Andy’s makeshift office at the Shinhwa headquarters was a small, cozy room with no windows fitted out with all the things Andy needed for his work—high-tech gadgetry, state of the art super computers and monitoring system, as well as a workbench that he used to tinker with contraptions. It may have been a far cry from his more furbished office space at home, but it was enough for him to efficiently work in. The walls were covered with a fresh layer of paint and Eric had the old, rotting floorboards switched with new, polished boards—all for the sake of his comfort when working. Andy would make use of the privilege of having his own personal office at their headquarters by spending hours and hours in it, never coming out except to grab something to eat or to go to the bathroom.

Of course, the room had other uses besides being Andy’s workspace. It was also the room where Eric talked to their clients.

Shinhwa Service Agency (SSA) had a policy of secrecy. Whether it was making sure of their clients’ utmost anonymity, or making sure that they themselves remain unheard of. They were professionals in their line of work, so keeping their clients a secret was as easy as one two three. The other way around, however, sadly couldn’t be guaranteed. While they could very easily dispose of clients who would blab out SSA to the authorities, they still needed to remain cautious. Therefore, extra measures were taken to make sure both SSA and its six constituent members stayed unknown to the general public.

Which was why they kept their transactions through videophone. The client would go into a private booth in a respectable Internet café owned by an associate of Andy’s, and the man would set up a Skype call to Andy’s computer. Of course, they still need to pay for the man’s services, but so far there was nothing wrong with the arrangement. Payments, however, are done face-to-face, to ensure that their clients would be paying them the correct amount, and to quickly off cheating clients.

Eric was always the one who took care of clients, be it for negotiations or face-to-face transactions. The rest would huddle over Andy’s laptop watching from the surveillance camera installed in the room, or from the tiny camera bug Andy installed on Eric’s business glasses (They’re actually only there so that Andy could install a camera somewhere on Eric’s person).

“Hey, move a little, I can’t see,” Dongwan murmured, shoving Minwoo’s head out of the way as he peered at Andy’s laptop screen.

And that usually entailed Andy being uncomfortably squeezed in between four grown men as they fought to see what was going on. During negotiations, Minwoo and Dongwan would sit at either side of him on the couch in their apartment while Hyesung and Junjin would comfortably look over his shoulder, but it seemed that day Minwoo decided to sit on his left with Hyesung on his right and Dongwan and Junjin behind him. Unfortunately his laptop wasn’t terribly big, the quality of the video was kind of grainy, and Minwoo had a terrible habit of moving too close to the screen, so it was a downright recipe of disaster when Dongwan had to look from over his shoulder.

Andy sighed. Perhaps it was time he invested in a new laptop, or a better surveillance camera, either which.

“Be quiet,” Hyesung hissed, “They’re starting.”

They all stilled as they watch the computer screen light up with an unknown person’s face. The room was dimmed, the light from the computer providing the most illumination. The camera had a perfect view of the computer screen, unobstructed and clear. It was a precaution Dongwan suggested, so that they may be able to see the client’s face better. They trusted Eric’s instinct, but it was much safer for them to be able to clearly see the interactions—for the sake of caution.

“Good morning, sir,” Eric started, “My name is Eric and I shall speak in behalf of Shinhwa Service Agency, what service do you require of us?”

The customer, a man seemingly in his late forties, fidgeted and cleared his throat. “Yes well, first things first, can I trust that you will be able to keep my identity a secret?”

“Of course, sir,” Eric said, “Here at Shinhwa Service Agency, we ensure that our clients’ identities remain confidential. I assure you, none of our clients’ names have been leaked so far. I’m sure you have heard of our reputation?”

“Yes, yes, you have good reputation,” the man waved impatiently, “Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?”

“Of course, sir.”

“He sounds pompous,” Minwoo murmured.

“Shush.”

“I own a company, you see, a very influential company that provides the nation with the latest technological innovations—Chogmae Company. I assume you have heard of us?”

“Why yes, sir,” Eric answered politely, they all doubted he had, “But what would your company, as high-standing as it is, require of us?”

“A rival company had recently gotten hold of a new innovation. It’s nothing spectacular or life changing, but useful all the same. Now they have been getting under our nerves by boasting the brilliance of their invention and we of the company, as well as other companies I assure you, are starting to find them a nuisance.”

“And you would like us to sabotage their invention?”

The man shook his head, “More than that. I need you to force them to shut down, and steal the invention from them.”

“Typical…” Dongwan muttered.

“How so?”

“Make something up—tax evasion, money laundering, bribery, anything related to crime I don’t care how,” the man waved impatiently, “I just need it done.”

“And the invention?”

“Hand it over to me once you acquire it. Do you think you can manage?”

“Sir, that depends,” they could tell Eric was smirking like the devil himself, “How much are you willing to pay?”

The man rummaged around and hefted a briefcase up to the screen. Swearing slightly, the man rummaged inside and took out a checkbook. He quickly wrote down the price he was willing to pay and showed it to the camera.

Minwoo whistled appreciatively, “The man isn’t stingy.”

“He’s not generous, just really desperate,” Hyesung commented solemnly. “I know his type.”

“That is more than adequate,” Eric commented. “Although sir, I hope you know that our service agency only takes cash payments.”

“That’s easy enough to do, but are you willing to take the job or not?” The man bristled irritably.

There was quite a bit of a pause, as if Eric was contemplating his decision. But they all knew he had been sold when the man revealed his price, the pause was more for dramatic effect. Though, they also knew Eric enjoyed toying with their clients—it was just how he was, a testament of his personality and the dark desires coiling in his mind. It’s what makes Eric intimidating.

“Sir, I believe you and I have a deal.”

The rest of the transaction went smoothly. And usually, by that time Hyesung, Minwoo and Dongwan would have lost interest and roamed around the apartment room to find something better to do. Junjin was the only one who stayed to watch, quietly coming around to sit on the couch next to Andy, keeping a slight distance from the younger man. Junjin knew Andy didn’t really like getting his personal space invaded, and that was one of the things Andy liked about the older man. At least Junjin knew his boundaries.

“Anything strange?” Andy quietly asked, motioning towards the still ongoing transaction on his laptop screen.

Junjin furrowed his brows in concentration before easing up and shaking his head, “Nothing, he doesn’t look like he’s scheming or anything. I think we can trust him.”

Another thing about Junjin was that Junjin held the most experience when it came to negotiations. Junjin could know something was off with just a glance at their clients’ gestures. His experience and keen sense of perception worked even better than Eric’s scary talent of seemingly reading people’s minds. It had saved them from a lot of sticky situations, and sometimes Eric would ask for Junjin’s opinion or advice. Eric wasn’t proud, he knew to acknowledge other people’s talents, especially if said talent could save them from trouble.

“That’s a lot of money though, even for a chaebol company. And for such a simple job too.”

Junjin shrugged, “I think he’s new to this kind of thing. He’s making too many newbie mistakes to even be considered a second-timer.”

“Relying on a criminal agency to make sure they stay at the top, hm? What’s society coming to these days?”

“And yet you never complain when we get paid…”

Andy huffed, “Well, we all have our bills to pay.”

“He’s right though.” Junjin and Andy didn’t realize that the negotiations were finished until Eric emerged out of the room, looking halfway haggard and annoyed, and plopped onto the couch next to Andy. “Especially during tough times like these—costs are through the roof!”

“You barely pay us even without an economic crisis,” Andy sneered, nudging Eric’s side in good humor.

“Anyways,” Eric continued, ignoring Andy’s jibe, “Andy, how about you take this one?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you always complain about not having enough to do whenever we do jobs.”

“But, is it alright though?” Andy asked, uncertainty plaguing his mind.

“Sure it is. Junjin, do you mind if Andy takes the job?”

Junjin looked back and forth between Andy and Eric, eyes wide with surprise at the sudden acknowledgement. “Uh, not really?”

“Just take the job, Andy,” Minwoo said, walking up to the three men sitting on the couch. “You’ll be doing us a favor anyways, we’re not particularly eager to do this job.”

“So,” Eric quickly asked, raising an inquiring brow at Andy, “What do you say?”

Andy went quiet for a while, mulling the thought over.

“While I don’t usually want to do your dirty work,” said Andy, “I’ll let things slide this time and do it, on one condition.”

“Yeah? And what’s that.”

“I get 50% of the cut,” Andy smiled, “No more, no less. I need money to pay for the gadgets you destroyed on the last mission.”

A/N: I am so sorry.