wish » k.mg

일곱 ✧ 세븐틴

S E V E N ✧ S E V E N T E E N
. . .

"CAN I ASK you something?"

Mingyu looks up from his food, still sipping on a carton of banana milk. He stares at me for a moment, then drops his drink onto the table.

"Sure, fire away."

"How... Many of you are there?" I reluctantly begin, my eyebrows knitted together in genuine curiosity.

"Oh, quite a lot." He says, pursing his lips to one side and looking up, thinking. "But there are only thirteen of us in charge of fulfilling the wishes in Korea."

I widen my eyes. "That's quite a small number, considering the fact that you guys are in charge of the whole country."

"Yeah, well." Mingyu shrugs a shoulder, "There used to be more of us, but if you haven't noticed, there aren't too many good people left in the world." He gives me a sad smile and sighs.

I nod, Seungyeon, Jenny and Hara's faces instantaneously appearing in my head. "Do you have a name to call yourselves?"

His face lights up then. "We do, actually. We're called Seventeen."

"Why Seventeen when there's only thirteen of you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"See, the thirteen of us are divided into three units, each one in charge of one part of Korea. Thirteen plus three equals sixteen, then add one because we are one team. And there you have it, Seventeen."

"Wow," I say, impressed. "Amazing mathematical skills you've got there. How'd you get so bad on today's quiz, though?"

Mingyu pouts at me, offended. "You're such a meanie, Crystal. I don't get why you are one of the people chosen to get their wishes fulfilled."

I laugh, knowing well that he's joking, and decide to play along. "Hm, you might as well be assigned to Seungyeon."

At that, Mingyu's eyebrows furrow in confusion and he tilts his head like a lost puppy. "Who's Seungyeon?"

My eyes move around the school cafeteria until I spot the girl's light brown hair. "Her," I mumble, discreetly gesturing at Seungyeon who is laughing among her little group of friends.

Mingyu looks over his shoulder, pretending to be looking for something, before his gaze lands on the girl I had mentioned about and making his eyes widen in horror. "Oh, God. Please no." He says, frantically shaking his head. "Please don't, I'm sorry for teasing you."

I grin, somewhat feeling bad about how amused I am right now. "I'm kidding, Gyu. Don't take everything so seriously."

Relief washes over him immediately, and he lets out a breath to show it. "Oh, thank Jesus. I thought that there was actually a chance that I have to fulfil her wishes instead of yours; ultimately, I would've rejected the case immediately."

"Why, though?"

"Well for one, that is the same girl who had hurt you yesterday. Second..." He drifts off, seeming to be at loss for words. "Yeah, I have no second reason."

Chuckling, I open my mouth to speak but someone stops by our table, making me abruptly shut my mouth back shut.

"Aye, Mingyu!" The boy with dirty-blonde hair says, and I know immediately just who it is by his well-spoken English. "What's up, man?"

Mingyu grins, and stands up to give Vernon a fist-bump. "Hansol!" He greets the other by his Korean name, and frowns at the latter's question. "No speakeu engruish, plisseu."

I laugh at Mingyu's terrible attempt at English, earning a scowl from him and a look from Vernon.

"Hey, Crys—I mean Soo Jung." He corrects himself mid-sentence, smiling at me. "Sorry, I know we're not in English class, it just slipped."

I smile at him back, and shake my head. "It's fine, you can call me whatever."

"Same goes for you."

Mingyu clears his throat then, and the two of us turn our heads at his direction to see what he wants.

"No. Speakeu. Engruish. Plisseu." He repeats, a little frown appearing on his face.

Vernon and I laugh in unison, entertained by the blue-haired boy's poutiness.

"Sorry, sorry." Vernon grins, a hand raking through his flawless hair. "Is she your...?"

"Assigned case? Yes." Mingyu replies, smiling at me. "Where's yours?"

I honestly don't really like the way they simply refer to people like me their 'assigned case', but I choose to keep quiet and listen to their conversation instead.

"Oh, he's... Around." The blonde boy says, his gaze jumping from one person to another. "He's a junior, a shy little boy with good intentions. Also, unlike you, Mingyu, I choose not to make myself known, but stay quietly in the shadows."

"Cool," Mingyu mumbles, not really caring about what the latter had said. "Has his wishes come true yet?"

"Most of 'em, yeah." Vernon answers, seeming overall pleased with himself. "Oh, by the way. You know Minghao is here too?"

Wait, even he's an agent?

"Minghao?" Mingyu says, narrowing his eyes at Vernon as if not believing him. "Is he even supposed to be here?"

Vernon shrugs. "Apparently, his AC had to move here a little while back and he was instructed by Coups to follow them."

I tilt my head, puzzled. What does he mean, 'his AC had to move here'?

It takes me quite some time to get that AC does not, in fact, stand for air conditioner, but rather than assigned case. I mentally slap myself for being so slow, and embarrassment consumes me at the fact that I even thought about the boys having any relations with air conditioners.

"Ah," Mingyu says, nodding. "And what about Coups? Where is he?"

"Probably at base stressing out." Vernon jokes, earning a laugh from the other boy and a smile from me, mainly because I don't know who this Coups fellow is.

Just then, the bell rings, indicating the end of our break. A bunch of students start getting up simultaneously, most of them putting away their trays and a few of them walking out of the room.

"Well, I'll see you guys around." The blonde says, grinning at us before he starts making his way out of the cafeteria.

The both of us say our goodbyes and wave at him, and as we dispose the garbage on our trays, I ask, "Where is your so-called base, anyway?"

Mingyu says nothing for a minute or so, then turns to me with a little smirk playing on his lips.

"I'd tell you where it is, but then I'd have to do something with you to make you forget about it."