“Now… Salute!!”

“Salute!!”

It’s Saturday night in the café near Gook-il Medical Center, while waiting her friend, Hyejung hears a group of three men and a woman are drinking beers at the table behind her.  “Salute? Isn’t it supposed to be Cheers?” she mumbles by herself as she thinks it sounds weird.

“Who says salute instead of cheers?” She hears one of the guys comments. Hyejung draws a little smile, to know the guy has the same thought as her. He sits right behind her, so she can hear his voice clearly. What a deep voice, she thinks.

“Anyway Second Lieutenant Kim, when will you be back once you leave this time?”Another guy who wears glasses asks him.

 “I'm not immigrating,” he answers.

“You should come back every two weeks.”

The guy makes an excuse, “It gets exhausting”

Hyejung nods by herself to the realization that they said  Salute instead of Cheers because one of their friends is from the military force. Then Hyejung pauses as she realizes she shouldn’t have eavesdropped to other people’s conversation. She lets out a sigh and checks out her watch. It has been 15 minutes passed, yet the sign of her friend Sunhee hasn’t showed up. She decides to change her seats, but as she is looking around, there’s no available  table anymore.

“Hyejung-ah!” A blonde girl calls her name.

Hyejung’s eyes lighten up then she waves at her friend. “I am sorry, I am stuck in a traffic for more than a half hour,” Sunhee explains as she sits  in front of Hyejung.  Hyejung smiles, “it’s okay. Sunhee-ah, should we go somewhere else?”

Sunhee looks confused, “Why? Don’t you like this place? I thought you said you liked it a lot.”

Hyejung  shakes her head, but before she could say anything, Sunhee stands up and looks worried, “Hyejung-ah, I have to go to the rest room now. My stomach has been unwell since yesterday.”

“Are you okay? Should we go to the hospital?”

“No. No. It’s okay. I guess it’s because the pickled radish yesterday. I’ll be back in a minute!” Sunhee says before excuses herself to her best friend. Hyejung is left alone again. She turns her back and takes a peek, being curious again about the group of friends behind her. She recognizes one of the guy, who is sitting across the one who wears glasses, is Sunwoo, one of her senior way back in medical school. Even if he probably saw her, he wouldn't recognize her since they're not that close. She sees all their face except the one they called 2^nd Lieutenant Kim.

“Jung Pal, did you bring the ring?” A guy with glasses calls him.

“What ring? Do you mean the fiancée ring?” Sunwoo asks.

“What's the fiancé ring?” the only girl between them asks too.

“It's a graduation ring for the Air Force Academy, the fiancée ring. He still has that thing,” Sunwoo explains.

Hyejung nods her head unconsciously, “Aah… so there’s a kind of ring like that. Interesting. Wait…. so his name is Kim Jungpal? What a weird name,” she mumbles by herself. In her mind, Hyejung is debating with her own logic that she really shouldn’t be eavesdropping  to other people’s conversation but her other half defends herself that she gets nothing to do right now.

“I brought it,” Jungpal says.

“You're giving it to me, right?” the guy who wears glasses looks excited.

“I'm thinking about it. I suddenly thought it'd be a waste to give it to you”

Hyejung scoffs, she thinks the guy they call as Jungpal has quite a character.

“Then who would you give it to? You're going die before you propose to anyone”

“Our Jung Pal isn't very romantic,” Sunwoo adds. Hyejung follows with nod. She thinks if the world is filled with that kind of guys, human kinds would be soon extinct.

The guy with glasses adds another scolding, “Whatever, you idiot. Hey, it's my wish to see you confess your feelings to someone before I die. Are you going to live alone forever? You're so frustrating...”

Hyejung raises her brow and mumbles again, “Wait… I agree he’s frustrating but what’s wrong with wanting to live alone?” Suddenly takes a side to the military man since she also chooses to live alone. There’s a pregnant silence for a while, “Why suddenly so quiet?’ she whispers to herself then turns around to take a peek. She sees everyone in the group look at the guy named Jungpal.

“Deok Sun-ah,” he calls the only girl in front of him. She is pretty in her opinion. She has big eyes, rosy lip, and a long black hair. Hyejung watches he opens a red box with a ring in it and put it on the table.

“I was going to give it to you when I graduated this year. I'm only giving it to you now”

“What? Is he going to propose her?” Hyejung looks surprised as she puts her palm to , “Hurl… This is jackpot. Sunhee must see this!”

“I like you… I said, I like you,” Jungpal says.

He laughs lightly, ”Hey... do you know what I've done because of you? I waited over an hour by our front door every day to go to school with you. Until you came home from the study rooms... I was so worried that I couldn't get a wink of sleep. ‘Why is she so late?’, ‘Did she fall asleep again?’. Hey…. All my concern was only you. You”

All of them except the military guy look so dumbfounded with his sudden confession. Hyejung can’t watch how he is saying that, but she thinks it already feels so heart-fluttering only by hearing his deep voice. He must be liking the girl a lot since high school. It makes Hyejung recalls her old days too, way back when she transferred school, where she fell in love to her own teacher. It ended sad in a way, but she can’t deny that every moment with  him  was beautiful.

Jungpal continues, “When we ran into each other accidentally on the bus, And when we went to the concert together... Also, on my birthday... when I got the shirt as a present from you, I was really... so happy that I thought I was going to go crazy.”

Hyejung looks at the girl named Deoksun, curious about her reaction. She can’t read her expression. She thinks the confession sounds beautiful at first but somehow it also sounds sad, she doesn’t know why she feels that way.

“I wanted to see you more than a dozen times a day. I was happy just to see you… I wanted to say this since a long time ago. I really like you… I love you,” he ends his heartful confession.

There is a long pause for a moment. No one realizes Hyejung is watching them as they are too focused on Jungpal. Hyejung hold her breaths. In silence, she secretly cheers for Jungpal and hopes he gets Deoksun’s love.

“Are you satisfied, you idiot?” Jungpal says out of the blue.

 “About… what?” The guy with glasses stutters and looks even more confused than Hyejung

“You said that this was your wish,” Jungpal replies lightly.

“What wish...?”

Then Sunwoo realizes something and shouts, “Oh, man you startled me! I thought that was real, you crazy punk!” Sunwo curses at him.

“What the heck was that?”

“Hey, you fell for it too, right? He's a total player,” Sunwoo tells Deoksun.

Hyejung’s eyes turn bigger, “What the hell is that?”

The guy with glasses then laughs out of relief and grabs Jungpal’s hand, “You completely fooled me. Wow, oh my gosh. Jung Pal, I'm shaking. I think I've fallen for you. Let's date. I love you. I waited for you at the bus stop and in the study rooms,”

“Crazy bastard, go away!” Jungpal dismisses his hands. His friend laughs even more, “I was really totally fooled by you”

Hyejung scoffs and feels disappointed, “So it’s a lie, huh? Bastard. It felt so real that I was about cheering for him. What a bad guy. How dare he for playing a girl heart? She must feel hurt right now,”

“Hey, Deok Sun. Give me the menu. Jung Pal's paying today, “ Sunwoo asks Deoksun. Hyejung turns her head a little bit to look at the said female. She expects the female is trying to force a smile because of that fake confession, but what she is seeing is otherwise. Deoksun keeps turning her head whenever the wind chimes at the entrance door are ringing as if she is waiting someone else. That’s how Hyejung realizes it maybe one side love. When Hyejung thinks about it again, Jungpal didn’t say he was lying, his friends just assumed he did.

“Hyejung!” Her mind is finally back to reality when she hears her friend just come back from the rest room.

“Oh, Sunhee”

“Sorry, did I take so long?”

“No, are you okay? If you still feel unwell, we can go to the medical center now,” Hyejung says out of concern.

Sunhee shakes her head and smiles brightly as always, “I am okay. My healing power is at its peak right now because I missed you so much that I would die. It’s been three months I didn’t see your face!!” Sunhee suddenly hugs Hyejung and fakes crying. Hyejung laughs with her silliness.

“By the way, earlier when I saw you from a far, you looks so deep in thinking about something. What happens? Were you thinking about Seowoo?”

Hyejung looks pissed hearing that name, “Why do you suddenly talk about Seowoo?”

“Isn’t her dad the one who owns the place where you’re working? I heard she also becomes a doctor. You also said you saw her in the medical school, right? I wonder what would she feel if she knows you’re a doctor now. Aaaach!! Just thinking about it makes me scared!!” Sunhee says.

Hyejung sighs as the face of someone who was once her high school friend pops up in her mind, “Just thinking about it already makes me stressed. But I wasn’t thinking about that though”

“Then what?”

Hyejung turns around and sees that group of friends earlier are back having a chit chat happily again while drinking their beers, talking about the memories of their childhood, as if that confession has never happened from the first place.

Hyejung shrugs, “Just because…”

Sunhee pouts at her, Hyejung laughs and tries to change the topic by giving her friend a present she wrapped prettily before coming to the café. At that moment, Hyejung decides to forget about that confession too. They are strangers anyway. Beside it’s already weird for someone like Hyejung is interested in romance,  especially if it’s not her own. She spends her time with Sunhee by chatting about what happened during three months they didn’t meet, just the girls talk as always, while eating their favourite pudding. She isn’t aware Jungpal and his friends already leave the café.

 Their chat could have gone forever if Hyejung didn’t get the text message from Yoondo, her senior doctor in Gook-il Medical Center. When they just meant to leave, Hyejung sees Jungpal’s graduation ring is still rest on the table behind theirs, “He leaves the ring,” she says.

“Ring? Whose ring? Do you know the noisy people earlier?” Sunhee frowns.

Hyejung goes to the table and takes the ring, she is staring at the beautiful red stone, “I envy him.”

“Envy? What do you mean envy?”

Hyejung closes the box and smiles sadly, “To be able to say goodbye,”

****

Two years later

(Sounds of helicopter blades)

“Hyejung-ah, are you sure you want to come with us?!!” Yoondo almost screams at Hyejung so the female can hear his voice.

“Of course I am sure!!” Hyejung replies.

“But you have to be prepared, Captain Kim Junghwan is known to be a super tough officer. He doesn’t like to work with women, even it’s just for the medical team,” Youngkook adds. Three of them are sent by Gook-il hospital to be the part of Air Force Military medical team for their mission near the state border area. It supposed to be Kyungjoon in her place, but the man got a minor car accident yesterday.

Although it’s already late because their helicopter just arrived at the camp, Yoondo still wants to tries persuade the female, “No one doubt your skill Hyejung, but this is air force military camp. Don’t expect you will get different treatment because—“

“Because I am a woman?” Hyejung interrupts, “Just worry about yourself you two!!”

Youngkook sighs, “You have to remember, they’re not as easy as the gangsters you fought at the hospital!”

“I know I know. How many times I have to tell you that I understand the situation and I will behave well”

Both of the men sound doubtful. Before they could say anything more, the door is already opened by an officer. The noise from the helicopter blades becomes louder. The officer greets them in military way, “Salute!! Welcome to Air Force Base in Gunsan!”

Yoondo and Youngkook awkwardly answer back with the same salute, “Captain Kim is waiting for you all”

The officer leads them to Captain Kim’s office. As they arrive in front of his door, faintly, Hyejung hears someone is talking on the phone, “I can’t accept this Sir. I will talk to Lieutenant Colonel Jung by myself”

Hyejung frowns, “His voice sounds familiar”

Yoondo looks at her and whispers, “Who? Captain Kim Jung Hwan? Have you met him before?”

She slowly shakes her head, “No, the name is different. The rank too”

(knock knock)

“Who is that?”

“The medical team from Gook-il Trauma Center has come, Sir”

“Come in”

As they enter the room, in the first seconds they are welcomed by a tall back figure in a dark blue uniform. As he turns around to face them, they can’t help but in an awe for seeing his charisma. He looks young for their own surprise. For someone who holds rank as a captain in military, he seems like around their age, maybe just 4-5 years above them.

“Hello, I am Captain Kim Junghwan”

‘To Be Continued’