Jennie and Jisoo walked into the front hall just as Madame Young finished reading a letter. Seeing the expression on her face, Jennie asked "Is something wrong? Is there anything that we can do?"

Madame Park looked up at them as if just noticing that they'd come into the room. "No, there's nothing, thank you Jennie. I just got a message that it's going to be longer than we expected before Madame Park comes back." She looked down at the paper crumpled in her hand. "If you'll excuse me, I have to take care of some paperwork before dinner."

Irene came into the front hall just as Madame Young was leaving. "What was that about?" she asked Jennie and Jisoo, leaning close to them so she didn't have to speak much above a whisper.

"She got a letter saying it would be longer than expected for Madame Park to come back,"Jennie said, "and she seemed really upset about it."

"Well," Irene said quietly, "I know that Madame Young and Madame Park went to the same academy at the same time, and I've always suspected they have a more than professional relationship."

Jisoo looked startled at this - she had never imagined Madame Park having a relationship with anyone.

"We'll just have to be on our best behavior," Jennie said.

"Of course," Jisoo added, "since we didn't know how long we were supposed to be here originally, it really means nothing to us that we're going to be staying here longer."

Irene nodded at the wisdom of this. Just then Hwasa and Wheein came in, so they dropped this topic of conversation and moved on to more casual topics. Within a few minutes, all the students had gathered and lined up, awaiting Madame Young's return. 

The second bell had already rung and a minute had passed when Madame Young came back into the front hall. Jisoo noticed that her eyes were red and she was sniffling slightly. There was obviously more to the afternoon's letter than she was letting on.

"The cooks have prepared a special treat for us tonight," Madame Young said, her voice a bit quieter than was usual forh her. 'We're having shabu-shabu!"

Jisoo had never had shabu-shabu before, but the others seemed excited about it, so she looked curiously at the table as they filed into the dining room. Two pots of broth were sitting on the table, kept at a boil by small tabletop stoves. The remainder of the table was covered with trays of vegetables, thinly sliced meat, and seafood. Seeing Jisoo's trepidation, Madame Young leaned over toward her and said "In case any of you have never had shabu-shabu, it's quite easy and really a lot of fun nto eat You pick the things you want to eat, then cook them in the hot broth." She demonstrated by picking up a slice of beef and putting it in the pot in front of her. In just a few seconds, the beef was cooked. Madame Young picked it up, dipped it in a bowl of sauce, and ate it. "Give it a try," she said as soon as she was able to talk again.

Jisoo picked up a piece of crab leg and put it in the broth. She watched eagerly as the meat cooked before her eyes. When it appeared to be done, she picked it up with her chopsticks, dipped it in one of the sauces, and ate it. She didn't think she had ever tasted anything so delicious! The crab was as fresh as could be, and the broth gave it an extra flavor.

'Try the mushrooms," Irene urged her, gesturing toward a plate of different kinds of mushrooms. Jisoo did, and it was just as delicious as the crab had been. They all ate all the different foods until they couldn't eat any more, having a lot of fun in the process. By the end of dinner, Madame Young appeared to be in a slightly better mood.

Later that night, Jisoo, Jennie, and Irene were lying in bed, quietly discussing the evening's events. 

"Apparently something's going wrong with Madame Park's mission," Jennie said.

"We don't know for sure that that's the case," Irene said. "It could just be that things are taking longer than expected."

Jisoo shook her head. "No," she said, "you didn't see Madame Young's face when she read the letter. She was clearly upset about something."

"Unfortunately," Irene said, "we've got no way of knowing what it is. All we can do is stay alert and hope some chance for us to help comes up."

Just then they heard the front bell ringing and the night porter answering the door.

"If only we could tell what's going on," Jennie said.

Irene had already jumped up and headed toward her closet. "There is! Follow me!" She opened her closet door, then opened a hidden door in the back of the closet, revealing a crawlspace. She started crawling in without waiting to see if the others followed her. Jennie and Jisoo looked at each other, shrugged, and crawled in behind her, first Jennie, then Jisoo bringing up the rear. The tunnel ended at a small room, where there was a small hole in the floor, which Irene was currently looking through. She gestured for Jennie and Jisoo to come over - quietly! - and take a turn looking through the spy hole. They were able to see the night porter talking to a younger man in a messenger's uniform.

"I was instructed to wait to see if Madame Young had a response to this message," the messenger was saying. The night porter gestured toward a bench, then turned and vanished into the back of the house.

Irene, Jennie, and Jisoo took turns look through the hole, even though the view remained the same - the messenger sitting on the bench, eagerly awaiting the night porter's return. When the night porter did return, he handed the messenger a small envelope and asked "Will you be able to deliver this tonight?"

The messenger nodded. "It shouldn't take me more than two or three hours."

"Well, by all means, go with all possible haste," the night porter said as he walked the messenger to the door.

Irene pointed back toward her room. They crawled back into her closet, then Irene closed the hidden d