MINERVA

CHAPTER 3

Kim Ji Eun P.O.V.
When I heard Min Joon talking to me I calmed down. The images that kept repeating in my head faded away and I slowly opened my eyes. Min Joon was talking to me in Chinese and I felt my tensed muscles relaxing. My breathing became steadier and the shaking had stopped. Min Joon lifted me up and carried me to the studio. I laid my onto his chest and fell asleep.

About two weeks had passed since my last attack. Today was the first anniversary of Fighter's debut and I was sitting in the back of a club. All around me people in the entertainment business were dancing and drinking, seeing this party as an opportunity to go wild. As the night advanced some people left, those who have schedules the next day and didn't want to look all too tired. The members of Fighter had also headed home. Honestly, I was wondering why I was still there. I didn't drink, I hated clubs. While I was wondering a familiar face came to sit next to me. I smiled to my left and recognised Kwon Jiyong. I smiled at the guy who was obviously very drunk. He gave me a smile back. Cute. Kwon Jiyong grabbed something from his bag and then went outside. I don't know why I did that, but I decided to follow him. He went outside and tried to light a cigarette. I sighed. "Need help?" I asked him. The guy nodded and gave me his lighter. I took it and hid it away. "Yah," he said, "I thought you were going to help me?!" I sighed again and nodded. "I am helping you, the army will be hell for you if you don't quit smoking." He looked at me with a vague expression and squatted down. He stared straight ahead and I sat down next to him. "Ji Yong-ssi, shouldn't you go home?" Ji Yong turned around and looked at me. He smiled warmly and closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them again he looked at me. "You're cute," he said with a smile, "and I am very drunk." I laughed at him. "Only one of those is correct, and it's definitely not the one about me." He seemed to much out of this world to even understand a word of what I was saying. "Come on," I told him while helping him stand up, "I'll take you home."

Luckily Ji Yong had just a tiny bit of sense left, so he could tell me his address. Once inside his apartment I took off his shoes and pushed him towards his bedroom, or at least towards what I thought was his bedroom. Just before I dumped him on the bed I stole the cigarette's from his pocket. Ji Yong curled up on his bed, knocked out the moment his head touched his pillow. I took his bag and fished out two packages of Marlboro from the bottom. After that I left the room and searched the rest of his house for cigarettes.

Kwon Ji Yong P.O.V.
I woke up with a splitting headache. I sat up, confused as to how I had gone home the night before. I decided that before anything else I needed water and a coffee. There was a note in the kitchen. Curiously I walked towards it and also noticed a bottle of something that helps with hangovers. After taking a sip of that I felt better, and I looked at the note.

Hello Kwon Ji Yong,

You were pretty drunk last night, so I don't know if you remember but I thought it was a smart plan to drive you home. Please drink enough water, it'll help with your headache. Also, I have stolen all of your lighters and cigarettes. Trust me, once you join the army you will be very thankful for having stopped smoking. Cheer up, smoking is a bad habit. Have a nice day, don't exhaust yourself all too much and try to recover,
Until we meet again,
Goodbye,
Kim Ji Eun

I reread the note. I sighed and decided to just grab some breakfast and get to the studio.

Kim Ji Eun P.O.V.
I had arrived home late at night, so I wasn't in the greatest mood when I went down to the cafeteria for breakfast. I had slept at the same base for nearly 8 years, so all the staff were good friends of mine. I walked along the buffet, being greeted by people left and right. I bowed back lightly at all of them, to respect their ranks and for them to respect mine. At the last stop of the buffet there was an old woman, who could have easily been my mum. "Ahjumma!" I said happily. She smiled at me. "Why were you so late last night, one of the guards told me he had to open the gate for you at 4 AM?" She asked me, while giving me a massive amount of sidedishes. I smiled sheepishly. "Ahjumma, it was a party to celebrate Tae Joon having debuted a year ago." "Aigoo," the older woman said, "I'll cook him something delicious after breakfast, so make sure to pick it up and take it to him." I nodded, thanked her and went to sit down. When I sat down the people at my table rose and bowed, I shortly nodded my head and gestured for them to sit down. I had joined the army when I was only sixteen, wanting to escape from my parents and the life I was living. After two years I was asked to lead a new team within the special task forces, an offer I immediately took. I had spent the last eight years with that team, we were now nicknamed team Crazy, because we somehow always ended up with the most dangerous and weird missions.

While I was calmly eating my soup someone came to sit opposite me. I looked up to see Ji Sung. "Soldier Lee Ji Sung with your schedule for today ma'am." I swallowed and he handed me the papers. "Also," he said while stealing some of my food, "we wanted to watch the new Descendants of the Sun episode with everyone tonight, are you in?" I looked at my schedule to see what I was doing. A new group of mandatory service soldiers had just come in and they had requested me to also take this group. I sighed and looked back at Ji Sung. "I'll try to be there, but I can't promise anything. I've got new trainees." Ji Sung put on a face of disgust. "We seriously need to get ourselves some nice missions. It's getting boring here." I smiled weakly at him and he realised what he just said. "I am so sorry. I just forgot. Sorry Ji Eun." I waved his apologies away and told him to get himself some food. He obeyed and left me. I sighed and looked at my schedule once again. It was very boring. For the past 2 months I had only been allowed to do stupid little things like with the university, and I was very much looking forward to something exciting. My team had been even more bored, because I was their leader they were stuck in Korea. I sighed and realised that if my condition did not get better in the coming few months, I would have to let my team go.

A bit after breakfast I picked up the cake that our head chef had made. I grabbed an army vehicle and headed in to town, towards the YG building. I parked downstairs and walked up to the guards. Usually they would just let me in, they knew my face. I was just about to pass the guards when one of them put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me. "Sorry sir," he said "I am afraid you cannot go in without an appointment." I was confused for a second but then I realised I was wearing my entire uniform. My hair was mostly tucked under a cap and my stance was different because I was wearing big army boots and my uniform which also erased any curves. I turned to him and took of my cap. "No, I'm sorry. I should have realised I wasn't really recognisable. My name is Kim Ji Eun, and I am meeting my brother TaeJoon." The guard bowed and apologised once again, probably feeling very sorry for having called me sir, before letting me through. I took the lift upstairs and went to Tae Joon's studio. When I opened the doors I really wanted to disappear into the ground.

Kwon Ji Yong P.O.V.
I was alone in the studio, working on some lyrics. Because of the drink Kim Ji Eun had given me, my head was quite okay. I looked at the lyrics that had been flowing out of my pen. It had been a while since I wrote down a song so easily. When reading through the lyrics again it reminded me of someone, but I couldn't put my finger on it just yet. I sat down behind a keyboard and started to hit random chords to see if they matched the feel of the lyrics I had just written. Usually I rewrote lyrics at least several times before I was just a bit satisfied, but today the words seemed perfect.

After a while I had gotten very absorbed in trying to find the right melody to accompany the feelings I had written down. I decided to take a break, and just as I looked up someone opened the door. Upon seeing that persons face it hit me, I knew who this song was about.