Amber glanced over at Krystal, then let her eyes wander around instinctively. It was freezing. She almost wished she was in one of the agency suits. They were warmer than the parka she was wearing, anyway.

“One of their men. Two o’clock,” Krystal said.

Amber looked briefly to see a tall guy with a black leather jacket and his hands in his pockets. An untrained eye would have passed him off as a man waiting for a friend or perhaps a lover. But his stance and the way his eyes were constantly moving told her that that wasn’t the case. His attention turned to them and Amber grabbed onto Krystal’s arm and started spewing nonsense. It worked.

“Off me, llama,” Krystal said.

Amber grinned at her cheekily. They were nearing the warehouses now. Lights glowed yellow from street lamps and the pathways were relatively walkable. A few couples walked past them which was good.

Amber put a hand to her ear. “We’re in the premises.”

“Copy that,” Wendy said.

None of the warehouses particularly stood out. They were all metal painted beige with white numbers painted above the large entrances. All padlocked and chained. She felt Krystal’s arm tug out of her hold. Then saw her walking over to one of the warehouses.

“What are you doing?!” she hissed.

“Amber.”

“What?”

Amber walked over to the taller woman.

“I think this whole place belongs to them.”

“What?”

Amber looked to where Krystal was staring. She was holding the padlock in her hand. And on the back of the padlock, carved intricately into the silver metal, was an unmistakable maple leaf.

“.”

Joy followed Yeri towards the building. The cold was making her face numb and her hands freeze. She clenched and unclenched them into fists to keep the blood circulation going. She looked around then shot forward and grabbed Yeri by the arm and yanked her behind a tree. One of the men walked by a few moments later. Completely ignorant. Joy silently motioned for Yeri to stay where she was. She grabbed a large stick the thickness of a pipe lying conveniently on top of one of the bushes. She walked quietly behind the man, and before he could notice her, slammed him across the head with the branch. He fell with a low grunt. The snow stained red beneath his head. Joy grabbed the guy by his legs and dragged him behind the bushes then walked back to Yeri.

“What was that?” Yeri hissed.

Joy shrugged. Looked around and stepped back out into the open. “One less guy for Ice and Hellfire.”

She shuffled through the snow. Covering any signs of an assault. Yeri overtook her soon enough and they were back on track. They reached the building. The building was four stories high. Not too big and not too small. Yeri made quick work of the backdoor.

“Damn it! They couldn’t leave the heater on?” Joy said.

Yeri threw an amused glance at her and shook her head. They walked forward.

“Alright, you guys are in, right?”

“Oh my - What the hell, Wendy?!” Joy snarled.

“Sorry, sorry. Here, I’ll pull up the blueprints for your contacts. Just follow the blue path.”

The dark hallways turned a glowing green. There was a blue line that lead straight through the hallway about ten yards ahead before curving left. Joy looked at Yeri. Yeri nodded. They walked forward, following the path.

When they turned, Joy was met with a metal door with a plaque beside it that read two words. Control room. Joy stepped back to let Yeri do her work. Five seconds later, a soft click sounded, and the door swung open. Joy patted Yeri on the back. They walked in and closed the door.

The room was small. There was one desk with a computer on top of it. It looked ancient. Joy pulled the flash drive out of her pocket and sat down at the desk. Yeri leaned over behind her. Joy blankly stared at the computer for a few seconds then turned back to Yeri.

“How do you work this thing?”

“Oh, move, Sooyoungie,” Yeri said.

Joy laughed and slid out of the chair. She gestured to it.

“It’s all yours.”

Irene kept her hands out of her pockets. It was freezing, sure, but she would rather have her hands free to attack at a moment’s notice than take the time to pull them out of her pockets and risk getting punched in the face. She kept them warm by constantly moving them instead. It was one in the morning, but there were still people walking around and entering open shops. Irene seriously considered whether or not they were crazy.

She caught sight of a family. There was a child bundled up in various amounts of clothes sleeping on a man’s back, and the man and woman holding hands and talking to each other with smiles on their faces. Irene felt a distinct pang in her chest. She looked away. Then caught the sight of Seulgi watching them, too. Seulgi had on an odd expression. Not really sadness, but more of confusion. As if she was trying to remember something that had slipped her mind years before and had just remembered it.

“Must be nice,” she said.

“What?”

“You know, living a normal life. Not having to wonder where you’re gonna go next. Where you’re going to end up tomorrow.”

Irene shook her head. “I’d rather have this life than be bored out of my mind half the time. Not knowing anything. Being completely clueless of what’s going on around me.”

Irene couldn’t imagine living the life of the people around her. Agency life was all she knew since birth. Leaving it would be like leaving everything she’d ever known. There was no other option than that.

“I guess you’re right. It would be boring, huh? I wouldn’t have been to half the places I’ve gone to if I wasn’t working this job.”

Irene nodded. Abruptly, her earpiece crackled to life.

“Guys, we have a small problem,” Amber said.

Irene put a hand to her ear. “What?”

“Yeah, you know these warehouses? Well, they don’t own just one of them.”

“What are you talking about?” Wendy asked.

“This whole district. They own it. All of the locks, they have maple leaf engravings in them.”

“What the hell are you guys talking about? How could they possibly own a whole district?” Seulgi said.

Krystal’s voice echoed through the earpiece. “Well, that would explain why there’s so many men around here.”

“Alright, Wendy. What do we need to do? Can you get the whole district down?” Irene asked.

“Yes, but I’ll have to go in.”

“Alright. Krystal and Amber, you two make it back to the van,” Irene said.

“Copy that.”

The line went silent. Irene felt a nudge on her arm. She looked up and saw Seulgi motioning her head subtly towards the alleyway between an ice cream shop and a closed restaurant. She darted her gaze towards it to see a guy with a black trench coat leaning against the restaurant’s wall and having a smoke. Which meant that he wasn’t expecting anything big to happen anytime soon. But his eyes were continuously on the move and Irene could see the outline of a gun at his which also meant that he was ready for action.

They walked casually past him. A minute later, she caught sight of a man that she was familiar w