1 In the Lake

YOUMIN

Mom would be furious.

But with Jimin in Daegu hospital and family money running low, I had to take his place. There was just no way my brother could train in one of the most elite units of the Korean military, with his asthma.

There was no way I'd let that happen.

But now he's looking at me with paled eyes, the blood completely drained from his face.

"Noona..."

"You did what?"

"I told you." I say, passing him his inhaler. "I'm leaving tomorrow. I just wanted you to know— I can't tell mom, Jimin. You know that."

His breaths start getting faster.

"No, no. You shouldn't have— you shouldn't have done that. How are you going to—"

"Hey."

I pat at his back, reminding him to breathe. "It's going to be okay. This is better."

Jimin swallows.

"No, no it isn't. How are you going to—you'll have to go by my name. And it's going to be so hard! Besides..."

He grips a handful of my waist-length hair.

"Noona, this..."

"I'll have to cut it short." I shrug, making my voice light. "But it'll be so much easier to shower, huh?"

Jimin looks like he's about to cry.

"It's my fault. I don't want you to go, Noona. It's because of me, isn't it? It's because of my asthma."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Wait, what— it's not your fault." My voice rises a little bit, and he looks up with his cheeks flushed red. "We could've cancelled your position. It's my choice."

Jimin turns away.

"Noona, I applied because they give a lot of money. But I don't want you to do this for me."

"What if you get caught?"

"So I won't." I smile, ruffling his hair. "I'll make sure not to get caught. Just be good to mom— I mean, you're already plenty good, but you know what I'm saying."

My expression softens when I see his bottom lip tremble.

"Jimin, don't cry."

"I'm not." He says forcefully, swiping at his eyes. "It's just dust, that's all. Just dust."

When he looks away and keeps rubbing at his eyes, I let my cheeky grin fall away into a sad expression.

I'd miss him the most.

_________________________

A day later

I ignore the curious stares.

Even though I'd cut my waist-length hair completely short and had made sure with the chest bandages, I wasn't male.

I stood out.

"Damn." The man smirks when I finally go up to him to receive my military supplies. "We'll get that pale skin tan in no time."

Then he pushes a huge bundle of stuff into my arms, and I have to almost waddle over to the new line of trainees.

This is heavy.

Then a sharp ringing grabs my attention.

"You'll be given an assigned student group." A man with a red cap says into a speakerphone. "Be prepared to face your group instructors."

Then he ends, leaving me all confused.

That's it?

"Yoon Yohan, group B."

"Kim Minseok, A."

Names start to get called, and I wait patiently for my brother's name. Here I'd have to get used to being called Jimin.

"Lim Jinwoo, A."

"Park Jimin, group C."

My head snaps up. Then I hurry to join a small group of men, with all my supplies in tow.

Three men.

I immediately tell that they're instructors, with dark caps pushed deep over their heads and their positions all stiff.

They look so intimidating.

"Put your things down."

And that's where everything goes completely wrong.

"In the lake."

I nearly can't believe my ears. All the other trainees look that way too, all blank and confused.

The lake?

"Get in the water!"

The instructor yells, and I quickly scramble towards the waterline. A few have already dipped in the water, and I tense up as I join them.

It's so cold.

"Head to toe."

I snap my head up in surprise. My eyes meet the shadowed gaze of an instructor, his heart lips pressed into stone.

His mouth pulls.

"Do I have to repeat myself?"

Swallowing, I suck in a gasp of air before completely submerging myself in the water.

I'm soaked in seconds.

When I come back out, I'm one of the last ones still in the lake. My body trembles as I drag myself out of the mud, completely wet as I move to the line.

I'm second to last.

I hold my ragged breath as the same instructor from earlier comes up to me.

"You're dismissed."

And I freeze.

But then my heart crashes into my chest when I realize he'd been talking to the man who'd lined up last. He looks shaken, but the instructor's voice only gets colder.

He leans in slightly.

"Do you want to get the hell out of here with your own feet, or should I get you there instead?"

_________________________

It's been the first five minutes, and someone's already gone.

And now the instructors are introducing themselves.

I try not to shake in my soaked clothes as the tallest one of the three steps out first, his dimples flashing with a smile.

"Realized this is more serious than you expected, hm?"

"My name is Kim Namhan. And I'll be the leading instructor for your group."

He falls back, and I resist the urge to shiver when another burst of wind sweeps through the grounds.

The instructor who'd told us to get in the lake comes next.

He introduces himself like it's the most boring thing he'd ever done.

"Min Kineul. Make it easy for me, and I'll make it tolerable for you."

My eyes shift to the last person.

Him. I could still remember the distasteful look he'd given to the dismissed trainee, and the flat stare he'd given me after.

Like I was going to be next.

"V."

I expect him to say a lot more, but that's where he stops.

An alphabet.

And the lead instructor continues smoothly from there.

"Maybe thirty or forty percent of you will make it through training. There won't be anything stopping you from quitting during this entire process."

He points at a metal bell.

"Ringing that means you're out."

His eyes flicker. "Does anyone want to ring it now?"

My hair drips water into my face.

But no one makes a move— not even a single noise. I'm too afraid to even breathe a bit too loud in this tension.

"Good."

"Official training starts tomorrow."

________________________

The sleeping quarters aren't bad.

Clean bunk beds are lined up against the walls, and I can already see some of the people from my group picking spots.

Then someone taps me on the shoulder.

"Excuse me."

He smiles at me slightly, front teeth poking a little bit out.

A bunny.

"All the other beds got taken." He says, and I blink stupidly as he points at the only empty bunk. "Do you want top or bottom?"

Oh. He was being nice.

I nod thankfully at him as I climb up to the top, about to settle down into the mattress when I hear a yell across the room.

"Hey, pretty boy!"

I look up.

My eyes meet straight with a smirking man. He motions at my slender arms, raising his brows.

"How'd you even think to apply here?"

A frown appears on my face. I'm about to shoot something right back at him when that bunny man from earlier speaks up.

"Hey. Quit that. We're all supposed to be a group here, remember?"

He sniffs.

"Just saying, we're going to be the last ranked group with someone like him on our team. It—"

"Shut up." I hiss, and he looks taken aback. Like he hadn't expected me to talk back at all.

That just makes me madder.

"You don't look too good yourself either, you know."

The surprise is gone. Now he looks just as furious as me.

"You little—"

Then the words die on his lips, and I get confused when his expression turns into total fear.

I blink.

Why is he staring over my shoulder?

"Park Jimin. Kim Haein."

A deep voice cuts through the silence with my name. I finally realize what's going on, and the anger turns into nothing.

I'm dead.

A/n: Hi! Author here. This is just going to be 15?20? chapter book. I just wanted to try out this concept. Thanks!