The Secret World of Kpop 2: Kpop School

Sports, Talents and Arts Center of Korea, Seoul

              Arriving today by bus and wearing sweat pants, June Young, the Dragon Girl, remembered the last time she came in with Hanna Boyles the Seagirl, as two dozen pretty plastic surgery models came and went to become idol-secret agents back then. She remembers calling it an idol factory, but the reality proved different. The lobby had been refurbished since, looking like the set of a Kpop music video with all its vibrant colors and decor, and the receptionist was a different person too, but her face was still too similar to the standard beauty template. The receptionist looks up from her Hearthstone game on her mobile towards the arrival.
               
"Annyeonghaseyo, Ja-eun. You're late...You know it's the first day." She chirped, flashing the regular a smile even as she gives June a slight reprimand. June returned the smile politely. "Ah... I'm sorry..." She said, picking up the pace and heading deeper into the Center, past the training halls of regular agents towards the far more secure metahuman wing.

Past ID and biometric scanner guarded doors, the interior decor was severely toned down and the interior much more clinical. Several children, young teens and young adults in dress uniforms were heading to respective rooms for their class.

"Have the instructors arrived yet?" Dragon Girl approached one young korean girl in glasses, thin and wiry but with a deep intellect in her eyes.

"Who're you?" She looked at June with a rather disdainful expression, seeing her sweat pants and jacket clashing with her formal coat uniform.

"Jae-Un Yong, Dragon Girl... nice to meet you." June extended a hand to shake, but it was mostly overlooked.

"Oh? Dragon Girl? Never heard of you. I have to go, i have important things to do. Being a hero has many responsibilities you know. Our country is counting on us." She then walks away without even excusing herself from the conversation.

"...okaaaay." June was flabbergasted. It seemed the newest crops of metahumans were little bratty half-pints. She shrugs it off and heads to the metahuman gym, to work on her super-strength training with the help of a gravity room.

And with a final push of her finger, Bliss got the last bit of damage in to beat the sixth Quest Rogue in a row. If she queued up now, she could probably play another six in a row. It never crossed Bliss' mind complaining when playing the exact same deck came across as hypocritical, but Bliss still felt the need to point out the audacity as she walked to the gym.

"I still don't see why you needed to come." Danny held on to the towel around her shoulders. She wore a pink tank top with black yoga pants stopping just under her knee. She kept her hair pulled back in a loose pony tail. "I've got this under control. I'm going to meet up with June. Then, we'll find out what is up with this place."

"I'm just here so stuff goes right, okay." Bliss never took her eyes off the phone screen. Bliss wore a pair of blue shorts with a black track jacket. For the mean time her hair remained around her shoulders, not great for visibility, but her hair looked particularly good today.

A girl just shy of six feet walked away from a familiar tall girl, stepping over to look Danny in the eyes. "Oh, I think you'd be prettier with blue eyes."

"Oh." Danny darted her eyes over to Bliss and her chuckle. "Well, I'll be sure to change genetic makeup of India to make that happen."

"Oh please, there's gotta be something with blue eyes in you." With her eyes still on the phone screen, Bliss refused to take physical part of the critique. "You're clearly not trying hard enough."

Danny tapped Bliss' screen, selecting her opening hand, then choosing to mulligan each of the cards. "Oops. There goes perfect curve." A surprise came to Danny's eyes. "June! How are you?"

That portion of the gym June was using, had special equipment to simulate high gravity. On a touchscreen panel, she adjusted the settings to "Dragon Girl" level, switched on the G's and a lighted perimeter warned all comers that the field was now active. She visibly strained to walk towards a modestly loaded barbell, and powers through a deadlift, then an overhead press. "Nyeaaarggh!" Then She puts it down without dropping, because she's not some cross-fit bro.

Her training thus paraphrased and abbreviated, June's attention turned to the new arrivals, a pleasant surprise. She was not expecting to see her old friend here... or Bliss.

Toweling off, Dragon Girl gave her friend a seven foot tall hug, while shook the hand of the older lady.

"...Danny! What brings you to Korea? Exchange program?" June asked, gulping down some high gravity water and choked on it slightly.

Danny found herself lifted off the ground in the bear armed grasp of June. "Something like that. Bliss is here for some reason, but I'm here to see just what goes on at Pop Idol School." Once back on her feet, Danny backed up as Bliss accepted the polite handshake. "Bliss, put the phone away or I will tank your ELO."

"Try it, cheerleader. We're here to find out what exactly is going on here, because frankly, this is weird." Bliss put her cell phone in the pocket of her track jacket.

"It's a little strange seeing as none of these girls look athletic at all." Danny hopped a little with both feet. "I mean, a bunch of 5 foot 10 girls who all weigh 90 pounds aren't exactly holding Thermopylae."

"A bunch of 5 foot ten girls who weigh 90 pounds would lose a match to getting the lid off of a jar of mayonnaise." Bliss let her eyes wander, seeing nothing but skinny girls training in ways one would assume would break them. Instead they continued to outperform what would otherwise be tasks too difficult for men of great strength. "So, what is going on here?"

While most agents at the center were human, there were also metahuman operatives. Like, a little Fox Girl running the platforms above the gym, weaving through obstacles. After vaulting over a clothesline and rolling onto a narrow beam, She waved at June and continued. June waved back. It was the Gumiho she and Seagirl rescued awhile back. If Misaki could be a 'lil Fox Girl and be a good guy, she'd be here. Hurray for continuity nods.

"South Korea has put into law that Korean metahumans are to serve in the armed forces... so, here I am. The... pop idol thing is really just a cover, plus it helps teach metahumans public relations." Dragon Girl gave Danny the gist of it. "Me and Seagirl came here once, too. We even have a picture at the cafeteria..." June made some small talk, speaking with pride for past accomplishments.

After that, June stared blinkingly at Danny for a few seconds. "So... um... you want a tour? A bite to eat? our cafeteria serves Korean and pan asian cuisine." She invited them, secretly concerned as well. June was not known for her investigative skills- she was better known for turning into a dragon and smashing skills. Still, there was alot more activity now at the Center, and it had been at least a couple of years since she'd been away.

"A tour sounds like a good place to start, but I got somewhere else to go. Where's the administration wing?" Bliss started to walk towards the nearest hallway. "Oh, and never brag about knowing Seagirl again. I have so little respect for her I lose it for everyone in the vicinity."

"I feel like our tour just got more pleasant." Danny watched as Bliss took her leave. "Food sounds good, but what facilities are all here?" The low gravity areas and sparring rooms all looked as high tech as possible. Not a single piece of equipment looked antiquated in the slightest. Taking advantage of the facilities would help Danny in the long run, but she did need to stay focused.

"Just between me and you, have you heard anything odd lately?" Danny surveyed the room to make sure no one was around. "Infiltrators or saboteurs? Kidnappers or spies? I think this place might be in danger."

BLISS

The gym would be part of the lifestyle wing where lots of pretty girls and hunky dudes, normies and metahuman alike go for physical training, physiotherapy and getting their supplements. It was a creepy Kpop thing, having so many artificially attractive people under one roof, some acknowledging Bliss with a perfect smile as they passed her by. Signs in Korean and English conveniently point the way to the connecting hallways and lobbies. There wasn't much in the way of visible security but there was an abundance of CCTV cameras.

The Administrative Wing would be an office on the upper-most floors, however only accessible by the Administrative types via secure elevator. Bliss's first obstacle would be a Biometric scanner at the elevator's call panel.

The mechanical voice chirped in Korean as the scanner's sensors sensed Bliss. "Unauthorized entry. Please contact administrator for assistance."

DANNY AND DG

June was not happy to hear that a cloud of suspicion had fallen on the facility, but she was not unfamiliar with treachery either. "...But, the Center is one of the most secure spots in the country right now." June said, but didn't sound convinced. but then again, she wasn't naive. The Center had undergone tons of changes, and there were easily a thousand new faces here.

"We should go for a walk then." June said and turned off the gravity field. She led Danny around the rest of the wellness center, where all operatives' health were monitored. Alot of faces came and went, some human, some metahuman. Energy users, magic users, super strong and super tough beings, and other more exotic powers, were being closely monitored.

Rather than follow Bliss's route and head into the main hall connecting to the rest of the facility, June leads Danny to the cafeteria. Aside from food, there was also a supplement store nearby to help balance agents' diets. Seagirl's picture stuffing her face with Bulgogi was hung on the wall.

June grabbed a tray and put some snacks on it, pastries from the confections shelf. Then a pot of Earl Grey tea. "Still. This is a big place. Where should we start looking?"

Bliss looked down to her phone, checking a quick notification. Following the signs as they popped up gave Bliss no problem, nor did anyone seem to take any interest what so ever in her as she strode through the hall. The stillness gave her time to adjust to the cameras all taking stock of her. For a moment Bliss stopped, took out her phone, and checked to make sure her appearance remained in order. Yeah.

She kept moving to the elevator. Mechanically, she was told of her barred entry. Then, Bliss did something about it.

Her phone scanned the wireless settings around the area, looking for some signals not present on a factory setting detector. A number listings with letters and numbers ran across her screen. The stronger the signal, the closer the terminal, and one listing rose above the others. With a quick change in the inner coding, Bliss gave herself quick access to the elevator. And up she went.

Danny helped herself to a plate of dak galbi while sitting across from June. "The most secure places are always tempting to people who know how to get inside. If this place is secure, it can be secure for whomever knows how to crack it. And, they also know how to put up the defenses once they take over."

Any idea Danny could come up with would help, but all Danny could think about was how out of place she looked. Not next to the giant dragon girl, but next to the incredibly skinny and tall models walking around. Anyone keeping tabs on newcomers would know of Danny's arrival by now. Also, Bliss. No matter how vane Bliss might act, the five foot five woman would not be walking any runways soon.

"Bliss is taking care of the administration areas. I have no idea what she is doing, but that's one place we don't need to be." Danny looked to her phone. Oddly enough her partner Tsukimi stood just south of five foot ten with a very slender frame. Her Japanese heritage would definitely be noticed, but not as quickly as Danny's. "I've got backup, but I don't know if we need it. Not here at least. I think Bliss is going to try and find something computer based, so we should try to figure out what the morale of this place is like. How long have you been here and what do you know about the other students here?"

BLISS

The elevator whisked Bliss up at record speed, climbing the forty or so odd floors to the secure administration offices. She arrived at a pristine elevator lobby, where the marble tiles were so shiny Bliss could make out her blurry face in the floor.

Up ahead was the entrance to the administration wing. A receptionist was positioned to receive anyone with an appointment or any of the regular employees working here, of which Bliss was neither.

Meanwhile, off to the side and past another hallway, a sign indicated the office's means of destressing. There were "arcade room" "snack room" and the "Puppy / kittens / Guinea pigs room." Wonderful diversions, to be sure, and a couple of younger female admin staff were on their way there right now.

"I heard they got a couple of new British shorthairs and a basset hound today!" They conversed, looking forward to playing with said animals.

DANNY and DG

"When we came here years back, they were laying the groundwork for agents who trained as idols as a cover." She looked around as she started disclosing sensitive info. Indeed, these weren't ordinary idols in training- people were armed. Come to think of it she wondered how Danny got in, in the first place.

"But now they've expanded the facilities to accomodate plenty of Korean metahumans..." Dragon Girl paused.  "See, for a long while North Korea actually had a better program than us. Better in the sense... they made more metahumans."

"Most of these kids are actually defectors... rescued from the North." Dragon Girl paused for dramatic effect. She didn't mean to, but somehow she ended up coming out with a semi-shocking revelation. "Including myself. So... yeah. Sounds like a great idea. Bringing a bunch of former North Korean metahuman babies under a roof with South Korean ones, huh?"

June took a moment to think what else to say, but that didn't mean the chocolate cake in front of her went neglected.

At the lunch line an unusual sight, but one so subtle and unremarkable it would take specific mention to notice. Two metahumans had went for seconds, and extra dessert, clearly going overboard with their calorie intake not befitting skinny Kpop idols with eating disorders. Also, these two had been watching Dragon Girl since she came in.

Bliss did not give a shit. About whatever. The curl of her lip; the flick of her wrist; the lack of a combo enabler to get the fourth minion played that game to get Caverns enabled. None of it.

Now, anyone getting in her way would get nothing more than a lack of acknowledgement as she strode by to the secretarial desk. Feigning formality, Bliss would inform the girl behind the desk of her arrival. She knew her name would not be there, but she wanted the girl to check. Once she checked, Bliss would do her magic by reaching over the deck, taking the girl's keyboard, and entering her name. "Looks like I'm next. Cool right?"

A door cracked open and a voice crept out. "Miss Fukuyama?"

"Dr. Fukuyama to you." Bliss was not a doctor. Of anything. At all. "Do I know you?" Bliss rose one eyebrow as she walked towards the door leading to an undisclosed office.

"So North Korea makes lots of metas? I can see why that would be an issue." Danny watched how the idols walked around, trying to find out which of the idols defected and which came from the pristine country to the South. "It's good nothing too bad has happened between those countries if North Korea keeps losing heroes to the South."

"If you're North Korean, it explains why those idols we fought in California were going to take you back. I figured they just heard about you and wanted to do the espionage thing of kidnapping. That magician was kinda creepy though. I remember that lead idol defected too. Hmm."A well of memories sprung to Danny's mind, reminding her of adventures she could vividly retain with the beginnings and middles, but sometimes the endings were a little blurry.

BLISS!

Bliss walked in on a not-so closed door meeting between a pair of nerdy korean soldiers and a panel of four older korean soldiers, who looked important and recurring. The intelligence officers were giving a presentation with laser pointers and lots of satellite photos.

In formal Korean they delivered a harrowing report. "...According to our observers at the border this town by the DMZ has seen a sharp reduction in its child population in the past months."

"Are they conscripting? is it starvation?"

"Not likely sir. The town has no strategic importance, and it has a stable food supply... there's been eye witness accounts of strange lights visiting the town at night and-" That was the pause when the people in the closed room briefing noticed Bliss.

"...Who are you? Do you have clearance to be here?" The oldest looking general asked Bliss.

DANNY!

Those two girls at the other table were obsessing over all the abundant food of this decadent capitalist society. Especially the sweets. And the meat. But they were also nervous, their time critical mission demanding they control their impulses.

"That's her, isn't it? and her friend from Los Angeles like you said! Go talk to her." said Torii, a smaller North Korean girl with red highlights in her hair.

"I... I can't! We fought, and I ended up stabbing her. She's going to hit me." said the bigger girl, another recurring character from Danny and June's days as LA superheroes. Cheong-whashername- was wearing a hoodie sweater. Scars covered her supposedly invulnerable skin, her power stolen from the young lady at the other table.

"Cheong, this is important. She might be the only one who could help us now."

"Right..." They take a deep breath and gather up their courage.


"Anyway, it's different now as a soldier than my days as Dragon Girl. I mean, there's so much paperwork and-" June's conversation with Danny was interrupted when a blast from the past showed up at her not-so-secret academy.

"...Please don't hit us!" Was her first plea. June stood up from her bench immediately, her fists clenched.

"You!" June gritted her teeth, looking like she was ready to Dragon Out from the get go.