After admitting Byul's skills and completing her short physical training, they decided to pause the session as Wooyoung excused himself to pick Hwayoung up from her kindergarten, and came back to their dorm with a smile that did not leave his face. As Hwayoung's already home, they decided to continue their session with Byul only after the kid has gone to sleep.

They went on with their normal daily lives. Seonghwa, San and Yeosang disappeared to pick up groceries in the afternoon. They opened up the cafe anyway, with Jongho and Wooyoung managing to serve two customers. Yunho had went out with Hwayoung because she had wanted a new colouring book and even though the child kept insisting that she wanted Byul to come along, her father had managed to cut her wish down. Meanwhile only Byul, Mingi and Hongjoong were left at the dorm, with Mingi trapping himself at the headquarters because he wanted to prepare for the mission that was set for tomorrow.

By night, as soon as they confirmed that Hwayoung had gone to sleep, all 9 of them disappeared into the depths of their headquarters. Mingi looked half-dead in front of his computer screens, cracking his neck and pushing his glasses up by the time they came to him. They moved to the meeting room to start filling Byul in with information regarding their team and mission.

The rest of them remain silent for the most part, as Mingi does most of the talking in explaining to her what the Bifidensis and KTC are, only deciding to add in anything if they deem there's a need to. She listens intently to their explanation of what the organization is, how life is like there, and up until the moment they were chosen to become a part of ATEEZ. She nods, absorbing every single detail that they tell her, cross-checking it with what she knows of the Bifidensis and KTC. She knows for sure that they're not lying to her, because every piece of information that they tell her matches with what she knows.

"When we're taken to the facility we were divided into three Aeons; that was what Akira asked you back then at the tattoo parlour. It's essentially a categorization of which area you're good at, or at least which area that you show the most skills in," Yeosang helps to explain. "The names are odd honestly, but relative to our lives there, this is nothing."

He takes a deep breath. "Akt is for those who are good with IT, like me and Mingi. Bax is for those who are skilled in close-range attacks. Hongjoong, Jongho, San and Yunho are all from that Aeon. They're good in physical attacks, including the use of weapons. The last one, Myc, is for those who are good in long-range attacks. Mostly made up of snipers and sharpshooters, and that's where Seonghwa and Wooyoung were put into. For as long as we're there, we need to follow the rules of our respective Aeons. They don't really prohibit interactions between members of different Aeons, but we rarely do because all of us undergo different trainings anyway."

"How did they choose who becomes one of the members of a particular team?"

"We never knew the criteria of how they choose the members; all we know is that they'll choose any number of people from each of the Aeon and make a team. We don't get a say on who will or who will not be chosen. If you're lucky, you get picked and you're able to return back to the real world. Some get trained for years yet they don't get picked. The only thought you have while you're in there is to get out as fast as you can before you lose yourself."

It's either that they really don't know why they were chosen as a part of ATEEZ, or they're not telling her what they know. Yeosang doesn't sound like he's lying, so she's taking it as that they really don't know the reason.

They had been going on about how the Bifidensis is with their agents; how strict they are in carrying out the punishment to any of the agents who broke their rules. But why the special treatment towards them?

She resists the temptation to ask, but fails to do so as she spills, "I'm just... curious." All heads turn to her as she continues, "Why does it seem that... the Bifidensis are... lenient with your team? I mean, you only have cameras at the cafe and not anywhere else, when you said that they keep an eye on their agents almost all the time. And... um." She plays with her fingers, "You're not supposed to have any... relationships..." she trails off, refusing to elaborate. She doesn't want to bring Hwayoung into the conversation, although she needs answers.

Yunho has his head down, playing around with the pen in his hand. He keeps clicking the pen up and down, until it drives Seonghwa crazy and he steals the pen from the younger while glaring at him.

Sorry, he mouths, but Seonghwa only shakes his head, clearly burdened with the atmosphere.

"I'm- I'm sorry," she quickly refutes, knowing that she crossed the line. "I just- I was just wondering but I shouldn't have-"

"I know what you're thinking," Yunho says, eyeing Byul. "You're wondering how Hwayoung is there when we're not supposed to be having any relationships with anyone. You're right, we weren't supposed to, but I guess I was a normal human who thought love was everything. I broke the rule when I was at the centre, Hwayoung's mother got pregnant but I didn't know. She got punished, but I didn't. So the answer you want is, we don't know. We don't know why the Bifidensis is being lenient with us, we don't know why they don't punish us even when we've broken so many rules. Does that answer your question?"

She gulps. "You're really wishing I'm Hwayoung's mother, aren't you?" She sighs heavily, "Look, I don't know how else I'm going to tell you that I'm not. If you're insistent on having the proof right in front of your eyes, then would you like to do so?" When Yunho only stares at her, she finishes, "A DNA test; just to stop you from being so anxious. Although I'll doubt the test will come back as positive, I'll do it so you could finally get off my back and realize that I'm not her mother."

Yunho looks hesitant at the proposal; would he rather stay in doubt and not know the exact truth, or be disappointed once he had to accept the fact that Lee Eunbi had really died right in front of his eyes 6 years ago?

"The results could come back around 24 to 72 hours, so do you think you can wait?" she proposes. "If the test results come back as negative, I would like it if you could stop projecting this image of her mother onto me. I don't mean to sound so... insensitive because I don't know what happened to you and her mother, but I'm uncomfortable when you keep on insisting me as someone I'm not. If you're worried I'm going to tamper with the evidence, I won't go near the DNA kit in any way. After I give you my sample I'll stay out of it until the results are released."

Wooyoung nudges Yunho, trying to elicit a response from him. The uncertainty hangs heavy in the air, but eventually Yunho nods. "If it's negative-" he stops talking, knowing that he wishes the outcome would be the opposite, "-I'll stop. I'm sorry for always making you uncomfortable."

"That's settled then," Hongjoong vocalizes, bringing down the temperature of the room as it seemed like they would jump forward and start clawing at each other's faces. "We need to continue laying out the mission and basic rules about going out on the field. We have less than 24 hours to plan everything and make sure it will go smoothly. This is one mission that will involve all of us, so a lot of things could go wrong and pose danger. Although the party is a closed event, it will be carried out in a public space, so keeping and committing to your disguises is very important. Sunfish, details please."

"Right away, Minion." From his seat, he takes out the laser presentation remote and clicks to the next page. "In this task we have four key players - our requester, Arman Seung; the receiver of the new substance, Arman Seung's rival, Min Gunhoo; the provider of the substance, Madam Tang and her husband, Sir Edin."

Four pictures of the said players were displayed on the screen, and instantly they imprint the faces in their minds. The couple Madam Tang and Sir Edin turn out to be a young couple in their late 20s, so it will be easy for Byul and Yunho to play the role. On the other hand, more work needs to be done in order to disguise any of them as Min Gunhoo, as he's a man in his late 30s.

"We're banking on the fact that none of them have met each other before, and that none of them knows how the other looks like. This is completely a blind shot at a meeting, because both parties have their personal interests in mind; they want to protect their privacy. Here's how it's going to go down, one of us will disguise himself as Min Gunhoo to come and meet the real couple first, get the details and substance first. We'll have to inform the real Min Gunhoo that the meeting will be postponed since we need to actually get our hands on the substance first. After we do, we will carry out the meeting in a separate room with Byul and Yunho as the couple."

Their minds are spinning with the instructions, but Mingi has made it simpler with the summary he has on screen. They haven't chosen on who will take on Min Gunhoo's identity, but it's 100% confirmed that Yunho and Byul will go in as the couple, and that's making them anxious. Not to mention that it's a highly dangerous mission, but it's also the first time that she's allowed in their team.

"Our requester, Arman Seung is one of the rivals for Min Gunhoo's company. What we have to do is get the details about the substance and some of the substance itself to give it to him. That's how far we have to do; what happens after is not our concern. We're just the middlemen that will not pry into what the substance is."

"There's something off about this job," Byul interrupts. Mingi acknowledges this and lets her continue. "Arman Seung is the chairman of an electronics company, while Min Gunhoo is the chairman of a cosmetics company. There might be some intersection somewhere but why would they be going after the same substance? Something common in manufacturing electronics and cosmetics?"

"Thank you for noticing that discrepancy," Mingi clasps his hand. "We usually don't say this out loud because we have come to an understanding what this is about. But since you're our newest recruit, I guess I can make a clarification on where this mission is heading." He fixes his glasses. "As you know we're only the middlemen so we try not to question what our requesters aim to get, and what comes after we've done our jobs. All we know is that we do it without questions asked, then we get the money deposited into our account."

Yeosang holds up his hand, wanting to break it to her. "This is not just some simple exchanging newest substances for manufacturing; we have established that's only a cover. What we're about to get involved is a drug dealing meeting. Madam Tang and Sir Edin are one of the most influential couple in that business. She's the youngest daughter of a drug lord, but keeps that innocent image of hers to keep that face under wraps. So basically, Han Byul and Jeong Yunho, you're about to disguise yourselves as sophisticated drug dealers. They're not those dealers that sell only one or two, they go by millions of chromas. We're about to get involved in an international ring of drug business."

If they're expecting her to get massively shocked, they don't get it as she remains with her undivided attention, nodding as she finally confirms on why the mission seems off.

"So you want me to play the part of a key player of a drug business? Interesting," she mulls, playing around with her lip ring with her teeth. "How often do you get requests like this? Requests that involve international syndicates."

"We've done a few in the past," Wooyoung helps to answer. "The pay's very-" He raises up his flattened hand up above his head. "All the requests that we get are labelled with different standards: low, medium, high. Depends on what's involved, the amount of pay and the position of our requesters. Jobs like this are labelled as high; so many things can go wrong but what comes after is worth it. If we manage to get a lot of high-level jobs, they might consider cutting our contracts short."

Jongho comes in after. "Before we're allowed to get back to the real world, we have to sign a 10-year contract that states we're under KTC and that they still have their full power over us. Only after those 10 years will we be free, and we're no longer considered agents for them. That's when we finally get to live, hopefully, normally."

She automatically shifts her gaze towards Hongjoong, who seems to be uncomfortable in his seat. He accidentally catches her stare but he quickly breaks the eye contact.

Lies. Manipulations. Those are what they're living on. Those are what they're trained to believe.

"That's what our passcode is," Mingi relays while smiling, and she realizes that they're really starting to accept her as a part of them, "171128, the day when we will finally be free from all of this."

"Doesn't mean you can actually use that passcode," Hongjoong quickly interjects, reminding her. "You're not even allowed to go near the main door, let alone the cafe. Remember-"

"Yes Minion, I'm aware of that." She rolls her eyes and resists the urge to remind him again why she's here. Seonghwa snorts as he notices this but covers it up not long after.

"Coming back to our mission. The meeting is set to be held at Athena Hotel, where a party only the top 1% in our country can attend. It's an annual dinner party, but underneath the facade of a simple dinner party where they gather to watch performances and eat buffets, there's something more. It's a night where dark deals are made and exchanged; the party is a cover for their illicit activities."

"It's a party where only the top 1% can attend, but they don't know how each other looks like? That sounds weird, considering how nowadays you can search anything online. Surely they can confirm how each other looks like before they meet each other?"

"Good point, but both of them work under wraps. They don't have their pictures online, and if there are any floating around, they'll be taken down immediately or even in fact, they put in fake ones in place of their actual face. Even these pictures," Mingi reverses to the slide where there are faces of the key players, "were only found deeper in the web. Somewhere not ordinary people can trawl in. Plus, they base this deal on trust. Sounds funny, but you'd be surprised by how trusting they can be towards someone they've never met; a deal they make is that they won't question how each other looks like. In fact, this is probably the first time Madam Tang is making a deal on her own; it's usually her henchmen. That is why our requester is looking to steal that substance first; he thinks that this must be a special one if Madam Tang goes down to the field."

"Understood. Our plan is?"

"The meeting between the fake Min Gunhoo and the real couple will happen first at 7:30 p.m., and the former will get the substance from Madam Tang and Sir Edin. Before that we will have to send a message to the real Min Gunhoo to tell him that there's a slight delay and we would want to meet him at 8 instead. After we acquired the substance we will deliver them to Min Gunhoo, but Byul and Yunho - disguised as the couple - will have to convince him to only take half of the drugs. The other half will then be sent to Arman Seung. In the end, Min Gunhoo and the couple will think that they dealt with each other, when they didn't even meet. Sounds simple and straightforward, but a lot can go wrong. It is for sure that each party will have their own convoy of bodyguards, so if they smell anything wrong, it'll be dangerous."

"We have Yunho and Byul as the couple," Yeosang says. Then he looks at the others as his mind registers Min Gunhoo's face. He points towards Jongho, "You would look good as an old man."

"Hey," Jongho butts in.

Yeosang ignores him, his finger already tracing on the digital pad in front of him. "We need one who needs to take on a disguise as a photographer at the event, acting as the lookout at the main area of the party at the ballroom. Wooyoung," he decides, "you're the photographer."

Wooyoung puts up an 'OK' sign, agreeing immediately.

"Mingi will be behind the screen in another hotel room, directing all of you. Seonghwa as Byul and Yunho's fake bodyguard, Hongjoong as Jongho's fake bodyguard. San, you'll be the delivery guy, making sure that the substance is delivered from Jongho to Yunho and Byul on time. I'll be here and there, watching things from far and deciding if things need to be changed. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a plan," Hongjoong acknowledges. "Han Byul, or may I say, Aurora. There are a few rules you must follow since I've decided to take you on board this mission. One," he emphasizes, making a point to lift up one finger, "you must get used to your codename. Absolutely, and I repeat, absolutely no mentioning of our real names through the earpieces. We must act and assume as if there are people snooping through our lines, so to prevent our identities from being compromised, we are to use our codenames at all time. Once our mission starts, there's no such thing as real names and the cue when you can drop that is only when we get back here. As long as we haven't returned to the headquarters, no real names allowed."

"Aurora, got it."

"Two, the ones who can call the shots in missions like these are usually the guides; that is either Mingi and Yeosang who overlook the whole mission, or the captain," he pauses, "me. Don't decide anything on your own without consulting the rest of us. Besides making sure that you're safe at all times, this is to make sure that you will not go astray and that we won't have to suspect you of being a traitor to this team, understood?"

She nods fervently.

"Three, always be aware of your surroundings and keep your guard up. The worst can happen once you're out on the mission; your life is on the line. Once anything goes wrong, we're all on our own. No organization to back us up, no higher-ups to take responsibility. We are responsible for our lives," he says this darkly that Byul instantly snaps her head towards him, reading his emotions across his eyes. "That's why, sticking with each other is important, and that means all 9 of us have to be together. No one is smarter than the other. Don't hesitate to ask for help if you think you're in danger, no matter how small."

"That brings us to the distress coding system that Yeosang and Mingi came up with," San jumps in. "As you have heard during Apple and Corgi's mission, a Code 3 was sent in." He stands up, pulls out a marker pen and walks over to the whiteboard. He uncaps the marker using his teeth, dropping the cap into his left palm as he writes on the board.

Code 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 -5

He wheels the board so that everyone can have a good look at it, but he makes sure that Byul gets the most view. He drags an arrow from the number 1. "Code 1; this is the lowest stage. This code is usually sent in by the field agents themselves; it means that they fear their cover is about to be exposed, but they can still manage on their own. This is a warning to alert the guides, but no action will be taken from the guide's part. Minimal danger, but still risky. As for Code 2," he draws an arrow downwards. "A higher level of danger than Code 1, but still manageable. This code is sent by the field agents, most likely that they're in need of help, usually to distract others. For example, if I were to go in as a waiter, but our targets suddenly reprimand us for being suspicious, that's when a Code 2 is sent. It means that our identity has not yet been compromised, but there's a high chance that it will be."

He stops explaining to see whether Byul understands, and she nods to let him continue. "Code 3 is for when our identities have been compromised. This signal shows that we're in dire need of help, and that no bluffing can dig our way out. The only solution is through, most of the time, physical fights. And when the opportunity arises, the best we can do is to abort the mission and run." He puts down the marker for a moment, looking like it's hard for him to continue to the next stages. "Up until now, the highest that we've ever given was a Code 3. Code 4 and 5 are only for situations worse than the previous mentioned, and hopefully, we wouldn't find the need to use them."

He does a large circle so he can cover both the number 4 and 5 before making two branching arrows. All 8 of them focus on San as he jots down the key words for each category. He starts with Code 4 and writes the words INJURED, LOST MOBILITY.

"For both of these codes, they are sent in by the guides because the field agents have lost the ability to react. Code 4 is for when the said agent is badly injured and unable to do anything by themselves. Most of the time, it's usually because the targets or anyone involved have caught on, and have resulted in physically reprimanding the agent. The agent is in no position to fight back, and other agents will need to be deployed to the scene to carry out any rescue deemed necessary. This code is reserved for when there is still a chance for the said agents to be saved, and the best will be given to rescue them."

He pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and writes down the key words for Code 5. He puts down the marker pen, and she understands why the boys suddenly become silent. They hear the low humming of the air-conditioner, chilling them to their bones. She reads the key words specifically for Code 5.

LOST CONTACT, MIA, DEATH

"If you can catch up from what I wrote here," he gestures to the board, "Code 5 is the last resort, and is, by evaluating every possibility there is, sent in by the guides overlooking the mission. When the decision that no contact can be established to the agents anymore, this code is signaled throughout the headquarters. No action will be taken by the other party, because it has been decided that nothing can be done anymore. This code is only absolutely sent in after everything has been carefully considered. It is to signal that the best has been done to ensure the safety of the agents but," he gazes at her, "it stops there. It's either the agents have been missing in action, or... death came first."

She breaks the silence as she utters, "Understood. I'll try my best so that you won't regret your decision to pick me up."

Yeosang claps his hands as Hongjoong declares, "Now it's time to get our glutes to work. Time to get this party started."