“Things are looking bad, sir.” A voice crackled through the phone speaker.

The man with the salt-pepper hair stood in his office, looking at the skyline. He turned. “How bad?”

“Bad enough that the other side has started to get suspicious.”

His right fist clenched. “Take Mars off the job. We have new recruits to test anyway.”

“Are you sure you want to do this sir?”

“It’s not like the risk could increase that much.” He walked over to the desk. “Call Ice Princess and inform her of the project.”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.” He pressed the end call button on his phone. “The world does not beat Park Yoonho,” he growled as he slipped on his jacket.

*

“Whoah! Why are you so eager to get to class?” Changmin said, stepping into his friend’s way.

“So I can get over with it. Now why don’t you stop going the wrong direction for your class?”

“Not until I find out the real reason. Seriously, the beginning of the semester you were literally drooping when you had to go to econ.  Is it possible...” Changmin’s eyes widened. “Your competitor in class is gone and now you’re the best!”

“Sure,” Yunho replied as he walked up the steps.

Changmin huffed. “Fine. I’ll see you later then.”

“Bye!” Yunho said, trying to keep out of the glee out of his voice.

He tried to walk down the hallways calmly. Maybe we could sit…

When he entered the classroom, he knew something was wrong. He blinked, then looked around.

Soo-yeon was nowhere to be found. Maybe she’s late... Changmin, I swear if you jinxed this…

“Ahh, Yunho.” He turned as an assistant walked up. “This note is for you.”

He opened the piece of paper.

Stop.

He stared at the word for a second. Then he crumpled the piece of paper, the ball squeezed tightly in his fingers.

Why do you leave me with no explanation…

*

A woman with her light colored hair tied in a ponytail stepped out of the car she parked. She walked towards a fenced compound with a stoic expression on her face that was covered by her sunglasses. Her boots, covered by black slacks, made a subtle click on the pavement.

The guard nodded to her. “Ice Princess is here,” he said, talking into his walkie-talkie as he opened the gate, waving her through.

A sudden gust of wind blew through the courtyard that the woman was walking through, playing with her ponytail. Some pieces of grass found their way to her leather vest, but she merely brushed them off with long slender fingers peeking out from fingerless glove-clad hands.

She pushed the door open and found herself facing a glass wall with a keypad. She examined it for a second, then punched in the code. The wall deconstructed and slid away from her.

“Well, Ice Princess, I was going to tell you the code, but it seems you already figured it out.” The man with the peppered hair walked forward from the other side of the wall.

The lady redid the strap on her left glove. Liar. “Perhaps if you told me a bit earlier, I wouldn’t have to,” she replied.

“Quality before haste, Ice Princess. It will do you good for you to remember.” He turned and started walking away.

She let out a huff of annoyance, then followed him down the hallway.

He walked into a room full of computer monitors and stopped near the doorway. “This is where you’ll be briefed. Meet me in the armory when you’re done.” He then walked out.

A lady with a headset turned in her chair. “Ice Princess, here is-“

“It’s okay…” The woman called “Ice Princess” bent down to see her nametag. “It’s okay Butterfingers. I got this covered.” She tapped a watch on her wrist, which displayed a hologram. “27^th street, third level up, the crucial servers are in a locked room, closed circuit cameras all around, but a laser shot from the far left corner is a path through the blind spots?”

The lady blinked. “Y-yes. How do you know this?”

The light colored-hair woman, tapped on her watch so the display disappeared. “I always do my research,” she said with a serious face. “I would just like people here to know I mean business,” she said, raising her voice so the whole room could hear her. “Even if my superiors underestimate my capabilities.”

The room was deathly silent. Even the tapping of keyboards that usually occupied the room had stopped as everyone stared at her.

Butterfingers gulped. “Yes ma’am.”

She really is an ice princess…

*

“Father!” Yunho ran up to catch up with the middle-aged man. “Sorry I’m late, my last class ran a little bit longer because of a demonstration.”

“It’s alright.”

Yunho did a double take at the simple yet satisfied answer, looking at his father.

“I already took Jihye this morning since it was the only time her schedule would allow. I hope you understand how I could not fulfill your request.”

Ahh. “I understand, Father. I will see her tomorrow anyway.”

“Good.” The man turned to the burial mound. Both father and son started bowing on the ground in sync.

Once they had bowed three times, they stood up.

“Your mother was a wonderful woman,” Mr. Jung said softly. “She would have been proud to see how far you have come and how willing you let people in your life.”

Yunho just simply nodded. Why is it not difficult for me to call Jihyun Mother? “Jihyun has done her best to raise me after Mama died.”

“She is also a very warm-hearted person.”

“But different,” they said at the same time.

Yunho grinned as his father gave a small smile.

“You know, son, I did not give you the White Hall position for nothing,” the man said as he walked down the hilly path.

Yunho walked with him. “You said there was something fishy with their data, yet I’m not certain what I should be looking for.”

“Look for procedures that are unconventional to our business. They probably guard them well, so you may have to do some nosing around and makes allies of unfriendly or distasteful people. The latter part should not be too hard for you.”

“Yes father. Have you been listening to the doctor’s advice?”

The elder man smiled. “Yes, son. I am taking next week off. However, if anything comes up, do not hesitate to call me, got it?”

“Yes sir!”

The man laughed, slapping his son’s back. “That’s my boy!”

But what is so shady in White Hall…

[A/N] Sorry for the late update, I have AP exams this week and next week, but as a result this chapter is pretty long :3

It's going to take a while for me to update, but I'm not going to call it a hiatus because then you'll guys never check T-T

Just wait patiently now :P