𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄

18; 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣

"oh, hey, won!" soonyoung waved, calling wonwoo by his codename. "you're hitting the gym?"

"i need to get stronger."

"good choice." seungkwan appears, holding an energy drink on one hand. the elevator behind wonwoo closed, going down. "the training grounds is packed."

"training grounds?"

"you know, where seungcheol and chan train and shit. the one with the white walls." jihoon's presence was acknowledged when he spoke. wonwoo immediately stretched, so he won't get anything bad later on. "the third floor is so going to be thrashed. good thing we're in the fifth."

the third floor is where the training grounds are. yes, there are more of them, not just one. but today, the other members decided to fit all of themselves in one training ground, and turned against each other. "no shit, sherlock! they're going to blow up the whole fucking building like last time we all tried to train." seungkwan corrects. jihoon shook his head, picking up a dumbbell.

wonwoo was quietly listening while running on the treadmill. soonyoung spoke. "it goes like this: they will turn the training session into a contest. like who's the fastest or strongest. then, it somehow becomes one huge fight and they all almost kill each other. but of course they won't eventually, seungkwan used his ability on them."

wonwoo had heard about that ability of seungkwan's, indeed. it was something to get envious of, but wonwoo thought his ability was cool enough.

wonwoo gives up on the treadmill and starts running laps. but not around the gym, no, from the floor, to the wall, to the ceiling, to the other wall and repeat. it was getting faster after every lap ended. "wonwoo, you're so flashy!"

"sorry. i didn't mean to." to which jihoon scoffed. "i'm getting nervous for tomorrow, actually. it's a big plan and it's hard for us to follow through, because well, we're newbies and mostly, newbies seek only survival."

"you've got that hero mindset in you. you'll do fine," seungkwan says, sounding like he was complaining about it. there was no need to be nervous, it'll only mess with you and block your mind. that's not good especially if they're already in the mission. "anyway, i need to work out too, toodles!"

"'toodles'? what are you, mickey mouse? where's the hot dog?" jihoon asked, disgusted. seungkwan stuck his tongue out at jihoon.

"whatever." seungkwan just continued working out and shrugged it off. the five gym buddies continue talking (bickering sometimes). until, the topic about the orphans had been brought up.

"have you been living in there since you were babies?" soonyoung asked. jihoon responded with a yes. "god, that's awful."

"i was brought there." wonwoo replied as well, grabbing a drink from the mini fridge. "when i was four, i got lost in an amusement park and they retrieved me. fukuro, i mean. and then i lived in the orphanage."

"is it okay, opening up about it?"seungkwan asked. "i mean, we're all curious! but if you're not ready, then don't spit it."

"i don't care if you know everything, though. that backstory means nothing to me." wonwoo truthfully stated.

jihoon didn't speak. he had a backstory that he held close to his heart, and pushing wonwoo further on the topic will eventually push jihoon in too, and he hates to talk about that. he hates talking about how he almost became a pawn to fukuro, how he was abused when he misbehaved, how he and the others were punished when they're caught trying to
escape—

and how jihoon lost his brother to fukuro.

"...like, you know, the red demon is fucking huge, like attack on titan huge and you see, it attacked me. JUNHUI ORDERED IT TO ATTACK ME, WHAT A DIRTY PIECE OF SHIT!"seokmin said, drawing his katana.

"I TOLD HER TO RETREAT! DON'T ACT LIKE IT DID KILL YOU!"

seokmin was the first to step out of the elevator, meeting the gym gang already loitering by the kitchen. "hey guys!"

the people who trained in the third floor looked like they straight up went to the mission itself. "so who won?"

"nobody!" seokmin sighed, taking his shirt off—which made wonwoo go into a silent gay freak out moment. why did wonwoo not expect that from seokmin?! of course he'd have a toned body! "so i came in seungcheol, chan, jeonghan and joshua practicing. they didn't mind me, i was just working on my speed and power. but soon, vernon came, and tried to use us for his venom control so we went into a little arguement. junhui came in, angry because of the noise, then minghao joined just for fun. mingyu... he was just watching but right now he's dead."

"dead?!" jihoon gasped in disbelief. "i'm so glad i hit the gym instead of going in there. rip for him."

"yeah, he was still so young. vernon was apparently attacking at that time, touching the ground to transfer venom to the ground we stand on—but mingyu was busy laughing so he wasn't able to avoid it. poor boy." seungcheol clicked his tongue, taking his dirty shirt off too. junhui got out of the elevator without a shirt not long after.

"he's not dead!" vernon retorted.

wonwoo's sweating cold sweat at that time, undoubtedly.

"where's mingyu now?"

minghao came in the scene, wearing a tank top that showed off his biceps. wonwoo swore he was about to snap if he saw any more hot boys. "jeonghan's healing him. jeonghan's not a doctor, so he doesn't know how to keep it in control. if mingyu dies it's all on vernon. goodbye, start packing." minghao made a gesture as if he was shooing vernon off.

"my venom is fatal and he probably healed mingyu instantly." vernon quipped. "look, they'll be here any second."

"if jeonghan wasn't on the team, you'd be in big trouble."

"but we also have seungkwan, he can use his ability on mingyu!"

"uh-uh. my ability doesn't work when i'm too overwhelmed or nervous, that's why we lost to pledis mafia and fukuro mafia, right? then, i'd be too overwhelemed when you ask me to help and mingyu ends up dying. goodbye vernon." seungkwan said, which made everyone laugh.

seungcheol was thankful that his members were working hard. he saw seventeen showing their good moves back in the training room (he was sure wonwoo and the others in the gum worked hard too), they will surely have a higher chance in winning; now with better dynamics and plans and teamwork. though he and the others are nervous, they're taking it easy and the effect of that is good.

"hello! what did we miss?" the elevator dings, revealing mingyu and jeonghan.

"use the hashtag boycottvernon, goodbyevernonparty on twitter. that's all." minghao said, making everyone laugh again. "you good bro? you should be dead."

"you're lucky i don't have a notebook with me right now, or else your brain is splattered everywhere, with some blood squirting from your head y'know?" mingyu scowled. "should we go over the plan again, for clarifications?"

the room went silent, the elephant in the room was addressed. until seokmin spoke. "wait, let us change first. unlike the last time, i was in the middle of a hot bath and you decided to have a meeting!" the laughs erupt again.

"okay, we'll be waiting at the meeting room!" the members started walking to where they needed to head to, doing their businesses.

"guys?" seungcheol spoke. when all eyes were on him, he smile softly and added, "we'll kick ass this time. definitely."