They arrived at sunset. When Hae Ri got off the car, she was fascinated by what she saw. Chanyeol’s house was a mansion. The whole building was enormously wide. There were two turrets above the main entrance, pretty little balconies sporadically erected, arched windows on the ground floor and exotic plants creeping up the exterior. With the magnificent orange and red sunset as the backdrop, Hae Ri felt that the view before her was absolutely magical. When she turned around, Chanyeol’s lips formed a thin line, something he always does when he is suppressing his emotions. All of a sudden, a figure ran out of the main entrance and pounced on Chanyeol. A man in his late 40s followed behind.

“My son…” Mrs Park cried as she hugged Chanyeol tightly.

She pulled back and cupped his face with her palm.

“You have grown up well…” she said, forgetting to speak as she took in the sight of her son whom she has not seen for the past 18 years. Chanyeol’s lips started to tremble but before he could say anything, his father spoke up,

“Welcome back, son.”

Chanyeol broke into his best smile and replied,

“I’m home.”

As the got into a family hug, Hae Ri started to feel awkward. As far as limbic resonance went, she felt really happy for Chanyeol and she could feel a warm feeling spread throughout her chest. Even so, it was really awkward to be there, interrupting their happy family reunion. When Chanyeol pulled back, he gestured towards Hae Ri and said,

“Umma, Appa, this is Hae Ri.”

When his parents turned their attention to Hae Ri, both of their eyes widened at the same time albeit unnoticeably.

“Uncanny…”

Hae Ri stretched out her hand and introduced herself,

“Nice to meet you, I am Na Hae Ri, Chanyeol’s partner.”

It was not hard to imagine where Chanyeol got his good looks. His twinkling large eyes came from his mother and his tall stature from his father. From what Hae Ri had observed so far, his bubbly personality obviously came from his mother whereas his serious side came from his dad, who seemed to have few words as he simply acknowledged Hae Ri with a nod.

Mrs Park ignored her hand and gave her a welcoming hug instead, muttering into her ear,

They were scooted into the house by Mrs Park for dinner. The interior was as amazing as the exterior. The dining hall had a beautiful chandelier light in the middle and there was a long dining table with fresh flowers and expensive cutlery. In addition, maids and butlers were standing around, ready to serve. It should not have surprised Hae Ri that Chanyeol was a rich man’s kid since his father is holding a high position in one of the most important energy corporations of all time but she was still really surprised and simply unable to connect the fact that her dorky best friend has enough money to drown her.

After a scrumptious dinner where Mrs Park was practically stuffing Hae Ri and Chanyeol with food, grumbling that they were too thin and it was all Jong Hun’s fault, Mr Park dismissed the servants and shut the dining room door. He pressed a secret button in the wall, switching on the in-built acoustic sound generator, masking the conversation that is about to take place in the dining hall. He returned to his seat at the head of the table and began,

“I am about to brief you on the preparations that will take place here, before the Conference that is a few weeks later.”

The duo listened intently, Mr Park has a presence that screams that he is not to be messed with. Even Mrs Park was serious and silent.

“I am sure that Jong Hun has informed you of your undercover identities. Just to make sure, Chanyeol, you will be taking on your own identity, as my son who will take over my position after my soon-to-be retirement. We have sent you overseas since you were young for you to learn to be independent and receive foreign education. You have just returned from schooling in China and are now ready to learn more about the business of energy, whereas Hae Ri,” he nodded his head towards her.

“You are Chanyeol’s cousin, your parents are the founders of the Kim Bank. They have always been interested to invest in the energy industry and you are their representative. You have been sent for schooling together with Chanyeol, this will explain your close relationship, making it easy for the both of you to trade intelligence with each other. Aliases will not be required since your background and identities are being fabricated this very moment,” he looked towards Mrs Park who gives him a nod of affirmation.

“This Conference is an annual chance for Lamia to get new sponsors and for them to network with the upper crust of society. The people that will be there on Jeju Island are going to be the richest and most powerful people of Korea. They have their quirks and what not but it is essential for the both of you to blend in. As part of your undercover preparation, the both of you will have to take foreign language lessons, etiquette lessons and special lessons from Mrs Park and I to understand about the ways of the rich and some background on Lamia and the energy business. Is everything clear?” he questioned.

Hae Ri kept her backpack in a secret compartment in the room and she proceeded on to explore her room. It was a work habit of hers to always be aware of everything around her. Mrs Park had spent a lot of effort in furnishing her room and in purchasing her entire wardrobe. The room was beautiful. The room was painted in pale green, her favourite colour and the bed sheets on her king sized bed was in deep emerald, with sheer green curtains around it. On the balcony, there was a row of various indigenous plants and flowers which were blooming happily. When she entered her walk-in wardrobe, there were rows of dresses, blouses and whatnots, drawers of accessories and shoes all in her size. Hae Ri was shocked by the sheer amount of clothing, she was never a very feminine girl but she understood that since she has to be a lady now, it is about time to start learning about fashion and the ways of a girl. Throughout her exploration, Hae Ri could not shake off a weird feeling. Call it instinct but she found it weird that there are so little details on what exactly they should be looking out for during their mission. If the problem should lie with Lamia, there was no way that the Park family will be considered an ally with NSA. Hence, the problem should be with the Byun and Lu family, yet the mission is set in a corporate environment. Hae Ri felt that if there were to be things amiss personally with these 2 families, they should have went undercover directly into their households.

“Maybe these 2 families are too powerful for us to deal with directly and the easiest way to get to them is through Lamia…” she reasoned with herself. There was no need to question the purpose of the mission, any rookie agent would know that. They were to pledge their trust with NSA and accept every mission without questioning, this was the very first rule in the Code of Conduct.

When Hae Ri was deep in thought, a soft knock was heard and Chanyeol popped his head in.

“Hey, I wanna show you something,” he whispered.

She followed him into his room and gaped at what she saw. The room was painted black, Chanyeol’s favourite colour and the walls were decorated with posters of Eminem and Jason Mraz, his favourite artistes. There was an entire shelf of hats, mostly furry hats and those with styles screaming hip hop.

“H-how did she know?” Hae Ri stammered.

“Apparently she phoned Chief regularly to find out more about me. She told me she had been decorating and preparing this room for a very long time, just so I can feel like it is really my room when I come home,” he explained, rubbing his neck because he felt embarrassed.

“She told me that she checked with Chief about the things you like and she tried to customize your room as well,” he continued while Hae Ri nodded her head absentmindedly, feeling the warmth of a mother’s love for the first time.

“Anyway this wasn’t what I wanted to show you…” he went to the corner of his room and picked up something.

“This was what I wanted to show you,” he held up a guitar, a lopsided grin on his face.

Hae Ri clapped her hands in delight and while smiling, she urged him to start playing.

Hae Ri was mesmerized the first time she had heard Chanyeol play the guitar. He had to learn it for some undercover mission and that was how he discovered his passion for music. Of course he still loved his fire balls more than music but music was a nice break away from reality. However, he was unable to pursue his interest in guitar because of the hectic schedules and responsibilities of being an agent.

He motioned for her to sit beside him before he started strumming one of her favourite songs. Hae Ri could see that he was the happiest when he was doing music. His cheekbones would refuse to come down as he smiled his entire way through, indulging. Such happiness was contagious and Hae Ri felt herself let go and just feel blissful. Her dimples showed on her face as she relaxed and closed her eyes.

“An X is kiss for a soft kiss
An O is for a circled hug
Maybe you already know…”

Chanyeol started singing and Hae Ri felt goosebumps all over. He had a really charming voice, low and strong, she could listen to him sing forever.

“…Actually, my heart is deep, deeper than the sea
The words that I really want to say is be with me…”

Hae Ri opened her eyes suddenly as the lyrics registered in her head. She felt a deep blush tinting her cheeks as she opened her eyes… to Chanyeol gazing straight at her. His gaze was so intense that she could not look away.  At that moment, it really seemed that everything in the world stopped, apart from Chanyeol’s little performance that is. He continued to sing, the lyrics going straight into her heart, as if they were words that he had kept himself from saying for a very long time…

“…Is your heart a yes or no?
Give me a sign, X or O…”
 

RAWRRR THE FLUFFFFFFF

hahaha ohmigosh this chapter is longggggg

I didn't expect that I would be quoting down the actual lyrics of the song Chanyeol was going to sing but since he was already going to sing, I was thinking why not advertise one of EXO's songs :P

Ok, so for those who don't know, the song that he was singing is EXO's XOXO, the lyrics are actually really sweet <3

Anyway yayyy they're gonna start preparing for the mission, this is when the fun begins :P