Yuki breathed in deeply.  The pain was still there, but it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier.  Actually, compared to the pain she had felt in North Korea, Yuki currently felt like she could leap over a mountain.  The girl didn't have much with her.  She barely had anything, actually.  No money, no form of identification. . . nothing.  She had disposed of her watch some time ago, knowing that there was a tracker on it.  That, along with her broken earpiece, were taking a nice trip down the Han River.  The only thing Yuki was grateful for at the moment was that Soo Man had made all S.M. phones untraceable.  And he hadn't even put a tracker on hers.  All Yuki did was made sure she blocked the numbers of everyone in the agency.  

Her goal was to cut off all contact with the place.  She wasn't meant to be a spy for S.M.  She had endangered her country one too many times.  She couldn't trust herself to be a protector.  As much as it hurt her, she had to give up her life as a spy, which unfortunately, had been the only type of life she had come to know and love.  Yes, she would miss her team dearly.  Those four idiots that had come to be her brothers.  She would miss EXO, who, over time, had also become like her brothers.  She would miss Soo Man, who had come to be like a father-figure.  2NE1, Girls' Generation, f(x), Miyoung. . . of course she would miss her only female friends.  Many people in the agency had become dear to Yuki throughout the time she spent in the agency, but. . . as she had finally managed to convince herself. . .

it's for the best that I leave.

Yuki wasn't sure where to go.  Sihyun, Junghan, and Haru weren't an option.  They would rat her out in an instant.  What about the old house? Yuki wondered, thinking about the house that she had lived in with her three Hyungs, it's still there. . . I could probably fix it up.  But no. . . that wouldn't work.  That would be one of the first places they checked.  The girl wasn't even sure if she should stay in Seoul or not. What about the Underworld? Yuki suddenly thought, that's an option.  But. . . who would I stay with?  WHERE would I stay?  She didn't really have connections to anyone other than her Hyung-deul and SHINee.  All of her friends were part of S.M.

Except. . . 

Yuki whipped out her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts, finally arriving to the number she was looking for.  She put her phone to her ear and tapped her foot impatiently as it began ringing.

Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up, please pick up.

"Yeoboseyo?" a somewhat groggy voice answered on the other line.  Yuki's eyes lit up.

"Zico?" the girl asked asked.

"Yuki!" Zico exclaimed, suddenly sounding more awake than he had previously, "it's been a while since we last talked!  How are you?  Is something wrong?"

"Not that good actually," Yuki replied honestly, "nothing is. . . wrong per se.  Just. . . it's hard to explain.  LIsten. . . I have an ENORMOUS favor to ask of you. . ."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'SHE'S GONE'?!" Sihyun demanded as he glared at the boys in front of him.

"I came into the hospital this morning to visit her," Minho explained for the sixth time that day, "nothing seemed out of order.  The nurses, doctors. . . none of them told me anything was wrong.  I just walked to her room and opened the door and. . . she was gone.  There was nothing there except. . . except the bracelet I had given her for Christmas and a note."

Sihyun pressed his fingers to his temple and leaned against the wall.  "Yuki. . ." he muttered, "what is going on in that mind of yours."

"You're asking a question you already know the answer to, Sihyun," Haru said wryly, "we practically RAISED Yuki.  It's safe to say we know exactly what she's thinking."  

"Even when she was little, she was always a box full of surprises," Junghan pointed out, "but still. . . I agree with Haru."

The boys had gotten the whole story from SHINee and Soo Man.  The days leading up to the mission, what happened during the mission, and the after effects up to Yuki's disappearance.

Sihyun turned to Minho.  "You already get it," he said.  It wasn't a question.

Minho sighed and nodded.  After his three hyungs, he was the one that knew Yuki the best.  "She's not going to come back," he mumbled.

Sihyun, Junghan, and Haru shook their heads.

"What?!" Key exclaimed, "but. . . but. . . she has to come back!  She can't just leave us like this!  Not without a good-bye or a clue to where she could be going!  She can't!  She can't just. . ."

Key kept rambling.  He was hoping that someone would agree with him.  Give him some kind of consolation that Yuki wouldn't. . . couldn't just leave them this way.

He stopped talking when he realized he wasn't going to get that reassurance.

"Okay, this doesn't make any sense," Jonghyun said, "Yuki's ultimate priority in her life is us.  Her family.  That's why-"

"Don't forget, Jonghyun," Minho interjected, "Ice Princess's ultimate priority has always been this country and its safety.  Yeah, it's partially my fault that Ice Princess left, but the reason she chose to quit S.M.-"

"Is because she felt like she couldn't protect this country anymore," Jinki finished for the boy, finally understanding, "Daeho's betrayal shook Yuki badly.  It took her a while to get over it.  Not being able to detect one betrayal is one thing, but knowing in her heart that she didn't see a second betrayal coming. . ."

"Exactly," Minho said, the gears in his head turning, "Ice Princess thinks that she's useless to S.M.  One she made that realization, she saw no purpose in staying."

"But that's ridiculous!" Taemin exploded, "S.M. needs Noona!  She's the best spy we have!  How could she possibly think that she's useless!!  WE HAVE TO FIND HER!"

Suddenly, Sihyun's phone rang.  Without looking at the caller ID, he picked it up.  "Chief of Police, Seoul Division, Yoo Sihyun speaking."  There was a small pause.  "Kangdae?  Yes. . . okay. . . WHAT?!  WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?!"  Everyone in the hallway jumped at Sihyun's sudden shout.  "KANGDAE!  She left a what?  Okay, I'll be there.  Put it in my office.  Go see if you can find out which direction she went in.  Quickly!  Roger that."  Sihyun hung up his phone, his face creasing with worry.

"What's wrong, Sihyun?" Junghan asked, "what the hell is going on?"

"Come with me," he said curtly, "all of you.  It looks like Yuki left us a gift."

The arrival of eight very worried looking men at the Seoul Police Station put everyone police office inside on alert.  "Sirs?" one of the policemen questioned, saluting Haru, Junghan, and Sihyun as they entered with SHINee behind them, "is everything all right?"

Sihyun and his two deputy chiefs simply nodded before quickly making their way into Sihyun's office with SHINee following silently.  "Kangdae said he put it in my drawer. . ." Sihyun mumbled quietly as he walked towards his desk and opened the bottom drawer.  "Found it!" he exclaimed.  He opened the carefully folded note and immediately identified Yuki's all-too-familiar handwriting.  SHINee and the other two boys crowded around Sihyun as the boy flattened the letter onto his desk for everyone to read.

Sihyun Hyung,

By the time you see/read this, I'll probably be pretty far away.  I'm sorry for just running away without coming to see you or the others.  It was the right thing to do.  I knew that if I talked to you, you guys would either call the boys or convince me not to leave.  I'm pretty sure you know why I'm leaving, and I'm sorry.  I'm not fit to protect this country.  Umma and Appa are probably pretty disappointed in me.  The offspring of the two best S.M. Spies, a failure.  Useless.  Anyways, I was just writing this to say good-bye to you, Junghan Hyung, Haru Hyung, and of course, my old teammates:  Taemin, Key, Jinki, and Jonghyun.  If you get a chance, tell them I'm sorry too.  I made this decision in my right mind, I promise.  No, I'm not going to kill myself.  Don't worry.  I just need to leave.  This last message is for both you guys and SHINee:  I'm leaving for a reason.

Don't try to find me.

I love you guys, please don't forget that.  

~Bul Yuki

There was a dead silence as everyone finished reading the letter.  "Damn it, Yuki," Junghan mumbled, slamming his fist down on the table.

"'Don't try to find me'," Jinki repeated.

"Yuki's always been clever," Haru said, "if she told us not to find her. . ."

"You can't find someone who doesn't want to be found," Key said lifelessly, "especially if that 'someone' is Bul Yuki."

"No," Minho said firmly, startling everyone.  He had been extremely quiet since that morning.  "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not letting Ice Princess go just like that.  She means a lot to me, and it's mostly my fault that she left.  I'm going to set things straight."

"Um, Minho," Jonghyun said, "that's very noble and everything but. . . Yuki kind of hates you."

"I know, I know," Minho said, "but it's my responsibility to set things right.  Like Taemin said:  S.M. needs her.  SHINee needs her. . .

and this Keroro needs his Ice Princess back."

Well, it's obvious that Minho's not going to let Yuki go without a fight.

It looks like there's hope for the Minki couple yet!

I hope you guys liked the update :)  Please do comment and let me know how you guys think I'm doing!!! :)

In other news:  FINAL EXAMS ARE OVER!!  HUZZAH~!!!  And I'm now officially a High School Senior! :O  Just one more year until college now~  Thank you to everyone who wished me good luck on my exams!!  Hopefully, all your good wishes had some kind of impace on my scores xD <3

Let's welcome the new Flurry!!  Thank you for subscribing! ^_^

KoreanGal5 

All righty, everyone, that's it for today!  Please continue to comment, subscribe, and up-vote!!  It would really mean a lot to me and we're almost to 90 Flurries!  WOW!  Thank you so much!! :D   Have an excellent day, guys!  I'll see you next Friday with another update!! <3

~Yuki ❄