Blue Summer

Chapter 22: The Seoul conundrum

Ibuki woke up late at night when all his roommates were sleeping soundly. He exited his bed and approached one of the room's two windows. The window was barred. He peeped through it and found the place eerily empty and silent. His horror rose even more when he saw two bodies being taken out of the building and thrown into the forest for the predators to eat. He fell in terror and held his face. He took heavy breaths before deciding to go back to sleep. However, the chilling scene left him wide awake, and he could not sleep again.

Early morning the next day, heavy banging sounds woke up the captives. Ibuki was sitting upright in his bed as the rest of his roommates woke up. One of them, a young boy, asked, shivering, "What is happening?"

Ibuki replied, his head down, "Only if I knew."

There was a knock on the door of their room, followed by a voice, "Get up and get ready! Out in thirty minutes!"

The room became chaotic as the five people struggled to decide who would enter the washroom first. A fight broke between two of the boys, and having had enough of the drama, Ibuki got up and shouted at them, "Stop! Up and apart! Now!"

The boys drifted apart and stood with their heads down. Ibuki looked about at the five teenagers for a moment and then spoke, pointing at the only girl in the room, "You! Go in first! Take no more than five minutes if you can."

The girl went in, and then Ibuki turned to the four boys, "Names and age?"

One of them, a weak-looking boy, short and thin, answered, "Jo-Hyun. 13."

Then another spoke. This boy was better in shape, but his under-eyes were dark, probably due to his lack of sleep. He was slightly taller than Jo-Hyun. "Ji-Bok. 15."

Then another one replied. This one was, so far, the fittest of the four boys. His hair was dark black and long till his shoulders. He was also the rudest of the bunch, "Miyon. 16."

At last spoke the last of the boys. He was taller than the rest but was weak. "O-Jin. 14."

Ibuki then spoke in a commanding manner, "Every day it is now. The girl will be the first to enter the washroom, followed by Jo-Hyun, O-Jin, Ji-Bok, Miyon, and then me. Is it clear?"

The boys nodded their heads and lined up according to Ibuki's instructions. That day, though, Ibuki had already freshened up, so he didn't need to go to the washroom. Once everyone was done, it had already been twenty-five minutes. Everyone dressed up in the remaining five minutes and was out of the room in the given time.

As they lined up outside their rooms, waiting for further instructions, Ibuki turned to the girl and asked, "What is your name?"

"Woshi," she replied meekly.

Ibuki put his arm around her and said, "It will be fine. You remind me of my sister. Her name is Maki."

Woshi smiled in response.

Right then, ten men clad in grey-white suits holding guns came and stood in front of the lined captives. A man, seemingly some doctor, came following them. He wore a white coat, a black neck and trousers. He was holding some papers. He looked at the young captives keenly and smiled at them. Rather than making them feel better, the smile irked and confused them.

"I will call out the names of a few people. Please line up next to me."

The doctor went on to call out various names. All these people came and stood next to him. Then he pointed at them, hinting at following him. Once they left, the rest were directed to what seemed to be a dystopian eatery. They were given food, already served on their plates and ready at their designated eating spot. The eating was monitored. No dish was allowed to be left uneaten. Each person was given food according to their dietary needs. They were given about an hour and a half to finish their breakfast.