Despite being a mountain of a man, your colonel was quiet and often preferred to be alone. Rumors had gone around the base like a wildfire. Some speculated he was shy, others believed he had severe depression which made him hide away, and there was another group of people who thought he was simply dying.

Although the last assumption was a stretch, you knew anything could be possible with König. Just today as you were waiting for lunch, you saw König lose his temper on a soldier. Afterwards, König had come inside the cafeteria and realized everyone was watching him. Like a child, he had put his head low and quickly left the room. This wasn't the only time you had seen him act strange.

Now, you were sitting on the dirt right outside of your barracks. Your head was pointed up at the sky, your eyes gazing over the bright twinkling stars. You could hear the sound of boots stomping on the dirt, indicating someone was heading towards you. When you lifted your head, you saw König staring down at you. His eyes narrowed in on you, an aura of intimidation crowing around him.

"What are you doing up so late?" König asked you in a soft voice.

He slowly sat down beside you on the dirt, putting his hand up to stop you from talking. He gestured to the sky with his right hand, a soft chuckle leaving his lips.

"Ah, why do I even ask? You are clearly staring up at the sky." König murmured to himself.

A few moments of awkward silence fell over the two of you. It was rare for König to start conversations with lower ranked soldiers. As you opened your mouth to speak, König beat you.

"Let me tell you something, kleiner Soldat," König began. "I hear the rumors. All the time. I am not dying. I am not sick, I am not hiding from a mistress, and I most certainly am not shy. I have social anxiety."

After another few seconds of silence, you slowly turned to look at König. His eyes crinkled behind his mask, indicating he was smiling. You didn't understand why he was telling you this. König had never even spoken to you before.