Jin observe what surrounded them and  discovered a huge reception room in which a crowd of young men and women, adolescents and young adults, stood in a tight and regular line, in military uniform.

     They were looking straight ahead, seeming to ignore the newcomers from South Korea, even though the eyes of some could not help but slip from their side as they passed through the central aisle, still filmed by several cameras. They were obviously intrigued by them, most of these young people having never seen South Koreans in their lives.

    There were probably several hundred of them and yet, as when he found himself in front of the crowd when he left the airport, what shocked Jin was the deep silence in which the crowded room was plunged. How could so many people be so disciplined? And were these young people all military or were they only wearing this uniform for the draw?

    The difference between the North Koreans waiting for the draw and the memory of the three groups of South Koreans terrified of being drawn was striking. The young people of this country did not seem frightened by the idea of a confrontation in the DMZ. They were neutral, just waiting for the draw to happen to see whether or not they would represent their country.

    Mr. Kim led them to a platform overlooking the room, where fourteen chairs were placed in the middle, separated by a large desk with a microphone. Behind this desk was a large armchair and in front, a large urn in which were hundreds of folded papers, probably bearing the names of all the young people gathered in the room.

    Two chairs were already occupied by North Koreans who watched them climb onto the stage and pass in front of them, with the exception of the manager and the captain who had to move away from the stage.

    When Jin, closing the march, passed a few centimeters from them without giving them a look, one of them made a trip that made him fall to his knees in front of hundreds of eyes and snatched a brief laugh from several people in the room, making Jin felt terribly ashamed.

    A familiar voice, sound and amused, raised his head sharply:

    "Oh, look who it is, it's that dumbass from last time!"

    "Yeah, and his face is covered in shit again," another, colder voice said.

    Jin froze recognizing these voices, the rest of his bandmates also stopping to watch anxiously the two boys who had just made their hyung fall and talked to him despite the fact that none of the North Koreans had the right to speak to the South Koreans. 

    "Shut up, all of you!" the imperious voice of a soldier screamed, whose medals adorning his uniform indicated that he was an army officer.

    The young soldiers who were still laughing immediately fell silent, as did the two boys who had just spoken.

     "And you, southerners, in your place, immediately!"

    Understanding that they were being spoken to, the members of BTS hurried to their seats, except for Jin but also Jungkook who looked at Jin in perplexity. 

    Indeed, Jin's attention, temporarily diverted by the soldier's cry, returned to the two boys who had spoken. He was praying loudly that he had made a mistake when he thought he recognized their voice but he caught the eye of one of them and whom he would never have liked to see again: Miung. And he knew without seeing it that the second was none other than young Shik.

    "You think he doesn't recognize us?" Shik said to Miung in a voice that echoed through the silent room, as he stared at Jin with his goofy look, a smile stretching his lips, speaking as if Jin, who this unpleasant surprise had left silent, was dumb and could not understand him.

    "You recognized him with his shitty face and his girly haircut, how could he not recognize us?" Miung mumbled with irritation, staring at Jin with his piercing gaze.

    The singer felt his ears warmed and realized his humiliating physical appearance, however glad to have his face so dirty that his makeup was probably no longer visible. This saved him from further humiliation in front of Shik and Miung. Why did these two have to face him here?!

    "Plus, all South Koreans seem to look ridiculous, look at them, they're pathetic."

    Miung pointed to the boys who seemed to have had the worst day of their lives and had nothing left of the beautiful idols who had left Seoul a few hours earlier. Jin felt his blood boil in his veins as he saw his enemy stare at his dongsaengs and heard him judge them with contempt.

      "It's true," Shik laughed before greeting Jin with a big smile, waving his hands forcefully with a certain candor: "Hey dumbass, glad to see us again?"

    Even without their helmets, it was not difficult for Jin to recognize Shik and Miung who, unlike him, did not wear makeup or clothing that differed from the one they wore at their first meeting and that was their military uniform. 

    Seeing them again made Jin forget all the critical situation he was in, surrounded by soldier: he could only remember the night of their first meeting, the one that had led him with his group in North Korea.

    The difference was that this time, Eunkwang was no longer there to hold him back and remind him of all common sense, especially in terms of balance of power. And Jin seemed to be blind at the time. The rest of his members were careful not to intervene after being called to order just before entering the room, hoping that Jin would contain himself.

    Well, he couldn't do it.

    "Very glad, yeah," he replied ironically, "nothing makes me happier to see your two moron faces again. Oh, but I just remembered... didn't you try to kill me, brat? And I have to remind you, Mimi, that the last time I saw you, you also had your face covered in shit. A shit that I threw at you myself," Jin reminded him proudly by presenting him with his hand, palm outstretched. 

    He wanted to remind him with a mocking smile that it was this very hand that had smeared his face with mud to blind him before shooting him in the foot.

     As Shik burst out laughing, Miung gave Jin a murderous look, as much for this reminder as for this humiliating nickname.

    "You're a dead man," he told her in a threatening tone without making a single movement. This restored Jin's confidence because he understood that the young man could not do anything to him.

    "At least you finally recognize that I'm a man, I'm flattered," he said.

    Jungkook, who was still up and got closer to Jin, uttered a stupor hearing this exchange between Jin and their enemies: how could Jin speak to them with so much familiarity? Did he really knew them?

    "Hyung, who are they?" Jungkook asked in a low voice.

    Taehyung had his head on Yoongi's shoulder and that was probably what prevented the rapper from getting up to join Jin and Jungkook and prevent any new incident, only a few minutes after avoiding those outside with Mr. Kim. That and Namjoon's worried face, which silently told them all to stay calm.

    The eyes of all the members except Taehyung were focused on Jin, waiting for him to cross the eyes of one of them who would intimate him to come and sit next to them as soon as possible. But Jin did not look at them. He was too focused on his detestable reunion with Shik and Miung.

    Seeing Shik and Jungkook close to each other, Jin realized that he was wrong before: the two boys were not the same age. Shik was visibly younger, but his arrogance made him feel older.

    "We are his old friends," Shik told Jungkook giggling, who did not believe those words for a moment, but did not comment. "I am Shik, and he is Miung, and we kicked your hyung's ass."

    "Hyung?" Miung repeated watching Jin, "Are you an older brother? Thought you were the kid of your pathetic group. So, if I understand this number on your back, it says you're the oldest and he's the youngest." He nodded at Jungkook and asked: "Did you tell him he was going to die in a few days?"

    Jungkook's eyes grew in surprise at this statement. And this surprise quickly turned into fear.

    Since Jin's return, the focus has been on the fear of the group disappearing. The fear of not being an idol anymore. The fear of having to represent their country. The fear of having to cross the DMZ and its dangers. The fear of not getting out before the North Koreans get out of the area. 

    But in this survival game, he did not want to imagine that other human beings would try to kill them. It was this reality that Miung had just instilled in his mind.

    "Shut up!" Jin replied, glancing at Jungkook, who seemed to be in deep distress.

    Shik burst out laughing as he watched Jungkook's face decompose and faced Jin's furious gaze:

    "Hey brat! Can you do anything but laugh for nothing?"

    "Ah, sorry, sorry but it's funny enough, you'll give it to me; look at his face, this kid is really shocked! Poor you, did you really think that in this survival game, you weren't going to confront us?"

    Jungkook didn't answer, feeling suddenly stupid. Jin was so right when he wanted a real military preparation for all of them instead of some useless make-up and haircut! Remembering that Miung had just told Jin that he was a dead man, he realized something terrible: if this boy entered the DMZ with them, he would do anything to kill Jin. Literally. 

    He immediately raised his frightened eyes to Jin who, seeing this, wanted to show him that he was not afraid of these two boys. So he turned to Shik again:

    "Show your respect to Jungkook, he's older than you, so shut up," Jin said with irritation to the boy who laugh more and more, realizing that he was younger that this frightened kid named Jungkook.

    Jin was perfectly aware of what the two boys said and knew that Namjoon and Yoongi had also had to think about it, but none of them had mentioned it for fear of upsetting the others members who were already sufficiently shaken by the events that had ensued far too quickly.

     He would have liked to talk about it with them in the evening, when they would have implemented their strategy. Miung and Shik had just finished breaking Jungkook's mind. He was afraid he would suddenly crack in front of them and hastened to add:

    "You really are both assholes! I will protect my dongsaengs, I guarantee you, so I advise you to stay away from them."

     "Oh, really?" Miung said, "you don't have the same attitude when you're dealing with your little brothers, you're being brave but you weren't so proud in the military zone. Have you thought about telling your little brother how you got on your knees in the mud, humiliating your country and submitting to our power?"

    Stunned, Jungkook turned to Jin, trying to read his face to see if the other was lying.

    "Certainly not your power in any case," his hyung replied without seeking to deny, by addressing a grin to his enemy. "I remember you hopping home from crying because I shot you in the foot."

    Jungkook gasped in surprise and Jin regretted having said that. He didn't want to give him the impression that he had become a monstrous brute capable of shooting people and to feel satisfaction.

    "Jungk-" he started.

    "You piece of shit," Miung cut him.

    A veil of rage briefly covered his eyes briefly. Then, he slipped a bad smile that reminded Jin unpleasantly of Kim Chin-Hae when he was about to announce an odious thing in an innocent tone. 

    Miung got up and Jin saw that he was still limping because of his injury. The Northern boy walked so close to Jin that their noses grazed. He maintained his gaze, conscious that he should not be intimidated in front of him when Jungkook had his gaze on him and sought to be reassured about his elder's ability to protect him.

    Miung leaned forward and whispered in his ear:

     "I will be handling you personally at the DMZ, do no doubt about it. But before I do, I will gladly hunt and kill all your little brothers one by one, I will not let one out. Once you've lost them all and you will be crying about your uselessness, I'll finish you off."

    Jin pushed him brutally, feeling an unnamed rage taking hold of him. He felt the soldiers around him agitating and heard the now familiar rattling of the raised rifles and the distraught groans of his members. 

    Yet, he did not pay any attention to them, preferring to continue the duel with Miung. In a barely audible murmur, he groaned:

    "Just try to get close to them, I will kill you."

    "Oh, did I upset you? I hope it makes you an interesting opponent. But in the end, I would win: this time, no one will stop me from killing you. I will have all right to kill you. Hell, I will be praised for that!"

    "You, bast-" Jin began, clenching his fists as if to throw them at the boy's face.

    "Get away from each other now!" Kim Chin-Hae cut in a loud voice as he appeared out of nowhere, pulling Miung by the collar of his uniform and glaring at Jin.

    "I was just appreciating the gift you gave me, father."

    "Father?!" Jin exclaimed, shocked, watching them both.

     Then, he suddenly understood where this feeling of familiarity that he had felt from the beginning about the North Korean diplomat came from: he reminded him of Miung. 

    "He's your son?!" Jin asked Mr. Kim

    "That's right," the man confirmed, regaining his mocking smile, the same as Miung's.

     "B-but this gift for which he just thanked you, it's not... me?" Jin asked hesitantly. "R-right?" 

    "Come on my boy, I have known you to be more confident in yourself. Honor your position as the tribute of your country. You have been chosen with care to face the tributes of our country. To face my son."

    Jin turned pale as hee had just understood a terrible thing. The draw had never been fair. From the beginning, it was BTS who was supposed to come out of it. It was Mr. Kim's gift to his son, a revenge delivered on a silver platter to the one he had stupidly shot.

     And to think that he had been stupid enough to make fun of the handful of mud he had thrown at him! In reality, it was Miung who must have been laughing at him all along. He was the one who asked his father to choose BTS and that's what he got.

    It was unfair, the whole world should know! The draw was not !

    But would that change anything about his guilt? Jin felt the guilt grip him again, clutching his stomach, and it made him want to vomit.

    He was pitiful and he knew that this was the vision he was currently giving to his enemies. But he was no longer able to proudly puff out his chest and use his tongue to skillfully face adversity. 

    "Hyung, come on, come on, let's join the others," Jungkook whispered to him.

    Jin abruptly turned his gaze towards him and saw pity there, not resentment. So he implored him with the same voice:

    "Please JK, don't tell the others..."

    The others shouldn't have known anything. Jungkook seemed to be thinking and that worried Jin but Jungkook didn't have time to answer him.

    "Pay your respects, our supreme leader is about to enter!" someone yelled, who had suddenly appeared in the room, panting. 

    He was like a herald from another time announcing the coming of a king and at these words, Jin felt the whole room tense and saw everyone stand at attention with the exception of the South Koreans who did not fully understand what was going on. 

    Next to him, Miung seemed particularly tense suddenly and had lost his mocking manner. His father was in the same state and quickly put on a dignified air.

     "Get away from us right now, you moron," Miung muttered nervously through the clenched teeth to Jin, "our supreme leader is coming, I don't want him to think you and I are friends, so fuck off."

    "Your supreme leader?" Jin repeated, while the door opened on an man in a dark suit framed by high-ranking officers of the army.

    "Pay your respects to our beloved leader, Kim Jong-Un!" Kim Chin-Hae yelled out, in a very solemn tone that.