“……”
The toes of the polished black shoes climbing the central staircase gleamed brightly.
The dark navy service trousers fit neatly around his legs, while the rows of ribbons arranged in perfect order across his left chest were more substantial than those of any other cadet.
Besides the densely packed ribbons, the man was covered in silver blocks and badges.
Cheong-ha instinctively frowned.
Her rival.
The longtime rival she had never once managed to defeat.
He was dressed impeccably, right down to his tie.
Whenever she saw the ‘Airborne Wings’ he possessed but she did not, her stomach twisted with envy and her competitive spirit flared.
Those wings, shaped like a diamond crown, were an honor awarded only to those who had parachuted from an altitude of 2,400 feet, and they were an honor Cheong-ha had failed to obtain.
‘No, my chest isn’t exactly something to be ashamed of either.’
If you let your frustration get the better of you, you had already lost.
She stole a glance at the precious ribbons she had worked so hard to earn.
Then Cheong-ha shook her head and began casually descending the long staircase.
The frivolous chatter of her fellow cadets brushed past her ears.
“Hey, did you see that lightning storm yesterday?”
“The sky flashing like crazy?”
“Yeah, I saw it.”
“There wasn’t even any rain, but the lightning just kept striking.”
“I heard on the news that lightning struck something like a hundred and thirty times, or was it forty?”
“I saw it too.”
“What did they say?”
“The whole cloud was apparently like some giant generator.”
“Pretty damn cool.”
“But they said the electrical current might have come from the stars.”
While several cadets who usually hung around with him came up the stairs joking and fooling around, only Cheon U-gyeong walked ahead with a cold expression.
He tucked his upside-down paper-boat-shaped garrison cap into his waistband and climbed the central staircase two or three steps at a time.
His tall, slender frame was striking.
Whenever younger cadets saw such a senior cadet serving as a company commander, they stopped and raised the edge of their hands to their brows in salute.
But he merely gave a brief nod toward their crooked ties and never lingered with his gaze.
His nicely tanned skin only added weight to his stern demeanor.
Every now and then, he would stop where he was and look at his phone, and for some reason, his normally smooth forehead would crease slightly.
The distance between them gradually closed.
It was just as she passed the noisy group.
“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
Ah……!
Suddenly, someone grabbed her elbow.
As her body staggered from the momentum, Cheon U-gyeong tightened his grip.
Their sharp gazes locked without hesitation, and a piercing pain shot into her bones.
Annoyed, Cheong-ha yanked at the arm he was holding, but he refused to let go.
“If you don’t answer, the Lieutenant General calls me.”
Even amid the chaos, his low voice burrowed into her ears.
The fellow cadets who had been walking behind them at a slight distance lightly patted Cheon U-gyeong on the back as they passed.
“The internet’s been acting weird since this morning, so we’re stopping by the administrative office first.”
They glanced this way with displeasure, but soon continued upstairs as though they were accustomed to the scene.
Only after they had disappeared into the distance did Cheong-ha bare her teeth.
“Don’t cling to me for no reason.”
“You’re the one who said we shouldn’t make it obvious that we live under the same roof.”
“Then you should have answered the phone properly.”
“It’s my business.”
“I’ll handle it myself.”
“No.”
“Because you can’t handle it, I’m the one who had to put up with the awkwardness.”
“……”
“I’d rather drink dog food.”
What an irritating bastard.
He looked down at Cheong-ha without a single crease in his posture.
For someone who talked about having to put up with awkwardness, he had never once lost the number-one spot in his entire school since middle school.
The same had been true ever since he entered the Air Force Academy.
Because of that, Cheong-ha was the one who had lived in her father’s shadow while carrying the label of perpetual second place.
No matter how much awkwardness you had endured, I had endured more.
And I had forced down far more of the meals prepared by my father’s woman than you ever had.
As she silently glared at him, Cheon U-gyeong’s indifferent gaze settled intently somewhere on her face.
After examining everything from her stiff cheeks to her disheveled crown, he coldly struck her shoulder as he walked past.
“Let’s just stop paying attention to each other.”
The chilly words dropped bluntly from above her head.
―The Air Force is essentially a corpse without its pilots.
The voice coming through the receiver was cold.
Cheong-ha blinked without making a sound.
Whenever she dealt with her father, she always suppressed her breathing first.
It was a habit she had never been able to break, even as an adult.
―You need to graduate at the top of your class and receive the President’s Award if you want things to look much better for your father when I get promoted.
―After that, once you successfully complete advanced flight training, I’ll assign you to a fighter squadron.
―Even if it’s difficult, endure it there for a few years.
―Then I’ll push you up the ranks even faster than U-gyeong.
“……”
―Just wait until they hold a personnel hearing someday.
―Those bastards who pulled every one of their children out of military service through draft-dodging scandals won’t even be able to raise their heads in front of me.
―There’s no medal more honorable than having a daughter serving as a fighter pilot.
Her father laughed aloud in satisfaction.
A personnel hearing.
Then that meant a ministerial position.
Her father seemed to be aiming not only for the four stars that only eight people could wear, but even beyond that.
―Tomorrow, right?
―The gondola test.
“……”
“I’ll be able to do it this time.”
“I’ve gained some weight too.”
The so-called G-test.
Gravity-acceleration tolerance training.
Cheong-ha repeatedly clenched and opened her cramping palms.
When the gondola rotated rapidly in circles, she had to endure a load of more than 300 kilograms for thirty seconds.
It was a process every aspiring pilot had to pass, but Cheong-ha repeatedly blacked out during it.
The smooth path she was supposed to follow had already been decided, and failure was not an option.
That was why she had gained about five kilograms through weight training whenever she had the opportunity.
Strong muscles were essential for enduring high gravitational acceleration.
“I’m confident about tomorrow.”
―……We’ll see.
―You can’t even jump from a high place, and you can’t withstand gravity.
―Being a pilot ultimately comes down to talent.
―There’s such a thing as an innate sense for flying.
―So if it looks like you’re only going to become an ordinary Air Force officer……
“……”
―Quit.
“Father!”
―If you can’t do it, then just remain Lieutenant General Im Il-hwan’s only daughter.
―You can always marry a pilot instead, so it won’t be a major problem.
“……!”
Her shoulders stiffened.
Her father knew exactly how to threaten her.
He knew perfectly well that she would never quit, which was precisely why he always provoked her like this.
Cheong-ha covered the bottom of her phone so that the surrounding sounds would not be picked up.
The blue sky and fluffy sheep-like clouds.
The man she had seen between them suddenly surfaced in her mind, leaving her speechless.
Her already sensitive stomach twisted painfully.
He said it wouldn’t be a problem, but there were plenty of problems.
To put it bluntly, her pride had been hurt.
However, with only one semester left until graduation, she could not get herself dragged into something strange and cause an unnecessary commotion.
Father, actually, something strange was sent to me.
I want to report it to the Training Officer, hand over my phone, and catch whoever did it.
Their intentions seem suspicious, and it’s frightening.
Yes, the truth is, I’m scared……
―Don’t tarnish your father’s reputation over something trivial.
―Come home for the weekend.
―Come and have some of your stepmother’s cooking before you leave.
―She’s so excited to feed you that she’s already bought ginseng, abalone, and everything else.
Step mother?
Calling a woman who had merely joined households with her father that was too generous a title.
Cheong-ha’s lips, which had been about to pour out everything she was feeling, snapped shut.
Instead, she stared at the sign of a store she had never imagined she would ever visit in her life.
It was a digital data recovery service.
The screen was completely black.
Indecipherable symbols appeared and disappeared before her eyes, and an old, creaking chair slowly turned.
The owner, who had been tapping away at the keyboard, asked the same question for what felt like the umpteenth time.
“Student, who did you say you received this video from?”
“Do you think I’m lying?”
“I’m telling you, it suddenly came to me out of nowhere.”
“That’s what I’m asking.”
“Who sent it?”
“I came to you because I don’t know who sent it……!”
Ignoring all of her father’s calls, Cheong-ha had left the academy without permission, and now she struck her chest in frustration.
The owner sighed along with her and lowered his voice.
“Now, student, do you see this?”
“This means the source cannot be identified.”
“That’s why I keep asking you.”
“First of all, this isn’t a manipulated video.”
“This really is a DVR attached to a fighter jet.”
“It’s a video recording device, you see―”
Not manipulated……?
Cheong-ha swallowed hard.
