The van was stuck in traffic and to pass the time, Ji-hyun flicked through photographs on her phone. Her episode of “What’s My Line?” was going to be airing tonight and she wanted to share the right picture to help promote it. She settled on two, first one of the whole group and the next one of her with So-min eonnie. She posted the pictures and went back to browsing her photographs. They told the story of a wonderful summer. There were pictures of her trip to Busan with Oppa, her hiking trip with her family, and party at the noraebang to celebrate their last semester with her friends. Now she was on her way to a CF shoot, which she had grudgingly agreed to after her boss pointed out that it was going to take half a day and she would be working with kittens.  

“Manager-nim,” she called. “How much longer do you think? I’m getting hungry.”

“Not far.”

“Do you think I could get out and walk?”

“No,” and he locked the doors. 

She sighed and drummed her fingers on the glass. While she waited her phone rang.

“Yes? Oppa? What are you saying, I can’t understand you?” Ji-hyun rolled her eyes. Chang-wook was somewhere inside where the reception was really bad. She thought it might be a dressing room for a shoot but it was hard to tell. “Just send me a message!”

Her phone buzzed.

“Jiji! We have been taken prisoner! Help you need to save us!”

Ji-hyun rolled her eyes. She wasn’t buying this a second time. 

“Chan-wook-ssi. Stop messing around. I am on my way to a CF shoot and don’t have time to play with you.”

“Jiji, I am not joking. Call 112. Here is my location”

Ji-hyun frowned. Chang-wook oppa would never jokingly ask her to call the police. She hesitated just a minute before picking up her phone and dialling 112. When the dispatcher picked up she explained the situation as best she could. 

“He gave me the address as well. It is somewhere in Incheon.”

The dispatcher reassured her and agreed to send someone. He encouraged her to try and call Chang-wook back and keep talking to him, and find out as much as possible. 

“Ok. I understand.”

Her manager had been listening in shock and asked her what he could do. Because the traffic had lightened up, they agreed to go to the studio and make a better decision from there. When they arrived at the former warehouse which had been converted into a studio, Ji-hyun hopped out and ran inside. The woman waiting for her was wearing a severe black outfit and sunglasses. Ji-hyun couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the fashionista. Why people insisted on wearing sunglasses inside baffled her. 

“Right this way Nam Ji-hyun-ssi,” the woman bowed her through formally. 

In the main room, everything was controlled chaos—exactly what you would expect for a CF shoot for a major knitwear brand. But instead of photographers and stylists, Ji-hyun felt she had entered a set for a spy film. Everyone wore black and some people looked like they were from the army. A small man with thick glasses approached her. His expensive suit and serious face made her think that this must be the boss.

“Agent-Nam. Thank you for arriving so quickly. I understand one of the kidnapping victims had your number and called you?”

“I…” Ji-hyun smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry… I think I shouldn’t be here…”

“You are right of course. But I appreciate your coming in. Once we have briefed you, I promise that you can head back out into the field.”

“Thanks, but…”

“This way please.”

Ji-hyun decided that today was even stranger than the day she had filmed the variety show.

“I really…”

“Ji-hyun-ah! Where have you been?” Kim Mi-kyung scolded. “I heard you got the call. Did you alert the police?”

“Yes. It seemed like the right thing to do,” she relaxed when she saw her favourite sunbae walk towards her.

“Hmmm… maybe you are right… Your instincts are rarely wrong,” The older woman looked pensively at the bank of screens that dominated one of the walls. 

“Umm… Kim Mi-kyung-ssi… I… don’t quite know what is going on right now. I am meant to be at the photo shoot for a CF… not at a…”

“Aish, can’t you drop that cover act? I know that you are undercover but this is an emergency. Not time to look cute in red sweaters while you play with kittens! We have photoshop for things like that!”

“You’re here. Good,” another voice said. “What are you wearing, get changed. We need to get back out there.”

Ji-hyun turned to see Lee Joon-ki walking towards her. He was dressed like a black-ops agent. 

“Right. But, wait, how do you find the time? I’m so confused,” Ji-hyun asked. She could have sworn he was meant to be in Jeju filming.

“I work hard for my country. If that means having to be a top star, then I will do the best that I can. Now get moving Agent-Nam!”

“Yes, sir?”

Ji-hyun turned looking for anyone to help her and saw a young woman bouncing on the balls of her feet waving at her. Ji-hyun crossed over and accepted the clothes she was handed. Behind a screen, she had the chance to look at them. A pair of army fatigues, all in black, a pair of sturdy shoes, and a… a gun. Ji-hyun picked up the gun and for a minute it felt strange then it clicked into place. Yes. If she needed to, she could shoot this gun. Something crept into her body. It felt like steel like there was no ice in her veins. She glanced for a mirror and frowned. Her short hair was fine for everyday operations or when she was undercover, but, at times like these, she needed to be able to pull it back. Unfortunately, the best she could manage were two short pigtails. She rejoined Joon-ki and frowned at him.

“Don’t say a word about my hair.”

“I wasn’t going to. Let’s go.”

She followed him to the briefing room. They had already lost precious minutes but with the police looking for Chang-wook and the rest of the hostages they could afford to hear from the Boss. 

“Now that you are all here,” Lee Do Kyung, aka the Boss, said. “I think we can begin. At 1603, Agent-Nam received a phone call from her boyfriend Ji Chang-wook who declared he had been kidnapped. Agent-Nam, good decision to call the police, they have been incredibly helpful in this operation. We have determined that Actor-Ji, Actresses Won Jin-ah and Yoon Se-ah, along with their staffs, have all been kidnapped. We are determining who it could be but we need to get Alpha-team into the field. Agent-Lee, you and Agent-Nam will head join your usual police officers to help co-ordinate the ground effort. No, don’t interrupt. I realise that you will want to be on the front lines, but until we can determine who is doing this…”

“Boss, it has to be The Patbingsu Corporation,” Joon-ki interrupted. “We know that they are trying to disrupt the Korean entertainment industry. They’ve been infiltrating companies for years now…”

“We don’t know for certain that this kidnapping was done by them. It could be regular gangsters…”

“Sunbae,” Ji-hyun interjected. “Sunbae, let’s go and get them. Then we can get the bad…”

“You are just worried about your boyfriend.”

“Which is why I want to get the gaesaekki…”

“Stop it. You know your mission. Now go!”

Ji-hyun and Joon-ki glared at each other but ran down to where their motorbikes were waiting. Ji-hyun had a grim smile on her face. Because of schedules and so many other little issues, Chang-wook oppa had not had time to “teach” her how to ride her vespa… Well, he might learn today exactly how much she needed his instructions. The two top undercover agents sped through the city. Joon-ki got directions from headquarters and Ji-hyun followed while trying to think how she was going to explain this to Chang-wook when they found him. “Surprise! I’m a secret undercover agent! I was hired by the Korean army to track down corruption in the entertainment industry, but I also have black-ops training, have the rank of colonel, and can kill you and never get charged with a crime… Oh, and I can ride circles around you on a motorbike.” It wasn’t going to be easy but she’d figure it out.

Joon-ki led them down a small alley that dead-ended on a chain-link fence that separated the dock from the rest of the Incheon.

“Somewhere in there…” He pointed. 

“Let’s go.”

“Not so fast…” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. There were a couple of dockworkers sitting against the fence about one hundred metres from them. If they were going to break in they needed to distract the men. Ji-hyun didn’t wait. She took a little device out of her pocket and flicked it on before quickly throw it at the fence. It sent out a minor electric shock, which ran along the fence until it got to the group. They got up and screamed at the unexpected jolt of electricity. 

“Not bad, Ji-hyun. Not bad.”

The two agents scaled the fence and crossed over to the stacks of steel crates. 

“Doesn’t seem like The Patbingsu Corporation,” Ji-hyun whispered. They were thugs but thugs who liked to keep their hands clean.

“You don’t know. They could have hired…”

“Shh,” Ji-hyun pointed to the collection of celebrity vans that were abandoned down one of the alleyways between containers. They got their guns ready and stealthily moved to the vans. They were all empty, except Ji-hyun found Chang-wook’s phone under the seat of the second van.

“They are close. They just got here,” Joon-ki said. He was standing at the rear of one of the vans.

“Engine still hot?” she asked.

He nodded. They radioed in and relayed what they’d found. The cops hadn’t found the vans yet but so far hadn’t discovered anything new. In the distance, Ji-hyun heard the sound of a boat starting. The two agents made eye contact and sprinted towards the water. They got there just at the tug was pulling away from the dock. Ji-hyun and Joon-ki leapt on board just as the kidnappers realised they were there. Ji-hyun had to hand it to her sunbae. He was exactly the kind of partner you needed in a fight. She knew that his fans were aware of how good he was adopted at several forms of martial arts but watching him in a real fight was always impressive. Sadly she had her own baddies to deal with so couldn’t enjoy the way he was destroying his opponents. Ji-hyun grabbed a plank that was leaning against the cabin and used it to swipe at the thug who was pointing a knife at her. She hit his hand and the weapon dropped into the sea. On the backswing, she caught him in the jaw knocking him to the deck. She kicked him overboard where the cold water. She waited just long enough to make sure he could get back on board before she moved into the wheelhouse to take out the captain. This thug wasn’t a thug at all but a legitimate sailor. However, the man next to him was a thug. A thug with a gun, which he was pointing at the captain. When Ji-hyun burst in he turned the gun on her. Instinct kicked in and Ji-hyun swiped at the gun holding arm. She grabbed the inside of his wrist and used the fact he was off-balance to bring his arm down. Simultaneously she kicked him in the gut—right in the diaphragm completely knocking the wind out of him.

“Turn this boat around immediately! If you know what is good for you!”

The captain was so scared that he didn’t know what to do. His eyes kept glancing to the gun that the thug was still holding. Ji-hyun rolled her eyes and stamped on the thug’s wrist. He released the gun and Ji-hyun kicked it out of the way. But they had been making such a ruckus that the people in the hold had heard. Joon-ki arrived just at that moment. 

“Here. Cuff him. And call the Boss.”

Ji-hyun nodded. While part of her wanted to be the one who rescued Chang-wook, she knew that going into a fight when she didn’t know the odds were better handled by Joon-ki than herself. She cuffed the bad guy and then for good measure cuffed the captain to the wheel and told him that he better turn the boat around and not try to escape. 

“Yeah. We got them. Track my location. We are on a tug boat. Should be heading back. Yeah? Ok. I hear the ‘copters. How do I know… I don’t know. Instinct. Didn’t you guys… Whatever. I need to go help Sunbae,” she hung up and climbed down into the tug’s hold. As she predicted Joon-ki was in the middle of showing off. He didn’t need to be throwing the kidnappers around like that but he loved an audience, which Ji-hyun supposed is what made him such a good actor in fight scenes. 

She glanced around and saw Chang-wook, Won Jin-ah, and Yoon Se-ah tied, gagged, and blindfolded in one corner. Next to them were a few frightened staff and a beat-up Chi-gu—all tied and gagged but none of them blindfolded. Ji-hyun used the few seconds she had to weigh her options. At the moment Joon-ki was taking on six men, none of whom had any proper martial arts training. But she also had a responsibility to the hostages. 

“Get them out of here!” Joon-ki shouted at her. Well, that was her decision made. Ji-hyun nodded. 

“Come on,” she said grabbing the sleeve of the nearest woman, probably a stylist, and giving her a yank. “Come on, we don’t have much time. Help is on the way but let’s get everyone on deck first.”

No one seemed able to move. Ji-hyun swore under her breath. Civilians could be slow sometimes. She pulled on the woman to her feet and pushed her to the ladder that led back up to the deck. Suddenly the sound of rescue team could be heard. Ji-hyun prayed that it was a rescue team but then she heard a familiar voice shouting down into the hold.

“Hey! All good? Need any…”

“Joon-ki sunbae is having fun. I’m sending the hostages up,” Ji-hyun called back to Park Min-young. She gritted her teeth Min-Young eonnie, always arriving just after the hard work was finished. Ji-hyun reached the two actresses first. She pulled off their blindfolds and gave them a friendly smile. “Hope you can stand? Good. Don’t worry about them. Joon-ki sunbae will take good care of them.”

Ji-hyun took out her hunting knife and sawed at the ropes. they had been wound very tight about the hostages but the actual knots were pretty basic. She freed them and then bit her lip when she realised that Chang-wook was next. She managed to pull his blindfold off before hands grabbed her. Chang-wook’s eyes were huge as he watched her reach around and grab her assailant by the hair giving it a good yank. She stepped hard on the man’s foot, probably breaking it, and then threw him over her shoulder and watched as he crashed into a pile of lobster pots.

“Sorry Ji-hyun,” Joon-Ki’s voice was tired. “He got up…”

“No worries, sunbae! I’m glad I got to throw at least one bad guy in front of my boyfriend.”

She looked down at Chang-wook. She hadn’t thought it possible but his eyes were even bigger.

“Oppa. I’m going to remove your ropes,” she said as she picked up her knife and cut through the cords. She then pulled off the gag and had to bite back a laugh at his terrified expression. The large serrated knife was pressed up against his face.  “All better? Are you ok?”

“Ji-hyun. Talk later. Let’s get them back up on deck.”

Ji-hyun nodded. 

“Wait.”

She turned to look at Chang-wook. 

“Jiji? Is that really you? Am I… was… was this a prank?” his voice shook.

“Oppa. No. It wasn’t a prank. But we need to go. I’ll explain everything once we are back on land.”

Chang-wook nodded and followed her out. The boat was a hive of activity with the thugs tied up against the side of the boat. The hostages were being wrapped in blankets. And Park Min-young was standing there with her arms crossed as she interrogated the ship's captain. Ji-hyun could give her that. The woman was a walking lie detector and the best interrogator the agency had. 

“Come on…” Ji-hyun tried to lead him away.

“Hold on one minute!” Min-young eonnie barked. She walked over and gave Chang-wook the once over. There was something like a sneer forming on . Ji-hyun felt a bit bad at that moment. Eonnie might be annoying but she was forced to live a lie while the men around her played ‘hero’ and saved her in moments of distress. And right now she was faced with one of those costars. “So… Ji Chang-wook. Guess those hours…”

“Can it Eonnie. You can question him when we get on shore.”

“Fine. I hope you showed him how it’s done.”

“Upheld the honour of the sisterhood,” Ji-hyun nodded and saluted the other woman. 

Throughout this Chang-wook just looked lost. 

“Are you sure this isn’t a prank…” he asked.

“Oppa, if I told you the truth, I’d have to kill you,” Ji-hyun said. However, the look on his face showed that he wasn’t exactly sure whether he believed her or not.

“Kill me?”

“With love and affection, orabeoni… with love and affection,” she assured him and gave the very tip of his nose a little kiss.