The Maple Leaf. 

That was the only thing on Irene’s mind as she walked down the spotless white hallways towards Lee’s office. She could feel it, the burning anger, the waves of remorse. It was always them. 

They were the ones responsible for the death of her parents. 

Ever since that night, she’d taken on every single mission that could possibly correlate to the Maple Leaf. When Seulgi had announced the tattoo, Irene had felt her heart jump inside of her chest. It wasn’t from fear. It wasn’t from excitement. It was purely from the fact that every appearance of the Maple Leaf meant another chance to get her revenge.

“Irene?”

Irene broke out of her trance. Looked to her right to see Wendy watching her. The halls were familiar, and she was so used to walking them alone. She had forgotten about the woman walking beside her.

“Yes?”

“Are you okay?” 

Wendy’s gaze was gentle like always. Completely different from what Irene saw in the mirror. It was exactly that which stopped her from being short and snappy with the woman. 

Irene blinked and looked away. 

“I’m fine.”

Well, less snappy, at the least.

“Are you guys going to Lee?”

Irene had seen the woman once in a while just like everyone else in the agency. Although, she was harder to miss than the others. Krystal Jung.

Tall, leanly built, charismatic in every sense of the word. Krystal was well-known for her skills in the field, popular for her seemingly foreign beauty. At least, that was Irene had heard from the whispers of other agents.

“Hey Krystal! Yeah we are. We have to report something, why?”

Krystal shook her head. Gestured to the door a few feet behind her. “Don’t bother. He’s not here right now.”

Irene’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean he’s not here?”

For all the times that she’d visited Lee’s office, the man had never been unavailable.

“I know, it’s weird. I think there’s something big going on. I heard the higher ups talking about something weird earlier. Something about a leaf. Probably heard it wrong, though,” Krystal said. “I just thought you guys should know. Save you some time.” 

“Yeah, thanks.”

“No problem.” 

And with a smile, she was gone.

Wendy turned to Irene. Obviously worried. “So does this mean Lee and the rest of the Head knows about it, too?”

Irene bit her lip. Nodded. It made sense, after all. They’d most likely caught on to the sloppy information the police had given them. Had done some investigation on their own. Irene had known from the beginning when Lee told them that it was a “simple task” that it wasn’t really. Nothing that came all the way to SM was ever simple. If it was simple it would have stayed with the police. 

“We’re going to the interrogation room. Tell the prison guards.”

“But—”

“Now. We don’t have the time,” Irene snapped. 

She turned around and briskly walked back the way they’d come. She had a bad feeling about the whole ordeal, and she was sure that something was going to happen. Whether they liked it or not.

Yeri stayed close beside Joy as they retraced their steps back to where they had been only an hour before. She could feel Seulgi’s presence behind her. Had to admit that it gave her reassurance. Yeri was accustomed to people-watching. The Hellfire Angel hadn’t been an exception.

Kang Seulgi was not too short, far from tall, but her proportions made up for it. She had a dominating presence, an aesthetically pleasing face. She gave the impression of a lit match stick hovering over a tank full of explosives and gasoline. Dangerous. Impulsive. All-in-all, more than useful in a fight. Someone you really wouldn’t want on the opposite team.

Conversation was whispered.

“This is the place?”

“Yeah. You scared?” Joy taunted.

Yeri could feel the tension coming off of Seulgi in waves.

“No. Stop making stupid assumptions.”

Joy only laughed quietly. Turned around and walked towards the front of the warehouse. Yeri followed, but quickly overtook the older