Chapter 1

            Far into the countryside, where only the freshest and most invigorating wind blew, the big black SUV traveled down an isolated road towards a small group of buildings.  Within the beautiful, rustic landscape, the white buildings appeared to glisten in the sun.  This was the Comet Academy, an exceptional and prestigious academy according to the brochures given to Mr. and Mrs. Heo by the owners of the school.  It had trained hundreds of outstanding scholars and government officials with only the finest education.  And now Minjin and Minseon were going to study here.

            “Where exactly are we, sir?” Mr. Heo asked as the driver pulled into the dazzling, tree-filled courtyard of the academy.

            “We’re not too far from Daegu,” he replied.

            “We were told we could write to the girls,” Mrs. Heo suggested meekly.  “We’d like to know the address.”

            “You will be given a PO Box address before you leave.”

            Mr. Heo exited the car and walked over to Minseon’s side of the car.  After opening her door, he scooped the sleeping girl into his arms and ushered his wife and Minjin to exit the car as well.  Minjin watched anxiously as a woman with a peculiar, plastic grin approached them from a building that read “Office and Administration”.

            “Hello,” the woman greeted warmly with her chilling smirk.  “My name is Ms. Ko.  I am the director of administration here.  On behalf of all the hardworking, dedicated staff, I’d like to welcome Heo Minjin and Heo Minseon to Comet Academy.”

            “Good afternoon, Ms. Ko,” Mr. Heo said shyly.  “We’re so very grateful for your recruitment of our daughters.”

            “They are truly outstanding students,” Ms. Ko assured excitedly.  “Please, don’t be worried about your children.  We’ll take very good care of them.  And they will excel in this academy and in this world.”

            “We have no doubt about the quality of this academy,” Mrs. Heo smiled.  “We won’t worry in the least.  Will you be giving us a tour of the academy?”

            Ms. Ko’s robotic grin became a frustrated frown.  She crossed her arms slowly, looked down at the ground, and then quickly regained her smirk.  “Hmm, a tour?  Do you really want to see the school that badly?  The brochures had some very nice pictures, don’t you think?”

            “Oh…yes.”  Mrs. Heo chuckled nervously and squeezed Minjin’s hand tightly.  “But…We just thought it would be nice to take a look around.”

            Looking around the courtyard, Ms. Ko gave a cheery laugh.  “Ah, well, of course you can have a tour.  I’m afraid some buildings are being diligently prepared for the start of the semester tomorrow.  But I do believe the Language building is prepared already.  We can take a quick look inside if you want.”

            “That would be great,” Mr. Heo nodded eagerly.  “Minseon?  Wake up, baby.  We’re going to see the school.”

            Carefully putting his groggy daughter on the ground, Mr. Heo gently tapped Minseon’s puffy cheeks.  She grumpily resisted his attempt to wake her, but she finally rubbed her tired eyes and took his outstretched hand.

            The family followed Ms. Ko through the courtyard into a short building labeled “Languages”.  Inside was a large, simple classroom with very few windows.  The walls were decorated with phrases in several languages, including Chinese and Russian.  A large blackboard took up nearly an entire wall of the room, and two small desks were placed to face it.

            “Are you missing some furniture, Ms. Ko?” Mrs. Heo asked curiously.  “Our daughters couldn’t be the only students enrolled this semester.”

            “Ah, I must have been wrong,” Ms. Ko sighed wearily.  “They haven’t even finishing the Language building.  But I assure you, they’ll have the rest of the desks in before tomorrow.  We have some of the finest employees in all of South Korea.”

            “Will they be taught all these languages?” Mr. Heo questioned, observing the phrases on the walls uneasily.  “Are they capable of learning this much at this age?”

            “It’s important to teach languages at a young age, Mr. Heo,” Ms. Ko assured confidently.  “They’ll only be taught the languages that will help them excel in this competitive world.”

            “I’m curious, Ms. Ko,” Mrs. Heo began.  “Where are the other children?”

            “Most of our other students come from farther away.  A lot of them are international.  They may come later this afternoon or even tomorrow.  I’m afraid that’s just the way it is.”

            Minjin released her mother’s hand and wandered towards the only Korean phrase on the walls.  Very clearly it read: “The main ingredient of growth is pain”.  Her heart stuttered as Ms. Ko appeared behind her and slid her cold hand onto her shoulder.

            “But isn’t it true, Minjin-ah?” she asked.  “What growth is there without pain?”

            “Ms. Ko,” Mrs. Heo called, walking over to Minjin.  “Do you think we could take a look at their dormitories?”

            “I’m afraid the dormitories are being prepared right now,” Ms. Ko explained sadly.  “And there’s nothing else ready for you to see.  I think now would be a good time to say goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Heo.”

            Mrs. Heo’s eyes filled with sudden confusion and terror.  She knew she would have to say goodbye, and she tried to prepare herself.  But nothing could stop her heart from breaking.  She quickly lifted Minjin into her arms and held her tightly.

            “Minjin-ah…”  Her voice fell into her stomach.  Nothing had prepared her for this moment.  She wished she didn’t feel this way.  The Comet Academy was going to be the greatest thing that could ever happen to her daughters.  But she couldn’t suppress her pain.

            “Mommy,” Minjin whispered.  Mrs. Heo looked into her daughter’s glistening eyes and burst into tears. 

            “Ah, Minjin-ah,” she sighed.  “I’m going to miss you so much.  I’ll save every penny for stamps so I can write to you every day.  You know that this is a good thing, right?  I’m not abandoning you, Minjin-ah.  This is a good thing.”

            “I know, Mommy,” Minjin sobbed, burying her face into her mother’s chest.

            “Don’t go, Mommy!”  Mrs. Heo felt Minseon’s little arms wrap around her legs.  “Please don’t go!  I won’t complain about my outfit anymore!  Don’t leave me!”

            “Minseon-ah.”  Mrs. Heo carefully put Minjin down and pulled both her daughters into her arms.  “I’m not leaving you here because you did anything bad.  I’m doing this because I love you.  You’re going to learn so much.  It’s going to be so good for you, Minseon-ah.”

            “Don’t leave, Mommy!”

            “Minseon-ah, please calm down,” Mr. Heo begged, leaning down towards his daughters.  His timid eyes were glimmering with tears.  “I love you, Minseon-ah.  I love you, Minjin-ah.  We’ll always love you.  And we’ll see you very soon.  Please work very hard.”

            “We’ll take very good care of your daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Heo,” Ms. Ko reassured, taking Minseon’s hand.  She took Minjin’s shaking hand as well and nodded at the parents.  “You should leave soon so you can return to your home at a reasonable time.”

            “I suppose so…”  Mrs. Heo hesitantly released her children and took her husband’s hand.  She patted both her daughter’s on their heads lovingly, hoping that her lingering touch would keep them from disappearing.

            “Goodbye, Mr. and Mrs. Heo,” Ms. Ko smiled.  “Have a lovely drive.”

            “Tha…Thank you.”

            As Mr. and Mrs. Heo began to step away from their children, Minseon aggressively pulled at Ms. Ko’s hand.  “Don’t go, Mommy!  Come back!  Come back!  Let go of me!”

            Minjin’s small body shivered in the frigid classroom air as she watched her parents slowly walk away.  Her hand shook in Ms. Ko’s grasp, and she wondered if she could ever stop trembling.  Tears fell down her baby cheeks as Mr. and Mrs. Heo disappeared through the classroom doors.

            “Mommy!  Don’t go!  Mommy!”

*          *          *

            Mr. and Mrs. Heo walked swiftly through the courtyard back to the black SUV.  Before they could reach their destination, Mrs. Heo stopped suddenly and nearly fell onto the hard pavement.  Quickly catching his wife, Mr. Heo pulled her into his arms and held her securely.

            “Yeobo,” he called softly.  “Are you okay?”

            “Is this really right?”  Mrs. Heo asked, clinging onto her husband desperately.  “I couldn’t…I couldn’t stand seeing my babies cry like that.”

            “This is the best thing that we could ever do for them,” he promised with a shaky voice.

            “Really?”

            “They’ll have so much more than we ever had,” he grinned weakly.  “We can’t think of our own feelings right now.  When they’re all grown up, they’ll thank us for this opportunity.”

            “…I hope so.  Oh, yeobo, I hope so.”

*          *          *

            “Would you shut up?”

            Both Minjin and Minseon looked up at Ms. Ko with wide eyes.  The robotic woman suddenly possessed a terrifying expression full of spite.

            “You shouldn’t say things like that,” Minjin uttered anxiously.  “It’s impolite.”

            “Do you know what’s impolite?” Ms. Ko started crossly.  “It’s impolite to scream so loudly, you little brat.  Minseon, stop pulling your hand away from me.”

            “Let go!” Minseon cried.  “I want my Mommy!  You’re a mean lady!”

            “Shut up!”

            With one of her arm, Ms. Ko threw Minseon onto the ground.  Minjin rushed over to her sobbing sister and held her in her arms.  She stared up at Ms. Ko with petrified eyes.

            “Don’t…Don’t hurt my sister like that,” she begged helplessly.  “Don’t hurt her!”

            “If you don’t want to be hurt, you’d better listen to me,” Ms. Ko informed bitterly.  “That’s the only way you’ll make it in this academy.  Do you remember the saying on the wall?  There is no growth without pain.  Your language professor will arrive shortly.  You’ll begin your first Japanese lesson today.  And you’ll wake up at 6AM tomorrow for your first martial arts lesson.”

            “Martial arts?” Minjin replied in confusion.  “Why are we learning martial arts?”

            “One more thing.”  Ms. Ko leaned down towards Minjin and looked straight into her frightened eyes.  “If you ask anymore questions, you’ll be punished immediately.  Do you understand?”

            Minjin couldn’t help it as her eyes filled with more tears.  Her lips quivered as she tried to answer Ms. Ko.  “Yes, Ms. Ko.”

            “Good.  I’ll see you two later.”

            After Ms. Ko walked out of the room, Minjin held her little sister with her shaky arms and rocked her back and forth.  “It’s okay, Minseon.  Don’t cry.  Please don’t cry.  Please…Mommy…”

Author's Note: I have no idea how seven year olds are supposed to act, but I'm emphasizing that Way is the baby of the two. I hope you enjoy this first chapter! This is going to be a really intense story. I just despise Ms. Ko.

Also, I've decided not to use "-ssi" in this story. Other Korean words may be replaced with English words. But I will keep unnie and oppa around, because those words are just special. ^_^