War often changed people’s outlooks in life, as well as their whole beings. Oftentimes gentle, submissive people would grow into monsters of warfare for the sake of survival or, in most cases, for the sake of victory. Those who could fight were treated with glory; those who couldn’t were treated like trash. As such was the case of younger men in those days – where everything needed to be tested and proven by someone older, more experienced. Their loyalty, their fighting spirit – even their manhood.

In the past, it was common practice for younger males to look for a mentor and to have them teach them of the basics of fighting, strategy and in most cases – ; which is why if you were a young boy of age that had not managed to find a mentor, you’d be deemed different – taboo – and that is what Park Chanyeol, who was of age and was a Jangjeong (Recruit), greatly feared as of the moment.

“There are other mentors out there, you know?” One of his friends (that had managed to become a student of a Junwi, a Warrant Officer) told him once, “Why do you have to be so hooked up with him?”

“Because!” Chanyeol said in a matter-of-fact voice, “If anyone’s going to be my mentor, it has to be him!”

“He’s not going to accept, you know? Especially since you keep asking him every time you see him. Don’t you know how annoying that is?” His friend shook his head before walking away, “Of all the people in the army to consider, it had to be a Daeryeong (Colonel).”

Chanyeol frowned. True, having a high ranking officer as a mentor was a big status boost but it wasn’t the position Chanyeol was after, it was the man himself. Ever since he was small, Chanyeol had heard of the current Daeryeong’s skills and strategies and, despite not being of Korean descent, had somehow managed to gain the trust of the army and become one of their best officers. Chanyeol wanted to be like that and the only way to be like that was to have the man himself – Wu Yifan – be his mentor.

The sound of a horn made him jump. He turned around to see the gates nearby open, followed by a camouflaged jeep with the symbol of the army painted on one side of its body. Chanyeol instantly knew who was in it and he tried to control himself. The jeep parked and out stepped a few senior officers before a much younger one appeared, wearing a Colonel’s hat embroidered with gold that matched his uniform. He had an indifferent face on as he walked behind the senior officers and then his eyes glanced to the side, locking his gaze at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol stepped forward, nearly landing flat on his face. He gave a wimpy salute, “D-Daeryeong!” He felt his heart skip a beat when Yifan stopped, about a foot away from him and turned fully towards him.

“Up to something again, Park?” The experienced officer gave a knowing smirk and the recruit was at a loss for words.

“Ah – er – n-no – I…” Chanyeol stammered, his belly burning intensely as Yifan looked at him.

Yifan chuckled lightly, “Try not to cause too much trouble, all right?” And he turned around.

Chanyeol gasped, knowing that he was losing his chance again. He threw all caution out into the wind and ran after the elder, pushing the thought of having to do punishment exercises on the field for this at the back of his mind. He was about to stop once he realized he was close enough but stepped on his own foot and stumbled forward, his face pressing against Yifan’s back. At once, the scent of the elder’s neat uniform made him dizzy. Realizing what he had done would probably now be considered a corporal sin, he hurriedly stepped back and apologized.

Yifan turned around, raising an eyebrow but with a slight frown on his face, “Park?” He called out with a tone like he was about to be scolded.

“I-I apologize, Daeryeong.” Chanyeol humbled himself, “I was just… I wanted to ask you something.”

Yifan narrowed his eyes, blinked for a moment before he looked away, sighing. “… Not this again.”

‘Again’… Am I that persistent?! Chanyeol looked wide-eyed at the elder, “Please, Daeryeong! W-Won’t you think about it?”

Yifan turned away, “I’m not interested in becoming anyone’s mentor, Park.”

“But…!” Chanyeol, in the heat of the moment, reached out and grabbed Yifan’s arm, “But, you’re the only one I…!”

Yifan pulled away and glared at the younger male, “That’s twenty laps.”

Chanyeol paled, “… N-No way… I just…”

“Additional five for talking back to me.” Yifan looked down at him with cold, steely eyes. Chanyeol shrunk and lowered his head, giving out a weak acknowledgement for his punishment. Yifan took one last look at him before turning around and making his way again.

Chanyeol stood, frozen with some other recruits in the background muttering behind his back. He looked at his own two feet for a good while before he listened to his gut and took in a deep breath.

“I’ll ask you again, Daeryeong!” Chanyeol bellowed, causing Yifan to stop in surprise and look back with slightly wide eyes. But by then, Chanyeol had turned around to do his punishment laps.

“You got quite a catch, Wu.” One of the senior officers slapped him on the shoulder.

“He’s not my catch.” Yifan sighed, looking away from the lanky male heading for the fields.

“Oh?” The senior officers whistled, “You don’t have to stop yourself. You don’t get someone so driven like that every day, you know? Why don’t you try and test the waters, first? See how it goes from there? You’re older so if you wanna call it quits, just do it.”

Call it quits. Yifan stared blankly back at him. “Maybe…”

The senior officer laughed again, “Trust me, I do it all the time.”

“With how many, exactly?” Yifan teased and the officer slapped him on the shoulder again.

“That’s a secret.”

Chanyeol was about to pass out. He was, finally, at his 25th lap and nearing the finish line. He could see his friend waiting for him at the end, showing off a bottle of water as motivation.

“Damn you…” Chanyeol muttered under his breath but once he reached the end, he fell to the ground, panting nonstop.

“Good job, Chanyeol.” His friend placed the water bottle in front of him. “You always find a way to get over here and run some laps.”

“Shut up.” Chanyeol pushed himself up, taking the water bottle. He sat, Indian style, on the ground.

“I see you haven’t learned your lesson.” His friend sighed. “Give it up, will you?”

“I won’t.” Chanyeol frowned, taking a sip. “I won’t give up.”

“Geez,” His friend shook his head. “I wish you’d show that same tenacity during lectures.”

Chanyeol glared at him but slowly widened his gaze at the figure approaching from afar.

“Park,” Came the familiar voice.

At once, Chanyeol shot up and his friend stiffened. They looked back at Yifan slowly closing the distance between them. Yifan was once again locking his gaze at Chanyeol, making the younger male wish he didn’t look like . He then broke the gaze for a moment to turn to his friend, “I’d like a word with him.”

“Y-Yes, Daeryeong!” He ga