2012

The loud noise rumbling nearby made both Hwasa and Wheein turn their heads away from the fire. They smiled as they instantly recognize what that noise was. Just as their smile began to form, decorating their beautiful faces, two figures emerge from the thicket.

“unnie, are you even fighting during hunting now?” Hwasa laughed at Wheein remarks, adding,”it’s a wonder you could catch anything at all. We thought all the animals would run away, what with the sound of you two arguing all the time.”

“Moonbyul always tease me. She kept tricking me with nonsense. Of course I’m angry.” Solar, the oldest of the four. She had a sense of childish innocence in her that made her look younger. She was always teased and bullied by her hoobae. But even with the cute aura flowing inside of her, Solar had a sense of maturity and leadership that is admirable to her group members. She is always full of energy. Always bright. Always a go-getter. That kind of enthusiasm is also the reason why she is always being picked on by her members.

“well, unnie is so hard not to tease unnie. You are just so cute. So gullible. Of course I would do it.” Moonbyul is the second oldest. She is the chameleon. Able to fit in anywhere. Even though she is easygoing, she is not weak or a pushover. In fact she became the go to person when ever one or all of her group feel down. Still it seems that the childish playfulness is the theme of the group. At normal times, nobody will be save from her pranking, teasing or even just normal poking/ jabs. She’s like a good person version of Loki. More beautiful too.

Hwasa and Wheein only laughed. “So this is what happened when fire and water became best friends huh?” Wheein agreed, adding, “yeah, guess the CEOs were right. They are fire and water. “ these two were lifelong friends. Like twins coming from different houses. Wheein is the more hype version of the two. To the public, she seems like a free-spirited kind of girl. It’s really hard to classifiy Wheein talent in art. She perform, plays music, even paint art wonderfully. Yet on the inside, she had braved storms of challenges in her life. Her heart is always fragile. So don’t be surprised if one minute she’s this bubbly, cute, hyper girl. Then the next minute she just shut down. Maybe that’s why she’s best friend with Hwasa first. Hwasa is very chilled, down-to-earth type of girl. An old soul, she’s like the mountain. Just a cool, calm demeanor. But if she erupts just run away okay.

Solar handed the fishes she and Moonbyul caught just now. “how are we going to cook the fish tonight?” Hwasa quickly interrupted, “that’s okay unnie, we’ll handle cooking tonight since you’ve already get the fish.” “that;s so sweet Hwasa, thank you.” well truthfully they tasted Solar survival cooking and they are in no rush to repeat that experience. “Anything Moonbyul and I can do to help?” “if you’d like, you could maybe chop some more firewood” “Okay done.” Moonbyul and Solar left, while bickering. Since Moonbyul could not resist pointing out they’d rather cook than let Solar did it.

The evening was peaceful. The harmony of the sound of woods being chopped, fire crackling while cooking the fish. Plus the glow of amber from the setting sun create a picturesque-y lovely atmosphere. And then for some reason, Solar just laughed a bit. Shocking her friends.

“what’s so funny unnie?” Solar, with a smile over an unfinished laughter on her face,said, “I just cannot believe that we are training to be warriors right now? And we look totally normal doing it now? Can you remember when Mr. Jin-woo told us we are going to do this kind of training, how shock we were back then?” they all laughed too, realizing how normal they feel now. What with the fighting, weaponry and stealth training they have undergone in this year. Only early this year each of them went shock with disbelief with the news.

early February 2012

“Woah that’s cool.” indeed it is. For standing in that room was an electronic panel with a giant screen. Much like in a batcave. “What is this room, boss?” 

Jin-woo type something in the system, then turn to the girls. “Come here girls.” the girls edged closer toward their boss. “Place your right hand on this scanner.” the girls hesitated at first. Solar suddenly stepped forward to the palm scanner. Slowly she placed her hands on the scanner. Not a second later, the computer screen lit up with information about her. All of her life history, since childhood up until now, flashed on the screen. “Unnie you want to be a stewardess? But you are so short.” Solar stick her tongue at Moonbyul. “Shut up.” that managed to make Hwasa and Wheein relaxed a bit. The scan took about a minute until Jin-woo nodded his head signalling that it’s done. “Now the rest of you. Come on, hurry up.” 

Moonbyul is the last to scan her palm. As soon as she did it, Jin-woo said, “I’ve finished updating your biometric security in the system. Whenever you need to access the control centre, you will use your palm to enter.” the girls were perplexed to hear this. “Control centre? For what exactly?” Jin-woo gave that mysterious all-knowing smile, “It’s much easier if I show you. Follow me.” 

Jin-woo led the girls to an elevator behind the computer screen. “Solar, why don’t you go ahead and scan your hand there?” with a mixture of reluctance and excitement, she slowly placed her right hand on the scanner. There was a mechanical voice chiming in the elevator, “Scanning confirmed. Kim Yongsun. Identity verified.” as soon as the scanner finished saying that, the elevator started to move downward. Their building was only a few storeys but it seems the elevator is going down even further. A while later, the elevator stops. The door opens. “Here it is girls, welcome to RBW. The Rainbow Brigade Warriors.”

The bright light suddenly shining through the opened elevator door hurt their eyes. As soon as their eyes could adjust, they just stood there. Mouth gaped with wonderment. Brains unable to process what is happening. Because what they saw was the most beautiful garden they have ever seen their entire life. The sound of river stream encirculate the hanok compound. The stone bridge over the river stream. The pink petals of the peach tree surrounding the area. It was surreal. 

Hwasa turn to Jin-woo and asked,”Are we outside?” But before Jin-woo could answer, a voice beat him to it. “technically no, we are still inside the agency, Hwasa” They all turn to where the voice is coming. Do-hoon emerges from the nearby bamboo forest. “Where are we exactly? How come there’s a sun under the building? I mean, what?” Do-hoon and Jin-woo exchanged smiles. They are like that too when shown this place for the first time by their master. “This is the place of good energy. The cornerstone of the pathway of good. Untainted. Pure. So we bid you welcome, to the Garden of Souls.”

“Garden of Souls? Did people die here?” Solar started to grab Moonbyul’s hand. How is it the bravest of the group also afraid easily. “No Solar, just the energy. You see, the world consists of yin and yang. Good and evil. As long as there is good in the world, then this place will stay beautiful. So in that regard, this place is like an alarm bell if the balance between good and evil is disturbed. The environment inside here will change.” All of them looked around. Looking for signs of disturbance. “You’ll know it when you see it. It’s very distinct.” 

Wheein, who had been silenced for a long time, finally spoke. “Why are we here?” Do-hoon looked at Ji-won, trying to ask for help to explain it to them. He didn’t know how to do it either. Do-hoon slowly started to answer. “Firstly...you are all very talented singers. You have so much talent, so much raw potential, and that is why you join the agency. And that’s the truth.” Moonbyul interrupted, “but that’s not why we’re here, right? In this garden.” 

Do-hoon pressed on. “No, you are chosen by the Garden to fight...”