𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

30; 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥

"seungcheol-hyung, they don't serve burgers in gelato shops. pick one: gelatos, or burgers? then, we can choose which shop we really intend to go to." chan explained, as he and seungcheol stood in the line. "or maybe we could get takeouts after we eat gelatos?"

"chan, burger comes first before the dessert. but anyway, we're already lining up for gelato, so," seungcheol shrugged, taking out his wallet. chan frowned. "what?!"

"i'm paying, cheol-hyung! i just got my six-digit paycheck for the first time in eons just today and i want to spend it!" chan pushed seungcheol's forearm down, as if the gesture would help convince seungcheol to let chan use his money.

"nope. i'm paying! keep that paycheck in your savings, so when you want a new car—"

"i have a car and a motorbike in seventeen's basement." chan glared at seungcheol pulling out his credit card, before he slapped it away. the card flew to another side of the gelato place. "oopsies! i'm sorry!"

"what a dirty trick, chan!" seungcheol exclaims as he starts to walk to the direction where his credit card flew towards.

chan gave the older an apologetic look. "i didn't plan that!"

tch. didn't plan that my ass. seungcheol knew chan's ability to make plans the last second, so you can never really trust him when an 'accident' happens and everything goes his way. seungcheol love doting chan, since he's a pure ray of sunshine, but sometimes he turns into a rebellious teenager and seungcheol has a hard time handling that.

seungcheol sees a man seated on the far right, beside the window, holding his credit card. seungcheol approaches the masked man with an automatic smile, tapping the masked man's shoulder gently. "hello, i believe that is my card?"

"here," the man looked up, handing seungcheol his card. and then, a lightbulb. "wait, i think i kno—chan? chan! get over here!" seungcheol calls, inspecting the masked man. he immediately tried to leave, but chan arrived just in time and held the masked man down.

"please let—" seungcheol strips off the mask, revealing wonwoo's calm and pale face. seungcheol glints at him, as he continues his sentence before he was rudely cut off: "—go of me."

"i've heard, your recent interaction with mingyu. impressive. are you sure you're not pranking us?" seungcheol inquired. he imagines scrolling down his feed one day and seeing a video that says 'I Just Pulled The BIGGEST Prank Ever! (NOT CLICKBAIT!)' and the content is exactly everything that happened to seventeen, while wonwoo narrates in an annoying voice.

"why would i be pranking you? i don't even know you." wonwoo calmly replied. "i'm not here to fight off seventeen. i'm on the run from w systems and i don't want another pain in the ass. i might just create a black hole if you don't let me go."

"uh-uh, big boy," seungcheol signals chan to follow him out the gelato store. "chan's holding you and we're taking you to seventeen for interrogation."

"i said i was not ready to face you all because you might kill me. and my demise is already starting." wonwoo remarked, getting dragged outside by chan. he is unusually strong, wonwoo misjudged chan. "ow!"

seungcheol laughs, satisfied. he just pressed on wonwoo's fresh wound from a bullet, thanks to mingyu who shares too much information. "i will keep on doing that until it bleeds again."

"but," wonwoo objects once again, not bothering to fight one of them off physically. "you're kidnapping me."

"mister, you're still a criminal, do you want me to list down all the things that you have done in los angeles? you have the right to remain silent, lawye—whatever." to be honest, wonwoo was quite impressed when seungcheol had a reason from dragging him out of heaven(also known as the gelato shop) but when seungcheol cut himself off as he recited the famous doctrine, wonwoo was disappointed.

"okay, but if you put me to jail i will kill all of the guards and other imprisoned people as rebellion and i'd cause an earthquake all because you forced me into doing something i don't want to do."

"don't worry, questions don't hurt you much," chan replied softly. "just answer truthfully."

"but, yi-eun has eyes everywhere. when he finds out that—ow, don't poke my wound again—i'm in your base, you're all dead. your division is nothing compared to w systems. even pyxis is more formidable as an opponent." wonwoo glared at seungcheol, for poking him while he was speaking.

"both pyxis and seventeen are formidable opponents," seungcheol replied, shoving wonwoo into his car. chan joined wonwoo in the backseat, in case he uses his ability to escape. "pyxis has technology, huge influence, and a smart leader. while seventeen has twelve members who are all ability users."

"and a great leader." chan added, making seungcheol pause to smile. shaking his head, he goes inside the car and drives away.

"BRO, IT'S TOTALLY FORESHADOWING. LIKE, IN THE FIRST FRAMA HARU WAS WITH THE KAMBES AND THEN AT THE NEXT HE'S NOT THERE BUT IT'S THE SAME FR—"

"I DON'T CARE IF HE DIES ANYWAY, DAISUKE IS THE ONLY ONE I'M SIMPING FOR!"

"JIHOONIE, I WILL HIT YOU! KATO IS THE BEST BOY!"

"jeonghan, you have a thing for boys who are goody-two-shoes. but are extremely kinky in some circumstances."

"how did i get in the conversation?!"

"because you married jeonghan!"

"OH SO WE'RE DROPPING THE WHOLE FUGOU KEIJI TOPIC NOW I SEE—"

"GUYS!" seungcheol shouts, temporarily halting the arguement arising(it was joshua's fault for letting them watch anime). "i have something to show you."

"what could be more important than this?" seungkwan huffed, standing up from his spot on the sofa for emphasis. he brushed against junhui, who felt offended.

"we brought someone that you might... want to meet." seungcheol replied, raising his hand. it was chan's signal, to let himself and wonwoo in.

and then, wonwoo enters, restricted by chan. the members either stood up while gasping, or they froze on spot. their lost member: found. literally standing there, glaring at their faces. for the first time in forever, all thirteen members stood inside seventeen guest house, without fighting or anything.

it felt suffocating, seungcheol thought. the living room was always too cramped. but, that familiar feeling of annoyance due to the stuffiness made seungcheol smile.

"do you have a bomb on you or something?" jihoon inquired, standing up from his seat as he crossed his arms over his chest. he squinted at wonwoo, not trusting him. he'd changed, after all. "what? are you just going to stand there?"

"why would i want to kill you? i'm an unemployed man, i don't work for anyone anymore . i don't just murder masses as a hobby. i was tasked to do that," wonwoo replied. "but i am not here to kill you under a mission. they dragged me here."

"we just need answers." seokmin says. his voice turned soft, kind of like the voice he uses when he's in interviews as an idol.

"and you. we got back together as seventeen because mingyu got a clue from minseok, our informant, that you were still alive. we wanted to find you, hoping  that you are the solution to all the things that happened since your disappearance." joshua adds.

wonwoo's eyebrows furrowed. "you mean, i destroyed seventeen?" wonwoo shook his head, in disbelief. "i'm not even sure if i should believe that i was a former seventeen member."

"well," soonyoung arises from his chair, approaching wonwoo with a raised eyebrow. "want to find out? i can help."