The SVT Files

005

"Good morning!" Jisoo chirped as Seungcheol dragged himself out of his room.

"Good morning," Seungcheol muttered. "Why are you up? It's five in the morning."

"I found out how to work an elevator!" Jisoo excitedly beamed. "Oh, and Mingyu is making breakfast."

"Is everyone a morning person?" Seungcheol groaned, going into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he came out, Jisoo was waiting by the elevator, his finger hovering over the button. "Go on."

Jisoo beamed excitedly as he pressed the button, walking into the elevator when it opened, Seungcheol dragging himself after him.

"I think Mingyu said breakfast was seasoned tofu, bean sprout rice, radish and cabbage kimchi, spicy stewed fish, cold cucumber soup, and seasoned kelp."

"That's a lot," Seungcheol groaned as the elevator went down to the second main floor, opening to reveal the kitchen fully intact as Mingyu cooked. "Good morning Mingyu."

"Morning Seungcheol." Mingyu didn't take his eyes off the steaming pot of stewing fish in front of him. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Would you and Jisoo wake up everyone else?"

"I'll take Wonwoo and Seokmin!" Jisoo was already fleeing, making Seungcheol groan.

"I'll get Chan." Chan was by far the hardest to wake up, but Seungcheol knew there was one way to wake up the college student.

Walking into the elevator, up a few levels, and finally off and down the hall to Chan's room, Seungcheol was plunged into darkness as he opened the door. "Chan."

There was no response from the mound of blankets, so Seungcheol went into the room, almost tripping over a model of a machine as he walked. "Chan." A groan came from the blankets this time, making Seungcheol laugh a little, searching the wall for the remote. When he found it, he turned on the light to reveal Chan's hand sticking out of the blanket pile.

Climbing over the miscellaneous models, Seungcheol tugged off the blankets to reveal Chan in boxers, laying flat against the mattress with his face smashed into the pillow. "Chan."

"No."

"The house is on fire."

"Let me burn."

"Your homework didn't turn in."

"Okay."

"Mingyu's making food." Chan finally rose his head at that, making Seungcheol internally scoff.

"What kind?"

"Korean."

"Well duh," Chan groaned, rolling himself over. "What Korean food?"

"Spicy stewed fish, seasoned tofu, some other stuff."

"Hmm," Chan considered before smiling lazily. "I'll come down then."

"You'd come down for any food."

"I am a man of simple pleasures," Chan declared, rolling out of bed to grab a shirt to throw on. When they made their way down to the kitchen, everyone else already had food in front of them. "Don't worry, I know you all were waiting for me, your favourite," Chan joked as he sat down, making Wonwoo roll his eyes.

"We're actually waiting for the stew, but whatever you want to think kiddo."

"I am not that much younger than you -"

"Eat up!" Mingyu declared, putting a covered pot in the middle of the table with a flourish. "Seungcheol, you're going out today right?"

"To Jeju to ask about a technopath."

"Isn't he the one that took down the American oil system?"

"And the EU database?"

"Word is that he's a little insane. Like, technology has taken over him."

These words echoed in Seungcheol's head as he landed in Jeju, noting he was one of the only planes on site. That would make sense if a manic technopath lived here too. As he made his way into the city, he pulled out his tablet to look at the person he was hunting down's info.

Boo Seungkwan. He probably lived in the poorer district to attract less attention, so Seungcheol began to walk until he was in a seedier part of town.

As he walked, suddenly his tablet began to vibrate, beeping loudly as it began to heat up in his hands. "Ow," Seungcheol hissed, not letting go of his grip on his tablet. Suddenly the screen changed to reveal a floating orange surrounded by static, then the device turned off before turning back on to reveal a GPS.

"You are here," an automated voice said loudly. "Continue straight for point six kilometres, then go fuck yourself."

"Very funny," Seungcheol said dryly, looking around to see if Seungkwan was around.

"I am not near you, Choi Seungcheol. Why would I be?" The automated voice said. "Ha. Ha. Ha."

"Creepy. Anyways, want to come out and talk Boo Seungkwan?"

"We are talking now, are we not? It looks like your files on here are specifically coded against me - how sweet of you." The voice almost seemed to be teasing Seungcheol, who rolled his eyes.

"It's coded against psychopaths."

"I'm flattered. Anyways, I'll see you soon. Just look up." The tablet returned to normal, Seungcheol immediately looking up to see a neon sign with an orange on it, reading nothing besides 'internet café' on it.

"Of course." Seungcheol walked into the café, nodding to the workers before finding one guarding a door. "I'm here to see Seungkwan."

"Is he expecting you?"

"Yes."

"Name?"

"Choi Seungcheol."

"Let me check with him sir." Before the boy could even pull his tablet entirely out, the door whirred and unlocked. "Well, I will not need to check. Go ahead upstairs." Seungcheol nodded, beginning to climb up the stairs. A few times, he could have sworn he was going to fall through the rickety wood that seemed ready to snap.

Finally, he got to the top to see a safe door waiting, a digital pad waiting for his input. He only stood there for a few minutes before the safe door whirred, opening inwards to reveal a room filled with monitors and screens, each showing something different. At the centre of it all was a large chair with a boy with blonde hair in the middle of it. "Choi Seungcheol."

"You must be Boo Seungkwan."

"The one and only. So you want me for some world domination project? Seems fun, but I'm not in the mood. Try again in three to five business days."

"Don't you already have your fingers in every metaphorical pie? Why would joining me be different?"

"Because then I'm bound to the government and their laws and abiding by them. Do you really think I want that?"

"You won't be after this."

"I think I would be. That means I let them control me for a bit then they hand me over to whoever they want. So the answer is no, but good luck with Yoon Jeonghan, he's batshit. I hacked his financials one time and he thought it was funny."

"Did you hack my tablet?"

"That's all I could get if I'm being honest. All I need is a few more minutes though, your encoding is actually delightful to play with."

"Right. You're refusing?"

"Hundred percent refusal."

"Then I'll be back." Seungcheol waved his goodbye, heading out before Seungkwan stopped him.

"What's in your bag?"

"A lot."

"No, there's a technology there I haven't ever sensed before."

"If you come with me next time, I'll give it to you. Cheers." Seungcheol walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

✇

happy new year <3