Little Octopus - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Out of the 3,000 people who underwent the Iron Selection trials, only 500 passed. The next step was to enter the primeval forest for Steel Forging.

The Steel Forging phase lasts six months, after which 200 people remain. Finally, there is a two-year Sword Casting phase, leaving only 100 to join the Shadow Special Forces.

Shadow is the most elite special forces unit in the country-and arguably the world. It was once my dream.

I was lucky enough to pass the Iron Selection.

But I took the initiative to withdraw.

Because once the Steel Forging phase begins, it’s a total blackout. I would have at least two and a half years with absolutely no contact with the outside world.

And my girl had just cried.

The captain called me in for a talk. He said that having the chance to join Shadow was the lifelong dream of countless special ops soldiers-some never even get close to the threshold in their entire careers. I was standing right on the doorstep; why did I want out?

“But you don’t have to reach the highest peak to be great. Was that narcotics officer who was tortured to death not great? Were the six comrades our team lost last year not great?”

“Are you trying to debate me?”

“…”

“Answer me!”

“No, sir!”

“Then get back to training!”

“Captain, you can put me in solitary or give me a disciplinary citation. My withdrawal application has already been submitted.”

“You! You are… exactly like your name! Unreasonable!”

I asked an old classmate from the military academy to help me buy an apartment. I put it in her name, and it had to be move-in ready.

I stood downstairs at her office building again, waiting for her.

When she saw me, her lips were pouted, her face full of grievance.

Was she not happy to see me?

Did she… stop liking me?

“Why didn’t you call me? I could have taken time off.”

Hearing her say that, I breathed a sigh of relief.

She’d scared the life out of me.

I gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “We don’t have much time. Let’s not spend it being angry, okay?”

She was clearly still feeling slighted, yet she said, “Then hurry up and give me a hug, and we’ll be even.”

I pulled her into a tight embrace, yet I was afraid that if I held her too hard, I would hurt her.

I went to her home to meet her parents.

We had agreed on this last time.

She said I hadn’t even asked her if she wanted to marry me.

…I was screwed. I thought I had asked.

Because every night in my dreams when I proposed to her, she always said yes.

I got them mixed up!

How could someone with a photographic memory like mine confuse dreams with reality?

Her parents weren’t particularly satisfied with me, but they were trying their best to accept me.

This was the first time I felt that being near her was a mistake.

She is so good; perhaps she would be better off without me. She could have a husband who could always be by her side, a lover who could protect her.

And when she needs me, where am I?

She said, “You’re out protecting the world.”

I took her to the apartment.

It was my first time there, too.

It seemed decent-a one-bedroom. It was enough for her to live in for now; at least she wouldn’t cry anymore because of unpleasantness with roommates.

I handed her my salary card.

I wanted to give her everything, but it felt like I had nothing to give her besides a thin piece of plastic.

She went to take a shower.

I pushed the door open to head out; I wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes.

Hearing the door, she poked her head out from the bathroom. “You’re not going to just suddenly leave, are you?”

Looking at her face, flushed red from the steam, I remembered what she had said last time about “inspecting the goods.”

“I’m not leaving. I’m just going downstairs to buy something,” I said with a smile.

Her face turned even redder.

Just as I stepped out of the house, I received a call for an immediate mission.

From the moment I received the assignment, I had to head to the mission site at full speed. My phone had to be turned off to prevent any leaks.

So, I didn’t even have time to give her an explanation.
This time, a foreign terrorist organization was attempting to smuggle an avian virus into the country, and we were ordered to intercept them.

They had a mercenary group with heavy firepower.

To stop the virus, we engaged in a fierce firefight with the mercenaries in a no-man’s-land. We lost two comrades.

They were eventually buried at the border, returning to the earth without so much as a headstone.

Their final letters would reach their families months later.

Now, whenever I head out on a mission, I write two suicide letters-one for my parents and one for her.

The one for her says:

[Hey! Little Octopus, it’s been a long time since we last spoke. How are you? I successfully made it into the most badass special forces unit. Everything here is classified, so I can’t contact the outside world at all. I’m sorry. You know what I’m apologizing for, right? So forget about me. Goodbye.]

Fortunately, there hasn’t been a need to send that letter yet.

I returned to the small apartment once more.

She kept it incredibly clean and tidy; her housekeeping was almost on par with mine.

I had more time during this visit because I had submitted an application to get married.

Our captain usually doesn’t approve such long leaves, but our entire team-including him-is a bunch of bachelors.

As soon as he saw my application, he granted me all the backlogged leave I hadn’t taken.

Seven whole days!

The kitchen in the apartment wasn’t just clean; it could be described as brand new. She hadn’t used it at all.

We didn’t get to have a proper housewarming meal when she moved in, so I decided to cook her dinner.

I’m a decent cook.

As I was finishing up, I heard the door open and the sound of her footsteps.

It took her over twenty seconds to find me, which was a bit slower than I expected, considering I was making noise to signal my presence.

The moment she saw me, she burst into tears.

Her crying made my heart feel like a piece of shriveled, dried mustard greens-all wrinkled and salty.

We kissed.

It was salty and sweet.

The salt was from her tears; the sweetness was her.

“Dinner first, or inspect the goods first?” I asked.

“I can eat three meals a day, but how many times a year can I see you?” she countered.

Yeah, that was a very Little Octopus answer.

I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.

We became one, both of us wanting to melt into the other’s very bones and blood.

In the moment the white light flashed behind my eyes, I leaned into her ear and whispered, “Little Octopus, I love you.”

I officially took her home to meet my parents. I had told them long ago that she was the one I wanted to marry.

My parents liked her very much, too.

She said she wanted to get a dog.

I helped her adopt a retired military dog, thinking it would be well-trained, sensible, and able to protect her.

She named the dog Dayu.

???

“If it’s called Dayu, what am I called?”

“You’re Taiyu.”

???!!!

The character for ‘Tai’ is just the character for ‘Big’ with an extra dot in the middle… is it exactly what I think it is?

I brought back the forms needed for the political background check. There was a thick stack, and she had to fill out every single one personally.

After the forms, she had to go for a physical exam.

I waited for her outside during the checkup.

When she came out, she was checking the forms one by one.

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone just bumped into me and I dropped them. I’m checking if they got dirty.”

“It’s fine if they’re a little dirty. This is just for the official record; your family history going back three generations was already investigated in secret long ago.”

Her expression went cold.

It seemed I’d let something slip…

If only I had been more alert at that moment, if only I had asked more questions, then maybe…!

In the examination department of a maternal and child health hospital, why would a man have bumped into her?

By the time the forms, the physical, and the stamps were all settled, the seven days were almost up.

I told her we’d have the marriage registration certificate in half a month, and then we could officially register.

After that, whenever she wanted to see me, she could come to the base.

The family housing at our unit was finally going to have someone living in it.