Its 6:00 Am in the morning, in Jinan a small village with a very few families living in it,
"What a delicious smell, it's my favorite breakfast, backed toast with raspberry jam " said a man with a silky black hair and bangs that falls on his forehead , his skin is white as the snow with golden hazel eyes which looks like two jars of honey in the sun , as all the residents of Jinan Village are characterized by white skin and beautiful golden eyes , they were known for their beautiful features, even its men maybe described by the word ( Beautiful) more than being (Handsome) sometimes. the village were far away from the capital, so it was quite, with pure blue sky and green lawns,
it was a dream to live there , it was the hidden heavens of this country.
"Joey wake up son! Come on. wake Ryou too. he hasn't woken up yet, and come down to have breakfast with us before you go!"
Joey's mother; Mrs. Maya said loudly calling her son and his best friend to the breakfast table.
"Right away.. " Joey replied and looked to his bedside to see strange thing sleeping on his quilt snoring with his mouth opened in bubbling within his sleep
"Yes....yes ... I want chicken ...yes.. I want chicken ... No ..not this ..no, the big one ..."
Joey didn't understand anything from what the man who was lying in front of him said , so he just kicked him with his leg to wake him up, the the man fell of the bed violently on his back.
"Oh God, can't you be more gentle when you wake someone up !!" Ryou shouted out to his childhood friend Joey.
Ryou was also 24 years old, just like joey, both of them live in Jinan Village since childhood, but Ryou's family unlike Joey, they are not from the native people of the village, but his grandparents were friends with Joey's family back then when the war took place in the country and the capital was destroyed, some families escaped to the country sides, so Ryou's family did too by taking shelter in Jinan Village just like some other families , and Joey's family helped them alot and so, they stayed as close friends till now, Ryou lost both of his parents in a young age, while now he is being raised by his grandparents who he lives with in the opposite house، but alot of times he just stays the night in Joey's.
Ryou with his light brown hair and brown doe- eyes, he looked both naive and innocent. he woke up rubbing his eyes , while still sitting on the floor
" so what is there for breakfast? " he asked in his raspy voice.
Joey did not bother to reply and only said, "Get up if you don't want me to go without you."
Joey rubbed his silky hair that fell on his forehead, took his towel and went out.
"Naya sweetheart eat your breakfast so you can go to school early on your first day honey " Mrs maya said to her beautiful youngest daughter Naya .
"I know that you are upset that your brother is going to the capital, believe me, my dear. I also do not want him to leave us, but you know that his ambition is great and we have to support him properly and not make him worry about us, yeah? "
Naya raised her head and pulls away some tufts of her silky black hair that leans on her forehead and rosy cheeks and put it back behind her ears ,and look at her mother with her golden beautiful eyes.
"Mom, the problem is not just about him going to the capital! Of course I do not want him to go, but this test that he's going to take ...this test ..is.." Naya said with a frown on her face and looked at her plate, then continued in a low voice.
"No one comes back from this test alive." she said with quavering voice, which could be heard as a whisper.
"What did you say, dear ?" The mother looked at Naya in surprise not knowing if she really heard right or did not hear it for real.
"I'll miss your cooking, mrs Yang!" Ryou said. interrupting their talk, As he goes down the stairs fastly, leaving behind a loud noise, while Joey behind him, getting down slowly looking at the people on the table with warm eyes, smiling.
"Ooooh, I will miss your sweet talk, you little brat" said Mrs. Maya while hitting him lightly on the shoulder while he placed his hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek.
" hit me as you want, but for every hit I will get one of your hand baked toast auntie!"
Joey took a one of the cherries on the table, then his eyes fell on his little sister who does not eat and looks at her plate, blankly thinking,
"Naya, what are you thinking about ?"
he asked her chewing the cherry. Naya looked at him, her mother and Ryou both stopped talking, and all of them looked at Naya
When Naya realized this, and her beautiful wide golden eyes looked at them , then she remembered what her mother had said,
"No ... nothing, I remembered I'll bring you some of the fruits you like, so you can take it with you." she said and got up fastly and went to the kitchen.
Joey looked at her running to the kitchen , his mother looked at him, gesturing for him to follow her, as they knew how difficult it was for her to be separated from him , for he is that tender brother and best friend she has in that small village. by the time people in the village started to move back to the capital where there is more modern life, jobs and fancy cars, so there wasn't many people of her age , and it was hard to make friends.
Joey went behind her to the kitchen, propped his shoulder and head against the wall, and smiled,
"You are not so delicate to run and cry in the kitchen because am leaving. am not used to you behaving like this?" he said smiling trying to tease her.
After the words left his mouth, the apples she held fell from her hand and she began to cry hardly.
Joey was shocked and hurried up to her, made her turn to face him. raise her head, took some of the hairs that fell on her beautiful white face and pulled it back behind her red ears, and begin to wip the streaming tears on her face,
"Shhhh. I'm sorry, sorry!, I really didn't mean to tease you like this! didn't think you for real would feel this way ! "
Joey said, wiping the tears from her pinky cheeks with his hand,
He took her in his arms and patted on her silky long hair, "You know right ?how much I love you and that you and mom represents the world to me , I will come back .you must know how brave your older brother is. I have been given many medals here, but working in the capital and taking this test It's a great opportunity, imagine what people will do after I pass it and how they will treat you at school! ''
She raised her head " you take care of yourself and come back to me soon ...you understand!" he nodded warmly looking at her, assuring her that he will be fine. and kissed her head,
"I hate to ruin that family moment on you, but we have to go , it became 6:35 AM now !" Ryou said, looking at them and at the watch on his hand. while chewing a peace of bread .
Joey took the backpack from the ground and went quickly to his mother and also gave her a kiss on her cheek.
"Mom. Naya, take care of each other and if you need anything you can go to Uncle Jad and Mrs. Adeline till I come back." Then he opened the door and looked at them. it was clear how they held the tears till the last moment
" hey ..cry no more okay? don't forget to take your medicine in time ..and study well for your exams too" he said looking at his beautiful sister Naya in her school uniform while she smiled. nodding " yes, big brother" she said in a quavering voice.
he puts his hand on the door handle. "I will come back soon , Okay? The phone is with me, I will text you everyday."
Then he smiled at them with his warm smile.
"Goodbye, Mrs. Yang and Naya. Don't worry, I'll take care of this idiot. I won't leave his shadow," Ryou said loudly, waving his hand. while he took another peace of toast .
Mrs. Yang smiled as tears falls on her cheeks, " you little Brat , take care of yourself and don't go after the girls of the capital Ha! Take care of yourselfes my boys!"
Joey closed the door and went down the stairs in front of the house, it was Autumn, its chilly outside specially in early morning, so Joey wore a light olive colored Jaket, above a brown buttoned shirt with a dark brown belt and jeans , while Ryou who walked besides him wore a long sleeve yellow plaid jaket, with a white T-shirt under it, and a gray slim taper jeans.
The nature of the village was the presence of very few houses, so the empty spaces were large, so a huge garden was built in front of every house.
After Joey and Ryou got to the train station, they took a train to the capital, Joey looked through the window, lost in the thoughts of what is the test about? and what would happen if he pass it and would happ if he doesn't? he needed more money for his family and wanted to be someone his family would be proud of, after a couple of hours .The train arrived to the capital.
After they reached the capital's station, they got off the train,
"So how much time do we have before the meeting?" Ryou asked while looking at Joey
"15 minutes , we have to hurry," Joey said, looking at his leather band watch .
They took a taxi to the main police station in which the test would be held in , they got out of the taxi and rushed twords the gate.
And while going up the stairs, Joey clashed with someone, Joey raised his head to see who, the other raised his head also to see who did he clashed with.
Joey looked to see a man with a Wheaten skinned man with a frowning face and knotted eyebrows، his soft layered black hair with silver tufts that reached his ears, showed his forehead, sculpted face, and high cheekbones, his obsidian—black eyes looks like a deep well with no end. it was as if his piercing exotic looking eyes could look through their souls, he wore a leather jacket with a white polo T-shirt under it with dark blue jeans. by his looks Joey could concludes that he is from a wealthy family. their length was close, but the man was a little taller than Joey, and he had a huge companion with him, bald, huge and frowning as well.
", watch out, man," Ryou said to them
"I think that your friend is the one who should watch out, little one," said the big guy standing behind his friend, who bumped into Joey, in a thick voice as if he was coming from a horror movie!
"Who are you calling little ?, bald!" Ryou said and tried to move forward with anger, but Joey prevented him with his hand.
"It's okay, gentlemen, it was just an unintended accident by both of us. Ryou we are late, we have no time to waste"
Joey didn't even spare them a glance, as if they were not important or even exist. then they both rushed to the Entrance Gate. leaving the two men behind .
"If every person under the name of an officer on their ID card is invited to this test, then this test is a joke!" The big man said to his friend.
"I felt something ..." said the other man who bumped into Joey a moment ago.
"What did you feel Zain?" said the big man
"This man...He is surrounded by death spirits on every side," Zain smiled and continued
" ... interesting..".
"Let's go, Ben, let's go and enjoy what we will see today a little,"
Joey and Ryou both sat in the waiting room with nearly 100 people, and Joey noticed the two men he met at the entrance entered too.
Zain also looked at him and smiled, while Joey ignored him looling the other way .
Zain and Ben both sat down on a table a little far from the noise,
After few minutes later, another two also entered, and these two drew attention to them with their clothes and aura . They lookes really rich. one of them is a beautiful girl with a long dark red hair, she was wearing a black crop top with long sleeves, only reveal a bit of her stomach along with baggy pants and black sunglasses, she took off her sunglasses upon entering , revealing her sharp face and defined cheekbones, and most important her sharp green eyes like gems which attracted most if not all of the people in the hall. she looked at all who were setting there with her head held high, she knew with every step she took with her expensive boots that every eye is on her, she looked as if she was searching for someone, until her eyes fell on Zain, and she started walking towards her goal in a straight line. Walked behind her another man who looked from the same soil. he had a wavy short golden hair which is brushed to the back to reveal his pale white forehead and metallic eyes. He wore a brown leather jacket along with a light gray pants decorated with black leather belts and accessories that shine and have a slight sound whenever he walks, And once the girl reached Zain, who was sitting crossing his legs while putting a hand on his cheek in boredom.
Zain raised his eyebrows in wonder, and looked up to see her standing in front of him looking at him.
"If you stand in front of me like this, I will not be able to see. There are many empty seats, choose one and set on it," Zain said after he found her standing right in front of him without moving for a minute.
"Why didn't you answer my calls? We called you a lot," the girl said, while setting on the opposite seat.
The man who came with her without uttering a word only stood behind her chair.
"Aran, Alicia, what do you think of these idiots, they are all coming to take the Test that is supposed to creat a team to protect the Country, we don't even know what is this external aggression the country is preparing for, but look at those fools, most of them are officers or defenders who came from the poor countryside. I don't know why Commander Bai agreed to accept everyone " Ben said growling .
while Aran looked at Ben as if he is a peace of trash, and Alicia did not even bother to look at him,
" what do you think Alicia ?" Ben completed his sentences.
Alicia the woman who drow attention to herself by her stunning Beauty did not say a word and looked at Ben with disgust.
she didn't reply, but looked at Zain and said " why did you participate, did your family agreed to this ? they won't let you ..or does the San family has some deals to do here?"
Zain smiled and leaned back to the chair
" having some fun and collect knowledge won't harm right?"
Alicia looked the other way observing the hall looking to the people who were setting there happily talking, sharing stories and experiences, she looked at them as if she could see through them then sighted .
" he is only trying to get as many people as possible, so in the end he can at least gather a number which he could at least count on his fingers after this shitty test end " .
"what did you say?" Ben asked her wondering.
An hour later, two men in police uniform came out, one of them was tall with board shoulders , he looked elegant, and held a police cap in his right hand, with a paper in the other, he seems a man of a high rank, walked along another man who is a bit shorter than him and seemed to be his assistant. he walked a step behind.
As soon as this man entered, many of those who recognized him stood saluting him. out of respect,
" wanna know who is he ?" Joey got goosebumps down his neck when he heard someone whispering behind him, so he turned in surprise and when he looked behind him he found Zain smiling .
Joey was annoyed " when did you come!"
Zain did not reply to this question,but continued, "He is the head of the western department of the capital police station, Cathal Bai and the one standing behind him is Kanji Yu his assistant and Vice-commander"
" So Most of you recognized me. I am Commander Cathal Bai, The head of the western department, I will call out the names of the attendees who are willing to take the test today. Please raise your hand as soon as you hear your name" The Commander said in the mic.
After calling the names of everyone in the list, Vice Commander Yu said, " Very well! for the people who Heard their names, please follow me!" .
he opened the door and walked to a very long Hall. followed by the participants.
Zain was about to go out following, they were the last one to follow, he looked at Ben to see why he was so quite and found that in the back he was in the hall speaking quietly on the phone.
Zain left him and walked along with the others behind Joey and Ryou. suddenly, Vice-commander Yu stopped in front of a wall, everyone was confused, where is the door to the taste room?
he smiled and put his hand on the wall , suddenly a door was opened, and he gestured to them to go inside
" Well, all of you, please enjoy your time and take care !"
everyone was confused and didn't understand a thing, but they followed the orders and entered the room. he waited until they all entered. When Zain group's was about to enter, Zain smiled to the Vice-commander
"So, does this test worth all of this?" Zain asked sarcastically, but the Vice-commander did not utter a word and that broad smile on his face did not change,
Zain smirked and entered as well, after all of them entered the door was closed and locked. and the floor went quite.
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End of Chapter 1