Alone | NCT

Chapter 17

"This is stupid." Jeno muttered under his breath as he punched the punching bag with all his might. The bag swung aggressively, almost hitting Jaemin who was standing on the other side.

The two boys were training together that afternoon, alone in the corner while the Juniors were dueling on the mats. The youngest members of the agency were also shooting in the range, located on the other side of the wall, the loud shots ringing through the room. Many agents were training during this time of year, preparing for their physical exams with the Academy.

"Whoa there." Jaemin said, blocking the punching bag with his arm. "Why are you so angry?"

"My solo mission is so stupid. I'm basically a search dog!" Jeno exclaimed with another punch. This time, Jaemin held onto the punching bag, stopping its movement.

"It could be worse, you know." Jaemin said, slowly releasing the punching bag so that it returned to its original position.

"Like what?" Jeno asked, eyeing his best friend.

"You could be going to Hell, literally." Jaemin said. Jeno let out a scoff.

"Meeting the devil seems better than looking for your sister's fiancé." Jeno said before eyeing the long hallway down the side of the training area, where the simulation room was located. There, Renjun was also currently training for his solo mission.

"You could also have Sejung teaching you how to prevent being brainwashed by sirens." Jaemin said, a bright smile on his face. Jeno rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Jeno said, taking his boxing gloves off just as Jiwoo and Rena exited the axe throwing area, meeting the two boys.

"You seem grumpy." Jiwoo said, hands on her hips as she eyed Jeno while Rena went to greet her boyfriend.

"He doesn't like his solo mission." Jaemin told the girls as he wrapped his arm around Rena.

"At least you have a mission." Rena said softly, giving Jeno a small smile of encouragement.

"Let's not talk about it." Jeno said, feeling uncomfortable. Jiwoo noticed this and quickly changed the topic.

"Where's Renjun and Haechan?" Jiwoo asked, looking around. Just then, Renjun and Haechan came out towards the main training area, Jaehyun and Sejung following them.

"Training well?" Jaehyun asked the four of them. They nodded to the elder male.

"That's good." Jaehyun said before shifting his attention to Jaemin and Rena. "There's a board meeting tonight, don't forget."

Jeno held his hands in fists as the words escaped Jaehyun's mouth, a small action, only noticed by Jiwoo. The faerie knew that Jeno wanted a position on the board, but it was difficult to take it away from the other two. Before Jiwoo could calm him down though, Renjun had already put a hand on Jeno's shoulder.

"Their meetings are boring, trust me." Renjun whispered into Jeno's ear, just barely audible for Jiwoo. She watched as Jeno seemed to relax a bit more to the words of his friend.

"Well, we should get studying." Haechan said, breaking the tension. The rest of the group bid the two older agents goodbye before heading to the locker rooms to get changed.

In the range, the young agents stood on the range, practicing how to shoot with a rifle.

"Nice." Ten said, as Chenle hit all his shots perfectly, forming a single hole in the centre of the target. Chenle smiled as he put his rifle down before looking at Minjee, who was struggling to carry the heavy rifle in her hands.