𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄

4; 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙

"we don't like that idea," jeonghan smiled at the six strangers. "we're not going to earn anything from this. we're not hero wannabes, so give us back chan and we will just go."

"nah. i don't want chan." jihoon puckers his lips, making a little hiss sound. it was rather cute.

"give him a chance, jihoon. you were as pushy as him before—"

"no, we can't let you go. you might succumb to the dark side." junhui replied. "and you're going to earn something when you join the force!"

jihoon scoffed, turning all the attention to him. "what are we going to earn here, huh? family? do you know what comes after that? pain. that's the only thing we're going to get here. we don't want that, we want to survive. we don't need a family to survive, we need food and money. so just let us go. we won't succumb to the dark side, as you say, because they're also baddie wannabes and we're not like that."

seokmin laughed. seokmin stared at jihoon like he had clown makeup on, and it made jihoon furious. why? it's the truth. "ew. we're not a fucking family, i'd drive off a cliff with my precious jeep rather than calling them family." seokmin pointed to the five other members.

oh. jihoon was right about family and pain, but no such thing exists here.

"listen, you get some good shit here," minghao was typing away on his phone. "might not be as good as mafia benefits, but, anyway. you get free food, clothes, a room for you to sleep in, training for your abilities, kicking some ass and money." minghao shoves his phone back into his pocket, before playing with his nunchucks again. jeonghan visibly smirked.

"yeah, if you really want better benefits, you go to pledis mafia. they have weed," junhui does a chef's kiss. soonyoung made puking sounds, while junhui and minghao high fived. this was one of the rare moments where minghao agreed with his partner, so soonyoung didn't interrupt any more.

"money. interesting." wonwoo nods, giving it a good thought. "how much will it be? just for reference."

seokmin cackled louder than usual. "you like money, don't you?" seokmin took out his wallet and fished out one card that made the three orphans gawk in awe. "that's right. this card... is black, of course. i have a black card." seokmin shrugs, brushing his black card off like it was just loose change. wonwoo was the first to give in.

"okay." wonwoo spoke, making the other two snap their heads to wonwoo's way. if anyone among them hated acquainting themself with strangers, it was wonwoo. quite surprising for them that wonwoo initiated.

"wonwoo?!" jihoon asked in disbelief. "what are you doing?!"

wonwoo ignores the two. "i'll join. i'm eighteen, i can join, right? there's no age-restriction?" wonwoo asks, and soonyoung disables his ability on wonwoo. seungcheol laughs and nods at the cat-eyed boy. "oh, really? that's good. what else do i do?"

"oh, we wait for your company's decision." seungcheol diverted his gaze to the small grumpy teen, and the chatty grey-haired boy. "so?"

"i said, i don't—"

"I WILL JOIN! as well as them!" jeonghan's gaze turns from jihoon, seungcheol and chan in four seconds. seungcheol nods. "i'm a week over nineteen, this little guy right here is—believe me, he's of legal age—eighteen, and the kid you're carrying... i dont know about him. i think he's eighteen as well."

"what do you mean 'believe me, he's of legal age'?! i look very much matured!"

"i can see wrinkles. don't always be so angry, or you'll get signs of aging earlier than you're supposed to!" a remark by jeonghan makes everyone snicker.

jihoon scoffed. "ugh. i don't want to be part of this. let me go."

"jihoon, the orphanage can find you outside." wonwoo says, sharp eyes set on the small boy. "for now, let's accept the offer. we'll talk later."

guess jihoon had no choice. he was persuaded a bit, by the time that seokmin pulls out his black card and when he noticed that minghao was indeed wearing balenciagas. he still hated the idea though, even though there was money and survival essentials.

but the reason he agreed was because he won't be able to live all alone without wonwoo and jeonghan. they neutralize jihoon's personality. they're inseparable since their cringey puberty stages(mentioned that the escape plans of wonwoo started at their awkward puberty era).

"i don't understand. you said you don't want any more members!" mingyu interrupts, to which seungcheol shrugged. "i can't believe you're the leader, seungcheol."

"i feel good about this one." seungcheol nods to chan. "like he could be the missing piece to fill the empty spot in seventeen. like they would adjust the force closer to perfection."

"yeah, i spot a cute one," soonyoung winks at a disgusted jihoon. jihoon shouts something along the lines of 'you're a disgusting piece of shit!' but soonyoung doesn't react to that. "should we start the official process?"

"what the fuck did you do to them?!"

"i locked them in vernon's room."

"what can vernon do about them?! vernon's always asleep and ignorant! if they go on a rampage, vernon can't stop those crusty orphans!" minghao doesn't get a reply from mingyu. minghao was 101% sure mingyu heard, but he just ignored it because he knew that he did the wrong deed.

"so, apparently, they agreed." a raven haired member swirled in his swivel chair, imagining how chaotic or calm the new members might be. "do all of them have abilities?"

"i think the small one has telekenesis. he wasn't nice, joshua, that one bullied me!" soonyoung fake cries. the raven haired man called joshua just stared at the overdramatic soonyoung.

"the one that got knocked out can negate abilities. and to which, i quote from our ever great leader: 'i think i'm in love'." junhui points to the person at the edge of the table, who glared back at junhui.

"no, it's 'i think i just fell in love'." minghao quipped, giggling. junhui giggled along with him. "it was like he was in a shojo manga!" junhui makes kissing sounds while minghao made motions of sex through his fingers.

"my virgin eyes!"

"yeah, virgin, sure." junhui scowled at soonyoung. "you were talking about seokmin's gigantic dick just a little while ago!"

"oooooooh juicy!" minghao adds, then junhui and minghao high fived.

"thanks for appreciating my beautiful dick." seokmin stood up from his chair, then full bowed at soonyoung. a few laughed at seokmin's antics. well, the others didn't laugh simply because they were annoyed.

"are you two always this annoying or is today a special day?" seungkwan scowled. "oh, it is a special day. you two never get along."

"oh, seungkwan. let them be." joshua advises, and seungkwan follows what joshua said. joshua is the only one they ever listen to, without anything in return. maybe his soft personality contributes to it. "so? seungcheol? final proposition?"

to joshua, it might be that, but it's really because they just don't know how many tricks he can pull off on his members. if they piss him off, they'll never get out of joshua's revenge. his ability is too hard to figure out.

"you guys, one of them, the one that hugged me, can negate abilities." seungcheol stated, as a matter of fact. "he may have passed out after it, yes, but we can train him to be stronger, to have more stamina! not to focus solely on that one, the others have abilities too—but he's the most needed one in here."

"why do we need him, exactly?"

"guys, just let seungcheol finish." seokmin said, tying his robe tighter. "i still have to wash off the shampoo so we need to make it quick."

"go ahead. we don't need your ugly ass here."

"you—"

"BECAUSE," seungcheol cuts off seokmin. "we can finally beat our sworn enemy. our arch nemesis, some may suppose. his ability is too powerful, and hard to fight against—but you know, that kid can shut him down completely. we can finally win against him, finally get rid of their ugly crimes. we will win, seventeen."