All seven participants entered the hall, along with several more. They went to their respective seats and sat in silence until further instructions. Each of the men glared at each other, giving expressionless faces. Each of them started looking for their first target.

~~~

            Dongwoo slumped at his chair and let his legs fall nicely on the white flawless table cloth. He has never seen such white fabric before. Well maybe it’s the fact that everywhere around the world was a dump. This place must have all the money in the world that all of us needed.

            ‘Rich bastards,’ He snorted.

            He glanced around the hall. It was enormous. The ceiling had all sorts of patterns which made it really appealing and there was a huge chandelier right smack in the middle. The candles, well let’s not go there. Dongwoo stopped at the 50^th one. He looked over to the stage in front of him. The floor was nicely polished. The curtains were chilli red. It was the perfect stage for a perfect performance. And then he thought about dancing.

            Jae Wan loved dancing. Dongwoo learnt to dance from him. He did all genres of it but Dongwoo liked hip hop the best. He was good at it. In his town, they both were famous, dancing on the streets and entertaining people. Sometimes, some coins would be collected. They weren’t doing it for money though, just the two of them enjoying themselves with the people.

            Dongwoo sighed at the thought of his late brother. He wanted to cry but with a bunch of people around, he wouldn’t even shed a tear. He had to keep his reputation as a strong competitor, and he wasn’t going to ruin it by showing that he was weak. He rubbed his eyes, attempting to fight away the tears that were in his eyes. Then he felt something from his left.

            He turned his head until his eyes met with another pair. The pair of eyes were not that big neither that small. It looked soft, like the kind that sends a warm, fuzzy feeling through your body. He searched his face. It was a really manly face. His eyebrows are a really dark shade of brown. His hair however was a different colour. In that lighting, you may not see the colour really well but Dongwoo could see very clearly that it was purple. His fringe, slightly covering his left eye. The guy continued staring at Dongwoo.

            He noticed that his clothes were purple too. His shirt a lighter shade but the pants was the same as his hair.

            ‘Purple freak,’ Dongwoo muttered under his breath before chuckling.

            The guy gave a small, friendly smile.

            ‘A smile? Wow this guy is too easy.’ He whispered.

‘Hey purple boy, don’t smile at me. You’re already a freak with your obsession on purple. So stop staring at people and mind your own business.’ Dongwoo barked at him.

The guy, taken aback by his words, turned his back towards Dongwoo and stared at the empty stage. Dongwoo chuckled again. He was an easy target. No big deal.

Dongwoo soon started ruffling up his hair since he was bored. But one thing that bothered him was that he couldn’t stop looking at the guy every now and then. He wanted to disturb him. He couldn’t help himself. It was fun. But some part of him felt guilty.

‘Aishh, chincha! He started it anyways, He stared at people. He deserved it. Stop feeling guilty, Dongwoo.’ He whispered.

But the guilt inside of him started to grew stronger. Maybe it was his fault?

~~~

After what seemed to take forever, music started playing from the speakers above. A bunch of guys started walking from the back of the curtains in a single line. They were so in sync, like robots multiplied and programmed to do the same exact movements. Their hairstyles were all the same, hazel brown and spiked up. They were smartly dressed; black ties, black jackets and black pants. Just the way Myungsoo likes it. All black.

He smirked at their proper get ups. Looking at his clothes, the suits must have cost a million dollars. The place was rich after all. So the suits must have meant nothing to them.

Then a strange man appeared from the curtains. He was plump. His hair, a bright green and he wore a funky outfit that would have scared every child in the world.

‘And I thought my sense of fashion was bad,’ Myungsoo chuckled to himself.

The man placed the mike at his large red lips.

‘Welcome participants! I’m so happy to see all these brave men competing for The Chaser. My name is Zelrif and I’m the creator of The Chaser...’

As he continued his long and boring speech, the room was silent. Nobody seemed interested in it. Myungsoo tried to get a better look at the over-dressed man but a huge head blocked his sight. The guy in front of him was definitely tall and what made it worse was that his back was straight which made his head block even more of Myungsoo’s view of the man.

            ‘YA! IDIOT! MOVE YOUR BLOODY HEAD. I CANT SEE .’ Myungsoo shouted at the guy in front.

            The guy turned around but he didn’t look the least bit shocked. He was wearing a white sweater that matched well with his long, light brown hair. But his left ear was the most outstanding thing about his face. Seven tiny, shiny shapes were seen at the edges of his ear. To Myungsoo, that was too many for a guy. It was just too much. The earring guy just gave him a stern stare.

            ‘YA IDIOT! I’M NOT DEAF. JUST SAY SOFTLY AND NICELY AND I’LL MOVE,’ he mocked me then moving his chair to the right, ‘THERE, YOU HAPPY?’

            The earring guy turned his attention back to the over-dressed guy on the stage. He crossed his arms together and from that angle Myungsoo saw the guy was trying not show his temper.

            Myungsoo did the same as he cross his right leg over his left.

            ‘Damn bastard,’ he mumbled under his breath. He played with his fingers.

A minute later, the words managed to come out of his mouth. ‘...t-thanks.’

            The guy didn’t turn back neither did he flinch. But Myungsoo knew he heard it. Then, he saw the corner of the guys’ lips twitch into a smile for a brief second. Surprisingly, Myungsoo’s lips did the same too.

~~~

            ‘...Alright enough of the chit-chat, let’s get down to business. See these men behind me? Well, they are your trainers. Each of them is uniquely different from all of you because they are trained to posses all of the four types of bending, Air, Earth, Water and Fire. So, by the end of the month, when the game begins, you should be well prepared. For a month, they will teach and guide you on how to defend, attack and survive in the game. Hints about the game would be given by them so listen carefully to their words.’

            Murmurs from the participants flooded the hall upon hearing that the black-suited men could perform all four types of bending. It was said to be a rare gift to master all four elements.  And seeing the number of men that was on the stage was shocking.

            Woohyun was shocked. How could so many men learn it? It was said that only every century that only one lucky bender possessed all of the bending powers. Something was fishy about the green-haired guy. It didn’t add up.

            ‘Is that all? Isn’t there a test or something before the games? What are we chasing after? Why do we even play this so called game when we don’t even know the object were chasing after?’ A bunch of questions was heard from the back.

            Woohyun turned his head and spotted a hand above all the turning heads. He looked over at the man. Woohyun laughed at his appearance. His eyes were barely visible and his face was slightly chubby but it wasn’t fat. His ginger coloured hair matched well with his fair skin. He looked like a hamster actually, a cute one.

            Woohyun’s laughter stopped abruptly when he saw his clothes. At the right side of his shirt, there was a patch sewn onto it.

            It read, ‘Earth Kingdom’

            Woohyun’s eyes grew bigger. Earth benders. How he hated them. His heart started beating like a bullet train. His blood level started rising. His breathing became fast and heavy. Then he locked his eyes with the hamsters. Woohyun stared into his eyes as if staring at his very soul. The hamster turned away immediately, his face looked afraid of the guy that looked at him.

`          Woohyun didn’t turn. He continued staring at him. In his mind, he thought of a billion things he could do to him. Drowning him. Cutting him with his ice move. Breaking a rib or two with the strength of his bending powers. All that you could possibly think of with water, he had thought about it. He gave one last stare to the hamster then slowly turned his back to him.

            The green-haired guy started talking again, ‘Ahh glad you asked! You’re trainers are given specific instructions and will teach you all sorts of techniques. You’re job is to learn them and use it for the test. From the test we will see you strong points and help you in that area. More instructions about it will be given at a later date. As for the object ... well, it’s meant to be a secret so no hints about it will be revealed. Other than that, are there any more questions?’ He looked around the hall.

            The hall remained silent again and Woohyun saw heads turning indicating a ‘no’.

            ‘Well then, if there are no more questions, I would like to point out one thing. The game is about survival and your ability to use your bending. This is not for fun because lives would be lost. But that is the most essential part of the game isn’t it? Death. So I would like to encourage you to do your best and work hard with your trainers. You’ll need it. Good luck participants. Trainers, please...’ he ushered the trainers down the steps of the stage as he walked into the curtains once again.

            Woohyun kept his gaze on the green-haired man. He didn’t believe a word he said. He knew it was more than just a game. It meant something else, something he had to dig up for himself. His thoughts were disrupted by the shadow of a man.

            He stood over Woohyun, his hand politely placed in front of him.

            ‘Hello Nam Woohyun, I am Suho. And I’m you’re trainer for this month.’ He bowed at him.

            Woohyun bowed back. He knew if he wanted to know the secret behind this game, he had to start with the people connected to it. And Suho was the perfect person.

~~~

            Sungjong followed his trainer through the corridor. It was like a fancy six star hotel in there. The floor was made from black marble and the walls were painted a nice shade of grey which blended really well with the floor and furniture. Each door was different. Each of them had their own designs that triggered the passwords and codes to open it. So there was definitely no sneaking into other people rooms.

            They both reached the end of the hall where a blue door stood. Sungjong’s forehead wrinkled. It was just a plain blue door. It didn’t have any locks or lines to unlock it. The trainer laughed at his expression.

            ‘The door is a special one. Watch’ he said.

            The trainer lifted his hands and water appeared. It was as if it appeared out of thin air. Sungjong’s eyes grew big and his mouth opened. He was shocked.

            ‘T-that’s i-i-impossible... How did you do that? Where did you- ,’ Sungjong stuttered.

            The trainer laughed again, ‘It’s complicated but I’ll teach it to you during training tomorrow.’

            Sungjong nodded with his eyes full of anticipation. The trainer slowly put his hands on the door’s surface. The water began turning into a lighter shade of blue and it slowly became white, glowing brightly. Sungjong realised what techniques he was using. He knew it well. It was the first movement he had ever learnt when he was young is his door got locked accidentally. But that was a long time ago.

            Then a ‘click’ sound was heard and the door opened. The trainer ushered him in. Sungjong stepped inside the room and he stood there, frozen. It was like the inside of a mansion. In front of him, four sofas lined up next to each other to form a rectangle and next to it a long dining table that was nicely decorated. To the left were the rooms. He would leave to discover the rooms until later tonight.

            He turned around to see his trainer still at the door.

            ‘Don’t just stand there, come in!’ Sungjong’s gleefully smiled.

            The trainer shrugged, ‘Umm sorry but I’m not allowed to go inside any participants’ rooms. It’s against the rules.’ He gave a smile but Sungjong knew it was a fake one.

            Sungjong nodded, understanding him.

            ‘Well then, we should rest for tomorrow. It's going to be a long day. Ouhh! What’s your name again? Sorry, I forgot.’

            ‘It's Kyungsoo. But you can call me D.O.’ The trainer smiled before closing the door.  

~~~