Bold = English

Italics = Thoughts

Normal = Korean

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Airin sat in between Kyungsoo and Baekhyun again while Jongin, Sehun and Junho sat in the backseat, Chanyeol was riding shotgun and Joonmyeon was driving. It was a quick ten minute drive, and Airin realised that the building was just behind her school, but it was well disguised as a normal housing/office estate. Joonmyeon scanned his pass before the car was allowed entry. Joonmyeon drove to a large building and he parked the car in the carpark before everyone alighted from the car.

“This is the building where all of the agents live. Some of the older agents like, Min-noona, have their own apartments but they have rooms here as well.” Explained Sehun.

Sehun led the way and he scanned his own pass before they entered the elevator, where they first stopped at the fifth floor. Joonmyeon pulled out the envelope which Min had given to him earlier. He found two cards inside he passed the one which Junho’s name on it to the younger boy.

“This is Junho’s room, the male agents live on the lower floors. The female agents live on the upper floors.” Explained Kyungsoo.

Junho took the card from Joonmyeon and he scanned his card on the lock before he heard it unlock.

“We’ll leave you to unpack, we just live one level above you. In fact Chanyeol’s room is just above yours, Junho.” Said Baekhyun.

“Thanks for the help, hyungs.” Said Junho, with a grateful smile.

Junho closed the door with a smile and the EXO boys continued to show Airin to her room. They took the elevator to the tenth floor and Joonmyeon passed Airin her card. Baekhyun pointed to the room to the west of the elevator. Airin tapped her card on the lock and it unlocked. Airin stepped into her new room and her eyes widened. It was a large one room apartment, the bedroom and study area was on the north of the room, the kitchen was just beside the door at the west of the room, the bathroom was in the east of the room while the south of the room was an empty area and the central area of the room was the living and dining room.

“Do you like your room? Min-noona specially designed your room as well as Junho’s.” Said Jongin.

“That empty area there is for you to practice your music, there are probably musical instruments in the cupboard.” Said Kyungsoo.

“We’ll leave you to unpack then, but please come down to the second floor for dinner at 6. It is our meeting area and we are having a special dinner together, for you and Junho to meet the other agents.” Said Joonmyeon.

“You guys didn’t have to go through all that trouble.” Spoke Airin.

“We planned it and it’s a good time to meet the others, since you will be working with them sooner or later.” Said Chanyeol.

“Just wear something casual, your closet will have clothes provided by Shadows as well.” Said Baekhyun, patting the girl’s back.

Airin gave a small smile, “Thanks for everything, oppa.”

“Don’t worry, we are all here for you.” Said Sehun with a grin.

The EXO boys each patted her head before leaving Airin to unpack. Airin walked over to her new bed and found all of her books on the bookshelf. Airin started off by packing her bag before unpacking her clothes into her clothes which was already half-filled with clothes provided by Shadows. Airin decided on a white shirt with a denim overall dress for her outfit for later, before going to take a shower. Airin changed into her outfit and got started on her homework, but she couldn’t help but stare at her new room, before thinking how fortunate she was to be able to meet such reliable comrades and friends. Airin pulled out her math worksheet and started doing it.

---

Two hours later…

Airin was so concentrated on doing her homework, that she didn’t notice the time that is until someone called on the intercom. Airin went answer it and she found Sehun and Jongin outside her room, both of them were dressed casually. Airin opened the door with a confused expression.

“It’s 5.57 and we are here to pick you up.” Said Sehun.

“It’s nearly 6? Man, time flies so quickly.” Muttered Airin, much to Sehun and Jongin’s confusion.

Airin then shook her head, “Just give me a minute, while I get my phone and card.”

Airin returned to her study table to get her phone and card, as well as to clip her hair. Sehun and Jongin smiled when she returned. Airin turned off the lights before following the two guys. They took the elevator down and there were about ten other people there, including Junho and the other four members of EXO-K, sitting at a long dining table. Airin noted that there were more boys than girls. Jongin passed her a bowl of dumpling noodles as well as a pair of chopsticks.

“Airin, you are here. It is just a handful of us today, we currently have about twenty-five people who have rooms in this building, but not all of them stay here. Some of them have their own apartments while some of them stay in dorms at their colleges and some of them live with their parents.” Said Joonmyeon.

“Let me introduce the others to you. The guy with the snapback is Park Jimin, he is your age, just like Sehun and Jongin. The girl with waist length black hair is Bae Suji, she is your age too. The girl with curly black hair is Jung Soojung, I believe that she is your schoolmate. The guy in the red and black checkered shirt is Kim Myungsoo. The guy in the white jumper is Lee Chanhee. Chanhee and Myungsoo are my age.” Said Chanyeol.

The others gave her a thumbs up and a smile to welcome her. Suji hugged Airin and Soojung did as well, an action which confused Airin.

“Soojung has an ice princess image in school, but her actual personality is the total opposite when you get to know her.” Said Suji, with a grin.

“Do you guys attend school together?” Asked Airin.

“Suji, Sehun and Jongin and I do.” Replied Jimin.

“And the rest of us are in college.” Said Myungsoo.

“So, Airin when is your birthday?” Asked Suji.

“4^th July.” Replied Airin.

Suji smirked, “Too bad, Soojung. You are still the youngest.”

Soojung pouted while the others laughed, and Airin laughed along as well.

“So Airin, what is your specialty?” Asked Chanhee.

Airin blinked, “Well I can speak five languages and I’m also currently learning French.”

The others were impressed and they were even more impressed when Sehun said that Junho was a teen genius and hacker.

“Are you guys in teams too?” Asked Airin.

“Nope, we all work alone. But we do team up from time to time.” Shrugged Soojung.

“We rarely have teams in Shadows, but the EXO-oppas are a special case.” Said Suji.

“Are there this few girls in Shadows?” Asked Airin, wondering about the lack of girls.

“Unfortunately, but there are three more girls living here other than us. There are five more boys who live here. But all of them aren’t around tonight, all of them are older than us too, except two of them but one of them is part of the Japanese branch too. We generally do not recruit that many people unlike “The Agency”, so having less girls is part of the reason why we have only a few girls.” Said Suji.

“We don’t just recruit anybody, we recruit people who are have a special talent or skill. And almost everyone here has a bad past experience like you guys.” Said Baekhyun.

Just then Chanhee yawned, “I’m going to head upstairs, and I have a 7am class tomorrow.”

“I’ll go up with you, I have an early morning class too.” Said Myungsoo.

“Me too.” Added Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, all of us have school tomorrow. We should all turn in early tonight.” Said Joonmyeon, who was also the oldest among the group.

The others agreed and they finished up their dinner and headed to their own rooms. Jimin offered to walk with Junho since they lived on the same floor. Suji and Soojung lived one floor above Airin but they took the elevator together.

“Airin-unnie, let’s go to school together tomorrow.” Said Soojung.

“But Mark knows where Min-unnie lives. And he would get suspicions, he might report me to his father, although he hasn’t done anything for now.” Frowned Airin.

“Don’t worry, Mark isn’t that kind of person. And besides it would be strange for you to live with Min-unnie since she is only your cousin. Min-unnie told me that you should say that you were living with Min-unnie for a few days until her parents who are your uncle and aunt return from overseas. And besides, it’s not like anyone knows where we live. Heck, Mark probably thinks that Chanyeol-oppa is your cousin.” Said Soojung.

“You saw us earlier?” Asked Airin.

“I did, Chanyeol-oppa was too obvious.” Said Soojung, rolling her eyes.

“And besides we are both dubbed as “ice-princesses” we should get along with each other right?” Smirked Soojung.

“That sounds about right, don’t worry, Soojung will be there to help you out when you need it.” Said Suji.

Just then, Soojung clapped her hands, “I know, how about we have a sleepover on Friday night? Then we can get to know each other better.”

“That sounds fun, we can have it in my room, on the couch.” Said Suji.

“How about you, unnie?” Asked Soojung.

Airin paused before nodding with a smile. Suji and Soojung hugged Airin when she reached her floor.

“Goodnight, unnie.” Said Suji.

“I’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast.” Said Soojung.

Airin nodded with a smile before she exited the lift. Airin tapped her card on the lock and she entered her room. Airin packed her things for tomorrow before preparing her uniform. Airin took a quick shower before changing into her pajamas. Airin set her alarm clock before sitting in front of the window in the living room area, looking at the moon.

“Things have been good so far, the people from Shadows are really nice, and they are just like Junho and me. Appa and Umma, I hope that you are happy in heaven. I will live my life to the fullest and I want to protect people like you did.” Thought Airin, with a smile on her face.

Airin sat there for a few minutes enjoying the tranquil silence before going to bed.

---

The next day…

Airin woke up when her alarm rang, Airin rubbed her eyes sleepily before going to take a bath. Airin changed into her uniform and tied her hair into a ponytail. Airin checked herself before picking up her bag. Airin slipped her phone and card into her bag before taking the elevator down to the dining area. Airin joined Sehun, Jongin, Jimin, Soojung and Suji for breakfast. Suji passed her a piece of toast and a mug of hot chocolate.

“Where is Junho?” Asked Airin, looking around for her younger brother.

“He went out with Chanhee-oppa, Kyungsoo-oppa and Myungsoo-oppa just a few minutes earlier, he told us to say good morning and goodbye to unnie.” Said Suji.

Airin finished up her toast before Jimin passed her a lunchbox.

“That’s from Kyungsoo-hyung, he usually prepares our lunch for us.” Said Jimin.

“We should be heading to school, we don’t want to be late.” Said Soojung.

Soojung and Airin bid the others goodbye before they left. Soojung and Airin made sure that they had their usual poker faces on before leaving the building.

“Don’t worry, just stay calm.” Whispered Soojung.

Airin noted that there were a few students from their school just down the road. Soojung nudged Airin before a smirk replied her smile. Soojung purposely sped up and opened a conversation with Airin, catching the attention of the other students who were puzzled and yet amazed at the sight. This continued until they reached the school gate, where most of the students stared at them, including Youngjae who had just arrived in school as well.

“Eunji-shi would you like to hang out with me later? I saw you having lunch by yourself yesterday, and we “ice princesses” should stick together right?” Spoke Soojung.

Airin returned the smirk with one of her own, “That sounds interesting, that sounds about right too.”

Airin and Soojung headed into the school building together. The two headed to their lockers before they separated.

“I’ll see you at the rooftop during lunch later.” Spoke Soojung.

“Yeah.” Replied Airin, coolly.

Airin then headed to class where she found Jackson, Mark, Jinyoung and Jaebum hanging out at the staircase. But before she could step into the classroom, she heard someone say something.

“Eunji-shi, I heard that you walked to school with the ice princess today.” Spoke Jackson.

Airin gave a blank look before she shrugged, “She happens to be my neighbor and she invited me. And besides we ice princesses should stick together.”

“She could be dangerous you know.” Said Jackson.

“You’re lying, she doesn’t live near you.” Spoke Mark.

“That was my cousin’s house, I was just staying there for a few days until my uncle and aunt returned.” Replied Airin.

Airin then frowned slightly, “Why do you care so much? I make my own decisions about who I hang out with.”

“We’re just helping you make the correct friends, who knows what that ice princess does in private.” Said Jackson.

“She’s a good person, she doesn’t kill people not like you guys do.” Thought Airin.

“Why should I hang out with you guys then?” Asked Airin, going back to her poker face.

“We can protect you from bullies since you are new.” Spoke Jackson.

“I don’t need someone to protect me, I’m not weak.” Replied Airin, coolly.

“Forget it, I’m not going to talk to you about this anymore.” Said Airin, heading to the classroom.

Jackson was shocked at her reply, but Mark on the other hand was amused. That was the longest conversation that Airin had with someone ever since she started school. But he was still suspicious about something, and that was Airin’s current accommodations. But her explanation did sound valid, if anyone were to have custody over her after her parents’ deaths it would probably be a uncle or an aunt rather than a cousin.

“Mark is right, the new girl is pretty interesting. She would make a fine addition to our group of friends and the agency.” Murmured Jaebum.

“But it won’t be easy convincing her.” Said Jackson.

“Woah, she is a civilian. I don’t want to get innocent people involved in what we do, it’s dangerous.” Said Jinyoung, being against the idea.

“We will just risk exposing our identities, and my father would kill me if something like that happened.” Added Mark, also dissuading against the idea although he did agree that Airin would make a great addition to the agency but his father would never agree to it.

“They do have a point.” Nodded Jackson, after hearing Mark and Jinyoung’s words.

“Let’s just observe her for a while, maybe she’ll warm up to us if we stop annoying her.” Said Jaebum.

Mark mentally groaned, it was going to get even harder to hide Airin’s identity from the others. Mark hoped that he would find out the real reason why Airin was on the run from the agency soon, otherwise things would be worse.