Chapter 001:

Byun Baekhyun

"Byun Baekhyun?" A voice echoed not so far from Baekhyun, making him jump in place and raise his head to see the person.

"Yes?" Baekhyun replied nervously

"Follow me."

To say that Baekhyun was nervous was an understatement. The place itself was gloomy, dark and stressing. It was almost as if the people in charge of this place wanted all the candidates to be in a state of stress. They were fifteen earlier this afternoon and now he was the last one, waiting for his turn. But the main reason of his anxiety was the people he was about to meet.

It had been six month since Baekhyun joined the organization; six months of mess and loneliness. He thought that joining the organization wasn't a bad idea, that just like any other work place he would make friends, it wasn't even that hard since Baekhyun was charming by nature and nobody could resist his smile.

Well, except people in there.

No matter how hard Baekhyun tried, nobody was actually willing to talk to him. It took him time to understand that in this place he was alone and that he couldn't count on anyone but himself.

If he wanted to survive of course.

Joining the organization wasn't that easy and Baekhyun realized it quite quickly. The first six months were all about training. He had spent days and nights working out, studying, learning how to spy, just in order to pass all the tests and become a skillful agent. Most of people would say that six months of training wouldn't be enough to make him a good agent, but then again most of people wouldn't know of the training he had to go through.

For six months, Baekhyun saw people coming and leaving almost as quickly. Some others tried joining the training but after only a week they would disappear. Baekhyun wasn't really sure if they dropped out or if something had happened to them, because in all honesty he had no doubt that one wrong move and you're dead.

A normal person in his shoes would have dropped out and left this place as soon as possible, but Baekhyun stayed, he couldn't give up no matter what the price for his madness was.

Today was finally the day that would determine if he was going to become an agent or if he had to go back to his normal life.

"We're here. They're waiting inside for you." The agent said as he showed him the door, he glanced quickly at Baekhyun, judging him. "You trained well. You shouldn't worry."

Baekhyun almost relaxed at his words and took a deep breath. I can do it.

When he stepped inside the room, three men were waiting for him around a table. Baekhyun didn't know what exactly the test was about, nor did he know who were those people but it was out of question for him to lose when he was so close to the end.

"Take a seat."

"Nice to meet you Byun Baekhyun." The oldest of the men spoke. "Let me introduce ourselves first. I'm General Park Kwangmin, at my right you have General Jung Dohyun and at my left you have Kim Minsoo."

Baekhyun was dying to ask him why the hell the generals were the one doing the final test but he ended up biting his tongue, guessing that it was probably not the right moment to ask this question. At least if he wanted to succeed.

"What are your motivation to become an agent?" General Jung asked him, eying him curiously.

"You probably saw in my records that I was really good in my field but I came to realize that I didn't like it. I need some excitement, intrigue in my life and trust me working as a sale manager wouldn't provide it."

"What makes you think that working for us will provide it for you?" General Park asked

"I watched too many James Bond when I was a kid." Baekhyun joked which clearly surprised his interlocutors. The three men exchanged looks before looking back at the young man.

"You want your life to be exciting? Do you think it's a good reason?"

"Why not? Some would tell you that it's their dream, some because they are only good at it and some just because they want to have the right to kill. So why not?"

Slowly, Baekhyun realized that this final test wasn't a proper test but more like an interview, they were trying to figure out if he deserved to work for them. He was playing a very dangerous game with them right now but his guts were telling him to fight with all he had.

"It's sure a weird reason." General Kim finally said

"Let's just say I'm a weird person."

"Weird persons tend to be dangerous."

"And unpredictable." Baekhyun added without hesitation. By now the three generals were wondering if the young man before them was just as he said weird and dangerous or was he just irresponsible and stupid. Truth to be told, they were having a hard time understanding him. From his records only he seemed to be a perfect candidate, a perfect little soldier and yet, something in his eyes almost scared them.

"You seem indeed like an unpredictable person and yet your records are impressing. You outdone yourself and your instructors are very proud of you." General Jung praised him

Baekhyun shrugged, almost as if he didn't care at all about what his instructors could have said about him, especially since in the end they wouldn't be the ones deciding of his future.

"And what about your family? You won't probably see them often."

"My parents will be fine."

"Aren't you just following your brother's path?"

Deep inside him Baekhyun knew that they would eventually mention his brother but he still had hoped that they wouldn't. Some could think that he wasn't close to his brother, but in fact Baekhyun was just not ready to talk about him and about his death. Instead of showing his discomfort, he played his last card.

"Busted." He almost sang and took aback the three generals.

"Excuse me?" General Park asked, not sure of how they were supposed to interpret his behavior.

"It's true, in a way. My brother used to work for you but sadly he died. So yes, I know the danger that this job brings but it's worth the risk. My current life is way too boring for my liking."

"Well. You're reckless, my boy, just like your brother. I hope that you won't end up like him."

Baekhyun blinked few times, staring at them, dumbfounded before daring to ask "Wait, does it mean –"

"Welcome to Pandore"

But in fact it was more:

Welcome to hell.

Baekhyun chewed his croissant while going through the documents his secretary brought him just one hour ago. For the third time he read the same line just because he couldn't concentrate on the documents, he was just too tired. Waking up at 4am just because the heat was unbearable in his flat was definitely what tired him the most but then again it wasn't the first time. They had problems with heating before, it was actually a recurrent problem but every single time it would wake him up in the middle of the night and, of course, it was impossible to fall back asleep when the temperature in the flat was around thirty degrees.

Another yawn escaped his lips, probably for the hundredth time this morning. No energetic drink and no coffee could make him feel better this morning and, no matter how hard he tried busying himself, working seemed impossible for him. The only thought that comforted him was that he wasn't the one leading the meeting. Why the hell should I even go.

"Mr. Byun? The meeting is about to begin. Shall we go?" Baekhyun spotted his secretary and another of his employee at the door, eying him carefully, almost as if they were trying to guess in what mood he was, before smiling.

Byun Baekhyun was on the outside what the ideal man of many women would have looked like and because of that it was very hard for him to find a good secretary that would actually really work instead of trying to seduce him. Fortunately for him, Minhee was a real angel and was professional most of the time (sometimes it was just too hard not to tease her boss).

"Just a moment."

"You should go, I'll wait for him." Minhee spoke to her colleague before getting closer to Baekhyun. "You look terrible."

"Is it a way to talk to your boss?" Baekhyun groaned and glanced at her, clearly amused by how quickly she changed her behavior.

"I thought we established long ago that I was allowed to make your life miserable?" She joked and lightly hit his arm.

"You're a terrible human being, Minhee." Baekhyun whined this time, showing his childish side that in the end only few people at work knew.

"Well, at least I'm not the one looking like crap. How come you're so tired? Is it because your girlfriend keep you awake at night?"

"I wish it was the case, but no. We have a problem with our heating. Try to sleep when it's thirty degrees and then we'll talk."

"Oh. That sucks. Should I cancel your meetings then?"

"No, it's fine. Not the first time, I will survive."

And yet, just before Baekhyun could go inside the meeting room, his phone buzzed in his pocket. A frown grew on his face since he was sure he had left his phone in his office but then he remembered his second phone. He glanced at the door and then back at his phone, the meeting could wait five more minute.

"Baekhyun?" Minhee whispered as she noticed that suddenly he looked extremely serious and way too calm which was completely unusual coming from him.

"Wait for me. I have one more thing to do."

Minhee hesitated for a moment but decided that if he needed her, he knew where to find her. She nodded her head and left him alone in the hall.

Baekhyun took a deep breathe before opening the message. It had been more than two months since the last time this phone rang and he had to admit that he didn't miss it.

"Hello Baekhyun. It's really nice seeing you getting along with so many people and leading a nice life, but…shouldn't you worry for yourself too? You have another job and a mission to accomplish. You took the oath, respect it. This is the last warning. –PK"

You thought Byun Baekhyun's life was perfect?

It wasn't.