LOADING ...

VOGUE STILL hadn't told anyone what had happened, but it didn't matter much. Once someone knew something was wrong, every girl in the school did. It was only a matter of time until everyone figured out what it was.

They were at Aeji Academy, after all. The students who attended were masters at figuring out secrets.

Yang Mihi thought that their headmistress, Moon Hyora, was in danger of getting kicked out of the school. This was a notion that horrified every student to no end. The headmistress was like their collective acting mom, and the idea of her being replaced by some Harry Potter Umbridge-esque type of chairman was a pain that hurt more than the methods of medieval torture the girls in East Hall liked to play around with.

Kim Jinae had a different theory; she claimed that the secrecy of the academy had been breached, and they were in danger of shutting down. This was a conspiracy that elicited even worse reactions than option one, if that was even possible. Aeji losing their matriarch was one thing, but losing Aeji itself? Where would they go? What would they do? Nobody wanted to think about it, but the few pessimistic girls were insisting this was real, this was confirmed, and only spiraling the student body into more chaos.

Meanwhile, EOM HYEMI had a far more vague, disorienting idea: something in South Korea intelligence had gone very, very wrong, and for some reason, it had to do with Aeji. She crossed her arms, still nervous from the morning's events. They had the entire day off to get settled into dormitories and such, but she was wasting good unpacking time by activities of the mental variety instead. Her entire dormitory was in disarray, half of her belongings still locked away in her luggage while the other half had made it all across the bed and floors. It was a far cry from Hyemi's typical behavior of keeping clean and organized, but then again, it wasn't exactly the time for cleanliness and organization.

"Hey." Hyemi glanced up, startled. It was Jinae; the girl was leaning against Hyemi's dorm doorway, which had been left open lest any of the younger girls needed to borrow any of Hyemi's things during the unpacking period. She looked grim, and briefly Hyemi wondered if Headmistress Moon really was getting ousted from her position. Jinae would be upset about being wrong-the school gossip hound always claimed her sources were the most legitimate, and being beat by Mihi wouldn't be the softest blow to her ego. "Headmistress wants to see you. Didn't you hear the intercom?"

"Um," Hyemi said, brain still taking a moment to catch up to the conversation. "No, sorry, lost in thought. Did she-"

She was cut off by the intercom, the school-wide speaker system crackling with the headmistress's crisp, clean voice. Eom Hyemi to the principal's office. Hyemi jumped. Jinae gave her a look, watching as Hyemi scrambled for her mary janes. They were under a pile of more casual footwear, but Hyemi unearthed them quickly, shoving her feet into the kitten-heeled doll shoes before fumbling out of the dormitory with Jinae hot on her heels.

"Do you know why?" Jinae demanded, falling into step beside Hyemi. Hyemi shook her head, hair bobbing along with the action. She still felt vaguely disoriented, like she was in a dream-she closed her eyes for a second to let the feeling leave her, sharpening her senses once more.

"No idea. I was going to ask you that. Does anyone know what's going on?"

"VOGUE, probably." Jinae rolled her eyes. "She's so goddamn secretive, I literally can't. What a gatekeeper. She won't even tell me what lipstick she wears!"

"Etude's Fixing Tint in Analog Rose," Hyemi told her absently. "And the Dior lip maximizer in Intense Red over that."

Jinae literally stopped walking, turning and gaping at the older girl. "How do you know that?"

"Way too many late nights of espionage and a hundred dollars wasted in bugs and cameras she kept finding," Hyemi answered solemnly. "It's not information I pass out lightly. Don't tell a soul."

"Cross my heart and pledge to Aeji herself," Jinae said, one hand slapping to rest over her heart. Not that the pledge even meant anything. Aeji wasn't a person; the name was taken from the academy's, which stood as a sort of a myth created in the likeness of Gameunjang-aegi, lady of fortune and karma. Aeji was an idealized version of the South Korean spy. The woman every Aeji student wanted to be.

The two of them made the rest of the trip silently, Jinae accompanying her all the way despite not even being called. Headmistress Moon's office was on the second floor, and Hyemi's dormitory was on the fifth; they took the stairs, heels sinking into the plush, blood red velvet that lined every hallway. Jinae paused by the elevators on the second floor.

"Gonna pop down into Sublevel Three to see Mr. Jung," she told her companion. "I hope he didn't get cuffed over winter break. Good luck!"

Hyemi sighed. "He's not going to sleep with you," she said, but Jinae had already disappeared into the elevator, ready to descend into the negative-third story of the academy. Along with being an incurable gossip, Jinae had somehow gotten it into her head that their Covert Operations teacher would be interested in a relationship with a student. Well, he was hot; Hyemi couldn't exactly blame her for throwing herself at him. "...Whatever."

A few silent seconds passed, and then Hyemi turned into the gaping mouth of the corridor leading to Headmistress Moon's office.

"You can come in."

Hyemi tried her best to suppress her jump; she should've figured the headmistress would notice her hovering, even with the door closed. She was one of the country's most accomplished superspies after all. Having worked with the KCIA, Interpol, and the National Intelligence Service, she had a background that her young age of mid-40s (or 50s, nobody could really tell with a face that youthful) seemed to contradict. Hyemi tugged the door open, stepping carefully inside.

"Eom Hyemi," Headmistress Moon greeted. She bore no smile on her face. She was seated behind her large, mahogany desk, the rest of the room crammed full with too many people-but if Headmistress Moon noticed them, she sure as hell pretended not to. "It's nice of you to join us."

"Headmistress," Hyemi said, her training kicking in as she carefully scoped out the rest of the attendees. She dipped her head in a bow, using the time to glance around the room. There were some of the teachers; Mr. Jung, Madam Chang, Professor Kim; along with some uniformed men she didn't recognize but could quickly place. Crisp shirts, black blazers and slacks, shiny Oxfords, ID tags tucked and barely visible in pockets-KCIA. What were feds doing in Aeji?

"Take a seat," the headmistress said, gesturing toward the chair in front of her desk. The only empty one in the room. Hyemi moved toward it, not one step a falter.

There were more people in the room, too; a man with close-cut hair and a glare, shoulders far too stiff and gaze piercing. He was wearing a suit, tweed and so ridiculously out of style Hyemi almost winced. Then there were two boys slumped on the loveseat by the office wall, both dressed in uniform; one of them was sitting erect, dark eyes taking in the scene, the other dozing off, wrist heavy with a metal cuff that flashed with red lights. The rigid one was doe-eyed and plump-lipped, with soft black hair that fell over his forehead. The bored one let out a yawn, hooded eyes seeming even more narrow with his eyelids half-closed.

Hyemi sat. The room stared.

"If we could have a moment alone?" Headmistress Moon requested, and then everyone was shuffling out, short coughs into closed fists as their feet swept against the floor. The attentive boy dragged the dozing one behind him, who looked positively offended by being manhandled. Hyemi suspected he didn't have much liking to the wrist cuff, either.

The door clicked shut behind them.

"You know they're listening anyway," Hyemi said, tightening her lips into a flattened line. Her heart pounded two times too fast, and she quelled it with a sharp thought. "There's not going to be any difference."

"I wanted to make you feel more at ease," Headmistress Moon said smoothly.

Hyemi got straight to the point. "What's wrong?"

Headmistress Moon took in a breath. She held it, eyes gazing into Hyemi's, tendrils of soft, chestnut hair falling around her face. "I need your help."

Hyemi exhaled, letting out a breath she hadn't intended to release. Her jaw had gone slack, lips slightly parted as her head spun in confusion. Out of everything, Hyemi hadn't expected that. She knew she had some preferential treatment at the school-as top of the senior class, the most experienced student on campus, and due to graduate as, probably, valedictorian, she was a little more doted on than others. Not to mention her familial background. But the words she'd heard from her parents over spring break were more Hyora called, honey, she needs our help and Can you fetch laptop seventeen from the shed, sweetheart?, and her assumptions had been of the Aeji-is-compromised, teacher-has-gone-rogue, international-governments-has-discovered-us, students'-files-were-leaked sort of thing.

But her help?

"I'll have you briefed on the situation with the rest of the girls, if you accept," Headmistress Moon was saying, one hand having reached over the table to take Hyemi's. "You don't have the clearance to know yet, but there's been an incident. The Aeji girls are needed on-field. You were my first recommendation."

A little rush pulsed through Hyemi's veins at that last sentence.

"It is incredibly dangerous," Headmistress Moon continued. "A real operation-a serious one. Not a CoveOps exercise. But I think you're ready."

Rationality had always been Hyemi's department. Should I wear my six-inch heeled platforms to our midnight stakeout? Liu Wenmei would ask. Do you think I should buy this two hundred dollar dress even though I have no place to wear it? Seol Seohyun might say.

Why do you even need an answer with such a loaded question? Hyemi would answer, nose wrinkled as she appraised the girls in front of her. Really, use your brain.

Hyemi usually used her brain. There was a whole bullet list connected to accepting or declining an op-the mission parameters, first of all; and then her coworkers, and what she would need to do, and what role she would fill. But thinking was not something she let her mind weigh on for very long. Because this was Headmistress Moon asking for her help; Headmistress Moon who'd thought of Hyemi first and decided she was ready for a real mission. This was Aeji.

She took in a breath. "I'll do it."

WELCOME TO GIRLS, EOM HYEMI

EBBIE'S NOTES: congratulations to lucia for getting the POLARIS slot! and a very warm welcome to hyemi; she's literally the cutest and i love her sm. the slot announcements will come one-by-one,maybe a few a week but we'll see as today was my first day of college and i'm way too busy to be legal rn. to POLARIS'S other applier-i'm so sorry you didn't get the slot, but scarlett is definitely going to have an appearance in the fic later on so if you'd like to stick around you definitely can.