Chapter 7

A Father's Son

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je checked his weapon one last time, then looked at Bong-tae's back as he ran like his feet were on fire.

Just moments ago, he'd tried to slit the throats of two North Korean soldiers all by himself, and now he was the first to suggest a flanking maneuver in the middle of a battlefield where bullets were flying?

Kim Hong-je had been in the military for twenty years now. He had seen thousands, tens of thousands of soldiers.

He was always saying that the military these days wasn't what it used to be.

Training intensity had decreased considerably, and barracks culture had become much more relaxed. To be honest, Kim Hong-je was somewhat dissatisfied with that. There had been times when he'd wondered whether soldiers these days had it too easy.

‘Is he an older guy? Even so, he doesn't look over thirty.’

Twenty-seven or twenty-eight at most. Was he a former athlete? Or had he practiced martial arts for a long time? Or was he simply born reckless?

Kim Hong-je lightly shook his head, clearing away those idle thoughts. Now wasn't the time to think about that guy. He turned his attention back to the pension.

The person inside the pension was still putting up fierce resistance.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—!

Gunfire and smoke erupted from a second-floor window of the pension, and shortly afterward, a gun barrel poked out from another window.

Rat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat-tat—!

A small number of people were resisting intelligently from inside the building. If they kept firing from one location, their position would be identified. But the person inside kept switching windows, keeping the North Korean soldiers behind the outer wall in check.

Thanks to that, the North Korean soldiers couldn't carelessly stick their heads out either.

Meanwhile, Bong-tae and the three soldiers were running at tremendous speed.

Even though they had taken a detour to avoid entering the North Korean soldiers' field of vision, they reached the convenience store in less than three minutes.

“Huff···. Huff···. Huff···.”

“Hey, hurry up. We're almost there.”

“This is fucking exhausting···. Fuck···.”

The four soldiers pressed themselves against the convenience store wall. The convenience store was a single-story building. Bong-tae stepped onto the outdoor air-conditioning unit and climbed onto the roof.

“Hurry, hurry.”

“Fuuuck···. Urgh.”

From the roof, Bong-tae reached down and pulled the three soldiers up. Without even thinking to wipe away their sweat, they flattened themselves against the rooftop.

From the roof, the entire battlefield was visible at a glance. The North Korean soldiers hiding behind the wall, the people resisting inside the pension, and even Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je and the Headquarters Company soldiers watching from the side.

The soldiers aimed at the North Koreans. Because they had run so quickly, their rifle barrels swayed considerably up and down. They weren't entirely sure they could hit their targets, even at this relatively short distance.

Corporal Lee Hwan steadied his breathing and aligned his sights. The distance itself wasn't far. It was approximately one hundred meters. Almost nobody failed to hit targets at the hundred-meter firing lane. Lee Hwan was no exception. It was a distance at which he'd never missed.

But what stood in front of him was a real person. That fact made his trigger finger tremble. Lee Hwan glanced at Bong-tae's profile and quietly asked.

“Sergeant Kim.”

“···What? Concentrate.”

“Killing someone···. What was it like? How did it feel···?”

Bong-tae pressed his lips tightly together. A brief silence followed.

“No, Corporal Lee Hwan. How can you ask something like that right now···?”

Lee Jin-gu, lying prone beside them, snapped at Lee Hwan and looked toward his face. But he soon fell silent. Lee Hwan's expression was far too serious. Seeing his trembling lips, Lee Jin-gu couldn't bring himself to say anything more.

Bong-tae spoke flatly, his cheek still pressed against the rifle stock.

“It felt fucking awful.”

“Fuck. I knew it.”

Lee Hwan smiled bitterly. Bong-tae glanced at him and asked.

“Why? Scared?”

“No, well, just···.”

“I thought I was going to piss myself.”

“Hehe. Are you sure you didn't actually piss yourself?”

“I did notice a smell.”

Bong-tae checked the position of his rifle's fire selector once more with his finger.

Click—

The selector was set to automatic fire. Then he murmured in a low voice, as though making a vow not only to Lee Hwan but also to himself.

“If we don't kill them, they'll kill us.”

“···I suppose so.”

“We have to do it.”

“Yes.”

At that moment, gunfire erupted from the direction where Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je was positioned.

Rat-tat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat—!

“Fire!”

The moment Bong-tae gave the order, the soldiers on the rooftop also unleashed a barrage of bullets toward the North Korean soldiers.

Their first time firing in actual combat.

Instead of plastic targets that toppled backward at the slightest impact, tiny projectiles barely over five millimeters in diameter flew toward human beings filled with bone, flesh, and blood.

“Did we hit them?”

“I don't know, sir!”

“Keep firing!”

The Headquarters Company soldiers' accuracy during their first real firefight was terrible. Their sights were aimed at the North Korean soldiers, but their hands trembled slightly, and their breathing was ragged.

Bullets struck the wall, the asphalt, and nearby streetlights, sending sparks flying.

But the sheer volume of fire was overwhelming. The Headquarters Company soldiers, Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je, and the people inside the pension all concentrated their fire at once.

Thud—!

“Gaaaaagh!”

Several North Korean soldiers began collapsing with screams. One bastard was shot in the thigh and tried to drag his leg across the road, only to have half his face blown apart by a bullet fired by Lee Hwan.

“Fuck! This is seriously fucking horrible!”

Lee Hwan shouted.

“They still don't know where we are! Take aim and shoot!”

“Keep blasting them!”

“Die!”

The soldiers' voices gradually gained strength. One of the North Korean soldiers hiding behind the wall cautiously poked his head out. Bong-tae reflexively swung his rifle toward him and pulled the trigger.

Bang—!

A spray of red blood burst beside the North Korean soldier's face as he stuck his head out. The bastard staggered and fell backward.

The shooting continued. After each soldier had emptied roughly two or three magazines, the North Korean soldiers began fleeing into the forest in utter panic.

“They're running away!”

“What do we do? Should we chase them?”

“Are you crazy? Just stay down here!”

“You fucking bastards!”

Lee Hwan cursed as he sprayed bullets into the backs of the fleeing North Korean soldiers.

“You bastards! I'll kill every last one of you!”

Lee Hwan was a good-natured soldier beloved by both his seniors and juniors. He usually wore an easygoing smile and maintained a relaxed attitude, so he was forgiving of his juniors' mistakes and took his seniors' prickliness in stride.

But the current wartime situation had ignited the anger that had been buried deep inside Lee Hwan's heart.

“Hey! Lee Hwan! Stop! Don't waste ammunition!”

Despite Bong-tae's words, Lee Hwan continued firing like a madman. His shots weren't even accurate, and the two or three remaining North Korean soldiers had already disappeared far into the distance.

Considering what lay ahead, wasting any more ammunition was absolutely not a good idea.

Rat-tat-tat—! Rat-tat—!

“Hey! Lee Hwan! You fucking bas—”

Bong-tae was about to unleash a stream of curses at Lee Hwan, but he closed his mouth.

Tears were already streaming uncontrollably from both of Lee Hwan's eyes.

“Lee Hwan···.”

“Corporal Lee···.”

“Those bas···tards···. Fucking bastards···.”

Lee Hwan dropped heavily to his knees. Then he buried his face in both hands. His rifle had already fallen to the ground.

Lee Jin-gu cautiously approached Bong-tae's side. Then he whispered in a low voice.

“Corporal Lee Hwan comes from a devout Christian family.”

“···.”

“I heard his father is a pastor, too.”

Bong-tae silently looked at Lee Hwan. He knew Lee Hwan attended religious services every weekend, but even Bong-tae hadn't known he was such a devout believer.

“Fuck···.”

His chest felt tight. In truth, it wasn't just Lee Hwan. Every soldier here had experienced killing another person for the first time.

Only a few hours ago, they had been ordinary young men lying on the barracks floor, counting the days until their discharge or their next leave.

The military was a place where people were trained to kill.

Every soldier knew that, but how many of them actually believed a real war would break out?

Yet war doesn't ask soldiers whether they're ready.

“I'm sorry···. I'm sorry···.”

Lee Hwan murmured with his face buried in his hands.

It was impossible to tell whom he was speaking to. The North Korean soldiers he'd just killed, his father, or perhaps God.

Bong-tae placed a hand on Lee Hwan's shoulder.

“Lee Hwan.”

“···.”

“Let's go.”

“···Yes.”

Lee Hwan raised his head. His eyes were already bloodshot. Lee Jin-gu and Nam Gi-baek, who had been watching beside him, asked worriedly.

“Corporal Lee Hwan···. Are you okay?”

“···Do I look okay?”

Lee Hwan sniffled.

“Fuck, this is embarrassing···.”

He forced a smile.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Honestly, no, sir.”

“Me neither. This is fucked up.”

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je led the other soldiers over to the convenience store where Bong-tae was positioned.

“Sergeant Kim! Anyone injured over there?”

“No, sir! Everyone's in good condition!”

“Good. We'll check the fallen North Korean soldiers. Follow me and keep watch in all directions.”

“Yes, understood.”

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je took the lead, and the other soldiers followed behind him. Bong-tae adjusted his grip on his rifle as he crossed the road.

The North Korean soldiers who had fled might return, or other enemies might approach after hearing the gunfire. Bong-tae alternated between checking the forest, buildings, and mountainside across the road.

The surroundings were quiet. Kim Hong-je checked the bodies lying scattered beneath the wall one by one.

There were approximately ten bodies. All of them were dead. He turned over the tactical vest of the nearest corpse and examined its body armor.

Then his brow furrowed slightly.

‘Even for North Korean special forces, has their equipment really been modernized to this extent···?’

He pressed his hand against the body armor on one of the corpses. The thickness and material of the ballistic plates were substantial. The tactical vest was also neatly finished, and the pouches were arranged in a modern configuration.

Then he examined the rifle. It wasn't the Type 88 assault rifle, the standard weapon of North Korean infantry, nor was it an AK-series firearm.

‘It looks similar to a QBZ-191, but it's a carbine variant. Is this the QBZ-192?’

Kim Hong-je couldn't be certain of the exact model, but it was clear, at the very least, that the firearm had been manufactured in China.

He put the rifle down and examined the equipment on the surrounding corpses. It was remarkably similar to the equipment used by South Korean special forces.

Identification friend-or-foe devices, optical sights and laser target designators, mounts for attaching night-vision equipment, tactical vests, and body armor—every piece was modern equipment.

Even to Kim Hong-je, with twenty years of special warfare experience, the equipment didn't appear significantly inferior to what South Korean special operations units used.

In fact, some of it seemed even more advanced.

‘It certainly looks like they've received support from China and Russia···.’

The question was how extensive that support had been. Had they merely received a few rifles? Had only a handful of special forces units been modernized? Or had they received enough support to overhaul their entire military?

If it was the last possibility, the enemy the Republic of Korea would have to face was no longer the outdated North Korean military they had always imagined.

Just then, a thunderous shout erupted from inside the pension.

“Quail!”

“Huh?”

The soldiers all jumped in surprise and simultaneously pointed their rifles toward the pension.

“Quail?”

“What did he just say? A bird?”

Then the voice called out again from inside the pension.

“Quail!”

At that moment, Bong-tae immediately shouted toward the pension.

“Mount Halla!”

Only then did the soldiers seem to remember.

“Ah.”

“The challenge and password.”

“Fuck, that's right.”

The day's challenge and password, which had been posted on the barracks bulletin board right up until the war broke out. Quail, Mount Halla.

Lee Jin-gu looked at Bong-tae with an incredulous expression.

“W-wait a minute. Sergeant Kim, weren't you supposed to be discharged today?”

“I was.”

“Then why did you memorize the challenge and password?”

“Just a habit.”

“What?”

“It's a habit to check the challenge and password when I wake up. So I just checked it today, too.”

The surroundings fell silent for a moment. Lee Hwan let out a disbelieving laugh.

“You really are relentless. Seriously.”

“Are you actually insane? Why the hell would you memorize the challenge and password on your discharge day?”

“Seriously···. If it were me, I'd have been in civilian mode three days ago.”

Soft chuckles broke out around them. Kim Hong-je watched quietly for a moment before glancing at Bong-tae.

“Today was supposed to be your discharge day?”

“Ah, yes···. It was.”

“I don't even know what to say.”

“It's fine. There's a war now anyway. Even if I'd become a civilian, I would've been dragged back here.”

“Still, that's some fucking terrible luck.”

“I'll admit that.”

At those words, another round of quiet laughter broke out among the surrounding soldiers.

Another loud shout came from inside the pension.

“Hey! Let us in on the joke! Get in here! Hurry!”

© Jungle Pocket #22844