A/N: I would like to thank Xiera at SuperNova portfolio and poster requests, for making this amazing poster! I love it~! :D Thank you so much!  I seriously, REALLY, love it. It's more than I imagined and it fits the story so well! I have also requested for a trailer, chapter banners, and advertisements for this story (not from her, but from a lot of other people) - so hopefully they will be added soon! Thanks to my three subscribers, Notperfect, TheAsassinRenevlover (my sister, btw x3), and boondoks1. Thank you guys (and silent readers, if there are any) for reading!

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Location: Los Angeles, California -- Los Angeles Police Department

 

-3 months later-

    Minho stared down at the papers in his hand, frowing softly as he walked down the hallway. He took a slow sip of his coffee, held in his other hand, and poured over the words.

It was a document containing details on a robbery, performed the day before in one of the banks downtown. He and one of his co-workers, named Justin, had orders to investigate the scene.

Minho took another sip of his coffee, pursing his lips.

"Ah! Minho, you're just the person I was looking for!" 

Minho looked up, confused, but smiled when he saw his boss, Sam, walking down the hallway from the other direction. 

"Hello, sir." Minho smiled and bowed his head slightly. Sam had been sure to establish with him on the first day that he didn't want him bowing to him. It made him uncomfortable. Not able to get used to the fact that he wasn't supposed to bow to his serperior, Minho merely resulted in the not-as-respectful head nod.

"Are you looking over the report?" Sam gestured to the papers in Minho's hands, coming to a stop beside him.

Minho nodded. "Yes. It's a difficult case." He frowned. "How could someone break into the LA National Bank? That place is guarded so heavily you can't even sneeze without getting interogated."

Sam grinned slightly. "I know, that's why this case is so baffaling." Sam was frowning now too, his grin fading with the thoughtful decline of his eyebrows. "I'm sending a few more people along with you and Justin. Maybe combined you all can find something. Like always, two eyes are better than one."

"Sounds reasonable."

"I'll introduce them to you, if you'd like. Whenever you're not busy."

Minho's shoulders rose in a shrug. "We can go now, if that's okay."

"Yes, of course. I'll call them."

They resumed walking, going in the same direction Minho had been going earlier. Sam had retrieved his cell phone from the leather holder at his belt and was hurriedly texting someone. Minho inconspicuously leaned over and tried to see what he was writing. Puffing his cheeks in frustration at not being able to read it, mainly because he was still learning how to read and speak English, he soon gave up and stamped down on his curiosity. 

They walked in almost complete silence for a couple of minutes, the only sound being the steady click of the keys on Sam's phone.

"How many are there?" Minho broke the silence, just as Sam shut down his phone and slid it back into the holder.

"Five. You'll only be meeting four right now."

"Why?"

"The other girl is in a meeting currently. I'll introduce you to her tomorrow, when neither one of you are very busy." Sam flashed Minho a grin, which unsettled him.

Why was he grinning like that?

---

Minho studied the four people in front of them, lined up at attention. There were three women and one male. 

"Minho, these are: Yoona, Amber, Jessica, and lastly, Kai."

"...They're all Korean." Minho mused with some amusement.

Sam nodded, smiling. "I thought you'd like that. I put them together special. I figured, since this is your first mission, it would be easier for you to handle. Kai here, is a new trainee. It will be good for him to take the chance to learn from you."

Minho nodded as well. "Sure." He bowed to all of them, who bowed deep in return. 

"Do you all speak Korean?" He asked and smiled when he received nods and yes sirs from all of them. 

"Great! Have you all been de-briefed on the mission?" He spoke in Korean, glad to be able to use his native language after three months of not using it except to talk to Donghae over Skype.

"Sir, yes sir!"

---

-1 day later-

Minho looked up, lowering his feet from his desk slowly, when he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in!” He called, running a hand through his hair to try and make himself more presentable. He had stayed over at the office again last night.

He smiled when his boss poked his head inside, the door only open enough for his head and one of his shoulders to be visible. Sam was always in a happy mood, despite how hard his job was around here; it was contagious.

“Hey.” Minho offered a tiny wave, speaking in his rough English. It was hard to keep from bowing to him. He was Minho’s superior, and, even though Sam had told him on the first day Minho had joined, that he didn’t want him bowing to him - it was hard not to do so. It had been drilled into his head before he could even walk; it felt weird to break it even once.

“Minho, how are you?”

Minho sighed and gestured to the paperwork, rubbing the back of his neck. “Busy.”

Sam’s smile widened. “It’s good for you.”

Minho smiled back.

Sam stepped the rest of the way into Minho’s office, suddenly he looked serious as he closed the door behind him.

“I…have a…proposition for you.”

Minho frowned. “What is it?”

"Do you remember how I told you there would be a fifth member to your team?"

"Yes...?"

Sam didn’t say anything in reply, and instead, pulled the door open again and gestured for someone to come inside.

Minho watched as Sam stepped aside, allowing the person to come into the room.

A girl, looking sheepish and very nervous, came into the room and stood beside Sam. She was wringing her hands, but she held Minho’s gaze for a couple of seconds, her eyes shining familiarly, full of determination, before looking at the floor.

If Minho had to guess, she was about nineteen or twenty. She wasn’t very tall, probably about five foot seven. Her hair was short, about shoulder length, and was almost as black as Minho’s had been before he had died it brown. Minho could kind of see some Asian in her, but she looked mostly European.

“Hello…” Minho muttered, his eyes narrowing. He already had a bad feeling about why she was here.

“Minho, this is Kyung Mi.” Sam gestured to each of them in turn, noticing Minho’s expression. “Kyung Mi, this is Minho.”

Kyung Mi waved, smiling nervously. He bit the inside of his cheek when she didn’t bow to him. That was one thing he would never get used to, staying in America. The lack of honorifics and respect got to him every single time he saw it. It was there, yes, sometimes, but it wasn’t anywhere near Korea’s level.

Minho rose to his feet stiffly and dipped his head slightly, bowing to her.

Sam chuckled, shaking his head, while Kyung Mi looked momentarily confused and a little stunned.

She returned a hurried, sloppy, bow. Minho couldn’t help but smile a little bit.

He had to admit, it was a little funny at how flustered she looked.

“So…what was your proposition?” Minho looked at Sam, waiting for an answer to this meeting.

Sam adjusted the tie around his neck, suddenly looking almost as nervous as KyungMi.

“Minho, Kyung Mi is…well, she’s your new apprentice.”