He sighed, letting the warm water travel over his head and down his body. It was relaxing, and it was an experience that he had come to love.

Sometimes, the men complained about the water being lukewarm, or not as hot as they preferred, but he thought they were being babies. After years of only washing up in cold rivers or with sponge baths, taking a shower where he could clean off all of the sweat and grime was something he didn't realize he needed until he had it.

There was a pounding on the separator between the two of them," Time to go kid," He huffed," before you use up all of the hot water again."

He wasn't allowed to shower by himself. And he had no shame in admitting it was because the few times he did, he had used up all of the hot water, much to everyone's ire. After the fourth time he had done it, the men had taken it upon themselves to make sure there would be at least one person in the shower room with him to prevent it from happening again.

More often than not, it was the major, the two of them being night owls that enjoyed each other's company. Sometimes, they didn't even speak to each other. It was just him sitting on the couch, playing with the phone the major had gotten him, and Major Kang at his desk, doing paperwork and other responsibilities.

Turning off the water, he almost mourned the loss of the warmth before wrapping his towel around himself. Han-Gyeol the giant had been kind enough to give him one of his towels, which thankfully, was large enough for him to wrap the towel around his shoulders while covering all the necessary bits.

The others said that he looked like a kid when he did that, but he didn't care, he was warm.

There was a sharp yelp, and then a heavy thud from the adjacent cubicle. He could feel the vibration through the shower shoes, causing him to look down at the partition.

"Um," He could see the major's hand on the floor before the partition got in the way," Are you okay?"

Major Kang cursed quietly, and he could see the older man starting to get back up after slipping," Yeah. My towel fell…"

He knitted his eyebrows. He was rather sure that the man's towel wasn't the only thing that had fallen.

"And yes. I was in my towel. Shut up."

That made him snort, garnering another order to shut up from Major Kang, much to his amusement. He waited until he would hear the major walking out until he followed him out. Sometimes, he felt like a child following the man around the base, especially when he had nothing to do, but there was just something about the major that made him comforting to be around.

He glanced down at the Major's back, repressing a smile when he saw that the skin there was red, no doubt from taking a fall like he did.

Well, he was just going to keep that to himself.

There were days where the already quiet teenager was even quieter than usual, but they didn't worry about it too much. Everyone had those days, where they were quieter, or just didn't feel up to talking. It was common among the military as there were days when everything was fine, and then there were days when it had been a tough mission or just a tough day in general.

So when Jin was quieter than usual, they didn't question it. They didn't know Jin that well, but they knew him well enough that he needed some space and some quiet to himself. They just left him alone, letting him do whatever he want, which was apparently lingering around Major Kang for a decent part of the day.

He was walking back to his office, staring down at his clipboard as Jin walked a little bit behind him. Han-Gyeol, who was walking past them, said his greetings, called Jin Jinny, and ruffled his hair before going on his merry way.

He led Jin to the dorms, planning to spend some time with the men before he went back to his office to do some paperwork. He was in the middle of telling a joke when there was a sudden weight against his shoulder, and considering the fact that it was Jin sitting on that side, he made a surprised noise.

"Uh," Ji-hoon said suddenly, leaning in for a closer look," Jin? You're really pale man."

Oh, that wasn't good.

He turned towards Jin, and the panic kicked up a notch when Jin slid off his shoulder and right into his lap. He was limp, and it was clear that something had caused the young man to suddenly pass out.

"Jin?!"

"Oh fuck!"

"Someone get Dae-Hyun!"

They had Jin on the floor in less than half a minute, the major using his basic medical knowledge to make sure that the young man wasn't having a heart attack or something. But other than him twitching and muttering under his breath, Jin was completely fine.

Other than the fact that he was unconscious and wasn't waking up, no matter how many times they tried to wake him up.

"Shit," Jin muttered something under his breath," What's wrong with him?" Ji-hoon asked nervously, exchanging looks nervously with Sung-Ho, Gwangsik looking at the major nervously.

"I don't know." Kang said truthfully, completely and utterly puzzled by what was happening to the teenager," He was fine until we got here."

Just as fast as it started, it ended.

Jin shot straight up, scaring the living shit out of all of them. His hands went up to grab his head in an expression of pain

"Kid?" Major Kang tried to rest his hand on Jin's shoulder but pulled it away when Jin recoiled at the touch. Just another reminder that while Jin had become more friendly with them, he wasn't entirely comfortable," What happened?"

Jin groaned, clenching his eyes shut as he gritted out," It was a memory," He sounded faintly frustrated," But I can't remember what I saw."

That sounded like a bitch.

They let Jin calm down for a few more minutes, concern rising up when they saw how much his hands were shaking.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Major Kang pulled Jin's arm over his shoulder, and holding onto Jin's waist, he helped the teenager stand up," Come on," He led Jin over to his bunk, Ji-Hoon doing the same after a few seconds," I'll get Dae-Hyun, get some rest."

"Yes sir." Jin quietly muttered out, laying down on his bed and flinging an arm over his eyes, uncharacteristically exhausted after what just happened.

It took three more days.

But Yu Ijin finally introduced himself to them.

He was just sitting around the Major's office as he usually did.

When someone quite literally kicked down the door. They jumped to their feet, ready to defend themselves from whatever opened the door in such a violent way, just to hear.

"Chubs had babies!"

…what?

"She did?!"

Ijin just watched in confusion as the Major lit up like Dae-Hyun told him he won the lottery. Because who had babies?

Maybe it was a female friend of theirs?

But why was her name Chubs then?

"Where are they?" Major asked excitedly, already walking towards the Medic.

"They're in my office. Come on!"

"Yessssss," the Major started to run out of his office, happily following his Medic before he doubled back to grab his hand, practically dragging him out of the office," When did she have them?"

Them?

As if multiple children?

"Last night. I came into my office this morning and found them tucked away in the corner I left her," What?" The forward platoon company said she got pregnant two months ago, they said that she was due in a few days when they gave me her last night, but they must have counted wrong."

Alright.

They couldn't be talking about a human. They just couldn't. he didn't know a lot about the opposite sex, but what he did know, was that a human couldn't be pregnant for two months and then give birth.

So he just had to be missing a piece of information.

They were approaching Dae-Hyun's office already," How many babies did she have?"

Dae-Hyun opened the door," She had eight puppies. Two of them were dead by the time I came in, but I already buried them in the back."

Puppies.

So that explained the smell.

It was an odd mix of skunk and something else that lingered in the room. The open windows contributing greatly to dispersing the smells of the puppies.

Now that the door was opened, he could hear quiet whines and a small yip that made all of them look to the corner.

He didn't know a lot about dogs, but he could tell that there was an average-sized mutt laying in the corner in a plastic pool, there were towels around the dog as she bared her dark-colored belly, rolling over some of the tiny squirming lumps in the process.

"Ah shit," They rushed over to the plastic pool, Dae-Hyun and the Major retrieving the puppies she had rolled over while showing them her stomach.

They were absolutely tiny.

It was his first time seeing a puppy, and he didn't know what he expected a puppy to look like, but it definitely wasn't this.

Its eyes were almost sealed shut, and there were two little nubs of skin on its head that looked like would grow into proper ears later on. Their snouts were short, their legs and tail stubby, but flexible. And they were very noisy.

"She's kinda stupid huh?" Dae-Hyun asked with a smile, patting the dog's stomach as Major Kang marveled over the puppy in his hand.

"This is her first litter," Kang said simply," she's allowed to be a little bit stupid. Ijin," The major turned to look at him, his head jerking to the side to motion him over," Come on, Chubs isn't gonna bite you."

He hesitated for a second, but when the Medic started to stare at him insistently, he slowly walked forward, not really sure what to do. as soon as he was close enough, Major Kang pulled him down to kneel with them, instructing him to make a fist and hold it out to Chubs to introduce himself.

Ijin did as he was told.

He understood why they loved Chubs so much. She bared her stomach for him, and carefully, he put her stomach and sides, making sure that he avoided the nursing puppies.

"Huh," He turned to look to Dae-Hyun, who had a puppy cradled in his hands," She was ignoring this one." He just watched in curiosity as the medic forced his thumb into the puppy's mouth, and when the puppy started to suckle on his thumb, he transferred it to Chubs so it could nurse," That one is probably gonna die."

He made a noise in the back of his throat, not entirely understanding why the Medic had said that.

"Why do you say that?" Kang asked curiously, apparently having the same question.

Dae-Hyun shrugged his shoulder," That's what usually happens. Dogs can sense when somethings wrong, so they usually ignore them. They don't want to waste time on them."

The Major hummed, cradling a sleeping puppy in his hands," Well that's survival of the fittest for you." He held out the puppy towards Ijin," Do you want to hold her?"

He didn't even get to give the man an answer before he was being handed the newborn puppy. She yawned in his hands, allowing Ijin to see the toothless gums in her mouth. He could see the fresh umbilical cord on her stomach, a weird green-colored string that stood out against her pink stomach.

Alright.

He was starting to see why the Major had been so excited.

Carefully, he dragged the pad of his index finger over her forehead, marveling at the soft fur that he could feel.

Major Kang and Dae-Hyun leaned back to exchange grins behind Ijins back.

"Sir," they stared up, all of them truly contemplating their life choices at the moment," Your gremlin child is being weird again."

There was a tone of confusion in the man's voice," My gremlin what? " There was a pause as Major Kang walked around the corner spotting them as he held the phone up to his face," Wait ." he hung up the phone and started to jog lightly towards the crowd of men," where's Ijin?"

Together, almost like it was synchronized, they pointed up towards the water tower " On top of the water tower."

The Major looked as flabbergasted as they felt and by the looks of it, he was questioning his life choices as well. He looked up at the moderately tall water tower, just high enough to peak over the nearby buildings of the base.

"…How did he even get up there?" the water tower was surrounded by a fence to prevent people( such as Ijin) to climb up.

Dae-Hyun sighed heavily, his fingers rubbing at his forehead," your guess is as good as ours sir."

For a few seconds, the only thing they could do was stare at the bottom of Ijin's boots as they hung over the walkway.

This has got to be the weirdest thing Ijin had done to date.

He sighed heavily, "I'll call him…"

That sounded like a logical move.

It was silent for a few seconds before they heard Ijin pick up the phone with an innocent," Hello ." As if he wasn't doing anything questionable.

"Hey Ijin, quick question," the Major said quickly," what in the fresh fuck are you doing up there?"

There was a hum," Watching the stars. I can see them better up here."

That…

That was the very reason they called Ijin the Major's gremlin child.

Major Kang sighed heavily, his fingers going up to pinch the bridge of his brow as he said," For fuck's sake Ijin, get your ass back down here."

There was a groan, it was muted, and sounded unintentional. But it still caught their attention as it was the first sign of reluctance they had seen from the teenager.

Kang immediately asked," What? What is it?"

" It's uh...It's quieter up here… "

Dae-Hyun didn't even get a chance to put in his opinion before the major said," Alright. Ten more minutes and then you have to come down. You're giving everyone and their mother a heart attack."

" Yes sir ." No one missed the barely present tone of happiness in the boy's voice.

Major Kang also did not miss their looks of disappointment. He scowled at them.

"Hey, leave me and my gremlin alone."