I wanted to slam my fist in front of him because yes, I got the job!

            There were choruses of protest from the other candidates since I got in without the trials and only because I beat an instructor down on the floor almost mercilessly. It was unfair to them, but I was smiling gleefully on the inside and put on a straight face on my otherwise itching features.

            “Lieutenant General, this girl is brash and insolent! Her audacity to attack her superior could not be a sample to others!” Lieutenant Kim insisted, glaring back and forth between me and the lieutenant general. “She is not fit to work in the Blue House!”

            I had never had anyone eyeing me down the way Lieutenant Kim did right now. Strangely enough, I was not angry. In fact, I was amused. Beside me, Taeyong was laughing quietly. The bickering was pretty much one-sided because the lieutenant general was on a higher rank in comparison to Lieutenant Kim. Technically, an important person like him should not be here, interfering with the trials and yet when he spoke, his words weighed more than others.

            “Aside from , is there anything else you could complain about?” The lightness of his tone was surprising and refreshing. His smile did not cease, though it did become smaller as his eyebrows furrowed in amusement. “She beats you, a lieutenant that is supposed to lead a team of elite soldiers. If you have any dignity at all, you won’t be speaking like this, Lieutenant.”

            “Lieutenant General! She caught me off-guard! That’s cheating!”

            “So because you can bully the eliminated candidate Yoon by catching him off-guard, this girl could not do the same to you? You pointed a gun at her head and almost pulled the trigger had she not give you a taste of your own medicine, Lieutenant Kim,” Taeyong explained and retorted eloquently that everyone’s attention shifted from the protest to him. It was then, that I saw the stares of admiration. I guessed high school or not, he still had that kind of charm to pull people in.

            “It is not in your place to speak of her, Candidate Lee,” Lieutenant Kim coldly pointed out and returned his focus on Lieutenant General Han. It would be a lie to say that he was not nervous at all, especially in front of a well-known superior like this man. What was more unnerving was the calculative yet composed smile on his face, as if he knew everything and how to handle him. “Lieutenant General, please reconsider!”

            “Candidate Lee has a point,” Lieutenant General Han nodded at Taeyong. His eyes slightly narrowed, a gesture I could not miss though it lasted no longer than a second. It was a reaction to show that he knew me and my Elite and it was dangerous. Right now, all I could do was wait and see what he was planning to do. If Ten was right, Lieutenant General Han would pull me in the inner circle of the Blue House so they could shoot two-birds with a stone. “You were wrong, Lieutenant Kim. The General trusted you to train and test their abilities, not to treat them as playthings.”

            One word from this influential man could demote and even eliminate Lieutenant Kim for the rest of his life. If he wanted to, Lieutenant Kim would be dead and his body never to be found again. Pity came to me all of a sudden when cold sweat dropped from Lieutenant Kim’s tanned face. His face did not look so young anymore, and I was sure he had a family to be responsible for. I did not want to speak up, but if I didn’t, I would feel guilty for destroying an innocent life for my cause.

            “I accept,” I stepped forward, even as Taeyong shot me a warning look. Lieutenant General Han gazed at me, his eyes scanning my face for any sign of weakness, but there was none. I tightened my lips into a small smile to show interest, “I accept your offer, Lieutenant General Han. Thank you for your kindness. I am willing to serve the nation by protecting the President.”

            “Good, very good, Candidate Yoon,” Lieutenant General Han nodded, looking very pleased by my reply. Whether his word was a slip of mouth or an intentional one, it was already too late to take back what he said. Before the other candidates realized what was happening, I forced myself to bow my head and told him with the sweetest voice I could muster, “You must be mistaken, Lieutenant General Han. My surname is Kim, not Yoon.”

            “Of course, Candidate Kim. Now, Lieutenant Kim, would you mind if I take her away from you so you can continue with the trials?” Would Lieutenant Kim dare to reject? He looked like he just swallowed poop and nodded unwillingly. “And for your information, General Lee has found another suitable candidate to be the President’s bodyguard, so the ones left of the trials would be put to use for Prime Minister, Secretary General and other senior candidates. Is that clear?”

            A nod. A frown. Lieutenant Kim bowed down when I closed the door to the training room. He glared at me with all the hatred he had managed to gather during our short ten-minutes of first meeting, while I looked back and forth between the lieutenant and Taeyong, just to be sure he would not advance to the next level. He should go home now. I was expecting him to serve as the other candidate, but if this was what would happen, then he would not need to stay behind.

            “Candidate Kim, what is your name?” Lieutenant General Han brought me along in a long corridor. The sunlight was not too harsh in March, because spring was only beginning. There were cleaners sweeping the flower petals and fallen leaves on the floor. Eyes and ears were everywhere. He was just as careful as I was. I clenched my fists and steeled my heart. If this was the way he wanted to play, then let it be. Two could play the game in one stage.

            “Kim Sara, Lieutenant General,” I replied curtly.

            “Kim… Sara?” He raised his eyebrows and chuckled. His hands were folded neatly in a soldier style as we walked, and his composure was unlike any other human I had seen before. If he pledged complete faith and loyalty to Grandfather, it was not entirely impossible to become Prime Minister. All he needed to do was destroy me, and if he thought that would be an easy task, he was sorely mistaken. “And how old are you this year?”

            I contemplated telling lies because my ID’s age was the same as my real one. That was to avoid any suspicion. In the end, I told him the truth, simply because I had no other choice. If he knew me, he would know my real identity, and no amount of lies could cover that, especially if Grandfather had fed him more information before. It was odd because I was never supposed to be found out. But then again, this had become a direct battle field.

            “21 years old, Lieutenant General.”

            Twenty-one. It was not so young and not old either. For most teenagers, twenty seemed to be the end of their youth, but now that I had passed the mark, I had never been more grateful. When we were eighteen, life seemed so bright and brilliant, but that was only the naivety of our younger years. Twenty was the real start of life.

            “So young,” He nodded and his next sentence was drown in silence.

            “You are not old, either, Lieutenant General.”

            “You are not supposed to talk until spoken to, Candidate Yoon.”

            “It’s Candidate Kim, Lieutenant General,” I reminded with a light warning. He seemed to have so many questions in mind, most of them I was sure I would not answer. I, on the other hand, could not wait until I got out of his grasp. Why would he, a great lieutenant general, with so much potential served Grandfather? Was I so naïve and useless that none of these people trust me? Their loyalties to Grandfather was unwavering it was nerve-wrecking.

            “Candidate Kim, of course,” His tone was a borderline of politeness and sarcasm. “I assume that you know the President herself, wouldn’t you?”

            I did not reply.

            “You should know that she does not tolerate lateness or any form of mistakes,” Lieutenant General Han spoke slowly and clearly, emphasizing each word, “She dislikes people who talk back, noisy people, and insolence, so smart as you are, it is better that you keep your mouth shut while working by her side. You don’t seem to own a very good temper, as Lieutenant Kim pointed out before.”

            I knew. My mouth was poisonous it could kill. It was both a curse and a blessing, depending on the situation. It was almost a second nature for me to talk back, no matter what the situation was. I needed to learn how to hold back if I wanted to continue working here for a period of time. “Of course, Lieutenant General. I understand.”

            “Good,” He smiled again, “Now as I’ve said before, the Blue House has arranged for another male bodyguard, and you will meet him in a moment. Hopefully, the two of you will get along.” Then he added without much consideration, “Or maybe not.”

            Perhaps…

            We reached the end of the  corridor. There was a thick metal door with fingerprint scanner. Lieutenant General Han put his thumb over it and a beep sounded. The door automatically opened in a slow-motion. I kept my eyes on the ground as he led me inside the spacious room where a woman known as the first female president in South Korea sat by her wooden table. On her side, near the South Korean flag, was a man, and it was a figure I knew so well.

            My eyes did a quick scan from his feet up and I could feel the sudden drop of my heart, and the ache it caused.

            Kim Jongin.

            My Jongin.