Trying to come up with ways to fight the instructors made me very hungry. We still had 20 more minutes to go until it was time to eat.
“Heejin, what’s on the menu?”
“Enna sage.”
“Enna sage?” I repeated.
“Vienna sausages.”
“Oh!”
Oh yes! I love Vienna sausages, with ketchup and seasoning piled on top. Break time was soon over and we immediately headed over to the mess hall.
We reached the restaurant. It was dinner time, the best time of the day. Everyone else was gone. Since we were filming a show, we were the last ones to eat. Also, the food was free. We can eat as much as we want, which is why this is my favorite time of the day.
“Hehe.”
There were so many Vienna sausages left, so I used the spot for soup to pile more sausages onto my tray. Heejin was worried that I might have took too much, but I was worried that I might have took too little. Anyways, we all sat on our table and began to eat. Everyone was tired, but the food was always amazing.
“This is good,” I said, eating one sausage after the other. I’ve never eaten sausages as good as this before. I’ll have to tell Jinwoo to buy some since it’s time for me to fill the fridge anyway.
“Good job today, guys,” Joo-ran said as she ate. We all answered back.
“You, too!”
“Good job, everyone!”
“Joo-ran, you were amazing today.”
That last one was on me, and it made Joo-ran smile.
“I’m not just an old lady, you know. I’m an actress. A veteran female actress at that.”
At that, we all smiled not long after. That was true. She was an actress. But, when you look at her, you wouldn’t think so. Who said you have to be gorgeous to be an actor? Anyways, after our delicious meal, we showered, got ready for bed, and laid down. The day passed quicker than I thought it would, but it was still annoying. There were still two days. I seriously miss the lovely members of Lovely Girlz.
***
The bugle sound rang again, signaling another morning. Today was ranger training day, which would take up the entire day. Not to mention, the instructors are out to get me. It’s going to be an extremely shitty day.
“Every morning is a surprise.”
Seriously, I wasn’t going to get used to this. Their bare faces were such a great shock. It’s always a surprise to realize just how much makeup does for a person.
“Ugh…my whole body hurts…” Heejin whined next to me, but she wasn’t the only one. Everyone was holding a body part and complaining. Then again, they all pretty much got beaten to pulp yesterday. When you get an intense workout after not exercising for a while, it’s very hard. Especially so on the hips and on the sides.
“Do you want a massage?”
“Yeah…”
Heejin laid down on her stomach and I began to massage her. Shoulders, back, hips, even the legs. I guess it felt good because I could feel Heejin completely melting into my hands. But wow, she was skinny. She was just all skin and bones at this point.
“Can you get my butt as well?”
“W-what?”
I didn’t know what to say. She wanted me to massage her butt? I mean yeah, it does feel good but…what am I going to do? Am I really allowed to massage her there? Of course, I’m physically a woman, so there won’t be any issues. But remember that mentally, I’m a man. I have a conscience as well. Unfortunately, my hands were already traveling to her butt. Her butt was like a beacon. It felt so nice in my hands. I began to massage her butt. Well at least, Heejin was enjoying it.
We took roll call and headed for the training center. The bulldog instructor was already waiting for us.
“Don’t you think she’s scary?” Hyunjoo asked.
To be honest, Hyunjoo’s natural face was scarier than her.
‘Your face is scarier.’
Of course, I didn’t say that out loud.
“A little.”
“Right?”
“But she’s a caring person.”
It’s true. You’d never know that with how aggressive she can be, but considering all the way she looks after us, I’d say she’s pretty caring as well. Anyways, speak of the devil. The instructor just stepped in.
“How was breakfast?” she asked with a smile. Something put her in a good mood this morning. Maybe it was the idea of us suffering lately.
“Good!”
“That’s good. I hope you enjoyed it.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“You guys sound energetic this morning. Did something good happen?”
“No, ma’am!” we all replied energetically, though there was nothing good going on. Why would there be when we’re about to go into training?
“Well, you guys are honest. We’re now going to pass out the clothes you’ll be wearing today. Feel free to get dirty today, it was designed for that.”
“…..”
None of us knew what to say, but she kept going.
“To be honest, it’s better if you can have all the soldiers do it with you so you can get the full load of it, but you will only get a taste of the real thing, so it won’t be that hard for you.”
That’s what she said, but no one believed her. Especially me. Not after what I heard the other instructors say about me yesterday.
“What’s wrong with you guys? Don’t tell me you’re scared?”
“No, ma’am!”
“Good. There’s no reason to be. If you get scared this easily, there’s no way you’ll be able to survive out there in the real world.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Joo-ran answered.
“Good for you, Officer Jeong! One point for you!”
“Thank you, ma’am!” Joo-ran answered loudly again.
Soon, the tanned instructor showed up and he passed out the uniform. They were clearly low-quality. I could throw these in the garbage and no one would notice at all.
“After you change, bring your helmet and bandoleer, then come to the gymnasium. You have five minutes. Understand?” the bulldog instructor said.
“Yes, ma’am!” we all replied. The instructor soon left.
“These are too big,” Heejin complained as she stood next to me. Why does she keep complaining? What is she? The grouchy smurf?
“Let’s see.”
Hmm, now that I look at it, they are really big. Or perhaps, Heejin was just really skinny.
“You need to gain more weight, Heejin.”
“No way! I need to lose more!”
‘Are you crazy?’ I asked myself. What fat did a girl who weighed 42kg have to lose? Even now, she looked malnourished.
“You know, thinking like that can lead to eating disorders.”
“That’s fine.”
“You’re insane,” I said. Out loud.
“Huh?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Did you just insult me?”
“Of course not,” I said, helping her with her bandoleer…but that just made her waist look even smaller. I put the helmet on her. Didn’t help to be honest. How could her head be this small? The helmet was so big that it covered her eyes.
“Is this okay?”
“I can’t see.”
I have to say though, the sight of her helmet hanging over her eyes was pretty adorable.
“Let’s try and add more padding.”
I took my own helmet to take off the padding on the inside…or at least, I planned to, but then I stopped. To be honest, my head’s not that big either. If I take this out, my helmet will definitely be too big for me. I looked over at Joo-ran. Her head was pretty sizeable.
“Hey, Joo-ran.”
“Yes?”
“Could we have some of your helmet padding? Look at Heejin.”
At my plea, Joo-ran looked at Heejin and the sight of her too-big helmet covering her eyes must have hit Joo-ran hard.
“Oh my…her head is too small. What do we do?”
And with that, Joo-ran began to take out the padded lining out of her own helmet and gave it to Heejin.
“Thank you,” Heejin said with a bow as she began to stuff the padding into her own helmet. Then, she put it on again. Now, it was much better…at least, it wasn’t covering her eyes. To be honest, it still looked uncomfortable though. And that’s when Jae-yoon spoke up.
“What’s with that tiny head of yours? Do you even have a brain?”
Heejin’s face fell at that. She was still scared of Jae-yoon and didn’t like being around her. Jae-yoon did have this tough aura about her after all. Once this episode airs, she’s going to get a lot of heat for it. She hasn’t done a single good thing on this show since we started filming, especially during the gas chamber portion. Wasn’t she the first one to run out? If they don’t edit this properly, she’s definitely going to end up looking bad.
“Hey, Jae-yoon,” I said, looking right at her. Jae-yoon looked back at me. Huh. Yesterday, she could barely look at me in the eyes but today, she seems to have no problem. I guess a good night’s sleep was enough for her to forget.
“What?”
“Give us your lining.”
“Why should I?”
“Your face is too long. Like a horse.”
It was true. Jae-yoon had an incredibly long and oval head. So, even without the padded lining, the helmet would sit on her head just fine.
“What did you say?” Jae-yoon suddenly shouted. What was wrong with her? I didn’t mean to insult her. She looked like a horse, so I said she looked like one. What’s so bad about that? How are other people who look like a horse supposed to feel? She basically just insulted everyone with a long face like hers.
“Just give it to me. Don’t you feel bad for Heejin?” I asked, approaching Jae-yoon. She instinctively took a step back. Then, she began to shout.
“I said no! It’s uncomfortable without it!”
At that, I stopped. If I continued on at this point and forced Jae-yoon to hand over her padding, then I was no different from her. Of course, that could backfire on me badly. So, I quickly smiled.
“Okay. I guess it can’t be helped. Oh, but your helmet is crooked.”
I walked up to Jae-yoon to help her fix her helmet. As I did, I leaned in to whisper into her ear, “You should hand it over while I’m talking nicely. Unless…you want me to get ugly.”
Jae-yoon stiffened, probably because she could feel the murderous wrath in my voice. Works like a charm every time. I could make an entire world buy from me on the home shopping channel if I wanted to. I’d be incredibly rich if I did that.
“Got it?” I said loudly, giving Jae-yoon a playful punch in the shoulder. With a look of fear, Jae-yoon ripped off her helmet and basically tore out the lining from the inside.
“H-here! Have it!”
And then, she opened the door and ran out. She must be embarrassed that she’s so scared of me. Poor girl.
“Here Heejin.”
I handed her the padded lining that Jae-yoon had (un)willingly gave. Heejin put it inside her helmet. Now, the helmet only came down to her eyebrows.
“How is it?”
“Much better! Thanks, Sian! Thank you, Joo-ran!”
We all headed for the gymnasium.
“If you need to go to the bathroom, go now,” Joo-ran said. I went in. As I did, I could hear a couple of the male instructors talking in the men’s bathroom. They seemed to be doing some sort of weird riddle. I paused to listen.
“Cheolsoo and Younghee are having a 50 meter race. But when they reached the finish line, their genders are switched. What happened?”
“Gender, huh? Hm…how? I don’t get it.”
“Idiot. They won some titties. Get it? Titties instead of titles?”
“Oh! Hahahaha.”
“It’s funny, right? Hahahaha.”
Well, those two are having fun.
“Fucking bastards.”
I walked into the women’s bathroom, clicking my tongue in disapproval.
