Waterfalls || Yeonbin

chapter 20: recruits

June 2, 1940

Commander Denniston and I were in charge of some of the new recruits today, waiting for them to finish changing and come to the training course. I was dressed already, wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt to exercise in. I don't normally wear this sort of thing in front of the recruits, but today was there first day of training, so I was chosen to run them through the course. I've done hit hundreds of times at this point, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Once they all got out onto the field, they were very talkative. Barely even men yet from being only eighteen or so. Commander Denniston looked over to me, giving a soft smile as he nudged his head in their direction and said, "Three minutes over time."

I nodded in understanding, quickly turning to the recruits as I yelled, "Quiet!..." They all stilled, turning to me instead of speaking to their friends, "For every minute someone is late, everyone does ten push-ups, and that includes not paying attention. It's three minutes after nine. Next time, I won't warn you..." They all blankly stared at me for a moment, making me raise an eyebrow, "Why is nobody on the ground?! Let's go!" I yelled, making all of them instantly drop.

I paced back and forth, watching them like a hawk as they did their pushups. Once they were done, they were all still in a cluster. It's quite frustrating to speak to a group like this, "Everyone in a line and face front!" I raised my voice, making sure they could all hear me.

They quickly scrambled to get in a line, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with one another. There was only about twenty of them, but that doesn't mean I need to go easy. They need to prepare to take on Hitler, and I'm responsible for them, "Everyone better be listening because I do not repeat myself. You're all coming into this as confused as I was at your age, and I understand that. But we're currently fighting the Germans, and all of you need to be taking this seriously or else more of our men are going to be dying..." I started.

I shook my head a little, realizing that I was rambling a bit. I kept pacing in front of them, going from end to end, "This course will frustrate some of you, and others will prevail. But that doesn't mean you give up after the first try. If you do, you can walk yourself back home. Understood?..." I said, but everyone was still quiet. I rolled my eyes, yelling, "Why is no one giving me an affirmation?!"

"Yes, sir!" They all screamed right after, avoiding my eyes and facing in front.

I relaxed my shoulders, not wanting to scare them too much, but I cannot be too loose with them. The classroom is much different than out here. Both need to be orderly, of course, but here, the physical strength of some will be more prevalent than those with academic strengths. Not saying that one is necessarily better than the other. It's like the difference between Soobin and I. We're still helping in the war effort, but we're just using our own personal strengths to the maximum.

"I will go through this course once, so pay attention. And then you will each go through one-by-one and we will record your time. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" They all screamed again before I made my way to the beginning of the course.

They first have to jump over a small barrier to begin and then sprint to the crawling section. There's barbed wire thirty centimeters off the ground for them to crawl under. Explaining each obstacle along the way, I went through the course until I got to the wall. This is where most people crumble. You need a good amount of physical strength in order to do this. A four-meter-tall wall with a single rope to help you climb up. I've done it dozens of times, so I didn't think it was going to be a problem. Yet, right when I got to the top, I felt something pop in my left shoulder. I screamed in pain, but I wasn't about to let go of the rope while I was four meters in the air. It would be embarrassing if I fell as well when I'm supposed to be the one showing them how to do this. So, I ignored it. Putting the shooting pain to the side as I made my way over the wall and quickly dropped down.

I knew I couldn't show how hurt I was, so I played it off like the scream was me trying to add strength to the obstacle. I bit my tongue as I walked back to them, trying to keep my shoulder as still as possible as I casually asked, "Any volunteers to go first?"

. . . . . . . . . . 

Soobin was going to begin freaking out as soon as I saw him. I just knew it. I snuck away to the infirmary right after Commander Denniston and I were finished with the recruits for the day, the pain becoming unbearable. The doctor said I badly sprained a ligament, the name of which was so long that it went in one ear and directly out the other side. He made a sling for my arm from a piece of fabric he has for exactly these occasions, wanting me to rest my shoulder until it's healed.

I was still in my exercise clothes, dirty and covered in sweat as I went inside Soobin's house. I called out to him as I closed the door behind me, "Darling?"

I saw him as I walked into the kitchen, turning the stove off and grabbing the tea kettle sitting on top, "I'm just making some—" He stopped himself when he turned to me, lightly gasping before moving closer, "My god, what happened?!"

I sighed, afraid he was going to worry too much, "What did you hurt? Are you alright? Do you need medicine—"

"Soobin..." I stopped him, reaching my good arm up to gently place my hand on his cheek, "I'm fine."

His eyes widened, "You're not fine! Are you mad?!" He replied, reaching out to touch my arm.

I winced a bit when his hand fell on my shoulder, flinching away from him as I said, "The doctor said I sprained a ligament in my shoulder."

His eyes went wider, more than I've ever seen them, "Y-You need to sit— or no, you should lay down. And then I'll get you ice for your arm and anything you need I-I'll get for you..." He rambled on, his eyes going all over as he spoke. I sighed and just allowed him to continue, knowing he's doing this all out of love.

I didn't want him to worry, but I just complied with everything he did for me. Even if I didn't need to, I still laid back on the couch because he wanted me to, sitting up a bit so he could put a pillow under my shoulder. It was completely unnecessary, but I'm just leaving him be. He filled up an ice pouch for my shoulder, making sure to break up the ice so it didn't hurt me. I chuckled at his actions, knowing how unneeded they were because it's not like it was the end of the world. Although, I guess to Soobin, it was.

I think he sees me as more of his protector, someone he can count on to keep him safe. Maybe seeing me hurt like this scared him a bit, but I'm always going to protect him. I don't care if I'm on my death bed, nobody touches my darling.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing when he grabbed my hand, beginning to count all of my fingers to make sure they were there. I slid out of his hold, bringing my hand up to his cheek again and softly rubbing under his eye with my thumb, "You're being adorable, but I have all my fingers and toes."

He sighed, but it was more like he was taking a small breath of relief after not being able to for the last twenty minutes. His eyes were soft, still seeming a bit unsure as I added, "I promise, I'm fine, darling. This is all perfect. Thank you."

He didn't respond, just leaning down instead to give me a kiss. His lips were soft, realizing how much I miss them throughout the day when he's not with me. My hand naturally slid from his jaw to his hair, running my fingers through his silky locks. We both melted into it, dying to kiss him since I've gotten here. Yet, Soobin has been so worried about me that I haven't gotten the chance to kiss my lover. When he pulled away, I pulled on his nape for another kiss, which surprised him a bit. His breath lightly hitched against my lips, not expecting that from me.

Soobin complied nonetheless, tilting his head to deepen our kiss as well. I suddenly felt a smile form on his lips, lightly giggling as I tried to kiss him. I gave up and chuckled as well, whispering, "What's so amusing?"

He looked into my eyes, rubbing his nose against mine, "I feel stupid counting your fingers."

I chuckled again, smiling at the way his eyes turned into little macaroons, "As I said, you're adorable."

He went back in for another kiss, and I wasn't about to deny it. Kissing Soobin is the highlight of my day. Honestly, just being with him is the highlight of my day. I don't know, something about the way we fit perfectly together. It's almost as if we were made to find each other, our life goal to seek each other out. Maybe that's just our fate, and I wasn't about to question it.