Chapter 1.2

Chapter 1.2

Indeed, Jared always had girlfriends. Jared, in offensive mode, tilted his head with a smirk.

[Lafayette, I thought you would quit after becoming the Minister of National Military. Why? Did you lack confidence?]

Andre, who was listening with an expressionless face, raised his chin a little and closed his eyes halfway as if he were bored. He looked down at Jared from his high nose and scoffed.

[Really. I should have been discharged after a few more months. I would be your direct superior and send you to the disciplinary headquarters.]

As always, Jared was caught up in Andre’s provocation.

[You’ve been consistently unlucky since when you were a kid, when you were a cadet, and even now when you came back as a civilian without your rank.]

[If I had stayed in the military, you would have always known that you were next in line after me. But since the insurmountable wall voluntarily disappeared, why not stop acting stupid and take it easy?]

Jared had harbored resentment towards Andre for being promoted to captain three months later than him. And Andre, whenever he had the chance, reminded Jared of this fact without hesitation. Watching Jared react with vitriol to his barbs was quite amusing to him.

[Well, you’re something else. You darn blue-blooded aristocrat.]

[If you think my blood is red, you’re mistaken.]

The two had known each other long before their promotions to officers.

Andre’s ancestor, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Jared’s ancestor, General Alexander Hamilton, the forefather and hero of the American Revolutionary War, were close comrades-in-arms in the tumultuous 18th century.

Both born in the upscale neighborhood of the Upper East Side in Manhattan, they had grown up together since Andre was eight years old when he settled permanently in New York after travelling between Paris and New York.

Following the tradition of their armed families, the two entered the military academy together and were commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the Army after graduation. Military officials openly predicted that the future Army Chief of Staff and Minister of National Military would come from these two families.

However, last July, Andre announced his intention to retire as an Army Captain, defying everyone’s expectations. Consequently, he was offered a promotion to lieutenant colonel just three years after being commissioned as a captain.

It was an unusually rapid promotion. The symbolic weight of the last name Lafayette within the US military exceeded conventions, making such an offer possible.

But he declined the offer, citing personal reasons. Jared was one of the few people who knew the reason behind his decision.

Setting down his lukewarm and bland beer with a frown, Jared asked with a rare serious look in his eyes.

[Forget about the nonsense. So, what will you do when you return to New York? Do you have a plan?]

Andre, who had thick, masculine features and whose lips, the only soft spot, were tightly closed, chose his words with a dark expression.

[First―]

At that moment, gangster hip-hop blasted from the speakers, seemingly sucking in all the noise inside Cactus. It was finally a CD change.

Andre, who missed the timing, looked around for a moment, taking a breath. This was the worst place for a serious conversation. Even the women at the adjacent table began to speak louder to compete with the music.

“Sis, these people probably couldn’t understand what we’re saying, right? I almost had a heart attack when that guy suddenly looked over here.”

“Don’t worry! You’ve learned English for more than six years, but you still don’t understand anything they say. Even if those soldiers knew Korean, at most they only know phrases like ‘hello’ and ‘thank you.’ How could they understand what we’re saying? Anyway, what’s the conclusion? The brown-haired vampire?”

“Well… I don’t know. No matter how I look at it, that guy doesn’t seem like a man to me.”

Andre, who had casually listened in, froze.

‘I don’t look like a man?’

Andre’s eyes quickly moved to the next table and back again to check the source of the nonsense.

“What are you talking about? Clearly, he’s a healthy man with a well-built physique and broad shoulders.”

Andre tilted his upper body slightly toward the table beside him, maintaining his correct posture, and nodded his head slightly.