The rain pounded down from the sky, gallon by gallon, yet it was comforting, softly prickling my skin. For some delirious reason, I was scared of the rain. It was as if oceans of kerosene had seeped into my ragged, torn clothes as I stared at my home burn down before my eyes, just, watching, waiting, wishing the flames would engulf me and take me to wherever they took my family.

A 6-year old girl pathetic, weak and defenceless frozen, powerless as her family perished in the flames of their home. That's all I was. Even when the medics, police officers and neighbours approached and checked up on me and my health, I felt empty - void. Until they came for me.

Nari woke up from her dreams as a knock sounded on her apartment door. She sat up on her desk, wiping the small bit of drool that remained on her cheek before rising from her chair. Eyes flicking to the laptop open on her desk, Nari read the Japanese article across the screen: 'Criminal World in Turmoil' 'Entire Crime Syndicate Collapses' 'Five Leaders Brought to Court' 'Yakuzua-Master Assassinated - Police at Loss for Suspect'. Nari smirked at her handiwork.

The door sounded again, the person on the other side evidently impatient. Out of pure instinct, Nari rose and checked her gun was in her back pocket. 

Magazine loaded, safety off. Don't shoot your , Nari.

Her precaution wasn't necessary - it was only an exhausted looking Yeri, "I'm s-sorry Sunbae-nim." She panted, "My- my turn to run. Lost ga-Gawi Bawi- b- Bo. It's- it's briefing time. Thirty minutes."

"Stick with Bo. No one ever goes for Gawi on the first round." Nari advised as she ruffled the rookie's head endearingly before inviting her in to take food from her fridge, "And you don't have to call me Sunbae."

Nari smiled as she cleaned her personalised gun out on her bed, a mantra of sorts that kept her calm and focused. She eyed the elegant engravings of vines unwrapping themselves around the gun, her personal Crest of a Rising Phoenix shining gold against the silver gun. She remembered how her Unnie had given it to her before leaving for so long. She felt sad at the memory of a happier time.

Nari was a good Unnie for her Dongsaengs, taking every opportunity to teach them what she knew and correct their mistakes, just as her Unnie had done for her all those years ago. The girls had just been released from Probationary period; Red Velvet was their Squad Name, and for now, the Rookies were Street Enforcers for the SM Syndicate - their public, more "friendly" name being SMTOWN.

Ironic seeing as we own most of Seoul.

But there were other, more dangerous groups to be wary of too. Nari just didn't know how far they'd come since she'd left for Japan.

"I wonder how much things have changed..." Nari wondered aloud as she finished suiting and booting herself, her gun in her back pocket, leather jacket covering it. She put her hair into her signature, sleek ponytail, her face natural - it was only briefing, her disguise was the job of someone else. Her job was whatever the Family wanted it to be. 

Nari scoffed in amusement as she followed Yeri towards the 4x4 car where the girls waited - they were no longer on motorbikes.

Someone's moving up in the world.

"Long time, no see." Irene greeted Nari from the front seat as she got into the the girls' black Chevrolet. She eyed the tinted windows and bulletproof windshield the of the car, the car suspension even giving away the nature of the girls' assignments.

"You've all grown taller." Nari smirked at her apprentices as they smiled at her, a rookies' respect for their senior, "What happened to the rainbow-tipped hair?" she teased as she hugged Wendy (her closest Dongsaeng), smirking at their pale-coloured hair.

"A lot can happen in three years, Unnie." A now fair-haired Joy smiled at Nari, looking up from her computer, "Let's just say a change of identity was in order..."

"Tell me about it," Yeri agreed with full of the rice cakes she'd salvaged from Nari's apartment, before Joy snatched one off of her. Yeri had been added to the group five months into Probation due to her excellent sharp-shooting skills, and it was obvious she fitted in with the girls perfectly. 

No wonder they were released from probation so damn soon. That and because of my excellent training, of course.

Nari sunk back into the comfort of the leather chair as they drove through the post-lunch Seoul traffic. She wondered whether or not The Boss would allow her to be re-inserted into the field; her last mission needed a good three years to complete, and frankly, it exhausted and took everything she had out of her. Took certain people away from her. But Nari wanted nothing more than to be doing what she was best at - fighting for the family who took her in when she had none. But whether or not she had it in her to engage in another long-term scheme, she hadn't made her mind up just quite yet.

The SM building (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B7OK34hCcAA2wpW.jpg) loomed above the girls as theh waited for the barrier to open up for them. For the majority of people, SMTOWN was an investment company, mainly owning stocks in entertainment, media and fashion. Secretly, they also had stakes in weapons, defense, mercenary forces, vehicles and even their own lawyer branch. For the most part they were politically immune, and for the other, they were one of the most wanted people in the country. But their actions were so secret, so clouded and shrouded in mystery that it was impossible for the intelligence services to lay a finger on them. 

If it wasn't like that, I'd have been six feet under a long time ago...

"You sure you don't want to use the underground entrance?" Irene asked from behind the wheel as the barrier lifted for them, the building creeping ever closer. 

Nari swallowed, "I'm sure. I was a girl last time I was here. Let's see how well they remember family."

Indeed, as Nari walked through the familiar glass doors to the SM-Syndicate building, she couldn't feel anymore of a stranger than she did now. All the unfamiliar faces whizzing by in a hurry, all the new interfaces and technology buzzing around detracted from Nari's bittersweet memory of growing up as part of the syndicate; all the days spent training alongside the SHINee group before they went to Busan, causing chaos with Key and Minho when they hated each other, hours spent messing around with Amber and getting scolded by Victoria in the old dorms (now the new training centre apparently), assessments alongside Hyoyeon and Yuri, and even her anger at not witnessing EXO's first mission before they were sent off to China-

All of that was gone.

This was no longer the place she grew up so attached to, so grateful for - no, this was merely a mask worn for a public too invested into the lie. The lie that The Boss had fabricated a little too well. 

It was when three black-suited men approached her that Nari began to question her welcome here. She remained calm, following them guards up the high-speed elevator, what she once saw as 'her' city opening up before her eyes as she rose. It was as she planned her escape route out of the building, all the ways of disarming and maiming the guards, that the one comfort to this unfamiliar setting was revealed.

"I see your office hasn't changed." 

Lee Sooman turned to face Nari with an aged face, wearing the smile of a father proud, yet at the same time sad, over seeing his child all grown up. Gone were the harsh formalities of the job Nari was bound to - she didn't hesitate in running into her Daebu's​ arms and clinging onto the memory of hope she'd so cherished. That she still cherished.

"My, how you've grown." He smiled at Nari, pressing a hand to her cheek as tears prickled in her dark eyes. No longer was she the wild