I Returned as a High School Girl

Chapter 112: Declaration (1)

The army officers and the staff members felt like they had been taught a lesson by Kang Ra-Eun.

‘I don’t know why they’re so shocked over something like this.’

Unlike them, Ra-Eun could not understand their reactions. If she had been a man, following such commands would have been perfectly normal. However, she was currently a woman. It was obvious that people would be fascinated by how she, who had obviously never been to the army, was perfectly following the lieutenant’s commands.

“A-Ahem!” the lieutenant coughed and shifted his gaze toward the staff members.

Director Joo sent a hand signal to keep it going. The lieutenant nodded and moved on.

“I sincerely welcome your enlistment. I am Lieutenant Kim Yeong-Dae, and I will be in charge of managing your every move.”

The female cast was already dispirited by the lieutenant’s powerful voice despite his normal manner of speech. It seemed like they had been properly beaten down, all except for one person.

“I will do my very best to turn you all into fine soldiers during the next three days, so I hope you will do exactly as I say as well. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

He will do his best. In other words...

‘He’ll put us through the wringer.’

There were things that only soldiers understood; Ra-Eun knew the gist of what the lieutenant was saying because she was also once a soldier. They first needed to go through a declaration ceremony to be officially admitted to the base, but there was something that had to be done first.

“We will give all of you military uniforms. You have ten minutes to change into them and to come back here. Say it back to me. How many minutes?”

“T-Ten!”

The female cast had faces of incomprehension as to how they could possibly change in ten minutes. However, the word mercy did not exist in the lieutenant’s dictionary.

“Begin!”

A second trial had begun right after they had safely passed the first.

***

The women arrived at their changing location. Jang Yu-Ha gasped in shock as she entered the old barracks nearest to the drill ground.

“What’s with this place? No way, we’re not gonna be spending the next three days in a place like this, are we?”

The yellow elevated wooden floors were stretched out left and right of them, and worn-down wooden army lockers were set up on the walls. A metal wire was hanging above for towels or clothes to be hung up to dry. The women couldn't believe the terrible environment they were in.

Jo In-Hye also got scared by Yu-Ha’s remark. “There’s no way the production team would make us stay in a place like this... right?”

She was desperately hoping it would not be the case. Ra-Eun resolved their concerns.

“They mentioned the new barracks, so we probably won’t be staying here.”

“What’s the new barracks?”

“Do you remember the four-story building that we saw on our way here? That’s the new barracks. This is the old barracks, so we’ll only be changing clothes here.”

“Oh... I see.”

They felt like they could trust whatever Ra-Eun said for some reason.

“But Ra-Eun, how do I wear this?” In-Hye asked.

She showed great interest in the uniform, like a model would. The military uniform that they received was a new model of uniform with a digital pattern of camouflage. The hat was also a beret.

Choi Hye-Yun said while tucking the shirt into her pants, having learned it from somewhere beforehand, “I saw my oppa doing it like this.”

The active-duty university girl Kang Ra-Eun could not let that slide.

“That’s only for reservist uniforms. You keep it untucked for new uniform models.”

“R-Really? No wonder they looked different.”

It was not over yet.

“Ra-Eun! How do I wear these combat boots?”

“Can we just wear this military beret like we wear normal berets?”

“What’s this dangling piece of fabric on the shoulder?”

Ra-Eun was being barraged with questions. Her face was getting stiffer by the second.

‘I knew I shouldn’t have appeared on this damn show!’

Regret belatedly swept over her.

***

The female cast was able to change within ten minutes that was believed to be impossible, all thanks to Ra-Eun. The instructor and staff members expected them to come back well after ten minutes, but their expectations had been way off the mark. The women had come back after nine minutes and twenty-two seconds.

“Erm...”

The instructor was even more confused than before. He had been giving them difficult missions to come up with an excuse to grill them, but he didn’t understand how they were doing so well. The shoot had to go on since time was limited, so they proceeded to the next stage.

“We have to choose a representative to make the assignment declaration for the ceremony, so if anyone would like to volunteer, raise your hand.”

There obviously wasn’t anyone. Even Ra-Eun, who had taken a very active role until now, didn’t raise her hand. It wasn’t like she couldn’t do it.

‘I just don’t want to.’

She knew that she needed to carry this special, but she instinctively did not want to do it.

“No one wants to do it?”

The instructor continued to pressure them. One person had to be sacrificed for the declaration ceremony to proceed.

“In that case, I will select someone myself.”

At this moment, Director Joo prayed in his mind for the instructor not to choose Ra-Eun. It had become clear that Ra-Eun didn’t have just superficial knowledge about the army. The cast would get through the ceremony without a hitch if she was chosen as the representative. However, the instructor made a decision completely against the director’s hopes.

“Trainee Kang Ra-Eun.”

There was only one reason the instructor chose Ra-Eun despite having been beaten by her twice. It was a form of revenge. He still did not know how wide her knowledge of the army was; he simply knew her as a popular actress that had been appearing on various channels whenever he turned on the TV lately. He also obviously didn’t know that Ra-Eun had been honorably discharged as a sergeant.

Meanwhile, Ra-Eun exclaimed while holding in her curses, “Trainee #7, Kang Ra-Eun!”

This was the rank and name that she would be shouting for the next three days. She had become number seven after deciding based on age. It was lucky number seven, but such things had no effect in the army; the fact that she was dragged into the army was a misfortune in and of itself.

“I will leave the declaration to you, Trainee #7. Can you handle it?”

Ra-Eun lightly sighed and raised her voice. “Yes, sir! I will do my best!”

She had lied yet again.

***

The battalion commander was watching in secret as the instructor and adjutant worked with the female cast to prepare for the declaration ceremony.

“Sir! Yes, sir!”

Ra-Eun’s military salute was flawless. The ends of her fingers were perfectly situated at the edge of her eyebrow, and her palm was not visible as she stood at attention. The soldiers were impressed. Not just that...

“Sir! I, Trainee #7 Kang Ra-Eun, declare that I and six others have received orders to be assigned to the 3292nd infantry corps of Division 19 as of September 11th, 2012! To the battalion commander, salute!”

“Sir! Yes, sir!”

The other cast members saluted in response. Ra-Eun had perfectly recited the declaration without a single error as an actress and a reservist should. The camera captured the instructor and assistant instructors’ pupils shaking.

Even male celebrities commonly made several mistakes when reciting the declaration while filming, but Ra-Eun was already reciting it perfectly during the rehearsal. The instructor couldn’t help but be lost for words, and the same went for the battalion commander watching from the back.

Ra-Eun and her fellow trainees got the OK from their very first attempt.

Director Joo sighed deeply and said to the commander, “Let’s just start the ceremony right now, sir.”

***

The cast had finally been given their first break after getting through the declaration ceremony without a hitch. Ra-Eun was relieved as soon as she entered the barracks.

‘It’s clean.’

They each had their own beds, so they would be able to rest comfortably. However...

‘There are tons of cameras installed.’

Ra-Eun could see cameras everywhere she looked. As she was counting the number of cameras, Yu-Ha flopped down onto the bed.

“Sigh... I’m exhausted. I shouldn’t have agreed to this special.”

The cast was already full of regrets, but they were at least fortunate that they had Ra-Eun with them. If they hadn’t, they would still be at the drill ground, endlessly rehearsing the declaration under the sweltering sun.

The actress Seo Tae-Yeon turned toward Ra-Eun and expressed, “We were only able to rest early thanks to Ra-Eun. Thank God we have you here.”

“Seriously. Did you see the staff members’ faces earlier? I’m sure they were thinking, ‘This isn’t what was supposed to happen…’ Seeing that was so satisfying.”

“They sure underestimated us.”

Yu-Ha remarked as the women were giggling, “We’re not the amazing ones, Ra-Eun is.”

She couldn’t be more right. Meanwhile, Hye-Yun, the most curious of the bunch, found something while looking around the barracks.

“What’s this?”

As soon as she removed the army green cloth from the object, she unconsciously screamed.

“Unnies! Look at this! It’s a gun!”

“Oh my God. Is this a real gun?”

Ra-Eun recognized the exact model as soon as she looked at the rifles hanging on the gun stand. It was the standard rifle of the Korean military, the K2.

‘I’m getting army PTSD all over again.’

She got goosebumps all over her body. The women’s attention was focused on the rifles.

Tae-Yeon asked Ra-Eun, “Ra-Eun. Is it okay to store guns here? Shouldn’t it be stored at a safe place since it’s dangerous?”

Ra-Eun answered, “Soldiers need to carry their firearms with them everywhere unless they’re instructed to hang them up on the gun stand. The instructor will teach us about that later.”

Soldiers needed to take this rifle with them everywhere, even to the bathroom or going to eat. It had to be treasured as if it was a part of one’s body... no, even more than one’s own life at times.

“Is there anything you don’t know, Ra-Eun?”

“I’d think you’d actually been to the army if I didn’t know any better.”

Ra-Eun herself was the only one who knew that was actually the case. The women went back to enjoying their break.

Bweeee—!

However, they fell into a state of panic due to the sudden siren.

1. Take a look at the images on this website: to see what the old & new Korean military barracks look like; the first image is the new, and the second is the old.

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