WYK 9

The next morning.

Seo Jeong-yoon furrowed his brow as he stared at the sky. The sky was clear, and the autumn sun was dazzling. It was a perfect day for a leisure outing.

Unfortunately, Jeong-yoon was on his way to work. Riding a rattling plow to pick apples.

Mi-hee had not been in the vinyl greenhouse dormitory the previous day. It seemed like she had slept all day long. Jeong-yoon had struggled to wake up, feeling somewhat unfairly treated. Even though Kim Min-soo had scolded him for missing the bus due to oversleeping, he probably would have been kind to Mi-hee, telling her to rest if she was tired.

He glanced to his side. Min-soo was clutching his mouth as if he were about to vomit. His face had turned pale, and the swaying of the truck on the bumpy road was clearly taking a toll on him.

Before Jeong-yoon and Chae-heon arrived, the classmates who had already been quite drunk, continued to drink throughout the night. They had also engaged in various pointless games. Although Jeong-yoon had initially refrained from participating, he had earnestly joined in when it was finally his turn.

The last game they played was a word game. Min-soo, who had been pinned to the corner by Chae-heon earlier, had now been woken up and teamed up with Jeong-yoon. Jeong-yoon explained the game rules as he looked at the letters on the sketchbook behind Min-soo.

‘Kim Min -soo. Your state now.’

‘Drunk?’

‘No, just your face right now. Your appearance.’

‘A man?’

‘Sum up all your actions, laughter, and conversations with one word.’

‘University student? No? What is it? Pass. What’s the answer?’

‘Three-legged octopus.’

In the past, Jeong-yoon had often faced the prospect of being strangled by Min-soo. However, this time, the situation had ended peacefully with the help of the amiable Chae-heon.

***

Jeong-yoon climbed up the ladder and picked a ripe apple. He twisted the apple, breaking the stem, and it fell neatly into the basket below. The basket was now filled with apples.

‘Oh, my neck. My arms.’

Jeong-yoon muttered as he stretched his arms and neck. After spending the entire day looking up and picking apples, his arms and shoulders were sore. He decided it was time to take a break before he got any muscle cramps.

Chae-heon was two trees away. The girls were picking apples from the lower branches, while the guys were using ladders to reach the higher ones. Instead of climbing a ladder, Kang Chae-heon was picking open apples at a modest height.

Jeong-yoon patted his shoulder as he observed Chae-heon.

He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, neatly tucked into his waist with a loose tie. His well-defined arm muscles moved gracefully as he reached between the branches. His long, lean arms and legs looked cool, but was it because of the way he casually dressed? Even the red gardening gloves he wore seemed stylish.

It was probably not because Jeong-yoon liked Chae-heon. He had overheard Min-soo earlier saying, “He’s turning this Chungcheong Province into a European olive farm all by himself.” Clearly, Jeong-yoon’s admiration went beyond Chae-heon’s physique.

Jeong-yoon glanced down at his arm.

‘Can I become like that if I exercise?’

But he soon shook his head. Chae-heon’s frame was fundamentally different. Trying to mimic a swallow when you had the physique of a sparrow was futile. Jeong-yoon decided to explore his own unique charms instead. Sparrows. How cute they are.

He climbed the ladder once more and continued picking apples, maybe for another hour or so. The never-ending apples had him muttering about how relentless these apple trees were. Finally, the break time approached.

“Let’s take a break!”

One of the girls under the large tree in the middle of the apple orchard called out.

Jeong-yoon came down from the ladder and moved towards the water. He sat under the shade of the big tree and exhaled deeply. Farming, even if he had initially thought it would be an easy task, turned out to be quite tiring. His hands were trembling with exhaustion.

The other guys gathered around as well. Their faces were all red from working in the sun.

Jeong-yoon picked up an apple from the box and wiped it roughly on the hem. Sweet, juicy goodness burst into his mouth. Min-soo, who was beside him, asked.

“Is it okay to eat without washing it?”

“The owner’s uncle said it’s okay.”

“I mean, not washing it in water?”

“I don’t know. Just make sure to wash yourself.”

Min-soo’s hair was a little disheveled in the front because he hadn’t washed up in the morning. He didn’t seem to care much about his appearance, especially since Mi-hee wasn’t around.

“Do I smell?”

Jeong-yoon ignored Min-soo’s sniffing and took another bite of the apple. He doesn’t usually like apples, but this one was moderately crunchy and sweet, so it was delicious. After all, market snacks can be tasty and enjoyable.

Chae-heon sat a little away from Jeong-yoon. Unlike Jeong-yoon, who sat in the shade, Chae-heon sat directly under the bright sun, sipping water with a slight squint in his eyes. Jeong-yoon watched Chae-heon masculine jawline lifted slightly and the neckline as he drank water, then his own mouth salivated at the thought of drinking.

Ddududu. Jeong-yoon accidentally dropped the apple he was holding, and it landed on the ground, covered in dirt. Jeong-yoon brushed it off with a blank expression and bit again. Min-soo grunted and raised his eyebrow.

“Eat the new one. Didn’t it touch the ground?”

Seo Jeong-yoon smiled.

“I bet you’d even eat a tear-soaked piece of bread in the military, but you’re concerned about a little dirt?”

Upon hearing those words, Min-soo raised his eyebrows and leaned toward Jeong-yoon. Jeong-yoon stiffened his expression and pushed Min-soo’s face back. He didn’t find Min-soo’s occasional shoves all that pleasant.

“The military? Are you going to the military?” Min-soo suddenly asked.

“Yeah.”

“What. When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What do you mean, everyone else is going. I’m not the only one going.”

“Well, yeah, but still…”

Min-soo scratched the back of his neck as if he didn’t agree. Jeong-yoon bites the apple again.

Enlisting in the military after finishing the first year of college was a decision Jeong-yoon made long before entering university. His cousin’s older brother had suggested it as a convenient option, and Jeong-yoon had agreed without much thought. He had heard of joint enlistment, but had dismissed it as too bothersome, and fortunately, he had received a healthy medical examination result, proudly allowing him to enter the military.

Was the word ‘military’ the trigger? As they listened to Jeong-yoon and Min-soo’s conversation, a fellow adult student suddenly began sharing his military stories as soon as he found an opportunity. Once he started, tales of military life began spreading like wildfire. Jeong-yoon, who had initiated the topic, looked at them with a face that clearly said ‘very boring.’

He was listening to their stories in a daze. A dark shadow fell in front of my eyes.

Chae-heon appeared when Jeong-yoon raised his head. The wind had messed up his loosely brushed hair.

“Military?”

Chae-heon threw out a single word. It seemed to be a question of his enlisting.

Jeong-yoon nodded quietly.

“Yeah.”

“When.”

“As soon as this semester is over.”

Jeong-yoon patted the spot next to him.

It was intimidating to see a big man standing in front of him like a mountain. His sore neck from apple-picking made it even more painful to look up at him.

Chae-heon soon took a seat beside Jeong-yoon, leaning his back against the tree.

“When are you planning to return to school?”

“I haven’t really thought about that.”

Jeong-yoon replied, gazing up at the sky peeking through the leaves. Enlisting in the military hadn’t even happened yet, so returning to school felt like a distant future. He watched as the sun disappeared behind the clouds and then reappeared.

“What about you? Are you going? Did you check into anything like a public service thing?”

Chae-heon, who looked like he came from a wealthy family, might have found some ways to avoid regular military service.

Chae-heon did not answer Jeong-yoon’s question for a moment.

“I don’t know.”

He answered so roughly and got up from his seat. After that, he picked up his gloves from the ground, put them on, and walked alone toward the apple orchard.

Maybe that was the signal, as other guys began getting up one by one. Break time was over.