“Good morning,” Hae Ri greeted as she made her way to the breakfast table.

Mr and Mrs Park smiled at her warmly and Chanyeol looked up from his food. Hae Ri immediately averted her gaze and concentrated on the empty seat she was making her way to, which regrettably was the one opposite him. Last night had been more than awkward, it was utterly embarrassing. It felt like she was too absorbed in the song and was imagining things, or worse, practicing selective hearing. Literally nothing had happened. Chanyeol simply walked her back to her room after the song and told her to rest up for the mission preparations. She had spent half the night blaming her emotions and reprimanding her logic for abandoning her. That was how an early bird like her ended up being the last to come down for breakfast. She mentally slapped herself awake and growled at herself to get a grip.

“You alright?” Chanyeol questioned, his eyebrows knitted together. He looked perfectly normal, no hint of last night’s indirect confession on his face. Hae Ri felt her heart sink and she pulled herself together.

“Of course,” she replied and her eyebrows rose as if it was a ridiculous question.

“I will be alright, I have to be, there is a mission to accomplish,” she chanted in her head.

Today was the start of the 3-week long intensive preparation.

There were three foreign languages to master – English, Chinese and even Japanese. It was a good thing that the 2 agents have good foundations in these languages as the language lessons were a breeze. Understanding more about Lamia and the energy business was not difficult as well. However, the hardest lesson for Hae Ri were the ones Mrs Park termed as ‘lady lessons’.

“Good, keep your back straight, shoulders back and head up!” Mrs Park complimented.

Hae Ri tried to keep a grimace off her face as she tried to balance a book on her head. She mentally reminded herself to take small, graceful steps as she walked from one part of the garden to the other. She was getting the hang of ‘walking like a lady’, in Mrs Park’s words and in the way she says it, as if it is a new expensive brand of perfume. Well, Hae Ri better start getting the hang of it, they have been at it for more than an hour. Chanyeol sat on the garden bench, bored. He is a natural in acting like a gentleman, all he has to do is look charming and remember his manners. After he was given the thumbs up by his father, he decided to sit in Hae Ri’s lady lessons and give her moral support.

“Alright,” Mrs Park clapped her hands.

“Your walk is all well and good but your expression is horrendous. A lady should always have poise.” She continued, with her head held high.

“My dear, please excuse my frank words but a lady can only hold her place in high society only if she is attractive. Beauty is power. At least we have that part settled.” She smiled.

Hae Ri was blessed with sweet features. She has large bright eyes, a sharp nose and delicate lips. If Mrs Park were to be honest, Hae Ri really does have the appearance of a lady and if she were to just refine the way she carries herself, there will be no flaws in her undercover role. Hae Ri maintained a neutral countenance despite Mrs Park’s compliment. She has always resented looking delicate because people always seem to underestimate her abilities.

“There are two more things a lady must have in order to wield her soft power. A mix of hot and cold I suppose. She has to look condescending and possess a superior presence. Remain cold to represent strength, to warn anyone who dares to mess with you.” she explained.

“Hey Ice Queen,” Chanyeol winked at Hae Ri. This was the nickname given to her by the agents in NSA.

“On the other hand, there must be an endearing but mysterious side to you, to catch people’s attention and interest. Hmmmm if I could sum all these up in an expression, it would be something like this…” Mrs Park demonstrated by showing an enigmatic smile and keeping her eyes icy. She kept her head held high, radiating strength and poise.

Hae Ri tried to imitate her expression. She tilted her head up slightly and her eyes naturally glazed over with an imaginary sheet of ice. However, she could not quite catch the smile as she applied too much force on her lips while trying to make them form a small U shape.

“Ok, relax your lips, no need to put too much force. How about this, think of something happy and nice but contain your excitement. Show a little bit of it but not everything, make us curious about what it is that you are feeling,” Mrs Park advised.

Hae Ri massaged the two corners of her lips with her hands before trying again.

“This is so hard…” she groaned inwardly.

She tried to think of something happy. Inevitably, her thoughts floated back to the scene last night in Chanyeol’s room. She thought of how happy he had looked while he was playing the guitar and naturally her lips went up, showing her dimples. Both Mrs Park and Chanyeol’s eyes widened. He had never known that she had dimples and seeing her with two little circular impressions beside the corners of just makes her seem even more adorable.  Mrs Park nodded in approval as she stared at Hae Ri. Hae Ri had first discovered her dimples when she was 10 years old, when she felt really happy over something. Since then, she had always tried to control her expression so that her dimples would stay hidden. She felt that they made her seem even weaker but seeing Mrs Park and Chanyeol’s expressions now, she felt that it was a blessing that they could be put into good use for the mission. 

Sorry sbegbert94 haha, it wasn't a confession :x

But whether or not they both have mutual feelings hmmmm, that's another story :P

Hehe, anyway I was thinking Hae Ri would have similar dimples to Lami, from SM ROOKIES (The little girl on the left, beside Tiffany)

ohmigosh her dimples are too adorable >< Feeling jealous over a 10 year old girl haha. 

TIFFANY'S DOG IS TOO CUTEEEEEE