Blood Diamonds

Chapter 1- Birdie is flying home, everything will be okay.

To, _luvlisa, spam the world with love all you want.
August 11th, 2018

Today was the day that my life was altered into something I had never imagined five months ago.  This road began at the route from Vancouver to Tofino. I had just graduated Gayle East Highschool with nothing more than a piece of paper, a toothbrush and a pack of cigarettes in my backpack. My aunt, my only family kicked me out of her home, as she couldn't afford the thought of me living with her. The drugs left her in debt. All I had in my pockets were a one-way ticket to CSOR and some slightly torn up dollar bills. The CSOR is the Canadian Special Operations Regiment. Basically, the special forces. Back then, (5 months isn't a long time, but when you have nothing it is extremely long), I didn't have anything left for me. I was accepted into multiple universities but none could pay for all my necessities, so this was all that was left for me. I completed multiple tests with exceptional results. It was decided that they would finance my education if I majored in Korean due to the lack of Canadian Special Forces Officers that spoke Korean.  At least that's why I thought. So here I am. On an aircraft, flying 30000 feet in the air at around 930 kph to Seoul, Korea. Breathe, Serena, breathe. Feeling the sandwich making its way up my throat, I hurtled to the bathroom, almost stumbling over some ladies bag of empty baby bottles. I waved my right hand in apology and covered my mouth with my left. I'm left-handed. I gripped the doorknob and pushed the door, falling straight on the toilet. Shutting the door and locking it, I braced myself for the heap of tears to come. I threw up.  *Papa, où es-tu?*
  I bit into my hoodies sleeve to stop the whimpering sounds, but that did nothing and only caused it to become wet and soggy. With a high IQ, with a scholarship to SNU, was this all I had to live for?  A career? Friendless, familyless and now boyfriendless, I had nothing but a certificate and an uncertain future. Dad would be proud, right? Whoever he is or was, he would be happy, right? Tell me, mom. The mirror reflected a peach doll with rivers of black dripping mascara. She wiped the clown makeup off and gargled some water. She was me. I looked like a matryoshka. One of those Russian dolls. Black hair, peachy skin and red wine lips. My eyes were apparently like my dads, green like the Tuscany fields. I wiped the tears off my face for him. I'm almost there.  I feel it coming.

The plane landed and I finally stood on Korean ground. Finally rid of that "plane" stench, full of chemicals and millions of shared microbes. Today was foggy and cloudy. First impression, not that great. I was introduced to a man called Park So Man, So Myeon, I don't know, he spoked in a mumbly, strong Asian accent kind of tone, and pronounced Park as Pak. He was apparently ordered to drive me to the Korean National Intelligence Service Unit. That's where I would be given my basic training introduction and my first task. We drove in silence, even though I was one of those chattery types of people, Mr. Pak didn't seem to care for it. As you wish. I watched cars and marble buildings, people cycling, babies laughing, people of different nationalities, but the mountains, the mountains were heavenly. They were like glorious beasts, city or no city, they would never move. The fog disappeared and now the sun was heating the people's skin. We stopped by a tall, glassy building, this wasn't the NIS. Something stirred in my stomach. 
"This is an agency for Special Forces Officers," Mr. Pak explained. I argued, explaining that I was ordered to be sent to the NIS. The man got easily annoyed and almost pushed me to the door. He explained that recruits have to be sent here first and that my luggage would be waiting for me in my dorm. Mr. Pak didn't give in to my arguments, simply got in the car and left. I tried to catch up but failed, left looking like a dumb foreigner to hundreds of Koreans. Great, first day and the only Korean who knows me, already hates me. A car sped by, splattering a muddy puddle all over my black jeans. I cursed at them, sighing. Korea just loves me.  I gave up and walked into the building. An elegant lady with silky ink hair sat at the registration table. I gazed up to see blue and white coloured glass floors and people in suits walking back and forth with furrowed brows. I instantly felt out of touch and regretted coming in. The lady's eyes glanced at me and a soft smile was shot upon her face. She glided to me in  her stripy suit and called, "Miss Serena Santorius?" I exploded with joy knowing I wasn't completely lost and somewhere I was supposed to be. I managed to do a half-ass bow, apparently, this was Korean etiquette. She seemed glad that I made the gestures and repeated one to me. We shook hands and she introduced herself as Kim Bo Ra, she spoke with a slight accent that you could barely notice. Seemingly, my new supervisor was a man known as Shi Hyun Gi, dear lord, please let me pronounce his name right. She led me to the elevator and left me. I hated elevators, why couldn't I insist on taking the stairs? 6 Floors are walkable. The bell dinged and the silver doors opened.  I walked a few steps, why did I wear chucks? I looked back to see if I hadn't left any footsteps, this was in my favour. I knocked on the marble second door, she said second, didn't she? Oh, dear lord. I waited, looking around. Are they trying to make a Korean version of Emerald City? The door was pulled open, and my mouth dropped in shock. I swiftly pulled my face together and placed a crooked smile. Not the cute kind of crooked but a literal crooked smile. The man wasn't amused. He had slick black hair and strong features on his face and Edward Cullen glares, jeez, man. His suit was tight on his slim body and seemed like his lungs needed a good breath in. The man said nothing and gestured for me to sit in the chair, I hopped on it, hands pressed together like a rabbit. He sat opposite me, I dared not to let myself wander but at the corner of my eye, I could see his office was very minimalistic. Everything was sleek, modern, and gray coloured. 
   "So, you are Miss Santorius, correct? I am Shi Hyun Gi, your supervisor." I nodded.
   "You scored one of the highest scores when you completed your test in CSOR, you understand that, right?"
   "So they say," his eyes shot from his clipboard to me, he hadn't expected a reply. I dropped my eyes to my hands. He made a tsk sound and continued. 
   "Seoul National University is arguably one of the best schools in Korea, dare I say in all of Asia, your scholarship is being financed, please, take note and do not let that get over your head."
 Gulp.
   "You will be unable to complete your training in the NIS, due to schooling and basic transport, so you will be sent to this address by your driver Mr. Park. every 2 days and will visit me every 4 days for an update interview. You'll inform me of your studies with the Korean language and your training. Speaking of which, your first task is to train for the Mascarade charity event, that will be held in the Opera Gallery," he added with a firm tone, handing me multiple cards with addresses.
   "My first task is to be a guard at a charity event?" Not exactly overwhelming. His face got more irritated each second. I should shut up now, high IQ yet no social skills. 
   "The mascarade charity gala event will auction a 7 million US dollar neckless and will be hosted by the worldwide famous group BTS, don't feel underappreciated, Miss Santorius."
   "Who?" Mr angry suit looked dazed and then of course vexed. His model-like faced crumpled into The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  1, 2, 3, Now I'm going to get it. I'll be fired and my career is over. Just get it over with. The door was pushed in, a male walked in, I could tell by the silhouette of the shadow that the person was 5, 10 ft. 5, 11 at most. A soft, yet deep voice with a slight femininity to it excused himself in Korean. I turned my head to see this voice that reminded me of spring. I felt weightless in my chair. My arms weren't there anymore, it was just the sight in front of me that was more than oxygen. A young man, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, the same age as me, stood there, fragile and graceful like an ice statue. I could hear Mr. Shi Hyung Gi suck in a breath. He dropped to a low bow, stunned for a second I did too. The young man returned a bow, his black blazer and pants crumpled a little but his white shirt still seemed fresh and new. Unlike Mr. Tight pants over here, this young man was wearing mostly clothes that had been tailored oversized. His hair was oak tree brown and cut like the famous Korean hairstyle that a lot of men wear. Some hair parted in the middle of his pale face but most of it fell on his monolid eyes and softly arched brows. He had gentle dark brown eyes but in the light, they were the colour of caramel. They were eyes you could bathe in. My eyes traced the rest of him, his nose was small and slightly curved, unlike my linear and bold nose filled with freckles. His lips were beautifully pink and round, with a perfect cupid's bow. Again, I compared them to my red, and barely full ones. Sometimes my top lip looked bigger than the bottom, sometimes the other way. My face did odd things sometimes. I also took notice of how his chin was small and round yet when he set his face straight, he had an undeniable strong jaw that was held by a thin yet equally strong neck. I tilted my head in wonder and almost jumped out of my skin when Mr. Shi turned into the happiest Oompa Loompa I've ever seen. I simply stared at Mr. Shi bow two, three times, to the young man. Who was he? Was he a model? An actor? I knew K- Drama's were popular but I wouldn't bow to an actor the number of times Mr. Shi did. I couldn't understand what my supervisor was saying, as he couldn't keep his goddamn cool, but I could understand that the man was called Jeon Jungkook, or something of that sort. So the statue had a name, of course, he did, but it was strange to place a name on someone like him. Serena, you can't come to Korea and like the first guy you instantly see. Well, he's not the first guy that you've seen all day. It's strange though, all my life, I haven't found one soul I've found attractive but here comes beautiful Mr. Jeon and now I'm liking him. Even my ex-boyfriend, Matt, only dated me so I would lose my virginity to him.
 I bit the side of my lip to stop me from saying something stupid. Mr. Shi introduced me as one of his recruits, he assured him that I would be a good... trainee? No, bodyguard? Security? Wait, was this one of the hosts? Oh dear god. Jeon Jungkook locked his brown curved eyes to mine, giving me a sweet smile. All I could think of was those Japanese blossom trees. His lips were that colour. He slowly clasped my cold hand into his soft, warm clasp, stunned for a minute, I beamed back, holding onto his hand a second too long. I was in Korea, but I was staring at a blossom tree in Japan.