Back to the present, January 9, 2021 :
Swish.
I duck as Instructor Suk swings his fist towards my face.
"Wow! Amazing reflexes!" He comments.
I smile from the ground as I attempt to kick his legs out from under him. He avoids my attack.
We continue to spar until I eventually pin him to the ground. We both stand up and bow, signaling the end of the match.
"This kid is amazing!" He praises my skill to the director. "Never have I seen someone use so many different forms of martial arts when fighting before."
"Seriously?" Jae-Hak asks.
"Yes, seriously." I smirk.
"I think she will do amazing in the field." He says to the director and the division leader.
"I agree." Yeji smiles happily.
"You better watch your back Jae-Hak" Instructor Suk says turning towards him, "This girl right here may surpass you. Maybe she already has." He winks at me and I give him a thumbs up in response.
"You hear that Mr. Neugdae? I may have already surpassed you."
"Whatever." He huffs.
The seven of us say goodbye to Instructor Suk and head back to the meeting room on the seventeenth floor.
"Great job with your evaluation!" Soo-Yun cheers.
"I didn't expect you to be so talented." Myung-Dae adds.
"Of course she's amazing! Look at who she used to be!" Kyubok says.
The room goes silent. Soo-Yun hits Kyubok in the back of the head.
"What's the matter with you?"
"Sorry, Eun-Hae…"
"'It's okay guys." I reply. "It's not a big deal. It's who I used to be, so…"
"Okay everyone," the director speaks up. "This marks the end of the evaluation and Eun-Hae's first day of working at the DTDA."
He turns to me and adds, "Yeji, Jae-Hak, and I will discuss your evaluation later today. Tomorrow we'll have you come back and go through preparations, breakdowns, and possibly receive your identification badge and gun."
"Thank you very much." I saw bowing.
"You can go home now. We will see you tomorrow." he smiles. "Jae-Hak why don't you take her home."
"Yes sir." he turns towards me and gives me a funny look. I slightly stick my tongue out in response.
"Let's go." He says.
"Okay." I turn to my coworkers, "Bye! I will see you guys tomorrow either here or at the café!"
"Bye!" Kyubok responds, "I'm sorry about earlier."
"It's okay." I grin. "It happens."
"Bye my beautiful and talented friend!" Soo-Yun waves.
"Bye to you too." I reply, blowing her a kiss.
"See you tomorrow." Myung-Dae says.
I nod my head and wave at him. "See you then."
I bow once more to the director and the division leader. "See you tomorrow! Thank you for today!"
Jae-Hak and I walk to the parking garage of the DTDA. He owns his own car, so he has been ordered to be my chauffeur to and from the DTDA. Though he is not very happy about this, I enjoy it very much.
"You did better at the evaluations than I thought." He says as we drive through Seoul.
"Thanks." I reply as I stare out the window.
I haven't really had the chance to see Seoul, as all I have been doing since coming to Korea is working and trying to save money. I'm quite shocked at how many fried chicken places and cafés there are.
We ride in awkward silence the whole car ride.
"Thank you for the ride." I say when he drops me off in front of my apartment building.
"Sure." He waves me to go inside and drives off.
Today was an interesting day. I can't believe that Kyubok, Soo-Yun, and Myung-Dae are a part of the DTDA.
I unlock my apartment and head inside.
"Time for ramen." I sing as I walk through the house to my kitchen.
Although today was an exciting day, showing up Mr. Neugdae, seeing those three, sparring against Instructor Suk, meeting my father's doppelganger, oh and the division leader of course, something in me worries and fears this job I have accepted.
I sit on my couch and eat my instant ramen. I turn on my laptop and research the Hallyu gang. The only thing that pops up is the gang war from three year ago. I quickly shut the laptop.
I shouldn't look at this right now. Maybe another day…
I finish my ramen and dump the empty cardboard bowl into the trash. When you live alone, there isn't very much to do, especially when you are trying to save money and don't own a tv, or any streaming platforms. Not that I've ever needed them.
I guess I'll just wash up and go to sleep.
_____
The next day :
Today is January 10, my second day on the job. … comes to pick me up.
"Good morning." He addresses me as I climb into the car.
"Morning." I reply.
Just like the ride back to my apartment, our drive to the DTDA is filled with awkward silence.
I can't believe I have to be partners with someone I don't get along with… Even gang members cooperate well with each other…
Should I make a conversation? Yes, I should. I need to make sure I'll want to save him if he ever gets in trouble.
I nod with confidence thinking, "hal su isseo!*"
"Hey Neugdae-ssi." I start.
"Yea?" He asks, not taking his eyes off the road, which is a good thing when you're driving, but for some reason irritated me.
"Uh, how old are you?"
"Why?"
"I'm just trying to make conversation." I clench my jaw and try not to let the irritation overtake me.
Be slow to anger…
"Oh, okay. I'm twenty-four."
"T-twenty four??"
"Yea."
I really should have asked him this before talking with him… I've been talking casually without thinking that he could be older than me.
"Ah, sorry then."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm only twenty one, so…"
"I don't care," he replies.
"Really?"
"Yeah, so many people already speak really formally around me, the same way they do to the director, so it's a change I guess."
"I see… so then I can keep speaking informally?"
"Sure."
That was the last thing we talked about in the car ride, the rest of the way we stayed silent.
______
"Good morning sunshine. You miss me?" Kyubok says as he welcomes me.
"Not really." I reply nonchalantly.
"Don't lie." he smirks. "You were probably so lonely without me."
"You heard her." A voice whizzes past me and body slams Kyubok into the ground. "She didn't miss you, but she did miss me."
"Good morning Soo-Yun." I laugh as I help her up.
"Good morning." Myun-Dae says in his quiet gentle voice, as he rushes to help a wincing Kyubok off the ground.
The four of us walk together to the meeting room, Jae-Hak walking a few paces behind.
"Good morning everyone." Division leader Yeji says in her refined voice. "Today the director was called away on other business at a branch office, so I'll be doing the preparations, breakdowns, oh and Eun-Hae," she says, turning to me,"today you will receive your identification badge and gun. Myung-Dae will bring it to you when it is finished."
"Thank you very much." I bow my head slightly.
"Today we will start off by exchanging information. Jae-Hak told you most of what we know when he went to recruit you, so you will probably be doing most of the sharing." she says.
Division leader Yeji turns on the projector and recaps the information that Jae-Hak had told me.
"We will try to make something like a family tree to better grasp the inner workings of Hallyu. This will be your job." She says addressing me. "Please work with the tech team to make this and present it at the next meeting."
"Yes ma'am."
"Now here are a few things we have acquired recently."
She presses a button on the remote, and on the screen, nine pictures pop up. These pictures were the ones I had burned the night before leaving LA for Korea.
I stand up slowly out of my chair.
"Where did you get those?" I ask in complete shock.
"We recovered them from your phone."
"My phone? I wasn't told that…and, I deleted those a long time ago…"
"Things are never deleted. The tech team took three months to uncover these photos."
In my peripheral vision, I can see Jae-Hak slowly stand up, eyes glued to the ninth picture. I don't think anything of it, as my mind is overwhelmed by what has just appeared in front of me.
The pictures on the screen were one, the girls of Division 1 at a sleepover at my apartment.
Two, Division one when Youngsun was the captain.
Three, me and Nakamura during one of our training sessions.
Four, me and Yoshiyuki during a sparring session.
Five, Division 1 with me as the captain.
Six, the seven LA Division 1 elites at a surprise birthday party in my apartment.
Seven, a picture of Ren, Hyun-Jae, and I drinking at the bar owned by Division 3.
Eight, a picture of Division 1 at a Christmas party held by Hyun-Joo and Kwang-Sun.
And finally nine, a picture of Kwang-Sun and Hyun-Joo.
The tenth picture I owned was never on my phone, as it was a hard copy I had grown up with all my life.
These were all the pictures I had owned. Pictures I never thought I would see again… and yet, here they are, shining brightly on the screen in this dark room. I stare at the screen as if I am hypnotized.
As I stare at the pictures on the screen, my head begins to pound and my heart rate speeds up. It's hard to breathe. It feels as if something is sitting on my chest, restricting my lungs from taking in air. I begin to hyperventilate. Tears blur my vision and sting my eyes. I quickly stand up and mindlessly walk out of the conference room.
I find myself in a bathroom stall crouched on the floor. It's as if everything I have tried to lock away and leave behind has caught up to me, telling me I can never run away. Telling me that I can never live normally. Everything is unlocked… What should I do?
I grab my head in pain as a sharp ringing echoes through my ears. I moan in pain.
My breathing is labored and I can't control it.
What is this terrible feeling?
I grab the part of my shirt that rests over my heart trying to pull out the pain that was throbbing in my chest. It feels as if my heart is going to explode. I can't take it anymore, my body… It's overwhelmed by senses and feelings I don't recognize. I collapse to the floor, my body sprawled out unmovable.