It was not the only thing.
The sergeant who was helping with the identity verification process of the man standing right in front of Yoo-hyun said.
“You can’t wear sneakers.”
“I told you my leg hurts.”
The man who came wearing sneakers instead of combat boots argued with a frown.
The sergeant shook his head firmly.
“Then come back next time.”
“I’m an employee of Ilseong. I’ll file a complaint if you do this.”
“I don’t care if you’re from Ilseong or Hanseong. It’s not allowed.”
“Ah, really, I’m telling you to do it.”
Yoo-hyun spat out a sneer as he watched the quarrel in front of him.
“There are so many idiots.”
It was the first time Yoo-hyun had received training as a reserve soldier in Ulsan.
He thought the atmosphere would be better since it was a place where local workers were, but it was not.
It was more of a mess.
Anyway, Yoo-hyun was planning to stay quiet and leave.
He ignored the noise around him and reminded himself of the proverb that said to be careful of falling leaves.
Yoo-hyun finished his identity verification and received a meal ticket, a number tag, and a unit mark.
“There is a barracks upstairs. You can rest there until the broadcast comes out.”
Yoo-hyun thanked the soldier’s guidance and went up the stairs.
He passed by the reserve soldiers scattered around and came to the front of the barracks.
A familiar voice caught Yoo-hyun.
He turned his head and saw Lim Tae Kyung, his colleague from Circuit 3 Team, wearing a military uniform.
He was relatively normal compared to other reserve soldiers.
Lim Tae Kyung smiled broadly and expressed his joy.
“Haha. Yoo-hyun, you came this time too.”
“Of course. If I postpone it this time, I have to go to Dongmicham.”
“Right. That’s why I came here even though I’m busy. I hate staying overnight training to death.”
As Lim Tae Kyung said, reserve soldier training for workers was possible to commute.
But in the past, Yoo-hyun postponed his training and ended up going to stay overnight training.
He was afraid that it would affect his personnel evaluation and made a foolish move.
He didn’t want to do that anymore.
That feeling was expressed naturally.
“I can’t do that either.”
“Haha. Is there anyone else you came with?”
“What do you mean? I just came quietly.”
Yoo-hyun answered and Lim Tae Kyung tried to meddle.
“Really? Wait a minute. I’ll talk to my team leader.”
“It’s okay. I’m going to stay quiet and leave.”
He was glad to see him, but he didn’t want to join another team.
There was no point in joining Circuit 3 Team members.
Lim Tae Kyung seemed to understand Yoo-hyun’s mind and nodded his head.
“Okay. Contact me if you’re bored later.”
“Okay. Take care of yourself during training.”
“Yoo-hyun, you too go out safely.”
Yoo-hyun lightly greeted him and entered the barracks.
There were yellow mats on both sides of the container building.
On the wall side, there were wooden old-fashioned lockers, and in front of them, reserve soldiers in combat uniforms were lying down.
Above their heads, summer blankets with defense patterns were folded.
A snort came out of Yoo-hyun’s mouth as he saw them.
“How come the military doesn’t change?”
At the same time, memories of his military days flashed by like a zoetrope.
It was amazing that this memory remained vivid as if it was engraved on his bones.
Even after 20 years had passed.
He recalled the old memories that he didn’t want to remember while walking.
He passed by the crowded 1st barracks and entered the 2nd barracks.
It was also the same scenery here.
Only there were fewer people.
Yoo-hyun put down his helmet at the place that matched the number he received.
He understood why the reserve soldiers lying down felt so relieved.
If he sat here, he would definitely want to lie down too.
For some reason, he didn’t want to take off his heavy combat boots.
It was too annoying to put them on again.
It was then when Yoo-hyun was lying down.
A helmet fell next to him with a thud sound
Then a man sat down in front of him
Yoo-hyun sat up straight
The man said to Yoo-hyun
“I’m sorry. I meant to put it down gently…”
Yoo-hyun waved his hand and looked at the name on the man’s chest.
It was definitely the name Yoo-hyun remembered.
He wore glasses and looked much younger than before, but his sad eyes were still the same.
Yoo-hyun was very glad to see him.
But he couldn’t ask him about his personal information right away.
The only time to ask each other about it was when they were training together casually, eating lunch quickly, and having a frozen snack at the store.
Then they would exchange contacts when they were about to go home.
That was the course of reserve soldier training.
Of course, they would never meet again, but anyway.
So Yoo-hyun asked him the most harmless question.
“Are you from the 6th Corps?”
“The one in Pocheon?”
“Haha. I know that place a little bit.”
Yoo-hyun tried to make a friendly conversation, but Hyun Jin Gun’s expression didn’t look very comfortable.
He didn’t seem to get along well with people even now.
Yoo-hyun wondered if he should get closer to him, but he stopped for now.
He had plenty of time to stick with him since he was the next number.
While Yoo-hyun was lying down, Hyun Jin Gun kept writing something in his notebook.
Yoo-hyun looked at his back and remembered the past.
It was when Yoo-hyun was in the mobile business strategy room.
At that time, Hyun Jin Gun was the president of JK Communication.
He was called a genius engineer and developed a communication chip that surpassed the existing limits and attracted attention from all over the world.
He received supply requests from all over the world, but he chose Hanseong Electronics.
He kicked away billions of won by himself.
Thanks to him, Yoo-hyun saved Hanseong’s dying smartphone.
He was able to get promoted faster because of his contribution.
-It’s just paying back what I owe you.
That was what Hyun Jin Gun said when Yoo-hyun asked him why he helped him.
Yoo-hyun didn’t understand what he meant at all.
He didn’t get an answer even when he asked.
He wanted to have a conversation with him over a cup of tea, but Hyun Jin Gun didn’t even give him a chance.
Rather, he disappeared from his sight.
Hyun Jin Gun, who disappeared like the wind, appeared as a Google executive.
He also started a new startup in the US
It was a hit and he became a star overnight
Later, he came back to Korea and changed the startup environment from the ground up
He did what politicians couldn’t do as a businessman
In a word, he was an amazing person.
Yoo-hyun was always curious and admiring of Hyunjin, who was such a genius.
That genius was right in front of him.
He used to be someone who was hard to talk to, but now he was wearing the same uniform.
He could talk to him anytime he wanted.
Why did he do that back then?
Yoo-hyun wanted to know more about Hyunjin.
He wanted to be friends with him, and if possible, to be with him.
He had never been so greedy for a person before.
In the morning, during the mental education session in the auditorium, Yoo-hyun sat next to Hyunjin.
Even on the hard wooden chair, he had a piece of paper in his hand.
-This video was produced to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the reserve forces, and to enhance the pride and…
Even while the video was playing, he kept writing something.
There were equations, notes, and drawings.
Since he had been sitting next to him all along, Yoo-hyun started a conversation with him quite naturally.
“What are you doing?”
“I don’t like being idle.”
“Do you like drawing?”
“It’s just something I do. Time is relative, so it flows faster if you stay still.”
He was indeed an owner of extraordinary thoughts.
Yoo-hyun nodded his head and agreed with him.
It was a basic rule of conversation to match the other person’s interests.
“So you mean time flows slower if you move?”
“Yes. Time depends on the direction of entropy increase…”
” And the starting point goes back to the Big Bang…”
As he listened to his words, Yoo-hyun decided to give up on the basics for the first time.
This had nothing to do with his 20 years of company experience.
Instead, Yoo-hyun tried to imitate his actions.
Mirroring was also a very effective way to attract the other person’s attention.
“Can you tear me a piece of paper?”
“Tearing paper is also a direction of entropy increase.”
“Yes. Please do that for me.”
Yoo-hyun managed to get a piece of paper from him.
Meanwhile, the video viewing ended.
Soon after, a retired colonel took the stage and gave a lecture.
-I believe that our country has been able to endure until now because of our reserve forces…
He must have been a person who once ruled the world, but now he was just an old man.
The reserve soldiers who sat on the long wooden chairs nodded off.
The soldiers who stood in between woke them up.
“Oh, come on, let me sleep.”
“You can’t do that, sir.”
It was a comedy that happened everywhere.
During that time, Yoo-hyun drew a picture on his paper.
He had given up on following Hyunjin from the beginning.
He couldn’t tell what he was expressing even when he peeked at it.
At some point, Yoo-hyun’s paper captured the scene of the auditorium.
He drew it roughly, but it had a good sense of atmosphere.
The highlight was the expression of the colonel who stood on the stage.
Hyunjin, who had been glancing at Yoo-hyun’s drawing, suddenly burst into laughter.
Then, a soldier behind him came over and said,
“Sir, please be quiet.”
Hyunjin apologized and covered his mouth with his hand while shaking his shoulders.
Yoo-hyun had no idea why.
He blinked his eyes and asked,
“No. It’s just that your nostrils are so square.”
He was a friend who had a strange sense of humor.
Was it because of the drawing?
Yoo-hyun got closer to Hyunjin.
Now they talked while walking.
“The course starts with shooting…”
“In my unit, PRI is…”
Of course, it was all about training and military stuff, but at least he took the first step well.
That showed how careful Yoo-hyun was with Hyunjin.
It was because he remembered how he had been rejected every time he tried to talk to him in the past.
He showed great kindness to Yoo-hyun, but he didn’t want to talk to him.
It still didn’t make sense to him.
At PRI school, an instructor gave instructions for training.
“You all know how to take different shooting positions according to distance, right?”
“Okay, when I give you a signal, you will change your position accordingly. The louder your voice is, the faster we can finish this training.”
The instructor raised his voice at the dragging answers of the trainees.
“Starting from those who are ready, 250 meters away.”
“Lie down and shoot.”
The reserve soldiers took their positions vaguely.
Hyunjin was not much different either.
But when there was an assistant soldier around, things changed.
It was when they had to put a stone on the gun and take a shooting position.
“Sirs, we will do a firing training with a stone on top of the gun.”
“Why do we have to do this? It’s annoying.”
The trainees waved their hands at the assistant’s words.
“I’ll let you rest sooner if you do well.”
The other reserve soldiers looked down on the assistant and treated him lightly.
“Lock the bolt. Load one bullet. Single shot.”
He took his position and repeated the commands as in the FM.
Of course, the stone fell off because he shook, but he still looked serious.