| Five | silence

all the things she said, all the things she said,
running in my head, running in my head

"I'll take my son with me. So-cheol gets very anxious without me."

Nara still remembers the words her mother said, the words she had overheard when she was twelve. Her mother chose her twin brother over her, left her and then took her twin too. And now when her mother was in front of her, Nara could not help but get deja-vu. She fisted her hands, eyeing how quickly So-cheol leaped towards their mother, hugging her and then hugged their father.

"Nara?" Yi Hyun called out to the girl, standing across them next to Kim Chi, she was expressionless per usual. "Come here, sweetie." Nara loved her father a lot to say no, so she took slow steps towards them and let her father hug her. "You okay?" He cupped her face, worrying over her and Nara nodded.

Although the moment Saebom reached her hand towards Nara, to caress her hair, the latter flinched and moved back a step. So-cheol glared at his twin and then smiled at his mother, hugging her again.

Watching their little reunion, the class of 3-2 were surprised and in awe. Firstly, they had no idea that So-cheol and Nara were siblings, not just siblings but twins and that their parents separated. And the next thing that startled them was when Lieutenant Lee asked them why they were here, Saebom, their mother pushed her son behind and took a daring step towards the tall Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Chun Ho, not only do you have the nerve to ask us why we are here to take our kids, you have zero ounce of regret for what you are putting these kids under." Saebom was mad, but her stance was fairly casual, her feet apart, hands behind her back and head tilted. Chun-Ho rememered the woman, she had been there for the seminars at the camp many-a-times and had beaten the shit out of all the men. No wonder Nara seemed so familiar to him. "I really did not expect you out of all of these to be following ruthless government orders over protecting the kids."

Yi Hyun was holding both his twins, one on either side, the class were all confused just like everyone else. They wondered why was Yoon Saebom overreacting over a menial military training, it was like a short camping trip, as they were told. The class president took a step closer, they were all hurdled together with their gear and guns behind her.

"We had no other choice."

The class raised their eyebrows, eyes widened at the defeated voice of their Platoon Leader. Normally he was the one who would take no nonsense, never to let anyone walk all over him and yet he was humbled by So-cheol's mother. They did not know how powerful Saebom was in terms of being the leading commander of the SOU squad, but they did fear the lady.

Saebom was about to retort when Yi Hyun held her arm, shaking his head. There was no time to waste on arguments and discussions, right now, they were here to take their kids from this wretched place and leave. Although, they were marvelled at the amount of kids who were present, 200 in total and sadly, none of their parents had arrived.

If they were alive still, that being the question.

"Let's go," Saebom held So-cheol's hand, "no more training for you two. We need to leave."

However, So-cheol stopped moving and Nara got out of her father's hold. Nara was not going to leave with her mother, not after everything that happened. So-cheol on the other hand did not understand the need of his parents budging and wanting to leave. Sure he loved them both, but they were crazy and insane and he wanted to know why before he could leave.

"Nara, So-cheol," Yi Hyun called out to the twins, they were standing besides each other. "We have to go."

Nara shook her head, her eyes rather fixated on her mother, the one she didn't want to go back with. She took a step back, the class behind her.

"Ani," Nara shook her head, every single time she said no, her angry and upset gaze and the fact that she didn't want to go with them only because of Saebom was hurting the woman. She could literally hear the pieces of her broken heart shatter and no matter how much she tried, Nara was never going to forgive her. "Aniyo, Appa, I'm not coming. I'm staying here with my friends."

"Nara,"

Yi Hyun watched her daughter's cold expressions dart towards her mother and he reached out to her. "We have to go, there's no time." Yi Hyun held Nara's arm sweetly, trying to reason with his daughter. "So-cheol," He turned towards his son, who was also confused. "Get yours and Nara's stuff from the dorm."

"But-"

"Now."

So-cheol sighed, nevertheless he ran upstairs to get their stuff, Nara on the other hand looked at her parents. Somehow they were teaming up against her, after five years of being separated, now they wanted to be together.

But guess what, she didn't want them now. She was managing alone and she didn't want her parents and their sudden need to intervene in her life.

"I'm not leaving."

"There's no time, Nara. You've no idea what's out there and we're not leaving you here. We have to leave." Yi Hyun held Nara's hand, not wanting to waste anymore time. "We have to leave now."

"Wait," The class president interjected, confused and worried on how shaken the parents were. The blood on their clothes was not helping either. "Ahjussi, can you tell us what's wrong?" She asked, a question they all wanted to ask, she even turned towards Lieutenant Lee for help but he was not helpful either. "What is this training for?"

Saebom and Yi Hyun turned simultaneously to Lieutenant Lee, they shared an intense eye lock. "You all didn't even tell them what they are being trained for?" Saebom was in absolute contempt, she would literally lose her mind with all of this.

"You're scaring us." Tae-man added, the others nodding. "What's happening outside?"

"Why are you two covered in blood?" Bora asked, pointing at their clothes.

"Emo-nim," Ae-sol voiced from besides Saebom, scared and helpless. "What's happening?"

Saebom and Yi Hyun felt miserable seeing the helplessness and worry etched on the faces of all the kids, demanding answers from them and they had no heart to tell them what they witnessed outside. How brutal it was and how they couldn't do anything to help the ones who fell back. They looked at each other, Saebom gulped while Yi Hyun's jaw clenched on the current situation and how they couldn't help anyone.

So-cheol brought two very dishevelled bags, one his and the other his twins' and stood besides his parents. Nara was upset, so she reached her hand to grab her bag from him only to engage in another argument.

"Give my bag back," Nara and So-cheol stood facing each other and now that they were just besides their parents, the class could see how similar they were. Nara looked so similar to their mother, except for the brown hair whilst So-cheol was an exact clone of his father. "You can leave if you want to, but I'm not going."

"Stop acting like a kid, Nara." So-cheol pulled her bag towards him, "if Omma is asking us to leave, it must be something important."

"Your Omma," She corrected him and So-cheol gritted his teeth. "I don't have one."

"Stop it, enough." Saebom had it from them all, she silenced the twins and the nearby class who was goofing around. "So-cheol, get the bags in the jeep with your father." She turned her sharp gaze at her daughter, "and you need to save this for another time. We're in crisis, Nara, I consider you mature enough to understand the gravity of the situation."

Alongwith Nara, the others stood frozen and Lieutenant Lee watched how they all seemed shaken with Saebom's brazen command.

There So-cheol walked behind his father, both the bags taken by him as So-cheol held his rifle. "How are you doing, champ?" Yi Hyun asked the boy, So-cheol was always silent and quiet around him. He had seen him goofing around with Saebom so it sting to see him so aloof with him. "Did you eat anything?"

"Dinners later... A little hungry now that you asked." So-cheol replied, a sigh followed suit. However a little smile eased on his lips when Yi Hyun handed him a chocolate bar from his pocket. "Don't tell the girls, yea?" So-cheol smiled, nodding as he took the chocolate bar, nibbling on it being hungry from all the training.

"What's wrong, Appa," So-cheol asked, finishing the bar in two bites. "What's wrong outside? What's happening?"

Yi Hyun turned, shutting the car door and faced his son, he noticed how he was almost his height. It was like looking in the mirror. He held So-cheol's shoulder, "the spheres-"

A loud crash, the shaking of the ground they were in and shrieks of kids from the distance stopped their conversation. Yi Hyun immediately covered So-cheol in his arms, only to see a huge sphere right in front of them, where their girls were.

Dust everywhere. And then there was silence.

_