𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

one hundred and twenty five.

seungmin stared up at his co-members, as jihoon paused. he was surprised to find them staring at him with pained looks, and surprisingly, he felt guilty.

"fix this. without killing anyone. please?" jihoon pleaded. soonyoung looked back at him, and that undeniably made soonyoung fall just more in love with jihoon. "seungcheol, you take the lead."

sniffling, seungcheol took seungmin's face in his hands, surprising the latter. "don't come back to yi-eun, or the bad side ever again, okay? i've waited a million years just to see a single trace of samuel. i'll help you. help you live. just stay close to me, to us, okay?"

"but why are you..? even if i'm from the rivalling side, you're helping me, just for samuel's dna? that's not logical." replied seungmin.

laughing, jeonghan says: "he added mafiosos and orphans into his team, so don't be surprised!"

cracking a smile, seungcheol spoke again. "and you, jeongin and changbin. you can join us back to korea too, i'll help you get settled." seungcheol sighed, letting his hands fall down from seungmin's face.

"kid," seokmin says, patting seungmin's head. the younger flinched—wait, had he been released by soonyoung earlier? and he didn't notice?! "use samuel's ability properly. cherish it, since samuel never really used it much because he believes that gifts should be treated with special care. that ability is raw, and it's powerful. take care."

seokmin stepped back, to let the two friends of his to speak with him. jeonghan, meanwhile, paid respects to hitch's corpse.

"seungmo," changbin started, much softer this time. "i can't believe that you would be the impostor. but as they did.. i'm giving you a second chance. because you're my friend." the man looked away, while seungmin watched him wordlessly.

"hyung, you said your favorite color was red, right?" jeongin asked, crouching to be closer to seungmin. "what is it, really?"

"ye—yellow." seungmin briefly answered.

"nice and dandy." jeongin smiled, sighing. "i bet you really are dandy. the real you, i mean. i hope to find out more about the real you in the future, so don't you ever lie or betray us again, alright?"

seungmin was speechless. he was crying, unbeknownst to himself—but he managed to mumble a "yes." and after that, "sorry." seungcheol offered him a smile, just like jeongin, while seokmin sighed and changbin just gave him a look.

seungmin didn't want a family, much like jihoon. but, the family that they got helped them be in proper shape and state of mind, and they offered so much love—so even if the pain wasn't deserved, they withstood it because they loved having a family.

"whoops!" mingyu exclaims, picking up noir. "show's over, the states fight was tiring! guys, wrap this nekoma thing up! i've got the cat!" mingyu raised noir up in the air, showing his teammates.

wonwoo, who just got out of the plane, took the cat from mingyu and angrily looked at it. "you're dead. chan!" wonwoo threw the screeching cat to chan, who disabled the man's ability. the cat, turned into a man who manned the neko mafia.

"whoops! you will not be able to move for two days because you get a bad concussion!" seungkwan points at yunwoo, who was previously known as 'noir'. the man almost immediately tripped, hitting his head on the cement. "sorry!"

"aigoo." junhui stepped down the plane, the last one to do so—and raised nami up from the ground using his ability. "can you put him somewhere in your lair, red demon? we don't have enough space in the building right now." junhui snapped his fingers, and nami disappeared.

"alright! kids! thank you for helping!"soonyoung snapped his fingers, controlling the nekoma members seen in the living room. jihoon floats the dead bodies out, while seungkwan granted the confidentiality of this whole thing, and that this issue may never resurface again.

once the whole building was cleaned up and the police contained the mafia members, seungcheol got in a little trouble explaining why he had refugees with him and it delayed dinner.

(seungcheol knows how to get out of trouble. just mention his father's name and the police will all turn away and go back to wherever they need to be.)

kaesun was sent back to her parents' home, and as for felix, he decided to stay because he was intrigued—of course, he was a part of the ability-user community. he sat with bang chan and his crew on the side, whereas changbin and his squad joined a little later on as well.

now, it was just seventeen standing idly in the middle of the living room.

"what now?" junhui asked. "we're not gonna have dinner? that sucks!"

"if ever you people change your mind, i suggest buying gelato for everyone. it is convinient." wonwoo stated, tapping away on his phone. mingyu eyed his screen, and as expected—he was already ordering.

mingyu burst into laughter, jumping onto wonwoo and embracing him. mingyu did not mind if wonwoo would get annoyed because he was, well, ordering gelato. all mingyu knew was that he needed a hug from the older.

"hey!" wonwoo protested, his arms and phone getting squished in between their bodies. mingyu giggled, pulling away, and mantaining eye contact. "what? do you perhaps love gelato too much that you went that far to express your fondness—"

"i love you." mingyu whispered. wonwoo was in shock, but he still took the time to notice mingyu's expression. the man did not look like he expected a rejection, or a reciprocation. he was simply expressing his love for wonwoo, and to see that he did not want anything in return?

wonwoo liked it. he loved mingyu too.

"WHAT?! you're supposed to answer 'i love you' with an 'i love you too', why are you guys kissing?! stop it! come on! there are kids here!" joshau flailed his arms around the two, circling them. the other members laughed, as joshua looked like a pelican.

"let's just hug them so the kids won't see! come on, gather round!" seungcheol offered, latching onto mingyu's back. the others, of course, followed their leader. they ended up in a group hug, which minghao didn't fancy—they all reeked of sweat and blood.

"yuck! yuck, yuck! you smell like—ugh!"

"quit it with the puking sounds!"

"come on, don't we all love a group hug? just let it be!"

and so, they let it be. even if minghao hated the smell, even if wonwoo and mingyu were undetachable(their lips specifically), even if there were a group of people watching them. nothing's going to hinder them now, and if ever someone dares, would seventeen let them? no.

"goddamnit," seungcheol says. "i love you guys."

"what?! oh my god?! do you see this?! he's crying!"

"aww!!"

"stop teasing me!"

and, that's where the story of the four orphans end. it's a happily ever after typa story, even if they hate how cliche it might be. but hey! all that matters is that they still got each other, and even more people that got their back. for the four orphans, it was a delight being exposed to danger and hero work, but the most wonderful experience was being introduced to having a family.

it doesn't need to be connected by blood, families. all families need only trust, bond, love, and happiness. those four words definitely were evident in seventeen, and each of them is happy to call themselves a part of a family.

they found their home within each other.