PROJECT: SEVENTEEN. seventeen au

☏ TEN

so, you may be wondering. not only you are, actually-the members themselves also had the question repeating in their minds. what happens now?

well, after more crying and congratulating and hand shaking and fist bumping amongst the teens, the curtains roll open to let the light flood in again. jieun, who turned invisible the whole time, grins widely at them and claps her hands.

"congratulations, kids!" she cheered, doing her own little victory dance. "you did it!"

"why didn't you tell us yesterday?" dino mumbled through hiccups, eyes still red and puffy from literally sobbing his lungs out. the agent shrugs lazily and leans on the wall. "eh, ruins the element of surprise! besides, this is supposed to be the way we announce it anyways."

they let themselves quiet down for a moment, reclining in their chairs and sighing in relief. this was it. it really happened! they passed, they were chosen-it all felt like some sort of hazy dream. but it wasn't, that's why they're lucky. because it would still be for most kids.

but there was one more obstacle to face. one last hurdle to jump over before these teens could be truly free to do anything at their own will.

jieun announces, "everyone, you need to talk to your parents."

their heads snap up. parents?

ah, yes. parents. impatient, busy, yet pestering adults that have done the deed of bringing you into this world. it seems like they've been forgotten, both by the boys and the author themselves. parents seemed like they were never truly a part of this story-but in fact, they play a huge role in it. for no matter what happens, these kids will always be their parents' child.

when the boys only blink at jieun, she walks to the center to explain a bit more. she sighs, saying, "you know that you'll have to be fighting a criminal group. TW is their name, most dangerous criminals in the city, yadda yadda-it's probably tattooed in your brain as of now..."

in the middle of her explanation, jisoo sputters-"wait, TW?"

"uh, yeah." jihoon pipes up from beside him. the two have grown an oddly close friendship from all the mornings they've spent preparing breakfast. "you didn't pay attention to the orientation last week?"

the elder shakes his head, eyes trailing off as if he was lost in thought. "no, no, just remembered...nothing."

"...but the thing is, you need to inform them of what you've accomplished and that you might not be coming home until the end of the month." jieun concludes. "so go call or video chat them. ask permission, advice, whatever." then she points at the cellphones in the boys' hands. "do it. now."

the boys quickly fumble with their phones, the unmistakable ring of their mobiles blasting within the living room shortly after.

"you know, i just realised," says jeonghan as he lends his phone for seokmin to call his uncle on, "how come we didn't get any calls or texts from our family for the whole time? not gonna lie, even if i'm technically not connected to my family anymore, why didn't you guys receive calls or something? your parents would be dead worried."

they all blink at jieun because of this. the agent laughs and scratches her head. "i may have blocked incoming calls from the people you know. y'know-just so you wouldn't worry about stuff!"