Metanoia

Hydra, Vruydon: Chapter 27

    The rest of the mission went on smoothly. Just as Renjun had previously said before, there was no apparent threat in the hotel. The building was deemed clean of any crime whatsoever and the two cleaned up shop to get back to Hydra. On the way, Sicheng had started to open up much more, explaining the curriculum to come and what their schedule was going to look like more or less. He had also brushed over the subject of his own recruitment saying he was part of the China unit, much to Renjun's satisfaction. (The only downside was the fact that this unit was hidden to most of the public so it wasn't recognized as much.)
    Once they had arrived back at the company, the dark haired agent was quick to send his student to the common room to rest up. The brunette, rather happy with the fact he wouldn't have to write any report on the mission, gladly thanked his mentor before heading back.
    On his way, Renjun stopped by the cafeteria to grab a snack from the kitchen. Peering in he found the room empty and dark- in this case this was just what he needed. Because it was his first mission, he was sure that some people would pull him aside and question him a bit. However that was not what he wanted. For the first time, Renjun was very eager to comply to Sicheng's orders. And he didn't want any curious agents to ruin that.
    Flicking the light switch on his heart nearly exploded.
    "CHRISTMAS ON A CRACKER." He screamed out in surprise. "WHAT THE FUCK RIYA."
    The silver haired girl in question poked her head out. She had previously been crouched on the top of one of the many fridges, leaning over to look inside of the freezer. Starving for food, his classmate sneakily put a jar over top of the switch that turned on the fridge's lights when being opened.
    "What?" Her mouth was already stuffed with food. "I was hungry and the break came along." She ducked her head back in and started to scavenge once more.
    "The break?" Renjun could tell where this was going as soon as he asked the question. It's going to be about how all the students-
    "Yeah, the one where we get a break for an hour or two?"
    'Great.' He took in a deep breath to calm down. The runaway had to remember that he got a mission before anyone else. And to get to that point he had to take no breaks during the whole day. 'Be grateful for Sicheng's decision.' Renjun was still going to give his mentor a bit of hell.
    "Oh poor boy, you never got it?" Riya's voice was full of fake concern as she giggled a bit after. She pulled away from the freezer with a giant tub of ice cream and closed the doors. "But I bet it was all worth it right? Because you got to go on your first mission?"
    Renjun frowned, disappointed that she knew. "Who tells people these things? I thought it would be a bit more private."
    "I'm pretty sure we all figured it out after you left the dorms earlier than usual than came to the cafeteria in full uniform." She jumped down from her perch to grab a spoon. "Than Elisabeta brought it up from a table close to us that she saw you heading out with Sicheng. Which had ended up making Kailani complain about waiting for any communications from you guys while we ate lunch."
    "Great." Renjun groaned, politely declining the spoon offered to him. Instead he dug into the cupboards to search for his secret stash of snacks. Which would obviously not be so secret anymore thanks to Riya being present but he didn't mind her knowing. As long as she didn't take any of his food and even if she did he would make sure to get her back.
    "Don't worry, I think everyone is kind of jealous of you so I'm sure no one will want to bother you." She stated digging into the Neapolitan ice cream. "It'll probably be just the employees."
    "Is that really reassuring?"
    "I don't know." The silver haired girl shrugged. "You can go out and find out."
    Renjun paused in searching to think. If he acted tired enough he would surely be ignored and let to rest. That would at least push back the questions until tomorrow where he could ignore them as he trained with Sicheng. Sounded like a solid plan.
    "I guess I can." He pulled out a bag of veggie chips then started to make his way to the door.
    Riya mumbled out some words of encouragement before he turned around as he arrived at the door.
    "You want me to turn off the lights?"
    Her eyes seemed to light up. "Yes please."
As Renjun continued out of the kitchen and into the elevator, he tried his best to pull off the act of appearing to be way too tired to even speak proper words. His eyes half lidded, he nodded sloppily to employees as they entered and exited the elevator.
In return they would nod and smile politely, appearing interested in how his mission went- but overall understanding that in the end he looked completely exhausted. Sometimes he could hear some of them mummer words and phrases that chastised Sicheng for his treatment of his apprentice. Sentences like "That kid should look out for his student more."; "No regard for his apprentice, that is completely uncalled for."; "I hope someone at least report's this to Johnny and Mark, he looks near dead."; and the repeating phrase of "Go figures this is Sicheng's first time mentoring someone."
The brunette wondered about that as he had finally arrived on his floor. He thought about how the mentor training system really worked. If it was truly about the aptitude test which matched student with employee or if it was completely voluntary and the dark haired agent went out of his way to take Renjun under his wing. The latter was a bit more terrifying than the former. Honestly neither were that good if thought about thoroughly. He was either hand picked by the person who tried to hunt him down. Or he had very similar personality traits to that of a killer.
He gazed lazily around the room to find a place to continue his little charade. Zuri and Mei were hanging about near the couches and cushions, lying down and watching some TV. Kailani was playing a solo game, sitting in one of the chairs by the computer bar by the the giant windows. Kuzma was settled around the tables near the middle of the room, taking care of the cup of coffee in his hands as he stared intensely at a large textbook. Elisabeta was lying on a bench in a rather provocative manner as the three boys worked the punching bags, each trying to impress her more than the other.
There were no signs of Jeno around so Renjun decide to trudge over to Saige who was playing a game of pool by herself.
The purple haired girl stared up at him as she held the cue in her hand, poised to make a shot. "Are you looking for Jeno?"
    Caught off guard with her on point prediction, The runaway nodded a bit shyly as her bright yellow eyes stared directly into his soul. Her gaze was intense and knowing, as if she was able to read him like an open book and see all the secrets he was hiding.
    "Well he's in the training room brushing up. You know, have to get those hours in so Jaehyun won't be sour with him."
    "Uh... I didn't really know..."
    "Hey! Look who it is!" The loud voice belonging to Vinzent paraded around the room. He had paused in his own training, leading his little group along with him as he made his way over to the two conversing. "Injunnie, Injunnie how is our prized golden child Injunnie?"
    The red headed boy waltzed over to the smaller boy, his figure towering over Renjun. His smile gave the impression that he was more than happy to see the brunette, looking ready to congratulate his classmate at any given moment. However his amber eyes had a different story as they glowed with pure loathing and envy.
    "I'm fine." He responded, voice solid despite his previous sluggish behaviour.
    Vinzent's eyes glinted with recognition as he spotted the change in demeanour. "Wow, only the first day of going on mission and kindergartener is already acting tough huh?" He leaned forward, grinning more. "Did you just go through a war, small boy? Did you beat up the big adults and show them who's boss?"
    Renjun forced himself not to stare at his classmates sharpened teeth while he bit his own tongue back. He couldn't instigate a fight at this moment, not when he wanted to be less targeted than before. Which has already proven to be tough as he did become the first student to be taken on a mission. It seemed that the odds were ever in his favour.... not...
    "Not responding now Injunnie Injunnie?" Vinzent pushed on, maintaining eye contact. "Think that you're more privileged than the rest of us now that you got to go on a mission with you're beloved, special mentor? Think that having an espionage agent makes you special and important?"
    As he kept on keeping silent, the red head started to become more annoyed by his behaviour. He pressed his palm against Renjun's chest and shoved hard. The smaller student stumbled backward, but kept his visage extremely nonchalant. It wasn't the best decision but it had to be done to test what this kids limits were before he gave up. Or before he snapped.
    "You've got some nerve huh?" He growled, walking over and shoving Renjun again. "What makes you tick little man?"
    He got pushed again.
    "Is it your big brain of yours? Can you concoct a plan to kill me without leaving a trace of evidence?"
    Another push.
    "Maybe because there's people here? You think these people will help you if you end up with a broken arm?"
    Another push.
    "Or is it because of Jeno?"
    The brunette tensed a bit upon hearing the athletes name. Vinzent, on the other hand, smirked devilishly upon seeing his victims reaction.
    "Oh I see how it is huh." The taller boy grabbed Renjun's uniform shirt, lifting the boy up in the air. "You have a thing for Jeno don't you? You absolutely love him. You can't live without him. Literally. Because without him you'd be dead right now wouldn't you?" His eyes were glazed. "Maybe without him here now you will die."
    The runaway forced himself to stay calm. Taking in deep breaths to not make any irrational, panicked moves. He already knew where that got him before. There was no inclination to want to try that again. At least not now where everyone in that company could easily turn against him.
    "Well?" Vinzent raised him higher in the air. "Come on freak, say your last words. Say how much you love Jeno. I'm sure he'll see it on your grave and weep."
    Renjun snorted skeptically.
    "What? What's so funny now?"
    "You really want me to talk that bad?" The brunette sneered in spite of his vulnerable position. "If I was as dumb as you I'd think you were in love with me. But than again look where I am, by Sicheng's side and not some patrol officer's. I'm sure if you had any brains I'd already be in my coffin but unfortunately you have nothing but a pigsty in that overgrown head of yours."
    The world was a blur as his back slammed against the floor. Yelling out, Renjun found himself choking up as Vinzent's hand pressed hard against the brunette's chest.
    "I could kill you." Growling, the taller student applied more force. "Right now I could. I could say we were just fooling around and this was some freak accident. I could find a way to silence these witnesses. You underestimate me Injun but I can do exactly that and more."
    Eyes going watery with tears, the espionage student lifted his hands up to grab a hold of Vinzent's wrists.
    "Awwww think you can overpower me?"
    Renjun struggled to even frown as he found the inner part of the red haired boys arm. He didn't hesitate to dig his nails into the skin.
    With a roar of pain, the pressure on his throat disappeared and Vinzent repealed backward, clutching his wrist. "YOU-"
    "What's going on here?!"
    Everyone, captivated by the scene that unraveled before them turned around to see the familiar figure of Mark, standing by the elevator doors. His arms crossed over his chest pulled back his blazer just slightly, showing off the pistol attached to his side.
"This fucktard just tried to slice my wrist open!" Vinzent pointed an accusing finger at Renjun, shoving his wrist in Mark's face as the agent came towards the scene.
The onyx haired teen, took one glance at what was being shown and shrugged. He glared at the student with burning eyes. "I'm sure Injun meant well, he isn't exactly as violent as you are. However, I really expected less childish actions from you mostly. You are the older one out of the two."
"Than shouldn't he follow me orders?"
"Shouldn't you be treating him with respect since he is younger in the first place?" Mark snapped, not having this backtalk. "It's a good thing I get to talk to the mentors next about the apprentices because I'll be sure to bring this behaviour up to yours." His fiery gaze moved over to his own student, Jadon. "And you're punishment has already been picked out. I hope you like cleaning, cause that is a staple part of my job. Luckily I have you to help me with that."
He turned around to dish out his glare to the other students. "You are all in some sort of punishment I hope you know this. Not going over to help is just as bad as committing the crime yourself. Now how about you all go to your dorms and get ready? That's gives me enough time to try and decide what you'll be doing for the rest of the day."
Everyone started to file out of the room, some grumbling, others keeping silent. Vinzent, with eyes ablaze with rage, burned holes into Renjun's own blue eyes. He kept calm per usual, letting his countenance keep cold and distant. Meanwhile, Jadon was trembling as the his teacher guided him icily out, whispering into his ear making the student pale in terror.
This left only the two old friends in the room. The brunette didn't dare make eye contact with Mark as he made his way over to the elevator.
    "You don't have to leave." The agent spoke up, placing a hand on Renjun's shoulder. "You did just come back from a mission with Sicheng, I'm sure you need to rest."
    "I didn't need your help." The smaller teen hissed, shrugging the grip off. "I could've easily left Vinzent to his own devices. I'm sure someone would step up and stop it all." He nearly smashed the elevator button with the amount of force he put into it. "I handled myself pretty well after you left."
    "Are you seriously still angry about tha-"
    "Pick your words out wisely Mark Lee." Renjun, glared up at his teacher. "You don't want to betray your old friend now do you?"
    His childhood friend froze, eyes widening when he realized his words. "Renjun I didn't mean it like that-"
    "I wasn't going to go with the others for your information." The elevator doors opened. "I was going to visit Jeno. He is the only one I trust after all."