Before I knew it, the day to report for reserve forces training was approaching.
Taek-gyu and I pulled out our military uniforms, which had been stashed away in the closet, with determined hearts. It wasn’t my first time going to reserve forces training, but I really didn’t want to go.
Still, I was glad I was going with him. At least it wouldn’t be boring.
Taek-gyu’s uniform looked a bit loose.
“Did you lose some weight?”
“Come to think of it…”
I hadn’t noticed because I see him every day, but he definitely seemed thinner than before.
Ellie even used her morning half-day off to drive us to the training center.
“Wow! You both look so cool in your uniforms.”
I sighed and said,
“No way.”
It’s strange how even the most normal person looks foolish once they put on a military uniform. Even more so with the reserve forces mark on it.
Taek-gyu nodded.
“You could say it’s a bad example of cosplay.”
I said to Ellie,
“We could have gone by ourselves.”
“In Korea, the girlfriend sees off her boyfriend when he enlists in the military, right?”
“It’s not enlisting, it’s reporting.”
Anyone listening would think I was reenlisting.
We got into the car, and Ellie took the wheel and started driving. It takes about an hour and a half from here to the reserve forces training center.
I called my mother on the way.
[Be careful while you’re there. Don’t cause any trouble.]
“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m just going for a little while.”
[Still, always be careful. You got that?]
“Yes, I got it.”
When I think about it, whether you’re a famous celebrity or a third-generation chaebol, if you’ve served in the military, you’re subject to reserve duty. Those people must go to training too, right?
After I hung up, Ellie said with a worried expression.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t there a shooting accident at a reserve forces training center last year?”
“There was.”
There was an incident where a reservist opened fire on his comrades during shooting practice and then committed suicide. Three people died, including the perpetrator, and three were seriously injured.
Reserve forces training centers are such dangerous places.
Taek-gyu said.
“No need to worry. I heard they’ve made thorough preparations because he’s reporting.”
I sighed.
“It’s not like I’m a soldier requiring special attention.”
I found out later that I was a soldier requiring special attention in my early days of enlistment. Not because I did anything wrong, but because my father passed away before my enlistment. (If you have a sick family member or come from a broken home, you are classified as a soldier requiring special attention.)
“What if they treat me like a useless soldier?”
“Shut up.”
Ellie asked, looking confused.
“If you’re a soldier requiring special attention, isn’t it good to receive attention? And a useless soldier is a high position.”
“……”
She’s right, but in the military, those terms are used in the opposite sense.
Ellie asked various questions, curious.
“Do you shoot guns and practice bayonet fighting every day in the military?”
“Well, it’s not like we don’t do it…”
You only do that kind of thing in training camp. Once you’re assigned to your unit, you hardly ever do it.
The most common thing you do is dig, and depending on your assignment, some people get discharged without ever properly firing a gun.
After all, how often would a clerk or a cook need to shoot a gun?
Of course, this varies depending on the unit. If you encounter a overly enthusiastic battalion commander or company commander, it becomes a headache.
“How much do they pay for training?”
“It’s probably 13,000 won for local reserve training.”
Ellie nodded.
“If you train for 8 hours a day, that’s 104,000 won a day, which is a bit low. I think they could pay more.”
“Well…”
Perhaps because she’s a foreigner, she has a huge misunderstanding about the South Korean military.
“No, it’s not 13,000 won per hour, they pay 13,000 won per day.”
Ellie smiled at my words.
“Come on, don’t joke around.”
Then Taek-gyu said,
“And that includes food and transportation costs.”
Ellie was shocked.
“N, no way. There’s no way a country with the economic scale of Korea would provide training for less than the price of a whole chicken…”
“The hourly wage for soldiers in Korea is even worse than that of prisoners doing labor in jail.”
Taek-gyu thought for a moment and then said,
“Still, they probably pay more than the North Korean army, right?”
***
Cars and buses carrying reservists entered the training ground one after another. We parked the car a little further away so as not to attract attention.
I gave Ellie a light kiss.
“Heeing, what am I going to do if I miss you?”
“You get off work at six.”
That’s the advantage of local reserve training.
“Still…”
“I’ll call you when it’s over.”
“Come back safe.”
We got out of the car and walked into the training center. It wasn’t like a celebrity enlisting, but there were even reporters gathered in front.
I tried to go in while pulling my hat down as much as possible and keeping my head down, but the reporters blocked my path and held out microphones.
Come to think of it, my name is stitched onto my uniform…
“What are your thoughts on participating in reserve forces training?”
“Aren’t you worried about the recent shooting accident?”
“What are your thoughts on the recent military procurement corruption scandal?”
“Are you considering investing in the defense industry in the future?”
“……”
What kind of questions are these?
I looked at the cameras and said briefly,
“I will train hard.”
Reservists were already gathered in the drill square. Seeing them reminded me of when I enlisted.
The reservists looked at me with amazement.
“Wow! It’s Kang Jin-hoo!”
“I didn’t think he’d come, but he actually came.”
“I never thought I’d see Kang Jin-hoo here.”
“This is awesome.”
So this is my level of popularity.
The reservists around me seemed hesitant but cautiously greeted me. I greeted each one back. In the meantime, the entrance ceremony began.
The battalion commander stood on the platform and said,
“This battalion commander is very proud of the reservists gathered here to protect the nation and its people.”
Taek-gyu asked me in a small voice,
“Why does he refer to himself in the third person? How is that any different from saying ‘Taek-gyu is so happy’?”
“You’re right.”
Our unit’s company commander also had a habit of saying, ‘This company commander is very disappointed in you.’ And every time I heard that, ‘This soldier’ was also very disappointed in the company commander. And it made my hands and feet curl up.
New recruits would stand at attention with their posture straight, but the reservists yawned with their legs apart, no matter what the battalion commander said.
After the entrance ceremony, we moved to the training ground, and full-fledged reserve forces training began.
“Team leaders! Charge towards the hill!”
Anyone who has received reserve forces training knows that it feels like something between training and a field trip.
The reservists, who had abandoned their livelihoods to protect the nation and its people, moved as if they hadn’t eaten in a week.
Even the North Korean soldiers during their arduous march or the Red Army at the end of the Long March might have been better than this.
“Seniors! Run a little faster!”
“Don’t drag your guns on the ground!”
It felt like just yesterday I was working in the CEO’s office, but today I’m wearing a combat helmet and military gear and holding an M16.
What am I even doing here?
Taek-gyu hummed a song next to me.
“Who am I, and where is this? The nation is calling me from afar…”
He’s really enjoying this.
Taek-gyu said with a grin,
“Isn’t it fun doing squad-level battle after a long time?”
I asked, dumbfounded,
“Is this fun? Is it?”
“Yeah. It feels like playing an FPS game, it’s great.”
“……”
What was the nation doing? Not taking this guy as an active-duty soldier.
He’s having fun because he was a public service worker and only had to do 4 weeks of training. But I was active duty, so I did this crap throughout my entire military service.
To make matters worse, I had a bad military service number and met a battalion commander who was unnecessarily enthusiastic, so I went through every type of training, including field training, winter training, and tactical training.
Due to the reservists’ physical fitness and morale plummeting below the Earth’s core, the training was eventually replaced with a demonstration by an excellent drill instructor.
When break time came, everyone plopped down on the dirt, put cigarettes in their mouths, and started talking.
“We already suffered enough in the military, why do we have to do reserve forces training?”
“It’s all because of those damn generals. They need reservists to maintain their number of stars.”
“Those guys are the real useless soldiers. Remember when that two-star general got caught abusing his official duties with his wife against the soldiers assigned to his residence?”
“They should use the money they pay those bastards to raise our training pay.”
“Ugh, this dirty world!”
A reservist approached me and cautiously offered me a cigarette.
“Chairman, want a smoke?”
“No, thanks. I don’t smoke.”
“Could I get an autograph later?”
“Sure, no problem.”
At first, they seemed a bit wary of me, but soon they asked me various questions with curiosity, and I answered whatever I could. We’ll be training together for a few days, so it wouldn’t hurt to get to know each other.
A young man with bleached blonde hair groaned, clutching his back.
“My back hasn’t been feeling good since earlier. Should I go to the medical tent?”
Then, a man who had been picking his nose and making silly jokes said,
“Where does it hurt exactly?”
“The left side of my back has been throbbing for a few days.”
“Lift up your shirt. Let me take a look.”
“Are you…?”
“I’m a resident in the orthopedic department at Silla University Hospital.”
Everyone was surprised at his words.
“Oh! Really?”
“Ah, you’re a doctor.”
Even doctors look the same when they’re wearing military uniforms for reserve forces training.
Everyone was resting diligently when a drill instructor approached and said,
“Seniors! Break time is over!”
Then, everyone lay down and pretended to be sick.
“I think I twisted my ankle.”
“Ugh! I can’t feel anything below my waist.”
“I have a bit of a headache.”
“My shoulder’s dislocated. Can you see my arm dangling?”
“Call 911 right now and have them take me away.”
As expected of a reserve forces training center, a miracle occurs where even healthy people become patients.
So, how do you perform the miracle of turning patients back into healthy people?
“It’s lunchtime!”
Then, the reservists who couldn’t get up because they were in pain all stood up at once.
“What are you waiting for, drill instructor?”
“Let’s go eat!”
***
After the first day of training was over.
We took the car that was waiting for us and returned home.
By the time we got home, the sun had already set.
Going to reserve forces training after working at the office every day felt like going camping… yeah right.
I suffered like crazy as an active-duty soldier, and now I have to do this even after being discharged!
The thought of having to do this again tomorrow made an unbearable anger boil up inside me.
“Think positively.”
“I don’t want to.”
Then Taek-gyu said,
“Think about His Excellency, lying in a cold prison cell, resenting you. Compared to that, you’re happy.”
“……”
Why is His Excellency coming up now?
The next day.
We headed to the training center again for more reserve forces training.
While receiving first aid training, the reservists yawned or dozed off. I wanted to doze off too, but since there were many eyes watching me, I pretended to listen intently.
“First, check the casualty’s breathing and pulse, and then perform CPR. The important thing here is…”
The corporal instructor demonstrated CPR in front of a dummy.
Seeing that reminded me of the past.
Explosion, smoke, the smell of gunpowder, a soldier grabbing his leg and screaming…
After training, I was assigned as a mortarman. My squad leader was a newly promoted sergeant.
His name was Kim Jae-hak. He was two years older than me, didn’t go to college after graduating high school, and did various jobs before enlisting in the military.
He said his dream was to earn money after being discharged and open his own store.
There’s no place where people’s true nature is more evident than in the military. In that regard, Sergeant Kim Jae-hak was a pretty decent guy. We also got along really well.
But about three months before his discharge, a problem occurred.
During mortar firing practice, a new model mortar exploded.
Thanks to the foresight that appeared in front of my eyes at that moment, I quickly dropped to the ground. Thanks to that, I was fine except for not being able to hear properly.
But the platoon leader died on the spot, and Sergeant Kim Jae-hak suffered serious injuries when shrapnel hit his leg. Even at a glance, his condition was gruesome.
That was the last time I saw him.
After being discharged from the military hospital and returning to my unit, I heard that Sergeant Kim Jae-hak had his right leg amputated below the knee and was medically discharged.
We said we’d see each other often after being discharged…
I thought I should visit him sometime. But from the day I was discharged, various things happened, and I completely forgot about it.
I wonder how he’s doing now?
