The room was filled with silence, making the two male occupants shift in unease as they waited. Krystal had excused herself from their presence, having a meeting to attend to downstairs. Something Yunho would have expected from the ever-busy youngest Jung.

Two steaming mugs of coffee were resting on the table before them, untouched as they mulled over the inevitable meet-up with their parents, after a long time. Both young men directed their attention to the door when it opened, almost discretely revealing the excited faces of Mr. Kim and Jung, who didn’t hesitate to receive their sons with open arms as soon as they stepped into the room.

“Yunho! I’m so glad you came home!”

“Jae! It’s so nice to see you back!”

The two young men smiled through the greetings, relishing the warmth surrounding their family reunion. Their mothers, ever doting, chose to sit beside them as their fathers sat facing them on the other couch. “I am so glad to find you both home after a long while.” Mr. Jung remarked as soon as they all settled down.

“It’s good to be home.” Yunho answered, “It’s been months since I’ve last been here.”

“Indeed,” Mrs. Jung interjected, “And you haven’t been visiting us that often, little boy.”

“I’m sorry, Umma. Work has been hectic lately.” Yunho apologized, earning a ruffle of his hair.

“And you, Jae… how come you have been travelling everywhere, but you haven’t been finding the time to drop by your native country?” Mr. Kim leaned forward, questioning his own son.

“It’s for work as well, Appa. And, I don’t want to cause a lot of ruckus here whenever I come home. Taengoo was causing enough trouble for you here.” Jaejoong chuckled to himself, earning laughs from both his parents. “I mean, I don’t know what’s happening with him right now, but he needs to step up some time soon.”

“And that is exactly, what we’re all here for.” Mr. Kim finally revealed the reason for this meeting with the eldest sons of both families. Both Yunho and Jaejoong take deep breaths as they tuned into what their parents needed them to do.

+++

Krystal noticed something off when she entered the conference room. Seohyun and Tiffany were already there, but there was no sign of her cousin anywhere. The two occupants of the room stood up once Krystal approached the table, both older ladies bowing in respect as they greeted her.

“Good morning, Soojung-nim.”

“Good morning, Krystal!”

They waited until Krystal claimed her seat at the head of the table, before both older women sat back on their own. Taking a quick survey of the room, Krystal frowned.

“Where’s everyone?”

Seohyun cleared before answering, “There was a mess up of the meeting schedules as a result of Young Mistress Jung’s sudden cancellations of her schedules. The teams were now scrambling on fixing their respective schedules to work around the young mistress’ rescheduled appointments.”

Krystal leaned back in her seat, knowing fully well not to react much on the matter. She could feel Tiffany’s eyes on her and Seohyun observing her reaction to the dilemma. Taking a breath, Krystal sat up straight in her seat and crossed her palms.

“Well then, that was unfortunate, but let us start this meeting. There’s three of us here, anyway. We can just relay the information to the rest of the team should they fail to come in.”

“Understood.” Seohyun said as she stood up, turning on the projector with remote on hand, “As found on the company’s update on the project, the location for the new brand was settled and furnished, ready for an opening launch.”

Krystal and Tiffany both listened attentively as Seohyun broke down the finances and explained the statistics surrounding the project. She also presented the logistics and the business strategies they were going to utilize in promoting the brand with Krystal as the face of the brand being backed by her older sister and cousins.

When all was said and done, Tiffany leaned back in her seat, satisfied with the progress of their joint project. “I think, we’re ready to launch this as planned, unless, you have something to add?” She turned to Krystal, who had a stoic look on her face.

Seohyun stilled in her place by the screen, waiting for the boss to speak.

“With the company’s current standing we’re surely good to go, but I think we should hold for a bit until the issues concerning the celebrity’s accident has died down.” Krystal shifted her gaze from the screen to Seohyun then finally to Tiffany. “I think the media would find it insensitive of us to release a new line when technically our fellow conglomerate is in the middle of a crisis, especially when our family has pitted unnie to marry said conglomerate’s appointed heir.”

Tiffany sighed, “You have a point there, Soojung. I guess we will have to hold off on this launch until things have settled.”

The three of them were about to finish the meeting when Krystal spoke up once more. “And since we are holding this meeting to ourselves, I would like to address another issue.”

Seohyun took a seat beside Tiffany, all attention on the youngest member of the Jung family. “Which issues are we to discuss with only us three?”

Krystal’s face showed a hint of change, something that unsettled the older girls in the room. This kind of expression was not something they had gotten accustomed to.

Leaning forward with her hands laced together, Krystal looked Tiffany in the eyes and said, “I know you’ve heard it, but someone from HQ had gone on an unauthorized mission, one that jeopardized another agent’s mission.” Tiffany stiffened at Krystal’s implication; her eyes widened at the revelation right in front of her.

“You’re working for HQ?!” Tiffany’s voice raised an octave.

Seohyun tried to keep herself unfazed but sweat clearly beaded her forehead upon realizing what Krystal had told them. ‘She knows what happened to Yoona. She knows things.’

“HQ sends their warning.” Krystal neither denied nor affirmed Tiffany’s query, “As for the agent on that mission, they want a full report on what they had gathered from the infiltration by today’s end.” Krystal locked eyes with Seohyun, who gulped at the stare down. Pushing herself from her seat, Krystal began to make her way to the door, “Just remember your places, unnies. HQ is in a dire position right now, and we do not want to mess up. Mistakes may cost lives, after all.”

Tiffany and Seohyun were left dumbfounded in Krystal’s wake.

+++

“So, you’re saying that we should try and derail our own siblings from their perches?” Jaejoong clarified, frowning at what his parents were implying for them to do.

“Are you serious?” Yunho was flushed from fury, “I cannot do that to my baby sister! She worked hard for this! How am I even going to make her staff obey me when I had just arrived?”

“We are simply asking you to threaten them a bit, push them into a corner where there is no way out except for making them comply with what your grandfathers demand of them.”

“That is just insane.” Jaejoong remarked, finding everything absurd, “You’re pitting us against our own siblings. What if, they won’t end there? What happens to our family? It’s going to tear us apart!”

“They will come to understand when they finally have an audience with your grandfathers. But for now, just do as your grandpas have requested. Besides, you’re not only here for the so-called reunions. You’re here on appointed missions with HQ, correct?” Mrs. Kim deduced.

“Yes, mother. But what does HQ have got to do with all this?” Jaejoong frowned.

“Nothing much unless you want to mix everything up.” Mr. Kim replied, “It’s just that if your protégé goes rogue, you’re going to have to take responsibility to take her out, Jae. Remember, you’re the one who chose her to be your apprentice. As much as HQ was not to be mixed with your personal or business ties, it somehow transcends all of it.”

Jaejoong sighed, feeling helpless at the moment. Yunho, on the other hand, was surprised. Turning to his close friend, “You taught my baby sister? You were the one who initiated her into HQ?”

Jaejoong faced him, “Yes. I did not realize it at first, but then, I soon found out after she had graduated from the academy.”

“Everyone thought she was not fit for the academy, but under Jaejoong’s tutelage, she was able to improve a lot in a short span of time. The masters were surprised of her progress and had concluded that Jaejoong, here, has chosen the right person to follow after him.”

“And that was after her accident, wasn’t it?” Yunho asked, interested on how his sister managed to rise among HQ’s ranks.

“Yes. We thought we’d lose her for good, but having her come into HQ was for the better. She found her strength there.” Mrs. Jung said, turning to Jaejoong, “And we are more than thankful that you chanced upon her that fateful night.”  

“I only did what I thought was right.” Jaejoong replied, before turning to his father, “So, you want us to go on a mission?”

Mr. Kim slid a piece of paper on the table between them. Jaejoong wasted no time to flip it over and read it. Yunho read it along with him before their gazes met. Turning back to their parents, Jaejoong pocketed the paper before standing up, followed by Yunho. “We will go about the mission then.” Both boys chorused.

+++

“So, you think pushing our siblings to the corner would force them to agree to the arranged marriage?” Jaejoong finally spoke once they left the room and were out of anyone’s earshot.

“You’ve taught my sister. What do you think? I know my sister as a forerunner of our business, but as someone who works for HQ, I honestly barely know her.” Yunho turned to his best friend, “You have trained her there, so I think you might have an inkling about her survival skills when it comes to being cornered.”

“She can get desperate at times, but she has learned to strike back at the right time.” Jaejoong answered as they walked into a private elevator, “I taught her to play to her strengths and learn when to make her move. She has become quite a passive type of agent since.”

“So, what will be our strategy on this, Jae? Should I just march in and grab all her assets, or should I play it subtle?”

“Don’t confront her. Just keep your motives unknown first, make her figure it out only when it’s too late. I think that is also how I will approach Taeng. Besides, I don’t really want to hurt my younger brother and I don’t want him to find out I was behind all the sabotage that drove him to the corner. Things might not work out, you know?”

“Hm, right. We should be careful with our own steps and watch our backs, too. Who knows if our grandparents are having other cards up their sleeves? We’re all basically pawns to our family’s games.”

+++

“Seo?”

“Oppa?”

“I’m sorry, am I disturbing your work?”

“I had just finished a meeting, oppa. What is it?”

“Have you heard from Yoona? I tried calling her but she wasn’t picking up. I tried calling her cousins, but they did not seem to have any idea about her whereabouts. Her manager also told me she canceled her plans for the day. I’m worried-”

“She’s staying over my place, Yuri-oppa. She was tired from her schedules yesterday and had asked me if she could stay with me since Tiffany-unnie was out of their house and Jessica-unnie and Soojungie were out the whole night. But, she was fine so no need to worry about her, oppa. She just needed a day off, is all.”

Yuri’s sigh of relief reverberated through the other line. Seohyun hoped her alibi about Yoona’s true state would pull through and that Yuri would not go ahead and see her over at Seohyun’s loft. That would be another problem.

“Would it be all right if I could drop by and see her?” Yuri pondered allowed, more to himself, which somehow alarmed Seohyun.

“I don’t think that would be good, oppa. She could be sleeping right now and you might wake her up. She had asked me to cancel her company schedules today as well since she wanted to sleep more.”

“Oh,” disappointment was evident in Yuri’s voice, “I guess I’ll just call her again when she’s up, maybe later this evening.”

“I think she wouldn’t mind, oppa.”

“Thank you, Seohyun-ah. Glad she has you.”

‘I’m glad she did.’ Seohyun thought, but did not say out loud, “You’re welcome, Yuri-oppa. I’ll update you about her when I come home later. Bye.”

“Thanks again and bye!”

Seohyun sighed as she pocketed her phone. Too many responsibilities and now she has this on her plate. Sometimes, she wondered how she managed to survive her past ordeals. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. A new message.

A mission relayed.

To: Code White

Mission Updates:

For Agent Yellow: Suspend activities for now. Send on covert mission to investigate car crash that happened with Mr. Kim Taeyeon and Mr. Choi Sooyoung.

For Agent Pink: Send on parcel delivery to a secret HQ outpost located on Jeju Island. A gang has known of the package’s contents and had wished to intercept it here in Seoul. Protect parcel at all costs during delivery.

For Agent Red: Status report needed on information of mission. Deadline: This afternoon.

For Agent Purple: All missions on hold until further notice. Direct order from superiors. 

For Code White: Report all mission stats to HQ database, Recipient Name: Blanche Ops.

From: HQ

+++

Taeyeon’s Mansion

Taeyeon sat up against the headboard, eyes staring blankly into space. He was lost in his thoughts when someone sighed beside him. Turning his head, his eyes met with familiar brown orbs.