Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

39 [details]

After admitting Byul's skills and completing her short physical training, they decided to pause the session as Wooyoung excused himself to pick Hwayoung up from her kindergarten, and came back to their dorm with a smile that did not leave his face. As Hwayoung's already home, they decided to continue their session with Byul only after the kid has gone to sleep.

They went on with their normal daily lives. Seonghwa, San and Yeosang disappeared to pick up groceries in the afternoon. They opened up the cafe anyway, with Jongho and Wooyoung managing to serve two customers. Yunho had went out with Hwayoung because she had wanted a new colouring book and even though the child kept insisting that she wanted Byul to come along, her father had managed to cut her wish down. Meanwhile only Byul, Mingi and Hongjoong were left at the dorm, with Mingi trapping himself at the headquarters because he wanted to prepare for the mission that was set for tomorrow.

By night, as soon as they confirmed that Hwayoung had gone to sleep, all 9 of them disappeared into the depths of their headquarters. Mingi looked half-dead in front of his computer screens, cracking his neck and pushing his glasses up by the time they came to him. They moved to the meeting room to start filling Byul in with information regarding their team and mission.

The rest of them remain silent for the most part, as Mingi does most of the talking in explaining to her what the Bifidensis and KTC are, only deciding to add in anything if they deem there's a need to. She listens intently to their explanation of what the organization is, how life is like there, and up until the moment they were chosen to become a part of ATEEZ. She nods, absorbing every single detail that they tell her, cross-checking it with what she knows of the Bifidensis and KTC. She knows for sure that they're not lying to her, because every piece of information that they tell her matches with what she knows.

"When we're taken to the facility we were divided into three Aeons; that was what Akira asked you back then at the tattoo parlour. It's essentially a categorization of which area you're good at, or at least which area that you show the most skills in," Yeosang helps to explain. "The names are odd honestly, but relative to our lives there, this is nothing."

He takes a deep breath. "Akt is for those who are good with IT, like me and Mingi. Bax is for those who are skilled in close-range attacks. Hongjoong, Jongho, San and Yunho are all from that Aeon. They're good in physical attacks, including the use of weapons. The last one, Myc, is for those who are good in long-range attacks. Mostly made up of snipers and sharpshooters, and that's where Seonghwa and Wooyoung were put into. For as long as we're there, we need to follow the rules of our respective Aeons. They don't really prohibit interactions between members of different Aeons, but we rarely do because all of us undergo different trainings anyway."

"How did they choose who becomes one of the members of a particular team?"

"We never knew the criteria of how they choose the members; all we know is that they'll choose any number of people from each of the Aeon and make a team. We don't get a say on who will or who will not be chosen. If you're lucky, you get picked and you're able to return back to the real world. Some get trained for years yet they don't get picked. The only thought you have while you're in there is to get out as fast as you can before you lose yourself."

It's either that they really don't know why they were chosen as a part of ATEEZ, or they're not telling her what they know. Yeosang doesn't sound like he's lying, so she's taking it as that they really don't know the reason.

They had been going on about how the Bifidensis is with their agents; how strict they are in carrying out the punishment to any of the agents who broke their rules. But why the special treatment towards them?

She resists the temptation to ask, but fails to do so as she spills, "I'm just... curious." All heads turn to her as she continues, "Why does it seem that... the Bifidensis are... lenient with your team? I mean, you only have cameras at the cafe and not anywhere else, when you said that they keep an eye on their agents almost all the time. And... um." She plays with her fingers, "You're not supposed to have any... relationships..." she trails off, refusing to elaborate. She doesn't want to bring Hwayoung into the conversation, although she needs answers.