Chapter 5

            After dinner, and after the bright orange sun had set, Minseon waited in her dormitory for Minjin to return from the isolation room.  She sat on her chilly, fluffy bed, wondering why the air condition was perpetually on in every single building.

            She and Minjin had lived in this room for four years now.  The walls were white in an almost blinding way.  There were no windows because it was on the basement floor of the Administration building.  Their bed sheets and comforters were always flawlessly white.  Minseon was sure the staff washed them every day. 

            She looked at a picture of their parents that Ms. Ko had allowed them to place on a small nightstand.  Minjin had insisted that the nightstand be closer to Minseon’s bed so that she could find comfort in their image whenever she was scared at night.  Minseon rose from her bed, picked up the picture, and placed it on Minjin’s bed.  Her sister has suffered so much for her sake at this school.  Why was she so quick to sacrifice herself in times of trouble?

            Everything about this school had been disappointing.  The other children who were meant to study here with them were “part of another campus”, according to Ms. Ko.  Minjin and Minseon would occasionally visit them on weekends to play and talk.  But they seemed so different.  They weren’t learning anything that Ms. Ko and the other teachers taught.

            Minseon longed for the summers when she could see her parents again.  They were all she lived for.  And they were always so proud of all that she and Minjin were learning.  They were receiving top quality education absolutely free, a parent’s dream.  Minseon only wanted to work hard and make her parents even prouder. 

            Even though some of the teachers were mean and difficult to please sometimes, they had to stay here and learn as much as they could.  Minseon couldn’t bear the thought of doing poorly and disappointing her parents.  To stay and work hard was their only option, right?

            Just as Minseon finished convincing herself of this, the door opened, and Minjin walked in along with Youngbin.  Minseon threw her arms around Minjin and pulled her farther into the room.

            “Unnie!” she cried.  “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine, Minseon-ah,” Minjin assured with a grin.

            “I was afraid they’d leave you in there overnight!”

            “Would they really do that?”

            Both girls looked up at Youngbin and observed his curious expression.  Minseon nodded ashamedly.  “It happened twice to me.  I was really bad those times.”

            “No, you weren’t, Minseon,” Minjin insisted quickly.  “I think these punishments aren’t right.  They’re too harsh.  Something is wrong here.”

            “What?”  Minseon looked at her sister with worried eyes.  “Wrong?  What do you mean?”

            “They tell us that what we learn is important,” Minjin began.  “But none of our friends are learning these things.  Don’t you think it’s strange that we’re learning so much martial arts?  We could probably take out Youngbin oppa right now.”

            Youngbin squinted his eyes and gave an amused chuckle.  When Minseon’s anxious eyes fell upon him, he quickly returned to his serious self and nodded in mock agreement.

            “Don’t you think it’s true, oppa?” Minjin asked suddenly.  “I know you’re a guard…but we’ve learned so much.  We’ve become so strong.  I feel like they’re training us…to hurt people.”

            “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Youngbin suggested, his eyes filling with uncertainty.  “I mean…I really don’t know.”

            Minjin turned back to Minseon and took her hands.  “Minseon-ah, I think we should ask Mom and Dad if we can leave this place.  I think we’ll do better at another school.”

            “Unnie, don’t say that!” Minseon pleaded.  “This is an elite school!  And it’s free!  Mom and Dad want us to learn everything we can here!  We could get really good jobs and pay them back for everything!”

            “What job could we ever do as black belts in martial arts?”  Minjin closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.  “I suppose languages are really useful in many jobs, but…something is so strange.  I don’t want to stay here.”

            “Unnie, I know you’ve been suffering a lot lately…but I think this is a good place.”

            “Minseon-ah…do you think we could at least talk about it?”  Minjin’s teary eyes shone in the bright light.  “Could we at least mention it to Mom and Dad and see what they think?”

            Minseon squeezed Minjin’s hand tightly.  “Unnie…if it’s really this painful…Let’s mention it when we go home in three weeks.  We’ll see what they have to say about it.”

            “Good evening, Ms. Ko.”

            Minjin and Minseon quickly turned to Youngbin and saw him look out into the hall with submissive eyes.  Ms. Ko walked past him and entered their room.  Her young, lively eyes glared at them suspiciously.

            “What…is going on here?” she asked, suddenly looking up at Youngbin.

            “I was just returning Minjin from the isolation room, Ms. Ko,” Youngbin informed.

            “Ah, yes.”  Ms. Ko leaned down and wiped a tear from Minjin’s face.  “Toughen up, Minjin-ah.  You can’t be soft like this.  You little…brat.”

            Youngbin tried to stifle his quiet laugh.  Ms. Ko, who had become soft herself over the years, looked up at him angrily.  She quickly took her hand away from Minjin and straightened her posture.

            “Anyway, I came here to tell you some news,” Ms. Ko continued.  “You’ve been accepted into our summer program, and your parents have agreed to let you spend the summers here as well.”

            “What?” Minjin exclaimed.  “Stay here over the summers too?  But when will we see our parents?  We don’t even see them during the holidays!  We’ll never see them!”

            “I…I know.”  Ms. Ko sighed and gave a remorseful look.  “I’m trying to arrange something so you can see your parents, but it may take some time.”

            “Our parents really agreed to this?” Minseon questioned with a panicked voice.  “We won’t be able to stay with them over the summers?”

            “Aren’t you the head of administration here, Ms. Ko?” Minjin asked with tearful eyes.

            “I…”  Ms. Ko’s gaze fell upon Youngbin for a moment, then she quickly looked at the ground.  “There are some people above me.  I’m trying really hard, Minjin.  Please, be patient.”

            “I can’t take it here anymore!” Minjin cried, rushing over to her bed.  She took the picture of her parents and stared at it miserably.  “I want to go home!”

            “Minjin-ah,” Ms. Ko called in disbelief.  “I’ve never seen you like this-”

            “Soomin-ah.”  Youngbin’s voice was quiet and stern.  “They’re very tired.”

            “Y-Yes.  You two get some sleep, okay?”  Ms. Ko looked at the twins uneasily as she stepped out of the room. 

Youngbin leaned down next to Minseon and pulled two pieces of candy from his pocket.  “Here, Minseon-ah,” he smiled, handing her the candy.  “Save one for unnie, okay?”

“Okay, Mr. Youngbin,” Minseon replied, her small brown eyes still filled with fear.

Youngbin wandered over to Minjin’s bed and sat on its edge.  Minjin was lying face down, holding her breath yet again, trying to keep herself from crying.

“Minjin-ah,” he whispered.  “You’ll see your parents again.  Just endure a little longer.  Things will get better.”

“Everything is…just…getting worse,” she insisted between sobs.  “I…I want to go home.”

            Taking a deep breath, Youngbin rose from the bed and walked to the doorway.  “Take care of your sister, Minseon-ah.  We’ll do everything we can, okay?”

            “Thank you, Mr. Youngbin.”

            As soon as Youngbin left and closed the door, Minseon carefully walked up to her sister’s bed and tapped her on the back.  “Unnie, are you okay?”

            “I’m not okay, Minseon-ah,” she wept, turning over and looking up at Minseon.  “I can’t believe we’re not going home for the summer.”  Suddenly, Minjin shot up in her bed and grabbed Minseon’s arm.  “Minseon-ah, I’m almost positive this school is all wrong.  I’m afraid of what they’ll teach us next.  I’m afraid of what they’ll do to you next.”

            “Unnie…usually I’m the one talking like this,” Minseon mentioned, giving a broken grin.  “Are you really this worried about it?”

            “I am, Minseon-ah,” Minjin told sternly.

            “I’m…I’m scared too,” Minseon admitted reluctantly.  “I try to be strong here.  But…I’m always afraid of the teachers.  Always.  Every day.  I thought it was normal to feel this way, but…maybe it’s not.”  Tears welled up on Minseon’s eyes, and she sat down next to her sister.  “What do we do, unnie?”

            “I’ll take care of you, Minseon-ah,” Minjin promised with a trembling voice.  “I’ll never stop taking care of you.  Now we both have to be strong.  We won’t have our parents’ help anymore.  Let’s just work hard and try to learn as much as we can, just like you said.  Youngbin oppa and Ms. Ko said they would help us.  Let’s try to endure till they do, okay?”

            “Okay, unnie.”

            Minjin pulled Minseon into her arms, and they laid down together in that cold fluffy bed.

            “Can I sleep in your bed tonight, unnie?” Minseon asked feebly.  “I think…seeing Mom and Dad’s picture will make me cry.”

            Minjin felt the picture next to her on the bed.  She slowly pushed it off the side of her bed and pulled the covers over Minseon.  She hesitantly rose from the bed, walked over to the light switch, and looked at Minseon’s broken expression one last time.  After she flipped off the light, she returned to her bed and wrapped Minseon up in her arms.

            “It’ll be okay, Minseon-ah.  I’m sorry for making you sad and causing you to worry so much.  Sleep here for now.  I’ll take care of you, Minseon-ah.  I’ll keep you safe.”

*          *          *

            “What is this summer program, Soomin?”

            Youngbin and Ms. Ko stood on the roof of the Administration building, lingering near the brightly lit helicopter pad.  Ms. Ko took a sip of her fresh, hot coffee and stared into the dark, starry sky.

            “It’s just an excuse to keep them here more often,” she sighed.  Downing the rest of her coffee, she threw her Styrofoam cup off the side of the building.

            “Soomin, you shouldn’t have done that.”

            “No one will know who left it,” she insisted angrily, leaning onto the edge of the building and looking down at the cup on the ground.  “I feel like I need a little more than coffee tonight.”

            “You’re really worried about those girls, aren’t you?” he asked, walking up next to her.

            “Well, of course I am, Youngbin,” she snapped, untying her ponytail and shaking out her hair.  “I never thought they’d be treated like this.”

            “You weren’t very kind to them when they first arrived, you know.”

            “Yeah, well…they were little brats back then.”

            “I think you just felt pressured to be a relentless authority figure,” he grinned.  “You’re quite fond of them now, aren’t you?”

            “They’re…They’re actually really adorable.”  So different from her icy, plastic smirk from four years ago, Ms. Ko’s smile was warm and bashful.  It quickly changed into a frown as she turned to face Youngbin.  “I can’t stand to see them cry now.”

            “Tell me what’s going on, Soomin-ah.”

            Soomin pressed the palm of her hand on her forehead and took a short, shaky breath.  “When they said they were training them for something specific, I had no idea what they meant.  But now I’m scared for them.  They keep learning languages and martial arts.  They’re basically becoming special op soldiers.”

            “What else would the government be training them for?” he sighed.  “But why is it them?  Why were those two little girls chosen?”

            “It’s…It’s their genes.”

            “What?”

            Soomin met his gaze and grimaced.  “I shouldn’t have said that.”

            “Soomin-ah…does this have something to do with the Hades Virus?”

            “How do you know about the Hades Virus?”

            “I may be low-level clearance, Soomin, but I’m not deaf.”  He rolled up his sleeves and looked out into the large, grassy field surrounding the facility.  “So they’re probably immune to it.  And the military wants to exploit that.”

            “You didn’t hear it from me,” Soomin interrupted, quickly turning away from him.

            “Soomin-ah,” Youngbin called as she began to walk away.  “Is the government really going to put them on the front lines of a battle with biological terrorists?”

            His words slowed her down, and she finally stopped a few feet away from him.  “I…I hope not.”  She looked up at him with anxious eyes.  “Do you think they’d really do that, Youngbin?”

            “We can’t let them, Soomin-ah.”  He stepped towards her and looked into her glimmering eyes.  “I may be a simple officer, but you’re the general’s daughter.  You have power around here.  You have to do all you can.”

            “It’s more difficult than it sounds, Youngbin,” she informed with frustration.  “I can’t just tell my father what to do.”

            “They’re just children, Soomin-ah,” he reminded coldly.  “Don’t leave them out to dry.  Help them.  Help them, Soomin.”

            She stared at him helplessly, unable to express just how powerless she felt.  Finally, he gave a sigh and began to walk away. 

            “Oppa!” she cried.  He stopped for a moment and looked back at her.  Though she still faced away from him, he watched her reach up to wipe a tear from her face.

            “What is it, Soomin?”

            “You know…You know I don’t want to hurt them, right?”  Her quivering voice barely reached his ears.  “I’ll try to help them.  You know that, right?”

            The night was becoming colder.  Youngbin saw her frail body shivering in the wind.  She wasn’t only chilly; she was genuinely heartbroken and trapped by the responsibilities surrounding her.  He reached out towards her and took her arm.

            “I know, Soomin-ah.  I know.”

            She slowly turned around to reveal her tearstained face.  He grinned weakly and pulled her into his arms. 

            “I don’t want them to get hurt, Youngbin-ah.”

            “Then…we just won’t let them.”

Author's Note: I've added character descriptions to the Foreword section, just so you can get an idea of how I picture Youngbin and Soomin (Ms. Ko).  I just chose some of my favorite actors, lolz. What did you think they looked like as you were reading? Did I ruin everything for you? Hahaha, and what do you think of the story so far?