simon says | 02

.five

five | nice to meet you, comrade

The train ride was, in fact, long, and Natty was thankful to Gaeul for packing so much food.

"You are the only one coming in today, welcome." a man seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you?" Natty asked, one eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"That doesn't matter to you much, but I'm the one that always brings in new students," the man replied, "Anyway, we should get straight to the point. Choose the bracelet or the ring, you have to choose one." Natty ended up choosing the bracelet after a few seconds of thinking.

"What is this for?" Natty asked.

"This is your token to enter the camp," the man stated, "When you have your bracelet on, the fire entrance will automatically recognize you when you are in a certain radius from it. There are two fire entrances, one is here at the main entrance, and the other is the entrance to District One, the fire district."

"So, if I don't have this bracelet, I can't enter camp?" Natty questioned while inspecting the bracelet in her hand.

"Yes, and since you're the only one here, you don't have to wait for anyone to get inside," he said. Natty did as she was told, and as soon as she stepped close to the entrance, the burgundy gate opened.

"Do I just pass through?" Natty asked.

"Yes." the man replied.

And just like that, Natty passed through the gates and found herself in the center of camp Beta. She was in awe at how big the inside of the camp was, and what surprised her more than the size was the fact that the entrance led to the center of the camp.

"I'll leave you here, your instructor will come and show you around, as well as tell you your schedule." the man stated.

"Thank you." the girl replied, a little confused as to why he couldn't show her around.

She waited for more than twenty minutes before a man came. She assumed he was her instructor, but what threw her off was that the man seemed very young.

"You must be Anatchaya, right?" the man asked.

"Yes, but please, call me Natty." Natty introduced herself.

"I'm Jeong Jaehyun, your new instructor," the man extended his arm for the girl to shake, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," the girl replied while shaking his hand, "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-three, I finished camp just last year but decided to stay as an instructor." Jaehyun smiled at her.

"You seemed young," Natty mumbled.

"I get that a lot, but wait till you see some of the other instructors. They look even younger than me, the youngest one finished camp just three months ago, and his girlfriend who is also an instructor finished four weeks ago."

"You can become an instructor as soon as you finish camp?" Natty asked out of curiosity.

"When you enter your fourth year, the head of your district will ask whether you want to become an instructor or not. If you say yes, you will receive additional training, and after you finish camp, you can become an instructor." Jaehyun replied.

"That's interesting." Natty nodded.

"Let me show you around," Jaehyun stated and the two started walking towards District One.

He told her the basic schedule as well as the schedule specific to her, which she also learned could and should be frequently viewed on the dynamic wall in her room.