Chapter 2 | New Guy
"There were many seams flowing off of the top, almost as if the vest was alive. Flowing like water, but never crashing. Continuous movement, strange since there was barely any wind flowing in the room."
The temperature pierces my skin like needles. It's dry, so dry. My lips are like crusted over wood on a ship. The inside of my mouth feels like it's been beaten and wrung like a towel. Speaking of which, I need to do the laundry.
The temperature is waxing off my skin. It's so dry, so dry. My lips are like dead bark peeling off of a tree. The inside of my mouth feels like it's been stabbed and cut beyond repair.
It's so cold, so cold. It's so cold, so cold. It's so cold, so cold. It's cold. It's cold. No one can hear me cry for help, I can't even move my lips anymore, and my throat is too dry to project anything.
It's not even cold, it's supposed to be hot, and yet why am I cold?
It's oh so lonely. Even if I wasn't alone, what would I do anyway? All I do is get into fights, when is this going to end? There isn't anything for me here. Just air so hot it's visible, and water so dry it's practically just the hands I drink out of.
Why don't I make it end, isn't that better than what all this is?
-
"Hey"
Huh? Is someone there? Talking to me? I can't cough up any words, I can't cough at all. What is that… A light? Is there a light peering in? Where is it coming from?
"Hello?"
The light is getting bigger, as if it's spilling in from somewhere. I need to find where it is, maybe that'll end this for me. There it is, I'm almost there-
"HEY, YI, COME ON WAKEUP"
"What was I just doing?"
"Sleeping that's what, come on hurry up we need to go to the meeting!" Says Jung-Pal as he puts on his hanbok
"What meeting?"
"You'll see when you get there" Says Jung-Pal tying his hanbok on
"Just give me something"
"A life changing meeting!" Exclaims Jung-Pal, as he puts on his midnight navy blue vest and Gat (traditional Korean hat) and exits the room.
Yi remembers that Jung-Pal took him back to a lodging area after last night, and Jung-Pal did tell him to wake up early today. Yi decides not to question it, gets out of bed, and catches up to Jung-Pal. They both bicker all the way to a towering building. The shadow of the front seems to loom over the front path they used to get there.
"Is this some sort of rich people house?" Asks Yi.
"I told you, it's a life changing meeting" Responds Jung-Pal.
Two what looks to be Musa (ancient Korean warriors) open two big doors. They both exchange looks, and glare at Yi.
"What are they looking at?" Whispers Yi.
"They see your clothes and think you're a poor commoner" Jung-Pal whispers back.
"Hmph. HEY WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!" Yells Yi.
The two Musa turn back and look straight ahead. Yi and Jung-Pal enter the building, while Jung-Pal is laughing. As they walk in the building, Yi notices many fancy, extravagant things. It makes him start to wonder, just who is Jung-Pal?
They arrive in front of a room's entrance, and Jung-Pal attempts to equip a fake smile.
"Get ready, and please please act polite and formal. You will be executed if you aren't" Jung-Pal says desperately.
"I'll try, no promises" Responds Yi
Jung-Pal pushes open the doors, and they open to reveal a large room with a lengthy ellipse desk in the center, with 11 chairs surrounding the table. There are 8 people sitting in the chairs, with the head chair empty, and two chairs near the bottom of the table are empty. The room is enclosed, and has no open areas. With one glance, you can tell this room is for secrets, important secrets. In fact, the existence of this room may very well be a secret too.
"Jung-Pal number 8, Crescent Moon Ssaurabi reporting for duty!" Jung-Pal booms so everyone in the room can hear.
"What was that? Crescent Moon, Ssaul-abee?" Whispers Yi. The term feeling somewhat familiar.
"Shh. You'll find out soon" Jung-Pal whispers back.
"Great, and that- man next to you is your candidate I presume?" A woman in a dark purple hanbok asks Jung-Pal.
"Yes" Responds Jung-Pal.
Yi notices that all of a sudden Jung-Pal is formal, and acting way less 'flamboyant' than when it's just them. Yi is wondering, who could these people be?
"Great, then we should be ready" A man in a white hanbok declares.
Jung-Pal steps over to an empty chair at the bottom of the table marked with the letter '8', and Yi naturally follows, and sits in the chair next to him.
"Stand," Says Jung-Pal, very strictly and firmly.
"What?" Asks Yi.
"I said, stand. You don't have permission to sit there" Says Jung-Pal in a condescending tone.
"Yet…" Jung-Pal mutters under his breath.
"Hmph, fine" Yi responds, as he stands up and steps behind the chair.
The man in the white hanbok stands up, and walks to the top of the table. There Yi can see what he looks like fully. A white hanbok, with blue highlights on the collar and under garments. There are two light blue designs on shoulders, which appear to be pointed crosses. There were many seams flowing off of the top, almost as if the vest was alive. Flowing like water, but never crashing. Continuous movement, strange since there was barely any wind flowing in the room. The belt was a matte black, matching his long flowing hair.
"Welcome everyone. I'm here to announce, and run, the 3rd generation Ssaurabi annual meeting!" The man says confidently, and bows.
"No claps? Alright then, moving on. There are two pressing matters at hand here. 1 Is that it's the monarch's birthday in one week, and 2 is that we need to replace our former member for Ssaurabi number 10!" Exclaims the man.
"Oh, my apologies to the candidate, you're the new guy so I'll introduce myself. I am…" Says the man, flicking off the dust on his vest.
"Oh-Jin, number 3, the White Snake Ssaurabi" Announces Oh-Jin proudly.
Yi stares into Oh-Jin's eyes, Yi starts to think that his eyes do start to look like a snake's. Maybe he's just imagining it. Yi instinctively decides not to trust him.
"Now then, how should we replace number 10?"
"It seems as if we only have 1 candidate, which is good since to the public eye we don't exist. This 1 candidate also seems to have no records whatsoever on anything, so they are quite perfect. However we can't just take number 8's word for it and give one of the most prestigious positions in Joseon to this random no-life" Says Oh-Jin.
"What was that?" Yi angrily fumes.
"Remember what I asked in the hallway back there?" Whispers Jung-Pal.
"Fine" Yi whispers back.
"You need to tame your pet, 8" Laughs Oh-Jin.
"I apologize for his actions, 3" Responds Jung-Pal.
"Good," Oh-Jin remarks.
"I just so happen to have the perfect test in mind" Oh-Jin says.
"Come with me, Yi" Oh-Jin smirks.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know everything. Now come"
"Fine"
They both exit the room, and walk to a spot in the long hallway.
"Alright. Let me tell you something. Since you don't know what we Ssaurabi are, I'll explain it-"
"Wait a minute, I remember what they are now. Ssaurabi. I knew it was a familiar term. I used to hear about that myth all the time when I was a kid!"
"Yep, spreading myths and folktales about us is the perfect cover story right? We're actually much cooler than those folktales"
"Basically, we Ssaurabi are a secret militia in Joseon, that only handles emergencies. We ONLY accept missions that are emergencies. By emergencies I mean Joseon-ending-crisis-no-one-else-can-do-it emergencies. So naturally you know that when we have a mission it's super important and cannot be messed up whatsoever, right?"
"Yeah, I got that"
"Right, so then you can also imagine that for us to be able to handle those missions, we'd have to be pretty strong and skilled, right?"
"Yeah, I got that"
"Right, so that's what your test is. Your initiation, per se"
"Yeah, I got that"
"Your test to replace number 10 of the Ssaurabi is to handle one of the most important of important missions by yourself. Which is to go into that room, and find out who the traitor is"
"Yeah, I got tha- wait what?"