I, Klugger, Theo, and Siera. The history of the four of us, who are on the same wavelength, is quite long.
Compared to other contemporaries who have been active in other places, we have worked in the same unit for a longer period and spent a lot of time with each other personally.
As a result, we know a lot about each other.
Who did what when and where. What happened with other people.
Who fought with whom, and so on. From important things to trivial ones, and sometimes even things we didn’t want to know.
There is one area about each other that we don’t know at all. That’s about relationships.
When you think about it, since they are others, there’s no need to get involved, but we also talked about not interfering with each other’s relationships when the three of us men were together, excluding Siera.
It was something we said assuming that we would eventually have relationships, but none of us among us actually went through a relationship after that.
Now, I am in a relationship, but in the past, the three of us were so consumed by work that there weren’t many women around us, so we ended up meeting more often as a trio.
Even when Siera was around, we sometimes did things alone as just the three of us.
I thought we would eventually see each other in relationships, and I never thought I would be the first one to start a relationship.
But contrary to my thoughts, I am now in a relationship. I’m not sure about Klugger, and I’m not sure if Theo has been in a relationship since we last met.
It seems he’s not in one right now.
“What did you say?”
So, Theo became the one who first observed his friend’s relationship, not me.
Klugger knows that I have a girlfriend, but he doesn’t know the details. So, among the men, Theo was the first to hear directly about my relationship.
“He’s dating everyone.”
Seeing Theo’s expression of disbelief as he confirmed the information I had already heard, he sighed deeply.
“Let’s go outside for a moment.”
After saying this, Theo took out a cigarette from the drawer of his desk and put on his coat hanging on the chair, then stood up.
We followed Theo as he led the way to a less crowded smoking area, which is known for being good for discussing confidential matters.
Theo took out a cigarette as soon as we arrived at the smoking area and lit it.
With a deep breath, white smoke puffed out.
“When did it start?”
“What?”
“When did you start dating five people?”
Since each person’s timing was different, it was hard to give a general answer.
“The longest one has been for about 8 months now.”
I first met Yubin last summer, so it’s been roughly 8 months. Realizing that it’s almost a year, I felt a bit surprised.
“Anyone else knows?”
“Just the team leaders.”
“Huh…”
With a sigh of resignation, Theo flicked the ashes of the burning cigarette and took another puff.
“Are you really crazy?”
Only now did I feel a bit relieved after hearing the curse I had expected but hadn’t wanted to hear.
It’s just a matter of telling, and I don’t feel uncomfortable, but I felt uncomfortable because I was talking about my relationship with friends for the first time.
Logically, this shouldn’t be a reason to feel uncomfortable, but my partner is an enemy of our team.
“Five people…”
“It’s not a problem having five people.”
“But dating five members of the HunterKiller team is a big issue!”
Knowing that it wasn’t something to talk about loudly, Theo spoke while suppressing his voice.
Theo didn’t care how many partners I had either. As always, harems are common in space.
In some planets with a monarchy system, emperors had hundreds of wives, and even commoners had many wives.
I never had a problem with how many girlfriends I had. The fact that they were part of the HunterKiller team always bothered me, and that’s why I hesitated to report it.
While not condemning those who fell in love with enemies on invaded planets, dating all five members of the HunterKiller team could be problematic due to the potential impact of my actions and words.
I realized this firsthand during the recent operation.
From the beginning to the process and the outcome, it was impossible without dating all five members of the HunterKiller team.
I had predicted this to some extent before experiencing it directly.
I had hesitated to report it because I worried that higher-ups might misuse the information, but now that I’ve reported it, I wonder if I was just worrying unnecessarily.
Of course, even though I submitted the operation report, I still don’t know what will happen since orders haven’t come down yet.
“The report has been submitted. Is it related to the HunterKiller team?”
“How did you know that?”
The operation we carried out was treated as a secret even internally, known only to the ten people who performed it and a few people in the upper management who gave the orders.
Seeing my surprise, Theo looked at me with a pitying gaze and said impatiently.
“I asked because it’s verifiable that the report has been submitted. And before, when Red came to headquarters, she mentioned that you and the team leaders’ names were in the report, so it was predictable.”
He was right.
While I couldn’t verify the content of the report, it was clear that “the report has been submitted.”
Given that Theo frequently checks reports and submits them, it wouldn’t be strange for him to notice this.
“Yes.”
Seeing me nod in agreement, Theo extinguished the cigarette he was holding.
“So, the higher-ups must know too?”
“That’s right. I don’t know who else knows.”
I told Theo that only the team leaders knew about my personal life, but the higher-ups also know.
It’s natural for people to know since the report was submitted before the operation, but I have no idea who specifically in the upper management knows.
I can’t imagine high-ranking officials knowing from afar, so I assume only those who check various reports or issue operational directives at the ship’s command would know.
“You’ve participated in battles well despite that state.”
“We need to separate work from personal life.”
“That’s usually not possible. You’re crazy.”
Publicly, my relationship with my girlfriend is adversarial, but privately, it’s romantic.
Maintaining both the closest and most guarded relationships simultaneously is never easy.
That’s why I felt a lot of stress until I revealed everything to my girlfriends.
I still can’t combine both relationships, but once I laid everything bare, I felt much more at ease.
The biggest factor in feeling this way was my effort to clearly separate public and private life, and my girlfriends doing the same.
In battle, soldiers in uniform can be confused, but my girlfriends continued the fight knowing their target was not me.
“It works if you try hard.”
The most important thing is the effort to separate public and private life. Sometimes I doubt if it’s right, but every time, that thought pushes me to maintain my relationships with my girlfriends.
“Do you know about Klugger?”
“Oh… Well…”
This was a bit difficult to explain. Since I had already revealed that I was dating all members of the HunterKiller team, I thought it was pointless to hide anything about Klugger.
I told Theo about my encounter with Klugger, explaining that he didn’t know about my relationship with all members of the HunterKiller team and knew about the girlfriend who was a member named Red.
I tried to tell Klugger yesterday at the hospital, but I couldn’t because Silver, a member of the SpecialForce team, was in his room.
Seeing the complex expression on Theo’s face as he stared into the void, I understood that it was hard to speak under such circumstances.
“It’s tough to talk about it in that state.”
“I can’t ask Silver to leave since I don’t know how much he knows.”
“Right. If someone who knows your identity and Klugger’s is present, they might report suspicious conversations.”
If Silver knew about my and Klugger’s identities, being present itself would be under surveillance. Knowing this, I observed Silver instead of exposing him, but that observation prevented me from revealing the truth to Klugger.
“When do you plan to tell him?”
“I’ll wait for a time when Silver isn’t around. It seems to cause misunderstandings.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
“It’s complicated. I don’t have concrete evidence, just speculations.”
“Tell me when it’s resolved. I don’t like getting involved in the aftermath.”
Considering the potential seriousness of the situation, Theo decided to step back from my and Klugger’s issues.
Since Klugger and I need to resolve our issues personally, I never intended to involve Theo.
I told him today because I believe Theo should know regardless of Klugger’s issues.
“Did the higher-ups say anything?”
“Not yet. Once I receive orders after submitting the report, I’ll let you know.”
“Got it.”
Thinking Theo had finished smoking, I started to head back to the office, but he took out another cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
“Are you going to smoke again?”
“Am I going in? We haven’t even started the most important conversation yet.”
For me, the most important conversations were about my relationship status and informing Theo about what happened with Klugger.
However, the conversation that Theo considered most important wasn’t this, and it seemed he had more to say, so he turned back towards the office.
“What is it?”
“…Even dating members of the HunterKiller team was surprising enough.”
Although I answered calmly when I revealed the relationship, it seems I was shocked by the news of a friend’s relationship, especially one with an enemy.
“But you’re dating everyone.”
Seeing Theo muttering to himself, I furrowed my brows, wondering what he was trying to say.
“So, what do you want to say?”
Feeling frustrated because I couldn’t guess what Theo wanted to say, I asked him directly, and he looked at me after exhaling cigarette smoke.
“What are the team leaders going to do?”
“The team leaders?”
Suddenly, Theo brought up what the team leaders would do, and I wondered what he meant.
“Luche and Siera.”
I had already discussed this with Luche, so it was fine to explain. However, I wondered if it was okay to discuss it right away.
After a slight hesitation, I concluded it was fine to talk since Theo wouldn’t spread the information elsewhere.
But.
“Why Siera?”
“Huh?”
When I first revealed the relationship, Theo didn’t say anything and just looked at me with a bewildered expression.
When I asked about Siera, Theo glared at me with a mixture of frustration and anger.
“This guy is really making me feel uneasy.”
After a short sigh, Theo’s curses made me realize why he brought up Siera.
“Hey, nothing happened between Siera and me.”
“That’s exactly why you’re saying this!”
The suppressed frustration and anger burst out as a loud exclamation from Theo.
