Sang had found the perfect opportunity to find out some more information. In order to buy some time she'd politely asked if she could hang around for a while as she wanted to rest up her ankle before her drive back home. The guys had happily obliged, all except Owen, who had simply stood there staring at her sceptically rather than acknowledging her request. She ignored his lack of participation in the conversation and decided to head right into the interrogation.
"So... What do you guys do? Like job-wise I mean?" She inquired, playfully twisting a strand of blonde hair. There was a slight pause before Owen Blackbourne swiftly answered her question.
"We mainly work for an organisation that deals with an assortment of different things. It ranges from security to recruitment. It's similar to that of a legal profession, we deal with criminals sometimes and try to eradicate them from society." Sang pondered over his statement. He had answered relatively vaguely, not giving any specifics about their job and had mentioned taking the bad guys out. Why then was it they were having interactions and transactions with druggies? Sang wanted to believe that they genuinely did want to help like the police force, but she found it hard to digest when a short while ago she'd witnessed their exchange with the drug leaders lackeys. Was it possible that they were the bad seeds of The Academy? Had they gone AWOL? Her confusion must have shown on her face for Owen's face relaxed a touch.
"That sounds super interesting...I actually studied law for a while in high school, it was pretty neat learning about the criminal justice system and all that stuff. I mean I'm thankful that we have people like the police, and like you I guess, that are keeping us civilians safe. So do all of you work for this organisation? Or is it just you?" she directed the question towards the group, but her focus was still on Owen, who's lips had tugged up by a millimetre. Ah, so the guy did smile!
"Miss Sorenson, we all work for the organisation. We're a team." Despite being sceptical of their motives, Sang's heart yearned at the thought of having a team as tightly knit as theirs. She'd been alone for so long she'd forgotten what it was like to have a group of friends as close as theirs.
"Were you guys working today? I know Gabriel seemed to be in a rush when we met each other earlier so I assumed he was late for something." Sang asked. A few looks were exchanged as Sang realised she'd hit the nail on the head. It was Kota rather than Owen who answered her question, "Yeah we were working. Gabe joined us late but we were just finishing up a deal we had stricken with a few people and wanted to make sure we had our facts straight." He said, fixing his glasses. "What about you, Sang? What were you plans for today?" he asked. Ah, clever boy, thought Sang smirking internally.
"Well, as I was telling the guys on our way here," she began, "I was on my way to meet my friend Karen - we were supposed to go shopping or something, you know, girl stuff, when I got out of my car and got chased down the road by some random street thugs. I mean, shortly after I met Gabriel I was chased. I managed to outrun them, but I tripped and hurt myself. I have no idea why they were chasing me in the first place."
"I can think of a few..." North muttered under his breath. Sang wondered what he meant by that. Why would they have been chasing her?
"I guess you're lucky we found you when we did, huh? Bet you don't regret meeting me now," whispered Gabriel, winking at her. Sang smirked. That statement was more true than he'd ever know, not only did she run into him by accident but it gave her the perfect opportunity to get to know the guys and The Academy as an organisation. She wished she could have met them under different circumstances and perhaps could have had the opportunity to know them as friends, but for now that was just not possible; she was here because she had been chosen to carry out this undercover assignment and had to remember that at all times. If things went well, they would never suspect that it was her who had been feeding information back to TIBI and could live with a somewhat clear conscious. She had to remember not to get too attached, although that was proving difficult as of late. They really were a diverse and dynamic group, each member was unique in his own way and she couldn't help but appreciate this fact, even if they were the bad guys. The sound of Nathan's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Wait - so if you were meeting up with Karen, didn't you think to call her after you'd been chased?" What was with him? She met his blue eyes and found doubt lingering in them.
"Uh, well, like I said before I kind of had an accident after I fell. It's only been a half hour, and I'm usually late when I meet her anyway. Speaking of which, I might as well call her now. I tried calling her in the car but it went to voicemail." Sang wished she had a little privacy to make the call as she was going to call Matt, not Karen. Technically, it wasn't that big of a lie because Karen was another agent in their corporation and Sang was friends with her, so it wasn't as if she was making up names for the hell of it. She pulled out her phone from her bag and rang Matt. He picked up on the second ring.
"Sang. Speak to me."
"Oh, hey Karen," Sang emphasised the word 'Karen' hoping that Matt would pick up the hint and realise she was with the guys. She heard a light chuckle at the end of the line. "Sorry I got a little caught up today so I probably won't be able to make it. I promise we can do something next week, okay?"
"Oh Sang. Sure honey, that's fine!" Matt joked; putting on a high-pitched voice that Sang assumed was supposed to sound like Karen. His tone became more serious when he said, "Sorry I couldn't ring you back sooner, I was with Marie and she decided it was time for us to go over the information we have for the assignment. Have you successfully infiltrated the group? Met them all?"
Sang giggled girlishly as the boys all stared at her, keeping up her façade. "Yes, silly! Of course we can meet up on Monday. I hope Mary didn't give you too much trouble, she does tend to get a little wild." Sang knew Matt would understand that she was replying the affirmative and that she had met all the guys. She had also changed Marie's name to Mary.
"I get it. Keep up what you're doing and just call me after the assignment is over while I try to fight your sister off me. See you soon."
"Alright that's fine, bye Karen." Sang shut the phone.
"Was she okay with it?" inquired Nathan, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course she was" Sang gushed, "we've practically known each other since we were in diapers. I'm always the one who cancels and is late to everything. I can't help it."
"Fashionably late, I suppose," said Gabriel, his eyes twinkling. "You should try taking your hair out of that bun, I bet it looks fantastic when it's down. It's such a nice colour." Sang didn't know how to receive the compliment so she smiled and shrugged.
"It's just more practical. It gets in the way when it's down." Especially when she's on assignments, it would be a huge hassle having her hair in her face when she's doing things like crawling in ventilation shafts.
"Mind if I take it out? I just want to see what it's like," Sang found it a bit bizarre that he'd ask to do that but found herself complying anyway. What harm could it do? She nodded at Gabriel and pushed a finger to her bottom lip. It was such an old habit that Sang didn't realise she did it subconsciously. From his position next to her on the couch, Gabriel got up and went behind the couch so that he had more space to do what he intended to do. He carefully undid the hair tie and ran his fingers through her smooth locks. Sang had to admit it felt good having someone play with her hair like that and she shivered at the welcomed touch. Owen's phone started ringing and he quickly walked out of the room to answer it. Only moments later he asked some of the guys to join him and they followed him out. The only people left in the room were Sang, Gabriel, Lucian, and Victor.
