Chapter 17: Jeong Sora Collapsed
Seo Juhwan managed to escape Captain Park Gyeongsu's sight and brought Jeong Sora's belongings out safely. Jeong Sora, who had been waiting outside, greeted him with a bright smile.
"Thanks, Juhwan."
"Haha. No problem. So you're overlooking the AWOL incident, right?"
"Of course. And I'll buy you delicious dinner too."
"Oh. Can I really look forward to it?"
"Yes. You can!"
Jeong Sora's voice sounded lively as she said this. Whether it was from the alcohol, but her mood seemed quite elevated. However, her expression quickly became gloomy.
"What if we run into someone else? I'm really anxious about it."
"...Surely not? The distance from the battalion to here is quite far. Plus, the surrounding units are pretty far away too."
Seo Juhwan tried his best to convince Jeong Sora. He couldn't lose this opportunity he'd worked so hard to create. But persuading her wasn't easy. Jeong Sora still looked uncertain and conflicted. After pausing to think for a moment, an idea seemed to dawn on her, and she clapped her hands together.
"Juhwan, let's go to your quarters."
"Huh?"
"You must have gotten quarters around here, right?"
"I did get them, but...?"
"Then let's buy some snacks and drinks and go there. You want to drink, right?"
"Uh, ah. Yes! That sounds great!"
Seo Juhwan, who had been momentarily flustered, quickly nodded enthusiastically. What a windfall this was. This kind of luck he'd never experienced before was truly this sweet. An irrepressible smile appeared on his face.
*
Jeong Sora, who had promised to treat him, purchased not only various sashimi and sushi as snacks, but also three bottles of sake that cost 50,000 won each. Saying it might not be enough, she also bought two bottles of soju, so it seemed they'd have to stay up all night to finish everything.
Upon entering his quarters, Jeong Sora spread out the snacks and drinks to set up the table. However, the arrangement looked rather unstable. Unable to watch any longer, Seo Juhwan took the drinks and snacks from her hands and rearranged them himself while asking:
"Squad Leader, have you drunk a lot?"
"Hmm~ Just a little?"
Jeong Sora held up her index and thumb slightly apart as she spoke. While the gesture was quite cute, Seo Juhwan shook his head. When he'd entered the restaurant, he saw two bottles of alcohol on the table. One was completely empty, and the other was already half gone. Depending on the person, it wasn't an amount one could call "just a little" with a flushed face like hers.
Before long, Jeong Sora picked up a piece of sashimi and poured sake enthusiastically. She filled Seo Juhwan's glass as well before holding out her glass and saying:
"You know the first glass is an all-at-once, right?"
"Haha. I understand."
"Come on, Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!"
The two of them clinked their paper cups together as they cheered "Merry Christmas" and drank.
They spent time sharing various old stories. Since they had time together in the military, there was no shortage of stories to tell.
Jeong Sora filled her glass again and spoke in an excited voice:
"Aha! Alright, this is to celebrate your discharge. I'll pour you a full one."
"Already celebrating my discharge? Whoa? This is overflowing!"
Seo Juhwan quickly sipped the overflowing drink. Once her glass was empty, Jeong Sora continued speaking:
"When else would we drink and celebrate like this? It wasn't intentional, but I wanted to talk with you because I've received a lot of help from you, Juhwan."
"...Have I really been helpful?"
Seo Juhwan asked in return, sipping his drink with a strange feeling. Of course, during this recent training, he had performed well by his own standards. But before that... well? Hadn't he just been an unlucky guy that everyone avoided? In fact, one of the reasons his self-esteem had been low before the return was because of his military service.
However, Jeong Sora nodded as if it were obvious.
"Of course! How much help have you given me?"
"For example, what do you mean?"
"Hmm. When I first got stationed here, you were a lance corporal, right? I called on you the most back then."
"Ah, I got worked hard back then. So I thought you disliked me, Squad Leader."
"What? No way! It was because you did the work best. Remember how the sergeants and corporals were back then?"
"Ah, yes. I remember now. Honestly, it was a mess."
"Aha. Right. That's why I had you do a lot of things. Honestly, even though you were a bit unlucky, you definitely got things done. So I ended up putting you through a lot unintentionally."
As they talked, memories of the past slowly surfaced. The 4th Company NCOs back then were indeed almost all problematic. Because of this, Seo Juhwan and Lance Corporal Lee Junghoon had handled almost everything. In particular, Seo Juhwan, knowing his own bad luck, had worked even harder to gain recognition from others.
'Recognition... why did I cling to it so much?'
He murmured this to himself, but being recognized meant so very much to him. It wasn't just during military service—even after discharge, it remained true. Because he had bad luck and needed to work several times harder than others to be recognized, it was even more so. And perhaps, things weren't different now. That's probably why Jeong Sora's words created gentle ripples in his heart.
Seo Juhwan smiled softly and held out his glass.
"...Thank you, Squad Leader."
"Huh? Well. I should be the one thanking you."
Jeong Sora answered somewhat awkwardly, tilting her head at Seo Juhwan's suddenly changed mood.
Several rounds of drinks passed with military stories as appetizers. As the saying goes, there's no better appetizer than military stories, right? Though he never expected to be telling them with a woman, let alone with Jeong Sora of all people.
Before long, Jeong Sora's face had turned bright red. Her tongue was also starting to slur a bit, indicating she was quite drunk.
"Squad Leader, you seem drunk. Shouldn't you stop drinking?"
"No way. I'm not drunk. And stop calling me Squad Leader. Since I'm going to discharge soon, call me Noona!"
By the way she was speaking, she was extremely drunk.
"How can I do that? There's still a month left before your discharge."
"Huh? That's an order. Come on, if you drink this, you'll call me Noona, right?"
Giggling and mimicking a line from some drama, she was completely intoxicated.
Seo Juhwan couldn't help but let out a quiet laugh. He was seeing many different sides of her today. Before the return, she'd only seemed cold to him, but so she had this side too. Personally, he found this version more human and pleasant to look at.
Seo Juhwan drank the alcohol she'd poured for him and reciprocated her wishes.
"Okay. Noona? Should I call you like this? It feels really awkward."
"What? I didn't tell you to drop formalities?"
"I apologize, Captain."
"Ah, just joking. That's not fun."
"Haha. Then should I drop formalities?"
"You already did. Do whatever you want~."
Jeong Sora giggled with a slightly slurred voice, and her squinting eyes with a smile were beautiful.
"I'm going to the bathroom for a bit."
"Oh, go ahead."
Jeong Sora stood up from her seat. Seo Juhwan watched her back as she headed to the bathroom. She was wearing a blouse and an H-line skirt, and her voluptuous figure caught his eye. As he stared blankly at the bathroom door, it suddenly swung open.
"Juhwan, there are two toothbrushes—can I use one? I want to sober up a bit."
"Uh, yeah. Go ahead."
"Thanks."
Jeong Sora returned from the bathroom a short while later.
"Ah, I feel better. Juhwan, I'm sober now. Let's drink more!"
It seemed she intended to finish all the remaining soju. Seo Juhwan let out a dry laugh and stood up.
"Before that, I need to use the bathroom too."
He felt like he needed to sober up a bit himself before drinking more. He'd nearly emptied two bottles of that high-proof sake by himself, and the alcohol was hitting him pretty hard.
Whoosh
After brushing his teeth and splashing his face with cold water, the alcohol seemed to clear a bit. As his mind sharpened, a single thought emerged.
'...Is it okay to just keep drinking like this? How am I supposed to create an atmosphere?'
He'd gotten so caught up in enjoying the drinks that he'd forgotten his original purpose. Besides, this was his first time drinking one-on-one with a woman, so he didn't even know how to create an "atmosphere."
'Should I ask if she has a boyfriend?'
Honestly, he wasn't sure. Even thinking more about it, a good strategy didn't seem to come to mind.
'Anyway, let's just see what happens.'
With that thought, he came out, and then:
"Kuuul..."
"Huh...?"
There was Jeong Sora, already collapsed on the floor.
- 50 Advanced Chapters of {The Desire System: Reincarnated with a Demon God's Gift}: patreon.com/aristo0_0