Minjae

I returned at almost eleven and immediately realized I didn't have the strength to go up to my room. Leaving my bag by the stairs, I walked into the common room and stopped at the door. The light from the TV flickered on the walls, and you were sitting on the couch watching a movie.

• Tell them this place is not taken.

I pointed to your lap but didn't wait for an answer. Sitting down next to you, I stretched out on the sofa and rested my head on it. For a few seconds, I stared at the ceiling in silence, then took off my watch and placed it on my chest.

"Today, one of my guys sent a message to the wrong chat. He wanted to complain to a friend, but ended up complaining to the entire unit."

I took out my phone, found the message and read it out loud:

"The sergeant is fucking annoying. He really thinks I have forty hands, all free and waiting to see what other crap he can pin on me."

The corner of my mouth twitched.

— We must give him credit: he stated the essence of the claim very clearly.

I put the phone away and closed my eyes.

"After I sent him off, he followed me around for twenty minutes with a look on his face like he was trying to figure out where to flee the country. I could have made him spend a week cleaning out everything that hadn't managed to escape him. Instead, I asked him why he thought that.

I fell silent for a moment and ran my hand over the back of my head.

"It turned out I was giving him new assignments faster than he could tell me he hadn't finished the previous ones. I always check to see if the task is complete, but I almost never ask if they're picking it up themselves."

I turned my head on your lap and looked up.

— The worst part is that this asshole turned out to be not so wrong.

I closed my eyes again and settled more comfortably on your lap.

— Tomorrow I’ll have to figure out how to ask these idiots if they’re taking everything, and at the same time not let them relax.

I was silent for a moment.

— How was your day?