---

"My name is..." The young boy recited once again to the vast empty room. How long was he kept here? How did he get here? He hadn't seen light in such a long time that it was killing him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

"We've got an important meeting today, and all of you guys are coming. Which means you have to look presentable." Soojung explained to him in his room that morning, while Yifan was stretching. She then pointed at the two suits on the dresser wrapped in bags, "So hurry up and get dressed." 

"Wait, all of us?" Joonmyun asked, ignoring the fact that it wasn't Yiyun there this morning.

Soojung sighed. "Yes, all of you. You were apart of this week's mission. It's also necessary for the leaders to meet you, as you'll be the newest recruits soon."

 

"We aren't now?"

 

"Of course not. During one of our meetings we vote on whether or not to recruit you. After a few weeks of small tests and missions we have a final evaluation, and you're either apart of the team or not."

 

"Of course." Joonmyun joked, only to get a sharp look.

 

"Are you being sarcastic?" Her eyebrow raised at him threateningly. Joonmyun laughed awkwardly.

 

"I thought everything was forgiven and stuff, why are you being so cold?" Her face flushed a bit and she looked away from him.

 

"Look...just because I said sorry doesn't mean we're best friends or anything. It's nothing against you,it's just that I know nothing about you and you no nothing about me either. Just hurry up and get ready so I can eat my breakfast." 

 

"Okay." Joonmyun sighed, Yifan still silent as he followed.

 

"Yifan?" The boy asked as they took their outfits and left the room, Soojung parting ways with them.

 

"Yes?"

 

"...Are you alright?" At first there were no words, but then the older man sighed.

 

"I'm fine."

---

To say that Yifan was fine would be a lie. But he wasn't going to let Joonmyun know that, even if the man already did.

 

It hadn't been a long time since they were in a laboratory being tested by scientists whom didn't view them as humans, but after meeting these girls, everybody was begining to act all hunky-dory with each other. 

 

Yifan could not understand how Zitao simply forgave his step sister so quickly. Did she never leave for thirteen years and manipulate him into becoming her solider?

 

Or Chanyeol, who just gave Sunyoung his fogivness, even when she was forced to apologize under Qian's force? 

 

Or Yiyun...

 

How could Yiyun see them after thirteen years, and just act like they were nobody else the moment they met? 

 

Yifan felt betrayed. Betrayed by his former friends, and betrayed by the ones he had now. But seeing them laugh and smile, he had no choice but to follow.

 

If his father were to see him now, he'd probably be disappointed in him, for being such a pushover.

 

 

 

 

Yes...He was a disappointment. Even when in the hospital he could hear his father yelling at him for being so weak.

 

Weak...

 

Yifan was snapped back into reality as he felt the once hot shower water turn cold, signaling his time's end.

 

"What are you doing, " he muttered, turning the shower off and grabbing a towel, "Get a hold of yourself, Wu Yifan."

 

After getting ready, he entered the cafeteria to see the others chatting, Soojung also at the table, eating quietly.

 

When they saw him, the boys made noises at the suit he was wearing, some teasing and others in envy. Soojung looked up at him, before rolling her eyes and continuing to eat her meal.

 

"Looking good, Yifan," Luhan winked teasingly.

 

"C'mon, why does it look so good when he wears it?" Baekhyun whined.

 

"Hurry up and eat." Soojung said,"The meeting will begin in about fifteen minutes."

 

"You should hurry too, Soojung," Yixing commented, causing her to blush a bit in her embarrassment and mutter under her breath.

 

"I know," she said, grabbing her plate and going to the kitchen to place it into the sink, "But I'm waiting for all of you because I have to bring you to the room. I also need to set some ground rules."

 

Soojung cleared a bit as she stood at the head of the table, and Yifan took this time to serve himself. "These are some of the most important people you will ever meet. So if you screw this up, there will be severe consequences."

 

Yifan tried not to let a smile tug at his lips when he heard one of the boys gulp next to him.

 

"No speaking unless spoken to, and if otherwise, raise your hand and we will attend to you." Her eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol. "Do not fool around. Try not to make noise. This will be your first time meeting some of the leaders, so first impressions are everything. Try your best to not make it a bad one."

 

A beeping sound came from the speaker on the wall. Soojung ran a hand through her hair and sighed a bit. "Please don't mess this up."

 

"We won't." Yifan assured after swallowing, making sure to give the boys a hard glare. "Right?"

 

"Right!" The others repeated. Soojung's lips pressed down into a straight line before she nodded. 

 

"Let's go then."

---

"That was the wrong turn again!" 

 

"I'm sorry I'll just- ow! What was that for!" 

 

"You should know how to get to Periwinkle's home base by now!" 

 

"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting!"

 

"Well stop forgetting!"

 

"Can you stop it!" Fei snapped from her seat, "You're scaring the newbie."

 

G-Dragon and Dara looked back at Seungyoon, whom was trying his best to adapt to the chaos around him. They apologized quickly before the driver was reminded to put his eyes back on the road.

 

The two sat in the driver and passenger seats respectively, G-Dragon being the VIP unit's leader and Dara taking the role as the Blackjack unit's leader for the moment, as CL was currently in America while Bom, the oldest, was still nursing her injury. 

 

In the two seats in the middle row sat Fei and Sunggyu, the former who was trying her best to ignore G-Dragon and Dara's argument with headphones, while Sunggyu was writing in a notebook that he carried. Sunggyu was the Inspirit unit's leader, and while the Say A unit had no leader, Fei was the oldest, so she took up the job of going to the meetings.

 

And, in the very back sat him, the leader of the Inner Circle unit, and JB, who was the leader of the I GOT7 unit. The latter was sleeping against the window, snoring loudly.

 

Seungyoon fidgeted a bit in his chair. This was going to be his first leader's meeting, and he had to make sure to leave a good impression on Periwinkle's leaders, especially Victoria. She was still very skeptical of him, but he had to prove to her that both he and his unit could be trusted.

 

He also heard that the E.X.O. subjects were going to be at the meeting, and he felt a surge of anxiety wash over him. Was he ready to face the people that changed his life forever, and could still possibly end it at any moment?

 

"Alright, now make a left."

 

"And...here we are." G-Dragon pulled the minivan over and parked it in the street. 

 

The entrance to the base was located in the outskirts of Seoul, nicknamed The Outside. The great thing about The Outside was that it contained multiple abandoned buildings, perfect for many hiding places and bases. 

 

The bad thing was that The Outside was...not a very rich area, as after the war, officials only cleaned up the center of the town and made it a business area, while most citizens fixed up the outskirts as best as the could before living there.

 

"C'mon!" Fei tugged at his arm, and he followed the others as they casually walked down the street before turning into a corner store. The store was empty, save for a cashier watching television.

 

"Why are we..?" Seungyoon narrowed his eyes in confusion. He had only been to the base once, and that time he was knocked out before entering and after his meeting was over, as nobody trusted him. After a few weeks of small missions and tests, they finally allowed him to go to his first leader's meeting.

 

JB walked next to Seungyoon lazily, stretching upwards almost feline-like. "Just follow Sunggyu."

 

"Good morning." Sunggyu said casually to the cashier, "You know where we're going."

 

The cashier nodded, and they all walked into the back of the store, where all of the food was kept. At first it seemed pretty normal, but then Sunggyu opened what looked like the freezer door to reveal a set of stairs heading underground.

 

--

It took ten years a while before they reached another door. Dara punched in a number code into the latch and it opened to reveal a small parking lot before a set of metal doors.

 

"They sure are protected." Seungyoon commented.

 

"Get used to it." G-Dragon replied casually as they went in front of them. He stuck his finger in a fingerprint scanner before the doors slid open to reveal the sleek hallway he remembered.

 

As the doors closed behind him, he saw a young woman carrying a pack of water bottles towards a door.

 

"Sulli!" Fei called out, the girl turning to see them in shock. She waved before she heard somebody call her name from inside the room she was headed to.

 

"Sorry, one second!" She yelled, opening the handle of the door as best as as she could before heading inside. The leaders stood in the same spot as they waited patiently. There were a few noises before Victoria exited the room, smiling nervously.

 

"Welcome guys!" She exclaimed walking up to them. "I'm glad that you could make it."

 

Sunggyu stifled a snort as he muttered, "It's not like we had a choice." 

 

Even without looking at her, Seungyoon could feel Victoria slaughtering Sunggyu with her eyes. "If there's something you'd like to say, Sunggyu, I'm sure the rest of us wouldn't mind listening. Along with what happened yesterday, if you don't mind them knowing about that either."

 

From what he heard from JB, who heard from Minzy, who heard from Seungri, who heard from Jia, who heard from Sungjong, Victoria was in a relationship with one of the subjects, and Sunggyu tried to break them up.

 

 

Sunggyu looked at the ground in response to her words, and Victoria's personality flipped as she grinned and gave G-Dragon a hug. 

 

"H-hi, Victoria," he replied awkwardly, a bit unsettled from the sudden personality switch. 

 

Victoria moved on to Fei and gave her a hug, "I hope everything's well with you, Fei."

 

"We're okay." She smiled gently. 

 

"Dara, hopefully you and Minzy are able to hold yourselves together?" Victoria asked the Blackjack's unit temporary leader. 

 

"Don't worry about it. The Inner Circle unit has been doing a great job at helping us." Dara turned to him and gave him a look as to say, 'This is your chance.'

 

"A-ah, yes Victoria." He stuttered, bowing quickly as her face went from happy to cautious, "We're trying our best to help the Blackjack unit."

 

"Hello, Seungyoon." She replied dryly, and he gulped.

 

"Don't look so nervous." JB whispered in his ear, "Nobody will trust you that way."

 

Seungyoon nodded, eyes turning determined. "Hello, Victoria. Thank you for inviting me."

 

"It's nothing." Victoria gave him a second glance as his personality changed, nodding appreciatively, but quickly changed her focus to somebody else before he could make any claims.

 

"JB!" She exclaimed to the man, purposely skipping over Sunggyu to hug him tightly. "How are you?"

 

As Victoria began to coo over him and he tried his best to reply, Fei leaned over to Seungyoon. 

 

"JB's her favorite." She whispered, gaining an 'oh', in response. The man in question was trying his best to answer her question while slowly prying her off of him. "I think it's because he's the youngest."

 

Fei then realized he was there, "Well, you're the youngest now."

 

Seungyoon smiled awkwardly, the realization that he wasn't yet accepted into this family of sorts settling in. He realized that he had to do a lot more before they could get fully comfortable around him.

 

"Well," Victoria clapped, leading them to the meeting room, "Let's hurry up and get this over with, I bet that you're all busy."

 

The room was just like Seungyoon had seen it the last time he was there, with its large table and chairs surrounding it. The other leaders of Periwinkle were bustling around the room, all four vastly different from the other.

 

And sitting along the walls were E.X.O., watching them with different levels of interest. Seungyoon had to admit that he felt intimidated by their presence, but he wouldn't let that show.

 

"Oh, you're here!" One of the leaders said. Her bright red hair stuck out compared to her skin as she began to greet them all.

 

"Hi Seungyoon, I don't think we met properly last time. I'm Amber, Periwinkle's tech analyst. I hope that you're doing well here." She grinned at him as they shook hands, before she ushered him to his seat. Victoria cleared at the table.

 

"Today is probably one of the most important meetings we'll have." She began to speak, tone growing somber. " So if you have any important news, its best you say it now, and we'll discuss it."

 

Although Seungyoon did have a few things to say about his missions, nobody said anything, so he decided it was best to keep quiet for Victoria's news.

 

"Okay." she breathed, pausing a bit. "During our mission with listening on the meeting between representatives from SM and Jellyfish, we learned that not only are they teaming up to clone and brainwash soilders, they're planning on..."

 

At her hesitance the tension grew stronger, "They're planning on bringing back the members of the Shawol Project."

 

At first the room was eerie quiet, and Seungyoon swore he could hear somebody whisper a cuss word quietly. Even though he didn't know much about the Shawol Project, or Shawol Rebellion, as he was taught, he knew that they meant alot to Periwinkle and the rebellion community.

 

And just as the silence settled in, it burst.

 

"What?!" G-Dragon cried out, standing up in his seat. His call lead to all of the leaders, including three of the leaders from Periwinkle, to cry out their own shouts. Soon, it became hard to know what everybody was saying, but Seungyoon could hear their anger in their voices.

 

"Settle down  everybody." Victoria tried as calmly as she could. As the noises settle down, she let out a breath. "I understand how you're all feeling right now, and I can't blame you. But please, one at a time."

 

Everybody rose their hands, and she called on Sunggyu first. "But...how? How are they..."

 

"You all know about Project Red and their attempts at cloning. They're teaming up with the makers of Project VIXX to make mind controlled clones by replicating DNA." She replied, voice wavering a bit. 

 

"But they're gone." Burst out one of Periwinkle's leaders, the one named Sulli, brown hair shaking in denial. "How do they have their DNA...?"

 

"That's the same question I have." Victoria said, eyes glaring at the ground. "I don't know, but I do know that we can't lollygag anymore. Things are getting more serious...they're more advanced then they were before. Which means we have to prepare ourselves." 

 

Nobody responded, and Victoria took this chance to continue, "As of now, we will continue to train the E.X.O. subjects, in hopes gain an advantage in the future. The VIP unit will assist the Blackjack unit, not only through their recovery, but to gain more information on what the corporations are doing. The Say A unit will asisst the Inspirit unit in field missions to help slow down this project. And the Inner Circle unit..."

 

As her eyes locked with his, Seungyoon bit his lip. What would she give his team? An assasination mission? Hacking into files? Breaking into a building? 

 

"You will assist the iGOT7 unit in gaining new recruits and creating and strengthing our alliances. We're especially having trouble with an annoying group these days..." As she continued, Seungyoon felt his heart sink. 

 

"T-thats all?" He asked, in hopes there'd be more.

 

"Yes, that's all." She enforced in return, "And that's all on our part. Is there anything else you'd like to ask me?"

 

Seungyoon shook his head and she nodded, "Good. Now let's do a mission debriefing."

---

"You're too hard on him." Fei chided at the end of the meeting, "I know that he's new, but you gotta have faith in him."

Victoria snorted, "I'm not being hard on him, I'm being smart. Plus, he deserves it after what his team members did to one of our backup bases." 

"And that's his team member's fault, not his."

"A team is a team. You need to be  prepared to go down for all of them."

Fei snorted, hugging Victoria goodbye, "You're too stubborn. See you next week."

Victoria nodded, seeing Fei walk away, before the latter sudenly stopped. "And Vic?"

"...Yes?" 

"Hang in there. Don't push everything onto yourself." Fei walked towards Joonmyun, and Victoria sighed, surverying the meeting area.

The girls were chatting with all of the boys, the other leaders introducing themselves and chatting with them. Victoria's eyes lingered on Seungyoon, who was holding a conversation with Amber and Sehun before she looked away. She couldn't let this warm feeling disappear again. They were finally feeling safe, and Victoria noticed Krystal was opening up more. There was no way Victoria could let that be taken away.

"Oh my..." Amber couldn't finish her sentence before she stood up and began to walk away, "I'm sorry Vic, I-I can't listen anymore."

Victoria pale, couldn't move at all, the words still lingering in her ears. By the time she could hear again, the two business men had already negotiated with each other, the meeting over.

"Are you listening?" Jungsoo said suddenly, catching her by suprise, "Of course you are."

He chuckled, and Victoria shuddered. "You must think I'm an idiot for falling for the stunt your friend pulled. I expected more from you, but you're really falling flat these days." 

"But there goes the information you wanted, Song Qian. I hope you're ready, because we're this much closer to finding you, and trust me, it won't be pretty." 

Victoria felt numb, Jungsoo's laughter ringing in her ears before she slammed the recording device off, eyes becoming wet as she stared at nothing ahead of her. This wasn't supposed to happen, they weren't supposed to know where they were. They spent weeks in hiding before finding the perfect spot, and things were finally going their way.

"Why..." she whispered.

"Qian." Looking up, Victoria locked eyes with Zitao, whose gaze was deep. 

"Yes?" she gave him a fake smile, but she knew he could tell it wasn't real.

"There's something yoju're not telling us, isn't there?" Her eyes widened a bit, before they softened.

"Of course you'd notice." She said with a tiny smile. Shaking her head, Victoria looked at the ground, eyes sharp. "But don't worry about it. I'll take care of everything."

As Zitao nodded next to her, Victoria bit her lip.

"Your big sister will take care of everything." she whispered.

---

"Alright!" Amber said cheerfully to her group during their training. "We went over the basics before,  but now it's time we get some actual stuff done, so we can prepare for when you guys start missions."

Sehun watched on as Amber began to teach the other three about hacking, and realized he had nothing to do. "Um, Yiyun?"

She looked up at him before she realized something. "Hey sorry Sehun! I'll get to you in a sec. Can you do something for me first?"

"Um, sure I guess." It's not like he had a choice or anything.

"Can you give this to Victoria? She's in her office. I have to help Luhan with this right now."

"O-okay." he replied, sighing as he left. He walked down the hall before stopping in front of two cherry oak wood doors. As he reached up to knock, he realized that the door was left open and pushed it.

"Hey Vi-" he cut himself off as he saw the leader sobbing into her arms on her desk, watching the seen in shock. "Victoria?"

With a small noise of suprise she looked up at him, eyes wide with suprise and soaked with tears, puffy and swollen. "S-Sehun!"

"I-uh sorry! Amber told me to give this to you!" He said, placing the files on her desk. "Sorry 'bout that. I'll be going now-"

"Sehun." She said simply, causing him to turn back around. She sniffled a bit and began to wipe her eyes clean. "Why'd she send you here?"

"I don't know, really. She was too busy with the others so she told me to give you this." 

"Hm." 

Sehun began to sweat as she didn't say anything. "It-It's fine though! Once I go back she said she'll help me-"

"Stay."

"Yeah I'll get going no-wait what?" He stuttered in suprise. No emotion was on her face as she repeated herself.

"Stay here Sehun." She pointed at one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Sit down."

He slowly sat himself across from her, her eyes piercing his as she studied him.

"Sehun, I have something I need you to do for me. Can you keep all of this a secret?" 

"U-um sure."

"Good. Remember, nobody can know about this until they force it out of you. And even then, I'll be gone already."

"Wh-what?" Sehun stuttered out. Her gaze grew sharper.

"Can I trust you Sehun? This is extremely important."

Sehun looked at the ground before he looked back up at her expectant gaze. "....Yes."

She smiled grimly. "Good. Don't tell anybody about this, okay?"

"Okay." With that last word. Victoria let out a breath before she opened .

---

I'm so sorry guys, I had the worst writer's block ever. I kept trying to write but nothing would come out that sounded good. I rewrote this chapter and deleted things so many times that I'm sick of it (TT^TT) please forgive me, I'll get the next one up quicker, I promise!