"What does that even mean?!" Anne asked, her eyebrows raised.

"No one really looks at the people they talk to unless they are interested in the person," Lianne explained patiently, "You had that sort of intensity that was beyond normal, yet you did not show any interest towards the person."

"If you're not interested yet taking such interest in the person can only mean that you were sizing the person up for some other reason than a romantic interest," Lianne said.

Anne didn't answer, taking what Lianne said to heart.

This had been a question that had been bugging her for the past two years but she never did gather the courage to ask her until now. Her 13-year-old self was rather proud, to be honest, and it felt bad to be asking someone she was tasked to protect, find her out.

She, who had been trained since she was 9, and she got discovered?

By someone who as normal?

However, after being by Lianne's side these past two years made Anne realise that she was anything but normal.

Rather, her thinking and observational skills were not normal.

Untrained, too.

Anne sighed.

"And you don't consider going into MIB?"

Lianne frowned then turned to look at her, "Whatever for?"

"I mean … you have the potential," Anne said, "The way you see things."

"Too troublesome," Lianne answered simply, then added softly, "I like a simple life. Low-key, by myself, doing what I like."

Anne looked at Lianne, thinking that what she wished for, she may not actually get. Life was funny that way.

A simple life? Low-key?

For some reason, she was close friends with the idol of Country Tz. She managed to thaw out that stone-faced, unemotional Zero and to date, has been the only one so far. She has a brother that was the mini idol of the school, not to mention the darling of TokTIk.

Even if she, herself, kept a low profile it wasn't like she could be out of the limelight.

Anne leaned back on the seat at the bleachers, keeping constant vigilance.

There were three others in the Team assigned to Lianne. Her, Gilbert, and Diana. She was especially happy that Diana was with her, as Diana was her bosom friend from before - even before entering MIB.

They were from the same orphanage, thus, their bond was closer than most. Gilbert was okay, though he could be annoying at times. If it wasn't for Diana, she would probably be suffering from being in this Team.

When she had been picked to be part of the Team assigned to Lianne, Anne had thought it was really a weird thing. Other than being the recipients of Sir's scholarship, what made her - and Joseph - special enough to warrant their own Team?!

That question is still unanswered but like any member of MIB, no one questioned the decision or order. It was just done. All of the members in the Gold Group were as such and only those in the Gold Group would be given highly sensitive missions.

There were basically four levels of MIB: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper.

It wasn't their skill that determined which level that a person was put in, but rather, loyalty. This was something only the Gold Group knew whereas the others were under the impression that it was purely on their efficiency and/or skills.

The fact that every member in the Gold Group was highly efficient and skilled only solidified their impression of it. What they did not realise was that the more loyal one was to the organisation, the more one would put the effort into it.

The Gold Group were highly dedicated, fiercely loyal, and skilled. They were also the only Group that knew who the true founders of MIB were.

Zero, Lucka, Edward, Akira, and Yume were the only ones in the Diamond Group for they were the original. The ones that had been honed, trained, and tested specifically for the founders.

The first 'Gold' Group.

They were in a league of their own.

A new batch of the Diamond Group was being trained at the moment. They had been screened and chosen from the moment Kyle knew he was going to have kids. The Team would be dispatched to the twins on the latter's fifth birthday.

They will bond for about two years before the twins are 'released' into the public as they attend school.

What Anne didn't know was the reason for this timing. Kyle planned it as such as the twins would still be in the 'innocent' and trusting stage and they would (or should) bond with their Team.

The connection was important.

He was worried about Alex, though, for he seemed to be adamant at being independent. To do things by himself, for himself, and take the role of protector over his sister.

He was just too young to do it properly, so the Team was not just to protect his kids but also Alex from being overconfident. Although Kyle knew that making mistakes was part of life, and one would learn from it, the sort of trouble or danger his kids would be in if certain mistakes were made - was just too high a cost.

Kyle learned that the hard way and there was no way he would *ever* put his kids into that sort of danger or situation.

What Kyle didn't realise was that these were the *exact* same thoughts and worries Patrick had concerning him. The more independent Kyle was, the more stern Patrick became.

Just like Kyle and Alex.

It would take Kyle a bit longer to realise this, though.

✿ Author only posts on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l. ✿

Joseph groaned as he flopped on the bed, exhausted after an entire day of activities. School then, march past practice. Worse, he hadn't finished his chapter for the day yet. He knew his readers would not blame him if he took a day - or two - off, but he didn't want to make it a habit.

He would only take that route if he really, really couldn't do it.

For now, he just needed to rest a bit before going back to writing.

It was his second novel, his first having just finished. For some reason, it took far longer than he thought to actually end it. Something that he thought would only be 100 chapters, became more after he was the contest winner.

After that, when readers asked him how many chapters was he planning to write, he honestly told them that he had no idea. However, he was confident that it would be less than 1000 chapters.

He just could not imagine it *ever* going that long. Wouldn't it just bore his readers?

However, the novel seemed to have garnered a life of its own and he found his estimations were always wrong.

He thought it would end in 8 months.

He was wrong.

Then, a year.

Wrong again.

In the end, it was nearly two years when he finally ended it, and it was just barely over 1000 chapters.

Now, he was on the second which was a sort-off spin-off, based on one of the other characters in the novel.

Still, the first novel was extra special to him.

It also was a reflection of what he hoped to be, but even now, he felt it was just a pipe dream. In these two years, he had never met with Kay ever again as he wanted to 'cut cold turkey'.

Just seeing her would make his heart palpitate and his palms sweat. He would have that infamous 'butterflies in the stomach' thing. Because of that, he made the resolute decision never to see her again.

Joseph felt that his emotions were playing with him.

He felt that he was just too caught up with what he envisioned Kay to be, that he imagined himself in love with her. The only way to cure himself was to cut her out of his life.

He even stopped following her on the news, or in the gossip magazines.

Now, finally, after two years, he could say that he was over her.

He had that pang in his heart sometimes, but he attributed it to just those 'wishful thinking' sort of thing. Like a beautiful memory but no more than that.

He had his readers.

One of them turned out to be quite a regular and she was one of his favourites. Okay, she was the most special to him but he would never let her, or the others know.

All his readers were important to him, but he couldn't quite explain why kemsey was different from the rest.

He sighed. After resting sufficiently, he went to his desk and opened his laptop. Soon, the room was filled with sounds of the clacking of the keyboard.

The next day, the worst thing happened.

He bumped into Kay.

All the feelings he thought he didn't have anymore, came crashing down on him.