Astronomy // Duty After School

Chapter Eleven.

Class 3-2 stood in pairs in a line, chatting as they waited on their instructors so they would be able to depart to the shooting range. Deok-jung was the last to turn up and he was quickly waved into the line by Ms. Park. Yu-jeong counted the kids in the class to make sure everyone was there. She picked up Sun-yi's fallen helmet and gave it to Yeon-ju, who put it on Sun-yi. Bo-ra was rubbing sunscreen into Ha-na's face.

"Ms. Park, Ms. Park!" So-yun called as she and In-hye came jogging over. "Are you coming with us to the real bullet shooting?"

"Of course, I'm coming. Don't worry," Ms. Park assured, fixing the girls' chest rigs. The girls pumped their fists. "Just get the training done properly."

"Did I get everything?" (Y/n) asked, turning to Yeong-hun after she finished rubbing in the sunscreen on her face. Yeong-hun made to take her arm to guide (Y/n)'s hand but wound up choosing against it and instead rubbed the sunscreen on her nose himself. "Thanks."

"(Y/n), can we borrow that?" Yeon-ju asked. (Y/n) nodded and extended her arm out past Il-ha and Hui-rak. Jang-su took the sunscreen and gave it to Yeon-ju and Sun-yi.

"Second Platoon headcount is complete," Ja-yun said to Chun-ho.

"How is he so handsome?" So-yeon swooned, grabbing Jun-hi's arm. She was plenty aware of Chun-ho being behind them.

"Cut it out!" Jun-hi seethed, swatting away So-yeon's hands. So-yeon, in turn, shoved her. Won-bin and Hae-jun made their appearance outside.

"All preparations are complete," Won-bin informed.

"Second Platoon, attention," Chun-ho called.

"Attention!" the kids repeated.

"Make sure to follow us to the shooting range so as to not have any deserters. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Second Platoon, depart."

"Understood!" The class began their departure at the same time the other classes were heading down to the field for training. The sky was partially cloudy and the streets and shops were empty. (Y/n) supposed that, even without the evacuation order issued our, the streets would need to be clear to prevent any panic that would ensue at the sight of a gun.

"Wow, wow, wow! Hey!" Jun-hi pointed up. So-yeon scowled and nudged her.

"Gosh, you startled me!"

"What is this? Why are the streets so empty?" Tae-man wondered.

"That's true. All the stores are closed, too," So-chul added. Yeong-su was clinging to his arm.

"Wow... It looks like the world has ended," Wu-taek commented. So-chul shook Yeong-su away.

"Shit."

"How is there not a single person around?"

"There's not a single rat roaming around."

"I didn't hear any of the firetrucks from last time," Deok-jung said. "Right, Kimchi?" Chi-yeol kept quiet, looking awfully anxious to be in a ghost town. "Do you need to poop?"

"Oh my gosh," So-yun scoffed, looking back at the boys. "Why are you asking him if he needs to poop when you're the only one who wants to poop?"

"Hey, so nasty," In-hye said.

"Second Platoon, the walk to the shooting range will be in silence," Chun-ho said.

"Silence! No chatting," Ja-yun repeated. When she turned around, Jun-hi held two fingers up as though preparing to poke her. Yu-jeong hit her arm, catching Ja-yun's attention. Jun-hi played it off as though she was fixing her helmet and So-yeon smiled falsely. Chi-yeol grew momentarily distracted, resulting in Ae-seol bumping into him. Chi-yeol hastily apologized and Deok-jung pulled him forward.
When they finally reached the shooting range, they found another class from a different school going through their firing steps, waiting for their turn to shoot. They whispered to one another, looking at the other class and checking out the ones they found cute. Chun-ho went and saluted the soldiers that were in charge of operating the shooting range. Ja-yun moved to stand in front of where the kids would form their line.
"Class 3-2, line up in front of Platoon Sergeant!" Ja-yun ordered.