Day One
Operation ChromeTiffany's usual routine before each major assignment would be to do her groundwork. She will drive around the area, look around and try to familiarise herself with the surroundings. On this very day, she had three other people on board with her.
"Yoona, I am going to kill you if you get any crumbs stuck on my seats." Tiffany yelled from the driver seat.
"Unnie~ You woke us up so early, I barely had time to eat my breakfast. Let me eat my croissant in peace."
"Yeah unnie! It is way too early." Yuri yawned.
"Yoona! Give me some of that croissant too!" Sooyong quipped.
Yes, Tiffany was in the car with all of the junior agents assigned to her client. As they are all working in a team, Tiffany decided to bring all of them along. She secretly thanked Minhyuk for giving her these three agents. All three of them were personally trained by Tiffany when she was still a training officer in the cadet school. She had watched them grow from clueless cadets to battle ready agents. To say they were close was an understatement.
"Yah, I brought you guys out for work today. This is not a leisure ride. I want you to familiarise yourselves with the area. Remember each alley and street by heart. This knowledge could potentially make the difference between life and death."
"Yes Unnie" The trio chorused from the backseat and immediately focused on the outside of the car.
Tiffany drove around the neighbour and finally stopped right opposite her client's mansion.
"Well this is it. The mansion opposite us is where we will be for the next six months."
"Looks to be pretty well guarded with tall walls and tons of security cameras. The surveillance room would be a fun place to be in." Yuri observed.
And Yuri was right. She did noticed the ridiculous amount of cameras planted all around the mansion. She knew there was bound to be even more inside. She will have to familiarise herself with their locations. It would certainly come in handy for both her bodyguard duties and her secret operation. She had been privately warned by Minhyuk to keep her secret task from everyone, including her three agents. It was a task that she would have to undertake herself without the knowledge of her comrades.
Yoona spoke after a period of quiet contemplation. "I wonder which room will we be staying in. I bet it is going to be luxurious."
"I wonder if their kitchen serve all day breakfast." Sooyoung added on.
Tiffany shook her head. These two will be the death of her. "Don't make me chase the two of you out of the car."
"Except I know you love us too much to do that to us."
"Yeah, yeah. That's quite enough for today. Take the rest of the weekend off and pack for the move in. Breakfast's on me today."
==
The car was traveling at a high speed. The driver made a sharp turn to the left, causing the passengers at the back to jerk. She was trembling in her mother's hold and felt her mother tighten her arms around her.
"Don't worry darling. Close your eyes, it will be over soon." There was a slight hint of fear in her mother's voice.
"Ma'am, they are still chasing us. I have called for reinforcements but they are getting closer to us. What should we do?" The driver yelled.
"Keep driving! Don't let them get close."
Bang. A gun shot was heard.
She closed her eyes even tighter and hugged her mother closer, breathing in her calming scent. Her eyes were wet with tears by now.
"Shh, darling it's okay. We will be okay."
The car was driving too fast. Too quickly.
Then finally a flash and a big bang. Followed by darkness.
Her grip on her bedsheets tightened and she woke up almost immediately, with sweat trickling down her forehead. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to catch her breath. Another night, another nightmare. Tears stream down her cheeks so the memories came back to her like waves hitting the shore. She punched her bed in frustration.
When will this end? When will she ever get over it? Probably never. That's right. That's her punishment for surviving.
She was just contemplating about the best way to disappear when she hears a knock on her door. She groaned.
"Good morning Miss Taeyeon. Are you awake?"
Ever since that fateful incident, Taeyeon lost her ability to walk and needed help to get ready in the morning. Her immobility only added onto the list of things she hates about herself.
She shuts her eyes, hoping that whoever outside her room would just leave her alone.
"Miss Taeyeon?"
But the knocking showed no signs of subsiding, but instead intensified. On normal days, Taeyeon was able to calm herself enough to put up a strong front and pretend that things are okay. But today, she felt like she couldn't do it anymore.
Knock, knock, knock. The sound of knuckles tapping against the wooden door were grating on her ears. All she wanted was for everything to stop.
And so she grabbed the lamp on her night stand and threw it towards the direction of her door with forceful rage.
"Shut the up and leave me alone!" She screamed and screamed and screamed, just like that night when she lost her mother.
==
Tiffany, along with her team had arrived bright and early to her client's residence. They had brought everything that they needed for this assignment. Each of the agent brought their work laptops, defensive weapons, communication devices and luggages.
Here we go, Tiffany thought to herself as she pressed the doorbell and waited for the gate to be opened.
The gate slowly opened and a middle aged man, which Tiffany knew to be the family's butler from the case file, stepped out to greet them.
"Oh hello, good morning ladies."
He extended his hand and Tiffany shook it immediately.
"Good morning, Butler Lee."
The man raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised that Tiffany knew who he was.
"Good morning. This is Agent...?"
"Ah, I am Agent Hwang. I would be in charge of Miss Kim's security team. These are my colleagues, Yuri, Sooyoung and Yoona."
The trio bowed respectfully.
"I see. Come on in agents, my master is expecting you."
The house was even grander on the inside. The walls were adorned with expensive golden t. The centerpiece of the mansion was the huge, crystal chandelier hanging from the top of the living room. The numerous smooth slopes and wide corridors had not gone unnoticed by Tiffany. She gathered that those must have been put in place for Miss Kim to move around the house easily. To top it all off, there was a lift beside the grand staircase. Tiffany quickly concluded that the lift would lead to the bedrooms on the higher levels. Specifically, her client's room.
The butler brought them to the dining hall where the master of the house was currently having his breakfast.
Tiffany had done enough research on the man who hired them. Wealthy was an understatement. He was, at the very least, amongst the top five richest man in Korea. According to what she read on the internet, he was known to be quite a charitable man. His wife, the mother of Miss Kim Taeyeon, had died in a car crash a couple of years back. He seemed like a nice, honest businessman well liked by all. On the surface at least.
The man was sipping tea when they walked in.
"Oh hello."
Tiffany bowed and greeted her new boss. "Good Morning Mr Kim. I am Agent Hwang. You can call me Tiffany. These are my colleagues, Yuri, Sooyoung and Yoona."
"Ah, nice to meet all of you. Why don't you all take a seat? Make yourselves comfortable. My daughter should be coming down for breakfast any time soon." He gestured for them to take a seat. "Lee, serve our guests some tea please."
Tiffany shook her head and maintained her professionalism. "Thank you but I think it is better if we remain standing."
"I shall not insist then. Before you meet my daughter, I thought I would just briefly say a couple of things. She is really quiet and she does have her moodswings from time to time. I would expect you to be gentle and patient with her. And of course, do your best to protect her. She is precious to me and..." The man seemed to choke on his words a little and eventually managed to hold onto himself, "...all I have left--"
Before he could go any on further, a loud bang was heard from upstairs, followed by screams. It came out of nowhere, shattering the calm of the morning.
"Shut the up and leave me alone! Go away! GO AWAY!"
Tiffany tightened up immediately, ready to run towards the source of the commotion.
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