Bold = English

Italics = Thoughts

Normal = Korean

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The next day…

Mark woke up when his alarm clock rang, Mark glanced over at his alarm clock which showed, 6.44am. Mark made his bed before going to shower. Mark emerged from the shower in his school uniform, and his sleep clothes were thrown into the laundry basket. Mark picked up his bag before heading downstairs for breakfast. Mark peeped into his parents’ room before going into the kitchen, his mother already went to work while his father was still sleeping. Mark made some toast for himself before packing that lunchbox was prepared for him into his bag. Mark finished his toast and grabbed his house keys before leaving the house. Mark made his way to school but he made sure to pass by Airin’s house, and he was lucky as Airin was just about to leave her house when Mark arrived.

“Good morning, Eunji-shi.” Said Mark, with a grin.

Mark saw Airin’s lips twitch slightly before she opened to speak, “Good morning, Mark-shi.”

“Since we’re here together, let’s go to school together.” Said Mark.

“It’s alright, you can go to school first. I’m going to stop by the school library first.” Said Airin.

“I’ll accompany you, since it’s still early.” Said Mark.

Airin’s eyes narrowed slightly before she let out a sigh, she had a feeling that it was no use arguing with Mark. Airin simply shrugged before she stepped out of the yard and onto the street. Mark walked beside Airin and the latter tried her best to avoid all contact with the former. The two walked along the street in silence with Mark occasionally glancing at Airin, who was secretly looking behind her back but Mark caught Airin’s actions. Mark glanced at Airin as they waited at the traffic light. Mark noted Airin’s appearance, her long black hair was let down and her uniform was quite modest, in a sense that her skirt wasn’t too short and neither did she leave any of her blouse buttons ed like several of the girls in their school did. Her modest dressing was exactly like Mark’s tastes. Mark liked girls who wore their clothes modestly, somewhat mysterious, smart, witty, likes to play hard to get and someone who was also probably a spy.

Mark noticed that Airin was spacing out when the traffic light turned green. Mark smirked and grabbed Airin’s hand and dragged her across the road. Airin protested against the action but Mark still dragged her across the road. Mark smirked to himself and he continued dragging Airin along, much to her protest, but Airin couldn’t break free from Mark grasp as he was much stronger than she was. Mark dragged Airin all the way to their school and up to their classroom, much to the confusion of Jackson, who passed by them in the hallways.

Mark and Airin’s classroom was still empty when the two arrived in class, so no one actually commented on their behaviour. Airin was fuming internally as she took her seat, she hated it when guys did things like this, and not to mention that Airin was doing her best to avoid Mark. But it seemed that no matter what Airin did, Mark would always eventually find his way to her, and most of the time he ended up annoying her. It didn’t help that Mark was her seatmate and he knew where she lived. Airin pulled out her novel to distract her from her own thoughts while Mark slipped on his headphones to listen to music. Mark discreetly glanced at Airin hoping to find out what was her secret. But Mark knew that if Airin was on the run from the agency, she would try to avoid him at all costs and that she would never show any of her emotions to anyone. Mark knew that being on the run from the agency meant that they have committed a major crime against the agency. But Mark couldn’t figure out why Airin was even on the run in the first place, she was too young to know any of the agency’s secrets, someone at Mark’s age wouldn’t even have any major information or secrets even if their parents were high ranking members within the agency. This was the case with Mark, his parents never told him anything about the agency’s secrets and most of the time he had to hack into the agency’s database for more information and he was usually unsuccessful most of the time.

Airin glanced at her watch before getting up. Airin pulled out a book from her bag and she left the classroom. Mark watched as Airin left the classroom, Mark got up and stayed beside the door. Airin was indeed heading in the direction of the school library, which was located at the west wing of their school building which was just down the hallway. Mark contemplated if he should follow her, but he decided not to, especially since if he didn’t follow her, Airin would probably trust him a little more and she wouldn’t get too suspicious and maybe he could even find out why Airin was on the run from the agency. Mark returned to his seat, just as one of his classmates entered the classroom. Mark took out his physics textbook as it was his first lesson of the day.

Mark discreetly looked up when Airin returned, pretending to be not interested. Mark removed his headphones as their first period teacher arrived. Mark got out his math textbook while Airin kept her novel.

Airin was definitely mysterious and strange, it was almost as if she was trying not to stand out but was failing miserably at it. Most people would try to fit in but Airin seemed to be the only one trying not to stand out. Mark came to a brief on conclusion that Airin seemed to be afraid of “The Agency”, probably due to something from her past.

Mark continued watching Airin, in hopes of getting more clues about her. And before Mark knew it, the last bell of the day rang, signalling the end of the school day. Mark watched as Airin picked up her bag and she left the classroom, while walking past Jaebum, Jinyoung and Jackson on her way out. The three boys were waiting for Mark, but they caught Airin’s poker face and the fact that she seemed to walk past them like they were invisible. Mark made his way out of the classroom and Jackson wrapped his arm around Mark’s shoulder.

“She just walked past us like we were invisible, I mean most people would usually give a polite smile but she just gave a poker face.” Muttered Jaebum.

“I think it is because she is new around here, she is probably nervous and unsure about being in this school. It’s only her second day here, give her a break. I’m sure that she’ll warm up to the rest of the student body after a while.” Said Jinyoung.

“Where are we going?” Asked Mark.

“Jackson is treating us to ice cream after he lost the bet last week.” Replied Jaebum.

Mark raised an eyebrow, “What bet?”

“Jackson made a bet with Youngjae that Youngjae would lose a game that they played in an arcade, and Jackson lost. And since Jackson lost the bet, he has to treat us to ice cream.” Explained Jaebum.

“And how did you know about the bet?” Asked Mark.

“I was there when they made the bet, you should have seen Jackson’s expression when he lost.” Laughed Jaebum.

“Do you have a picture? It would be good blackmail material.” Smirked Mark.

“I don’t, but Bambam does. He was there as well. I forgot all about taking a picture but Bambam did. We should get it from him later.” Said Jaebum.

The four boys met up with Youngjae at the school gate and before they stepped out of the school gate, Mark realised that Airin was just in front of them, and she seemed to be waiting for someone. And barely a second later, a black car stopped just beside the school gate, and a young man, who looked to be about 2 years older than Mark, sat in the driver’s seat with the window rolled down. The male was pretty good looking and he conversed with Airin with a smile before he gestured to Airin to get on to his car. Airin nodded slightly before she opened the door, and was greeted by a few other people also in the car. The car drove off a few seconds after Airin entered the car.

“What was that?” Asked Jackson, blinking at the scene.

“That was our sunbae, he graduated from the school last year.” Replied Jinyoung.

“How does the new girl even know him? I remember that he was pretty nice.” Said Jaebum.

“She said that she currently lives with her cousin, maybe he is her cousin.” Shrugged Mark.

“And how do you know that?” Asked Jaebum, with a sly smile.

Mark shrugged, “She told the class a little about herself the other time.”

Jaebum wasn’t convinced but he accepted the answer anyway. “Let’s get going, Bambam and Yugyeom are waiting for us at the ice cream palour.”

The five boys made their way to the ice cream, with Mark taking one last look the direction which the car had driven off to.

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Meanwhile with Airin…

Airin was sitting in between two boys were about two years older than herself. They were a told of five people in the car, including Airin herself. The driver was Park Chanyeol, sitting shotgun was Kim Joonmyeon, Byun Baekhyun and Do Kyungsoo were the two boys who Airin was sitting in between of. Joonmyeon was a close friend of Min but all four of them have known Airin for a pretty long time. They knew what Airin was going through and they were determined to help her after finding out the truth from Min. Joonmyeon contacted Min last night he had asked to speak with both Airin and Junho about joining them as agents.

“Airin, are you alright?” Asked Baekhyun, glancing at the girl who looked a little nervous.

“The five boys were watching you though.” Pointed out Kyungsoo, referring to the incident earlier.

“One of them is my seatmate.” Responded Airin, with a frown.

“They are members of “The Agency” though, be careful.” Responded Joonmyeon.

“Oppa, where are we going?” Asked Airin.

“Somewhere safe, we were able to get in contact with Minjun-hyung and he offered you to become an agent. This way, you’ll be protected from “The Agency”.” Said Joonmyeon.

Airin frowned, “I don’t know, this might make “The Agency” want to catch us even more.”

“We are working with Interpol and the government, and this will ensure that you and Junho will have a stable income. I know that you hate relying on others, especially for financial reasons.” Said Baekhyun.

“And besides “The Agency” are not allied with Interpol or the government, they might have helped us from time to time, but they aren’t safe.” Said Kyungsoo.

“I agree, the spies are generally nice people, but when they go on missions they are ruthless, they don’t hesitate to take out anyone who they deem as a threat.” Said Chanyeol, speaking up for the first time since Airin boarded the car.

“We are here.” Added Chanyeol.

Chanyeol drove into a large building and parked the car in a large garage. Chanyeol and Joonmyeon then alighted from the car. Baekhyun alighted from the car first before he offered his hand to Airin, while Kyungsoo alighted from the other door. Chanyeol, scanned a card before the door out of the garage opened up. The four boys led her to an elevator where they took the elevator up to the eighth floor. Joonmyeon knocked on the door three times before he opened the door. Chanyeol dragged Airin into the group with Joonmyeon leading them while Baekhyun and Kyungsoo followed behind. Airin took a good look around the room, it seemed like a typical detective office designed to look like a conference room. And a group of six people sat around the large table in the room. Airin stared when she recognised Min among the six other people.

“Song Airin, welcome to Shadows. My name is Kim Minjun, but you can call me Jun.K, and I am one of the older agents here. We are a group of agents under Interpol and we are allied with the government. We take orders from Interpol, and we are protected by the government. Min told us about your past and we are happy to recruit you into Shadows.” Said Minjun.

“You don’t have to join us, but I hope you will. This is the only way, I know that you will be safe from “The Agency”.” Said Min.

“What about Junho?” Asked Airin.

“He has already agreed to join us, he is currently speaking with Jongin and Sehun. They brought him here earlier.” Said Min.

Airin paused before looking at everyone in the room, Airin had a feeling that she could trust them.

Airin gave a small smile, “I guess, I’m in.”

Min beamed and she gave Airin a tight hug while Joonmyeon, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo patted her back.

Minjun grinned, “Welcome to Shadows, Song Airin. Let me introduce you to the other senior members. This is Park Yeeun, Shim Changmin, Yoon Doojoon and Park Gyuri. They along with Min and myself are the senior members of the Korean branch of Shadows. There is a Chinese branch, a Japanese branch, an American branch and an English branch.”

“But first, you and Junho will have to move somewhere nearer to your school for your training. Min’s house is a little far from the training area and your school, but we have a dorm set up for agents who are still in school.” Said Gyuri.

“Don’t worry, I have all of your things packed and sent here. The EXO boys will show you the place.” Said Min, while handing Joonmyeon an envelope.

“And don’t worry about anything, you can be Song Airin here. We will all help you, you don’t have to continue using your fake identity here.” Said Changmin.

“That’s the name of the group which Chanyeol and the others are a part of. They are in EXO-K and they have counterparts in EXO-M, which works in China.” Explained Changmin.

Airin nodded slowly, “So, when do I start training?”

“Tomorrow, we’ll let the boys show you and Junho to your new accommodation first.” Said Doojoon.

“Let’s go, Sehun and Jongin are waiting for us with Junho. Your luggage is with them.” Said Kyungsoo.

Airin nodded and she thanked the senior members of Shadows as well as Min for their help before following the four boys into another room were Sehun, Jongin and Junho were. When Sehun and Jongin noticed Airin, they smiled at her, before Sehun glomped Airin. Jongin rolled his eye before he got Sehun to stop glomping Airin while Junho chuckled at the sight.

Airin gave a small smile, “It’s nice to see all of you again. I didn’t think that we would meet like this again.”

Jongin grinned, “What are friends for? And besides we were quite scared when we heard the news about your parents. Coupled with losing contact with you two for almost six months before you guys contacted Miinyoung-noona. We are just glad to have you back with us.”

Baekhyun smiled, “Jongin is right, we are all your friends. No, we are family.”

“Alright, let’s show Airin and Junho their new home. You’ll meet other agents there too.” Said Joonmyeon.

Airin gave a small smile as Joonmyeon led the way to the car.