"Excuse me?" The director replies.
"Ah!" I blush, thoroughly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, you just really look like my dad."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, I'm very sorry."
I can hear Kyubok snickering in the background.
Shut up you asshole. I'm embarrassed enough…
"No worries. I have the kind of face that can easily be mistaken for someone else. It happens to the best of us." He smiles kindly.
Hmm… the more I think about it, the director is too young to be my dad. I mean age wise he is old enough, but my dad had me at an older age. The picture I saved… it shows that he already had graying hair… This man is also way bigger and taller than my dad… I guess I was mistaken…
The director and the lady, who I am assuming is the division leader, because based on her demeanor, she is not a mere secretary, take their seats. The director at the "important person's seat" and the lady at the seat to his right.
"Shall we start with introductions?" The director begins.
"Yes sir." The rest of us reply.
"As you all know now, I am the director of the DTDA. My name is Ji Nam-Wook. Most people refer to me as director Ji."
"My name is Park Yeji, the leader of division Jeongdangseong."
"My name is Wan Kyubok and I am in charge of communications."
"I am Dam Soo-Yun, and I am the intelligence analyst."
"I'm Myung-Dae. I do everything tech related, so I oversee Kyubok and Soo-Yun."
"I am Jae-Hak also known as, neugdae* when I'm in the field."
Neugdae. I snicker to myself. I wonder where he got that from.
"My name is Eun-Hae," I say. "I believe I am a field agent, but also a gold mine of information."
"Now that everyone has introduced themselves, let's start with the evaluation." The director concludes.
"Evaluation?" I whisper to Jae-Hak "What evaluation? You didn't tell me about an evaluation…"
"Take it easy." He whispers back. "It's not that big of a deal. We just need to know where you are in terms of skill so we can, well, evaluate what weapons you can carry, how much training you need before entering the field, etc."
"Ahhh." I nod. "I see."
"Since you are new to our organization and haven't had formal training, we will need to see certain skill levels you may possess. The main ones are shooting accuracy and hand to hand combat." the director confirms Jae-Hak's explanation.
I nod. "I understand."
"Told you." Jae-Hak beams proudly.
"Oh, good job. You're so smart." I reply sarcastically.
"Jae-Hak will oversee the evaluation in person, and the rest of us will watch behind doors." The director continues.
Behind doors?
"Jae-Hak will now show you to the firing range. You are dismissed."
I stand up and bow.
All seven of us stand up and follow Jae-Hak as he leads us to the firing range on the third floor. When we arrive, only Jae-Hak and I step into the firing range, while the others enter a door right next to it.
Wow. I gasp, scanning the room. I've never seen anything like this before.
As I look around, I see that to my left, there is a bulletproof glass window with a viewing section behind it. In the viewing section, the director, the division leader, and the three tech members are ready to watch and evaluate my skill.
To my right, there are seven sections that are partitioned by clear glass panels. Behind the sections is a huge empty room similar to that of a hall. In the hall at the very end, two sheets of paper with the outline of a human body hang from a contraption that is attached to the ceiling.
"Ah I get it. Those paper things are probably what we'll be shooting."
Jae-Hak interrupts my thoughts and begins the evaluation.
"I assume you know the basics of holding, firing, and maintaining a gun, but I'll go over it once just so there are no incidents.."
"Mhm" I reply.
"First of all…"
I completely ignore his words.
I probably know how to use more weapons than you do Mr. Neugdae… I inwardly sigh. Did he forget who I used to be and where I came from already?
"Are you listening?" Jae-Hak asks.
I turn my head, with attitude of course, to make eye contact.
I stare at him and smile.
"Yes sir." I joke
He glares back. "Good. I won't be responsible if you shoot yourself in the foot."
What a jerk. Who stuck a stick up his- never mind.
I let out a half laugh, half sigh and walk over to a section that is aligned with one of the hanging papers.
Jae-Hak takes his place to my left.
"Put these on." He hands me headphone-earmuff looking things.
Ah these are so we don't go deaf. They have so much here just to practice firing a gun. I chuckle to myself. Nakamura would be shocked. I remember learning how to shoot by using bottles and cans in a field…. Nakamura's favorite way of practicing.
"I'll demonstrate how to fire first, and you can try after me."
"Sure."
He takes his own gun from its holster at his hip and cocks the gun. He aligns his eyes with the sights on the gun and shoots with surprising accuracy. He empties his clip and presses a button that moves the paper to him. When it arrives, the bullet holes are more consistent than I had anticipated. Five of the bullets are spaced around the edge of the body outline, but the majority of the bullets were all centered in the heart of the drawing. they were so close in range that instead of small holes clustered together, it was one big hole.
I'm impressed.
"What are those?" I ask, pointing to the bullet holes that were scattered around the edge.
"Warmup." he replies, smirking. He stares at his work. I can tell he's proud of himself.
I roll my eyes.
Behind me there's a commotion in the viewing room. We both turn around. A group of female employees from agents to IT workers, are clustered around the window shooting for Jae-Hak's attention. Behind the girls, Kyubok, Soo-Yun, and Myung-Dae attempt to usher them out.
I hear Jae-Hak sigh beside me.
"Someone's popular with the ladies." I burst into laughter until my sides started to hurt.
"So what?" he asks and turns back around to face the firing area.
I stop laughing and turn back around too.
He's popular and likes to show off, but the attention seems to make him uncomfortable. How odd.
"It's your turn now," he says, handing me his gun.
"I know."
I shove a fully loaded mag in the gun and cock it. I hold the gun up and shoot. I finish emptying the clip, and he presses the button to bring my paper back to me. When I see my work, I let out a satisfied chuckle and take off my ear muffs.
Jae-Hak stands there in shock staring at my paper.
I turn around and those in the viewing room were staring with the same expression. My paper had one big hole where part of the head used to be. I can see Kyubok and Soo-Yun cheering in the background. I laugh and give them a small wave. Kyubok pretends to get shot and Soo-Yun blows finger heart kisses in my direction. The director and the division leader look my way satisfied. I smile and turn back to face Jae-Hak.
Nakamura, I smile in remembrance, are you proud of me? I can still do it. What you've taught me hasn't faded away… and I'll make sure it never does.
"What's next for the evaluation?" I ask Jae-Hak.
"Ha- hand to hand combat.." He stutters looking at my paper in unbelief.
"Let's go then." I reply as I hand him his gun.
"Right." he replies slowly holstering his gun while continuing to stare at my paper.
I leave the room and he follows muttering in disbelief.