There Are No Bad Military Dogs

Chapter 36

 

When Shin Hae-jun and I first played rock-paper-scissors to decide the order of shifts, we agreed to take turns sleeping until sunrise. After all, that’s why we played rock-paper-scissors in the first place.

But when I opened my eyes, it was already dawn.

“Did you sleep well?”

Shin Hae-jun was still awake.

I slowly woke up, rubbing my sleepy head back and forth between looking out the window and at Shin Hae-jun’s face, trying to figure out the situation.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?!”

I exclaimed, startled, as I abruptly sat up.

Ugh!

Perhaps because I sat up too suddenly, I felt dizzy. My body swayed. Contrary to my expectation of hitting my head against the stiff headrest of the passenger seat, the back of my head landed in a surprisingly comfortable spot.

“Why didn’t I wake you up?”

Naturally, Shin Hae-jun, being a soldier, had a rough exterior, but his palms were surprisingly warm compared to his demeanor and the atmosphere. As he supported my head with his hand, he casually asked, using his other hand to brush off the slightly raised stubble on his chin.

Is he showing off his good looks?

As for Yongcheol, there was no need to mention him. I, on the other hand, never particularly liked the rough and unpleasant appearance of a man who stayed up all night, but that was all due to face. Surprisingly, despite his rough appearance, Shin Hae-jun had a knack for disguising even his scruffy beard as a charmingly decadent element.

Why has this guy been so sexy from the morning?

No, wait. What am I thinking? Shin Hae-jun wasn’t sexy. Absolutely not. Well, objectively speaking, he was kind of sexy.

This is not based on my personal preference, but just a fact. Admitting this inner voice quickly, I glanced at his beard, which seemed meticulously groomed, almost as if he were a model.

“What are you looking at?”

“I’ve never seen you with a beard before, General.”

Unable to outright lie, I promptly answered, and Shin Hae-jun shot me a sensitive glare, as if my response didn’t sit well with him. It seemed like he wasn’t in the mood for jokes or criticisms.

“I’ll clean it up as soon as we arrive in Gangwon.”

Although it seemed unnecessary to push the matter further, Shin Hae-jun, pointing to his chin, pointed out something I hadn’t considered.

“How do you wake up a subordinate who’s drooling and passed out?”

What?

“Did I… drool?”

Thinking about the embarrassing sight, I suddenly felt wide awake. I hastily wiped the corner of my mouth. My clumsy movements were a clear sign of my flustered state. Shin Hae-jun let out a laugh-like sound, saying he was just joking.

“Why are you teasing me?”

“Well, because you’re cute?”

“Have you lost your mind?”

As if I’d ever be cute in his eyes. Of course, I don’t wish for him to find me cute either. The very thought gives me the chills.

Normally, I would have said more, but I just glanced at him as he didn’t respond. It was a sort of thank-you for not waking me up, despite my oversleeping.

“I was just joking. Are you more awake now?”

“I’ve been awake for a while. Thanks for the joke.”

“You still seemed a bit dazed, that’s why.”

Sensing that I had glanced at him, Shin Hae-jun lightly chided me. I didn’t respond, just slapping my cheeks a few times to fully wake myself up. Shin Hae-jun then removed his hand from the back of my head.

“Get out and stretch a bit. You slept all curled up.”

Instead of answering, I looked around. I didn’t see any infected. As I carefully stepped out of the car and looked across the road, the dawn was just breaking.

“Haaam….”

I yawned without trying to hold it back and stretched out my limbs. Shin Hae-jun, who had also gotten out of the car, was stretching his stiff body as well, and he gave me a questioning look.

Despite spending the night in a messy car, Shin Hae-jun still looked as neat as if he were living in a different world. He even seemed to have intentionally arranged every wrinkle on his uniform, to the point where it almost suggested a hint of obsessive-compulsive disorder. If it weren’t for his scruffy beard, no one would have guessed that he had spent the night in the car.

Fully awake now, I shrugged my shoulders a few times and loosened up my body. Maybe it was because I had slept well, but I felt good.

“Please get some rest on the way to Gangwon. I’ll drive.”

At my ambitious statement, Shin Hae-jun raised one eyebrow. Seems like he didn’t like my slightly condescending tone.

“You, Lieutenant Min?”

Even if I asked him to call me Min Ahyeon, the title of ‘Lieutenant’ wouldn’t come off his tongue. Shin Hae-jun would revert to calling me ‘Lieutenant Min’ unless I pointed it out.

 

“Ahyeon-ah.”

 

Suddenly, the image of him calling me without the rank title flashed in my mind, and my face flushed. Ah, shit. To hide my reddening face, I purposely made bigger gestures as I spoke.

“Yes. You saw it yesterday, didn’t you? How I sharply turned the wheel and smoothly reversed.”

It was something I had done, and even I was impressed by the perfect timing of it. Anyone who saw that would never think I didn’t know how to change gears.

Mimicking the motion of turning the wheel, I looked at him expectantly, but he gave me a somewhat disapproving look.

“Do you drive with both feet or one?”

“Both feet!”

“……”

Staring at me as if his lips were glued shut, Shin Hae-jun let out a sigh and opened the driver’s side door.

“Are you letting me get in the driver’s seat?”

“Does it look that way to you?”

“Yes. So please step aside. You can just rest assured and take a nap on the way.”

“Shut up and get in the passenger seat.”

I confidently spoke, but Shin Hae-jun’s voice sank coolly. He climbed into the car, leaving me scratching my neck with a puzzled expression.

Why such a reaction? Could it be that he drives with one foot? But Yongcheol had said you must always use both feet to break through the infected quickly. And Shin Hae-jun had always driven that way too, I’ve seen it with my own eyes a few times.

Confused by the unexpected reaction, I rolled my eyes, but Shin Hae-jun got back into the driver’s seat. Then, with a fleeting glance at me as if I were pathetic, he shifted gears and raised the clutch.

Clunk, click.

I pretended to listen to the sound of the gears shifting smoothly, awkwardly turning my head away.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

I nodded obediently at Shin Hae-jun’s command, and he immediately started the car.

After that, he didn’t utter another word throughout the journey to Gangwon.

Amidst the sound of Shin Hae-jun shifting gears, the noisy engine of the jeep, and the distant noise of the infected, there was no denying that his deep voice, although I didn’t want to admit it, wasn’t unpleasant.

‘Wow, this is so awkward.’

The lingering silence was still uncomfortable, but not as unbearable as yesterday. Yet, I also felt strange about trying to break this silence by conversing with him. It’s probably best not to bring up our past fights or what happened the other day. I just wanted to stop trying to hide my flushed face.

As we neared Gangwon, Shin Hae-jun, sitting upright and clenching and unclenching his fists, glanced at me and idly tapped the radio dial.

“Aren’t you going to listen to the radio today?”

“No, I don’t want to listen to it with you, General.”

I didn’t want to learn how worthless a human being is and how to calculate a child as a labor force while listening to the story of a missing family member.

“Hmm, suit yourself.”

Shin Hae-jun fell silent, seemingly at a loss for words in the face of my firm refusal. Behind his handsome profile, looking slightly offended, I noticed the signboard for <Gangneung> .

“It looks like Gangneung starts from here.”

<Welcome.>

The Jeep carrying Shin Hae-jun and I quickly passed by a signboard welcoming us with words stained with blood and flesh. Shin Hae-jun put more pressure on the accelerator after glancing at the dashboard once. The Jeep sped comfortably along the deserted highway, where there were fewer abandoned cars than elsewhere.

Even in silence, we briskly left the highway and traveled along a national road until we arrived at our destination. I reached out my palm towards Shin Hae-jun, who was about to climb the winding mountain road.

“Wait. Stop.”

“Why?”

Incredulous at his clueless expression, I opened my mouth.

Is he crazy?

🕂

Thank you for reading! ♡