It was cold.

It was so damn cold that having to stand still for now 10 minutes felt as if her legs were starting to freeze. But they weren’t allowed to move, not visibly at least.

After they had arrived at the academy, both troops were formed quickly; Each troop consisted of three next to each other and many, many behind them, the tallest first and the smallest at the end.

With the first step in that formation the military drill had begun with Lisa and her assistant leaders shouting ‘left, right, left, right,’ to create the rhythm of their lockstep. Each mishap was felt thoroughly in the back of their legs when someone behind them wasn’t in rhythm and accidentally kicked them.

Jennie had a hard time keeping up with the pace since she was rather small and the troop walked fast due to the long legs of the tallest at the front. On the positive side, the fast marching kept her body warm and now that they had to stand completely still, her heated body was even more prone to the cold.

They were in front of what seemed to be the main administrative building of the academy, waiting for something or someone. Lisa didn’t say anything and just stood in unison with her comrades and troop in rigid position.

The break, which wasn’t really a break within these conditions, offered Jennie and her classmates the opportunity to observe their surroundings more. When they had marched they could barely take note of how huge the whole area was and how many buildings were placed on it. Next to the administrative building were four different but identical buildings which seemed to harbor the cadets of the academy.

 
At the sound of the other troop arriving and positioning themselves next to them, Jennie turned her head in their direction and tried to find Jisoo and Rosé. It had been a whole lot easier to spot Rosé in the middle of her troop due to her bright hair which seemed to shine even brighter with all the snow enveloping them.

When she eventually found them, she slightly leaned out of formation and waved at her.

It was something she knew immediately she shouldn’t have done when Lisa’s voice rung out, calling for her to immediately step out of formation.

When she reluctantly did so, stepping in front of all the troop leaders and her classmates, a confused expression settled onto her face when Lisa immediately ordered her to go down on the snow and do push-ups.

“Excuse me?” Lisa noted with delight how there was a certain iness rising to the surface, a trait that fit her fierce appearance just well despite her cute personality. But these thoughts were gone almost instantly after the soldier and the hierarchy loving person within her felt offended.

 
“On the ground, Kim. Now!” Perplexed at first about the way the girl had addressed her, it clicked as to why their last name only had to be attached to their jackets.

Confusion mixed with irritation and her eyebrows furrowed deeply. The snow would’ve drenched her gloves in the matter of seconds, making everything even harder than it was supposed to be.

When Lisa saw the hesitation, she left her earlier position and walked over in visible dissatisfaction.

 
“Disregarding my order to stand still will not be tolerated, I won’t repeat myself,”

Jennie was pissed off that Lisa treated her that way, but now that she glowered at her from the short distance, she couldn’t stand the tension anymore and did as she was told with both troops watching in anticipation and some of Lisa’s comrades smirking at the scene.

Unwillingly she went into position and struggled before it has even begun.

“Down,” Lisa commenced the small torture for Jennie, signaling that she was in charge.

The scene unfolded in front of everyone and the sympathy from her classmates stood in stark contrast to the amusement of the soldiers.

Some students had noticed in disdain that this fun to all of them and were starting to boil internally. Every soldier watching the scene openly approved of Lisa’s tactics and still she was the only one keeping an indifferent expression.

After the fourth push-up the brunette couldn’t keep up with Lisa’s sickeningly slow count and fell partly on the ground, propped up on one elbow and panting. Her thin arms never had to support her that way and it showed.

“We’re not done here, Kim. Get up!”

Rosé and Jisoo both watched the scene anxiously.

Jisoo was at her last command so close to shouting for Lisa to stop, but this demonstration made it perfectly clear that this would entail negative consequences only and wouldn’t help Jennie one bit. So she kept mum and started to hate the military more and more.

All of their hidden thoughts didn’t reach Jennie as she lifted her gaze and met the one soldier towering in front of her. She must have been delusional if she ever thought to have seen a soft core beneath the surface, since she now saw a completely different person.

 
Lisa had always carried herself in a cold and reserved manner, that was nothing new, as it was not different to the way she was now. But it was the way her eyes were glazed with satisfaction seeing her on the ground that made Jennie sick to her stomach and so, so angry.

Her attention was diverted to her hands as she felt how the snow had found its way into her gloves and it stung even though there was barely any feel in them anymore.

She repositioned herself despite the pain and tried to keep up with her count but her whole body blocked and she collapsed on the ground with a grunt.

 
“Weak,” Lisa’s snide remark was loud and it cut through the tense air. She send her back into the formation with the words to think twice before disobeying her again.

 
Lisa making an example of Jennie worked well, no one would dare to disobey now or take this whole ordeal lightly – not even the troop next to them which wasn’t even under Lisa’s command.

Tears started to brim at the edge of Jennie’s eyes. She felt humiliated, weak and the numb feeling from the cold turned into a piercing one. She was thoroughly uncomfortable and disappointed.

 
Jisoo had been right.

Despite thinking that Lisa was ‘just’ intimidating and wearing a uniform, she never really comprehended what that meant in reality.

 
She’d been only one hour in this reality and the distraction she was looking forward to, turned into a suffocating situation she couldn’t flee.

Within her irritation, however, she didn’t notice that Lisa stole a glance at her and that there was a part of the soldier that felt sorry for treating her this way. But when she was deeply into the drill – something that was existential to surviving it for years – it was hard to be pulled out of it again.

Only minutes after the incident, the head of the academy stepped out of the building and held a speech in front of everyone, welcoming them to his institution. Fortunately, his speech was short-lived and soon both troops were dismissed and went into opposite directions, their movements slowly defrosting the limbs of the high schoolers who would’ve never thought that this day would turn out like this.

Jisoo and Rosé were lucky though, because their leader wasn’t as strict as Lisa was and he sought the affirmation from the females, ultimately making their day less terrible than Lisa would.

While the second troop would be shown more of the academy and afterwards the canteen to take a small, late breakfast, Lisa’s troop would head to the infamous obstacle course.

Their jaw dropped when they saw high walls, barbed wire and more, knowing very well that they wouldn’t just take a look at it.

They were doomed, the girls more so than the guys.

Before they would start though, they had to assemble in a big circle with Lisa saying which exercises would be done to get warmed up – to prevent injuries.

 
They had to run in a circle, do jumping jacks for 5 minutes straight, push-ups and more.

Before the course had even begun, most of them were already out of breath and with hurting muscles. Mostly due to the cold but also because only few of them were really athletic to begin with.

They commenced with their formation intact only that it was now two next to each other and everyone behind them.

Lisa watched with sharp eyes how her assistant leaders introduced the course to the first participants and slowly walked down the formatting, eyeing everyone with indifference. All quiet conversations died down immediately when they saw that she was approaching.

 
When she came to the end of the line, she stopped and looked at Jennie for a moment. She didn’t say anything at first and the other people had noticed her staring at her and grew anxious. They felt that this could never be good.

And they were right, though that knowledge was shallow.

“Kim, come over here,” She ordered and Jennie was caught off guard and only reluctantly followed her order and went close to the girl staring at her with her hands clasped behind her back.

 
When she was close, Lisa didn’t say anything at first and openly looked her up and down.

She felt the agitation radiating off of the girl, but Lisa would not be affected by that and took the same time as if someone else would be standing right in front of her now.

“Your jacket is unfit for the obstacle course, it’s too long. Take it off,” the nonchalant manner made Jennie’s blood boil, comprehending that the soldier really expected her to shed her only source of warmth.

 
“What?” Hearing that, she threw all caution to the wind, unafraid of being punished again.

“No! Lisa, it’s minus degrees and I’m already hurting from the cold, you can’t expect that,” the exasperation was clear in her voice. Defyingly she crossed her arms.

“It’s Staff Sergeant Manoban, Kim,”

While Jennie still stood motionless and couldn’t get a grip on what she really wanted her to do, Lisa turned around and shouted, “Assemble here!”

The assistant leaders were confused at first but did as they were told and assembled everyone around Lisa while Jennie was still not complying to her demands.

The soldier was irritated, she just wanted to help the petite girl even if she couldn’t say it or show it in the right way, but the way she challenged her authority made her once again pull off all the wrong moves.

“Since Kim doesn’t want to comply to my order, again, everyone of you will go down on the ground and do push-ups until she feels comfortable to do so,”

Everyone groaned audibly and with small noises they eventually got onto the ground. All had to remain in the exhausting stance until everyone was doing it correctly and Lisa would count them in.

Before doing so, however, she turned around to Jennie who was now wide-eyed and in disbelief watching the scene.

What Lisa did there was cruelly smart.

 
Lisa watched her with unwavering certainty that she would comply.

She taunted her and this time there was a smirk on her face. Jennie didn’t know how to handle this display of power and the way Lisa enjoyed it.

“Down,” and everyone went to the ground with a grunt and had to remain there until Lisa’s next command.

The arms of many were trembling already, struggling so much to simply hold their whole body above ground, while the snow would melt and drench their gloves – if they hadn’t been drenched before, now they were.

Lisa raised a challenging brow at Jennie, “Up,”

 
This ordeal went on for five more push-ups where also the assistant leaders were doing their part in making it even harder for them, scolding them when their back wasn’t straight or their overall position not pleasing enough.

 
“Okay, okay, I’ll do it, please stop it now,” Jennie eventually had to give in, she was unable to endure watching her classmates suffer any longer despite knowing what was to come was even worse for her.

Almost everyone had to pat off the snow from their clothes because at one point any untrained body would collapse under these circumstances. With unenthusiastic moves they reestablished their line and continued the obstacle course which would further drain their energy reserves.

 
Despite being punished in her place, empathic glances were thrown Jennie’s way but they didn’t reach her. Her head hung low as she took off her jacket with hesitation.

Jennie couldn’t and didn’t want to look into her eyes.

 
Lisa glanced at her and the soldier within her fought with all strength but faltered when she saw Jennie’s small, hunched figure trembling.

 
“I often had to do that, sometimes it was even way colder than now. It’s all about how strong your will is,” Lisa’s cryptic words were met with deaf ears as she took the jacket that was being handed over. Only when another zipper could be heard did Jennie tear herself out of her overwhelming emotions.

 
“Put it on,” Jennie’s slowly moving eyes took in how Lisa offered her military jacket.

She wanted to shake her head rigorously and reject it, not wanting to take anything from that sadist, but her body denied her request. Instead she timidly took it and put it on, feeling immediately that her jacket was more effective in shielding off the cold and reserving the warmth than her own one.

Since the jacket was too big for her, Lisa stepped closer to Jennie and made some adjustments which Jennie just accepted without another word, even though she really didn’t want to be touched or be close to her right now.

“I know your hands must be freezing, so take them as well,” Lisa struggled to keep her indifference but she was losing the fight as she was displaying overly care. Jennie with her racing mind had noticed, too, that the coldness evaporated in her voice and softness resonated instead. That was maybe the reason why was faster than she could think, “What about you?”

 
“We never punish anyone with something we can’t take ourselves,” Lisa coolly replied as she touched Jennie’s back with a feather light touch and signaled her to go back into the formation.

 
Seeing Lisa without a jacket and Jennie with hers resulted in lively whispers which died down immediately after Lisa’s attention was caught and she demanded silence.

 
Jennie, however, couldn’t reply to anyone before that command as to what had just happened.

She was confused and stunned and angry and cold and she hated the way Lisa had treated her all day long and that this little action had such a big impact.

 
She was mad and felt so many things at once that it was very difficult to sort her thoughts.

 
Jennie peeked over the shoulder of the one standing in front of her and stole a glance at Lisa.

It was minus degrees and she noticed right away that Lisa’s hand were red from the cold.

She had to stifle her gasp when she saw that Lisa demonstrated the next part of the course – crawling beneath the barbed wire. In the snow. With her bare hands.

She was without no jacket and the fabric of her normal uniform was not water resistant. But nothing of the struggle could be seen on her face when she was done with it and gave her go.

Jennie was impressed thoroughly despite just wanting to feel antipathy towards her.

There was no need to deny it – Lisa was really strong mentally and probably physically as well.

Shaking her head, she concentrated on the obstacle course. It had been draining and difficult, even more so since she was so small. But at some parts, an assistant leader offered his help which she was very grateful for.

There had been a moment, however, were she somehow wanted Lisa to help her, but that thought didn’t persist for a long while.

Nevertheless the experience could’ve been worse and Lisa’s warm jacket and her dry gloves made it more endurable.

After it was finally done, Lisa said some words of praise in the military manner – subtle and not too much.

With no time in between for Jennie to grab her jacket, she had to later retrieve it from Lisa again. And with that her attention was brought back to the one she couldn’t see from her place in the formation.

When they’d arrived at the warm canteen, she saw with full clarity Lisa’s drenched uniform and her wet hands from the molten snow. She marveled at her without wanting to, she was just too enticed about how she was able to keep her head up high. She really needed to return her jacket soon.

In the canteen she was bombarded with questions about her well-being and why she was wearing Lisa’s jacket. She told them how everything went down and earned another set of empathic glances.

Some suspicions of jealous classmates were dispersed, who thought that Lisa had been favoring Jennie, though that would’ve been quite the sick kind of preferring someone or giving them a better treatment.

After she ended her story, a wave of complaints swept through the troop; they were so fed up, cold and exhausted. They all talked at once and within the mix of different voices saying how horrible everything was, she barely ate and thought about Lisa.

After battling with herself, she finally stood up and excused herself.

All eyes were on her when she was approaching Lisa and tapping her on the shoulder. All of Lisa’s comrades stared the girl.

Some with disdain, but most of them looked at her like she’d be a piece of candy. Jennie grew uncomfortable, there were soldiers at the table she’d never seen before and who must’ve been over 20 already.

 
Her classmates watched as Lisa stood up and both of them went outside of the canteen. The lively murmur intensified and rumors were started. Suspicions about them being an item arose again and spread like a wildfire.

“Here is your jacket, the worst is over now – if you obey,” they were now behind the canteen and Lisa was the first one to speak. Jennie only nodded in response and began to Lisa’s jacket.

 
The soldier attentively followed how Jennie’s small, slim finger wrapped around the zipper and pulled it down, revealing her appealing figure. In contrast to the big jacket, she seemed even thinner and the dark, tight pullover complimented her figure a lot.

They exchanged their jackets and when Lisa completed her uniform again, a sweet scent engulfed her and she knew that it was Jennie’s.

Her scent was now temporarily imprinted into the fabric of her uniform and it was pleasant.

 A soldier was never to smell like anything. Not bad, not good.

Just neutral.

Maybe it was because Lisa had grown up in a men dominated environment that she was so attracted to the femininity Jennie embodied.

“You can keep my gloves, yours are still wet,” Jennie again didn’t say anything and only bowed slightly, mumbling a small thank you before going away first. She couldn’t meet her eye and Lisa wondered why she was so affected. She was getting a dose of her own medicine and she hated it.

The rest of the day went faster than the first half.

The high schoolers were shown the accommodation of the cadets, about what they were expected to do for the first two years in training and there had been demonstrations of tanks driving and rifles shooting.

At half past five in the evening they were dismissed and driven back to the school were they would be picked up or would simply go home.

 
Everyone was exhausted to the core, frozen to the bone and glad that they were just normal students and not cadets in the army.

 
Lisa drove home with a bad feeling, she knew that Jennie was really mad at her and she didn’t know how to get on her good side again. She also didn’t know why she cared, but she cared.