MILESTONE:  50 CHAPTERS?!  WOW!!  We've come so far!

Cold water was splashed onto Yuki's unconscious form.  The shock caused the girl to jolt awake.  She coughed, sputtering and gasping, and looked around wildly.  Her head was throbbing and her abrupt movements were not helping.  

"So," a voice said, "the rat's finally awake."

Yuki blinked and finally, her surroundings came into focus.  She was in a grey, tiled room.  It didn't take a genius to figure out where she was.  

The S.S.D. Interrogation Room.

Yuki's arms were tied to a metal chair.  Her weapons were laid out on a table on the side of the room.  All of Orange Caramel was inside the room along with an older man she didn't recognize.  But those weren't the people she was looking for.  Her eyes scanned the room until they found him.  

He stood there, leaning against the wall and watching the scene with disinterest.  One word flashed through Yuki's mind.

Traitor.

In that one moment, Bul Yuki was broken.  

The person tied to a chair in the middle of North Korea was a shell.  A robot.  Three realizations were made one after the other.

1.  She had been betrayed.

2.  She had been caught.

3.  She was about to either be murdered or tortured in the worst of ways for information.

A fourth realization hit Yuki harder than the other three had.

He must have a flash drive with all of our information on it.  

Yuki bowed her head and closed her eyes. 

It's over.

A weight on the girl's neck made her open her eyes.  Her dragon pendant glittered as it swung back and forth.  Suddenly, Yuki remembered something.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Daeho's betrayal won't be forgotten, Yuki," Soo Man said as he set Daeho's file down on his desk, "his actions could have destroyed South Korea had you not stopped him in time."

Yuki nodded grimly.  "I know, sir," she said.

"It's very apparent that the entire agency has been shaken to the core," the man continued, "what we need to do, is ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."

"With all due respect, Soo Man-ssi, we can't guarantee that another spy won't turn on us-" Yuki began to say.

"No, we can't," the older man said, cutting her off, "but we can stop them from handing over all of our information."

Yuki looked at her superior, confused.  "I. . . I don't understand, sir."

"Sure, a central supercomputer can hold a lot of information, but according to Agents Taemin and Kai, certain information can be. . . completely and fully blocked if we so desire.  In other words, information can be witheld on a computer to the extent that it is impossible to transfer it onto a flashdrive."

"But Soo Man-ssi," Yuki said, "that's completely impractical.  In the case of any emergency, that information could be lost forever.  We wouldn't be able to recover.  That would permanently destroy S.M."

"Ah," Soo Man said, smiling, "but that, my dear, is where you're wrong."

Again, a look of confusion crossed Yuki's face.  Soo Man stood up and began speaking once more.  "The deed has already been done.  I've had Taemin and Kai lock away certain key pieces of information regarding S.M.  These pieces of information, if ever revealed to an enemy base, would guarantee the destruction of S.M. as well as all of South Korea.  Don't worry, as impractical as this may seem, this information has been kept with a second source.  My trump card and the most reliable source I have."

Yuki looked at Soo Man curiously.  "If you don't mind my asking sir," she said, "I'm sure it's classified information but-"

"What is my trump card?" he finished for the girl good-naturedly.

Yuki nodded.  The older man walked towards the girl and smiled.  Then, raising a hand, he gently tapped the side of Yuki's head with a finger.

"You are my trump card, Special Agent Bul," he said as Yuki's jaw dropped, "believe it or not, you possess some S.M.'s most crucial information inside your head.  If anything were to happen to this place, you would be my recovery system.  I don't have confidence in a lot of things, Yuki, but I do know this:

I have the utmost confidence in you.  I know that no matter what kind of torture you would ever be put through, you would never betray us to anyone."

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuki grit her teeth.  She was S.M.'s last defense.  She was Soo Man's trump card.  Even when she was staring death in the eye, she had a duty towards South Korea.

A duty she had every intention of fulfilling.

With that thought in mind, Yuki took all of her emotions, every single one of them, and swallowed them, leaving nothing behind except complete and utter determination.

SHINee knows, she thought, they'll tell Soo Man-ssi about the betrayal.  Soo Man-ssi will call a code black.  All he needs me to do is hold out and keep my mouth shut before I die.  

Yuki glanced down at her dragon pendant.  Give me strength, she silently prayed to her parents.  Come what may, Yuki thought with grim determination as she met the eyes of her enemies, I.will.not.give.in.

"So. . ." the older man said, walking towards Yuki, "South Korea's best spy, hm?  Why don't you give me a name, first?  Here, I'll tell you mine.  You can call me Wu."

The girl looked into the man's eyes for a second and looked down.  Kris' face flashed through her mind at the name "Wu," but she knew the two weren't related in any way.  The man's voice rang a dull bell inside her head, but for some reason, she wasn't able to make any connections.  "My name is Bul Yuki," she said.

A stinging slap hit her cheek.  "Lying ," Raina hissed, "what's your REAL name?"

"P-Park Kota," Yuki replied.  She smirked mentally.  Her trick worked.  The slap was worth it.  She thanked Jinki in her mind with all her heart.  The girl made sure to keep her voice soft, so Minho wouldn't hear.  She knew that he would rat her out instantly.

"Very good," Wu said as Raina moved to stand behind Yuki.

For some reason, it was this man that was giving Yuki chills.  She had a feeling that his voice and actions didn't match up very nicely.  The man turned away from the tied up girl.  "And he's your informant?" he asked the three girls, his gaze touching Minho's stoic figure.

"Yes, he is," Lizzy purred, walking over to Minho, "he has been for the past two months.  Such a helpful man~"

Yuki's insides burned very slightly, but a thought shooed her jealousy away.

He's a traitor.  There should be no feelings towards him except hatred.

"And you're sure his allegiance is with us?" Wu queried.

"Absolutely," Nana replied, "we would not have brought him here without chains if that were not the case."

"All right then," the man said, "let's officially instate him into S.S.D. then, shall we?"  The girls all laughed.  Lizzy kissed Minho's cheek before disappearing from the room.  She reappeared within the next few seconds carrying a large piece of cloth.  At first, Yuki couldn't make out what it was.  Then, Lizzy unfolded the cloth.  Yuki's eyes widened.  Lizzy was holding up a South Korean Flag.  

"Okay, Minho Oppa," the girl said, "it's standard procedure.  In order to assert your allegiance to North Korea, you need to take this flag, throw it to the ground, and step on it, all while reciting the North Korean National Anthem."

NO! Yuki shouted in her mind, her eyes widening to the size of dish plates, NO, NO NO! 

"Okay," Minho replied.  He raised his hand to take the flag from Lizzy.  Yuki looked around wildly.  She could not watch her country's flag be disrepected that way by a traitor.  I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! she thought.  Then, she spotted a small dagger right in front of her foot.  Lizzy gave the flag to Minho.  The boy smirked and raised the flag in order to throw it onto the ground.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" 

Raina's scream of pain caused everyone to jump and look in her direction.  Raina had fallen to the floor, clutching her cheeks.  Red liquid was seeping through her fingers and dripping to the floor.  Before Minho could do anything with the flag, Yuki had stomped on the tip of the dagger with her foot, causing it to flip through the air behind her and slice the side of Raina's face.

"RAINA!" Lizzy, Nana, and Minho shouted.  Minho threw the flag to the side and ran towards the injured girl with Lizzy and Nana at his side.  The flag sailed through the air and harmlessly landed on the table where Yuki's weapons were kept, covering them.  A small sigh of relief escaped the girl's lips.  That is, until a pair of hands closed around her neck.  Yuki struggled violently as the pressure on her neck increased, cutting off her airways.

"I WILL ING KILL YOU!" Nana shrieked with a demonic look in her eyes.  Yuki's eyes rolled into the back of her head.  Suddenly, the pressure was gone.  Yuki's head lurched forward as she coughed, attempting to take in more air.  Wu had dragged Nana away from Yuki and restrained her.  

"ENOUGH, NANA!" he shouted, "RESTRAIN YOURSELF!"  Nana stopped struggling, but her murderous glare never left Yuki's face.

"We have Minho Oppa!" she shouted at her superior, "we can just kill her off!"  Wu had enough.  He roughly spun Nana around  slapped her across the face hard enough for her to fall to the floor.

"SILENCE, YOU FOOL!" the man shouted, "take Raina to the infirmary NOW.  I clearly cannot trust you to remain in this room.  Nana whimpered, her cheek stinging, and stood up.  She hauled Raina up and the two exited the Interrogation Room.  

"Now," Wu said, turning back towards Yuki, "what were we talking about again?  Ah yes.  So, my dear. . . Kota, was it?  Your lovely partner here has already handed over the information that was in his possession, but I feel as if you. . . being S.M.'s alleged 'best spy,' would probably have more information that would be infinitely valuable to us."

Yuki's stomach tightened.  She knew it would come to this.  

"I would hate to sound like an evil demon that cares nothing for another human being," Wu continued, "so I'll give you a choice.  Join us.  Become a part of North Korea's S.S.D.  We could use someone like you, Park Kota.  You could tip the scales of this war and guarantee North Korea's victory.  You would be rewarded beyond measure, named the head of S.S.D., and given an immense amount of status and respect in North Korea.  All you need to do is tell us what you know."

"And if I refuse?" Yuki questioned.  Wu chuckled before walking to the other side of the room and pulling something off of the wall.  The sound of glass scraping against the floor made Yuki's spine tingle.  Suddenly, Wu was standing in front of her again with a handle in his hand.  The girl's blood ran cold.

"I suppose you know what this is?" he asked.  

Of course she knew what it was.  The Nine Tails whip.  North Korea's favorite instrument of torture.  True to its name, the whip had nine tails on it.  Each tail had shards of glass embedded in it, which would tear at the tormented's skin with each lash.  It was truly a whip made in the depths of hell.  "This and so much more awaits you if you refuse to cooperate," Wu said lightly.

The poor girl's soul started shaking, but she swallowed her fear.  She glanced down at her dragon pendant again.  Give me strength, she prayed to her parents again.

Her fear left her. 

"Sorry," Yuki spat, "but unlike certain people, I will never betray my country.  And that's a promise." 

Wu looked at her and tisked.

"Such a shame," he muttered, rolling the whip around his fingers, "such a shame."

I have never wanted to punch someone in the face so badly before.  And I'm the author.

MILESTONE:  81 SUBBIES OMFG Q~Q THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE LOVE YOU'VE BEEN GIVING THIS STORY <3

Today we welcome two new flurries~~  Hello!  And thank you for subscribing! :)

azlynalisha 
 

rizac91 

We haven't gotten any new up-votes recently~  Hopefully some of you guys will decide that you like the story enough to up-vote!! Please do! ^_^ <3  It would be really appreciated!

Other than that, everyone please continue to leave comments, subscribe and up-vote!!!  I promise you virtual cake and ice-cream if you do!! :3  

OTHER NOTE OF IMPORTANCE:  Sooo, I've realized that calling myself "AthleticShawol" all the time is getting a bit bothersome for me xD  I do have a name that I call myself on this website (it's not my real name but whatever).  

Ironically enough, it's Yuki :P  [Yes, I've been using that name for myself since before this story].  So I'll just be using that name for my signature~

That was it, really.  Okay guys, this is Yuki signing off for now :)  I'll be back next week with another chapter!  Stay safe and stay healthy!

~Yuki ❄