One day, Jeongpil had suddenly approached him with a serious expression and, without a word, handed him an envelope before disappearing. When Taeui opened it, inside was a ticket to the hottest movie of the moment. Just a few days before, Taeui had mentioned to his friends: “Yeah, I’ve got to see that movie when it comes out.”

“……..???”

The whole incident was perplexing and surprising. Out of nowhere, he handed over a movie ticket and left immediately, without giving Taeui any chance to ask further questions as the guy disappeared without a trace. Scratching his head, Taeui looked at the ticket and thought:  ‘Well, he gave it to me, so I might as well go watch’. And with that, he decided to go see the movie.

Taeui occasionally went to the movies alone, but he remembered that there were times when his brother seemed interested whenever Taeui talked about a movie. His brother would say: “Oh? Maybe I should check it out then”. So, Taeui bought an extra ticket for his brother – fortunately, there was an empty seat right next to his – and the two of them went to watch the movie together.

However, by the time they left the theater, Taeui could barely recall what the movie was about. Sitting right next to him, in the seat parallel to where Jeong Jaeui had been sitting, was none other than Jeongpil, lounging there with an air of defiance.

The moment Jeongpil laid eyes on Taeui, his face twisted into a grimace, and Taeui, reflexively, scowled back.

‘What’s he doing here? Did I buy an extra ticket?’ 

Taeui’s thoughts were scattered, but considering that it was Jeongpil who had given him the ticket, he muttered a quick thanks. But Jeongpil acted as if he hadn’t heard a word, ignoring him completely. Throughout the movie, he kept kicking Taeui’s seat, pushing his hand off the armrest, and muttering incomprehensible words, making it impossible for Taeui to focus on the film.

‘He gave me the ticket just to mess with me, didn’t he? I was so excited to see the movie, and he ruined everything.’

When the movie finally ended, a movie Taeui barely knew he had watched because he had been so distracted, he had spent the entire time whispering hundreds of times in a voice as soft as a mosquito: “Be quiet” and “Sit still”. But the moment the credits began to roll, Taeui smacked Jeongpil right on the head. As if waiting for this, Jeongpil grabbed Taeui by the collar, and the two of them tumbled onto the floor, wrestling.

“Buying tickets to make peace? That was the movie I looked forward to the most that year, and ever since then, I haven’t wanted to look at that entire series again!”

The anger from that incident suddenly flared up inside Taeui, his fists clenching so tightly they trembled. Changoh, who had just taken off his coat, noticed and handed it to Taeui with a puzzled look, asking: “Are you cold?” He blinked in confusion and mumbled.

“Back then, Jeongpil bought two tickets to watch the movie with you.”

“He only gave me one ticket! He glared at me right after handing it over and then disappeared. How was I supposed to know whether he bought two or a hundred tickets?”

“…And after that, Jeongpil even asked to meet up for a proper conversation, but you stood him up.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re talking about that time he asked to meet in the middle of the night on that creepy hill behind the school?”

Taeui’s eyes widened in disbelief as he asked again.

They had fought so viciously that they were both covered in blood, only stopping when the management rushed over to break them apart. Panting heavily, with their eyes red with rage, that guy had said: “At midnight tonight, meet me behind the mountain. I have something to say to you.”

Taeui had responded: “Fine, see you then”, but in the end, he decided to leave the guy hanging and didn’t show up. It was late autumn, so the night had probably been quite cold.

He remembered it vividly – the next day, that guy showed up coughing, with eyes filled with murderous rage as he glared at Taeui. In response, Taeui had merely smirked in mockery.

“Do you call that an honest conversation? If it were you, would you think that was the kind of atmosphere for a talk? It felt more like someone was about to commit murder!” – Taeui vented furiously.

From that moment on, they fought each other like it was a matter of life and death. If they had the chance, they’d brawl. Whenever they crossed paths, insults flew.

Then, nearing graduation, rumors about Taeui’s sexual orientation spread across the entire school, and everything spiraled out of control. There couldn’t have been a worse enemy than that.

“…I think there’s something fundamentally wrong between the two of you…” – Changoh mumbled while fiddling with a tube of ointment in his pocket. Taeui remained silent, saying nothing.

For some reason, as Taeui recounted the story, he felt that something might indeed have been off. Maybe he had misunderstood a few things.

Of course, just thinking about what happened afterward still made him so furious he felt like throwing up. The rumors that guy spread everywhere had turned his life into a living hell. Though Taeui had no intention of hiding his sexual orientation, he didn’t want it flaunted in front of people who had no business knowing – especially those who weren’t part of his romantic life.

Yet, every time Taeui got close to someone, Jeongpil would show up and whisper mockingly: “That guy is gay, you know. You shouldn’t be getting too friendly”. Because of this, Taeui had been so stressed that, for the first time in his life, he had to start taking stomach medicine.

So, in that regard, Taeui had no plans to let things slide. But perhaps, when it came to some of the things from the past, there had been a bit of a misunderstanding on his part.

…Maybe, just maybe, that one thing (and only that thing) made him feel a bit guilty.

“Well… I guess it might have just been a little misunderstanding…” – Taeui mumbled awkwardly, and Changoh, out of nowhere, pulled the tube of ointment from his pocket and tossed it straight at him.

“Here.”

“Huh?”

Taeui blinked in surprise as he caught the tube of ointment, while Changoh wiped his hands clean with a tissue and said: “You go give it to him. And while you’re at it, if there’s anything that needs to be resolved, deal with it. Hear him out if he’s got any grievances, and you can vent about whatever’s been bothering you too.”

Taeui felt a bit dizzy, watching as Changoh suddenly mumbled: “But what does tiger bone taste like?” before unexpectedly sucking on his finger. Almost immediately, Changoh grimaced, clasped a hand over his mouth, and dashed out of the infirmary. Taeui could hear him running toward the restroom, and as the sounds faded, Taeui quietly stared at the tube of ointment in his hand.

“……”

Not very interested. Taeui scratched his head.

Hearing a few stories from a different perspective hadn’t changed his feelings at all. Reality remained the same. Jeongpil was still Jeongpil, and the grudge between them was still very much alive.

However…

Maybe having a conversation wouldn’t be so bad.

“Well, once I leave here, I won’t be seeing him again anyway.”

Since they would likely never cross paths again—if there was anything to resolve, it was better to deal with it now.

Taeui shrugged back into his coat and stood up. But almost immediately, he grimaced and doubled over, groaning: “Ouch!”

************************************

By the time Taeui arrived at the shooting range, the guy was already gone.

“Annoying…”

Taeui tossed the tube of ointment in the air, catching it as he muttered to himself.

The branch building was huge. Especially when you were looking for someone and had no idea where they might be—it felt even larger.

‘Of course, the things you need are never there when you need them.’

Taeui clicked his tongue softly, fiddling with the ointment tube. Well, if he really wanted to find him, he could always wait until evening and go to his personal quarters. But for now, he needed to deliver the ointment first.

“Hey, Tay.”

People Taeui knew greeted him as they passed by, but asking them about Jeongpil was pointless. During this training period, the number of strangers had increased significantly – how could they possibly know who Jeongpil was? And even if someone did, there was no guarantee they would know where he was at that moment.

“Oh, right, Tay.”

An old teammate, who had just walked by, suddenly called out to Taeui with a curious expression.

“That guy you had a brawl with in front of the mess hall? He’s back there again. Are you planning on round two today? If so, I’ll come watch.”

“……”

Even if they didn’t know who Jeongpil was, this teammate clearly remembered the person Taeui had fought with. “I’m not planning on another fight, but thanks anyway” – Taeui replied, not sounding particularly enthusiastic, then turned to walk away.

Who knows how rumors spread, but at least this one was somewhat useful. People always said there was nothing more entertaining than watching a fight. In a group full of people buzzing with energy, whenever a fight broke out, nobody bothered to stop it—they just enjoyed the spectacle.

“…Come to think of it, that guy was also grinning while watching the fight earlier.”

Taeui recalled the recent brawl and remembered seeing Ilay in the crowd, standing there with wide eyes, watching. He hadn’t expected Ilay to intervene, but still, there was no need for him to be so excited about it either.

“Is that guy really living with me…?” – Taeui clicked his tongue bitterly as he made his way down the west staircase. The dining hall was just one floor below—he only had to descend this flight and turn toward the main stairs to get there.

Standing on the main staircase, Taeui glanced down toward the entrance of the dining hall from halfway up. After hearing the news, he wasn’t sure if Jeongpil was still outside, had gone inside to eat, or had already moved somewhere else.

However, Taeui quickly spotted who he was looking for without needing to search long. Jeongpil was sitting on a long bench right next to the entrance of the dining hall… with Ilay.

“…………………”

People passing in and out of the dining hall would involuntarily glance at Ilay and immediately tense up, their shoulders drawing back as if out of caution. Taeui could clearly see this from his higher vantage point on the stairs.

Meanwhile, completely oblivious to this reaction, the person sitting beside Ilay, casually chatting away, was none other than Jeongpil. Even after rubbing his eyes and looking again, there was no mistaking it—Jeongpil.

“What is this…? What kind of strange combination is this…”

Taeui stared down in astonishment. What made him doubt his own eyes even more was that Ilay was smiling. It was a faint, subtle smile, but there was no denying it—Ilay was smiling. Occasionally, he would even nod in agreement as Jeongpil animatedly carried on with the conversation.

“What the hell…” – Taeui muttered in disbelief as he slowly descended the stairs, his mind now filled with endless questions. Step by step, as he approached the area near the dining hall, Jeongpil’s voice – never one to be quiet – became clearer.

“…But of course, I had to be angry, right? So I stormed into his room in the middle of the night, and that damn guy was sleeping like a baby. Then, as soon as he saw me, he muttered in his sleep: ‘Why does this guy always show up in my nightmares?’ How could I not punch him?!”

When did this happen? Taeui couldn’t even begin to count how many incidents had piled up between them.

“Oh, that’s definitely infuriating. He’s said that same thing to me before.”

“Really? See, that jerk is such a—So, Rick, what did you do after that?”

“I figured if the dream was already bad, it couldn’t get worse, so I jumped in too.”

“Ah, so you guys fought.”

“Yeah, then he didn’t speak to me for about three days.”

As Taeui unintentionally overheard the familiar voices from the staircase, he clenched his fists against the wall, deep in thought. Their story sounded strangely similar to his, yet it came from a completely different perspective. And Taeui didn’t like that perspective one bit.

“There was another time something similar happened. It was right after I was promoted to Second Lieutenant and began going out on missions. Wearing the Second Lieutenant insignia for the first time, I had to maintain authority over the soldiers under my command. If they didn’t respect me from the start, it would lead to problems later on—resentment would just build over time. So, I needed to set things straight from the beginning. But that guy, after I had just finished giving strict orders, sat there casually playing Hwatu cards with the other soldiers.”

“Playing Hwatu?”

“Yeah——Hwatu is a kind of card game, to put it simply, it’s gambling. He was gambling with the soldiers, cleaning them out of their money, then using that cash to buy snacks and win them over, turning them to his side. How underhanded can you get?! And when I confronted him, he just smirked at me.”

“Ah, I see… that definitely sounds like something Taeil would do.”

Ilay’s laughter blended into his words, and Jeongpil’s voice followed, dripping with sarcasm.

“Yeah, that’s exactly the kind of person he is.”

“And yet, that guy seems to have some weird big brother complex. Whenever he talks about his brother, his face lights up, but the moment you bring up his brother a bit more, his expression changes, and he shuts down with, ‘But my brother doesn’t care about that.’ I can’t believe someone like him exists.”

“Hm… he does have a few quirks like that.”

This time, Ilay nodded gently, but just as the conversation ended, he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly to the side. At the same moment, a hard box whizzed past Ilay’s head and slammed hard into the back of Jeongpil’s neck with a loud *Thud*

“ACK! WHAT THE HELL…?”

Jeongpil looked down at the fallen tiger bone box rolling on the floor with a bewildered expression, while Ilay casually glanced over, the smile still fixed on his face.

“Looks like you’ve applied your ointment properly, Taeil.”

“Big brother complex, my ass… Gossiping and laughing behind my back, huh? Enjoying yourselves?”

‘This bastard… You really hate me, don’t you?!’

As Taeui descended the stairs, his face twisted in anger, Ilay merely shrugged, not the slightest bit fazed.

“We weren’t talking trash. Compared to the stuff you mutter about me when you’re alone, this is nothing.”

At Ilay’s words, spoken with that relaxed smile, Taeui suddenly felt at a loss for words. “Talking trash? I was just venting about my own misery” – Taeui mumbled, gritting his teeth and falling silent, clearly bitter.

“Lieutenant Jeong, was it you who threw this? Trying to kill me, huh?” – Jeongpil picked up the hard plastic medicine box, glaring angrily. It looked like he was about to throw it right back.

Thinking for a second that he might be able to bury the hatchet with this guy had been stupid. Taeui snorted, smirking as he lifted his chin and replied:

“If I was trying to kill you, I wouldn’t have thrown that box—I would’ve tossed the whole potted plant next to it. Your thick skull wouldn’t crack from just a plastic box like that. You’re practically made of stone.”

“You bastard! Who do you think you are, talking like that? Remember that time in Jeju? You couldn’t even remember your hotel room number, kicked open the colonel’s door, and yelled, ‘Guys, I’m here! Get the Hwatu cards out!’ Then, you threw a beer bottle at the colonel! And now you’ve got the nerve to call someone thick-headed?”

“—You lunatic! That was just a misunderstanding, it has nothing to do with intelligence!”

It was painfully obvious – there was no making peace with this guy. Even if he died, it wouldn’t happen. Reconciliation? Not a chance. Taeui decided he was going to carry this grudge for life.

Thinking he had already given Jeongpil the ointment, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to land a few more hits – if necessary, he could take the ointment back and use it himself. Taeui began to step toward Jeongpil. But before he could get close, Ilay positioned himself in front of them. Just a moment ago, he had been calmly enjoying their bickering like it was entertainment.

“Alright, alright, you can fight, but first…”

“You’ve just been watching for fun this whole time—now you want to stop us? Get out of the way!”

“Someone asked me to pass along a message to you. Not just to you, but to Captain Kim as well.”

A giant question mark seemed to appear on both Taeui and Jeongpil’s faces at the same time: “What?” they asked in unison. While they were still wondering, Ilay proudly pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket, held it up before them, and began reading it aloud, enunciating each word clearly.

“To take responsibility for the serious breaches of discipline caused by frequent conflicts, trainee Kim Jeongpil (South Korea) and trainee Jeong Taeui (South Korea) are required to handwrite ten copies of the Code of Discipline during the training period. (※If handwriting is found to be not their own upon submission, the original number of copies must be resubmitted, and the person who assisted will face the same punishment).”

“What? The Code of Discipline? What’s that?”

Jeongpil scrunched his face in confusion, clearly understanding it was a punishment but still clueless as to the details. Taeui, on the other hand, showed no expression. His voice was low, and his face darkened as he asked: “Who gave the order?”

“Well, probably the person you’re thinking of.”

“…”

History was repeating itself.

Taeui immediately felt a wave of fatigue wash over him, remaining silent. At the same time, he realized that since Jeongpil – whom he stubbornly refused to call Captain – was also being punished, it meant they would likely run into each other frequently in the library in the coming days. The thought weighed even more heavily on his already sour mood.

Taeui decided he had to go find his uncle and ask for clarification. What crime had he committed that was so serious, yet unknown to him?

Suddenly drained of any energy to continue the fight, Taeui turned and staggered away. In his line of sight, Jeongpil, completely baffled by Taeui’s sudden loss of spirit, tilted his head in confusion while picking up a cup beside him.

Taeui had a vague feeling he’d seen that cup somewhere before, but he didn’t pay it much mind and kept walking. Right behind him, Jeongpil opened the lid with a small pop and then screamed: “AH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” before furiously throwing the cup aside. It landed right near Taeui’s feet, and from inside, a tailless lizard leapt out, casually scurrying away.

Ah, right. I forgot about you.

Taeui finally remembered that the cup was his, and he bent down to pick up the lizard, which was now darting across the floor.

“You bastard, did you pull this childish prank and put that thing in the cup?” – Jeongpil shouted, clearly outraged. Taeui, amused by Jeongpil’s outburst, felt a mischievous spark ignite in him and continued on his way, a sly grin creeping across his face.

********************************

*Hwatu card: