Yoona woke up to a pair of arms securely wrapped around her waist. She smiled, turning around to face him. She studied his face while tracing a finger along his jawline. His presence alone set her mood in a state of relief. A vibration from the sidetable interrupted her thoughts. It was a text message from Sooyoung, reminding her it was time for work.

“Oh right it’s today,” Yoona held her forehead, glancing at the calendar. Brushing the sheets away, she slipped onto the pair of slippers and hopped to her closet, pulling out her uniform. She took this chance to change when Taecyeon’s back was facing her. He was probably too sleepy to even notice the morning rays, so she was safe.

“Taec wake up,” Yoona his back from behind. “Come on it’s time to work.”

Taecyeon groaned, smacking a pillow on his head. “Mom I’m too tired…give me five more minutes,” he mumbled in his sleep, gesturing a lazy hand, shooing her away. Yoona shook her head, giggling at his actions. “Guess you leave me no choice then,” she muttered under her breath, heading to the dining area, coming back with a pitcher in a hand.

“Are you gonna wake up or not?” yoona warned Taecyeon for the last time, receiving the same response from him earlier. She smiled, pouring water on his head.

“Mom!” Taecyeon bolted up in a seating position, shivering as the cold water traveled down his neck, soaking the pillow as well as his shirt. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, noticing Yoona with her arms folded in front of him, a smile showing off from her face.

“Good morning son,” she smirked. Pretending to look worried, she wiped off tiny droplets of water from his cheek. “Aww are you cold? I’m sorry honey, I just wanted you to have a fresh morning.”

Taecyeon hissed, as he pictured himself torturing Yoona inside his head. Anyone would be dead right away, if someone disturbed Taecyeon in his sleep. “You’re so dead Yoona,” he groaned.

She chuckled, kissing him on the cheek. “Had a good sleep?”

“Oh yeah sure, I dreamt of unicorns and then they were frozen from an unexpected ice age,” he described with sarcasm, hinting on what she did with him earlier with the pitcher of water. “Why are we up so early?”

“There’s some training going on. So wear your uniform.”

“But Yoong,” he whined. “I’m tired.”

“No excuses Taec. Get up or I’ll shove ice cubes down your back instead,” Yoona said as she hopped away, leaving her room in a jiffy. Taecyeon shook his head, grinning at her playfulness.

Agents from the aces and professionals gathered in the arena once again. It was initiation mode, meaning to test each of their abilities and skill. There were four long platforms in the arena, each platform was lined up with obstacles that agents had to face. Jaesuk started this, in order to keep his agents fit and prepared for missions. Also to let him know who standed out among his best agents in the headquarters. From previous years, Jaesuk kept an eye for Yoona because she topped all of the obstacles she faced. As flawless as she could be, no one could ever beat her. Her ability was far more superior than anyone else’s.

“You’re kidding,” Taecyeon stared at Sooyoung, dumbfounded.

“I know Taec, she’s that good.”

“Should I steal her spot?” he smirked.

Sooyoung laughed in amusement. “I’m sorry Taec but I think you have no chances.”

“Why not?”

“Well first of all, Yoona improves every single year. Stronger, faster and smarter each time. Second, she’s been doing this for almost nine years. Third, she’s definitely not someone to be messed with because she’s fierce as hell.”

Taecyeon whistled. “Damn, can’t believe I’m dating a badass spy,” he scoffed.

Sooyoung and Taecyeon were sitting by the bleachers, waiting for their turn during the initiation. Yoona and Chansung joined them shortly after having a word with the chief.

“Hey guys, what did we miss?” Chansung asked, sitting next to Sooyoung.

“Not much. Junho, Eunhyuk, Jiyeon and Hyoyeon are up right now.”

Yoona sat next to Taecyeon, greeting him with a smile. “What do you think so far?”

“About what?”

“All of these you’re seeing.”

“Hmm,” he thought. “It’s kind of difficult I mean just look at those two.”

Taecyeon pointed at Junho who was rock climbing, and Hyoyeon who was swimming against the strong currents in the pool. Yoona smiled, reminiscing the times when she also struggled with the obstacles during initiation. “It looks challenging and it is,” she warned. “But I think you’ll be fine.”

“Uh huh, motivating advice coming from the spy of all times,” Taecyeon winked at her. “So what are your secrets? I’m dying to know.”

Yoona scoffed, facing the platforms. “I don’t have weaknesses.”

Taecyeon raised a brow. “What?”

“I don’t have any weaknesses during initiation,” she repeated.

“How?”

Yoona leaned back, sighing. “I don’t really know,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I learned a lot from a variety of experiences in the past and I learned to overcome them. I ended up getting rid of my weaknesses. So I’m not afraid of heights, water, fire, sharp objects and all that other stuff,” she smiled at him.

Taecyeon grinned. “That’s amazing, but I still think you have a weakness.”

“And what is that?”

“Ghosts!” Taecyeon wiggled his fingers, trying to creep her out. Yoona laughed, punching his arm.

“Yeah right Taec, let’s all be scared of that.”

Taecyeon took a deep breath, positioning himself on the platform. He was in the first platform, Minho in the second, Chansung in the third and Siwon in the fourth. The buzzer went off, a signal to the agents that the timer had started. The first obstacle was the pool. They had to swim against the strong, gushing currents, in order to reach the next obstacle. Taecyeon closed his eyes, after heaving in a deep breath, supplying oxygen in his lungs before diving into the water. Indeed, the currents were strong and the pressure of the water against him was heavy. Taecyeon remembered what Yoona said to him.

“When you’re in the water, don’t straighten out your body. Spread your legs out and do stroke, it helps to accelerate forward against the current. Don’t stop or you’ll get carried away,” her voice rang in his head as he obeyed what she instructed. His movements were quick, forcing his legs to push forward. Taecyeon leaped out of the water, his lungs greedy for air. He smiled when he was the first one to complete, thanking Yoona in his head.

“Taecyeon’s doing better than expected,” Sooyoung remarked, not recognizing the smile on Yoona’s face. She was pleased that Taecyeon took her advice in mind.

The tall boulder was next, Taecyeon winced at the fact that he had to climb up the top with much strength. Putting on the safety equipments, he tightened the clips and ropes that were connected to his belt, not forgetting the straps of his helmet too.

“Reach out for any rocks available in front of you. The more you wait, the more your muscles will wear out. As usual, stay in the middle and prevent from edging to the sides. It’s dangerous and you’ll have lesser options to hold on to. Be careful,” he grunted as he stretched his arm out to hold onto the rock. It was amazing how he could act quickly with Yoona’s words imprinted in his mind, like a natural instinct he could depend on.

“Oh thank god,” he whispered once he stood on top in accomplishment. Next was the jigsaw puzzle. Yoona didn’t give him any tips about this segment but wished him intelligence for this. Taecyeon shook his head, “I’m not even good at these things,” he mumbled examining the pieces jumbled up for him. Pieces came in various shapes and sizes, the puzzle they had to solve was the initial of their names, slotting in the empty space in the middle of the table. So Taecyeon had to solve the letter ‘T’ with the scrambled pieces surrounding the missing alphabet in the middle. There were fifty pieces to fit the alphabet, Taecyeon stared blankly at it.

“Good until now,” Yoona giggled when she saw him conflicting on the puzzle. “Come on Taec, think.”

Five minutes passed, Taecyeon turned to his left and saw others solving the puzzle quickly. He had to think fast if he wanted to move on to the last obstacle first. Sliding the pieces together, his eyes and fingers worked together with his brain.

“You go here,” he said to himself. “And you go there.”

Chansung finished first, followed by Minho and Siwon respectively. Taecyeon grinned in satisfaction once he slotted the last piece into the alphabet.

“I did it!” he raised his arms high, being proud of his success. The smile vanished on his face when he noticed the rest moving on to the last obstacle. It was physical this time. Agents have to combat with each other, separated in to two. Taecyeon and Minho, Siwon and Chansung. Minho waited patiently for Taecyeon on the mat, bowing so as he faced him. Yoona focused on the two of them, slightly nervous about the tension in between them.

Taecyeon gripped Minho’s arm, as he stepped onto his foot, slamming him down the mat. Minho winced in pain, the skin on his back was stinging. Although he Minho was tired, he wasn’t giving up yet. The determination to beat Taecyeon was driving him insane, that he attempted every move he could toss out. However, Taecyeon had the same determination as well. He wasn’t going to lose in front of his woman. Losing a bit of his temper, Minho kicked Taecyeon’s shin, causing Taecyeon to stumble back. Taecyeon clenched his fist and punched Minho right under his ribcage. Minho dropped dead on the mat, catching his breath while relieving his abdomen. Taecyeon inhaled, sticking out a hand at Minho, pulling him up.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Minho replied indifferently, then looking up at Taecyeon. “Nice match,” Minho shook Taecyeon’s hand, forcing a smile.

Yoona ran up to Taecyeon and Minho, congratulating the both of them. “Good job guys. Fantastic work Mr Ok. You too Minho, good job.”

Minho smiled warmly at Yoona. “Thanks Yoona.”

“No, it’s thank you, Ms Im,” Taecyeon hung his arm around her. Minho’s expression changed quickly, dropping his gaze on the floor.

“I’ll see you around Yoona,” Minho said as he walked away, heading back to the bleachers.

Taecyeon glanced at Minho in confusion, but shook it off once he turned back to Yoona. “Told you I was good.”

Yoona hit his arm. “You won’t be good unless you took my advice, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you got me,” he chuckled.

While watching from afar, Jaesuk smiled in content from his seat. Assuming his agents were performing much better this year. Three people standing by the entrance of the arena caught his attention, as he marched up to them with haste footsteps.

“Kwangsoo, Gary, Jihyo. What brings you here?” Jaesuk questioned softly.

Kwangsoo smiled at their leader. “Just visiting the headquarters. Isn’t it initiation?” he pointed at the agents.

Jaesuk turned around shortly before replying, “Yes it’s initiation, but I think that’s not the reason you’re here.”

“It’s not,” Jihyo snickered at Kwangsoo. “There’s been a warning again, Jaesuk.”

Jaesuk’s eyes twitched, pushing his spectacles up slightly. “Warning?”

Gary nodded. “We received a letter from someone, saying ‘clock’s ticking away’. It must be a threat directed at us.”

“Who is it from?”

“It’s unknown.”

Jaesuk exhaled, folding his arms in concern. “Someone’s threatening the Espionage. If time is included in this, that person is asking us to prepare.”

“Who could it be? Did we do anything wrong to someone?” Kwangsoo asked.

Jihyo pursed his lips, an idea popped in her head. “I think I know who it is.”

Taecyeon and Yoona approached the entrance of the arena, which prevented Gary and Kwangsoo to ask Jihyo. Jaesuk smiled at both of his agents.

“Oh, are we interfering? We’re sorry,” Yoona bowed.

“No Yoona it’s fine. Taecyeon! You did great just now, I’m quite impressed. Agents, greet your seniors,” Jaesuk gestured at three of the running spies.

Taecyeon and Yoona bowed at them. “Welcome Lee Kwangsoo, Song Jihyo and Kang Gary,” Yoona greeted with a smile.

Kwangsoo blushed at Yoona, chuckling a little. “You’re still as pretty as ever Yoona.”

“Thank you,” Yoona smiled.

“And who is he? Your boyfriend?”

Yoona nodded. “Introduce yourself,” she muttered to Taecyeon.

“Hello seniors, I’m Ok Taecyeon,” Taecyeon bowed.

“Taecyeon, you and Yoona are very similar to Gary amd Jihyo here. They’re the spies who work together for a long time, both sharing a strong connection with each other. You could get some advice from them on how to be a spy and a lover at the same time,” Jaesuk stated, as Jihyo smacked his arm.

“You kids just need to have fun right now and take it slow. Gary and I are just like any other Mr. and Mrs. Smith out there. We fight, laugh, love and bicker,” Jihyo blurted out, making the two agents laugh.

“Taecyeon, take my advice and always be behind Yoona. Women always brag about how strong and independent they are, but in reality, men are the ones who keep them up and going. We’re always the knight and shining armors by the end of the day,” Gary grinned.

Taecyeon nodded politely. “I’ll remember that.”

“Make sure you do.”

“Well, we have to get going,” Jihyo smiled apologetically. “We need to do some work. We’ll see you agents again.” Kwangsoo, Jihyo and Gary bowed at Jaesuk, then waved at Taecyeon and Yoona.

“We’ll discuss soon,” Jaesuk whispered in Jihyo’s ear before they left the headquarters.

Yoona walked up to Jaesuk curiously. “Is there anything wrong chief?”

Jaesuk forced a smile. “No everything’s fine. Come, let’s go back inside.”

A man sat in his car, parked outside the Espionage building, observing Jihyo, Gary and Kwangsoo exiting the headquarters. Smirking, he knew they had received his letter.

“The Espionage will crumble down soon, especially you, Yoo Jaesuk,” he mumbled, revving the engine of the car as he drove off.

sorry dear readers for the late update! ;__; break is here so I'll update frequently ^^ 

thank you for reading! :)