“You’re not focused!”

“Why do I have to do this anyway?” 18-year-old Bora’s hands closed on a fistful of grass after landing on the ground as she tried to catch her breath.

Beads of sweat rolled down her face and ended up their path on the lush green grass of her backyard. She and her father had been up since sunrise.

Lee Hyun Suk had been teaching his daughter self-defense every morning since the beginning of the summer holidays. She wished she were back in math class. At least she could’ve dozed off there. But not here, when her father reprimanded her every move and barked instructions at her.

Ever since her mother’s death, her father and her had only drifted more and more apart as time had gone by. These self-defense lessons were the only thing bringing them together almost every morning before they both went their separate ways. Bora had liked it, at first. It made for a great work out and gave her a confidence-boost. But now…

“We already talked about this, Bora,” Her father chided, placing his hands on his hips. He hadn’t broken a sweat. “This is for your safety.”

Bora grunted as she pushed on her arms to sit up on the grass. “We both know that I can stand my own if I ever get assaulted. Don’t you think you’re pushing the training too far? That’s serious army stuff you’re making me do. I’m not going to fight into a war for heaven’s sake!”

Her father crouched down on the grass in front of her and reached for her cheeks, “There will always be forces greater than you outside. You must be ready.”

A strange glimmer danced in his eyes as he spoke as though he was hinting at something else, something greater than this moment, greater than the both of them.

But Bora dismissed it.

She wished she hadn’t.

“Now, hit! And pay attention to your footwork this time.”

***

Bora was dragged out of her slumber around noon by a light tapping on her door. It took her awhile to remember where she was. After her little chat with Jackson she’d slumped on the velvet couch. Mental and physical fatigue had overpowered her body and it was a matter of seconds before she’d drifted off.

The knock came again. Bora eased out of the comfy sofa she was sleeping on and crossed the huge room as the knocking became more insistent. She whooshed the wooden door open while rubbing the sleep off her eyes.

On the threshold stood a young girl, nineteen years-old at most. Her long, dark hair swarmed her small face like a black ocean, enhancing her sharp moonstone features and her eerily pale skin. Her big eyes stared up at Bora like she’d seen a ghost.

“Yes?” Bora asked, a bit taken aback with bleary eyes.

The girl started and shook her head, “Are you Bora?”

Bora frowned, and nodded hesitantly.

“This is for you,” she shoved a silver tray in her chest, and entered her room. “I thought you’d need this,” she threw herself on the king-sized bed. “Umph, this bed is so comfortable!” She said, the mattress completely her in.

Bora went over the content of the tray and almost drooled at the fried eggs, fruit, Japanese-style white bread and strawberry butter. The sight alone sufficed to get her out of sleepiness. A single fully bloomed rose decorated the tray, slid inside a thin vase. The stem had methodically been cut leaving the blood-red petals and the rose’s sepals to wilt in the near future.

Bora put the tray down on a chest of drawers and paused to take in the newcomer. She was lying on her stomach, her ankles crossed in the air. Her hands were clad in used, fingerless gloves as they framed her sharp chin.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” Bora finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence. Awkward for her at least, because the girl seemed content with saying nothing and observing Bora like she was a caged animal in a zoo.

“My bad!” She stood up, a bubble of energy that started to get on Bora’s nerves so early in the morning. She stopped before Bora and bowed low, “I’m Nairin Wang, Jax’s sister.”

“Ja--” Bora frowned, before remembering her talk with Bambam the previous day. “Jackson’s sister.”

Nairin’s face split in a grin that instantly vanished, “Though sometimes I think there’s no way we can be related.”

“Tell me about it,” Bora muttered under her breath, assessing the girl.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Bora cleared and grabbed a butter knife, “thank you for the food.” She buttered a slice of bread.

“You’ll need it. The news spread like wildfire,” she wiggled her fingers. “Every agent is flocking in from the country. Everybody wants to see you. Your father built the Division from scratch; he is a legend, just like mine and Mark’s, but you were the only one we never saw.” Nairin explained, picking at her nails.

“How many of them are there?” Bora’s eyes widened, thinking back to the few young people she had seen in the training room the night before.

Nairin chuckled, “The people you might have seen so far are only a portion of Division’s workforce. Agents come and go, I don’t really know how many there are if you ask me.”

Bora felt queasy. All these people. She’d volunteered to lead them all. What did she know about anything?

Nairin picked up Bora’s discomfort. “Are you anxious about it?”

“No,” Bora lied, taking a bite of her bread ignoring the knot forming in her stomach.

Nairin smiled a smile that dug adorable dimples at the corners of . She could see right through Bora but wisely kept to herself. “That’s good, because your Initiation is today.”

“Initiation?” Bora repeated.

“Well, we have this kind of tradition at Division,” Nairin explained a cheshire cat smile shaping her lips. “Everytime a new recruit comes in, they duel. It’s a mean to assess their physical strength and get to know them a bit more. Their fighting style, their weakness…”

“A duel?” Bora articulated through a sticky mouth.

“Yeah!” Nairin cried, clapping her hands like it was the most exciting thing she’d heard in years. “And you don’t have the best part yet!” She leaned toward Bora with a conspiratory air, “Mark will be up against you.”

Bora thought Nairin looked way too happy given the circumstances. She was completely oblivious of what all this entailed for Bora. Did Nairin think she’d grown up in that messed up underground agency? And to say she was expected to get in a fight with Mark Tuan of all people. She was well aware that her overpowering Jackson in the alley near the bank a few days ago had been an illusion. He had always been on the defensive and merely countering her attacks. He’d held back and had never meant to take her down.

And if Mark was anywhere near Jackson’s level, there was no way in hell to win this fight.

***

“Woobin!”

“Oh my God, Bora!”

Bora was so happy she could very well have cried in the middle of Cloud Nine’s lobby. When Nairin had casually mentioned in passing that Woobin had been let out of his cell the previous night, a feeling of shame perked its ugly head in Bora’s brain. She had gone to sleep not even giving an afterthought to Woobin’s fate.

Nairin affirmed he had been taken good care of but Bora insisted on seeing him in the instant. Woobin was brought in accompanied by a man dressed in all-black. Bora locked her friend in a bone-crushing embrace. She pulled back to examine Woobin. He was a disheveled mess and definitely hadn’t fared the trip from Seoul better than her.

“Bora, your father...” was all he could let out before Nairin cut them off.

“Later,” Nairin nudged Bora on. “We don’t have time. You have your Initiation.”

Woobin shot her a quizzical look and followed the two girls as Nairin led them to the deeper levels of the Cliff. Bora took the opportunity to fill her