Astronomy // Duty After School

Chapter Five.

(Y/n) sat behind the camcorder, already having set up the stand and the camera on it. She had managed to convince Ja-yun to allow her to snag an interview or two in the five or so minutes that remained before they needed to be on the field. Jun-hi and So-yun jumped at the opportunity to get out of the barracks, where Ja-yun was strictly watching the girls unpack.

"—realized it right at that moment," So-yun said, concluding her retelling of prior events. Beside her, Jun-hi was tugging on her roots, looking stressed out of her mind. "'Gosh! Something is definitely wrong here!'"

"Should I withdraw the agreement now?" Jun-hi asked (Y/n).

"They were already collected," (Y/n) said.

"What?! No one asked for it!" Jun-hi gaped, bewildered as to when her contract could have been collected. She and So-yun looked at one another.

"Shit!" The two girls slumped in their seats and (Y/n) stopped recording.

"On the field," Ja-yun called, momentarily poking her head into the room. The girls groaned in dismay and pushed themselves to their feet.

"You coming?" So-yun asked.

"I need to put the stand away," (Y/n) answered, removing the camcorder from the stand and then pushing it down to resume a smaller size easier for storage. She brought it back to the barrack, where she grabbed her sunscreen and a water bottle. She placed both the sunscreen and the camcorder into her skirt pocket and refilled her water bottle on the way down to the field. She got into the back of her class's line, right behind Hui-rak and Tae-man.

"Attention, you'll be getting your personal firearms, so pay attention!" Chun-ho said. He went to check with his assistant instructors. "Shout out your firearm when you get yours. Understood?" He was met with silence. "I'll ask one more time: Understood?!"

"Yes!" the kids answered. One of the instructors in front of Class 3-2 picked up one of the firearms once Yu-jeong had given her attendance number. He handed it over to Chun-ho, who brought it to Yu-jeong.

"Trainee Number 4, Kim Yu-jeong. Mine is 701404," Yu-jeong said. Chun-ho nodded for her to go. In-hye walked forward and gave her attendance number.

"Trainee Number 5, Kim In-hye. I recieved 701405."

"Next," Chun-ho called. Deok-jung strode forward and said his attendance number. He was giddy as he recieved his firearm.

"Trainee Number 3, Kim Deok-jung!" the boy exclaimed, enunciating his name. "Recieved Firearm 701403!"

"Next," Chun-ho nodded.

"The weight isn't so bad," Deok-jung said to himself, raising the gun to eye level and pointing it all around. He froze as he pointed it at Chun-ho.

"Who said you could fool around with a firearm?!" Chun-ho seethed.

"I'm sorry," Deok-jung said, hurriedly bowing before he ran away. Yeong-shin gaped after him before turning to Jang-su.

"How can they trust us with guns?" Yeong-shin wondered, looking to be in disbelief as he fixed his glasses. Jang-su, who stood tall and with good posture, shook his head.

"I know," Jang-su said in agreement. He already felt used to it.

"We've got an entrance ceremony after this," So-chul commented, looking back at Tae-man and Hui-rak.

"What, really?" Hui-rak groaned.

"Didn't you see the schedule for this week?" So-chul frowned.

"Gosh, look at this guy. On top of things already," Hui-rak jeered.