Yoo Haeun took a deep, calming breath as she stood, fingers clenched tightly around her orientation folder, outside the door of the squadroom that was going to be her home from then on. This was it. The dream. She was finally here, finally on her way to becoming the Peacekeeper she'd wanted to be since she'd been a child.

"Whoops!" A young man, short and possessing of a kind sort of face, nearly ran into her on his way out the door. "Sorry!"

"N-no, that's..." she trailed off as he disappeared around the corner. "...fine."

Giving herself a little shake, she reached out, pushed the door open, and stepped in.

"This way, Probie," the chief called, not unkindly, waving Haeun into his office immediately.

What could she have possibly done wrong already? Swallowing nervously, Haeun bowed, then remembered herself and saluted, too busy panicking to notice the chief's humored snort.

Oh, no...had she forgotten to acknowledge a senior officer? She rewound the last few minutes frantically, biting down on the inside of her cheek in frustration. No, there hadn't been anyone around except that quick little man. He must have been an assistant officer, or maybe he worked for the Advocates. He definitely hadn't fit her idea of a member of the City Peacekeepers, and especially not the Public Protection Division!

"Breathe, Officer Yoo," the chief said suddenly, breaking through her thoughts. Haeun straightened up automatically, trying to look like she was one hundred percent serious about her job...which she was, of course, but it never hurt to let others know that.

The chief just smiled briefly. "I just wanted to welcome you to the PPD officially, give you a quick rundown on what to expect for your probationary period, and introduce you to your partner."

Haeun sagged a little in relief before she could catch herself, and the chief's grin widened.

"Now, I'm Chief Inspector Choi Dongwook, and you will refer to me as Chief or Chief Inspector. You will not call me Dongwookie," he added with not a little exaspiration, casting a glance towards the closed door as though he could just envision someone making a face at him through it. "Please don't let your squadmates corrupt you while you're here. They're a good group of guys, but they can be a little...odd. And under no circumstances are you to encourage Senior Officer Choi Seunghyun." This was said with another little look towards the squad room, this one significantly more long-suffering but no less fond.

Did I step into the wrong department? Haeun thought in bewilderment.

As the chief ran her through basics (report on time, always appear clean and neat, speak respectfully to your superiors, do not go into the Contraband or CCTV rooms without an , do not open any confiscated bags or keep any confiscated materials, etcetera, etcetera...), she found her mind wandering. Not that she thought she'd be missing anything - so far he hadn't said anything she hadn't heard a million times from her instructors. She'd gotten to where she could almost recite the rules and regs in her sleep by graduation, which hadn't surprised anyone who knew her in the slightest.

Haeun had wanted to be a Peacekeeper ever since she could remember. They'd always seemed so noble to her, standing between the public and the violent, rebellious element that always seemed to exist on the periphery. And as soon as she'd been old enough to read, she'd practically devoured the Officer XX books, entranced by the valiant lady Peacekeeper's unwavering dedication to the Greater Good. She'd wanted to be like that so much, and she'd even gone against her parent's wishes in order to enter the Academy (even though she knew that disobeying your parents was Bad). They'd come around eventually, even though it had taken a meeting with the head of the school to convince them.

Her interest in the Public Protection Division hadn't started until her second year in the Academy, though, when her boyfriend had been killed during a campus protest at his college. Some rebel or other hadn't been satisfied with the usual rabble-rousing and undignified shouting, and had opened fire, killing several students. If it hadn't been for the PPD, many more probably would have died, and Haeun had sworn that she would become a fine officer of that division, no matter what it took.

And now here she was, her dream finally being realized, and soon she'd rise through the ranks, single-handedly talking down rioters and defusing situations and saving lives, all in the name of the one she had lost and those who had died with him.

"-and your partner was supposed to be here half an hour ago, but he's late. Again." With a sigh, the chief gestured towards the door as Haeun jerked back to the present. "Go ahead and find your desk and get yourself situated, familiarize yourself with the intra-office network, meet your squadmates. I'll call you in when he gets here. Dismissed."

With a sharp nod and a sharper salute (which, again, amuses the chief for some unfathomable reason), she her heel and exited the office, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Ya!"

Jumping about a mile, Haeun struggled to maintain her balance, arms windmilling wildly as she turned to face the person who'd shouted at her so rudely.

Said person (who seemed strangely attractive for a police officer) smiled in the face of her indignation sheepishly. "Sorry, sorry. You looked so serious, I couldn't resist." Offering his hand, he bowed briefly. "Choi Seunghyun, senior officer of the PPD. Pleased to meet you."

"O-oh!" Thinking back on the chief's warning and wondering what 'encouraging Choi Seunghyun' would entail, Haeun reached out to accept his hand. "Hello. I'm Yoo Haeun, I'm starting today. Pleased to meet you!"

Unfortunately, the interaction didn't end there, and she felt her cheeks heat up as he placed one hand on her shoulder, turning her to face the squad room. "Everyone listen up! This is Haeun-ssi! Be kind to her - she's new." He gave her a little shove that seemed more playful than rough. "Go do something productive, okay? Make me look good."

"I-" He was gone before she could  form a proper reply, hurrying across the room and out the door just as the chief stuck his head out of his office, face red and eyes burning.

"SEUNGHYUN. GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW AND PUT MY BACKGROUND RIGHT OR I WILL HAND YOU OVER TO TRAFFIC CONTROL FOR A MONTH." A distant cackle was all the response the chief got, and he grumbled under his breath and slammed the door.

"Don't mind them," a cheerful voice spoke up suddenly at Haeun's shoulder. She turned again, suddenly face-to-face with a warm smile that somehow started to draw a smile out of Haeun, herself. "They're always like that - good friends, you know."

"O-oh." There was a brief silence before she remembered herself. "Oh! Sorry! I'm Haeun, I'm-"

"New, yes," the other officer said, nodding. "I heard."

Of course. Haeun kicked herself mentally - the senior officer had introduced her to the whole room, of course they knew who she was. Wow, could she feel any more awkward?

"I'm Kang Daesung," the man continued, politely not acknowledging that she'd made a slight fool of herrself. "I just finished my probationary period, myself. Don't worry, it's not as bad as they say it is!"

He patted her on the shoulder briefly as he passed by before she managed to think to ask how bad, exactly, people said it was. She'd heard precious little from her classmates or instructors about what to expect in the PPD, actually - some of the instructors had even actively avoided her questions, but she hadn't thought too much of it. She'd never been especially prone to sticking her nose into things, anyway, and the PPD had a bit of a reputation for being secretive, even among civilians.

Instead of thinking of vaguely ominous statements or what, exactly, Senior Officer Choi had done to the chief's background, Haeun found her desk with little trouble and immediately booted up her computer, anxious to do as the chief had said and familiarize herself with everything. She was so intent on going through the process of setting up her intra-office email account that she didn't notice the reflection of a face staring at her, wide-eyed and terrifying, until it was right over her shoulder.

Shrieking and flailing wildly, Haeun nearly ended up rolling her chair across the room in her haste to get away from...from...

From the young man who'd nearly run her down as she'd stood outside the squad room, the one she'd assumed was an assistant or Advocate, who was now seated backwards in his own chair, rolling it towards you with an apologetic expression.

"Sorry," he said, and and Haeun couldn't help but wonder if perhaps frightening the probationary officers was some kind of department tradition. Well, Daesung hadn't scared you, exactly. Then again, she thought, casting her mind back to the sweetly-smiling man who was now staring at you over his computer with a concerned expression, Daesung didn't seem like the type to go around playing pranks on unsuspecting young women, anyway.

"N-no," she stuttered, trying to calm her heart and regain whatever was left of her dignity. "I just...wasn't expecting..." She cleared . "A-ah...are you an officer?"

The man grinned, folding his arms over the back of his chair, and nodded. "Yep. Dong Youngbae. Sorry about scaring you," he added with a little shrug.

"What," the man seated across from him muttered, not looking up from the report he was writing, "did she catch a glimpse of your face?"

"Jiyong-aaa," Youngbae said, frowning, "no need to be rude."

Rolling his eyes, the other man looked up finally, his eyes flicking to Haeun briefly. "You just scared the life out of a probie, Youngbae-ya," he pointed out snidely. "I don't think you get to lecture me on being rude."

"It was an accident," Youngbae defended, running a hand over his regulation buzzcut. "I was just gonna say hi, but she was so distracted...I was just trying to see how long it'd take for her to notice." He looked back at her, chagrined. "Sorry, really."

"It's okay," Haeun mumbled, embarrassed.

With another eyeroll, Jiyong went back to his report. "Just shove him back to his desk, Probie. He's harmless."

She couldn't help but smile as Youngbae scooted himself backwards, intentionally jostling the desk so that Jiyong's pen jerked across the page. Without looking up, the serious-looking man grabbed a handful of paperclips from the dish and tossed them in Youngbae's direction.

This can't be the PPD, Haeun thought, cautiously returning to what she'd been doing.

None of the Officer XX books had been like this - the Peacekeepers in those stories had taken their job seriously, had been mature and wise and incorruptible. Yes, a lot of people considered the Peacekeepers to be too harsh, too strict, but those were just the malcontents, the ones who were never satisfied with rules, even when they were in place to protect them or enrich their lives. A few groups had even taken to calling them the Anti-Dance Police since the Peacekeepers - the PPD specifically - had started raiding illegal parties and underground music clubs. Those were the sort of people who didn't understand, in Haeun's opinion, that all of these laws were for the Greater Good.

She hadn't seen a trace of that PPD here, though, not even in the senior officer, who was supposed to be the one in charge. In fact, the only person who seemed remotely capable of leading anyone was Jiyong (Kwon Jiyong, Haeun noticed with a glance at the placard on his desk), and as perpetually frustrated and bottled up as he'd seemed in even only those few moments he'd spoken, he was still waging a paperclip war on Youngbae like a schoolboy. These officers were...were...

Senior Officer Choi Seunghyun slipped back into the room just then, creeping across the squad room like a dinosaur to duck down behind his desk across from Daesung, squatting on the floor and reaching up to log in to his computer despite the chair just behind him.

The chief flung open his door, and Seunghyun rolled under the desk until he was practically sitting on Daesung's feet.

"Has anyone seen that overgrown child, Seunghyunnie?" the chief cajolled in a pleasant tone. "I thought I saw him sneak back in here."

"No," everyone chorused in a distracted sort of way, including Daesung, who couldn't have missed said overgrown child curled around his ankles.

Sighing, the chief shook his head. "Of course not. Well, if you see him," he continued in a pointed way, "tell him I've just heard we're getting three new flavors of ice cream in the mess."

"What?!" There was a loud BANG as Seunghyun smacked his head on the bottom of the desk in his hurry to scramble out, and Haeun could have sworn she heard Jiyong snickering.

Wagging a finger at Seunghyun as soon as his head popped up over the desk, the chief's expression darkened. "You. In my office. Now."

Groaning, Seunghyun stood up in an oddly graceful motion given his earlier flailing and trudged into the office.

Oh, Haeun, you are definitely in the wrong place, she thinks.

Sighing suddenly, Jiyong's brow furrowed, and he abandoned his report and his paperclips in favor of turning towards the door. "Seungri-ya! You're half an hour late!"

Haeun blinked at the empty doorway for a second before a face peeped through it, flushed and framed by touselled hair, as though the person who'd been attached to it had been running recently. "Sorry, hyung," the newcomer said with a smile, not sounding sorry in the least.

Tsking, Jiyong gestured to Haeun suddenly, surprising her. "You have a new partner for the duration of your probation," he said, and Haeun's eyes widened. "Try not to drop this one into a snake pit."

In lieu of asking, because she was pretty positive she didn't want to know, Haeun stood and offered her hand to her new partner. "H-hi. I'm Yoo Haeun."

"Lee Seunghyun," he said, approaching her with a charming grin and a bit of a swagger. "Don't worry, he's joking."

"No, I'm not," Jiyong singsonged.

Seunghyun - Seungri, Haeun corrected herself - laughed. "Don't worry, I'll look out for you. I'm in my last month of probation," he added, shaking her hand briskly.

"Oh." Another probie? She had been thinking her partner would be a regular officer, at least - not an assistant officer like her! Was she meant to trust that he knew what he was doing? She tried not to let her disapproval show, but Seungri must have caught the wrinkle of her brow, because he shrugged with another little grin.

"We're not exactly bustling with officers to partner you with," he explained. "We're stretched kinda thin, actually, even for such a small precinct."

"Oh, no!" Waving her hands, she blushed deeply. "I wasn't-"

Laughing, Seungri slung his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry about it, fellow-probie! We're gonna be the best team!"

Haeun nodded hesitantly. "Of course!" She was certain she didn't sound as confident as she'd have liked, but that was probably because she didn't feel very confident just then.

Before she could accidentally offend her new partner further, the chief's door burst open with a slam that set everyone jumping to their feet. Seunghyun exited, the chief at his shoulder, both looking infinitely more serious than they'd been up to that point.

"Probie," Seunghyun snapped, voice suddenly deep and severe, "you're taking a ride with Officer Lee - four known rebels were spotted breaking into an internet cafe on 2nd Street. You are to apprehend them and bring them in for questioning."

An assignment! Adrenaline flooded Haeun's blood as she saluted enthusiastically, grabbing up her jacket with shaking hands. Even Youngbae singing 'snaaake piiit' at her as she passed by couldn't dampen her excitement.

Seungri grinned at her over his shoulder as he shrugged on his own uniform jacket. "Well, come on, New Girl. Time to break you in."