It was a dream come true.

Sojung had picked people she knew she could trust. Jiyeon and Hyunjung were the main people she had in mind since the beginning.

She didn’t want to get ahead of herself too quickly, so she asked the academy to let her start out small.

It was the three of them for a month until Jiyeon got a call and went off the grid, like she usually did. Sojung was upset, but she didn’t show it in front of her friend.

Sojung knew she had to find someone to help behind the scenes while Hyunjung and her were on the field.

She knocked on the apartment, the front door immediately swinging open. “Sojung, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Soobin.” Sojung smirked at her classmate. “I’ll cut to the chase. Want to be on my team?”

Soobin was a close classmate of theirs, having been at the academy for years together. Sojung knew she’d found a good person to help with forensics.

Hyunjung was ecstatic when Sojung told her she brought Soobin onto the team.

“I can’t wait until our little family grows bigger!”

Sojung rolled her eyes, smiling at her girlfriend’s silliness. “It’ll take a while.”

There was a long pause as the two of them shuffled papers around on their desks.

“How long do you think until she’s back?”

Sojung knew she was talking about Jiyeon. Hyunjung always worried quietly whenever the elusive girl would get called onto a small mission for the academy.

“She told me it wouldn’t be for long.”

There was another long pause occupied by the sounds of papers shuffling.

“I hope she’s doing okay.”

Sojung definitely knew how hard it would be to make a team and hold up the team. She knew she couldn’t take it lightly, that she has to recruit people she knows she can trust. People who will share the same values as her.

Her first recruitment for the tech unit had her second guessing.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” Hyunjung told her. “We should be cautious of who we let on our team, Sojung.”

Sojung made a promise to herself, that she’d recruit people who are unique, people who stood out. It didn’t matter their background, as long as they worked towards a better future.

They met Xuanyi while busting a dark web hacker club. She was the only one they caught while the rest scattered out of the abandoned warehouse.

Xuanyi was stubborn at first. She kept quiet while Sojung interrogated her. After half an hour of having a silent stare down, Sojung got up and left the room. She opened the door to the adjacent room, nodding her head towards Hyunjung.

“I like her.” Sojung stated, crossing her arms and smiling at Xuanyi’s sulking figure through the one way window.

She ignored Hyunjung’s incredulous stare at her.

It took about ten minutes for Xuanyi to crack, resulting in her sobbing and begging to not be thrown into jail.

Sojung decided to give her an opportunity, ignoring Hyunjung’s slight drop of her jaw.

“We’ll give you a deal. Join our team or go to prison.”

Xuanyi’s eyes widened. “No catch?”

“No catch.”

Sojung’s smile was wide and genuine. She couldn’t wait to start building her team. She watched as Xuanyi nodded eagerly, praying that she didn’t just make a huge mistake in recruiting a criminal.

It was hard at first, adjusting to the life on the opposite side of what Xuanyi was used to. It also didn’t help that Hyunjung was still wary of her even after working a few cases together.

Sojung had been so excited to bring her on and tell them about her small team she had so far. She met Hyunjung immediately after making the deal to join. She was only greeted by a tight lip smile.

She was introduced to Soobin, who she followed around for a couple days to see how they worked around the headquarters. They were the firsts of their units, Xuanyi obviously joining the tech unit.

It wasn’t until a couple weeks later that Xuanyi found out there was another member of the team.

She was rushing towards the elevator after a particularly long night, bumping into a petite girl with long, black hair.

The girl mumbled an apology, not even looking at Xuanyi as she sluggishly walked towards Sojung’s office. Xuanyi stopped in her place to watch.

She looked on as Sojung shot up from her desk, paperwork flying off when she ran towards the mysterious girl to give her a hug.

Xuanyi tilted her head in confusion, wondering who she was to get such a reaction out of Sojung.

Her question was answered by a voice next to her, making her jump slightly. “That’s Jiyeon.”

She turned to her side to look at Soobin. She raised her eyebrows as if to tell her to continue.

“The third member of the detective unit.” They watched as Hyunjung rushed past them into Sojung’s office, wrapping them both up in a group hug.

“Well, where has she been?”

Xuanyi gave them one last look, eyes lingering longer on the new, but not so new girl. They walked into the elevator.

“She didn’t say.”

Sojung couldn’t help but yawn listening to technical police stuff at the convention she was stuck at for the weekend. She begged Hyunjung to come with her, but someone needed to get Jiyeon up to date.

The academy had told her she needed to attend these events every now and then to keep up with protocol and what not.

They had special guest speakers from the CIA, FBI, and even CSI. Sojung sat up straight when she saw a young girl take up the podium.

She recognized the girl as Im Dayoung, one of the youngest CIA recruits and agent. She listened intently to her speech.

Sojung made it her goal to have a conversation with her by the end of this convention.

It was lunch time when Sojung decided to make her introduction. She smiled fondly as she found the young girl hovering over the donut boxes on the snack table.

“Excuse me, Dayoung?”

The girl in question whipped around. “Hello! Yes, that’s me!”

“I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Sojung.” She stuck out her hand, which was immediately accepted and shook by the eager CIA agent. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

Dayoung let out a hearty laugh, even though a blush crept up her face. “It’s very nice to meet you, Sojung.”

They had an easy conversation going, talking about their occupations and their work and some of their favorite cases. Sojung asked a lot of questions about the CIA, only getting cryptic answers from an apologetic Dayoung.

After a moment of silence, there was another young girl approaching Dayoung from the table furthest from them, calling out her name happily.

Sojung also recognized her as Lee Yeoreum, one of the youngest CSI’s. They seemed to know each other as they embraced in front of Sojung.

“Yeoreum! This is Sojung.” She received a vigorous wave from the younger girl. “Sojung, this is-“

“Lee Yeoreum, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” Her eyebrows rose, wondering how Sojung knew of her.

She continued. “I’m in the presence of two of the youngest, but best, in this business!”

Sojung had no idea how she left that convention with two new recruits, but she was glad she did.

Slowly, her team was growing. Sojung wasn’t sure just how big she wanted her team to be, but she didn’t mind it being big.

Hyunjung was busy getting Jiyeon situated, so she took it upon herself to show Yeoreum and Dayoung around.

Yeoreum wandered off with Soobin, hitting it off instantly over being in the same unit, forensics.

Sojung had decided that Dayoung would be the fourth and last addition to the detective unit. She wanted a whole other unit solely for field work, the combat unit.

“I’m glad you asked if we wanted to join your team.” Dayoung told Sojung, with a hint of a smirk.

“You know that I was just joking!” Sojung hit the younger girl’s shoulder lightly. “I didn’t think you guys would accepted, especially since I wouldn’t have wanted you guys to leave the CIA and being a CSI.”

Dayoung waved her hand dismissively. “Yeoreum and I had been talking about retiring, but still wanting to work in this business.”

“Guess my timing was perfect then?”

They both laughed, and Sojung was happy.

Hyunjung met Chengxiao during a case she was asked to help on. She watched, frowning, as the foreign girl was getting scolded by her superior.

Just from the amount of time she had spent with the chinese girl, she knew she was talented in forensics. So Hyunjung didn’t understand why the FBI was treating her so poorly.

Chengxiao had approached the older girl sitting at a table, doing some final paperwork before they wrapped up the case they worked on together. She smiled at Hyunjung.

“It was nice working with you!”

Hyunjung didn’t need to think twice. “How about you join my team?”

Sojung furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she noticed a shy girl following right behind Hyunjung as they entered headquarters.

“This is Chengxiao, works in forensics for the FBI.” Hyunjung gestured behind her, introducing the stranger to Sojung.

“Worked for.” Chengxiao commented quietly.

Sojung raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

“She will be joining our team!” Sojung couldn’t say no to Hyunjung’s excited smile, trusting that her girlfriend knows what she’s doing and accepting Chengxiao with open arms.

Sojung didn’t want to ask questions, but her friend’s behavior was concerning. Jiyeon wasn’t exactly the same after her misson and she wondered what had happened during the month she was gone.

She was laying in bed with Hyunjung, wide awake past midnight for the second time that week.

“Do you think she’ll ever tell us what happened?”

“Probably not.” Hyunjung answered instantly. She flipped over to face her girlfriend. “She will be okay though, eventually.”

Jiyeon froze in the middle of the lounge the moment Dayoung came into her view. The younger girl fell quiet after laughing up a storm with Yeoreum not even two seconds before they entered the room.

“Hey, Jiyeon.” Dayoung offered up softly, grimacing at the way Jiyeon’s eyes narrowed at the younger girl.

Yeoreum noticed the tension and scurried to the other side of the room, keeping busy by brewing up a large cup of coffee for herself.

Jiyeon tried to make an exit, but Dayoung grabbed her wrist. “Look, I didn’t know you were on this team.”

The older girl stayed quiet, avoiding any kind of eye contact. Dayoung continued.

“I won’t tell anyone what happened.” She let Jiyeon go, but the shorter girl stayed glued to her spot.

“Thanks.” She heard Jiyeon mutter to her before she rushed out of the room.

Xuanyi nervously paced back and forth in front of Sojung’s office.

“You know I can hear and see you, Xuanyi?” The detective called out from her desk, eyes still glued to her pile of paperwork. “Come in and tell me what’s up.”

“My friend is in danger.”

Sojung looked up, now noticing the worry and stress all over her teammate’s face. She set down her pen, gesturing for Xuanyi to take a seat across from her.

“Elaborate.”

Xuanyi fiddled with her fingers, avoiding eye contact. She stumbled over her words. She didn’t know how to go about this.

“Well, go on. Spit it out, Xuanyi.”

“I-I was on the dark web, a-and I recognized something. A footprint, I guess you could say.”

Sojung tilted her head in slight confusion, saving the scolding for hacking the dark web later. “What did you find?”

“It’s something only a friend of mine could’ve posted. A distress signal in case something bad happened to her.”

Sojung will never forget the day she met Lee Luda.

“I told you to stay in the van!”

They had pulled up to an empty warehouse, Xuanyi managing to track down the location of the distress signal.

“She’s my friend!” Sojung hesitated, but rolled her eyes as she beckoned Xuanyi to stick close to her.

What they found in the warehouse shocked them. Sojung’s surroundings slowed down as she watched Xuanyi run towards a body laying on the ground.

It was a small, petite girl passed out on the warehouse floor. She didn’t appear to be hurt on the outside, but by the looks of her pale complexion, she didn’t look so good.

Sojung remembered the downsides of her job in this moment. The realization that Sojung will face many more instances like these in her career.

She snapped out of her trance, helping Xuanyi with the small girl all the way back to the van.

Xuanyi stayed with Luda for the two days that she was in the hospital. Sojung decided to visit when Xuanyi texted her that Luda was about to be discharged.

She could barely recognize the girl.

This new Luda was smiley and energetic, throwing jabs at Xuanyi every chance she could get.

A sense of relief washed over Sojung.

“It’s nice to properly meet you, Luda.”

Sojung decided to take a break on hiring new recruits. She was satisfied with her team of nine, including her, for now.

Xuanyi had begged and begged Sojung for Luda to join the team. After a minute of pretending to deliberate over something she already had a decision on, she smirked. She enjoyed teasing the Chinese girl.

“Didn’t she tell you?” Xuanyi’s eyebrows furrowed. “I already asked her when she got discharged.”

The rest of the year went by fairly well. No huge mission that caused any problems within the team. She was grateful that her members were safe and healthy.

Hyunjung couldn’t remember the last time she’s heard Jiyeon laugh. She peered out her office doors, seeing Luda and Jiyeon cracking up over something on a computer monitor.

Hyunjung smiled. Those two have grown closer these past few months ever since Luda joined. They had the same sense of humor and savagery. They were best friends at this point.

She looked to their left, Xuanyi showcasing a pout on her face. Hyunjung pretended she wasn’t observant, but she is a detective.

It was just better to pretend like certain things weren’t going on under their headquarter roof.

“It’s kind of ridiculous how you basically gave them a dating ban.”

Sojung let out a loud laugh at her girlfriend’s comment.

“I know. I just thought it would be professional to set some ground rules.”

Hyunjung cuddled further into Sojung’s side. “You know they won’t listen.”

“I’m not counting on it.”

The team grew closer and closer and Sojung could not be any happier. This is exactly what she dreamed of.

They fought crime and brought justice, even if it was something small like catching a teenage thief or rescuing animals from hoarders.

Sojung heaved a big sigh as she plopped down on the couch in her office. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but she craved for more action.

Craved for more dangerous missions.

She wanted to wait until the following year to recruit members for her combat unit. She knew she was going to choose them from the academy, the school expected her to pay a visit sooner or later.

But until then, it was up to the detective unit to be solving missions on the field.

Their team got their first real taste of danger during the holidays. It was New Year’s Eve when Jiyeon got a text from Sojung to meet at headquarters.

Jiyeon groaned, setting down her freshly poured glass of wine as she furiously typed back a reply.

She was all ready to kick back and drown herself in wine while she watched the countdown from her laptop.

This better be a good reason.

Jiyeon walked into headquarters. She could see Sojung and the back of Hyunjung and Dayoung’s heads as she approached her office.

“Jiyeon, early as usual.” Sojung joked, trying to keep a straight face, but the grumpy girl saw right through her.

“What’s the big deal?”

“There’s been a bomb threat.” Jiyeon raised an eyebrow, choosing to ignore the slight giddiness in Sojung’s voice.

“Where are they targeting?” Dayoung spoke up. Jiyeon glanced over at the younger agent.

“Downtown.” Sojung walked out of the room, beckoning the others to follow her. “I’ve got orders for us to evacuate civilians.”

“Orders from who?” Hyunjung asked, taking the words right out of Jiyeon’s mouth.

Sojung didn’t answer as she packed her gear. “Get your gear ready, we’ll take two cars. Dayoung you’re with me.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird that she didn’t tell us who she got orders from?” Jiyeon questioned from the passenger seat.

Hyunjung focused her eyes on the road. “I trust Sojung.”

Jiyeon stayed quiet. She shouldn’t be one to talk about secrecy, she was basically the queen of it. She decided to drop it.

They drove around the corner, pulling up to a barricade in the middle of the city block. The streets were bustling with people.

Hyunjung’s eyes widened a little bit. “How are we going to evacuate all these people in time?”

“Let’s just hope they find the bomb first.”

It was cruel, planning a bomb attack during the holidays somewhere where there would be a lot of casualties. They parked and got out of the car.

“Where do we even begin?” Hyunjung asked, only getting a shrug in return from Jiyeon.

As soon as Sojung parked the car, Dayoung quickly unbuckled her belt, hand ready to open her door.

“Wait.”

Dayoung looked at her boss, now noticing the nervousness in her eyes. “What?”

“I got orders from the FBI.”

The younger girl furrowed her eyebrows. “And what about it?” She pushed further.

She watched Sojung carefully as the older of the two swallowed a lump in .

“They gave me specific orders to apprehend the criminal.”

Dayoung was confused. “But you told me and the others that we’re only here to evacuate civilians?”

“That’s what you guys will be doing while I find who is behind this.”

The former CIA agent wanted to argue. She wanted to go with Sojung to have her back. She needed back up.

Sojung put her hand up, immediately stopping the oncoming argument from Dayoung.

They got out of the car, ushering civilians out of the premises. Sojung gave Dayoung a signal, indicating that she was going to leave now. Dayoung nodded her head in acknowledgement, busy with a huge crowd in front of her, losing Sojung for a moment.

After a moment’s time, the younger girl still managed to sneak away from the crowds to follow closely behind her boss.

Most of the civilians were evacuated and the barricades that were already there helped set up a perimeter to keep people away. The big clock in the city read 11:49 PM.

Hyunjung looked around, something was off.

“Where’s Sojung and Dayoung?” Jiyeon suddenly asked.

“I was just thinking the same thing.” Hyunjung muttered to herself.

A loud sound from the building next to them caught their attention. They looked up onto the roof. Their eyes bulged out at the scene unfolding in front of them.

A man was standing on the edge, a bomb strapped to his waist. But what startled them the most was seeing Sojung up there with him.

Jiyeon squinted her eyes. “Holy .”

Hyunjung’s stomach dropped.

“What the hell does she think she’s doing?!” Jiyeon yelled out loud, not noticing Hyunjung frozen in her spot.

Everything around Hyunjung seemed to be in slow motion. The shouts from Jiyeon, the noise of bustling traffic in the city, the beat of her heart.

“Come on we got to go up there!”

Hyunjung stood in her spot, reality slowly sinking in. “I trust her.” She said quietly, Jiyeon not catching a word she said as she scrambled to drag them towards the building.

“I trust her!” Hyunjung said more forcefully, sticking to her spot on the street. “We can’t go up there.”

She watched the eternal struggle in Jiyeon’s eyes. “She’d want us to stay safe down here.” Hyunjung almost said robotically, trying to convince herself too.

Dayoung peered through the crack with wide eyes. She was steps away from Sojung, who was currently trying to talk a man to get off the roof’s edge. She hid behind the door as she listened in carefully on their conversation.

“Sir, I don’t think you want to do this.” She watched Sojung carefully take a few steps towards the man, with her hands stretched out. Her hands were empty.

Dayoung clutched at the gun secured to her side. She wanted to wait a second longer to give Sojung a chance. She shifted her view towards the man.

He had a clicker in his hand, presumably to set off the bomb attached to him. He was in tears.

“Why don’t you come on down?” Sojung tried one more time. Dayoung pushed the door open a little bit, taking her gun out and aiming it towards the man’s hand.

He shook his head, shouting about how he needed to finish his job. Dayoung set her finger on the trigger.

“Sir!” Sojung tried one more time before the man made a move to press the button. Dayoung pulled the trigger.

The controller flew out of the guy’s hand, throwing him off guard, causing him to stumble around on the edge.

Sojung lunged forward to grab and steady the man. She pulled him off the edge and handcuffed him immediately.

“You’re under arrest.”

Hyunjung watched as two people in formal business attire walk out of Sojung’s office. She made a move to approach her girlfriend now.

“What were you thinking?” Sojung instantly slumped in her chair at the presence of Hyunjung. “That’s right, you weren’t!”

“I had orders.”

Hyunjung looked dumb struck. “You cannot be serious.”

Sojung rubbed her temples. “I’m sorry. I should have told you.”

“You should have.” Hyunjung crossed her arms, giving her girlfriend a stern glare. “You’re lucky Dayoung was there.”

“Even though she wasn’t supposed to be.” Hyunjung gave her another look. “But I’m glad she was.”

The two sat in silence before a knock on Sojung’s office door caught their attention.

“Dayoung and I are heading home, have a nice New Year.” Jiyeon mumbled with a half hearted wave at her friends. They watched as she disappeared into the elevator.

“Nearly forgot it was New Year’s.”

Dayoung and Jiyeon stood in the elevator in uncomfortable silence. At least to Jiyeon anyway. They hadn’t really interacted or talked much ever since Dayoung joined the team.

The elevator dinged, taking them down to the garage floor. Jiyeon could sense Dayoung’s hesitation. She spoke first.

“Happy New Year, Dayoung.”

Jiyeon walked out, not looking back at the young detective. If she did, she would’ve seen the huge smile on the girl’s face.