𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

14; 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩

"why are we celebrating?! we haven't done anything yet!" soonyoung exclaimed, reluctantly drinking the champagne. "i thought we were supposed to be chasing after wonwoo?"

"oh, before we came to japan, we finished like two missions." seokmin informed. the singer dipped his legs in the pool, kicking the water lightly. "i don't know what's gonna happen next, though."

"hey, how about we go to los angeles?" junhui suggests, following seokmin's actions. the chinese man got his cuffed jeans wet and he doesn't care. "we don't know where chan is for sure, but we know where vernon and seungkwan is! in los angeles!"

"if you want to go to los angeles, find a way to make joshuji shut up. he lived in america for a while and his american pride is a little too much." jeonghan says, earning laughs and a hit to the arm from joshua. "where's channie? does anyone have any information...?"

"no," seungcheol replies. "we don't know where he is. we have thoroughly searched the databases in korea, and it's confirmed that he's not here."

silence. everyone ponders: what happened to chan? where is he now? why would chan cut off all connections with seventeen, and leave korea? he doesn't have anything else but money, for god's sake!

maybe that's enough. chan could buy himself a nice house beside the beach with the money he has.

"so, los angeles?" soonyoung asked. "i won't bring any of my weapons if we're there to pick up vernon and seungkwan."

"we have mingyu, so even if we don't bring our weapons, it's okay." minghao replies. soonyoung nods and shrugs, drinking champagne again.

this night wherein the supposed 'celebration' was going to happen did not turn out like most seventeen parties. they were just hanging around, drinking champagne and exchanging crazy stories. it was a serene and calm night, which was both good and bad at the same time.

good, because seventeen finally was able to pull off a celebratory event without anyone destroying anything. bad, because it doesn't feel the same as before.

"no. i'm going to meet your parents, joshuji." jeonghan gulped, still holding onto his seat. joshua was tired of jeonghan's tomfoolery. "i'm not ready yet!"

"look, jeonghan," seungcheol came into view. "they'll like you. just don't do anything stupid."

"but anything he does is stupid!" junhui chortled, and at that, jeonghan let go of his seat and ran to junhui. "alright, plan is working!"

junhui ran out of the plane and sped off to go to the arrivals area of the airport. jeonghan followed, chasing junhui to get his revenge on the wedding planner. the others sighed and walked out of the plane as well.

as they were lining up for immigration, jeonghan kept on whining and thrashing. seventeen was done with jeonghan, and the best they could do to prevent further embarrassment is to look away and pretend that they don't know him. luckily, jeonghan did not have any weapons with him.

once they were cleared from immigration, they headed outside to meet joshua's parents who're picking them up from the airport and into joshua's home. jeonghan was still whining and complaining.

"my god." minghao took his sunglasses from his bag, and wore it. he looks away from jeonghan's direction. "this is embarrassing."

"hey, joshua, do something about it." seungcheol whispers to the awfully stressed joshua. joshua glared at seungcheol, and the older threw up his hands in the air. "okay, okay."

"hey jeonghan," joshua grabs both of jeonghan's shoulders, turning him to face joshua properly. "look at me."

"your pare—" jeonghan was cut off when joshua gave him a quick peck on the lips. jeonghan shuts up.

"good strategy." soonyoung laughs, pointing at jeonghan and joshua. seungcheol laughed, seeing jeonghan as red as a beet while his eyes stay dilated. "back then, it worked too, when ji—"

"OOOOH!"

"JI WHAT?"

"suspicious~"

"not suspicious at all. we know who 'ji' is!" mingyu smiles like he just won a million dollars. the tallest of the group backhugs jihoon, who snarks at mingyu. "anyway, i see your parents, shua-hyung!"

nine men turned to where mingyu pointed. indeed, there was a middle aged man standing on the other side of the railings, he looked similar to joshua. a woman came running to stand beside the middle-aged man, and waved at joshua. joshua dragged jeonghan and the others followed the raven-haired man.

"hello, boys!" joshua's dad beams, while joshua's company bows at him. "been a while since i last saw 'ya. here for a mission?"

"kinda, mr. hong!" seokmin answered politely. his duality is amazing, as always. "how have things been in los angeles?"

jeonghan plastered a crooked smile at them. he and jihoon are the only ones who joshua's parents don't know. "just fine, seokmin! you're still jisoo's partner?"

"ah, no," seokmin smiled, walking to jeonghan. seokmin took one of jeonghan's arms and waved it, as if controlling a doll to wave hello. "meet yoon jeonghan, one of our four new additions to the team. he's joshua hyung's partner—"

"and husband. ma, pa, this is the man i was talking about. hong jeonghan." joshua cuts seokmin off, presenting jeonghan to his parents. mingyu and seungcheol were hooting, while junhui and the others just gushed at them. the hong parents were surprised.

"oh, that's what i've been meaning to ask. i feel a little excited to meet your spouse, too!" joshua's mom swooned, tiptoeing to cup jeonghan's face. "hello, hong jeonghan! you're very pretty!"

jeonghan giggled. he just met his mother-in-law, and yet, it feels like he's known her forever. kind of like a real mom, excited to meet her son and to shower him with compliments. "thank you, eommeonim! you are flattering yourself, too! joshuji got his honey voice from you!"

"joshuji?" joshua's mother asks, smiling wider. "that's a cute nickname!"

"yes. very lovely." joshua's father intervened, offering his hand to jeonghan. jeonghan shook it firmly. "hong jinmyeon."

"what the fuck." jihoon whispered to mingyu, who was the closest to where he stood. "i did not know they were married." the smallest man from the group squinted at the little 'family reunion' and shook his head a little.

minghao joined in, lowly grunting. "we're really doing the sappy stuff in the airport? jesus christ." mingyu shushed the two bitter men.

the in-laws finally stopped asking questions directed to jeonghan, and moved on to jihoon. jihoon answered politely to everything, though his face expression clearly says that he doesn't want to be there. after a while—half an hour?— the nine men were inside hong jinmyeon's van.

"how's the supernatural society here, mrs. hong?" seungcheol asked, contemplating wether to use english or korean. he used korean. "is there division for that now?"

"yes, i believe there is." mrs. hong sing songed. "just fine. we're not really involved much in supernatural work anymore."

"oh." that was all seungcheol could say in reply. "crime rates?"

"actually, it's going up higher. when jisoo asked me to accomodate you guys in los angeles, i doubted a little. everywhere here? it's not safe. shootings, bombings, abductions. but jisoo told me it's for a mission, though, i thought it was okay. you guys have abilities too!" joshua's mom stifled a laugh. "anyway, i wish you all the best."

the whole van erupted into cheers and yells, seungcheol leading all of them. jihoon was confused. he dared to ask, "what's happening?"

"my mom's ability is similar to seungkwan's. i don't know if it's actually an ability, but," joshua shrugged. "she's a witch."