Secret Project

The Target
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The morning sunlight appeared as the sun rose early at dawn. Many still laid asleep in bed, but for the Jang siblings, they were up and ready for the new day. The two sat against the kitchen island with the curtain blinds still closed behind them.   “You sure you got the codes?” Dong Woo asked, his fingers heavily typing on his keyboard while his eyes remained glued to the laptop screen.   “Positive,” his sister replied.   Silence resumed among them and all seriousness took over. Dong Woo was an IT genius and could hack into any system he wanted, even that of the national bank. Several times they had tried to take a look into Nam Woo Hyun’s bank accounts to see traces of his criminal records, but the profile was highly encrypted with questions he could not find the answer to. Not that the questions were hard in itself, but the system prevented any data theft or data mining altogether which disabled him any access.   “Okay, we’re halfway in,” Dong Woo muttered to himself. He made a bunch of terminal numbers and letters appear in different windows, and every single line he typed would revert the website differently. He went from the login page to retrieving Nam Woo Hyun’s login and password, answering details such as his bank account number was quite easy too. The hard part was what came afterwards. They were always stuck on this dreaded page of security questions.   “Most influential person in life?” He read the question on screen.   “Lee Jung Wook,” Hyun Mi answered, and he typed.   “Name of the first school attended?”   “Nam San Kindergarten.”   Dong Woo pressed enter and they waited for the page to load. A wrong move would mean Nam Woo Hyun receiving an alert message about someone trying to access his account; it was another function Dong Woo could not access. But if they succeeded, it would be a great breakthrough.   It had to be right, they had double checked the security questions ensure they were fixed variables prior to the gala meeting. When Woo Hyun allowed her to ask two questions the previous night, he didn’t realize she was seeking access to his bank accounts.   “It works!” Dong Woo cheered, eyes widening when he saw the page of the account information coming in sight. There were datas of his multiple savings and checkings account, along with a history of his recent transactions.   “Can we get the data from the last three years?” Hyun Mi asked.   “Why three? What if he already prepared his crimes since a long time ago?” Dong Woo asked.   “Fine, five years,” Hyun Mi gave in. Normal users would only have the ability to see the transaction history up to a year into the past, but Dong Woo managed to retrieve data from five years ago. Just because it was unseen to the eye did not mean it was no longer there.   “Alright, it’s printing.” Dong Woo released his hands from the laptop and immediately received a hug from his sister who kept thanking him. Honestly, he would’ve done anything for her.   “So what do you need all this data for anyway?” He then asked, feeling Hyun Mi pull herself away from him. She flashed him one of her childlike grins and he grew more curious.   “To see if he’s worth putting up a protest for.”     The building of the organization was a little secluded in the busy streets of Seoul. Among the tall corporational buildings, there was a small gate squeezed between two modern architectures unnoticed by the passersby. Hyun Mi stood in front and scanned the ID card dangling from her neck to the hidden sensor besides the gate. The door opened and she quickly moved in to descend the elevator to the lower ground. Their office was located underground after all.   The organization was as mysterious as it sounded. It was never given a proper name or got patented as a private limited company. The exact number of members or agents were classified and they mainly didn’t know their superior’s names or faces. Only those proven to be a worthy asset to the company would occasionally get a glance. Therefore, it was extremely important for all individuals to have a daily profession to camouflage their actual activity as secret agents, as some preferred to call it.   The government had many divisions, and they’d like to think of this place as a subsidiary branch falling under the protection code of the country. What they did were good and would help the citizens. Most missions came directly from the governor board in the parliament, and they had to obey them under all circumstances necessary, unless otherwise stated.   The sound of her suede heels kept clicking against the white laminated flooring. She passed some sort of a hallway in the form of a glass tube. Surprisingly, the scenery outside this opaque tunnel was decorated so one would see the sky above and the city buildings below. Mr. Lee had a strange taste sometimes.   The inner part of the organization was a huge headquarter consisting of five floors downwards like a huge beehive colony. The center was a huge open circle where one could spot the other five floors. Each floor had their own division, and Hyun Mi proceeded along the fifth floor corridor on the left to enter one of the occupied research rooms.   “Finally! We’ve been waiting for you!” A girl by the name of Ha Maerin immediately jumped up from her seat. Her dark hair was incredibly long and the red ombre tip reached just above her waist.   “Sorry, I had to get all of this printed.” Hyun Mi had to close the door with her feet.   “I’ll help you with that,” one of the newer recruits named Seol Hana spoke as she took over half of the paper booklets from Hyun Mi’s hand. Her glasses nearly fell off when the heaps of paper landed on the wooden table with a loud puff.   “Is this what you called us for?” Maerin slowly questioned, having an eery bad feeling about the stack of five books, each around 300 pages she roughly assumed. Part of her wondered how Hyun Mi’s petite body managed to carry all these.   “Yes. This is a copy of Nam Woo Hyun’s transactions in the past five years. He has been accused of embezzlement, but I need you two to help me recheck the fact.” Hyun Mi smiled at them   “This is a lot! Wouldn’t you need to go to a financial analyst for this?” Maerin asked.   “Ooh! I heard Jung Ho Seok is in town, and he is only the best financial advisor there is,” Hana said excitedly.   “No! Mr. Lee does not like that guy. Don’t you know he is currently under suspicion?” Hyun Mi heavily shook her head in disagreement. “Besides, I know Maerin’s capabilities as a data analyst is remarkably astounding. If anyone has to find out the imbalance between the debit and credit side, only Ha Maerin could. You have some accounting background too, I checked your profile.”   “You checked my profile?” Maerin’s jaw fell open in a highly comical way, exaggerating her shock. Though all the things spoken about her was technically correct.   “And how can I help?” Hana, on the other hand, was more than excited to help out. This was her first big case after she had joined the organization a few months ago. She had been working in a law firm prior to this, but got fed up with the organizational politics and corru
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Purple-Peng
1301 streak #1
Chapter 24: I finally finished this today.
I should have seen it coming with Ki Bum since I do watch a couple of spy movies/dramas.
I think my favorite part is seeing Hyun Mi threaten Mr. Lee and then her conflicting view on their mission in the plane.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #2
Chapter 21: I love how there's another reference to HIPS with Hee Jin mentioning she nearly killed someone with a curling iron. It makes me wonder if that's where she got the idea to use it as a weapon.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #3
Chapter 19: I love how Hyun Mi and Woo Hyun are closer which makes it sadder with what happens to him in HIPS.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #4
Chapter 17: I like how this is kind of like a foreshadowing of HIPS and love the cameo of Hee Jin and Min Seok.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #5
Chapter 14: I don't think Woo Hyun is lying to Hyun Mi.
I like how Hyun Mi and those close to her want to change what their company does. I couldn't help but think maybe one of the higher-ups in their company or maybe Ki Bum is using them for their own goals.
rajnbow #6
Chapter 14: Wait whatt that was unexpected... I've been feeling that Ki Bum and Mr. Lee were slightly off though, so I think they're both probably lying. There's no way Woohyun would actually deserve to be killed...

But on a happier note, yay Taemin and Maerin! The hand holding part was really cute XD
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #7
Chapter 12: Love the appearances of the other characters from HIPS, Seollin and Taehyung introducing themselves made me laugh.
I think my favorite part is when Taemin touched the check because one thing I learn from a game called "Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet" is that people tend to press a bit hard when writing. So whatever they wrote might be indented into the next sheet of paper.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #8
Chapter 11: The part where they nearly got caught is so intense. It reminded me of a level I played in "Hitman 2", where Agent 47 has about at least 3 to 5 minutes to kill his target before his identity gets discovered.
Also, the two finally kissed! I laughed at the part where Hyun Mi realized the others might have seen it from the CCTV.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #9
Chapter 10: Woo Hyun to the rescue! I find it sweet he's there to save Hyun Mi from Sang Gyu since she and the others were stuck on what to do.