Fingers tapped against the wooden frame of the door, eyes scanning the paper labelled "Chore List" pinned on it. Seungcheol raised his eyebrows at seeing a certain name."Jeonghan?" The aforementioned man lifted his head, blonde hair falling over his eyes. "Who put Hansol in for washing up?" Seungcheol inquired, pointing at Hansol's name on the paper. Jeonghan furrowed his eyebrows and stood up from his seat, walking up next to Seungcheol. As Jeonghan read, his wings fluttered, causing Seungcheol to move to the side.  

Jeonghan nodded his head in realisation and turned around, beautiful eyes scanning the room. "Junhui, have you seen Minghao?" Junhui thought for a few seconds, his lips pressed into a straight line and shook his head. Jeonghan hummed, his wings fluttering again as he stepped away from the door. "Next time you see him, can you tell him that his and Hansol's chores have been swapped? I accidentally wrote Hansol under washing up and Minghao under cleaning the cafeteria," Jeonghan said with a laugh, turning to Seungcheol, grinning widely. "Sorry about that. I forgot what happened last time Hansol washed up." 

"What happened last time?" Tyler, who was sitting on the floor playing with a child, asked, her tone filled with playful curiosity. 

Seungcheol smiled, watching the child playfully touch Tyler's face, and responded, "Hansol sneezed and the water pipes froze." Tyler chocked on her laugh as it appeared, moving her head to the side so she wouldn't cough on the little boy in front of her. "Yeah, that's how we reacted," Seungcheol laughed, watching Jeonghan walk back to the sofa. "Jeonghan, is there any more news on Namjoon's base?" 

Humming, Jeonghan unhappily shook his head. "There isn't anything. Jihoon contacted everyone we know in Western Countries, but he got the same answer for all of them."

"And what answer would that be?" Seungcheol questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Jeonghan sighed, looking down. "Static."

Running tired fingers through his hair, Seungcheol sighed. "Great," he murmured in a low voice. "Tyler, have you been contacted or is it static for you too?" Tyler took the boy's hand off of her cheek and shrugged, waving his hand in the air; she grinned at the little boy's giggles. She looked up at Seungcheol, pursing her lips. "I can't contact anyone. I tried contacting Jin hyung and we talked for, like, two seconds before the line went dead."  Tyler separated herself from the child and stood to her feet. "I should go back to Jisoo hyung. He keeps that I shouldn't be walking around with injuries, so." Before she left the room, she turned around to face Jeonghan. "Jisoo hyung told me to tell you that he's got the muscle cream for your back." Jeonghan thanked her as she left then went back to cleaning a little girl's hands with a clean wipe. 

Seungcheol couldn't help but smile at the sight. Jeonghan's power type was one that manifested visibly. Sprouting from between his shoulders, were two large, pure white wings that had the wingspan of around twelve inches. Because of his power being visible, his mother and father kept him isolated from the world. Jeonghan never experienced the outside world until he was twenty-two, and he was only able to experience the world because his parents were in debt and sold him to the PBM slave trade. Jeonghan ran for his life and, to his luck, came into with Jisoo, who was doing buying cough medicine at a nearby store. Jisoo, like most people, was shocked when Jeonghan's wings sprouted from his back, the feathers painted in red from wounds from the slavers. 

Jeonghan was scared at first, living in the base. He didn't understand how most things worked and would often sleep in a small closet. When confronted, he said that it was a lot like the 'bedroom' that his parents forced him to sleep in. It was nice to see him be so calm and happy around other people; it made Seungcheol feel warm inside.

Once the girl's hands were clean and she had run off, Jeonghan stood up to leave the lounge. That was, until, a familiar face came into view. "Minghao!" Minghao jumped as his name was shouted, and he placed a hand on his chest, calming his beating heart. Jeonghan grinned, quickly apologising. "Junhui needs to tell you something." Seungcheol laughed at Jeonghan's laziness as he disappeared, grinning. The leader watched Minghao make his way into the lounge, pure black eyes scanning the room. Once he saw Junhui, who was watching the small television quietly on the sofa, he grinned, walking over to him.

Minghao wasn't great at speaking Korean. He understood small bits but still couldn't speak it very well. The only time he could speak Korean fluently was when he shapeshifted into someone who was Korean; however, whenever he did that, he lost the ability to speak Chinese. Junhui was, thankfully, fluent in Korean and, since he was from China, Chinese. Poor Minghao, was all Seungcheol could think when he got lost in a conversation, the other person speaking too fast for the shapeshifter to understand. He was trying his best to learn Korean; he would sneak into Junhui's room at night with a flashlight so he could teach him phrases. 

Whenever Seungcheol thought about why Minghao could only speak Chinese, despite living in Korea for almost his entire life, his heart hurt. When Minghao was four, his power, shapeshifting, manifested. Not too long after that, he went missing. Minghao couldn't remember how he went missing - he was too young - but he remembered everything that happened afterwards. Every time he described it, Minghao would recount hallways of white, looming figures holding scalpels that dripped poison. Of course, these memories held great pain and that pain distorted them into nightmares. Shapeshifting was not an uncommon mutation, but Minghao's ability was different. It wasn't just his body that shifted, it was everything; his DNA, his mind, his thoughts, his voice. This was why he was the subject of experiments for his entire life, even before the law that banned PBMs was passed. 

Minghao was attached to Junhui. They were so close that Seungcheol was sometimes jealous. Junhui's ability was rare and powerful - he could control the weather and create storms - and so, when the government got their hands on him, they conducted the same experiments on him as Minghao. The 'doctors' there could speak a range of languages, but, around the two, they only spoke Chinese. Junhui wasn't sure why, but they did. Minghao was in the lab for sixteen years, however, Junhui was only there for two. A year after staying there, the doctors thought it would be a good idea for Minghao to speak with other people and put Junhui in his bedroom (though bedroom was an overstatement, it was more of a cell than anything). 

At this point, Minghao had forgotten what it was like to be human. The doctors were turning him into a weapon, and he believed he was. Junhui spent months in the same cell as him, getting close to him and becoming friends. Minghao realised that there was more in the world than what the doctors had shown him, and he took Junhui and left. Seungcheol didn't know the details of how they escaped - he assumed that it wasn't clean - but he was glad they did. No one deserved being treated like a weapon.

Seungcheol watched as Junhui explained the change of chores, Minghao attentively nodding along to his words. Minghao agreed quickly in Chinese, itching his neck. He opened his lips to say something else when the television's words pricked his ears:

"Scientists say that this new creation will open doors to preventing PBMs from hiding." 

The room went silent; even the children stopped playing to listen. Seungcheol walked closer to the television and picked up the remote, turning the volume up.

"This creation, dubbed the PBM tracker, can, as the name suggests, track PBMs."  The man on the television held up something that resembled a watch, a large, annoying smile spread across his face. "How it works is that when you turn it on, it sends out waves that are able to identify the special DNA that PBMs hold." 

Whispers erupted in the room. Minghao, who didn't quite understand the tv, had Junhui translating what he was saying and held a face of terror. Those whispers turned into gasps and exclamations of shock when a man with skin like metal appeared on set, a metal casing covering his mouth and chains snaking around his body.

"This here is a man who has skin that can turn into metal." The reporter gently knocked against the man's skin with his knuckle, creating a 'clank' sound. "And as you can see," he lifted up the watch towards the camera, "the tracker is picking up a signal." He then waved the watch over himself, smiling when the watch didn't pick up a signal. "This is amazing! Never again will we have PBMs hiding in the shadows, pretending to be human. Thank you, kind sir," he said with a laugh, letting the PBM be taken away by two large men. He turned towards the camera, a sinister look in his brown eyes. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the new world. Here there are no PBMs. Here, we are all pure and normal."

A sudden bang made everyone in the room jump. Their eyes went to Seungcheol, and the large dent in the wall. The air was tense and heavy; it was difficult to breathe. The leader swallowed, calming his heart. He was furious. How could they? A device that tracked them like they were animals? 

"Hyung, are you okay?" Seungcheol looked up when one of the young children asked him a question. He smiled shakily, nodding his head.

"Yeah," he muttered, sighing. "Yeah, I'm fine." 

------

"So?" 

Wonwoo shook his head, his eyes glued to the book in his hands. "I have no idea, Seungcheol. If I don't have one, I can't test it."

Seungcheol ran his fingers through his hair and sat back on the desk chair. Wonwoo's room was filled to the brim with different types of technology. He didn't have to worry about having plugs, so he would take whatever he needed that no one else wanted. "You have seriously no idea?"

A heavy sigh fell from his lips and Wonwoo put the book down, standing up. "Seungcheol." The computer that was on the desk behind Seungcheol , displaying the PBM tracker. "I've looked at it. I've tried to replicate it," Wonwoo said, pointing at a pile of half-built trackers. "Whatever they used, isn't something that can be found by some hacker that lives inside an underground base. I'm sorry, but if I don't have one then I can't make one." 

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm just..." Seungcheol sighed heavily, rubbing his temple. He wanted to close his eyes and just sleep. "You have to understand that this isn't good. If this thing is put out to the public, there won't be a safe space anymore. So many of us will be arrested." 

Wonwoo opened his mouth to speak when Mingyu poked his head into the room, grinning. "Hey, guys~" he sung, laughing gently. Wonwoo smiled and then picked up a GameBoy that was on a nearby shelf. Mingyu walked over and took it from him before sitting on Wonwoo's bed, turning it on. Wonwoo turned back to Seungcheol and carried on with what he was about to say before he was interrupted. "I know why you feel like this, but I'm trying my best."

"What are you talking about?" Mingyu asked, his eyes not moving from the GameBoy. 

"The PBM tracker. I've been trying to remake it but I can't," Wonwoo replied, glancing over at the younger male.

"Well, you don't have to worry about it. With your power you can just make the tracker short circuit," Mingyu commented, his thumbs attacking the GameBoy's buttons.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. A small smile appeared on his lips as Mingyu made a sound of distress, large writing appearing on the screen that read: "You died!"  Mingyu turned to Wonwoo, pouting with large puppy eyes. "Hyung, why'd you do that~?" he whined, shaking his shoulders. Seungcheol laughed at the sight, finding him cute.

"Can you make technology do whatever you want without thinking about it?" Mingyu shook his head. "Yeah, that's why I'm trying to make one. We need to figure it out to stop it. In the past, I might have done that, but I'm not just a hacker anymore. I've got every PBM in Korea relying on me for tech support." Mingyu grumbled and turned away, restarting his game.

Seungcheol leaned into his chair, looking around the room. Wonwoo was a hacker when he was younger; he grew up in a hacker family. When his power developed, he was seen as a god by the fellow hackers. He could do whatever he wanted with technology, and that came in handy. His life consisted of hacking into companies and banks. One night, he came home after drinking at a local bar and found a note telling him that his fellow hackers had sold him to the government. In a drunken panic, Seoul experienced a blackout that made it easy to pinpoint his exact location. He was on the run for around a month until he was able to contact Seungcheol. 

Sometimes he came off as cold. Mingyu always joked that it was because he hung out with computers so much that he basically was one. Wonwoo and Mingyu got along well. They were good friends, even if they contrasted each other. However, Seungcheol knew there was tension between them. One night, Seungcheol, Wonwoo and a few others got drunk together and Wonwoo told him about the feelings he had for Mingyu. Of course, there were doubts but then he saw how Wonwoo stared at Mingyu whenever he was talking. 

There was so much love in his eyes; once Mingyu and Suyung told everyone about their relationship, that love turned bittersweet. Wonwoo attempted to deny he had feelings for Mingyu, but Seungcheol could tell he was lying. He felt bad for him, but there wasn't much he could do. 

"Okay," Seungcheol said with a laugh, standing to his feet. "I'm going to go get something to eat." The two younger men waved Seungcheol goodbye as he left the room.

------

Seungcheol made a face at the sudden display of affection in front of him. "Seokmin, Soonyoung," he started, jokingly covering his eyes. "I know you guys love each other but can you, like, not feed one another in front of me. I'm trying to eat." 

Soonyoung laughed, the same rapid, high pitched laugh as always and shifted away from Seokmin, who was grinning. "Sorry, hyung," Seokmin said quickly, chuckling. "We're just messing around."

"You better be," Tyler murmured from beside Seungcheol, a bandage wrapped around her pale hand. Soonyoung cackled, grinning at the younger girl. "I don't get why every base has a bunch of overly sappy guys in. In America, I have to deal with Namjoon hyung and Seokjin hyung flirting constantly and over here I have to deal with you and Seokmin hyung. Not to mention Jisoo hyung and his obvious pining for Jeonghan hyung. I'm just trying to get my injuries fixed and then all of a sudden Jisoo hyung is daydreaming about 'his angel Jeonghannie~'." Tyler teased, rolling her eyes. 

"You're a weird kid," Seungcheol commented, raising an eyebrow at the girl next to him. Tyler shrugged her shoulders, shoving a spoonful of plain rice into ; she would use chopsticks but the injuries on her hands made it difficult. 

"And you're a weird hyung," she replied, her words a little muffled by food. Her eyes were pulled from Seungcheol when Chan came into view and she smiled, watching him sit down. "Hello, Channie~" Tyler teased, a wide grin on her face.

"Please don't," Chan begged, his tone tired. Soonyoung looked at the two, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He glanced at Seungcheol and Seokmin and then back at Chan, thinking.

"What's going on with you two?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. "Why do I feel a weird air between you?" Soonyoung leaned forward, staring holes into Chan and Tyler. Chan pouted, looking at the table with red ears. Tyler had a small blush decorating her freckled cheeks as well but she didn't seem to care much. "Nothing's going on between us. Just, you know..." Tyler wiggled her eyebrows at Chan, smirking. Chan groaned, covering his face. 

"I hate you," he muttered. Tyler laughed again and stood up, picking up her bowl.

After putting the bowl with the rest of the dirty plates, Tyler turned to them, smiling. "Right, right. I'm going to go back to the infirmary. Jisoo hyung will kill me otherwise." The four people at the table waved her goodbye and then three of them turned towards Chan.

"What was that about?" Seungcheol asked, a gentle laugh falling from his lips. Chan shook his head, sighing. 

After a few seconds of having the three older men staring at him, Chan finally gave in, admitting it. "Last night we were talking and she found out that I... like her." Soonyoung and Seokmin dramatically gasped, covering their mouths. "I don't know if she likes me back but she keeps teasing me about it." Seungcheol breathed out a small laugh and reached over, patting Chan's shoulder reassuringly. 

"She's a cruel girl. I feel sorry for you, dear friend," Seokmin said, shaking his head melodramatically, his lips pursed. Soonyoung followed, placing a hand on his heart. Chan scrunched up his face, standing on his feet. "Suddenly I've lost my appetite," he muttered before leaving the room, leaving Seokmin and Soonyoung laughing in their seats.

"Ah," Soonyoung started, sniffling. "He's grown up already. I remember when he was still a baby, barely toddling around the room." Seungcheol snickered, making a face. 

"He came here when he was seventeen," he commented, smiling. Soonyoung made a surprised face, looking at Seokmin and then back to Seungcheol. 

"Did he?" Soonyoung inquired, suppressing a grin. "I thought he came here when he was a baby... Wow." Soonyoung looked at the table and then sighed, closing his eyes. "My baby grew up eighteen years in a year. Wow."

Seungcheol chortled, shaking his head.The two had lived similar lives before going to the base. Seokmin's power manifested when he was a child after his broken arm healed within an hour but Soonyoung had only discovered his power the year before. He was walking home when he found a man in an alleyway with a large hole in his chest. That man happened to be Seokmin. Soonyoung was shocked to see the hole in Seokmin's chest heal itself in a matter of seconds, and was even more shocked to see a group of men appear at the alley opening, weapons in their hands. He swooped Seokmin up into his arms and ran for his life. He was, at first, surprised at how fast he was able to get away from them; he thought that the attackers were just slow, but then he realised that he was faster than the speed of light.

They stayed together outside of the base for around three months before Soonyoung got into contact with Jihoon and they joined. It wasn't long before they started dating and they spread their cheerful love around the entire base. It was sweet, even if it was a little gross sometimes.

Seungcheol finished his food and put his plate with the others. He watched Soonyoung and Seokmin be affectionate for a few more moments before leaving the cafeteria.

------

"Is it cool if I stay in here tonight?"

Jihoon jolted as Seungcheol made his way into his room, his headphones falling off his head. He turned around in his chair, staring at Seungcheol. "Why?" He asked, his eyebrows knitted together. "Where's your girlfriend?" Jihoon spun his chair around, watching as Seungcheol smiled and closed the bedroom door.

"She's working outside for tonight. There are reports of people lurking around near the base, so we've had to raise security. I'm all alone~" Seungcheol whined, sitting on Jihoon's bed. Jihoon rolled his eyes and moved to sit next to Seungcheol.

"Yeah, but why do you want to sleep in here? I don't really want to share a bed with you. You cling to people in your sleep." Jihoon grumbled when Seungcheol hugged his side, grinning. "And you cling to people when you're awake."

"You're my friend. What's wrong with sleeping in the same bed with you?" Seungcheol teased, laughing as Jihoon wriggled out of his grip. "We're bros, right? Bros do bro things." He laughed harder at Jihoon's disgusted expression and fell back on the bed, pulling the younger man down with him. "What does it matter? We haven't spoken properly in a while. You keep ignoring me; it's making me sad."

Jihoon sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I've been busy," he muttered, putting his arms under his head. The room went silent. The only sound that was audible was their rhythmic breathing and the occasional voice from outside the room. "Have you talked with Yoongi hyung?" Seungcheol asked, breaking the loud silence.

The younger man rolled on his side, propping his head up with his hand. "Jeonghan hyung already told you that I can't contact anyone."

Seungcheol did the same, staring at Jihoon. "Yeah, but I meant Yoongi hyung on his own. He's a smart man so I thought he might have contacted you." Jihoon shook his head, brushing black hair out of his eyes. "Okay... Do you know why we can't contact anyone?" 

Jihoon shrugged his shoulders then rolled onto his bed, sighing. "I don't know. It probably has something to do with that damn tracker. Our contact signal was created by PBMs to only contact other PBMs. This tracker is probably blocking those signals. The damn thing hasn't even been commisioned yet and it's ruining us." Seungcheol hummed, watching Jihoon's chest rise and fall.

"On the topic of other bases, what do you think about this spy business? If it's all true then I don't know who I can and who I can't trust." Seungcheol made a sound of surprise when Jihoon suddenly sat up, staring down at his friend. 

"You can always trust me," he stated, in an almost demanding tone, his gaze hard. "Even if we hated each other, you'd still be able to trust me." The older male smiled and grabbed Jihoon, pulling him into a bear hug. "You're so cute," he said with a chuckle. The lights turned off with a gentle click. Jihoon sighed, giving up on his protests. 

"You're impossible," he whispered into Seungcheol's chest. He knew he didn't mean it; he could fell Jihoon's smile through his thin shirt. Seungcheol chortled, the sound vibrating inside his chest, which caused Jihoon to smile wider. "Yep," Seungcheol agreed, closing his eyes with a satisfied smile. "I sure am. But you love it." He placed a hand on Jihoon's head, playing with his soft strands of hair.

"Sure, whatever you say." Jihoon's voice was quiet; just like the rest of the room. Seungcheol hummed gently, the stress from the entire day finally leaving him. He sometimes wondered if Jihoon's telepathy was the reason he was so calming to be with. He knew that it didn't work like that, but it felt right.

Jihoon felt right. But it felt wrong thinking it.