Chapter 31

            At 8:00AM, Geummi, Ellin, and Soyul met with the Captain in the conference room.  Their mood was obviously very dim, and Ellin only stared fumingly at the ground.  Just as the Captain appeared ready to break the silence, Ellin gave a furious sigh.

            “I just want to say, I say this from the very beginning,” she pouted.  “I told her not to get involved with Dohyun, but she didn’t listen, and now the two of them have run off and abandoned us.”

            “Minyoung-ah, don’t assume anything,” Geummi ordered with a stern voice no one expected.  As fear filled her eyes, it was clear her intolerance for Ellin’s jealous rant was entirely spawned by panic.  “Captain, even if the two of them are so in love, I’m certain they would come back to the dorm at the end of the night.  They aren’t irresponsible.  Something must have happened.”

            “I agree with you, Geummi,” the Captain assured with furrowed brows.  “We’ve been unable to pick up Choa’s phone, but we’ve detected Dohyun’s within the downtown area.  Kim and Jung have gone to check it out.  Let’s hope they just find Dohyun and Choa having breakfast in a café.”

            The Captain’s phone buzzed on the conference table, and he swiftly answered it.  Everyone inched closer as he turned the speaker on.

            “Captain, we found Dohyun’s phone,” Kim reported tensely.  “Just the phone.  It was lying in an alley with the screen cracked.  No other sign of Dohyun or Choa.”

            “Oh my gosh,” Soyul breathed.  “They’ve been attacked.”

            “Don’t jump to conclusions, Soyul-ah,” the Captain pleaded with gritted teeth.  “Stay there, Kim.  The rest of us will come down and meet you guys.  We’ll break into teams of two and go into every surrounding restaurant to ask if the employees have seen them.”

            “Alright.”

            The Captain looked around at his worried team and appeared utterly distressed.  “Geummi-ah, call Minseon and ask if she’s heard from Choa since last night.  Everyone, head to the van.”

            Ellin stood still in shock.  Her bitterness melted to horror and regret.  All her assumptions turned to hope she could not even grasp.  She barely awoke from her stupor when Soyul grabbed her hand and dragged her from the room.  Even within her dissipating jealously, she wished Dohyun and Choa were only off on a romantic getaway, safe and unharmed.

*          *          *

            Minseon slowly opened her eyes to see Soomin’s pretty sky blue ceiling above her.  She had fallen asleep on the couch as she watched a variety show of which she could no longer remember the name or concept.  She awoke with a soft down blanket over her and the refreshing flow of a winter sun pouring through the window.  But it was what she didn’t have that truly brought a smile to her sleepy face.

            Every morning without a hangover was a pleasant surprise, and it had become easier to decline a drink in exchange for a clear mind and enjoyable life.  She had even quit her band to escape any temptation their show venues could present.  Her job at the mall had become a thing to look forward to, and she made even more money as a secretary after her promotion last week.  She knew she owed all her success to Soomin and her unending support.

            “Where is unnie?” she said aloud as she rose from the couch.  She wandered to the kitchen table where she knew a note would be.

            Minseon-ah,

            I’ve gone to visit Youngbin this morning.  I know it’s still very hard for you to see him, but since you have the day off, maybe you’d like to meet me at the hospital and visit him?  Call me if you decide to come.

Love you

Unnie

            Minseon felt chills run down her spine as she thought of Youngbin lying lifelessly in his hospital bed.  But her heart no longer felt cold and covered with protective armor, and she also imagined Soomin visiting the love of her life all alone once more.  She felt her chest collapse within her as she thought of the two of them fighting relentlessly to fall in love in such a cold, horrifying place known as the Comet Academy.  And she remembered adding one more tally to Soomin’s tragic life by killing her father.

            As Minseon felt tears welling up in her eyes, she simply covered her face.  The battle began.  The words that buried her in guilt rose up against the words that acquitted her.  Visions of death and fear filled her mind, and she began to whimper quietly.  The war of memories waged within her as she crouched down and held her breath.

            “I had…I had to do it.”  Each word fell out of reluctantly.

            Please let me go… Please help me…

            “Stop!”  Minseon screamed with her hands still over her face.  The heartbreaking expression of the dying Daghanian terrorist set her brain on fire.

            “I don’t even know how my life got this way.”  The dying Daghanian’s last words echoed in her own mouth.  “…But I do…I know exactly how this happened… It wasn’t my fault.  It wasn’t my fault.  I had to protect myself.  I had to protect Minjin, Soomin…Youngbin.”

            Do you want to die?

            During one of their very first lessons at the Academy, she was asked this question.  Throughout her life, she answered it in many ways.  She sought to die at the end of a gun.  She strived to drink her life away.  As the voices continued to argue in her head, she rocked back and forth.

            “I…don’t want to die.  I don’t!  I don’t want to die anymore!”

            She felt a wave pulse through her body as the voices abruptly stopped.  The only voice she could hear was her own.  She removed her hands from her face and realized they were wet from tears.  She looked around the room with wide eyes as if everything around her was new.  The air felt lighter, and she realized she could hear the ticking of the coo-coo clock on the wall, the bubbles rumbling up in the aquarium in the corner of the room.  She felt no more hidden thoughts, saw no more lingering shadows.

            “I don’t want to die,” she whispered to herself one more time with a smile.

            When her phone rang suddenly from the kitchen table, she didn’t jump in agitation.  She slowly rose from the floor and strolled over to it with an inerasable grin upon her face.

            “Unnie?” she answered.  “Are you still with Youngbin?”

            “Minseon-ah!” Soomin shouted breathlessly.  “Come quick!  You’ll never believe it!”

            “What?” Minseon began fearfully.  “Is everything okay?”

            “He’s awake.”

            Minseon threw her free hand to her heart and nearly dropped her phone.  “Awake?  Youngbin oppa?”

            “Yes!”

            “Ah, unnie!” Minseon cried, jumping up from the ground.  “I’ll come right away!  Unnie…I’m so sorry I never went to visit him with you over all these years.”

            “Minseon-ah…”  Soomin could barely speak, her voice shook with excitement.  “None of that matters anymore.  Come visit him now.  He wants to see you.”

            “I’ll be there within minutes!” Minseon promised earnestly.

            Minseon hung up her phone and raced into her room.  She rushed through her usually morning tasks and hurried into an easy outfit.  Just as she was at the front door ready to leave, her phone rang again.

            “Hello?”

            “Minseon-ah?  This is Boram.”

            “Ah, unnie, it’s nice to hear from you!” Minseon beamed, still exhilarated from the news of Youngbin.  “How are you?”

            “I’m alright,” Geummi replied reluctantly.  “I was just wondering if you’ve heard from Minjin since last night.”

            “Minjin?  I talked to her yesterday morning, but not since then.  Is everything okay?”

            “Oh, I’m sure it’s fine,” Geummi assured slowly.  “She went out on a date last night, and I suppose things got…out of hand.  We haven’t been able to reach her.  Please let us know if you hear from her.”

            “I will.  Thanks for calling, unnie.”

            “For a moment, Minseon was struck with utter worry.  But she remembered that Minjin was more than capable of protecting herself.  She giggled shyly as she assumed her sister was certainly on a very scandalous getaway with Dohyun.

            “Ah…This is certainly a lucky day,” she laughed ecstatically as she walked through the front door.

*          *          *

            “Excuse me.”

            Geummi bowed towards a young host at the front of a small restaurant in Downtown Seoul.  Soyul stood beside her, surveying the room carefully.  The young host looked at them curiously and bowed in return.

            “Can I help you?” he asked.

            “I was wondering if you could tell me if this woman was here last night.”  Geummi held her phone up to him to show a bright photo of Choa.

            “Ah, that women?  Yes, she was here.”  He pointed to a table towards the front of the restaurant.  “They sat there.”

            “She was with a man?” Geummi asked, pulling up a photo of Dohyun on her phone.  “This man?”

            “Yes, it was that man,” the host answered. 

            “What time did they leave?” Soyul asked suddenly, eyeing the table thoughtfully.

            “Well, I think it was around 1AM,” he told.  “Yes, they ate some ramen and drank a little.  Honestly, it was a little concerning the way they left…”

            “Concerning?”  Soyul inched closer to the host and squinted her eyes.  “How as it concerning.”

            “I…I hope the guy wasn’t up to anything,” the host sighed shamefully.  “I probably should have done something.  The girl didn’t drink much, but she was suddenly very ill.  The man had to help carry her out of the restaurant.”

            “Did he appear sick at all?” Geummi questioned.

            “Not at all.  And he insisted that everything was fine.  Is the girl okay?  I’m worried that he drugged her.”

            “I…I’m sure she’s fine,” Geummi began, her eyes wide with worry.  “Do you remember which way they turned when they left?”

            “They exited and turned right,” the host informed.

            “That’s towards the alley,” Soyul noted, looking at the door.

            “Thank you for your time,” Geummi said with a grimace.

            They exited the restaurant and headed towards the alley.  Geummi quickly called the Captain and urged him to meet them where they had found Dohyun’s phone.

            “If some outside source wanted to attack our organization, why wouldn’t they drug both of them?” Soyul suggested.  “This seems too strange.”

            “Maybe it was a trick to get them out of the restaurant.”  Geummi’s words were rushed and sharp.  “Then they attacked them in the alley.  Oh my God, why is this happening?”

            When they arrived to the alley, the Captain was already waiting for them.  Geummi felt like she was losing her mind.  Before she could share their information with the Captain, Soyul spoke.

            “Choa was drugged,” Soyul informed.  “They were eating in a restaurant two blocks down.  Dohyun carried her out and they were attacked in this alley.”

            “And they were taken,” the Captain interrupted suddenly.  “They were taken to the Comet Academy.”

            “The Comet Academy?” Geummi explained in horror.  “How do you know?”

            “I just got a call from the lab,” the Captain sighed.  “They detected Choa’s phone at the academy.”

            “Why are they there?” Geummi cried.  “General Ko is dead!  Is something trying to continue his work?”

            “We’ll have to find out when we get there,” the Captain growled.  “We’re going to save them.”

            “Didn’t they destroy the Academy after the twins were saved?” Soyul questioned urgently.  “How can anything be happening there?”

            “They destroyed most of the buildings, but the main office building, as well as all the underground tunnels, still exists.  Ko Soomin showed them all paperwork she had access to so it could be burned, but it’s possible there were secret rooms or plans that she had no clue of.”

            “I thought the twins were no longer immune to the mutated virus!”  Geummi covered her face with her hands.  “I don’t understand this.  What is happening?”

            “It’s dangerous to go in to a place with so many secrets,” Soyul insisted.  “Even with all our training, if there’s someone in control of that place, we might not even be able to infiltrate.”

            “That’s why we need Minseon.”

            “Minseon?”  Geummi said her name tenderly, as if she tried to cradle her away from the Captain’s plan.  “Minseon shouldn’t go back there.  Besides, she hasn’t trained with us.”

            “But she’s trained there; she knows the place better than any of us,” the Captain argued.  “It would be even better to have Soomin as well.”

            “I don’t think it’s right,” Geummi whispered helplessly.

            “I was informed a little while ago that Kim Youngbin is finally awake from his coma,” the Captain told quietly.  “I’m sure Soomin and Minseon are there right now.  Let’s go quickly to meet them.”

            “This is so wrong!” Geummi shouted.

            “Unnie, don’t worry about it too much,” Soyul pleaded, wrapping her arms around Geummi.  “We have to find Choa and Dohyun.  We have to save them.”

*          *          *

            “You and your sister would sing so often; it was beautiful.  Such a wonderful light in such a dark place.”

            Minseon sat earnestly at Youngbin’s bedside with an unstoppable smile on her face.  She leaned in closely and held Youngbin’s hand as he reminisced about the cheerful moments at the Academy.  Soomin sat on the other side of the bed and only stared at Youngbin with adoring eyes.

            “Do you still sing, Minseon-ah?” Youngbin asked with a husky voice.

            “I was even in a band for a while,” Minseon chuckled, squeezing Youngbin’s hand unintentionally.  “I’ll have to play you a song some time.”

            “Ah, I would love that,” Youngbin grinned.  He abruptly turned to Soomin.  “Soomin-ah…you’ve become even more beautiful.”

            Soomin couldn’t even utter a word, she only grasped Youngbin’s hand tightly and held it to her face.

            “Will you finally marry me?” he smirked.

            She nodded slowly as tears gushed from her eyes.  The brightest smile Minseon had ever seen appeared on her face.  So many years of lost love had been found again in the simplest way.

            Youngbin turned to Minseon again.  “Where is Minjin-ah?”

            “The Academy.”

            The three of them turned to see Captain Hwang enter the room.  Geummi and Soyul followed reluctantly behind him, hesitant to interrupt such a special moment.

            “Who are you?” Youngbin asked defensively, staring at the Captain curiously.

            “He’s Captain Hwang of the Korean military,” Soomin whispered.  “He is taking care of Minjin.”

            “Apparently not well enough,” Youngbin growled.  “What do you mean she’s at the Academy?”

            “You still haven’t been able to contact her?” Minseon questioned, rising from her seat.

            “No, but we’ve tracked her cell phone,” the Captain assured.  “We believe she’s been taken to the Academy along with one of my agents, Park Dohyun.”

            “Who would be able to take my sister?” Minseon argued.  “And why would anyone take her to the Academy?”

            “Whatever the reason or method, we believe she’s there.”

            “Did you say Park Dohyun?” Youngbin asked slowly.

            “Do you know that name?” the Captain questioned, a bit of excitement in his voice.

            Youngbin turned to Soomin.  “Don’t you remember Park Dohyun?  He was like your father’s puppy, always following him around.  He was the same ranking as me, but he tried so hard to please your father.  He seemed too interested in his work.  Too eager to protect our nation from invalid threats.”

            “Dohyun drugged Minjin,” Soyul insisted suddenly with wide eyes.  “That has to be it.  Who else would have her trust enough to gain control over her?”

            “I’ve known Dohyun for a while,” the Captain noted hesitantly.  “I’ve never noticed such an ideology about him.”

            “He is sly…”  Youngbin took sharp breaths as he leaned back in his bed.  “And now he has our Minjin.”

            “You can’t let this happened!” Minseon cried, rushing over to the Captain.  “I won’t let her go through the same horrors all over again!”

            “If you really mean that, please help us,” the Captain begged.

            “…What?”

            “We need to infiltrate the Academy and save Minjin, unnie,” Soyul began quietly.  “You’re the one who knows it the best.  You could lead us through it and find Minjin.”

            “What kind of team do you have?” Youngbin asked sternly.  “Does it consist only of teenage girl scouts?”

            As Soyul struggled to endure Youngbin’s insulting comment, the Captain stepped forward.  “I assure you, my team is exceptionally well-trained and dedicated to protect Minjin.  Minseon-ah, we need you.  You would make this mission a success.”

            “I…I could never go back there,” Minseon breathed.  She ran back to Youngbin’s bed, grabbed his arm, and buried her face into his chest.  “I can’t go back there!  I will never go back!”

            “Minseon-ah.”

            His voice sounded just as it did all those years ago, as if they were walking back from a Russian lesson or strength training session.  She felt his heavy hand on her head, and she lifted her face to see his worried eyes.

            “Minseon-ah, I pray that Minjin isn’t really there and this is all a ploy,” Youngbin started softly.  “But if Minjin is trapped at the Academy again…we can’t let her stay there.  Maybe you could guide them through radio?  You wouldn’t have to be there physically.  I’d rather you never go back there.”

            With a clear mind void of arguing voices, Minseon remembered her time at the Academy.  Within the terrible moments and daunting days, she remembered all the times Minjin had sacrificed herself to make their lives even a little better.  Over all those unbearable years, Minjin used all her energy to protect Minseon, and only felt guilt and sadness when she was unable to protect her.  As Minseon imagined Minjin being at that place yet again, a fire lit within her body.

            “You’re right, we can’t let her stay there.”  She turned to the Captain.  “I’ll go with you guys; I’ll lead you.  We’ll go in and find my sister.  And if Dohyun is behind all this, he’ll be the last person I ever kill.”

            “Minseon-ah, I can’t let you go back!” Soomin cried, rising from her seat and rushing over to Minseon.  “We worked so hard and endured far too much pain to escape.  I could never let you go back and relive those horrors even by memory.”

            “I need to do this, unnie.”  Minseon’s cold expression melted into a small grin.  “Unnie…It’s my turn to protect Minjin.  I won’t let her spend even another minute there.”

            “We can leave right away,” the Captain urged.  “We’ll prepared a helicopter and enter right away.  You can give the team an idea of the Academy’s internal structure on the way.”

            “Minseon-ah, be careful,” Youngbin pleaded, reaching out for Minseon’s hand.

            Minseon grabbed his hand and squeezed.  “I will, oppa.  The both of us will be back soon enough.  Don’t worry too much.”

            “I feel like I woke up to the same terrors I fell asleep to,” Youngbin sighed shakily.  “We love you both, Minseon-ah.  Hurry back.”

            She nodded quickly and turned to the Captain.  “Let’s find my sister.”

            The Captain looked at her and saw the fearless, valiant Minseon he always knew existed.  “Alright.  Follow us.”