Introduction, backstory, and teaser for Episode 1
A bit about this story before you start reading:
This story might feel peculiar. This is not a bit of fanfic that was carefully conceived of, outlined, and then written in a manner that makes a complete and well-written story.
This story started as an experiment on a Discord server. The plan was to write a story, where every day I post a few pages and then a series of poll questions. The responses to the poll questions would then determine what happens the next day in a 'choose your own adventure' type of format. It was an experiment - but the story took on a life of its own and expanded in scope and character development, and so the experiment I expected to last no longer than two weeks went on for 10 months and over a thousand pages of text.
At the point where I just couldn't keep up with it anymore along my 'party' stories that my usual readers are familiar with, and losing all but one of the people who were voting in the polls (as is the nature of Discord) I decided to let the story go. The characters are still very much a part of me, and even though my life required putting it away at the time, they were crying for a new audience. So now, my goal is to take all of that text, revise and standardize what currently exists, and expanding where necessary to give it a new life on AO3 and Wattpad. I hope to give it the love and larger audience that I think it deserves.
All of that being said, it may read a bit strangely. I would often offer poll choices that would take the story in a strange direction, and not often, but occasionally, they would be chosen. So... If the story suddenly jumps off the rails and goes somewhere unexpected, that is why. Character development is occasionally sporadic and unpredictable - for the same reasons. Character traits, even for Yuna, were not chosen at the beginning and used to guide the story, rather they were developed in stride as the story went along, often with the input of the audience. I will try to clean up obvious anomalies as I revise it, but you will see more irregularities than in a typical story.
So, I prefer that rather than viewing it as a complete work, view it as a persistent TV show. Every episode, the main story develops, there are side plots and 'monsters of the week', and sometimes there is character development, sometimes there isn't. The second season may feel like a new show-runner was hired, as the focus of the show changes a bit. You might hate the third season because the actress that plays your favorite character was on maternity leave. Obviously, none of these things actually happened here, but it will certainly feel like that in places.
Itzy Yuna is the heart of this story. She is as close to the real Itzy Yuna as I can manage, with a very unique second life. Things that happen in her Kpop life are pervasive throughout the story. It is a fanfic about being a spy AND being a Kpop idol as those two lives intertwine without allowing them to actually intertwine. It is a fun and fascinating combination. The other major Kpop star in the story is Everglow Sihyeon and the back story (and current story) heavily involve the YG organization, particularly Jennie. Other idols make occasional cameos and some idols are common in the side stories, these include (G)-Idle Miyeon and Twice Sana. There are also several main characters that are not from Kpop, particularly in what will be seasons two and three. Although Yuna is always present in season one, as Itzy begins their world tour in the spring of 2024, she is less present in season 2, allowing other characters to shine. But if you are only here for Yuna, don't fret, she is never gone for long. The beginning of the story does not have a set date other than ‘winter 2024’, but later, it follows Itzy’s schedule and other things that are going on in the world from day to day.
This Yuna is a very sexual being and often finds herself in 'interesting' situations. The story will be marked as explicit, and while these moments do happen, they are actually quite rare. At the beginning they might feel a bit forced, like the sex scene that was only there because the director wanted a random sex scene, but later they are much more integral to the story. As in any spy story there are plenty of bad guys meeting their maker, often in insensitive ways. There are also instances of sexual assault which are dealt with sloppily, if this offends you, episodes containing such things will be clearly labeled.
There is a complex backstory that happened before Yuna’s story begins. I have sketches and notes about what happened, think of it as my Silmarillion. I will try to incorporate these into occasional flashbacks as we go.
Here is the backstory:
YG Entertainment, particularly its founder Yang Hyunsuk were suspected, and often accused of, various crimes over the years, but all of these things were deliberate covers to hide the truth. If you dig through the minor layers of various crimes involving drugs and money and sex, you eventually uncover the truth, or actually you won't, because you will quickly end up six feet under.
Anyway, a massive hidden spy enterprise, working for and with everything from the North Korean government to various terrorist groups was actually pulling the strings at YG. While Hyunsuk was mostly aware of this, and what his girls really were doing, he had no idea of the depth of horrific things these people were up to. Nonetheless, he facilitated whatever they needed, using the massive reach and coffers of his Kpop organization.
Jennie Kim and Park Chaeyoung aka Rosé were the Blackpink that everyone knows and either loves or hates (curiously, it is not known to this day how much, if anything, Jisoo and Lisa knew about what was going on.) However, both had a second life as secret agents. They were both trained as spies before BlackPink's debut. Jennie was a ground agent, pickpocket, cat burglar, and specialist at seduction and making others do things for her they wouldn't otherwise do. Rosie was first trained as a ground agent, but she wasn't very good at it. Her lanky arms and legs and general lack of the precision dexterity necessary landed her a desk job. She was usually in Jennie's ear when she was on the ground, helping her with surveillance, problem solving, and making sure she stayed on task. The 'good' guys might have called her Jennie's 'handler', but they were equals, just as they were in Blackpink, using their various talents to successfully accomplish the goal.
What was the goal? They usually were unaware of the true goals, but Jennie's most common task was bringing in cash. Whether stealing expensive things from her various celebrity friends, seducing CEO's of various companies for blackmail, or even setting up and facilitating weapon and drug deals - she was GOOD at her job. She relished in the hunt and the steal, she was also the perfect agent because she never once questioned why she was doing what she was doing, she just did it to the best of her abilities. Until this one time... but we'll get there in a minute.
Now about the 'good' guys... The South Korean government, like any government, has its set of agents to accomplish things for the government without being the government. It was set up with US help after the Korean War. It had its web of spies doing various spy things, but there was always impetus to expand, especially as North Korea and China always seemed one bad decision away from World War III. Thus in 2015, they laid out a plan for developing young spies. 1) Someone you would NEVER suspect to be a spy, and supported by some manner of non-spy organization. 2) Someone with the mental and physical traits to excel at being a spy, 3) Someone often out and about in the world, traveling without it seeming odd that they are traveling and 4) someone who can be trained from a young age, without this intense training seeming out of place. As Kpop was becoming a world-wide sensation, would a Kpop star not be the perfect spy, filling all of these goals? A program was born… no, literally a 'program' called Produce 101. Yeah sure, we'll let the public vote on which girls they want in this new Kpop group in an entertaining way that will also make the network a lot of money. BUT, in reality, we have 101 young women, put through various mental and physical tasks. The true goal of PD 101 was not I.O.I, it was identifying a handful of 16-18 year old girls to be trained as spies. PD101 failed miserably. Well, at the spy goal, the rest was spectacular. They revamped things for PD48, and invited several Korean girls back, while using the international girls as a nice distraction.
The girl that didn't make it into I.O.I OR Izone actually won both survival shows. Soon-to-be Everglow Sihyeon. Sihyeon showed every skill they were looking for. She had a strong will, and was physically immensely talented, picking up martial arts like they were second nature. She had a 'cute' and friendly attitude and no one would ever suspect she was the powerhouse that she was, and would become. She was charismatic and could lead or follow as the task required. She started field work just as Everglow was debuting, following the plan as laid out. Yuehua was a perfect cover, they had no idea what she was doing on the side, and were incompetent enough at running a Korean music group to easily infiltrate them with the support she needed to get both jobs done.
At the end of 2018, just before Everglow's debut, the 'good' guys were finally narrowing down who was responsible for the increasing ring of high-end thefts around Seoul (and LA and Paris). When they discovered it was none other than Jennie Kim, it sent shockwaves through the spy world, but also allowed them to focus their attention on YG and start drilling into the layers of protections that were built around what was going on there. A colleague of Sihyeon's finally caught Jennie in the act. Somehow Jennie escaped the situation. Sihyeon famously said, "She seduced you while she was unconscious?" But now Sihyeon became the agent in charge of cracking the Jennie Kim situation. She never openly confronted her, but they watched her like a hawk and did their best to thwart whatever she was up to. Fortunately for Jennie, she didn't much know what she was up to.
The increasing scrutiny on YG, whoever was actually overseeing what they were doing, and the people even higher than that, led the ‘good’ guys to a world-wide spy group working against nearly every major government. The gravity of the situation increased as they dug deeper, every single day finding surprise after surprise. But soon it was obvious that they were even manipulating the North Koreans and were about to unleash a plan to start a conflict, one that would quickly escalate to World War III if they were lucky, nuclear armageddon if they were unlucky.
Everglow had just debuted when Sihyeon accidently stumbled upon an American CIA agent working the same problems and happened to fall in love with him. But Sihyeon also had feelings for Yiren, which she valiantly put aside, and this new guy was a good distraction, on top of the world ending, and being in a newly promoting Kpop group. It was a lot for anyone to handle.
In early 2019, it was clear that it was only months before the evil organization orchestrated North Korea unknowingly launching missiles into the South. Sihyeon, and her boyfriend and a few other agents were all that stood between them and war. There were still too many missing links to be able to stop what was about to happen and there was only one possible line of action that could get them closer to preventing it. It was time to finally nab Jennie Kim, she was the only hope of someone that knew anything that could be useful.
The one bad thing about being a spy and a Kpop star is that there are certain times when everyone knows your location. When you are performing on stage... The 'good' guys hatched an elaborate plan that Jennie would get separated from the rest of BlackPink on the way home from Coachella in April of 2019. Sihyeon would be on the airplane, full of other passengers, with Jennie Kim, flying from LA back to Seoul. Sihyeon's task: show Jennie everything they knew about who she worked for, in the hopes that she could help them get more information about who was running the show. Sihyeon managed to break Jennie on that flight. Jennie truly had no idea what she had been doing for the last 3 years. It was an uneasy alliance, but together, Sihyeon and Jennie managed to overcome the odds and stopped the plan for causing a world war. The pair actually grew close, disguised as frenemies thick with sexual tension. But after it was all over, Jennie was locked up, and although her ultimate sentencing led to her being able to continue being global superstar Jennie Kim, her life wasn't the same. When she wasn't on the road on tour, or at Fashion week, she was locked up at home with an ankle bracelet. Sihyeon felt immensely guilty that she was responsible for what Jennie's life had become.
There were still a lot of odds and ends to clean up. The YG organization had to secretly be dismantled, their immense tech department full of strange and dangerous weaponry dismantled, and BlackPink NOT dismantled. Sihyeon and her boyfriend continued at this work, making sure everyone in change of the old spy ring was disposed of. Then there was a pandemic. Yiren was stuck in China and the rest of the members shockingly lost total contact with her. Sihyeon grew increasingly worried and lonely, along with everything else that was going on. Without telling her boyfriend, or Yuehua, or her spy handlers, she made her way to China to find Yiren, also buried in guilt for what she did to Jennie and putting aside feelings she had for her as well.
Sihyeon found Yiren, and quite a bit of healing when in China. As she made her way back to Korea (Yiren would follow shortly after), everything about her world and the world in general had changed. The girl who quickly became master spy, one of the best martial artists on the planet, and famous Kpop girl, quit everything except Everglow (and Yiren). Her own bosses were reorganizing as well, taking over YG assets and making plans to make sure what just happened could never happen again. The practice of using Kpop girls for these things was an experiment that worked TOO well, and the 'good' guys could only see as they absorbed that part of YG, how easily they could become what they just took apart. Still, the plan had to continue, it was too good not to. They needed handlers for the new crop of spy. Sihyeon's old boss was able to convince her to come back, at a desk job that would never interfere with Everglow or anything else she wanted to do in her career. Sihyeon's sense of nobility never once wavered, she knew they needed her and she wasn't going to tell them no, demons in the closet or not. It was a new chapter for her. She had all of the tools to teach someone new what to do and what not to do. She certainly knew all of those things, all too well.
For the first time in three years, she was excited again about her life. She was happy for the quiet months, but the spy side of her life wasn't as easy to put away as she thought it would be. Who was it? Who was the girl that she was going to be working with? She expected someone from K-group in GP999 that didn't make it into Kep1er. It was finally time to meet her "Kitty Cat" and it was one of the few times that spy Sihyeon was truly shocked.
The story begins, winter 2024:
Sihyeon was sparring with a punching bag in the practice room, slightly out of breath. She was wearing tight-fitting black leggings and a sport's bra with nothing over it. She thought she heard a meek knock on the door, so she shouted, “Yes?"
A skinny, tall, 170 cm Kpop girl entered the room, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, long fire-red hair up in a pony tail.
Sihyeon looked at the girl, amazed. “Of course: YOU are ‘operation Kitty Cat’.”
Yuna bowed. “Hello, Shin Yuna. Nice to meet you Sihyeon.”
“How the hell are you a spy? Your legs are like toothpicks.”
Yuna was surprised and disturbed that her new friend wasn’t particularly friendly. She just stood there wide-eyed.
Sihyeon held out her hand. “Hi Yuna, I’m your new handler, and worst nightmare.”
Yuna was more surprised and more disturbed, ignoring Sihyeon’s outstretched hand. “I’ve… heard all… about your… accomplishments.”
“Yeah, saving the world and stuff. And your accomplishments are singing about ‘Cake’ and ‘Sneakers’.”
Yuna sized up the situation. Her greatest talent was, well, being delightful, but after that, reading people. So, she assumed she was likely being tested. Betting on her intuition, she spat back, “Saving the world, and singing ‘cause I’m a pirate yeah yeah, a pirate yeah yeah’.”
Sihyeon cracked a smile. “I don’t write the lyrics.”
Yuna skipped directly to business. “You are going to help me find Jisu.”
“No… Look, I’m sorry that you are missing your groupmate, same thing happened to me not so long ago. But this isn’t about Itzy, it is about matters of national security. It is likely Lia has been kidnapped by a North Korean crime syndicate. You shouldn’t be anywhere near this case, way too personally invested, and it is going to get you kidnapped too, or worse. Unfortunately, I don’t decide these things, still above my pay grade.”
Yuna looked bored. “Done yet?”
Sihyeon just stared back at her.
Yuna broke the silence, remembering her new handler’s story. “So how is your girlfriend Yiren?”
Now Sihyeon was surprised at the new girl’s attack... “Not my girlfriend.”
“Right, you dumped her for Jennie, I forgot.”
“Not my girlfriend... she’s evil.”
“I meant, how is your boyfriend?”
Sihyeon lunged at Yuna with her shoulder and swept the long lanky legs out from under her with her own. Yuna hit the ground hard with her butt, but used her arms to stop the mat on the floor from hitting her head.
Sihyeon grinned at her, now standing above her.
In a surprising flash, Yuna flung her entire body at Sihyeon from the ground, catching her in the chest, carrying them both to the mat. Both of her legs wrapped around and pinned one of Sihyeon’s legs, with one hand she grabbed Sihyeon’s pony tail, pulling her head back and to the mat. The other hand pinned her chest to the mat, ‘accidently’ grabbing her boob in the process.
Sihyeon giggled. “Hot… nice move.”
Yuna let go of Sihyeon's hair and boob and jumped to her feet.
Sihyeon made it to her feet more slowly. “I’m getting a little old for this, that is why I’m a handler now.”
“I promise I’ll keep the heart of the mission away from my heart”, confessed Yuna.
Sihyeon nodded. “Good. I'm happy to be your handler.”
A middle-aged male wearing a suit opened the door to the room. “I heard girls being flung to the mat. Time to go, however.”
Sihyeon held out her hand again and Yuna grabbed it. They walked over to the man and headed to the briefing room.
***
The three of them sat down in a small conference room. The man, known around headquarters only as ‘The Boss’ started talking. "Good news, I think we have found Lia."
Yuna nearly jumped out of her seat.
Sihyeon was less enthused, anticipating the rest. "But…?"
The man continued, "We think she is in north Korea, a small city near the Russian border, Tumangang. We can't be pointing satellites that far north and so close to Russia, so our intel is much sketchier than usual."
"Mmmhmm", nodded Sihyeon.
He continued again, "You remember the rules of engagement that deep inside North Korea Yuna?"
"Yes, I'll be alone."
He nodded, "Yes, only one agent on the ground. Sihyeon and, if necessary, a tech expert will be in your ear, but if anything goes wrong, you will be alone, and it could take days to get another agent to you."
"Got it! Let's go!" said Yuna, jumping out of her chair again.
"Has any of the YG tech panned out over the years? Anything that might help?" asked Sihyeon.
"Yes," said the Boss. "We have made huge strides understanding their advanced fabrics. Yuna's new catsuit is quite the marvel. We haven't gotten anywhere with the weaponry though, too dangerous to deploy right now."
"Good," said Sihyeon. "Okay Kitty Cat. Go get your new fancy clothing."
The boss added, "Wheels up in 2 hours."
***
Yuna walked upstairs to the labs. A series of rooms for both computer tech, medical tech, and another for advanced technologies. She knocked on the door of the medical lab.
Yuna could see a female inside the lab who motioned for her to enter. Yuna opened the door and ventured inside. There was a hospital bed, exam table, and laboratory benches. “Hi, I’m Yuna. The Boss told me to come see you.”
“Yes, hi, I’m Dahyun. Please get naked.” Dahyun was about 162 cm, late twenties, wearing glasses and a white lab coat, light brown hair flowing over her shoulder.
Yuna just ignored the naked part. “Oh, you look a bit like Twice Dahyun. Is that why your name is Dahyun?”
“How would my parents have known what Twice Dahyun looks like when they named me before she was even born?”
“Right… but you work in a spy place, so maybe you have a fake spy name. Named after Twice Dahyun?”
“Dahyun is my real name.”
“Well… you look like her…”
“Why aren’t you naked yet?”
“You were serious about that?”
Dahyun held up a bunch of black fabric. “Your suit? This thing is amazing and took me months to perfect. But you need to be naked to try it on…”
“Right… okay… Is there a towel or something?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t look,” said Dahyun, still staring at Yuna.
Yuna shrugged and started to undress.
***
It took over thirty minutes for Yuna to get into the suit. It was tight and Sihyeon’s older ‘armor’ was not nearly as high tech, being made of carbon fiber. And Dahyun never met Jennie, who was rumored to wear normal clothes made of this material. Nonetheless, Yuna was now successfully wearing it.
Dahyun kept staring. “I can’t even…”
“I’m hot… and this shows every curve… and nipple… but you can speak.”
“Yeah, you’re fine… but the fabric, it is so beautiful. Sorry I had to work so hard to get your chest in there before zipping it up…”
“It was painful. But now… it really is amazing, it feels like I’m naked, but I’m obviously not. What does it do?”
“A lot of things… and honestly I don’t know everything, but for one, it is bullet proof.”
“I’ve worn bullet-proof things before, they are thick and heavy.”
“Exactly. Behold the wonder… Now, I will say, it won’t take a perpendicular blow from a high caliber weapon, but it will deflect small arms beautifully. It also can’t really be cut by a metal knife, it will slip across the fabric. It is also somewhat conductive, so it is very difficult to shock or taser you, because it goes right to ground.”
“Wow, okay! I really need to get to the airport, is there anything else we need to do?”
“Put your normal clothes over! Remember, you are hot. Everyone else can see your curves wearing it.”
“Thank you for FINALLY noticing…”
“I’ve heard other people say it about you, so I’ll assume it is true. Also, the fabric reacts strangely to water sometimes, I haven’t figured out why. You can spill a drink on it, but don’t go swimming with it on.”
“Got it!”
Yuna hurriedly put her sweatpants and hoodie on over the suit. “What will the world be like without the need to wear a bra?”
“Let me know! Nice to meet you, Miss Yuna.”
“Same Dahyun! Thanks for working so hard on this thing, just to keep me safe.”
***
The Boss was waiting in the hallway for her to exit Dahyun’s lab. “How does it feel?”
“To good to be true? Wait… Did you mean the suit, or my first day at work heading off to North Korea to rescue Jisu?”
“I’ll assume the answer to both is the same.”
Yuna nodded.
He turned to look at her, and took her hand in his. “I’m confident that you can handle this new part of your life. I’ll do my best to support you. We need your talents badly. There is a lot going on around the world, and you are now playing your part in maintaining the proper order.”
“Umm, can I just be delightful without all of that pressure?”
“For today, yes… go get your Lia back!”
“Yessir.”
“You have all of your gear? I know you have your favorite weapon and such.”
“Yes, holsters, beltpouch and backpack. All ready!”
He walked her to the loading dock, which was actually inside the building. It allowed somewhat hidden access for cars and vans to come and go. He pointed to a black car waiting for her. “He will take you to Incheon, you will get a chopper there. Good luck delightful Yuna!”
Yuna smiled at him, and then ran around the car and got into the passenger side.
The driver said, “Hi. I’m your driver.”
“Hi. I assume you know where we are going?”
“Yup.”
“Are you having a good day?”
“Yup.”
“Umm… Is the sky green?”
“Yup…”
“Haha, gotcha! I’m Yuna… you can actually have conversation with me.”
Yuna is pretty sure she saw him smirk, but he only said, “Yup…”
Yuna closed her eyes and took the time to mentally prepare. This was her life now. Hopefully she was as good at it as she was at the other half of her life.