Captive | NCT

Prologue

It's that time of year again. The summer night, where the H.I.D.D.E.N. board members go through the Academy entrance exams to see if any freshman are strong and smart enough to join the agency right from the start. The H.I.D.D.E.N. board consists of two members from each class, each with the two highest marks from both their academic and physical exams, in addition to the H.I.D.D.E.N. leaders. H.I.D.D.E.N. board members will spend the entire night looking at results from the two entrance tests, one physical and one intellectual, from each applicant and discuss the results and finally determine whether the applicant will be given access to the H.I.D.D.E.N. facilities and training in the fall.

Rena walked down the long and narrow hallway, until he saw the black door at the end. She entered hes fingerprint and waited for the scanner to scan her eyes. When the door opened, it revealed the large meeting room, many of the seats already filled by members of the board.

The members of the board increased each year, with graduates becoming leaders and agents deciding to stay with H.I.D.D.E.N. instead of returning to their own kingdoms. Representing the seniors were Mark and Yuri. Rena and, to everyone's surprise, Renjun represented the juniors. Lastly, Chenle and Naeun represented the sophomores.

Renjun had been longing for a spot since his freshmen year but was beat out by Jaemin or Haechan. He was told by Doyoung that it was because he wasn't balanced enough, his physical scores too low in comparision to his intellect, which was near perfect. Somehow, he had made it to the board for this upcoming term.

The number of agency leaders had grown once again, with the graduation of Jungwoo and Sejung, there were now eleven leaders.

Rena took her seat beside Renjun, who she was staying with over the summer. She had gone to the washroom to calm herself down after recalling the last time she was at the Academy.

Jaemin had decided to break up with her before going on his mission, leaving the girl broken hearted. Rena had to admit, it wasn't like she hadn't seen it coming. Their relationship wasn't going smoothly anyways, at least that's what Rena told herself. She decided to keep the break up to herself, not exactly knowing how to tell her friends anyways. If Jaemin wants to tell them, he can do it himself. Rena thought as she crossed her hands over her chest, leaning back in her chair.

"Are you okay?" Rena heard Yuri as Renjun. She turned her head to see Renjun fiddling with the pen in his hand.

"Yep, just first board meeting jitters." Renjun replied, putting the pen down. He put his hands on his thighs, taking a deep breath.

"Trust me, this meeting is boring." Rena said just as the doors opened, Taeyong walking in with Ten, Doyoung, and Jaehyun. They took their seats at the end of the table.

Ten prepared the holographic screens as Taeyong began speaking to the group.

"Hello everyone, thank you for taking time out of your summer to meet with us. Today, we will be completing our annual agency selection, to choose students who shall begin training with us at the start of the school year." Taeyong started as the lights began to dim.

"To refresh everyone, last year's leaders have marked the applicants based on their Academy entrance exams. There are two parts, one intellectual and one physical. We will use these scores along with a video of their physical to determine who we shall choose. There are 45 applicants in front of us today, and we will go through each of their applications and discuss. Five of these applicants have applied earlier than their time, meaning they cannot officially enroll, but if we chose to take them, they may train with us for a few years before officially enrolling at the academy."

This was rare but not uncommon. Mark had enrolled with Jaehyun, training alongside him for two years until he became an official student at the Academy. A few others include Haechan, Chenle, Jisung who will be enrolling this year, and Jimin, Jaemin's younger sister, who began training last year but will not be enrolling at the Academy until next year.

"Are there any questions before we begin?" Taeyong asked the group, but Rena knew it was meant for Chenle and Naeun, who are attending this meeting for the first time. The board members shook their heads.

"Alright, let's get started then." Taeyong said. Doyoung brought up the first image and Rena watched as a smirk appeared on Chenle's face as he saw his best friend's face.

"Park Jisung, intellect of 89/100, physical of 92/100."

"Let's not waste out time and go to the next one." Jaehyun said. Taeyong nodded in agreement.

"Jaehyun's right. Jisung's been a fully initiated agent for two years already." Taeyong said. Doyoung nodded, pulling up the next image.

Initiation, Rena let out a small sigh as she recalled her initiation mission with Jisung. H.I.D.D.E.N.'s trademark was a silver pin with the agency's logo that the agents wore on their chest during missions. It was their symbol, their access pass, a mark that was well respected amongst the supernatural kingdoms. In order to receive the pin, new members of the agency would have to pass what was known as the initiation mission.

The catch for those that are with the agency early is that they might not have the opportunity to go the first run. Haechan did his with Rena and Jimin had yet to do hers, despite training for a year. That just showed that the silver agency pin really wasn't just for anyone.

"Na Jimin. Intellect 87/100, physical 89/100." Jaemin's sister. This time Ten waved his hand.

"Alright, let's move onto the ones we haven't seen before. " Taeyong said, nodding to Doyoung.

"I'm just warning all of you, they're not that great." Ten informed them. Doyoung let out a deep sigh before changing the photos.

...

"You were right about the boring part." Renjun muttered from beside Rena as they watched a boy launch himself at the examiner, just to end up face first into the mat. Many of the leaders shook their heads, making Doyoung switch to the next image.

They only had one more applicant left, yet there had been no new additions on their list since Jimin. Rena leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand as the last applicant came up.

"Song Nari, intellect of 85/100, physical of 83/100." Doyoung told them.

Rena watched her physical exam. The girl wasn't terrible, but she wasn't amazing either.

"I think we should take her." Sejung said. "She had a lot of potential."

"Any objections?" Taeyong asked. The room was silent.

And with that, Rena had completed her second summer board meeting.

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