PROJECT: SEVENTEEN. seventeen au

☏ NINE

the sun rises in a field of the cloudless sky, bathing the world below in a heavenly golden glow. and along with it came the not-so-heavenly groans of thirteen boys, as their alarms went off in its usual yelling manner again.

but contrary to the past mornings they've grown used to, they got up hearing no more complaints from jihoon or childish whines from dino. no lighthearted bickering from minghao and mingyu. no yelling or singing or joking around from seokmin and seungkwan, no pulling each other's pants down from soonyoung. only silence followed the boys as they descended the stairs, brain empty and hearts jittery as they wait.

wait, wait, wait.

wait for what truly happens now.

the sunlight pours in when park jieun enters. in her usual fashion, she waves with an energetic grin, long bangs hanging in front of her eyes. the boys would usually greet back by banging their utensils on glasses and waving and grinning widely, smudges of rice on their cheek.

but not today. today, they carried a different kind of air with them-a contrast to what they've shown last night, dancing and singing around like there was no tomorrow. for jieun only received tired smiles and light waves in return.

"what's up, guys?" the agent asks, making her way to lean on the counter. the boys smiled sheepishly and stared at their breakfast. "are you alright? had a good sleep?"

"yeah, we did." jihoon, one of the few who didn't zone out, sullenly nods. his knee bounced up and down as he played with his fingers on his seat. "except for the fact that, uh-we don't know."

the agent raised her eyebrow at them while she processed what that meant. what do they mean 'they don't know'? what do they not know that could make them act so weirdly? i mean, i've told them everything i could tell, just not that they-

"oh, right!" the idea finally descends unto jieun's brain. she chuckles and rubs her hands together. "right, right, right."

"uh, miss ji? you're kinda creeping us out right now," mingyu points his fork at her. a giddy smile creeps up jieun's lips like a centipede as she shakes her head. "ignore me. i want you all to enjoy your breakfast, finish up, take a bath, then return to the living room, because boy do i have lots of tea to spill. and don't forget to bring your phones with you!

exiting with a killer smile, she left the boys hanging in the dining room listening to the patter of her converse fading away. seungkwan purses his lips and stares judgingly at the humans in front of him.

"you heard her, bitches. jihoon, you're for dishwashing duty."

just like that, plates were empty and stomachs were full once again. a grumbling jihoon (powered by black coffee and coke, mixed together in a glass) does the duty of washing the dishes and a sleepy soonyoung (too tired to say anything) worked shoulder-to-shoulder with him as he dries said dishes. the other guys showered and got dressed with the new clothes hansol, seokmin, and soonyoung (who snuck out the house last night on jeonghan's order) brought. why, wouldn't you get tired of wearing the same clothes for a week straight as well?

"ya, dino," seungkwan calls out, eyeing the youngest up and down with a towel in hand. "your fashion today's...quite wonky, huh?"

"shut off, nosy hag!" dino snaps back, hand in a sassy position. "it's none of your business. and who are you to judge me anyway, when you look like anpanman in that obnoxious suit of yours-?"

"alright, let's go kids!" seungcheol nervously chuckles, slinging his arm over their shoulders before they could do anything more. hansol joins them, bopping to a song in his headset. "but anpanman's cool tho? i don't see the problem..."