[EXO] Compatibility (1/2)
title: Compatibility
pairing: Sehun-centric, ot12, slight Suho/D.O
genre: friendship
summary: Sehun thought there was only one good reason to work on a Shatterdome. As soon as he got there, he found eleven more. (Pacific Rim AU)
a/n: originally posted on sncj_santa for exothermc.
When the pilot first announced that they were about to land at base, Sehun couldn’t see it.
Looking out the window, the dark steel of the Shatterdome blended in perfectly with the cold city of Nagasaki. Rain splattered the window, blurring his view, and had he not been told of their descent, Sehun probably wouldn’t have paid attention to the landing.
And yet, the excitement he felt only grew more as the helicopter flew closer to the giant island of steel. He was finally here, on an actual Shatterdome. After years of vigorous studying and incessant begging, his father had finally allowed him to take a job offer at one of the many Jaeger bases that littered the Pacific Coast, despite the man’s own disproval of the program.
The helicopter touched the ground, wind hitting everyone who was running around below. Everyone else on board clambered off, leaving Sehun alone, as he took in his surroundings. From afar, the base had looked miniscule and tiny, but up close, as he looked up at the building; it seemed much grander, like his initial visions of it. The bubbling happiness within him increased.
I finally made it.
“Sir! Your presence is needed in the Marshall’s office!” A worker now stood in front of him, holding an umbrella out. Wordlessly, Sehun stepped out of the plane and under the cover, walking with his guide into the large building. Within a short while, they had stopped in front of another heavy steel door, which was left open slightly to allow access within.
Inside the room was a short man with a pale features and brown hair, whose gentle face felt comforting to Sehun. He held a great commandeering aura, something that could be seen through his firm and kind eyes as he glanced up at the two visitors.
“You must be Sehun!” The male held out his hand pleasantly. “I’m the Marshall at this Shatterdome. You can just call me Suho.” Sehun shook the outstretched hand, still remaining silent.
“Well… welcome to Nagasaki!” Suho continued, undeterred by the others lack of response. “I understand you are here under President Oh’s recommendation to be my…” he checked his paper once again. A part of his smile faded. “Official assistant?” Sehun nodded again.
“Well, welcome aboard to our program!” He walked around to the front of his desk. “I understand you must be eager to get working, so I’m going to have someone show you around right now- Jongin!”
“What’s up Gramps.” A head suddenly appeared from around the door.
“Can you show Sehun here around? He’s a new… addition to our team.” Suho paused. “And don’t call me Gramps.”
“No problem old man.” Jongin popped his lips, motioning for Sehun to come out and follow. The other wore casual clothing, a tank top that showcased his tanned arms, and khakis with combat boots. The cap on his head was matted with grease.
The two began walking down the hall in silence. “So… how old are you?” Jongin asked, scratching his head awkwardly.
“19.” Sehun mumbled.
“Oh, so I’m older!” Jongin brightened up at that. “I hate being the youngest here, everyone takes advantage of that like nothing. But that’s your role now!”
“I’m Kim Jongin by the way, head technician of our J-Tech crew here at base. Basically, I just oversee the repairs and upgrades needed for all our active Jaegers, plus I work with Suho at the LOCCENT mission control booth when we send Jaegers out into the field.” He motioned through a door they passed, where Sehun could see the typical layout of the control booth that he had viewed in books, complete with multiple computer screen and digital monitors. Currently they were all offline, with only a few people clacking away.
Jongin stopped in front of another door. Opening it, they entered to a large room that looked to be a laboratory. “Here is our K-science lab, headed by none other then Do Kyungsoo. I sometimes wonder why, he hates getting his hands dirty for no reason.” There was a small man standing in the center of the room, surrounded by giant tubes with various Kaiju parts floating in them. He appeared not to have heard the two of them come in.
“Oh yeah… he also has a major crush on Suho. Watch this.” Jongin winked at Sehun, before clearing his throat. “Kyungsoo,” he started, and Sehun was surprised at how similar it was to the Marshall’s honey sounding voice. “Do you have the files on last weeks attack? Jongin needs them for the damage reports.”
Kyungsoo visibly jumped before reaching for a stack of papers, spinning around with a giant blush on his face. “Yeah I do Suh- goddammit Jongin!” His face turned red, and he pouted at the two. Jongin laughed before reaching for the papers, sticking his tongue out. Kyungsoo whipped them out of his reach in retaliation, letting Jongin fall to the floor.
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Not my fault you haven’t confessed your undying love to Suho!”
“I don’t have a crush on him!”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Jongin grabbed the stack and threw his other arm around Sehun, leading him away from the seething Kyungsoo. “He’s a lot of fun to tease, but you got to be careful because he can get pretty scary when he’s cranky.”
“I can still hear you!” A book was sent flying in their direction, missing Jongin by an inch. He winced and hurried them out the door.
“Not to mention he packs a pretty hard punch. But don’t worry; I’m pretty sure he won’t be to hard on you for like, the first week. Or day.” They walked down the hallway to another door, which Jongin pushed open as well. It appeared to be the Shatterdome’s residential hospital, the interior reeking of medicinal herbs and the white walls glaring down at Sehun.
“This’s our medical station, headed by Huang Zitao from China, though to be honest I wonder why since Yixing is the one with anything close to a medical degree…” Sehun didn’t know who Yixing was, but he wouldn’t have believed that the guy in front of him was capable of fixing Kaiju wounds anyways; rather, it seemed as if he would be the one sending people to the hospital in the first place. The black haired male was just slouching in a chair, head down, and already Sehun wanted to run.
“Hey Tao, say hi to the newbie.” Jongin motioned to Sehun. The mop of black hair rose, dark eyes and a menacing pout peeking out from under.
“I don’t like him.” Tao announced. Sehun gulped.
“He doesn’t like me.” He whispered to Jongin.
“Don’t worry, he will in about an hour.” With a wave at the still glaring Tao, Jongin pushed Sehun out of the medical office and across the hall, where a big archway stood.
“And this here, is our main holding bay, where the Jaeger’s are.” Jongin snickered as Sehun gave a jolt, suddenly attentive. He peered into the interior, and gasped.
Inside, the hanger stood three giant Jaegers, towering over the chaos that was happening in front of them. Sehun could see everyone bustling around, hurrying about his or her tasks. The room was filled with loud noises, shouts ringing from every side of the room, instructions being barked out at such a high speed that the sounds overlapped and made it hard for him to focus on one.
It was exactly as Sehun had imagined it. The organized chaos that was in front of him, where everyone had a job to accomplish and work to do, thrilled him. He wanted to be part of the rush.
But none of what was on the floor could compare to the three robots that stood in front of him. Standing tall and proud over him, the giant robots exerted such a powerful and magnificent force that gave them a grand ambience in the room. With well-rusted bodies full of dents and scars, Sehun could only imagine the different attacks they’ve been in, all the stories that they held, all the memories that Jaeger and their respective Rangers had together. Each Jaeger had their respective fight styles, a different range of weaponry, and their own unique stories. The thought of learning each and every detail of them all exhilarated Sehun.
“I figure this is your favorite room right?” Jongin broke into Sehun’s train of thought, a smirk present on his face. “Come on, stop gawking, let me introduce you to our teams.”
They started down the hall. To the left, Sehun saw a group of people sitting around a table, all laughing at what the two in the center had just said. Sehun suspected they were the Rangers, judging by their commanding presence within the group. The taller of the two had short-cropped black hair, and large facial features, from a wide smile to popping eyes. On the other hand, his (much shorter) partner’s hair was a light brown shade, and his eyes were much smaller, disappearing into crinkles as he laughed boisterously. However, despite the differences between them in outward appearances, Sehun could tell they were alike in personality. The pair wore identical grins on their faces, and had a similar carefree aura surrounding them, exuding a jokester characteristic from their movements.
“Over there, that’s Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol.” Jongin pointed at the two that Sehun had picked out before. They noticed Jongin and waved enthusiastically. “They’re like… cousins or something. Third cousins, I think. Funny thing though, they actually didn’t know each other before then, and didn’t officially meet until they got into the academy, but got matched within seconds, and tested out to be just as strong and stable in their neural bridge too.”
“They pilot the Cosmic Phoenix over there, from Korea.” True to its name, a fire-red and starry-blue Jaeger stood there, looming over the two as they walked closer. Jongin smiled brightly up at it. “That, right there is 2.5K tons of awesome. The heaviest and slowest bastard we have on the program, but definitely most effective in beating down on a Kaiju’s brains. Those fists are made of titanium steel; it has close to 100 engines for muscle strength, and what I love about it the most? The black iron claymore in its arsenal, responsible for the sole take down of three Kaiju’s so far. Not bad for a Mach-2 to be honest.” Sehun nodded in agreement. The Mach-2 series were known for their brute force, and the machine in front of him was reminiscent of that fact.
“Those two over there,” Jongin pointed at two other males, sitting in another section on their own. “Are Kim Minseok and Kim Jongdae, but they go by Xiumin and Chen. They met at some international school in Beijing, and as the only two Koreans there, became instant best friends. But really, that’s not the only thing that makes their drift so strong. You heard ‘bout the Beijing incident of 2014?”
“Yeah. An unexpected Category IV Kaiju. Caused the highest death toll ever up to date.”
“Their school was in the line of attack.” A grim look appeared on Jongin’s face. “They got pretty lucky, since they were on the first floor. The two of them hid in a bookshelf the whole time, and didn’t get found for a week. Chen still gets nightmares of the screams apparently, but that incident connected them to a level beyond anything the Jaeger Academy has seen. Their prelim compatibility is in the mid 90s.” Sehun whistled approvingly. With a package that high, it was no doubt the two were more then just compatible. Most good drift compatibilities were around the mid 70’s early 80s, with few just barely touching 90%. He’d never seen a drift match higher then 80%; meeting a group that could go even higher was impressive.
“Got drafted straight away, we just couldn’t lose out on a drift that strong. They’re riding a Chinese Jaeger, and use Chinese monikers instead of their real names. It’s in memory of all their classmates who didn’t make it out.” Jongin continued. The two males had just noticed them, but neither made a move to greet Jongin. One of them, a sharp-jawed man, stared at Sehun with deep eyes, causing the younger to shrink back in slight fear.
And that’s their robot over there, Noctis Shadow.” Sehun blinked, turning his attention back to Jongin. He was pointing at a black ebony robot, significantly slimmer then the Cosmic Phoenix, but equally as imposing. “It’s a Mach-5, and one of the fastest robot out there, having a speed of up to 100mph. Built using only the best turbo engines. They’re known as like our ninja Jaeger, ‘cause their attacks come out of nowhere. Not to mention their dark color really makes them unnoticeable, since a lot of our attacks happen at night, giving them an advantage in surprise blows.” Sehun could see why it was a so-called “ninja Jaeger”, not only with it’s thinner size, dark color, and the powerful engines on its feet, but there were also traditional small knifes and shurikens attacked to the sides, along with two plasma blasters he could see hidden on her arms.
“And over here is-“
“Yo! I’m Luhan!” a bright-eyed blonde suddenly appeared in Sehun’s line of sight, waving enthusiastically at him. Sehun blinked.
“Luhan, please don’t scare the newbie away with your ugly face okay,” and Sehun wanted to laugh at that, because Luhan was anything but ugly. Perfectly round face, doe eyes, and heart shaped lips, the girl in front of him was like the definition of attractive. However, she definitely didn't fit around her surroundings; almost as it were a mistake to find her here. In fact… Sehun blinked in confusion. Of everything he had read up on the Nagasaki Shatterdome, he was sure he remembered its most distinctive quality being that there were no female drifters here, most of them preferring the more populated cities as their home base.
“I thought there were only male drifters here?” Sehun questioned. Jongin choked in surprise, as the aforementioned Luhan looked horrified.
A snort sounded from in front of him, redirecting his attention to two males that appeared at Luhan’s shoulder. “I like this guy already, man.” One stuck his hand out for a handshake. “I’m Yixing and this is Kris. The three of us control the Mystical Empress. We’re one of the two triple handed Jaegers out there in the world.”
“China loves to show off, that's why they made both. Too bad it doesn’t make them any better fighters.” Jongin not so discreetly whispered into Sehun’s ear, earning a slap on the shoulder from Yixing.
“But that doesn’t answer my question?” Sehun immediately regretted his question, seeing as everyone else were giving him “Now you’ve done it” looks.
Suddenly there was pain. A lot of pain. A lot. And it was aimed straight at his crotch.
He groaned.
“I’m a guy!” was the last thing that he heard before passing out.
“Way to go Luhan, it was the kids first day and you already killed him. Award for best welcoming crew ever goes too…?”
“Shut up Tao, if I did then that heart thingy on the screen should go flat- holy shit why is it flat did I KILL HIM TAO?”
“Luhan, he’s not even hooked up. Idiot.”
“I heard that!”
“That’s the point.”
Sehun groaned, shifting in the bed. The voices in his head were seemingly getting louder and louder, and he drew the covers tighter over his head, willing them to shut the hell up and leave him alone to sleep.
“He’s ALIVEE!” But as fate would have it, that wasn’t in his future at all. The covers were suddenly pulled from his head, the same blond male from before popping up in front of his face. Luhan, if Sehun could remember correctly. Who was most definitely not a girl.
Tao appeared at Luhan’s shoulder. “Hey Sehun, how are you feeling?” He appeared much happier then when Sehun saw him that afternoon.
“You’re now my new best friend, cause you called Luhan a girl.” Tao announced, smiling serenely and patting Sehun on the head. “Feel better, best friend.” He squeaked as Luhan smacked his arm.
“Get out of here you useless asshole of a doctor.” Luhan growled, and Tao scrambled off the bed, grumbling under his breath about abusive deers or something of the sort, as he walked out the room.
Luhan also got off Sehun’s bed, but to the younger’s dismay, plopped himself on the opposing one instead.
“Hi. My name is Luhan, Lu is my surname, Han is my first or whatever. Don’t get it wrong. Oh, and you should apologize.” Sehun’s eyes widened disbelievingly.
“Why??!?! You kicked my dick!” Luhan made a face.
“You really have a problem with using appropriate terms when you’re describing things, don’t you,” he answered. “First the whole girl thing, and I clearly was not aiming for your dick-“
“Do you plan to apologize to me? I mean, cause you did kick my… ‘thing’ so hard that it apparently landed me in the hospital.” Sehun cut in. Luhan appeared in thought for a second.
“Nope.” He popped. Sehun fell back into his bed, groaning.
“Why should I? You called me a girl, when obviously I’m not!” Luhan scoffed. Sehun could see that now, where before the quiet Luhan had been androgynous, now Sehun couldn’t see him as anything other then male. Looking more closely at the blond male, he could see more clearly that his assumption was definitely wrong. Whereas his face did have effeminate qualities, Luhan’s lower body was anything but. His skinny arms showcased slight biceps under the t-shirt, and Sehun could make out abs through the tight white shirt.
“Why are you so quiet, do you need me to show you cause I can-“
“Please don’t.” Sehun grumbled. Luhan snickered.
“I was just going to take off my shirt you pervert. But I can show you the other ‘thing’ if you want-“ he unbuckled his belt. Sehun screeched and scurried back under the blanket.
As if to make matters worse, Suho chose to walk in at that exact moment. Both males froze in their tracks.
He took one glance at Luhan, who had undone one button, and Sehun who was still burrowed under the covers, pressing up against the headboard. He straightened up, face flaming red with embarrassment over his position.
“It is exactly what you are thinking Suho,” Luhan grinned. “Unless you are thinking something sexual, which then it isn’t.”
“Stop harassing my new recruit, Luhan.” Suho chided the other softly, shaking his head in disappointment. Sehun took the opportunity to stick his tongue out at him. Luhan’s shifted and pointed a finger at him accusingly.
“He started it!”
“You hit me in the crotch!” Sehun shouted back.
“You called me a girl!”
“You’re both giving me a headache now, please stop.” Suho said patiently. Sehun immediately did, and Luhan unwillingly did the same, flopping back in his seat with a pout. Suho smiled.
“Thank you.” he turned to Sehun. “I’m sorry for the less then friendly welcome you received -yes Luhan, I’m blaming you- but regardless, I’d like to welcome you once again to the team? How did you find the tour?”
“I enjoyed most of it for sure, thank you?” Sehun responded politely. Luhan snarled at the younger’s obvious subtle jab, but Suho merely smiled.
“Glad to hear.” Sehun made to rise out of the bed, but Suho held out a hand, pausing his actions. “You have the day off today, but starting tomorrow, you are to report to me every morning so I can give you your assignment. I believe most of the time I will be sending you to assist either Kyungsoo or Jongin, as that is what you are being licensed to us for, correct?” Sehun nodded, and Suho’s beamed.
“Great! Rest up, because tomorrow you’re going to see just how crazy it is to work on a Shatterdome.” With that, Suho patted Sehun on the shoulder and walked out the door. Sehun watched him go, his own smile increasing with each second that passed. Luhan looked at him curiously.
“Straight out of the Academy?” Sehun turned, surprised, but nodded quickly. Luhan chuckled genuinely, his eyes no longer mocking but hospitable instead.
“You’ll enjoy it here, believe me.” Luhan leaned back, resting his hands on the back of his head. “It’s a whole lot of work, but absolutely worth it. We’re like a makeshift family around here. Everyone’s close with each other, and we all get along really well.” His voice was light and airy, and Luhan spoke with such a radiant tone, that Sehun couldn’t help but know what the elder said was true.
Maybe he isn’t that bad… Sehun couldn't help but think. Luhan did have a very friendly (albeit pretty) face, one that gave a feeling of trustworthiness and amiable feelings. Sehun figured if they had met under different circumstances, he would definitely be more drawn towards the other male hospitable nature.
Suddenly, the previously affectionate smile changed into a mischievous smirk, and all preconceived notions from before came rushing back. Sehun could practically see the evil turning in Luhan’s head, and internally he groaned.
“But ‘cause you called me a girl, I’m gonna make sure your first week a living hell~” Luhan sang out, a slight lilt in his steps as he bounced out the room, his laughter ringing down the hall. Sehun could feel his headache rising again.
He took all that back. Luhan was the spawn of the devil.
Despite his abnormal first day, the rest of the week passed without much incident. Luhan was right when he said there was a ‘whole lot of work’, but Sehun enjoyed every second of it. Between going over Jaeger designs and upgrades with Jongin, to dissecting a Kaiju brain for (not with -Sehun couldn’t help but think) Kyungsoo, to even learning different medical techniques from both Tao and Yixing, Sehun found his experience on the Shatterdome refreshing, a welcomed change from the suffocating aura of his own home back on the Korean mainland.
Being the son of the CEO of Oh Corporations, one of Korea’s biggest conglomerates, was a hard life for him. He lived in riches and wealth, but at the same time, was always under the scrutiny of both the public and his parents. There wasn’t a single memory of his family ever going out on an outing; instead, there were countless ones of sitting at a desk, studying to take over Oh Corporations after his father. He wasn’t allowed to do anything of the abnormal in danger of being looked down upon by the public, as it could mean a bad reputation for the company.
That’s why being on a Shatterdome was such a new and exciting thing to Sehun. When he had first learned about the newly developed Jaeger program, it stirred an immediate interest in his mind. This was something new to him, something beyond just numbers and business transactions. As the program began to take off, his attention only increased even more. It was everything in a young boy’s dream, the idea of operating a robot to fight the evil forces. The attraction had always stayed, which had propelled him into the Jaeger Academy, and then, after many complications, finally here, in Nagasaki.
“And well, I added some new turbo engines I had imported from Japan to Shadow, plus I got some European throwing knives made to add to their arsenal, since the razor blades broke in the Kaiju attack from before…”
Sehun blinked twice, realizing that Jongin was talking to him. They were currently on their way to Kyungsoo, who was helping Jongin test the Cosmic Phoenix’s new armor and it’s resistance ability to Kaiju acid. Two days ago, the shipment had arrived from Korea, and Jongin had acted like a little boy with a new present, gushing over the quality and durability of the chromium metal, even crying a little when he first touched the smooth steel. Kyungsoo had spent a few hours laughing over that.
Out of everyone Sehun had met those past few days, he would say that Jongin and Kyungsoo were his closest friends on the Shatterdome. Most of his work revolved around them, and therefore he spent a lot of the time with them. The two were definitely the most opposing types of people you could find. Whereas Jongin was more shy and playful, Kyungsoo never seemed to break his serious look, always rolling his eyes at the two’s playful antics to make him smile. Sehun did find teasing the elder fun, but as soon as the first few days passed, Kyungsoo wasn’t afraid of retaliation. Jongin was right when he said the elder could pack a punch, Sehun’s arm was an attestation to that.
The two stopped in front of the entrance platform into the Cosmic’s head. “Can you wait outside with these files Sehun? I got to go find Kyungsoo, he probably got lost somewhere inside, that useless scientist…” Sehun could still hear Jongin’s grumbles even as he disappeared from the platform into the Jaeger.
Setting down the box of papers on a desk, it hit the edge of a keyboard, and the monitor beeped on. There was a paused video on the screen, a videotape of a recent fight between the Cosmic Phoenix and a Kaiju, one that had just happened two days prior.
Sehun still remembered watching that battle from mission control. It was only a Category II, and as Chanyeol had felt extremely hyper that day, the Cosmic was the only one sent to deal with it.
Watching as the Cosmic’s fist had repeatedly slammed into the Kaiju’s body, over and over as blue acid flew from its mouth and splattered the nearby sea had brought a buzz of exhilaration. He felt fear when the Kaiju had clambered onto the Cosmic’s head, and then elation when Chanyeol and Baekhyun grabbed it and flung it off, before completing the mission with a slashes from their claymore; first forming a gash on the monster’s body, then repeatedly stabbing it over again to ensure its death. It was an amazing feeling, despite not being the one fighting. Rather, Sehun felt a sense of pride when the Cosmic had returned to the Shatterdome, thundering applause cheering on the two Rangers.
A slight tap on his shoulder brought him out of his daze. "Sorry Sehun, but me and Kyungsoo have some technical stuff we got to deal with right now. You can find your way to the mess hall right?" Sehun didn't bother to remind Jongin that he had been at the shatterdome for close to two weeks now. The guy looked more stressed out then he had before entering the Cosmic’s head.
"Yeah, you want me to bring you guys back-" he was cut off by a loud screech accompanied by muffled curses.
"Goddamit Jongin, what the hell did you do to the conn pad it's not-" Jongin rolled his eyes and turned around.
"It's not my fault this one is nuclear based-"
Sehun took that to mean no.
Of course, as soon as Sehun walked into the mess hall, he was faced with another problem. That would be the sea of unfamiliar faces in front of him, most of them chatting among themselves in preset cliques based on job description, none which Sehun belonged too.
Sehun shifted uncomfortably on spot, glancing over the large crowd for a familiar face to sit with, but returning even more helpless. He hardly talked to anyone outside of the department heads and Suho, and even then it was mostly consisting of him listening to directions. He usually sat with Kyungsoo or Jongin here, both whom weren’t a choice at the moment.
"Hey Sehun, over here!" The voice called out from the right of the room. Sitting at a table there was Luhan, along with the Noctis Shadow duo, Xiumin and Chen. Ever since their talk in the infirmary, Sehun had been trying to avoid any form of contact with Luhan, both physically and physical, but another quick glance around the room told Sehun that was probably going to have to change right now.
He slowly trudged over to their table, where Luhan was grinning impishly. He patted the seat next to him, and Sehun dropped down into it, angling his body as far as he could from Luhan.
“Awww… why so far?” A sudden strong grip to his side brought him into Luhan’s shoulder, the other’s bony shoulder knocking into his head. Sehun winced in pain.
“Luhan, leave the poor kid alone,” Xiumin sighed, looking pitifully at Sehun, still trapped under Luhan’s tight grip. “Don’t mind Luhan, he thinks he can act all crazy ‘cause his parents abandoned him today.”
“Yeah, well, Kris and Xing apparently have better things to do then spending bonding time with me.” Luhan pouted. Sehun inferred those two were what Xiumin meant by “parents”. “Screw those idiots though, I’d rather hang with you guys!”
“What makes you think we want to be with you.” Chen muttered. Luhan ignored him.
“Where are Kris and Yixing?” Sehun questioned, taking a sip of his soup. Usually drift partners didn’t spend time apart, as they felt most at ease when around each other. The three Mystical Empress pilots were no different, so it was a bit odd to see Luhan by himself.
“Probably fucking in our room.” Sehun spat the liquid back out.
“You actually believed that- oh God, this is freaking hilarious!” Luhan’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped, as he clutched at his stomach, wheezing in laughter. Xiumin groaned.
“Don’t believe anything Luhan says. Yixing has a girlfriend back in China, they’re probably video-chatting right now. Kris is with Suho.” he replied, throwing an annoyed look at the still laughing male.
“Those two are probably fooling around though.” Chen stabbed at his rice. Sehun choked again.
“You guys are horrible, oh my God don’t listen to them Sehun, they’re playing.” Xiumin rolled his eyes exasperatedly, and Chen snickered. Luhan was still laughing. “I mean, not that they might not have attraction to one another but I’m pretty sure it has to do with-”
“Where’s Jongin?” Luhan finally cut in, stopping Xiumin from elaborating further. “You usually sit with him right?”
“He’s working on the Cosmic with Kyungsoo,” Sehun mumbled. He cautiously lifted his spoon back to his mouth, quickly gulping the soup down.
“And you don’t have anyone else to sit with?” Luhan questioned. Sehun glared at him. “What? You looked like a lost lamb over there, like you didn’t know where to go! I figured you’d want to sit with us though, ‘cause at least we know each other, right?”
“I feel like that would be the exact reason he would want to avoid us,” Chen cut in again, dropping his chopsticks on his tray. “But Luhan has a point. You’ve been on base for a week, do you know anyone else from the J-tech crew?”
“I don’t work with any of them, only with Jongin and Kyungsoo, so I never really had the chance to talk to them.” Sehun shrugged.
“What is your job title anyways?” Xiumin asked. Sehun shrugged again.
“Didn’t you come from the Jaeger Academy?” Luhan piped up, taking a piece of meat from Sehun’s tray. “Why aren’t you in the Ranger Program?” Sehun tensed up, his eyes dropping down to his plate. Suddenly sitting with the technicians didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
“Didn’t make it,” Sehun murmured. “Got cut out.”
“What were your simulator stats?” Xiumin asked. Sehun bit his lip. Truthfully, Sehun wasn’t cut from the program. On the contrary, his grades were so high, his statistics so good, that when he went to resign his position from the potential Ranger’s list, the head of the Academy had to double check with him, eyes bulging in surprise.
However, after the man had found out why, his eyes weren’t just wide in surprise, but fear. He couldn’t have gotten Sehun out of his office any faster; with a hurried yes I’ll make sure to take your name off. He had been escorted by two bodyguards into his father’s car, and they had continued to watch him until the car had started and was leaving the Jaeger Academy, no chance of Sehun returning back to what had been the best experience of his life.
The three Rangers were still looking expectantly at him. Sehun sighed.
“50 drops, 49 kills.” The other three stared at him, jaws slack.
“No way.” Luhan gaped. Sehun nodded grimly.
"But with stats that good there is no way you didn’t make it." Chen was peering at him incredulously. Sehun shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He knew why, but revealing it was something he had promised never to do once he arrived at the Shatterdome. It wasn’t just him complying with his father’s orders, but rather, Sehun was afraid. Here he was, a viable candidate for the program, someone who would be a great addition, yet he was backing out for such a trivial reason.
“I-I’m just not qualified,” he mumbled. Luhan’s eyes widened even more.
“Bullshit. Those are really good numbers! Even Yixing didn’t get that high, and Yixing graduated the Academy with the highest stats of everyone here!” He suddenly stood and grabbed the younger’s arm. Sehun jolted, looking up at Luhan with confusion.
“Where are we-“
“We’re going to go test this out.” Chen interrupted, also rising out of his seat. “There’s no way in hell you aren’t qualified.”
“But guys-“ Sehun’s protests were cut off once again, as the three hurried him out of the mess hall and down a hall. He knew where they were going, to the Kwoon combat room, where trainees and Rangers would go to amplify their proficiency in combat situations. His stomach lurched, and he definitely knew it wasn’t from the lunch he didn't eat.
Luhan finally let go of Sehun on the sparring mat, and stepped to the side. Him and Chen turned their attention to Xiumin, who appeared in deep thought.
“Chen, you go first.” Xiumin announced. Luhan looked at him questioningly.
“Shouldn’t we start him with other trainees?” A small crowd of them had started to gather at the doorway, low whispers echoing through the room.
“No way, the kid’s stats are way to good.” Chen stood, grinning maliciously and cracking his knuckles. He tilted his head sideways and clenching his hands into fists, crouching into an attack position.
"But guys seriously I’m actually-" Sehun's words were cut off with a lurch of his body, as Chen grabbed his shoulders and sent him through the air onto the mat with a hard thud.
"Never keep your eye off the opponent." Chen grinned down at him on the floor. Sehun scrambled up, attempting to stand, only for Chen to deliver another jab that sent him back down.
"You can't waste any time transitioning from attack to attack, use your failures to your advantage," Chen sighed as Sehun struggled to stand once again. He attempted to send a fake undercut towards Chen’s stomach, but the other’s leg came up to meet it instead, the back of his heel stopping crashing into Sehun’s ribs, pushing his arm down first. Sehun cringed but swung his own foot into the Ranger’s knees, bringing him down as well. Chen merely used his position to his advantage, grabbing Sehun’s legs and flinging him over to the side, trapping him instead. Attempting to push Chen off, Sehun grabbed onto the Ranger’s shirt and pulled, however, the two merely rolled, ending with Chen pinning him to the ground with his legs, pulling Sehun’s arm between them in a trap.
"Ooohh nice try, too bad I saw right through it," Sehun could practically feel the smirk from Chen’s face as he let go and jumped off, clearly unhurt.
"Okay Chen, lay off, the kid obviously isn't use to our fighting style," Xiumin chide his partner as he helped Sehun to his feet. "Xing, you give him a try." He whipped his head around in shock. The remaining four Rangers had suddenly appeared through in the room, watching on with interest. Yixing gave a curt nod before stepping up to the sparring mat with two long poles in hand.
"I prefer this to hand to hand combat." he explained, tossing one over to Sehun. He stared at the stick. What was he suppose to do with it? His question was soon answered however, with a sharp thwack to his back, once again leading him to meet the floor.
Groaning, he saw Yixing's serene smile over him, stick securely in hand.
"One - Zero. Get up." The simple yet harsh command sent him scrambling to his feet, the long pole cautiously held out in front of him for protection. Yixing merely sighed before tightening his own to his side, before spinning around and pouncing closer, landing gracefully on his empty hand and feet before swiping the long stick at Sehun’s feet, stopping slightly before making actual contact.
“Two - Zero.” Yixing slid back up and held the pole to his side, Sehun swung around, attempting to find an opening, but each attack was met with the crack from Yixing’s defense, not allowing for Sehun to get close. In a wild move, he sent the pole flying at Yixing’s feet, which the Chinese responded by jumping. Mid air, he flung his own pole down, maneuvering it between Sehun’s arms and legs and throwing the younger to the floor.
“Three - Zero.” Panting, Sehun stood up again, holding the stick out in defense. Yixing swung his own around his body, stopping it firmly in his left hand before raising it into an attack position, the loud clack ringing in the room from Sehun’s timely block. A few more came after; Sehun barely managed to continue his momentum on subsequent attacks, each pole movement becoming more faster then the previous. Suddenly, Yixing changed his pole direction, aiming lower instead, then hooking his pole between Sehun’s side and arm. He used the momentum and tapped Sehun in the side, before retracting his pole to the side and stepping his feet from his lunge together.
“I’ve seen what I needed to see.” Yixing walked off the mat, patting Baekhyun on the behind. The Korean male hopped forward excitedly, bouncing on his two feet and throwing punches out.
“Do you know Hapkido?” Baekhyun asked enthusiastically. Before Sehun could answer no, the brunet threw a closed fist out, nearly getting Sehun in his arm. Two more hand strikes came out afterward, this time managing to hit him on both sides and send him stumbling. Baekhyun sidestepped his unstable body, appearing at his back. Without warning, his arm went around Sehun’s neck, locking him in a headlock and successfully constricting his airflow. Baekhyun let out a mock yawn, rolling his eyes at his partner, Chanyeol, who was in hysterics.
"This is a waste of time. Perfect stats; what a joke. Let's get out of here." Chen grumbled, brushing his pants off before heading for the door. Xiumin caught him by the hood and dragged him back in.
"Baek. Let him go.” The younger released his arm. Sehun took a huge gasp of air. “Luhan." Xiumin nodded to the other calmly. Chen stared at him in disbelief.
"Minseok, it's not worth it. The kid’s not cut out for it!"
Sehun wholeheartedly agreed with the statement. This was nothing like the fights he had at the Jaeger Academy; the Ranger’s moves were more calculated, more direct, and held more force and power within them. He wasn’t use to this, his own training in street fighting no match for the styles that Chen, Yixing or Baekhyun possessed.
However, he remained silent, internally crying as Luhan stepped onto the sparring mat. A flashback to their first encounter passed through his mind, and a shiver of pain passed through his body.
"You ready?" Chanyeol jeered. Besides him, Baekhyun tittered, most likely remembering his own encounter with Sehun.
"Not really, no." Luhan chuckled at his response, before holding his arms up in a defensive pose. Sehun did the same. A quick hand darted out at him, and Sehun only nearly ducked, feeling the others nail scape his skin just barely. Sehun rolled his body out of the way as Luhan pounced forward. In mid lunge, Luhan’s arm had swung back and sent a fist towards his abdomen, yet Sehun managed to fall back in time, allowing his leg to trip up the elder. Luhan stumbled, but kept his balance, gracefully spinning in time to block Sehun’s next hand strike. Grabbing onto the arm, he used the other’s former momentum to send both of them to the floor, and held Sehun’s head within his arms. However, undeterred, Sehun gyrated his body around, successfully unlocking himself from Luhan’s arms and rolling himself up onto his feet. As he turned, he saw the other had done the same; his arms once again out into a defensive position, fists tight and his wrists sharp. Luhan eyes glinted, before he darted to the side and delivered a punch to Sehun’s side, sending him stumbling a few steps, but not before the other had managed to inflict his own jab at Luhan’s legs.
The feeling was not the same as when he was fighting the others, where he was more scared for his life then anything else. Rather, with Luhan, Sehun felt more confidence after the first blow, a more similar fight style to Sehun’s preferred one. Nothing else was around besides him and Luhan, everyone else completely out of his mind. The movements became clearer to him. He could predict each attack that Luhan was planning, as the two of them pranced around the mat, eyes focused only on one another.
Suddenly Luhan jumped onto Sehun’s right, his elbow darting into the younger’s shoulder, Sehun threw his leg back to counter attack, but Luhan blocked with ease, sending Sehun to the floor. He sat on top of the other, the side of his hand barely touching Sehun in the neck.
“Point.” Luhan whispered, the shock suddenly coming to his eyes. This was a new development, something that no one could have thought was possible. Despite Luhan gaining the upper hand at the end, and ending with a win, the real revelation that had occurred was that the two of them had just completed a strong and intense fight that had left them more or less of equal energy.
The fight was nothing like any of the ones before. This time, both opponents were on an equal wavelength, had the same strength and power, and could connect with one another even as they were attempting to bring each other down. The implications of this hit Sehun hard, realization coming to him as he suddenly knew why everyone else was looking at them in shock.
They were compatible.
"Holy shit." his trance broken, Sehun saw Jongin step through the door, mouth wide open. Behind him were Kyungsoo and Tao, both who were sporting similar faces. Sehun blinked twice, looking around him. The other pilots were all the same, their wide eyes staring at him in shock. He looked over at Luhan, who looked deep in thought, eyes concentrating on Sehun as well.
"That was one of the best drifts I've seen!" Jongin pushed through the trainees and stood at the edge of the mat, looking as if Sehun had completely changed. “Y-You guys matched perfectly! Not as good as with the Mystical Empress, but like- almost as good!”
Sehun stumbled back, in shock over what Jongin was saying. No. That couldn’t be right.
“It was pretty amazing, what you guys were doing,” Jongin was still rambling on. “It was like a mix of street fighting and boxing, but the way you guys were moving so fluidly… wow… it was like watching… a dance fight!”
“Why aren’t you in the Jaeger Program?” Chen interjected, his eyes burning through the younger. Sehun gulped. “If they really say you didn’t qualified, I resign from this job. There is no way that you didn’t make it.”
“Was it ‘cause you didn’t have a drift partner?” Tao pushed past Chen as well. “I mean, they should at least keep you in the Academy until you find one, and besides, you and Luhan are a really good match.”
“Tao, you should try too, aren’t you and Luhan compatible-“
“No one will be trying anything else.” The room dropped to silence in a second, as Suho stepped in. For once, he wasn’t smiling; instead, his eyebrows were furrowed into a frown. Sehun froze and gulped.
Jongin stepped forward. “Suho, did you see Sehun and Lu? You got to admit, they were really good-“
“It doesn’t matter what happened.” Suho replied smoothly. “Sehun isn’t a Ranger trainee.”
“But Suho-“
“This matter is closed. Sehun, follow me.” Suho glared at the room, where no one dared to meet his eyes. Sehun bowed his head in shame. Refusing to look at anyone on his way out, the two men left the Kwoon room.
“Sir, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-“
“Your father called Sehun.” He stopped in his tracks. His father?
“He wants you back on the mainland. Said you should have had your fun by now, and it’s time to leave the ‘playland’ and return to the ‘real world’.” Suho winced. “He had a few other choice words, to be honest.”
“I’m sorry about my father’s behavior.” Sehun mumbled. “But please… Marshall… don’t send me back.” Suho stopped, glancing over at Sehun. “Marshall, I’m… I’m enjoying my time here, and actually learning more then I ever did back at home. I love working on this Shatterdome, and I really don’t want to leave. Can’t you petition for me to stay a few more months at least?”
“Sehun-“
“Please Marshall, I promise I won’t interact with the Ranger’s again, I’ll stay with Jongin and Kyungsoo all the time and not even get near the Kwoon Room or Conn-Pad. I just… I don’t want to go back right now, when there is still so much that I want to do-“
“If your dad had enough power to forcefully remove you from the list of Ranger candidates, I don’t think I can stop him from bringing you back. And that’s not the only thing. What they said back there is true. You’re one of the best candidates for the Ranger Program, near perfect stats, a high level of stability, an extensive knowledge of Jaegers… can you really live here as an ‘assistant’ after knowing that?” Sehun remained speechless, Suho’s words whirling around in his head.
“Not to mention, now the Ranger’s are going to be wondering why the hell I’m not recommending you to the match up databank, and bringing you into the service. They’ve seen what you can do, and they’re going to want more. What are you going to do about that? What can anyone do with that now? How can I continue to lie to everyone on base, to tell them that you’re not just someone they sent from the Jaeger Academy?” Suho was half-shouting now, Sehun wincing at every word. “Top grades, the best simulation stats, you were a shoo-in for the Ranger Program. They’re going to find that out soon. You just made it easier by showing that fight with Luhan. Now everyone’s going to be suspicious, asking questions… it’s just going to aggravate your father even more. I can’t have my Shatterdome under scrutiny just because of some kid’s spontaneous whims!”
Suho paused, realizing how loud he had suddenly gotten. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
“Sehun, I would really hate to see you go. You really are one of the best workers here on the Shatterdome. But really… I’m going to have to consider listening to your father. I’m sorry.”
The silence that followed was deafening, neither male knowing what to say. Sehun felt a sense of helplessness. A part of him found hope that Suho was only going to ‘consider listening to his father’, but at the same time, he knew it was all for naught. What the Marshall had said before held truth. Sehun loved working on the Shatterdome as a floor person, but an innate part of him wanted to control a Jaeger, to actually exit the Shatterdome and fight the attackers. He wanted to feel the danger that came with being a Ranger, and the elation that came after defeating a Kaiju.
But when he came close to becoming one, his father had panicked. An outspoken person against the Jaeger Program, he couldn’t have a son who was active as a Ranger. After so many arguments, with both sides yelling themselves hoarse, they had finally come to an agreement. Sehun could go to a Shatterdome, but not as a Ranger. And only for a short period of time.
Who would have known that it would only last a few weeks?
NEXT-->
pairing: Sehun-centric, ot12, slight Suho/D.O
genre: friendship
summary: Sehun thought there was only one good reason to work on a Shatterdome. As soon as he got there, he found eleven more. (Pacific Rim AU)
a/n: originally posted on sncj_santa for exothermc.
When the pilot first announced that they were about to land at base, Sehun couldn’t see it.
Looking out the window, the dark steel of the Shatterdome blended in perfectly with the cold city of Nagasaki. Rain splattered the window, blurring his view, and had he not been told of their descent, Sehun probably wouldn’t have paid attention to the landing.
And yet, the excitement he felt only grew more as the helicopter flew closer to the giant island of steel. He was finally here, on an actual Shatterdome. After years of vigorous studying and incessant begging, his father had finally allowed him to take a job offer at one of the many Jaeger bases that littered the Pacific Coast, despite the man’s own disproval of the program.
The helicopter touched the ground, wind hitting everyone who was running around below. Everyone else on board clambered off, leaving Sehun alone, as he took in his surroundings. From afar, the base had looked miniscule and tiny, but up close, as he looked up at the building; it seemed much grander, like his initial visions of it. The bubbling happiness within him increased.
I finally made it.
“Sir! Your presence is needed in the Marshall’s office!” A worker now stood in front of him, holding an umbrella out. Wordlessly, Sehun stepped out of the plane and under the cover, walking with his guide into the large building. Within a short while, they had stopped in front of another heavy steel door, which was left open slightly to allow access within.
Inside the room was a short man with a pale features and brown hair, whose gentle face felt comforting to Sehun. He held a great commandeering aura, something that could be seen through his firm and kind eyes as he glanced up at the two visitors.
“You must be Sehun!” The male held out his hand pleasantly. “I’m the Marshall at this Shatterdome. You can just call me Suho.” Sehun shook the outstretched hand, still remaining silent.
“Well… welcome to Nagasaki!” Suho continued, undeterred by the others lack of response. “I understand you are here under President Oh’s recommendation to be my…” he checked his paper once again. A part of his smile faded. “Official assistant?” Sehun nodded again.
“Well, welcome aboard to our program!” He walked around to the front of his desk. “I understand you must be eager to get working, so I’m going to have someone show you around right now- Jongin!”
“What’s up Gramps.” A head suddenly appeared from around the door.
“Can you show Sehun here around? He’s a new… addition to our team.” Suho paused. “And don’t call me Gramps.”
“No problem old man.” Jongin popped his lips, motioning for Sehun to come out and follow. The other wore casual clothing, a tank top that showcased his tanned arms, and khakis with combat boots. The cap on his head was matted with grease.
The two began walking down the hall in silence. “So… how old are you?” Jongin asked, scratching his head awkwardly.
“19.” Sehun mumbled.
“Oh, so I’m older!” Jongin brightened up at that. “I hate being the youngest here, everyone takes advantage of that like nothing. But that’s your role now!”
“I’m Kim Jongin by the way, head technician of our J-Tech crew here at base. Basically, I just oversee the repairs and upgrades needed for all our active Jaegers, plus I work with Suho at the LOCCENT mission control booth when we send Jaegers out into the field.” He motioned through a door they passed, where Sehun could see the typical layout of the control booth that he had viewed in books, complete with multiple computer screen and digital monitors. Currently they were all offline, with only a few people clacking away.
Jongin stopped in front of another door. Opening it, they entered to a large room that looked to be a laboratory. “Here is our K-science lab, headed by none other then Do Kyungsoo. I sometimes wonder why, he hates getting his hands dirty for no reason.” There was a small man standing in the center of the room, surrounded by giant tubes with various Kaiju parts floating in them. He appeared not to have heard the two of them come in.
“Oh yeah… he also has a major crush on Suho. Watch this.” Jongin winked at Sehun, before clearing his throat. “Kyungsoo,” he started, and Sehun was surprised at how similar it was to the Marshall’s honey sounding voice. “Do you have the files on last weeks attack? Jongin needs them for the damage reports.”
Kyungsoo visibly jumped before reaching for a stack of papers, spinning around with a giant blush on his face. “Yeah I do Suh- goddammit Jongin!” His face turned red, and he pouted at the two. Jongin laughed before reaching for the papers, sticking his tongue out. Kyungsoo whipped them out of his reach in retaliation, letting Jongin fall to the floor.
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Not my fault you haven’t confessed your undying love to Suho!”
“I don’t have a crush on him!”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Jongin grabbed the stack and threw his other arm around Sehun, leading him away from the seething Kyungsoo. “He’s a lot of fun to tease, but you got to be careful because he can get pretty scary when he’s cranky.”
“I can still hear you!” A book was sent flying in their direction, missing Jongin by an inch. He winced and hurried them out the door.
“Not to mention he packs a pretty hard punch. But don’t worry; I’m pretty sure he won’t be to hard on you for like, the first week. Or day.” They walked down the hallway to another door, which Jongin pushed open as well. It appeared to be the Shatterdome’s residential hospital, the interior reeking of medicinal herbs and the white walls glaring down at Sehun.
“This’s our medical station, headed by Huang Zitao from China, though to be honest I wonder why since Yixing is the one with anything close to a medical degree…” Sehun didn’t know who Yixing was, but he wouldn’t have believed that the guy in front of him was capable of fixing Kaiju wounds anyways; rather, it seemed as if he would be the one sending people to the hospital in the first place. The black haired male was just slouching in a chair, head down, and already Sehun wanted to run.
“Hey Tao, say hi to the newbie.” Jongin motioned to Sehun. The mop of black hair rose, dark eyes and a menacing pout peeking out from under.
“I don’t like him.” Tao announced. Sehun gulped.
“He doesn’t like me.” He whispered to Jongin.
“Don’t worry, he will in about an hour.” With a wave at the still glaring Tao, Jongin pushed Sehun out of the medical office and across the hall, where a big archway stood.
“And this here, is our main holding bay, where the Jaeger’s are.” Jongin snickered as Sehun gave a jolt, suddenly attentive. He peered into the interior, and gasped.
Inside, the hanger stood three giant Jaegers, towering over the chaos that was happening in front of them. Sehun could see everyone bustling around, hurrying about his or her tasks. The room was filled with loud noises, shouts ringing from every side of the room, instructions being barked out at such a high speed that the sounds overlapped and made it hard for him to focus on one.
It was exactly as Sehun had imagined it. The organized chaos that was in front of him, where everyone had a job to accomplish and work to do, thrilled him. He wanted to be part of the rush.
But none of what was on the floor could compare to the three robots that stood in front of him. Standing tall and proud over him, the giant robots exerted such a powerful and magnificent force that gave them a grand ambience in the room. With well-rusted bodies full of dents and scars, Sehun could only imagine the different attacks they’ve been in, all the stories that they held, all the memories that Jaeger and their respective Rangers had together. Each Jaeger had their respective fight styles, a different range of weaponry, and their own unique stories. The thought of learning each and every detail of them all exhilarated Sehun.
“I figure this is your favorite room right?” Jongin broke into Sehun’s train of thought, a smirk present on his face. “Come on, stop gawking, let me introduce you to our teams.”
They started down the hall. To the left, Sehun saw a group of people sitting around a table, all laughing at what the two in the center had just said. Sehun suspected they were the Rangers, judging by their commanding presence within the group. The taller of the two had short-cropped black hair, and large facial features, from a wide smile to popping eyes. On the other hand, his (much shorter) partner’s hair was a light brown shade, and his eyes were much smaller, disappearing into crinkles as he laughed boisterously. However, despite the differences between them in outward appearances, Sehun could tell they were alike in personality. The pair wore identical grins on their faces, and had a similar carefree aura surrounding them, exuding a jokester characteristic from their movements.
“Over there, that’s Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol.” Jongin pointed at the two that Sehun had picked out before. They noticed Jongin and waved enthusiastically. “They’re like… cousins or something. Third cousins, I think. Funny thing though, they actually didn’t know each other before then, and didn’t officially meet until they got into the academy, but got matched within seconds, and tested out to be just as strong and stable in their neural bridge too.”
“They pilot the Cosmic Phoenix over there, from Korea.” True to its name, a fire-red and starry-blue Jaeger stood there, looming over the two as they walked closer. Jongin smiled brightly up at it. “That, right there is 2.5K tons of awesome. The heaviest and slowest bastard we have on the program, but definitely most effective in beating down on a Kaiju’s brains. Those fists are made of titanium steel; it has close to 100 engines for muscle strength, and what I love about it the most? The black iron claymore in its arsenal, responsible for the sole take down of three Kaiju’s so far. Not bad for a Mach-2 to be honest.” Sehun nodded in agreement. The Mach-2 series were known for their brute force, and the machine in front of him was reminiscent of that fact.
“Those two over there,” Jongin pointed at two other males, sitting in another section on their own. “Are Kim Minseok and Kim Jongdae, but they go by Xiumin and Chen. They met at some international school in Beijing, and as the only two Koreans there, became instant best friends. But really, that’s not the only thing that makes their drift so strong. You heard ‘bout the Beijing incident of 2014?”
“Yeah. An unexpected Category IV Kaiju. Caused the highest death toll ever up to date.”
“Their school was in the line of attack.” A grim look appeared on Jongin’s face. “They got pretty lucky, since they were on the first floor. The two of them hid in a bookshelf the whole time, and didn’t get found for a week. Chen still gets nightmares of the screams apparently, but that incident connected them to a level beyond anything the Jaeger Academy has seen. Their prelim compatibility is in the mid 90s.” Sehun whistled approvingly. With a package that high, it was no doubt the two were more then just compatible. Most good drift compatibilities were around the mid 70’s early 80s, with few just barely touching 90%. He’d never seen a drift match higher then 80%; meeting a group that could go even higher was impressive.
“Got drafted straight away, we just couldn’t lose out on a drift that strong. They’re riding a Chinese Jaeger, and use Chinese monikers instead of their real names. It’s in memory of all their classmates who didn’t make it out.” Jongin continued. The two males had just noticed them, but neither made a move to greet Jongin. One of them, a sharp-jawed man, stared at Sehun with deep eyes, causing the younger to shrink back in slight fear.
And that’s their robot over there, Noctis Shadow.” Sehun blinked, turning his attention back to Jongin. He was pointing at a black ebony robot, significantly slimmer then the Cosmic Phoenix, but equally as imposing. “It’s a Mach-5, and one of the fastest robot out there, having a speed of up to 100mph. Built using only the best turbo engines. They’re known as like our ninja Jaeger, ‘cause their attacks come out of nowhere. Not to mention their dark color really makes them unnoticeable, since a lot of our attacks happen at night, giving them an advantage in surprise blows.” Sehun could see why it was a so-called “ninja Jaeger”, not only with it’s thinner size, dark color, and the powerful engines on its feet, but there were also traditional small knifes and shurikens attacked to the sides, along with two plasma blasters he could see hidden on her arms.
“And over here is-“
“Yo! I’m Luhan!” a bright-eyed blonde suddenly appeared in Sehun’s line of sight, waving enthusiastically at him. Sehun blinked.
“Luhan, please don’t scare the newbie away with your ugly face okay,” and Sehun wanted to laugh at that, because Luhan was anything but ugly. Perfectly round face, doe eyes, and heart shaped lips, the girl in front of him was like the definition of attractive. However, she definitely didn't fit around her surroundings; almost as it were a mistake to find her here. In fact… Sehun blinked in confusion. Of everything he had read up on the Nagasaki Shatterdome, he was sure he remembered its most distinctive quality being that there were no female drifters here, most of them preferring the more populated cities as their home base.
“I thought there were only male drifters here?” Sehun questioned. Jongin choked in surprise, as the aforementioned Luhan looked horrified.
A snort sounded from in front of him, redirecting his attention to two males that appeared at Luhan’s shoulder. “I like this guy already, man.” One stuck his hand out for a handshake. “I’m Yixing and this is Kris. The three of us control the Mystical Empress. We’re one of the two triple handed Jaegers out there in the world.”
“China loves to show off, that's why they made both. Too bad it doesn’t make them any better fighters.” Jongin not so discreetly whispered into Sehun’s ear, earning a slap on the shoulder from Yixing.
“But that doesn’t answer my question?” Sehun immediately regretted his question, seeing as everyone else were giving him “Now you’ve done it” looks.
Suddenly there was pain. A lot of pain. A lot. And it was aimed straight at his crotch.
He groaned.
“I’m a guy!” was the last thing that he heard before passing out.
“Way to go Luhan, it was the kids first day and you already killed him. Award for best welcoming crew ever goes too…?”
“Shut up Tao, if I did then that heart thingy on the screen should go flat- holy shit why is it flat did I KILL HIM TAO?”
“Luhan, he’s not even hooked up. Idiot.”
“I heard that!”
“That’s the point.”
Sehun groaned, shifting in the bed. The voices in his head were seemingly getting louder and louder, and he drew the covers tighter over his head, willing them to shut the hell up and leave him alone to sleep.
“He’s ALIVEE!” But as fate would have it, that wasn’t in his future at all. The covers were suddenly pulled from his head, the same blond male from before popping up in front of his face. Luhan, if Sehun could remember correctly. Who was most definitely not a girl.
Tao appeared at Luhan’s shoulder. “Hey Sehun, how are you feeling?” He appeared much happier then when Sehun saw him that afternoon.
“You’re now my new best friend, cause you called Luhan a girl.” Tao announced, smiling serenely and patting Sehun on the head. “Feel better, best friend.” He squeaked as Luhan smacked his arm.
“Get out of here you useless asshole of a doctor.” Luhan growled, and Tao scrambled off the bed, grumbling under his breath about abusive deers or something of the sort, as he walked out the room.
Luhan also got off Sehun’s bed, but to the younger’s dismay, plopped himself on the opposing one instead.
“Hi. My name is Luhan, Lu is my surname, Han is my first or whatever. Don’t get it wrong. Oh, and you should apologize.” Sehun’s eyes widened disbelievingly.
“Why??!?! You kicked my dick!” Luhan made a face.
“You really have a problem with using appropriate terms when you’re describing things, don’t you,” he answered. “First the whole girl thing, and I clearly was not aiming for your dick-“
“Do you plan to apologize to me? I mean, cause you did kick my… ‘thing’ so hard that it apparently landed me in the hospital.” Sehun cut in. Luhan appeared in thought for a second.
“Nope.” He popped. Sehun fell back into his bed, groaning.
“Why should I? You called me a girl, when obviously I’m not!” Luhan scoffed. Sehun could see that now, where before the quiet Luhan had been androgynous, now Sehun couldn’t see him as anything other then male. Looking more closely at the blond male, he could see more clearly that his assumption was definitely wrong. Whereas his face did have effeminate qualities, Luhan’s lower body was anything but. His skinny arms showcased slight biceps under the t-shirt, and Sehun could make out abs through the tight white shirt.
“Why are you so quiet, do you need me to show you cause I can-“
“Please don’t.” Sehun grumbled. Luhan snickered.
“I was just going to take off my shirt you pervert. But I can show you the other ‘thing’ if you want-“ he unbuckled his belt. Sehun screeched and scurried back under the blanket.
As if to make matters worse, Suho chose to walk in at that exact moment. Both males froze in their tracks.
He took one glance at Luhan, who had undone one button, and Sehun who was still burrowed under the covers, pressing up against the headboard. He straightened up, face flaming red with embarrassment over his position.
“It is exactly what you are thinking Suho,” Luhan grinned. “Unless you are thinking something sexual, which then it isn’t.”
“Stop harassing my new recruit, Luhan.” Suho chided the other softly, shaking his head in disappointment. Sehun took the opportunity to stick his tongue out at him. Luhan’s shifted and pointed a finger at him accusingly.
“He started it!”
“You hit me in the crotch!” Sehun shouted back.
“You called me a girl!”
“You’re both giving me a headache now, please stop.” Suho said patiently. Sehun immediately did, and Luhan unwillingly did the same, flopping back in his seat with a pout. Suho smiled.
“Thank you.” he turned to Sehun. “I’m sorry for the less then friendly welcome you received -yes Luhan, I’m blaming you- but regardless, I’d like to welcome you once again to the team? How did you find the tour?”
“I enjoyed most of it for sure, thank you?” Sehun responded politely. Luhan snarled at the younger’s obvious subtle jab, but Suho merely smiled.
“Glad to hear.” Sehun made to rise out of the bed, but Suho held out a hand, pausing his actions. “You have the day off today, but starting tomorrow, you are to report to me every morning so I can give you your assignment. I believe most of the time I will be sending you to assist either Kyungsoo or Jongin, as that is what you are being licensed to us for, correct?” Sehun nodded, and Suho’s beamed.
“Great! Rest up, because tomorrow you’re going to see just how crazy it is to work on a Shatterdome.” With that, Suho patted Sehun on the shoulder and walked out the door. Sehun watched him go, his own smile increasing with each second that passed. Luhan looked at him curiously.
“Straight out of the Academy?” Sehun turned, surprised, but nodded quickly. Luhan chuckled genuinely, his eyes no longer mocking but hospitable instead.
“You’ll enjoy it here, believe me.” Luhan leaned back, resting his hands on the back of his head. “It’s a whole lot of work, but absolutely worth it. We’re like a makeshift family around here. Everyone’s close with each other, and we all get along really well.” His voice was light and airy, and Luhan spoke with such a radiant tone, that Sehun couldn’t help but know what the elder said was true.
Maybe he isn’t that bad… Sehun couldn't help but think. Luhan did have a very friendly (albeit pretty) face, one that gave a feeling of trustworthiness and amiable feelings. Sehun figured if they had met under different circumstances, he would definitely be more drawn towards the other male hospitable nature.
Suddenly, the previously affectionate smile changed into a mischievous smirk, and all preconceived notions from before came rushing back. Sehun could practically see the evil turning in Luhan’s head, and internally he groaned.
“But ‘cause you called me a girl, I’m gonna make sure your first week a living hell~” Luhan sang out, a slight lilt in his steps as he bounced out the room, his laughter ringing down the hall. Sehun could feel his headache rising again.
He took all that back. Luhan was the spawn of the devil.
Despite his abnormal first day, the rest of the week passed without much incident. Luhan was right when he said there was a ‘whole lot of work’, but Sehun enjoyed every second of it. Between going over Jaeger designs and upgrades with Jongin, to dissecting a Kaiju brain for (not with -Sehun couldn’t help but think) Kyungsoo, to even learning different medical techniques from both Tao and Yixing, Sehun found his experience on the Shatterdome refreshing, a welcomed change from the suffocating aura of his own home back on the Korean mainland.
Being the son of the CEO of Oh Corporations, one of Korea’s biggest conglomerates, was a hard life for him. He lived in riches and wealth, but at the same time, was always under the scrutiny of both the public and his parents. There wasn’t a single memory of his family ever going out on an outing; instead, there were countless ones of sitting at a desk, studying to take over Oh Corporations after his father. He wasn’t allowed to do anything of the abnormal in danger of being looked down upon by the public, as it could mean a bad reputation for the company.
That’s why being on a Shatterdome was such a new and exciting thing to Sehun. When he had first learned about the newly developed Jaeger program, it stirred an immediate interest in his mind. This was something new to him, something beyond just numbers and business transactions. As the program began to take off, his attention only increased even more. It was everything in a young boy’s dream, the idea of operating a robot to fight the evil forces. The attraction had always stayed, which had propelled him into the Jaeger Academy, and then, after many complications, finally here, in Nagasaki.
“And well, I added some new turbo engines I had imported from Japan to Shadow, plus I got some European throwing knives made to add to their arsenal, since the razor blades broke in the Kaiju attack from before…”
Sehun blinked twice, realizing that Jongin was talking to him. They were currently on their way to Kyungsoo, who was helping Jongin test the Cosmic Phoenix’s new armor and it’s resistance ability to Kaiju acid. Two days ago, the shipment had arrived from Korea, and Jongin had acted like a little boy with a new present, gushing over the quality and durability of the chromium metal, even crying a little when he first touched the smooth steel. Kyungsoo had spent a few hours laughing over that.
Out of everyone Sehun had met those past few days, he would say that Jongin and Kyungsoo were his closest friends on the Shatterdome. Most of his work revolved around them, and therefore he spent a lot of the time with them. The two were definitely the most opposing types of people you could find. Whereas Jongin was more shy and playful, Kyungsoo never seemed to break his serious look, always rolling his eyes at the two’s playful antics to make him smile. Sehun did find teasing the elder fun, but as soon as the first few days passed, Kyungsoo wasn’t afraid of retaliation. Jongin was right when he said the elder could pack a punch, Sehun’s arm was an attestation to that.
The two stopped in front of the entrance platform into the Cosmic’s head. “Can you wait outside with these files Sehun? I got to go find Kyungsoo, he probably got lost somewhere inside, that useless scientist…” Sehun could still hear Jongin’s grumbles even as he disappeared from the platform into the Jaeger.
Setting down the box of papers on a desk, it hit the edge of a keyboard, and the monitor beeped on. There was a paused video on the screen, a videotape of a recent fight between the Cosmic Phoenix and a Kaiju, one that had just happened two days prior.
Sehun still remembered watching that battle from mission control. It was only a Category II, and as Chanyeol had felt extremely hyper that day, the Cosmic was the only one sent to deal with it.
Watching as the Cosmic’s fist had repeatedly slammed into the Kaiju’s body, over and over as blue acid flew from its mouth and splattered the nearby sea had brought a buzz of exhilaration. He felt fear when the Kaiju had clambered onto the Cosmic’s head, and then elation when Chanyeol and Baekhyun grabbed it and flung it off, before completing the mission with a slashes from their claymore; first forming a gash on the monster’s body, then repeatedly stabbing it over again to ensure its death. It was an amazing feeling, despite not being the one fighting. Rather, Sehun felt a sense of pride when the Cosmic had returned to the Shatterdome, thundering applause cheering on the two Rangers.
A slight tap on his shoulder brought him out of his daze. "Sorry Sehun, but me and Kyungsoo have some technical stuff we got to deal with right now. You can find your way to the mess hall right?" Sehun didn't bother to remind Jongin that he had been at the shatterdome for close to two weeks now. The guy looked more stressed out then he had before entering the Cosmic’s head.
"Yeah, you want me to bring you guys back-" he was cut off by a loud screech accompanied by muffled curses.
"Goddamit Jongin, what the hell did you do to the conn pad it's not-" Jongin rolled his eyes and turned around.
"It's not my fault this one is nuclear based-"
Sehun took that to mean no.
Of course, as soon as Sehun walked into the mess hall, he was faced with another problem. That would be the sea of unfamiliar faces in front of him, most of them chatting among themselves in preset cliques based on job description, none which Sehun belonged too.
Sehun shifted uncomfortably on spot, glancing over the large crowd for a familiar face to sit with, but returning even more helpless. He hardly talked to anyone outside of the department heads and Suho, and even then it was mostly consisting of him listening to directions. He usually sat with Kyungsoo or Jongin here, both whom weren’t a choice at the moment.
"Hey Sehun, over here!" The voice called out from the right of the room. Sitting at a table there was Luhan, along with the Noctis Shadow duo, Xiumin and Chen. Ever since their talk in the infirmary, Sehun had been trying to avoid any form of contact with Luhan, both physically and physical, but another quick glance around the room told Sehun that was probably going to have to change right now.
He slowly trudged over to their table, where Luhan was grinning impishly. He patted the seat next to him, and Sehun dropped down into it, angling his body as far as he could from Luhan.
“Awww… why so far?” A sudden strong grip to his side brought him into Luhan’s shoulder, the other’s bony shoulder knocking into his head. Sehun winced in pain.
“Luhan, leave the poor kid alone,” Xiumin sighed, looking pitifully at Sehun, still trapped under Luhan’s tight grip. “Don’t mind Luhan, he thinks he can act all crazy ‘cause his parents abandoned him today.”
“Yeah, well, Kris and Xing apparently have better things to do then spending bonding time with me.” Luhan pouted. Sehun inferred those two were what Xiumin meant by “parents”. “Screw those idiots though, I’d rather hang with you guys!”
“What makes you think we want to be with you.” Chen muttered. Luhan ignored him.
“Where are Kris and Yixing?” Sehun questioned, taking a sip of his soup. Usually drift partners didn’t spend time apart, as they felt most at ease when around each other. The three Mystical Empress pilots were no different, so it was a bit odd to see Luhan by himself.
“Probably fucking in our room.” Sehun spat the liquid back out.
“You actually believed that- oh God, this is freaking hilarious!” Luhan’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped, as he clutched at his stomach, wheezing in laughter. Xiumin groaned.
“Don’t believe anything Luhan says. Yixing has a girlfriend back in China, they’re probably video-chatting right now. Kris is with Suho.” he replied, throwing an annoyed look at the still laughing male.
“Those two are probably fooling around though.” Chen stabbed at his rice. Sehun choked again.
“You guys are horrible, oh my God don’t listen to them Sehun, they’re playing.” Xiumin rolled his eyes exasperatedly, and Chen snickered. Luhan was still laughing. “I mean, not that they might not have attraction to one another but I’m pretty sure it has to do with-”
“Where’s Jongin?” Luhan finally cut in, stopping Xiumin from elaborating further. “You usually sit with him right?”
“He’s working on the Cosmic with Kyungsoo,” Sehun mumbled. He cautiously lifted his spoon back to his mouth, quickly gulping the soup down.
“And you don’t have anyone else to sit with?” Luhan questioned. Sehun glared at him. “What? You looked like a lost lamb over there, like you didn’t know where to go! I figured you’d want to sit with us though, ‘cause at least we know each other, right?”
“I feel like that would be the exact reason he would want to avoid us,” Chen cut in again, dropping his chopsticks on his tray. “But Luhan has a point. You’ve been on base for a week, do you know anyone else from the J-tech crew?”
“I don’t work with any of them, only with Jongin and Kyungsoo, so I never really had the chance to talk to them.” Sehun shrugged.
“What is your job title anyways?” Xiumin asked. Sehun shrugged again.
“Didn’t you come from the Jaeger Academy?” Luhan piped up, taking a piece of meat from Sehun’s tray. “Why aren’t you in the Ranger Program?” Sehun tensed up, his eyes dropping down to his plate. Suddenly sitting with the technicians didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
“Didn’t make it,” Sehun murmured. “Got cut out.”
“What were your simulator stats?” Xiumin asked. Sehun bit his lip. Truthfully, Sehun wasn’t cut from the program. On the contrary, his grades were so high, his statistics so good, that when he went to resign his position from the potential Ranger’s list, the head of the Academy had to double check with him, eyes bulging in surprise.
However, after the man had found out why, his eyes weren’t just wide in surprise, but fear. He couldn’t have gotten Sehun out of his office any faster; with a hurried yes I’ll make sure to take your name off. He had been escorted by two bodyguards into his father’s car, and they had continued to watch him until the car had started and was leaving the Jaeger Academy, no chance of Sehun returning back to what had been the best experience of his life.
The three Rangers were still looking expectantly at him. Sehun sighed.
“50 drops, 49 kills.” The other three stared at him, jaws slack.
“No way.” Luhan gaped. Sehun nodded grimly.
"But with stats that good there is no way you didn’t make it." Chen was peering at him incredulously. Sehun shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He knew why, but revealing it was something he had promised never to do once he arrived at the Shatterdome. It wasn’t just him complying with his father’s orders, but rather, Sehun was afraid. Here he was, a viable candidate for the program, someone who would be a great addition, yet he was backing out for such a trivial reason.
“I-I’m just not qualified,” he mumbled. Luhan’s eyes widened even more.
“Bullshit. Those are really good numbers! Even Yixing didn’t get that high, and Yixing graduated the Academy with the highest stats of everyone here!” He suddenly stood and grabbed the younger’s arm. Sehun jolted, looking up at Luhan with confusion.
“Where are we-“
“We’re going to go test this out.” Chen interrupted, also rising out of his seat. “There’s no way in hell you aren’t qualified.”
“But guys-“ Sehun’s protests were cut off once again, as the three hurried him out of the mess hall and down a hall. He knew where they were going, to the Kwoon combat room, where trainees and Rangers would go to amplify their proficiency in combat situations. His stomach lurched, and he definitely knew it wasn’t from the lunch he didn't eat.
Luhan finally let go of Sehun on the sparring mat, and stepped to the side. Him and Chen turned their attention to Xiumin, who appeared in deep thought.
“Chen, you go first.” Xiumin announced. Luhan looked at him questioningly.
“Shouldn’t we start him with other trainees?” A small crowd of them had started to gather at the doorway, low whispers echoing through the room.
“No way, the kid’s stats are way to good.” Chen stood, grinning maliciously and cracking his knuckles. He tilted his head sideways and clenching his hands into fists, crouching into an attack position.
"But guys seriously I’m actually-" Sehun's words were cut off with a lurch of his body, as Chen grabbed his shoulders and sent him through the air onto the mat with a hard thud.
"Never keep your eye off the opponent." Chen grinned down at him on the floor. Sehun scrambled up, attempting to stand, only for Chen to deliver another jab that sent him back down.
"You can't waste any time transitioning from attack to attack, use your failures to your advantage," Chen sighed as Sehun struggled to stand once again. He attempted to send a fake undercut towards Chen’s stomach, but the other’s leg came up to meet it instead, the back of his heel stopping crashing into Sehun’s ribs, pushing his arm down first. Sehun cringed but swung his own foot into the Ranger’s knees, bringing him down as well. Chen merely used his position to his advantage, grabbing Sehun’s legs and flinging him over to the side, trapping him instead. Attempting to push Chen off, Sehun grabbed onto the Ranger’s shirt and pulled, however, the two merely rolled, ending with Chen pinning him to the ground with his legs, pulling Sehun’s arm between them in a trap.
"Ooohh nice try, too bad I saw right through it," Sehun could practically feel the smirk from Chen’s face as he let go and jumped off, clearly unhurt.
"Okay Chen, lay off, the kid obviously isn't use to our fighting style," Xiumin chide his partner as he helped Sehun to his feet. "Xing, you give him a try." He whipped his head around in shock. The remaining four Rangers had suddenly appeared through in the room, watching on with interest. Yixing gave a curt nod before stepping up to the sparring mat with two long poles in hand.
"I prefer this to hand to hand combat." he explained, tossing one over to Sehun. He stared at the stick. What was he suppose to do with it? His question was soon answered however, with a sharp thwack to his back, once again leading him to meet the floor.
Groaning, he saw Yixing's serene smile over him, stick securely in hand.
"One - Zero. Get up." The simple yet harsh command sent him scrambling to his feet, the long pole cautiously held out in front of him for protection. Yixing merely sighed before tightening his own to his side, before spinning around and pouncing closer, landing gracefully on his empty hand and feet before swiping the long stick at Sehun’s feet, stopping slightly before making actual contact.
“Two - Zero.” Yixing slid back up and held the pole to his side, Sehun swung around, attempting to find an opening, but each attack was met with the crack from Yixing’s defense, not allowing for Sehun to get close. In a wild move, he sent the pole flying at Yixing’s feet, which the Chinese responded by jumping. Mid air, he flung his own pole down, maneuvering it between Sehun’s arms and legs and throwing the younger to the floor.
“Three - Zero.” Panting, Sehun stood up again, holding the stick out in defense. Yixing swung his own around his body, stopping it firmly in his left hand before raising it into an attack position, the loud clack ringing in the room from Sehun’s timely block. A few more came after; Sehun barely managed to continue his momentum on subsequent attacks, each pole movement becoming more faster then the previous. Suddenly, Yixing changed his pole direction, aiming lower instead, then hooking his pole between Sehun’s side and arm. He used the momentum and tapped Sehun in the side, before retracting his pole to the side and stepping his feet from his lunge together.
“I’ve seen what I needed to see.” Yixing walked off the mat, patting Baekhyun on the behind. The Korean male hopped forward excitedly, bouncing on his two feet and throwing punches out.
“Do you know Hapkido?” Baekhyun asked enthusiastically. Before Sehun could answer no, the brunet threw a closed fist out, nearly getting Sehun in his arm. Two more hand strikes came out afterward, this time managing to hit him on both sides and send him stumbling. Baekhyun sidestepped his unstable body, appearing at his back. Without warning, his arm went around Sehun’s neck, locking him in a headlock and successfully constricting his airflow. Baekhyun let out a mock yawn, rolling his eyes at his partner, Chanyeol, who was in hysterics.
"This is a waste of time. Perfect stats; what a joke. Let's get out of here." Chen grumbled, brushing his pants off before heading for the door. Xiumin caught him by the hood and dragged him back in.
"Baek. Let him go.” The younger released his arm. Sehun took a huge gasp of air. “Luhan." Xiumin nodded to the other calmly. Chen stared at him in disbelief.
"Minseok, it's not worth it. The kid’s not cut out for it!"
Sehun wholeheartedly agreed with the statement. This was nothing like the fights he had at the Jaeger Academy; the Ranger’s moves were more calculated, more direct, and held more force and power within them. He wasn’t use to this, his own training in street fighting no match for the styles that Chen, Yixing or Baekhyun possessed.
However, he remained silent, internally crying as Luhan stepped onto the sparring mat. A flashback to their first encounter passed through his mind, and a shiver of pain passed through his body.
"You ready?" Chanyeol jeered. Besides him, Baekhyun tittered, most likely remembering his own encounter with Sehun.
"Not really, no." Luhan chuckled at his response, before holding his arms up in a defensive pose. Sehun did the same. A quick hand darted out at him, and Sehun only nearly ducked, feeling the others nail scape his skin just barely. Sehun rolled his body out of the way as Luhan pounced forward. In mid lunge, Luhan’s arm had swung back and sent a fist towards his abdomen, yet Sehun managed to fall back in time, allowing his leg to trip up the elder. Luhan stumbled, but kept his balance, gracefully spinning in time to block Sehun’s next hand strike. Grabbing onto the arm, he used the other’s former momentum to send both of them to the floor, and held Sehun’s head within his arms. However, undeterred, Sehun gyrated his body around, successfully unlocking himself from Luhan’s arms and rolling himself up onto his feet. As he turned, he saw the other had done the same; his arms once again out into a defensive position, fists tight and his wrists sharp. Luhan eyes glinted, before he darted to the side and delivered a punch to Sehun’s side, sending him stumbling a few steps, but not before the other had managed to inflict his own jab at Luhan’s legs.
The feeling was not the same as when he was fighting the others, where he was more scared for his life then anything else. Rather, with Luhan, Sehun felt more confidence after the first blow, a more similar fight style to Sehun’s preferred one. Nothing else was around besides him and Luhan, everyone else completely out of his mind. The movements became clearer to him. He could predict each attack that Luhan was planning, as the two of them pranced around the mat, eyes focused only on one another.
Suddenly Luhan jumped onto Sehun’s right, his elbow darting into the younger’s shoulder, Sehun threw his leg back to counter attack, but Luhan blocked with ease, sending Sehun to the floor. He sat on top of the other, the side of his hand barely touching Sehun in the neck.
“Point.” Luhan whispered, the shock suddenly coming to his eyes. This was a new development, something that no one could have thought was possible. Despite Luhan gaining the upper hand at the end, and ending with a win, the real revelation that had occurred was that the two of them had just completed a strong and intense fight that had left them more or less of equal energy.
The fight was nothing like any of the ones before. This time, both opponents were on an equal wavelength, had the same strength and power, and could connect with one another even as they were attempting to bring each other down. The implications of this hit Sehun hard, realization coming to him as he suddenly knew why everyone else was looking at them in shock.
They were compatible.
"Holy shit." his trance broken, Sehun saw Jongin step through the door, mouth wide open. Behind him were Kyungsoo and Tao, both who were sporting similar faces. Sehun blinked twice, looking around him. The other pilots were all the same, their wide eyes staring at him in shock. He looked over at Luhan, who looked deep in thought, eyes concentrating on Sehun as well.
"That was one of the best drifts I've seen!" Jongin pushed through the trainees and stood at the edge of the mat, looking as if Sehun had completely changed. “Y-You guys matched perfectly! Not as good as with the Mystical Empress, but like- almost as good!”
Sehun stumbled back, in shock over what Jongin was saying. No. That couldn’t be right.
“It was pretty amazing, what you guys were doing,” Jongin was still rambling on. “It was like a mix of street fighting and boxing, but the way you guys were moving so fluidly… wow… it was like watching… a dance fight!”
“Why aren’t you in the Jaeger Program?” Chen interjected, his eyes burning through the younger. Sehun gulped. “If they really say you didn’t qualified, I resign from this job. There is no way that you didn’t make it.”
“Was it ‘cause you didn’t have a drift partner?” Tao pushed past Chen as well. “I mean, they should at least keep you in the Academy until you find one, and besides, you and Luhan are a really good match.”
“Tao, you should try too, aren’t you and Luhan compatible-“
“No one will be trying anything else.” The room dropped to silence in a second, as Suho stepped in. For once, he wasn’t smiling; instead, his eyebrows were furrowed into a frown. Sehun froze and gulped.
Jongin stepped forward. “Suho, did you see Sehun and Lu? You got to admit, they were really good-“
“It doesn’t matter what happened.” Suho replied smoothly. “Sehun isn’t a Ranger trainee.”
“But Suho-“
“This matter is closed. Sehun, follow me.” Suho glared at the room, where no one dared to meet his eyes. Sehun bowed his head in shame. Refusing to look at anyone on his way out, the two men left the Kwoon room.
“Sir, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-“
“Your father called Sehun.” He stopped in his tracks. His father?
“He wants you back on the mainland. Said you should have had your fun by now, and it’s time to leave the ‘playland’ and return to the ‘real world’.” Suho winced. “He had a few other choice words, to be honest.”
“I’m sorry about my father’s behavior.” Sehun mumbled. “But please… Marshall… don’t send me back.” Suho stopped, glancing over at Sehun. “Marshall, I’m… I’m enjoying my time here, and actually learning more then I ever did back at home. I love working on this Shatterdome, and I really don’t want to leave. Can’t you petition for me to stay a few more months at least?”
“Sehun-“
“Please Marshall, I promise I won’t interact with the Ranger’s again, I’ll stay with Jongin and Kyungsoo all the time and not even get near the Kwoon Room or Conn-Pad. I just… I don’t want to go back right now, when there is still so much that I want to do-“
“If your dad had enough power to forcefully remove you from the list of Ranger candidates, I don’t think I can stop him from bringing you back. And that’s not the only thing. What they said back there is true. You’re one of the best candidates for the Ranger Program, near perfect stats, a high level of stability, an extensive knowledge of Jaegers… can you really live here as an ‘assistant’ after knowing that?” Sehun remained speechless, Suho’s words whirling around in his head.
“Not to mention, now the Ranger’s are going to be wondering why the hell I’m not recommending you to the match up databank, and bringing you into the service. They’ve seen what you can do, and they’re going to want more. What are you going to do about that? What can anyone do with that now? How can I continue to lie to everyone on base, to tell them that you’re not just someone they sent from the Jaeger Academy?” Suho was half-shouting now, Sehun wincing at every word. “Top grades, the best simulation stats, you were a shoo-in for the Ranger Program. They’re going to find that out soon. You just made it easier by showing that fight with Luhan. Now everyone’s going to be suspicious, asking questions… it’s just going to aggravate your father even more. I can’t have my Shatterdome under scrutiny just because of some kid’s spontaneous whims!”
Suho paused, realizing how loud he had suddenly gotten. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
“Sehun, I would really hate to see you go. You really are one of the best workers here on the Shatterdome. But really… I’m going to have to consider listening to your father. I’m sorry.”
The silence that followed was deafening, neither male knowing what to say. Sehun felt a sense of helplessness. A part of him found hope that Suho was only going to ‘consider listening to his father’, but at the same time, he knew it was all for naught. What the Marshall had said before held truth. Sehun loved working on the Shatterdome as a floor person, but an innate part of him wanted to control a Jaeger, to actually exit the Shatterdome and fight the attackers. He wanted to feel the danger that came with being a Ranger, and the elation that came after defeating a Kaiju.
But when he came close to becoming one, his father had panicked. An outspoken person against the Jaeger Program, he couldn’t have a son who was active as a Ranger. After so many arguments, with both sides yelling themselves hoarse, they had finally come to an agreement. Sehun could go to a Shatterdome, but not as a Ranger. And only for a short period of time.
Who would have known that it would only last a few weeks?
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