Italy, April 30th , 2014

He was wearing a constructor uniform with a big helmet over his head to cover his face. On the outside, he may look like a normal worker but when looking closer, there were hearing devices on his ears and his fake glasses were actually a kind of high-tech binoculars. He climbed up the on-going concrete, pretended to check on some matters when actually he was watching two men in suits below.

He had been watching this case for months. It was about an illegal trading of confidential information from the Korean government to a group of mafia in Italy. Through his binocular glasses, he could see the small USB  that the Asian man was about to hand over.

Right when the tip of the USB touched the Italian’s hand, he heard a command loud and clear next to his ears:

“It’s time WooYoung. Action!”

WooYoung jumped over the fence and land right in front of the two of them. He chased them over piles of metal tools and stacks of cements. He jumped over , sped up but no matter what, the two were always two steps ahead. He tucked his hand under his shirt..

“No, WooYoung. You cannot shoot. Just keep chasing them to the side of the building, our people are coming to cover up for you.”-the voice screamed in his ears.

“But they will escape.”-Waiting no longer, he pulled out the gun and aimed at those legs. Woo pulled the trigger. Two gunshot echoed in the air.

A group of people ran towards him. “Raise your hands. We’re the NIS.” Woo heard a sigh through the earphone. He came to help his co-workers to tie up those criminals.

Two hours later.

“Have I not told you WooYoung? You are a great agent but you are so hot-tempered, too impulsive and too stubborn.”-the Chief shook his head. “Because of your action, again, we have to make numerous explanation to the public about the gunshot. Not to mention all the money we have to spend to guarantee that the residence is safe to live in.”

“I’m sorry Chief.”-Woo kept his head low. Great, what a great way to spend his birthday. Running round breathlessly to catch criminals then come here and to get lectured by your boss.

“Nevermind. We have important things to talk about. We have a new mission for you.”-he stopped for a while and took out a case file. “You, WooYoung, are going back to Korea.”

Woo shot his eyes open. Great. What a great birthday… He dragged himself home. It’s just a small but well-furnished apartment. He just finished packing all of his stuffs for the flight tomorrow. Woo sat down on his dining table, a small cupcake he just bought for himself with a small candle on top. He smiled sadly , made a wish and blew the candle. What Woo wished for was not to be the best agent on every mission, but for someone to be with him during his next birthday. Tomorrow he would be going back to Korea. It was interesting things that faith has prepared for him.

Korea.

NichKhun was typing continuously on the keyboard, trying to crack some codes on the new files. Working in NIS is never an easy job, he just received this confidential file from the headquarter in Italy. But apparently some stupid guys wasn’t thinking before he shoot so it affected the flashdrive. Now Khun had to spend more time to recover it before cracking the codes. What a waste of time!

Reng….

It was late midnight. He was the only one left in the office. Khun startled and hurried to catch the phone. Maybe too hurried that his legs got caught between those wires and tripped. Ouch! Khun cringed when his face hit the ground. The phone was still ringing furiously.

“Hello”-Khun picked up the phone.

“NichKhun,”-he heard a familiar voice. “Yes, sir. It’s me.”-he answered quickly.

“Yes, I’ve received it. On the way to crack the data, sir…Yes..Yes..I will send it to you right away….No, sir, there is no one here but me…I will make sure the boss  won’t find out….Yes. I remember. It must be kept secret…Thank you sir. Good bye.”

He sighed and leaned back on his chair. Being an agent is hard, but for NichKhun, the hardship has ‘doubled’. But he had signed up for this, he had to endure it. After few more hours typing, Khun nodded off without knowing he will be woken up soon by a total stranger, a new colleague that will turn his life into a roller coaster ride.

“Hey! Wake up!! Wake up!!”-someone kept pushing him as they couldn’t see that he was sleeping.

“Hmmm”-he hummed in response, still refusing to wake up.

“Wake uppppppppppp!”-the guy yelled next to his ears. Khun jolted up too suddenly that his chair was pushed backward. He fell over and hit the ground. Twice only in few hours. Great. Khun heard some giggles, okay, too many giggles, he looked up and saw a strange guy, must be around his age, dressed in a suit, tried in vain to hold back his laughter.

“Who are you?”-Khun intended to sound pissed but with his hoarse voice and messy hair, it was just too funny to the other’s ears.

“Hi, I’m WooYoung. I was transferred here from Italy.”-the milky white skin boy shook Khun’s hand. – “I’m gonna be your new partner on this case.” The taller shot his eyes open. What? PARTNER?

The empty room before was now filled with around ten men all in black suits. They sat down as the head chief stood up to make an announcement:

“First , I would like to introduce to you guys Mr. Jang WooYoung. He was transferred here from Italy to help us with our new case.”

Woo stood up and bowed when a round of applause welcomed him. He glanced and saw the tall guy he met this morning, smiling widely with him. “What an angel’s smile!”-he thought- “Hey, Jang WooYoung, focus, you are on a mission here.”

“Okay, now move on to our new mission. NichKhun-ssi, do you mind come here and present to the team?”-the chief called for that tall boy. He clumsily stood up, packed a whole bunch of paper and came forward.

Messy as he is, he got a lot of weird stares from the viewers. They must be amazed why this guy was able to join the NIS. Khun placed his files on the table, tried to plug in his USB to the big computer. He carelessly let all the papers fly away. “Sorry, sorry”-he mumbled and bowed to anyone that was willing to hear. The chief shook his head and sighed heavily. God knows that NichKhun is a great member of the team but his clumsiness is always a problem. And that was what friends are for. JunHo, his colleague, one of a few that are close to him stood up and came to help him. With the red-hair boy help, the file case was soon set in place. JunHo moved back, not forget to give Khun a signature eyesmile.

“Eh hmmm!”-Khun stiffened his voice – “According to the data we got from the recent case in Italy, I have cracked the codes. We are facing new troubles here, big one. It looks like they are some leaking highly confidential information in our government. The data said something about trading our newest submarine techniques to Italy without the government’s agreement. Apparently, whoever is behind this, they were aiming for lots and lots of money. I tracked down the orgin of the files and it said it was sent right from CSG’s building.”

A picture of one handsome young man appeared. “CSG’s company belonged to the youngest son’s of Hwang family- Hwang ChanSung. CSG has signed a contract with Korean government to build two upcoming high-tech submarine as secret weapons. It was great that our team in Italy”-he paused and glaced at WooYoung – “had put a stop to their trading. But I don’t think they are going to give up. Now they know the NIS is after them, they will be more careful.”

“Thank you NichKhun –ssi”-the old chief stated- “Now we have to have a precise plan for this case. I suggest we have someone to get in CSG’s company, find who is behind this and put a stop to this trading. And I would like to send NichKhun on this job.”

The whole room started whispering. “NichKhun? Is he kidding? How can a man like NichKhun can go out on field. He just works behind the desk. He has no experience”

“Quiet!”-the chief continued- “NichKhun will be the most suitable one cause CSG is hiring an IT for their company, plus he will know what to do with all those computer stuffs when he access the confidential files of CSG. Mr Jang WooYoung will be helping him when there are problems. That is why Italy’s headquarter send him here.”

WooYoung took his way forward and stood next to NichKhun. He whispered through his teeth: “You’d better not hold me back on this case.” Missions are missions. Though Woo is always a hot-tempered professional spy who never wants to co-operate with this clumsy silly boy, he had too. Man, this would be a hard case.