renegades [teenage mercenary]

004

After Rei was handed some clothing that she changed into in the female bathrooms, she wandered around, struggling to find the training room Ijin was talking about. Apparently, they never had many women sign up as bodyguards, so there wasn't a women's locker room attached to where they trained. She had told Ijin she was fine dressing in there with the men (as back at the Camp, everything was coed, so it didn't make a difference for her), although he quickly refused and informed her that coed dressing rooms were frowned upon here.

She shrugged. The only problem she had was that the bathrooms were a bit farther down and pursued a different path as they weren't connected to the training room. Ijin hadn't ever told her the directions, so she had no clue where she was going.

She rolled the sleeves up to her elbows as the jacket she was given was slightly big for her frame. She was first taken aback when she noticed an emblem on all the clothing she was given. Symbols showed affiliation—and showing affiliation was dangerous. So why would they want anyone to know who they were affiliated with? Oh well. She'd probably be handing back the clothing later anyway, so it wouldn't matter much if she didn't leave the training center.

The building the training center was a part of was incredibly huge, she realized. When she passed the elevators, they displayed at least 20 numbers on the pad. All she knew was that the training center was on the first floor, so at least she wouldn't have to worry about the other levels.

As she continued, she passed a woman in a formal dress who gave her a strange look. Rei swallowed heavily, worried that if Ijin wasn't here, she would get into some shit—especially since she still knew very little Korean.

The woman muttered something to herself, Rei assumed, although when she swore the woman had said her name, Rei turned around and found icy blue eyes meeting hers.

"Rei?" the woman repeated, impatient.

So Rei hadn't misheard her. Ijin must have told the company she'd be here. The woman kept on talking to her, assuming she could understand. Rei kept eye contact nevertheless, waiting for an escape.

At some point, the woman stopped, anticipating an answer.

Rei calmly sighed. In horrible Korean with her heavy accent, she said, "I don't know Korean well. Sorry." Ijin had taught her a few phrases ever since she had asked, specifically if this situation was to occur. It was rough at best, but she was sure the woman got her gist after her whole spiel.

With a raised eyebrow, the woman sighed and shook her head. She gestured for Rei to follow her with her lithe hand, untouched by labor; however, Rei did notice a few scratches dispersed through her bare skin.

Thankful, Rei turned on her heel and trailed the woman, mapping out the directions so next time she wouldn't get lost.

They reached the entrance to the training room, where the men in the company uniform were running laps around the track. Ijin was somewhere in the middle of them, silver hair gleaming in the mute light as the track was hidden under the parted ceiling. They were rounding up the bend towards Rei when Ijin saw her, and she couldn't help it as a smile crept on her face, pumped to join them.

She had done a workout earlier this morning, but it was nothing compared to the normal movement she would've done a day back in Grian, so she was excited for a bit more of a challenge (if there'd be any at all).

Before the woman started walking away, Rei politely bowed and said her thanks. As the group came closer, Ijin picked up his speed slightly to break through the others. Eventually, he was lined up with the entrance and Rei turned on her heel, joining the run. After a few moments, she and Ijin knitted back together to the group, jogging at a uniform speed.