Jung Nara could see her brother, Soo Cheol, goofing around with his friends by the classroom windows.
They were twins, with Soo Cheol being older than her by seven minutes, and they looked nothing alike. Instead, people might say they look more like their parents. Nara had a lot of similarities with their mum, while Soo Cheol looked like the spitting image of their dad.
Their classmates didn't know about this as they had never laid eyes on the twins' parents before. They had always been out at work whenever they brought friends home.
Their parents, Jung Yihyun and Yoon Saebom, were always out because of their line of work. Their father, Yihyun, was a police detective, while their mother, Saebom, was an SOU agent.
The door opened and their teacher, Mrs Park entered the room, followed sheepishly by Kim Chiyeol, or Kimchi as he was sometimes called.
At the back of the class, Il-ha swore under his breath.
A few minutes ago, all the teachers were called to an urgent meeting and Il-ha had sent Kimchi to spy on them to see what was happening.
Mrs Park took a deep breath. "The early entrance exams have been cancelled," She announced.
Everyone immediately broke out into confused whispers. They all began to shoot out questions to the teacher as they tried to make sense of what was going on.
Mrs Park grabbed the remote for the television. "I'll explain everything slowly," She said before switching on the news.
The whole class quietened down as they watched the news reporter in the room where the Minister of Defence was holding a press conference.
The bomb dropped.
They were all going to be drafted to train for the reserve army. The 3rd grade high school students were drafted for the army.
'What's going on?' Nara thought.
"U-us?"
"Us?!"
Everyone began to whisper again, looking around the class, not quite believing what they were hearing.
Mrs Park then switched off the television.
"Military training and classes at the same time?" The class president, Yoojung asked.
Everyone was voicing their questions and thoughts, making the atmosphere very tense.
"Silence!" Mrs Park called out, banging a notebook repeatedly on her desk. "Quiet down. Just as he said, it means you'll be doing both military training and school classes at the same time."
Everyone was quiet as the teacher continued to explain.
Soo Cheol stole a glance at his sister. Do their parents know of this?
"Yoojung, hand these out please," Mrs Park picked up a pile of papers on her desk.
"Uh, yes," Yoojung leaped up from her chair and began to distribute the sheets.
The whispering started up again as they all read the word printed on the sheets.
"They're military training agreements," Mrs Park explained, "You're to take them home to your parents for them to sign."
"Miss!" One girl protested, "Are we going to be living together?!" She was horrified.
"What happens to people who don't consent?" Woo Taeman asked.
"It's not certain, but you'll likely be taking remote classes," Mrs Park said.
Soo Cheol looked down at the consent form in his hand. Would his parents agree to let him and his sister join the training camp? He could hear what their teacher was saying, but at the same time, he wasn't really paying attention.
He looked over towards his twin. She looked confused, scared, shocked, everything in between really.
And in all honesty, he didn't know what to think.
In the back, Il-ha was on the phone to his mum, while some of the girls were whining to each other.
Soo Cheol caught his sister's eye from across the room. She looked fairly calm, although there was a nervous look in her eye.
Il-ha was now on the phone to some other friends of his asking if they too got the consent forms. He sat down on Yeong Hoon's desk, annoying the boy.
Soo Cheol began chatting to his friend Youngshin about it when suddenly, there was things being thrown around. The cause? Il-ha and Yeong Hoon were at each other's throats.
All the girls screamed as tables and chairs were kicked around and notebooks went flying.
"Hey, stop them!" Deok Joong looked at the girl next to him, pointing towards the two brawling boys.
"You go stop them!" Soyeon retorted.
Soo Cheol jumped to his feet to shield three girls in the corner, Yeongsoo joining him, as Il-ha began throwing tables and chairs around. Yoojung looked exasperated as she looked, first at the mess that was made and then to the two boys fighting.
Yeong Hoon threw Il-ha against the lockers, making the latter boy even angrier as he grabbed him by the shoulders. Slamming him in to the lockers, Il-ha began to punch the boy.
"Hurry up and stop them!" Yoojung pleaded, shaking Hee Rak's arm.
He and the other boys immediately dashed in to action to try and separate the two boys before they got into trouble.
"Why are those two always fighting?!" One of the girl's shrieked from behind Soo Cheol.
Sighing, Deok Joong looked out the window. In doing this, he noticed something. He threw the window open. "It's the military," He breathed. Some of his classmates turned to look at him. "Guys..."
Everyone stopped what they were doing and approached the windows, sliding them open.
Soo Cheol's eyes widened.
Army vehicles were pulling up in front of the school. Soldiers were now jumping out of the back of the trucks and running to formation.
"Why are the military here?" Soon-yi asked, timidly. Her friend shrugged and whispered back that she didn't know.
"It must be that thing," So Yeon whispered to Nara, referring to the drafting for the military.
Nara looked out the window.
They watched as someone gave out orders and all the soldiers jumped into action, unloading all the equipment.
"Gosh, we're screwed." Someone muttered.
"I need to call mum quick!" Soon-yi looked close to crying.
"This is crazy huh?"
"Why did they come here?"
"No way. They couldn't be here for us." Se-in tried to be positive.
But everyone knew. The army had arrived at their school. This was all real. They really were going to be drafted and be trained.
Soo Cheol clenched his fist. What on earth was going on?
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When the twins opened the front door of the apartment, they immediately noticed a pair of combat boots and a pair of trainers placed neatly by the door. Two sets of car keys were also laid on a cabinet nearby. Their parents were home. A rare thing to happen. Normally their parents would still be at work when they arrived home from school.
"Eomma! Appa! We're home!" Nara called out happily, getting her slippers on.
"Hello you two, how was your day?" Saebom came out of the kitchen and gave Nara a hug.
"It was good," Nara broke the hug and set her bag down on the couch.
"You're home early," Soo Cheol voiced his thoughts.
"No hello and a hug for your mum?" Saebom asked, smiling as she held her arms out wide.
Soo Cheol dumped his bag next to his sisters' before giving his mum a hug.
"But he has a point," Nara said, "why are you home early?"
"Do we need a reason to be home early from work? It sounds like you two want to get rid of us."
"Hi dad!" Nara got up and gave her dad a hug.
"Are you home early because of what's going on? Because of the announcement on the news earlier?" Soo Cheol asked.
Their parents exchanged a look.
"We'll talk about this over dinner. Both of you get showered and get started on your homework," Saebom said.
"Oh! We're to give you these," Nara fished her consent form out of her bag, her brother following.
"Yes, yes, we'll have a look at it, don't worry," Saebom took both sheets from her children.
The twins headed off towards their rooms, bickering on who got to use the shower first.
As soon as they were out of sight, Saebom sank down on to the nearby armchair. "Ottoke, Hyun-ah, are we really going to let them do this training?" She ran a hand through her hair, looking down at the form in front of her.
"I don't want to send them in to do this either, but it's better than leaving them unprotect," Yihyun sat down on the arm of the chair and drew his wife into a hug, raking a hand through her hair. "With training they can defend themselves, especially if we can't be there to protect them. Bom-ah, I don't like this anymore than you do, but it's the best choice we have. We can't pull them out of school and lock them in the police station or the army base just so that we can keep an eye on them. They have to be able protect themselves."
Saebom was nodding slowly. "You're right, you're right," She agreed, "having them unable to defend themselves is... it's out of the question. It'll be hard, but at least they'll be safe and in good hands."
Yihyun placed a kiss on the top of her head.
"We'll get through this, we've been through something like this before," He murmured into her hair, "Although, this situation might be even worse."
"One of the spheres killed lots of soldiers in a matter of minutes. There were very little survivors that day. In fact, there might have been only two or three who survived that attack," Saebom shook her head.
"Come on, let's go get dinner ready. The kids will be hungry," Yihyun pulled her up to her feet and led the way to the kitchen.
Soo Cheol had heard everything.
He had been on his way to get his school bag from the living room, to make a start on his homework while he waited for his sister to finish up in the shower, when he overheard his parent's conversation.
He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help it. He now knew something was terribly wrong and that it had something to do with the spheres that dominated the sky above them. Whatever was going on, it was serious, and according to his dad, it might be worse than what happened 20 years ago when his parents got caught up in the 'Mad Person Disease'.
Soo Cheol knew the story. When he and Nara were old enough, their parents had told them their story. How they met, how the disease came about and how they had to survive in an apartment complex due to the fact that the whole place was on lockdown. It was about two years after that when the twins were born.
Hearing his parents enter the kitchen, he slipped into the living room and grabbed his bag. Homework didn't seem to be important now. What he really wanted to do was find out more about what was going on.
"Soo Cheol! The shower's free!" Nara called out.
The thought of a hot shower was welcoming to him as he made his way back to his bedroom to grab a towel and a change of clothes.
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Yihyun slid the consent forms across the table towards his children.
Soo Cheol picked his up and skimmed over it. The form was completely filled out. His name, his date of birth, his age, his parents contact info and their signatures. It was really happening. He and Nara were going to after school military boot camp.
Nara was carefully reading over hers.
"You'll be undergoing training for four weeks. The trainings and drills will be held after your classes are over. They're clearing out classrooms to be turned into dormitories where you will sleep and keep your stuff," Saebom began to explain in detail what was going to happen.
"You'll be taught combat skills and how to handle and shoot a rifle," Yihyun added, "It won't be easy, especially at first, but what you'll be doing is for your own good."
"Why are 3rd grade high school kids being drafted? Is a war about to happen? Are we already at war? Will dad be drafted as well?" Nara asked.
Soo Cheol noticed the look his parents exchanged.
"It's a precaution, sweetie," Saebom tucked a strand of Nara's hair behind her ear, "something has happened and they just want to be prepared in case it gets even worse."
"I will be joining your mother in her unit until further notice from those in power," Yihyun explained.
"Will you two be safe?" Soo Cheol asked quietly.
"Don't worry about us, Cheol-ah, we can take care of ourselves," Saebom smiled at her son.
"Right, finish eating so that you two can start packing. Only bring essential stuff and your school books with you. I doubt you'll be allowed any kind of luxuries while you're training," Yihyun said.
"You'll be training for four weeks," Saebom said, "try and do your best. And most importantly, stay safe. Okay?"
The twins nodded.
"Come here," Saebom opened her arms out for a hug, which the twins gladly accepted.
Yihyun watched hem before he got up and wrapped his arms around them too.
"Keep yourselves safe and take into account the safety of your friends too," He said, "and take the training seriously. You never know what might happen."
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2229 words. That's more than I thought this chapter was going to be hehe.
I've been reading this fanfic here on Wattpad where the author had used this idea of Soo Cheol and Nara being twin and having Yihyun and Saebom as their parents, and I must say, it's a really good idea!
The fanfic is called Sadness by Accio_Coffee . Go check it out, it's good!
Accio_Coffee I hope you don't mind that I used the twin idea.