Super Seventeen

Chapter Nine

Soonyoung could hardly breathe after Hansol had, trembling, transferred the message.

For a few moments, no one said a word. Soonyoung himself was trying to find a proper response to the sudden threat. Hell, he wasn't sure if there even was a proper response.

So it caught him off guard when the first thing he heard after that was a quiet sob.

Sitting across from him, Soonyoung was surprised to see Jeonghan's face buried in his arms, leaning against the table. Or maybe not so surprised, as Jeonghan's odd attachment to Chan was something that you couldn't get by without picking up on. Seungcheol worriedly leaned closer and patted his back a couple times, muttering a few words that Soonyoung couldn't pick up on.

"It's just -" Jeonghan hiccuped. "- why did it have to be Chan, of all people?"

Seeing his hyung like this made Soonyoung's heart practically break into a million pieces - then a million more as he tried to imagine what Chan might possibly be going through at the moment. Tears threatened to spill, and Soonyoung quickly blinked them back before they did fall. Crying wasn't going to help him get anywhere. And with the time limit, they couldn't risk it.

Seungcheol must've told Jisoo to take Jeonghan to the washrooms, because the two made a quick departure further into the building. Their leader then took a deep breath and said, "Okay. Okay, this is a bit sudden, but we have to get Chan back. I know NCT is currently a problem, but as of now, Chan's a priority. Besides, Chan's power is agility, so if we don't have him when we try and combat NCT, I doubt we're going to do exceptional."

Something about that sentence irked Soonyoung. But if Chan's power is agility, how come he still couldn't escape the kidnappers?

He didn't say it out loud though. The other members had enough to worry about.

"From what I can tell, the kidnappers were probably NCT." Jihoon drummed his fingers against the table. "I honestly doubt that Got7 or BTS would suddenly strike up an attack like this, since Got7's style is more trap-oriented and BTS likes to foreshadow their big plans, for whatever reason." (He rolled his eyes at the ending part. Soonyoung had heard many a rant from Jihoon wanting to know what BTS were thinking, but as always, Soonyoung only dismissed the topic. It wasn't like he had an answer to provide anyway).

"I was thinking the same thing." Seungcheol leaned forward in his chair. "And we've still got that message of theirs that we have yet to interpret."

"Wait." Mingyu frowned. "How did NCT get their hands on Chan then? Chan must've been kidnapped right after he got upset and then left, right? The timing is way too perfect to be coincidental."

Seungcheol shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. The only possibility that I can think of is -"

Minghao suddenly slammed his hand against the table, startling everyone around it. He flashed an apologetic smile before turning to point at Junhui. "You. What was it you said to me earlier today? Something about possibly knowing NCT in real life?"

"Oh, that?" Junhui looked like he was about to brush it off, but then it dawned on him, and his expression darkened. "Oh. That."

"That's got to be the only way they got the opportunity to kidnap Chan." Minghao ran his fingers through his hair, clearly agitated. "They were there. And they know that he's a part of Seventeen."

"Well, shit," Junhui muttered softly. He turned to Soonyoung, who was gaping at the prospect. "You're the assistant coach of the dance team, right? Do you think you could get your hands on a list of all the students that were here today?"