Yoohyeon chuckles softly as Gahyeon excitedly shakes her hand. ‘Thanks so much! You won’t regret this, I promise!’ Gahyeon smiles widely, eyes slightly tearing up as the joy threatens to explode from her body. Minji smiles down at her and pats her head gently. ‘I’m sure we won’t. You’re one of our most promising candidates, Gahyeon.’ The young girl blushes as the director praises her and she bows in respect. ‘Thank you so much.’ Minji chuckles and turns to Yoohyeon. ‘Should we go find Bora? Make sure she hasn’t burnt Ms. De Vil to a crisp?’ Yoohyeon pushes her shoulder and laughs freely. ‘I don’t think we have to worry about that but I’m sure Gahyeon here would love to tell her sister the good news, right?’ The new trainee nods excitedly and follows the 2 women out of the office.

Taking a look at her watch, Minji purses her lips. ‘Anyone up for some coffee?’ Yoohyeon smiles and grabs Minji by the arm, Gahyeon following behind them meekly. ‘I’ll text Bora to meet us at the back break room and Yubin too.’ Minji nods as Yoohyeon pulls out her phone, still clinging onto the director’s arm. She turns her head slightly to meet eyes with their new trainee, gently nudging her forward. ‘We’ll be seeing each other a lot from now on, don’t be shy. Working as a family, not just a team, is what’s kept our organisation going strong for so long.’ Shyly, Gahyeon walks beside the director with a blush on her cheeks. Yoohyeon puts her phone away after messaging their friends and looks down fondly at the director. ‘Just see us as your other older sisters.’ She shoots a wink at a giggling Gahyeon and leads them to stairs. They descend in a comfortable silence, Yoohyeon still tightly clinging to Minji’s arm. Gahyeon raises her eyebrows in thought but remains mum. She figures they’re just very close and Yoohyeon seems like the clingy type.

They walk into a break room on the ground floor, hidden beside one of larger meeting rooms. Minji gestures for both girls to take a seat at the coffee table and moves towards the small drinks bar at the back wall. ‘What would you like to drink, Gahyeon?’ Gahyeon shrugs. ‘Just a simple coffee is fine, thank you.’ Minji turns to her, lifting an eyebrow. ‘Don’t be shy, order anything. There’s a reason for this small bar set-up here.’ Yoohyeon chuckles and turns to the young girl. ‘Minji is technically also a barista and mixologist next to her usual director position. She took up courses as a hobby and ended up setting up a bar here because she loves it so much.’ Gahyeon’s eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. ‘Wow… I really can’t believe you are all even more talented than I thought.’ Minji chuckles, blushing softly. ‘Thank you, Gahyeon. Seriously though, what’s your go-to drink?’

Minji ends up making a caramel macchiato for Yoohyeon, her usual, and an ice-blended latte for Gahyeon. Minji herself enjoys slow sips of a chai latte with cinnamon cream. Smiling after sipping her drink, Gahyeon gratefully smiles at Minji for the coffee. ‘This really is amazing. Thank you!’ Minji just shakes her head and sinks back in the couch, cup in hand and her other hand occupied by Yoohyeon in her lap. Gahyeon turns at the sound of the door opening, revealing Yubin’s figure. ‘I see you’ve decided to treat her to your skills?’ Yubin bows her head to Gahyeon. ‘Nice to meet you, Gahyeon. You can refer to me as Dami during your time in training. Welcome to the BPRD.’ Gahyeon puts down her coffee for a moment to stand up and bow to her. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dami. I look forward to the training.’

Yubin smiles as Minji gets up to make her an americano, her usual. She takes a seat on the lounge chair next to Gahyeon and nods at Yoohyeon. ‘You got around to the training plan?’Yoohyeon takes another sip of her drink and nods before putting it down in front of her on the coffee table. Minji hands Yubin her drink and tuts at Yoohyeon, placing a coaster under her drink. The taller of the two blushes and clears . ‘Sorry… Ehm, yeah I think I’ve finalised most of it. We’re having a meeting tonight after all the applicants have come through, right?’ Yubin nods and sips her americano, letting out a content sigh. ‘There should only be 2 left in an hour, I think?’ Minji takes a moment to check her phone and nods, settling next to Yoohyeon again. ‘Let’s see how those go then and meet after.’ Yubin nods and smiles at Gahyeon, who’s quietly listening to them.

‘Where’s my drink then?’ Bora barges in with Siyeon behind her. Siyeon nods respectfully in greeting and watches as Bora hangs their coats in the corner. She insisted on carrying both of their coats. Gahyeon jumps up and runs to her sister, hugging her tightly. ‘I’m in!’ Siyeon’s mouth drops open in surprise. The shock is clear on her face, but feeling her sister so tightly hugging her in excitement makes her melt. She smiles softly and pats her head gently. ‘I’m proud of you, sweetie.’ Bora smiles softly at the sisters hugging by the door. She turns her head to meet Yoohyeon and Minji’s teasing eyes and quickly threatens them with a small but strong fist. They chuckle and Minji moves back to the bar. ‘Miss De Vil, what drink would you like? Let us briefly go over the trainee contract together over some coffee.’

Siyeon wraps her hands around her cappuccino cup, listening quietly to Minji’s explanation of the contract. ‘Gahyeon will be provided with all necessities while she’s here. Evaluations will be continuous and strict, meaning a trainee can be sent home at any point if we deem them not fit. If all goes well, which I think it will, judging by Gahyeon’s skills and motivation, she’ll be a junior team member within a month.’ Gahyeon nods excitedly and turns to look at her sister. She badly wants this but she also wants her sister’s support. Siyeon meets her sister’s hopeful eyes and smiles gently. ‘I’m still not 100% comfortable with all of this, but it’s your lifelong dream and I want nothing more than for you to be happy. Besides, you will all take good care of her, right?’ Siyeon turns her head, briefly making eye-contact with Minji, Yoohyeon and Yubin, before settling on Bora’s intense eyes. The red woman nods, her eyes showing only sincerity and Siyeon smiles slightly wider, content with the answer.

‘Then, I’ll call Wonho to get you set up in the dorms so you can get acquainted with the other trainees. Do you still have to pick up anything?’ Siyeon shakes her head softly. ‘Her luggage is in my car.’ Bora puts down her coffee and gets up from her chair. ‘I’ll help you get it and drop it by the dorm.’ Minji and Yoohyeon share a look with Yubin, who chuckles and gets up. ‘I’ll take you to Wonho then so you 2 can prepare for the next interview.’ Minji and Yoohyeon clean up the dishes after greeting Gahyeon and Siyeon, while Yubin and Bora lead the sisters out of the break room. Siyeon hugs her sister tightly. ‘I love you, please be careful.’ Gahyeon tears up as she hears her sister whisper into her hair. With a soft ‘I love you’ and nod into her sister’s shoulder, they part. Yubin nods at Siyeon and pats Bora’s back before leading Gahyeon away. Siyeon watches her sister disappear behind a corner and slumps her shoulders, tears pricking at the back of her eyes.

She startles as she feels someone wrap her jacket around her shoulders. Bora smiles at her gently, helping her get her jacket on. ‘It won’t do either one of you any good if you end up with a cold.’ Siyeon smiles gratefully and blinks away the tears. The red woman smiles gently and leads her out the door, towards the parking. Siyeon unlocks her car and opens her trunk. She watches as Bora pulls Gahyeon’s suitcase out with ridiculous ease. She’d been struggling to get it into her car, even with Gahyeon’s help. Meeting her gaze, Bora smiles once more and closes the trunk. ‘I’ll make sure this gets to her safely.’ Siyeon nods and turns to look back at the large building that would be her sister’s home for an indefinite amount of time. ‘Hey, I promise I’ll take care of her. I don’t break promises.’ Siyeon turns to her with sad eyes and nods, too emotional to tease the smaller woman about it again.

Bora frowns and puts down the suitcase, walking closer to the CEO. She gently reaches out and grabs her hand. It’s ice-cold against Bora’s naturally warm ones. She grabs her other hand as well and warms them both up between her smaller warmer ones. ‘I read her file front to back, Siyeon. She’s the most qualified trainee for the agency I’ve seen in years. She will have no problem fitting in, I promise. And it seems Minji and Yoohyeon have taken a liking to her as well. Minji doesn’t pull out her barista skills for just anyone, you know?’ At that, Siyeon chuckles, looking into Bora’s eyes and squeezing her warm hands. ‘Thank you. Really, I mean it.’ Bora nods and rubs her hands gently. She purses her lips in thought before pulling her hands away to grab her phone from her back pocket. She opens a new contact page and hands it to Siyeon.

The CEO blushes and raises her eyebrow in question as she takes the phone from the smiling devil in front of her. ‘Give me your number, I’ll message you when Gahyeon’s settled in. Anytime you feel worried or just want to chat, message or call me. Gahyeon will have her phone taken away together with all trainees tonight but I can keep you updated on her.’ Siyeon melts at the gesture and blushes furiously, smiling down at the phone in her hands as she puts in her contact information. She hands back the phone shakily, not daring to meet Bora’s intense eyes. ‘I really appreciate it, Bora.’ The devil smiles at the way Siyeon says her name. ‘And you know, if you’d like to come see me for a chat, and happened to bump into your sister, I guess that would be cool too.’ She picks up the suitcase and winks at a blushing Siyeon. ‘Right?’ Siyeon nods, wide-eyed. Her heart skips a beat as Bora waves at her while walking back to the entrance.

Getting into her car, Siyeon starts the engine and stares at her hands. They still feel warm. Next to her, her phone dings with a new incoming message by an unknown number.

‘Get home safe, Miss CEO. Let little Red take care of Gahyeon for you. ;)’

She smiles and looks up at the building fondly. The BPRD is starting to seem less dangerous by the minute.