As he saw the reflection in the mirror, Suga noticed that his eyes were still a little swollen, he sighed and then washed his face again with cold water. The bright sunlight from the window made him wince. He wiped his face and entered his room, seeing suitcase still lying on the floor, Suga muttered, "Damn, maybe I'll clean up my clothes later." His stomach suddenly growling, Suga then glanced at the clock. It's almost lunch time. He did not expect to sleep that long. The medicine given by Yuki was really effective.
Suga held the medicine box and read the name of the company on it. 'Agia'. It really was a familiar brand, where was the last time he had seen it? Ah, Danny's suppressant. So it's from the same pharmaceutical company. He squeezed the medicine box before placing it back into the drawer. He would buy it himself next time, hopefully it would not be too expensive, it would be a shame if he could not buy it when the medicine ran out— his head felt so much lighter and fresher.
Unable to hold back his hungry stomach, Suga rushed to change his clothes and opened the door. Walking with the memory that the cafeteria was on the second floor, so he went down the stairs, the smell of food wafted in the air so he followed the direction of the delicious aroma.
However in the middle of his journey, the sound of footsteps from behind made Suga turn his head.
"Yuze?"
"Oh Suga!"
The man with loosely tied brown hair greeted him warmly— Yuze began to approach, and standing beside him, "Do you want to go to the cafeteria? I didn't see you having breakfast this morning."
"Ah— Yes, I overslept."
"Haha luckily today is a day off— if you're late for the training schedule or academic class—you can get punishments like doing push-ups under the hot sun however much the instructor wants."
Hearing that, Suga made a mental note to never be late for the IHPS schedule.
Yuze said it lightly, as if those things were normal— of course they were, this place was special forces, such a punishment was very reasonable. However, if possible, Suga did not want to be punished in this place.
There were many things he did not know about this place, at first he intended to ask Yuki, thinking after eating he would go to the man's room, but it seemed talking to Yuze was better, Yuze was a member of this crazy place, and maybe he could use this as a way to get acquainted with new friends.
The two of them walked towards the cafeteria, Suga looked at the full range of food on the table which was still warm and took some, the old woman sitting there looked at him sharply, and added more meat to his plate. Suga made a confused face.
"You are so thin as a man here, eat more."
Nodding and accepting without protest, Suga smiled stiffly, he was indeed thin- maybe because he had not paid attention to his food intake for a long time and rarely exercises - but his weight could still be considered normal.
"Lady Betty is right, you look thin..."
As they were looking for a table to sit at, Yuze commented, Suga chuckled. Yes, it looked like he really needed to eat a lot and increase his muscle mass if he wanted to survive in this place.
However, somehow as the two of them sat in a corner, Suga looked around, this place was rather empty, not many people eating here. And his eyes also caught an auburn-haired man sitting at the opposite table who was not eating at all, he was asleep.
"The cafeteria isn't too crowded because it's not lunchtime yet, it's still 11."
As if reading his mind, Yuze started to speak. "Also, usually on holidays, many choose to cook in the kitchen, which is only open in Saturdays and Fridays. They usually cook there because they miss the cuisine of their countries, haha—"
That made sense, the display menu was full of boring healthy food. He had heard that the IHPS was strict with the physical health of its members, but the fact that they were still allowed to cook for themselves somehow was not all that surprising. Considering that most of the members here were also not from this country.
Suga took a bite of the chicken, he glanced sideways at the sleeping man. Somehow his stature was somewhat familiar.
Choosing to ignore that man and continued chewing on his food, Suga spoke again. "Is the training here tough?"
"In the beginning it's hard if you're not used to it. Moreover, the schedule here is not fixed and often changes, also you can suddenly be summoned to do a mission. Many of those who do missions die while working, haha—"
Yuze explained with a laugh, seeing that Suga thought it seemed like even though Yuze looked normal on the outside, this guy was also a bit off.
"Also, at the end of the year the training will usually be more strenuous, gas chamber, hunting, camping in dangerous places, hopefully by the end of this year there will be no casualties."
"How many years have you been here?"
"Hmm, wait let me think ...." Yuze thought as he chew the food, "About two years maybe, and while I've been here I've only seen five people dead, and even then the number is lower than before I came here—"
Suga's stomach suddenly felt queasy, he put the spoon down. Staring intently at the food on the plate. 'Is it safe for me to be here? I don't know.' Suga prayed that he would not die in this madman's cage.
"No one has died this year, so maybe this year is your lucky year, Suga! Don't worry, you look strong even though you're small and thin."
Yuze hit his his back many times while laughing as if he wanted to reassure. But he could only let out an awkward laugh. Stabbing the egg with a fork, ate it, then tried hard to swallow the egg with his dry throat.
They were silent for a moment, and during that silence Suga tried to finish his food, he did not want to leave any food on his plate. Lady Betty who was standing casually filling the empty food tray— she looked like a woman who would scold you for not finishing the food and would force the leftovers down your throat.
Several men entered the cafeteria thus making this place more filled with many people. Chatter and laughter then sounded, Suga finally finished his food, he stood up intending to put the tray back in its place, but then Yuze suddenly spoke again, making Suga sit back down.
"Tomorrow's hunting schedule—" He said, "Let's hope two crazy instructors don't come here."
"Two crazy instructors?"
"At the end of every year, there is an exchange of instructors here, because at each IHPS headquarters their policies are different, so sometimes they change instructors."
"Different policies?"
"You don't know? At the Russian headquarters they are usually experts at coding and detecting bombs, there the rules are stricter and the men there are more crazy. At the Chinese headquarters, they are known for their ingenuity and cleverness in carrying out disguises to catch criminals. Then America is known for its marksmanship. In the Arab headquarters they won't accept a guy as small as you Suga, all of them are big with strong muscles."
Yuze, looked Suga up and down, and at that statement Suga gritted his teeth. He knew he was thin and not tall— but he was not that short, he was average in height— Still, the fact that he was accepted here should be quite suspicious.
Seeing Suga who looked a bit offended, Yuze chuckled lightly, "Don't worry, this place isn't as strict as the others, you know Sean? the guy in the room next to yours, that little omega guy. That guy passed the test and got accepted here, it's all because he has talent, so if you got accepted, it's a sign that you also have talent."
No, I was accepted here without taking a test.— Suga wanted to reply like that but he shut his lips tightly. No matter what the reason, he could not deny this fact, he committed fraud by easily entered this place with the help of his childhood friend.
"What about the Australia headquarters? What makes this place stand out?"
A corner of Yuze's lips pulled up, he grinned, "Well, hunting training grounds since the forests in this country are quite diverse and dangerous— and a den full of easy targets for the elites to request meatshields, so be careful in your missions if you get it later, Suga."
"Meatshields?"
"Sacrifices."
Suga swallowed hard in his dry throat. Yuze said this casually, as if it was nothing to be afraid of. Damn, why did Yuki bring him to the IHPS headquarters in this country?
"All games at IHPS without exception are survival of the fittest, so do not die, Suga. I rarely see Asian men here. So I will be sad if you die, haha."
Taking a glass of water and then drinking it all at once until it's empty, Suga felt his head throb, this information certainly was not hidden but still he felt anxious about his safety here. Hell, Yuki said this was the only safe place for Suga to hide from the organization that killed his parents, am I really going to be okay here?, Suga muttered to himself.
'BAM' — suddenly a loud sound like someone bumping was heard echoing in the room, Suga's head immediately turned to the source of the sound, seeing the man who had fallen asleep on the opposite table earlier, fell hard to the floor.
"Fuck," the man swore harshly, he massaged his head which apparently hit the hard floor, the man was named Aaron if he was not mistaken— grunted then sat back in the chair, for a moment the man was silent staring straight to the front with narrowed eyes.
Suga was a bit concerned, blood flowed to his ears then to his neck, but the man had absolutely no signs of feeling pain. After several minutes of silence staring ahead blankly, Aaron finally moved, he picked up something that had fallen on the floor— a broken glasses.
"Again?!! My glasses are broken again! Damn it!"
Aaron punched the wooden table so hard with his fist that it cracked. Goosebumps ran down Suga's back, he turned his head to Yuze who had just finished eating.
Strangely, no one paid attention to Aaron, as if Aaron's bleeding head was nothing to worry about, no one startled, the people here continued to eat without caring about Aaron who nearly smashed the wooden table.
"Don't mind it, Aaron is always like that."
Suga widened his eyes, "Always like that?"
"He always sleeps anywhere and gets angry when he breaks his glasses."
".... But his head is bleeding——"
"Just leave it."
"Huh?"
Sure enough, no one cared about Aaron except for Suga, who still occasionally glanced to the side to see how he was doing. Aaron wiped his bleeding head with his sleeve. He suddenly straightened up. At that movement, Suga flinched, immediately looking the other way. But for some reason the man's footsteps sounded closer and closer to his table.
Aaron's shadow was seen standing near their table, then soon he pulled a chair and sat right in front of Suga. Suga raised his head to look at the man whose forehead was stained red with blood. 'What does that guy want to do now?' Suga glanced at Yuze who leisurely sat leaning against the wall, as if relaxing with his full stomach.
"Two crazy instructors ...." Suddenly, Aaron opened his mouth, Suga paid attention to the man who had an expressionless face with narrowed eyes, looking straight at him. Up close like this, without glasses Aaron was really a handsome looking man, Suga clearly had eyes to judge that face, but this guy's aura was kind of creepy. "Watch out for them, well Instructor Niel isn't that bad. But Zion—"
What? What is this man saying?
Suga had no idea what Aaron was talking about at this moment.
Aaron suddenly blinked rapidly, he tilted his head, as if he had forgotten what he wanted to say, "Why does my head feel dizzy—"
"You're bleeding, without a doubt your head will definitely feel dizzy!" Suga spoke rather loudly, unable to hold back his nagging, then pointed right at Aaron's head. Aaron held his head and felt the injured part while grimacing.
"Shit, you are right."
Aaron stood up, his body swayed slightly but he was still able to walk out of the cafeteria by himself, leaving Suga and Yuze behind.
Will there be more weirdness in this building?
Suga had only been here for a day, and he had already witnessed some not so normal situations in this place.
It made him contemplate running away from here.