KAIRI

The day was beautiful. JunHyung was literally sitting on my head, making sure I finished my set of fifty crunches.

“Kairi….” JunHyung yawned and I pursed my lip, taking in a deep breath and letting it out as I performed the last ten push-ups.

“Take a deeeep breath….” He yawned again and I muttered something incoherent.

“Ten more for cursing the teacher….”

“JUN-!”

“Ten more if you interrupt me…” The nth yawn spawning out of his mouth, I bit my tongue and after what seemed like eternity, finished my first bout of warm-up. As Junhyung clapped my back, I collapsed, my cheek kissing the clean green land.

We had been allowed to take up the pasture, since due to a particular village superstition, no grazing or plucking of flowers was allowed before a special festival. Though two months was too less a time for a plan so big, Woohyun was adamant that no timing could be better.

“There’s not many of us,” I had heard Yoona whisper to Woohyun. The latter in turn gave his signature sigh and walked off, while saying, “Trust me.”

Trust had sort of become the norm.

I heaved a sigh and lifted myself off the ground, brushing grass off the khakis that Seohyun had happily lent me. “They’re all second-hand so don’t worry.”

“Who did they belong to?”

Seohyun had not answered that.

I took a sip of the water passed by JunHyung and braced myself for the next stage of exercise.

“What now?” I asked. JunHyung began rotating his neck, flexing his arm muscles. In short, the act of ignorance.

“Aren’t we going to you know, start.. training? Kickboxing? Muay thai…”

JunHyung burst out laughing and tried to make me look like the joke of the year. He pointed at me and started clapping his hands joyfully while the rest of the team, who were at the other end of the stream running forth, shook their heads. I saw Hara looking at him then turning away to finish her conversation with Sungjong while Hoya and SungGyu chuckled and continued to help with the firewood.

I had to ask Hara what he saw in him.

“Seriously?” JunHyung coughed out the word after calming himself down. “Muay thai? Kickboxing?”

“Nicole told me everything,” I fumbled. “Everyone’s specialities, you and Sungyeol being good with a revolver, Hara being good at almost every weapon in hand, Jiyoon tried training me with the katana…”

“So stick to that!” JunHyung exclaimed. I jumped in mid-air at the sudden proclamation.

“Yeah but, don’t you think I should… widen my.. potential?”

I waited for another round of laughter, only to receive the narrowing of eyes. JunHyung’s beady eyes threatened to freeze me and he leaned forward.

“You don’t want to destroy Paragon as much as the rest of us, do you?”

“I just want to fight with you…”

“Then stick with the katana.”

Junhyung walked away, leaving me with more questions to answer. It’s not like I didn’t know where we were headed. But if we were all on the same side, what was the difference anymore?

“That doesn’t make sense…” I murmured, only to remember that JunHyung never did.

                                                                                                                   HOYA

“How was training?”

Kairi gave me a look that made me sputter out a laugh. She sighed and walked towards the huge tent, waiting in line to the wash basin.

“Not here, there.” SungGyu pointed to my right and I muttered an apology, setting the firewood straight for the night’s bonfire. The village was being too kind to us and I really wondered if Woohyun had told them the honest reason of our stay here. Paradise was too beautiful to be enveloping us. It was too beautiful for anyone.

“And make sure nobody finds out, alright?” SungGyu warned. I nodded and waved my hand, knowing the full procedure. Like always, Woohyun was being the secret chef. He had learned the art of cooking from InGuk but no one among the family was ready to consider that he would be spending time with pots and pans. Everyone only imagined him flirting with grenades and knives.

It was still alarming how Woohyun had changed in such less time, despite keeping his vengeful state stable. Despite the shadow of a smile on his face, he was ready to burn every house down in Paragon, even though he knew that his parents would be living in one of them. Our parents.

Did we still consider them as family? Not in this lifetime. Having agreed to stick to Paragon’s ‘make the rich richer and the poor non-existent’ scheme, they believed we would be convinced to. After all, we had been bred in Paragon, the epitome of any civilization.

But Woohyun’s elder brother had just got out of high school and through a chance meeting, had met an underground troupe called B.A.P. Everyone solely saw them as hip-hop but as their songs became darker and the frequency of police crashing their gigs became more rapid, InGuk knew there was something other than music growing underground. And it was for sure, against the system.

Two of the members, Yong Guk and Jong Hun aka Bang and Zelo, began hatching plans to negate the system in every way and thus prevent it from growing. This was when Paragon was young, so it was only necessary for them to believe that freedom for all was possible. They believed that if any positive change was to take place, it had to be done without this dictatorial cover.

Bang and Zelo belonged to middle-class families whose fathers had helped Paragon by investing in it, only to be fired and relocated for some petty reason. No health insurance, no compensation. Life had ended there and then for their families but Bang and Zelo were ready to battle and as InGuk began noticing the corrupt acts being discussed over tea in his household, he knew he had to take action.

It took less than five seconds for Woohyun and I to be convinced of this plan. InGuk had warned us of the risk but we trusted him and also trusted our instincts. Ever since Paragon had been created, the atmosphere in the family had changed. Nothing was more important than looking good, than the lack of space in the wallet. It was all about money.

Woohyun and Seungyeon were high school sweethearts and the only time she had been angry was when she had discovered that we were keeping this secret from her.

“You know I’ll stand by you,” Seungyeon had promised. “You think I don’t know what’s going on?”

Seungyeon was at the centre of every information possible. Her father was none other than the Minister of Finance.

Bit by bit, mostly through shady meetings and more underground concerts, people began to gather. Bang and Zelo already had their cousin Hyosung with them. The spark was being passed from line to line but nothing had been ignited yet.

It all started when B.A.P went missing.

During a packed concert, Jong Up and Himchan made gestures that were for obvious reasons, insulting Paragon. Within seconds, troops swooped in and though Bang and Zelo ran away (believing that the rest were behind them), the other four members were nowhere to be seen. Rumours began. Someone saw them being shot one by one against the wall of the club. Another saw a group of burly gangsters surrounding the four and leaving nothing but traces of blood and cloth. Yet another swore he saw four big sacks being thrown from the helicopter to an abandoned plot a 100 feet below.

The truth however was that Bang and Zelo were never to see their friends again. We all knew why.

From then on the fire spread. Donghae, a professor at Yonsei joined in on our campaign and as more contacts gathered in with more people, a leader was announced. The leader was none other than InGuk.

Everyone trusted him. But the people who he trusted turned their back against us. The night that a candle march and concert was to be held as a peaceful protest against the government’s extreme ways,  Woohyun’s mother told him not to go.

“We can only protect you and In Guk,” she had tearfully claimed. “Let the others be.” Pretending to be convinced, Woohyun instead warned the team not to go. Those who were patient and careful stayed back, most of them now a member of our current family. But there were many who were impatient and were ready to sacrifice whatever they had with him.

The only thing they landed up sacrificing was their lives.

“Hoya!”

Startled by Leeteuk’s voice, I turned around and nodded. Leeteuk motioned for me to get the fire started and I nodded again.

Leeteuk, I thought, as I watched his back face me, his expression probably smiling on Yoona and L who he had bet would one day land up together. The two childhood friends bickered a lot but if there was one truth, it was that Yoona and L knew each other better than anyone in the world. How they both would realize that—only God knew.

As I watched L playfully flick Yoona’s hair while she settled the chairs, I smiled in nostalgia. It only seemed like yesterday when on the way to our hideout, the two had saved our lives by fighting in sync with them. It was like watching a movie, as the fought against violent gypsies and that was the day that Inguk decided that we needed more than just people. We needed an army, ready for war.

Training began with Yoona and L, as their classes together in various forms of martial arts became a foundation for the future. Soon each and everyone found their own calling within the fighting sphere. Yong Hwa had surprised everyone when he entered our hideout. He was a celebrity then and it was even more surprising to learn that an impulsive rebel like him had married a meek girl like Seohyun. It’s a different thing that Seohyun had found her place next to Hoya and his bombs.

“Let’s eat well!”

Everyone dug in, thanking the villagers. Before the official training actually started, this was the last time everyone could receive a chance to relive their happy moments, look at the fire and thank the universe for keeping them alive. It’s not that I was spiritual or believed in karma, though the latter is something I have tried to get along with as much as possible.

But what created the most bittersweet feeling was watching Kairi drag in a chair between Jiyoon and Nicole. While Jiyoon was still reluctantly letting Kairi become a part of our team, Nicole had embraced her from day one. Kairi’s eyes met with mine and I raised my chopsticks.

‘Eat well’, I mouthed. Kairi pursed her lips, still not sure about whether she could fully smile or not. Nicole’s attention was caught by SungGyu, who lead her away. Jiyoon, feeling uncomfortable at being alone with Kairi, left to pick up another piece of chicken skewer. Kairi’s face sunk in as she noticed the considerable amount of space around her. She glanced at all of us, lost and confused, almost as if she had forgotten how to eat.

I trusted Woohyun, I sincerely did. But what plan was it that Woohyun had in his head? Did he actually believe that Kairi was capable of going against her own? Her father? And how on Earth were we all supposed to walk into Paragon’s stronghold with less than 2% of their strength?

Woohyun had all the answers. And as long as I knew that, I trusted him. We all did.