Super Seventeen

Chapter Eight

"I still can't believe that they went to you to translate that message instead of me." Junhui pouted, eliciting a chuckle from Minghao.

"Like Seungkwan said, you were in class and I wasn't. He was merely thinking for 'the benefit of everyone'," Minghao joked, referring to Seungkwan's spur in the chat room.

"Just because he chose not to disturb my class doesn't mean I don't have the right to be salty," Junhui spat and crossed his arms. "I've known them for much longer than you and they still didn't think of contacting me first."

Minghao merely sighed, evidently done with Junhui's bull, as per usual, but that was just their friendship dynamic. He then changed his face into a worried one. "Okay, but really. That message is so unnerving... it honestly makes me shiver at night."

Junhui flinched at the mood change before quickly responding to the question. "I know! And it doesn't help that the leader line hasn't said anything since they talked to Pledis..."

Ever since Seungcheol, Soonyoung and Jihoon had returned from the Pledis building, they had seemed a bit shaken. They still acted normal and everything, but once asked if they had any extra information to share, they'd freeze and then shake their heads slowly, claiming that the meeting had nothing particularly interesting. Junhui, however, believed that their actions said otherwise.

They still tried to act like leaders and all. And they were doing relatively fine, but there was this unshakable feeling that the leaders felt insecure or unstable about something. That worried the members to no end, and they all felt the immense urge to ask them what might possibly be so terrifying, yet at the same time, none of them had the guts to.

"... do you think they'll be okay?" Minghao whispered.

Junhui was caught off guard by the boy's sudden mood change. Minghao was generally a very straightforward person with strong beliefs, but this more emotional side was definitely a new sight. Junhui supposed it signified how much Minghao really did care about their three leaders. He gave him a nod, although in truth, he wasn't sure himself. Let's just hope they'll be fine.

Minghao's expression visibly relaxed. (At this Junhui noticed how much impact his words really did have on Minghao, and it made him feel warm inside, for whatever reason).

"That's good. I just want this part to be over with." Minghao hunched over, almost as if in physical pain. "What did we even do to NCT that might make them so mad at us?"

Junhui himself had been thinking about this the night before. Rivals wasn't possible - NCT had, as far as they knew, officially established a year after Super Seventeen, so it wasn't like they'd pushed their popularity away or anything. And Junhui was pretty sure that none of them had actually stolen anything from NCT, considering they'd only come in physical contact once, and that was months ago. Even if something was stolen, why would the wait out until now?

But he had also thought about another, different possibility. It was one that he desperately didn't want to believe. It was difficult enough being a superhero and a 'normal highschool student'. If he had to have both on at the same time, Junhui might burst.

"... what if we know NCT in real life, and we're just unsure of their identities?"

Minghao stayed in that same, hunched position for a while as he processed the information. "Know them... in real life?" He said slowly.

Junhui swallowed, nodding. "Think about it. As far as we're concerned, they live in Seoul and are roughly the same age as us. I know that Seoul's a big place, but that doesn't throw away the possibility."

Minghao looked uncomfortable at the prospect of possible having already interacted with some of the enemy. Junhui was about to say something else to reassure him that it was still highly unlikely, but a certain raven-haired boy just so happened to barrel into their conversation at that moment. And quite literally, too, as he basically just barged in between them and then somersaulted his way down the field that they were walking in.