Incra’s headquarters were located underground in the middle of downtown Seoul. On top of Incra stood was a 20-story high rise building that consisted of various corporate offices. Jisoo always assumed that the head of Incra owned the building. There was no way that a spy organization could exist secretly without anyone finding out if there were agents coming in and out everyday.

Agents like Jisoo. Jisoo strutted into her cubicle with a focused face. It had been a week since she had that uncomfortable encounter with Taehyung and it made her late for work for the first time ever. She can admit that she is a little bit of a perfectionist. One careless mistake could begin a series of her messing up which would then cause her to stop advancing in Incra. She would hate that. She likes having tangible goals she can work towards. Having her identity and the sense of belonging stripped from her happen a second time would be devastating.

“Awfully serious today, aren’t we?”

Jisoo tore herself away from her computer screen and swiveled around in her office chair. Her handler, Park Hongjoon, leaned against her cubicle wall. Hongjoon was an agent who formerly went on missions when he was younger. Once he married his wife Yeseul, they had a child and that was the end of his life in the field. Now, he was affectionately referred to as “Teddy”

She considered herself extremely lucky to have Teddy as her handler. He was considered one of the best in the field, so he passed down his tricks and expertise to Jisoo. Teddy was very fond of her and the other girls from Myungwol. At this point, Jisoo thought of him as a father figure in her life.

“When you alerted me earlier about how necessary it was to be in the office today, I figured there would be something important that I needed to prepare myself for.” Jisoo replied.

“Nothing you need to be afraid of, but you are correct. We’re going to be having a briefing in a couple of minutes. Don’t worry, it won’t last more than an hour. Then you can take the rest of the night off.” Teddy beckoned for Jisoo to follow him.

Jisoo gathered her things and followed him. Jennie, Lisa, and Rose were already there. Jisoo took her place beside them. Park Dara stood at the head of the table. Dara initially recruited Jisoo and introduced her to the spy world. She was intimidating and elegant at the same time, which still scared the girls even after all this time.

“Good evening everyone. The purpose of holding this briefing was to announce a couple of things. First, I wanted to say congratulations to Jennie, Lisa, and Rose. You three will be going on missions starting next week.” Dara gave them a curt smile.

The three girls gasped excitedly. Jisoo stood up and hugged them each from behind, then jumped back into her seat. She was truly ecstatic for them. They were her best friends and they deserved to be able to go on missions because of how much hard work they put in.

“Your respective handlers and I will discuss these missions in separate debriefings with you all. You three are free to go or continue listening if you wish, but Jisoo you’ll have to stay.”

The other girls stayed put in their seats, but sent quizzical looks towards Jisoo. Jisoo glanced back quickly in a confused manner as well.

“So, Jisoo. You’ve been sent on missions for about a year now. I’ve been reviewing your portfolio that Incra has accumulated of your activity in the field. I have to admit—and I don’t just give this out to anyone lightly—that you’ve been shaping up to be a spectacular agent. You get the job done quickly and you’re quite methodical and composed when it comes to getting you and your team out of stressful situations.” Dara praised her.

Jisoo was in shock. Did the scary and mighty Dara just tell her that she was not just a good agent, but a spectacular one? Holy crap.

“It may seem like I’m immune to office banter because I don’t mingle with as many of the agents as you all do, but I have heard about how Hongjoon over here is touting you as his little protégé. I believe that word has also spread to other spy agencies, so it is very likely that you could be known for that in the field. Keep that in mind as I tell you about your next mission.” Dara relayed.

Jisoo gulped. Now this was just too much. She was starting to feel pressure; she wasn’t even worth the title of being “Teddy’s protégé.”

“So I’m presenting you with a good opportunity to live up to that new nickname. Next week, you’ll be going on a mission. This one will be significantly different. The location is going to be in Los Angeles, so you’ll be receiving information about your flight and hotel accommodations tomorrow. You will also be completing this mission solo for the first time.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Jisoo must have heard her wrong. Firstly, she was flying halfway across the world to Los Angeles. But more importantly, she was going to be completely alone? Most agents didn’t receive a solo mission until they had proved their worth after five years or so in the field.

“Did you need anything repeated to you?” Dara narrowed her eyes.

“No, I’m sorry.” Jisoo shut up. Dara would give this mission to anyone more experienced than Jisoo in a mere heartbeat if she showed any more un