Vengeance

eight

Yeosang stood in the corner by himself as the group filed in. There were more people than he'd expected. And lots of them were there in groups, talking loudly as they filled the space. Various members from other kpop groups stood out to him but he didn't have any desire to socialize. He felt a twinge of disappointment when the door closed and none of his members had entered.

"Can we join you over here?"

He looked up as Seungmin and Jeongin approached, friendly smiles on their faces. He tried his best not to seem bothered.

"Sure, there's plenty of room," he said quietly, smiling as much as he was able.

They took their place next to him and the group waited quietly for the room to die down as Jinyoung began to speak.

"I'm not as much of a speaker as Jackson, but I'll try my best. The group in this room will be responsible for helping out with the research going on in the med bay. I'll need some people to be in charge of transferring samples, others for sterilizing equipment, some people for preparing agar plates, and more to pass along information and data to Jackson's team. There will be one more group that I've hand-selected that's in charge of logistics. You'll be my personal counsel and we'll work together to come up with solutions that are ethical, practical, and valuable for all parties. If I've spoken to you one on one, you know which group you're a part of. Everyone else can choose once I've given you a tour of the facility and the different tasks required of each group. Sound like a plan?"

The others nodded, waiting for further instruction. Seungmin turned to Yeosang.

"We heard Jinyoung speaking to you the other day. Do you know who else is part of the counsel?"

Yeosang looked at him in alarm, not realizing anyone else knew about his association with Jinyoung. He shook his head.

"I think some of the other idols that got here before us, but he didn't give me any names. What about you two? Did he ever talk to you?"

Seungmin glanced at Jeongin who seemed to be sulking a bit at the question.

"No, but we want to see if he'll let us in on it. Otherwise we're willing to do whatever it takes to help things along here. Isn't that right?" he smiled, looking Jeongin in the eye. He smiled a little, nodding.

"We just want to be useful," he responded, but Yeosang could tell he was feeling a bit left out. He started to regret being so forward. Jinyoung had said he was only taking a select few for the counsel. It was an oversight to assume he'd asked the only other people he knew in the room.

"I'm not really sure I'm a good fit for it. I'd rather help with the technical aspects. I don't think I'm cut out for making big decisions," Yeosang said shyly, looking away.

"I'm sure he had a good reason for picking you. You should be honored. THE Park Jinyoung wants your help," Seungmin smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder. Jeongin nodded, feeling guilty for letting his own insecurities make Yeosang embarrassed.

As they were about to continue their conversation, they noticed most of the group had started filing out into the hallway and they rushed to catch up, not wanting to miss out on the tour.

After the painstaking process of putting everyone through sterilization procedures, the tour proceeded smoothly as all of the volunteers tried to decide which team they'd pick. Yeosang couldn't help but feel the whole thing was a bit pointless as he already knew he wouldn't have to do any of these tasks. But throughout the long speech and constant stopping breaks, Jeongin and Seungmin began to crack open his iron shell. But it didn't last long.

"All of our other members have been so stoic and resolute since we got here. I know the worst isn't over yet, but it doesn't seem like any reason to stop ourselves from relaxing just a little while we're here," Seungmin sighed as Jinyoung answered questions about using the autoclave. The more important question seemed to be how Jackson Wang managed to get his hands on one and how he'd set it up in his house.