Bae Irene's welcome home gift was some idiot bulldozing into her shoulder. The force sent her stumbling and earned the assailant a hissed out string of curses. She rolled her right shoulder back. Winced at the painful reminder of the burly man’s bat making contact with her body. That had hurt like a . It still did.

She had just returned from a mission that involved a security breach and a suspected attempt of murder. The suspicions had been correct, and Irene had successfully saved the rich businessman from certain death. It had been a week long mission. She was tired. She just wanted to take a seat on a comfortable chair and have a nice cup of coffee. Maybe take a breath for a second.

“Damn!”

The other agents were staring. Practically boring holes in the side of her head. She whipped around to the source of the voice, and could barely bring up the energy to be surprised at who she saw. Kang Seulgi. One of the few people she unfortunately recognized, and Irene's rival since the day the she-devil stepped foot on SM grounds.

The Hellfire Angel and the Angel of Ice. A rivalry so strong, it was named the battle between ice and fire.

“Watch where you’re going, will you?”

Irene straightened up at the challenge, eyed the hot-headed younger girl cooly. Seulgi wasn’t named Hellfire Angel for nothing, just as she wasn't called the Ice Angel for the fun of it. The girl was known for her impulsivity and fearless-bordering-on-stupid actions in missions. Her personality in the field and out never changed. Irene had always made sure to show contempt for it. Calm, cool, and calculative actions were what had kept her alive for so long, not rage-induced attacks.

“I was watching where I was going. Were you?” 

Seulgi properly looked at her for the first time. Laughed out loud. “Well, if it isn’t Irene. What a surprise! Back from your mission already? What was it this time? Murder? Drugs?”

“None of your business,” Irene said. Cut Seulgi off and didn't spare her another glance. Continued her way toward the Head Office. She hoped she wouldn’t see that face again anytime soon.

Unfortunately, the fates were never on her side.

Once again, Irene found herself making her way down the same halls of SM, towards the same destination as she had walked to a thousand times before. She wondered what it could possibly be this time. If the Head was calling her up personally, it was most likely for an S-ranked mission, or perhaps a very important announcement. Either way, significant.

“Irene!”

She stopped and turned, saw the one person in the agency who didn’t get on her nerves. Son Wendy. An actual angel. Kind-hearted, compassionate, somewhat motherly, and as far as she was concerned, a gift from above, considering the girl had entered the agency just two years ago. 

“Are you going to the Head, too?” 

Wendy nodded. “I got called up. I wonder what’s going on?”

They quickly reached their destination, knocked on the door before entering. What greeted her was the sight of three other agents standing in the room. Among them, none other than Kang Seulgi. Irene shot the girl a cold look. Turned her attention to the two others in the room. She vaguely recognized them. The only thing she remembered was the two coming into the agency a little over a year ago. 

She didn’t know much about them. Not as if she knew much about anyone. The one thing she did know was that they were known for having considerable skill in undercover work, of getting in and out of places with no one the wiser.

She looked at the tall, short-haired girl who was watching her with a guarded expression. Joy. She knew she had a given name, never bothered to find out what it was. She glanced at the opposite of the former—a short, blonde-haired girl with a childish face and innocent eyes