regardless of whether they’re commissioned or non-commissioned.”

I had only known him for a few days.

…All I knew about what kind of military life he had lived was what Sergeant Cha had told me.

Anyway, I could only hope that he would not cause any trouble once he went outside.

“You said you’re going to the division headquarters with the supply officer today, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I know you’ll handle it well. But make sure you learn everything properly. We don’t know when your direct junior will come in. For the time being, the two of us will probably have to handle all the work.”

It was a day when I needed to be especially alert.

Since we were going to the division headquarters for work after getting a vehicle assignment…

I had to learn everything at once—whether it was Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, or Class 7/9 supplies—and know when and where I would have to go to handle each task.

“I don’t know if I scared you too much.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“They say knowledge is power, right? Especially since the officer in charge is very interested in you.”

“I’ll make sure to learn everything properly.”

“Okay!”

As Sergeant Cha and I walked toward the battalion building, he told me the things I needed to be especially careful about when handling business at the division headquarters.

And after we returned to the Supply Department…

“Charge!”

“Oh, where’s Gi-dae?”

“Sergeant Cha Gi-dae stepped out for a moment because of something involving his mother.”

“Ah, right. He got her sent off properly?”

“Yes.”

“Okay! Now that the person who had to leave has left! Let’s slowly get ready to head to the division!”

I got ready to leave as soon as the supply officer finished his coffee.

I checked all the documents that we absolutely needed to bring when going to the division headquarters…

And even contacted the Transportation Department to make sure there were no problems with our vehicle assignment.

While I was doing that—

“…Ch-charge.”

Sergeant Cha, who returned to the Supply Department a little later than me.

His voice was trembling.

The supply officer, who had been looking out the window with his eyes closed, immediately opened them wide.

“What is it?!”

“…”

“Hey, you bastard. What’s wrong with your voice?! Did something happen?”

“…S-Sir. The thing is…”

“What happened that your voice is—!”

“I just heard from my father… Someone anonymous paid for all of my mother’s hospital expenses, including her treatment costs.”

“What? What the hell does that mean?”

“And that’s not all…”

Sergeant Cha looked as if he would burst into tears if someone touched him.

As I looked at my senior, I thought—

…Secretary Park had moved even better than I had asked him to.