(A/N: Yep.)

How could I have been so stupid?

The watch, of course, had a tracking device; this way, the Director could keep progress with each of his agents. He could see that IU had stayed in one location for far too long.

He'll find out about Sun Woo and Woo Young. Now that I've failed a mission, he'll go after them. He'll use them against me.

There was only one choice.

"The director will see you now," said Secretary BC, gesturing IU to her doom.

IU took a deep breath. She crumped her watch in her fist: It began to bleed.

She walked through the door.

The office looked the exact same as ever: Simple, clean, with a large mahogany desk and a few muted paintings hug on the bronze-colored walls.

The Director didn't even look up from his computer. "IU."

IU sat down in the nearest chair. "Director..."

"Do you know how many times a day I deal with failed agents, IU?" the Director asked; he still didn't look at her.

IU bit her lip. "Twice?" she guessed.

"Zero," the Director said. "Do you know why, IU?"

IU shifted uncomfortably. "N-no, Director..."

"Because I have a very selective process for choosing which agents to take in and which agents to reject." The Director leaned back, finally looking her in the eye. "Before this time, I was certain that I hadn't made a mistake in that department. Unfortunately, my girl, you seemed to just prove me wrong."

The disappointment in his voice punched IU in the stomach. "Director..."

The Director stood; his office chair rattled ominously. "IU, I am a very forgiving boss. Thus far, you've made around forty-three slip ups, six big mistakes, three irreversible mistakes, and now, one failed mission. There is not one mission that you have excelled at. There is not one mission where you've made me proud." He began to walk about the office in a leisurely fashion—a fashion that completely contrasted with his cold gaze and cold tone. "I will ask you, IU, as a director asking his subordinate agent and nothing more. What should I do?"

"I will ask you, IU, as a director asking his subordinate agent and nothing more." Was he disowning her? Did he forget that she was his daughter?

IU swallowed the tears that were threatening to wash into her eyes. "I don't know, Director," she said. "Personally, I... I don't want to be banished."

The Director's gaze hardened. "I'm not talking about your banishment," he said harshly. "That's already certain. I'm talking about those two boys." He tapped his way to the large window on the west side of the room. "You see, IU, if you become a banished agent, you will be wanted by a lot of places. Anyone who has personal connections with you poses a threat to my firm. So, under ordinary circumstances, they are exterminated."

Exterminated.

"NO!" IU cried. "No! Director, please..."

"I'm afraid I don't have a choice, IU," the Director said. "None of this would be happening if you had just taken the money."

"I'll go back and take it if you promise to leave them alone," IU said desperately.

"No, you won't. Agent SR already took it." The Director's face darkened. "He's far more useful than you will ever be."

"Director, please! If you will not listen to me as a subordinate agent, I beg you to hear me out as your daughter!" IU fell to her knees. "They did nothing wrong. Why would you go after them?!"

"You revealed your identity!" the Director roared. "You told them your agent name!"

"Appa, please..." IU touched her forehead to the toes of his black leather shoes. She had endangered them. They could be tracked, attacked, killed—just because they helped IU, just because they gave her water to drink, a place to sleep, a roof over her head... Instead of being rewarded for their good deeds, they would be punished.

The Director jerked his shoes, hitting her in the nose. "Sit up!" he commanded. "No amount of pleading will change what you did. They helped a failing agent. They've gotten far too close to learning everything. They know your agent name. Do you realize how this situation could have turned into a complete disaster?"

"I'll get rid of my conscience!" IU gasped. "I'll do everything you want me to. Just leave them alone..."

The Director's eyes narrowed. "You'll do everything I want?" he repeated.

IU sat up. "Yes," she said. "I'll steal money. I'll break into cars. I'll become coldhearted."

"You'll even kill?" the Director asked.

IU swallowed. "Yes," she said.

A slow smile spread across the Director's face. "And you promise this?" He settled back in his chair. "I'll make you a deal. If you can actually do that, I will cancel your banishment, thus cancelling the immediate extermination of those brothers. However, if you don't, the banishment will be reenacted."

They must be safe. "Deal."

"Swear," the Director ordered.

IU closed her eyes. "I swear upon my life that I, Ji Eun Lee, will adapt to the principles of behavior of the Lee Hired Extermination Foundation, including the eradication, mutilation, or elsewise bodily harm of any living or organic being." She felt her blood go cold. What am I saying? Eradication... death. Mutilation... hurting. Who am I becoming? "I will obey every instruction that the current Director, Sung Ho Lee, commands me to do."

The Director took something from underneath his desk: A voice recorder. "In case you've any thought of breaking that oath, I've kept a record of it," he said. "Before I tell you what your mission will be, let me ask you a few questions."

IU said nothing.

"My first question: How did you get into that family's basement?"

"Their house is on a sloping hill," IU said slowly. "There was a door that lead to the basement. The lock was easy to pick."

The Director raised an eyebrow. "I suppose that was always your specialty... picking locks. My second question: Why didn't you leave the moment you woke up, as you should have?"

"I was very faint," IU said. "I was quite hurt, so I lost some blood. And... I was intrigued."

"Intrigued?"

"There was a boy practicing English down in the basement. I don't know why, but I was intrigued." IU stared at her hands. "He saw I was bleeding and went to get help. I fell unconscious."

"You should have crawled out of there, no matter how much pain you were feeling," the Director said. "Getting spotted can get you in far more trouble than losing a little blood."

IU only bowed her head.

"I suppose that's all the questions for now," the Director mused. "Would you like to know your new assignment? It's a test to see if you'll really change."

IU shoved her screaming conscience into the depths of her mind. "Yes."

The Director leaned forward. "You are to kill a target."

IU grimaced. I knew it.

"He is twenty-two years old. He is a skilled actor, singer, and dancer. He is around five feet and ten inches tall." The Director folded his arms. "There are already opportunities for the two of you to interact. Try to get close to him before killing him so that no one suspects you are the murderer."

Murderer. IU was going to be a murderer.

"What's his name?" she asked quietly; she tried to mask all expression from her face.

A cold smile flickered on the Director's face.

"Woo Young Jang."

(A/N: Muahahaha. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. So the Director didn't quite keep his promise... Or did he?)

Chapter 5 Preview

"Ji Eun-sshi?"

Ji Eun's mind jerked back to reality.

Where am I?

Her absentminded steps had lead her to the audition building for Dream High. Four judges and one performer were now staring at her.

"Ji Eun-sshi, are you okay?"

Ji Eun covered .

The performer... was Woo Young.

(Estimated release date: July 16)