Metanoia

Hydra, Vruydon: Chapter 29

Doyoung, the head of the entire training program and the director of the field agents missions.The man had a lasting impression of being cold and unfriendly. He would only speak to those important to him in the moment. Telling them what to do, confessing concerns for certain tasks, getting angry over things. And if no one was under this attention, than they were treated as background characters who had no use to them. The purple haired agent knew every employee in the company by name and could pick each person out from the crowd. But no one really had the evidence to show as he was isolated from everyone as much as possible. As a result he was one of the biggest mysteries in Hydra.
There were conversations with his apprentice, Kuzma that Renjun would always instigate. However all that came out of the teen's mouth appeared to be lies and coverups. Sometimes the brunette would find himself alone with the blue haired student and take the chance to ask about how Doyoung treated them.
'Sorry, I have to go now, Doyoung is expecting me.' Was what was usually said in those times as they swiftly fled the scene.
Other encounters were in large crowds, where Kuzma could find no reason to leave unless he wanted to look panicked and suspicious. Those times Renjun's classmate would pretend to give up in keeping secrets. They would stare at him with their bright blue eyes and lie.
'He's nicer than you'd first think.' Kuzma would whisper. 'Yeah he seems super aloof and unfriendly but I can assure you that he is perfectly capable of being a good person.'
These lies and escapes from his interrogations only made Renjun that much more curious over Doyoung's power. Going as far as spending a couple more minutes during his night missions to try and follow the agent for as long as possible undetected. It would never go that far however because every time the brunette was able to get a chance to find a much larger piece to the puzzle- it would be guarded by security, as the agents would let Doyoung pass. Thus restricting Renjun from knowing anymore which only had him guessing why.
Now here he was, standing in front the agent he had followed nearly every night for the past few months.
The purple haired man had his normal cold expression on his visage. His arms folded over his chest, eyes half lidded in an unamused emotion. The dark glow of the blood orange hue was near shining with something unreadable. Everything he was radiating was unknowing and withheld a much more powerful form of what could have been anything from compassion to cruelty.
"What do you need?" Renjun's voice came out breathless and his eyes flickered back at the door in front of him.
"Did I not make myself clear before?" Doyoung's tone sent shivers down the student's spine. "I said I want to talk to you."
Nearly spinning on his heel too fast, the brunette struggled to face the agent. "Of course..." He waited for the man to nod and lead Renjun to the elevator instead so they could converse in a more private spot. However the agent stood still in the exposed halls.
At first Doyoung's eyes were narrowed as if he was waiting for something himself. Then, after a few seconds pause, he cleared his throat. "You've been at the top of your class for a while now."
The other nodded nervously and forced his mouth shut from saying anything. Perhaps it was just a nice little congratulation on his part, or worse the accusation of cheating the system. Renjun gulped, his fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
"Johnny, Mark and Sicheng have all reported good things about you and how much you improved throughout the six months we've gotten to know you. In fact it was brought to my attention in the first week of training that perhaps you weren't able to even be in Hydra's training program in the first place due to your poor standings before. Which is very baffling now considering how valuable of a trainee you've proven to be."
'Like you would know.' Renjun bit his tongue from spitting the retort out. Sure it had irked him that this man, who hardly ever interacted with him was commenting on his training. But this man also had the teen's fate wrapped around his fingers. In a snap the brunette was sure he could be executed by anyone of Doyoung's choice. "Th.... thank you.. sir.."
The purple haired man nodded curtly. "As you know, final exams are coming up for your class. And that means the final test to see if all your training has made you all worthy enough to graduate and come join our company as real employees. Thus setting you and your family up for financial success and setting up nearly all their retirement plans. This is why our program is said to be one of the most difficult ones out there. It is also why there were only twelve of you who signed up."
Breaking into a cold sweat, the smaller one's heart was starting to race. If he was nervous about the finals before, than this surely made everything much worse for him. There were so many things to go over and worry about, Renjun wasn't keen on putting exams on the growing list of stress he would have to go through.
"Most don't pass, most get kicked out right after." Doyoung's glowing eyes flashed. "Most reveal their true natures."
He almost spoke out in fright, getting the instinct to run. Yet his feet were near glued to the floor. Did he get outed? Was he spotted at one point at night trying to find out secrets and ways to get around freely? Was Renjun spotted conveniently at every spot he loitered in the city, which had also conveniently had someone talking about Vruydon's history? Did they realize he was someone from Goldenleaf? A possible participant in the experiment held in his home town now trying to find out everything behind it. Trying to find out why Jaemin and Donghyuck were brought up before?
"However, from what I've seen. I believe that you, Injun, don't have to take these dreaded exams."
Renjun nearly collapsed on the spot both from the relief of not being found out and the shock of not having to take these supposed gruelling finals. But despite all of the happiness from avoiding it, he had to still think straight and wonder why he was getting the chance to even escape the tests in the first place.  "Excuse me if this is a rude thing to ask, but why exactly am I being excused?"
"In the reports I had received, I had noticed that you were being taken on some rather... interesting missions." The brunette flinched at Doyoung's tone. "Most being subjects of crime. Usually I would bring this up to your mentor and prohibit missions from your doing after, as well as reprimanding Sicheng with certain... punishments. However, in looking at the papers, I found that you two were able to create a much higher success rate with the tasks you took. It was interesting nonetheless, the capability that you two were able to perform at considering how poorly executed your class sessions were at the start of the program."
"So my cooperation with my peers did me good?"
"Moreover, your success rate."
'Of course.' Renjun internally rolled his eyes. Rely on Doyoung to only notice the results of missions and how it was mostly over succeeding rather than talent or teamwork. In spite of the vain response, the student was still curious about what his superior was talking about.
"I see your a bit miffed by my explanations." Stated in a disdainful manner, the purple haired agent sighed in defeat of getting the teen to understand his complex phrasing.
However in a snark manner, the brunette shook his head. "I think I get it."
It was a stretch to talk back like that, but it was served rather well as Doyoung's lip quirked up. "Oh?"
"You want me to go on a mission." Renjun said. "You want me to go succeed in another mission and that'll let me into the company. I won't have to take exams if I do something for you right?"
The older man smirked. "I guess you are more sharp than I pegged you to be."
'Clearly.' The teen couldn't help but keep this running dialogue in his head. 'You're the one who hasn't noticed that your own technology has been tampered, really a mistake in phrasing on your part now isn't it?'
"What do you want me to do?"
"Eager." Doyoung didn't spare a glance around the hallway to see if anyone was eavesdropping before briefing him. "Have you ever heard of the town Goldenleaf?"
Renjun nearly coughed, choking on air. His heart was gripped and forced to stop as his blood suddenly stopped flowing in his veins. He was completely overtaken with shock, which was a lot considering his rollercoaster of emotions in this conversation alone. On the outside, he tried his best to keep himself together and not let his act down. However, he was internally going haywire.
"No....." He forced his voice out to stay calm yet he had nearly no breath to even speak as he found it hard to even complete menial bodily functions.
"Of course you haven't. Because it is one of our largest projects. And we usually keep our larger projects hidden. But I'm sure with your sharp mind you caught onto that." Doyoung seemed to not notice Renjun's inward struggle, or at least, decided not to pay mind to it. "Getting to the point, we want you to go over there and look into the odd occurrences. Mainly the disappearance of two of our main subjects. They had been going through some experiments to test their stability and how certain events effected them. However there seemed to be a error as now neither seem to be active in our systems. We need you to look into the cases of Lee Donghyuck and Na Jaemin."
Renjun's mind went blank. The hand that gripped his heart had suddenly crushed it into a small, withered form of what it once was and let it drop to the floor, cold and void. He could barely see Doyoung as his vision got both dark and blurry, he had no idea if there were tears in his eyes or if tears were flowing down his cheeks. Everything felt numb.
He was supposed to feel happy. He was supposed to be glad. Elated that he would be able to miss these exams for what he came to Vruydon for in the first place. He was basically getting permission, help and time to find the answers he wanted ever since he was in the town. Finally, after half a year of agonizing over the question, Renjun would finally be able to find out what was going on around Goldenleaf. A better understanding would be presented to him on a silver platter, and with his hard work and high success rate in missions- there was guarantee that he would get what he wanted.
"I....... I don't know...." Renjun had no idea what he was saying. He wanted this, he need this.
    "Care to explain why?" Doyoung's tone turned cold but the brunette hardly noticed. "It's unlike you to be so hesitant and unsure. If you think that this mission is going to be extremely challenging than you have no worry as we can provide you with some aid. However we can't tolerate much of this insecurity as it can greatly affect the outcome of the mission."
    As the purple haired man continued talking, the student saw the faces of the people he knew back home. The revisiting image of Donghyuck flashed in front of him. However it wasn't any of the expressions he had seen from the honey haired boy from the countless times they hung out. Instead it was his emotionless countenance that was shown, the same one that was in the paper with the headlines 'Two Missing, One dead.' Renjun wasn't sure if he could handle what was happening to him.
    "You don't need to provide me anything." He interrupted the agents long explanation. "Cause..... because I won't be taking your offer. I will be taking exams like the rest of my class."
    Doyoung's eyes narrowed again. "What's this sudden change in behaviour Injun?"
    Not keen on thinking about this anymore and resurfacing his emotions, Renjun attempted to change the subject. "I'm just curious on the exams and what will happen there. Perhaps I might miss something there. Perhaps I can be taught something while taking the tests. If it's no hassle can you please explain what goes on so I can make my decision more soundly?"
    There was a silence as the space between them became tense and suffocating, not that it really affected the brunette as he was already struggling to even keep standing.
    "I'm not authorized to tell you those things, it is all part of the tests. To see if you're prepared."
    "I think than I would much rather go through that." Renjun decided without a thought. "Better than overthinking a plan for uh.... Goldenleaf."
    Something inside the purple haired agent was not pleased. Maybe this was the first time things didn't go his way. If so then the brunette would be more than satisfied with his responses. However he wouldn't have time to celebrate or rejoice as the man closed the distance, only making them inches apart as he towered over the student.
    "Is that the truth?" His voice was barely a whisper, but it was as sharp as a dagger, piercing through Renjun's facade. "Because I don't believe that is the exact case with you."
    The brunette nearly shrivelled under Doyoung's glare and his mind was begging him to just leave. As it couldn't handle all of this information at once without showing any emotion. It was cracking under the pressure of the agent's presence. A lump was growing in Renjun's throat.
    However the purple haired man ignored it and leaned over to speak directly in the others ear. "This is your chance to redeem yourself after all your little outings. I can easily forget how much of a prick you've been in my side reworking all the buildings security if you just accept the mission. But just remember that when you decline my offer again. Because eyes will be watching you Injun. They'll be staring at you and observing every little thing you do. So when you make so much as a wrong breath, they'll take you away from it all."
    Breath stuttering, Renjun couldn't bear it anymore and slipped away from the scene. Being agile enough to dodge the outstretching hand that was aiming for his shoulder, the brunette quickly dashed away from the agent. He forgot what he was supposed to do, where he was supposed to go. He just ran. He needed to get away from here. He needed to leave before they caught onto him. Before it was too late.
    By the time he reached the end of his run, his breath was ragged and his mind was racing. The world around him was blurry as messy blobs of colour moved back and forth and mumbles surrounded him. Never growing clear, only becoming louder. In his panic he saw himself shrinking he saw his surroundings become large, scary, promising death.
    With stumbling movements, he sprinted away from it all. His body slammed into something and bounced back. Something was gripping him, something was grasping at his sleeves and pulling at his arms, his wrists, his hands. Rapidly, he tried to shake the grips away, lifting his weight up to try and hit at him. And as soon as it disappeared, he fell on the ground.
    There was no time to regard the pains in his body as he looked up. A light had replaced the dark surface and Renjun scrambled back onto his feet, running in.
    A slam sounded behind him, but before he could turn around he was entrapped. Warmth enveloped his being. With a weak cry he struggled to get out, however this grip was too strong to go against. Suddenly a voice became audible in his mystified panic.
    "Renjun. Renjun calm down."
    Instantly his eyes regained clarity. The brunette saw the patterns of a white button down. He could feel the surface his face was resting on rise and fall as breaths hit his hair. Glancing up, he saw Jeno, face twisted up in concern for the smaller teen. A hand came to rest at the dip of his back as the other held his cheek, brushing away what tears must've fallen onto his cheeks.
    "What happened? Are you ok? Are you hurt?"    Renjun had no idea how to respond, he couldn't explain how he felt. He couldn't explain all of it all. All he could do was push his face against Jeno's palm and continue crying. "It.... it hurts so much." His voice was raspy and breaking. "Jeno it hurts so badly. I can't stop it."
    He wasn't able to stop. He wasn't able to stop the memories as Donghyuck invaded his mind. Once in his reach. Once obtainable. Was now far far away. Unable to have anymore. Something he took for granted had shattered into a million pieces and fell unto him. Cutting his skin with the regret and reminders of what he did. The answers he wanted pushed him. Pushed him to ignorance. And now as they were in front of him, he ignored them too. Because he didn't want them anymore. He just wanted....
    "I just want Donghyuck back..." He cried out, hands gripping the white haired boys shirt. Renjun stared at the younger boy with his eyes glassy. "I just want my friend back."