YONG GUK

My mind jolted from its momentary stupor when Woohyun jumped out of his seat and like a threatened bully, began breathing down Siwon’s neck.

“Bull,” he hissed. “You don’t decide the future, especially not ours.”

“Hey,” I whispered, “Calm down---”

Woohyun shook my hand off and I simply sighed. I found the most distraught and disheveled expression in his eyes and was shocked to find its reflection on Kairi’s face. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that there was a special relationship between the two. Some people said that extreme compatibility could ruin relationships, but those people would have to look at this couple and realize that it was not what makes a relationship, which tests it. The multiple considerations of what could break those two souls and then still harbouring a hope for the future… That was important.

As I observed Kairi mutely comforting Woohyun, followed by the latter’s hesitant move to sit down, I asked myself where Jiyeon and I stood. I knew that our relationship was built on obligation. Jiyeon had saved my life, and at some point of time I knew that I would receive a chance to pay her back (though I always prayed for the impossibilities of such a chance). When Baekhyun had strolled in amongst the robed crowd, I knew that a part of Jiyeon I had never seen before had finally appeared. Jiyeon had never told me about him, but it took less than layman’s senses to understand that there was a story between the two --- whatever had existed, still existed. Their past had rode over a storm and become their present.

I had tried to ignore it and told myself that everything would settle down. But the more I spent time with Woohyun and Kairi, the more I knew that there was no time for that. As soon as we would return, I would end things between Jiyeon and I and let her live as much as she wanted to. Both of us, I decided, deserved more than this.

                                                                         KAIRI

“I would like you to … medicate me.”

Woohyun tightened his hold on my arm, which took me more than my normal strength to get rid of. He glared at me and said, “Nothing will happen to you.”

“I thought you said the future can’t be decided.” I freed myself from him and nodded at Siwon, who to my embarrassment was amused at the two of us. Woohyun continued holding my arm and muttering reasons as to why I was being stupid and I begun feeling like a parent trying to control her restless kid. With an exasperated sigh, I shrugged off Woohyun who finally gave up and turned away with a taut jaw.

The ‘medication’ took less time than expected. Siwon simply held my hand and with closed eyes began chanting a mantra that I was sure even a bat’s senses could not hear. His good looks overwhelmed me and I turned away, but on one side was my sulking boyfriend and on the other was Kris, who with an intention of smiling at me, turned up his lips in a way that did not seem friendly to my eyes. My thoughts flashed back to the glowing dragon tattoo on his arm and I wondered --- just how overqualified were these EXO monks for this mission?

The warmth from my hands disappeared and I mentally kicked myself for feeling lucky to be held by Siwon. With the tranquil look on his face still constant, he turned to Lay and Kris and said, “There’s another reason why I wanted you here.” He then turned towards the three outsiders, and began speaking.

“Years ago, as a superficial show of friendship and harmony, our temple had to send three of the best students to the government. We believed that by doing so, the government would stop sending intervening inspectors every month and to our advantage, we would be notified if any conspiracy were to be hatched against us. Those three monks were namely Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu.”

A moment of silence passed, almost as if it was not a report but a storytelling session being attended to. I sensed the tension from Lay’s side whose eyes kept flitting towards Kris, the latter’s eyes completely set on his senior.

“It was… our mistake.” For the first time, the calm was not there and an invisible cloud veiled Siwon’s face. The ethereal glow on his face was shaken by a painful expression and it took a curious bow from Kris’ side to return him from dark thoughts.

“JYJ, as they are known among social circles, were the best that EXO has produced. Often however, the most skilled are the ones who are most greedy and their ambitions took their toll. JYJ fell for the glitter of Paragon and though they had not been part of the same learning sessions, they found companions in each other for wanting the same thing --- more.

“I was their junior and even from an innocent perspective, I knew that they had energies that were sinister. They had never encountered each other inside the temple but when they were grouped together, they realized how powerful they were and once outside the authority of EXO – and as representatives of the temple – they embarked on their journey to the top.

“At first, everything was hinted at through ominous incidents. A mysterious kidnapping, an increase in the missing people’s list that no media person wanted to report, and finally, an all-out control over the freedom of expression… JYJ were at the forefront of Paragon’s dominance and it was their unparalleled execution of tasks that dared not create an enemy for them.”

Siwon suddenly turned to face me. “Kairi, have you heard of the Dharavi slum?”

I furrowed my eyebrows and finally, remembered. “Wasn’t that the biggest slum once upon a time? The one that got caught in a wildfire?”

From my peripheral gaze, I saw Kris shift, an uncomfortable look on his face.

“325 hectares of slum land,” Siwon said, “that the government had promised to redevelop through introduction of infrastructure and hygiene. But there was more than just the flooding of a large number of people in the area. Paragon had realized that there were ‘loose youths’ breeding in the non-supervised huts and when word of an attempt to contact the International Court got out, there was no other choice but to turn to JYJ.”

My eyes widened but before I could verbally react, Kris stood up and following an incoherent apology, left the room. I looked towards Woohyun who was as unaware of the situation as me. Yong Guk had a far-away look on his face and when his eyes met mine, he simply shrugged.

I felt a cold touch on my arm and turned around to find Lay leaning towards me. “Kris, Tao and Xiumin were in training when their families were caught in the fire. No one survived.”

My stomach clenched and a superseding nausea took over my thoughts. I turned towards Siwon for confirmation, who gave a grim smile and turned to look at Woohyun.

“If you want to be aware of anyone, it is these three. JYJ like hunting and one of their favourite games is to jump at a prey that is hiding from them.”

“That’s the advice?” I blurted out, sounding shockingly acerbic. Yong Guk flinched at my tone, but I ignored him.

“The key is,” Woohyun said, looking down at me with a mischievous grin, “to not hide. They’ve never faced an opponent that is ready for confrontation. Those guys have no idea who they’re dealing with.”

                                                                          D.O.

Eunji, Hyoyeon and Psy hyung were ahead of me, our small group having exited the hotel after the Red Alert was announced. Psy moved ahead with a confident stroll that made the three of us look like idiots. But the moment I caught his hands hovering above the revolver, I knew he was as nervous as all of us.

The Red Alert, which we heard through the miniscule but loud P.A. speakers set up in every hotel room, had sent a wave of shock through us. It had never occurred that it would all start from their side, that the ball would be in their court. Without a moment’s hesitation, the four  of us headed for the streets.

We were an odd group and for about forty-five minutes, Psy hyung was my uncle while Hyoyeon and Eunji were excited girls ready for a night-out. From the latter’s voice, I could find the betraying shiver that was masked by her Busan accent while an expert Hyoyeon calmly reacted to every nonsense that my co-worker was spewing out.

“So there was this huge monument and you know there were flowers and my mother always insisted that I should play with girls but then those cartoons stopped airing and…”

My eyes widened when Eunji began cursing and Hyoyeon began cursing back. This went on until Psy signaled to the other two and we grouped together again, heading inside a less crowded alley.

“The shortcut is from here,” he informed us and when I looked around, I recognized the streets and realized that he was right. Eunji’s fear was under the spotlight now. Her hair was matted against her forehead with sweat and her trembling body made her look like she was suffering from a viral disease. Psy was four steps ahead of us and Hyoyeon, with her hands comfortably wrapped around a deadly dagger, was right behind us. Eunji, who was a little ahead of me, kept shivering until I received a light slap on my head.

“Ow! What?” I spun around at Hyoyeon who scrunched up her face and whispered, “Calm your girl down!”

“She’s not my gir--- ow!” Another whack on my head and I quickly grabbed onto my ‘girl’. Eunji didn’t notice until Psy glanced to check on us and began quirking his eyebrows. I flushed red and began slipping my hand away when her hold tightened.

“Don’t,” she murmured. I blinked at her, and then nodded.

The darkness and the distant lights made us feel secure, when suddenly; a flash of headlights shot at us and froze us to our spot.

“Hey!”

“Run!” I bellowed and tagging Eunji along, began heading for nowhere. My adrenaline spiked up when someone caught me by the collar and I fell to the ground, only to find a familiar face looking down at me.

“You really are the slow one,” Hoya wondered aloud. Someone called out his name and he instantly lifted me up, making us rush towards his car. Yoona was pushing Hyoyeon and Psy inside and when we followed them in, a repeat of the Red Alert was playing on the radio.

Chaos ensued as we began a torrent of exchanging information. Hoya kept questioning Eunji’s presence; she made the intelligent decision of trying not to talk over the storm of voices. Yoona asked Hyoyeon if she remembered someone called Jessica and Psy asked Hoya to change the channel to a music station.

“SHUT UP!”

My voice cracked a little, but it worked. The noise died down and as Hoya sped up the car, I found Eunji’s head resting on my shoulder, her eyes drooping with sleepiness. In a soft murmur, she said, “I just want to go home.” Yoona heard it and gazed at her with understanding.

“We will,” she said, while Hoya looked at her and sighed. The next half an hour consisted of me narrating Eunji’s story to the two while a soft-rock ballad echoed in the background.

                                                                         PSY

Lucky kids.

I glanced at Hoya and Yoona who throughout the drive, had been exchanging discreet and meaningful glances at each other. D.O was no more uncomfortable even though Eunji’s head was buried in his chest. Hyoyeon had smiled a little when Hoya teased D.O for finding someone to die with and if I was not wrong, I saw a content tear trickle down her face.

They all had someone to think of when the time would come.

“Hyung?”

I turned to find D.O looking up at me with his wide eyes. At times like these, I felt like stapling the smile creases next to them. Compared to the two slits I had, this kid had two massive black holes jutting out his head.

“What?” I asked.

“Do you have an extra revolver? I don’t really… feel safe.”

I sighed. “You got Lara Croft sitting with us, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon are in front of us and well, there’s me. That girl sleeping on you seems to have some fire too so why worry?”

D.O. blinked at my response and his lips seemed to tremble, as he said, “But I don’t…. have..”

“Aren’t you a monk? Don’t you have any voodoo powers?”

The kid looked down and I heard him mutter, “It’s useless,” before giving up and resting his head on the girl’s head. I felt like passing a comment but upon seeing their tired faces, decided to let them be.”

“WAIT!”

Everyone woke up with a start and looked at Yoona. She made Hoya turn right who without protest, did so.

“What the hell are you do—?”

My words trailed off the moment we recognized the two figures, spotting our car and in the most harried manner, running towards us.

“Open the door!” Baekhyun called out. Luhan looked at Eunji and with a questioning gaze raised his eyebrows at D.O. The latter scowled and made way for the two who jumped to the backseat.

“L.Joe and Taeyeon are missing,” Baekhyun said, his generally tame hair in a wild mess now. Luhan was still looking at D.O and Eunji until the former hissed at him to “give him a break”.

“What do you mean—Hey, whose Taeyeon?” Hoya asked.

“The widow whose house we were sent to,” Luhan said, finally breaking his silence. “We saw them at a party last and went back to headquarters for a short briefing. When we returned to the mansion, the whole place was burned down and the two weren’t there.”

“Why did you leave L.Joe with her?” Yoona asked.

“She’s not the problem,” Baekhyun explained. “In fact, she wanted to help us out. She’s … she’s um, Suho’s ex.”

I threw my hands up in the air, only to have my fellow passengers look at me. I shook my head and turned to Luhan, who was right behind me. “Did you find out who did it?”

The boy nodded. “They mentioned an organization called JYJ.”

JYJ.

The name ran shivers down my spine and deer-boy seemed to have noticed. He furrowed his eyebrows and said, “How do you know them?”

Flashbacks of a dark memory began throbbing in my head, the distilled black and white interrupted by only one other colour – red.

“If it’s really JYJ who took your friends,” I said, my voice not booming with confidence any more, “then I’m sorry to say… we’ve just lost two comrades.”

“What do you mean?!” Baekhyun shouted.

The calm look of a handsome face crossed my vision.

“It’s still not too late…”

But the young man had shaken his head and three seconds later, the guillotine dropped. I could still see the smiling eyes on his head rolling towards me.

“Seven years ago,” I said, “I was caught by investigators. A lot of people think Paragon simply executes the arrested but that’s not true. They indoctrinate terror in the loose, less-serious criminals and since my crime was just a con, they attempted to do that with me.

“In the Central Prison, they have a room called the Judgement Room. Rebels and anyone who went against the core of Paragon’s system are sent there and in traditional style, a guillotine kills them. Prisoners like me, who are lucky to get a second chance and most importantly, spread fear amongst other potential criminals, surround the Judgement Room and have no other choice but to watch countless deaths until we get used to the colour of blood. The Room is nothing but a giant glass box with an axe hanging from the ceiling, the victim waiting beneath it. Seven years ago, I saw my last Judgement and after that, my hatred for Paragon increased tenfold.”

Silence ensued as my words echoed inside the car. I heard a soft whimper from Eunji, who was comforted by D.O and Luhan. Hoya looked at me from the rearview mirror, his eyes a little glazed and asked me, “What was that man’s crime?”

I gave a small smile. “He was a special case. He was a rebel but he seemed to have had a background of high caliber. They considered giving him a chance and offered life in exchange for information, which never happens in the Room. He refused and… I am yet to see a face so calm in front of death.”

“Do you guys remember that rock singer? The famous rock band that were killed in a car accident?”

I sensed tension in the air and took it as a yes.

“Psy…” Hyoyeon said, a tone of warning in her words.

“Okay so they released news that the band members had died in the accident right? Wrong. That’s what JYJ does. They frame these accidents and while everyone is trying to mourn the ‘freak accidents’, these three have taken the so-called dead to the Judgement Room where a different punishment awaits them. That lead singer Yonghwa? He had been executed in front of my eyes. In fact, the man I was talking about, had been his teammate.”

Luhan rested a hand on my shoulder and when I looked at him, he simply gave me a forlorn look and a sigh.

“That…” Hoya stuttered, blinking frequently. “That man… your last Judgement… Was his name, by any chance… Inguk?”

“Yes, why?”

And then it occurred to me.

While I had been happily handing out information about my past experience, I had struck a raw wound with hot iron. These kids had lost two friends and I had happened to be a witness of those losses. Luhan mouthed, ‘it’s alright’, but guilt began boiling up inside and I murmured a soft apology.

“So… Taeyeon and L.Joe…” Baekhyun said, his voice quivering with anger and fear.

I hung my head and gave a grim smile. “I’m afraid it’s their time.”