Episode 12
After we finished eating all the half-cooked rice noodles,
we dragged our exhausted bodies toward the A-type tent.
Even though it was still winter, we were drenched in sweat.
Honestly, I wanted nothing more than a warm shower before sleeping,
but—
‘Expecting a hot shower out here makes no sense, huh.’
Yeah. A shower was out of the question.
Instead, we had to satisfy that craving by using the wet wipes we’d been issued.
I pulled one out and wiped my face here and there.
Then—
“Ugh. Hey, Geumseong. Look at this. The wet wipe’s turning brown with grime.”
“Why the hell would you show me that, idiot.”
Already dead tired, seeing something that disgusting only made me more irritated.
Seo-hwan hunched his shoulders and quickly apologized.
Meanwhile, Park Jun looked down at his bruised elbow and sighed deeply.
“Look at this mess of an elbow. Still, guess I should be glad, right? We’ll be back at the barracks tomorrow.”
Jun’s optimism made me shake my head.
“Not right away. We’ll still have morning training first.”
“What? We’re doing more training in this state?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that even possible…?”
“When they say do it, you do it.”
That’s the military for you.
***
It was a little past 11 p.m. when we finally managed to lie down and close our eyes.
Like pieces in a puzzle, we crammed ourselves together, each trying to secure a sliver of space.
Lying flat on your back? That kind of luxury didn’t exist here.
‘God, I can’t breathe.’
Still, there was no need to worry about whether we’d fall asleep.
Because—
Snore!
—we passed out instantly.
Even Seo-hwan, who always complained about being sensitive to sleeping conditions.
Even Jun, who grumbled nonstop until the moment he lay down.
Everyone was already deep asleep.
Even me.
I thought I’d just closed my eyes for a second,
but the sudden noise around me forced them open again.
‘What now…’
As I lifted my upper body, the platoon sergeant’s voice echoed from outside.
“Anyone with water coming into their tent, get up immediately! Put on your ponchos and dig a drainage ditch with your entrenching tools! Understood?”
“Yes, Sergeant!”
Following the order, some trainees rushed out, starting an unexpected battle against the rain.
Our tent, however, remained peaceful—well, except for Seo-hwan’s snoring.
We’d gotten used to the cramped space and cold by now.
Honestly, I was just grateful we weren’t out there getting drenched.
Then, perhaps because of the noise, Seo-hwan stirred. He blinked drowsily and lifted his head.
“…What’s going on?”
“Something’s up, but it’s got nothing to do with us.”
“…Oh, really? Then I can just go back to sleep, right?”
“Yeah. Good night.”
“Mm… night…”
Thud.
He dropped his head back down and resumed his snoring concert.
When you do things properly the first time, you don’t end up getting yelled at later.
‘Man, if only this rain would last until morning…’
If it did, maybe tomorrow’s training would get canceled.
Whether my wish would come true or not—
I’d find out soon enough when I woke up.
***
“…This isn’t what I wished for.”
It was raining, sure.
But—
too lightly.
Just a drizzle—far too weak to cancel training.
With rain like this, they just tell you to train in it.
It’s almost never enough to actually stop the schedule.
Worse, the wet ground turned into sticky mud that clung to our uniforms.
Still, there was one small blessing:
the morning training ended early—by 10:30.
“Everyone, wake up!”
“Wake up!”
The instructor removed his helmet and shouted loudly:
“From now, dismantle the tents, pack full gear, and assemble at the training ground again. You’ll eat at the mess hall, so finish fast and return to base before the rain gets worse. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
So the drizzle wasn’t completely useless after all.
We ended early, broke down the damned A-type tent, and began packing up.
That’s when Seo-hwan suddenly sighed.
Jun tilted his head.
“What’s with the sigh?”
“I was just thinking. When we’re assigned to our units later, we’ll have to do this all over again. Sleep in these cramped A-type tents again. Just imagining it makes my head spin.”
Having gotten his first real taste of the army’s dark future, Seo-hwan was already anxious.
To ease his pointless worry, I decided to leak a bit of insider info.
“Don’t worry. After today, you won’t see A-type tents again.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. Even if we do field training later, we’ll use different tents. Not these.”
No matter how the future shifts slightly,
this much, I could guarantee.
Seo-hwan trusted my words completely, so he looked visibly relieved.
“Thanks, Geumseong. I can breathe again.”
“It’s not really thanks to me. Just… that’s how things are.”
Some things in the military are just fixed that way.
***
Dragging our tired bodies back to the barracks,
we dropped our heavy gear, and immediately—
“Ugh, my back…”
“Ah, my legs…”
Groans erupted everywhere.
It was like the aftermath of a long march.
Maybe not that bad, but close.
As I was removing my combat boots, Drill Sergeant Joo Yong-hyuk entered.
“Everyone, attention!”
“Attention!”
“If anyone got seriously hurt during individual combat training, or thinks they need to visit the hospital, raise your hand.”
More hands went up than expected.
About one in seven.
Jun was one of them.
Seo-hwan looked at him.
“You hurt somewhere?”
“I just want to check the bruise. At the hospital, they can tell for sure, right?”
Hospital, huh.
I felt bad about bursting his bubble, but—
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Well, ‘hospital’ in the army just means the medical office.”
There’s a military hospital, sure—but not for a simple bruise.
Even after my warning, Jun still looked optimistic.
“Come on, it’s still medical staff. They won’t just half-ass it, right?”
‘Fine, let him find out himself.’
Sometimes, reality teaches faster than words.
So Jun and a few others followed the drill sergeant to the infirmary.
I started unpacking the supplies from my rucksack and organizing my locker.
Then I froze for a second.
“What’s wrong, Geumseong?” Seo-hwan asked.
“I was just checking when the night march is.”
The night march.
The final boss of boot camp.
One of the biggest walls in military life.
I unscrewed my canteen cap and drank the remaining water from training.
My throat cooled slightly, easing my thirst—
but my head stayed hot.
Because of that damn night march.
It wasn’t entirely a bad thing, though.
‘It means we’re almost done.’
Once the night march is over, the physical part of basic training is basically complete.
Sure, week 5 remains—but that’s mostly classroom sessions.
No more gas chamber, no more crawling through mud.
Unless you screw up bad enough to end up in the punishment unit, that is.
But because it’s the last one—
‘It’s brutal. Really brutal.’
Even after many more marches later in active duty,
if I had to rank the hardest one,
the night march during basic training would still be number one.
It was the first long-distance march,
and we weren’t used to it,
so it felt hellish.
‘My feet are gonna be full of blisters again.’
Just thinking about it made my skin crawl.
There was no way out, though.
‘Yeah… “between a rock and a hard place” definitely applies here.’
While I was worrying about it,
Jun came back from the infirmary and sat on the floor with a grim face.
Seo-hwan smirked.
“What’s wrong with you now?”
“They just told me to put disinfectant on my bruise and leave. Why disinfect a bruise? It’s not even an open wound!”
“That’s what Geumseong said earlier—don’t get your hopes up.”
“I didn’t think it’d be this bad…”
In the military, the higher your expectations, the deeper your disappointment.
Still, it was good Jun learned the truth early.
“But seriously, what if someone’s actually sick in the army?” Jun asked me.
“Well… either you endure it,
or if you’re really dying, you beg to be sent to the outside clinic.”
“Ha… this damn army. It’s hell.”
Hearing something like that from the usually quiet, polite Jun—
that’s what we call ‘army magic.’
“Forget the elbow and knee for now. We’ve got a night march in two days, so start building up stamina.”
Basic endurance comes first.
After that, you learn the tricks of marching through experience.
Eventually, you’ll reach the point where you can handle it with ease.
Both Seo-hwan and Jun nodded heavily at my words.
To overcome that final mountain—the night march—
we decided to steel both our bodies and our minds.
