NETIZEN

HACK 101

Markup language and encoding, this part of her instruction didn't please Hye Mi. It was a constant pain in the butt. At first, she memorized, and then Jared created simulations where he clocked her performances.

Jared explained that the threat of cybercrime was moderate in Korea on an individual level, but it was increasing. Phishing schemes and theft of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) for criminal intent increased, and defamation was a criminal offense in South Korea. Hye Mi fully understood the teachings she received were illegal.

At the institutional and multinational company level, South Korea experienced an increasing number of intrusions, Distribution Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, and the use of malicious software to disrupt networks. Korean financial institutions were targeted by hackers, who stole Korean Identification Numbers (KID) and other PII with economic motives.

The forbidden aspect of hacking made it thrilling to the teen who drank every one of Jared's words. Despite Hye Mi's motivation, she was far from accomplishing such exploits.

"This isn't working out. You know what? We should give up, restart your life chal gayo," Jared said with a hint of deception.

Hye Mi was terrible; the worst hacker who ever lived, Jared, said the police would pin her down on the floor before she could download one movie. It was difficult for him to perceive a person being so lousy in one of the world's most internet-connected cities.

"Okay, okay, I'll try again."

But Jared had to admit that his padawan was perseverant.

A few weeks later, it was time for the final examination.

"Okay, Hye Mi, it's your last chance if you can't do this, forget becoming a hat, I mean any type White or Gray," said Jared as he paced around her back, "don't even think about becoming black, I mean a black hat."

She was in front of a sophisticated virus, a replica of the one which had hacked the FBI Cyber criminality servers a while back. A girl called Nana, aka Tinker Bell, created the original. When Jared told Hye Mi stories about Nana, she couldn't help but dream of achieving such exploits.

Jared didn't talk about himself, but he didn't mind telling the tales of his crew. Hye Mi just pieced things together and figured they were a bunch of wanted hackers. They played Robin Hood and Lupin III on the web. Most of the crimes they committed were to help other citizens. For the soon-to-be 15-year-old girl, they were heroes.

She wished to be part of the game, and she wanted to checkmate her own.

"시작" [sijak=start]

Hye Mi sweated; it was like a rubrics cube, every time her combination was wrong. The sequence changed. She tried her best and five h later she broke down crying in front of it.

"I can't do it. I can't; There's a Trojan horse behind it. I'd need at least two more hours."

"Let me check," Jared said, taking over the keyboard.

"You saw the horse. I'm getting weak. The FBI worked on it for 13 hours, and they didn't see it, Jared said, swirling on his chair to face her."

"So?"

"So, you need more practice; we'll do a small op in a few days, but your cap seems to be becoming a hat."

"Cheong-mal-yo," exclaimed Hye Mi.

"Yeah."

"Tchin-cha, tchin-cha," she repeated.

"Yo, Yoo Jae Suk, don't push it."

Hye Mi did a little a Nae Nae dance step of joy.

"Hey, you've still got a lot to learn," Jared reminded.

"Please don't kill my vibe."

She was getting somewhere, and it felt good. The bob-haired girl felt like a million dollars, she was good at something, and Jared had complimented her. This thought made her blush; she spent so much time with him. And she suffered so much by his torturous training that she forgot how handsome he was.

"We should go and eat to celebrate," he suggested.

Seoul, Myeong-Dong

In front of her bim-bim bap, watching Jared slurp his noodles, Hye Mi wondered what kind of women he liked, if he loved women.

"Jared, are you gay?"

"What the Fㅡ."

"I mean, you are always in your basement, and I mean a healthy guy needs a woman, right."

"Listen, I will not have this discussion with someone who just escaped the PG13 rating.

"I'm almost 15; I know things."

The man cocked an eyebrow, "what things do you know, Rock Lee?"

"Stop calling me Rock Lee; I'm not an anime character."

"You are a perfect Rock Lee. Especially now you've acquired your kicks. Rock Lee is a Taijitstu master."

"You are so mean," Hye Mi said as she followed Jared's gaze, which set on two young women in their early twenties eating at the counter.

"Are they your type?"

"Not really, but one winked at me," Jared said while throwing his most seductive bad boy gaze at them.

"What type of girls do you like?"

"What is this? Are you playing matchmakers? Oh, there's no more kimchi I'll go andㅡ."

"I'll go," Hye Mi said, beating Jared to the plat. She stood up and went to get the refill. Stupid Jared, she thought as she added kimchi and pickles. His ploy was one of a 5-year-old; he wanted to use the refill trick to talk to the girls.

"Excuse me, could you give this to your brother," said one girl with slim pants and a white shirt who had been sitting at the counter.

"Sure," Hye Mi replied. It was apparent the girl gave her number. She turned and saw Jared observed the scene. Whatever future Hye Mi planned for the piece of paper was destroyed.

"What did she want?" the young man asked as Hye Mi placed the refills on the table.

"Here, take your stupid paper."

"Why are you like this?" Jared asked. He threw a killer smile at the girl at the counter who was leaving.

Now the women were gone, Jared focused his gaze on Hye Mi and attempted to read her expression before saying.

"For your information, she's not my type. I like girls who can kick ass and hack into the Pentagon. I doubt she can do it, but she's cute. And so are you, Rock Lee."

"I said, don't call me that."

Jared was a replacement: Father, brother, friend, and this heart-fluttering sensation Hye Mi could not admit having. He dyed his hair red and had twisted them into faux dreadlocks. On that day, Jared wore a classic military bomber, an orange t-shirt, camouflage pants, and Yeezy Boost 350. The man had never been so attractive.

Come on, Hye Mi, do you really think this guy could see you as a woman?