Joonmyeon was one of the sector’s guardians, along with a couple of other supernatural beings. They all lived in a protected island that was codenamed ‘Bilmil seom’ – which meant ‘secret island’ in Korean - by the Korean government.  Often the area was referred to as ‘Bimiseo’ instead. It was monitored by the secret agencies belonging to different governments and countries, the CIA would sometimes drop by and look here and there while highly commendable soldiers serving in the Korean army for their mandatory two years would be sent to the island for special combat training.

 

The sky was looked after by the sky manipulators, to ensure that no airplanes would pass by the island. It was the same matter for the sea, there were people who could control sea, therefore their duty was to redirect the lost ships.

The island was actually located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, being one of the unnamed/uncharted islands that were scattered about. It was originally divided into sectors, each sector serving a different purpose. However as time passed by, the different beings came about to mingle with each other, hence the dissolution of the sectors. The buildings of the sectors still remained, having been transformed to fit the newly formed town for the superhuman beings.

 

The younger mutants went to an academy established by the governments, the elder ones helping the new mutants to develop their skills. It was a normal occurrence for batches of newcomers to arrive at the designated checkpoint. The guardians would normally have to pick them up and guide them to the assigned dormitories. Along the way, they were given a mini tour of the island, introducing them to the passingby mutants. Sometimes the really organised guardians would hand out maps, Joonmyeon was one of them.

 

Yookwon remembered the first time he had arrived at the island, Joonmyeon was the guardian who greeted him and the rest of the batch of new mutants. His batch consisted of Minhyuk, his current roommate, Changsun, who turned out to be Jihoon-ahjusshi’s nephew, Chaerin, the French-speaking female that scared the out of the newcomers and Jia, the Chinese girl that kept on changing her appearance to fool the guardian.

Usually the batches stuck together, and it was the same case for Yookwon’s batch. After hours of verbal and physical fighting - Changsun had managed to throw Chaerin out of the boat they had been riding on (one of the rules of transportation of batches, newcomers must enter by sea), Minhyuk had bombed several areas of the ship while Jia kept on trying to confuse the rest of them by imitating each other – the five teenagers had decided to name themselves the  Harlequins, having liked Chaerin’s idea.

The poor gunner was left to manage the damage control, having to suffer from the numerous changes of weather as Chaerin quickly went through different seasons in one go. It was terrifying, to say the least, one moment they were all sweaty and nearly due to the scorching heat imposed on them, the next moment they were scrambling to wrap themselves up in layers and layers of clothing for warmth. The Eurasian female, Yookwon found out, could be quite sadistic when she wanted to be.

 

Minhyuk was another problem. He released his anger by igniting dynamite sticks and often he would throw them at the person he was angry at (usually either Changsun or Chaerin). Yookwon had to shoot the dynamites with bullets that had been configured to nullify any explosives.

 

He had thought of throwing those bullets away when the guardian who found him – this time it was the infamous Sir Yoo Jaesuk who was known for his array of superpowers that ranged from turning into a grasshopper to reading peoples’ minds - gave them to him.  But when he boarded the ship and saw Minhyuk playing with dynamites, he knew there was a reason why he had received the special bullets.

Changsun was easier to appease, all it took was some generous offer to cook and the male would go along with anything Yookwon told him to do. They got along quite well, their sense of humours being similar. The gunner found out that Changsun was not only strong, he was also quiet fast. Apparently the ninja – Yookwon had gasped dramatically when Changsun informed him that he came from a family of ninjas – was heading towards the island to live with his uncle.

 

“I bet you’ll get special treatment,” Yookwon chuckled jokingly, teasing flickering in his eyes.

 

The two males were sitting on the chairs that decorated the ship’s outdoor deck. The ship was actually quite big for only five people. There were no one else aboard, only Yookwon and the other newcomers. No guardian was present.

 

When the teenagers arrived at the captain’s room to see the ship controlling itself, they were scared out of their wits. But then Chaerin – the most logical of them all -  reassured them – well there were a couple of sweatdropping and judging faces here and there – that the ship was probably being steered by someone who controlled the sea, therefore they were in safe hands.

 

It took them a week to get over the shock of a self-controlled ship, and Yookwon couldn’t stop shivering in fright whenever he passed by the control room.

 

“Special treatment? You’re joking right?” Changsun laughed, shaking his head. “It’s my uncle we’re talking about. He’s scary as hell. You’ll see why.”

 

“If you say so,” the gunner shrugged, toying with one of his guns. He spun the revolver before reloading the barrel. “How long do you think it’ll be before we arrive?”

 

“I don’t know, another week maybe. It depends on the weather really, the weather can really mess up the route, change the direction of the wind and stuff,” the ninja shrugged, watching the waves ripple by.

 

“Tough luck considering you keep on pissing off Chaerin-sshi,” the shorter male pointed out with a stern face. Changsun held his hands in the air, trying to look all innocent, “Hey, not my fault we don’t get on well.”

 

“Actually, it’s partially your fault since you could like, treat her better, or maybe keep that blunt tongue of yours in check. Same goes for your temper,” Yookwon remarked, shifting in his seat as he tried to aim properly at a flying dynamite.

 

“LEE MINHYUK!” Chaerin’s voice echoed, startling the two males. Even though they were used to the ruckus caused by their fellow batch mates, they would never get accustomed to the sudden piercing shrieks that came from the sky manipulator.

 

“Yookwon-didi! They’re at it again!” Jia panted as she stumbled onto the deck with a hole in her jacket. Her pink hair fluttered about as the wind began to pick up, the sky getting darker as the clouds covered the sun.

Yookwon quickly pulled the trigger, the bullet making its way towards the explosive. The three quickly ran indoors for shelter, not wanting to have to sew their clothes again (their clothes often got burnt due to Minhyuk’s constant anger spurts).

 

The ship rattled as the dynamite blew up, Yookwon figured that it must have been one of the dynamite sticks he had helped Minhyuk to configure. The two had spent late nights at the deck, leaning against the railways as they stared at the rumbling waves. To ease their boredom, they would come up with strategies that would suit Minhyuk’s fighting style. Their discussion regarding strategies evolved to type of bombs Minhyuk should use, hence the sudden obsession with configuring the dynamite sticks.

 

“You think it’s safe to go outside?” Jia asked.

 

“Maybe,” Yookwon mumbled, peeking his head outside wearily before his widened as a dynamite stick flew inches past his face. “Or maybe not.”

 

The ship arrived at the island with gaping holes in its interior. Joonmyeon had greeted them with a blinding smile despite shooting concerned looks at the broken ship.

 

“The higher-ups are not going to like this, the ship being like that. I like it though,” the elder had said as they strolled along the island. Chaerin frowned at his comment, tilting her head. “You like it?”

 

“Cause it means you guys are strong. Though I daresay a pack of troublemakers but since you lot are still alive, y’all make a good team,” a gruff voice popped out of nowhere. The new batch jumped slightly from the sudden intrusion, before their faces contorted as they looked around for the source of the voice.

 

“Look up’ere, punks.” The youngsters directed their eyes upwards and found a blonde boy sitting on a tree branch with a grenade in hand. “’Sup? I’m Bang Yongguk, a guardian like Joonmyeon over there. Though he’ll forever be the original guardian, his code name is Suho after all.”

 

“Hi! I’m Joo-“ the ninja began before being cut off by the blonde guardian. “No need to introduce yourself, Changsun-sshi. I know all of your names already. Welcome to hell.”