for winterbling;; (2978 words)

“I should terminate your right now, you know that right?”

I got down at my knees in front of my boss, my hands clasped firmly in a gesture of mercy. “Sunggyu, you can’t! We’re more than friends, we’re family!”

“We aren’t even related by blood!” Sunggyu argued.

“Technicality! And isn’t marriage one of the strongest bonds to exist?”

Sunggyu sighed, his fingers massaging his temples. “I don’t understand how you are your mother’s son. She’s one of the best agents to ever come through this place, I couldn’t even blame my father for falling for her. So when he asked me to give my new stepbrother a job, I thought surely you would turn out to be a promising agent. But no, you’ve been nothing but a headache ever since you’ve joined my department!”

“It was all an acci-”
 

“What does the word spy mean?” He bit out.

“Hyung?” The sharp glare I got in response let me know that maybe now was not the time for terms of endearment.

“Answer me.” He stressed coldly.

“A person who secretly collects information and reports information on the activities, movements, and plans of an enemy or competitor.” I rattled off, getting more nervous by the second.

Sunggyu walked closer to me, and I backed up at the withering look in his eyes. “Now what do you think is the most important part of that definition?”

“Person, preferably a living, breathing, in one piece person kind of like me-”

“Sungyeol.”

I scrambled to the chair, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I’m not sure but now might be a really good time to mention that I bruise easily-”

“Secretly! The most important part of being a spy is doing your job secretly!” Sunggyu slammed a series of pictures on his desk in front of me, each one more incriminating than the last. “Now explain to me baby bro, what part of driving your car into the target’s limo that you were supposed to be tailing insinuates subtlety?”

I couldn’t exactly tell him that I got distracted by the appearance of a very handsome senior agent who was wearing the most form fitting black Armani suit that I had ever seen, and maybe my eyes had been drawn in by the sudden flash of pale skin on his wrist when he oh so subtly whispered his position into his hidden mic. Really, I couldn't be blamed if my foot just so happened to relax on the brake, because I highly doubt Sunggyu would accept that long winded but entirely sincere explanation. So I went for the short version. “I said it was an accident.”

“No Sherlock! That’s the first thing I’ve heard since you reported back from your assignment that makes sense!” He collapsed into his chair stiffly. “This is serious Sungyeol, not only did you blow your cover, you literally crashed into your target. How the hell do you expect me to explain this to my father and your mother? They were trusting me to put you on an assignment that you could handle which, for your information, any rookie should be able to tail a big limousine without being noticed. The last thing I want is our parents on my watching my every move and questioning my judgement.”

“I’m sorry! I know it probably makes you want to punch me in the face when I say it, but it really was an accident! I was being careful, I had followed them from their hotel all the way to the venue without being noticed! My foot just slipped on the break for a second and the next thing I know our cars are crashing together. I know it sounds stupid and it’s such an embarrassing mistake, but it’s my mistake. This doesn’t reflect on you-”

“It does reflect on me! Not just as the head of the department or the lead on this case, but because you are my brother, for all intensive purposes. Everything you do, every move you make, is being analyzed by our superiors. Listen, I know that you aren’t really doing this on purpose or trying to make my life more difficult, but I've got Agent Nam on my just waiting for the perfect chance to snatch this department - and my job - from my hands. I was able to spin a cover story for your up yesterday, but I can only bull the higher ups so many times.”

I felt horrible, the guilt almost consuming me as I saw the stress start to show through that mask of indifference on his face. “Sunggyu… hyung…” I reached out, resting my hand softly on his. “I know that you didn’t want to take me into your department. I know deep down you knew I wouldn’t be as good as my mom, but you gave me a chance anyway. I’m sorry that I let you down.”

I shrugged my shoulders, feeling small and unimportant in front of him. Sunggyu had done nothing but work hard since he joined the organization, he didn’t even let his association with his father fast track him up the ranks; he earned every single promotion he received. And here I was, ing it up for him over a hot guy. Well, he was an extremely attractive in a perfect way I previously thought wasn’t humanly possible kind of way of hot, in my defense.

Sunggyu sighed, patting my hand in a comforting gesture. “Sungyeol, I know you feel guilty and I know that it was an accident. I got… upset and I’m sorry for raising my voice.”

“No way, you should totally fire my . Or we could even stage a dramatic departure! Here, you can follow me into the lobby, I’ll waive my arms around and yell alot, and in the end I can dramatically ‘quit’ in front of everyone! That way our parents won’t even blame you for anything.” I finished, excited that I might be able to redeem myself in Sunggyu’s eyes with my fake quitting scheme.

Sunggyu laughed, which was actually quite frightening at the moment, but when I saw the eye smile I knew it was sincere. “Sungyeol, I said I should terminate your earlier. Not that I was going to.”

“Wait- what? You’re not going to fire me?”

The older man rolled his eyes, relaxing in his seat. “We all made mistakes when we were rookies. Maybe not as colossally damaging as yours, but mistakes nonetheless. But you’ve got a good heart, and a passion to succeed. You just need a little more… guidance than other agents. Which is why I have come up with a solution.”

“A solution?” I asked, still somewhat in shock that I wasn’t out of a job or sporting a black eye at the moment.

“Something good did come out of your little mistake; one of our agents was able