Astronomy // Duty After School

Chapter Twelve.

As Class 3-2 headed back from the shooting range, their conversations were quite scattered. Some remained on the subject of shooting, others chatted about things unrelated to shooting, and still others chatted about the places they were missing as they walked through the city.

"My shots improved from the solar system," So-yeon said proudly.

"Improved? Improved how?"

"BBQ chicken, scallion chicken, I like it all—"

"Damn it. I'm hungry."

"So cranky."

"My ears hurt."

"Mine, too..."

"Be quiet, I'll do better next time."

As they walked, (Y/n) grew distracted from her game of keeping balance on the yellow line by the bullet holes she spotted in some signs. There was a short yelp from her as her foot rolled over a bullet shell on the ground. Yeong-hun held her arm under the chance she actually fell and Hae-jun held his hand out in case she tipped backward, but (Y/n) had managed to stop herself. She grimaced and held her knees, which she had locked before she caught herself, and was now in pain as a result. Several people glanced back in worry.

"You good?" Hui-rak asked. Yeong-hun's eyes were on the bullet shell (Y/n) had slipped on.

"I'm fine," (Y/n) dismissed. Chun-ho held up his fist to cease the class's movement.

"Second Platoon, stop."

"Stop!" Ja-yun called back to the rest of the class.

"We'll take a ten-minute rest in our current location," Chun-ho said.

"Ten-minute rest," Ja-yun repeated. Ms. Park looked quite knowingly at Chun-ho, exchanging a nod.

"Guys, let's take a rest on the side," Ms. Park said. "Rest up." The class obliged, breaking into two and heading to different sides of the walkway. "Don't go far." The kids finally noticed the bullets and picked them up for inspection.

"That's from earlier," So-yun insisted.

"Why is this here?" Sun-yi wondered.

"Take it, take it," Ha-na said.

"Should we?" Sun-yi mumbled.

"What are you up to?" Ms. Park questioned as (Y/n) remained standing on the yellow line, leaning against a tree as she looked down at her personal camera. Her helmet was tucked under her arm due to finally having a break. The helmets were (rightfully) quite heavy and she was often left with a headache after wearing them for a long period of time.

"Oh, the pictures from earlier," (Y/n) answered. "I wanted to see how they turned out." Given that her camera was more professional than the camcorder, their faces were clearer. "See? Better quality, better smiles." Ms. Park cracked a smile.

"May I?" Ms. Park requested, holding her hand out for the camera. (Y/n) nodded, passing the camera over. She began walking along the yellow line toward Jang-su and Yeong-shin while Ms. Park looked down at the pictures, even going back to the ones (Y/n) had taken before that day (and also the ones before training began). She looked up to make a comment before catching (Y/n)'s worried stare on the soldiers as Chun-ho and Won-bin walked off the search the area. Ms. Park's eyes landed on Yeong-hun, who was watching with an unreadable expression. She glanced around a bit more, noticing that all of the most observant students were starting to get suspicious. Yeong-hun and (Y/n) were perhaps the only ones with a real grasp of the situation, but the others would surely catch on that something bad was going on. "(Y/n)!" Ms. Park called, catching the majority's attention.