Next generation overcomes century-old hate!

These three talented young man unite their skills and prove that rivalry is a thing of the past!

The whole nation has been waiting for it and now the time has finally come - project "Future Care" has officially been launched!
The nationwide sister project of the biggest charity organization CARE has been confirmed at a press-conference in the capital of the West. Here the associates revealed not only the exact purpose of the project but also it's multinational members.
Vice president Zhang Yixing revealed the program to be focused on the maintenance and refinement of orphanages. The team of Future Care will first be working on various projects to get an insight on the field but everyone holds great hopes that they will soon show their full potential and bring new and innovative proposals to the table on how to raise the children's educational opportunities and overall quality in life.
It's obvious where they take the grand expectations from - after all, the team they put together is more than promising.
Park Chanyeol(22), Do Kyungsoo(22) and Kim Jongin(21) may only have graduated this year but they have each been selected by the boards of education in their respective countries, making us look forward to actually seeing their talent play out.

At this point we've all heard and read stories about Park Chanyeol, the bright Southern university student who has won multiple awards for his activism, concepts and innovative campaigns, so it's hardly a surprise the Southern state chose him as a representative. Even before this project he has been overcoming the state's rivalry by making girl's hearts skip a beat whenever he appears in interviews - no matter which state they come from.
Meanwhile the North isn't slacking off, sending their own respective young genius Do Kyungsoo.
As we have all known and acknowledged the North for being excellent economists, Do Kyungsoo's record does not disappoint either. Always on top of everything that needed careful calculation at his university rumor even says he has been invited to join the North's secret service.
And even though he appeared quiet on the conference people confirmed his morals to be firmly set as repeatedly stated he was in on this project a hundred percent.
The East stays unpredictable as ever, sending Kim Jongin, a total newcomer for most people. Mr. Kim has not even graduated with the best set of grades unlike the other two but the board has made it clear that this is indeed their choice and that he would be the most suitable for the job. So far Mr. Kim seems really charming and we look forward to discovering the Eastern wit in him.

With these three participants uniting their skills on neutral Western ground the project has long gone viral as a symbol for international cooperation.
When asked for a short statement about the project the three young man answered decisively, giving us reasons to hope.

Park Chanyeol
"I'm representing the social awareness the South stands for but I'm willing to not only learn but embrace other cultures and approaching methods. I firmly believe that a raise in variety opens up more opportunities."

Do Kyungsoo
"I'm honored to be a part of this project. Origins or rivalry do not matter to me since the children this project is about hardly care about it either. I'm willing to work on improving their daily lives."

Kim Jongin
"I might not seem like the first choice next to my two outstanding team members, I realize that. But I will work hard to live up to the expectations and fulfill my part within the team and make use of the strengths I do have."

"I might not seem like the first choice next to my two outstanding team members, I realize that."
What a moron, Kyungsoo thought and tossed the newspaper aside.
He was moody. Then again, when wasn't he ever? He'd had his fair share of doubts about working together with a Southener but it turned out the guy from the East was ticking him off far more. As much of a pain Chanyeol was on a daily basis, he knew how to be useful if it came down to it. He had the ability to appeal to people, to know exactly how to approach them to get their proposals signed.
Jongin on the other hand...
Kyungsoo sighed full of annoyance as he (quite violently) mashed the backspace key to re-type a wrong calculation.
Jongin was neither well-versed with people like Chanyeol, nor exceptionally skilled behind a computer. He kept making mistakes and leaving Kyungsoo with more work than before.
Useless.
He knew he was being harsh but they only had a team of three members and the whole world eyeing them. They didn't need an additional burden.

They had their own office at the main quarters of CARE and even though it wasn't very modern or luxurious Kyungsoo was grateful to have an own work space. Located so far at the back of the ground floor that people rarely stumbled across them it was rather quiet. And to be honest, Kyungsoo silently liked it when the sunlight filtered through the typically half-closed shutters and made it all look like an old-fashioned detective office.
Above all that it brought a privacy that was direly needed by the team.

As soon as a fourth person would enter the scene, the FutureCare team transformed into a group of professionals who calmly discussed the latest layouts, calculations and proposals with a friendly smile on their face.
Now it wasn't that they didn't work when no one was around. Actually none of them were lazy(except maybe Jongin, Kyungsoo bitterly thought).
After all, they all cared about their future, their career... and the children.
Yes, Kyungsoo may not look like it but coming from an orphanage himself he was obviously invested on this. And if spending a few nights over calculations would cause some kids to grow up with more books or trips to a zoo, then so be it.
That this team was a constant pain didn't make it any easier though.
"So I say we should try negotiating with YG electronics about the sponsorship. They may be keen on getting their hands into the FutureCare project." Kyungsoo proclaimed, tapping his pen against the side of the table impatiently.
"Yeah, but can they be trusted?" Chanyeol piped in, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.
"I don't know if they're reliable enough. Previous deals have proven them to be more about words than actual deeds."
"Why don't we ask SM?" Jongin casually asked with his chin rested on his hands.
Kyungsoo sighed.
"Because they've been in a fixed contract with CARE for almost five years already. Do your research." he snapped and Jongin flinched, instantly hunching his shoulders a bit.
As it was in his nature Chanyeol immediately lifted his hands to amend.
"Well, well, but the contract ends in a few months so we might be able to persuade them into staying in cooperation. I'm sure that's what Jongin meant, right?" he quipped with a friendly(and far too wide) smile but Jongin only averted his gaze and the faintest scowl grazed his features. Kyungsoo resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the childish behavior.
"Fine, go on sulking then."
Again, Chanyeol went back to the topic before it could escalate any further.
"Now that you said it... if you think it through logically YG would make a bigger show of it since they're new to the project. SM doesn't need to establish their beneficial side anymore so they'll most likely be more subdued about it. It might also make a point about setting FutureCare apart from the original CARE organization."
"But in turn CARE would probably lose SM for good. They wouldn't support the same organistaion as their closest rivals." Kyungsoo pondered, the pen still tapping.
He could see Chanyeol's smile twitching a little at the sound. It gave him a silent gratification that he could at least pass some of his annoyance on. He wasn't obvious about it, not at all. But Kyungsoo still sensed that the tall guy disliked him, even though he was subtle about it. Kind of a pity considering he was obviously a bright one he could work with.
"Yeah, you could make it work but SM is far too proud for that. I've met those representatives once. No way in hell would they get their together. The world could go down and these two wouldn't cooperate." Chanyeol added, ruffling through his freshly died silver hair.
"I'm sure the upper ones won't permit an idea that will possibly ruin their relationship with SM."
That was the advantage of having Chanyeol in their team. If he said they wouldn't budge, Kyungsoo trusted him. His judgment on people was uncanny.
Suddenly Jongin spoke up.
"Why don't we ask JYP Music then? They're in no direct competition with either of them, different field and all."
Oh god just shut up, Kyungsoo thought.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Chanyeol exclaimed, clapping his hands once and causing Jongin to flinch and shoot him a fleeting but noticeably dirty glare.
"I don't know..." Kyungsoo protested moodily, tapping the pen a little more insistently against the wooden surface.
"JYP has been decreasing in profits lately. I doubt they'll boost us a lot."
"But it's a music company! What better way to reach people? And their band Got7 is on the road to becoming a crowd favorite!" Chanyeol gave back with wholehearted protest written all over his face.
"Yeah but what if they fail? Then JYP will be completely useless." Kyungsoo countered without missing a beat. Finally raising his voice a little in annoyance Chanyeol threw his hands up.
"Stop being a about it just because it was Jongin's idea and COULD YOU STOP DOING THAT WITH YOUR PEN?!" he exclaimed in exasperation and Jongin flinched once more.
"Could YOU stop being so ing loud?!" he hissed at him and Kyungsoo knew that was the end of discussions for the time being. Jongin was the first to get up, always shy of confrontations.
"I'll go and eat lunch."
"Yeah just run away before someone might snap back at you." Kyungsoo called after him but the door was closed without any further reaction, leaving him alone with an equally annoyed Chanyeol.
"Yeah, that was totally necessary. Helped the situation a LOT."
With this he got up and threw on his jacket to go and get some fresh air, leaving Kyungsoo behind. Alone, and maybe pricked by a tiny bit of guilt. Since in a way, Chanyeol was right. Though he had probably just said it to spite him cause while Park Chanyeol loved the whole world, he certainly didn't like Kyungsoo.
For a moment he sat in silence, willing the headache away he would always get when feeling annoyed. Finally he huffed and also got up.
"Fine. Whatever." he mumbled to no one in particular and went back to his laptop, opening a chart he had been working on. There was enough work to do, after all.

In the end they did decide on approaching JYP Music for a cooperation.
While Jongin and Chanyeol gathered ideas on possible projects they could launch together Kyungsoo ran the calculations on each of them and with lots of bickering from every side they had finally narrowed it down to the most useful ones.
Chanyeol had already managed to get them an appointment with one of the higher-ups and had persuaded CARE to give them the go-ahead on this.
This only left one question.

"I actually think Jongin should go to the meeting."
Chanyeol's proposal was met with two stares, differing in the amount of nastiness and simple disbelief.
"Are you nuts?" Kyungsoo inquired blankly and for once, neither Jongin nor Chanyeol seemed inclined to fire back. It was almost a given that Chanyeol went to present their team. For obvious reasons. As much as Kyungsoo wanted to agree that Jongin should be forced to do at least something, he wouldn't want to risk the success of their project.
"No, I'm serious." Chanyeol calmly replied with an earnest expression.
"JYP is a Southern-based company. I'm pretty sure you would clash with them in an ugly way, equality or not." he said, directed at Kyungsoo and before said one could protest, he cut him off.
"And sending me would seem like a cheap strategy. Sending 'one of them'. No, I think sending Jongin would be the best strategic choice."
No matter how reasonable it sounded, Kyungsoo could hardly overlook the main issue.
"But he at dealing with people!" he exclaimed incredulously.
"Ah, stop talking like Jongin's not even in the room!" Chanyeol countered with his brows slightly furrowed in annoyance once more.
"I really don't wanna do it though..." Jongin mumbled and caused Kyungsoo to sneer.
"Of course not, contributing something must be painful, right?"
"You don't need to worry, I have a feeling they'll like you!" Chanyeol said encouragingly, completely ignoring Kyungsoo and beaming at Jongin's more than reluctant face.
"He'll completely embarrass himself! He'll probably trip and faceplant as soon as the JPY guys do so much as LOOK at him!"
"Yeah well, maybe that would be an icebreaker and make them laugh a little." the immediate response came. Kyungsoo felt like shaking his head wouldn't even do it anymore.
"What's there to laugh about? There's nothing funny about being an embarrassment!"
It seemed as if Chanyeol had run out of patience as he turned to fully face Kyungsoo and raise his voice.
"At least Jongin isn't an anti-social prissy unlike someone! Why in the world are you so afraid to laugh once in a while?!"
"Why are you so afraid not to?" Kyungsoo retorted instantly and Chanyeol's eyes widened in surprise.
For three long seconds it was quiet and Kyungsoo bit his lips. He hadn't meant to actually say it but Chanyeol's misconception angered him and had caused it to slip before he could help it.
"Guys, let's just send Chanyeol and leave it at that. I really don't want to do it anyway." Jongin piped up carefully only to get another glare from Kyungsoo.
"Of course you don't Mr. I-don't-give-a--about-our-work!"
"Oh shut up. Jongin does care about our work, you just don't see it!" Chanyeol barked back and now it was Jongin's time to look at him in surprise.
The tension was almost tangible as they both fumed in silence.
Until it was broken by a short humorless laugh from Jongin who had obviously regained his composure.
"A triangle." he huffed quietly in an for Jongin very unusal sardonic tone.
They both turned to him.
"What are you talking about?" Chanyeol asked, a bit of his anger already dissipating.
But Jongin only leaned back in his chair and sighed tiredly.

"We are the worst team on the planet." he murmured and for the first time in his life, Kyungsoo was inclined to agree with him.

...Whaaat, I'm updating already? Told ya I was excited about this.
While writing this I realized how rarely my characters fight with each other. Well, these three are gonna make up for all of it and then some.

This chapter was some sort of introduction but I'll try to keep a much quicker pace than usual - let's see how that turns out >_>

As always I'd love to hear your thoughts, guesses and criticism! ♥

Love you all c:
Sugar-and-Salt