Chapter 234

A yellow Lamborghini Aventador drove down an open freeway.

I asked the brunette beauty in sunglasses sitting in the driver’s seat.

“How about driving?”

“Amenities are definitely better in this car.”

“Then should I ask Chairman Im Jin-yong to change it? You probably haven’t disposed of it yet, so I guess I’ll change it if I tell you.”

She seemed to ponder for a moment, then said firmly.

“no. Still, I want to ride a Ferrari.”

“Why?”

“There is a subtle feeling that is difficult to describe in words. And the roof opens. I’m slowly getting rid of myself, but I have to enjoy open driving.”

I remembered Ellie driving a Ferrari with the roof fully open. They look so good together, can’t they be a promotional model for Ferrari?

When I look in the side mirror, a black sedan with bodyguards is following closely behind.

said Ellie.

“I’m glad I found it quickly. So what are you doing now?”

“They are running a pizza shop in Paju.”

So I’m running instead of working. When I said that I would go to Paju, she said that she would go with Ellie, too, and followed her sister Hyun-joo’s car with her.

Taek-gyu didn’t come with Hyun-joo’s older sister today because he had to go to her home.

“Still, seeing Jin-hoo looking like this, I think she was a good person.”

“Yes. He’s a good person.”

There are two types of military appointments. When I come out to society, I want to meet people I don’t want to meet again and people I want to meet.

And the person I want to meet is again divided into two. A person you want to meet and beat with someone you want to have a drink with.

Kim Jae-hak is, of course, the latter.

As I got out of the freeway and entered the city, I could feel people’s attention focused. Although foreign cars are plentiful these days, it is not easy to see supercars like Ferrari or Lamborghini.

Ellie parked her car in a nearby public parking lot. We walked into the alley, and the bodyguards in plain clothes followed after a little further away.

After a while, we stopped walking.

“Are you here?”

“I think you are right.”

The sign reads ‘Meister Pizza’.

It is a popular pizza franchise these days. When you turn on the TV, an advertisement modeled on a famous celebrity will play. Thanks to this, although it is a new franchise, it is rapidly increasing its branches.



A while ago, there seemed to be a large one near the company. Taek-gyu tried it once, and he says it tastes good.

As I was going into the store, a man came out and smoked a cigarette. He is about 175 centimeters tall, with an angled chin, sad eyes, short hair and a slightly protruding forehead.

He was startled when his eyes met me and dropped his cigarette.

“Wait, is it Kang Jin-hoo?”

I said with a smile.

“Long time no see.”

He limped towards me.

“Hey, Jinhoo Kang! What’s going on here?”

I said with a smile.

“Didn’t I tell you to come and see me when I was discharged?”

It wasn’t exposed by wearing long pants, but the right leg is probably a prosthetic leg. Unlike before, my body was very dry. Before, I used to take supplements and exercise, so I tend to have muscle.

He was happy and turned his gaze to the side.

“Who is this?”

“It’s my girlfriend.”

“Oh, my girlfriend… … .”

His expression was full of surprise and envy.

“Are you a foreigner?”

“I speak Korean well, so don’t worry.”

Ellie smiled and greeted her.

“Good morning. I heard a lot from Jinhoo. My name is Ellie.”

“Yes, hello. I’m Jaehak Kim, who was the senior member of Jinhoo.”

Jae-Hak Kim said happily.

“Have you not eaten yet? I’ll make pizza, so come in.”

* * *

The bodyguards waited outside, and we went inside.

It was a small store with about five or six tables. The interior and furnishings were clean as it had just been built.

While we were sitting, he made the pizza with a familiar skill. He had an open kitchen, so he could see how it was made.

Ellie spoke to me in a low voice.

“Why is that, Jinhoo? I think my tone of voice has become a bit stiffer from a while ago.”

“Ah… … .”

When I met my senior in the military, it seems that I went back to the military-style tone without realizing it. Is this the fear of habit?

A steaming pizza came to the table. The taste was pretty good.

We ate pizza and chatted.

“I almost fainted when I saw you on TV. Maybe all of the crew members did too.”

After all, who would have imagined that the trooper you ate and slept with in your quarters would become the CEO of a giant corporation?

Jae-Hak Kim smiled.

“Looking back, so am I. Why is it that when you see people with disabilities on TV, you are completely talking about someone else? I never thought I would be like this.”

If you think about it, it’s strange.

We had the same accident in the same place. But while I gained the superpower of foresight, he lost one leg.

And from that point on, both of our lives changed drastically.

“After the accident, I also spent about a month in the military hospital. Later, I returned to the unit and heard the news. How have you been since then?”

We were each transferred to a different military hospital. Unlike me, who was fine, his condition was serious.

Kim Jae-hak told the story of receiving treatment and rehabilitation at a military hospital.

“Did you get paid properly?”

“It depends on the grade, but if you pass the mandatory screening, you will receive a disability compensation.”

“How much?”

“Eight million won.”

At that, Eli opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Come on, wait a minute. 8 million won? Not eight million dollars?”

If a similar incident had occurred in the U.S. military, it would not have been surprising to receive $8 million in compensation.

But this is Korea.

A single leg of an enlisted soldier costs only 8 million won. You might think that this also gives you a lot.

Ellie shouted.

“This is nonsense! Why does Korea treat soldiers injured while serving their country this way?”

I want to ask that too.

If the country is really doing this because there is no money, I don’t know if I can understand it. However, Korea has already risen to the ranks of advanced countries and lives better than most European countries.

So, it’s not about money, it’s about perception and will. It is natural for soldiers to make sacrifices for the country, but why should they be compensated?

“Any other reward?”

“That’s the end of national compensation.”

He gave an explanation.

Disability compensation for mandatory examination is paid only once. And since private soldiers are not professional soldiers, they are not eligible for military pension. Therefore, he cannot receive either a disability pension or a state merit pension.

Even more absurd is that if you are injured by a North Korean mortar, it is classified as a war wound, but if you are injured by an explosion from a friendly mortar, it is classified as a fantasy and the reward is reduced. So, if you are going to get hurt, getting injured by the North Korean military is the way to get a little bit more compensation.

I wonder what the hell this is, but the law says so.

At this point, it’s amazing.

Ellie asked as if thinking of something.

“Then what about company compensation? If the accident was not caused by the user’s mistake, but the product was defective, the manufacturer would be liable for compensation.”

“It is.”

Soldiers cannot sue for compensation against the state, but they can file a lawsuit against manufacturers.

Kim Jae-hak’s expression darkened.

“It was just agreed to for 50 million won. Ah! This is a secret. The contents of the agreement cannot be disclosed.”

“Five million won? Why did you agree to that?”

“Then, if you are the division commander and the corps commander and ask you to come and sign the agreement, what do you do? I had to get treatment first.”

He is admitted to the hospital and is being treated, and it is said that the generals flocked to him and suggested an agreement. He was polite and encouraged, but it was not easy for the sergeant to refuse the general.

They said that only after an agreement with the company can the state compensation proceed properly. He insisted on an agreement and eventually signed it.

In other words, the Ministry of National Defense arranged the agreement on behalf of the defense industry.

Ellie had a look on her face that she did not understand again.

“Shouldn’t the Ministry of Defense rather help soldiers get as much compensation as possible? But why are you on the side of the company?”

“The Ministry of Defense seems to like defense companies.”

Since the incident happened because the DAPA knew about the defect and closed it, I guess I wanted to move on quietly without causing any problems.

Jae-Hak Kim smiled hard.

“Still, it was thanks to the money that I opened the store. Otherwise, I would have been eating my parents back at home now.”

For some reason, the atmosphere seemed to be getting heavier, so I changed the topic.

“If you saw me on TV, wouldn’t you come to the office once?”

He said it like a joke.

“I scolded you a lot when you were sick. I couldn’t go because I was afraid I would be beaten when we met.”

I burst out laughing.

“You promised not to hit me if I met you in society.”

“Hey, how do you believe that?”

Well, sometimes there are news that he assaulted a military officer he met on the street.

He had a sad expression on his face.

“And it’s kind of hard to find a body like this.”

At those words, the atmosphere became heavy again.

“Ah! Didn’t the other troops come to visit?”

“A few people came. I haven’t met you.”

Seniors and successors, whose names I can’t remember well, come to visit me, but the shooter I was closest to didn’t come because I was afraid it might be rude.

Seeing this, it seems to be true that the saying that it is really good and bad is true.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)

“Aren’t you sick?”

Kim Jae-hak caressed his right knee below.

“It hurts. It hurts, sometimes my toes tickle.”

Is it phantom limb?

You may be wondering how a leg hurts when it doesn’t exist, but it’s a common symptom of amputees.

“I couldn’t sleep at night for about a year after the injury. It hurts and itches to death, but I can’t scratch or touch it, so I feel like I’m going to turn around.”

Just thinking about it is terrifying. Ellie was also surprised and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Well, it’s a lot better now. It bothers me sometimes, but it’s not to the point where I can’t sleep.”

I looked around the pizza shop.

“But did you finally open a shop?”

Jae-Hak Kim smiled.

“Then what? I can’t go anywhere and get a job with a body like this.”

It is a world where even a decent person cannot find a job. It will be more difficult if you have a disability.

During the conversation, I felt something strange. It’s been about an hour since I’ve been here because it was so quiet.

If a customer recognized me, I was thinking of taking a picture with them and signing autographs. If it goes up on social media, it will be a good publicity.

Meanwhile, no customers came in. As the hall is small, we will mainly deliver, but there were no orders for delivery.

I asked carefully.

“Is this your free time?”

Ellie had a strange expression on her face.

“After all, there are not many guests. Pizza is so good.”

“It would be better to see it in person than to say it. Follow me for a second.”

we went out

I didn’t realize it when I was sitting, but seeing my gait from behind, I was definitely limping. I used to run around with that heavy mortar in the past.

As we exited the alley, a six-lane round-trip road unfolded. Standing in front of the crosswalk, he pointed forward.

“Can you see that store?”

Across the crosswalk stood a large building about eight stories tall. And there was a two-story pizzeria in that building.

The signboard is the same, ‘Meister Pizza’.

There is a large banner on the window that reads, “All pizzas are 40% off.” Unlike his store, which was empty without a single customer, the store opposite was crowded with customers.

I asked confused.

“What is that?”

Kim Jae-hak put a cigarette in his mouth.

“Directly managed by the head office. It was there two months ago.”

The head office directly managed store is located less than 100 meters away?

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