“Jinah! You’re a complete mess!”

          The brunette Korean groaned in her stale bed. “I look like this all the time. Why are you complaining now?” she mumbled, turning to the other side in her sleeping bag. “I didn’t even sleep that well and you’re nagging me as soon as I wake up.”

          The woman examined the girl. Her hair was messy from sleep, but Jinah was the type of girl that had natural beauty whatsoever so she didn’t look ugly; however, her clothes were a different story. “Jinah! What in the world are you – are those clothes from yesterday?!”

          Jinah glanced down briefly at her clothes. “Yeah, I guess so.”

          “Jinah, no!”

          “Why? I’m inside the dwelling! No one can see me, and it’s my dwelling too! Who’s going to judge me – my books?”

          “No! You just slept in yesterday’s clothes! And you’re still sleepy!” The woman snapped open the curtains, sunlight pouring inside and blessing the girl with Vitamin D, something Jinah lacked. The light blinded Jinah, who groaned again and disappeared under the covers. “Don’t you make that noise again, you sound like a creature – and no, you are not a creature, you are a girl – and yes young lady, there is a difference!” The woman looked around Jinah’s room. There were barely any furniture, and because Jinah didn’t touch many things, dust began piled up. “I thought cleaning you was enough, and now we have to clean up your room too?!”

          Jinah groaned again. “Whatever.”

          “Fix that attitude! Fix your hair, too! Go wash up, now – up you get – rise and shine, girl! You need to review the nineteen sections of Code of Callidum Ethics!”

          “Miss Kim!”

          “Up, up, up!” She yanked Jinah from her arm. “Do you even know what day today is?”

          “I don’t know… Thursday?”

          “Jinah!”

          “Well, I sincerely apologize for having a calendar plastered inside my mind which I tick off every single day with a mental pen in my head!” Jinah exclaimed angrily, frustrated by Miss Kim’s forceful pushing, words and loud voice. For Sky’s sake, it’s practically dawn! Jinah checked her watch by habit. Or noon.

          Miss Kim started to mumble to herself, muttering this and that, nagging in between, complaining and frantically talking nonsense, reminding herself and repeating things. “Only two hours – got to pick up the dress – three different showcases – time – oh, her hair! – where’s the makeup case? – goodness, her feet –” She ran all around the house, different maidens and girls that didn’t get “chosen” were running around to help their fellow maiden friends.

          The world was divided, hateful, and ugly.

          They lived in an era sometime after cities and the peak of science technology. We call this time period the Dark Era. In DE, the world is a wreck and too many things are corrupted. Male babies are raised until they’re twelve. After that, they are sent out in groups by neighbourhood to embark on the Journey and those who survive that are enlisted to the Army, where they train hard. After three exhausting, stressful years at the Army, at fifteen, they emerge into what are called ‘gangs’. Gangs are classified into three different groups – Top, Middle, and Basic. If you are new, you’re usually chosen by a Basic gang, and if you’re lucky, Middle. If you get picked into a Top gang – which is a very, very rare occasion and practically unheard of to the point some think of it as a legend, as the Top gangs are too arrogant to even look at the rookies – then you’ll be in a Top gang off the bat. Female babies are raised up to the age of five, only to be sold to dwellings with no memories of parents, where they live and learn etiquettes and such until they turn seventeen by a Miss. Then they have to attend a special ceremony, where the gangs choose their Prix, the so-called ritual of becoming a “true” woman.

          In this wretched society, females are toys. Women are objectified. Their only purpose is to look after the gang when they turn seventeen. If, by some chance, a female fails to be chosen in their seventeenth year and wishes to try a second time, they can reapply as a eighteen-year-old. If that fails, they’ll be in the lowest of the lowest in the maidens, which has a secret ranking system of their own. Most maidens who were not chosen as Prixes, are demeaned and spat at, but even if you are chosen, you could still be called ‘ugly’ and ‘worthless’, along with several other things that would ruin any girl, especially in DE. Females are in the lowest of the lowest in the society of DE, despite being in charge of several occupations, such as doctors, bakers, bankers, farmers, and more.

          Miss Kim scrubbed Jinah so much her whole skin felt raw. Patches of skin were red and her face stung from all the cosmetics put on her. There were five different dwellings – Caritatis, Pacem, Verax, Inrepidus, and Callidum. All five teach generally the same things, just with different personalities and perspectives. When girls are first sold at five, they are placed into Pacem-B, which are for anyone that is still undetermined. The girls then can choose which dwelling to go in. They can leave anytime and can only switch twice, and before fourteen, when their serious training begins. Jinah was placed into Caritatis, where kindness and selflessness comes first, but she couldn’t handle all the simple plainness and modesty. She then transferred to Callidum, where books were a luxury. She loved books. Intrepidus was a punkish, freaky place. Almost no one got accepted as a Prix from Intrepidus, and because everyone was aware of that, the dwelling was exceptionally small. Pacem and Caritatis were the most popular. Callidum had girls that bite with words that sting. Verax girls could talk all day, which annoyed most gangs. Caritatis girls were usually submissive, fragile, and quiet. Easy. Pacem was peaceful. Simple. Easy. Pacem girls could talk all day too, but Pacem girls were all about peace, so if it was to maintain peace, they would shut up. Also, very submissive. They were ideal, beautiful girls with incredible patience and manners.

          But I don’t care, Jinah thought proudly to herself as she washed her hair. She was probably one of the only girls who still prioritized pride and dignity, as women in the twenty-first century did. That was another reason why Callidum girls were not very popular; they held onto their pride like it was their life, perhaps they would even hold onto to their pride even if it meant death.

          Jinah stepped out of the shower room and tied a white towel around herself. She breathed in, her lungs tightening. The air was too stuffy due to the steam from hot water, but who cares? Today, she was going to feel even stuffier, and it wouldn’t be because of the air or heat.

          She dried her hair with yet another white towel and got dressed into clean, pre-preparation clothes. Today, she wouldn’t be in her comfortable shorts and t-shirt. She wouldn’t be wearing her uniform, either. She would be wearing a suffocating, super-girly, and formal dress. Her clothins for the next three days would be traditional, colorful-formal, and then subtle-formal. Golly gee, I can’t wait, Jinah thought sarcastically.

          Miss Kim hurried Jinah to sit on a stool. She had about seven women focused on her, one away to cook. Jinah was, for some strange reason, a Top Candidate from Callidum. Miss Kim said it was because of her natural beauty, but Jinah thought otherwise. She thought it was because she was so spectacularly sane. That’s right, sane. She didn’t freak out over boys the way Jaein and Yooni and the other girls did. She didn’t obsess over gangs and her own looks. Jinah believed in “inner beauty”. She believed in the saying: it doesn’t matter how much makeup you put on your face; you cannot attain true beauty unless you possess a loving, kind heart. She read that in a book and it had stuck to her ever since. Miss Park, another woman who, like Miss Kim, had volunteered to look after the maidens instead of trying out as a Prix, had started to look through the volumes and novels Jinah read from then on, but it was too late. No matter how much they limited her books, Jinah had her imagination with her. She had hope with her. She had her sneaky ways to somehow get the fantasy, the romantic, the sci-fi, and the adventure novels. Some of the romantic novels made her puke, but others were pure and she wished she could love like that. She wished that someday, someone would love her like that.

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So this is the first chappie~ Hope you enjoyed it! ^^

Pacem is the dwelling for girls who value charity and peace. They look down on girls who are incapable of getting along. They're not all necessarily kindhearted, but they put peace and harmony above all else.

Caritatis is the dwelling for girls who value selflessness. They look down on girls who are selfish and self-centered. They're not outgoing and are quit dull, but are proper and polite.

Verax is the dwelling for girls who value truth. They look down on girls who lie and are two-faced. They're not nice and not amiable, but are honest and true to their words.

Intrepidus is the dwelling for girls who value bravery. They look down on girls who are cowardly, afraid, or cries easily. They are admirable courageous and chivalrous, but not necessarily kind.

Callidum is the dwelling for girls who value knowledge. They look down on girls who are ignorance and naive. They aer not necessarily smart, but strive for intelligence to help them with their life.

YES, these are very similar to Divergent factions (fantastic trilogy), but factions and dwellings taken on very different roles, although the theme per faction/dwelling, is indeed, very similar. If in the future, this causes issues, I will more than gladly try to change up the values per dwelling. (Hopefully I don't have to because sigh it sounds like a lot of work)

* Are you curious about how Jinah was like at 8 years old at Callidum? How Jinah and her best friend started being friends? Jinah's main rivalry with another OC (soon to be revealed) Find out here in chapter one! ^^

Hope that was good! I'll see you soon~ ❤

-deardeerhan