“Kidnapped?” I repeated, eyes wide. They both nodded.

“It was late at night. We were playing outside and this big black van rolls up and snatched Mingyu away. I wasn’t able to do anything at the time since I was so young. That’s why I made that promise to you that day Nari,” Yubin said, looking at me and I remembered that promise he was talking about.

“Because you couldn’t protect your brother so you would protect me instead,” I realized and was suddenly overwhelmed in guilt.

“I managed to escape and found myself wandering the streets alone. I was a long way from home and I had no idea where to go. I found a house with lights still on, knocked, and was brought in by Seungcheol. I found 12 more brothers to rely on that day,” Mingyu said. “I spend a few years with them until we decided to move here. I had a feeling that something would happen and this did. I’ve never been happier.”

“Yubin! Come help me with something!” Mrs. Kim yelled from downstairs and Yubin got up.

“I’ll be back,” he said and closed the door behind him. I played with a strand of hair awkwardly as Mingyu walked over.

“So,” he said. “How long have you and Yubin known each other for?”

“Since we were really young. I don’t remember you being around though.”

“It is quite a mystery isn’t it?” he chuckled as he finished brushing my hair for me. “You have an outside and inside character don’t you?”

I got up and sat down on my bed. He perched on the edge with me, waiting for an answer.

“I guess you can say that. I’m much more comfortable in than outside to be honest. And with people like Mina around, I can’t exactly relax you know?”

He nodded. “I’ll make the same promise as Yubin. We’ll protect you no matter what.”

I could see him looking intently at me and looked down at my hands. “Well, I don’t really need it…”

He lifted my face up to look at his and we stared at each other until the door burst open. We both jumped away from each other as Yubin came over.

“That took a bit longer than I thought. Well anyway, we’ve got school tomorrow and it’s late. Shall we go get some rest?”

I nodded and shoved myself underneath the blanket, bidding the boys goodnight as Yubin shut the light off for me.

I woke up a few hours later. I poked my head into Yubin's room, where a bed had been set up for Mingyu as well. They were both sprawled out across their own beds, snoring lightly. I shut the door carefully and began my morning routine. The rest of the house woke up after a few minutes and it was bustling with activity. As soon as we were out the door, we were greeted by other members of SEVENTEEN. I immediately put on my outside character, greeting them with a simple “morning” and walking off. We reached our classroom, where the boys had fun entertaining themselves. I felt a piece of paper land on my table as class started and picked it up, unfolding it quietly.

Wanna watch us practice? – Seungcheol

I looked over at him and he gave me a thumbs up. I sighed, looking over at Yubin's classroom, where he was smiling brightly and having fun with his classmates. I looked back at Seungcheol and gave him a thumbs up back. I tossed the paper back in his direction and put my focus back on the board. After classes, it was finally lunch time and the boys all crowded around me.

“You’ll love our songs. Woozi produced them himself!” Seokmin said, putting an arm around my shoulders. I shrugged him off.

“Woozi?”

“That would be me,” Jihoon lazily raised his hand as we walked towards an empty room. Yubin was already in there, rearranging the desks.

“Hey guys. I had asked a teacher yesterday if there were any spare classrooms we could use as a studio and she gave us the key to this one.”

We helped rearrange the tables and chairs, covering the windows with curtains so no one could see from the outside.

“It’s also soundproof!” Chan said. We all finished and sat down in a circle.

“Let’s do introductions like the real thing,” he said, standing up, the rest following suit. “Say the name!”

“SEVENTEEN!” the rest joined in. “Hello, we’re SEVENTEEN!”

Yubin and I clapped for them as they sat down again. “I’m Choi Seungcheol, stage name is S.Coups. I’m the leader of the hip hop team and SEVENTEEN in general. My position is rapping.”

“I’m Yoon Jeonghan. I’m part of the vocal team as a sub vocalist.”

“My name is Hong Jisoo but my stage name is Joshua. I have the same position as Jeonghan.”

“Moon Joonhwi is the name but my real name is Wen Junhui and I’ll be using Jun as my stage name. I’m in the performance unit and I’m in charge of the powerful parts as well as martial arts moves.”

“Hello! I’m Kwon Soonyoung and my stage name is Hoshi, which means “star” in Japanese. I’m the leader of the performance unit and the main choreographer for both the unit and SEVENTEEN.”

“Jeon Wonwoo. I’m a rapper in the hip hop unit.”

“I’m Lee Jihoon, aka Woozi. I’m the leader of the vocal unit, lead vocalist, and the producer of many songs of SEVENTEEN.”

“I’m Lee Seokmin but my stage name is DK, short for Dokyeom. I’m one of the main vocals of the vocal unit.”

“Kim Mingyu here. In charge of rapping in the hip hop unit.”

“My name is Seo Myungho, my real name is Xu Minghao and my stage name is THE8. I do b-boying moves in the performance unit.”

“I’m Boo Seungkwan. I’m the main vocalist in the vocal unit and my rapper name is Boonon whenever Vernon isn’t here.”

“Hey, I’m Chwe Hansol, aka Vernon. I’m a rapper in the hip hop unit.”

“I’m Lee Chan and my stage name is Dino. I’m part of the performance unit.”

“So you’ve got 3 units and 13 members? How does that become 17?” I asked and Seungcheol stood up like he had been ready for this question.

“Well 13 members, 3 units, and 1 team. 13 + 3 + 1 = 17.”

“It’s clever,” Yubin said. As they all talked among themselves, I could see how passionate they were about this. From a slogan to a well-thought out name, I just needed to see what they could do.

“Well you’ve shown me everything except the part I was looking forward to,” I said and they all grinned.

“Is it time for that?” Seungcheol stretched but the bell rang. “Same time tomorrow. You’ll see all of our charms by then Nari.”

We walked out of the room, where we ran into Mina and her gang.

“If it isn’t Nari and her bodyguards,” she smirked.

“If it isn’t Mina and her monkeys,” I retorted back and she was taken aback as the guys behind me stifled their laughter.

“What do you have against me?” she narrowed her eyes at me. I crossed my arms.

“Coming from the girl who started it all,” I said and walked past her.

“What’s that Mina girl’s problem anyway?” Mingyu asked me later that night as we washed up together. I stopped scrubbing at a plate.

“She’s under the impression that I’ve stolen her locket and has been trying to steal it ever since she laid eyes on it. The thing is, it doesn’t open. But it was my mother’s so I’m not letting it out of my sight. It’s the last thing I have of my parents.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I’ve got Yubin and his family now. But you’re a mystery,” I looked up at him and I felt my heart flutter at his face, so I looked down again and finished up the dishes. Don’t do this to yourself Nari…

I dried my hands and left the kitchen. I walked up the stairs and saw Yubin drying his hair from a shower, flinching as he shook his head like a dog and flicked water in my direction.

“I’m not cleaning up after you Bin,” I said, laughing slightly as Mingyu almost slipped on the wet floor.

“I could’ve died from that,” Mingyu said as he regained his balance. I entered my room, flinching as I heard a thud sound from outside.

“Sorry!” I heard Yubin say, trying to hold in his laughter. As I did my homework, I heard someone slide into the seat next to me.

“Maybe it’s because you’re so tall but you’re not really good at this whole sneaking around thing,” I said, glancing up at Mingyu, who was grinning.

“Ah, I thought I was pretty good until you burst my bubble,” he said and I continued with my homework.

“Flirting with my sister again Mingyu?” a voice interrupted my thoughts and we both looked up to see Yubin standing in the doorway, looking mischievous as ever.

“We both know we have chances right?” Mingyu stood up.

“Yeah I used that chance already and it was a no from both of us.”

“Well then. That’s a perfect chance for me,” Mingyu gave me a wink and I turned away.

“If you’re gonna talk about something I don’t know about, can’t you do that in your own room?” I said, standing up and kicking them out of my room, shutting the door in front of their faces.

The next morning, Jun and Minghao came up to me.

“So Nari, why don’t we go grab a coffee after school?”