“So,” the guy standing in front of Sanghyuk said, “you’re the time guy?”

“And you’re the mercenary,” Sanghyuk nodded, fighting back the urge to scowl. The mercenary seemed to still know how he felt though.

“Hey,” he held up his hands, “I don’t mean that in an offensive way. I think it’s cool. Just not sure if it will work with my fighting style.”

“That’s what practice is for,” Sanghyuk shrugged, not ready to let the other off the hook just yet. This guy had to prove that he didn’t find Sanghyuk freaky first.

“Then let’s get to it,” the guy smiled, “come on, Flashback.”

“My name is Sanghyuk,” Sanghyuk huffed, smiling a little bit despite himself.

“And mine is Hyunwoo,” the other shrugged, “but I prefer my codename.”

“You got to pick your own, right?” Sanghyuk asked, “How did you get away with that?” Shownu was a pretty cool code name and Sanghyuk couldn’t help but be a little jealous.

“Shownu was my codename before all this,” Shownu explained, “and it will be my codename after this. I told the upper brass that taking on a new codename…..it was stupid. And it might confuse any future employer.”

“Lucky,” Sanghyuk hummed, seriously wishing that he’d found a way to make his old call sign – HK7 – his codename. He’d liked it a lot and it was pretty cool.

“Yours isn’t too bad,” Shownu told him, “explains your powers pretty well.”

“I guess,” Sanghyuk sighed, “my old call sign was way better. And seeing how almost everyone else got way cooler names? Flashback kind of .”

“It’s not all about cool,” the mercenary argued, “sometimes you need a codename that will, I don’t know, help the public understand you. What you do and what you stand for.”

“I think the Overwatch symbol does that,” Sanghyuk laughed, “but I guess you have a point.”

“I always do,” Shownu nodded sagely, “it’s why I was leader of my old team, why I was picked to join Overwatch over some other thugs for hire out there.” He paused, “I think I like your name better than mine. There’s a few people out there who’ll hear my codename and……they’ll think of things I’m not really proud of.”

“Have you worked for some bad guys?” Sanghyuk asked, silently wondering if he should have asked or not.

“Mostly good guys,” Shownu nodded, “but some bad guys hired me too. There was a time I’d work for anyone who could pay. I was a young kid, just starting out in the business and morals don’t put food on the table.” Shownu scowled at the floor, “I didn’t have a name, reputation, or experience. Nothing to entice employers. I didn’t have much choice of what jobs I could take, but I did have a little brother and sister that I needed to support. Our parents couldn’t since one was dead and the other was knocking on death’s door.”

“I get that,” Sanghyuk said. He meant it, even if he himself had never been in that kind of position. He still understood that sometimes life put you in a situation where you were screwed no matter what you did.

“I’m not telling you this for, like, pity or something,” Shownu said suddenly.

“I didn’t think you were,” Sanghyuk replied.

“Then why?” Shownu asked, “why do you think I told you that?”

“We’re a team,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, “and teams are built on trust. You telling me that was a sign that you trust me.” He paused, “right?”

“Right,” Shownu grinned, “which means it’s your turn to share something. Fair is fair, ya know?”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk sighed, “um, when my family found out about my powers, most of them rejected me. My dad. My sister. Only one who still loved me same as before was my mother.” Sanghyuk considered if that bit of information had the same value as what Shownu had told him before adding something else, “and my ex boyfriend is the reason I’m like this.”

“Seriously?” Shownu asked, clearly thinking Sanghyuk’s powers had been the result of some kind of revenge plot for ending their relationship.

“It was a lab accident,” Sanghyuk explained, “Wonsik was testing something he’d made and…….clearly nothing went as planned. He spent ages trying to fix it and when he couldn’t? He turned himself into a freak so I wasn’t alone.”

“Wait,” Shownu frowned, “he experimented on himself? That….that’s kind of crazy.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk sighed, “it is. He’s part of Overwatch now, too. Lab Monkey.”

“Wow,” Shownu blinked, “just….wow.”

“Yeah,” Sanghyuk nodded. Shownu clearly didn’t know what else to say, so he just patted Sanghyuk’s shoulder.

“Well,” Shownu smiled, “we’re at the training room. Wanna see if we can fight together?”

“Let’s see,” Sanghyuk grinned, “hopefully this little share session isn’t gonna be for nothing.”

“Don’t think it will,” Shownu laughed, throwing open the doors and dragging Sanghyuk inside.

A/N: and they were a great team for sure~~~! Feel bad for Shownu. Like, I’ve been meaner in my writing, but….. this is still pretty mean.