Hongbin was a nineteen year old hero-in-training at a mid-level hero school. Hero schools weren’t mandatory, plenty of heroes never went to any of the schools. After all, all you needed was a license and a management company to be a hero. So long as you had a cool enough power and/or passed your licensing exam with a high enough mark, a company would happily take you. Hongbin wished that he could have done things that way, but passing the exam was hard without a personal trainer to help you so hero school it was.

Way back before he was born, hero school used to be open for teenagers. They functioned like a normal high school, save for the hero-based classes. But then some villains realized the opportunity that hero high schools presented. They were a chance to destroy a generation of new heroes before they could become strong enough to fight back. The heroes put a stop to the attacks, but not before countless young lives were lost.

After that, the public demanded that the age limit be put on hero school attendance. An age restriction was also placed on taking the licensing exam. Before, anyone could take it at any time, but with the public outcry the government had no choice but to place some kind of age limit on the exam. The age limits for both school and the exam were set at nineteen, but there was always talk about bumping them up by a few years. The hero school responded to this by making their entrance fees higher and higher each year, making it harder and harder for wanna-be heroes to get in.

Hongbin never thought much of any of this, always felt that it was necessary. That was what everyone told him anyway. The age limit was to protect kids. The rising entrance fees were to discourage the kids who didn’t really wanna be heroes, the kids looking for fame and fortune. It was all very necessary, all for the betterment of heroes and society.

It wasn’t until he started attending a hero school that Hongbin started to doubt everything he had been told.

--

“I’m beat,” Chan yawned, holding open the door so that everyone else could enter, “who’s on dinner duty tonight?”

“Woojin’s supposed to be,” Hyunjin replied, voice muffled because his face was pressed against Felix’s neck, “but since he’s under the weather……..I don’t know.”

“I can try,” Jeongin offered.

“I’ll help,” Wonsik smiled, ruffling the youngest hair playfully, “it’s easier when it’s two people anyway.”

“Hold up!” Sanghyuk suddenly said, grabbing Jisung and Hakyeon and pushing them behind him, “someone’s here.”

“I’ll go see if Woojin’s ok,” Taekwoon said before rushing off to do exactly that, Felix and Hyunjin hot on his heels.

“Whoa!” the stranger said, flicking on a light to reveal two people standing in the living room, “we aren’t here to fight, we want to talk.”

“You just show up in our home and expect us to believe that?” Sanghyuk hissed, flames already starting to their way up his arms.

“Please,” the one clearly doing all the talking said, moving to stand in front of the other, “just hear us out. Then you can do whatever you want.”

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon whispered, “maybe we should listen. The one who hasn’t said anything looks young.”

“Alright,” Sanghyuk nodded, “then talk.”

“Right,” the man said, “My name is Lee Hongbin and this is Minho, my little brother. I’m a technopath and he can turn invisible. I spent the last couple of months trying to find you and that lead me to your bar a couple of days ago. I checked the nearby security camera and saw all of you and then I tracked you here. Minho watched the building to see when you would all be out.”

“We wanted to show you that we were useful,” Minho finally spoke up, “well, hyung did anyway.”

“Why?” Sanghyuk pressed, “Why did you want to find us? Why did you want to show how useful you can be? What do you want to gain from all of this?”

“I started reading your fan sites way back when you first started getting attention,” Hongbin explained, “I didn’t want to believe at first, but after a while…..there was too much proof. But I still believed that there were good heroes out there, that I could be a hero and fix things. But then……then I joined a hero school.”

“You’re a hero-in-training?” Jisung asked, backing away slightly like everyone else.

“I hate it,” Hongbin said, voice rising in anger with every word, “everyone there……I thought that I’d find real heroes, but everyone in my class is so arrogant and selfish. All they care about is fame and money! No one cares about actually being a hero! And the rest of the school isn’t much better. I can’t even talk about being a real hero because everyone will laugh at me, call me delusional and an idiot. They already looked down on me because they think my power is weak, but it got so much worse when they found out I believe in real hero values.”

“Not surprised the schools are like that,” Chan huffed, “they probably rigged the system to weed out the real heroes.”

“Most real heroes don’t go to hero schools,” Wonsik nodded, “but they get fewer and fewer each year.”

“It will get even less soon,” Hakyeon frowned, “they’re trying to bring in a fee for taking the exam. Students would get a free pass the first time they take the exam with a discount if they fail. At least the ones from top schools would.”

“Defiantly trying to weed out the real heroes,” Jisung nodded.

“So,” Sanghyuk turned back to the Lee brothers, “you joined a hero school thinking you could be a real hero and got overwhelmed with how many fakes-in-training there are. Doesn’t explain how you ended up coming to us. I mean, you do know we’re villains, right?”

“You aren’t villains, though,” Hongbin said, “not really. Not like the other people who hold that title.”

“You want to make the world better,” Minho nodded.

“We want to help,” Hongbin said, “hence the demonstration of our skills. And my attendance at a hero school can give you access to information you never would have been able to get before.”

“You could be useful,” Sanghyuk hummed in agreement.

“Hyuk,” Chan frowned, “can we actually trust them?”

“Look,” Hongbin sighed after glancing over his shoulder at his brother, “I’m gonna lay the rest of my cards on the table here. I’m not just here to help bring the corrupt system down, I’m also here for Minho. He gets so much crap for his power. I mean, it’s nothing like what some of your people have gotten, but……” Hongbin paused, taking several deep breaths to calm himself, “they all think his power is weak, that he’s weak. All our lives, everyone has always on him and his dreams. Our own parents talk about him and call him useless.”

“We’re going to destroy that way of thinking,” Sanghyuk summarized, “and you want to be there helping.”

“For my brother’s sake,” Hongbin nodded, “you can understand that better than anyone, right?”

The pair stood there for a long moment just looking at each other before Sanghyuk offered Hongbin a hand.

--

“Here,” Hongbin smiled slightly as he dropped a bunch of papers on Sanghyuk’s desk, “notes on every graduating hero-in-training.”

“Good,” Sanghyuk smiled slightly, handing Chan some of the papers, “you were careful?”

“Of course,” Hongbin scoffed lightly, “no one has any idea I did anything.”

“Good,” Sanghyuk nodded, lightly ruffling the younger man’s hair, “very good.”

“How many do you think are real?” Chan, ever the hopeful one, asked.

“Might be one or two in the bunch,” Hongbin shrugged, “honestly, from what I’ve overheard I don’t think there’s anyone worth saving.”

“Shame,” Sanghyuk frowned, “but we’ll only pay them a visit if we have proof, so.....”

“We might not see half of these people,” Chan hummed.

“How was Minho today?” Hongbin asked, taking a seat beside his friends.

“He’s getting more and more talkative every day,” Chan grinned, “he and Jisung spent the day fooling around.”

“It’s nice that Minho’s so close to him,” Sanghyuk smiled softly, “Jisung’s been a little lonely since Felix and Hyunjin started dating. I mean, he’s happy for them, wouldn’t ever wish them ill, but…..”

“They spend a lot of time together,” Chan nodded in understanding, “and when Jisung used to spend so much time with Felix……well, it leaves him pretty lonely. Sure, he spends time with us, but…..”

“Felix is his best friend,” Sanghyuk finished, “his brother and platonic soulmate. None of us can really, truly fill that void. Even me and I’m his big brother.”

“But Minho seems to be close?” Hongbin asked.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Sanghyuk said, “Minho and Felix.....they make him happy in different ways.” Sanghyuk paused, “I….don’t really know what I’m saying. I mean, you’ve only been here a couple of months. It’s probably way too soon to be thinking what I’m thinking.”

“Felix fell for Hyunjin within a couple of months,” Chan pointed out, “and I’m pretty sure Hyunjin fell for him in even less. A couple months is a lot of time for what you’re thinking to be happening.”

“You know your brother,” Hongbin nodded, “if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking……”

“I’ll wait for Jisung to say something to me before I start thinking anything,” Sanghyuk laughed before turning to Chan, “and I refuse to meddle like you and Woojin did.”

“We didn’t really have a choice,” Chan said, pretending to be offended, “those two love-struck fools would have never said anything if we left them alone.”

“True,” Sanghyuk agreed.

“If Minho is feeling anything,” Hongbin frowned, “I’m not sure if he’ll say anything. He might even withdraw from Jisung.”

“Cross that bridge when we get there,” Sanghyuk advised, “but if that does end up happening……hopefully Jisung will confront him about it before we feel the need to step in.”

“We’re talking about our brothers love lives,” Chan suddenly frowned, “and yet….we’re all kind of single.”

“Well, me and Bin are,” Sanghyuk smirked slightly, “if you could just admit that you’re attracted to Woojin……..”

“Hey!” Chan huffed, “I admit to it, I just haven’t done anything.”

“Careful how loud you say that,” Hongbin teased, “Hyunjin’s looking to return the favor you two did for him and Lix.”

“He’d probably find an even smaller closet,” Sanghyuk grinned.

“Crap,” Chan sunk down in his chair, shoulder sagging, “he would, wouldn’t he?”

Hyunjin did end up finding out about Chan feelings and Woojin’s feelings as well. He did end up locking the pair in a closet with Felix’s help. They did end up walking out a couple leading to many jokes within the group about the magic of closets. About a week later, Jisung asked Minho out making them the group’s third couple.

A/N: I actually like this chapter’s world building a lot. Like, I love how this chapter shows just how deep the corruption of the hero system goes, that the heroes trusted to teach the next gen are actively trying to weed out good heroes so that the system doesn’t change. I know that, like, Hongbin and Minho’s powers probably don’t seem weak at first glance, but……..

It’s like Kirishima in My Hero. His power is awesome, perfect for hero work, and yet there he is in chapter……13 calling it boring. In his mind, it’s not big and flashy like Katsuki or Deku’s powers and thus isn’t as good. That’s kind of the mindset on powers in general in this AU: the flashy powers are seen as ‘the power of a true hero’ and the not so flashy ones are seen as less-than. …..and, ya know, heaven forbid you get a ‘villain’ power ‘cuz then you’re ed.

Ya know, reading this over……..the attacks on the teen students……..makes you wonder if it was really villain. Or maybe the corruption had already begun. Or maybe I’m just saying that to mess with you all hahaha

Oh, and yes. Yes I did just make the Woojin/Chan and Jisung/Minho couples a thing.