in a world of superheroes, there are two that stand above the rest: The Commander and Jet Stream. The Commander has super strength that makes him indestructible, and Jet Stream has super sonic flight along with a total mastery of unarmed combat.

by day, they live as lee juwon and park jia, the head real estate couple of the city. but when duty calls, they're the Commander and Jet Stream. they're sometimes referred to as Stronghold, another moniker they use in front of the public.

lee chan has his own names for them – mom and dad.

it can be cool to have superhero parents. his mom once picked up this awesome pizza while she was saving a coastal town in italy from a giant mechanical spider.

on the other hand, living up to that name means that you're supposed to save the world someday.

chan takes a deep breath, calming his heart rate before he says, "here we go." sitting back on the bench, staring nervously at the heavy weight on the bar directly above his head.

chan has one problem.

he nervously curled his fingers as he grabs the bar, the heavy object coming down almost immediately as chan underestimated the actual weight. he huffed loudly, pumping his chest up and down. he couldn't even get the bar out of its placeholder.

"come on..." chan said quietly, in an attempt to encourage himself.

from downstairs, chan could hear his parents loudly speaking to each other. chan could only hear their muffled voices, but guessing from the obvious joy in their voices, they seemed to be talking about their day job: real estate.

chan hears the voice of his father calling for him. he soon hears the familiar pounding footsteps of his father clambering up the stairs. the closer the older man gets to the door, the more the younger boy begins to panic.

chan quickly stands up, grabbing a few of his heaviest weights and adding them on each side of the bar. he accidentally squishes his finger in between two of the weights in his haste, wincing as he silently cursed.

chan sat back down on the bench, quickly lying back and using all of his might and willpower to lift the bar for a few seconds. just long enough to trick his father.

just as chan feels the bar pressing down on his hands to the point of near exhaustion, he hears the door to his bedroom opening, revealing the friendly smile of his father. the young boy silently says a thank you to the universe.

chan grunts loudly, pulling the weight down just as his father says, "come on, buddy, let's get moving!"

chan abruptly cuts the man off, loudly groaning as he lifted the bar up and said, "two hundred!" resting the bar back in its place and sitting up.

he acted nonchalant as he was met with the enthusiastic face of his father. "oh, hey, dad. just... trying to get a few sets in before school." chan laughed lightly, trying to conceal how out of breath he was as he gently flexed his muscles. on the inside, his entire upper body was aching, but on the outside, he looked cool as ever. at least, he hoped he did.

chan's father chuckled as he stepped further into the room. "low weights, high rep, huh? good thinking. don't wanna bulk up."

chan laughed, almost breathless at that point. he plastered a smug smile on his face as he said, "nah. going more for definition."

his father took a few steps closer to chan, a small smile on his face as he says quietly, "big day, huh?"

before chan can answer, his father is already taking a seat on his messy bed, directly across from the weight bench. "chan, i just want you to know how proud i am that you'll be attending my alma mater, and someday, following me into the family business." his father said, a shimmer of pride in his eyes.

chan didn't want to let his father down.

chan instead opted to say, "real estate?" with a cheeky smile on his face.

his father chuckled. "right. real estate." the man said, giving his son a wink. the two exchanged knowing smiles. they knew what the older man meant.

chan's father scooted forward, leaning down to grab one of the heavy weights chan was struggling to lift five minutes ago, holding it like it weighed nothing. chan didn't blink an eye, fully aware of how strong his father was.

"on a more serious note, i know that every kid thinks his dad's invincible, and i nearly am, but who knows?" chan's father said, a solemn expression on his face as he twirled the weight in his hands. again, chan didn't blink an eye.

"maybe the next time i... punch a meteor hurtling toward earth..." the man sighed softly, looking off in the distance. "... i'll be the one who shatters into a million pieces."

the two sit in silence, just for a second, before his father continues, "i guess all i'm trying to say here, chan, is it's– nice to know that, whatever happens to me, you'll still be around to save the world." pointing at chan with the weight still in his hand.

chan gulps nervously, an awkward smile on his face as he nods silently in agreement. "looking forward to it." he said, nervously patting his sweaty hands on his jeans.

chan's father smiled. "we all are." he gave chan a soft tap on the thigh, standing up to leave the room. chan stands up as well, thankful that the you're expected to save the world talk was finally over.

chan's father turns around, remembering that the weight was in his hand. "oh!" he says offhandedly, tossing the weight to chan who caught it with a strained smile. the older man left without a second thought, probably thinking about eating breakfast.

chan grunted quietly, falling back onto his bed as he felt the weight dig into his torso. he did nothing as he felt his bed frame break from underneath him, giving way to the heavy weight abruptly tossed onto it.

from downstairs, chan's childhood friend walked into the house from the back door, being welcomed by the friendly smile of chan's mother. the two exchanged greetings as the boy, who we'll come to know as boo seungkwan, sat down at the breakfast table.

"i noticed you had some recyclables in the trash. i took the liberty of moving them for you." seungkwan said with a smile.

chan's mother thanked him, giving the young boy a sweet smile as she set an empty plate in front of the boy. "you hungry? i've got plenty of fried eggs, some bacon if you'd like...?

seungkwan shook his head softly. "no, thanks." he looked at the older woman as he said, "you know how my mom can communicate with animals? apparently, they don't like being eaten." he shrugged.

jia stared at the young boy, awkwardly walking off towards the fridge as she asked, "how about some juice?" sighing silently as she heard seungkwan's quiet agreement.

juwon walked back into the kitchen, quietly telling his wife that chan was on his way down. he exchanged greetings with seungkwan as he sat down at the table across from the young boy.

"i can't believe you and chan are starting high school. it seems like just yesterday, you two were swimming naked in the kiddie pool." jia trailed off, a sad smile on her face as she thought back to when the two boys were younger.

chan entered the kitchen just as his mom was loudly reminiscing. he scrunched up his face in embarrassment as he said, "mom!" in his passing. he sat down in front of seungkwan, saying hi to him as he reached for the glass of juice in front of him.

jia hears the phone ringing. she pulls out the regular daytime phone, assuming it's a work call. she furrows her eyebrows as she realizes no one was on the other line. she hears her husband tell her it's the other phone, the super phone as they call it, that is ringing. she quickly makes her way over to her husband, standing behind him as he quickly picks up the call.

"go." juwon says simply, listening to the man on the other line inform him of a giant robot invading the downtown area. he says his acknowledgment and hangs up, immediately relaying the information to jia. they exchange serious looks as they quickly assess the situation.

jia sighs quietly. juwon walks off to get ready, leaving the three in the kitchen. "oh, shoot. and i really wanted to see chan off to the bus." jia said in dismay. chan cringed interally at her words.

jia turned to seungkwan as she said with a sad smile, "i remember his first day of school. he wouldn't let go of my leg." the two chuckle in amusement.

chan groans loudly. "mom!" he says, hoping she would stop embarrassing him in front of seungkwan.

juwon called after jia, the woman taking that as her cue to leave. before they leave, the older man turns around to chan and says, "oh, chan, a reminder." chan turns around to face his father, an expectant look on his face.

"a lot of the kids at sky high will only have one superhero parent, not two. so... take it easy on them, huh? no showing off."

chan smiled to himself, turning to seungkwan with a look of amusement as he said, "oh, dad, not to worry. i'll keep it lowkey."

"juwon!" was heard from further in the house.

juwon snapped his fingers. "got to go!" his father smiled, following his wife to what chan assumed was their family's secret sanctum. it's where the duo always went when they were on a mission.

chan sighed in relief, thankful that his parents were finally gone. he stood up to find the tv remote, his eyes following seungkwan as he walked towards the windowsill where there were three dying plants. chan vaguely recalled his mother mentioning that they weren't getting enough sunlight.

chan watched as seungkwan slowly waved his hands over the plants, the plants coming back to life and looking better than ever. seungkwan's power really came in handy in those types of situations.

chan sat on the counter with a sigh, seungkwan moving to stand next to him as the boy turned on the tv.

from the television, the local news anchor's deep voice could be heard. he caught the broadcast just in time for his parents to swoop in and save the day. the two boys watched as chan's mother carried his father towards the giant robot that was destroying several buidlings in its path.

chan watched with a subtle frown as they circled around the robot, the machine struggling to keep up with their speed and powerful attacks. his mother dropped his father directly onto the chest of the robot, the steel plates breaking under the pressure of his father's kick, the rest of the robot's body crumpling underneath the man's foot. the robot falls to the ground in one single swoop.

"oh, and the robot goes down!" comes the voice of the morning news anchor. on screen, they could see chan's father pulling out the gleaming red eye from the robot. his parents liked to collect souvenirs from some of their missions as a way to memorialize their victories.

chan's parents posed for the news cameras that were following all of the action. the screen then went back to the news anchor.

"the commander and jet stream." he said simply, dramatically turning to another camera as he finished, "what would we do without them?"

"they are good." chan said with a heavy sigh, turning off the tv and leaving the house, seungkwan trailing behind him. the duo walk outside, making their way down to the bus stop.

as they walk along the path, seungkwan decides to speak up. "now, i know it's just our first day. but, i already can't wait to graduate and start saving mankind." he said excitedly, a bright grin on his face. he paused, immediately continuing to say, "and womankind. and animalkind."

"and the rain forest." chan said in his amusement.

seungkwan nodded enthusiastically. "of course!"

the two continue to walk down the street. once they reached the bus stop, seungkwan said, "i just feel really good about this year."

chan sighed quietly. "yeah. it should be great." he said with an awkward smile, rhythmically patting his hands on his thighs and letting out an anxious breath.

the bus soon pulled up to them after that. the doors opened, revealing a man wearing a hat with a random sports team logo on it. "morning." he said curtly, chan and seungkwan silently saying it back as they climbed into the bus.

chan gazed over the students sitting, trying to look for an empty spot. "is this the bus to sky high?" he asked, flinching as the bus driver loudly shushed him.

"what, are you crazy?!" the man said, quickly shutting the doors behind the two. they stared at the doors nervously, turning back to the bus driver in question.

"i guess you want every super villain in the neighborhood to know we're here."

"no. no. sorry." chan whispered, feeling his face heat up slightly in embarrassment. he moved to take a seat, stopping as the bus driver placed a hand in front of his chest. he looked down at it nervously, looking at the bus driver in question.

"what's your name, first year?"

chan nervously gulped. "um. lee chan. my parents usually go by stronghold to the public."

the bus driver's eyes widen, gulping nervously as he says, "the son of the commander and jet stream?" he said in awe, finally smiling at the boy.

chan smiled, nervously nodding at the man. the bus driver stood up abruptly, startling the two boys as he grabbed chan's shoulders and said, "everyone. it's lee chan. son of the commander and jet stream!" the students looked at chan in curiosity, some of them beginning to murmur to each other. chan felt his face heat up again.

chan turns to the bus driver in surprise, nervously shaking the man's hand as he says, "my name is kim dohyun, sky high bus driver. if there's anything i can do to make your journey more comfortable, please let me know." he continues to enthusiastically shake mr. kim's hand, the force of it shaking chan as well.

before chan could respond, mr. kim points to a couple of students sitting in the front seat and says, "you two, up! the seat behind kim dohyun belongs to lee chan."

the boy wearing glasses immediately stands up. "it would be an honor." he says with an excited smile.

chan shakes his hand. "nah, it's fine. you don't have to."

the boy with the glasses shook his hand as well. "no, no. i want to. you're third generation, man." he turned to the boy next to him that was still sitting. "vernon, get up."

vernon looked up at the boy in annoyance. "why? he only needs one seat." he said as he pointed at chan who was just standing there with an awkward smile. seungkwan was behind him mirroring his expression.

the boy with glasses pointed at the two standing and said, "so he can sit with his boyfriend."

seungkwan awkwardly laughed, about to deny the statement, when chan swooped in quickly to say, "seungkwan? no, he's just my friend."

seungkwan's expression fell slightly, glancing at chan quickly before he smiled again and said, "yeah, totally. he's like my brother." he accidentally said that last part in a sing-song tone, internally cringing at himself.

from behind chan and seungkwan, someone stood up and chimed in. "oh, well, in that case, hi." chan and seungkwan turned around to face the boy behind them. the boy took off his glasses and said with a charming smile. "i'm jungwoo."

chan and seungkwan exchanged a look, quietly walking down the bus aisle and taking seats away from each other. the bus finally drove off, the loud engine squealing as they drove down the road.

chan smiled as he saw the familiar face of his friend from their past school, mingyu. the tall boy stood, dapping the boy up as he said, "yo. chan! hey, how you doing? hey, seungkwan." he made room for chan to sit down, the boy taking the seat with a quiet huff. seungkwan took the empty spot next to chan and mingyu's seat.

"how was your summer?" chan asked as he turned to the boy.

mingyu looked down as he shook his head. "to be honest, it was tough, man. t-u-p-h." chan shook his head in amusement at the boy's spelling. in reality, mingyu had the best grades in their class. 

chan looked around as mingyu continued to ramble on about his summer job, only tuning back in when he mentioned that he didn't get his powers yet.

"oh, so you don't have your powers?" chan asked, a twinge of hope igniting within him. maybe things wouldn't be so bad for him today.

"dude, you think i'd even show up today if that happened?" mingyu asked, an incredulous look on his face as he looked at chan.

chan gaped up at him, at a loss for words as mingyu continued. "no. i woke up a few days ago..." he trailed off, slapping his hands together for dramatic effect, "and bam!" he shouted, chan and seungkwan flinching at mingyu's words.

mingyu let out a breath. chan nodded encouragingly as he said, "that's great. so, w-what is it?"

mingyu chuckled to himself, gesturing wildly with his hands as he said, "you have to wait and see like everybody else." he looked around nervously, saying in a low voice, "but it's awesome, man. it's awesome!"

chan glanced around nervously, nodding in agreement as he gave the taller boy an awkward smile.

"come on, man. it's not like you've ever powered up in front of us." mingyu said.

before chan could answer, mr. kim slammed down on the brakes abruptly, the students lurching forward in surprise. a few of them loudly complained at the sudden impact, some whining about their head hurting.

"sorry!" the man up front shouted as he opened the doors for a student boarding the bus. once the student sat down, he said, "that's everyone." to himself, quickly shutting the doors and driving off. he then took off the hat he was wearing, switching it to a muted orange hat with the sky high logo emblazoned on the front.

mr. kim dramatically turned to the students watching his transformation go down. "next stop, sky high!" he said, turning back around and speeding down the road.

they drove down the streets, making it onto a bridge that was under construction. there were traffic cones everywhere and signs indicating that the bridge was closed. the students looked around nervously, seungkwan asking, "where are we?"

the students gasped as a metal bar settled in front of them, pushing into their torsos just as seat belts mechanically draped over their chests. they looked around in confusion, soon being replaced by genuine fear as they felt the bus speeding up.

"hang on back there!" mr. kim said, facing the road once again as he said, "we're going off road."