𝐑𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐄 ▪︎ [𝘋𝘜𝘛𝘠 𝘈𝘍𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘚𝘊𝘏𝘖𝘖𝘓]

ᴛᴡᴏ

"Don't you think you're being to hard on them?" she asked him as a boy fell to the ground. "They just experienced a traumatic event, they are not -"
"Don't tell me how to do my job," he said coldly. She looked at him with eyes that could kill. "They have to get used to this."
"They are students, for God's sake, not soldiers."
"We are at war," he said and turned to her, fire burning in his eyes. "You know better than anyone else what it is like to fight those things, to lose people because of them. You should be the last to talk."
"And not everyone is coping the same way you do!" she said, maybe too loud, because a few students stopped to listen to them "Just because you look at death like it is something normal to you, that doesn't mean they will, too! Get your head out of your ass. Yes, fear is a great fuel, bur PTSD is no joke, take that from someone who has dealt with it in the past."
"Do not forget who you are speaking to," he yelled back at her, but she didn't back down. "I can throw you out back in the street any moment."
"Do it then, it's not like I have much left anyway. But don't blame me when these kids will try running off because you won't listen." She stormed off after saying those last words. She should feel bad, she knew that he was only trying to protect them, but she didn't like the way he spoke to her. She saved his students' asses and he still has the guts to insult her. She sat on a curb as she closed her eyes and tried calming down, but it was all pointless. She needed something to break.

"He's not that bad," a voice said as she opened her eyes and looked at a man standing in front of her. "He's just..."
"A douchebag with those who want to help him?"
"I was going to say temperamental, but that works too." She pressed her lips tighter so she would not laugh. "He cares for these kids, even if he has a weird way of showing it. And he wouldn't throw you out." A pause and then, barely a whisper, "I hope."
"I don't care." She did care.
"Anyway, I'll try talking to him."
"There is no need."
"Ah, by the way, I don't think we've met before. Kim Won-Bin," he said as he extended a hand.
"Nam Chae-Yeong." They shook hands as she smiled at him. The magic didn't last long.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" She paused as she looked at him without saying anything.
"What do you care?" Disgust was showing on her face. "Aren't you too old for me, anyway? What are you, 40?"
"I am 21!"
"And you really want me to believe that? I don't like liars, Kim Won-Bin."

She got up from the ground as he was trying to say something, but she stopped him, holding a hand in the air. She then dusted herself off and walked away. She took a walk through the courtyard as she nodded to the soldiers passing by. The kids already finished their training, so it was quiet and she could allow herself to relax for a few minutes. She didn't know when those minutes became an hour, maybe more than that before she heard Won-Bin's voice from behind.

"You should go inside, you could get shot if confounded with a sphere."
"Did you just imply that I look like a sphere?" She was only teasing him, but his face became red soon.
"No, no, that wasn't what I was saying, you got me wrong! I -"
"Won-Bin, calm down, I was just messing with you."
"I'll take you back inside," he said, changing the subject. She only nodded before they started heading inside, neither of them saying anything.

The quiet dissipated quickly when a loud noise came from behind them. She looked for her gun, but discovered that she didn't have it with her. She would look into it later. Won-Bin pointed his his gun in the direction of a pile of chairs, now some of them fallen from the top.

"Who's there?" There was a small pause before a chubby boy came out from behind them. Won-Bin lowered his gun.
"Duk-Jung. What are you doing here at this hour? What did you eat?"
"I didn't eat anything," he said as he made his way toward them. He stopped and looked behind Won-Bin, fear all written on his face. Both Chae-Yeong and Won-Bin looked behind, ready to attack. Only that they saw nothing. She turned back to the chubby boy just in time to see him run.
"That punk... Hey!" Chae-Yeong was left there alone as Won-Bin started going after him.

She heard a few whispers before she saw three more boys come out from behind the pile of chairs, but they didn't seem to notice her. Before they could get further, she caught one's ear and started pulling. Hard.

"What do you think you're doing here? Do you want to run? You are really stupid, aren't you?" Won-Bin came then with the other boy.
"You punks, do you think you can go around roaming just like that?"

After trying to make up excuses to get themselves out of this situation, they both agreed to not tell the Lieutenant, so they made their way back inside with the kids. They were almost there when a figure appeared in front of them. Lee Chun-Ho.

"Lieutenant..." Won-Bin started saying, but Chun-Ho stopped him with a raised hand. He then paused and looked at Chae-Yeong.
"I need to speak to Chae-Yeong, take the kids inside, I am goin to take care of them later." Her heart started beating faster in expectation for what he was going to tell her. Maybe he really wanted to throw her out. Won-Bin seemed hesitant, but then he finally nodded, and disappeared with the four boys, leaving only her and Chun-Ho alone.
"What do you want to talk about? I thought you made yourself clear a few hours ago."
"You really can't be nice for at least a second."
"I can be nice, I just need a reason to be so, and right now, you're not giving me any." He looked at her and then let out a breath.
"I wanted to apologize to you." She didn't try to hide the shock on her face. "I said some thinks there that I shouldn't have said."
"Next time think before you speak."
"That applies to you, too. If you wouldn't have provoked me, that conversation wouldn't have one that way."
"Is this the apology before throwing me out?" She should keep her mouth shut.
"I'm not going to throw you out," he said as if he was offended.
"Well, then, thank you. And... I'm sorry too." She extended a hand and thought that he wouldn't take it, but after a few moments, he squeezed it with his own. "And what I said stands. Those four tried running away because of the training, I told you that it would happen."
"I'll deal with them myself. Go inside and get some rest, I asked the girls to prepare your bed." So he did have a heart.
"Thank you. Good night."
"Good night," she heard him say, more like a whisper, before he turned around and left. She surpressed a smile.

She arrived in the girls' room as they were all chatting. They stopped when she entered the room. She extended a small 'hello' before she examined the room. She saw Yu-Jung and the two girls that were inside the safe zone. In a corner stood the girl that helped her and shot one of the spheres, looking at her with curious eyes. Chae-Yeong nodded toward her and she did the same. She then made her way to the bed and, as soon as she got under the blanket, she fell asleep.

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