"choi seungcheol. hong jisoo. wen junhui. kwon soonyoung. xu minghao. kim mingyu. lee seokmin. boo seungkwan. chwe hansol." seungcheol pointed to each and one of the members, right when their name is being called. "you'll know their abilities soon enough."

"that's unfair!" jihoon whines. "we get exposed and you don't?!"

"okay. discussion ended. seungkwan, lead them into their rooms, and then mingyu, can whip up dinner for them?" seungcheol stood up. "they have to do something tomorrow. okay, goodnight! happy nutting!"

mingyu and chan laughs at seungcheol's last remark. chan clears his throat after getting weird looks.

seungkwan waves at the four, then he leads them into the elevator. seungkwan presses the '7' button, before he speaks. "you guys better get ready for tomorrow. you're getting missions."

wonwoo scrunches his face. "that early?"

"yes. that serves as training, too." seungkwan sighed, tapping his foot impatiently. "you'll get partners or you go in groups. have you got anyone in mind, though?"

"oh, definitely the strawberry boy." jeonghan dreamily sighed, which got a reaction from seungkwan. "he's my type. will he like me though?"

seungkwan laughed. "i know, i know! he's so cute!" seungkwan shows jeonghan his jazz hands, before they both laugh. seems like they found something that they both like. "but my ass is for vernon."

"ugh, that cocky ass?"

"hey, he's not cocky!" seungkwan hurled at jihoon. jihoon was unfazed, just rolling his eyes as usual. "the guys here are h o t."

"i think i might like it here after all." jeonghan giggled. "boys are the only thing that makes my life good."

"yeah, well, mark your mans now." seungkwan and jeonghan continue chatting about boys, until they reach their rooms.

the loud speakers playing some anime opening from the hallway awoke chan from his slumber. aw, man! chan wanted to sleep a little longer in his new room, new bed, new pillows!

"i need to get up, i guess. this is the first day of my new life." chan cheerily jumped out of bed, fixing the messy covers before slipping in his fuzzy slippers. he walks outside and was met with a grunting jihoon.

"the hell is with these guys?! is it a good idea to play metal this early in the morning?!" jihoon proceeds to the elevator. chan ran after jihoon, excited of the day ahead of them.

"i'm excited, jihoon-hyung!"

"i'm not." jihoon walks out of the elevator once it opens, walking directly to the dining room.

"aw, jihoon-hyung! at least it's a little bit better living here! the dinner wasn't bland, the matress was soft, there was air conditioning!"

"i don't have the energy to pretend to like you today."

"you two are late!" jeonghan butts in. chan realizes that they reached the table. "we were waiting for you! they won't spill today's agenda without you!"

without further ado, seungcheol spoke. "jeonghan and joshua, you get the karasu mafia case. dk, vernon, black swan, you three need to make the report about the serial murder case. jun and the8, pledis mafia's smuggling weapon is today at the port, you know the drill. jihoon, hoshi, you need to get sands of time back. chan, you go with me. wonwoo and 97, you're up for the bombing today." seungcheol scatters folders on the table, which the members immediately picked up.

"aw, scoups! i wanted to have some fun today!" seokmin sighed, throwing his spoon on his bowl of cereal. minghao gets some milk on him, starting an arguement about how seokmin soiled minghao's silky chanel pajamas so early in the morning.

"aw, i'm heading to the fourth floor." vernon stood up, bringing his iced coffee with him.

"you're just going to play games on the computers, vernon!" soonyoung yelled. "don't try to use my computer and my steam wallet! and oh, god. who drinks iced coffee so early in the morning?!"

wonwoo noticed how seungcheol addresses the members. they have codenames. jeonghan just smiled, satsified that he got paired up with joshua. jihoon had some issues to ask about, but jihoon didn't protest. it would be embarrassing, everyone was too serious and quiet.

"eat this granola bar, you're gonna need it." chan is thrown a granola bar before seungcheol grabs chan's wrist. the other members just clicked their tongue, while chan was excited. he didn't know what he was going to do with seungcheol—it may be scary, yes—and the excitement he's feeling is doubled up.

"what are we doing today, hyung?"

"when we're working, it's scoups." seungcheol said, laughing. "we have codenames that we use at work."

"oh! do i get a codename!?"

chan is weirdly innocent and smiley for an eighteen year old who was involved with fukuro. at least, that's what vernon told them yesterday. "yes, you will. now, before you get one, you must remember these things." seungcheol's smile turn into a sly smirk.

chan tilts his head. "what is it?"

"that bracelet prevents you from using your ability, and it is only unlocked with a key that i have. i disable my ability when i attack, and," seungcheol stopped at a door, then held it open for chan to get in. once they were both in the room made of while walls and nothingness, seungcheol continued. "don't give up."

chan was utterly confused. when did he have this thick, steel bracelet that had this little red blinking light on it? why was seungcheol giving him tips for his vulnerability, and why were they in this white room? chan thought that—

"whoopsies! that was a bit harsh, wasn't it?" chan finds himself on the other side of the room, on the floor, coughing up blood. seungcheol had just socked him in the guts. "but you have to stand up, or else it means that you're nothing."

although chan had faced lots of people who told him that he was worthless, he never believed them. he opposes seungcheol's statement, while standing up. next thing you see is chan running to catch the older. "i'm not nothing!" chan admits, though, the pain was unbearable.

"then catch me." seungcheol dodges chan the last second, before chan headbutts seungcheol. chan's head hits the white wall, opening a new cut on his forehead. some of chan's blood splattered on the white wall. "does that hurt?"

"it does!" chan walked closer to seungcheol, baiting himself so seungcheol would attack chan, and as seungcheol said, he disables his ability when he attacks. chan can catch seungcheol.

chan was ready anytime, but the attack never came. is this a waiting game?

"look here." seungcheol smirks and fishes out a key, which chan tried to grab immediately. chan didn't know that seungcheol can make objects phase through objects, too—so his hand just goes through the key, and seungcheol's hand. chan cusses a little. he drops to the floor, trying to gain more energy.

"you know, chan, that ability is great." seungcheol stared at the boy. "but—what is this? you can't attack. you can't give me a powerful punch. you're too slow. you don't have stamina. you can't even use your ability properly! how will i send you to missions, unlike your other hyungs that deem strong enough? what can you do, lee chan?"

chan's eyes twitch. that's right, rage, lee chan.

"you can't give up now, if you want to be stronger."

"i can give up whenever i want!" chan says. seungcheol hides his dismay. he thought that chan had potential, a strong boy. seungcheol was dismayed, given that—but he won't give up even if chan says he will. "and i won't give up now!"

good. seungcheol chortled, dodging chan's attack. seungcheol subconsciously turned his ability off when he was thinking. "come on, chan!" seungcheol strided to chan and punched him on the cheek—then chan caught seungcheol's fist. seungcheol was surprised for a moment, but he smiled. he broke free from chan's grip, then walked away from the small boy.

"heh." chan choked out, showing seungcheol what he has on hand. the key to the bracelet that disables chan from using his ability. chan inserted the key into its slot, and broke free. chan lunges to seungcheol, holding him so he can't use his ability, and then proceeding to punch him in the face. chan suddenly felt light-headed.

"if you faint, i swear, i'm throwing you out." seungcheol holds the arm that chan used to grip seungcheol, supporting his weight. "you're going to go to these sessions everyday if you can't use your ability continuously."

so, chan strives to get back on his feet, and then, seungcheol punched chan. "your next objective is to get out of this room. ready?"

chan immediately made a run for the door, but seungcheol blocked it. chan curses, before attacking seungcheol yet again.

seungcheol's games lasted a little longer than calculated, but it was all worth it. chan got a little more motivation, more willpower, and more physical strength.

that's the leader of seventeen armed forces for you. he brings only the best out of his members.