Jin finally looked at himself in the mirror and noted with regret that he did indeed look nothing like a soldier.

    His auburn hair and his usual bowl cut had been lightly curled, and curled bangs fell over his eyebrows to give him the usual public image of innocent and shy beauty that the company had bestowed on him in the group.

    His already pale skin had been made lightly whiter, as if he hadn't seen the sun for a long time and had the fragile look of porcelain and the soft feel of silk. The make-up made his face look delicate and his contours had even been refined. His full, delicately pink lips were glossy and his eyebrows, although naturally thick, had been reshaped in a natural effect. Finally, his eyes were shaded by a discreet eye shadow which however did not mislead on it presence.

    Jin had in front of him the reflection of a handsome young man perfectly corresponding to the standards of South Korean beauty. But these standards were perhaps quite the opposite of those of the Northern Province.

    By way of clothing, he wore black battle fatigues pants with a lot of useless pockets as well as black rangers, a black t-shirt and a jacket with military motifs too richly embroidered to be a military uniform and so stylized that it looked more like a student uniform jacket than a soldier's.

    The South Korean flag was sewn on the left arm. He very much hoped that these weren't the clothes meant to cross the DMZ because there was no way he could camouflage himself if necessary with such conspicuous clothes.

    The stylist came back to him and delicately placed the final touch on his head: a beret bearing the words "Louis Vuitton" on the side.

    "Perfect!" Jin thought, grimacing at his reflection, "nothing like a Western luxury brand to attract the sympathy of North Korea."

     And besides, how could a brand have had the audacity to sponsor such a show? If an international brand sponsored them, did that mean that the show would not only air in the two Koreas? Did South Korea sell the broadcast rights to other countries? Western countries like France which claimed to defend human values ​​above all else?

    These human values ​​were obviously less important than financial profit.

    Looking at his dongsaengs, he saw that they all wore the same outfit as him, with one difference: everyone's first and last name and a number had been sewn into their backs. Offering his back to the mirror, he saw that he was wearing number 1. Yoongi was wearing number 2 and Jungkook was wearing number 7. They were assigned a number based on their age. But why? What was the use of that?

    "It's a competition," Sejin explained, noting their incomprehension, "people who don't know you, especially North Koreans, will assimilate you more easily to a number than to a name. Your North Korean opponents will have to follow the same rule."

    "Sejin hyung?" Yoongi asked, "Are our opponents all soldiers?"

    He had just asked the question that had crossed their minds. All eyes focused on the manager.

    "I don't know," he confessed, "Mr. Kim assures us that they are young people of the same age group as you, but there are no idols in North Korea so it was impossible to make you face people from the same background as you. They will be drawn in front of you, when you arrive in Pyongyang, with the exception of those who have been punished like Seokjin for confronting South Korea. From what I have been told, they come from all social classes and come from all over the country for the draw."

    "Innocent people who have nothing to do with those who confronted the South Korean soldiers at the DMZ, and who won't know each other are going to be drawn?" Hoseok protested, "How can the country accept this?"

    "It's a dictatorship," Namjoon reminded him, "people just obey. It must be a new way like there is already there to keep the population under the power of the regime."

    "And that's not all," Sejin added, "in this country, people, both men and women, serve in the military for a long time : six year for women and ten years for men."

    "Ten years?!" Jungkook exclaimed, shocked.

    "Yeah, just imagine if Jin had been asked to last ten years when he didn't even manage to last a full one," Yoongi said sarcastically.

    Jin glared at him ready to shook back as he just decided at the moment that he would protect all of his dongsaengs except Yoongi.

    "Stop it Yoongi, now is not the time," Sejin nipped the fight in the bud. "Because of this long military enlisment, I imagine they start military service at a very young age and that most of your opponents will already have had some military training by now."

    "That's why we had to get one too, even a basic one!" Jin couldn't resist replying before regretting immediately for he had promised himself a few minutes before not to intervene any longer.

     Namjoon's scathing reply was not long in coming:

    "Oh yeah? And thanks to whom should we go on a military expedition without having time to train? We prepared on what we master well: our public image, no need to remind ourselves that we could have done more when we had absolutely no time to do more. So now hyung, if you don't have anything useful to say, don't say anything anymore, you're just annoying."

    Jin couldn't take it anymore. Certainly, he found it normal that his dongsaengs resent him but that each of their communication happens like this was starting to annoying him too. He was the oldest, but that no longer appeared in the way the youngers had to address him. 

    Unable to reply however, he wanted to leave the room. That is what he started to do but he was stopped by Yoongi's voice :

    "And here he is running away again, it's becoming a habit."

     Those words suddenly made him want to hit the rapper. He turned quickly.

     "What did you say, Yoongi?!"

     "I don't think you're deaf besides being dumb, don't make me repeat" the younger defiantly replied.

    "Alright, alright," Sejin said, standing between the two, arms outstretched, "Yoongi, stop provoking Seokjin, you must be united from now on. And you Seokjin, even if you're upset, you can't take a break now, you have to stay with the others. We will develop more about what is coming when we'll be on the plane with Mr. Kim and also with a soldier from the South Korean army who will brief you on your preparation before entering the DMZ."

      Jin was suddenly relieved. They would not be left alone in the face of their unpreparedness. He nodded.

     "I understand, sorry for getting carried away."

     Yoongi didn't say a single word of apology but did not try to provoke Jin further, which seemed to satisfy the manager.

    "Okay, first, you need to address your fans now and as soon as that is done, we will leave for the airport."

     The urgency in Sejin's voice was noticeable. The group meets in a small room adjacent to the dressing room where the cameras had already been prepared. They equipped themselves with small microphones that we hung on their jackets and positioned themselves according to their habits.

     They couldn't take the time to answer all the questions from their fans but also from all over the country, so they couldn't do a live show. The video they shot would be made public later and would serve as the opening of the show called Asterion Games.

     During the filming of the video, they had to be reassuring, full of energy to show that they were going to win the Games, but also, that they were united. Also, Jin had the right to fit temporarily between the shoulders of Taehyung and Namjoon and all the members had to draw a bright smile on their faces indicating that after the surprise of the draw the day before, they were ready to face any test for their country.

    Then came the moment of the conclusion, quickely yet carefully prepared:

    "To you, my Korea," Jin began with a tight throat, "I apologize for the hurt and pain I caused you."

    "To you, my Korea," Namjoon continued, "we will prove ourselves worthy of you."

    "To you, my enemy," Yoongi added defiantly, "we won't let you emerge victorious."

    "To you, my enemy," Taehyung completed, accompanying himself with his piercing gaze, "the South will prevail."

     "To you, dear Army whose smiles will warm our hearts in the coldness of the North," Jungkook continued.

    "To you, dear Army who will give us hope and strength to overcome all obstacles and win," added Hoseok with a fingers heart to accompany his words.

    "To you dear Army, please continue to hold us in your heart despite our absence and await our return," Jimin concluded in an emotionally charged voice, letting a tear fall and pass by his frozen smile.

    The seven boys all bowed together, shouting:

     "We're going now, see you soon for our glorious return!"

   Cut! Sejin exclaimed, satisfied.

    The cameras were cut and immediately, all the boys lost their smiles and disunited themselves. It was their goodbye to their fans and their country. They had offered everything they had left of their strength to address them with these words and these lying smiles.

      Now guided by a frightening automatism, they hurrying towards the van which would take them to the airport and then towards Pyeongyang and their dark destiny.