We have to be Humans (because We get Scars) [6 / ?]
Title: We have to be Humans (because We get Scars) [6 / ?]
Word Count: 3, 290
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Seventeen | Junhui / Minghao, Mingyu / Wonwoo, Jeonghan / Jisoo, Soonyoung / Seokmin, Hansol / Seungkwan
Description: Minghao accidentally saves a boy with superpowers, only to find out that he has superpowers as well. Now, Minghao has to join twelve other boys as they try their best to escape from their enemies, in between learning how to use his new abilities and falling in love. superpowers!au
Author’s Note: please don’t kill me (ノдヽ) feel free to scream at me on ask.fm haha
in other news, i’m learning korean haha i’m enrolled in a korean language centre, ezsam, and it’s honestly really good. i can actually read and speak korean in just two lessons :>
“Wake up, sleepyhead!” There was a loud, insistent voice from above and a pair of hands shaking him awake. Reluctantly, Minghao pried open his eyes and found himself face to face with a person he definitely didn’t expect.
“Seungkwan?” Minghao yelped in surprise, a small part of him disappointed that it was the younger boy and not Junhui. The Chinese boy pushed that feeling away as he forced himself to sit up.
“It’s time for breakfast!” Seungkwan practically sang, cheerful and bubbly. He was kneeling on top of Minghao’s blanket and bore a wide smile. Minghao wondered how in the world was the telepath so energetic in the morning when all he wanted was to fall back to bed and sleep for the next twenty four hours.
Noticing Minghao’s forlorn expression, Seungkwan didn’t hesitate as he grabbed hold of the older boy’s arm. Tugging at Minghao unrelentingly, Seungkwan commanded, “come on. Get out of bed, you have training.”
“Training?” Minghao echoed, his interest piqued for a grand total of three seconds - he could finally learn how to generate force fields again, and maybe even teleport - before laziness kicked in and he started resisting Seungkwan’s pull.
“Oh, come on!” Seungkwan complained in annoyance as the two boys engaged in a mini tug of war until Seungkwan pulled out the trump card. “Do you want me to get Junhui hyung here?”
Almost instantaneously, Minghao jumped out of bed in a flash, surprising Seungkwan slightly. Minghao stretched his arms and exclaimed purposefully, as if wanting a particular someone to know that he was up and going, “I’m awake! Let’s go for breakfast!”
Seungkwan didn’t even try to hide his triumphant smirk as he got to his feet. He shared with some pride, “I knew that would work.”
Realization hit Minghao like a truck as he gaped at Seungkwan, accusing him, “you knew I didn’t want Junhui ge to think I’m a kid and you used that against me.”
“Well, he’s still going to think you’re a kid if you don’t go for breakfast soon.” Seungkwan informed the other boy pointedly. He opened the bedroom door and tossed over his shoulder carelessly, “don’t say that I didn’t tell you but you’re actually the last one up.”
There was a frantic blur of movement as Minghao flew past Seungkwan so fast that he nearly mistook him for Soonyoung.
Breakfast was a long drawn affair with all thirteen of them crammed into the kitchen. The dining table could only fit six people but the boys had brought in other chairs so that it now could accommodate at least ten, albeit it was a tight squeeze.
Minghao managed to find a seat beside Seungcheol who gave a sleepy nod of acknowledgement. Not really feeling hungry, Minghao instead took the time to observe his new family carefully.
Seungcheol was clearly the father figure, being the leader and oldest, but the mother position appeared to be a debate between Jisoo and Junhui, both who were equally caring and thoughtful. For all his feminine looks, Jeonghan didn’t appear to really mother any of them, except for Seokmin whom he really took care of.
Speaking of which, Minghao was almost a hundred percent sure that there was something going on between the brown haired boy and Soonyoung. Both were clearly best friends but there also appeared to be an underlying layer of sexual tension between them. Yet, they didn’t seemed to be officially in a relationship which kind of confused Minghao.
On the other hand, Minghao thought as he let his eyes rest on Wonwoo and Mingyu who were seated opposite him, these two are definitely officially together. He watched shamelessly as Wonwoo tried to eat his breakfast as Mingyu pulled him to his lap even though there was no shortage of seats.
“Hey,” Wonwoo complained softly, glancing at the younger who only grinned boyishly and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. As Mingyu wrapped his arms around the elder’s waist, Wonwoo rolled his eyes before continuing to eat.
They’re so cute that I’m jealous, Minghao sighed wistfully at the couple in front of him before switching his attention to Jeonghan and Jisoo, the other couple Minghao was certain was together.
The two older boys were both standing by the kitchen counter and the long haired one was whispering into Jisoo’s ear, a protective arm around the younger’s waist. Jisoo was silent but nodded his head ever so often in response to Jeonghan’s words.
I’m so jealous now, Minghao admitted to himself before finally returning his attention to his breakfast. He never thought that he would be jealous of couples but now that the situation has changed, Minghao mused in envy if he’ll ever find a significant other. Deep in thought, it took Minghao a second to realize that Chan had slided into the empty seat beside Minghao.
“Hey, Minghao hyung,” Chan greeted, grinning. Minghao smiled back, the younger boy was fun to be with.
“What’s up?” Minghao asked as he resumed eating. Chan tugged at his arm and Minghao feed him a spoonful of scrambled eggs.
Chewing gleefully, Chan replied, “Jihoon hyung wanted me to tell you that you’re going to be training with us today so like, prepare yourself?”
“Oh, yeah, Seungkwan told me that already.” Minghao replied before he frowned slightly. Why didn’t Jihoon hyung come tell me that himself, instead of getting Chan to? Minghao hesitated for a moment before asking timidly. “Does - I don’t know - Jihoon hyung not like me or something?”
Chan stared at Minghao in surprise. “Why would you think that?”
“Erm,” Minghao looked away awkwardly before answering, “last night, when I approached you guys, he got up and walked away. And he didn’t come tell me about the training himself but got you to instead. Not to mention, he never spoke a word to me and I never even heard his voice before.”
“Hmm.” Chan mused thoughtfully, solemn. He shrugged his shoulders before suggesting. “Maybe you’re just overreaching. Jihoon hyung just takes a really long time to warm up to people.”
Minghao wasn’t convinced that was the only reason but he didn’t want to press on any further. Instead, he gave a half hearted shrug back. “Maybe, it’s just me then.”
“Don’t worry, Minghao hyung.” Chan quickly reassured the older boy, patting his shoulder comfortingly while plucking his fork from his hand. “We’re a family now.”
“Right, family.” Minghao reminded himself quietly even though he still felt uneasy. But does everyone think that?
“So, anyways,” Chan went on, oblivious to Minghao’s internal turmoil. He continued to eat the other's breakfast while giving instructions. “Jihoon hyung also wants you to be ready and go to the training area by twelve.”
“Training area?” Minghao repeated, turning to Chan who was shovelling a forkful of bacon into his mouth. “Hey, get your own breakfast.” Minghao admonished as he snatched his fork back.
“There's no more and I’m a growing boy!” Chan whined in response and Minghao grudgingly passed the fork back. He was too nervous to eat anyway.
“You still haven't answered my question. We have a training room?” Minghao inquired with growing curiosity. How do they even get all the money? The Chinese boy stared at Chan in anticipation.
Chan had a mouthful of eggs and bacon but nodded his head, affirming the presence of a training area.
“Where is it?” Minghao questioned, cranking his neck to look at the hallway as if he may have missed out the door to the training area.
Swallowing, Chan took a second to compose himself before finally answering, “it's in the basement. We bought the basement to be used as a training area when we bought the apartments.”
“What? Where do you guys even get the money to buy everything?” Minghao couldn't resist but demand, surprised by the knowledge of another property. Honestly, is everyone a rich kid or something? “Do you guys even have jobs?”
“Well, we don't. Seungkwan hyung, Hansol hyung and I are still schooling but the other hyungs don't work.” Chan shared before scratching the back of his head. He had a hesitant look on his face as he carefully expressed, “as for the money, we don't exactly get it in a legal way.”
Minghao couldn't quite believe his ears and he blurted out without thinking. “You guys steal money? How?” A sudden image of Junhui turning invisible and walking into a bank flashed into Minghao’s mind. “Do Junhui ge just become invisible and rob banks?”
“No! We don't steal money,” Chan hastily defended themselves, his voice loud enough that Seokmin, who was across the kitchen with Soonyoung, glanced over in mild curiosity. “What we do is not illegal, okay?”
“Then how?” Minghao insisted, confused. What kind of methods were not exactly legal but not illegal at the same time?
Chan’s eyes darted towards Hansol who was studying his laptop intently and Minghao followed his gaze. Uncertain, Minghao asked, “what's Hansol’s superpower?”
“Cloaking and technopathy but it’s the latter that’s important.” Chan answered quickly before elaborating, “Hansol hyung, he can manipulate technology such that we are able to earn money from stock investments and lottery.”
“Oh.” Minghao simply articulated, quite stunned by the revelation of another member’s superpowers and how they were used. He had to admit that it was not exactly legal yet not illegal at the same time. “Oh.”
“Like what I said earlier, it's not exactly legal but it’s also not exactly illegal, you know?” Chan finished before pushing the now empty place away from him. “And now I’m full.”
“What you’re saying is that, Hansol ‘earns’ us money to be used as food expenses and everything else?” Minghao checked, making sure that the inverted commas were evident in his voice.
Chan nodded, agreeing. “That’s pretty much it since we can’t really hold jobs for long periods of time. Hansol hyung gets us the money but he shares whatever he has with us.” The younger boy paused before adding, “I guess you can say that we have pocket money.”
Something stuck Minghao and he swiftly asked, “wait, what about my phone? Seungcheol hyung told me that it’s with Hansol.”
“Oh, your phone? Hansol hyung’s probably going to return it to you later during training.” Chan answered nonchalantly. He looked around and realized that people were already clearing their dishes.
“So, twelve at the basement?” Minghao reiterated, to make sure, as the younger boy got to his feet.
“Yeah and don't be late.” Chan warned, picking up the place to put it in the sink. “If you don’t want to be on Jihoon hyung’s bad side, don’t ever be late. He really dislikes tardiness.”
Minghao stood up as well and asked hopefully, “will Junhui ge be there, too?” He unknowingly held his breath as he waited for Chan’s answer.
But Chan shook his head and explained further. “He, and the older hyungs, don't need training anymore since they’re already quite proficient in using their superpowers. Jihoon hyung only trains the rest of us.”
“Oh. Alright then.” Minghao merely responded, downfallen for reasons that he didn't know.
Having heeded Chan’s advice, Minghao was already at the basement and waiting nervously five minutes before noon. There was a door near the elevator on the ground level which opened to a short staircase that led to another door which Minghao presumed was the door to the training area.
He wasn’t initially sure of what he should wear but after some consideration, Minghao settled for a plain T-shirt and loose denim jeans that he managed to find from Jisoo’s pile of old clothes. Minghao figured that he’ll probably do a lot of physical activities.
Butterflies fluttering around in his stomach, Minghao fished out his phone from his jean pocket and tapped at the screen to look at the time. 11:56 AM.
Earlier, after breakfast, Minghao decided to seek Hansol to retrieve his phone. After a few minutes of searching throughout the house, the Chinese boy finally heard the technopath’s voice coming from one of the six bedrooms.
“Finally,” Minghao breathed out impatiently. Without knocking, Minghao twisted the doorknob and pushed it forward while calling out in an annoyed tone, “Hansol, you have no idea how long it took me to find you.”
Minghao stepped inside the bedroom just in time to see Seungkwan forcibly shoved Hansol off him, causing the younger boy to fall off the bed they were on. Cursing creatively, Hansol slumped to the floor and went out of Minghao’s line of sight.
What...
“Hey, Minghao hyung.” Seungkwan waved awkwardly at Minghao, his chest heaving up and down rapidly, and acting like he hadn’t just tossed his boyfriend off the bed. The auburn haired boy’s hair was in a mess and his clothes rumpled.
Astonished, Minghao stared at the younger boy incredulously before inquiring in concern. “Is Hansol alright?”
“I’m fine! Totally fine,” Hansol yelled back as he stuck his hand out and then his head popped up. Like Seungkwan, Hansol’s face was flushed red and his bruised lips gave Minghao a pretty good idea of what the two younger boys had been doing in the bedroom before Minghao had entered.
Oh.
Unable to help himself, Minghao felt his own face turned crimson as he watched in silence as Hansol climbed back onto the bed without any hint of embarrassment, unlike his boyfriend.
With an apologetic expression on his face, Seungkwan patted Hansol’s shoulder who then stared expectantly at the Chinese boy. Hansol prompted, “so I heard you were looking for me?”
“Oh, right,” Minghao diverted his gaze, embarrassed at his actions. I should have knocked before I entered.
Looking everywhere but at the two boys, Minghao relayed, “Seungcheol hyung told me the other day that you have my phone so I’m wondering if I can have it back?”
“I almost forgot about that,” Hansol confessed sheepishly as he slipped off the bed. He digged through a drawer before pulling out Minghao’s phone. As he walked towards Minghao, Hansol informed him, “I didn’t do much to it but the usual procedures.”
Switching his phone on, Minghao raised a curious eyebrow at the younger, asking, “the usual procedures? What are they?”
“Well, basically, you are no longer contactable by other people except by us. The same goes for all your social media and everything else.” Hansol explained briefly, in simplified terms, to Minghao who had his head bowed over his phone, the phone screen lighting up his face.
“I also took the liberty to add all twelve members’ phone numbers inside.” Hansol added as Minghao scrolled through his contacts. There was a distinct lack of phone numbers - all of his family members and friends’ phone numbers had been removed. “From henceforth, we’re the only ones that can contact you.”
“Because of the organization.” Minghao hazarded as he pocketed his phone.
Both Hansol and Seungkwan exchanged a glance before the younger simply replied, “it’s a safety procedure that we all underwent.”
“Anyways, thanks I guess?” Minghao smiled awkwardly at the brown haired boy who flashed him a bright grin.
Minghao walked away before then, hesitated at the doorway. He never thought that he would have to do this, since he was an only child, but if Seungkwan and Hansol didn’t want people to know about their shenanigans behind closed doors, then they shouldn’t be leaving the door unlocked.
Turning around, Minghao coughed once to get their attention. Hansol visibly had to tear his eyes from Seungkwan’s plump lips and they both stared at Minghao who now had a faint blush. He advised the two boys, “you know, it’s always a good idea to lock the door before - well - doing whatever you guys were doing earlier.”
“We weren’t doing anything!” Seungkwan protested almost automatically, his face a brilliant shade of scarlet, but Minghao just sighed before closing the bedroom door behind him.
In present time, Minghao faintly registered the time on the phone screen. It’s 12:00 PM already, do I just go in? Minghao wondered, glancing around the vicinity for any signs of the other members but found no one.
Do I just go in then? Minghao pondered before drawing up the courage to open the door he was in front of. Jihoon hyung doesn’t like tardiness.
Hesitantly, Minghao stepped into the room and then groped blindly for the light switch, his eyes not quite adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him. He went further inside the room, fingers still searching for the light switch, when the door behind him slammed shut.
Minghao let out a high pitched scream of shock as he spun around abruptly. Hurrying to the door, Minghao twisted and pulled at the door knob but it stayed firmly shut. No, no, no. What’s happening? The organization found us? Questions poured into Minghao’s mind before he started to kick at the door in hopes of breaking it down but the door remained unbroken and unmoving.
“What’s happening?” Minghao murmured to himself, frightened out of his wits. He moved along the walls, blind in the lightless room, as he inched his way to another exit. “There has to be another way out, right?” He spoke out aloud, the sound of his voice in the otherwise silent place calming him slightly.
It was difficult to gauge the distance Minghao had moved due to the complete darkness but a few feet away from the entrance, Minghao’s fingers finally brushed against what were unmistakably the light switches. Relived beyond belief, Minghao hastily switched the lights on.
Almost immediately, light flooded the area and Minghao unwittingly broke into a smile of relief. Finally. Then he realized that he wasn’t alone in the room.
A shiver went down Minghao’s spine as he registered the presence of the same masked man from the other night. Instead of all four of them, there was only one - the one that had called Minghao a freak. His stance rigid and stiff, the man stared coldly at Minghao who swallowed in pure, unadulterated fear.
No, no, no. The organization found us. Minghao felt himself go cold all over as his body went into fight or flight mood. Was it me? Did my calling my mom tipped them off? Is it my fault?
What about the others? Junhui ge? Chan? Jisoo hyung? Minghao thought, starting to panic but he made sure that his face didn’t betray his feelings. Did they escape before he came? It’s all my fault - I shouldn’t have disobeyed Seungcheol hyung. He was right. The organization would - have - found us and it’s all my fault.
The masked men took a step forward before growling, “if you’re smart, don’t resist.”
That was all it took for Minghao to snap, his resolve to stay calm disintegrating. “Don’t come any closer!” Minghao yelled at the man who only advanced on him, unfazed.
“Aww, look at the kid trying to act tough.” The man sneered before pulling out a whip from behind. He cracked it threateningly and Minghao jerked in fright, the sound of the whip echoing the large room.
“I have superpowers, remember?” Minghao reminded them, his voice high pitched as he tried to bluff them. “Don’t make me use them.”
“We’ll like to see you try.” The same man leered before bringing his whip down in a large arch.
Instinctively, Minghao jumped out of harm’s way but he was a split second too slow and the whip tangled around his ankle. The man jerked his hand back and Minghao was pulled back, his back hitting the floor painfully.
“Now, where can you run?” The man mocked, jeering at the frightened and trapped Minghao beneath him. Without another word, the man brandished a pistol and took aim at Minghao’s shell shocked face.
Word Count: 3, 290
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Seventeen | Junhui / Minghao, Mingyu / Wonwoo, Jeonghan / Jisoo, Soonyoung / Seokmin, Hansol / Seungkwan
Description: Minghao accidentally saves a boy with superpowers, only to find out that he has superpowers as well. Now, Minghao has to join twelve other boys as they try their best to escape from their enemies, in between learning how to use his new abilities and falling in love. superpowers!au
Author’s Note: please don’t kill me (ノдヽ) feel free to scream at me on ask.fm haha
in other news, i’m learning korean haha i’m enrolled in a korean language centre, ezsam, and it’s honestly really good. i can actually read and speak korean in just two lessons :>
“Wake up, sleepyhead!” There was a loud, insistent voice from above and a pair of hands shaking him awake. Reluctantly, Minghao pried open his eyes and found himself face to face with a person he definitely didn’t expect.
“Seungkwan?” Minghao yelped in surprise, a small part of him disappointed that it was the younger boy and not Junhui. The Chinese boy pushed that feeling away as he forced himself to sit up.
“It’s time for breakfast!” Seungkwan practically sang, cheerful and bubbly. He was kneeling on top of Minghao’s blanket and bore a wide smile. Minghao wondered how in the world was the telepath so energetic in the morning when all he wanted was to fall back to bed and sleep for the next twenty four hours.
Noticing Minghao’s forlorn expression, Seungkwan didn’t hesitate as he grabbed hold of the older boy’s arm. Tugging at Minghao unrelentingly, Seungkwan commanded, “come on. Get out of bed, you have training.”
“Training?” Minghao echoed, his interest piqued for a grand total of three seconds - he could finally learn how to generate force fields again, and maybe even teleport - before laziness kicked in and he started resisting Seungkwan’s pull.
“Oh, come on!” Seungkwan complained in annoyance as the two boys engaged in a mini tug of war until Seungkwan pulled out the trump card. “Do you want me to get Junhui hyung here?”
Almost instantaneously, Minghao jumped out of bed in a flash, surprising Seungkwan slightly. Minghao stretched his arms and exclaimed purposefully, as if wanting a particular someone to know that he was up and going, “I’m awake! Let’s go for breakfast!”
Seungkwan didn’t even try to hide his triumphant smirk as he got to his feet. He shared with some pride, “I knew that would work.”
Realization hit Minghao like a truck as he gaped at Seungkwan, accusing him, “you knew I didn’t want Junhui ge to think I’m a kid and you used that against me.”
“Well, he’s still going to think you’re a kid if you don’t go for breakfast soon.” Seungkwan informed the other boy pointedly. He opened the bedroom door and tossed over his shoulder carelessly, “don’t say that I didn’t tell you but you’re actually the last one up.”
There was a frantic blur of movement as Minghao flew past Seungkwan so fast that he nearly mistook him for Soonyoung.
Breakfast was a long drawn affair with all thirteen of them crammed into the kitchen. The dining table could only fit six people but the boys had brought in other chairs so that it now could accommodate at least ten, albeit it was a tight squeeze.
Minghao managed to find a seat beside Seungcheol who gave a sleepy nod of acknowledgement. Not really feeling hungry, Minghao instead took the time to observe his new family carefully.
Seungcheol was clearly the father figure, being the leader and oldest, but the mother position appeared to be a debate between Jisoo and Junhui, both who were equally caring and thoughtful. For all his feminine looks, Jeonghan didn’t appear to really mother any of them, except for Seokmin whom he really took care of.
Speaking of which, Minghao was almost a hundred percent sure that there was something going on between the brown haired boy and Soonyoung. Both were clearly best friends but there also appeared to be an underlying layer of sexual tension between them. Yet, they didn’t seemed to be officially in a relationship which kind of confused Minghao.
On the other hand, Minghao thought as he let his eyes rest on Wonwoo and Mingyu who were seated opposite him, these two are definitely officially together. He watched shamelessly as Wonwoo tried to eat his breakfast as Mingyu pulled him to his lap even though there was no shortage of seats.
“Hey,” Wonwoo complained softly, glancing at the younger who only grinned boyishly and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. As Mingyu wrapped his arms around the elder’s waist, Wonwoo rolled his eyes before continuing to eat.
They’re so cute that I’m jealous, Minghao sighed wistfully at the couple in front of him before switching his attention to Jeonghan and Jisoo, the other couple Minghao was certain was together.
The two older boys were both standing by the kitchen counter and the long haired one was whispering into Jisoo’s ear, a protective arm around the younger’s waist. Jisoo was silent but nodded his head ever so often in response to Jeonghan’s words.
I’m so jealous now, Minghao admitted to himself before finally returning his attention to his breakfast. He never thought that he would be jealous of couples but now that the situation has changed, Minghao mused in envy if he’ll ever find a significant other. Deep in thought, it took Minghao a second to realize that Chan had slided into the empty seat beside Minghao.
“Hey, Minghao hyung,” Chan greeted, grinning. Minghao smiled back, the younger boy was fun to be with.
“What’s up?” Minghao asked as he resumed eating. Chan tugged at his arm and Minghao feed him a spoonful of scrambled eggs.
Chewing gleefully, Chan replied, “Jihoon hyung wanted me to tell you that you’re going to be training with us today so like, prepare yourself?”
“Oh, yeah, Seungkwan told me that already.” Minghao replied before he frowned slightly. Why didn’t Jihoon hyung come tell me that himself, instead of getting Chan to? Minghao hesitated for a moment before asking timidly. “Does - I don’t know - Jihoon hyung not like me or something?”
Chan stared at Minghao in surprise. “Why would you think that?”
“Erm,” Minghao looked away awkwardly before answering, “last night, when I approached you guys, he got up and walked away. And he didn’t come tell me about the training himself but got you to instead. Not to mention, he never spoke a word to me and I never even heard his voice before.”
“Hmm.” Chan mused thoughtfully, solemn. He shrugged his shoulders before suggesting. “Maybe you’re just overreaching. Jihoon hyung just takes a really long time to warm up to people.”
Minghao wasn’t convinced that was the only reason but he didn’t want to press on any further. Instead, he gave a half hearted shrug back. “Maybe, it’s just me then.”
“Don’t worry, Minghao hyung.” Chan quickly reassured the older boy, patting his shoulder comfortingly while plucking his fork from his hand. “We’re a family now.”
“Right, family.” Minghao reminded himself quietly even though he still felt uneasy. But does everyone think that?
“So, anyways,” Chan went on, oblivious to Minghao’s internal turmoil. He continued to eat the other's breakfast while giving instructions. “Jihoon hyung also wants you to be ready and go to the training area by twelve.”
“Training area?” Minghao repeated, turning to Chan who was shovelling a forkful of bacon into his mouth. “Hey, get your own breakfast.” Minghao admonished as he snatched his fork back.
“There's no more and I’m a growing boy!” Chan whined in response and Minghao grudgingly passed the fork back. He was too nervous to eat anyway.
“You still haven't answered my question. We have a training room?” Minghao inquired with growing curiosity. How do they even get all the money? The Chinese boy stared at Chan in anticipation.
Chan had a mouthful of eggs and bacon but nodded his head, affirming the presence of a training area.
“Where is it?” Minghao questioned, cranking his neck to look at the hallway as if he may have missed out the door to the training area.
Swallowing, Chan took a second to compose himself before finally answering, “it's in the basement. We bought the basement to be used as a training area when we bought the apartments.”
“What? Where do you guys even get the money to buy everything?” Minghao couldn't resist but demand, surprised by the knowledge of another property. Honestly, is everyone a rich kid or something? “Do you guys even have jobs?”
“Well, we don't. Seungkwan hyung, Hansol hyung and I are still schooling but the other hyungs don't work.” Chan shared before scratching the back of his head. He had a hesitant look on his face as he carefully expressed, “as for the money, we don't exactly get it in a legal way.”
Minghao couldn't quite believe his ears and he blurted out without thinking. “You guys steal money? How?” A sudden image of Junhui turning invisible and walking into a bank flashed into Minghao’s mind. “Do Junhui ge just become invisible and rob banks?”
“No! We don't steal money,” Chan hastily defended themselves, his voice loud enough that Seokmin, who was across the kitchen with Soonyoung, glanced over in mild curiosity. “What we do is not illegal, okay?”
“Then how?” Minghao insisted, confused. What kind of methods were not exactly legal but not illegal at the same time?
Chan’s eyes darted towards Hansol who was studying his laptop intently and Minghao followed his gaze. Uncertain, Minghao asked, “what's Hansol’s superpower?”
“Cloaking and technopathy but it’s the latter that’s important.” Chan answered quickly before elaborating, “Hansol hyung, he can manipulate technology such that we are able to earn money from stock investments and lottery.”
“Oh.” Minghao simply articulated, quite stunned by the revelation of another member’s superpowers and how they were used. He had to admit that it was not exactly legal yet not illegal at the same time. “Oh.”
“Like what I said earlier, it's not exactly legal but it’s also not exactly illegal, you know?” Chan finished before pushing the now empty place away from him. “And now I’m full.”
“What you’re saying is that, Hansol ‘earns’ us money to be used as food expenses and everything else?” Minghao checked, making sure that the inverted commas were evident in his voice.
Chan nodded, agreeing. “That’s pretty much it since we can’t really hold jobs for long periods of time. Hansol hyung gets us the money but he shares whatever he has with us.” The younger boy paused before adding, “I guess you can say that we have pocket money.”
Something stuck Minghao and he swiftly asked, “wait, what about my phone? Seungcheol hyung told me that it’s with Hansol.”
“Oh, your phone? Hansol hyung’s probably going to return it to you later during training.” Chan answered nonchalantly. He looked around and realized that people were already clearing their dishes.
“So, twelve at the basement?” Minghao reiterated, to make sure, as the younger boy got to his feet.
“Yeah and don't be late.” Chan warned, picking up the place to put it in the sink. “If you don’t want to be on Jihoon hyung’s bad side, don’t ever be late. He really dislikes tardiness.”
Minghao stood up as well and asked hopefully, “will Junhui ge be there, too?” He unknowingly held his breath as he waited for Chan’s answer.
But Chan shook his head and explained further. “He, and the older hyungs, don't need training anymore since they’re already quite proficient in using their superpowers. Jihoon hyung only trains the rest of us.”
“Oh. Alright then.” Minghao merely responded, downfallen for reasons that he didn't know.
Having heeded Chan’s advice, Minghao was already at the basement and waiting nervously five minutes before noon. There was a door near the elevator on the ground level which opened to a short staircase that led to another door which Minghao presumed was the door to the training area.
He wasn’t initially sure of what he should wear but after some consideration, Minghao settled for a plain T-shirt and loose denim jeans that he managed to find from Jisoo’s pile of old clothes. Minghao figured that he’ll probably do a lot of physical activities.
Butterflies fluttering around in his stomach, Minghao fished out his phone from his jean pocket and tapped at the screen to look at the time. 11:56 AM.
Earlier, after breakfast, Minghao decided to seek Hansol to retrieve his phone. After a few minutes of searching throughout the house, the Chinese boy finally heard the technopath’s voice coming from one of the six bedrooms.
“Finally,” Minghao breathed out impatiently. Without knocking, Minghao twisted the doorknob and pushed it forward while calling out in an annoyed tone, “Hansol, you have no idea how long it took me to find you.”
Minghao stepped inside the bedroom just in time to see Seungkwan forcibly shoved Hansol off him, causing the younger boy to fall off the bed they were on. Cursing creatively, Hansol slumped to the floor and went out of Minghao’s line of sight.
What...
“Hey, Minghao hyung.” Seungkwan waved awkwardly at Minghao, his chest heaving up and down rapidly, and acting like he hadn’t just tossed his boyfriend off the bed. The auburn haired boy’s hair was in a mess and his clothes rumpled.
Astonished, Minghao stared at the younger boy incredulously before inquiring in concern. “Is Hansol alright?”
“I’m fine! Totally fine,” Hansol yelled back as he stuck his hand out and then his head popped up. Like Seungkwan, Hansol’s face was flushed red and his bruised lips gave Minghao a pretty good idea of what the two younger boys had been doing in the bedroom before Minghao had entered.
Oh.
Unable to help himself, Minghao felt his own face turned crimson as he watched in silence as Hansol climbed back onto the bed without any hint of embarrassment, unlike his boyfriend.
With an apologetic expression on his face, Seungkwan patted Hansol’s shoulder who then stared expectantly at the Chinese boy. Hansol prompted, “so I heard you were looking for me?”
“Oh, right,” Minghao diverted his gaze, embarrassed at his actions. I should have knocked before I entered.
Looking everywhere but at the two boys, Minghao relayed, “Seungcheol hyung told me the other day that you have my phone so I’m wondering if I can have it back?”
“I almost forgot about that,” Hansol confessed sheepishly as he slipped off the bed. He digged through a drawer before pulling out Minghao’s phone. As he walked towards Minghao, Hansol informed him, “I didn’t do much to it but the usual procedures.”
Switching his phone on, Minghao raised a curious eyebrow at the younger, asking, “the usual procedures? What are they?”
“Well, basically, you are no longer contactable by other people except by us. The same goes for all your social media and everything else.” Hansol explained briefly, in simplified terms, to Minghao who had his head bowed over his phone, the phone screen lighting up his face.
“I also took the liberty to add all twelve members’ phone numbers inside.” Hansol added as Minghao scrolled through his contacts. There was a distinct lack of phone numbers - all of his family members and friends’ phone numbers had been removed. “From henceforth, we’re the only ones that can contact you.”
“Because of the organization.” Minghao hazarded as he pocketed his phone.
Both Hansol and Seungkwan exchanged a glance before the younger simply replied, “it’s a safety procedure that we all underwent.”
“Anyways, thanks I guess?” Minghao smiled awkwardly at the brown haired boy who flashed him a bright grin.
Minghao walked away before then, hesitated at the doorway. He never thought that he would have to do this, since he was an only child, but if Seungkwan and Hansol didn’t want people to know about their shenanigans behind closed doors, then they shouldn’t be leaving the door unlocked.
Turning around, Minghao coughed once to get their attention. Hansol visibly had to tear his eyes from Seungkwan’s plump lips and they both stared at Minghao who now had a faint blush. He advised the two boys, “you know, it’s always a good idea to lock the door before - well - doing whatever you guys were doing earlier.”
“We weren’t doing anything!” Seungkwan protested almost automatically, his face a brilliant shade of scarlet, but Minghao just sighed before closing the bedroom door behind him.
In present time, Minghao faintly registered the time on the phone screen. It’s 12:00 PM already, do I just go in? Minghao wondered, glancing around the vicinity for any signs of the other members but found no one.
Do I just go in then? Minghao pondered before drawing up the courage to open the door he was in front of. Jihoon hyung doesn’t like tardiness.
Hesitantly, Minghao stepped into the room and then groped blindly for the light switch, his eyes not quite adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him. He went further inside the room, fingers still searching for the light switch, when the door behind him slammed shut.
Minghao let out a high pitched scream of shock as he spun around abruptly. Hurrying to the door, Minghao twisted and pulled at the door knob but it stayed firmly shut. No, no, no. What’s happening? The organization found us? Questions poured into Minghao’s mind before he started to kick at the door in hopes of breaking it down but the door remained unbroken and unmoving.
“What’s happening?” Minghao murmured to himself, frightened out of his wits. He moved along the walls, blind in the lightless room, as he inched his way to another exit. “There has to be another way out, right?” He spoke out aloud, the sound of his voice in the otherwise silent place calming him slightly.
It was difficult to gauge the distance Minghao had moved due to the complete darkness but a few feet away from the entrance, Minghao’s fingers finally brushed against what were unmistakably the light switches. Relived beyond belief, Minghao hastily switched the lights on.
Almost immediately, light flooded the area and Minghao unwittingly broke into a smile of relief. Finally. Then he realized that he wasn’t alone in the room.
A shiver went down Minghao’s spine as he registered the presence of the same masked man from the other night. Instead of all four of them, there was only one - the one that had called Minghao a freak. His stance rigid and stiff, the man stared coldly at Minghao who swallowed in pure, unadulterated fear.
No, no, no. The organization found us. Minghao felt himself go cold all over as his body went into fight or flight mood. Was it me? Did my calling my mom tipped them off? Is it my fault?
What about the others? Junhui ge? Chan? Jisoo hyung? Minghao thought, starting to panic but he made sure that his face didn’t betray his feelings. Did they escape before he came? It’s all my fault - I shouldn’t have disobeyed Seungcheol hyung. He was right. The organization would - have - found us and it’s all my fault.
The masked men took a step forward before growling, “if you’re smart, don’t resist.”
That was all it took for Minghao to snap, his resolve to stay calm disintegrating. “Don’t come any closer!” Minghao yelled at the man who only advanced on him, unfazed.
“Aww, look at the kid trying to act tough.” The man sneered before pulling out a whip from behind. He cracked it threateningly and Minghao jerked in fright, the sound of the whip echoing the large room.
“I have superpowers, remember?” Minghao reminded them, his voice high pitched as he tried to bluff them. “Don’t make me use them.”
“We’ll like to see you try.” The same man leered before bringing his whip down in a large arch.
Instinctively, Minghao jumped out of harm’s way but he was a split second too slow and the whip tangled around his ankle. The man jerked his hand back and Minghao was pulled back, his back hitting the floor painfully.
“Now, where can you run?” The man mocked, jeering at the frightened and trapped Minghao beneath him. Without another word, the man brandished a pistol and took aim at Minghao’s shell shocked face.