district 17 | svt

20

Seungkwan gripped onto Hansol's shoulder's, his shaky hands desperately clinging onto the fabric of the taller's shirt.

"I don't know what to do!" Seungkwan sobbed.

Hansol pulled Seungkwan into a hug, lightly stroking the back of the shorter's head as a comforting gesture. He had never seen Seungkwan like this before, even when they were roommates three years ago. He was always a bubbly, friendly person with no hesitation to show an exaggerated emotion. However, seeing his own friend fall into a state of devastation and helplessness was something new, and it ached Hansol.

"It'll be okay," He assured Seungkwan, "We'll figure it out."

He pulled away from their hug, wiping away the last of his friend's tears while whispering words of comfort and assurance. Seungkwan's loud sobs lowered to quiet sniffles, and Hansol couldn't help but smile at pat the latter's head with care.

He held up his bracelet and tapped on the grey button, allowing a holographic contact list to pop up. He tapped on Jihoon's and sent a message about what happened before pressing on the grey button once more to turn it off.

"Do you really think everything will work out?" Seungkwan asked doubtfully.

Hansol nodded assuringly and gently rubbed Seungkwan's back in a comforting way, making the latter smile. Seungkwan took a deep breath and nodded eagerly, facing back towards the Childcare Center, watching the children through the window. They were all so young, so bright, with their whole lives ahead of them. He didn't want anyone to take their futures away.

"You're right," Seungkwan agreed. "It will all be fine. Everything will work out!"

His gaze softened once he recognized a familiar little boy walk around the lobby, holding a small toy bike in his hand.

"It has to," he mumbled.

_________

{ D - 4 }

Junhui was in the middle of training when he felt his bracelet vibrate on his wrist three times. The minute he felt the vibrations he completely forgot his was in the middle of a spar, which caused him to be abruptly punched by his opponent. Of course the punch brought an immense amount of pain and a scolding from his instructor, but he didn't care about training in that moment.

When the bracelet vibrates, it means someone from the group sent you an update or a message. However, three vibrations was a message everyone received from Jisoo that an emergency meeting had to be held, which meant something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

After what seemed like hours, Junhui's training session finally ended and he darted out of the building towards the Library. Once he reached the Library he quickly made his way up to the second floor and into the secret room, pulling on the specific books to unlock the door. The door freaked open and he went inside, greeted by Seohyeon and Jisoo who were standing beside the table.

"Jun," she spoke, her eyes trembling with fear.

"What's wrong?" He asked, closing the door behind him and walking up to her.

He cupped her face with his palms and titled her head slightly upwards so that they were still keeping eye contact. Seohyeon opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out of her mouth. She didn't know what to say or what to do.

"You two have a seat," Jisoo offered, "I'll explain everything once the entire team gets here."

Junhui lead Seohyeon by the hand towards one of the chairs before sitting in one right next to her. Soon one by one the other recruits entered into the room quietly and discreetly, all sharing the same confused and worried look on their faces. After about thirty minutes, the last recruit came in, and everyone sat around the table in silent tension as they waited for Jisoo to explain the reason behind this emergency meeting.