"Aish....do we have to eat kimbap again? Do you know that I never really liked them? Oh wait. I told you yesterday. Sorry." you said. You really didn't have a thing for kimbap. Then again, you had begun to dislike it ever since you had to eat them twice a week since the "advance." You and Jeno were currently carrying the laundry for your dormitory.

 

Ever since the incident of the "advance", you were forced to live with children around your age. You shared a room with some girls from your neighborhood, but your neighborhood is so big you had to share it with a few boys as well; one of the boys was Jeno and a few others. In that group also included a boy in the corner who always carried this book with him. You don’t really know what it’s called but you were still pretty curious about it.

 

Your room is pretty cramped thanks to all the people living in it. “Hey, you need to remember that you’re not the only one suffering. Just as you guys are feeling sad, we are too. Besides, think of the others who have been separated only recently. Surely they have been in more traumas more than us.” Jeno mentioned. There were more and more minors every day. Jeno and you and some of the rest of your neighborhood kids had been in this position for 5 months.

 

Today, there was supposed to be a meeting with a representative from the government at 7 sharp. Now it was supposedly 4:30 p.m. and you needed to a bunch of more things soon-and FAST. But before you could continue completing your “to-do list”, you rushed on over to the room you shared with many and settled there for a brief rest. As you sat there, you saw the boy who was reading heading outside to go do his…shift? Or was it something else, something that he didn’t want people to know about?

 

Given the fact you had school during the “advance” was incredibly idiotic. Now, you still had homework, cooking, and getting credit for community service before the announcement. If these tasks were not completed by then, you were to move into poorer circumstances of shelter and food with a load more of chores as a punishment for a week. But most of your tasks were impossible to complete within the time limit. You always rarely made it out alive.

 

After resting from doing laundry while talking to some roommates and folding your clothes, you began to prepare the laver or seaweed for the actual people who were to cook. As you were oiling the seaweed, a familiar person came within your eyesight. The boy who you saw earlier was here as one of the actual cooks. As you scanned his chef’s uniform, which you could hardly believe he was able to afford, you noticed a matching satchel at his side with his a corner of his precious book peeking out from under the flap.

 

You couldn’t help but wonder what was with this boy and his mysterious book. After preparing the seaweed for a half hour, you ran back to your dorm. Most of the kids were in their bed working on the homework. Everyone had their differing share of homework which made copying impossible. Just because the old Korea was gone, didn’t mean that the strictness of education had died out as well.

 

After doing a few pages of English, Arithmetic, Chemistry, and the study of the Joseon Dynasty, you went over to the community services department to register yourself as a volunteer. Some minors weren’t required to offer their assistance while for others volunteering was mandatory. In your case it was optional; you chose to do that because you could possibly receive extra credits in vouchers and possibly get half the amount of vouchers, if you saved enough from the beginning, half the amount to afford airplane fare and get out of Korea. But to do so would require other fees to be paid, such as a passport and a heck lot more expensive things. If only you had more freedom…You thought remorsefully.

 

As you arrived at the registration center at the community services department, you steeled yourself in preparation of a thorough interrogation. No questions asked, all truth and no lies, then you would be okay for enrollment. If you or your past attracted any suspicion whatsoever, the cops immediately put you aside and possibly be away from home for a few days until you had an identification check to verify your status, background, and etc. as a Korean citizen. Nervously, you wiped your hands. This interview would really help your current situation; it was an absolute must to pass it! Glancing at the clock in the corner, you realized it was almost your turn to step up when suddenly, you heard a BAM! A gunshot! Your eyes widened.

 

The sound had shocked you so immensely that you were dazed for a few seconds before realizing the interrogator had called your name for a few times. You snapped back into reality, and scurried over to the interrogator. The lady looked vaguely familiar as a bank teller. Curiosity got the better of you, and you couldn’t help but look around and interrupt your own interrogation to ask about the gunshot. She bluntly replied, “It was simply a North Korean who had come past us masquerading as a South Korean. Does that answer your question? Now, did you come here because it was required or of your own will? If you came here by your personal preference, please explain your reason for doing so. And I would like to know what dormitory room you are in as well.”  Confidently you replied, “Barrack Dormitory A14-Room 3B. And I came here from my personal preference. I came because I would like to work hard, and receive a reward of the half-priced airplane fare but I will put it to an, ah, alternative use.”

 

The woman looked shocked at your response. Of course, who wouldn’t be shocked if they realized you were using the vouchers for some other unknown use other than food or an airplane fare and clothes and etc. As puzzled as she was, she slowly asked you in a curious tone, “And what is this other use you have prepared for these vouchers?” Now it was your turn to be stunned. You shook it off and boldly said, “It will be for an airplane, but I will not use it to travel abroad. I wish to speak with the president after receiving my  airplane ticket.”

 

The moment those words left your mouth, the whole room became so silent you could hear a pin drop. No one would ever dare to meet the president, especially about the issues plaguing Korea. Everyone went silent or gasped in surprise. A heartbeat later, a whole bunch of guards and cops had their guns pointed at you.

 

 You tried to put on a poker face with your hands up in the air, but continued speaking. “I have a wish as this. I believe I may speak with the governor later at the meeting as soon I finish enrolling and fulfilling 2 hours of service here. Now, if you wish to shoot me, you will be breaking our nation’s law. Now, I suggest you put your arms down and let me finish my registration and help our country with community service.” Deep down inside, you were scared out of your mind and couldn’t believe how easily and boldly you spoke.

 

The guards hesitantly resumed their business after hearing your words and everything went back to normal. You finished your interrogation with ease and went to “The Box”. “The Box” had such a grand title because it is the service you will be doing for the time being unless you have enough vouchers for your own pick, an exchange, a connection into the system, or you just hacked. “The Box” would try to find what fits you best by a 5 question quiz. It’s amazing that it’s only 5 questions, but real people are the ones that determine your job within the system.

 

As you entered “The Box”, you seemed as if sitting in a cubicle. You stared dazed at the computer screen. On the screen the first question said, “WHAT IS YOUR DREAM JOB AS A COMMUNITY SERVICE VOLUNTEER? PLEASE BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE.”

 

 Well according to many, you seemed to be good as a tutor but you also like to bake. You had a fancy for baking. Between the two, you decided on this: MY DREAM JOB IS TO BECOME A BAKER WHO SPECIFICALLY WORKS IN THE DECORATING AND DESIGN OF CAKES. It seemed pretty straight-forward and detailed.

 

You pressed enter and the next question had popped up: “WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO JOIN THE COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT?” You thought about this suddenly and tried to remember the reason from earlier when you had exclaimed. It was that you wanted to have a plane ride to go have a talk with the president herself. So you had input that as your answer. After pressing the send button, it took a few moments to get it loading to the next question. Soon it finally had popped up: “YOU ARE DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS, YOU WILL RECEIVE A QUESTION THAT NO ONE ELSE HAS RECEIVED. PLEASE ANSWER TRUTHFULLY. ARE YOU SURE THAT IS WHAT YOU RALLY WANT, TO FACE THE PRESIDENT RIGHT NOW IN HER RAGE MODE AND WHEN SHE IS TRYING TO SAVE YOU?”

 

 You chuckled to yourself and smiled while sternly writing, YES. After pressing send, you had your fourth question: “YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR JOB THAT IS SELECTED WILL BE PERMANENT UNLESS YOU HAVE VOUCHERS, IS THERE A JOB YOU DO NOT WISH TO HAVE?” You decided to insert: AS LONG AS MY JOB DOESN NOT INVOLVE ODORS, BLOOD, AND DEALING WITH TERRIBLE AND DANGEROUS PEOPLE. After sending that answer in, the final question took a lot longer than a few minutes of waiting. 

 

After waiting for a few solid minutes, the final question had finally come and this question made you tense up a bit.  The question is: “WILL YOU REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST FULFIL THIS EVERY WEEK, SO WHICH DAY OF THE WEEK WOULD YOU LIKE TO FULFIL?” You immediately typed in Wednesday because that’s when Jeno works as well. After that the screen told you were to the clerk in room 5A and receives your job and signs your paperwork. AS you headed to the room while exiting “The Box” you had noticed that it was about an hour or so until the meeting. Rushing yourself towards room 5A you saw an elderly lady holding a few different papers and asked for your name. You obviously had replied as she handed you for searching the name with your paper.

 

You looked at the important parts and the part you had anticipated the most, your job. It had said: Pastry Baker in Group 21. Was this your dream job? It was quite similar to your dream job you guessed and you began to head out and run home to your dormitory. You were required to buy elegant and formal clothing to meet with a government representative. If you didn’t, you were to sit in the back and not one peep is allowed of your mouth. So you had to head back and grab your dress.

 

When you looked into your closet, you saw a few dresses that belonged to you and you were to share with some of your roommates. They were also brand name. The higher class the clothing, the more respect you receive as a citizen as well. Because of this, you noticed you had a few blazers and decided if it would be okay to give the boys these as well. Because there is six people per room with genders, boys and girls had a curtain dividing each other.

 

But you slept on the same bunk as Jeno for the division of 3 girls and 3 boys. You handed some of your blazers and dresses to everyone. They all received it gratefully and they gave you a few things as well. You all shared the closet and shared it all very well. You didn’t talk to all of them only to probably a girl and Jeno.

 

As your time in the room was nearing the time of the meeting you talked to the people in your room except for the one boy in the corner that was reading. We were all talking about what the meeting may be about. The boy in the corner looked at something on the wall and he had soon left the room while letting out a sigh. You all looked around and noticed the clock was ticking about 15 minutes away until the event. As you and Jeno had walked in a fast pace towards the city hall you guys began talking. “Hey, do you think we are going to see our parents?” you had asked Jeno curiously.

 

He replied with a hopeful expression, “Whether we see them or not, let’s just hope we can see them. There are days where I can’t even remember how they look which is pretty heart-breaking. Don’t you think? The fact that I don’t even know how my parents look like. Quite depressing, hmm?” You nodded in response adding, “If you really think about it, we can’t do anything about it. But you now, I was being pretty bold today. When I was at the community services department, I told them I joined so I can have a plane ticket to have a talk with the president. An-“

 

He abruptly had exclaimed, “You said you wanted to meet the president? Are you crazy? How is someone as low as us going to meet someone as high class as her.” You replied with some slight embarrassment saying, “Well I do want to ask her some questions why is she doing all of this. Hey what were you doing after I left? You know after folding my clothes from my laundry.” He looked down for a bit and brightly smiled, “Um, well you know. I was helping out some of our roommates. Then I had a bit of free time and began heading to the, uh, the coast and saw some cats and put them away in a nice alley.”

 

Sounding as suspicious as he was, you couldn’t rebuke him and question the truth out of him or else you will seem as an easy person. So you tried to ignore his say and talked more about your experience at the community service department. By the time you had finished your story you guys had arrived at the city hall. As you entered they gave a slight check on you and you were seated in the second row. Along with your other roommates, you happened to sit next to Jeno and that mysterious boy in between the 2 of them.

 

Looking around in your seat, you were looking for your parents because you saw other adults that you might’ve seen before. The room you were in was literally a humongous circle that could hold a whole province, which it did, and in the center were five seats and a revolving table at the very top for everyone to see. As for you, you were looking around and came to an end, when finally the government representative had called to quiet everyone and calm them down; for he was the top of the revolving table. And that’s when the meeting had begun.

 

The man was named Jo Mingyu. (I really don’t know.) He stood up and had said loudly in his booming manly voice, “Hello   경기도 (Gyeonggi-do province) audience. I hope you have been able to adjust to these new circumstances here. I understand that you are going through many hardships and you see the government as a tyranny. Please do not be alarmed, it is just I have a message to say to you folks. For the many young teenagers and adults, I will have a word separately for you as well for the actual adults later. For now, let’s begin with our executive president in leading the pledge.”

 

Aw, it was that time again. And it happened twice today because these “officials” had come. You hated the pledge; you completely despised the fact you had to do it. It was such an annoying thing. And what’s even worse is that they made this “pledge” in 15 minutes. And it has so much “meaning”. As you stood up with a poker face, guards had surrounded the circular desk holding the officials and the government representative.

 

These guards were there to pull out or shoot down anyone that doesn’t follow the rules or if they were being disrespectful. And if anyone had made a fuss about someone getting out or getting shot would be removed from their camp temporarily and stay in a cardboard box with only 3 bottles of water and 10 bags of ready-to-eat processed foods. It was a horror stories to some people. You heard from a few classmates that it was one of the worst days of their life.

 

As you finished the pledge, you could tell by your surroundings that 3 were shot and 15 had been taken away. It was so depressing to see in such a place that used to be able to hold its glory with no regrets. After he announced the little announcements including pollution, possible campaign for future officials, and a bunch of other stuff; you youngsters were to stay behind while the adults got to have a snack break for 45 minutes. You guys were stuck in this stiff position of sitting straight while listening to a useless man talk, with his co-workers, for about 3-4 hours straight. Well, at least you were told that you are immediately excused as soon as you finish with his “speech.”

 

He soon began, “All right, you children are allowed to rest your backs. I get that it is quite scary and very pressuring to be seeing guns in many who will shoot you or take you down just for not sitting up straight. That is my fault, I am sorry. But it was to show that you were equal with adults. Anyways, my announcement would’ve been awkward if both parties were here so we should be straight forward and you guys can eat. In a few months, if you are 13 to 18 years old, you will have to find a soul mate. Yes, I said that. I know it is very abrupt and very quick.”

 

Everyone was gasping and very depressed looking. You and Jeno had looked at each other and began to whisper for a bit. “What the hell! How am I supposed to find my one true love in a few months? Life has given you the chance to do that. Not a couple of months,” had exclaimed with a furious tone whispering. He responded quietly, “Well, we should be able to talk someone out of this crazy idea.” You sat back up and saw that the mysterious boy was reading his book. How could he read his book at a time like now? Seriously?

 

Soon he told you guys all the real deets. He said you guys were to find it in a few months but actually have it exceed 3 months. But only a few of you were to be selected. After all, this was a test. If only the war had ended and stuff, you wouldn’t be in this position right now. Well, he also said if you couldn’t find someone, and if you were selected, you were to marry a selected old single guy or girl. But they could be in their 20’s for all you know; but the notice if you were selected or not was coming in the mail tomorrow. Everyone had mail coming, whether saying chosen or not.

 

You were of course hoping it wasn’t you or any of your roommates or Jeno. But you couldn’t do anything about it. All the more reason why you wanted to express your rage to the president and ask her why is she so cruel. After the meeting was over, most walked out and a few stayed to talk to friends. As I was heading out I noticed a thin satin bookmark. It had said: “You and I are connected forever Mark. Love, Mom.” What the hell was going through your mind. Who was this? Then you remembered the mysterious boy had held this bookmark in his hand while reading. So his name is Mark.

 

You couldn’t wait to give it to him. This was your chance to actually talk to him. You should be able to anyways, since he is a roommate. After picking up and walking out the door with Jeno and getting some food to take home, you were running all of a sudden and caught up to Mark. Jeno saw you running and had apparently run after you. Probably though you were going to do something stupid with your dress, after all, you had your moments. After catching up to Mark with a few crumbs and frosting on your dress, you sadly had dropped all your sweets, he had looked at you strangely and made eye contact and was about to rush off; until he saw his bookmark. For the first time, you heard his voice, “Um, that’s my bookmark. How’d you get it?” His voice sounded quite different then what you had expected. His voice was quite soft.

 

After having a slight shock of hearing his voice, you responded as calm as you could, “Oh, your bookmark. Um, well as I was walking out I saw that it was on the ground. Oh, and your name is Mark? Book-mark. Get it? Yeah, sorry. Just a punny name. Please move on with your life.” You immediately had held out the bookmark and he took it but didn’t let go of your hand. You looked up and he grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him to get to talk to him. You started to think if he finally wanted some company.

 

He began his conversation as he seemed to reminiscence about something, “By my assumption, you probably read the bookmark. You see, it’s that when I was young, my mother and I were separated. And recently the advance came and my grandfather is really sick and the folks were going to leave him quarantined. I couldn’t stand that. So, here we are to this day where my grandfather has probably either been taken care of due to the advance or he probably died as to being quarantined. So how ‘bout you?”

 

After hearing his sad story, you guys kept on talking about life and finally Jeno had abruptly came into you guys and said, “Hey! Jeno’s here. We’re almost at out room. C’mon we should got and get some sleep now. Umm, so bye Mark!” Then the next thing you knew was that you were being dragged by Jeno out of Mark’s reach and you were hanging on his shoulder as if he had carried you. You knew he was going to complain about something.

 

As you guys had entered inside your room, he pulled you onto the top of his bed and you guys sat sitting there and he began to complain, “How come you were talking to him so long? Remember, I am the best friend here. Okay? But hey, what were you guys talking about anyways?” You thought for a moment and had decided to finally answer as kindly as you could, “Well for a kid who doesn’t talk, he has quite a dark past. Just wanted him to open his shell a bit, ok? And hey, no need to feel jealous. Besides, I should be jealous of you, Mr. Gentleman that is popular amongst the female population.”

 

He looked at you with a bit of embarrassment and climbed down saying, “Well, I guess we can call this a night. And I guess I was a bit envious of him. He’s probably a hyung too. I should respect him. By the way, your dress was quite dazzling. Your mother had chosen well.” The moment you heard that, you began to blush madly with strong hues of reds. Good thing it was dark or your flaming face would have people reconsidering your sanity.

 

As you fell asleep you suddenly had remembered something. Something that was extremely significant as well. You remembered of a girl who had asked a question during the meeting. Your flashback remembered her saying the words “And what will result if we end up with and older person? Will we be considered as a friend, a slave, someone to abuse? I don’t want to be in the care of an older man. Especially if he is a man who is notorious. I hope that the guards will be able to hunt down the terrible people. And, never mind. I need to live as of now. I might only have 3 months to find pure and true love.”

 

Her words had echoed in your mind, molding its form and shape to its precise enunciation. As you tried to sleep, you began to wonder why Jeno had complimented your dress this evening. Was something wrong with you talking to Mark? Or was it that envy that was inside of him? The more your thoughts had wandered around, your eyes began to droop and you fell into a deep slumber. Your dreams had soon begun your imaginative adventure. 

 

You had dreamt about a letter entering a mailbox, and this certain mailbox had your name on it. You weren’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. All you could do was assume it as a symbol. After seeing that you saw Mark and Jeno’s faces for some strange reason and had continued on and then it seemed you were forced to wake up. As soon as you woke up, Jeno was found sitting next to you on your bed.

 

“Morning, Sunshine. Let’s open our letters. I got yours for you. I’ll open up mine firs- wait no. Let’s wait for you to completely wake up first and then we can open ‘em up.” You began to rub your eyes as you heard Jeno say that. Then you realized that he sat here all giddy waiting for you. You got up and were in a sitting position and you came to hug him as he returned your hug as well. You smiled in his delightfulness and you began softly saying, “No, I think I am good. A bit on the downside but it’s just another terrible morning as usual. Just glad that this horrible morning is a Saturday.”

 

He beamed at your approval and opened his. As he removed the letter, his eyes were gleaming brightly. According to your reading of his expression, he seemed to have not been selected as one of the few. You were now less worried for him. All you now had to worry about was your letter. As you opened it up as carefully as a quiet mouse, in big letters you read: You have been selected to be in the 3 month love program. Was that true? No, surely it isn’t. Your sleepy eyes are just playing with you. But you showed Jeno, and he saw it as well. Maybe the both of you had terrible eye sight at the moment.

 

You weren’t seeing things sadly. There was even a list:

 

*There is a max amount of time to be searching for a soul mate: 6 months. No longer than that.

 

*If you wish to not do this, you cannot. You were chosen randomly so it is fair.

 

*If you wish to give up and find an older partner sooner, please tell an adult.

 

*If you die during this process, please have a relative continue.

 

*If you have found someone before the 3 months, please tell an adult.

 

If you have any questions, please ask an official at the information center nearest to you.

 

 

You began to tear up at the sight of this notice. You couldn’t believe that this was happening in front of your eyes, but you held them back; but Jeno knew you enough that you wanted be strong after these shocking days causing you to be more frail than usual. But, he himself couldn’t do anything about it, so he held you into his embrace. You knew that you had to work extremely hard to meet the president to discuss as soon as possible. This was a completely unfair decision she has made.

 

As Jeno had held you tight in his embrace, he whispered, “Hey, it’s alright. Don’t worry. You make the decision. You don’t have to do it. You just need to wait for him to come. And besides, he may be a lot closer than you think. Okay, I will always be here for you. Don’t worry.” You couldn’t hold back the tears and let them flow freely. You two were in this position for a while. You guys soon got ready and headed out.

 

It had hurt to hear that, but you needed to go to your first few days and work at the baking sector in the Community Services Dept. When you had arrived, you noticed that Mark was already there. He gave a small grin and a sort of wave. You were delighted to see him. As you ran over to him, you saw that he was making minimal contact with you. Skin ship, eye contact, silence, there was no sort of any contact after that friendly smile he had sent to you.

 

You were a bit disappointed but soon the decorating supplies had come and you were given 10 orders to accomplish. These were all from people who had certain events. Your list had things like simple birthday, funeral, traditional chuseok, and etc. It was a really wide variety. You could see now why Mark was making no contact with you. In order to finish all these orders, it’d take you a while. That’s why he was already working. As you saw that he was working, you began working away at your cakes. They looked quite spectacular in your eyes.

 

You knew you had talent, but not the amount you had seen. The cake you had specifically decorated was for a birthday and you had done a job well done. Because you were so proud of yourself, you nudged Mark. He looked over and softly asked, “Is this your first cake? It’s really great, but you do have some things to work on. I’ll give you some tips later. Okay?” You began to pout. You thought you did a pretty good job. Was this because you decorated for the first time and that was why you had felt so proud? No way, but you felt great.

 

As you began to work on some other cakes, you saw how brilliant and how the aura of Mark’s cake looked so tempting. There was a dark cake on the side which made you want to mourn all of a sudden. As you compared cakes, his cakes had a true feeling for whatever the event. That was what you were missing, the feeling and the emotion through a cake. Even though it was a cake and people were going to eat it, they needed to symbolize their event. At this point you began to work five times harder than before.

 

Mark glanced over and saw how hard you were trying and threw a little wink of support that you were doing awesome. You smiled cheekily in response. After a few hours of working, you took a break and relaxed in your chair for a bit. You looked over to Mark. “Hey how about those tips now? You know, you said I was a bit sloppy before. Why not practice during break?” You had asked. He smiled and ruffled your hair after removing his gloves. You smiled back.

 

He began to stand and he responded with a quiet yet cheery tone, “Okay then, what do you want me to help you on? The color palette, the icing, and the way you hold it, or what?” You thought that the way you held the position of icing the cakes were super awkward so you took on the challenge of learning how to hold the icing bag. He smiled. He smiled a lot today. What was up with him? Oh well. You couldn’t help but pay attention to the gesture he was making. He looked pretty pro doing the icing. It’d look more delicious than yours as well.

 

You tried to do it on your own and then suddenly you felt some arms around you. It was Mark. As you began to blush, which he didn’t see, you were beginning your lesson. Apparently the way he held it looked pro but the feeling was a lot more powerful and controlling than expected. You were quite surprised by this. As your blush had disappeared, you gave a quiet thanks. You were heating up, over a guy, which you just met yesterday. Wow, you were easy.

 

As he continued to instruct you and such, break was soon over. You got back to work and began working away with all you learned and from your common knowledge. As you quickly had frosted and iced the cakes, the next thing you knew was that you were done. As you had finished up, it was near 2 pm. It gave you plenty of time to wander until dinner prep. You asked Mark if he wanted to walk around with you. He gratefully agreed.

 

As you guys change out of your uniform, you went to the park. Just because the advance meant a lot more extra work, didn’t mean losing all your freedoms. As you two had walked around you guys began to talk. You began the conversation with something along the lines of, “Uh, hey. I don’t mean to discourage you or you don’t have to answer this, but what’s your book about? Because you practically bring it everywhere in that satchel of yours.” He nodded and responded, “It’s something my grandfather gave me. It’s like superstitions and stuff. I think it had some sort of magic or I don’t know. I understand it but can’t interpret its use.” You thought about the book. You asked out of the blue, “Hey, can I look at it. You know, we can find out more buy studying its features.”

 

Unfortunately he had shaken his head claiming it was something extremely important to him. You understood that people liked to keep family souvenirs to themselves. So you respected his decisions as you two had walked around more and talked about you hobbies before the advance and such. It seemed that you two had a lot more than you had thought. You both loved to decorate things in general, both of you had great grades, weren’t all that popular, and the list goes on. Except he was a loner and you were in envy from other girls due to your relationship with Jeno.

 

A lot of girls really like him, and you out of the many were able to “seduce” him to be you “friend.” But actually you weren’t attracted to him whatsoever. Instead, he initiated your friendship first. People don’t believe it unless it comes out of his mouth. A lot of girls had confessed their love for him before and he always ended up breaking so many hearts. He was considered a kingka. He seemed perfect in many people’s eyes. Hence, that was also a problem. He was too perfect. He was trying to drive into a goal or he was hiding something; or maybe even just doing both. But that was unlikely, but you still had your thoughts.

 

As you two had walked a bit more, you ran into Jeno. But not by himself, but with a whole lot of girls on his tail and he had hid behind you. The girls were going to hit you and Jeno gasped at what he saw and all the girls started to worry; they began to worry because Jeno was monitoring everything in front of his eyes. He soon began to scold you and had yelled, “Is this what happens whenever I am gone? No wonder you get hurt. I thought you were careless, but these girls are the cause of this?” He had an angry look on his face and you soon said, “No, no way. I am pretty careless. These girls, these girls, they are friends from a, a-a self-defense class. Yeah, from self-defense.”

 

“This is a lot worse than I had thought. All these girls know self-defense? You better go! Run!” He began to exclaim. You sighed and you rushed into the center within the group of girls, and began, “Chant, chant whatever. He’s going to leave. Do the usual, I have nothing to be scared of anymore.” Everyone looked at you horrified; they couldn’t believe that you were that same girl from months ago. It was quite strange for them, but you thought of yourself same old same old you. Jeno went over to you and held his hand out and said, “I think it’s time for some explaining. For us. I think it’s for the best. We have an hour left, let’s go.” As you two walked away, Mark was left in bewilderment and quietly had followed you two to the room.

 

Actually, you were in a nearby alley with Jeno. He sat down beside you and exasperatedly said, “So, tell me everything. From the moment we met, up until now. The tomorrow will be my turn. Alright?” You nodded. Then you began. You met Jeno one day when you were in kindergarten. You were playing dolls by yourself. You tried to pretend the voice of a prince but you couldn’t do a guy’s voice well. But just as you wished you could make a male’s voice, Jeno came. He was the new kid in town. Ah, you were remembering those days:

 

“Um, hi. I am Jeno. Who are you, you seem to be very pretty.” The new boy had asked. You replied, “Um, mommy says to never talk to strangers but thank you. And um, who am i? I am a girl. So yes, I am pretty. Because pretty is only used for girls. I need someone to play the prince. Would you like to play with me? You get to be the prince and the dragon. I am the princess.” He nodded. As you two were playing, you had to leave early but there were these girls who blocked you from going and they bit the teacher and had sent her screaming to the nurse’s office.

 

“Hey, get out. Please. My mommy is outside. She will get mad if I don’t leave now. My mommy will not love me anymore. Please! I need to go. I will give you candy tomorrow.” You pleaded them desperately. The shook their heads in response. Apparently they wanted the candy now. But you didn’t have any. You shared them all with Jeno. He was one of your first friends. He gave those bullies the candy but those girls soon began to have a crush on him.

 

And that was the story of how you two had met. After that explaining from your perspective you went on and on and on until you were done and told him to go to dinner prep. You were a bit emotional and had his fair share of explaining, and you had a few tears to wipe. You were pretty fragile but knew it was for the best. As you arrived it was jajangmyeon night, you had to prep the noodles. You saw Mark brightly smiling and soon transformed into a sympathetic face. “Hey, what’s the matter? Did Jeno do something wrong? Want me to talk to him? You sure you are good? I mean, seriously? I also heard you were one of the many selected to be in the random 3 month love thing. Sorry.” You shook your head.

 

You explained that you were fine and went down memory lane and was a bit emotional about it. He nodded. As you wiped all the remainder of the tears you began to powder up the noodles. As you were working, you had thought about the words he said, “Hey, surely you aren’t the only one with this many hardships. Mark, some others, you aren’t the only one. Besides, I myself have even received something worse, but that’s for tomorrow. And I won’t think you’ll have a problem finding the one for you.” Those words were just clashing through your mind pretty hard. After those hardworking hours, you soon left and had went to eat a bit.

 

You had sat in the corner, and realized you didn’t have to be there. So you went to a female restroom stall and had sat on the toilet left to eat all the jajangmyeon in your bowl. You heard the door creak open. It was obviously not a girl and with perfect timing you were about to scream ERT, until you heard, “Hey. It’s Mark. I know you are in there Missy. Don’t worry. I’ll wait outside the hall and we can talk together. You smiled in hearing the consideration in his voice. He was such a kind boy. As you took some time to eat it all up, you left the restroom stall and then you heard some arguing outside. You quickly rushed out. This was completely unexpected. And you were disappointed as well. It was none other than Jeno and Mark arguing about you. They were the only two friends you ever had so you shut them up in rage by slamming the female’s door.

 

They looked at you with “deer in the headlights” sort of face, and began to say sorry. You couldn’t help but to roll your eyes and dragged the both of them out throughout the back door. Then you had burst screaming at the two, “What the heck, you two! What is wrong! I think it’s finally time to say something. You two have been acting strangely ever since you two had made any contact with me. And I am getting darn suspicious about this. Now tell me. What is it?” The two were speechless.

 

Because the two were speechless, you had rushed stomping your feet away and had went into your bed and had laid on your back staring into the ceiling. It’s only been one day. Things have been going terribly for you. You wouldn’t mind if life had to end so soon, but something was out there. At that moment, you concluded something. Starting tomorrow, you had to get rid of this life. Starting tomorrow, you are going to run away from this life and infiltrate into Seoul. It was around 8 pm. You have no time to prepare. So, you began to quickly sneak out of your bed.

 

Even though you were a weak girl with no muscle, you were a girl with skill. You did know self-defense actually. You actually knew how to use a knife, a bow, and a gun. You watched some things on TV when you were about 12 and you snuck out at night and went to the junkyard and found some things. Well, that was when you were rebellious. At least in your opinion. Your skills were a bit rusty, but they were doable. As you climbed down your ladder, Jeno woke up and saw you packing up.

 

“What are you doing? Are you trying to escape? I am going with you. Okay! If you are going, so is I. Honestly, I knew that rebellious side of you was in there somewhere. But I didn’t think you’d be this daring. C’mon. You don’t need to escape from the front. In our closet there’s a shortcut. But we are going need some money and vouchers,” whispered Jeno. Surprisingly, he agreed. But you didn’t think another owl had been paying attention as well. From the boy’s bunker, you had saw Mark get up. He looked at you two.

 

He had a flashlight and lit it where the light had shined on his face and he said, “Count me in. We only live once.” As the three of you had found the secret entrance, you had climbed down. And that’s when you realized, there was more to the “advance” camps than you had thought. There were kids all over here. Adults had no idea about this. There were kids gambling, playing games we used to have. But here you had to pay things with money or with a lot of vouchers. There were kids who had sold their family items in return of money to find a way to infiltrate the other camps all over Korea. According to the minors around you, you heard some pretty important details.

 

Some of the 16 year-olds had said that these underground tunnels lead all over to the camps around here and has a pretty cheap fare. From what it seemed like, half of the government officials were spies that were trying to destroy President Geun-hye’s plan as well. And you saw a petition for all the kids who were against it. It was a big binder with names all over Korea. You couldn’t believe your eyes. For the first time, the word hope had flickered in your mind for the return of the original Korea.

 

You smiled at this sight and looked at the boys beside you and knew this was going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. As you had smiled at the two you went over to the weapons section. The guy who worked there seemed about 17 or 18 and he had asked, “Hey, aren’t you guys a little young. I mean like you guys are like and American’s high school age, but still. Isn’t that too young? Unless you are heading off to war. Besides, a girl like you shouldn’t fight. But you can still participate. Free pocket knife for every person. Limited addition as well, Swiss army knife, for an additional 5oo won. (Equivalent of 50 cents in American)

 

You stood as boldly as you could and had replied with a smirk, “Hey, Mister. I mean we may be young and look young, which I don’t mind, but we know what we are doing. We’re going to see Ms. Geun-hye, and maybe giver a little lesson. You get me? I mean we are doing this for our country. We may die on the way, but we didn’t do this in vain at least. Look, so um, I have 200,000,000 won on me. Is that enough for 3 guns, 2 packs of ammo, 4 knives, 2 bows, 30 wooden arrows, and the additional 3 pocket Swiss army knives?”

 

He looked at you in surprised and smacked a smirk back onto his face and replied grimly, “Yeah, it actually is. You know what the ammo is on me. How much do you really need? This is good money. Were you a small business family? Makes sense why.” You asked for 15 packs. It was a bit more than your money was worth, but money is rare nowadays. As you collected those, you had a remaining 800,000,000 won.  You went over to buy some more things, such as food, clothes, tools, and some stationary utensils.

 

As the three of you had finished packing and storing everything, you guys had enough vouchers for a one way ticket. The three of you had climbed up a blocky bunch of rocks which were a stairway and climbed high enough to an abandoned part of an underground subway. Oh you missed this life dearly. Just to think you used to go on these subways every day to school, it was unbelievable.

 

The conductor was no more than 20 and had looked at the three of you. But this man was no ordinary young adult. He was someone you have seen, someone from before these dark times.  It was an old friend who driven you home from school, it was none other than Mr. Park. He used to be the cheery man who always told you to be optimistic at times. He told you not to worry about life. But here was the same young man you had seen months ago with the life drained out of him and where you saw deep dark circles. Was this really the same Chanyeol you had seen 5 months ago? It seemed he didn’t recognize you guys.

 

You ran over to the man at a pacing speed and hugged him with delighted tears, “I knew you’d be okay, Chanyeol. It’s me. It’s me! I have Jeno here with me too! And another friend, his name is Mark.” He looked at all of you and his eyes began to not droop anymore and instead water with tears and he began bursting with excitement, “Oh my lord! I knew you guys would be just fine. Especially with my little girl’s dare dev-“ You cupped Chanyeol’s mouth.

 

You couldn’t let Jeno or Mark know the feisty side inside of you. You were to be respected as a smart, random, and a quiet weakling girl. Chanyeol was the one that had taught you these skills. After hugging you and Jeno, Chanyeol went over to Mark and something surprised you. Chanyeol was tearing up even more telling Mark, “Hey, your big brother has been looking for you. Xiumin has been worried. Like he wouldn’t eat until we would comfort him that you’d be all right.” Xiumin was Mark’s brother? They really did look similar.

 

But that could only mean something. It meant that, the boy Xiumin was telling you about was Mark. Xiumin had told you fantasies about his younger brother but the two of you had never met. This being the shocker it is, you began to cry. You had fallen to your knees and began murmuring while smiling like you were so stupid, “How could I not figure this out. Of course. It really is him.” You threw your arms around Mark.

 

You were smiling like an idiot. You grabbed his shoulders, “You are Xiumin’s half-brother. That makes sense. Just about everything he said seems true. You really are quite, I guess, cute. Just like him. And you are pretty secretive, but, where is this magic and locking the room all about?” And then, Mark seemed to be struck by lightning. He was left with an open mouth and began scratching his head nervously. Wait, if Xiumin knew about this, and Jeno being all secretive and that, you had suddenly turned your head at Jeno.

 

That meant not only Mark was some strange kid with magic, but so was Jeno. You had looked at Jeno deeply with questioning eyes. He looked at you shaking and said, “I can explain. You see, Mark’s father was my dad’s cousin, making him a distant cousin to me. But, our fathers were no ordinary people. They all channeled a power. Just like Xiumin’s and Chanyeol’s and the rest of them, except everyone had summoned something different. Chanyeol can summon fire. You see, Xiumin could summon snow. But the thing is, Mark and I don’t know. But people claimed us as the twin destroyers.”

 

This clearly made no sense to you. First of all, this was too shocking for you and secondly, it seemed so fake. Because you didn’t understand, Chanyeol and the others had gone into the subway with you and soon others had begun piling in to the subway. Luckily, Chanyeol gave you a roomy part of the subway, so the four of you finally got to talk about this really strange summoning of a power. Confused, you asked softly, “So please explain. All of you can summon some random Mother Nature weather or a super power and Jeno and Mark are being accused as these twin destroyers. Ok? Or is there more? Because it seems to be this way.” They all nodded and began to explain.

 

Their “history” had begun. They explained the beginning. It all began when their “ancient” ancestors, actually from the late 1890’s, they found a book in a nearby farm in the countryside. With that book they began studying it more and more and they had 14 children. But two of the children were not treated that well, and were given dark powers.  Jeno and Mark being in the remainder of the descendants of the 2 leftovers, they could control magic and communication and mutation of an animal.

 

You were no longer in shock. And finally, Mark finished, “And I still have the book right here. You see, the two brothers were very angry with their parents and stole the book from their parents. But Jeno and I have been fighting for who is the true beholder of this book. We obviously think it’s between the two of us. But who knows?” And that’s when something came at you like a boomerang.

 

Your own father has told you this story as well. But he explained there was a little girl was hated out of all the 14. She was your great grandmother, well not like the actual great, but a whole lot of greats were involved. She was hated because she was the most normal out of all her brothers; the youngest one as well. They had abandoned her and she was soon adopted into a family. But the family that had created this book.

 

This family explained that her old families weren’t the best or kindest people. They had once been friends with her mother but one day she changed. That book was meant for emergencies, but they were being used in many cases. And the list goes on. You then softly asked, “Hey, can I look at your book?” He nodded, “Just don’t read the insides.” As you touched it, Chanyeol and Jeno were in shock after realizing that the story they have just told to you meant that they were all related somehow.

 

As you touched the book, a new page was suddenly created. You looked at it just like everyone else, except everyone saw a blank page, except for you. You had read quietly what it had said. I knew it. A girl is finally capable of her history. Ah, well I am currently in the heavens right now my young one. But you are welcome to talk with me through your thoughts. And no, I am not some random lady. I am you great-grandmother. You told the guys it was message from an ancestor. They all said in unison, “You are the chosen one. You are the one. The one that we’ve been waiting for over a century.”  

 

You saw that in the paper as well. See these boys now finally appreciate us girls. Now go, continue your adventure. There’s more to Geun-hye then you think. She may be the first female Korean president, but there is more to this political figure than you think. She has much darker secrets than us. She has created a brighter and more strategic future, but you haven’t seen the real reason why.   

 

You knew you were going to be confident. You had to be. And that was when with the help of the 3 boys and your great grandmother, you devised a plan to stop the President and to reveal her true colors. The first step was to go to the nearest and safest Gyeonggi-do subway stop.  After that, you had to become as tall and disguise with the proper clothing from a government spy and stop her. You should be able to differentiate the difference between a supporter and a spy. A spy is careless but careful enough to pass as an official.

 

On the other hand, an official supporter has clearly no hince of doubt located in their voice. But some were tricky. So you had to check their uniforms. There was a little sticker located on most name tags signifying a supporter. But most don’t wear it because it is not required. And those majorities are also the remaining spies. If you didn’t know, Chanyeol would be able to tell you.

 

 As the doors opened up, you held tightly onto the book. It held your thoughts and the fate of your great-grandmother’s words in direction for you to know. As the three of you had headed off towards the great building where all the spies and officials were located, you had your disguises on. Good thing, the three of you all looked old enough to be an official. You made sure the sticker wasn’t on your nametags. As you had looked around the room there were a great majority of spies all around you.  You had an inner smile within you, knowing how many were around you.

 

You were on track. Your code for your plan was Alpha-끝. (Or Alpha-End) It was to end the president’s rule and find out her true identity and why was she doing all of this. As the three of you had entered the rooms you had used your code names and then you had continued your usual talk about whatever the officials seemed to be talking about. After continuing this process after a few more times, soon the three of you had neared towards the president’s room. You suddenly had the urge to check the book. As you had opened it up, it had left a message, I can only tell you this much.  She is not as trustworthy as you may have thought from before.

 

You were able to tell the two boys and then you two had huddled up. “Guys, this may be the last time we may be together. I know that things have rushed very quickly over time which is amazing. The rooms here are spectacular and I see why people love our country. It may not make sense, but you guys are the best. The best and only. I hope we survive. Good luck!” As our plan had proceeded, I was to enter in first. She didn’t look as warm-hearted as she does on TV.

 

As you had a gander around her office, there were an awful lot of plans and technology you have never seen. You couldn’t believe your eyes. She was up to something. And it was your job to initiate the truth behind this dastardly plan of hers. As you had stepped forward, trying to sound as not so suspicious as possible, “Um, Miss. President, we have a problem to report. There has been 3 teenagers who have been able to infiltrate our headquarters and they could be anywhere at this point. I believe these three are here to see you. And because they are, they aren’t going to come out until they find you. I recommend you see them quickly. They have been last seen within the gates. It is far, but farther of a journey for them. Please seek them immediately.”

 

She had a very worried look on her face. As she left her chair immediately rushing out with her coat and her supplies that left the three of you to be able to access everything you could get your hands on in the main system. As Jeno had plugged a USB drive into the core, Mark had finally shown the sign of his power. Magic. It seemed incredibly impossible but it was in front of your eyes. It was Dark Magic, but it was a magic that can possibly save the country from this nonsense you are seeing. He had a force field and no one could get in. He seemed to handle it well, but time was running out.

 

As you guys were able to load almost all of the information, a knock was on the door. Uh, oh. She came back a little early. This was great concern for you guys. Chanyeol heard it too. All of a sudden, a young man with bronzed skin had signaled to hurry over to him. It was Kai, he was waiting for you guys to come with him and teleport, except that he couldn’t teleport anymore. He was able to come in but his powers weren’t working. Well, now that you were stuck and the plan isn’t going to how you thought, you were checking the book and then it had noted Open the door.

 

You did as you were asked, and boy, this was a wild ride for you. You had seen this great woman who was once your president and was now blown up to the size of a great blazing hideous looking monster. She had a very deep voice filled with rage and hatred, “I should’ve known that you children had to do with that terrible family. They should never have created that book and gave it to that little wimpy boy. So scrawny and quiet. Can’t believe why he was worthy. But even more ridiculous, is this little nerdy girl. Can she even fight? Now this is the biggest joke of the eon!”

 

So this is what you had understood so far, a) your president is a scary- looking creature, b) you were from a family of magic, c) how old is this thing? You were so clueless and your mind began to drift away. This building was all a mirage. And so were its people. Everything was slowly fading away. And then something, something you never thought or have realized finally came into your eyes.  It was Jeno and Mark in front of you. Side, by side. They were finally kneeling down to you. You still didn’t understand the circumstances of the fiery hellish environment, the boys kneeling, that crazy- witch lady, and everything.

 

This all came to fast for you. It came to you like a blur. This wasn’t what you had wanted. You thought you were a normal girl and was just trying to fight for freedom but a hell lot of stuff got in your path and now it’s too blocked to return to the way you were before. But then, you knew, this is the real you. The one you have been trying to find all your life. It was in there, somewhere deep, in that little devilish side of you. You were never meant to be that nerdy and quiet girl everyone was jealous of. You were to be that girl that could stand up for anything and for everyone. But where was this heroine’s hero?

 

And that was when the Pikachu zapped you. It was Mark and Jeno. They were your heroes. Except, every story had one. And now you were stuck in a hell, you were so weak. Mentally, physically, emotionally, you couldn’t control yourself. And that’s when everything had gone black.

 

You woke up hearing something. It sounded like a recorded message, “…we wanted to be there. But only one of us can stay. And who said we didn’t care. It’s alright. Don’t worry, we both care. No biggie.  Just take all the time you need. We have great respect for you, but the both of us has grown feelings for you. We know everything has been going by so quickly and so fast. But life was never easy. But please, we hope we get to see you soon.” And then after hearing that emotional massage, you had found yourself in a hospital room. And guess who came out?

 

It was your heroes. Your beloved and charming heroes, the ones you realized you had feelings for the both of them. They weren’t the only ones that were deeply in love with you. Your best friend, since forever has kept it from you. You felt so guilty as his friend. But then Mark, who you met only a few days ago had so much to discover and he was most certainly someone who is unforgettable. But, who was the one for you? Who was the one you wanted to continue this journey with?

 

You couldn’t help but began to cry. These two were ones you loved dearly. And they had explained everything about the refugee camps, the fight, how you got knocked out, and all that. They wanted to tell you everything. Apparently when you were slightly unconscious, you had punched the president and you weren’t thinking, so you had punched everything and she was just a tyrant in the end. But how come you saw her as a monster? That was a question you couldn’t tell your boys. So after this long tyranny, things will go back to normal. But, this adventure was something you wanted to keep going with.

 

You needed to go on and find the one you really do love. After the two had left gifts, they said they’ll wait in the lobby. Hmm, maybe you did have all this time in the world for more explanation and for more thinking who is really your beloved angel from the sky, your knight in shining armor, and what else?

 

5 months later…

 

It’s finally Valentine’s Day! Oh my god. You hope he will give you your flowers and your chocolates. This game of playing around and just wondering to yourself that 5 months ago you had to play this terrible game of love. It was so terrorizing to choose the one of them. As you walked around school talking to some of your classmates, you saw something in your locker. “Hey, let’s meet up in the garden after school.” You weren’t sure who it was. But, despite the fact you didn’t know, you just plainly stood at your locker reading it and then the bell rang. Wow, time flies at school.

 

As you had rushed over to the garden, guess who you saw standing there. It was none other than your Valentine. He was so charming, so handsome and cute at the same time. He had your books already and waiting for you to sit with him on his bike. And behind him was another familiar figure alongside with his girl. This familiar figure had found his Valentine at last, he realized that you will forever be his friend, but you just weren’t quite the one for him. Even though you dearly loved the both of them, he deserved her. And that’s when you gave a big warm hug to your Valentine, your sidekick, to your handsome, cute, tall, charming, lovely, nerdy, magical, and the love of your life Mark Lee.

---

Author's Note: 

                        I am finally done! Oh my god. This was a fun adventure. For those who didn't understnad, you are welcome to PM me and all. I am sorry for Jeno fans. Like seriously, I am torn in between the two. I mean personally I like Mark that was why. But if you guys want a sequel, you are welcome for that this was ike um...about 11,000 words. I don't know the exact amount, but it took a lot of time and effort. Thiis was finished on 2/13/14. And hopefully this is publlished later and yea. I hope you guys enjoyed this. And there is a hella lot of confusing s**t. I know, just writing that, I totally rushed it. Diss me all you want. ._. I am totally fine with it. I think that's how I learn. But this was hopefully a good oneshot. I have an EXO chat series coming up soon. So stay tuned folks! Oh and speaking of EXO, who liked my input. Yea, I never really put what happened to Kai and CHanyeol and to your grweat grandma. Well, as said I am welcome for sequels and such! So I really don't care what you think about this. I had to procrastinate for school work and it it kinda backed me down. I really hope you upvote. And subscribe! There may be some special sequels and other stories like these! So please, stay subscribed and you guys are welcome to upvote. I thnk it is totally worth it, I mean I think I am failing school of this. But, don't pity me. It was my fault. So I love you, and I can't explain how I feel. Except that this was so rushed. So requests, PM me. Questions? PM, or story comment. I don't care, but I prefer PM. SO I love you guys! And please comment! I really want a comment from everyone!