-Jung Soojung's POV-

Where am I? Why is it so dark? Why am I not scared? 

I floated in darkness, completely unaware of where I was and why I was there. 

Suddenly, I felt something hard on my feet and could feel my weight shift onto my legs. 

Nearly at the same time my feet touched the floor, one small person appeared in front of me. 

The room was a dull gray and it was cold but I found strange comfort here. I knew where this was.

The training room inside the agency. The place where I had spent most of my young years in. 

A young girl was alone with a training punch doll. She attacked it sluggishly, her exhaustion getting the best of her. 

She looked to be about ten. 

She stopped the punches and sat her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. 

"At this rate...I'll never get to work with..." She muttered to herself. She suddenly stiffened, the hairs on her neck standing up.

She spun around on her heels and sent one of her legs flying towards a figure that had walked into the room. 

The figure, who was facing away from me, easily caught it and twisted the leg, sending the girl spinning fast and falling to the floor. 

The figure laughed. I recognized the voice but I couldn't remember the name. 

"Soojung-ah, you don't have to attack me all the time, you know. I'll still win." The figure said. They had a feminine voice but their hair was brown and cut short, like a boy's.

The younger version of me pouted on the floor.

"I want to be better than you. If I'm better, I can protect you..." I said. The figure laughed again and reached down to help younger me up. 

"I don't need protection. Especially from someone who can't get me down on one knee without falling down herself." The figure said, a smile evident in her voice. The younger me pouted and crossed her arms. 

"I'm serious." I said. The figure sighed.

"I know you are." She said. She slid her hands deep into her pockets and flipped some hair out of her face. 

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to be part of the SME if I really try hard. Same as you. Just keep practicing harder. Find ways to get better. You know that full-on spies and trainees don't interact. The rule is even more strict with elites." The girl said. She took a deep breath, inhaling the stale, cool air.

"By the time you join the elites, I should already have some...acquaintances." She said carefully. I bit my lip to hold back a smile. We were never allowed to have friends back at the agency. Even the word "friend" was banned. Still, people were fond of others and they knew they were friends without ever saying the word.

"Don't make so many that you forget about me, stupid llama." The younger me muttered. The other girl laughed and patted my head. 

"I won't. In fact, I'll introduce everyone to you so you won't feel alone." She said. The younger me smiled brightly, then jumped on the other girl, wrapping her hands around the latter's neck.

"S-Soojung-ah. Someone c-could see us." The girl said, looking around. I took this opportunity to take a glimpse of her face. She had semi-pudgy cheeks but a prominent jawline.

 Her eyes were kind and soft. 

She reminded me a little of...

My eyes flew open as an annoying beeping filled my ears. 

I sent my arm out, in hope to smash whatever annoying mechanism had disturbed my memory slash dream. My hand came back holding the stupid "phone".

I turned off the alarm and threw it back on the table next to the bed. I closed my eyes back to only be awoken by yet another alarm. 

I hate it when I think ahead before I go to bed...

I groaned and grabbed the phone, getting ready to smash it when a notification caught my eye.

'Get more information about Liu Yiyun.'

I turned off the alarm and dropped the phone on the bed. I sat up and ran my fingers through my semi tangled hair, mentally preparing myself for today. 

I had to stop this habit of sleeping in. I always got in trouble by doing that back at the agency. For all I knew, Yiyu- well, Amber could be heading towards Mexico while I was trying to get an extra hour in.

With that in mind, I stood up and headed towards the bathroom. I had explored the apartment yesterday and actually found it quite comfortable and clean. It wasn't luxurious but I'm not one to complain. 

I grabbed my toothbrush and, after pouring a generous amount of water and applying toothpaste that Yuri let me have, I brushed my teeth and went back to the room, arranging the mess of a bed.

As I threw the blankets where they were supposed to be, my thoughts drifted to my dream.

My heart caught as I thought of the girl. I wondered why I couldn't remember the girl's name. She was obviously a childhood friend of mine...if only I saw her full face...

My eyes glanced at the phone, reminding me of my objective for today and bringing me out of my thoughts. I quickly finished making the bed and walked back to the bathroom to take a shower. Yuri had also let me borrow some extra soap she had.

I didn't mind it.

The soap smelt a lot like the blonde from yesterday therefore, I gladly lathered myself in the sweet smelling soap, covering all of my skin.

I refuse to call Amber my target. Well, not until I get some information, that is. 

Something just doesn't feel right. Amber doesn't look like someone to betray the agency. 

She looks too dorky.

I quickly rinsed myself because author-ssi doesn't want some byun readers to get ideas. (a/n: (; ...)

After, wiping myself and other necessities after one takes a shower, I picked up the clothes from yesterday. I bit my lip as I slid on my white blouse and eyed my jeans. 

I need to get more clothes. Clothes that would look nice on me...

I pinched myself.

"Stop it, Soojung. You're on a mission. It doesn't matter if you wear the same clothes every day." I lied to myself. I grabbed some of the money from my suitcase after struggling into my jeans, and decided to go to a clothing store later.

I stuffed it in my pocket and walked out of the door, leaving the phone, the weapons, the everything except the keys of the apartment. 

"Oops, I'm sorry." I apologized in an English accent to whoever I had just run into.

"It's okay." A familiar voice said. I looked past the boxes the person was carrying and my heart skipped a beat in pure joy. 

"Pam!" I cried excitedly. I realized the boxes in her hand and reached for one.

"Let me help you with that." I said in Korean, remembering yesterday. She gladly let me take one, letting out a deep sigh as it no longer burdened her.

"I'm not fully fluent in Korean, sweetie." Pam said, smiling awkwardly. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." I replied in English. "So, where are you taking these to?" 

"I'm going to sell these things somewhere a little far from here." She said, heading towards the steps. My heart died a little as she said that. 

She must have sensed this because she added, "I'm taking a taxi there, so don't you dare worry." 

I followed Pam, after a sigh of relief, which she laughed at, and began walking down the stairs. It seemed that each step I took, the box felt heavier. I suddenly felt sorry for Pam because of her age but I couldn't help but wonder what she packed inside the medium-sized boxes. We went down two flights of stairs, finally seeing the lobby. 

Suddenly, an apartment door opened and out stepped out...

"Oh, hey, Pam! Hey, Krystal!" Yuri said, smiling brightly. Amber turned around and her fierce eyes met mine. 

The box in my hands wobbled a bit as my hands shook from my sudden realization.

...her eyes were gorgeous...

Kind and soft.

Yuri disturbed the moment when she gasped.

"Omo, you guys need help, don't you?" She asked. 

"No." I answered sarcastically, a little angry at the spoiled moment. I righted the box in my hands, feeling it getting heavier and heavier.

Yuri took the 'no' seriously.

She looked cautiously at me and took a small step back as my cold glare bore into her soul.

"Let me help you guys." Amber said, disturbing Yuri's mental torturing. Yuri exhaled when Amber took both boxes from me and Pam. Her hand grazed my fingers as she took my box. I had to bite my lip and look down to hide my blush.

Stop. You can't be doing this.

At the corner of my eye, I saw Pam look at me, amusement clearly in her eyes. I saw her lip curl up in a smile and I silently cursed at myself.

"Pam, I called a taxi for you. It's Mr. McClaren." Amber said, walking back into the lobby.

"Thank you, dear." Pam said, walking down the rest of the stairs. Amber smiled and looked at her.

"It seems that nearly every time you pack stuff, he'll be there to drive you wherever." She said. She paused for a moment a chuckled lightly. "I'm pretty sure he'd drive to anywhere you ask him honestly."

I saw Pam blush as they both walked out. I pouted. There was a strange feeling inside me when Amber turned around and waved at me and Yuri. Yuri waved back and told me that Amber was going to work.

I kind of miss her already.

No. I don't miss her.

I don't.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Damn it.

"Oi, are you listening?" Yuri asked. I blinked, bringing myself back to reality. 

"S-Sorry." I Apologized. I focused my full attention fully on Yuri as she accepted my apology. 

"How is apartment life so far?" She asked, nonchalantly, obviously trying to start a conversation.

"It's not bad. It's better than waking up by screaming. They would torture us like that back at the agency. Plus, I actually slept up to nine hours." I said as I laughed a bit, raising the awkward tension between me and Yuri.

"Now that I think about it, it's the first time I've slept that long since me and Jess joined th-" I stopped. I immediately knew I had made a mistake.

"Speaking of your sister..." Yuri began, smiling brightly after she realized my slip up. She now had a chance to talk about my sister.

Don't get me wrong. I love Jessica and I know she loves me. My problem is that everyone pays attention to her most.

 I usually rank in the top five best spies in the SME but Jessica always, always scores second, if not first. She's also very smart, which helps a lot, if you're a spy; you will need great physical attributes, which I know all too well, and a high IQ. 

Jessica has both while I'm still struggling with some of the physical things. 

In other words, I'm her shadow.

I hate that.

"How is she?" Yuri asked, pushing me back to reality. 

"She's fine." I said, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Reall-"

"Yes, I talked to her last night. She's...fine..." I mentally cursed myself for letting Yuri know I had contact with my sister.

Her face lit up again. 

"Yuri-unni, I have to go and buy stuff for my apartment." I said, hurriedly and walked away as fast as I could.

Once I was outside, I looked around for the blonde. Kind of hard when there are other multiple blonde people in the same vicinity as you. 

By some miracle, I heard an angelic laugh to my right. I turned to see if my ears deceived me and right enough, I saw a handsome blonde laughing with a group of guys. They looked oddly familiar. 

One of them saw me staring at them. He nudged Amber and nodded his head towards me. Amber's head swung towards me and I looked down. 

I heard her laugh again, sat something, then a bunch of uniform sayings, most likely farewells. When I dared to glance up, I saw the back of the blonde's head again though, I noted, it was much farther. 

Without me even thinking, I began to walk towards her. 

She didn't look suspicious. Not at all. But she was an SME spy. One of the best. She could look suspicious or not, based on her own will. 

She took a turn to the right, into hat seemed like a dark alley.

Gotcha, I thought sadly. It seems that she actually is selling the agency out. I mean, why would someone go into a dark alley, other than to make a deal no-one needs to hear?

I was a couple yards away from the alley. I passed a vendor who seemed to be selling ice-cream and stopped at the corner of the alley.

This was my chance.

I squeezed my hands into tight fists, still not believing I had to do this. My bottom lip slipped between my teeth and I was biting it mercilessly, a bad habit.

I took a deep breath and walked inside the alley only to be greeted by...

"Nothing?" I asked myself out-loud. I blinked, hoping my eyes were tricking me. I stared back at a huge wall in the back of the alleyway.

"Oh, hey...Krystal, is it?" A familiar voice said. I spun around, on impulse, and stared at a blonde dork grinning widely.

Her hand shot up in front of me. She was holding something colorful...

"Ice-cream?" She asked. I blinked, trying to process what was happening.

"You want some ice-cream? The ice-cream vendor gave me two even though I paid for one." She explained. 

I shook my head, trying to clear my confused mind. I had seen her walk into the alley. I had. I also got a good look of the alley. The only way she could have exited the alley was by climbing the wall. 

No one could scale a wall that fast. Not even the top of the Elites, including my sister. 

Exactly what kind of person was I dealing with?

Amber frowned, thinking I shook my head for the ice-cream.

"Um...okay...," she muttered. "I can just give it to so-"

"I didn't mean I didn't want it!" I interrupted her. I saw a smile creeping on her face. I bit my lip when I realized what I had said. It just came out without me knowing.

She laughed. "You're so easy." 

Before I could ask her what she meant, she grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

"I need to show you something." She said. I struggled to hold the ice-cream and keep up.

"Don't you have to go to work?" I asked, remembering what Yuri had said.

"I don't work on Saturdays." She said simply. She spun her head towards me and winked.

A laugh escaped my lips as she dragged me to a park, most likely with amazing smells and fun noises. 

We stopped running and she turned and faced me, her hand still holding mine, and smiled a dorky smile.

"Let the fun begin." She said.

At that moment, I nearly forgot I had to kill her.

Nearly.