Half and Half

Part 1 - School

It started with just the simple stuff. Name-calling, stealing his pencils, a little shove in the lunch line. Minhyun Zain didn't care about being called things like 'half-and-half' and 'Drachman' He didn't care because it was true. He was half Drachman. There was nothing he could do to change that, his father wasn't going to suddenly become Xingese. And the fact that he was the only spy-in-training at his regular school didn't help either. Everyone thought he was a spy for another, foreign country. "They're so stupid," He thought. "How could I possibly be trained in Xing to be a spy for another country?" But what else could he expect from 8-year-olds whose only source of information was their low-ranked fathers and classmates. Not that his teachers at the spy school told him anything, but he did manage to overhear some things from them. Drachma was becoming increasingly hostile and a war was likely to begin in the next few years. Minhyun was going to be part of this war, he was sure of it. He would make his mark and show everyone that he was loyal to Xing, and Xing alone. Minhyun turned onto the road leading to his house and thought about how the kids at his regular school were going a bit beyond what they had been doing before. Some kid with a rich military father had punched him today and he had no idea why. Well, he did have an idea. It was probably because Minhyun had beaten his mile time and the kid couldn't stand the fact that a half-breed had beaten him. At recess the next day, 5 boys, including the rich kid from the day before, dragged Minhyun behind the stairs that lead to the upper platform where no teacher could see them. "Look what we've caught today boys, " said the rich kid. "It's the spy from Drachma." His friends laughed. "I think we need to show him that you don't mess with the future leaders of Xing, what do you think?"

"Yeah he doesn't know his place." said one of his friends. The rich kid scoffed and punched Minhyun square in the face. He grabbed him by his shirt and kneed him. One of his friends, a tall kid with a mole on his right hand kicked Minhyun and repeatedly punched him. They kept it up until the bell rang. "Don't tell a single soul about this or else," said the rich kid as he left. There wasn't really a need to threaten him. Minhyun wouldn't have told on him anyways because it wouldn't really do anything. That rich kid's father gave a lot of money to the school and he always received special treatment from the staff. The word of a half-and-half wasn't going to do anything to him. "If I just keep silent they might just stop," thought Minhyun, though he didn't really believe himself. It kept up for the next few weeks, everyday at recess they'd drag him behind the stairs and beat him up until they were content. Eventually, Minhyun just went to the stairs himself at the start of recess and waited for them to show up. It kept up for months, and the only thing pushing Minhyun forward was his sister, Mi Joo, and his friend from spy school, Daehwi. He always ranted to Daehwi about his troubles with the rich kids, and Mi Joo always bandaged him up after he came home. The rich kid's torments continued, and soon enough, a year had passed. His beloved sister had just died and the rich kids gave him a break, but not for long. A week after she died they were back at it. Minhyun was doing well in spy school and it was the only thing pushing him forward, along with Daehwi. He had to complete spy school and do great things for his country. He had to show the rich kids that he wasn't just a half-Drachman wannabe spy. Another year passed. Two more years. Minhyun was 12 years old and had graduated spy school 13 years earlier than most.

He was a sergeant under Colonel Frank Archer and was dispatched to spy on different people across the country. Daehwi had also graduated early, at the age of 19. He was serving under Brigadier General Bu. Minhyun was still required to go to regular school, but only for a few hours. Most days he wasn't at recess and the rich kids had taken to coming to the forest behind his house where he trained afterschool to mess with him. One day he happened to be at recess and the rich kids dragged him behind the stairs again. "It's time," thought Minhyun. "Time to end this." The leader of the rich kids, Joshua, who was 2nd Lieutenant Baws' son, tried to grab his shirt but Minhyun stepped out of the way and the kid fell to the ground. "You're gonna pay for that half and half," screamed the kid. He got up and tried to punch him but Minhyun grabbed his arm and sent him straight into the wall. Two other kids came at him and Minhyun jumped up and kicked them both in the heads. He knocked another one to the ground and kicked the last one into the leader, who was starting to get up. They both fell and Minhyun said, "Don't mess with me." He left them sitting on the ground, gawking at him. "There'll be hell to pay for this," thought Minhyun. An hour later, the vice principal came in and told him to come with her. Minhyun walked with her to the office, where the 5 rich kids and their fathers were waiting. Minhyun's parents were there too, his mother in particular was glaring at him. "Great, absolutely wonderful," thought Minhyun scornfully.