Na Bi stared at the five boys in front of her awkwardly as Taec Yeon introduced them as her new friends and permanent squad. Apparently, she learnt that they were her roommates too. Her elder twin couldn’t help but to cringe upon hearing that while her brother let out a snort when Taec Yeon claimed that it was the best way to bond with each other.

“Well, Aces. Go ahead and introduce yourself!” Taec Yeon beamed and excused himself from there.

The boy who stood in the middle started first. “I’m Lee Ho Seok but call me Won Ho. I’m the eldest here, so you should follow my words.”

“How old are you?” Na Bi asked.

“Nine.” He plastered a triumph smirk but it only lasted for seconds before Na Ra chipped in.

“But my brother is older. He’s ten.”

“Boo! You’re no longer the eldest!” A boy with a pair of deep dimples carved into his cheeks cackled loudly. “What’s up? I’m Joo Heon.”

“Hi, I’m Ki Hyun.” Another boy with puffy cheeks but small body spoke up. “How about you?”

“I’m Hyun Woo and these are my sisters, Na Ra and Na Bi. They are twins.”

The other boy who had a wide grin on his chiselled face gasped in amazed. “Oh, no wonder they look sooo similar! It’s my first time seeing twins and both of them are cute!”

“What about Young Min and Kwang Min?” Ki Hyun raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, yeah! I forgot. But still, I never see twins up to this close! I mean we never practice, eat and sleep with the Jo twins.”

A tall boy who tucked in the far corner chipped in. “Min Hyuk-a, can you make your introduction shorter and faster? I want to end this as soon as possible and go to sleep.”

“Hi! I’m Min Hyuk. Nice to meet you!”

“Hyung Won.” The tall boy finally was able to introduce himself and gave an awkward smile before a long yawn escaped from his lips.

***

“Aces, take your positions!”

Na Ra stepped forwards and stood on the edge of the swimming pool without any swim gear on her as the trainer gave out an instruction.

It had been nine days since she officially begun her trainings along with her squad members. They were getting along pretty well and always helped her with the obstacles. Though, she still struggled to keep up despite of the fact that they were only basic drills for young agents.

In the morning, started at six o’clock, they gathered in the gymnasium to warm up and stretch before jogged for a mile. Then, they would proceed with a number of pull-up and push-up workout routines. And depends on what day, they would continue their different trainings until the night came.

Since it was Tuesday, they would undergo a water-based drill. They already swam for countless laps, snorkelled back and forth, wakesurfing and even canoeing against a strong current in a group. Now, they would tone down a bit for a holding breath exercise before calling it a day.

“Hold your breath!”

Nevertheless, Na Ra still thought it was a tough drill since her energy had completely drained out. She huffed out anxiously as the tip of her toes touched the cold water. She shut her eyes tightly but couldn’t bring herself to take a deep breath. Out of blue, she felt a warm grasp on her hand. She opened her eyes again only to see Ki Hyun was smiling gently at her. His lips then moved as if he was saying something but no voice came out. Don’t worry. She read it silently, that was what he trying to tell.

“1! 2! 3! Jump!”

Once the whistle had blown, she dived into the deep water along with the others and swam down to reach the bottom in one breath. The trainer instantaneously started the countdown with a ticking timer in his hand. While holding her breath, Na Ra locked her eyes with Ki Hyun. It somehow made her calm. She gave him a light nod as his fingers formed an okay sign at her after half time passed. They remained under the water for another 75 seconds and everyone hurried to break the surface again as soon as the trainer blew the whistle for the second time.

“Urgh, this is killing me.” Hyung Won coughed as he climbed out the pool.

Min Hyuk rasped and sprawled in between Ki Hyun and Na Bi. “Oh, I can’t do this anymore…”

“That’s what I have heard for the past two years.” Won Ho chuckled and nudged Hyun Woo at the elbow. “But you seems to be pretty fit, aren’t you?”

“I have attended swimming class before.” He muttered and brushed his wet bangs to the back.

“Cool!” Joo Heon chipped in.

“Wait! Where’s the other girl?” The trainer suddenly threw a question at the kids.

Everyone, especially Hyun Woo, Na Bi and Ki Hyun, became alert and tense upon those words. They instinctively snapped their heads towards the pool and resisted to think about the worst that could happen.

“Damn!” Hyun Woo cursed.

Before anyone could make a move nor say anything, two boys rushed to lunge into the pool again and Na Ra shortly resurfaced again in Ki Hyun’s arm, though she was unconscious.

“I-I got her.” Ki Hyun panted as Hyun Woo swam towards him and pulled Na Ra out of the pool.

Everyone had their hands clasped together, praying for her to be safe as the trainer immediately started CPR. After only several seconds later, the little girl finally gave them a response. She coughed out water a few times before gasped for shorts yet deep breaths.

Hyun Woo then rushed by her side. “Are you okay, Na Ra-a?”

“I- I… did I fail again?” Na Ra asked faintly between her coughs.

The others let out a relieved grunt upon her questions and sprawled back onto the floor.

“Urgh, you’re killing me, Na Ra-a.” Hyung Won groaned.

“Yeah, same here.” Ki Hyun mumbled under his breath and little did he knew, she had become his close friend from that day onwards. Sometimes she was even closer to him than her brother