Road to Utopia - NCT

5 - This Desk Is A Mess

"Jisung?" I heard a voice ask from behind me. I turned around to face the person.

"Oh, hey, Taeyong. Did you finish whatever you were doing?" I greeted him as he came down the stairs. He smiled when I noticed him. I half expected it to be Chenle at that moment and I'm glad it's not. That would be too cliché, right?

"I did finish counting the money for today. Did you pick out what you wanted to be?" He came over and took the sheet out of my hand and scanned it before handing it back

"Well, Kun said a hacker, alchemist or sniper, so I think I'll go with those."

"Oh, so you met Kun then?" I nodded. "Well, I think he got the first two right but I don't think you're an on-field person. So instead, I think you would probably be good at being a doctor? But I think you could get away with being just the first two."

"Taeyong, can I ask a question?" He nodded and gestured for me to ask. "How come Kun said he was an Intel but I can't be one?"

Taeyong smiled. "I think you're the only person who has picked this out. To be an Intel, you have to pass a series of tests that I made and everyone needs to unanimously say that you are fit to be one. Being a unit leader is also helpful, but it isn't a requirement."

"Has anyone tried to be one?"

"I think Ten passed the tests. Unfortunately, a lot of the members didn't want him to stay here during missions because he's the best flirt. Winwin also tried to be one but Kun said 'no' since Winwin is part of his team and he would have to switch. We can't have two Intels on one team." Wow, it sounded extremely hard. But what are those names? Ten? Winwin? Were they codenames?

"Being an Intel requires a lot of work outside normal hours as well," he carried on, "and you can't really handle another role. Kun was originally head doctor, but he passed the Intel tests and became one, so he had to abandon that and now he just stays in the office most days. You can apply anytime, but I don't recommend it."

Wow, it sounded like a lot of work. Maybe that's why they didn't include it on the sheet: it's too hard for the newer members. It definitely sounded too hard for me right now. Maybe I could try later on? Maybe not; I don't think I could handle that much responsibility.

"So you're one, right?"

"Of course." He replied.

"But you manage the restaurant as well, so how do you cope with that?"

He laughed. "Oh, I'm not the one managing half the stuff up there. I just sit at the desk in the office and do my research for the group. I'm just here supervising the place during the day, but it's not too bad. It's mainly Doyoung or Renjun handling it since they don't come down here a lot."

"Why not?" Surely they would be needed for missions?

"Well, they're usually not here since they actually have jobs for other people. They work for government officials or places where they can gather some information, so all I expect from them is to handle stock and finances and give me the info they find. They're super quick at it too." He stopped and looked at me. "Not the point, did you decide what you want to do? If so, I'll take you to Johnny since I'm on my way down."

"Sure, I'll follow you."

He started to move towards where the entrance was, but instead of going up the stairs, he turned to his left and went down another set of stairs. It wasn't as dark as the other set, but I almost tripped again. Luckily, Taeyong helped me to regain my balance so I was fine.

As soon as we got to the bottom of the stairs, I was met with a classroom-looking room. There were about ten people scattered around the room, sitting on a chair or a table. There was one guy who was standing up at the whiteboard, probably delivering some presentation.