A/N: It was my intention for this chapter to be short. You know what they say about short dresses... they could reveal so much.

“I wonder what exactly happened inside the bathroom.”

“Only they would know. But I’m sure it was something good, eonnie.”

“Them in couple sweaters though... I didn’t think SinB would go as far as becoming a sweet cornball.”

“Haha! But Yerin-eonnie agreeing to wear it was what really surprised me! I wanted to tease them so bad but I held it in. Good thing you dragged me out of the room. So, that was SinB’s idea??”

“It certainly wouldn’t have been Yerin’s. But yeah, I was listening to Umji and SinB talk about it. It was Umji who found them in her car and brought them in.”

“That’s cute of her to do… Tsk. I hope I could find a SinB for myself.”

“I’m sure there’s someone there who will be crazier than you.” Sowon flashed a mocking smile.

“I know right.” The other girl responded totally missing the humor. “It’s just sad that I have to stop flirting now. I kind of enjoyed it.”

“For all I know, you weren’t just acting when you flirted with her. But I think it’s better if you wait for SinB to talk to you before you stop your very realistic wooing stint. But yeah, I guess our work is done.”

“But honestly, eonnie, we didn’t have to do anything; they liked each other since day one.” The younger girl admitted. “That worked to our advantage.”

“I think your presence pushed them toward each other more.”

“Or pushed them to the edge?”

“That too.”

“But eonnie, I must admit that I really liked SinB. I mean, I instantly had a crush on her, that day you introduced her to us. But when you spoke to me about Yerin-eonnie, and how this might not happen again this century, I was just willing to let it go.”

“Thank you for yielding to my request. Although sometimes I feel guilty about it.”

“Don’t be, eonnie. Like I said, we didn’t do anything. They just found their way to each other. I think, me approaching SinB was just the trigger for the both of them to wake up and make a move.”

“… And to wake up to the possibility of losing each other.”

“Like you and Eunha now. I hope you’ve finally woken up too.”

“Shut up.”

“But seriously, it’s not like we had to play cupid and set them up on a date or trap them in one room to talk. We didn’t have to go that far. It only took me a few hugs, flowers, a confession and a gift, which I was more than willing to give SinB anyway, to reach Yerin-eonnie’s threshold.”

“It doesn’t seem so bad if I look at it that way.”

“Besides, Umji may have done more for them, and she doesn’t even know about your plan. So, don’t feel at fault.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“But just heads up, eonnie, if they don’t work out, I’d take SinB any time. Haha! I won’t just stay on the sidelines if that happened. Yerin-eonnie better keep her in her pocket for safekeeping if she really wants her.”

“Yah, let’s hope they work out.” But in Sowon’s mind, she knew that the worst challenge for SinB and Yerin has yet unveiled itself. And time could only tell when SinB will be ready to take a step further and reveal her identity.

“And without anyone getting shot?” Yuju jested while playing with the metal pole she’s been unconsciously pushing around for her leader. Sowon would have laughed at her if only Eunha was not actually shot and is now on a hospital bed still battling to regain consciousness.

“But Yuju-yah, swear to me that you will take this to your grave, or else Yerin will not be able to forgive us.”

“Even if I really believe that we didn’t do anything, of course, I can’t reveal this to Yerin-eonnie. I’m not stupid to get myself killed!”

“Well, sometimes I doubt that.” Sowon smirked. “I’m just kidding. Wow, this was the most logical conversation I’ve had with you in years.”

“Which conversation?”

“Never mind.”

* * *

“Hello, Sowon-ssi?”

“Boss, the plan was to protect SinB and help her change her mind. I have done what I could without revealing her identity to anyone. But certain things didn’t happen the way we planned.”

“We did not anticipate many things. I apologize.”

“Now, Umji knows about her past. And Yerin has been targeted by the academy. They planned to shoot her dead. We would have lost her if only Eunha wasn’t there.” An obvious crack in her voice when she mentioned Eunha made her pause for a moment.

“Umji discovering it was something no one would have predicted. The instructions were clear. To erase the file, but she instead retrieved them. But I can’t say it was all unfortunate, because it was also how we knew that SinB was being searched by her father. So, the information Umji intercepted was still crucial to us. But I have to admit that I have yet known how and why Yerin has become a target.”

“Boss JD, I can’t protect SinB if my members are being taken down. These people are my family, it’s becoming personal for me too! It’s hard enough that we’re doing this, but it has become harder since the rest of us don’t know the real reason why we were hired.”

“I get you, and it’s difficult on my part too that both SinB and my daughter are on the blindside. All I’ve told Eunseo was that I am planning to take everyone out of Korea including her.”

“If they have attacked one of us, who knows who else they’ve uncovered. Taking us out of the country is not a solution. And besides, some of us have families and lives here apart from this job!”

“You said so yourself that we don’t know who else they have identified. What other option do we have other than erasing your existence in Korea?”

“I don’t know, Boss JD, I’m trying to be composed in front of everyone but it’s becoming tough hiding everything from them. And now, I’m putting Yuju in a compromising situation, singlehandedly investigating on this.”

“Umji and SinB know about the academy targeting Yerin, but if we make an uncalculated move, it might be more detrimental to everyone’s identities. For now, I’ll be providing security until we figure something out. I might have to disclose everything to Eunseo soon, she’s the only one who can help me influence SinB’s actions.”

“And I don’t think it’s still possible to change SinB’s mind now. Especially that she knows that it’s her father’s doing that Yerin was almost ambushed; she’d all the more be determined to finish what she started.”

“That’s my fear too. The situation has blown out of proportion and so, I have taken the liberty of reaching out to a few powerful people who could help us. And apparently, they were also financially harassed by the academy and now are willing to be of assistance.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“We are currently finding a way to hack into the academy’s system without eliciting suspicion. Once we’ve succeeded, we can go from there. I still don’t have anything concrete, but I will soon.”

“By the way, have you secured Yerin’s mother? She’ll probably want to see her when she gets to know that it was her who the academy wanted down.”

“After SinB knew about Yerin being the aim of the assault, she herself made arrangements for Yerin’s mother through my daughter. We’ve taken her to a secure location and her treatment will be done there. We’ve also instructed her not to contact her daughter for the time being.”

“Boss, I’m really worried about Yuju; can we at least involve Umji in this since she knows SinB’s true identity anyway? Those two won’t be able to fight as SinB and Yerin would, but at least they can be together in this.”

“I’ll devise a plan, Sowon-ssi. I will give you a call as soon as I’ve covered all the possible strategies, but for now we have to lie low. When Eunha wakes up, I will have everyone transported to the café basement until we know how to approach this.”

“But boss, two of my members go to the university, we have to find a way to keep them safely attending classes or have them stop completely.”

“I already have men doing surveillance to see if the academy’s tentacles and antennas have reached the university. We’ll surely have something in place to secure their safety if they decide to continue. Otherwise, we’ll need them to stop attending.”

“Things will be harder. All I know is that we need to tell them really soon.”