“Amygdala is at the center of your brain. While around it is the place where information will be processed, which means, through prior knowledge, your amygdala will decide what is your emotion.” The professor jumped to the next slide and there was a brain structure.

Yaerin listened attentively while jotting down the most important points which in her opinion would be tested in exams. She could feel that her phone was vibrating once in a while in her bag. However, she ignored it. Knowledge first, she mentally made a note in her head as she could feel her hands were itching to take out the phone.

The slides came to an end. “We will discuss more on basic emotions in the next class,” the lecturer said while writing some reflection in his book. “Please leave your attendance card in this basket before you leave.”

All students got up from their seats, chatting with each other while heading to the professor. He was standing patiently beside the basket on the table, waiting for them all to put their attendance slip. Yaerin packed her things quickly and straightaway ran to the long line. Professor Yang’s lectures were always full with students. Even some of the students who did not take his courses would also join some lectures. Moreover, if they were public lectures where everyone was welcomed. Yaerin bit her bottom lip, controlling her patience which was getting thinner. Her left hand was holding the attendance slip, while the other hand of hers was clutching her phone. When it was her turn, she inserted her slip, giving a quick bow and left the lecture hall as fast as lightning.

Yaerin walked towards a more quiet place before checking her phone. “12 missed calls?” She chuckled. “You crazy, Kim Seokjin?” she shook her head and called Seokjin back. After a few beeps, he picked up. “Yah. You know my time table, right?”

At the other side, Seokjin could not help himself from smiling widely. “Well,” he replied and threw himself on his new bed. “I can’t wait until you finish your class. I was hoping you to pick up my call just now. But yeah, your ‘knowledge-first’ pride just hurt me.” He pouted. Deep inside, he was hoping she could see his reaction. Yaerin laughed, and it simply made his heart fluttered. “Yaerin-ah, I have sent some pictures of my room to you. Have you seen it? It’s a great place, I’ve told you many times.” He put his arm on his forehead and stared at the ceiling emptily.

Hearing his cheerful voice, Yaerin lost her words. She forced a smile and looked down, eyes fixed on her snickers; it was a present from Seokjin. “Hmmm. I’m glad you’re doing fine,” Yaerin replied. “The room looks great! I mean, you have two roommates, double decker bed and the view of the ocean outside of your room. Everything is great there.” She clearly did not sound sincere. There were some students walking past her and she took several steps backward until her back hit the wall. She let out a short but inaudible sigh.

Seokjin moved his arm, from his forehead to his eyes, covering both of them. He had cried enough just now when he called his mother, and now, he wanted to try his best not to cry. He chose this place. “Yaerin-ah. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Why?” Yaerin blinked, on the other side. “Do you have orientation session?” she asked, refused to disconnect. Hearing Seokjin’s answer, her shoulder fell. “Ah, I see. Okay, take care. Don’t flirt around.”

Seokjin laughed hard. “Yah! There’s no women here. I hope, the nurse and the medical assistant are pretty,” he joked. Yaerin scoffed in annoyance and it made his laughter worse. “Arasso,” he said softly before bidding goodbye and hung up the call.

“Yeoja chingu?”

Hearing a voice which came from the lower part of the bed, Seokjin rolled his body, lying on his stomach and peeked down. He smiled. “I didn’t realize you’re here,” Seokjin replied, ignoring the other guy’s question.

Yoongi chuckled. “You were very emotional just now,” he replied while folding some of his socks. “It’s pretty uncomfortable to let you know that I’m back from the toilet.”

Seokjin rolled back and let out a loud sigh of relief. He closed his eyes, trying to forget his hometown. “Thanks, Yoongi. By the way, there will be an examination tonight.”

As expected, Yoongi’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?” He blinked in confusion. “How did you know that?”

Imagining his roommate’s bewildered face, Seokjin got up and looked out on Yoongi who was still dumbfounded. His priceless expression amused Seokjin. “Hahaha, chill, Yoongi. It was my girl who told me. She made some researches about this institution before I come here. She said, there’s a pattern where every year, they will give the new-comers like us an examination at night and a week of physical endurance camp.”

The other nodded absent-mindedly, processing the shocking news well. Sigh. “Suddenly, I feel like wanting a girlfriend.”

.   .   .   .   .

Gulping as fast as he could, the plastic cup was empty in a few seconds. Seokjin stood up and brought his food tray together with him to a big basin near the sink. The eatery was very busy with students chewing their food less than five times and swallowed them. Now, there was one perfect and long queue formed just to use the sink. Seokjin put his tray carefully in the basin and joined the line.

“You’re late,” the guy in front of him said.

Seokjin raised his brows in confusion. However, broke into a small laughter after seeing it was his own roommate, Yoongi. “Yah. It’s not that I’m late. But chewing properly is vital.”

Yoongi smirked. “Your girl told you that?” he teased the other guy and turned to the front. Five more students to go.

However, things did not always happen as how they were planned. The amusement of teasing Seokjin abruptly gone when there were two guys, acting like some uneducated thugs, giving death glares to the junior who was supposed to use the sink. Yoongi poked his inner cheek with his tongue, clearly irritated with those two guys. “Yah.” He tilted his head, staring sharply at those guys.

Seokjin, who was talking with the other junior behind him, quickly excused himself and paid attention to Yoongi. He attentively gazed at the other guy. “Did you call me?”

Yoongi took a step backward towards Seokjin and Seokjin brought his face closer to Yoongi. “You see those guys?” Yoongi pointed them with his small eyes and Seokjin followed his gaze. “Those s just cut the queue like some great gods.”

Hearing that little remark, Seokjin’s forehead furrowed. Annoyance started to linger around him and he squinted his eyes towards those guys, examining them. They wore the exactly same uniform as him and Yoongi. So, what made those guys think they were superior that they could jump the long line. He almost cursed them, but abrupty interrupted when he saw their tags. For a couple of seconds, he fell silent. “Red tags,” he mumbled silently.

“What?” Yoongi moved his head closer to Seokjin.

The hall was very noisy. The endless clicking sound between spoons and trays when they met. The buzzing sound which came from the electric fly killers that were hanging in every corner of the eatery place. And the chatters from the people around. However, Seokjin could only hear the sound of a plucking guitar. And it came from nowhere.

.   .   .   .   .

-Last year

He finished the song by strumming all the strings of the black guitar. The discussion room which was echoed with his singing, slowly turned silent. They both were killing time, skipping their yaja and kept each other in the discussion room at the public library. Youth life.

Yaerin’s jaw dropped. “Woah!” Her eyes were fixed on the guitar. “That’s wonderful.” She clutched her hands together and gazed at Seokjin lovingly.

Receiving such a meaningful compliment, he smiled widely and rubbed the back of his neck, slightly felt shy. “Yah, it’s nothing. That’s an easy song to play. Give me some challenging songs. Palli!”

“Enough with your love songs, Kim Seokjin.” Yaerin grabbed her bag and ped it. She took out a transparent file which Seokjin’s name was written on it. Seokjin was staring at her silently. “Here!” She displayed proudly the file to him. ‘Kim Seokjin’s Preparation to Navy Life’ was written neatly on it with a dark blue marker pen.

Seokjin blinked in confusion. He put away his guitar and moved closer to her. “What is this?”

Yaerin did not answer him rightaway. She took a glance at him secretly and smiled. “This is about your Navy Medical Institution (MMI),” she replied and brought out a small booklet in the file. “I have gathered all information about that institution. Their lifestyle, their grading-style, their coursework, projects, examinations, orientation for new students, facilities, teachers, some good and bad reputations, and also the RTS.”

He was speechless. Deep inside, he knew Yaerin was busy with her school. She had personal tutoring session at night, and slept late to finish her homework. When did she have time to do this unimportant thing which was clearly unrelated to her? Thinking of how Yaerin always gave him her best, it made him wondered of what good deeds he had done in his previous life.

Seokjin looked around, wildly, hiding his thankfulness. “That’s a lot.” He cleared his throat and recalled all the things Yaerin mentioned just now. “By the way, what is RTS?”

As he threw that question to her, a wide smile quickly took place on her face. The evening sunray shone directly on her face which made her looked like… cheonsa. Seokjin did not blink while gazing Yaerin.

“I know you would ask about RTS,” she replied and moved away from her spot. The sunray was distracting her, making it hard for her to look at him directly without having to narrow her eyes. Yaerin flipped the book opened and went to the page where she had put a small red bookmark. She skimmed the page while letting her index finger became her guide. And she found the exact paragraphs about RTS. “Here!” She beamed happily before clearing like she was going to sing for Seokjin.

.   .   .   .   .

“RTS stands for Red Tag Students, also known as, the high achiever in navy syllabus and medical syllabus,” Seokjin said, empty-mindedly. His eyes were fixed on one of the RTS seniors. Those small eyes of that man simply gave Seokjin some chill. “Only 20 students out of the whole batch will be chosen.” The small eyes senior turned around and walked towards him after he had used the sink. Seokjin took a quick glimpse at his nametag and little did he know, he kept the name carved on his mind; reminding himself not to mess with the owner of that name.

Kim Namjoon, he memorized the name well. Seokjin stared at his boot for too long that he missed the other senior’s name. While Yoongi, he kept growling in dissatisfaction.

“RTS my ,” Yoongi scoffed. “If they are RTS,” he spun around and gave a dead glare towards the senior who passed them a few seconds ago. He was far enough from them to hear their little tantrums. “Then they better act like one.”

Seokjin laughed and gave his angry roommate a light punch on his arm. “Cool down, Yoongi.”

Ignoring Seokjin’s words of comfort, Yoongi angrily washed his hands.

.   .   .   .   .

Another droplet of perspiration fell down on the floor. He his dry lips and secretly gritted his teeth in irritance. It has been almost half an hour they were in planking position. Seokjin admitted, his arms started to shake. A moment ago, he decided to give up and lied down on his stomach, however, he changed his plan after seeing how terrible it became if any of the juniors touched the floor. There were three students who failed to endure the planking position, ten minutes ago; and they were taken somewhere. The last thing Seokjin knew was, their cries echoed all over the hall, haunting others, but they were nowhere to be found. When the three juniors were pleading, the remaining seniors which were guarding the rest, laughed histerically. And it made Seokjin’s heart boiled. Son of-

“Son of a .”

Seokjin was startled. He was about to curse under his breath, but someone else had done it on his behalf. He breathed heavily and turned his head a little to his right side. He chuckled slowly.

Yoongi was panting hard and released a loud sigh, trying to calm himself. Yoongi’s arms were shaking as well. “I’m gonna kill them. Each of them.”

Hearing that threat which existed out of anger, Seokjin shook his head. Yoongi’s temper amused him, although they just got to know each other today. Today is such a long day, he whispered to himself. He could still find himself lucky because the hall was not too hot, or else it would be more suffocating. Trophies and medals were hung everywhere in the hall. The white wall was almost full with traces of achievement from the students. No wonder the hall was named Golden Hall. Seokjin took in a deep breath and held for a few seconds before releasing all the carbon dioxide out from his lungs and breathed in oxygen. The scent of sweat reminded him that everyone else was enduring the same pain as him too.

“Up!”

Finally, Seokjin felt relief and fell flat on his stomach before standing up, breathing heavily.

“Three minutes rest, hoobae!”

And they all growled in frustration. It simply meant that after three minutes, there would be other positions waiting to torture them. Seokjin stretched his body and massaged the back of his neck.

“Yah,” Yoongi called him. “Look at that RTS jerk.”

Seokjin moved his left palm to his right shoulder. He patted his sore shoulder hard and moved his shoulder, forming an anti-clockwise rotation. He set his eyes on the RTS senior and quickly recalled of what happened earlier at the eatery. He was the other senior whose name Seokjin had missed. Seokjin wiped the dripping sweat on his forehead and kept his eyes on the man’s nametag.

Jeon Jungkook, he registered another RTS senior’s name in his must-avoid list.

Yoongi smirked and pulled his right leg towards his chest to tie his shoelaces. “Shibal.” Yoongi hissed, a bit too loud and stood up in anger. He then walked away to ease his sore muscle, leaving Seokjin on his spot who was still massaging his shoulder.

Suddenly, their gazes met.

Jeon Jungkook shot a dead glare to Seokjin. As fast as lightning, Seokjin shifted his eyes away and lowered his head. He did not massage his shoulders anymore and pretended to look around. He needed Yoongi, and the other guy was a few meters away from him. Yoongi was helping other juniors. Without wasting time, Seokjin got up and set his pace to Yoongi.

However, when he was about to make his first step, a loud and hoarse voice commanded them to do 50 pumpings. On the spot, everyone formed a pumping position and started doing it in unison. They counted together loudly as well.

“9, 10,” Seokjin counted together while seeking for Yoongi. “11, 12, 13-”

“Freeze!”

Everyone stopped counting and stayed in their position where their bodies were lifted up and their hands played the most important role in maintaining their balance. Again, everyone’s arms began to shake.

“Do you know what’s the worst thing to do in this institution,” a voice greeted them. The juniors looked up and it was one of the seniors, Jeon Jungkook. He walked around them all, snobbishly. Whenever he made his away, passing them, they would immediately avoid his cold gaze and stared at the floor. He whistled freely, sending more shiver to the juniors. “The worst thing to do in this institution is…” Jungkook’s step died in front of Seokjin.

For a second, Seokjin became numb. He gulped and kept his gaze low. He did not have much strength to look up at Jungkook. While other juniors, they were staring at Jungkook, totally dumbfounded and waiting for the next words.

Jungkook smirked. Mercilessly, he raised up his leg and stepped on the back of the innocent junior’s body with all his strength. It seemed like he was releasing years of grudge towards that one weak torso.

Seokjin fell down on his stomach and coughed mildly. The cold and hard floor made it more painful. Fortunate enough, his head did not hit the floor too hard. However, rather than pain, he was overwhelmed with fear and confusion.

The question was, why him?

Jungkook lowered his body and tilted his head to have a better view of the junior’s face. And when their eyes locked on each other, he smiled cynically. The worst thing to do in this institution is… “Badmouthing the seniors.”

The hall was filled with silence. Too quiet. More quiet than a public library that Seokjin knew. And more haunted than old wooden houses he used to see in horror movies.