Chapter 13

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September 2011

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            In a small, simple office on the outskirts of Seoul, a stern man sat at his desk and listened to the faint ticking of the clock on the wall.  If it weren’t for the clock, the man would be able to hear even his own heartbeat.  It was always so still in his empty office, and he preferred it that way.  But, unfortunately, today he was expecting a visitor.

            General Park felt the deep laugh lines on his face, wondering how they could have ever gotten there.  Over thirty years ago, he had joined the South Korean military as a simple soldier.  Since then he had overseen internal affairs and special defense affairs.  Now he managed all matters concerning indirect defense of the nation and external efforts of independent forces.  He had seen every wise and corrupt decision that any government could make, and he found himself weary of every situation he oversaw.

            A firm knock on the door interrupted the General’s familiar atmosphere of sound, and he let out a long sigh and rose from his seat.  “Come in.”

            Somber and respectful, Captain Hwang entered the General’s office and saluted him.  “General Park.”

            “Good afternoon, Captain Hwang,” the General responded dryly, sitting back down in his chair.  “Please, have a seat.”

            Hwang nodded obediently and sat in the chair opposing General Park.  He took off his hat and carefully placed it on his lap.  His eyes were tense and full of fervor.

            “Captain Hwang, you haven’t been on active duty for a few years now,” the General noted.  “Why do you suddenly wish to request something from me?”

            “General, certainly you know of Project Chrome, my mission to protect The Nine?”

            The General rolled his tired eyes.  “Hwang, certainly you know that, though the government acknowledges your mission, we do not take it seriously and will not fund it.”

            Captain Hwang wiped his brow nervously.  “General Park, I’m not interested in funding for my mission.  I understand that the government is still skeptical of the prophecy’s legitimacy.  I simply need to inform you of a few new additions that I intend to be responsible for.”

            “Your two friends aren’t enough help for you?”  The General’s laugh, if it could be called one, sounded more like a weak cough.  “Aren’t Kim and Jung veterans themselves?”

            “The Nine are far more active these days,” Hwang explained.  “They’re traveling farther.  They’re doing more activities individually.  A team of three people isn’t enough to do all that is required.”

            “Well, if you have enough money to hire people, tell me about your additions.”

            A frown eroded across Hwang’s excited face.  “You’ll think it’s insane.  I ask for your patience, General.”

            The General leaned back in his chair and smirked coldly.  “Please, just go on, Hwang.”

            “I plan to create…a music company.”

            “A music company?”

            “Yes: Chrome Entertainment.  With that company, I will form a singing group of five trained, inconspicuous girls.  They will have the skills required to protect The Nine, and they will participate in music events in places where The Nine will travel for their schedules.”

            “Wait a moment, Hwang,” the General interrupted.  “You want to risk the lives of five innocent girls to fulfill this prophecy that may or may not be legitimate?”

            “They won’t be innocent,” Hwang insisted.  “They’ll be extremely capable.”

            “What girl eligible to be in a girl group could possibly be capable of protecting Girls’ Generation from the forces you suspect are against them?”

            “I have a few girls in mind…”

            “Who?”

            “…The Heo twins.”

            The General leaned forward in his seat and stared angrily at Hwang.  “How dare you, Hwang.  How could you want to put those girls through any more pain?”

            “You don’t understand their situation-”

            “I understand their situation perfectly!” General Park cried.  He looked down at his desk as his eyes filled with sadness.  “After we found out what the Comet Project was doing to those girls and the other subjects, we provided everything they could ever need, money, scholarships, and we tried to give them a normal life.”

            “A normal life?” Hwang asked fervently.  “For nearly ten years they’re trained to fight, even kill, and suddenly they’re into the normal world, expected to hold all their programming inside.  General, I’ve been watching those girls, and they’re not okay.  They need to be in a place that is safe and ‘normal’ for them.  I’m willing to provide them with an environment where they can learn to properly harness their skills.”

            “I still don’t see how this can be a good idea,” the General sighed.  “This government funded the Comet Project.  We unknowingly sent those girls through hell.”

            “I promise to keep them safe.” 

Hwang’s gaze was honest and gentle.  Even the suspicious General could see his genuineness.  Both men leaned back in their seats and tried to understand each other.

            “I can understand why they haven’t adapted well.  You had better take care of them.  If they accept your offer, they will be solely your responsibility.”

Three days later…

            The Indigo Lounge was lit with deep blue lights that flooded every corner of every room.  It felt like being underwater in that lounge.  Soothing jazz music playing in the background made every movement seem slower, every spoken world seem softer.  And if the atmosphere failed to drown your troubles, the bar had every type of alcohol to send your worries away.

            Minseon’s glass, empty just for a moment, rested precariously in her weakening hand.  She placed it down and nodded towards the bartender.  After the several N.Dolphin shows Minseon had performed in that lounge, he learned to never let her glass become empty.

            “Minseon-ssi,” he said gently.  “Do you want cirrhosis at such a young age?”

            “And do you want to die at such a young age?” she retorted.  “I didn’t ask you to take care of me.”

            He moved away quickly, attempting to wipe down a counter he had wiped clean only a few minutes ago.  Minseon sipped her beer slowly and stared out at the dwindling crowd of people in the room.

            Across the room, a new face entered through the main door.  Her concerned eyes scouted the room carefully before she swiftly walked over to Minseon.  The bartender looked at the two women in horror, wondering if a clone of Minseon had suddenly been produced.

            “Minseon, what are you doing here?” Minjin asked urgently, looking at her sister’s glass of beer.  “It’s nearly midnight.  Do you plan to walk back to your dorm so late at night?  And completely drunk?”

            “Why should I be afraid?” Minseon snickered callously.  “Will it be…dangerous?”  She let out booming cackle.  “Even without you, unnie, I could promptly break the necks of every person in this room.  It would be so sly, the police wouldn’t find out till next week.”

            “Minseon-ah, don’t talk like that.”  Minjin reached for her sister’s glass.  “How many of these have you had?  Give it to me-”

            “No!”  Minseon jerked her glass away and smashed it on the counter.  A few glass pieces stuck into her clenched hand, and Minjin gasped anxiously.

            “Minseon-ah!”  Carefully taking her sister’s hand, Minjin attempted to take the pieces of glass out.  She placed the blood-covered pieces on the counter and gazed apologetically at the bartender.  “Oppa, I’m sorry.  I’ll repay whatever is necessary.”

            “No, please, I’ll take care of it,” the bartender assured, taking a clean towel from under the bar.  “Here, you can use this to wrap her hand for now.  I think there’s a first aid kit here somewhere.”

            As Minjin and the bartender took care of Minseon’s wounds, the incredibly intoxicated girl broke down into tears and leaned into her sister’s arms.  Minjin warmly thanked the bartender for his help after the wound was wrapped up, and she quickly took her sister out of the lounge.  Leading her sister into a nearby alley, she stayed alert for any immediate threats.

            “Unnie, why did they do this to us?” Minseon sobbed.  “Why did they make us such monsters?”

            “Minseon-ah, we’re not monsters,” Minjin insisted ardently. 

            “Don’t you remember, unnie?  Don’t you remember when we finally came back to our own high school?  When that girl made me angry…I attacked her!”

            “We were teenagers then, Minseon-ah.”  Minjin gave a small smirk.  “But, in your defense, the girl stole your friend’s boyfriend.”

            “It still didn’t make it right, unnie,” Minseon whimpered.  “When I feel angry or threatened, I don’t think of a simple, common solution to the problem.  I instantly feel the need to incapacitate people.  Even when a friend surprised me the other day, I nearly hit her before I realized who she was.”

            As she held her trembling sister, Minjin remembered their time at the Comet Academy.  That’s what they called it, anyway.  Even to this day, their parents have no idea about the real terrors that went on at the “Academy.”  At seven years old, after only a year of elementary school, they were deemed outstanding students and invited to attend the Academy.  They studied intellectual material for only an hour a day.  At all other times, they were forced to learn all forms of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat.  If they failed to learn something fast enough, they were punished with meditations that lasted hours and hours.  Beatings as punishment were seldom, but when they occurred, they were especially harsh.

            A tear fell from Minjin’s eye as she pulled her sister closer.  “I know it’s hard, Minseon-ah.”

            “Why did they do it, unnie?  Why?”

            She had never told Minseon the secret that she heard on the night they were saved from the Academy.  They were supposed to have been sleeping soundly in their beds, but Minjin hadn’t been able to fall asleep as fast as her sister.

The door to their room opened.  Two men walked in quietly, their footsteps without a sound.

            “Are you saying they are no longer useful?” one of them whispered.

            “Their genes allow them to be immune to the Hades Virus,” the other replied.  “But our sources say that scientists have mutated the virus.  The twins cannot withstand this new version.  They’ll die within minutes of encountering it.”

            “What should we do with them, then?”

            “We can’t let them expose our presence.”

            A deafening alarm sounded from outside the room, sending Minseon up from her sleep.  Minjin rose as well, eyeing the two men fearfully.

            “What is this?” one of them asked.  “An intrusion?  Quickly.  You two, go back to sleep.”

            “I don’t know,” Minjin wept.  “But, Minseon-ah, whatever happened back there, we can’t let it control us.  We have to move on.”

            “That’s absolutely right.”

            Minseon jumped back from her sister at the sudden sound of an unfamiliar voice.  A tall, heavily clothed man stood before them.  His friendly smile did nothing to soothe Minseon’s worries.

            “Who are you?” she questioned frantically.

            “Minseon-ah, this is Mr. Hwang,” Minjin introduced nervously.  “He’s a captain in the military.”

            “The military?”  Minseon’s eyes filled with rage.  “Were you part of the Academy?”

            “I had no part in the Comet Project,” he insisted.  “It was a disgusting, deceiving project that the government never fully investigated until five years ago just before they took it down.”

            “Why are you here?”

            “Minseon-ah, Captain Hwang has an offer for us,” Minjin smiled, tenderly taking her sister’s injured hand.  “He’s forming a singing group, and he wants the two of us to be a part of it.”

            Minseon’s drunken laugh filled the alley.  “A singing group?  I really did have a little too much tonight, didn’t I?”

            “It’s a special singing group,” Hwang told quietly.  “I need a group of talented singers and dancers with combative skills to secretly protect some very important people.”

            “It’s an undercover mission?” Minseon asked curiously.

            “I know that you two love to sing,” he grinned.  “And I also know that you can’t simply hold in all of your training.  This opportunity will allow you forfeit any secrets you have and live freely under my care.”

            “Who would we protect?”

            “…Girls’ Generation.”

            “Girls’ Generation?”  Minseon stumbled over to the wall of the alley and laughed quietly to herself.  “Didn’t I ask for beer?  What else was in that drink?”

            “Minseon-ah, I know it sounds silly,” Minjin sighed, walking up to her sister.  “But Captain Hwang seems to know what he’s talking about.  And he’s a very kind man.  This is a perfect opportunity for us.”

            Minseon turned to them with a livid glare.  “A perfect opportunity?  Isn’t this just another Academy?  Won’t we be slaves to this mysterious man, forced to take out anyone he wills us to?”

            “It’s not like that at all,” Hwang interrupted.  “My team has seldom encountered people to ‘take out’.  We’re really a last resort operation.”

            “Why do those nine SM slaves need protection?” Minseon exclaimed suddenly, hitting her injured hand against the brick wall.

            “Minseon-ah, your hand!”

            “No, unnie!  That’s not important right now.  What’s important is understanding this insane fantasy world you seem to be in, Captain Hwang.”

            “There is something that suggests they are very important to the Eastern Asian economy,” he explained.  “I’ve done a lot of research.  You see, there’s this prophecy-”

            “Am I the most sober person in this alley?” Minseon scoffed, her eyes full of amazement.  “Unnie, what are you doing with this crazy man?”

            “Minseon-ah, this is incredibly important!” Minjin replied sternly.  “Please, take this opportunity.  You don’t have to be like this anymore!”

            “I won’t become another robot!”  Minseon’s voice was a terrifying cry that seemed to send a chill into the already frosty air.  Even Captain Hwang appeared somewhat surprised.  “I won’t!”

            As Minseon began to walk away, Minjin started after her.  Hwang took her hand before she could go far.  “Minseon-ah!  No!  Please!”

            “Minjin-i,” Hwang muttered.  “Let her go.  She can’t make a decision in her state.”

            “But, Captain Hwang, she has to do this,” Minjin whispered hastily, tears filling her desperate eyes.  “We’ve both been such a mess these past five years.  We need this.”

            “I’ll make sure she gets home alright.”  A warm smile was on his gentle face.  “Don’t lose hope, Minjin-i.  She’ll turn around.  I know she will.”