Metanoia

Hydra, Vruydon: Chapter 19

"Alright kiddos, hoped you had fun learning how to kill someone." Johnny exclaimed in a rather sarcastic manner, spinning his gun around fecklessly. Regardless of the fact that this guy knew how to handle guns way better than most, Renjun was still unnerved by the weapon. The way his teacher toyed with the gun was near one in the same as how the man.... Sicheng.. did it.
The brunette flinched inwardly, a surge of fear coursing through his veins. He had nearly forgotten that his hunters were in the same building as him; breathing the same air; eating the same food; talking to the same people. Renjun didn't want to think that the trio could easily be watching him now... from elsewhere.
He recalled clearly trying to hide away from their eyes, which looked hungry for his blood after failing to capture him. Or kill him. He remembered bowing his head down to stare at his food as his dyed hair covered most of his visage.
Of course it appeared rather antisocial of him to be acting like this, especially when it was the first day. But he had his own personal reasons. And so that night he ate his dinner in silence, sending glances upward to check if they noticed him or not.
It was chilling to see how easily they worked in this environment. Renjun watched carefully as the trio talked in normal manners. Watched as they laughed and joked around like a bunch of normal young adults. He observed how teasing Yuta was; how effortlessly funny Jaehyun acted; how familiarly salty Sicheng's actions were. The three acted just like Jisung, Donghyuck and Renjun would. However there were differences this time. One, these people could kill on sight. Two, the brunette's own friends back in Goldenleaf were long gone. Long past acquaintances.
As Renjun listened to Johnny drone on more and more about gun safety or something, he felt a hollow pang in his chest. It was just a matter of two months, and everything has already changed between the trio. He wondered what would a meeting between the other two be like now. Would Jisung feel betrayed that Donghyuck and Renjun up and left him? Would Donghyuck and Jisung be amazed by how far Renjun has come? Would Donghyuck think differently of the two after the events that had happened with Jaemin? Would Donghyuck even be alive...
The brunette shook his head discreetly. He couldn't think about things like this. That was the past, it had nothing to do with what was happening now. Sure it affected the outcome, but it wasn't going to affect it any longer.
'Plus.' His blue eyes flickered over to a certain white haired boy. 'There's someone else who's proving to be a good friend.'
Before he even ended his thinking process the class dispersed suddenly. A haze of confusion settled in his brain and Renjun turned his head around to see what was happening.
The class had went from organized to chaotic with a snap of a finger. He was finding himself alone in the Range. As the rest of his classmates were streaming out to different areas of the training room. With flashes of the outside as each student left the smaller room, he could see them head in a different direction. Vinzent and his group to the middle of the room to work on sparring; Zuri and Riya moving extremely close to an array of bo staffs; Mei and Kailani checking out the upstairs; Kuzma, Saige and Jeno staying near the punching bags.
Johnny had followed the rest of the class out to make sure no one was causing too much of a ruckus. Which he found out could unfortunately happen. As seen when Kailani and Vinzent challenged each other to a who could shoot more targets match. Renjun almost clearly remembered a vein or two pulsing in frustration. His eyes had a wry glint in them as he watched the dark blue haired man make his way out.
Mark, on the other hand, stayed in the Range with the brunette. Leaning against the wall with a gun strapped against his waistband. The sleeve cuffs of his button down rolled up to expose his forearms. He was near a spitting image of those business men some girls ogle at. In this case, Renjun was pretty much shaking with terror.
He himself had no idea what he should do in the training room. All he knew was that there was no chance that attention should be drawn to him ever again. Not after Vinzent clearly glared at him when being praised by the taller agent. That meant the brunette could not test out his abilities out in the open with those four ravenous eyes settled on him.
'I'll come during free time.' Renjun decided on the spot. 'I'm sure everyone will be resting or doing homework..' He took in a trembling breath. 'I hope.'
"Are you going to take another try at the Range?" Mark's voice echoed around the room, tone surprisingly softer than beforehand when he was scolding the two other students for near blowing each others head off. His position became relaxed as well, sitting on the bench near the back.
The brunette shook his head.
"Than what are you going to do with this free time?" His old friend queried innocently. "You could brush up on the sparring moves that were taught today. Or maybe try your hand with the punching bags? There is the obstacle course upstairs as well and the weapons on the wall. I could help you learn how to-"
"How are you doing this?" The sudden interjection silenced Mark instantly. Renjun had his fists clenched, the fear that dug deep shattered. He spun on his heel with an intense glare. "How are you acting as if this isn't weird in the slightest? I don't know where you go for a year and this is it? A place for people to learn how to fight? Since when did poor little boy Mark Lee fight like a badass? That small child who couldn't even smack someone on the back hard enough cause it would injure them?" Jabbing a finger in the older teen's direction, Renjun had fire in his eyes. "You lied to us, you said you were going to college to study education and become a Kindergarten Teacher. A fucking Kindergarten teacher. You never mentioned become... whatever the fuck this company does!"
His old friend had nothing to say, in fact he appeared rather startled by Renjun's sudden outburst. Mouth dry with a lack of response, Mark's eyebrows furrowed. "I-"
"Do you know what happened when you were gone? How much you missed?" The runaway gave his 'teacher' any time to make up any sort of excuse. "I'll tell you what happened. Donghyuck fell in love with Na Jaemin. Donghyuck got addicted to a VR game. Donghyuck got a stalker. Donghyuck probably DIED." His cheeks were getting wet. The tone of his voice was cracking. "I don't think you understand what we are without you. I don't think you understand how much we can't function!" Hands quaking, Renjun hiccuped.
"I lost my best friend. I couldn't help my best friend." Sniffling, the brunette felt his heart break. "We needed you Mark. Where were you? Why were you here? Why did you leave us?"
He stumbled forward, tripping into Mark's open arms as the taller boy embraced him. It was like the dark haired teen didn't know what else to do. He just let Renjun loud sobs become muffled as the brunette buried his face in the others white shirt. The younger boy balled up fists of fabric, holding on as if once he let go, Mark would disappear again. And this time, Renjun wouldn't be able to find him.
".....I should have been there....."
The smaller teen had no response, just shivers of sorrow. He had no idea what he would think of his old friend anymore. He had no idea what to call him. Was Mark his enemy? Or his friend?

The next day things around Renjun had toned down. He was able to collect his thoughts throughout the rest of the day as the rest of the curriculum had been introduced. Sure there were some words of concern from Jeno and comforting gestures of affection. Mark even decided to let the brunette work independently, as if that would be enough to make himself redeemable in the runaways eyes. In spite of everything that was going on around him, Renjun was feeling much better this morning. Surely the nights rest he had was enough to recuperate him for todays activities. Apparently he was wrong about that.
Turns out, all the things he had chosen to ignore from Johnny's speech were actually important this time. And now he was being faced with a large board of matches that were to be held today. It was on such short notice according to the rumours around the small amount of classmates. Renjun wasn't in the loop about why but he had no care in the matter anyway. All he had to understand was that this was the physical part of the aptitude test.
When it came to the word test, he had no second thought on knowing it would cost him some sort of consequence. In fact this was no different. His mind was racing with all the possibilities that could happen.
"Remember." Mark spoke up from the sidelines. "This is only part one of two. This only takes into account your personal aptitude. It won't determine whether or not we'll kick you out. It'll just determine your mentor."
Mentor. Renjun didn't recall hearing anything about that either. He was one hundred percent sure he missed over half of the most important information regarding Hydra. Which meant pulling Jeno aside to get a recap, all the while trying not to let any other impeding eyes or ears.
'I should listen a bit more...'
"Alright, now that we have everything covered." Johnny rested one hand on two students shoulders. "Jadon! Jeno! The two J's! Let's have you two spar first."
Rolling his shoulders back in a nervous manner, the white haired teen reluctantly stepped forward and approached the middle. The pink eye contacts did nothing to obscure the jitters that were circling his taller friends mind. In a way Renjun took pity on Jeno for being the first person to go up. Especially since all his friend did last practice was hit the punching bag.
Jadon, in a large contrast, sauntered over to the middle with a big, fat, cocky grin glued onto his face. His head was tilted upward as he glared down at his opponent with disdain. The ego he was fanning only grew larger in size as his three friends called out cheers his direction. At the same time trying to lower Jeno down a peg with their taunts and insults.
However, Jeno wasn't in the slightest phased by this. It was just like back in Goldenleaf when him and Jaemin would play against other teams. There would always be a crowd present, either against him or for him. But it didn't matter, all he had to do was focus. And that was what he channeled right now. As Johnny raised his hand in the air.
Both got into a formidable battle stance, keeping their hands up. With a clean swipe down, the teacher signalled the start of the match.
It was a quick motion that Jadon took into account quickly as he made the first move. He had nearly the same build as Jeno which made this first fight rather equal. In his case that was what the green eyes fellow thought. his fist made contact with the first target he spotted, the stomach. However, as he drove his weight down on the ball of his back foot and launched forward to sucker punch the white haired boy- he found that his target disappeared. There was a blob of colour in the corner of his eye that moved, causing him to turn his head.
A grip was established on Jadon's shoulder and the other arms wrist. Heart nearly leaping out of his chest, his legs found now ground to stand under and his back slammed hard against the mat. He forgot to yell.
And with the simple movements of sweeping Jadon's legs out from under him, Jeno won. It was all mattering on if one could take the other down, which the athlete had executed perfectly. In that moment, Renjun was scared. Scared of what Jeno could become. Scared of what would become of himself.