My Girlfriend Is Very Good To Me [EN]: Chapter 160

Ep. 159

The last week felt much like the first. At least the first week had a tense atmosphere, filled with unfamiliar surroundings and drill sergeants and assistant instructors trying to establish discipline.

But now, everyone was so relaxed they were moving sluggishly. They were still following the basics, but with the intensity of the training and the tension gone, it felt like time had stopped.

Thanks to that, the days from Monday to Friday, leading up to our discharge, dragged on like hell. I could see why people exchanged contact information at training camp.

Because there was so little to do, exchanging contact information and talking about it became the main activity. There was even a crazy guy who tried to make a board game out of torn notebook paper, but he gave up pretty quickly.

Of course, it wasn’t a guarantee that contact would be completely cut off. If we saw each other’s faces a little more consistently, we might be able to maintain the relationships for a long time, but it would be difficult. Except for Yoo-joon, this would probably be the last time I saw most of them.

“I’m out of snacks…”

“It’s amazing you ate them all the way until last week. How much did you even bring?”

“I hid them everywhere, but they’re all gone now.”

“Well, thanks to you, I ate well… I feel like I should give you snack money.”

“Forget it. If your family isn’t coming, do you want to leave with me after the graduation ceremony?”

“Why would I join you? Just have a good time with your family. I’m going straight home anyway.”

“Ha, damn. I’m so jealous, seriously.”

The training camp had both a graduation ceremony and a discharge ceremony. After the graduation ceremony, we could have visits and outings with our families. So, most of my fellow soldiers would probably go out with their families, but I had told them not to come to the graduation ceremony before I even came to the training camp.

I was going straight home after being discharged anyway, so it wasn’t worth it to make them take a day off just to see me for a few hours. I wanted to see Hee-na and Sa-rang as soon as possible, but I decided to wait a little longer.

Besides, if I saw Sa-rang and then had to say goodbye again and come back a day later, it would be hard to deal with the aftermath. It seemed best to just meet them when I was discharged.

I heard that some other full-time reservists [those who serve in the military while living at home] besides me would be stuck at the unit. They probably stayed for the same reason as me.

Well, anyway, the training camp was really over now.

It was quite fun, more than I thought.

—

Discharge day.

Tension began to circulate in the unit again. It didn’t matter to me, but for the active-duty soldiers, this was the real beginning of their military life.

I said goodbye to Yoo-joon, whom I wouldn’t see for a while.

“Take care of yourself, and text me when you can use your phone. I’ll hang out with you.”

“You too, hyung [older brother or male friend]… What’s there to be careful about for a full-time reservist who’s going to have it so easy? And you’re even at the local regiment? Seriously.”

“So easy~”

“I really didn’t want to say this to you, hyung, but can I punch you once?”

“Nope.”

Shortly after, Yoo-joon packed his bags and got on the bus to his assigned unit. Most of the major events had ended at yesterday’s graduation ceremony, and today was just the day to leave for the assigned unit.

“I’m leaving.”

“Take care~”

Actually, since phones were allowed in the military these days, there wasn’t really a tearful farewell. Maybe it was because we had been together every day here, but I felt a little empty.

After sending Yoo-joon off, I also had a thick duffel bag on my back. I had packed this and that, but except for the military uniform and documents, everything else would probably be useless. I could use my own stuff at home.

Still, it felt wrong to throw away the memories of the training camp, so I packed everything in as much as possible.

After most of the active-duty soldiers had left, I and the other full-time reservists had some waiting time before it was finally time to leave the training camp.

I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding as I walked. I would be able to see my family for the first time in six weeks.

The full-time reservists who were taking the military bus left first, and then I could head to where my family was with the car. Now, I just had to go home on my own and report to work on Monday.

As I walked around with the duffel bag on my back, there was already a small figure running towards me.

“Daddy!!!!!”

Sa-rang, who seemed to have grown even more in the time I hadn’t seen her, ran to me and hugged me.

Wrapping her arms around my neck, Sa-rang held on tightly as if to keep me from going anywhere.

I stroked my daughter’s head and opened my mouth.

“Did our Sa-rang miss Daddy a lot?”

“Yes!! Sa-rang counted the numbers very hard every day! I missed Daddy so much!!”

“Good job~ Now Daddy won’t go anywhere, so don’t worry.”

“Promise Sa-rang!”

“Yes, I promise.”

I don’t know how much I missed her. This small body, this warmth, this cute voice.

As I hugged Sa-rang tightly, Hee-na hugged me from behind with tears in her eyes.

“You really… worked hard, honey…”

“What hard work? It must have been hard for you to wait for me, right?”

“Yeah… it was so hard… You’re not going anywhere anymore, are you?”

“No. I’ll be right next to you from now on.”

“Promise me too. You have to keep it.”

Then she kissed me softly. I missed this so much too. Hee-na liked skinship [physical affection], so we kissed several times every day, but I couldn’t do that overnight.

Amidst that touching family reunion, Hee-sung hyung, who had volunteered to drive again today, also approached me.

I was holding Sa-rang, and Hee-na was leaning against me, so I didn’t have a free hand, so I greeted hyung with a smile.

“Long time no see, hyung~”

In response to my greeting, hyung put a hand on my shoulder and replied.

“Welcome back, Han Yeon-hoo. I’ve been waiting for you to come back.”

“What’s with this welcome? Why are you so uneasy?”

“Why? Because without you… No. Han Sa-rang! Daddy’s here, so shall we go get ice cream?!”

“Is Daddy going too?”

Hyung, who had been trailing off, suddenly brought up the story of eating ice cream. Sa-rang looked at me, not hyung, and asked.

Ice cream… I don’t mind. I have plenty of time anyway.

“Of course, I’m going with you. Daddy’s not going to be away from Sa-rang anymore, right?”

“Really?! Sa-rang wants to be with Daddy every day! I want to eat ice cream together too!”

“Finally…”

Hee-sung hyung had a strangely moved look on his face at Sa-rang’s cheerful answer. I don’t know why.

“It’s not like Sa-rang liking ice cream is a new thing, why are you like that?”

“You’re just having it easy here, so you don’t even know what’s been going on at home…”

“Easy? That’s harsh.”

That was really harsh. Of course, it wasn’t as hard as I thought, but easy? It was so hard not seeing Hee-na and Sa-rang for six weeks.

And Hee-na answered my question instead. She was smelling my scent, hugging me from the side so that Sa-rang wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

“Sa-rang hardly ate any snacks or ice cream while you were gone.”

“Really? Sa-rang wouldn’t do that… Sa-rang, why didn’t you eat ice cream?”

“Because I wanted to eat it with Daddy… So I didn’t eat it. Daddy’s here, so I’ll eat it now!”

“Sa-rang…”

It was touching. Come to think of it, I was almost always with Sa-rang when she ate something. It was natural since I was at home anyway.

Besides, she really liked sharing snacks and ice cream with me, but I didn’t think she would be thinking this far.

Sa-rang was saying this, so I couldn’t not eat ice cream. I wanted to buy her as many snacks and ice cream as she wanted.

Hee-na wouldn’t scold us today.

“Shall we go then? Let’s stop by the house first and put down my bag, and then take Sa-rang to eat some ice cream or whatever.”

“Okay! Wait, let’s take a picture first! While you’re wearing your military uniform!”

“Shall we? Then everyone…”

“I didn’t bring my selfie stick, so oppa [older brother or male friend], please take a picture. Like this!”

“…Okay.”

So, I was able to take a family photo with my wife and daughter, whom I had met for the first time in six weeks, holding my neck tightly.

Well, I asked a passerby to take a picture of the four of us, including hyung.

And on the way home.

Thanks to the two of them not wanting to let go of me, the three of us ended up sitting in the back seat. Hee-na was on my right, and Sa-rang was on my lap.

Looking only at my face and never letting go of me, I could sense what my life would be like in the future.

Well, what does it matter.

I didn’t want to be away from Hee-na or Sa-rang at all.

Forever like this, together.

We will be together.

—(feat. Hee-na)

Even after the first call with Yeon-hoo, time was still passing. Although it was slow, as if it had stopped.

Sa-rang had recovered to some extent, although not as much as before, and I was able to cheer up because I could at least hear his voice.

However, when Yeon-hoo’s clothes and other items arrived home by 택배 [Taekbae; Korean delivery service].

I unknowingly shed a tear. I was glad Sa-rang wasn’t next to me. And when I read Yeon-hoo’s letter on top of those clothes.

<─ Besides, the training camp isn't as hard as I thought. Rather, not seeing you and Sa-rang is the hardest. But there's a fun comrade, so I'm getting along well with him. So don't worry too much. I'll call you every weekend. I love you, Hee-na. I love Sa-rang too!>

I thought it was fortunate that I saw this letter after talking to Yeon-hoo. If I had read this letter before hearing Yeon-hoo’s voice, I probably would have cried.

There wasn’t anything special in it, but hearing each other’s feelings in writing touched me somewhere emotionally.

Nevertheless, after calming my somewhat erratic heart, I passed Yeon-hoo’s letter on to the other family members. After that, it was a continuous wait again.

Week after week. On weekends, I would sit with Sa-rang in front of the phone from the afternoon, just staring at it.

Perhaps because Yeon-hoo wasn’t there, Sa-rang, who had recovered but still didn’t eat snacks, was focused on practicing writing while waiting for the phone call. She said she wanted to write more letters to Daddy.

My daughter’s mindset was cute and admirable.

“Eomma [Mom]! Sa-rang wrote all the letters!”

“Really? Shall we take a look?”

Sa-rang’s letter, like the first one she wrote last week, was still crooked and had many misspelled words.

I knew that Yeon-hoo would be very touched to receive this. Maybe even more than my letter. It was a shame, but I couldn’t help it. Sa-rang wrote it so hard.

In that way, I exchanged letters with Yeon-hoo and continued to have short phone calls every week.

Before I knew it, the day Yeon-hoo was coming back was approaching. It was by no means a short time. I was newly amazed at the people who waited for their lovers who went to the military.

I was having such a hard time even with less than two months, how could I endure two years?

Finally, the day came.

With oppa, who took a day off without fail and volunteered to drive, and my lovely daughter, who had been waiting for this day with me.

I went to meet Yeon-hoo.

At the training camp, which I had come back to in six weeks, many trainees were leaving on buses, and I could see my husband only after most of those people had left.

Wearing a military uniform, slightly tanned. Still smiling beautifully as he approached us.

I stopped in place for a moment and watched Sa-rang run to Yeon-hoo first.

For me, for us, this was all we needed. This was all we needed.

If Yeon-hoo smiled at me like that in front of me, what more could I need in the world?

Although this training camp life was unavoidable, I never wanted to let him fall away from my side again.

Yes. This is not confinement, but just a wife’s cute wish to be with her beloved husband.

So surely, Yeon-hoo will understand.

Right, honey?