“Today’s your first day! How are you feeling?” N looked up at the Sergeant Major who was standing over his bed. The rest of his squad were already up and looked at him with a big grin, dressed and well. They probably didn’t wake him on purpose.

“Ugh, tired,” N answered in a raspy voice. The Sergeant Major, named Charlie Powell, laughed wholeheartedly and as N tried to get up, he patted him roughly on his shoulder. Charlie Powell was a tough man, but everyone on the team knew he had a big heart. That didn’t mean you could get away with anything, though. When on the job, he would take it very seriously and give out severe punishments if you did something wrong. But everyone knew he was a good guy even though he was heavily build and he always had a stubble along his jaw.

N, on the other hand, was more fragile. He was one of the leanest guys in the team, but over the years he had grown some muscles. They weren’t very noticeable, but he could use them whenever he wanted to. He didn’t look very intimidating though, so he was pretty surprised when they told him he was the first one on his squad to actually get into action.

“Come on, N!” Nick called out from his bed, grinning whilst taking a bite out of a bagel. “You have to get out and get ready!”

Sergeant Major Powell looked up at him and furrowed his eyebrows, making Nick immediately regret his decision of biting into his bagel. Since these were their sleeping quarters; no food, games or other things were allowed. Nick tried his best to hide away his bagel, but the Sergeant Major had already spotted it, taking the bagel from him and demanding fifty push-ups from him. Nick did as he was told with a soft complaint and the Sergeant Major chuckled, biting into the bagel himself.

“Good going, Nick,” Minho laughed, only receiving another grunt from the private. Minho and N - his full name was Cha Hakyeon - were from the same company when studying to become what they are today.

Mitchel, who was his normal hyperactive self, sat down on N’s bed with a slight jump, grinning widely. “So, how does it feel? Your first day as a Corporal?”

N smiled widely. Only since yesterday had he been promoted to Corporal, which made him higher in command than everyone on his squad. Technically speaking he could give his own squad punishments or even tell them what to do. Although he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be taken seriously if he took these privileges lightly, so he merely straightened his back, getting up from bed.

“It feels powerful,” N said and the rest of the guys let out a small howl in response. They laughed and whilst N was getting dressed, the Sergeant Major stood up and started to tell everyone what today was about.

“Privates, your day is like any other, unfortunately. In exception of seeing your friend off,” he looked at N with a slight grin. “If he can dress any faster, that is. As for you, Corporal Cha… Your day has only just begun. First, you shall say goodbye to your squad and be transferred to one of the major cities, for you it will be...” he took out a letter from his pocket and scanned it with his eyes quickly, before nodding and putting it away again. “London.”

“London?” N repeated, his eyes growing wider. He had heard about London a lot and it passed by in a lot of his studies. London was the place where most of the revolutions started, so the city was more oppressed than others. They were under full watch, night and day. Even their dreams were tempered with. They were all kept in a depressed state, making them too tired to complain and act on it. The amount of Peacekeepers, which N was going to be from now on, were also more than in any other country. The Government felt that security was the most important thing to prevent their downfall.

“I heard lots of peacekeepers can’t stand being in that city for too long,” Nick said, looking up and stopping his push-ups for a moment, but Sergeant Major Powell immediately put him back to work again. N merely nodded, he had heard it too.

“It is true,” the Sergeant Major nodded. “That’s why most Peacekeepers will only stay there for as long as they can take it. Are you willing to take this challenge, N?”

N swallowed, but nodded firmly with a salute. “Yes, Sergeant Major Powell!”

“At ease, Corporal,” he replied, a soft grin on his lips. N put on his jacket and fastened his boots, checking if he packed everything and made sure to leave his bunk spotless. “Say bye to your squad.”

N saluted them. “May the Government be kind to you.”

“May the Government be kind to you,” they responded in unison, standing up and saluting him as was the norm. They really said goodbye yesterday night over a bottle of whiskey, but the Sergeant Major didn’t have to know that. Even though, he probably knew anyways.