Kyuhyun tapped his heels, flexing his fingers, looked around the room, and sighed. This went on for several minutes as the agency psychologist watched and scribbled doodles on his clipboard notepad.

“If you talk, this will go faster,” he remarked.

“There’s nothing to talk about, can I just go?” Kyuhyun complained, stretching his legs out suddenly. He cracked his knuckles and neck.

“A younger agent was killed in action while working with you. That’s something you need to talk about.”

“What’s with you people and talking?” he snapped. “I’m fine. I…already dealt with my problems.” Kyuhyun started to stand, but the psychologist gave him a pointed look that sent the young man sinking back down.

Sighing, he set the clipboard aside, leaning forward. “You don’t have anything to say? Just give me something, Kyuhyun, and I’ll check you off as fit for work again.”

“I don’t have anything to say about it though,” he frowned.

“Then just recount what happened when you arrived,” the doctor said helplessly, “Go ahead.”

Kyuhyun was quiet for a second. Clasping his hands together, he rested elbows on knees, head lowering. “That’s it?”

“Yes, that is it,” he affirmed.

“It took about five minutes. I got there and the door’s lock was broken. It all looked rushed and poorly executed, which makes sense considering Donghae probably hadn’t expected Taemin to have some sort of information on him.”

“That’s a big assumption. What makes you say such a thing?”

Kyuhyun pressed his lips together. “Who else would’ve killed Taemin? Donghae was the only person left involved. Ryeowook doesn’t dirty his hands with murder.” Shaking his head, he gnawed on his lower lip. “Taemin said he wanted to tell me something urgent about the case. It had to be about Donghae and Ryeowook. Can I go on with my story now?”

“Ah, sure, go ahead.”

“As I was saying, it was a forced entry. I ran inside and Jungmo was knocked out on the ground. Taemin,” Kyuhyun swallowed thickly, “uhm, he…he was slumped across the couch. Blood came from the wound on his forehead.” Blinking away the visions, Kyuhyun stood up. “That’s it. Sign my paper so I can get back to work.”

“Can I just say something?” He asked, slowly signing his name on the paper.

Kyuhyun took it, waiting for the man to speak again. “What?”

“You couldn’t save him. It was doomed from the beginning.”

“There’s always a way to save someone.” He turned to the door, pushing the handle down, “But thanks anyway, doc. Bye.”

Striding down the hallway, he avoided looking anywhere but ahead. It was clear what Taemin’s death had meant. They had overstepped their boundaries. Donghae found them to be a threat. They were uncontrolled variables in a carefully planned experiment.

So Kyuhyun was sure that he wouldn’t do anything stupid anymore. Taking missions of that caliber with new agents was out of the question. He exhaled loudly, trying to will away the flood of images – the people, the tears, the wails and mourning… Kyuhyun’s mouth twitched in discomfort. It probably would’ve been the end of his career if Taemin’s mother had told him he killed the boy. At least they were a family that could see where the blame laid clearly.

“Come in.”

 Kyuhyun pushed the door open, bowing his head to the head of the agency before entering. Looking around the room, he noticed Jungmo sitting on the couch. “Are we working together?”

“You two will be making a joint effort on this mission,” the agency head confirmed. He nodded for Kyuhyun to take a seat and he did so.

“I understand,” Kyuhyun murmured, reaching the short distance to touch Jungmo’s hand.

The slightly older man smiled at him, a flicker of worry in his depths. A silent question passed between them along with a silent assurance.

“As you both are agents involved with the recent incident concerning the slave trafficking in Taiwan, I feel it is important to get you two out on a mission. There will be danger everywhere you go, but having you in an unknown location would be safer than staying holed up at the agency.”

The man pressed a button and the monitor before them displayed an image of a rather impressive building. “This is the International Shanghai Academy of Arts and will be the location you next find yourselves.” He flipped the screen, now displaying images of the campus. “We have carefully checked the school and found there to be no known connection with the slave trafficking incident.”

“For this mission, Jungmo,” he looked at the man, “you will be acting as a student in the music department and Kyuhyun, you will be posing as a teacher in the music department. Recently, this school has been experiencing a high rate of suicide among their students – mainly in the department both of you will be centralized in. Find out what’s going on and if possible, stop it.”

“Why is Kyuhyun the teacher?” Jungmo mused.

The agency head couldn’t help a smile. “We figured with his background, you would make friends faster and easier.”

“Thanks,” Kyuhyun muttered sarcastically.

“Anyway,” he cleared his throat, handing them informational packets, “your supplies are already at your housing complex. You ship out in two days.”