Episode 4
"If you want to conduct interviews, you'll definitely need bulletproof vests, but there's a problem with those vests right now, and apparently the enemy's bulletproof vests are better in this war." "..."
"These are the conditions I'm offering you."
"So you go fight while I stay here?"
"Correct answer."
"......"
In fact, Sasin was already 23 years old. What storms hadn't he seen? What aspects of human nature hadn't he witnessed? What kind of news hadn't he seen? The only thing he hadn't seen was someone who hadn't done anything yet had Benjamin send him a bulletproof vest.
"Can I choose not to wear it?"
"You can make demands, but you can't refuse to wear it."
Why did you send me a bulletproof vest?
"......"
"What's wrong?"
"I just don't want you to die in vain, understand?"
Do you like me?
Are you dreaming?
"I hope this dream never ends."
In fact, Sashin had a dream the moment he fell asleep, and coincidentally, the dream was related to the bulletproof vest. He remembered that he was able to see the blue sky while sleeping, and he thought Benjamin had caught the star.
"Were you dreaming?"
"Anyway, it wasn't a good dream."
"......"
Are you still responsible for putting me to sleep?
"Irresponsible."
"I'm going back to sleep now, goodbye."
Aren't you going to see me off?
"I don't know you well now, and I'm not fully awake yet so I don't want to give you away. Goodbye."
"......"
Sasin, who thought his plan had succeeded, discovered an unexpected sound: the door was locked, and there were footsteps. More importantly, the footsteps were getting closer and closer.
"good evening."
Why didn't you go out?
"It's my turn to rest during the shift."
What?
"You're talking to me in English, aren't you, you brat?"
"You like speaking English, don't you?"
"yes."
"If you want to speak English, then I won't use English but Chinese. You'll still complain about my accent."
"So what language should I use to speak to you now?"
"Plain language."
"That's fine."
"......"
At this moment, Sasin finally understood what it felt like to be intellectually degraded. He had thought it was simply about learning the dialects of many cities to fit in, but he never expected...
"So? Do you agree to spend the night together?"
"agree."
Perhaps because he was half-sober, Sasin sensed that Benjamin's manner of speaking had returned to how he was when he wasn't drinking.
Do you have a dream?
"have."
"What dream?"
"To be a journalist."
"......"
"What? You think you can be a reporter but I can't?"
“I never said that; you said it yourself.”
"......"
"So why did you suddenly become a war correspondent? I mean, the kind that broadcasts live from the battlefield?"
The most outstanding thing about him is that he didn't see Sassin refute him or ask him a question before asking him a few questions in return.
"Let's practice our courage."
"......"
"How about it?"
"You think this is a terrifying locked room? And that we have to undergo extremely terrifying training? You know, people are very likely to die here."
"I know."
"Then why did you come to such a dangerous place!"
"To prove myself."
"......"
"I wonder if you were surprised to see me in bed?"
"......"
"Because the reason I came here is that I used to be looked down upon by my classmates."
"Why?"
"Because I'm the only one among my classmates who came to Dongguo. The rest of them have basically lost out on things like social media and entertainment. As soon as they hear about war, they immediately back away."
"Credits?"
"You know about academic credits?"
“When I was in school, we used a credit system, because if you lost all your credits or even got a negative score, you would be expelled from school.”
"So this is why you joined the army?"
"right."
Did your dream of becoming a journalist eventually come true?
"without."
"Why?"
"He has too little work experience."
How long have you been in the army?
"Nine years."
"?"
"How long do you think it would take for reporters to get here?"
"It depends on what the teacher thinks. If the teacher agrees, I may continue to stay in Dongguo for a while or go to other sites outside Dongguo."
"Did your teachers say to wear bulletproof vests during interviews?"
"No."
"Come join our team tomorrow morning, and I'll teach you how to survive on this battlefield."
"So you agree?"
"Agreed."
I'm not very good at saying thank you.
"You can choose not to speak."
"......"
"Go to sleep, you have to get up early tomorrow."
Okay~
From that point on, Sassin had been giving Benjamin perfunctory responses. Plus, he was a light sleeper and fell asleep easily; three minutes later, Sassin was asleep, and five minutes later, he was dreaming. Benjamin envied his ability to fall asleep so quickly. And while he was sleeping, he dreamed about the aftermath of Sassin's dream:
"Sashin!"
"......"
Later, the ambulance arrived and Sasin was put into the ambulance. However, Benjamin, Sasin, and Pei Xiaonan looked at each other. The star seemed to be falling, and there was an English letter S on the star.
"Find it!"
"Yes, sir!"
The only two people who could make Benjamin understand his inner thoughts were lying on the stretcher in the ambulance, suffering from severe mental illness. After finding the person, they handed him over to Benjamin. They knew best how their leader would react when he saw someone who had hurt him.
"Open the door!"
"Yes, sir!"
When the soldier assassinated Sasin, he didn't lock the door, and there were many soldiers outside to prevent the terrorist from escaping. Later, all that could be heard from the solitary confinement cell were faint curses and desperate pleas for mercy.
"!"
I woke up from the dream. It's now 3 PM Beijing time. I still have a few hours before my shift starts. The letter on the star has changed from B to S.
"Sassin..."
"It's him!"
"He is an orphan, please help me protect him."
"Okay, I promise you."
"He's not actually an orphan; he's the son of Lena, the director of that orphanage."
"......"
Several hours later, Pei Xiaonan was invited out by Benjamin again. Pei Xiaonan knew his purpose, and she also saw that the star on Benjamin's head had changed from the letter B to the letter S.
"Did the letter B turn into the letter S?"
"Um."
"It looks like you gave him the star with the letter B engraved on it."
"He took it off when he patted my shoulder, and when I went to sleep, I still had it in my hand."
"......"
"Just as you said, I've fallen for him."
"So you understand now? That's why he's the son of the orphanage director but doesn't reveal this identity to outsiders, while still maintaining that he's an orphan."
"I really didn't think of that reason."
"In war, only orphans can understand other orphans. There are some things he will naturally know. The question is, can he accept that his mother 'disowns' him?"
“As long as a brief period of peace begins, I can talk to him about this slowly.”
"This is the only way."
"Now that you've taken that step, the rest is easy."
In the early hours of the morning, as they were about to begin their patrol, because something had gone wrong the night before, and since no one had come looking for him during that time, he asked them directly during the headcount:
"What's wrong?"
"fine."
"What happened yesterday? Why wasn't there a report?"
"Because this part of the situation is handled by the class monitor."
"Li Zan?"
"right."
"You should go find Li Zan; he's probably short-handed."
"yes!"
No sooner had they left than Sasin called out to Benjamin, "Captain!" drawing Benjamin's attention back.
How old are you this year?
"twenty three."
“Little Sashin.”
"you!"
"Come on, let's stick them together."
"Ugh, this is so greasy, I don't want it!"
Benjamin, however, ignored everything and pulled him into a tight embrace, while Sasin seemed to understand the feeling of rapid heartbeat and the sensation of being moved.
"let go......"
"I won't let go!"
"Benjamin!"
Benjamin kicked Sasin to the ground. The self-righteous Benjamin was about to help her up, but Sasin slapped his hand and watched him leave.
"Hey! Sasin!"
"......"
"Look at you, you're angry again!"
"You're insane!"
"I was wrong~"
"Stay away from me!"
"Okay, just a heads up, if something happens to you here, I won't have a chance to save you in time."
"......"
Because Sasin had seen such threats several times before, he didn't think much of them. So, the next second, he ignored Benjamin's warning and left the solitary confinement cell.
"What's wrong?"
"......"
Did you make him angry again?
"He acted recklessly, and there was nothing I could do."
“He didn’t act recklessly. You’re the one acting recklessly this time. I heard from Sasin that you promised him safety training, but today you not only hugged him but also tripped him!”
"It wasn't teasing him, it was joking with him."
"You're not joking."
"No joke, what is it then?"
"......"
"However, his behavior reminded me of someone."
"Sahin's mother?"
“I remember Sasin’s mother describing me like that when I was a child, and he does the same now.”
"Being brothers is great."
"However, our relationship is quite different from that of brothers."
What's the difference?
“He wasn’t an orphan. Although he was in the midst of war, he was still happy under his mother’s protection. But I’m different. I’m not as good as him in any way.”
"I see, so you hate him, right?"
"I don't hate Sasin, but Li Zan."
"Just as I thought..."
"Looking into your all-seeing eyes, you must understand what I'm trying to say?"
"You still prefer Sasin, because you like Sasin more than you dislike him."
"When he treated the bulletproof vest that way, I felt like I understood why I had such a strange feeling about Li Zan."
"Definitely a love-struck fool."
"......"
"To be honest, you're much better than him."
"Why?"
"You two are hiding your true feelings too well, so well that it almost scared me."
"Is there?"
"It's just a feeling."
Can I correct this?
"Correct what?"
"A one-sided crush."
"One-sided unrequited love?"
"yes."
In fact, Pei Xiaonan had long understood that Benjamin's feelings were one-sided and unrequited. The person he was thinking about was not necessarily Sasin, because what he wanted was for Sasin to grow up in the war, and then return to the TV station and the newspaper to defeat Song Ran honorably.
"This is the first time you've paved the way for someone else with your own future. Have you thought about the consequences?"
"That's enough."
They thought no one would notice them in this place, but they were already freshmen. Sasin was also in the corner of the same bar, ordering coffee to shake off his sleepiness. Besides being surprised, Sasin felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of coffee in a bar. He had never imagined there was coffee in a bar! Actually, it was a new drink they had ordered a few days earlier.
When will the coffee be served?
"Just a few days ago."
"?"
"No one has ordered coffee yet. You should be the first to order this coffee, so we can give you a discount."
"......"
Later, when he drank the first cup of coffee, he found it surprisingly delicious. Because he always liked to cover his face while drinking coffee, he didn't notice Sasin when Benjamin and Pei Xiaonan left the bar. On the contrary, Sasin saw the two of them chatting and laughing and kept his sadness to himself.
"strangeness......"
"What's wrong?"
"I felt like I could sense an acquaintance passing by behind me."
"Was someone you know walking by behind you? Really? I didn't see them?"
Am I overthinking it?
"Remove the 'ma' and you're overthinking it!"
In fact, if either of them glanced out of the corner of their eye, someone would walk past them in a blind spot of the bar. Even though Sasin was covering his face, that gesture would have been enough for Pei Xiaonan to immediately guess who that person was.
"Song Ran?"
"Doctor Pei!"
"You're back?"
"No, I have something to ask Li Zan today. His comrade-in-arms, Li Zhan, came to my place yesterday to ask about Li Zan. He couldn't find Li Zan these past few days, so I came back."
"Have you found it?"
"No, that's why I wanted to ask you alone, after all..."
"I saw it last night, but I don't see it now."
"......"
"goodbye."
After answering the woman's question, Benjamin left immediately. He was giving her a hard time, and if that's the case, then he was indeed very unpleasant, or rather, his behavior itself was unpleasant.
"Hello? Is this Li Zhan?"
"I am not Li Zhan. May I ask who you are?"
"I am Song Ran."
"Oh, it's you, Xiao Song. How did it go? Did you find the person?"
"We didn't find the person, but we did find his colleague, who said he left after not seeing him."
"......"
Do you have his phone number?
"I'll give it to you."
Li Zan gave the phone to Song Ran. Later, she also planned to give that soldier named Benjamin a hard time when she returned to China. Unfortunately, she has always been unlucky, and this time was no exception.
"The number you dialed is not in service. Please try again later."
"......."
The call is correct, but it's not in service area. He's also busy clearing mines at this time. This function shouldn't be distracted by his call; distraction is normal, because everything here is designed to prevent distractions.
What are you going to the Eastern Kingdom for?
"Something's up."
"Did you go see the handsome young man who helps with mine clearance again?"
"......"
"Bring him over sometime so I can see him and have a good look at him."
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