Idol Hides His Military Service

"This instructor can become an angel or a devil, depending on how you do."

Unlike Lee Sion’s usual perky voice, a low, weighty voice rang out over the beach.

"Akk!"

And to that voice, the Iam members and the Marine camp staff clenched their teeth and answered with an "Akk!"

Hakyoon still couldn’t believe this scene.

"Trainee Lee Gahyeon, do you have a complaint?"

It didn’t seem like Hakyoon was the only one who couldn’t accept what was happening.

Among the members, Lee Gahyeon had a look on her face that made it seem like she, in particular, had a problem with Lee Sion’s command.

Maybe Lee Sion noticed that expression too, because she singled Lee Gahyeon out and asked if she had a complaint, and—

"Ah... no!"

"That face says otherwise."

"N-noooo akk!!!"

"That’s it! That voice!"

It seemed that even if she had complaints, she couldn’t rebel.

After all, the command ability Lee Sion had shown was so professional that even Hakyoon—who had served—was reminded of his old company commander. The members who hadn’t been to the military had nothing they could pick at.

In an instant, Lee Sion had snatched the Marine instructor’s red octagonal cap and jammed it down on her head, and now she was controlling the members, the instructor, and even the assistant instructors.

'How did it turn into this?'

Watching it, Hakyoon couldn’t hide how miserable he felt.

- Enough! From now on, I’m in command!

- No... I’m the instructor, though?

- And with that, do you think you can teach people properly? Are you really confident?

- ....

Hakyoon remembered the camp instructor’s face, like he was about to cry, right after Lee Sion had stolen command from him.

The start of the Marine camp content the content team prepared had definitely been good.

The members had been excited, thinking they were just going to have fun, chattering and goofing off in the van... and then the moment they realized they’d been tricked only after arriving at the Marine camp, their expressions had been pure art.

On top of that, even when the instructor and assistant instructors started the slick, skillful corrective exercises the moment they arrived, the content team had been so hyped they were practically high-fiving each other, thinking, this time, it really worked.

But that only lasted a moment.

Right as they finished changing and the real drill training was about to begin, Lee Sion tilted her head with a pouty expression.

Like she was basically saying with her face,

- Ah, that’s not how you do it.

From experience, Hakyoon knew that whenever Lee Sion made that face, she was about to cause trouble.

But he didn’t worry too much.

Even if she had complaints, if it was something she didn’t know, Lee Sion would participate harder than anyone.

Lee Sion was, in a lot of ways, a very strange character.

If you asked which member complained the most, every employee at KJ Entertainment would unanimously point to one person.

- It’s unfair, it’s unfair!!!

That was Lee Sion—screaming that it was unfair if you controlled even just one chocolate or one soda, like what in the world was so unfair.

But the funny thing was—

- Then why is she working that hard?

She complained nonstop, but when it came time for practice or a grueling schedule, she’d act like nothing had happened and do what she was told with more effort than anyone else.

She said she hated it, but if it was something she was bad at or didn’t know, she’d try hard to learn anyway, so by now, the KJ Entertainment employees just let Lee Sion’s whining wash over them like background noise.

So even coming to the Marine camp today, Hakyoon didn’t really worry.

There was no way Lee Sion would know the military well.

No—if anything, it would be normal for her not to know.

"Stretch your fingers out! Your thumb does not stick out. The edge line matches the end of your eyebrow! Your palm does not show!"

"Akk!"

But she was doing it too well.

'What is this? Why is boot camp suddenly coming back to me?!'

Right now, during basic drill, Lee Sion was teaching the salute motion to everyone, and to anyone watching, she was a professional.

An artist on a platform, adjusting every detail—down to finger placement and angles.

"Trainee Geum Shinyu! Are you a North Korean soldier? Why is your palm showing!"

"Akk!"

Even worse, she was calling out Geum Shinyu—who usually followed her the most—without a hint of hesitation, and the way she did it looked, at a glance, like her eyes had flipped. It was scary.

"Trainees, do you not want to salute?"

"Akk!"

"That response is too quiet! You can’t even do basic drill, and you want to become a soldier who protects the country?!"

"Yuri doesn’t plan on becoming a soldier...."

"Trainee Kurosawa Yuri!"

"Uwaaaakk! I was talking to myself! Talking to myself, Sion!!!"

"The instructor is not Sion. Trainees, do you remember what this instructor said before we started?"

"...We are one."

"All of you—first to the flag!"

"Akk!"

A command worthy of a tyrant.

But even as they made faces like it was unfair, in the end, the members, the instructor, and the assistant instructors all ran toward the flag.

"Hahk...."

And Kim Pilseung—who had had his cap and instructor position stolen by Lee Sion—tapped the flag first and arrived in first place. After that, everyone else came in too, gasping for breath, and gathered in front of Lee Sion again.

"Trainee Kim Pilseung."

"Akk!"

"Leaving your buddy behind? Did you want to rest alone that badly?"

"No!"

"This instructor is so heartbroken! Your buddy in the back can’t catch up, but you ran ahead alone, trying to save only yourself—what a selfish look!"

Watching Lee Sion chew him out for arriving first even though she was the one who said it was first-come-first-served, Hakyoon saw his boot camp training company commander overlap with her.

- The company commander is disappointed in you! Is it enough if only you do well?

They didn’t look anything alike, but for some reason, the words she spat out and her expression were identical, and Hakyoon felt like his PTSD was about to kick in on its own.

"Everyone, link arms!"

"Akk!"

"As you sit down and as you stand up, we are one!"

"Akk!"

"One!"

"We are!"

"Two!"

"One!!!"

'Even that is the same?'

And when she started quoting lines that matched his boot camp corrective exercise word for word, on top of using the exact same corrective exercise, it was honestly getting scary.

"Is Sion’s dad a soldier?"

"No. I heard last time he’s just a normal office worker...."

"Then her mom must be a soldier!"

"What?"

"She definitely learned it by watching! Otherwise this makes no sense!"

Hakyoon wasn’t the only one feeling PTSD at Lee Sion’s behavior.

All the other male content team staff were staring at Lee Sion too, trembling.

'It went wrong again....'

At the same time, Hakyoon was feeling a deep sense of defeat.

He thought this time, for sure, they’d finally capture Lee Sion getting steamrolled by the content team’s plan, but Lee Sion had twisted even this plan however she wanted and was swinging it around, and Hakyoon felt like if he had a white flag, he’d want to wave it.

'What the hell am I supposed to do?'

Nothing came to mind anymore that could make Lee Sion flustered.

What were you supposed to do to someone who looked like she’d survive like Bear Grylls even if you dumped her on a deserted island with zero preparation?

'Should we just film something normal, like other girl group content?'

At this point, he felt like he didn’t know anymore. He should just admit defeat and film some ordinary content where they do cutesy stuff and flatter the fans.

***

"Left face!"

Snap!

"Right face!"

Snap!

"About face!"

Whirr!

At my command, our Iam members and the Marine camp staff moved like one person—perfect rhythm, perfect posture.

'Now I can finally breathe.'

I liked that sight a lot.

"Salute to the front!"

"Pil! Seung!"

The salute posture was perfect, too.

Just like I taught them—starting with the thumb glued in so it didn’t stick out, and those fingers stretched straight. A beautiful salute.

"Rest."

Snap.

Now, even at the command “Rest,” everyone dropped their hands like a blade. It didn’t even feel believable that I’d rushed this training for about an hour.

'The instructor and assistant instructors have served, so fine, but these kids are good too?'

The instructor and assistant instructors had learned it to death in the military, so if they just revived the memory, being good at basic drill was normal.

But I didn’t expect our members to be this good—and thinking about it, it felt obvious.

- Your timing going in was a little fast. Next time, go in half a beat later.

When we practiced choreography in the practice room every day, the most important thing was matching our movements, so in a way, it wasn’t any different from always practicing drill.

And nitpicking movement details was the basics of the basics for idols.

Compared to the detailed complexity of idol choreography, the simple motions of drill were beginner-level basics, so it was only natural they’d pick it up fast.

Weren’t all idols the best kind of talent—people ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) who could become excellent soldiers?

"Short break!"

"Finally!"

"Lee Sion, what was that? Why did your eyes suddenly flip out?"

"It’s too hard... the motions weren’t even anything, but I don’t know why I’m this tired."

"These combat boots are insane. They’re way heavier than the shoes we wear on stage."

"The uniform too! This isn’t releasing sweat, it’s absorbing it at 200 percent."

Anyway, there were some twists and turns, but once the members finally reached the level I wanted and I gave them a break, they plopped down on the spot and started chattering among themselves.

"Good work."

"No. The members worked harder."

"Seriously, Lee Sion—making the instructors all awkward all of a sudden!"

"I was flustered at first too, but it brought back old memories, and it was kind of fun."

"Old memories?"

"Ah! It’s just... what Sion was doing was exactly the same as my boot camp training...."

After getting punished together and doing drill training together, maybe they’d gotten attached already, because the camp instructor and assistant instructors plopped down too and started chatting with them.

'So it’s not for nothing that people get close with their buddies in boot camp.'

Just like me and the members got close fast in the shared dorm during Agbaek, guys also got close with their boot camp buddies like they were neighborhood friends.

When you train together, you build that buddy bond without even realizing it.

Of course, once boot camp ends and you get assigned to your unit, you go right back to being awkward like nothing ever happened, and you stop contacting each other, but still.

"Um... Sion, next is supposed to be inflatable boat training. What should we do?"

"Inflatable boat training is the one where you carry a boat on your head, right?"

"You know?"

"Hm... I haven’t done that one either, though."

IBS training.

That was training only the Navy and Marines did—training that used a small inflatable boat.

Since I was Army, of course, I’d only heard about it and never done it even once, so I was getting a little interested.

However—

"It’s harder than it looks. The inflatable boat is way heavier than it looks. Even big, solid male trainees who take it end up groaning."

"Oh?"

As Instructor Kim Pilseung came over to discuss the next training with me, the moment I heard it was the kind of training that “kills people,” Wei Yan inside me started stirring.

'And they’re only making us do it?'

My imagination spread.

Me and the members, carrying the inflatable boat on our heads, grunting as we sprinted across the beach.

And the content team watching it with wicked smiles.

"...That’s unreasonable."

"What?"

I couldn’t allow that.

***

"Members, calm down and come out of the vehicle!"

"There’s no compromise! We aren’t slaves!"

Yunkyung couldn’t tell if this was really the right thing to do.

- I can’t tolerate something this unfair.

That was how it started—Lee Sion suddenly showing up in front of the members while they were resting after morning training, until lunch, and blurting that out.

- I can’t stand this. They’re running us around?

Normally, the members would’ve just brushed it off like, oh, Sion’s annoyed about something again, but after getting brutally punished as a group by Lee Sion all morning, they had a vicious edge in them, so they didn’t let it slide.

If anything, they looked ready to grab Lee Sion and beat her as a group.

But—

- Do you know what we’re doing this afternoon, Gahyeon?

- What?

- It’s inflatable boat training! That’s brutal! What we did this morning was just cute compared to that!

The moment Lee Sion said that in the afternoon they were supposed to sprint across the beach with an inflatable boat that weighed over 100 kilograms on their heads, every single member had no choice but to panic.

- ...What are you trying to say?

In the end, their vow that they’d never forgive her this time lost all meaning. They pushed off punishing Lee Sion until they got back to the dorm, and the mood shifted to, fine, let’s at least hear her out.

- You see the content team all resting right now?

- So?

- Let’s seize the vehicles.

- What?

And then, shockingly, Lee Sion proposed that they occupy the content team’s empty vehicles—and the vehicles the members had come in.

Because it was break time and all the filming gear was in the cars, she said this was the perfect chance, and she made that insane suggestion: occupy the vehicles and threaten the content team.

And of course, the members...

"Yunkyung! Don’t do that, please, come out and talk!"

"I’m sorry! But we don’t have a choice!"

...agreed.

Because maybe not in the past, but now they were members who’d already been infected by Lee Sion.

"Even if you seize the cars, you can’t do anything anyway, right? Are you just going to stay in there?"

It didn’t matter that Hakyoon, as the head of the content team, tried to coax the members into coming out of the car. It was useless.

"We can drive, though?"

"What?"

Swoosh.

With Lee Sion’s words, Instructor Kim Pilseung stuck his head out the window.

"What the—! Why is the instructor in there?!"

"That’s... they asked me to help...."

"No, what is this?!"

Even the camp instructor and assistant instructors had already been recruited by Lee Sion.

'How did she even sweet-talk those people?'

The members, sure—they didn’t want to suffer, and they were pissed off that the content team tricked them.

But seeing Lee Sion recruit even the instructor and assistant instructors, who had nothing to do with them, Yunkyung gave up on thinking.

"All right! We surrender!! What conditions do you want?"

In the end, the content team had no choice but to surrender.

Because what could they possibly do against a lunatic threatening to start the engine and drive back to Seoul?

"Give us a special lunch, including sashimi!"

"Everyone, lunch is combat rations—"

"Kyaaaagh!!! A villain content team that drags us all the way here and won’t even feed us sashimi, get out of here!!!"

Yunkyung knew.

There was a high chance that what Lee Sion was really mad about wasn’t the inflatable boat training. It was that lunch was combat rations.

"...Then let’s do this."

"Don’t try anything funny, Team Lead Lee Hakyoon."

Team Lead Lee Hakyoon mulled over Lee Sion’s demands for a long time, and then, as if he’d finally decided, he answered with a firm expression.

"Iam, and our content team—there are exactly seven of us each, right?"

"So?"

"Seven versus seven. Inflatable boat training match. If you win, I’ll buy you sashimi."

"What?"

"But if you lose, you eat combat rations, and going into the water too—deal?"

Maybe it wasn’t something he agreed on with his staff at all, because at Team Lead Lee Hakyoon’s words, the content team staff next to him screamed with horrified faces.

"Deal! And if the content team loses, the content team goes into the water too!"

"Deal!"

It was the moment Lee Sion spat out “Deal,” ignoring the Iam members’ opinions just as completely.