"SHOWNU! JIN!"

    The gunshot rang out and Eunkwang's cry echoed long in the air and the soldiers' minds tensed. While the North Koreans thought above all of the consequences that the death of a South Korean would cause, Eunkwang only thought of his friends. 

    He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the enemy's captain grabbed Shik's arm, forcing him to fire in the air rather than Jin or Shownu. Both his friends who had kept their eyelids firmly closed while waiting for the impact to slowly open them again, surprised to still be alive. 

     Catching Eunkwang's worried look, Shownu checked that Jin hadn't been hurt and quickly said:

    "It's... It's okay, we weren't hit." 

    He was panting and he straightened up before helping Jin do the same. But it was not an easy task because, as Eunkwang saw it, they were both shaking furiously. He was sure they had seen and heard death coming in that gunshot and this trauma will be difficult to erase.

    But now, Eunkwang didn't know what to do: keep his gun pointed at the North Koreans as a last defense or or surrender? Nothing was going well: how could he alone defend all three of them?

    As the Jin and Shownu went to grab their weapons again, the North Korean captain yelled:

    "STOP!" He was still holding Shik's arm but was now facing the South Koreans like the rest of his men who were pointing their guns in their direction. "Drop your weapons, I won't say it again!"

    "It's okay, calm down, we'll do it," Eunkwang capitulated.

    "What?!" Shownu and Jin shouted in unison.

    The two younger did not seem ready to comply but Eunkwang knew that it was no longer time to stand up to their enemies. He didn't want to see either of them die tonight. He removed the strap that attached it to his rifle before laying it on the ground.

    "Hyung, what are you doing?!" Shownu snapped. "They tried to kill us just now!"

    "Shut up and do what he asks, or they will kill us all!"

    "But we can't crash into them!" Jin protested, His upbringing and his recent military training did not allow him to lower himself in this way without vigorous protest. "We must stand up!"

    "No we mustn't. Our life comes before our pride."

    "But our superiors will not-"

    "I take the responsibility, now do what I ask, both of you!" Eunkwang cut.

    The urgency was in his voice. So after one last look exchanged, Jin and Shownu finally complied, eagerly pulling off the strap they were wearing and roughly throwing their rifles to the ground, frustrated at being submissive.

    "Good. Now on your knees and hands behind your head."

    "But..." Jin protested before hearing another shot and freezing. The captain had just fired into the air again. His violent trembling started again and Eunkwang discreetly grabbed his wrist to calm him down.

    "Next time I will shoot one of you, and I'll let chance decide in which part of the body. I have the legitimacy now that you have taken the first step and attacked us. Now, on your knees, hands behind your head!" the enemy leader barked.

    "Come on, Jin," Eunkwang whispered, pushing him gently.

    Jin complied with the others two but as he raised his arms like them, he felt a searing pain in his right shoulder and his arm fell limply while he uttered a cry of pain. He had been careful removing the strap from his shoulder earlier, but now that he was being forced to raise his arms, the pain was much worse.

    "The captain said hand behind the head!" Miung spat at him, leaning on Shik with one hand to keep himself balanced on one foot. In his other hand, he held his gun so tightly that his knuckles had whitened. It was visibly difficult for him to control himself and not immediately shoot Jin to take revenge.

    "He was hurt in the shoulder earlier," Eunkwang explained hurriedly, coming to Jin's rescue, to the latter's relief. "Is it good if he keeps his hands behind his back?"

    "I don't give a fuck, it's even better if it hurts," Miung replied, "hands behind your head now."

    Even though he was terribly angry with himself for having shot him and injured him. If he hadn't had a Damocles sword hanging over his head, Jin would have thrown another handful of mud in his face, hoping he would eat some of it. 

    Instead, he gritted his teeth and raised his arms painfully before fixing Miung with a sulking stare to which his enemy responded with a venomous look.

    Now that the South Koreans were lined up in this humiliating position, the North Koreans lowered their weapons and smirked.

    "Now we will take a minute to admire such a satisfying spectacle. The spectacle of South Korea weakness."

    Jin didn't know how long they had been in this position but he was starting to have cramps and above all, he was cold. At night, the cold and the humidity of this season hardly befitted a motionless wait and his bare feet seemed to have turned to ice. Strangely, he no longer had pain. He wondered worriedly if his body was freezing and if that wasn't worse than feeling pain.

    He parted his lips with difficulty and in an inarticulate and trembling manner, he finally asked:

    "W-what are w-we w-waiting for?"

    "Real men to chat with," Shik scoffed.

     "W-what?"

    The boy seemed to want to have fun while the other soldiers remained silent and looked at the path that bordered the south side of the fence. He said: 

    "Call your superiors to your rescue. Maybe if you scream like a girl, they'll come faster and you can get warm soon. If you don't die before of course."

    "K-keep dreaming," Jin replied, who would rather kneel in the mud a thousand times than humiliate himself like this.

   "Jin, ignore him," Eunkwang whispered through his teeth.

    "Shut up! Here they are, don't move," the captain ordered, who was not looking at them anymore.

    Despite this order, the three idols couldn't help but turn their heads to follow his gaze and felt a wave of relief. The leader of their unit, Captain Park, and the rest of his unit composed of six other soldiers were hurrying towards them after hearing numerous gunshots. However, it had originally taken some time for the unit to get going because usually nothing happened, and they were relatively unprepared to handle a nighttime crisis. 

    The vision they now had before them was aberration. Three kneeling South Korean soldiers being pointed at by North Korean soldiers.

    "Captain Park!" Jin shouted, his eyes watering with relief. This relief, however, was short-lived.

    As the South Korean soldiers fanned out around the young recruits and faced their enemies, forming a barrier, rifles brandished in a series of quiet clicks, captain Park faced Jin, Eunkwang and Shownu and after glaring at them, ordered sharply:

    "Upright, now!"

    "Yes Captain!" the three recruits shouted as they complied and came to attention.

    Jin had to lean heavily on Eunkwang to keep from falling to the ground. Then, without warning, Park slapped them one after the other. 

    Stunned, Jin stood still and refrained from bringing his hand to his hot, throbbing cheek. But the worst thing for him was that over Park's shoulder and the fence, Miung and Shik were looking at him mockingly. He felt his ears heat up and realized that his ears must be as red as his bruised cheek.

     "We do not bend the knee to North Korea!" their captain barked.

    "Yes Captain!" the three idols solemnly shouted, ashamed.

    "You have humiliated your country and your unit!"

    "Our apologies Captain!"

    "We will see later for your sanction. In the meantime, rest!"

    With relief, the three boys reached down and picked up their rifles, which they strapped again to their shoulders. The captain stared in bewilderment at Jin's bare feet and chin covered in a crust of dried mud, his bloody throat, and his uniform torn at the shoulder. The painting was indeed surprising for a newcomer. 

    Then, he turned to the North Korean captain who had not moved after the arrival of the Park unit:

    "Captain So, what a displeasure to see you at this late hour. Would you like the honor of explaining to me what just happened or do you want to leave that to my recruits?"

    "I would like to hear the beginning of their story myself, so let them speak," So offered in a deceptively courteous tone.

    Finally the discussion, thought Jin who proceeded to put his socks and shoes back on, while Shownu whispered "D. Feet" only to him but received a dark look from Eunkwang who had heard him and silently made him understand that it was no longer time to joke.

    "Recruit Seo Eun-kwang, explanation!" Park shouted.

    "Yes Captain!" Eukwang shouted in his formal military voice, "Seokjin was attacked by an enemy and electrocuted by the fence without being able to get rid of his attacker. We had no choice but to shoot to save his life."

    Park glanced briefly at Jin, who was trying to stay upright but was clearly having trouble staying upright.

    "So it was the North Koreans who attacked Seokjin?" he pointed out.

    The young man hesitated to answer, glancing at the groups of enemy soldiers who stared at him with hostile gazes, suddenly feeling uncertain.

    "I believe, sir."

    Park in turn glanced at So, wondering if Eukwang felt too intimidated in front of his enemies to dare to accuse them. However, in this kind of conflict, even the smallest, with their northern neighbors, they had no room for mistakes. Anything could be a pretext to re-ignite hostilities.

    "You believe? You must be sure if we want to be within our right to defense!"

    "But... the enemy was not clearly identifiable in the dark and we only saw his hand when he grabbed Seokjin by the throat," Eunkwang said awkwardly, visibly afraid of his involvement in a diplomatic conflict which could be worse if he misinterpreted what he had seen.

    Jin glanced at So and thought he saw a flash of relief at Eunkwang's statement. It only lasted a few seconds, but Jin wondered if there was something behind that relief, as if So knew who really attacked them and just wanted to make sure the South Koreans had seen nothing. 

    He let his gaze wander through the woods that ran through the DMZ and wondered what could be hiding there apart from tigers and North Korean armed units. 

    His attention was diverted when Captain Park grabbed his jaw and made him raise his head to gain access to his throat which he analyzed carefully. Jin winced in discomfort but let the man do his thing. He seemed taken aback by the appearance of the injury, that much was obvious. He nevertheless quipped, looking at his North Korean counterpart:

    "Who else but the North Koreans could it be?" 

    "Let's see," So mused, "who other than the North Koreans are patrolling the DMZ? Mmmmmh it's difficult but I would say... The South Koreans?"

    "You're ridiculous, do you really think anyone will swallow that?! Why would a soldier attack his own side?!"

    "Don't ask me to explain the logic of a South Korean. Originally, we are one and the same people, we were brothers, but you have made us enemies, refusing our reunification under our supreme leader."

    "I'll ignore that," Park replied, before clarifying, "There are currently no declared Southern units patrolling inside the DMZ now. Unless you are dealing with deserters, they are necessarily North Korean soldiers."

    "Captain, if I may..." Eunkwang interjected timidly, "we shot at the enemy  to be able to save Seokjin but I see that no soldier of this unit, if it is complete, is injured. Well except for one of them who attack us after and was shot in the foot by Jin."

    "If you think it lessens his fault..." Miung began, angry, but Eunkwang cut him and finished his story:

    "Also, the enemy that attacked Seokjin before was... strange."

    Captain Park looked away from Captain So and back to the singer.

    "Strange?"

    "Yes, I couldn't describe it to you precisely," Eunkwang explained, "the enemy remained invisible for the duration of the rescue and by the time we were able to turn on our lights, he was gone. It was definitely a human hand that grabbed Seokjin but..."

    He stopped hesitantly.

    "But what?" Captain Park asked impatiently.

    Eunkwang took out the piece of skin torn off by hand earlier and handed it to his captain who grabbed it.

    "What the hell is that?" So interjected, and Jin saw this time that he seemed agitated. 

    Not like he was trying to figure out what it was, but more like realizing that this was something that should never have arrived in the hands of the South Koreans. If the barrier hadn't been there, he probably would have leapt to snatch the piece from Eunkwang's hands before it got into Park's hands. It was more and more curious.

    "Eun-Kwang, what is that?" Park asked.

    "It's quite difficult to say but if it's a piece of skin that Hyunwoo tore off by hand. Besides, the enemy did not seem to be affected by the electricity of the fence, as if this strange skin protected him from it."

    Jin was shocked. He didn't realized it before but it was true. If, on his side, he had almost fainted under the effect of this electrocution, his enemy on the other hand, had continued to grip him ferociously as if he were not affected. What was this monster that had attacked him?

    "You mean it was a non-human human?" scoffed So, "go tell that in supreme court when you want to justify your attack who ended the ceasefire."

    Park glared at him but remained silent because he knew the other was right. That entire story was a nonsense. He focused on the piece of skin given by Eunkwang:

    "What the hell..." he muttered. 

    The thing deserved to be analyzed by army biologists. He regained his composure and turned to his young recruits whom he analyzed from head to toe:

    "Well, Seokjin has definitely been injured and his medical diagnostic is going to be laid down as evidence of an attack."

    "Um..." Shownu interjected embarrassed, "there's one thing you need to know about his injuries before."

    "What?" Park asked, knowing he shouldn't have asked, seeing that the situation was going from bad to worse.

    "The bullet wound Jin has in the shoulder is not from the North Koreans, but from my rifle. I misaimed while shooting at the enemy."

    Exasperated Park and the entire unit watched as the North Koreans laughed and mocked the pathetic South Korean strength.

    "Well," So said amused, "that's going to get you in trouble with your charges."

    Gritting his teeth, Park ignored him and asked the three boys harshly:

    "Anything else I should know?!"

    Jin looked at his feet and mumbled:

    "I don't know if it's important to say that, but they also didn't make me take my shoes off, it was Shownu who gave me this challenge and I accepted it."

    Feeling betrayed, Shownu gave him a discreet nudge that Park saw.

    "Are you also going to tell me that you were the one who pushed him against the fence?" Park asked, trying to regain the upper hand in this conversation from his enemies.

    "No!" Jin and Shownu exclaimed brightly in unison.

    Sighing, Park addressed So:

    "Unless you want to get eaten by the tigers by standing still on this side of the fence, you better get moving again soon and move away from the southern border. On our side, we will take care of our recruits. Obviously, we will report the entire matter to our superiors and they will take the decisions they deem necessary. For your part, I suggest that you conduct research to find your possible deserters if you do not want your unit to suffer the consequences of what happened that night."

    "Rest assured that our supreme leader will be informed of this attack. The DMZ is not a place where North Koreans become targets for South Korea," So replied.

    "Of course," Park agreed, "and that's why instead of patrolling the border, you happily cross it as if you were at home there. Our president will also be informed. Don't expect the sanctions to fall only on South Korea."

    "We'll soon see who will suffer the consequences of the stupidity of your recruits."

    So turned on his heels and motioned for his unit to follow him.

    Before leaving, Miung left his murderous gaze one last time on Jin who for his part gave him a grimace, before watching him drag himself after his comrades, helped by Shik.

    "In what situation have you guys put your country?" Park sighed, "you put yourself in a hell of a situation."

    Fatigue had given way to anger in his voice, Jin felt it. Having repeatedly heard the mention of the North Korean "supreme leader", he knew that the matter was more than serious. He understood that the situation was beyond CaptainPark and that he was very quickly going to delegate the management of this crisis to people infinitely less benevolent than him, who was already not kind to young recruits.

    What would become of them? Seokjin was suddenly very scared.