"There's only one thing you need to know. I'm so much smarter than you." -Kim Sunggyu

Kim Sunggyu knew that something was very wrong when he entered the building. But he didn’t know what it was in particular, so he resigned to waiting. He was good at waiting. One did not simply become a spy without a thorough understanding of the importance of timing.

Sunggyu met Woohyun on the terrace that morning. They stood there, looking out over the bits of city poking out of the mist, sipping their lattes in several minutes of silence. The familiar noises of traffic were far below them, a distant wave in the ocean of Seoul.

Woohyun spoke first. “Did Myungsoo tell you about The Chameleon?”

Sunggyu frowned. “Do they have something new on him?”

“No, but more records were missing yesterday. Things are beginning to escalate.”

The figure that Woohyun was referring to, dubbed “The Chameleon” by those in the agency, was effectively a double agent. Recently, important files and intelligence had begun to go missing. Since the building was sealed tight, the director had come to the conclusion that the culprit could only be someone working from the inside. Although every agent knew The Chameleon’s nickname, none knew his face. As the security infraction grew more and more severe, the agency was into a state of emergency. This meant that any and all precautions would be taken to maintain security and identify the perpetrator. Sunggyu was uneasy. He knew that the measures taken to protect the secrecy of the agency were often drastic, and rightfully so. Without secrecy, they couldn’t do their jobs.

Sunggyu gulped down the rest of his coffee and deposited the empty carton in a nearby trash can.

“So what’s the plan?” He asked.

Woohyun shrugged. “I don’t know yet. No one would tell me. But today’s the day.”

The ordinarily comfortable morning air seemed to become colder, and Sunggyu shivered. This wouldn’t lead anywhere pleasant. He was startled out of his thoughts by Woohyun suddenly slamming his fist against the concrete wall of the terrace.

“What?” Sunggyu asked, looking over with a raised eyebrow.

“I hate this.” Woohyun scowled and rubbed his hand. “I hate him, whoever he is. He’s just screwing up everything we do. He’s screwing over every single one of us. He’s a traitor.”

Sunggyu nodded vehemently. “He’ll get what’s coming to him. If only we didn’t have to suffer too. But we’ll go in there and do our jobs. We’ll do what’s necessary. And we will emerge victorious.”

Woohyun regarded Sunggyu in admiration of his words, nodding in agreement.

“Let’s do this.”

At that point, neither of them could have expected what would be necessary. And neither of them could have forseen what kind of victory it would be.

When Sunggyu walked through the door to their division on the third floor, he sensed the restless energy of his team. Sungyeol was repeatedly tossing a crumpled paper ball into the air. Hoya was sitting at his desk, arms crossed. Myungsoo stared at nothing in particular. Dongwoo absentmindedly tapped at the corner of the projector. Sungjong was re-examining the Chameleon file that had been distributed to each department. Woohyun walked in after Sunggyu, and Sunggyu exchanged a brief, knowing glance with Woohyun, the one person who knew him best.

Sunggyu swallowed his uncertainty and stood before the others resolutely. Only Hoya and Sungyeol looked up. The others were preoccupied.

“I’ve been informed that today’s the day of the security procedures and, if all goes according to plan, the day we finally rid ourselves of The Chameleon.”

Sunggyu surveyed his team. “Yah. Agents Jang, Kim, and Lee. Please pay attention.”

Two heads snapped up, and one slowly swiveled to face Sunggyu.

“In a matter of minutes, I’m going to be called into that room, and they’re going to brief the leaders. When I come back, I will brief each of you. Are there any questions?”

“Did they tell you anything yet?” Sungyeol asked impatiently.

Sunggyu shook his head. “I know as much as you do. If I knew more, I’d tell you.”

Sunggyu sighed when he felt his comms unit buzz. After looking over the six pairs of eyes fixed expectantly on him, he raised his hand in a small salute and departed without another word. He could hear Sungyeol’s paper ball soaring into the garbage can as the door closed behind him.

Myungsoo nodded to no one and said, “It won’t be easy, will it?”

“None of us signed up for this because it was easy,” Woohyun reprimanded him. But despite his words, Woohyun was also worried.

When Sunggyu returned, the first thing the others noticed was that he was not striding as he usually did. And his head was down. And he was too quiet.

“Not all of the leaders were there,” he said finally.

“So?” Woohyun frowned.

Sunggyu sighed. “Everyone in the briefing room. Now.”

“Well?” Hoya prompted once they had gathered together in front of the flat screen.

“They’ve narrowed it down,” Sunggyu said. “They have a list of suspects.”

“Are there any in our department?” Dongwoo asked, wide-eyed.

Sunggyu shrugged. “They wouldn’t tell me. It’s classified. Given the list of suspects, not every department is involved. That’s why only a fraction of the leaders were at the initial briefing.”

“But you were there,” Myungsoo pointed out. “So if our team is involved, one of us must be a suspect, right?”

“Not necessarily. You see, each of us has been given...a target. Every name on the list of suspects has become a target.”

“A target?” Sungjong asked with a look of horror written on his face. “What do you mean? What’s supposed to happen to these targets?”

Sunggyu looked pointedly at him. “It seems like you already have an idea of what’s going to happen.”

“It’s not like we haven’t done it before,” Sungyeol said, turning to Sungjong. “It won’t be any different from the other times.”

“Of course it’s different,” Woohyun spat. “These are our own men. Not the enemy.”

“Isn’t The Chameleon the enemy?”

“Of course he is. But the Chameleon is one person, not the entire list of suspects.” Woohyun shook his head and let his eyes wander out the window, trying to think of a way to justify it but coming up empty.

Sunggyu knew how angry Woohyun was by his expression and his nature. He hated it as much as Woohyun did. But as the leader, his duty was to ensure that every member of his team obeyed orders. He had to convince them of the plan’s legitimacy.

“By the end of tonight,” Sunggyu said, “The Chameleon will be dead.”

He was met with blank stares: some of shock, some of disaffectedness, and some of preparation for the task at hand.

“In answer to your question, Myungsoo, yes, one of us is probably on the suspect list. I won’t lie to you. It is very possible that one or more of us will be dead or in deep trouble within the next 24 hours.”

“When do we get the identity of our targets?”

“They’ll be distributed. Additionally, weapons rooms are on lockdown.”

“What?” Hoya asked in disbelief. “How are we supposed to eliminate our targets?”

For what seemed like the millionth time that morning, Sunggyu found himself shaking his head.

“I don’t know.”

Sunggyu twirled the black plastic tube in his hands again and took a moment to stare at the ceiling of his office before removing the cap. With a few shakes, two rolled papers fell out of the tube and onto the table. He skimmed over the first one. It was a blueprint of the building, detailing the rooms, doors, windows, and alcoves of each of the four floors. Setting it aside, he spread open the second paper.

This was it, the moment of truth. The face staring out from the sheet of paper was his target, the man he was supposed to kill.

The face was Dongwoo's.