"It's my job," you say truthfully. "I really don't care if I get hurt. As long as you're okay, Hongbin. Damn, that sounded better in my head. I hate cliché crap."
His chocolate brown eyes are already too much for you to bear. Mix it together with a...
You groan audibly when your phone buzzes, indicating someone is calling. Lazily, you roll off your bed and slide the green answer button without taking a quick glance at the caller identification. You yawn before speaking, covering your mouth.
"Hello? Agent 163?" a man asks. You gasp and clear your throat.
"Yes, boss," you respond, hoping your voice did not sound raspy.
"Did you just wake up?" he questions with suspicion. You sigh.
"Yeah, kind of...," you reply.
Who calls at 4AM anyways? Like, was I supposed to be awake?
"I hope you do know we have a meeting starting in fifteen minutes," he says firmly. "Do not be late. It's regarding a special favour for South Korea."
"I'll be there right away, boss," you reply.
"Alright, agent. See you then," he says and hangs up.
You take a deep breath and exhale. Taking a quick peek at the clock, you notice that there wasn't enough time for you to take a shower or to eat breakfast. You hurriedly change your clothes, stomach grumbling and leave your apartment building to enter your high class, sleek black sports car. It was one of the perks of being a secret agent and working for the CIA. You speed down the roads, running red lights because you can. Finally, a familiar building comes in view and you park right away, rushing inside. You find the correct room and barge inside with a minute to spare.
"I see, Agent 163, you've made it in time," your boss says, smirking. Your stomach growls and you quickly sit down as if nothing ever happened. "I'm taking it that you didn't have breakfast yet."
"No, I did not," you say sheepishly.
"I'm here!" Cody swings open the door and shuts it loudly behind him. "Hello there, Ryder."
"It's boss to you," he spits. "What would you like to eat?"
"Cere-"
"Eat later; let's talk about the new mission I'm excited for!" Cody exclaims, cutting me off. I send him a death glare. Boss sighs and you secretly wish he could just get you some cereal.
"Alright then, let's get down to business. The real deal," Ryder says, turning off the lights and flicking on the projector. "Recently, we had used one of South Korea's secret agents to help capture and obtain Criminal 404. He had fled to the country when he noticed we were after him."
"Who's Criminal 404 again?" you ask.
"He's also known as 'Error' in the everyday world. He likes to strip down the culture of countries. His prime target was South Korea," Cody pipes in. Ryder nods his head in agreement and flips to the next slide.
"Okay, but why did we need one of South Korea's agents?" you inquire thoughtfully.
"The agent that was on the mission had an accident. Other agents refused to do the dirty work as they were busy with 'more significant missions'," Ryder clenches his jaw. "Damn bastards. Lazy ass shitheads."
"Alright, and you were assigned this topic," Cody says. "The worst mission for the worst boss alive."
"Shut up, it was because I am one of the best people out there in the CIA platform that gets the mission done clean," Ryder boasts.
"Yeah, yeah. Just explain the mission," you say.
"He escaped the jail in South Korea and is now roaming the streets. All we know is that he's after a group named VIXX with his motive being that he was rejected by Jellyfish Entertainment," Ryder claims, zooming in on the slide which has each member's profile.
"What do you want us to do?" Cody takes the words right out of your mouth.
"Go and defend them until you've trapped Criminal 404. I'm depending on you agents for this. Do not fail me or you'll be fired," Ryder says. He then looks at you. "And remember. Keep your personal life separate from work life."
"What? Why are you looking at me?" you ask.
"It's okay, she's got me, boss," Cody jumps in and places an arm around your shoulders. You sigh and slap his arm away. You notice Ryder grit his teeth.
"Anyways, your flight leaves in half an hour to Seoul," he says angrily and walks off.
"Half an hour to pack clothes for a month mission?" you groan.
"It could be longer," Cody says, grinning.
*Hongbin's POV*
"Hongbin!" N calls me. I turn around. "It's time for dance practice. Call the other members."
"Again? Jinjja? We just practiced an hour ago," I say, not wanting to go over the routine again.
"Practice makes perfect!" N exclaims. "Now go call the other members."
N pushes me out the door and I walk over to find Ken and Leo singing as usual while Ravi is composing more music. I tell them to meet up in the practice room and they reluctantly obey with little protests. Hyuk was nowhere to be found so I go around the entire building, searching for him. I give up and jog back to find him already in the dance studio. I sigh.
"I ran everywhere looking for you," I state.
"Are you serious? I was right here," Hyuk replies.
"Don't get distracted," N says, signalling for us to be serious. No doubt he's stressed.
"VIXX!" Manager says. We all find him entering the room with a bunch of papers. "Get ready. There's a show tonight and it's already three! Plus, we've got a meet and greet to attend after."
"We'll be there in five minutes," N replies and he turns on the music. The manager exits, shuffling the papers and scribbling down notes. "Ready? 1, 2, 3!"
The group begins to perform the rehearsed choreography for tonight. A bead of sweat trickles down my forehead and I quickly wipe it away with the back of my hand. I focus hard on the dance steps and the rest of the members do the same.
Spin, shoulder shake, side step, side step.
"Perfect!" Ken says cheerfully and he starts to applaud.
"Leo, you need to have more facial expression," N states for the third time. "I've already been over this."
"I'm sorry," Leo says, looking at the floor.
"Let's go," I say. "Manager said we have to leave."
"Oh! That's right!" N exclaims and we head on out.
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