“Are you actually considering his offer?” Hae Chan asked as soon as he walked into the room that morning and saw Mark sitting at his chair by Ji Sung’s desk, staring at the business card that Johnny had given them the day before.

“How can I not? His offer was a good one. Defending the people of our nation? And having actual training for our powers?” Mark responded as he stuffed the card back into his pocket.

“We are helping the people of our nation,” Hae Chan said rather proudly, though one look from Mark made him sight. “We’re helping them in our own way. We don’t flaunt what we do around like Captain J is all. And perhaps we work a bit illegally. But either way, our powers are well developed and we have our own team already. What do you think the others are going to say when you tell them you’re considering joining another team?”

Mark frowed and in that moment Hae Chan realized. “You’re. . . not going to tell them?”

“I haven’t decided on that yet.” He looked down.

Hae Chan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was Mark serious? Was he honestly considering betraying his team like that? He couldn’t be serious. “It’s not just your decision, it’s both of ours. Johnny won’t take you without me.”

“I know, which is why I’m thinking about it so hard.”

Hae Chan sighed, pulling up a chair and sitting besides Mark. “Okay, then let’s discuss this as a team.”

“Discuss what as a team?”

Mark and Hae Chan looked up, both startled by the sudden presence of the newest addition to the Dream Team: Ren Jun.

“Jae Min and Jeno said I could swing by today and that the door would be open in the back,” Ren Jun explaining, noticing the looks on their faces. “So, are you two trying to hide something from the others?”

“You’re not also a mind reader like Jeno, right?” Mark asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ren Jun shook his head and the other two exchanged a look. “It’s nothing,” Hae Chan finally spoke up. “Whatever you heard, it’s nothing. Therefore we won’t worry the others with it. Right, Mark?”

Mark looked at the other for a few seconds, hesitating, before he finally nodded. “Right.”

“Hey, where are you going?” Doyoung asked Taeil before taking another sip of his coffee.

Taeil opened his mouth to responded but was cut off before he could even start.

“Let me guess, a second date with Johnny?”

“It’s not a date, it’s a business meeting.” Taeil responded as he slipped on his shoes in front of the door.

“Alright, get me some information, Jungwoo’s been pestering me to give him more for a fair trade.” Doyoung took another sip of his coffee as he watched taeil grab his bag.

“Don’t worry, I got you,” Taeil said with a wink and a click of his tongue.

“No, don’t ever do that again. Bye.” Doyoung said with a hint of disgust on his face and a small wave. Taeil waved back and gently closed the door.

He didn’t really know what he was going to do but he had a vague idea in his head. First he was going to go up to the highest floor, maybe greet the receptionist if he was in a good mood, then ring the doorbell, and run away if he didn’t answer within five seconds. By chance, if he did answer, he’d ask questions and try to get as much information as he could. Boom, great plan. All he had to do was put it into motion and walk there. Yay. Taeil didn’t hate walking; It was just that walking in the crowded streets of the city and being short was not a good combo. He couldn't count the amount of times he had gotten shoved and pushed so far he ended up somewhere completely different from where he originally intended going.

But Tae Il was able to do it and soon he found himself standing in front of the building.

He took a deep breath before entering the tall, and eerie building. Honestly speaking, he was a tad bit scared; Whether it was the dim or colors and the empty aura, he wasn’t sure. But he shook his hands to help calm and went up to meet the warm and kind receptionist.

Taeil then stood in front of the daunting elevator doors for a while before they opened. A couple of people walked out, but he paid them no attention and walked in. He pressed the last button on the elevator and stood still in a corner. A few people joined on the way up but none stayed the whole way, eventually leaving him alone with his thoughts.

There were many racing thoughts going through Taei Il’s head. They wandered and bounced in his mind, and his grip on the leather strap of his satchel tightened as the anxiety in him grew. But, when the doors opened it just seemed to escalate from there, only stopping when he reached the door. Now, it was his heart, if only he could muster the courage to knock or ring the doorbell.

“Come on, you can do it,” Taeil told himself, his finger reaching out to press on the button but never reaching. “There’s no need for you to be scared, okay? It’s just a six foot tall man, nothing more.” Taeil hyped himself up once more and attempted to ring the the doorbell but failed again.

“Does he know we can see him?” Yuta asked, body sprawled all over one of the couches.

“I don’t think so,” Jaehyun responded from the other couch.

The two boys had been hanging out in the living room when one of the hologram screens popped up showing a video of Taeil trying to ring the doorbell. It was another one of Johnny’s many contractions that he had built to show up whenever the monitor sensored someone at the door. And now, the two boys stayed staring; Their only source of entertainment at the moment.

“Should we go tell Johnny?” Jaehyun asked, looking up from his phone.

“Nah, I’m sure he already knows,” Yuta responded; Really, he just didn’t want to get up.

“Hm, okay.”

Jaehyun look up from his phone again. Taeil’s odd comments were just--odd.

“Wait, can blind people see in their dreams?...Oh my,” Tae Il had gone on to question as if he had forgotten where he was standing and why.

Yuta really tried not to judge Taeil and his weird questions but he gave up after the third one. “Okay! I’m tired of hearing his weird thoughts! I’m getting Johnny,” Yuta finally got up from the couch and stormed off to who knows where only to come back after a few seconds. “His hall is that way!” Yuta walked in the other direction, leaving an unfazed Jaehyun behind.

After a few minutes, Yuta came back with Johnny following behind him with his arms crossed. “Johnny, that weird man is back, go open the door because I’m out of here.” Yuta said and went into his hall. Johnny only needed to give Jaehyun a look for him to understand, and like that the room emptied out. He cleared his throat and opened the door, facing a very befuddled (I like this word) Taeil in front of him.

“Um, Hello, I came back because I wanted more details on the Avengers, and-”

“127, you mean.”

“That’s what I said, but anyways that’s why I came, but,” Taeil stopped to look at Johnny straight in the eyes. “How did you know I was here? I didn’t ring the doorbell.”

Johnny only pointed to the small camera next to the doorbell and he felt secondhand embarrassment just from looking at Taeil’s face. All he could mutter was ‘oh’. Johnny chuckled softly, and stepped aside to allow Taeil in.

Tae Il walked in and flinched when he heard the door close behind him, it didn’t necessarily scare him but it did heighten his anxiety. They didn’t exchange any words throughout the walk but it’s not like it was long enough for an actual conversation to take place as his office was part of his living room and vice versa. Johnny, of course, sat on the large polished swivel chair. Taeil shuffled around a bit in the seat in front of Johnny’s desk and gently set his bag down in the chair beside him.

“So, what did you want to know specifically about 127?” Johnny got straight to the point, his clasped hands laying in front of him.

“I actually have a list,” Taeil said and took out a slip of paper from the front pocket of his satchel. Johnny only looked at him in confusion but remained quiet, curious on what the other had to say.

“Okay,” Tae Il started as he unfolded the slip of paper, “do I have to sign a contract? And if so will it be long term or short term? Do you provide housing? If so, do I get my own room? And will you pay for all of the expenses? And what exactly is our goal? When do I start? Do I have to actually train? Oh, and when can I meet Captain J? Also, do I have to fight and save the world like the-”

“Uhh,” Johnny blanked. His eyes flickered around as he tried to process everything Tae Il was asking. He had expected questions, but not this many questions. “Okay, so yes, you sign a contract. Not a long-term one though. Since your powers aren’t so strong and I haven’t done much background search on you yet, a short-term one seems adequate for the trial process we will go through. This trial process will include your training  which, yes you are required to do. And when the this contact is over you can go into a long-term one if everything goes smoothly. After that, housing and expenses will be provided and covered. But for now, I will ask Tae Yong to prepare a schedule for your training, so just show up during those times. Which means you will not meet Captain J right away.”

“Lame,” Tae Il accidentally voiced his thought out loud.

“Sorry, what?” Johnny asked, leaning in slightly.

“Nothing,” Tae Il said with a shake of his head and a fake smile. “So when do I sign this contract?”

“We can go ahead and sign it out now.”

“Is that guy gone now?” Yuta asked when he walked into the living room two hours later.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” Johnny responded from his desk.

“Jae Hyun! He’s gone now! You can come out now!” Yuta called out to the other boy who still remained inside his room. Not even ten seconds later the younger reemerged from his room.

“He’s been gone for a while,” Tae Yong spoke up as he eyed the others and watched them take their seats. “Are you two heading out now?”

“Yeah, I want coffee,” Yuta said as he grabbed his bag.

“And I have to meet up with my project partner to work on an assignment together,” Jae Hyun spoke, also grabbing his bag.

“Alright, have fun kids,” Tae Yong said as he watched them head out.

Jae Hyun was an awkward guy, there was no hiding that. He tended to giggle when he found something funny, his ears turned read when he was embarrassed, and he found it hard to read the atmosphere sometimes. Which is why after one afternoon spent with Do Young, he suddenly didn’t know how to act around the guy.

It had been one afternoon only, but they had spent time outside of school for non-school related purposes. They had talked and laughed, and Jae Hyun would say, Do Young was not near half as bad he thought he had been. In fact, he wasn’t even bad at all. Dare he say, he was a pretty cool guy. But the problem was: Jae Hyun wasn’t sure if this was a one-time thing, or an only outside of school thing. He talked about it with Yuta - and the Japanese was sure a blunt one who didn’t like dealing with situations he didn’t think were necessary - and he had told him to just act normal. Smile, say hi, and don’t be awkward. As Yuta had said, and he would quote, “It’s not awkward unless you make it awkward.”

But Jae Hyun was awkward.

So, when Do Young arrived at the library, Jae Hyun tried his best to be normal. He smiled, said hello, and tried his best to focus on his work. But perhaps he was coming off as too forced because ten minutes into the session Do Young sighed and put down his pen and turned to him, asking, “Why are you so tense? I thought we had gotten over the whole ‘I am intimidating’ thing.”

Jae Hyun opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say. Thankfully, someone came up to them, calling out to Do Young.  

“Hey Do Young, mom said she’s expecting you for dinner tonight.”

Do Young tensed on sight, not even bothering to look up to see who it was. And Jae Hyun nearly jaw-dropped when he looked up to see that guy he had bumped into that one time.

“I thought I told you to not acknowledge my presence on campus,” Do Young said with a roll of his eyes as he looked up to see his older brother.

“If you want that then don’t ignore my text messages,” The older brother laughed.

Jae Hyun was confused. He was in awe, but he was confused. This guy who he had fallen head over heels for was - Do Young’s brother? Now that he thought about it, it made a lot of sense. The height, the build, the eyes. Well, maybe not the eyes - Do Young’s were a tad bit wider and rounder.

And as if he knew he was thinking about it, the older brother turned to him with a smile and said, “Hey, you’re the guy I bumped into the other day. Remember me? I’m Gong Myung. I didn’t know you knew my brother.”

“I didn’t know you two were brothers,” Jae Hyun said with a smile (Because he remembered him), barely sparing the younger brother a glance. The same younger brother who was now even more confused than Jae Hyun had been just two minutes ago.

First of all, how did Jae Hyun and his older brother know each other? Second of all, why did Jae Hyun look more comfortable with Gong Myung than he did with him though he had know him for longer? And why was he smiling so much?

Do Young was completely and utterly - disgusted? Jae Hyun and Gong Myung were laughing at this point about who knows what and all he could say was, “I didn’t picture you two as the type to get along.”

“We just met each other,” Gong Myung responded. Then his phone buzzed and he was shaking his head. “You know what? I have to go. But, Jae Hyun it was nice meeting you again. You can ask my brother for my number. And Do Young, I expect to see you tonight.”

Do Young rolled his eyes and Jae Hyun smiled to himself. The atmosphere had completely changed.

“So, why didn’t you tell me your brother works here?” Jae Hyun asked.

“I told you before,” Do Young said with a newfound attitude as he began to go through his folder, “to never ask me about my brother.”

Jae Hyun almost pouted - did this mean he couldn’t ask for Gong Myung’s number? As if Do Young could read his mind, he sighed and began to scribble something on a piece of paper before he tore it off and handed it to Jae Hyun. It was Gong Myung’s number.

“Let’s get back to work,” Do Young grumbled. And just like that, the atmosphere changed for the second time.

But it was only twenty minutes before the two experienced another interruption. This time, though, it wasn’t directly addressing any of them. It was just a few girls talking a little too loudly in the library.

“Honestly, isn’t Doctor Death better though? I mean, what does Captain J do? He runs around trying to stop a villain that really isn't doing any harm? He can’t even fly.”

Jae Hyun’s head had snapped up almost instantly at the words of the girl. Had he heard that right? Had someone just praised Doctor Death while putting him - Captain J - down?

“What the hell are you saying?” Another girl spoke up. “Doctor Death terrorizes the city and someone needs to stop him? Who better than Captain J? You crazy .”

“ what? Tell me one good thing Captain J has ever done for the city.”

“He stopped that bank robbery, duh,” Another girl from Captain J’s fanbase jumped in.

“As if,” The girl from Doctor Death’s fanbase scoffed, “Doctor Death could have killed people with a snap of his fingers if he wanted to. He played Captain J so easily, what kind of a superhero is he?”

“This isn’t Thanos you panini head. Doctor Death is a villain and Captain J knows how to handle him, so shut up.”

“You girls are so stupid,” Another girl jumped in. Jae Hyun wasn’t sure which fanbase she was a part of, but he sure hoped it was his - Captain J’s. “Why do you pit Captain J and Doctor Death against each other when it’s so obvious that they have so much ?”

At this point, Jae Hyun had completely abandoned his entire assignment. And apparently he wasn’t the only one, because Do Young let out the loudest snort he had ever heard before he burst into a loud fit of laughter, tossing his head back as he covered his mouth with a hand and slapped his knee with the other.

Jae Hyun was confused all over again. He was embarrassed and confused. First, he didn’t know how he felt about the girls shipping Captain J and Doctor Death because they were enemies. And second, why the hell was Do Young laughing so hard that it took him two whole minutes to settle down?

Was it really that funny to him? And why? He didn’t think Do Young would even know much about Captain J or Doctor Death. So, why was he laughing so hard?

“I’m sorry,” Do Young said when he finally calmed down, a smile remaining on his face. He closed his journal and shut his laptop as he shook his head. “I think I should go now.”

“Why?” Jae Hyun asked. He was honestly a little offended. “What was so funny?”

“Nothing,” Do Young said with a shake of his head, “Except, well, I don’t think either Captain J or Doctor Death would find it so funny that a few, mostl likely straight, teenage girls were shipping them when they are enemies that are constantly fighting. Or… maybe they would find it funny. Who knows? Either way, it was just hilarious.”

“I guess,” Jae Hyun said with a frown. He still felt offended and he wasn’t really sure why. But he supposed Do Young was right. He didn’t find it funny.

When Si Cheng started working at the coffee shop it was really just for the money. But it seem that with each passing the day, the more he enjoyed his work. There was something about the aura of the place and the strange value that humans put into their coffee that he found intriguing. There was one kid in particular that stopped by about four times a day to buy what Si Cheng liked to refer to as the death drink. It was a four shot venti iced americano. And with the way that the kid seemed to get crazier with each stop, Si Cheng was sure this thing called caffeine was some sort of legal drug that humans were too addicted to, to make it illegal.

And all in all, Si Cheng was fascinated by humans, and a place such as a coffee shop was a great place to observe them more. The way they valued a drug that could keep them going enough to survive stressful things like work and school. Why were they even a thing? What was so important about school that had young kids so stressed? Was it because education was a deciding factor on what their job would be? But why? Why were jobs so important? Back in their home planet, what humans would refer to as the ‘government’. Helped everyone be substantial. And things like ‘jobs’ were more of a volunteering thing. For example, his dance teacher wasn’t a teacher to survive on the benefits like money, but because he liked dancing and helping others. And it was like that with every job. What was classified as a lower job like a garbage truck driver was really a volunteer job that most of their kind would have to do.

Humans were so odd. But Si Cheng still found them fascinating, which is why he enjoyed his job so much.

That was, until, that afternoon, not longer after the rush hour when the place was pretty empty, Yuta walked in.

If it was any other time during the day it would have been so easy to avoid him. Maybe tell a coworker to cover for him while he went to the restroom and busy himself with other customers. But currently, there was only one busy college student in the corner, and all of his co-workers were on break except one who was in the back.

So when Yuta walked up to him he panicked.

“We’re closed,” Si Cheng blurted out.

Yuta’s eyebrows raised before forming into a frown. “The sign said open.”

Si Cheng mentally cursed himself for being so stupid. He didn’t even understand why he wanted to avoid Yuta so bad. After all, Ten went assured him his powers would disallow Yuta to remember who he was unless he doubted the false memories that had been implanted into his mind. Which he would have no reason to. Also, it wasn’t like they were going to get close or anything, right?

“I didn’t think I would see you again,” Yuta said after telling him his order. “But I guess I got lucky.”

Si Cheng let out a forced chuckle, thankful his back was facing Yuta as he prepared his drink. “Yeah, well, I thought Earth would be big enough to never run into someone again, but it just proves me wrong more and more with every passing day.”

“Is that a joke?” Yuta asked when Si Cheng turned around to hand him his drink.

“Yes.”

Yuta nodded, taking his drink and staring down at it. What could he possibly be thinking about, Si Cheng wondered. He had known Yuta for a year already, but he barely knew him at all. The few things he knew about him didn’t really come from him directly, but more so their class discussions. Yuta had always been an avid talker during class discussions, especially after their readings, while Si Cheng sat back and remained silent. Listening. One thing he had learned about Yuta during their class discussions was how much he valued knowledge and education. He loved to be constantly learning new things and broadening his view on everything. But Yuta could still formulate his own thoughts and he was very adamant about them when he truly believed in something. And that was what Si Cheng found so interesting about him.

In a planet with so much ignorance, there was someone who was so willing to constantly learn and educate himself and advocate for what he believed in.

“What are those?” Si Cheng spoke out without realizing when he looked down and noticed the metal bracelets around Yuta’s wrists.

“These?” Yuta set his coffee down, hands up to wrists and slightly tugging down on his sleeves. “Oh, uh, they, uh-”

His eyes went up and locked with Si Cheng’s, and in that moment, he knew.

Yuta’s powers had kicked in. And whatever they were, they were powerful. Just as Kun had predicted. But the metal bracelets? Such technology could not be developed by humans- Oh.

Extra:

Later on that night when the day had passed and the full moon was settled outside, Jae Hyun sat on one of the couches in Johnny’s living room with his feet resting on the counter and his eyes trained on his phone screen. It had been a crazy day and all he wanted really was to relax. But curiosity got the best of him.

And when he read that one part, his eyes widened and his ears burned. He quickly tossed his phone to the side, remaining completely still and frozen.

Meanwhile, Yuta - who walked out of the restroom with his toothbrush in hold - frowned at the sight. He walked up to the phone that remained laying on the other side of the couch and took his free hand out of the pocket of his pajama pants to pick up.

His eyebrows raised and he almost instantly dropped his toothbrush before he fell to floor, filling the empty silence of the room with a loud fit of laughter.

“It’s not that funny,” Jae Hyun sighed as he closed his eyes.

“Why are you reading Doctor Death times Captain J fanfiction?!” Yuta cried in between laughs as he rolled around on the floor, clutching on to the phone. “Bro, you’re on chapter 7!”

Jae Hyun felt not only his ears turning red, but his entire face burnt now too.

“Oh my gosh,” Yuta wheezed as if it was the funniest thing on Earth. “I’m totally sending this to myself.”

It really wasn’t that funny, Jae Hyun thought.

-- 

Honestly, I don't even know what that was. We're so sorry for not uploading, but I had been so busy with college, just ask Nae about it. Buuut, I get out for summer in like two weeks so hopefully I will be able to work on the story more. -J

I want to apologize for our out-of-character characters (Most likely Doyoung, Taeil, Johnny, and Jaehyun). Thank you for coming to my Ted talk 

~Nae

(What Nae means is that sometimes she writes those characters and sometimes I do and we both, uhm, see them differently.)