½ of 1 out of 4.

Arel spends the next few months continuing teacher training, with the addition of a lot of disinterest expressed in his words. He's still getting used to the normal life, and it's hard when your body is experiencing a normal life at that time when your mind has been so far into the future.

Speaking of bodies, Arel never noticed how much of a twig he was. He's lean and skinny, unlike the muscularly fit body he had at disposal then. So in addition to teacher training, the former Colonel got to work at the gym.

Conveniently, the gym was right close to a school that Arel was planning the substitute for, but teacher training was never easy.

The red-eyed colonel submits his application form to become a substitute teacher coordinator for clubs and such and such, finding it a hassle to be a proper teacher. To no one's shock, or perhaps everyone's, Arel got accepted. Most likely because no one else applied, but still.

The issue was that the interviews in order to get the job were in direct contact, so he needed to look.. decent enough. Considering he has long, unkempt hair with some beard growing out, he needs to look like he has his shit together.

So he's trimming down his long, black bangs that had already covered his eyelids. Qualifications suck ass to meet. Suits and coats, tidy hair, no beards.. like geez, he's just substituting. He's still enjoying his life, briskly unaware of the dangers lurking becoming a teacher. He tries to pay for the haircut, forgetting his pin number and opting for cash. Once done, he rushes out, declining the receptionist's offer to give him her number without question.

Jobs over lovers, thank you. He prefers working as a colonel.

He's totally going to hate teaching. Once people get the bigger things in life, the smaller things feel worthless.

—

Sitting down, settling in the nooks of a physical reading site, Arel saw a few students from the school at a nearby library, while he was looking for books on how to ace job interviews. Well, he assumes the kids are from the school he's applying to teach because no other institutions are close. Plain white, slightly see-through short length shirts with gray long pants or knee-length plaid skirts. There were some other kids using light blue blazers, along with red neckties and such.

They're the 'pinnacle kids' of Haliben High, the name of the school that Arel had recently found out about. The kids that were allowed to go around with their uniforms because they were good for the school image, while other kids were forced to change into casual clothes when going out. Arel had dismissed it as a dumb story Yusol told the corps once, but it seems it was right. Because, holy shit they look like nerds.

Ah, the general. Sometimes the system randomly updates with more Yusol voicelines. Arel really misses his general..

[Ding. System - online]

[Audio transmission - received]

[Play recording]

"...Eh. Wait, wait. This is.. audio log number whichever it is."

"Good evening, Arel. We'll continue on where we left off last time."

It seems there's more to this. Pretending like he's not listening to a virtual screen that only he can see, Arel continues to skim his choice of reading, even though his mind was focused on Yusol's words.

"Haliben High is home to a lot of.. well.. rowdy kids. A bunch of mean little buggers that would eat you if you don't stand. It'd be best to leave them alone, but unfortunately, you need to take part in their lives. A lot of them have the potential to be good soldiers, so, in case your mission to prevent the war fails, you have at least four.. backup ready."

His general trails on, as if reminiscing on that last sentence, voice slightly distorted from the transmission, yet still blasting and clear to the ears of the beholder. Folding and fiddling on the ends of a page, Arel hums along.

"That's why I want this pill receiver to be you, Arel. You're reliable enough to guide them, I think."

Arel could almost hear Yusol's small laugh, like the idea was just a suggestion. He shudders, before dismissing the thought that his General was just lying.

"Please manage your students well. Goodbye."

[Audio recording - finished.]

[System - offline]

It almost seems pre-planned, like Yusol had been scheming for Arel to do this. But that's not the thought that stung the colonel.

Some of these kids can be his 'backup'. And he's considerably the second best fighter in the nation, next to Yusol.

How is he supposed to stay safe, teach and at the same time keep four potential soldiers alive and well at the chance the war still happens anyway?

The man knows none, so he shuts his book and curses his life, promising to never ever take such hard favors ever again.

…

He still shows up to the final job interview. Dressed sleek and smart, as if the rough, dirty man he had been at 25 years old was replaced with a firm person. His body has gotten more fit as time passes, letting those buttons on his chest not breathe in peace as he holds his heart in his throat, afraid to mess up.

He seems to somewhat please the interviewers with his standardly standard answers, following the textbook guidelines.

Ugh, he's going to drink after this. He's almost craving alcohol, and he's the farthest thing from an alcoholic.

So he does. He's an adult man after all.

(He absolutely does not condone drinking and does not want anyone to follow in his footsteps. Do not glorify alcohol.)

He hates the bitters and the sweets, like Soju. Yet, he reminisces about the time Yusol would take the teams out for outing dinners, practically paying for everything. The war was life-taking. The company got wiped out one-by-one in such a quick time the colonel feels like they're still here. Yet the colonel had forgotten their names, faces.. The dog tags scattered in his hands when he died with Yusol were probably their last ties with their loss.

Alcohol was always bitter during those times, but as more and more time passes by, it's too sweet to enjoy, almost puke-inducing.

Fuck, the memories were so tear jerking he's going to cry. But because he wants to look tough instead of sad, he slams his fist on the table frustratedly, garnering the attention of other guests in the bar. The distinct, almost disassociated look on Arel's face was enough to tell everyone what happened.

Hopefully. Hopefully they're not thinking he had a-

"Oh, poor guy. He got stood up…"

-horrible date. Fucking hell. Yeah he got stood up, because all his 'dates' are dead! Ugh. Not.. not that he had anything going on with any of his ex-comrades. Or anyone else. Haha..

He starts stumbling to pay and leave, Arel wants to bury himself under the world. Hunched over trash cans, trying hard to clear his lumped throat, the colonel starts sobbing.

"Mister, are you alright?"

A distinct, boyish voice calls out to Arel. It wasn't exactly the sound of someone who was concerned, but the actions of him were definitely one of worry. The person pats on the 25 year old's back, trying to help him as best as he can. Arel's eyes were far too bleary to tell who it was, but it was definitely a teen, roughly 16 or 17 perhaps.

Ding.

Wait, was that the system notification.. Fuck, the drunken was too distracted to notice. Dang. Okay, he'll ignore that for now.

He was propped up on the shoulders of the teen, who took him to a bench. As that was done, Arel could vaguely make out the details of his helper. Light blue hair.., facial decorations.. Oh. Definitely one of Haliben's 'bad kids'.

'Bad kids', in the sense that their future would all be fucked up at the possibility to graduate. School systems are just weird, with all these negative labeling.

"Ugh…"

Arel could feel himself retching, holding on tightly to the teen's shoulder, who was precariously patting on the older's back. Once sat down, the younger quickly runs off, which Arel took slight offense in, but could not debate about it as he was just a drunk, sobbing man.

Fortunately, the student comes back with some carbon capsules, which raises some alarms in Arel's head as some young kid, (teen?) probably should not know about this. Still, he takes the capsule and chugs it down, muttering 'thank you' over and over. He could hear the light-blue haired kid scoff in annoyance, which is very drastic to the caring attitude he was giving Arel, but then again, the adult,

should worry about being too drunk.

"Stupid adult. Go get drunk in your own home, don't mess up the clothes of others."

Ah, shit. Arel puked on some parts of the student's shirt. Will he ever be a successful teacher after all this?