Chapter 18

            Hyekyeong snuck through the halls of Chrome Entertainment, eager to see who was auditioning today.  It had been a week since Minyoung was chosen for this mission, and several girls had auditioned since then.  Though Hyekyeong found them all very attractive and talented, the Captain deemed them unqualified for protecting Girls’ Generation.  She wanted to burst into an audition again and just pick a new member for him, but he had sternly reprimanded her after she hired Minyoung so carelessly.

            While no new members had been added, the Captain did bring in a friend of his named Serang to help train the existing members in performing techniques.  She was a young, brilliant soldier who used her superb acting skills to go undercover from time to time. 

            Furthermore, Ah Ba joined Chrome Entertainment along with Minyoung to become the official dance instructor.  Dance was only one of his specialties, however, and he was already training the members in various forms of martial arts.  There was no doubt that Minjin was the most skilled martial artist in the group, and she had little to learn from Ah Ba.  Hyekyeong lacked form in her fighting, but she made up for that with her agility and grace.  Ah Ba helped her bring her skill to perfection, even though she acted like an unruly child for most of the training.

            Minyoung struggled the most with learning martial arts, so the Captain assigned her another form of training.  Though she still learned basic self-defense skills, Minyoung spent most of her days studying anemia and simple first-aid.

            “This is so confusing,” she had said one night as she poured over the massive textbooks the Captain gave to her.  “I’m not sure I’m qualified for this either…”

            Hyekyeong finally reached the practice room and peeked inside.  A tall and stunning woman danced to a Secret song, and Hyekyeong was sure this was going to be the fourth member of Hurricane Pop…or whatever the group would be called.  But she noticed the Captain’s downtrodden appearance, and she couldn’t believe he wasn’t captivated by her. 

            His eyes suddenly met with hers, and Hyekyeong dashed out of sight before he could chew her out again.  She headed down the hall toward the dorms, hoping she could convince Minjin and Minyoung to help her gang up on the Captain and get the auditioning girl into the group.

            Still feeling like a sneaky little pixie, Hyekyeong opened the door to the dorms very slowly and peeked inside.  Minyoung was nowhere to be seen, though Hyekyeong assumed she was in one of the offices trying to study.  Minjin stood in the middle of the room, face away from the door and practicing her singing.  Hyekyeong saw a golden opportunity, and an impish smile appeared on her tiny face.

            Taking long, slow steps, Hyekyeong made her way to Minjin and held her hands out.  She held in her snickering with little ease, but Minjin’s loud, passionate singing drowned out any noise that she made.  Finally, Hyekyeong was close enough, and she quickly smacked her hands onto Minjin’s shoulders.

            “Yah!”

            Hyekyeong’s mischievous eyes soon filled with horror as Minjin suddenly turned around, grabbed one of her wrists, and twisted it viciously.  Upon hearing Hyekyeong’s helpless cry, Minjin released her wrist, just before breaking it.  Both of them stared at each other with wide, terrified eyes.

            “Unnie…”

            “Hyekyeong-ah, I’m sorry!” Minjin cried.

            Before Minjin could continue, Hyekyeong hurried out of the room, holding onto her aching wrist.  Minjin followed closely behind her, but when they reached the practice room, she stopped just outside it, scared of what would become of her because of this accident.

            “Hyekyeong-ah, what happened?”

            Minjin heard Ah Ba’s concerned voice and her eyes immediately filled with years.  She finally walked into the doorway and looked at the Captain, Ah Ba, Hyekyeong, and the auditioning girl with remorse.

            “I didn’t mean to.  I-I…It happened so fast.”

            “It’s okay, Minjin-ah.”  Hyekyeong’s voice was strained even as she forced a weak smile.  “It was my fault.”

            As Hyekyeong explained what happened, Minjin whimpered quietly and looked down at the floor.  Finally, she rushed up to the Captain and cried loudly, declaring her guilt and remorse.

            “Excuse me.”

            Everyone turned to the auditioning girl, examining her calm demeanor.

            “I’m sorry about all this,” the Captain assured awkwardly.

            “Oh, no, this is fine,” the girl insisted quickly.  “But, Hyekyeong-ssi, did you say your wrist was twisted?”

            Hyekyeong nodded and gently held her wrist.  “Yes.”

            “I had some medical training,” she explained, taking Hyekyeong’s wrist.  “Would you mind if I took a look at this?”

            “Sure, unnie.”

            Ah Ba led Hyekyeong and the girl out of the practice room and toward the offices.  They finally found Minyoung, who helplessly read about anemia treatment.

            “Minyoung-ah, where’s your first-aid kit?”

            Minyoung looked up from her book with tired eyes, but she jumped out of her seat upon seeing Hyekyeong’s bruised wrist.  “Hyekyeong-ah!  What happened?”

            “Ask Minjin,” Ah Ba told quickly.  “The kit, Minyoung-ah.”

            “It’s right here,” Minyoung said, taking her first-aid kit from the table and handing it to Ah Ba.  “Hyekyeong-ah, that looks like a pretty bad con…con…con-”

            “Contusion?” the auditioning girl asked, taking the first-aid kit from Ah Ba.  “Yeah, there’s some bad bruising here.  But I don’t think it’s broken.”

            “Are you okay, Hyekyeong-ah?” Minyoung asked fretfully.

            “I’m fine, unnie,” Hyekyeong assured with a forced smile.

            “Minyoung-ah,” the auditioning girl called, her large eyes carefully examining the contents of the first-aid kit.  “Do you think you could bring us a bag of ice?”

            “Of course.”

            “Boram-ssi,” Ah Ba called after Minyoung left the room.  “Do you think Hyekyeong will need some pain medication.”

            “It’s probably a good idea to have it just in case,” Boram told.

            “I’ll get some,” he said, leaving Hyekyeong alone with the motherly girl.

            “Um…thank you for looking at my wrist,” Hyekyeong grinned shyly.  “What’s your name?”

            “I’m Baek Boram,” she smiled, taking another look at Hyekyeong’s wrist.  “Tell me, does it hurt when I do this?”

            Boram gave Hyekyeong’s wrist a squeeze, and Hyekyeong winced in pain.  “Yeah…it hurts…a little.”

            “Is that so?” Boram chuckled.  “You’re tough little chili pepper, aren’t you?  There’s a lot of bruising, but the bone isn’t broken.  If it were broken, I would expect at least a few tears.  Or maybe you’re tough enough to hide the pain.”

            “I almost cried,” Hyekyeong admitted quietly.  “But Minjin unnie was already so upset.  I knew if I cried, she would be even more troubled.  But it really doesn’t hurt all that bad.”

            “I’ll wrap it up, but I think you should get an X-ray,” Boram suggested, taking the materials from the first-aid kit and beginning to wrap Hyekyeong’s wrist.

            As Boram finished up wrapping Hyekyeong’s wrist, Minyoung returned with a bag of ice.  “Here’s the ice, unnie.”

            “Thank you,” Boram replied, taking the bag of ice and handing it to Hyekyeong.  “Hyekyeong-ah, keep this ice on your wrist for about ten minutes.  Then you can take it of for a while.  Repeat those steps, okay?”

            “Okay, unnie,” Hyekyeong said with her returning impish smirk.

            “Ah, Hyekyeong-ah, this little chili pepper,” Boram grinned, patting Hyekyeong’s head.

            “Unnie…can I touch your cheeks?”

            Boram laughed as Hyekyeong reached out and poked her cheeks.  She took her unwrapped hand and held it tightly.  “Use the ice, Hyekyeong-ah.  I’ll go explain the situation to Hyunchang-ssi.  Um…why do you call him Captain?”

            “I think you’ll learn soon enough, unnie,” Hyekyeong suggested excitedly.  “Can you send him in here after you explain to him?”

            “Sure, Hyekyeong-ah.”

            Minyoung repeated the treatment for twisted wrists and ankles to herself as she helped Hyekyeong hold the ice to her wrist.  “Hyekyeong-ah, who is that woman?”

            “She’s a new unnie auditioning for the group,” Hyekyeong explained.  “I really hope she gets in.”

            The Captain poked his head into the room and frowned at Hyekyeong’s wrist before walking in.  He closed the door behind him and took a deep breath.

            “Are you alright, Hyekyeong-ah?”

            “I’m fine, Captain,” Hyekyeong assured swiftly.  “But there’s a question I’d like to ask you…”

            “You want to know Minjin’s story,” the Captain suggested, rubbing the back of his head nervously.  “Honestly…because of this incident, I think you have a right to know.”

            “What exactly happened to Minjin?” Minyoung asked anxiously.  “She always seems a bit on edge.  And now this.”

            “Captain, I don’t want to judge Minjin,” Hyekyeong promised ardently.  “I just want to know so I can help her.  We won’t tell her that you told us!”

            “Once you know, you won’t be able to hide your knowledge,” he warned.  “But…I wasn’t too worried about you, Hyekyeong-ah.  I thought your street fighting training would keep you safe from anything Minjin did.  But obviously I was wrong.  You deserve to know.  So I’ll tell you.”

            Minyoung and Hyekyeong leaned forward in anticipation, staring intently at the Captain’s troubled eyes.  Even the pain in Hyekyeong’s wrist seemed to subside in this moment of expectancy.

            “When Minjin was very young…she and her twin sister Minseon were placed in a private academy,” the Captain began solemnly.  “Their parents believed that this was a real school with a solid reputation of excellence.  But in reality…the academy was a ploy for a government training camp meant to train special soldiers to eliminate foreign terrorists.”

            “What?” Minyoung exclaimed, throwing her hand over .  “Are you serious?”

            “I’m very serious,” the he continued.  He observed Hyekyeong’s traumatized face in concern, but proceeded with the story.  “Minjin and Minseon were chosen for this training because they were one of the few individuals genetically resistant to a new biological weapon created by the Daghanians.”

            “Biological weapon-”

            “Don’t worry, Minyoung-ah,” he grinned.  “It’s been eliminated.”

            “Oh…”  Minyoung still gave a worried stare.

            “They were there for eight years.  They learned a few languages.  But they were mostly focused on martial arts and self-defense.  In their training, several men at a time would attack them, forcing them to react in the best way possible.  They were even taught how to use firearms.  Minseon…Minseon was actually forced to kill two people.”

            “Kill people?” Hyekyeong gasped.  Her glimmering eyes expressed a genuine empathy for the Heo twins.  “Did Minjin ever…”

            “No, Minjin has never killed anyone,” the Captain assured.  “But she lives with the nightmares of having to defend herself against attackers every day.  I believe that is why she reacted so violently to your surprise, Hyekyeong-ah.  It wasn’t her intention to hurt you.  It’s just what’s ingrained in her mind.”

            “If I had known…I never would have tried to surprise her,” Hyekyeong sighed.

            “I know,” the Captain smiled weakly.  “It wasn’t your fault at all.  I probably should have told you beforehand…I really didn’t think anyone would get hurt.  I understand if you don’t want to participate in this mission anymore.”

            “No, no, I don’t feel that way at all,” Hyekyeong insisted right away.  “I’m not scared of her or anything.  But now…I just want to get to know her more.  I hope she’ll be able to talk about this on her own one day.”

            “How are you feeling about this, Minyoung-ah?” the Captain asked, observing Minyoung’s nervous expression.

            “I…I think it’s really sad,” Minyoung admitted miserably.  “But Hyekyeong is right.  We shouldn’t be scared of her.  We should help her feel safe.  At least we’re trained to defend ourselves if anything happens.”

            “But you’ve talked about recruiting Minjin’s sister before,” Hyekyeong began slowly.  “She…She’s killed people.”

            “Yes…There’s a story behind it,” he replied.  “It was out of self-defense, I promise.  But…Go ahead and discuss it between yourselves.  I need to speak to Boram.”

            “Boram unnie?”  Hyekyeong smiled clapped her hands excitedly.  “She’s a real keeper, Captain.  You should definitely recruit her.”

            “After what happened today…I don’t know,” he whispered dejectedly.  “Minyoung-ah, could you take Minjin out for a snack so I can discuss things with Boram?”

            “Of course.”

            When Minyoung and the Captain left the room, Hyekyeong took the ice off of her wrist.  She looked down at her injury curiously.  All the damage she had taken over the years during her underground street fights had been voluntary.  But what was it like for the Heo twins?  What kind of wounds did they receive, both physical and emotional, against their will?  As she thought about it more and more, Hyekyeong developed a plan. 

            Tonight…she would hit the town.

Author's Note: Again, I'm so so sorry for the long delays between chapters. Way will return in the next one for a little bit. :)