Junkie’s POV.

  When I was in my early 20s, I entered the army. Don’t misunderstand. I ended up entering because they offered some financial stability in exchange for our services. I don’t believe in things like honour or patriotism, I just wanted to make it through another day.

  To provide some context, I’m a full-blood Korean, but my parents immigrated to America in the ‘60s and they had me in ‘62. When I was 10, they passed away due to a gun shooting. I grew up an Asian orphan in the middle of some backwater street, stealing, fighting, practically anything illegal ya name it, all for a simple meal.

  So when the government was looking for some men to join the army, in exchange for lodging, food, welfare benefits, ya know just the whole lot, I thought ‘Might as well’ since life is shitty anyway.

  In simple terms, it was the shittiest. Emphasis on ‘the’.

  We had to train a year beforehand, that I could handle. What I couldn’t handle was sharing the room with a bunch of other stinky guys. Though now, I realised I should’ve valued that time more since they became my team and eventual family.

  Ya see, unlike me, those men had families, hopes and dreams. There were only 5 men I was close to in our battalion:

  Hard-working Tommy who was poor and wanted to open a bakery despite his family’s disapproval.

  Honest Jackson who wanted enough funds to afford an expensive wedding for his fiancee (lucky bastard). He also wanted his own medicine clinic.

  Stubborn Michael, or Mikey for short. He had a father who was some higher-up politician and he entered the army to prove he was someone to his ol’ daddy.

  Nice guy Carlos was a Spanish immigrant who came to America and wanted to provide for his family back in Spain. But at the time, not many wanted to hire a Spanish immigrant in a local bank. Yeah, he had the degree but sure didn’t get the lineage to be an American banker.

  Lastly, there was my good buddy Harry. I called him Hairy because he had hair growing in between his toes. Ironically, he also had a hot sister which I… ya know had some ‘fun’ at night.

  ***

  Junkie smirked at the memory of that night before faltering when he felt the disdainful stares of the girls.

  “I was young at the time.”

  “Still doesn’t make it any better.” Crane scoffed as she crossed her arms.

  ***

  Ehem.

  Moving on, those men were essentially my family, they taught me some things like how to gamble, how to read and to write, how to do math, etc. Practically, they educated me.

  Those were good times, that training period.

  Well the saying goes, ‘good times will leave’… or was it ‘good times will end’? Can’t remember. If Mikey were here, he would correct me and call me an idiot.

  Anyway, our first deployment was the Lebanon War or as we called it the Beirut Deployment from 1982-84. What happened then was that we were told to stabilise and support the locals. But upon arriving, the locals turned hostile.

  Who would’ve thought, right? I mean, men with big, scary guns arriving in your country for ‘peacekeeping’?

  So yeah, we raised our guns, began shooting the rebelling locals upon command. My pals took a hit mentally, but for me it was merely a matter of survival. It was either us or them and I much preferred it was us.

  I think this was when I had my first argument with Carlos. Well to be frank, we had many small arguments, but this one was big enough to make Carlos hate me for a few months.

  The next war we got deployed in was the one in Panama, I think it was 1989-90? Well, ya get the gist of it. Anyway, to be blunt, any war is the same no matter which one ya participate in. There will be blood, corpses, destruction and chaos.

  In Panama, we were commanded to remove the dictator and protect democracy. Whatever democracy is. We forcefully entered civilian homes and ya know do what army soldiers do best. It was during this time, Mikey began to doubt if democracy was working since democracy was supposed to prevent wars. Apparently.

  After this war, Mikey left the army and began working as a politician, following his father’s path but with a different determination.

  Similarly, so did Tommy and Jackson. They earned enough funds to fulfil their dreams. Tommy with his bakery and Jackson with his own clinic.

  Only three of us remained. Carlos, Harry and me.

  Our last war was only a few months after Panama ended, we were immediately sent to help our allies in the Gulf War from 1990-91. I was 28-29 at the time, Carlos and Harry being around that age.

  It was this war that I… lost both of ‘em.

  ***

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Junkie’s breath hitched as Mantis gave him a tissue box.

  “No need. It was a long time ago anyway…” Junkie still took one just in case.

  ***

  We won essentially. Too easily.

  But that didn’t mean there weren’t casualties.

  Ya could say it was an accident of some sort.

  We were at the forefront and were hot-blooded men that let the adrenaline get the best of us.

  I had returned home with Carlos’ and Harry’s cold corpses.

  Thankfully, they were resilient suckers that said their last words before they moved on.

  Carlos’ wish was a simple one, to help his family at least until they don’t have to worry about money anymore. That wish, I fulfilled easily. When I turned 35, his family was financially independent with his younger brother being a doctor.

  The problem was my buddy Harry. He gave me the hardest wish of all time:

  Walk his sister on the aisle during her wedding in a year’s time.

  I thought… Damn.

  But then there was another wish he wanted me to fulfil.

  In his exact words, he whispered, “Live. Try new things, hobbies, find a dream, a hope. Do whatever so you live not just for your sake but for me too.”

  When he had finished… he went silently still.

  It took a while for me to move before I had to close his eyes and carry his corpse back to base.

  After losing Carlos and Harry, I quit the army within a month after the war had ended.

  I sent money to Carlos’ family in Spain. And I personally went to Harry’s family and told them of his death.

  I went to comfort his family but then Harry’s mother, Leila, embraced me firmly. She then spoke softly and patted my back, “It must’ve been hard… Thank you… for surviving and telling us personally.”

  With her words, I reached my trembling hands to her frail back as I bit my lips and tears fell on her red cardigan.

  Time passed, I walked Harry’s hot sister down the aisle of her chosen man. I was reluctant considering our history but I had promised Harry.

  After that, I met up with Mikey in a fancy suit in Tommy’s bakery while Jackson left early to attend to his expecting wife.

  We all clinked our glasses as Tommy complained, “You know this is a bakery, right?”

  I grumbled, already drunk, “All the bars are closed.”

  Mikey had patted my shoulders, “Well, since you’re unemployed, I’ll treat.”

  “Ya became a good guy!” I attempted to kiss his cheek teasingly while Mikey shoved my face away with his hands as he rolled his eyes.

  “So? What do you plan on doing now, Muyeol?” Tommy asked as he was whipping something in a bowl.

  “…”

  Mikey at the time suggested, “Why don’t you be my bodyguard if you can’t think of anything?”

  “I charge expensively.” I chuckled as I chugged another glass.

  “… How expensive?”

  “How does $1M sound?”

  “A year?”

  “A month.”

  “Then, screw yourself.”

  Tommy mediated between us as he glared at them with cold eyes, “I charge extra for any damages in my bakery.”

  “…” Mikey and I obviously stopped. I was grateful that they were there with me during that time.

  After a moment of silence, I twirled my glass, “Probably be a mercenary.”

  “What?” They both looked at me as if I was crazy.

  I explained, “Normal doesn’t suit me. I’m used to fighting. At least, I can choose the wars I fight. And, it pays well.”

  Mikey hummed contemplatively, “I know someone related to mercenary work, do you want me to connect you?”

  “Much appreciated.” I laughed.

  Since then, I have worked as a mercenary with various groups. And on my rest days, I explored hobbies, flirted with various women, gambled, did everything fun, really.

  It’s the reason why there is a huge farmland in the Hidden Base as well as a ton of metallic trash in the backyard due to a welding hobby. The training hall was for any sport related activity and the garage was fixing things etc.

  Decades passed just like that. Before I knew it, it was the 2010s, I was in my late 40s when I heard news Tommy had passed away due to lung cancer. I went to his family and sent some money to his kid so he could study and do what he dreamed of like what Tommy may have wanted him to do.

  At Tommy's funeral, I gaped at the wrinkled, grey-haired Mikey, “Ya’ve gotten old, Mikey!”

  “Shut up!” Mikey growled as Jackson followed after chuckling.

  Even though we had grown old and hadn’t met in a long time, we were very much still good friends.

  Jackson looked up at the clear blue sky as he sighed, “Time went by too quickly.”

  “No shit.” I rolled my eyes at his sentimentality. I didn’t get why he always had to do that.

  “This is why you’re still single.” Jackson flipped his grey hair back, “You should settle down, pal.”

  “And what? Have a nice lady wait for me anxiously, not knowing if I’ll come back alive or not? No thanks. I like my ladies to be nice and confident without any worries.” I huffed.

  Jackson crossed his arms, “Just retire from the mercenary life then. You should have enough money saved up by now.”

  Mikey chuckled, “You don’t know, do you?”

  “Know what?” Jackson raised his brows.

  “He spent every dime on gambling.” Mikey stifled his laughter.

  “…” Jackson turned towards me as I averted my gaze.

  “I know I stuffed up, but when I heard they were planning on selling the gambling den to do human trafficking, I panicked and made it so they earn enough money without needing to resort to that.” I defended with my arms crossed.

  “That doesn’t make sense, you do realise that right?” Jackson sighed.

  “Well, the good thing about this idiot is that he’s healthy.” Mikey mockingly teased, “I’m sure he can easily live up to a hundred. Honestly, knowing him, he might be a mercenary until even after his death.”

  I growled at his mocking tone, “Don’t jinx me.”

  Mikey was a lively ol’ chap so his unexpected death was surprising to me. He passed away in 2020 due to a virus. His health was failing to begin with and add a virus to that, his body wasn’t strong enough. It was weird since I never once thought he was frail. I guess, it was one of those things that ‘only time could tell’.

  It was also during this time, I got my ability for illusion when I was in a slump. Though, I thought I was just drunk and hallucinating at first.

  ***

  Junkie looked around the young kids and smiled warmly with red eyes, “I had many hobbies and dreams, but ya could say, they were dreams of my mates that I merely continued in their stead.”

  He paused, “But if I were to say what my dream is? It would be… to see them again. All of them…”

  The Furies stayed silent, letting his words sink.

  Noticing the mood went somber, Junkie patted his thighs as he stood up, “Don’t worry ‘bout it. I probably will, considering my age.”

  “… You’re dying?” Viper asked softly, misunderstanding.

  “Wha—? Of course not. I’m still a healthy lad. Mikey was probably right that I’d probably live to a hundred.”

  After a brief moment of silence, Junkie rubbed his neck sheepishly, “There ya have it. Did I bore ya too much?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “… Now ya know. There are many types of dreams. So…” He glanced at Viper, “Take yar time. Ya have a long life ahead of ya.”

  Viper looked up at him and smiled, “Thank you, Junk—! Muyeol-sshi.”

  Muyeol’s lips curved up as he ruffled her hair, then did the same for everyone. He chuckled, feeling a bit sheepish, “It’s late, ya should go to bed.”

  “Good night, Muyeol-sshi.” / “Good night.” The Furies headed upstairs to sleep.

  Muyeol did the same as he entered his room. He opened the drawer, getting the sleeping pills. He opened the lid but then decided to close it. “I didn’t tell them everything but… All that talkin’ made me miss those bastards… Jackson will scold me later but just for tonight.”

  He gazed at the starry night sky outside the window.

  Ya see me in one of those stars, ya bastards? I’m raising some kids. Don’t tell me I didn’t try when I get there.

  He closed his blinds shut before tucking himself in.