Yeon Woojeong’s hands tensed as he held the paper. Looking down at it, I opened my mouth. 

“Mr. Yeon.”

Yeon Woojeong looked back at me like a person who had just realized that I was next to him. His expression relaxed. He stared at me intently and asked.

“Do you want to go?”

“… Is there anyone who wants to go?”

“You might not go.”

“How?”

“Well……”

He trailed off meaningfully. I searched his face and asked. 

“… You’re joking, right?”

I thought he was obviously joking, but Yeon Woojeong didn’t say anything. The thought of avoiding military service seemed impossible, but even if there was such a way, wouldn’t it all be illegal? The idea that he would consider such an option troubled and surprised me. I couldn’t bear the thought of Yeon Woojeong becoming a corrupt prosecutor because of me. 

His expression remained impassive. I gently took his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“Mr. Yeon, don’t worry too much. I’ll be right back.”

Yeon Woojeong chuckled at my words. I was already worried about having to live in a group, but I didn’t want to make him worry about me. He sighed and cupped my cheek. 

“Why are you already thinking about going? You’ll have a physical examination first.”

“Then…”

“You have to complete your studies at the training institute first, so it won’t be until the second half of next year.”

The second half of next year would be a little less than a year away. That was a bit of a relief. Nevertheless, the idea of being away from Yeon Woojeong for more than a year made me sad. Silence fell between us. I kept fiddling with Yeon Woojeong’s hand while he stared into space. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. 

“Want a beer?”

I offered after a while, and Yeon Woojeong burst out laughing. He covered one eye with the hand I held and laughed. He then glanced at me, the smile still on his face. 

“Do you think I’m like you? Feeling better after eating something good?” 

“When did I ever do that?”

“You’re number one in the world at feigning innocence.”

The warm gaze scanned all over my face. It seemed that his mood had gotten better. I was glad. I squeezed Yeon Woojeong’s hand repeatedly. Even though I played with his hand like a toy, he didn’t seem to mind and just stared at me. 

“First, let’s get some sleep and then think about it. I’m tired.”

Yeon Woojeong got up, holding my hand, and I followed him into his room. We lay side by side on the bed, but I had a feeling sleep wouldn’t come easily tonight. I glanced over and saw that Yeon Woojeong’s eyes were closed. There was no way he could have slept. 

“Are you asleep?”

Yeon Woojeong opened his eyes to my question. There was a hint of playfulness in his gaze. He reached out and pulled the blanket up to my chin.

“Don’t worry and sleep.”

“What am I worried about?”

“Me.”

So you do know. I moved my body, snuggling into his arms, and he turned to his side and hugged me. I had vowed never to leave his side, and yet, in less than a year, this happened and made me upset. However, if I showed that I was upset, Yeon Woojeong would not be happy, so I resolved to act maturely until that day arrived.

I put my ear to Yeon Woojeong’s chest and closed my eyes. The faint scent coming from him lulled me to sleep. 

***

From morning until now, I had been engrossed in researching everything about military enlistment. If the previous lack of information had troubled me, now, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information. Stories of soldiers being mistreated, gun accidents, and similar incidents filled my screen, leading me to finally put down my phone.

Regardless of how unfortunate I might be, I’d had enough. The worst part was that I had to be away from Yeon Woojeong.

Sitting down with a sigh, I caught Lee Cheolwoo staring at me instead of offering a greeting. Sensing his scrutiny, I could feel his head tilt and scan my face.

“Did something happen? Why are you sighing so much?”

It dawned on me that Lee Cheolwoo hadn’t enlisted yet either. I took the notice from my bag and held it out to him, and Lee Cheolwoo opened his eyes wide as he saw it.

“What the? Why did you bring this?”

“I got it yesterday.”

“Yesterday? You only got this just now?”

I wasn’t at home when I was supposed to get it. It seemed that it reached me only now after I registered my moving-in notification to where I now lived. Yeon Woojeong grumbled that the government only worked quickly on matters like this.

“When will you go?”

“I should go after I complete this. How about we enlist together?”

Lee Cheolwoo asked brightly. Enlist together? I didn’t think it would be bad. Wouldn’t I be able to put up well if I go with Lee Cheolwoo? He was a bit of a simple-minded, good-natured kind of guy, so his influence might benefit me.

“What’s with enlisting together?”

Kang Hyunnam, who came out of nowhere, suddenly asked. When Lee Cheolwoo showed him my notice and began talking about enlistment, he clicked his tongue.

“Dude, enlisting together? You should enlist alone like a man.”

“Aw, come on, camaraderie! We gotta keep it up even more in the military.”

“All the guys I know who enlisted together ended up at the front line.”

“Gasp, really?”

Kang Hyunnam said that he was also a soldier on the front line and told a series of unasked-for stories about how hard it was to be a soldier on the front lines. Strangely enough, rather than finding it horrifying, I felt there was nothing I couldn’t handle if someone like him had been through it.

Gradually, more men joined in discussing military matters. Whenever there were more than four people, I wished to leave the room. I often wondered if I should change this aspect of my personality, and upon asking Yeon Woojeong, his similar concerns comforted me.

I recalled laughing when he told me his appetite dropped when three prosecutors got together to eat. On the other hand, I was also worried that the man who always nibbled with his food couldn’t eat lunch properly.

After staring into space, I excused myself to go to the restroom. I didn’t see any texts from Yeon Woojeong, probably because he was busy. 

[Anyone up for dinner tonight?] 

A message came from Ham Yoonah just in time. It was in a group chat with Yoon Suyoung and me. After that, she sent a link to an address, and it was a newly-built pizza place. My mouth watered as I looked at the stretchy cheese picture. While I was contemplating for a second, a reply came from Yoon Suyoung.

[Me~!!!] 

On the days when Yeon Woojeong didn’t text me, it was likely that he would be late. After sending a reply that I’d be there, too, I went back to the lecture room.

.

.

.

The pizza place smelled like a new building. I looked around to find familiar faces and then walked over to them. The two people hadn’t changed much in a long time.

“Hi.”

“Hyung, long time no see.”

I greeted them and then took a seat. We first decided on the menu and then shared our latest updates. Ham Yoonah was attending a practical music academy, and Yoon Suyoung was preparing for the SAT. There wasn’t much that had changed since our last meeting.

“Hyung, are you having fun with the thing you’re doing?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, that’s cool. But it’s also fascinating. I never expected that you would do something related to cars.”

“Why?”

“I mean, it’s different from your image. It’s hard to picture it.”

I just nodded at the words he said with a smile. Even at the institute, sometimes I heard someone talk in a tone questioning why someone like me was there, but I didn’t feel offended like those times. Because there was no other meaning behind Yoon Suyoung’s smiling face.

“What about you? Are you having a hard time studying?”

“I am. I guess I just have a bad brain. I can’t understand anything at all.”

That was bad, the SAT was just around the corner. As Yoon Suyoung plopped down on the table and whined, Ham Yoonah narrowed her eyes.

“You say that, but you’ll do good later, won’t you?”

“What? No.”

“You punk. You had the highest test score of all of us.”

Yoon Suyoung scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Indeed, out of the three of us, I was the best at memorizing, but it was Yoon Suyoung who was the best at everything. While Ham Yoonah was muttering that Yoon Suyoung was being an asshole, the pizza arrived.