10; 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝

                                    

                                          

junhui was the only one who didn't change his contact number. all the other members' old numbers didn't ring anymore, so, seungcheol and the others went to where junhui resided. 
                          
"he lives..." minghao trailed off, halting as the other members stopped in front of junhui's door. "in the same apartment building i'm in? why did i never know?!"
                          
"because you're ignorant as fuck. don't you meet him in the elevator or in the lounge downstairs or something?" jihoon commented. minghao hissed at the smaller. "what are you, a snake?"
                          
"he kinda is."
                          
"seokmin, you're not involved in this."
                          
"okay, let's just knock. don't get started." joshua points to jihoon and minghao. seokmin follows joshua's orders, knocking on the door with the number 614 on it. 
                          
they were met with junhui wrapped in layers of blankets, holding a bowl full of popcorn, while he sobbed. behind him, everyone can see that titanic was playing on the tv. "oh, hello guys. it's been eons since we saw each other. want some popcorn?" junhui steps aside for everyone to come in. the apartment was spacious, like minghao's—but there were dirty clothes everywhere, empty packets of bubblegum, popcorn scattered on the floor. 
                          
what a life. 
                          
not sooner, junhui was already on the couch, eating popcorn as he cried over the movie on tv. he did not even care about his visitors, they guess titanic is more important than the current matter. 
                          
"um, junhui?" jeonghan placed a hand on junhui's shoulder. "can we turn off the tv for a while? we have something to tell you." 
                          
junhui hesitated for a moment. after a beat, he takes the remote and presses the power button.  still sobbing, junhui asked: "what is it?"
                          
"okay, let me get this straight," jihoon emerged from behind mingyu. "are you jobless, or are you just...?"
                          
"oh no no," junhui waves his hands around, desparately trying to deny jihoon's hypothesis. "i'm a wedding planner. i took a day off today because my girlfriend broke up with me."
                          
"then call her 'ex-girlfriend'."
                          
"no! i love her!"
                          
"you want me to slap you?"
                          
"o-okay. ex-girl—girlfriend." junhui stuttered, making this sour expression that you normally see on children's faces before they cry. minghao shoved popcorn into junhui's mouth. though they were not supposed to laugh, they did. "why are you here?"
                          
"so, um, we're bringing back seventeen because the supernatural society is in danger, plus wonwoo's alive but he's brainwashed and we've got 6 months to bring him back before someone kills him. you up for it?" jeonghan smiled sweetly at junhui, who shot the seven other men a confused look. 
                          
"are you guys completely nuts?! wonwoo's dead, right?" junhui places his bowl of popcorn on the coffee table to cross his arms. "at least that's what we knew before we split up."
                          
"alright." joshua presses into his earpiece(which the others did not know about). "HEUSC, take control over GH112 and display file JW028."
                          
"understood, sir." through junhui's speakers, HEUSC replied to joshua. junhui, like the rest of them, freaked out.
                          
"oh my god. i get why you're a scammer now."
                          
"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER MY WHOLE FUCKING APARTMENT?! I WAS WATCHING TITANIC!"
                          
"are you watching us all the time?! kinda like the illuminati?!"
                          
"you are scary. seriously."
                          
"you're amazing, joshuji!" to which, joshua replies with a cheek kiss. the others looked away, or gagged. "ya'll are just jealous!"
                          
the little freak out that the members had over joshua ended when junhui's screen displayed file JW028. consisting of: the several footages of mingyu interrogating wonwoo in waikiki beachfront hotel's lounge, the recorded conversation of wonwoo and mingyu (playing on the speakers), and a whole article of w systems (displayed on one side of the screen).
                          
junhui was flabbergasted. "all these... it's not fabricated, right?" to which, mingyu responded to by turning around and showing off the bandages on his nape and head. "okay, okay, this is big. so what the fuck happened?" 













                          
disgusting. cobwebs everywhere, dust, cockroaches in the kitchen, rats?! no, no no. minghao would definitely not help them clean. or, rather, help jihoon clean. seventeen guest house was a huge heap of mess. 
                          
"okay, i'm going to gather all the dust and cobwebs at once, so give me trash bags." jihoon states. junhui gave him a pack of those black trash bags, pinching his nose with another hand. not that the base stinks, it's just that the dust was making the air in this building completely contaminated.
                          
(junhui exaggerated, but whatever.)
                          
"three, two, one." in a flash, jihoon was gone from where the eight initially stood in a clump. apart from that difference, the noticed that the first floor was already spotless. "and i'm back!"
                          
"oh, right, speed." seungcheol nods, looking at the trash bags that jihoon held. "you cleaned all  12 floors?! in ten fucking seconds?!"
                          
"yep. plus the basement," jihoon pointed to the floor. "so, let's go plan our shit in the meeting room?"
                          
"alright."
                          
the walk to the meeting room was like deja vu to jihoon. a year ago, getting dragged to that room for their interview was not fun for jihoon, he did not want to be in seventeen before. now, walking towards the meeting room felt like there were fireworks going off in his heart. like he really wanted to be in seventeen, unlike the first time. oh, how does one change so much in just a year?
                          
"alright. tomorrow, we gotta settle all your shit—resignation, picking up your things from your residence, explaining it to workmates or friends or family, do what you gotta do. i will fix our permits and contracts. then, after that, we're going to this pub where an ability-user street gang called black lizard hangs out. they caused half of the file cases we have to attend to." seungcheol slammed his hands on the table. "questions? reactions?"
                          
"black lizard is a stupid name." 
                          
"no mafias yet? goodie." 
                          
"i'm fine with it." 
                          
"i'm hungry."
                          
seungcheol smiled. "nice! i'm hungry too! okay, mingyu, if you would," seungcheol did hand motions of cooking, as if they were playing charades. "yeah?"
                          
mingyu rolled his eyes. "what do you guys want for dinner?" the tall male tied his hair back in a man bun, ready to cook. the other members hooted and cheered for their personal chef.  "oh, fuck you guys!"