File 01

Fingers tapped the steering wheel anxiously, creating an unsteady beat that echoed his own pounding heart. 

The car door opened and he stopped himself from physically jumping, his eyes darting to the perpetrator instead. 

"Any-" he started, stopping when his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "Any leads?"

"I wish," the intruder huffed. She collapsed into the passenger seat with a flick of her hair. "Not a single hair, fingerprint, or anything. Whoever this person is, he's solid." 

"I was afraid of that," he muttered, starting up the engine and entering the road. 

"And why's that?" the female asked. Her eyes searched his face for answers but only found displeasure in the slant of his lip. "It's not like you to be so intimidated by a criminal. You've been in the business for a while now."

"It's not the criminal I'm scared of," he stated succinctly. She blinked slowly.

"You're scared," she realized with mild discomfort.

He blinked, pausing.

No, not pausing.

Stalling.

Her fearless partner was actually stalling for an answer.

"Yes," he finally stated shortly, his voice a forced calm she had learned to recognize over the years. 

She mulled over the conversation in her thoughts, the vehicle moving in silence.

Something big was about to happen.

"Hey Mimi. You have a call."

"Me? But I just came back!"

"So?"

"..."

"Relax. You're not going alone."

"...You better not be coming with me Itachi."

"And why not? It went perfectly well last time."

"Because last time, you dodged a bullet for your life. Literally. I'm not dealing with that kind of sh*t on the job again."

"Well then you're lucky I decided to send Pearl with you instead."

"Aw but she's boring!"

"Who do you want to go with then?"

"Myself!"

"Request denied. Now take Pearl and go will you? I promised we'd be at the scene at around 1 or so."

"It's 4!"

"Well then you better get going. Say you...got lost on the path of life."

"..."

"...What?"

"Itachi, I'm kicking your *ss when I get back."

The door slammed shut.

"...That's right. I forgot to tell her about the new recruits. Oh well. I'm sure she'll find out eventually."

She looked at her hair once more in the compact mirror, her other hand coming up to fix her bangs.

"Will you cut that out?" her partner hissed. "We're here on a mission."

"Well what's wrong with looking good on a mission?" she defended. She shut the mirror with a resounding Click! and looked up, matching eyes with the policeman in front of her. "So what happened here?"

Her partner elbowed her non-too-gently in the side and she muttered a complaint under her breath. 

"There's been a murder," the policeman began, immediately interrupted by a snort.

"That's obvious," she muttered under her breath, receiving another elbow from her partner.

"The man's name was Jung Yonghwa," he introduced, continuing on as though uninterrupted. He pulled out two folders, sliding them across the table. "Age 24 and no family to inform. Company owner of the brand CyanBlue. His fiancé died a few weeks ago from an overdose of medicine."

"You think this is a suicide," she deduced, pausing in her search through the documents and looking up at the policeman. 

"Yes," he answered automatically. 

"Then you're no help," she declared. "Find someone who thinks this is a murder and send him or her to us."

The policeman stood, slamming his hand on the desk.

"Look, I don't know who you are-"

"That's Pearl and I'm Mimi," she introduced, cutting the man off. Her hands fell to her hips automatically and her eyes turned cold. "Now I don't know who you think you are, but we were sent here for a reason and if you don't like it, then talk to your boss 'cause I'm not going to deal with your sh*t attitude on this job. Got it?"

"Now now, no fighting," another voice cut in calmly. The two girls turned. 

"Jihoon-Oppa!" Mimi recognized with a smile. "Where have you been? And why'd you send this little brat to brief us?"

"Meeting with the higher-ups. You know how it is. Anyways, don't bully Youngjae there. He's a new member and unlike the others you've scared off, I want to keep him," Jihoon joked, dismissing his subordinate with a flick of his wrist. He took the seat vacated and laced his fingers together, face turning serious as the door shut. "It's a very convincing suicide except for the threatening notes he's been receiving recently."

"Marked?" Mimi questioned, eyes flashing dangerously. The man nodded wordlessly. 

"The ones sent to the scene were newbies. They messed with the crime scene before we arrived," Jihoon admitted with a sigh. "But, the files are what we were able to get despite their interference."

"Is it possible that they're working for the other side?" Pearl asked, her voice low and dangerous.

"Which they?" Jihoon threw back, his own eyes narrowing in on the two. "The police are screened before they get the job. You two know this."

"But if they also know, then precautions might have been taken," Pearl pointed out logically. 

There was a pause.

"I'll let someone screen everyone again. Casually though. I don't want to ruin the current atmosphere," Jihoon allowed. The two girls nodded; that was as far as they could push him now. 

"Any other important information you want to let us know about?" Mimi questioned, her voice turning chipper and childish once more as Jihoon stood.

"Nah. Make sure to greet Lua though. She's been asking about you gals," Jihoon reminded before the three parted ways.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Mimi asked, the file no longer in her hands. 

"We're going to catch those b*stards this time," Pearl promised with a growl. Mimi chuckled.

"Guess not. I wanted to eat some ice cream!" Mimi declared, giggling. Pearl stared at the girl strangely for a moment.

"And what about killing Itachi?" she pointed out with a roll of her eyes. Mimi snapped her fingers.

"Oh yeah! I'll get ice cream after that then," Mimi decided, laughing to herself. "Now let's go!"

"Pearl, the note Itachi left me better be a joke," Mimi seethed, holding up a crushed paper in her fist. Pearl cast a distasteful glance at the male trailing after Mimi and the male at her own side and frowned.

"Sadly," Pearl stated, tearing the white paper in her hands to shreds and tossing it in a nearby rubbish bin. "It's not a joke. Don't bother storming into Itachi's office-"

Pearl stopped mid-sentence, sighing as Mimi's lithe figure was no longer in the doorway. 

"Why do I bother warning her?" she muttered to herself. She turned to the two males. "You're our new students, right? Your first job is to go and stop your more experienced agent who's running down the hall. You have less than 2 minutes. Good luck."

The males exchanged incredulous glances.

"Now," Pearl barked, startling the duo. "If she gets into Itachi's office I'll never hear the end of it!"

And the chase began.

The males followed Mimi's swift figure down the halls, losing her at a hallway that divided.

"You go that way and I go the other?" the shorter suggested. The taller shrugged and the two split up. Pearl watched the duo from behind silently. She looked up, spotting the open vent that Mimi had left - an invitation - and sighed.

"Mimi get down here. The apprentices or whatever you want to call them are gone," Pearl called, rolling her eyes. Mimi dropped down a minute later and frowned.

"They didn't see the obvious clue?" Mimi whined, stomping her feet. "I even made my steps loud." 

"Whatever," Pearl dismissed though the disapproval was obvious in her voice. She put a hand to her ear, pressing one of the many buttons on her earpiece. "Hey Yoshi. Mind calling our apprentices for us?...What?...No we kind of missed that since Mimi rushed the early test...It's not my fault!...One is blond, a bit on the short side with a gangster's walk - probably has some kind of street smarts. The other has black hair and the cockiest little smirk...Yup...Alright. Thanks."

She let it go, her hand dropping to her side. She waited along with Mimi, undisappointed when the two males returned moments later, frowning irritatedly. 

"Thanks for the warning that we're all ing tagged," the blond male grumbled, holding the earpiece in his hands. 

"This thing's pretty cool," the other male declared, observing the small earpiece with interest. "How much did it cost?"

"I'm Mimi. I'm one of your mentors - you two can duke it out later - and that's Pearl, the other person's mentor," Mimi stated firmly, ignoring their remarks. "Rule number one: don't trust anyone even your mentors. Assume everyone's out to get out and is willing to stoop to the lowest means to ruin your life." 

"Rule number two: never say your real name around people you do not trust," Pearl added. "Names are powerful. If you give them your name, you are giving them your life. You all chose a codename, right?" 

"I'm L.Joe," the blond introduced, giving the two a casual greeting flick of his wrist. 

"And I'm Chen," the other added, bowing almost mockingly. 

The response was instantaneous. 

A punch connected with L.Joe's jaw followed by a swift jab to his shoulder and a quick kick to his knee. A strong hand forced his head down, one arm twisted painfully behind his back. 

Meanwhile, hands wrapped around Chen's wrist and him forward. His chest made contact with her back and with an unhesitating throw, he landed on his back, staring up at the plain ceiling.

All in a matter of mere seconds. 

"Rule number three: always assume your opponent can kill you. Plan ahead, remain wary, and keep your fat mouths shut unless necessary," Mimi stated, removing herself from L.Joe. "A single rude gesture might kill you."

"Ow," Chen grumbled, sitting up. His eyes lighted up with mischief upon catching on Pearl and both females were surprised when he leapt up, taking her hands in his. "Wow! That was so cool! Teach me!" 

Pearl frowned and with a flick of her wrist and a well-placed chop, the male fell to the ground with a sound of pain. 

"I don't like being touched," she excused simply, walking. Mimi followed, starting up a quick random conversation on ice cream flavors while the two boys remained quiet and listened, their feet making noticeable sounds against the ground.

"I hate being here," Mimi complained, frowning. 

"And where is here, exactly?" L.Joe asked, eyes running over the area. 

"Information broker's headquarters," Pearl answered, her lips in a neutral line. "She's with us but she works from here. Ignore whoever talks to you." 

The two girls entered, the boys exchanging confused glances but following. They soon understood what she had meant.

The bar was crowded with pounding club music and flashing lights, a wide variety of people there from burly men to shameless women. However, they all steered clear of the two petite females warily and the two boys, new to the job as they were, wisely chose not to say anything. 

The girls ignored the crowd, entering a room in the back without hesitation and the two boys followed.

The room, contrary to the bar-club was well-lit and neat, a single female lying on her stomach on one of the couches with a black-red-haired male leaning against the wall nearby.

The door shut behind them. 

"Oh? Mimi, Pearl, your kids?" she questioned, removing the long-stemed smoking pipe from her red lips and blowing out a breathe of smoke. She had on a backless Chinese-style dress and a matching flower pinning some of her long black hair back. The loose strands rested against her back, brushed against the leather of the couch, hung motionlessly in the air. 

"Shut up Witch," Pearl snapped, frowning. "You know why we're here." 

"Of course I do," the 'Witch' confirmed, smirking. Another puff of smoke. "Take a seat first. It's been a while since I've had visitors." 

The two females sighed but obeyed and took a seat on the empty couch while L.Joe and the other male made eye contact then wordlessly leaned on the wall across from each other. Chen glanced between the two before leaning beside L.Joe, curious but not stupid; the two recognized each other. 

And he wasn't the only one to notice. 

The Witch chuckled at the girls' stiff expressions, waving a hand at the male at the wall beside the couch. 

"Relax. I won't bite unless you want me to," the female teased, relaxed from where she lay on the couch. "And please, as...flattering as being called 'Witch' is, call me Yuko. I picked out the name for a reason." 

"You chose the name after Yuko Tojo, granddaughter of the General Hideki Tojo who was hanged as a war criminal," Pearl reminded bluntly. "The name Witch suits you just as well."

"As cold as always Pearl," Yuko stated, blowing out another puff of smoke. "It must be difficult to work with her Mimi. Ah, that's right. Girls, this is Changjo, my new student."

"The blond one is L.Joe. The other is Chen," Mimi introduced, gesturing to the two boys. "Now Yuko, you know why we're here." 

The female sighed, sitting up slowly. She put down the pipe, the half-smirk leaving her face for sobriety. 

"There are four main suspects in the case," Yuko informed. "The first is Lee Jonghyun, COO of CyanBlue. With the victim's death, he got half of the inheritance especially since the victim's wife - sorry, fiancé - was already gone. The second is Lee Jungshin, CFO of CyanBlue with similar motives. Jonghyun is the victim's childhood friend while Jungshin is his cousin. However, both have been complaining recently about the never ending workload and were denied a week of vacation."

"The case only stated those two victims," Chen pointed out, raising an eyebrow and speaking for the first time since their entrance. "How can there be more?"

"But it's neither of those two," Yuko pointed out simply, a smirk pulling on her lips once more. "See, those two were both in Japan at the time working on another project. They could have, of course, used other means but given the method of death and their lack of involvement in any underhanded corporations, those two are clean."

Chen stayed quiet.

"Therefore, I looked into other possible suspects," Yuko continued, crossing her legs and leaning closer to the group. "And I found two others. Obviously. One is Kang Minhyuk, CMO of CyanBlue. He visited Yonghwa that day but he never turned himself into the police nor did the police question him. He tried to cover up his tracks. He also has, quite frankly, been embezzling funds. From what I know, the victim had recently found out."

"And that's possibly not our man for what reason?" L.Joe interrupted, frowning. "He has the motives and everything."

"The last person," Yuko stressed, ignoring the two boys. "Kwon Kwangjin, former CFO of CyanBlue. He was fired last year for embezzling in order to pay off his astronomical debts. He also was the ex-boyfriend of the victim's fiancé. He was taken to jail for attempted bank robbery but he escaped a few months back."

"I still vote that it's CMO," L.Joe voiced. 

"I second that," Chen agreed. 

"What are you holding back Witch?" Pearl questioned, eyes narrowing on the female. Yuko chuckled. 

"Seeing through me already?" she joked, picking up her pipe once more. She stayed silent for a moment before speaking once more. "According to our records, the man - Kwangjin - is dead."

"Then why is he still a suspect?" L.Joe asked, an eyebrow raised. 

"Because the body was never fully identified," Yuko answered simply. "The corpse was burnt beyond recognition. However, one arm was chopped off and left unburnt which was how we found out the corpse's identity."

"Sounds like someone chopped off his arm, he picked it up, then the murderer burned him to get rid of the evidence," Chen remarked. 

"Perhaps," Yuko agreed non-committedly. "However, the case is still strange, hence his placement on the list. Now, that's all the information I have for you. And what do you have for me?"

The atmosphere was stifled for a moment before finally Pearl sighed.

"What do you want to know?" she asked shortly. 

"Floor plans for the 63 Building," Yuko answered. "One of my customers has been asking."

"Ugh. More work coming around I can tell," Pearl grumbled before touching her earpiece. "Hey Yoshi-"

"Hi Kiki!" Mimi greeted loudly. 

"Get the Witch the floor plans for the 63 Building," Pearl requested, continuing as if she hadn't been interrupted. "...Yeah we'll probably have to clean up again...Really? Thanks Yoshi. We owe you one..."

Pearl blushed. 

"Shut up. Goodbye," she snapped, pulling the earpiece out with a grumble about 'smooth talkers.' She turned Yuko. "The information should be sent to you now. And now, we're going." 

"Tell Kiyoshi and Itachi I said hello," Yuko requested smugly, amused when Pearl turned pink. 

"Tell them yourself," she snapped, standing abruptly. "Let's go Mimi." 

"Later Yuko," Mimi greeted, following the annoyed female. L.Joe exchanged silent nods with Changjo before he left, Chen trailing after him with curiosity. 

"So...why are we here?" L.Joe asked, looking around the small home. In front of them was the living room and to the right, the kitchen. There was a hallway to the left leading to - from what the males could deduce - the master bedroom, a bathroom, and closet.

"To look for clues," Mimi answered, splitting up from Pearl without hesitation. L.Joe naturally trailed after Mimi while Chen instinctively followed Pearl, Mimi heading to the kitchen and Pearl to the bedroom. 

"I understand the bedroom since that's where he died, but why the kitchen?" L.Joe questioned. 

"As a rule of thumb, check the trash first," Mimi advised, spreading out a few pieces of a nearby newspaper and dumping the contents of the trash on it. 

"Ew," L.Joe commented dryly, wrinkling his nose at the smell. 

"You'll get used to it," Mimi stated in cold comfort. She pulled on a pair of leather gloves, tossing L.Joe a spare pair, and began to sift through the contents of the pile in front of her. 

"This," L.Joe declared, holding a rotten banana peel as far from his face as his arm would allow. "is disgusting."

"Less complaining, more digging," Mimi ordered, holding up a medicine bottle. Her eyes narrowed in on the still-present pills and placed it into an empty evidence bag. L.Joe held up a single pill, the object identical with the medicine inside the bottle.

"How about this?" L.Joe asked, passing it Mimi. "It was separate from the container."

Mimi placed it into a separate bag, labeling each piece of evidence. 

"This feels like some kind of crime show," L.Joe commented. Mimi snorted.

"In a way, I suppose it is like one," she contemplated, standing up. "Looks like nothing else will come out of the trash. Let's go see if Pearl has something."

"Find anything?" Mimi asked. Pearl sighed.

"Not really. Just a picture that we had been given already," Pearl answered. She held up the frame. "But there is something interesting that we should look closer at the photo for. Notice it?"

Mimi took the picture, scanning it. She moved her thumb and blinked.

"Wonderful," she muttered, reading the small smudge of words. "Think we can get Kiki on it?"

"If he's not too busy," Pearl answered, snapping a picture of the message with what seemed to be a normal cellphone. Mimi put a hand to her earpiece.

"Hey Kiki...Yeah. It looks like something up your alley...What do you mean? It looks like one of those puzzle things you'd love to do...Thanks. You should introduce us to your student if he's any good...Bye," Mimi conversed, hand dropping. She turned to her partner. "We can pick it up while we get the results for our findings - a pill capsule and a separate pill."

She held up the bag, bouncing theories back and forth with Pearl.

"Why are we here?" L.Joe complained, yawning. "You guys can do the job well on your own."

"You're here to steal," Mimi informed matter-of-factly. 

"Steal?" Chen repeated, raising an eyebrow. 

"Steal," Pearl confirmed. "You watch and steal our techniques. When you can perform our jobs better than we can, then you take over. Until then, make sure you don't do something stupid and get killed." 

"What wonderful encouragement," L.Joe mumbled.

"We're being nice here," Pearl snapped, frowning. "Our mentors told us to die first day."

"That was in the good ol' days," Mimi chirped. "Now let's go. I think our latest idea might be on track."

"So the capsule was the wife's usual medicine," Mimi summarized, processing the large amount of information on packet of papers both agents received.

"She was battling with depression and neglect," Pearl recognized, pulling out a pen and jotting something down in the margins. 

"And the pill?" L.Joe asked.

"It had a slightly larger dosage than she was supposed to have," Mimi stated, borrowing Pearl's pen and circling something. "Probably someone switched it and poisoned her."

"Judging by the slow effects, they didn't want her to die right after eating those pills," Pearl assumed, her feet light down the halls. "They wanted her to slowly suffer and for Yonghwa to watch."

"So bad guy poisons the wife, kills the husband, and takes the money?" Chen guessed, making a face. "Sounds like some kind of kdrama."

"Life is a drama," Pearl retorted, rolling her eyes. "Directors had to get their ideas from somewhere."

"Our primary suspects then...two were in Japan - and account for each other - while one visited them and the other was proclaimed dead," Mimi reminded, shifting through the papers. She turned to L.Joe and Chen. "Who do you both think it is?"

"Isn't it obviously the only one possible?" L.Joe questioned, rolling his eyes.

"If it's possibility you're looking for, it could be any of the four or none of them," Pearl pointed out, sighing. 

"How?" Chen asked quizzically. "Two were elsewhere-"

"The two could be colluding. One could have hired an assassin though its doubtful given the stab wounds. That's personal. It's unlikely that a stranger did it. Then, the one in Korea is the most obvious suspect but have you looked at his track record? It's too direct; if he was trying to hide it, he would have covered his tracks better. The one that is dead...could be alive," Pearl explained with a frown.

"But he was burned to death," L.Joe pointed out. 

"A body was burned to death. But not one arm," Mimi reminded, tapping her chin. She paused before putting a hand to her earpiece. "Kiki, I need all the records of missing people within Korea from the time that Kwangjin's escape until the body was found. Males. As close to his height and age as possible." 

"I know that look," Pearl stated, glancing up at her partner. "What are you thinking?"

"Imagine faking your death," Miyoung hinted. It took merely a second.

"Ah," Pearl sounded in agreement. "Sounds about right."

"Hello? Someone want to explain for the trainees who are clueless?" Chen asked, throwing down a packet he had been perusing.

The girls exchanged looks, huffing.

"As I said before, imagine faking your death. Unless you want direct witnesses, you'll need someone to take your place, right?" Mimi pointed out, leaning back against her chair. "You'd need someone with the same gender, similar build, approximately the same age for bone density."

Written: 2014 - 2015