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🥡Arrival🥡

It's June 8th, I'm 25, and today I am arriving at the base of Al Mazrah, it's very.. Unwelcoming appearing.. everything is gloomy, brown, grim, and just.. unpleasant. I look out the window of the land rover I'm in with two female Chinese soldiers. Their general had a contract with KorTac so they're being sent to help on other operations. I can only hope they aren't in my group because they are really chatty in the back. The driver is silent. I look at him and the patch on his shoulder, he's from England, so I can only assume he doesn't know Chinese or Korean. I hum and look back out the window, worried that I could accidentally cause a miscommunication because of my lack of experience with English. '번역을 도와줄 사람이 있기를 기도합니다..' [I pray that there is someone who can help me translate] I think to myself.
We soon arrive at a metal fence with a woman in a military uniform in the booth right between the two gates. The woman checks the driver's ID with a flashlight and the rest of us in the vehicle get out our IDs since we're new on the base. The lady checks all IDs and opens the gate for us. The man driving continues slower than before and pulls into a parking lot full of choptops, ATVs, Land Rovers, Armored Trucks, and Tactical Vehicles. Once we're parked, I get out and grab my duffel bag, waiting for the girls to get out and follow the man that drove us here before trailing the three, closely and protectively.. force of habit. I take in my new surroundings as we enter the main building.
The 4-star general approaches us with 2 people and with 3 keys. I bow my head to him quickly. He examines the keys before handing them to each of us with specific instructions. He speaks loud and with leadership, although I cannot understand him, I can tell this man is worthy of my respect. "Hello, you three, welcome to KorTac. You each have your own room numbers and rooms with an 'A' or 'B' are on the first floor, 'C' and 'D' are on floor two." One of the men next to him turns to me a speaks in Korean, translating what the general said, "안녕하세요, 세 명, KorTac에 오신 것을 환영합니다. 당신은 각각 자신의 방 번호를 가지고 있으며 'A' 또는 'B'가 있는 방은 1층에 있으며, 'C'와 'D'는 2층에 있습니다." The other person with the general speaks to the girls in Chinese. The Korean translator then introduces himself and points to my key with 'C12' engraved into the metal, and tells me that I am on floor two in the men's sector. He explains that when entering the building and going straight down the hall, the men's sector will be the last hall to the left. The women's sector is on the right.
The girls follow their translator to their rooms, but the general stays with me and my translator as we walk down the hall. The general begins speaking, "Han Min-ki, it's a pleasure to have you. You're mainly going to team with Roze, Horangi, Stiletto, Valeria, Oni, and König for the foreseeable future. You'll definitely team with many others, but they are more suited for your skill sets. Horangi is also Korean and speaks Korean, so I've placed you in a room with him, he can help translate as well. He's on a mission right now so you can settle in before he's back." The translator repeats this to me in Korean and I nod, following them.
We make it to my room and part ways, I enter and sniff the cool air, it's not a fresh smell, but it smells familiar, like wood, men's deodorant, a tinge of cologne, incense sticks, and the faint smell of bleach. It may not sound very pleasant, but to me, it smells good and comforting. I look around, and quickly decide that my side of the room must be the one that is basically untouched and doesn't have a bedside alarm. I set the duffel bag on my bed and quickly make my way around the room, snooping in every nook and cranny; under the beds, under dressers, in any cupboards, bookshelves, etc, just another force of habit.
I begin to unpack my stuff on my bed, putting the pictures of my deceased older sister and my two younger sisters on my nightstand. I take my bodywash, shampoo, and conditioner on an empty ledge in the shower, I put my satin pillowcase on the pillow after taking off the other pillowcase. I peer in the closet, seeing what room there is. There's actually a divider between two sections, so I put my few extra clothes into a drawer of the empty half of the closet because I don't have my uniform top to put on the hangers or my uniform pants to fold below the hangers yet. I stick a wad of money in the safe that's in the open section under my nightstand.
I sit down on my bed and look at the minor decorations placed around his side of the room, I wonder what he'll be like, but I can't shake the feeling that he's probably a little silly but also quite serious when he wants to be. He has books, incense sticks, a few stress relievers on the desk, a massage gun in the desk drawer, and the most interesting of all, a big tiger stuffed animal lying on his bed. I also noticed several pairs of the same kind of sunglasses in his side of the closet.. He's definitely intriguing, but I know everyone has their story.

Word Count: 963 total